Marvin & Gentry

Excerpt from Dan Peek's last interview


I also started working with two guys that I had met in Nashville back in the CCM days, Ken Marvin and Brian Gentry. They really, really wanted to form a trio and we did. I called it ‘Peace’ and we made, I think, three albums all together. It was great! It was kind of like Dewey and Gerry only they were Christians. They were both so very talented as songwriters and musicians – even in the production department. There were times that they would bring them to me and go, ‘Do we need to change anything?’ and I’m, like, ‘It’s fine. You don’t need to change a thing. Just slap it on the record and it’s done. It’s ready to go!’ That really, in some ways, filled a void that I felt coming out of the trio experience. It wasn’t that I needed to be. At first, I was relieved to get out of the band.

"When I first got out of America, I just wanted to be ‘Mr. Solo’. But, then, later on I missed the camaraderie of other guys. I had put together three or four different groups of musicians that I toured with over the years. But, in terms of doing creative stuff like recording, Ken and Brian, which I dubbed ‘Peace’, that was a really nice break for me and, again, it took the pressure off of me having to write 10 or 12 songs to fill a CD. Both of them were prolific – especially Brian – a songwriting machine and they were good songs! I just thought that these dudes deserved to be heard. They begged me to manage them and I go, ‘Look, I am not a manager. I’m the creative type.’

"It was somewhat disappointing in that the music on some level never really saw the light of day. They needed a good manager and, as I said, ‘I am not a manager. I am not a mogul. I do produce. I can create. I can write. If you get a record deal, I know all the things you do to make it work. You need to tour. You need to do this and you need to do that but I’m not a deal maker. I’m more like a deal breaker."

"That was all part of that ‘after America’ experience and one of the more pleasant aspects of the post-America thing was working with Ken and Brian. There’s a lot of music that we made together that I would love to see get out there but it’s such a rat race now. It’s the old joke: How do you make a million dollars in the music business? You start out with two."

I contacted Marvin and Gentry after news of Dan’s passing had made the news and asked them for their reflections on their friend. Brian Gentry, speaking for both he and Ken, said, "We met Dan in 1987 and the history of that is recorded in our bio (MarvinandGentry.com). I remained in constant communication with Dan up until his death. Needless to say, was surprised to hear the news. We are all still in shock and trying to come to grips with his passing.


"Dan was more than a musical influence and collaborator, he was a great friend. He has been there for me through all my ups and downs and was the kind of friend that I could share my innermost thoughts with. Although we were always talking on the phone and through email, I recently spent a week with him at the Orchard, his home recording studio in Missouri. I was promoting a solo project that Ken produced at the time and was on my way to a gig in St. Louis. Dan and I hung out like old times and had several heart to heart conversations. That visit turned out to be the last time that we shared together.

"Our fondest memories will be all the times we spent at The Orchard with Dan and Catherine making the Peace records in the 90's up through the early 2000's. It was a magical time that Ken Marvin and I will always cherish.

"Dan was one of the funniest guys I have ever known. He had such a great sense of humor and was always finding a way to lighten things up with his sharp wit. We are so grateful for the years we shared together. He will be deeply missed."

Randy Patterson - boomerocity.com (Aug, 2011) - boomerocity.com (Aug, 2011)

Nashville Recording artist Brian Gentry will perform on Sunday, May 2, at Crossroads Church at 1 p.m. (West Sechelt Elementary School). Brian Gentry of the duo Marvin & Gentry recorded under a long association with former America member Dan Peek's forays into Christian music as the group Peace. This decade has seen Brian Gentry following a more singer/songwriter style.
an DeGrass - Coast Reporter Arts & Entertainment (Sunshine Coast, British Columbia) (Apr 30, 2010) - Jan DeGrass - Coast Reporter Arts & Entertainment (Sunshine Coast, British Columbia) (Apr 30, 2010)

Nashville Recording artist Brian Gentry will perform on Sunday, May 2, at Crossroads Church at 1 p.m. (West Sechelt Elementary School). Brian Gentry of the duo Marvin & Gentry recorded under a long association with former America member Dan Peek's forays into Christian music as the group Peace. This decade has seen Brian Gentry following a more singer/songwriter style.
an DeGrass - Coast Reporter Arts & Entertainment (Sunshine Coast, British Columbia) (Apr 30, 2010) - Jan DeGrass - Coast Reporter Arts & Entertainment (Sunshine Coast, British Columbia) (Apr 30, 2010)

For more information about Brian Gentry’s appearance at the Upper Room, or to make reservations, please visit http://theupperroompresents.com/

Dan Wooding - Continental News (Sep 8, 2012) - Dan Wooding Assist News

For more information about Brian Gentry’s appearance at the Upper Room, or to make reservations, please visit http://theupperroompresents.com/

Dan Wooding - Continental News (Sep 8, 2012) - Dan Wooding Assist News

“A Message for the Times”

In “Violence of Love,” Ken Marvin and Brian Gentry have fashioned a recording replete with enduring messages that somehow seem extraordinarily timely in these pressure-packed and oft-despairing days. Listen to “Slow to Say” and you’ll see what I mean. Other standout cuts include “ Love Will Get You By and “Song from the Deep.” A terrific recording from an acoustic-based duo whose work I’ve long admired.
Intervarsity Press/Jeff Crosby - Intervarsity Press/Jeff Crosby

April 17th, 2010

Singer/songwriter Brian Gentry is utilizing a different forum to showcase tunes from his new CD Dirt For A Crown. Well known in the Contemporary Christian and gospel music camps through past releases with the group Peace and the duo Marvin & Gentry, he'll be performing songs from the solo work Saturday night in an CD release event at the Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, 225 Berry Street (corner of Berry & Meridian Street). It's the latest in a series of events the worship center presents as part of an overall mission of community service and inspiration through non-traditional and more unorthodox spiritual presentations.
Ron Wynn - The Nashville Scene - Nashville Scene

To millions of baby boomers and classic rock fans, the group, America, represents some of the most memorable, smooth harmonic sounds of the seventies. Such 70’s radio staples as Horse With No Name, Ventura Highway¸ Sister Golden Hair and many, many others serve as integral cuts on the soundtrack of our youth.



In those days, one third of that group was co-founding member and writer/co-writer of many of the band’s hits, was Dan Peek. He, along with Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, formed the band sometime after completing high school together in London. After recording their debut album, America, they were catapulted into international fame with their hit, A Horse with No Name.



From 1972 until after the band’s album, Harbor, came out in 1977, Dan Peek rode the wave of success until he suddenly decided to leave the band after returning to his Christian faith. Over the following eight years, Peek recorded four highly successful contemporary Christian music albums that also enjoyed “crossover” success in the non-Christian markets.



That period was followed by musical collaborations with Ken Marvin and Brian Gentry under the name, Peace. When he wasn’t creating in the studio, Peek stayed productive productive writing books, both printed and electronic as well as publishing his own blog and working lots of other writing projects.



I was recently introduced to Mr. Peek by way of a mutual friend of ours, Steve Orchard, over at WJNR-101.5 FM in Iron Mountain, Michigan. Steve conducted an excellent interview with Dan two years ago for Goldmine Magazine (here) and suggested that I interview Dan, as well. The result was three phone conversations over as many hours that covered a wide range of subjects, some of which I’ll share in this piece.



On the morning of Monday, July 25, 2011, I got up early, as I usually do, and went through my normal early morning routines. My intent was to begin working on the transcription of the audio files from those sessions. As I was beginning to start transcribing, Steve Orchard sent me the following message:



“Randy – Brace yourself – Dan Peek passed away last night in his sleep . . .”



I sat there, chilled to the bone, as I read and re-read that message thinking that surely I was reading it wrong. Unfortunately, I wasn’t.



As I sat there, numb, my mind went back to the e-mail exchanges and phone calls that took place between Dan and I. In word and in print, he was very warm, friendly and accommodating as we worked out the logistics of the interview. He sent me a copy of the CD Amercia’s Greatest Hits/History as well as a couple of MP3’s of a couple of his more recent songs that he had written. He couldn’t have been more kind or obliging.



During our calls, Peek sounded relaxed, almost happy-go-lucky. He was obviously comfortable in his own skin and where he was in life. And, while our chats would reveal that he does have some questions as to why certain things are the way they are, he didn’t seem to be angry or bitter about them.



One thing was clear during our calls: While still a man of devout faith, the dogma that marked his words and walk back in the early 80’s has given way to a more demonstrable gentleness. Opinionated? Of course. However, the delivery of his thoughts and opinions were much more seasoned with the salt of his experiences over the last thirty years. He came across as one who knew that he still made mistakes and wasn’t perfect.



As our first call began, we spent the first several minutes of our call discussing the tornadic activity in Missouri and several other areas of mutual interest that really just amounted to two baby boomers talking about various and sundry things. No pretense. No star treatment chatter. We were just two ordinary, aging guys sharing war stories and who love to talk.



At the beginning of the conversation, while we were sharing stories about the troubles and travails of managing websites, Dan said, “ . . . more or less, I’m in my twilight years, in many ways. My brother and I were talking about it and the only reason that I even have a website is that I wrote that book, An American Band, and I was able to present the Gospel. To me, that’s my ministry tool. I also have a ministry page on my website which gets into some pretty heavy duty, end time prophecy issues. If it wasn’t for that, I would probably not even have a website and just kind of fade away.



“But every time I’m ready to call my brother and say, ‘It’s over’, I’ll get an e-mail from someone saying, ‘I just read your book or I read your testimony or I read your ministry page and I was so blessed or uplifted or whatever”, it’s like I just have to take it as a sign from God to keep on truckin’.”



I encouraged Dan to keep the site going for his America and Christian music fans alike because of that feedback and his reply showed the serious thought and analysis he had g - Boomerocity.com

Nashville Band makes its way to Frankfort...

Music lovers who are inspired by Simon & Garfunkel, Lennon and McCartney should visit Watershed Cafe on Saturday, March 21 to hear new and old songs from Marvin & Gentry.
The duo Ken Marvin and Brian Gentry are making their way to Frankfort from Nashville to share some of their new songs from their new project, "Master Plan."
Marvin & Gentry have been in the studio teamed up with Grammy award winning Producer Mitch Dane from Jars of Clay.
"I guess you can call us a faith-based folk rock band," said Gentry, who said they have been compared to Simon & Garfunkel.
Marvin & Gentry became popular within the Christian market when they formed in 1987, with their albums "Safe Harbour" and "Light of the World."
During their seven years as a Christian folk band, they began writing and producing with Dan Peek of the band America. In 1994 they teamed up with Peek to form the group, Peace.
Gentry said the Peace albums still sell, but the albums were not as well promoted as their Christian Marvin & Gentry albums were promoted.
"After 20 years, we are back to our roots and have come full circle," Gentry laughed.
He said their goal now is to promote their new CD, "Master Plan," by touring different coffeehouses and churches. One of their first stops is the Watershed Cafe.
Mater Plan will not debut until the end of 2009, but Marvin & Gentry plan to play some of the songs from the album during their coffeehouse tour, and have already released songs digitally on their Web site, www.marvinandgentry.com.
The Watershed Cafe is located in the Trolley Barn at 11 Whte Street, Frankfort. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 21. Colleen Sheehan (Assistant Editor) - Frankfort Station (suburb of Chicago, IL) (Mar 19, 2009)
- Frankfort Station

Stepping Stone Review:
Great Story-Telling, and Terrific Harmonies

Not unlike the 60/70s duos Simon and Garfunkel and Seals & Crofts, Marvin & Gentry blend poignant storytelling and textured harmonies to create a refreshing mix of music that at once soothes and inspires. Included in this package are re-recordings of two songs from their debut album Safe Harbour-“ Fire of Life” and “Cowboy Stories.” Recommended to listeners who enjoy melodic ballads and/or songs of faith that are not contrived or preachy.
- Intervarsity Press