From playing stadium gigs with Eric Clapton to leading worship in settings large and humble, DAVE MARKEE has done it all. The rock industry veteran spoke to Stuart Dearsley.

I believe God's timing was rather interesting!
"Yes, that day I was due to meet with a guy named Peter Rudge, who used to be on the road with The Who, and he was trying to sign me up on a contract, he'd flown over especially from New York that morning and all that I could do was spend the whole time telling him that Jesus loved him. The contract was worth a few bob, and both my wife and Peter thought I'd gone mad and there was even a suggestion I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown! To be honest, that couldn't have been further from the truth. I'd never felt as good before as I did that day."

Did it take you long to convince your wife of your new found faith?
"No, not really. After about three or four months she eventually recognised that God had changed me a lot and she too became a Christian. It strengthened our marriage and helped us overcome our problems which had been mainly caused by the rock and roll lifestyle."

What was it like to be a Christian amongst famous musicians?
"To be honest, it was tough but I was determined to do a good job while not compromising my faith. I'd met Eric before and after becoming a Christian and I think he found a big change in me as I was a radical Christian and God had become very real to me."

One of your first projects with a Christian label was the Valeri Barinov inspired album 'The Trumpet Call'.
"Yes, I was approached by Danny Smith, Barinov's campaign organiser in London and he gave me the tape and asked me if I could make anything out of it. He had brought it from Russia where Valeri was in jail for preaching the Gospel. He had recorded it in secret and when I got them the tapes were in a real mess as the recording techniques used were not the best but they'd done well considering the circumstances under which they had been done.

"I've never met the guy although I did speak to him on the phone once when he was in England. He was a radical and it did something for my faith in that here was a man under terrible circumstances preaching about God and getting beaten up in jail for it and there's us over here who don't have to suffer anything anywhere near as bad as that.

"The album itself didn't prove very successful although I was pleased at how it turned out. At the time I was young and inexperienced as a Christian so I may have done things differently."

Next I believe was 'To The Chief Musician'.
"That was in 1988 and it was a live worship album and there are plenty of good songs on it. They were all my own songs and it still sells well at gigs. Since then I have done a few minor recordings for festivals but my next major attempt was 'Yes Lord'."

What was the inspiration for another live album?
"I find that live music is much better than recorded. Recorded music can be sterile unless you get a really great performance and there are very few people who could pull that off. Glyn Johns produced great performance-orientated albums, such as Joan Armatrading.

"With worship music you don't have to worry about the atmosphere or the anointing as it's already there. If you can get a great recording out of live worship, I would have it every time. I hope to do another studio album soon."

What did you set out to achieve with 'Yes Lord'?
"I set out to be myself rather than trying to be a worship leader. I wanted it to be Dave Markee expressing his roots, my music, and my praise to God. One of the tracks by Dave Ruis, 'Sing A Song Of Celebration', I played in four four instead of three four. I started off doing it as a joke in rehearsals one day, but it came out so well I used it on the album.

"I also took Psalm 142 verses one and two and rewrote it to appeal to today's generation. Jesus was a Jew and spoke in a way that they would understand and I feel that it's up to us to communicate in a way people can relate to and one of my ways is to use blues."

And another cover version of "Amazing Grace".
"Well, what can you say that hasn't been said about this song? It's a classic and can be sung in a variety of ways and with my arrangement I wanted to make a connection with the past and the present."

Tell me about the 'Yes Lord' tour.
"In all, we did eight or nine dates covering the country although the dates were well spread out. God's anointing really fell and people were released and the ministry was great. All the elements were there, worship, entertainment, ministry, prophecy, you name it we had it.

"One of the gigs was in Solihull and there were supposed to be two services but because the first one went so well, that idea had to be scrapped. I go out with the intention of having a party. There should be fun stuff and serious teachings, but Christianity should be enjoyed. I want to encourage the Church not to miss out. Take yesterday for instance. I read somewhere that Cardinal Ratzinger has said that all rock and roll is of the Devil! It's madness, the Church is being fooled into making a division. Satan is trying to shut us down through our cultures. That's one of the reasons I'm in the market place."