The Brandon Salter Band

Things have a funny way of working out, or at least it did for Brandon Salter. This travel-logged troubadour met destiny in the form of a pastor and found his life's calling....in a bar?

After a series of chance occurrences that brought the Ottumwa, Iowa native to the St. Louis area six years ago, Salter found himself balancing a job, a family, a 20-month-old son, and a promising music career. However, things were about to heat up when an unexpected and unsolicited offer gave him a home, friends, fulfillment, and a newfound musical duality.

This strange, yet touching story commences in the form of a cliched joke. Salter's tale begins with a pastor walking into a bar. However, that pastor was none other than Bob Farr of the United Methodist Church of the Shepherd in St. Peters, and the bar was Malone's Grill and Pub.

Farr was on a mission to find a particular breed of musician to lead the church's new contemporary service-a service designed to attract a nontraditional audience of 20- to 30-year-old adults.

"I'm convinced that whatever you have standing on the stage is what you will draw," says Farr. "So, I was looking for someone under 30 with good stage presence and a warm personality."

After canvassing various nightclubs, bars, and other venues around the area, Farr found that presence and personality just a mile down the road in 28-year-old acoustic rocker Brandon Salter.

Farr found the right fit, but the initial meeting was a little rocky, and it took a few subsequent discussions to bring Salter to the flock.

"He seemed apprehensive about talking to a preacher," recalls Farr. "He did take my card each time, though."

Accustomed to being gushed at by various rubes and inebriated individuals, Salter wondered if the offer was genuine.

"I was a little unsure, but he wasn't slurring his words," Salter muses. "I thought I might take him up on his offer. I've always wanted to get re-involved with the church."

Involved he is. Bringing more than six years of professional experience ranging from soloing at Malone's to opening for the legendary Chuck Berry, Salter set out to lead the congregation's praise band, Shepherd's Praise. Along with the experience, Salter juiced up the band's traditional religious set with such secular, top-40 hits as Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now," Finger Eleven's "One Thing," and Train's "When I Look to the Sky."

Salter's youthful exuberance and stellar voice has caused quite a stir at the weekly 11:15 a.m. service. With a noticed one-third increase in the worship, Salter and Shepherd's Praise play for "religious" audiences of more than 300 people (325-375 parishioners on a good Sunday". That's something that Farr is extremely excited about.

"The band had grown into three rotations of involved people," says Farr. "We are younger and have more talent coming in to help us all the time; it's great!"

While Salter's presence may be responsible for Church of the Shepherd's recent success and plans for more secular-inspired services, the church has given back to Salter as well-a mutually beneficial relationship.

After meeting the congregation and playing with the band, Salter decided to move his wife and son to St. Peters. It's a long way from Ottumwa and the nightclubs of St. Louis, but it is home for Salter-thanks to some "strong" friends.

"Fifteen people helped me move, and we knocked it out in three hours," Salter recalls. "That's when I knew I had found some true friends."

Finally, after six years of rooting and uprooting, Salter's journey is over. Continuing to divide his time between work, family, and music (still playing at clubs such as Maryland Yards and Margarita Mama's), Salter has found something more important than a career or a home.

Brandon Salter has found his true calling before life's last call, and that's truly a spiritual experience. - Brandon R. McKinney