Trailer Park Storage Shed Rock

My friend Chad and I were practically inseparable throughout middle school.  We didn't like each other at first, but living in the same trailer park and walking to the same bus stop every morning in a sense forced us to get to know each other.  It wasn't long before we truly connected.  Chad would invite me over to his house.  I invited Chad to church.  Before long, we were going everywhere together.  My mom even joked on occasion that Chad was her "adopted son," and sometimes, I would wish that it were true.

Chad and I shared a passion for music.  We had some tastes in artists that were quite different, but for the most part, we found some common ground.  Among our mutual favorite bands were Skillet, Switchfoot, Relient K, P.O.D., Audio Adrenaline, and SONICFLOOd.  Taking inspiration from these and other bands, we both developed a talent and passion for writing song lyrics.  Chad had one talent that I couldn't quite match, even though I'm still trying to get by with the small amount of skill I do have in this area.  For many years, Chad has been (in my mind) a master-level guitar player.

It didn't take long for us to put our skills together and form a rock duet - me on lead vocals, Chad on guitar and BGVs, and both of us contributing lyricists.  As an imitation of one of our favorite bands, SONICFLOOd, Chad and I named our little music outfit iNfRa rAiN.  We started playing concerts out of Chad's storage shed, mainly Praise and Worship staples printed from the internet, but eventually adding covers from the bands listed above.  When we got daring enough, we even added some original songs to the repertoire, and eventually moved on to bigger venues like the middle school talent show.

One of my favorite sets out of the storage shed, though, was on a sunny Saturday morning.  We didn't have a microphone, so one of the neighborhood kids brought over his karaoke machine and let us borrow that for the show.  Before long, it seemed like all the tweens in the trailer park were in Chad's front yard to listen to us play.  No one left for the entire set.  What was even better, though, was after we had wrapped up, one of the kids who stayed a little later came up and gave us two bucks, exclaiming, "YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!"  So with that compliment, that tip, and supplemental money from our parents, we treated ourselves to a pizza at the restaurant up M-45 a couple blocks.  Those were the days.

Chad and I made it through a lot of hard times together.  I know my life would be totally different if he hadn't been there for me in some of those rough spots especially.  So in honor of Chad and the days of iNfRa rAiN, I would like to share with you the lyrics to the very first song we successfully wrote together.  It's not very long and I can't guarantee that it's very good (I was 12...), but it's special, and I hope you enjoy reading "Unseen Storm," the first ever original iNfRa rAiN single.

Unseen Storm
Lyrics by Sean Wise, Music by Chad TenBrink

 Verse 1:
Sometimes when a storm's coming,
I can hear thunder
Rolling out of control,
Those in fear start running,
Then the rain starts falling,
But I don't run anymore.

 Chorus:
You're the unseen storm in my life,
You're the rolling thunder in my heart,
Your downpour chases away my strife,
And your lightning brightens up the dark!

 Verse 2:
The smell of fresh rain
In the morning
Always fills my heart with cheer,
The rest of my day
Suddenly starts falling,
But I know You are always here
(Always here for me, You're always here)

 (Chorus 2x)

Here's to you, Chad.  Here's to iNfRa rAiN.  Here's to being famous in an Allendale, Michigan trailer park.

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