Out of Boca Raton, a five-member Christian family band, Cadence will be showcasing their first full length album, Home, in concert for free July 18 at Spanish River Church, 2400 Yamato Rd, Boca Raton. Beginning in September, the band has also signed onto the We Won’t Be Shaken 40-city tour with Christian contemporary artists such as Building 429, whose single “Where I Belong” was Billboard Magazine’s No. 1 Christian song of 2012, and the husband-wife duo of Love & The Outcome. In October they will share a stage with MercyMe, named Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist twice at the American Music Awards.

Home is Cadence’s second major production; their first being a five-song EP, Awake, released back in 2012, of which one song was co-written with the Dove Award winning band Tenth Avenue North’s Michael Donehey.

Deriving their name from a musical term that refers to a basic and regular rhythm, the band’s desire was that it would reflect their synchronization musically, relationally, and vertically.

Cadence is led vocally by husband and wife, Donny and Brittany Karpinen. Donny also leads on the guitar while his sister Carrie Karpinen, plays the drums and Brittany’s two brothers, Andrew and Jeff Sward, lead on the electric and bass guitar respectively.

The Vision

The band officially came together around 2007, as they had been leading worship in their church, Victory Christian Center. Donny’s father helped found this church and implanted in it a vision to carry the gospel to the ends of the world by loving God and loving people.

The vision held so dearly by Donny’s father and the church, was a direct influence upon the band as they all highly involved in leading the corporate body of the church in worship, week in and week out. The band even made it their mission to bring the gospel to people through their music.

Donny’s father’s two pronged approach of loving God and loving people with one goal of spreading the gospel can be found even in Donny’s carefully publicized thoughts on Vimeo.com when it comes to distinguishing performing and leading worship.

“When we’re performing, I am thinking that I am pointing people to God. We hope that they can have an encounter with God and start to really think about who God is and understand that He loves them and wants to have a relationship with them,” said Donny. “When we’re leading worship, we are actually connecting people, who already have a relationship with God, to Him, through praise and worship.”

At Home

Though Cadence officially started around 2007, it was not until 2013 that the band made a momentous decision to make Cadence a full-time vocation. This decision was followed by a move to Nashville, Tennessee, where there was better access to resources for the band to accomplish their endeavors.

After the band stepped into this new season, which included touring throughout the United States, Donny said that questions they had been wrestling with for some time growing up became emphasized. Nevertheless, it was through this internal skirmish of trying to figure out where they stood as a band, that they were reminded of their roots as worship leaders.

“Throughout the years we had the struggle of trying to identify ourselves and determine who we are as artists, what kind of music we want to record, and what kind of band we want to be,” Donny recalled.

“As we got to this record, we just felt really, really strongly that what we would call home is where we got started leading worship at our church. It was completely selfless. We had no real aspiration; no real goals to be anything or anyone. We just loved being in the presence of Jesus and leading people in His presence.”
The band’s desire to worship and lead others to do the same is what comes out as prominent in their new album, Home.

The Road Ahead

The only song that has been made open to the public from the new album is a free giveaway song titled, “Hold Me,” expressing the safety and security that exists in God’s figurative arms.
The new album will be made available a week prior to the July 18th concert so that those attending can become familiar with the lyrics and be prepared to worship.

They will be touring throughout the United States in such places as Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Maine, Ohio, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania, along with a stop in Fredericton, Canada.

Alexander Suarez a student at Florida International University and a contributing writer. He can be reached at [email protected].