Presents Jeff Gardner's
Memory
Lane is the first album to be released by singer/song writer, Jeff
Gardner. Jeff has lived in the Oklahoma City area since 1991. His love of
singing dates back to 1972 when, at the age of 14, Jeff discovered he
could sing while attending a song leading school for A Cappella church
music.
He picked up the guitar the very next year and wrote his first song at age 16 (To Be Like You, included on this CD). A few more songs came out of those early days, but song writing virtually ceased until 1997 (more about that later). Through High School, Jeff performed at banquets, school functions, led singing at church, and sang for close family and friends. He went to college to prepare himself to follow in his father's footsteps as a minister. Preaching was his career from then until 1997.
1997 was a critical year for Jeff.
His marriage of 18 years came to a bitter
end. As a result, he stepped down from his preaching position and began
the difficult process of putting the broken pieces of life back together
again. It became obvious that God, family, friends and memories were the
real treasures of life. Then Jeff met Susie, and she helped him focus even
more on these treasures. And suddenly, inspiration happened. Song writing
began to flow again, and the result has been one new song after another.
Beginning as far back as 1992, Elvis Presley songs have been the most requested songs by others for Jeff to sing. Community events, banquets, Ladies' Retreats, wedding anniversary parties, and church Christmas parties were the frequent stages for these performances. Though Jeff still enjoys performing Elvis, his goal now is to become known for his own music.
In 1998, Jeff and Susie married. With her encouragement, he began to perform more frequently. A singing competition was conducted at the Harrah Theater that year, and after several months, Jeff finished in the top 5. That's the year he joined the Oklahoma Country Music Association and began to get more exposure and stage experience. In 1999, Jeff auditioned for the Opry Station stage in Moore, OK, and landed the job as full time Emcee of that weekly family music show. This show ran for about a year and a half. It was at Opry Station that Jeff met the musicians who would make it possible for this first album to be recorded and produced.
Today,
Jeff performs whenever possible, but most of the last year and a half has
been spent writing new material. When asked what he hopes to accomplish
with his music, Jeff's response was, "My music is an expression of
what I have learned in my short life. It is therapeutic for me to write
and sing it. Perhaps it will help someone else realize that God, family,
friends and memories are the most important treasures in life. If that
happens for one person, then God has used my music for good. And that
makes my heart smile."