5 Facts You Might Not Know About The Swift

by Tracy Darlington

“It’s not music for music’s sake, or how cool we can be as a band - it’s about how many people we can reach.” That pretty much sums up the philosophy of this North Carolina based foursome made up of Britt Edwards (piano/vocals), Mike Simons (bass/vocals), Guy Lemon (drums), and Matt Wilder (guitar). You may have already heard The Swift's piano-driven original music, but we bet you didn’t know:

The band’s name comes from 1 Corinthians 9 where Paul describes our faith being like a race. The Swift reminds us “to run in such a way as to obtain the prize”.

A typical day off finds Mike Simons collecting robot parts and eating sushi, and Britt Edwards watching re-runs of Alf on DVD.

Most bands travel around in buses that work, but not always! “We used to have a bus that was a trouble maker. It had broken down on us several times,” Britt recalls. “In Little Rock, Arkansas our trailer came off going 70 mph down the interstate! We looked in the rear view mirror and saw the trailer sliding beside us on a bed of sparks!”

Mike Simons became a Christian in 7th grade at school on the National Day of Prayer. “I wanted to be honest with myself before God,” he says. “So I surrendered my life completely right there.”

The Swift has had their share of embarrassing moments. Britt shares this one: “We were playing at an all girls college. I was on bass at the time, and I thought I would be cool and throw out some rock-star stage presence, but instead I tripped over a monitor behind me and landed flat on my backside! No way could I recover and still come out the cool bass player. Maybe that’s why I switched to piano!”

Tracy Darlington is a freelance writer, and her work has appeared in Brio, Breakaway, YS, CCM Magazine, Insight, Susie Magazine, and other publications. She has interviewed countless Christian musicians including Rebecca St. James, Delirious, Newsboys, Leigh Nash, Barlowgirl, Krystal Meyers, Joy Williams, Pillar, Michelle Tumes, and many others. In her spare time she can be found riding horses or listening to music and sipping a Venti 3-shot sugar-free vanilla latte. Visit her online at her blog where she talks about Music, God, dogs and coffee. You can also look her up at Twitter and Facebook.