“Life is pretty messy. Nobody’s perfect. I’m one broken dude, but there is hope. I want people to know Jesus…I want them to experience the transforming power of His love…I want people to learn what it means to worship Jesus.” This is the cry of 32-year-old Christian singer/songwriter and Northwestern alumnus Brian Fraaza, who will be performing a free concert in the England Proscenium Theatre tonight night at 9 p.m.
Fraaza describes his musical style as “a crazy mix-up of rock, blues, funky, and jazz.” Many of his songs reflect on trials he has faced.
“Our experiences shape us. They bring out the best and the worst in us. Brian Fraaza found this to be true as he began to write music as a means of coping and processing the messy events of his world several years back,” reads his official Facebook profile.
Fraaza admits to losing his spiritual moorings in his late college years. During this time of searching, he stopped playing music.
“But as God pursued me, He brought some healing and wholeness, and I believe He redeemed music for me and brought it back,” Fraaza said.
The joy Fraaza finds in his renewed relationship with God is evident in the title track of his most recent album, “I Love:” “And I don’t know where I would be if You had never rescued me, but I’m alive, and I am new, and this is all because of You.” Fraaza found inspiration for these lyrics in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Fraaza currently lives in Kalamazoo, Mich., with his wife Adrienne and their daughter Madelynn. He serves as the worship pastor at The River, a church in Kalamazoo. Julie Cook, a member of The River who has performed with Fraaza, describes him as “a real dude just trying to figure out his Maker.”
Other upcoming points of interest include Wednesday’s chapel speaker, Derek Lane, the new president of Mendenhall Ministries, an organization many NW students have collaborated with for Spring Service Project.
Mendenhall Ministries seeks to address the spiritual, social, intellectual, economic, and physical needs of rural poor families and to facilitate racial reconciliation. Lane became the fifth president in April after leading faith-based organizations for 20 years.