User:Jmbewe2012/sandbox

BIO

I was born in a town called Kalingalinga east of the capital city of Zambia. My house did not have any electricity or running water. I remember going to a nearby faucet to draw water to have a shower every single day. With my dad making about $40 a month and with three siblings, it was nearly impossible for me to go to school. By God’s grace, I did manage to go to primary school.

When I was about 7 years old, my cousin who was mentally challenged made me a 4-string African banjo. The strings were thin strong wires pulled out of an old tire. It was the very first instrument that I ever owned. Even though the strings would hurt my fingers, I still practiced on the banjo in the evening after coming back from the children’s choir practice at my church. My interest in playing the banjo grew and later developed into the desire to play the 6-string guitar. A good friend of mine had managed to acquire two better 6-string guitars. We practiced for a while together developing our musical talents until we later created our first boy band. After playing for a few years, we were hired to play with a local band for different functions.

After my mom passed away of a stroke, music became my lifeline. When life seemed useless, I found myself praying or singing and playing my guitar. Many songs I write reflects the pain I went through, but also the joy of the life I find in God now. I discovered that life is more than things we acquire.

At the age of 12, my friend Daniel and I started a quartet which later became the Zambian Acapella. We traveled in Zambia singing in different churches and venues. We later had an opportunity to tour the United States for several years. In 1997, we founded a group called the Zambian Vocal Group while attending college in the United States. The group is still touring in the US.

After graduating with a computer science degree from the University of Texas at Tyler, I continued my music career touring with ZVG while running an online business. In May of 2007, I joined Calvary Commission to help with the website, publications and doing promo videos for the ministry. We have since taken two mission trips to Zambia helping with the Zambian Vocal Group