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Pete Orta - Born Again
interview by Paula K. Parker (Paula's bio)

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Ask singer/songwriter/guitarist Pete Orta why he plays for a living and he'll tell you, "I can't do anything else."

"I got fired from a coffee company, in Lubbock, Texas. I was too much of a clown. I got fired from a pizza joint because I'm bad with directions. I applied for the job of dishwasher because I knew I could do that. From that point on, I thought, 'Boy, you better do something with music because the only job I could do was dishwashing.'"

Pete Orta certainly did something with music. His story sounds like every young Christian artist-wannabe's dream. Pete playing for Jeff Fenholt, then John Schlitt, then for Petra, with whom he won a Dove and a Grammy. Last month, the title cut from Pete's debut project, Born Again (Word), was nominated for Dove Rock Song of the Year.

But Pete's life is far from storybook perfect.

"I grew up in a heavy child-abusive home. I don't use my background to pull a person's strings though. It is God's Word to tell your testimony. I don't deny it, but I don't showcase it either.

"Things were taken away from me as punishment, but the one thing that was never taken away was a little red guitar, given to me by my aunt. I would come home from school and go straight to my room. I could either do homework or play the guitar. So I played the guitar."

Pete got saved when he was fifteen. "I didn't go down to the front of the church, I didn't cry, but God spoke to me.

"I wasn't a big druggie or a big drinker, but I was a party-er. There probably isn't anything I haven't done once. I don't have a pity attitude as far as the good and bad things that have happened to me. God used those things to shape me.

"I've always played for God. When I got saved, I felt like, 'God, I am indebted to You. The only thing I know how to do that I can put my heart into is playing guitar'. So I played; it's what I praise God with."

Pete played with Jeff Fenholt when he was eighteen. "The first time I ever played in public there was 4500 people in the audience. That was exciting; but, it wasn't about shooting for the big time. I just loved the gift that God had given me."

Pete got married and settled into domestic bliss when he received a call from an old friend who had relocated to Nashville, TN. He'd heard that John Schlitt (lead vocalist for Petra) needed a guitarist for a 30-day tour. Kelli, Pete's wife, convinced him to audition. He got the job and was later hired as lead guitarist for Petra.

Over the next four years, Pete started journaling his thoughts; after a while, he set them to music. Through some Nashville friends, several music executives heard Pete's songs; before long he signed with Word Records and began working on Born Again.

Pete confesses that a lot of his songs are about things he's walked through, things he's learned. "I call the guitar my heart made out of wood. It's how I express myself. I get this stirring in my spirit, this fire in my stomach, and I have to play. It's like breathing.

"Born Again is about being born again. It's about my new life. I have to tell people what happened to me, about why I am different. Otherwise I might as well be doing secular music."

Copyright 2002, Paula K. Parker. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

About Paula K. Parker: Paula K. Parker is an author, playwright, arts critic and hired-gun freelance writer. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 27 years (so far) and is the mother of five homeschooled teenagers. From her home in Nashville, Tennessee, Paula frequently writes about the contemporary Christian arts and music scene. Visit her web page at: www.geocities.com/parker_wordcrafts

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