John Darin Rowsey

John D. Rowsey is a singer, songwriter and worshiper. Born in the hills of West Virginia, he began singing "specials" in his church at the age of four years old. From that young age, his interest in Christian music never wavered. He entered his first talent show in the second grade and appeared in all of the school talent shows from that year on. A writer from the small local newspaper in his hometown of Barboursville, West Virginia began to take notice of the boy he called the "youngster with the golden voice" and wrote numerous articles about John Darin over the next couple of years.

It was during that time that the eleven year old boy told his family that one day he would be a professional gospel singer. They encouraged him whole-heartedly. His first vocal collaboration was with his mom and later with a family group that would last into his teen years.

When John Darin was barely nineteen, he helped form a trio called "New Song Revival" that would later become New Journey. From 1985 to 1994 they traveled with a live band and would work regular jobs during the week singing only on the weekends. It was during the early days of this new group that John Darin married his wife Shirley. She played keyboards and sang with "New Song Revival". Two years later they had a son, Michael Shade, whom they call a gift from God.

In 1995, after several personnel changes and the name change to "New Journey", the couple decided to take that group to a full-time status. About this same time John Darin's songwriting was beginning to blossom. He signed a publishing deal with CENTERGY PUBLISHING in Nashville as his songs began to be recorded by many artists in the Christian music field. A big break came when Bill Gaither and the "Gaither Vocal Band" recorded one of his songs "Singing With the Saints". It became the title song to a popular Homecoming Video and sold enough units to achieve "platinum" status. Now nearly every group in the Southern Gospel industry has recorded one or more of John's songs.

In 1999, John Darin and Shirley made the decision to retire the full-time ministry of "New Journey". This would give their son Michael the opportunity to attend High School rather than be home schooled as he had been prior to this time. Shirley would have more time to create a "normal" home life and John would have to make a decision about his future. Just before the final appearance of "New Journey", Karen Peck and "New River" offered John Darin the male singer's position in the group and after much prayer John and Shirley decided he should take the job. The first single he recorded with "New River" went to the number one position in Gospel Music and won SONG OF THE YEAR. The song was "Four Days Late". The next single was "The Truth Is" which was written and sung by John. It was nominated much to his surprise for a Dove Award.

His three year stay with Karen Peck and "New River" would prove to be a great business decision as well as building lasting friendships. During his time with the group, John Darin made appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, the Dove Awards, GMA Week at Estes Park, Colorado, TBN, the INSP Network, many more Gaither Homecoming Videos and concerts and the National Quartet Convention intermingled with a hectic regular concert schedule. This helped to build his popularity as a writer and singer and garnered him much respect in the gospel music industry.

After leaving the road, 2003 became a year of new beginnings for John Darin. Still writing, singing a limited schedule, doing studio work and becoming very active in his home church, Christ Temple in Huntington, WV left little time for him to get bored.

As his responsibilities grew along with the explosive growth of the church, new doors began to open once again for John. The next year he was offered a contract with Daywind Music as an exclusive songwriter. The music team at Christ Temple Church was asked to do music for major events with some of the nation’s top evangelists such as Perry Stone, Morris Cerullo, Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley and others. John began to add praise and worship music to his song catalog along with the southern gospel that he had written and continues to pen today. He currently sings 2-3 dates per month, records, produces, writes for himself and many other artists and works with one of the fastest growing music programs in the country.

Looking to the future John says:
"I've stopped trying to figure it all out. I leave it in the hands of the Lord because He can take better care of it than I can. I'm just excited about what the next surprise will be. God continues to amaze me everyday. Life with Him is a thrill-ride with unexplainable peace."