When Go Fish entered the studio again for their sophomore inpop records effort, the men of Go Fish, Jamie Statema, Jason Folkmann and Andy Selness, went in with a renewed sense of purpose, along with three new producers in Scott Williamson (Point of Grace, FFH), Doug Beiden (Jump 5, Michelle Tumes) and Darren Rust (Blenders), who all three quickly caught the group's vision.
The result is Parade, a high-energy hybrid of all influences and interests (pop vocals, samples, rock 'n' roll, worship and more) wrapped up into one package unique to today's musical landscape.
There's the emotional and spiritual core of what they do, best exemplified by the Scott Krippayne and Tony Wood penned track "Savior," the first song recorded for Parade and one where the guys got to work with one of their influences, Darren Rust from the Twin Cities-area a cappella group The Blenders.
From the 70's party groove "Tonight" to poignant message found in "Piece of Heaven", the majority of the songs on the album were written or co-written by the group and reflect the myriad of musical styles the group members enjoy.
"We've always tried to communicate to our audience that we want our shows and records to be used as tools that, if you're a Christian, you can pass along to your non-Christian friends, and hopefully they'll be entertained enough that they'll listen to what we have to say."
"We want every song to bring out some sort of emotion in the listener, whether it's just fun, or it makes them laugh, or it gets them fired up, or it puts them in a worshipful mood," Statema says. "We have been blessed with some incredible fans and we really just want to give something back."
It's obvious that they are doing something right judging by the response they've been getting on the road. From first time listeners who heard them on the Rebecca St. James tour to friends in their hometown of St. Paul, Minneapolis, where the band performed to a packed house of 14,000+ at the Xcel Center for their Christmas concert, Go Fish has a loyal group of fans that seem to love their sense of humor as much as they love their singing.
In the end, the members of Go Fish were simply unwilling to let the parade pass them by, jumping in with all their talent, drive and spirit and creating a multi-faceted end result that reaches out and grabs all who dare to give it a spin.
By Pauline J.
