From early 1993 until late 1994, the lineup of the band didn't change. This stability is unusual for Christian bands in Britain, as people are only able to live on a bread and water diet for so long, and it's difficult to earn enough money in Christian music in the UK to afford much else. Popular Scottish Christian singer Ian White once told me he envied me because he had never managed to keep a band together for longer than six weeks! However from a musical point of view, this was a kind of golden era for the band, when we were able to develop more of a distinctive sound, and most of the songs on the album "Through Ancient Eyes" were recorded almost exactly as we played them live.

There were other benefits of having a regular lineup too. On tour, we were rather like a travelling church, being able to pray together on the road and work things out. Also from a ministry point of view, all the members of the band went out to pray for the people at the end of a concert, and there was usually no shortage of people coming forward for prayer. We were often accompanied by a pastor in that time – usually Russ Taylor, or Brian Barker, and it was certainly during that period some of the most miraculous fruits of our labours occurred.

In Escanaba, Michigan, one woman wrote about her father. She came forward and asked the band to pray for him after a concert, as he had cancer. They prayed over a cloth which she took to him, and days later, she reported that he was completely healed. When we returned to Escanaba the next year, she said he was doing well, and about a year later, another person from Escanaba told us he was doing even better.

In Dublin, Ireland, Brian Barker reported that after a concert he prayed for a man in a wheelchair who had cancer, and the man stood up and walked! He first walked around the altar, then said his wife was going to push his wheelchair while he walked home by himself!

In Detroit airport one time we stood and prayed for a man who was expecting to die of some cancer. A year or two later, I found myself in Kalamazoo, and it turned out to be because the man, who although elderly, had returned to work after recovering completely from his illness, had pushed for me to play his hometown.

Also around this time we began to play in prisons, and the chaplain of Kinross Correctional Facility, Michigan, wrote: "When your presentation was over I felt I had witnessed the Holy Spirit's using you like a surgeon's scalpel to cut out the infection, pour in healing oil and sew up the wounds, rather than just poke and prod around in their guilt and shame." Just in case those across America are wondering why most of these things happened in Michigan, it just so happens that we had more invitations to tour around Michigan at that time. In more recent years, tours have mainly been around Chicago, and more dates have started coming in from the Milwaukee area.

Eventually drummer James Palmer decided he needed to get a regular job and earn some money and he was replaced for a short time by Scott Jackson, who also played some parts on BORN TO DIE. Phil Barker got married and needed to take better paying musical jobs. Pam Taylor (and Russ) continued for a year or more after the band shrunk, until they felt they needed a change.

SAL SOLO BAND (1993-94)

SAL SOLO – guitar and vocals

PAM TAYLOR – keyboards

PHIL BARKER – bass

JAMES PALMER – drums

SUE VALE - keyboards

MARTINA LALLY – backing vocals

DAWN COZMA - backing vocals

through ancient eyes