The Waiting
Atlanta, Georgia12 reviews across 3 releases
The Waiting is an Atlanta Christian pop-rock band formed in 1988 as Begin Again. Its early music combined sixties-tinged guitar pop with southern and folk influences, jangly electric guitars, occasional distortion, and traces of mandolin. Brad Olsen's half-spoken vocal style gave the songs an unusual center, while the writing treated Christian subjects with wit and imagery rather than routine devotional language. Blue Belly Sky, released in 1995 on R.E.X. Music, established that rootsy sound; the 1997 Sparrow debut The Waiting made it more muscular and polished under Steve Hindalong's production. By Wonderfully Made in 2001, the group had moved toward programmed pop and synths, though "Sleepless," written in response to the 1999 Atlanta day-trading shooting, retained the dramatic guitar-based intensity associated with its earlier work.
Sparrow signed The Waiting in 1997 after regional success and extensive touring, bringing the Atlanta quartet into the Christian major-label market alongside Third Day and other emerging pop-rock acts. The group later moved to Inpop Records, where Wonderfully Made appeared after a prolonged delay and divided contemporary reviewers over its polished production. In 2003, following a sold-out Georgia show, The Waiting stopped touring full-time as marriage, family responsibilities, and the economics of the road made the schedule impractical. They did not officially break up and continued to play occasional dates. Brad Olsen released a solo album in 2009, while Todd Olsen worked as a producer and later recorded as Oats.
3 releases reviewed
Blue Belly Sky
