By Kathi Stearns, Staff Writer

MARIETTA--At 16 Ed Bolduc dreamed of one day making it big in the music industry as an alternative musician. He spent his time networking, working on demo tapes, perfecting his skills as a pianist and playing different bands hoping to get the break that musicians dream about.

Yet every time he sent a demo tape out, Bolduc received back a letter saying his material was “not marketable.” When he had his first concert, only 10 people attended, the parents of the five musicians.

Bolduc’s “break” came in July 1992, when St. Ann’s Church in Marietta needed a music minister for the new Life Teen Program. Schooled as a classical pianist, Bolduc scanned the sheet of music given to him by St. Ann’s youth director, Randy Raus, and felt his dream begin to become a reality, albeit a different one than he had envisioned.

“All I knew was this (Life Teen) was supposed to be a ‘rocking’ Mass,” said Bolduc. “I knew I could rock, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

During the audition Raus asked if Bolduc would be interested in composing liturgical music.

“I told him, ‘I am a pianist, not a singer or a writer,’” Bolduc said. He had previously composed only one Christian song, entitled “My Prayer,” while serving as music director at a Methodist church.

Today Bolduc, 25, has written 65 songs and sings on two albums featuring music from St. Ann’s Life Teen program. On Feb. 3 he will release his third tape featuring five new songs composed by Bolduc and five by Tom Booth, the national music director for Life Teen from mesa, Ariz. His other two tapes, “I Believe,” and “The Way,” have already had two press runs and the music is played through out the Archdiocese of Atlanta in parishes implementing Life Teen.

Bolduc, who will perform at St. Ann’s Music Fest Friday, Feb. 3, believes that the Lord is using him as a tool to spread the Gospel message,. “I sometimes look back at something I’ve written and ask myself, ‘Where did this come from?’” said Bolduc. “It’s like God is urging me on, saying, ‘Write this.’ I am really grateful that God has chosen to use me as His vessel.”

Bolduc’s wife, Karen, 27, who is vocally trained and lead singer in the St. Ann’s band, described her husband’s state of mind when he is composing. “When he gets the bug, he might as well be on another planet,” she said. “You could be riding in the car and pouring out your life to him, and he’s totally oblivious. You don’t even know he’s alive until he asks for a sheet of paper.”

Bolduc admits that the work he is doing has become all engrossing. “I can’t bring myself to write something that is not for God anymore,” said Bolduc. “I have lost the inspiration and the inclination to write secular music. The music that I write now is about an intimate relationship with Christ. This music, even if it’s simpler, has the power to make a real impact in a person’s spiritual development.”

The Life Teen program has had a positive effect on Bolduc’s understanding of prayer. Raised in a Catholic family in Romulus, Mich., Bolduc recalls he had a boyhood prayer regimen, reciting the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be To The Father, the Act of Contrition, and the guardian angel prayer five times each. “That was how I communicated with Him...Today I have a truly personal relationship with God which goes way beyond those prayers. I simply talk to God in a relaxed way...and I place all my trust in Him.”

Karen Bolduc says that the Life Teen program brought her back to the Catholic Church that she had left soon after receiving the sacrament of confirmation. “After confirmation I felt I had done my duty. See you later, God,” Karen said. “I didn’t feel there was anything for me within the Church. When we moved to Atlanta I seriously couldn’t recall how to say the Our Father and Hail Mary. I was so embarrassed.”

But she knew that if she were to lead teens with her husband she had to reevaluate her own spiritual life and growth. “Life Teen brought me back to the Catholic Church,” she said. “The sacraments and the mass took on a whole new meaning for me. Everything became an intimate experience with Christ. I grew to know Him and love Him in a way that I had never done before. I’ve told the kids that where they are now is a lot better than where I was at that age.”

A band of volunteer professional musicians compose the St. Ann’s Life Teen Band, Bolduc believes that successful Life Teen parishes use young adults rather than teens as their musicians. “The Mass is for the teens. It is not for them to lead; it is for them to be led,” he said. “The teens should be focused on the Mass and sit and interact together as a worshipping community.”

For teens interested in music ministry, Bolduc has started a group named Truth, made up of senior high school students. The group sings at the Catholic Spirit Mass, a monthly Mass for parishioners in junior high. “This allows the teens to minister to a younger group,” Bolduc said.

Currently the Life Teen Band consists of Mark Ross, bass guitar; Scott Lavelle, drums; Cheryl Garman, vocals; Ken Leffingwell, guitar; Phil Saucier and Brian Guske, trumpet. The group rehearses for two hours each Tuesday; for the 6 p.m. Live Teen Mass on Sunday the musicians are on hand from 4:30 to 9 p.m.

As soon as the band is finished singing their attention promptly turns to the altar. “We are not there to be the center of attention,” said Bolduc. “We lead the people in song and that’s it. We aren’t the reason people come to Mass. Everyone is at the Mass to worship the Lord; He must always be the focus.”

The Music Fest will be held at 8 p.m. in the gymnasium of St. Ann’s Friday, Feb. 3. Concert admission is $5. St. Ann’s is located at 4905 Roswell Road, Marietta. For information contact the Life Teen Office at 998-6754.