Popular bluegrass Gospel group The Churchmen have welcome an old friend back into the fold. Their very first fiddler, Christian Gillikin, has returned to the band after taking his leave some years ago.
A Virginia Beach native, Christian has been playing the fiddle since he was a toddler, staying with it right into college. His start was with classical training but bluegrass was what always had his attention. At eight years old he won a Virginia state fiddle championship, and recalls bluegrass jams as the highlights of his childhood.
Gillikin first joined up with The Churchmen in the mid 1990s, recording on their album The Drifter, and staying with the band for roughly ten years before departing to pursue a career in law enforcement. Unable to commit to a full time group, Christian kept his hand in with regional groups, and with a band representing his police department. Now retired, he has moved to Beaufort, NC and is back on the road with The Churchmen.
There he joins co-founder Keith Clark on bass, longtime member Carol Arnn on banjo, Jay Adams on guitar, and Greg Jones on mandolin.
A fifth project for Morning Glory Records, a division of Mountain Fever Music Group, has recently been completed. Look for news on that soon.
