New CD's, Breathe In (2012) and Hope For All the World (2013)
Thirteen albums, including Dove
Award-winning albums “Fearless” and “Top of My Lungs,” 21 #1 hit radio singles including, “Let My
Words Be Few,” Great Are You Lord,” and “Revelation Song"
Dove Awards & several nominations,
sales of over 3 million units; All full-time pastors at their respective churches
All married with
children (Dan Dean also has grandchildren)
GUEST BIO
Phillips, Craig & Dean's Hope for the World
By
The 700 Club
CBN.com - TOGETHER FOR THE LONG HAUL
Randy Phillips, Shawn Craig and Dan Dean are the voices behind music group Phillips, Craig, and Dean and have been worshiping together for nearly 23 years. The three pastors have succeeded at writing songs that express how people feel about God. They have won Doves and have seen record sales of all their CDs. All three of them are pastor/singers, and are surprised and humbled at how long they've lasted and how far they've gone. When they started they just wanted to do an album, break even on the cost of making it, and have fun. They had no idea how successful they would become – because for them it is a group of friends worshiping and honoring God. They are grateful to all of the radio stations and the fans throughout the years.
They have two new CDs, “Breathe In” and a Christmas CD, “Hope for All the World.”
LASTING FRIENDSHIP
These three men were friends before they started singing as a group. Randy was the one that gathered them together. He says he wanted to choose balanced, godly men – those he knew could handle whatever would come along. As a result, he received more than what he thought. Randy says of his group mates that they are great, Godly men of integrity and character. To Randy Phillips, Shawn and Dan are great friends with five-star talents and they have become a great company of men. When they started they were three preachers’ kids that got together. In the 23 years they've grown together and it’s been a terrific journey for them. They started in their 30s and now are in their 50s. They were all preachers’ kids and now all of them were lead pastors. Also, when they started Shawn was not married and Randy didn’t have any children. Now Shawn is married with children, Randy has children, and Dan is a grandfather. Randy says it’s been great to go through the seasons of life together. They still live in the same places (Randy lives in Austin, TX; Shawn lives in St. Louis, MO; and Dan Dean lives in Irving, TX). Phillips, Craig, and Dean still get together about the same as they have over the last two decades (plus). They do about 3 – 4 dates a month (depending on their schedules) traveling with a full band. When they get together that's when they do sound check and rehearse. Randy says people still want to hear Phillips, Craig, and Dean classic songs, like “Let My Words Be Few,” so the trio just needs to brush up. Other than Phillips, Craig, and Dean events they don’t get together a lot. Recording an album is its own entity. Practicing and studio time is about every 18 months. Sometimes it is happening the same time as performance dates–it’s a separate thing.
Shawn says remaining friends is fun and they've managed to still like each other over the years. He defines friendship as understanding the uniqueness of the other and being okay with that. That’s what makes the relationship flourish and appreciating the differences causes relationships to grow. Shawn admits the first couple of years of the group were hard. He also says in friendship and marriages if you try to change the differences, that is what causes problems…differences can complement each other. Using the parable of The Good Samaritan, Shawn says this is how each member of the group would be personified: Dan would be mercy. You could have a good cry with Dan, tell him your problems, etc., but he would not help you out of the pit; Shawn would give the 12-Steps on how to get out of the ditch; and Randy would give heavy exhortation and say, “Get out of that ditch!”
TRIALS ALONG THE WAY
The group has certainly seen its share of trials along the way too. Dan has been battling prostate cancer. Now, it has been a little over a year since he had surgery for prostate cancer - it was one year June 2013. Today, Dan says things are going well and he is believing for no reoccurrence. His six-month check-up came up clear and he will be getting his PSA results in October (this month). The older he gets he sees how important faith is in the Christian walk. It is important not to focus on temporal. Dan says you have to have something bigger to believe in. With faith you believe in something bigger. On that continuum you have two choices in life: you can choose to question faith, “God where are you?” or respond, “God, I totally trust and believe you’re there.” Faith does not always mean you are delivered from adversity. Those in Hebrews 11 and others were not always delivered from their trials. Dan believes it takes more faith to walk in adversity. We all have a choice to continue to believe and say, “God, you are in control of my heart.”
Randy is also battling cancer in a different way. His father, who is a great man of God for 45 years, has lymphoma and is taking final chemo treatments. Randy's sister has leukemia and is taking strong dosages of medication. Randy says walking through this season is very unusual. He sees his father (who he once saw strong) going through this in a weakened physical state. However, Randy believes God is at work in this. It’s a strange thing and he doesn't know why, but he believes God’s hand is in it somehow.
WHEN THE STARS BURN DOWN (BLESSING AND HONOR)
From their new album Breathe In, the song “When the Stars Burn Down (Blessing and Honor)” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Soft Christian chart (information from Worship Today Magazine). More importantly, this song is one of those songs that gives Christians a taste now of things to come in worshipping God in all His splendor and glory. In these hard times, the hope for the album is for people to focus on the greatness of God, to “breathe in” and take a deep breath of God, let it permeate into their souls, and let God deposit “something heavenly into earthen vessels.”
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