Our History:
It was New Year's Eve, 1992, and Jim and Malissa Beaty had invited several friends to their house for a New Year's Eve celebration. Among those attending were Jerold Henson and Dale Lagow. Back in the late 1970's, Jim had been in a gospel quartet with Jerold and Dale. During the course of the evening, the question was asked if they missed their music. Each one answered with an emphatic YES! So that evening it was decided to get together later and see if anything could be developed.
Now Jerold, being a lead singer and Jim
singing baritone and Dale playing the piano, the foundation for a new
singing group was laid. After trying to search for the third harmony
part, Malissa said she
would fill in that first evening's performance.
That "fill in", however, was soon confirmed to be much more as the
harmony
blended as the music rose to heaven. This, in a nut shell, was the
birth of the new group.
Now the question arose as to what the name
of this group should be. Malissa suggested the name "LIVING PROOF".
Everyone thought this was a great name because this was more than just a
name, it was testimony of what God can do if we just allow Him to.
In May of 1993, Living Proof had their first concert. During this time, two more musicians came on board to be a part of this great gospel endeavor. The musicians were Craig Bartley on the drums and Pee Wee Denton on the bass guitar. Both of these gentlemen proved to be multi-talented. Between them they played several musical instruments. Just a short time later, Jim Barnes, who also had worked with Jim, Dale, and Jerold in their earlier group, joined Living Proof. Jim Barnes, or as he was known as "Barney", had a tremendous talent on the lead guitar. Barney could also play any other instrument with strings. This group of 7, four piece band and a vocal trio, saw the bookings really start coming in.
After six years, Malissa decided to resign
from the group. Michelle Bender was the one who was chosen to take her
place. During Michelle's tenure, Pee Wee Denton was
brought to the
front line not only to play the bass, but also sing the bass part. Now
Living Proof became a quartet. Jerold's voice was now beginning to
give him some problems so he made the tough decision to resign from the
group as well. This exit gave way to Dave Etheridge to join Living
Proof. Dave's awesome tenor voice quickly became a mainstay of Living
Proof.
The group remained unchanged for sometime. But as time would have it, some changes were coming down the line. Barney decided to leave the group. Craig also decided to to pursue vocal solo work. While no one replaced Barney, a very talented drummer, Fred Mooney, replaced Craig.
Over the next period of time, Living Proof
underwent many changes until finally Jim Beaty and Dave Etheridge were all
that was left. Jim and Dave, after seeking the Lord's guidance for the groups
future, decided to try to reform as an all male group. David Houck was
chosen to be the lead singer
for the new Living Proof. After some time
as a trio, the decision was made to add a bass
singer
and become an all male quartet. Roger Menees stepped in to fill that
roll of bass for the newly rejuvenated Living Proof Quartet. After a
year, Roger stepped down and his nephew, Kyle Grant, took over the bass
singing for the group.
Since that time, Jim Beaty followed the call of
God to become the Minister of Music at his
home church. Ron Hutson stepped in with a
smooth baritone voice that nicely blended
with Dave, Kyle, and David. 12 short months
later, David Houck was forced to resign from
Living Proof because of scheduling conflicts
with his job. This made way for Paul Davis to
join Living Proof singing lead.
Today, Living Proof, Dave Etheridge, Paul Davis, Ron
Hutson, and Kyle Grant, are beginning to see God open the doors of heaven and continue to use this ministry to reach the lost, encourage the discouraged, and bless the saints.
(Click below for audio of the different groups of singers)
