Family Worship Center

Music

Portland, OR

In a time when he was spiritually and artistically aimless, Family Worship Center’s shamanistic figurehead Andy Krissberg took a brief hiatus from creating music. He embarked on a freewheeling, soul-searching journey inspired by the late ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Krissberg visited remote places across the country, creating field recordings of musicians he met straight to vinyl on a 1940s record lathe. His adventures led him to fleabag motels, sketchy back alleys, lonely restaurants, and dive bars. His crusade had him rummaging through old record stores, antique stores, swap meets for long forgotten albums, singles, artwork, and books. On one of his expeditions, in a now-defunct record store in Nashville, Tennessee, Krissberg stumbled upon a 21-page bible for a strange cult-like collective that billed themselves as Family Worship Center. Leafing through the yellowed pages, he felt a strange resonance with the Family’s communal quest for Groove enlightenment. Family Worship Center proposed a simple prescription to achieve a utopian existence: Surrender material possessions. Walk to the beat. Never hurt another Family Member. In a private mystical moment, Krissberg vowed to adhere to these beliefs, and is now eager to share the message with others through song as the band, Family Worship Center. Family Worship Center specializes in a strain of redemptive, 1970s-styled rock n’ roll that recalls the Rolling Stones, Leon Russell, The Band, and Delaney & Bonnie. The band formed in 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee founded by prophetic visionary, singer-songwriter and keyboardist Krissberg, but it has since relocated to Portland, Oregon. In 2020, Family Worship Center released the EP Sunday A.M. (2020) recorded by Grammy-winning producer Eddie Spear (Rival Sons, Blackberry Smoke, Lukas Nelson), and featuring musicians associated/who have played with The Band, Deer Tick, Ringo Starr, James Brown, Keith Richards, and Foxygen, among others. The Family’s latest offering—it’s first long player—Kicked Out Of The Garden, features a core band of devoted musicians, and was produced by Portland go-to producer Cameron Spies (Spoon Benders, Shivas) who specializes in what he calls “mid-fi.” Kicked Out Of The Garden was tracked in Portland with additional recording done in Philadelphia and Ukraine.
Family Worship Center