The Genesis of the Long Run Players goes back to 2008. Dr. J. D. Payne, of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was planning a mission trip to Newfoundland Canada.
Through his conversations with the missionaries in Newfoundland, and in pondering the effectiveness of a group of students simply handing out tracks, he came up with the idea of taking a bluegrass band in order to draw a crowd. It wasn’t long before Dr. Payne contacted Dr. George Martin, the father of Paul Martin, who plays banjo in the band.
Paul Martin is much more of a guitar player, receiving his B.A. degree from Bellarmine University in Guitar Performance, however he does a mighty fine job on the banjo.
Sarah Martin, who has a wonderful voice, also joined the band on our trip to Newfoundland.
Next Dr. Martin contacted Jeff Gayhart, who was a student in the Billy Graham School of Missions. Jeff spent some years in Nashville TN, prior to God’s call to ministry, attempting to “make it big” as a country musician. Dr. Martin knew of not only of Jeff’s incredible talent as a guitarist, vocalist, and song writer, but also of his contagious personality and heart for the lost.
Paul was friends with Matt Shirley, who is a student at Southern. Matt plays a mean guitar, but enjoys picking up the mandolin from time to time. Matt was a sure fit.
Matt was friends with Cameron, also a student at Southern in the Music School. Cameron’s main instrument of choice is the piano. Well there ain’t no piano in Bluegrass. However, Cameron played violin from time to time, and it’s not too far a step from violin to fiddle.
At this point we had all the members and instruments of the band, we only needed a name. Through many different name suggestions, we landed on the Long Run Players, named after the Long Run Baptist association of the Louisville area.
Since our trip to Newfoundland Canada, we have had incredible opportunities to play all over in the States, as well as a six month mission trip in Taiwan. I must mention one other important member of the band. After our trip to Newfoundland, Sarah Martin became Sarah Baltzley. This is when Sarah Morrison came along for the ride. With a great voice and growing guitar skills, she was a needed addition to the group.
For our Trip to Taiwan Sarah learned how to play the guitar, Jeff picked up the double bass, the other two guitar players were playing mandolin and banjo, and the piano player was learning to fiddle. In many ways it is amazing to see how God has used this group of individuals so far. But, such are the Long Run Players, an unlikely crew using an unlikely form of music that God has used and continues to use around the world to spread the good news of Christ.
