A to Z Biography / 28 April 2008
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Rush of Fools
Tammy Official Writer
CBN.com - A record deal, a music video, and a nationwide tour schedule...Kevin Hughley and his band, Rush of Fools have made an unprecedented mark on Christian music history this year. And it all started when Kevin received a rejection letter.
Their very first single, "Undo" rang out across the nation number one on charts and stayed there for seven weeks. It was also listed in the top 10 Christian songs the first week it hit iTunes. Rush of Fools became an overnight sensation.
"There are a lot of those kinds of moments where you are sitting there and you are like, ''Wow, God this is why you brought us here, and this is really neat," says band member, Wes Willis.
"We step out and go play and we are singing, and it gets to the breakdown in the song, where I am supposed to be singing. The crowd overpowered me so much, that I just didn't sing anymore, and they just sang the rest of the song."
"That was a moment where we looked at each other and thought-this is absolutely way bigger than we thought it was," remembers Wes.
The band is also consistently proving it's not just a one-hit wonder. Their first album flew off the shelves. Now, the band is selling out venues on a nationwide tour. But, they say worship will always remain the focus.
"I think one of the things we found on this record is that our goal is not to make this next really cool, hip, unique sound," says vocalist, Kevin Huguley. "We are worship leaders. We just join people, and we worship with them. "
Kevin says, "Anything for us to look back and say, 'Wow -- this is so much bigger than five guys from Alabama.' It is about God and His glory, and He has called us to this, whether it is the dream come true or everything we want, doesn't matter."
Kevin Huguley finds his now blooming music ministry, incredible...especially since his career began after one of his greatest disappointments. Kevin had his sights set on a more conventional path. After college graduation, he applied to Seminary but received a painful rejection letter.
"This journey that God was pursuing me on came to an end really quickly because of a piece of paper. It was so absolutely humiliating," he says.
The admissions committee turned down his application, with a brief explanation.
"They just felt like God was calling me to do something else," he says. "There was a lot of angry praying at first. Honestly, I just felt like He dropped the ball, and I thought, honestly...this was a mistake."
Despite his discouragement, Kevin began a worship band with his friend, Wes Willis.
On a whim, they entered their band in a contest called Band With A Mission.
"Up until that point, we had probably been together for five or six months, probably played four or five shows, once a month. We didn't pursue music as a career. We just wanted to lead worship every chance we got," says Wes.
Out of 120 bands, 60 were chosen to go to Nashville, TN for finals.
"We played, and they asked us to come back. They called us a couple of weeks later and said, 'Congratulations guys...you won the whole competition!' "
"It was just this utter shock. I thought, 'You've got to be kidding, this is a joke. Somebody is just joking around with us,' " says Wes.
The band signed with Midas Records. Just six months after a rejection letter and automotive school, Rush of Fools garnered the highest score in history on "20 The Countdown Magazine's" listener poll.
"God is a very independent, self-sustaining God. We can write out our map, our journey of what we want to do with our life, but God is above all of that," believes Kevin. "Our encouragement would be to seek first His kingdom as a believer and that His plans and His ways are higher."
Discography
Rush of Fools (2007)
