Rob Frazier : then and now...
"Life is a long time." So says a good friend of Rob's, temporarily forgetting the Biblical reminder that "life is but a vapor." So which is it? In light of eternity, life is extremely brief but God gives us the grace of limited perspective so that we can explore various ways of using our lives without feeling pressed for time.
“In light of eternity, life is extremely brief but God gives us the grace of limited perspective so that we can explore various ways of using our lives without feeling pressed for time.So far Rob has been a; singer, songwriter, musician, producer, pastor, college professor. ;
You'd have to believe that if you considered all the different things that Rob's done in his life; singer, songwriter, musician, producer, pastor, college professor. Many noticed that Rob was not afraid to talk between songs during his concert career, using his gifts of encouragement, exhortation and teaching, so it was not hard to see the heart of the pastor eclipsing the artist. He began to sense God's calling toward that end and began part-time seminary training in 1997, earning a Masters from the Divinity School at Regent University in 2003. He then served as Pastor for Community Life at Belmont Church (non-denominational) in Nashville, Tennessee where he was also one of several worship leaders.
Awakening his love for the classroom was the result of being hired as an adjunct professor at Williamson College in Franklin TN where he teaches Biblical Worldview, Apologetics, Biblical Ethics and other courses in this small, accredited institution aimed at primarily non-traditional adult learners and degree completion. It seems that his acquired skills of presentation and communication serve him well with his students and it has become a new passion for him to equip others to integrate faith and learning.
"God's been good to me," says Rob. "He's taken my gifts, mistakes and detours and turned them into something beautiful. I love the chance to do lots of different things. I don't think the Lord calls us to just hammer one stake into the ground forever!"
Raised the son of a pastor near Philadelphia, PA, he lives in Nashville with Carol, his wife of 32 years. They have three grown children, ages 28, 23 and 21. He is a volunteer chaplain with The Tennessee Dept. of Corrections and a CASA volunteer (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children) advocating for children in the foster care system.
His last solo project was released in 1997, entitled The Things I Say. Working with legendary producer Dave Perkins (Newsboys, Steve Taylor, Randy Stonehill, Chagall Guevera) was a stimulating experience and resulted in a deeply personal album with a harder edge than his earlier releases and secured a 1998 Indie Award. Best known songs are the title track as well as "Watching Over Me" and "Everything is New Under the Son."
"Forgiven," "We Are One," "A Place Called Heaven" and "Hole in My Heart," the first four singles from The Long Run, Frazier's previous effort, all reached the CCM Top 10. Before that he released Retrospect, a "Best of... Volume 1" project plus three new songs, which yielded two top 10 songs, "Love is Sacrifice" and "Why Why Why," a duet with Steve Camp. "Got Your Word on It" and "The Heartland" from the 1990 album of the same name both occupied top spots on the national survey for several weeks.
Meanwhile, Rob began receiving heavy mainstream airplay in South Africa, beginning with the song "Go Through Fire," which led to two sold out tours there in the 1990s. He says it was interesting to see his name on the radio charts above the Rolling Stones and Sara McLaughlan, among others! He also undertook several tours of Australia where he recorded the surprise blues band project with two popular Australian Christian artists called The Blues Farmers.
Previous well-known songs include the standards "(Doesn't Anybody Pray in) This Town Anymore" and "Break My Heart" from 1987's This Town. In 1984 he released his solo debut, Cut It Away, including the hits "Come On Elaine," "Train Up a Child" and the classic "He is All You Need" recorded by Steve Camp and other artists.
Frazier enjoyed a close relationship with Camp for nearly two decades, co-writing many of the songs on his last 11 albums as well as songs for other artists including Margaret Becker, Rick Cua, John Fischer, the classic-rock band KANSAS, Kenny Marks, Geoff Moore and the Distance, Ricky Scaggs and others. His song writing skills have been widely recognized, including numerous Top 10 Songwriter of the Year citations by the Gospel Music Association as well as two Dove Award nominations for "Song of the Year." He was also a member of the group PETRA for several years appearing on the albums Washes Whiter Than, War and Remembrance and PETRA - The Early Years. Prior to that he led a band in intensive evangelistic youth work throughout England and other European countries.
Rob is currently working on both an album of new worship songs and a solo piano CD.