The Short Story
Michael was born in 1977 and raised in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The love of gospel music was infused in his heart at a very young age by his parents, and grand-parents, who were involved in music. He began to lead worship at his church youth group in 1996 where eventually crowds of up to 600 teens would gather weekly to worship God. It was in this time that Michael's most well known song Freedom Reigns was written. Michael and his band began to accept invitations to lead worship at various Christian events internationally and by 2004 his music ministry had become a full-time calling. 2007 saw Michael partner with record label ION Records and the birth of his first internationally released record "Perfect Love." Michael and his family (wife Jennie and 2 children) live in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
The Long Story
1977 - 1980 I was born in Langley, British Columbia, Canada to David and Beth Larson who were at the time giving leadership to music and youth ministry at a congregation called Christian Life Assembly, the Church that my family and I still attend to this day. I don't remember much about this time, but the seeds of music were firmly planted in my DNA as many of my early days were spent in the church, at a music practice or at a service.
1980 - 1987 In 1980, my father accepted a Pastoral position in Penticton, British Columbia, so off to the "California of Canada" we went. Dad continued to oversee the music at this congregation, so again, there I was, falling asleep in the pews as Dad would lead youth choirs, gospel quartets, and Sunday worship bands. My parents have always had a passion for music. Before I was born, they traveled Western Canada with a band playing evangelistic concerts in schools, churches and wherever else they could set up a sound system. I also just recently learned that my Grandfather, John Larson, also toured Western Canada with his friends! My days in Penticton were wonderful. The Okanagan (the valley in which Penticton lies) is known for it's glorious summer days and for the clean lakes that are adorned with a plethora of visitors in July and August. Our little town would grow from a population of about 20000 to 100000 in these months and my Mom would haul my sister Nicole and I to the beach every chance she could get. During the winter, if you didn't find me on the local ski hill with Dad on his day off, or playing road hockey with the neighborhood kids, you might find me listening to my Walkman, an ancient form of the modern day iPod. I would dream of being a singer one day while listening to Whiteheart, Petra, The Carpenters, David Meece, and Silverwind. During these years, I also spent a few winters and summers in a quaint little Saskatchewan town called Star City. Most of my relatives lived there and some of my fondest memories were formed on my uncle's farm. Their home was like a Norman Rockwell painting and this is where I wrote my first song. I can't recall what the song was about or what it was called, but I do remember my cousin Trevor's old Sears guitar that we wrote it with!
I remember vividly one particular Penticton evening where I attended an event at the local Baptist church. There was a guest minister that evening who would preach while he was drumming! As a seven year old boy, I distinctly recall the preacher describing what Jesus endured on the cross. I went home that night and asked my father more about what Jesus had done for us. I remember being moved to tears as I confessed Jesus Christ as the Lord of my life.
1987 - 1995 In 1987, Dad resigned his Pastoral position in Penticton to take on a job with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada as the Youth Director for the province. Langley, B.C., here we come, again! Part of my father's job involved putting on youth conferences where thousands of students would gather to worship God, listen to great bands, and be challenged with messages by various Christian speakers. It was at one of these meetings that I prayed, "Here am I, send me." A lot of my summers during this time were spent at a youth camp in Nanoose Bay, B.C. on Vancouver Island. Life long friend, Jason Davies and I would go together to this camp where we would spend our days playing sports, and our evenings experiencing the manifest presence of God during worship. There was one evening where Jason and I snuck out of our dorm room to look out at the stars during a crystal clear evening. We were both overwhelmed by God's beauty and fell to our knees to worship the Creator. My teenage years at school were primarily focused on basketball. In my early years of playing, I had dreams of playing professionally like another student in our province, Steve Nash. Even though I had some success at the high school level making all-star teams, there were no colleges knocking on my door to play after graduation. I then decided to take a brief break from school life and work in Banff, Alberta with some friends. One evening during my short stay in Banff, a friend of mine gave me a tape of a guy called Brian Doerksen. I was so impressed by this new sound and that it was actually coming from an artist who played church music. Completely inspired, I began to write songs with my newly acquired guitar.
1996 - 2003 After my short stay in Banff, I decided to enroll in Bible college and follow in "the old man's" footsteps. So again back to Langley I went, where I began an internship at my church. One of the pivotal moments in my life came when my youth pastor, Joyce Heron, became ill and was asked by my mother (who is a nurse) to stay at our house. Mom asked me to grab my guitar and play her a song that I had recently written in Banff. After playing it, Joyce invited me to lead worship at the youth group and I accepted. It didn't go very well at all. In fact, it was quite awkward! While singing a song called "Father of Lights" I completely botched a chord, stopped the song and started over. I am grateful to this day that Joyce had the courage to stick with me as a worship leader. Soon after I found myself with the privilege and responsibility of leading more and more worship in our church. God began moving in a profound way in our meetings. Churches in our community were coming together with a common goal; to see God's kingdom move in our city. People began to pray, hundreds at a time at 05:00 am! It was remarkable and people were being added to the Church consistently. I began listening to the music of other great worship leaders like Kevin Prosch, Delirious and Matt Redman. I also started to believe that the songs that we were singing corporately were more than just songs, but that they were quite possibly setting the scene for God to move in our city and nation. It was a very exciting time. In 1997 a friend of mine, after driving by our church building, felt that God had given him a message for me. I hadn't grown up with a lot of this type of behavior so I was quite intrigued. He said, "Michael, today is a day of favor for you and you need to write a song". I went home that evening and opened up the concordance of my Bible and looked up the word "Freedom". 2 Corinthians 3:17 was highlighted, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom". It was at this time, in a matter of minutes, that God gave me the song called "Freedom Reigns". This song began to grow legs, so to speak, and has played a big role in opening up many doors for me today. While continuing to lead worship, I had formed a consistent group of musicians around me (Ben Cantelon, Benjamin Rogers, Scott Rogers and Sam Heard) and we decided to give our band a name. Joyce Heron suggested the hebrew word for Flood, but it sounded a bit strange, so we just stuck with the name Flood. A short while later, three semesters into my Bible college program, I felt lead to pursue a calling to music ministry. I couldn't say why, but I just knew that this was something that I was suppose to do. I decided to forfeit my internship and the final few semesters of my pastoral training in order to go forward with my new plan. I had no real strategy as to how it would come about. At this time, my long time friend, Jennie Hallebrand and I began to see each other quite a bit more than usual! Not knowing what to do next, and in need of employment, I decided to work in Edmonton, Alberta for a few months, to put the band on hold, and to wait for what was next. In March of 1998, Jennie and I got engaged during one of her visits and planned to get married later on in the year. How exciting! I later received a call from some folks in Medicine Hat, Alberta who were leading a summer youth camp called Eagles Nest Ranch. They needed a worship band for the summer, so they hired Flood. I was engaged, the band was back together, and we had our first traveling event. Needless to say, things were going really well. That summer of 1998 was truly incredible! I will never forget the friendships that were formed and I remember one particular evening service where I felt like God had specifically called me to the nations. After our time at Eagles Nest Ranch, it was back to Langley to plan the best day of my life, our wedding day. Jennie and I were married in October of 1998. A few months later Flood, along with Mel Thiessen, recorded their first CD called "The Well 1999". I accepted a part-time job leading worship at my church while the band and I began to accept invitations to events across western North America and Europe. A year into the journey, we were asked to consider changing our band name due to the success of an American based worship group called Sonic Flood. Long time friend Jason Davies joined the band and Surreal was born. Surreal then began leading a weekly worship service called Revolution at our church. Six hundred teens began attending each week! Everything was going really well, but a few years later, after traveling quite extensively, and after having a few recording contracts offered, Surreal decided to disband. I found myself wondering what the future would bring and why things hadn't turned out quite like we had planned. 2003 - 2008 After Surreal disbanded, I continued to work at Christian Life Assembly leading worship until I felt a strong urge to lay down the security of a steady pay cheque. Although I would still lead corporate worship from time to time, I really felt like God had spoken to me to take a season to set up my piano, in our laundry room of all places, and worship him all by myself. By this time, Jennie and I had our first child Emma and I asked God how I would pay the bills. I really believe that He spoke to me that day saying, "I'll take care of the bills". He did provide like he had promised and has continued to be faithful! It was an amazing time. As I did this, God began to show me why I worship, washing my heart, and checking my motives in that little laundry room. While reading Isaiah:58, I soon realized that I wasn't doing anything for the poor and marginalized of my city. I had been crying out for God to move, yet really didn't care about the poor! How could I have let this happen and why had I missed this part of the Bible my entire life? As I began to address the issues of "intimacy" and "justice" in my personal life, (on ongoing journey) invitations to lead worship began to come in. Our second child, Ethan, was born in 2004 and we also decided to purchase some equipment that we used to record my first solo project with, "Show Me The Way". It was a big risk at the time, as I had very little knowledge of producing and engineering. The album turned out to be a great resource for many people as my band and I began to travel more regularly. Along with invitations from other ministries, 2005 saw my band and I serving mostly with a ministry called Fresh Fire which is based in Abbotsford, B.C.. During that year, we saw many people healed and set free by the power of God. It was a very busy, yet terrific time! The next few years saw the recording of my second and third solo CDs called "Freedom" (2005) and "The Sound of a Roar" (2006), as I continued traveling full-time with the band. In 2007 Jennie and I decided to approach producer Philip Janz, producer for Brian Doerksen, about the possibility of producing my next record. "Perfect Love" was birthed and was picked up by the worship label "ION Records" for my first international release. Today, I continue to lead worship and teach wherever God leads while living in Langley, B.C. with my wife Jennie, and two children, Emma and Ethan.
DISCOGRAPHY
1999 Flood and Mel Thiessen "The Well, 1999. Live and in the Spirit" Produced by Philip Janz
2000 Surreal "Everything" Produced by Surreal and Rick Colhoun
2002 Surreal "EP" Produced by Philip Janz
2003 Revolution "Rattle" Produced by Michael Larson
2004 Michael Larson "Show Me the Way" Produced by Michael Larson
2005 Michael Larson "Freedom" Produced by Michael Larson
2006 Michael Larson "The Sound of a Roar" Produced by Michael Larson
2007 Michael Larson "Perfect Love" Produced by Philip Janz
2008 Michael Larson "Live EP" (*Download only) Produced by Michael Larson
GEAR
Acoustic Guitars
Gibson J-100 XT, Gibson J-45
Piano and Synths
Yamaha Motif 8 Keyboard, Atmosphere Software powered by a Mac Powerbook with a Pro Tools platform
In Ear System
AKG IVM 4 Set
Misc Items
Holy Grail Reverb for the Acoustic, TC Voice Live Effects Pedal for my vocal, Shure Beta 58 Vocal Microphone, Boss TU-2 Tuner Pedal, Ernie Ball Stereo Volume Pedal