Opportunities to perform came about through Al’s connections with area youth ministers along with other members’ connections to area coffee houses. Shekina played at variety of venues including large regional youth gatherings, a few festivals and several coffee houses and college gatherings. Transportation to the venue was done separately many times due to work/school schedules. They tried to caravan whenever they could to make getting to the venue easy. Brent owned a van at the time and he hauled most of the gear for the group. The band used CB radios to guide late arrivals to the locations if not traveling together.
In general the group was well received, but the style of music was an issue at times. Christian rock was still new territory on the local level. Acoustic guitars were considered edgy by some of the mainline denominations. Electric instruments were way beyond edgy. Shekina learned where they could go without a ton of push back and avoided the issue by playing for venues where they would be welcomed. They weren’t playing dances as were nearly all of the groups profiled here. Shekina’s main focus was evangelism through music and they stayed true to that focus.
Most of the time compensation for performing was in the form of gas and a meal with extra dollars being poured back into gear. Free will offerings were also taken if the aforementioned arrangements were not made in advance. For gigs farther away from “home base” the group would ask the venue to arrange a place for the group to stay, meal and gas money. At the time Shekina received between $50 and $500 depending. As mentioned, excess funds went back into gear or to pay album costs.
The group recorded what is now the notable album, “Have You Considered?” (IGL STLP-33152), in Spring 1976. The album was done over a 2 day stretch at Iowa Great Lakes Recording Co. (IGL) located on the corner of 9th St. and Highway 71 in Milford, Iowa. Milford is home of the mythical University of Okoboji and is located at the southern end of the IGL area in Dickinson County. IGL was one of only 2 known studios in the state in 1965 when it opened. Over 200 records were recorded there from 1965 to 1980.
The group considered it a natural progression of what they were called to do. Another contributing factor was Al’s original tunes. The group had more than enough to fill an album with ease and no worries about copyright issues doing other people’s music. The first day they recorded the instrumental backing tracks with vocals being done the second day. As far as is remembered Al, along with IGL’s engineer, did the production on the album. The album cover itself was done by Al and Brent’s roommate, William Chilton. There were mixed reactions to the final mix with some being satisfied; others, not so much–a not uncommon occurrence in a band situation.
IGL offered a package deal which included the studio time and the pressing/fabrication of the album itself. The group paid a flat fee for the package and then sold the resulting album themselves to support the band’s efforts.
Over the years “Have You Considered?” has gained some notoriety among folks who are fans of garage/psych/Christian music. Sites like Popsike and Heavenly Grooves (now defunct) along with a review by Ken Scott in his book “A Collector’s Guide to Vintage Vinyl Jesus Music 1965–1980” have lent to the album’s popularity among folks who like this style of music. The album has sold at auction for as much as $1025 (in ’05) and as little as $237 (in ’09) according to Popsike which follows sales of rare and/or desirable music.
The group considered it a natural progression of what they were called to do. Another contributing factor was Al’s original tunes. The group had more than enough to fill an album with ease and no worries about copyright issues doing other people’s music. The first day they recorded the instrumental backing tracks with vocals being done the second day. As far as is remembered Al, along with IGL’s engineer, did the production on the album. The album cover itself was done by Al and Brent’s roommate, William Chilton. There were mixed reactions to the final mix with some being satisfied; others, not so much–a not uncommon occurrence in a band situation.
IGL offered a package deal which included the studio time and the pressing/fabrication of the album itself. The group paid a flat fee for the package and then sold the resulting album themselves to support the band’s efforts.
Over the years “Have You Considered?” has gained some notoriety among folks who are fans of garage/psych/Christian music. Sites like Popsike and Heavenly Grooves (now defunct) along with a review by Ken Scott in his book “A Collector’s Guide to Vintage Vinyl Jesus Music 1965–1980” have lent to the album’s popularity among folks who like this style of music. The album has sold at auction for as much as $1025 (in ’05) and as little as $237 (in ’09) according to Popsike which follows sales of rare and/or desirable music.
Along with playing out and recording an album, Shekina Glory also took part in a TV program in May 1976. Al was working part time at WOI Channel 5, the ABC affiliate in Central Iowa, doing voice over work and full time as the stations weatherman at the time. The program was for a post graduate class Al was taking at that time during his senior year at ISU. The project was totally Al’s with the full support of the rest of the band. Shot on a mix of 16mm film and videotape, the group had around 2 hours to record the program in WOI’s studios with a budget of $200. Al directed, shot the film and came up with the concepts that were used in the show. The film was shot ahead of the 2 hour session at WOI in various locations—Ames, Des Moines, outside the house Al and Brent lived in and in Jewell. The result was aired at least once on WOI as a public service program. At this time, projects like this one were aired on Sunday morning around 10 or 11 am.
Shekina Glory was one of the more rare groups here in Garage that actually got along well for their entire tenure of doing this music thing. The main reason for the band coming to an end was due to Al taking a new job which moved him to an anchor position at a station in Albany, NY. Al remained involved in music ministry and youth group work. He currently lives with his family in Largo, FL.
After leaving Shekina, Brent played in a number of groups both in this area and outside it also. Among the groups he played with were the Gwynne Burke Band, Dove and several church “house/praise” bands in Iowa and Minnesota. Joannie moved toward songwriting and recorded at least one instrumental album that was released in December of 2000. Russ and Laurie also performed in other groups doing a similar style of music with a Christian focus including Lion of Judah and Second Chance - both of which recorded a cassette album. Dan continued on also, playing in other bands along with songwriting and recording his own songs hoping to turn that effort into something bigger. As of 2019 he had been involved in administration at Cayuga Community College in Albany, NY.
After leaving Shekina, Brent played in a number of groups both in this area and outside it also. Among the groups he played with were the Gwynne Burke Band, Dove and several church “house/praise” bands in Iowa and Minnesota. Joannie moved toward songwriting and recorded at least one instrumental album that was released in December of 2000. Russ and Laurie also performed in other groups doing a similar style of music with a Christian focus including Lion of Judah and Second Chance - both of which recorded a cassette album. Dan continued on also, playing in other bands along with songwriting and recording his own songs hoping to turn that effort into something bigger. As of 2019 he had been involved in administration at Cayuga Community College in Albany, NY.
