Joseph Habedank
A Glimpse at a Young Singer
As we begin another new year we often look back at the past and then on to the future. In recent years we have seen many of our legends leave us and it often leaves us wondering ‘who will carry on’, ‘with these older men and women gone. will there be SGM in a few years’ or ‘are there many young people who love this music‘. These are very valid questions but as you look around to many of our most popular groups you see young faces beginning to come in. These are the people who will carry on the traditions, the ones who the next generation will enjoy singing for many years to come.
The winner of the 2004 Mixed Group of the Year has two young men with them and I had the opportunity to sit and talk to one of them. Nineteen year old Joseph Habedank, baritone for the Perry’s brings many adjectives to mind when you think of him; polished, energetic, dedicated, and fun just to name a few.
For those who don’t know him, hopefully we can share a little insight of who he is and what his goals are. Christian values are very much a part of his life and were handed down from parents and grandparents. His grandfather, Dr. Richard Sandlin was a pastor, then a missionary to Ireland and is now an evangelist. Joseph’s love of God is evident in his conversation; he talks freely about his love of God and spending time in His word. In fact, when pressed for his favorite author, he replied, “Honestly the only thing I read much is the Bible. I’m not trying to sound super-spiritually but I only read the Bible. I love to read the Bible and I feel like I don’t read enough. You can never read it too much. You need to learn and studying your Bible is when the Lord shows up in your life.” Not a typical answer from most nineteen year olds.
But in our conversation, I found that Joseph is not typical in many ways. Most nineteen year olds are in college and looking ahead to what job they will be working several years down the road. He is already in the job he dreamed of. Joseph says “I had not originally planned to take any college courses right now but there is a business man in our town (Morristown, TN), John Allen, who is about to get his masters degree from Liberty University. He has done all his classes on-line. He came to me and asked me if I’d like to do that and I said ‘yeah, I’d love it’. So yes, I will be getting my bachelor’s degree from Liberty. I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing as far as my degree. I think it will be a degree in music or something like that. I’m excited about that.” He knows that even though he is doing what he loves best, none of us know what tomorrow holds and it is smart to go ahead and get prepared for whatever life may bring.
Now, his goals are simple by most standards, get married, have kids and stay in this industry as long as he can. “ I really do want to sing until I die or until the Lord tells me otherwise. I’d like to be one of those like Glen Payne or Rex Nelon who sang all their life until they passed away. I’d love to do that if the Lord would allow me to, that’s my goal”.
As one of the most unassuming young men I’ve ever met, he seems to down play the fact that his voice has a maturity well beyond his years and his stage presence is strikingly professional for a nineteen year old. “The correct answer of course is it’s a gift from the Lord. It is that most of all. And I’ve been singing on stage since I was 4 years old and been singing in church almost every Sunday for 15 years. When you do something a lot, you should become better at it. If you have a gift and you do your part, you will continue to get better, to grow at what you do. I can’t take any credit for it, it’s the Lord, He gave me a gift and He allowed me to do sing and work to improve that gift. I pray every night before I go on that I will sing for Him and that is all that really matters.” All of this has been accomplished without any formal vocal training. But he adds that he would like to have that training at some point and time, he is would like to continue to become the best he can be for the Lord’s use.
While it doesn’t seem to be a fit with the life style of a traveling singer, he is a self-described homebody. “I’m home in TN about 3 days a week but my real home is in OH. I go home about once every 4 or 5 months, so not much. I’ll go home during Thanksgiving week and I’ll get to go home about 3 weeks at Christmas and sometimes we sing at my home church, Cornerstone Baptist Temple in Dayton, OH and I’ll stay home then. It’s a great church, I love my church. It is awesome.” He elaborates, “Yeah, I love being on the road but like we said I’m a homebody so there are some times I’m like ‘I want to get off this bus, I want to get home’. But this is what I believe the Lord has created me to do, this is what I was born to do I think.”
So many people in Gospel music are bi-vocational or at least have some type of side job whether it is to pay the bills or to afford them security in case singing ceases to be their vocation. Joseph has some ideas about that down the road, he knows that as a single person finances are much less complex but additions may be needed some day, as he becomes a family man. “I golf does that count? That’s what I do; I don’t do anything but golf, get on my computer and sing.” He might like to dabble in real estate some day.
Traveling with the Perry’s is different that traveling with his family, the Sandlins. That is where he gained much of his experience, as he has traveled since he was four. But traveling with the Perry’s, in his words is an adventure and an honor. “It’s fun, it’s hard, it’s great, and it’s tough. Overall it is worth it and it is just an honor, because growing up they have been one of my favorite groups. So it’s an honor, that’s all I can say.”
We asked Joseph if he could sing with anyone living or dead, who it would be. “Kenny Hinson, ….’Call me a dreamer’ (he really can sound a lot like Kenny!) (He chuckles) it would have to be, he’s the man.” Now, he is not old enough to remember the high points of the Hinson years. “But my favorite singer is Mike Bowling and he sings just like Kenny. I love Kenny and I have some of their albums I listen to.”
While we are on favorites, the question of a favorite song came up. “ It would have to be ‘What A Day That Will Be’ I hope that when I get older people will associate me with that song. That is the song I tried out with the Perry’s. It was the first song I ever sang at the NQC, on the stage, I sang it by myself. It was awesome, not the singing but the feeling of singing on the main stage. It was amazing. That’s my favorite song.”
Many of us first heard or heard of Joseph when he had a guest shot on The Trio video, Having A Good Time. He acknowledges they gave him his foot in the door and extends his thanks for allowing him to do that. “That helped me get into the business, get my foot in the door. I don’t know honestly, it might have been I would have never gotten the job with the Perry’s without that. I don’t know that for a fact but that helped with publicity and it was truly awesome, even if my voice did crack on the encore. (laughs) But nobody heard that, right?” We assured him we all thought that was Ivan.
Where does this rising star in Gospel music see himself in ten years? “I hope I’m married, I can’t wait to find my wife. I don’t know where she’s at or if I’ve met her already. I want to be married in ten years, I want to have at least a few kids, all girls, I don’t want any boys, I grew I grew up with two brothers. I want to have all girls; I want to have 4 or 5 girls. Anyway, I want to be married, have a few kids and still be singing. That is my goal, to be in church, have kids, a wonderful family.”
And what would he be looking for in a wife? “Well, obviously I want a girl who loves the Lord, that is the main thing, has a great personality and loves kids because I want to have kids. I love kids and I want her to love kids. I would like her to be good with people because I’m not always good with people and she could help me in that area. I’d love for her to sing, that would be great but it is not necessarily something I’m looking for. But that would be cool, you know?”
When asked about his energy on stage, ‘I’m 19, most 19 year olds have lots or energy or there is something wrong. Now there are some groups out there that may go overboard but excitement about what we are doing is good. I try to have a happy medium, I don’t want to be dead but I don’t want to be crazy either. If you enjoy what you do, others will enjoy it too. At least that’s what I hope.”
Singing isn’t his only talent, as co-writer of ‘What A God’ he tells us that he has written a lot of songs but when he came with the Perry’s he didn’t feel he had any that were good enough for their new project so he contacted one of his favorite writers, Joel Lindsey and asked him to write a song for him. “I think to become a good writer you have to write a lot. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, we used to record my songs with my family. I sang with my family for twelve years the Sandlin Family and we used to record some of my stuff. It was fun, it was cool. Then when I came with the Perry’s I said, man I’m just not a good enough writer to do Perry stuff. So I wrote Joel Lindsey and asked him to write me a song for our new album. He said only if you’ll write it with me. I said ok, I’ll come write it with you. We wrote it together, I gave him the idea for the song. We wrote it together, Joel’s a phenomenal writer and he taught me a lot and it’s a cool song. I hope we record more of my songs, I think we will.”
“The preacher in the song he was the best friend of my grandfather, Bro. Marvin Clanton, he was an old preacher man from KY. He died with I was a kid, about 11. He had a heart attack. He was such a godly man; it was almost as if you could see God all over him and he would always say ‘What a God’ when he would preach. I had the idea; we talked about it and wrote the song.”
Joseph has maturity not just in his voice but in his thoughts and plans that give confidence that he will follow God’s plan for his life. While it is easy to see the joking, fun-loving side of his nature, you can’t miss the sincerity in his desire to use his talents to serve God.
If Gospel Music can continue to have talented young men such as Joseph who are excited not only about singing but Who they are singing about, the future of Gospel Music is very secure. It is wonderful to see their joy and enthusiasm as they share the good news of God’s love.
Written by DeeAnn Bailey
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[27] Comments
Thanks, DeeAnn, for a great article on a great young singer & a sweetheart, too. What a charming talented young man he is. Thanks for a great article.
Joseph truly is all that the article says he is...a great vocalist and a very strongly dedicated Christian. He's also a fabulous friend 
Tim, I'm sorry, all mention of 'cheese-heads' was forbidden during the interview! 
Written: 01/01/2005 
Author: SGN
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