My All-time Favorite Band:
| ||
I first heard The Waiting at Purple Door '96, my best friend and I were in the front row waiting for Jars of Clay to play. The Waiting came on stage and we were instant fans!! The band's energy had us jumping and screaming, watching Brad's facial expressions had us laughing, and listening to the lyrics made us joyful. When it all ended, we sat there wanting more. I was completely broke and my best friend had just spent her last dollars on a CD of another group. We liked The Waiting so much that she returned the CD, after five minutes of sweet-talking the woman in charge of "the other group's" table, to buy Tillbury Town, our first autographed CD (and because I've become a far bigger Waiting Fan than she, I have the CD at my house!!). We met Brad and Todd (I'm not sure if Brandon and Clarke were there), they talked to us, asked us how our day was going, they were so personable and genuine. Since that milestone, I've met them four additional times, and gotten two more CD's and three posters signed!! They continue to play the best music I've ever heard, and they are still the same genuine, kind-hearted guys that I met August 24, 1996. Brad, Todd, Brandon, and Clarke are great testimonies for the Lord, their lives reflect their lyrics in a most impressionable manner. 
BRAD OLSEN, LEAD VOCALS
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Brad was born in upstate New York and moved to Atlanta as a child. His musical expressiveness began to emerge when he started playing guitar at the age of six. During his high school years, Brad learned to play the trumpet and began flirting with the drums, later becoming a solid keyboard player. With intentions of someday becoming a teacher, he attended Georgia State University where he studied history. It was while in high school that Brad began to nurture his singing ability-singing lead in bands that he and his brother, Todd, formed. Brad's musical influences as a youth ranged from Peter Gabriel to The 77's to Keith Green.
TODD OLSEN, LEAD GUITAR
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Like his brother, Todd was born in New York and raised in Atlanta, Todd began playing trumpet at an early age, eventually receiving extensive training as a potential symphonic player. During his middle school and high school years, Todd focused on performing in jazz bands. At seventeen he began playing guitar and immediately started forming rock groups with his brother, Brad. Todd studied literature and firmly planted himself in the music program at Georgia State University. During college he had the opportunity to tour throughout Europe as a member of a University jazz band. Todd's musical influences were The Clash, Bob Dylan and The Police. It was Todd's father who encouraged him and Brad to go into the studio and make The Waiting's first demo.
CLARKE LEAKE, BASS
Hometown: Tupelo, Mississippi
Clark was reared in Mississippi where he first became involved in music as a tuba player in his junior high band. He began to seriously pursue the bass in high school and played the instrument in a college band at Mississippi State. After obtaining his B.A. in Psychology, Clark moved to Atlanta where he completed the Master of Divinity program at Emory University. There he met Brad and Todd Olsen and joined their band. Clark, along with Brad, are the primary co-writers in the band. A sports enthusiast (especially baseball). Clark cites the primary musical influence of his youth as Van Morrison, Steely Dan, REM and Bob Dylan.
BRANDON THOMPSON, DRUMS
Hometown: Altoona, PA
Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Brandon moved to Atlanta in 1982. In sixth grade he began playing trumpet, training to be a symphonic player. His high school interests found him pursuing jazz band, orchestra and marching band. Brandon later enrolled at what is now Southern Polytechnic University where he studied computer science. Soon he met Clark and the Olsen Brothers, becoming The Waiting's sound tech for a year before joining them as their drummer in '93. A
self-taught drummer, he cites his main musical influences as The Police. Brandon's computer skills have come in quite handy for The Waiting, as he had the privilege of designing (and maintaining) the band's web site at: www.thewaiting.com.
Brothers
Brad and Todd Olsen light up the stage. I love watching the way they interact, I'm sure their momma's proud!
 Multi-Talented Todd
"Todd Olsen and his amazing backward guitar..."
| ||
 |
