Sometimes in life, what should seem so obvious is what can be the most difficult to see.
That certainly could be said for veteran musician Bill Cunningham, owner of Sound Check Music Center and a long-time music director at various churches in the Decatur area.
For 22 years, starting in 1973, after graduating from Illinois State University with a major in music and political science, he and his wife, Linna, and their group, Sassy, toured the United States, playing top-40 covers on "the east coast, the west coast, from Miami, Fla. to Rochester, Minn."
It was around 1992, by complete chance, that Bill Cunningham's stage for performance would shift from the local Holiday Inn to the front of the congregation, which at that time was at Christ United Methodist Church.
"We were asked to sing a song together during the summer, when there is no choir," reflects Cunningham. "I shook his (the pastor's) hand on the way out and he asked how often we do it (sing together at church). I said once a year. He said that would change.
People are also reading…
"They were starting a contemporary worship and asked me to head-up the music group.
"I had been focused on learning new music for 20 years. Those skills were exactly what were needed to head-up a contemporary Christian group.
"I think God was preparing me all these years, and I didn't know it."
It's not as though Bill and Linna hadn't performed together a few times.
"Twenty-two years, 50 weeks a year, six nights a week, five hours and 50 songs a night - you do the math," quips Bill Cunningham. (For the record, that would equate to some 330,000 songs they've performed together.)
Cunningham would spend the next four years leading the music group at Christ United Methodist.
It was during that time that he and Linna would leave their regular gig as the house band at the Holiday Inn.
"The drunk driving laws were changing. The cash register wasn't ringing so much; the income wasn't as good," Cunningham said. "There were changes in society; everything changes."
Another change by that time was that they had a young son, Adam. It wouldn't take long before he became a part of the group at church too.
"We were getting ready to leave for church one Sunday, when Adam was around 4. He went to get his ukulele. That Sunday, he got up and stood next to me when we were playing," says Cunningham. "Two weeks later, he asked for piano lessons. He's been playing ever since."
It's an experience that's led Adam, now 20, to major in commercial music at Millikin University.
"The dream is to make my living by playing music every day; I've seen it be possible by what my dad did," says Adam Cunningham. "Growing up, he's been such an incredible guy to be around; he's always the first one to get a call for a gig.
"It's been very cool having him guide me as a musician. I feel blessed to get the calls I get for gigs."
Since starting the contemporary group at Christ United Methodist, Bill Cunningham has done stints at New Beginnings, St. Paul's Lutheran and, most recently, an interim gig at First Christian Church, where he still plays in the praise band.
"We wound up there not as a job, but because of the effectiveness of the ministry; I'm passionate about church music," Cunningham says. "I think my role and skills are to eliminate any distractions caused by the praise team. The musicians shouldn't look at the screen; they shouldn't look at their music stands; they should fill-in the gaps.
"We're not used to having silence; it's awkward. If we allow silence, we've created a distraction.
"Everything in church needs to be done at least as good as everything in life is."
Even though church music has been a big part of Cunningham's life for many years, that's not to say that nightlife gigs haven't crept back into being. He's played keyboards and sang backing vocals for Soul Purpose since 2007, and also plays a weekly, Thursday night gig at the Moose Lodge, with Adam on guitar and Mike Lewis on drums. The trio plays "old standards and country dance music."
"He lost a player and asked me to fill in on guitar," says Adam Cunningham. "I just fell in love with it.
"It's helped me grow as a musician and get a stronger connection with my father.
"It's so cool that all through this time, with me playing jazz and rock, that I can still play with him at least once a week."
If that's all not enough, Bill Cunningham, to fill-in any other openings in his schedule, is forming another group, along with Mike Lewis and Soul Purpose band mate, Kurt Terry and his wife, Wendy.
The project, tentatively called Voodoo Lounge, has "about 350 country dance, pop and country standards" to draw from.
And for a role in church that he wasn't even aware he was being prepared for, Bill Cunningham, knows exactly what the music is all about.
"While we all have to bow at the cross, we also have to express the fullness and joy of worship," he says.
It's a fullness and joy that spreads to all facets of Bill Cunningham's life.
