By: Danny Anghis

 

Soul Fishin got started in my parents' basement in 1997. It was a three piece band: guitar, bass and drums. At the very beginning I had never really sang that much, other than in my Jeep alone or when everyone left the house, so singing in a microphone was a little uncomfortable for me, especially since everyone could hear me do it! At first, it was less than perfect and I really needed help. I was informed later by my sister that she thought we were goofing off because it sounded so bad, but we weren't goofing off, we were really trying to play and sing. After practicing for about a month of doing nothing but cover tunes and praise and worship songs, a new member was accepted into the group. A guitar player by the name of Charley Newsom. Little did I know at the time that Charley was to become my brother-in-law in November of 2000. At the time, Charley was just learning the guitar so we really didn't do anything too crazy or wierd musically or he might have not liked it too much. Not too long after that we ended up a three piece band again as the drummer was being led by God in another direction, plus he was starting a family with a brand new baby. So, we did a couple of acoustic shows for a youth group but we still didn't have any original material. A little while later, the bass player ended moving to Texas and that left Danny and Charley as a two piece acoustic team. About that time God started putting songs on both of our hearts and minds so we started writing. Some songs we wrote together, most of them we just wrote alone and then brought it to the other to finalize and put together. We stayed a two piece band until Danny met another bass player by the name of Adam Biegler in October of 1998. Things were coming together nicely by this point. There was almost a full band and we were coming up with quite a lot of original material.

Now we needed a name, so we put a lot of thought into it. I wanted "The Danny Anghis Band", but no one else went for it. I wonder why?....One day in the middle of church Charley passed me a little note that had the name "Soul Fishin'" on it. I didn't know what to think of it at first but it really grew on me. We decided to make it our name and it has stuck ever since. Then, out of the blue Danny got a call from an old friend who just happened to be a drummer. So, he was invited to practice one night and the band was formed in about 15 minutes. From there Soul Fishin' stared to get their own original sound which was a mix between Dave Matthews, Third Day, Jars of Clay, and a little jazzy sometimes. The shows started coming and life was great with the band. Eventually the bass player and the drummer were being led in another direction so we said our goodbyes and continued playing. That's where we are today, back to the two piece acoustic band (Danny and Charley) but we still have the same original sound and we still continue to carry out Gods will for our lives as a band. God has placed an anointing on both of our lives to write and play music and we fully intend to stay on track and never faulter. There has been some really hard times for the band, but we still remain and never give up.

Matthew 4:19 - "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."