A piano-playing, singer/songwriter and film composer from humble roots and the grand musical heritage of Kansas City, Randy Bonifield's recent work reflects a wide range of musical exploration – a song cycle of previously unreleased songs from his vault in 2013, a liturgical journey through Lent in 2018, and two film scores from successful independent films on the festival circuit in 2017 and 2019. While these projects represent the breadth of his work (or artistic wanderlust, one might say), Bonifield has devoted most of his career to the world of sacred artistry and liturgy, serving as a pastor of congregational worship for the last fifteen years in the southern part of the Kansas City area. 

Loves: family, baseball, brass bands, freshly tuned pianos, old hymnals, the sound of a record needle when it first makes contact with an LP, bunting against the shift, anything with a 6/8 gospel groove, deep conversation over a warm latte, Jesus, and a good game of catch. Not in that particular order.

Influences: Bruce Hornsby, Ray Charles, Keith Green, Billy Joel, Richard Page, Keb' Mo', William Himes, James Curnow, Rob Mathes, James Newton Howard, Thomas Newman, Howard Shore, Constance Cherry, N.T. Wright, James K.A. Smith, Buck O'Neil, Robert and Ruth Bonifield, cool Summer nights, a melancholy soul, a really good story, and the love of a girl named Wendy.

The Salvation Army is a worldwide evangelical Christian church with its own distinctive governance and practice. The Army’s doctrine follows the mainstream of Christian belief and its articles of faith emphasize God’s sovereign purposes.

Its religious and charitable objects are ‘the advancement of the Christian religion…and pursuant thereto, the advancement of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole’.  The rapid deployment of the first Salvationists were aided by the adoption of a quasi-military command structure in 1878 when the title ‘The Salvation Army’ was brought into use.

Responding to a recurrent theme in Christianity which sees the Church engaged in spiritual warfare, The Salvation Army has used to its advantage certain soldierly features such as uniforms, flags and ranks to identify, inspire and regulate its endeavors.

The Salvation Army Mission Statement:

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet the human needs in His name without discrimination.

From the wit and whimsy of Wendy Bonifield comes "On CarlsonDrive," a new podcast of stories from a dusty little dirt road of memories. Featuring stories and interviews of a cast of characters from the recesses of a sketchy memory, "On Carlson Drive" is a collection of yarns and recollections which hopefully inspire us to tell our own.

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