Darren Hirst conducted extensive interviews with RICHIE FURAY covering Buffalo Springfield, Poco through to his Calvary Chapel ministry

"I had been struggling with Asylum, other than David Geffen they didn't seem to understand what I was trying to do. I made those three albums from 1976 to 1979 -'I've Got A Reason', 'Dance A Little Light' and 'I Still Have Dreams' - that just didn't connect with the label so there was no effort on their part to get behind the projects. Because of that, being on a secular label, each project became more and more secular in nature - I was trying to get their support. After recording 'I Still Have Dreams' twice, and the first single going top 40 (with no help from the label) I decided it was time for me to move on and we mutually parted ways. I decided that the best direction for me was to become a contemporary Christian artist and I signed with Myrrh, a subsidiary of Word Records. It seemed the natural way to go since all attempts in the secular market place were falling on deaf ears. Myrrh bought the rights to re-market 'I've Got A Reason' to buy me some time to write my first (and last) contemporary Christian album. I was trying to find a niche where my music would be appreciated and accepted. As it turned out that was not the case and so it was from there, 1982, that I threw my arms up and asked 'What will you have me to do Lord?' My good intentions, after becoming a believer, was to put together 'the rock & roll band for God', but that wasn't his plan and I basically accepted the fact that I wasn't going to make any more recordings. So I sought the Lord for a new direction and a new beginning. That's when I started a home Bible study that evolved into Calvary Chapel of Boulder which eventually became today's Calvary Chapel of Broomfield."

This is really quite an unusual story. There aren't too many musicians with that longevity of career in music who would put their music on the back-burner and take up pastoring a church. The only comparable situation I can think of is Al Green, the soul singer. Having spoken to Al recently, it seemed to me that there were parallels between the way the two situations progressed - albeit that the two singers are radically different in many other ways. I knew that Rev Green hadn't studied formally before becoming pastor. Did Richie's transition take a similar path at this point or did he find himself entering college or seminary? "I have never gone to any theological schools. I spent a lot of time in Costa Mesa, California at Calvary Chapel and went to a lot of services and listened to a lot of expositional commentary tapes of Pastor Chuck Smith. That became my schooling and from there it has been 'on the job' training."

Richie Furay, 2008

Even so, to teach Bible well requires some book learning. Which thinkers and writers have particularly influenced Richie? "Certainly Pastor Chuck. In fact, I guess I was influenced by the men he was influenced by - C H Spurgeon, F B Meyer, G Campbell Morgan, Martin Lloyd-Jones, Harry Ironside, J Vernon McGee - the list goes on. Currently there are many good teachers - Chuck Swindoll, John MacArthur, David Hocking, Chuck Missler as well".

In the late-'80s Richie was invited to join a reunion of the original Poco members. Personally, I was somewhat surprised when he signed up. The resulting album 'Legacy' became a major commercial success, although artistically it didn't capture all the old magic. It spent six months on the US Billboard album chart and produced two top 40 singles, "Call It Love" and "Nothing To Hide". The latter of these, ironically, with Randy Meisner on lead vocals, had a distinctive echo of the sound of their old rivals, the Eagles classic "Take It To The Limit". However, Richie was to find the tour and album a difficult experience. His values had moved on over the last 15 years but the mainstream rock scene hadn't. There were squabbles over lyrical content and pressure from some members of Richie's church who didn't really understand why he was involved. Richie was to withdraw before the tour reached the lucrative Japanese market and in the years that followed concentrated on recording worship material. Now for the first time since then Richie has recorded an album 'Heartbeat Of Love' that doesn't deal exclusively with songs that are explicitly about his faith in God. Also, I'd heard a whisper that he was considering a tour with Jimmy Messina - one of his old Poco bandmates. I asked him what had changed?

"Nothing except that I have become more mature and confident in who I am in the Lord. There was intimidation (on both sides) during that time, and it just wasn't the right time for us to get together. I felt as though I was boxed in a corner on a few occasions and I drew a line in the sand that was basically crossed during the video of the 'Call It Love' release. I think everyone involved has put that behind them and with the exception of Randy we have all played together again on numerous occasions. I have several dates right now scheduled with Poco for the fall. Jimmy and I were going to do a tour but certain details couldn't be worked out and we'll look for another opportunity. I will say I do like performing with my own band - I have a new live recording due out in July - 'Richie Furay Alive' - one of the reasons for that preference being I know exactly what's going to be said on stage! 'Heartbeat Of Love' is a collection of songs my writing partner Scott Sellen and I have been working on for a long time. The opportunity arose right after I participated in a Poco DVD recording so it was somewhat of a surprise that it came about as fast as it did. I had just finished 'I Am Sure' (a worship album) and no sooner than it was done I was on my way back to Nashville. A couple of the songs were written for two of my daughters' weddings. Whether they have Christian lyrics or not - praising and worshipping God - they are about my relationships and what he has done in my life and they are an expression of love - sometimes there is pain, but they are about love."

My travels take me to New York and I'd heard that Richie was scheduled to play a profile gig there at BB King's Blues Club on Times Square. I asked Richie what kind of songs make the setlist on a occasion like that? "When I do my live shows I play my whole history from Buffalo Springfield through Poco and The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band to my solo recordings that include 'In My Father's House' and 'I Am Sure' - you'll be pleased to know we actually do 'Rise Up' and Through It All' from 'Seasons Of Change'! But I do a medley of the songs I sang on the first Buffalo Springfield album and it's just a fun evening of history - songs that people haven't heard in a long time. I do Poco songs that the current lineup (who I occasionally guest with) don't do in their set so fans are getting a double dose. We often play for an hour and a half to two hours. The new live CD set, for example, is a double CD with 27 songs if you tally up the medleys - so it covers everything, old and new."

I noticed that there's been a change in Richie's writing style since the 'Seasons Of Change' days. On the albums for that time he wrote rock, country and pop songs where the lyrics addressed spiritual thoughts and themes but very consciously describing his personal experiences and developments. By the time of the more recent albums 'In My Father's House' and 'I Am Sure', the songs were much more in a style that works well in congregational worship. I've personally used a number of Richie's songs in my own congregations and he'd helped me out with the arrangements of them a few years ago. I wondered if it was his pastoral work that had caused his songwriting to develop in that way or whether there are other reasons. "I don't see myself as a contemporary Christian artist. Scott (Sellen - Richie's co-writer) and I write songs that reflect our love for the Lord and his for us. Also it is so much fun to go into churches and do a night of worship!"

As well as touring, Richie has a host of albums available. I asked him what his vision for his music was now. "As long as the Lord allows me, I want to continue to share my music in as many different venues as I can. It is difficult underwriting a tour these days but everyone works together to make it work. We love to go into the secular arena but as I said before it is equally exciting to go into churches and see a congregation who is not familiar with my music, come away filled with the joy of the Lord."

The church that Richie pastors has gone from strength-to-strength. A few years ago, the church relocated from Boulder, Colorado to nearby Broomfield. I asked him if the change was going well. "Yes. We moved to be closer to the folks who are coming to the church and because moving to the new area gave us the opportunity to own a property. This has been the first time in 25 years we've owned our property. We have a nice 4.3 acres with two buildings on it and - it's 'home away from home.' I can't tell you how much of a blessing this has been for us. For 20 years we had to set up and tear down for every meeting, but now we have our own little sanctuary and everything is set up. We've really enjoyed becoming part of the neighbourhood and the community."

Richie celebrated a quarter of a century in the ministry on Mother's day this year. Fittingly, Al Perkins was around to join the celebrations. Al pointed out to me how moved he was to see all God has done, and is doing, through Nancy and Richie's lives. He couldn't have imagined this when he began to share "a few words" all those years ago. I concluded our conversations by asking about Richie's hopes for the future - for the church and his pastorate. He said, "I think it's every pastor's desire to see the work that was begun continue, regardless of who's in the pulpit. Then of course the vision is: 'to be witnesses to him in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'"