Meet Pete Tung, Fannin Terrace Baptist Church music minister and Croakin’ Toads bassist

The native of Baltimore, Maryland, can steadiness his skilled life, household life and his standing as a comparatively new member of the Midland neighborhood – having been right here for 3 years.

“A job recruiter described Midland like this: ‘Midland is like Nickelback. Everybody hates them however nobody is aware of why.’ I moved right here from Houston, so yeah, it was tradition shock. The toughest factor for me to get used to was how pleasant persons are. Rising up in Baltimore, everybody minds their very own enterprise and retains to themselves. …  Right here, I’ve been ‘caught’ in conversations on the grocery retailer, on the fitness center and at eating places.”

Tung is married to Jessi, they usually have two kids — Vienna and Davian.

With regards to music, the proficient Mr. Tung possesses a level in classical guitar from York Faculty of Pennsylvania. His musical influences are numerous – from Hillsong United to Elevation for worship music to Eric Clapton to John Mayer for guitar to Boyz II Males to Jay-Z to Lauren Hill for non-Christian music.

He considers constructing worship groups a ardour as he seeks “to offer alternatives for individuals to attach with God by music, prayer and God’s phrase.”

The 42-year-old additionally claims to be a proficient eater and considers his favourite Midland eating places to be (in no sure order): Heroes Meals, Noodle Home, I Love Pho, Abuelos, Taco Di Vino, Ray’s Bistro, Venezia’s.

“Like I mentioned, I like to eat,” Tung acknowledged. “I eat above my weight-class.”

For these all in favour of listening to Tung in his religious ingredient, Fannin usually has a pair of companies each Sunday.

For these wanting one thing extra mainstream, the Croakin’ Toads schedule may be discovered at www.facebook.com/thecroakintoads.

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About Pete

• Welcome to Midland second: Flying into Midland throughout the day (unhealthy thought) and seeing all of the pump jacks. Not realizing what it was, I believed it seemed just like the film “Holes.”

Musical influences

– For worship music: Hillsong United, Elevation, Bethel, Chris Tomlin, Shane and Shane

– For different music: Eric Clapton and John Mayer (for guitar).  Boyz II Males, Jay-Z, Tupac, Lauren Hill, Michael Jackson for non-Christian music.

Musical responsible pleasure

“All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled. (It’s my “Stroll Up” tune)

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Query and reply with Pete Tung, music minister at Fannin Terrace Baptist Church.

Reporter-Telegram: How did you get entangled in music ministry? How a lot of a calling was it for you?

Tung: “I began serving to with a church youth group in Baltimore after I was 18. They wanted guitar gamers and I knew 4 chords: G, Em, C, and D. Again then for worship music, that was all you wanted to know. Then I discovered the way to use a capo (a little bit machine that lets you play the identical chord shapes however in a distinct key), and I turned a worship rock-god (simply kidding, however the music again then was fairly straightforward). I bought concerned in my school fellowship known as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The present worship chief was a graduating senior and was searching for a substitute. I began to assist out and by the next 12 months I used to be main worship each Thursday evening for our fellowship. After I graduated, I knew I needed to guide worship full time, however wanted a job to help my spouse and me. After three years of working odd-end jobs, lastly bought employed as a Youth and Younger Grownup Worship Chief at a big church in York, Pennsylvania. That’s after I went into full time ministry. The remaining is historical past.

This was undoubtedly a calling. I knew someplace in my school years that that is what I needed to do, however extra importantly, it’s what God gifted me to do. I simply didn’t know the way to get there. 

Reporter-Telegram: What introduced your musical/worship skills to Midland?

Tung: A worship minister place opened up at Fannin Terrace Baptist Church in Midland. After a pair conversations and a pair visits, my spouse and I undoubtedly felt known as to serve on the Household of Fannin. 

Reporter-Telegram: For somebody not from Midland, how laborious/straightforward was it to regulate to the neighborhood?

Tung: A job recruiter described Midland like this: “Midland is like Nickelback. Everybody hates them however nobody is aware of why.” I moved right here from Houston, so yeah, it was tradition shock. The toughest factor for me to get used to was how pleasant persons are. Rising up in Baltimore, everybody minds their very own enterprise and retains to themselves. We’re all the time attempting to get to the place we’re going as a result of we’ve one thing to do. Right here, I’ve been “caught” in conversations on the grocery retailer, on the fitness center and at eating places. I believe the perfect half about Midland is the shorter commute to issues on the town. You may get to anyplace you want in 20 minutes. In Houston, you’re not even out of the town and also you’ve in all probability solely moved two exits on the freeway.

Reporter-Telegram: Inform us in regards to the Croakin’ Toads and the way the group happened?

Tung: We’re a enjoyable cowl band within the Permian Basin. We cowl a number of songs from a number of genres. We play quite a lot of musical eras from the 60s to at the moment. We play music from the Eagles, Maroon 5, Bon Jovi, Jimi Hendrix, Bruno Mars, Backstreet Boys, Metallica and extra. Trey Walker is our drummer, Zack Neves is our guitar participant, and I play bass and hold the band multiracial. We began when Trey Walker (who performs drums on our worship staff at church) invited me over to his home to simply play some music. We had performed a few easy gigs collectively. Afterwards, he mentioned, “Do you need to begin a band and gig extra?” I began to share an thought with him of a “Energy Trio.” (Drums, Bass, and Electrical Guitar). I mentioned that there’s hardly something that may’t be performed by a Energy Trio. I used to be an honest guitar participant on the time, however for this concept to work, you want a “show-stopper” on electrical guitar. I used to be prepared to study bass guitar and be the “band roadie” if he may discover a world-class guitar participant. That’s when Trey (who’s among the best singing drummers I do know) reached out to a hillbilly from Monahans named Zack Neves. He arrange a rehearsal on April 15, 2021, at 6:30 p.m., at Trey’s home.

Once we first met, we did our compulsory awkward handshakes as if we have been being invited into an Amway assembly. As soon as we bought our gear arrange, we tried our first tune: “Summer time of 69” by Bryan Adams. I admit that I made a number of errors whereas enjoying bass as a result of I used to be blown away by Zack’s guitar enjoying. After we performed our first tune, I can truthfully say that the three of us knew this might work.  The connection was there, and our egos have been checked on the door. It’s every thing you may need in band. I additionally suppose what makes us distinctive is our tune choice and our vocal talents. We will all lead songs vocally, however we will all harmonize as nicely. I really feel very blessed and humbled that such high-caliber musicians like Trey and Zack permit me to play with them. I’m not even the perfect bass participant within the band.

Reporter-Telegram: What’s a Croakin’ Toads present like? 

Tung: It’s only a enjoyable time. We play common crowd-favorite songs, however we additionally play a number of “Responsible Pleasure” songs from individuals like Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, Ok-Ci and Jojo, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, and Boyz II Males. We play at varied locations, so the vibe of the reveals depends upon the venue. We’ve performed in smaller intimate venues like Brew St. Cafe and Aptitude Taverna in Odessa, to giant venues just like the “Star Spangled Salute” in Centennial Park and Summer time Garden concert events on the Museum of the Southwest. We additionally do non-public events ought to anybody need to kick their social gathering up a pair notches. You possibly can comply with us on Fb and different social media platforms.