Audio Adrenaline gives Alabama youth ‘worldwide’ view

Goodbye, Eclectic, Ala. — hello, eBay auction.
   
The boys of Christian rock band Audio Adrenaline waved goodnight to the more than 2,000 fans at Lake Martin Amphitheater in Elmore County Oct. 23, stepped off the stage and asked, “How’s the bidding going?”
   
“The neighborhood concert’s at more than $10,000, after only two days.”
   
“Awesome. And Will’s Mohawk?”
   
“It’s at more than $200 already.”
   
It was a banner night for missions in Alabama —  and in Haiti.
   
Though the Eclectic gig ended their tour for the year, Audio Adrenaline had kicked off an online sale the day before to benefit its  “Hands and Feet” missions project —  a new Haitian orphanage.
   
And now, concert over, lead guitarist Tyler Burkum kicked back on a worn plaid couch in the dressing room and set about the next project — autographing a pair of black and white Converse shoes worn on stage during the tour by bassist Will McGinniss.
   
Even then the shoes were already racking up bids from online shoppers —  as were other items, such as two of the band’s personal guitars, a full concert at the winner’s location of choice and a Mohawk doll sporting McGinniss’ actual hair.
   
“Our fans have been great to take this and run with it as a way to have ownership in the orphanage project,” Burkum said. “This isn’t something Audio Adrenaline is doing. This is something we’re all doing for the people of Haiti.”
   
It’s an inspiring humility the band possesses, said Leslie Morris, 19, a member of First Baptist Church, Hartselle. “They’re so down to earth. They know what they’re doing isn’t about them.”
Burkum’s modest smile indicates Morris knows her stuff. “We just want to use the little fame we have to make a difference in people’s lives,” he said.
  
“There were a lot of unbelievers who came to the concert to hear good rock and roll music, and they did — but they heard the gospel, too,” said Bo Worthy, festival director for First Baptist Church, Eclectic, who organized the event. He added that youth from at least nine Alabama counties were present. “It was a great time for the local churches to draw the community into Christian music.”
   
And to draw them to Christ, Worthy said, as Burkum’s hit “Leaving 99” —  a ballad  inspired by the Parable of the Lost Sheep —  sought to do at the emotional height of the high-energy concert.
   
Emily Hughes, 14, of First, Eclectic, said she hopes youth met Christ in a life-altering way during the concert. “Those who aren’t real, who go to church and put on an act —  I hope they are really changed,” she said. “We’ve prayed for five years for revival —  maybe it will start tonight.”
   
Christ is looking for volunteers to make that happen, Audio Adrenaline told the crowd of Alabama youth there at Lake Martin: “We’re looking for a generation of believers who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.”
   
The pursuit of Christ turns your life upside, Burkum said. “It’s freaky. It’s uncomfortable. There’s a new sensitivity, and you recognize pain Christ experienced in a whole different way.”
   
The original lyrics Burkum scribbled on a slip of hotel stationery still linger between the pages of the gospel of Matthew, bearing the words, “I’d leave 99, leave them all behind just to find you.”
   
And some fans who’ve met the transforming love of Christ through those words are now giving back by purchasing that scrap of paper —  and the Bible containing it —  on the eBay auction.
   
It’s all part of the band’s new challenge of awakening people to a need they didn’t know existed in other parts of the world, Burkum said. And, he added, the way fans are giving so generously to the cause has been amazing to watch.
   
In the past, some have bought the items then given them back to be sold again, proceeds earmarked for the Haiti project. “We’ve planted a seed and piqued their curiosity for a need they might not have known existed,” he said. “Now they’re plugging in and making it their own.”