Biography
Bill Drake channels personal transformation through the spiritual themes woven into his songs. Left by his father at age two, he endured a violent childhood in which his stepfather repeatedly assaulted both him and his mother. After his mother died, he moved in with his biological father, only to be informed he was unwelcome.
Piano became his sole refuge. Entirely self-taught, Drake passed countless hours performing in dimly lit barrooms. He enrolled briefly at the University of Iowa in 1978 yet soon dropped out and resumed drinking amid the same tavern circuit.
Although he frequently debated matters of faith with Christian college students who visited the bar, his destructive patterns persisted until he consented to meet a campus pastor. That conversation persuaded Drake to embrace Christianity.
In 1983 he established Makaira Ministries, a nonprofit created to support his music outreach, and the next year he entered Biola University in La Mirada, California, completing a degree in Christian Education in 1988.
A further pivotal moment occurred that same year when Drake conducted a service at a Missions Conference where George Verwer, founder and international coordinator of Operation Mobilization, was present. Verwer invited him to assist with ministry work in England; Drake accepted the offer three years afterward. In 1991 he relocated to London with his wife, Teri—one of the Christian college students he had first encountered in the bar—and spent the following decade sharing his music across the United Kingdom. The family returned to the United States in 2001 and became active with Operation Mobilization’s Atlanta office. Later that year the label issued the album Every Nation, Tribe & Tongue together with an accompanying CD-R containing fourteen tracks captured at Operation Mobilization gatherings.
Piano became his sole refuge. Entirely self-taught, Drake passed countless hours performing in dimly lit barrooms. He enrolled briefly at the University of Iowa in 1978 yet soon dropped out and resumed drinking amid the same tavern circuit.
Although he frequently debated matters of faith with Christian college students who visited the bar, his destructive patterns persisted until he consented to meet a campus pastor. That conversation persuaded Drake to embrace Christianity.
In 1983 he established Makaira Ministries, a nonprofit created to support his music outreach, and the next year he entered Biola University in La Mirada, California, completing a degree in Christian Education in 1988.
A further pivotal moment occurred that same year when Drake conducted a service at a Missions Conference where George Verwer, founder and international coordinator of Operation Mobilization, was present. Verwer invited him to assist with ministry work in England; Drake accepted the offer three years afterward. In 1991 he relocated to London with his wife, Teri—one of the Christian college students he had first encountered in the bar—and spent the following decade sharing his music across the United Kingdom. The family returned to the United States in 2001 and became active with Operation Mobilization’s Atlanta office. Later that year the label issued the album Every Nation, Tribe & Tongue together with an accompanying CD-R containing fourteen tracks captured at Operation Mobilization gatherings.
Albums
