Brett Reed, Our Accompanist

Born to musicians, I was mesmerized by music from a young age. My dad was an incredible guitarist. My mom, as an opera soloist, always amazed me. Maybe it was my mom putting me to sleep with music in my crib that led me to take as much music as I could in school. I played brass in symphonic band, marching band, jazz band, vocals including a cappella, and lunchtime jazz band for the real music junkies. Private piano lessons started at 11 but didn’t last long. As a kid, classical music wasn’t my thing unless Mom was singing it. After high school I played brass (oddly enough) for The Denver Blue Devils drum and bugle corp. Church music appealed to me as it was the right mix of my dad’s country, Mom’s classical, blues, southern gospel, and a bit of everything else. Over the years I’ve played mostly piano in church. I played brass for 2 or 3 years at Jubilee Christian Center in San Jose which was challenging. Typical attendance was about 5k for services so no room for messing up! My wife and I met nearly 30 years ago on the worship team for the local Assembly of God. She was the drummer and since then, I’ve played piano for my brother-in-law’s church, my father-in-law’s church, and now here at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. I feel blessed to play here. I enjoy the warm, friendly congregation, and I consider it therapeutic while still recovering from a stroke 3 years ago. I have been blessed with 8 children, all of whom are musicians and enjoy it immensely when we’re able to play together. I thank God for music. It is truly the tie that binds us!