Covered Bridge Family Ministries

We call the Sleadd family band Homemade Jam because much of our family life is about jam. We jam into the van to go places. We jam into the kitchen to make breakfast. We have traffic jams in the bathroom on Sunday mornings.

We love to jam in the musical sense as well, because we believe music is good for the soul. So we jam into our little studio (it used to be a guest house) to rehearse.

When I (John) was in college I played guitar in a number of different bands. After I was married I continued to play in worship bands and for occasional "casual gigs." Eventually I discovered that although I enjoyed playing music, it invariably compromised my time and commitments to my growing family. So I put my guitars away, sometimes for years at a time, and devoted my energies to raising my children. Eventually they grew old enough to have musical interests of their own and began to play instruments: violin, piano, trumpet, drums, flute.

Then a wild idea occurred to me. What if I were to train them to play together as a combo? We could have a family band-right at home! We started off learning how to sing together in parts. Then we visited nursing homes to sing to the residents. We sang at church. We were The Sleadd Family Singers.

Then I purchased a bass guitar, a drum set and a keyboard, and we started jamming out in the den on jazz, blues, Latin, and Christian praise music. Since our beginnings, a little over two years ago, we have played at private parties, picnics, church services, dances, civic events and festivals.

If you'd like Homemade Jam to play for one of your special occasions contact us at cbfm@charter.net for more information.