Annie Herring is one of the pioneers of the Jesus music

Jesus music

Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music which originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement...

 genre, later to be called Contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

. She was more notably a part of the trio, 2nd Chapter of Acts

2nd Chapter of Acts

The 2nd Chapter of Acts was a Jesus Music and early Contemporary Christian Music group composed of sisters Annie Herring and Nelly Greisen and brother Matthew Ward. They began performing in 1973 and enjoyed their period of greatest success during the 1970s...

 in which she wrote most of the songs and sang lead and harmony vocals with her brother Matthew Ward

Matthew Ward (singer)

Matthew Ward is one of the pioneers of the Jesus music genre, later to be called Contemporary Christian music. He is best known as a part of the trio, 2nd Chapter of Acts in which he sang and performed with his sisters, Annie Herring and Nellie Greisen...

 and sister Nelly (Ward) Greisen

Nelly Greisen

Nelly Greisen was born on December 11, 1955. She joined her older sister, Annie Herring, and younger brother, Matthew Ward, to form the Jesus Music group 2nd Chapter of Acts. The group began singing together in 1970, and disbanded in 1988...

. However, during her musical career with the 2nd Chapter of Acts from 1973 to 1988, she also recorded solo albums. She continues to record and perform her solo work to the present time (2007).

Early history

Annie Herring’s music and ministry was, in no small part, forged from personal family tragedy. In 1968 her mother, Elizabeth Ward, died of a brain tumor; two years later her father, Walter, died of leukemia leaving her youngest sister, Nelly, and brother, Matthew, orphaned. The Ward siblings decided that Annie and her new husband, record producer Buck Herring, should take in the two younger Ward siblings.

Annie was a self-taught singer and songwriter who wrote and played her songs around the family piano. Her brother and sister would often join in as she played, and eventually they developed extremely tight and intricate harmonies.

As they gradually started singing for local coffee houses and small gatherings, they eventually gained the notice of Pat Boone

Pat Boone

Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

 who arranged a contract to record and release two singles with MGM, "Jesus Is" (1972) and "I'm So Happy" (1973). The fledgling trio also came to the attention of 1960s folk singer Barry McGuire

Barry McGuire

Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter best known for the hit song "Eve of Destruction", and later as a pioneering singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian Music.-Early life:...

, who had recently become a Christian and was preparing to record his first Christian music album, to be produced by Buck Herring. The siblings provided background vocals for Seeds and McGuire's 1974 follow-up, Lighten Up. The group would take the name "The 2nd Chapter of Acts", and Annie continued to sing with her siblings as part of 2nd Chapter of Acts until 1988, when each member of the group felt called to different careers.

Solo career

During her time with 2nd Chapter, Annie had released two solo albums, "Through a Child's Eyes" and "Deep Inside", as well as an album for children, "Kids of the Kingdom". After 2nd Chapter disbanded, Annie continued her solo career. Annie continues to tour the US, and, as of 1996, gave 40-50 concerts a year. She also continues to receive songs and record solo albums, to which her siblings from 2nd Chapter often add backup vocals. She also occasionally adds her vocals to other artist’s albums.
In 1995, she was featured in the Warren Chaney

Warren Chaney

Warren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...

 docudrama

Docudrama

In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....

, America: A Call to Greatness

America: A Call to Greatness

America: A Call to Greatness is a 1995 docudrama feature from Paige-Brace Cinema, chronicling United States history from its inception through the 20th century. It stars Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Deborah Winters, Peter Graves, Jane Russell, and Rita Moreno among others and was written,...

.

Discography

• Kids of the Kingdom with Annie Herring, 1976 (Sparrow Records)
• Through a Child's Eyes, 1976 (Sparrow Records)
• Search Deep Inside, 1981 (Sparrow Records)
• Flying Lessons, 1989 (Live Oak Records)
• Waiting for My Ride to Come, 1991 (Live Oak Records)
• There's a Stirring, 1992 (Sparrow Records)
• All That I Am, 1993 (Sparrow Records)
• Glimpses, 1996 (Spring Hill)
• Wonder, 1998 (Spring Hill)
• Picture Frames, 2000 (Spring Hill)
• Here in My Heart, 2001 (Baah Records)
• One on One, 2006 (Baah Records)
• Dance of the Horses and Other Animal Tracks, 2010

Compilations

• Come Together: A Musical Experience in Love — Various Artists (Annie sings on a number of songs), 1974
• If My People: A Musical Experience in Worship and Intercession — Various Artists, 1974
• Firewind: A Contemporary Dramatic Musical — Various Artists (song: "New Jerusalem"), 1976
• Sparrow Spotlight Sampler — Various Artists ("Some Days"), 1978
• The Witness: A Musical of Easter — Various Artists, 1978
• The Glory of Christmas — Various Artists (Annie portrays Mary, the Mother of Jesus), 1980
• The Birthday Party Candle ("I Will Shine, I Will Sing"), 1980
• The Victor: A Musical — Various Artists, 1984
• Come Together Again: A Musical Experience in Worship and Commitment — Various Artists, 1986
• The Lord Reigns — Bob Fitts ("I Stand in Awe"), 1988
• Handel's Young Messiah — Various Artists ("Behold the Lamb"), 1990
• Let It Rain — Dennis Jarnigan (duet with Dennis on "You Come Raining"), 1992
• Giving You the Rest of my Life — Various Artists ("Over and Over"), 1994
• Sisters: The Story Goes On — Various Artists (duet with Bonnie Keen on "Will You Go to the Father for Me?"), 1995
• First Love
  First Love: a Historic Gathering of Jesus Music Pioneers
  First Love is a documentary that looks back into the Jesus Music of the 1970s. In 1997, a group of Jesus Music pioneers gathered in southern California for a memorable 3 days of music and fellowship . The event was both recorded and filmed, and was released in a 2-CD/2-DVD set simply titled “First...
  
  — Various Artists ("My Redeemer"), 1998
• Praise 16: Power of Your Love — Maranatha! Music ("Great is the Lord"), 1999
• Worship Moments: I Love You Lord — Maranatha! Music ("Great is the Lord"), 2004
• Hands Lifted High — Dennis Jernigan (duet on "Faithful and True" and duet with Matthew Ward on "When the Night is Falling"), 2005
• Edge of the World — Randy Stonehill (she appears on "We Were All So Young"), 2006