At twenty four, Angie Turner Thornton (aka Miss Angie) has already spent the past quarter of her life performing for audiences of one type or another.
"I grew up in a family that traveled together in a band like the Partridge Family," Miss Angie laughs, "but I honestly didn't see myself as the type of artist who would ever make records or sing in front of a rock and roll band. My dad was the one who always encouraged me to pursue that route." In addition to the churches, revivals, and rock concerts she sang in with her family band, she also traveled with johnny Q. public, singing at the close of their concerts, and sometimes leading in worship afterwards. Other opportunities, such as a stint as lead vocalist in a three piece band performing in clubs and churches of Northern Ireland, have come about as a result of Angie's passion for overseas missions.
"Young people don't really know God and who he is," Miss Angie says. "They just know about Him. When I was sixteen, I started reading the Bible for myself; that's when I finally understood what it meant be to be a Christian. Jesus said, You've got to repent before I'll come into your heart. And what I really understood at 16 was, Angie, you just can't go riding on your parents coatails into Heaven."
When high school graduation came along, it was obvious to Angie's peers where she was headed. "I had 15 people in my class and we were all suposed to say what we wanted to do when we grow up. Everybody said something like, I wanna be an astronaut! And I was like "I want to do...what God wants me to do," she says with a nervous chuckle.
"I was with those same 15 people my whole life, and when we graduated we all gave things to each other that we thought we would use when we were older. They gave me a toy microphone. That's the only thing people thought I'd do. Funny to me, I didn't think I would."
"I had begun writing songs on the piano and guitar. They were just three-chord praise and worship songs. I was singing those at johnny Q. public concerts when we had an invitation and prayer time." Then she
and Oran Thornton, former guitar player for johnny Q. public, and now her husband, started writing songs together. "We didn't start writing songs for a record," she notes. "We wanted to go play in this hole-in-the-wall downtown. We wrote songs to play acoustic there."
With no intention of polishing off her musical skills for a career and ministry of her own, Miss Angie got a little kick start. "My dad decided I was going to make a demo tape. And I had decided that I wasn't. My brother (Shawn Turner) was successful in music and I didn't want to have to get into the whole music scene. I just wanted to be a missionary and work with Teen Mania or something like that. Also, I was scared that I would make something that wasn't good enough."
Angie was really shocked when record label executives wanted to sign her. "I thought, You what? You wanna make a what? A record? I couldn't believe it."
Along with the shock of great response to her demo, came a concession to doing music as her ministry instead of missions. "I really prayed about it and God just showed me how powerful music is and how He can use that just as well as he can use someone out on the mission field. He has something for each and every one of us to do. I can't bury the gifts God has given me. I'd better use them."
Produced by Shawn Turner, Dan Fritz, David Zaffiro and Thornton, Miss Angie's debut 100 Million Eyeballs was released in September '97. Driving rhythms and light, sugary vocals combine '80's girl pop-rock and even admits to a former fondness for New Kids On The Block. "But Stryper was my favorite," she says.
Angie married her longtime boyfriend, Oran Thornton, in the winter of '97. Oran co-produced 100 Million Eyeballs and was now working with the new Columbia Records band, Flick. After almost 2 years of no studio presence, the recording for Triumphantine, Miss Angie's second record, began. During the recording process, Angie & Oran juggled the responsibilities of two bands and simultaneously built and moved into a new house, they found the resulting tension pushing them into a greater level of truth with one another. "I can't say that it was a fun and easy process," Angie says. "We had our share of arguments along the way. But I can't see ever working with anyone else on a record. Oran understands me and has the patience to work with me even when I'm putting a lot of weight on him. What I wrote about in the song "Neater Cooler" applies to personal relationships as well as eternal things. Give me something real even if it's painful and I don't like it, because my deepest desire is to broken and changed by the truth. Even though it hurts, in the end it's what I need most." (bio taken from several sources)
