Jenny Simmons is passionate. Music moves her deep inside, causing an ache she first noticed when she was just a teen going to dc talk concerts. She often thought she was crazy because when she and her friends would leave a concert, she would be hurting inside.
“There are two groups of people in this world: The ones who go to concerts, have fun and leave,” explains Simmons. “Then there are the rest of us who are basically in tears and our hearts are pounding. There’s such a deep connection that you think, “If I don’t do that before I die, my life won’t be complete.”
The lead singer for Addison Road fed her appetite for music by singing in a choir at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Before long, she and then boyfriend, Ryan Simmons (now her husband) started tinkering with music—they sang and he played guitar. People liked their music, and eventually, they were asked to perform at nearby Common Grounds Coffee Shop. That night, after the show, a man asked them to bring their band and perform at an upcoming event. The problem was … they didn’t have a band.
Passionate as always, Jenny Simmons (then Chisholm) agreed to do the show, figuring that she would work out something. And she did. She and Ryan Simmons used some of their student loan money to recruit a friend, Ryan Gregg, to play guitar and hire two fellow Baylor students, Travis Lawrence (bass) and Jeff Sutton (drums). After their first gig, the newly-formed band decided to stick together and see what happened.
Now, six years and four albums later (three were indie) Addison Road is signed to INO Records and has a hit song, “All That Matters,” and fans are downloading the song like crazy off iTunes. And while Jenny Simmons says the band wants to be successful, and they’re excited to have a hit song, she insists that’s not what it’s all about.
“At the end of the day, we’re not interested in doing music and nothing else,” says Simmons. “We’re interested in people, their lives and what they’re going through. A lot of what we do is being real and having relationships with people. If that means we get to share our spiritual journey—what we believe about God and His ways that are true and life-changing and that helps someone, then that would be incredible.”
Being a people-focused band, Addison Road leads a lot of worship and the band members often talk with fans at one of their many concerts nationwide. Spending time with people and really getting to know them and what they struggle with is what Jesus called us to do, so that’s Addison Road’s mission.
“That’s what Jesus was all about,” says Simmons. “He didn’t seclude himself. He got out there, met people and he loved on them. At the end of the day, He left them with a little hope, grace, peace and a chance to start over. We try to be like Christ in that way.”
For Addison Road, ministry doesn’t even stop after the last person has left the concert. They’ve adopted a shelter for woman and children in Gulu, Uganda through a ministry called the Mocha Club and are rapidly signing on new supporters through their Web site (addisonroad.com), a blog (jennysimmons.blogspot.com) and at their concerts. At the shelter, called The Village of Hope, the band is raising funds to build a medical center by getting people to sign up to give $7 per month (the cost of two mochas).
“We love that we can put a face to what we do,” says Simmons. “We get to visit them this summer for two weeks, and we’re going to take pictures of every women and every child. So we can send a picture to all the people who sign up to help and say, this is the person—pray for them and write them letters.”
Helping people worldwide is Jenny Simmons other passion, second to music. In addition to garnering support for the Mocha Club, she supports The ONE Campaign, tries to get people involved in political movements to help the poor and talks to people about helping others anytime they’ll listen. It upsets her that Christians aren’t doing more to help others, and she often tells them so.
“It’s not OK for you to check out. It’s your biblical calling to be God’s hands and feet,” explains Simmons. “And that doesn’t mean relying on other people to make those decisions. We are called to be involved and to be educated on these things.”
Like I said, she’s very passionate.