Retro Insider - "Petra"

Next we're ready to dive into one of Christian music's most well known and beloved bands, Petra. Of course, Petra has such an extensive history, so we'll have to divide it into two different eras, the first of which we'll refer to as the Greg X Volz era which covers Petra from its beginning in 1972 to 1985.
Petra officially began in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1972 with guitarists Bob Hartman, bassist John DeGroff, and later drummer Bill Glover. They started out as an evangelistic coffeehouse band. Record label entrepreneur Billy Ray Hearn heard Petra perform and signed them to Myrrh Records in 1973. In 1974, they released their self-titled album, a commercial failure due to a lack of touring. In 1977, they released Come and Join Us and Greg X Volz was invited to do some singing on the record. Shortly after this, all members but Hartman and Volz left. 1979 was the release of Washes Whiter Than. Petra toured with non-official members and their new label, Starsong who advised them to get a new pop sound; thus causing the album to not sell well. In 1981, Never Say Die came out. This started their rise to gospel stardom, and Louie Weaver was hired as their new drummer.
Petra was now composed of drummer Weaver, bassist Mark Kelly, keyboardist John Slick, guitarist Hartman, and full-time singer Volz. They also hired big-time manager Mark Hoolingsworth, who had experience in the general market and would later lead Petra to greater success. In 1982, the band released More Power To Ya, an arena rock album that could stand up to the secular big artists of the time, such as Journey, Reo Speedwagon and the like. (On a side note, Volz turned down a lead vocals position with Reo Speedwagon to join Petra... just in case you didn't know). On the "MPTY" tour the band gave away free tickets to shows, a Christian rock first.
1983 saw the release of Not of This World. The tour was a huge scale production with the band donning camouflage in concert. Then, finally, 1985 was a huge year for Petra. Beat the System was released, and the huge production tour that followed was equal to that of any secular production, and was sold out wherever it went. The tour was recorded as a live record and video known as Captured in Time and Space. This would be Volz's last tour with the band. He would leave to pursue a solo career, and also for family reasons. This potentially disastrous announcement actually set Petra up for future blessings.
This now leads us into the second era of Petra, which we'll refer to as the John Schlitt era from 1986 to 2005.
John Schlitt was hired by Petra in 1986 to replace their former lead singer Volz. He had recently given his life to Christ after years of partying hard with his secular band, Head East. His voice was more suited for a hard rock / metal sound. In that year, they released Back to the Street. In 1987, they released This Means War with lyrics that shifted to spiritual warfare. In 1988, they released On Fire, which was about as close to metal as they got, and then in 1989, they released Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out. This album was a benchmark for Christian music as later bands like Delirious? and SonicFlood modeled Petra's praise album efforts. This album was also the first Petra album to go Gold. Next in 1990, they released their landmark disc, Beyond Belief, and 1992's Unseen Power and 1994's Wake Up Call rounded out their high times. After the Wake Up Call tour, Bob Hartman announced he was not touring anymore.
This began the start of many new eras for Petra. 1995's No Doubt saw the introduction of guitarist David Lichens. He would survive one record. In 1997, Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus was released. The band lineup was also temporarily solidified with Pete Orta, Kevin Brando and Lonnie Chapin. This album won several awards and proved Petra's worth as a praise band.
1998's God Fixation and 2000's Double Take were not well received. This is known as the darkest period for the band. Revolving band members and a lack of tour dates threatened Petra's existence. Luckily, Bob Hartman returned, and Petra signed on with InPop Records. Back to what they were good at, being worship, they released 2001's Revival.
Long time drummer, Weaver, left in 2003, and in the same year, Jekyll and Hyde was released. This was a hard rocking album that didn't do as well as was anticipated. Thus, in 2005, Petra announced its retirement and Farewell tour. The band left fans with a successful tour run and live album / DVD.
Although Petra was no longer, in 2007, Bob Hartman and John Schlitt realized how much they missed playing music and recorded Vertical Expressions; a praise record and mini tour. Soon after, Petra played a reunion show in December 2007 in Argentina.
Over the decades of music that this ever-evolving band created, they have won numerous Grammy and GMA awards, but also won the hearts of many fans... and who knows if and when they may show up to surprize us all again!
For more information, check out www.petraband.ca