The Archers (musical group)

The Archers
Origin	United States
Genres	Contemporary Christian
Years active	1971–1993
Labels	Charisma Records Impact Records Light Records Sparrow Records (MCA Songbird) Reunion Records (Word-Geffen)
Website	TheArchers.us
Past members	Tim Archer Steve Archer Nancye Short-Tsapralis Billy Rush Masters Janice Archer-Cruse

The Archers were one of America's earliest Contemporary Christian music groups. They were originally brothers Tim and Steve Archer, Nancye Short and Billy Rush Masters. After Masters and Short departed in 1977, sister Janice Archer joined. They enjoyed greater longevity than most of the pioneering CCM artists, recording chart hits in the decades of the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. Their hits included, "Jesus Is The Answer", "Little Flowers", "It Wouldn't Be Enough", "Fresh Surrender", "Stand Up!", and "Heaven In Your Eyes". Former Maranatha! Music artist and CCM pioneer Erick Nelson defined The Archers' role in the development of contemporary Christian music as representing one-half of a convergence: traditional vocal groups like The Archers got hipper while the hippie rock groups (like the Maranatha bands) got more mellow—eventually both evinced the polished, commercial sound that would be identified as stereotypical contemporary Christian music.

Growing up the sons of a pastor in the San Joaquin Valley of northern California, Tim and Steve Archer began singing in their father's church during their childhood. Eventually they branched out to other churches in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the mid-1960s they spent their summers touring with their older brother Gary as the gospel trio, "The Archer Bros." This was a pivotal period in the group's evolution to what eventually became known as contemporary Christian music, since it was the first time they began to incorporate their own electric accompaniment, a rare introduction to evangelical Christian music of the time. In 1966, Tim and Steve entered a talent search contest and placed second nationally. In 1967 with both Tim and Gary playing guitar they began an evolution toward an even more Contemporary sound. Before long (with Gary moving into artist management), they took on additional personnel, drummer Fred Satterfied and guitarist Billy Rush Masters and Steve Smart then later adding vocalist Nancye Short after Smart's departure, taking the name The Archers.

By 1971, they were performing in churches and Jesus festivals throughout Southern California with other Christian artists, and came to the attention of Andrae Crouch and Light Records’ chief, Ralph Carmichael. With Masters writing many of the early songs, the group collaborated on vocal arrangements and a new sound, previously unheard of in evangelical circles began to emerge. As Jesus music began to gain a stronger foothold in North America, they came into contact with Pat Boone, eventually touring with him. In the spring of 1972, they went into TTG Studios in Hollywood, California to record their first album, Any Day Now, with Gary producing for their independent "Charisma Records" label. Its release coincided with the group's performance at EXPLO '72 in Dallas, Texas with over a quarter million people in attendance. Masters penned most of the songs for the album including "God's Love", "Put On Jesus", and "For Me, For You". The album also included two songs written by their friend, Andrae Crouch, entitled "It Won’t Be Long" and "Jesus is the Answer". Both "God's Love" and "Jesus Is The Answer" became Number One hits in the U.S. and Canada.

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