Gary Hall Peck

Gary has been hooked on music ever since getting his first record album "Meet the Beatles" in 1964, while in the 2nd grade.  Then, just before entering high school, with the disbanding of the Fab Four, the Woodstock catalogue of songs captured Gary's heart.  In the 10th grade Gary got his first guitar. By 1974, Gary was headed off to college, and by then he was a guitarist in a local rock group that was just beginning to enter the Cleveland niteclub scene.  But, although his band was playing the classic- and glam-rock music of the era, Gary's heart was beginning to resonate more with the spiritually oriented and soul-searching lyrics of the singer-songwriters of the day (e.g. George Harrison, Cat Stevens, Graham Nash, and Jackson Browne). Then in 1975, Gary had a life-changing encounter with Christ.  This experience set his life on a different course.  He dropped out of his band and took a hiatus from playing guitar.  He became immersed in his newfound faith - finding musical inspiration from a new set of singer-songwriters that included Paul Clark, Randy Stonehill, John Michael and Terry Talbot, Mark Heard, and Phil Keaggy (former frontman of one his favorite local NE Ohio rock groups, Glass Harp).  During the 80's, Gary's musical tastes began to broaden to include jazz, blues, and world music.  He was especially moved by the acoustic guitar music of artists such as Leo Kottke, Pierre Bensusan, Ottmar Liebert, and Acoustic Alchemy. By the 90's Gary was beginning to write his own music.  His musical style would be eclectic, revealing hints of the varied types of music that had influenced him. His lyrics would be an honest attempt to reflect the struggles and joys of the spiritual journey on which he had embarked so many years ago.  Today, while Gary likes to reminisce by playing covers from some of his favorite singer-songwriters of the past, he continues to write new original music that he hopes may inspire fellow sojourners of the Spirit to seek out, to walk in, and to shine the light of faith until night gives birth to day. (Gary has also written two books to encourage others to see their brokenness as an opportunity for spiritual transformation - for, we are all broken to some extent, and it is through the cracks that the light enters and exits!)

Gary currently works in the field of Respiratory Care at a hospital in northwestern Ohio.  He is also a graduate of Ashland Theological Seminary and a former pastor (ordained in the Church of the Nazarene).  Gary and his wife Linda have been married since 1981 and are blessed to be both parents and grandparents.