All the Details
On the 15th anniversary of his tragic passing, a collection of songwriters, musicians, artists, fans, and friends came together for a celebration of the music of Rich Mullins.
Dulcimers, guitars, pianos, a small orchestra, a choir, and the voices of many artists and performers performed over 20 of Rich’s best loved songs. It was a lovely night.
We have archived all of the performances from this wonderful evening of music and memories here on this site for you to enjoy and share freely. Peace of Christ to you.
Full Band – “Here in America”
Lead Vocals, piano - Greg Adkins / Acoustic Guitar - Adam Whipple / Accordion - Bill Wolf / Drums - Chad Covert / Upright Bass - Matthew Nelson
A Tribute to Rich Mullins
The evening was broken into two different parts. After the full band opened up the show with "Here in America", several local singer-songwriters, musicians, and bands
each performed one of their favorite Rich Mullins songs. The next seven songs make up part one of the show. Scroll down after that to hear Part Two
of the show where a full band with strings and a small choir perform 11 of Rich's best known songs.
Mark Nelson’s Opening Comments
Adam Whipple – Land of My Sojourn
Adam Whipple - acoustic guitar, vocals / Greg Adkins - mandolin
Bill Wolf – Surely God is With Us
Bill Wolf - acoustic guitar, vocals
Jeph Hurst – Hold Me Jesus
Jeph Hurst - acoustic guitar, vocals / Adam Whipple - Accordion
Greg Adkins – Boy Like Me, Man Like You
Greg Adkins - tenor ukelele, vocals / Adam Whipple - pennywhistle / Adam Adkins - percussion
Standing Small – We are not as Strong as we Think we Are
John Thomas Oaks – Sing a Song / Sing Your Praise to the Lord
John Thomas Oaks - piano, vocals
Stephen Humphries – 78 Eatonwood Green
hammered dulcimer - Stephen Humphries / acoustic guitar - Adam Whipple / accordion - Greg Adkins / drums - Chad Covert
chimes - Adam Adkins / upright bass - Matthew Nelson / classical guitar - Burt Elmore
Part Two
In Part Two of the show, the full band took the stage accompanied by a string section and a small choir.
In between songs video clips of Rich speaking were shown and we have included those clips below. Enjoy.
Full Band – “I Will Sing / Hope to Carry On”
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Bill Wolf / Acoustic Guitar - Greg Adkins / Electric Guitar - Burt Elmore / Drums - Chad Covert / Bass Guitar - Matthew Nelson
Organ - Adam Whipple / Percussion - Adam Adkins / Harmony Vocals - Sarah McAffry, Adam Whipple
Rich Mullins – Driving Without Headlights
Full Band – The Color Green
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Bill Wolf / Piano - Greg Adkins / Drums - Chad Covert / Bass Guitar - Matthew Nelson / Pennywhistle - Adam Whipple
Accordion - Jeph Hurst / Violin - Bethany Hankins, Selena Koo, Erin Martin / Viola - Robyn James / Cello - Dave Coulter
Full Band – If I Stand
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Adam Whipple / Accordion - Greg Adkins / Drums - Chad Covert
Upright Bass - Matthew Nelson / Acoustic Guitar - Bill Wolf / Harmony Vocals - Sarah McAffry
Full Band – Calling out Your Name
Lead Vocals - Adam Whipple / Hammered Dulcimer - Stephen Humphries / Percussion - Adam Adkins
Bowed Upright Bass - Matthew Nelson / Violin - Bethany Hankins, Selena Koo, Erin Martin / Viola - Robyn James / Cello - Dave Coulter
Choir Vocals - Greg Adkins, Bill Wolf, Jeph Hurst, Andy Vandergriff, John Thomas Oaks, Thomas Smith
Rich Mullins – Bloom Where You’re Planted
Full Band – Hard to Get
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Greg Adkins / Harmonium - Bill Wolf / Drums - Chad Covert / Pennywhistle, B3 Organ - Adam Whipple
Bass - Matthew Nelson / Electric Guitar - Burt Elmore / Percussion - Adam Adkins / Harmony Vocals - Sarah McAffry
Violin - Bethany Hankins, Selena Koo, Erin Martin / Viola - Robyn James / Cello - Dave Coulter
Rich Mullins – Elijah Intro
Full Band – Elijah
Lead Vocals, Piano - Greg Adkins / Drums - Chad Covert / Electric Guitar - Burt Elmore
Bass - Matthew Nelson / Acoustic Guitar - Adam Whipple
Full Band – My Deliverer
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Bill Wolf / Piano - Greg Adkins / Drums - Chad Covert / Bass Guitar - Matthew Nelson / Pennywhistle - Adam Whipple
Choir Vocals - Andy Vandergriff, Mandy Watson, Donna Barnett, Sherry Lundy, John Thomas Oaks, Jeph Hurst, Amanda Kinney, Thomas Smith
Violin - Bethany Hankins, Selena Koo, Erin Martin / Viola - Robyn James / Cello - Dave Coulter / Harmony Vocals - Sarah McAffry
Rich Mullins – Sometimes by Step Intro
Full Band – Sometimes by Step
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Adam Whipple / Hammered Dulcimer - Stephen Humphries / Piano - Bill Wolf / Drums - Chad Covert
Bass Guitar - Matthew Nelson / Electric Guitar - Burt Elmore / Percussion - Adam Adkins / Harmony Vocals - Sarah McAffry
Choir Vocals - Andy Vandergriff, Mandy Watson, Donna Barnett, Greg Adkins, Sherry Lundy, John Thomas Oaks, Jeph Hurst, Amanda Kinney, Thomas Smith
Full Band – I See You
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar - Bill Wolf / Piano - Greg Adkins / Drums - Chad Covert / Bass Guitar - Matthew Nelson / Electric Guitar - Burt Elmore / Percussion - Adam Adkins
Choir Vocals - Andy Vandergriff, Mandy Watson, Donna Barnett, Greg Adkins, Sarah McAffry, Sherry Lundy, John Thomas Oaks, Jeph Hurst, Amanda Kinney, Thomas Smith
Full Band – Awesome God
Lead Vocals, Piano - Greg Adkins / Drums - Chad Covert / Bass Guitar - Matthew Nelson / Electric Guitar - Burt Elmore
Choir Vocals - Andy Vandergriff, Mandy Watson, Donna Barnett, Sherry Lundy, John Thomas Oaks, Jeph Hurst, Amanda Kinney, Thomas Smith, Adam Whipple, Bill Wolf
Violin - Bethany Hankins, Selena Koo, Erin Martin / Viola - Robyn James / Cello - Dave Coulter / Harmony Vocals - Sarah McAffry
Full Band – Creed
Lead Vocals - Adam Whipple / Hammered Dulcimer - Stephen Humphries / Drums - Chad Covert / Bass Guitar - Matthew Nelson / Percussion - Adam Adkins / Piano - Greg Adkins
Violin - Bethany Hankins, Selena Koo, Erin Martin / Viola - Robyn James / Cello - Dave Coulter / Harmony Vocals - Sarah McAffry
Rich Mullins – It Is Well
We ended the night with Rich leading the crowd in singing the old hymn "It is Well".
It’s going to be a great. I can’t wait to be there. Thanks to all who have worked (and are working) hard to make this a special night.
Thanks Tim. We’ve worked our tails off on this one. We had an incredible dress rehearsal this past Saturday and we’re ready to go for Wednesday. We’re just all excited to get to spend a whole night celebrating Rich’s music.
It has been a long time since Rich’s life here on earth ended in that tragic acicdent. I saw him concert twice, the first time was just him and his good friend, Beaker, there in south Arlington (or maybe it was Grand Prairie). The concert was totally acoustic and the audience was totally connected. It’s sad that we don’t hear much of his music on the airwaves anymore. His words were more than simple praises. Like the psalmists, his words were poetry.
I’d sure love to hear Growing Young… that’s my all time favorite.
Hey John, glad you guys are coming to the show.
I tried to meet Rich multiple times when I was lvinig in New Mexico. Twice we were literally in the same building a room apart from each other and when one would go to meet the other, the other would have left for some reason. (We had a mutual friend.) I heard a lot of stories about the real Rich from people closest to him and I wish I had gotten to know him. But I did get to see first hand the work that he had done with the kids on the reservation and it was amazing. He’s still my favorite Christian artist. The demos for the Jesus Record have yet to be matched IMO.
Who specifically is performing?
I emailed you the full list… hope you saw that!
Seems a little late to be requesting anything, but I would love to hear The Color Green. Really anything off of A Liturgy, A Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band. That, and Ready for the Storm.
You’ll hear more than one off of the “Liturgy” record. How could we not!!! So many classics.
Calling out your name
Thank you for your hard work in preparing Rich Mullins Tribute for us. Your love for him is admirable. God Bless you.
Thank you so much for doing this and sharing this. It brought back so many good memories and I actually knew all the words to every song performed. His music was and still is a large part of my life.
The renditions of Rich’s songs in the second half of the show are some of the best covers I’ve ever heard! This is really wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this. You folks are great musicians, and really caught the high energy, the joy, and the heart of Rich’s music!
Marvelously executed. You captured the meaning of Rich. I’m singing along alone in my office… with tears. Rich would be proud of this event. Wish I could have been there (where was it??)…
Very good.Thank you very much
I stumbled across this tribute by accident, and to everyone who performed, I have to say “thank you.” This is a surprisingly moving tribute that is simply excellent in quality. With some of these songs, I have felt the same awe that I felt upon first hearing them decades ago. Your love, care, respect, and even awe of the material makes this tribute powerful. I look forward to learning more about the talented musicians who contributed.