They are successful now, but that was long after their debut as APNAB or Absolutely Positively Not A Band in the early 1990s.
"That (name) was absolutely positively not my idea either," Jackson said, laughing. "I was eager to get rid of that. We were kind of the house band at this Bible study we went to ... run by a Christian (radio) talk host. He wanted people to know that his Bible study was not a substitute for church, so he would call it Absolutely Positively Not A Church. Someone got the great idea to call us Absolutely Positively Not A Band and I guess back then we were really absolutely positively not a band," he said, laughing again.
But the more parodies they made, more people heard their parodies and liked them. As invitations started pouring in, the band came up with a new name, ApologetiX, a play on the word "apologetics." And while the world may laugh at their parodies of "Baa, We're Lambs," (a parody of "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys) or even "Jail Got Rocked," (a parody of "Jailhouse Rock," by Elvis), the parodies aren't just fluff or touch on ambiguous stuff. They are parodies with a purpose.
"Our main purpose is to reach the lost and teach the rest (about God)," Jackson said. "It is not just "Jesus is my girlfriend" stuff. We talk about theology and doctrines (and) we are looking to tell more about (a) story that the average person doesn't know because they don't read their Bible," Jackson explained.
So, the five members of ApologetiX: Bill Rieger, Bill Hubauer, Keith Haynie, Karl Messner and Jackson are using songs to drive home their purpose - Songs designed not only to feed a heart of laughter, but a soul of need.
"ApologetiX is both a vocation and an avocation...it is what we are called to do," Jackson said.
And, they will go wherever they feel God leads - even if it means they will be traveling across 16 time zones in the summer of 2006 to spend ten days ministering in Australia.
While they may stay busy with doing something that is exciting and satisfying, it can also be nerve-racking and tiring. But, Jackson doesn't see that as any deterrent to the band's sharing the gospel - especially when releasing a CD called Apol-acoustiX only for ApologetiX fan club members (bringing their total to 12 CDs, three CDs are only available to fan club members).
Whether parodying the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne("JC's Mom"), "All Star" by Smash Mouth( "Pray Now (Lost Art)" or even "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis ("Jail Got Rocked") on their latest album, New & Used Hits, released in December, Jackson has no regrets that he isn't writing any original songs...when there are literally hundreds of parodies already written that the band wants to record.
"No apologies, only ApologetiX," he said.
