Over the next few months, Richardson
could only sing her parts in the studio or perform on stage. In between any of
that, she was literally not allowed to speak.
“The whole situation has been one
of the most challenging things of my whole life. It’s hard to not be able to
talk at all and be away from home at the same time. We had tornadoes just down
the street from my house, and I couldn’t call my family. I had to have
[bassist] Wendy [Drennen] call my family for me. It was a very difficult time.”
Still the band pulled through
admirably despite all the obstacles, relying on the one thing they all agree
has them to where they are: the power of God.
“It actually worked to our
advantage to have zero time to record, because that really forced us to rely
completely on God,” explains Richardson. “We give God complete credit for this
album being worth anything, because we had no time to put our two cents in.
We’re very glad for that.”
“Like Dawn said, it really forced
us to let go of our own desires to control the situation and wholly rely on God,”
adds Cox. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone here believes this is any of our
doing. We could not physically and mentally have done it without God.”
Fireflight has found the hope to
persevere both in the recording studio and also in the strength of one another.
“I just think it’s awesome what
Dawn has been going through with the recording of this record and with her
voice,” says drummer Phee Shorb. “It’s just taken an extraordinary amount of
guts for her to sing in this new range…and to know right before she does that,
she has serious problems with her voice. But I think it’s been an awesome,
almost apparent metaphor. It’s been allegoric. It’s about overcoming and
finding you can win against adversity with the power of God.”
It’s with this new level of confidence
in God’s plan that Fireflight is now emerging on a national level. NBC ordered
the title track from
Unbreakable for
heavy promotion for its “Bionic Woman” series before the first single was even
released to radio, lending Fireflight a visibility they’ve never known.
“For me it was something really
cool just to give me confirmation that we were on the right track,” notes Wendy
Drennen. “It was humbling because we knew we’re not worthy to be so exposed,
but we felt so honored at the same time.”
For all the buzz and happenings,
the band members still seem well-grounded.
“Honestly, I’ve never seen the
[“Bionic Woman”] spot since we don’t have a TV in our house,” explains
guitarist Glenn Drennen, husband to Wendy. “We also don’t have a rock radio
station where we live. And with no TV, I’ve never personally seen or heard
anything we’ve done on my own. It’s great to hear about it from other people
though.”
Perhaps more than anything else,
it’s the humility found within all five members of Fireflight that makes them
unbreakable.
Matt Conner is a
freelance writer living in the Indianapolis area in all areas of pop culture
and spirituality.