Anthem

Anthem was started as a class project at Oral Roberts University and were often compared to Rez Band or Stryper. In 1981, Anthem was basically one girl and five guys with a lot of passion for music and God. Mary had the voice and the band brought the groove. The lyrics came out of personal experience, pain and hope, while the music was a collection of favorite feels - "riff-rock," they called it. They spent most of their Saturday nights playing the Christian coffee houses of Oklahoma. Places with names like "Rainbow's End," "The Salt Shaker," and "The Fifth Quarter." The music fit in well with the street evangelism crowd. The words were based on timeless truths straight out of the Bible.

When Cuttin' Thru was first recorded, it was the local fans that supplied the initial finances to get studio time. But it was a lack of sufficient funding that forced them to be satisfied at the time with things that they felt they could have done better. In 1999, the band reunited to capture the original flavor of their music and see if they could remix the old master tapes and add what they would have done in 1981, if they'd had the time and technology.