Watching the Sidewalk Prophets interact with concert-goers is a smile-worthy experience. They always seem to have time to take the extra moment, to ask earnest questions, and to invest in the lives of those who love their music. It’s the sort of kindness that’s clearly on purpose. Dave Frey, the tremendous lead singer of the CCM favorites, explains where that heart comes from.
“There are so many people in our lives that poured into us. Mark Stuart is on tour with us right now – that’s the lead singer of Audio Adrenaline! This is amazing! And he took a chance on us years ago – he and his buddy Will that started Audio Adrenaline together.”
“They let us come on stage! I came on stage, and I sang part of their song. Mark didn’t know I was coming because Will forgot to tell him. So he thought I was coming to mug him, so he shoved me! But then he figured it out! And I sang, and I hit these high notes, and he asked if I could close the show with them. So here I am! We played in the parking lot that morning, and now I’m on stage with my heroes and the confetti is falling.”
After an extraordinary day came incredible encouragement.
“After the show, Mark looked right at me, and said, ‘You saved our show tonight! We had to close for TobyMac! That’s not right! Toby’s amazing! You saved our show.’”
“Those little things, those little acts of encouragement – especially for someone up and coming like that – that’s the heart we were given. And we think we need to remember that when we’re headlining. We need to make sure we go out into the crowd, and hug people, and introduce ourselves because that’s something they may never forget – even though it seems like small potatoes. Going out and shaking hands and saying, ‘Hey! Where you from?’ That might not just make somebody’s day, but might just change the trajectory of their life.”
“Those are the things that keep us grounded, but also keep us realizing why in the world we do this. If it was just about music, or being famous, or entertainment – forget about it! Man, this is a ministry, and it always will be.”
Dave Frey is the lead singer of the Sidewalk Prophets, the tremendous CCM staples behind hits like “Help Me Find It”, “Come to the Table” & their contagiously hopeful new single “Smile”.