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I was born in Bangkok, Thailand and came to South Africa in1959. I grew up in a Roman Catholic but musical house hold. My grandmother sang and played uke and piano, my Mom played piano and organ and my great grandfather was a concert pianist in Dublin. I grew up listening to rock ‘n roll and blues influenced music. When I was about 18 I heard groups like Moody Blues and Uriah Heep and this had a profound impact on me. In my heart I knew that music was going to be part of my life. When I was 8 I bought a cheap and nasty guitar, I even went for some lessons, but it all seemed a bit much for me. I really envied people who could just hear a tune and pick it out. But parent's gardener knew a few chords and tought them to me. Some of my friends could also play and they showed me some barre chords. At the same time I learned drums and played in a high school band from the time I was 12. One day I heard some Flamenco guitar playing and the fire was ignited in my soul. However, I couldn't find a Flamenco guitar teacher, so I went to a classical teacher who helped me with finger style technique. By this time I had given my cheap and nasty guitar to the gardener mentioned earlier and had upgraded to Contrreras Spanish guitar. I now poured my heart into playing guitar. By now I was 10 years older, my hands were bigger and stronger, I had a guitar that played easier and found that it had become quite easy to play guitar.

In the early 70's I had become interested in body building, power lifting and motorbikes. This led me across the path of Ray McCauley. I became his gym manager and training partner. Here I came into contact with many athletes. Some of them were from Campus Crusade for Christ and had a profound impact on my life. At that time I was searching to find meaning in life and this ultimately led me to God. When I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour I found peace and joy and meaning in life. I joined a church where they played gospel music and soon I became involved with this type of music, and played in churches and on outreaches.I had a burning desire to glorify God with music and to bring the message of the Gospel in music form. As there were few opportunities for gospel music however, I started playing at weddings and restaurant functions. I then formed a celtic folk rock band, The Mad Hatters, with my friend, Jeff Hopkins. We had a lot of fun over the years. In the meantime I had also been writing gospel songs but there was not much opportunity to play them. By this stage I was full time occupied with music, working as a guitar teacher with The Modern Music School. I later became the South African manager of this school. However, in the latter half of 1986, I started my own music school called The Modern Guitar School. I worked and trained with many South African guitarists.

When I met my present wife 2 years ago there came a fulfilment of a lifelong dream. Finally God had brought me someone to accomplish His purpose in and through me, a real helper who is prepared to share my vision. Not only does Lena have a rich and emotional voice but she plays a solid bass guitar rand writes meaningful verses which greatly enriches our music. I come up with chords, hooks and riffs which she complements with words and ideas. I feel together we create a texture of message, music and meaning. "I AM" is the the beginning of our teamwork and vision.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY LENA

I was born Uta Helene Malczak, 1.April 1970, which, so I've been told, explains a lot about me... I was born in Buchholz in der Nordheide in Germany. In 1982 my family immigrated to South Africa. I always had a passion for horses, so even though my parents sent me to University for degrees and diplomas so that I would have a real job I ended up being one of the privileged people who made a career out of my hobby, after I obtained said degrees and diplomas. Contrary to my father's opinion, however, my education was not totally wasted, at least that's my opinion. Apart from learning rhythm from the horses and how to get them to dance in a dressage arena and having a whole lot of fun show jumping and doing some cross country, which of course does require just a touch of courage and possibly a hint of insanity, working with them intensely over the years has been incredibly character building. They say horses are very therapeutic, and that is most definitely true. But they can teach you a lot about your own limitations, humility, perseverance, getting over your sweet self, team work, loosing with good grace, competing and sportsmanship, the list is endless. I became a Christian when I was 18 years old, but coming from a totally non-believing, German background and not being discipled properly I had a rather eventful journey... "My people perish for lack of knowledge" was rather a reality for me, though God kept me through all my adventures and misadventures and turned all things to some good along the way. It took me a long time to find the right path and stay on it, but I am growing up, eventually. I thank God for the vast variety of books that have been written, teaching cd's and dvd's that are available, and His Holy Spirit who persisted in pointing me to the resources I needed, and of course the faithful people who serve Him. Most of all I thank God for the Bible, it's all there, if you know where to look...

I always loved music. One of my mother's favourite embarrassing stories she likes to tell about me is that when I was about 4 years old I used to walk down the middle of the road at night with my arms stretched out, turning in circles while looking at the sky and singing songs to the stars... But I never persued music, though I got a guitar and got sent for lessons briefly when I was 11 years oId, I really was only interested in horses. Besides, my sister was a genius on the piano from a very young age, I had no urge to compete with her or try to catch up or keep up... I just always loved listening to music and singing in the shower. I did sing in the choir in a couple of churches, but until I met John in the beginning of 2009 it was just something I enjoyed greatly. I've come a long way since then, learning how to play bass guitar in a fashion as well as actually writing lyrics. Considering that I am absolutely not poetic I can only give God the credit for that! Creative writing is one thing, but poetry just did not make much sense to me, somehow I always totally misinterpreted it, whatever language it came in... But John would ask me to listen to something he'd just come up with and I always said, "Great, but it needs verses", to which he'd reply, "You go and write them". Ooops. And usually while occupied with something totally mundane God would show me something, remind me of something I'd just read, and the verses just poured out, Glory to God! Somehow I always thought my calling in life was with horses but I have realized lately that there are different stages and one stage builds onto and prepares you for the next. I can no longer ride due to a nasty physical condition, and as devastated as I initially was I can see that God has a new direction for me, and quite frankly nothing could have stopped me from riding otherwise, and I would never have turned to the music. Nothing is ever wasted though, God works everything together in the bigger picture!

Thank Yous

Many , many thanks to Julius Magan for giving me permission to sing his awesome song "Did It Hurt"! I have loved his music for years and there are many beautiful, meaningful, stirring songs he has written and produced, he has my deepest gratitude and has inspired me tremendously! I must also thank Jonathan Shaw, you are brilliant producer, we could not have done it without you! Your technical skills, your deep understanding and knowledge of music, your readiness to try something different and sensitivity to what we are trying to do, your enthusiasm, your tact, your patience and being willing to always go the extra mile and accommodating temperamental whims and afterthoughts, you're fantastic! And thank you for all the extra help that really has nothing to do with recording and mixing, your guidance is invaluable! Many thanks also to Rudolph Bouwer for convincing me to leave the age of the dinosaur and catch up with present day technology, in other words becoming computer literate, for advising me with regards to a computer and introducing me to it gently. Many thanks to Belinda Bezuidenhout for playing the flute on "Every Day", you have a beautiful gift and ability and feel for music, thank you for your help! And also many thanks to Nicholas Bezuidenhout for his guitar work on the same song, you're a super guy, always balanced and diplomatic and willing to try new things, and you play brilliant guitar to boot! Thanks are also due to Clive Wood, I really appreciate your contributions on drums, but even more so for guiding me with the lyrics of "Agape", this song would not have happened if you had not inspired me! I want to thank my husband, John, for believing in me, for seeing something in me that he could work with, for teaching me how to play bass, and buying me an awesome 5-string, really quite wasted on me, but greatly appreciated, for giving me a space to contribute and participate in bringing his vision to pass. John also would like to thank me for inspiring him and supporting him in making this CD.

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