Rich Crist – Bio & Blog

Where were you born and raised? I was born in San Diego, California during a time when my mom and dad lived there on doctors orders. The doctors told dad that he needed to get out of Phoenix, Arizona due to a condition called Valley Fever. Shortly after I was born, my parents moved back to Phoenix where I was raised thru Jr. High School. We bounced around a bit after that. I spent most all my high school years in Colorado after we moved there from Arizona. I graduated with honors in music (and not much of anything else) at Fort Collins High School. After my high school years and some difficulties in our family, we move to Kirkland, Washington (Just Northeast of Seattle) where I met my wife and had our three children. We lived in the Northwest until we made the move to Maynardville, Tennessee where we now make our home in full time gospel music ministry.

 

Tell us about your family – I met my wife in college choir at our church in Kirkland, Washington. I was in a rehearsal when I met her and I haven’t got her off my mind since! Of course she was blown away by my good looks and great charm! We got married in our early twenties and had our first daughter (Breana Michele) just two years after being married. We had so much fun with Bre that we decided to have another. About two years after having Bre, Jackie (Jacquelyn Joyce) came into our life. After having two girls, we decided we had had enough fun and decided to leave it at two.

 

I was a self employed sub-contractor (flooring installer), Lisa was a full-time mom and we had no health insurance. We had saved up some money for me to go and have a procedure to insure that we would have no more children. After having saved up enough money for the procedure, we had an opportunity to go on vacation and visit family in New Mexico. We made the decision to use my vasectomy money to go on vacation instead…young and impulsive. While in New Mexico we conceived our third daughter (Valerie Beth)! God had another plan for our family and we are so blessed to have Val. She is the life of the party! Needless to say, we saved up again and short of a miracle we have stopped at three beautiful girls.

 

What are your favorite places To Eat on the road? Having grown up in Arizona, I developed a love for good Mexican food. I could eat Mexican every meal if I had the chance. I love it spicy!! When we go to a Mexican food restaurant, the very first thing I ask for is extra spicy salsa to have with my chips. After I get my food, I pour salsa all over it. I also love roasted Jalapenos! If my forehead isn’t sweatin’, it ‘aint hot enough!! As far as fast food, Subway would have to be my favorite.

 

What is one interesting talent you have that most people don’t know about? I have an incredible talent of exasperating my wife by allowing the garbage to get too full in the house and procrastinating on my honey-do list. In my travels however, I have come to learn that many more men share in this skill. I’m thinking of maybe putting together a men’s support group where men of all ages, nationalities, economic levels and careers can come together to share their experiences with this talent….wait…I gotta go empty the kitchen garbage…I’ll be back.

 

What are your interests and/or hobbies? I love anything to do with the creation of music. I love every element of making a song come to life. From the charting and tracking to the final mix and master…I love it all. I love the studio! I love to play golf. I love to play golf. I love to play golf! Did I mention that I love to play golf! I love anything to do with water sports and fishing. I love four wheeling even though I don’t own one. I love the Arts. I love eating pizza while watching a movie. I love taking off for a day in my Dodge truck with my wife and exploring the countryside where we live in East Tennessee (after dumping the garbage). I love watching my three girls have fun.

 

What is your personal testimony? I was raised in a very fundamental church and accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was 12 years old. As I entered my teen years, my mom and dad left the church for a period of four years. During that time my family went through a very rebellious time, almost causing the death of our family. God restored our family after we hit the bottom, humbled ourselves and repented. We got back into church and began the road back to making God the center of our lives and our home. It was at that time that I began understanding my relationship with God and the meaning of Lordship. Since that time I have been working out my Salvation and growing to make Him Lord in my life. It is a decision I must make on a daily basis that I live for Him and not myself. It’s then and only then that I experience all that God has for me. I am so thankful for God’s grace in our family’s life. He has blessed me beyond words. It is my hearts desire to continue to sing songs and tell stories of His great love until He comes or He takes me home to be with Him.

 

What is your musical history? – Ever since I can remember, I grew up loving music. When I was around ten years old, I used to make recordings on a tape recorder on my grandpa and grandma’s old cabinet radio/tape/record player. I would do that just about every time I went to spend the night at their house. When I got into Jr. High I sang in choir and played percussion in band. My band teacher let me take home the school drum set for a summer. I practiced and played all summer long and then joined the jazz band as the drummer the next year. When I got into high school, I joined every music course that was offered. If I would have studied other subjects as much as music, I might have become a brain surgeon or nuclear scientist! I was in concert band, concert orchestra, marching band, pep band, jazz band, concert chorale, madrigal choir and jazz choir. I was in all of these for all three years of High School. In my junior year, I was selected as the Drum Major of the marching band and stayed on as Drum Major for my senior year as well. I was also selected as the assistant director for the pep band and marching band and was assistant director for concert chorale as well. I tried out and made All State Choir all three years and was under the instruction of some incredible guest conductors one of which was John Rutter. I sang his works “Gloria” and “Requiem” with a three hundred voice choir and orchestra in a packed out Macky auditorium at the University of Colorado after a three day workshop under his conducting. I was only sixteen years old. This lit my music fire even more as it was a music highlight for me. After graduating I moved to the Seattle area with my family and joined a mega church in Kirkland, Washington. I jumped head long into the music department at Overlake Christian Church and started playing percussion in the orchestra and singing lead in many of the musicals put on by the church. I also sang in a contemporary Christian music group formed by the church named “Starwind”. They sang many songs that would remind you of the group “Truth”. I became an assistant to the Music Pastor of the church and started directing the Jr. and Sr. High School choirs. I did a US and European tour in the summer of 1984 with the “Continental Singers”. In 1987 we formed “Crist Family Singers” which is known today as “The Crist Family”. Today I am using all I learned over the years to write, arrange, direct, produce and perform music for “The Crist Family”. Music has been my life since those days around grandpa and grandma’s tape recorder. I’m so thankful for all that God has allowed me to do in the area of music.