SETH WORLEY


I was born on the African continent in Morocco. My first home was in close proximity to an Arab village where assemblies and meetings were called by the beating of drums. My family’s experience living among the Arab people was wonderful; my Mother still refers to our home there as “paradise”. I like to think that those drums influenced me toward being a percussionist and that, in a fashion, they still beat within me.

My father was an Air Force officer so we moved about some: Morocco, Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, California, and then back to Texas. The latter part of his Air Force Career dealt in matters of national security. During the 60’s he worked with the U2 and SR71 programs (spy planes. The SR71 program was based in southern California. So, that’s where we were in the mid-60’s. I remember watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in our brand new home there. I took one look at the fab four and said to myself: “that’s what I want to do.” I was 10 years old and there began my musical journey. I took up drums at school. I joined the city youth orchestra and learned a lot about dynamics and playing with other musicians. It was a great education really. My early musical influences were the Beatles, Bob Dylan, folk music and radio music: the Stones, Animals, Byrds, Deep Purple, Beachboys, the Who, the Turtles, etc . About the time the psychedelic rock scene emerged, we moved from California to a small Texas town on the Mexican border. I was a bit of a spectacle coming from California – they called me a “surfer” even though I’d never been on a board.

My welcome to Del Rio began with these words from my new Jr. High School principal: “Son, your hair is too long.” His name was Mr. Love. I guess Mr. Love felt that he needed to make a point. He did, but it marked the beginning of a long and arduous battle between me and the school administration. I was a fighter without a cause. My brother and I were in a gang fight my first year in high school and though it was my last fight, from then on, he and I shared a reputation for being tough and we were never bothered again.

Musically, Del Rio was pretty hip. I became a part of the high school music scene. For all practical purposes, the only job I had during high school was playing the drums. We had a blast. Interestingly enough, Wolfman Jack was a DJ in Mexico on a top 40 station during this time. We’d listen to him on AM station XERF out of nearby Mexico. Country music was a big deal too and I enjoyed listening to it: Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Johnny Rodriguez, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price, whose bandleader Blondie Calderon, lived in Del Rio. It all influenced me musically, but my heart was in rock music. I played in cover bands and we did some experimental music and dabbled in light-shows and visual effects during our performances. I still think these things add a lot to a show.

San Antonio, Texas was just 150 miles from Del Rio and it is a rockin’ town. We saw all the great bands of that time there: Vanilla Fudge, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Canned Heat, Yes, Grateful Dead, BB King, Chicago, Santana, Hot Tuna, Moody Blues, Humble Pie, Rare Earth, and many, many more. The weekend of Woodstock, I saw Jethro Tull open for Led Zeppelin in San Antonio. These were great times musically, but drugs were openly used at these venues and so it was an easy trap for me to fall into.
I thought for a season that drugs would enlighten me and that the world would be better if everyone would simply “turn on”. It didn’t take long, however, to see that drugs only led to more drugs. Though I was never a heavy drug user, I saw some of my heroes die to drug overdose: Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin. I saw people become skeletal from speed abuse before my eyes. This caused me to reject drugs as a viable life style and I began searching as many of us did in the late 60’s and early 70’s. In college, I began mediating with a group of people who believed that Jesus was tooling around the heavens in a space ship. They did channeling etc. I was buying the whole enchilada till I heard about the space ship business. This was more than even I could swallow, and I moved on. I became a vegetarian, turned toward gardening, bread-making, and exercise, and any religion except Christianity. I thought Jesus was cool but I rejected the church. In our apartment there was even a black-light poster of Jesus – we were a mess!

The one constant in my life was music.
I always played in four-piece bands. We liked a fuller sound even though the three piece thing was hip. Initially we had a rhythm guitarist, but when we lost a bass player, our rhythm guy took up the bass. I knew of a young lady who played a Hammond V3 and invited her to play with us. We formed a band called “Garden”. “Garden” was kind of a statement. We were saying that we wanted to return to the Garden. I wanted my music to convey a message and believed that music should have a cause. My personal cause was peace. I suppose I had good intentions, but it was all based on naïve notions about government, nations, and a simplistic view of relationships, and survival.

After high school, I bought a guitar and started playing quite a bit. My music focused more on acoustic styles. I put my drum kit away and if I played with someone else, I would accompany on congas. Through a series of incredible “coincidences”, spiritual encounters, and the prayers of some dear Christians, I surrendered my life to Christ at the age of 19. This was an intense time of introspection (looking inside of myself) as I realized that my adolescent life had been reckless. Honestly, I had to relearn how to relate to people all over again.

As a young believer, I tried playing in a Christian band but it wasn’t working for me at the time. I became more of a soloist because I really didn’t have anyone that shared my dream for a band. I worked alone musically for many years. I worked at improving my style and technique of songwriting. Writing songs is for me a time of devotion and being alone. Often times it is prayerful. Whatever I am writing about, I ask myself “what is the honest thing to say here”, and “what is the essence of this thought or experience?” The rhyming and phrases are then like putting a puzzle together. It takes an immense amount of time to do this well, but I find it enjoyable. For many years the vision of my playing was a distant dream. So, when Barry approached me about the possibility of playing in a band with him, he didn’t have to ask twice. WTS is, for me, a gift from God. To play with these friends is my dream come true. God really does give us the desires of our hearts.

I love drums: big ones, small ones, metal ones, wooden ones, goat skin, or synthetic, primitive, modern, - the more the better. WTS celebrates rhythm in a lot of our music by giving drums and percussion a central place. Today, thanks to the work of people like Terl Bryant and the Psalm Drummers, we are learning that drums were a significant part of ancient Hebrew worship. In scripture, the word tambourine, or timbrel, comes from a Hebrew word meaning “drum”. WTS is part of the movement to return drums to their ancient and rightful place in worship and Christian music.

Wear That Shoe’s (WTS) mission is to be a community of believers who share the message of God’s love by being a top-notch band. So, we try to be real with each other and those with whom we come in contact. I contribute some of the songwriting to the band, and I also provide some of the percussion influences of our music. Working with WTS is challenging and rewarding. I’m honored to play with each of our members. It is a composite of people from varied backgrounds. Our influences are many and range from traditional American folk music, bluegrass & country to jazz, rock, and world music. Each of us brings a bit of influence from a different frame of reference, but we come together and bend. What comes out is unique, if nothing else.

WTS is about caring for one another and working together. It is also about honoring the musical gifts of one another. The scriptures teach that we should consider one another as more important than ourselves. I’m playing with some of the best musicians I’ve ever known, and yet they listen to my stuff, add to it, and encourage me. The whole of WTS is greater than the sum of its parts. If our friendship within the band doesn’t reflect our faith, then we’d probably do more good by writing jingles for breakfast cereal. The truth is we care about one another and the people we play for. We’re ordinary people who hope that our music will be a little extra-ordinary.

I could talk about all our band members all day. They are all kind and genuine and each of them add things to the music that create a fun sound. Barry is the band leader and he has a great feel for the soul of a song; he also has this fun and intuitive knack for bringing the best out of musicians. Bruce is the groove doctor, he’s interested in the whole sound of what we do and he bends the direction of our work in terms of synchronism and dynamics. The first time Bruce joined WTS for rehearsal, he transformed our sound. With Bruce, the groove is king. He says: “it’s all about the groove.” He’s a real inspiration to me because he is what I believe a drummer should be and that takes work and dedication. Mark is what I call a gifted-eclectic. He can play about any instrument. I jokingly say that he’s never satisfied with our sound, but the reality is that he has high standards and wants all of us to shine. Amy brings freshness to the band – her lyrics and melodies are full of hope and faith; she reminds me that it’s not about us. It’s about Jesus. Craig is Mr. Steady on the bass – creative and solid, he’s also a quick study and an encourager. Forest is just like his name: peaceful, relaxed, and inspiring. His musical style works with the rest of us. Together, we strive to prefer one another.

For me, being a part of WTS is like a unique and beautiful phenomenon of nature. There are plants that seldom blossom, but have beautiful, fragrant flowers. There are also certain configurations of the stars and planets that are rare and beautiful. Sharing the musical experience with friends who are knit together through the bonds of peace and a common desire to share the gospel, is similar.

I hope that our music reflects the uniqueness of our relationships and our experience as a small community of believers.

SETH'S INFLUENCES:
Bob Dylan
The classic rock groups of the 60's and early 70's
Paul Simon
Johnny Clegg
Maná