Remembering Dana Key

Everybody wants to be remembered
of something good, or kindness they shown
I want to help this world to find the answer
No one ever has to walk alone
When my time is over
I'll be satisfied
I thank God for the good times
Every moment of my life
Every day of my life

I was in 8th grade when I won a two tickets to the Christian rock concert at the Warehouse Church.

I’d been to a few Christian concerts in my day, but they were the Evie, Phil Enloe, and Bill Gaither Trio styled events. It was acceptable for us to listen to songs like There's Something About That Name and Let's Just Praise The Lord, but when a band has singers with long hair like Degarmo and Key and features songs like, Stella, This Aint Hollywood, it raised concerns over more than just grammer.

I was too old to go with my parents to a rock concert, yet I was too young to go alone. I wanted to ask my friend Steve if he could take me—he was a Sr. in high school and I knew that he loved Christian rock. Yet earlier that same year he had slipped me his dual cassette treasure of How the West was Won by The 2nd Chapter of Acts and Phil Keaggy because his parents thought it would send him to hell. Steve would certainly get busted to the Cox family’s own version of purgatory if he took me to the D&K concert.

I ended up asking my friend Lesha. She was a Jr, she was my best friend’s sister, and she had a car. Probably most important, my parents trusted her. It was one of my first dates—not romantic, mind you (I think she liked Steve), but a concert date none-the-less.

Lesha and I were amazed at what we saw take place at The Warehouse. Forget about the radio version of the Degarmo & Key songs we’d heard on KSPD’s Lightshine program—this group came to play southern-styled, gospel rock—something we’d never heard live before. It seemed we weren’t the only ones. At the end of the night we all stood and cheered for an encore; the band responded as is expected. But when the band left the stage for the second time no one moved. We clapped, cheered, and stomped our feet for another 10 minutes. Finally we saw someone poke their head out of a side door and stare at us before going back inside. A few minutes later the band emerged and walked back on stage to the roar of a deafening crowd.

Dana strapped on his guitar and grabbed the mike smiling. He told us we were crazy; I think we probably were. But what happened next was glorious—we were treated to a 30-minute jam session by a gospel rock band that loved their music. They gained some lifelong, Boise fans.

Degarmo & Key’s music changed over the years. They made their way through the 80’s into Christian pop, and they even had a video released on MTV. But something that never changed was their love for Jesus and their desire to share it through their lives. It came out in their lyrics, in the records they made, and they way they lived their lives off the stage.

Just last week the old band was together again for a concert at a biker’s convention in North Carolina. It would be Dana Key’s last. This week he died unexpectedly from complications with blood clots in his legs.

We miss him.

Here is one last, appropriate encore.

From the 1986 Dove Awards

I don't wanna go back
And try to relive my life
I just want to say thank you
For all those good times of my life
I will always cherished
All those days gone by
I thank God for the good times
Every moment, every moment of my life
Every day of my life
Every day of my life
Every day of my life

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