ON TOP OF THE TREK
A champion has risen. Meet the new winner, and get your hands on our new CD.

by Jeremy V. Jones

Once again, a champion has risen to the top of Breakaway’s Talent Trek music contest. And the winner is . . . Michael Child of Colorado Springs, Colo. The 18-year-old struck a worshipful, upbeat note with his song “Wanting More” and beat out hundreds of entries in our Talent Trek ‘06 contest.

Michael knew that part of his prize was a trip to hang out with Olivia the Band, the crazy, quirky, pop-punk rockers from Hawaii. But as the plans unfolded, the results kept blowing his mind. First the band invited Michael to go with them to visit their hometown on the island of Oahu. Can it get much better? Well, how’s this? Olivia then invited Michael to perform with them at a couple of shows there, including one with Audio Adrenaline! Whoa, Breakaway loves to give its contest winners the V.I.P treatment, but that beats our expectations, too.

We figured Michael had better get acquainted with the band first — you know, meet by phone before getting together face to face. And what better way to do that than by interviewing them by phone? We even let Michael pick the questions. Listen in at MORE MICHAEL MEETS OLIVIA. And watch this fall for another story on Michael’s Hawaiian tour. But for now . . .

MEET MICHAEL

He could be one of your friends. Michael Child is a normal teen guy. He works in a Colorado Springs, Colo., coffee house called Pikes Perk. He’s trying to save enough money to buy an Apple laptop. He drives a beater Honda (he’s saving for a new car too). He has a girlfriend. He lives with his dad, but sees his mom all the time. (Michael’s parents split when he was 15.) He’s the third of four brothers. He’s 18, graduated from high school last year and is seeking God’s direction for the next steps in his life.

Oh, and he loves music. Michael has been involved in leading worship for his youth group, and now for the whole church, for several years. As a matter of fact, that’s where his Talent Trek winning song came from.

“I was preparing for youth-group worship practice one afternoon and thinking we needed a new song,” Michael says. “I’d had a chorus going in my head for probably a week about wanting God more, so I decided to write some words for the verse. It took me, like, 15 minutes. We fine-tuned it later.”

Michael didn’t even tell his bandmates at first that he’d written the song, and it was well-received by worshipers when the group mixed it into regular rotation.

“It’s a song that you can slow down and sing the chorus really low,” Michael says.

But he didn’t expect it to win Breakaway’s Talent Trek ‘06.

“When you called, I thought you were going to tell me I’d lost,” he says. “I’m like, ‘The song wasn’t even that good, what are you guys thinking?’ ”

Michael’s just being modest. He’s a talented young musician, passionate about playing, performing, worshiping, listening — you name it.

“Music is such a huge part of my life that I wouldn’t know what I would do without it,” he says. “I know guys who clap in a worship service, but they can’t do it on beat. I don’t know what that’s like. I don’t know what it’s like not to know what chords are being played. It’s really natural for me.”

Out of high school, Michael attended a school for worship leaders but didn’t think it was the right fit. Lately he’s working, checking out colleges and listening for God’s direction.

“I’ve mainly been learning to trust God and waiting for exactly what He wants me to do,” Michael says. “I’m trying to trust that what He has is best and that anything He gives is going to be good, even if it may not win the approval of everyone else. You have to follow what God wants you to do.”

WANTING MORE

Every time I’m down I run to You | ‘Cause all the life I’ve found I’ve found in You | And I can’t let go, I’m holding on so tight | Give me peace, make everything all right |

 All I need I find in You | Everything You say is true | I want You more than anyone I’ve ever wanted | I need You more than anyone I’ve ever needed | I love You more than I have ever loved before | And Lord, You keep me wanting more |

 Take me and make me like You want me to be

—Michael’s winning song

DOWNLOAD MICHAEL'S WINNING SONG, "WANTING MORE"

TOP 15 Talent Trek ‘06 Contest Winners

Michael Child, “Wanting More,” Colorado Springs, Colo. Craig Burden, “Glory Is Due,” West Lafayette, Ind. Kaleb Jeffrey Krueger, “This Is the Life,” New Haven, Mo. Skylights (Andy Sheridan, Amos Armbrust, Matt Stewart), “Eyes,” Washington Court House, Ohio Josh Dobson, “Don’t Know Why,” Vernon, British Columbia Jade (Bobby Chavez, Jared Lucci, Michael Child, Madison Child), “New,” Colorado Springs, Colo. Jared Salte, “Six Ton Load,” Sherwood Park, Alberta Evermore (Tim Karnes, Tim Gregory, Joe Acor, Justin Robbins), “Not Your Normal Garbage,” Millville, Pa. Last in Line (Mitch Moyer, Steve Davis, Dan Roskoski), “Exits,” Rochester, Mich. Jonathan Curtis Turner, “What Do You Offer?” Baton Rouge, La. Hypnotic Pace (Zach Langston, Blake Baldwin, Colin Bovberg), “Livin,’ ” Colorado Springs, Colo. Mark Porostosky, Jr., and Brittany Inman, “Lives Could Be More,” Madison, Ohio Brace 4 Impact (Luke Connell, Gabriel Chase, Dan Bishop, Dustin Schultz, Zak Perry), “Guiding Light,” Middletown, Conn. Broken Image (Jason Ericson, Matt Woodard, Easton Thomas, Ansel Sanger), “Soli Deo Gloria,” Redmond, Wash.