Meet the Band

Peter Tyson is the leader of the Praise Band, contributing rhythm guitar and lead vocals.  He has been leading worship at Harvest Fellowship since 2001, with a two year break while living in Florida.  Peter enjoys playing his Santa Cruz Guitar Company DM 6-string (shown), Fender Lone Star Strat electric guitar, mahogany Baby Taylor acoustic, or red Takamine acoustic/electric dreadnaught.  Regardless of what he is playing, Peter plugs into a LR Baggs Para-Acoustic DI and a TC Electronics G-Major processor, and occasionally a ZOOM 707II Pedal.  Peter is a helicopter pilot for the US Navy.

Chad Troescher provides lead guitar for the Praise Band, rounding out the sound with an outstanding variety of lead licks and amazing fills.  Chad has been playing guitar since he was in high school and has been on the Harvest Fellowship Worship Team since 2003.  He plays his Taylor T5 through a Mesa-Boogie combo amp and several BOSS pedals.  When playing away from the church he uses a Mesa-Boogie TRIAXIS pre-amp and TC Electronics G-Force processor, controlled by a Roland MIDI footboard, and powers his custom twin 12-inch speaker cabinet with a Mesa-Boogie Fifty-Fifty tube amplifier.  Chad is a member of Gideons International and is trained in Evangelism Explosion (EE).  He works full time at a construction site in Georgetown, Washington DC, for R&R Mechanical as a Master Plumber.

Barb Tyson plays keyboard for the band and adds backing vocals and harmony.  She balances this job with maintaining the band’s schedule and arranging for events away from the church.  Additionally, Barb finds many of the new songs for the band’s playlist, and has a major role in selecting the music used in worship.  If that was not enough, Barb also find the time to coordinate music events for our services, and when she gets an inspiration, directs youth and adult choirs for special occasions and holiday services.  Barb plays a Yamaha M08 keyboard with a Crate keyboard amp for a monitor.  Barb is a Navy Wife and home-schooling mother of four, with a fifth child on the way!

Karen Metz joined the band with her husband, Cal Metz, in Nov 05.  Karen plays violin and helps with backing vocals and harmony.  Her French violin is over 170 years old, and plays so sweet!  The Guy Jeandel Violin bow is a pernambuco stick with fully lined ebony frog and silver grip.  The violin is outfitted with a Realist™ acoustic transducer designed by Ned Steinberger in collaboration with David Gage. Karen has also been known to add percussion to the band’s sound.  Karen is a System Engineer working on the Presidential Helicopter Program for AgustaWestlandBell.  Cal plays any of his 8 bass guitars, and is shown above slinging his Fender Deluxe P-Bass Special with custom EMG pickups and Leo Quan/Schaller tuning machines.  He plays through a wireless link to an array of pedals including a Sans Amp simulator, and feeds his passion for ground-shaking sonic power with a Hartke 15” Kickback Combo Amp.  Cal is a flight control engineer for the E/A-18G Growler and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

Dave Burkhart has proven his musical ability not only with rhythm guitar but by developing his skills as a drummer.  After the band’s previous drummer moved to North Carolina, Dave stepped up to fill the gap by dedicating many hours of practice and learning on this new instrument.  Currently Dave switches between the drum throne behind the plexiglass shield and his Takamine 6-string acoustic depending on the song being played.  Always ready with a joke or a movie quote, Dave and Cal keep the morale of the Worship Team high as we work together learning a new song!  He claims that his fake book (3-ring binder with music) includes every song known to man as well as some not yet written.  Dave works full time as the golf course superintendent for the Cedar Point Golf Club at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River. 

Even though Seth Tyson is only three years old, his dedication, skill, and musical prowess makes him the number one frontman for the band.  Shown here next to his Daddy’s SCGC Acoustic, Seth plays a variety of instruments including his Mini-Plastic Fisher Price Electric (sans batteries) or his worn First Act Junior Acoustic.  With Dad’s help he likes to play the Baby Taylor (of course) and the Fender Strat, but mostly he likes to play unplugged and on center stage.  His musical hero is none other than “Mr. Chad” but occasionally he shifts his affections to bass and belts out a deep riff a la “Mr. Cal.”

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Sound Technician  -- Could it be you?
 

Join the Harvest Fellowship Worship Team and lend your talents to this vital part of our worship at Harvest Fellowship.  We are looking for someone who can dedicate their time and ability to making our worship music the best it can be.  In the sanctuary we use a Mackie CFX20 soundboard, Carvin Optical Compressor and Effects, and QSC RMX850/1450 power amplifiers through modified 15” Yamaha Club Series mains and a mix of JBL and Carvin floor monitors.  On the road we switch to a Mackie CFX16 and a Crown Xti1000 amp for the monitors and tri-amp our twin 15” Carvin mains and two 18” Carvin subwoofer enclosures for some serious low end sonic disruption.