Paige Rees of the Louisiana-based group L'Angelus (pronounced "lawn - jay - loose", their website explains), made up of siblings Johnny, Stephen, Katie and Paige Rees, was recently interviewed by Tony Rosse for “Christopher Closeup”. The Grapevine blog has some of it transcribed, courtesy of Rosse:
TR: Paige, L’Angelus is made up of you, your sister Katie, and your brothers Johnny and Stephen. By modern standards, that’s already a big family. But there are even more of you at home. How many kids are in your family?
Paige Rees: We are actually a group of ten kids altogether. Our Mom and Dad have been blessed with eight children. And two years ago, we were blessed with a foster brother and sister.
TR: Tell me about your parents taking in those foster children. How did it happen and why did they do it when they already had a significant number of mouths to feed and raise?
Paige Rees: My parents, about seven or eight years ago, became open to life as they grew deeper in their faith…Then we met this little family in New Orleans shortly after Katrina. Their mother was very young and
she had four little ones herself. (She had) no family or support system and was suffering very much the effects of the storm. After meeting her and getting to know her over a few days, there was a lot of uncertainty but we just tried to trust in God and follow what He has shown us over and over in Scriptures and through the examples of the saints of how we are supposed to care for one another. So we’ve had this relationship with their mother for the past few years, and she just graduated from a medical assistant program. She actually came into the church this past Easter. The children were baptized and it was a really glorious day for everybody.
TR: Paige, your music career has become more successful through the years, and sometimes it would seem that the busier you would get, the more faith would be pushed to the side. But the exact opposite has happened with your family. Why do you think that is?
Paige Rees: We started out playing music when we were pretty young. Early on, our uncle who has had a career in the music business - he doesn’t necessarily practice any faith. But he did tell my Dad when we were still quite young, “If you’re going to be in this business, you better take those kids to church.” There are so many challenges to the faith that are presented in this business, in media in particular. So I think my Dad really took that advice to heart and we tried to stay really close to the sacraments and close to each other so that we would have that support system, that accountability. So I think it’s been a grace, not necessarily anything that we’ve done but our heavenly father protecting us and thankfully giving our father a lot of wisdom.
Paige Rees: We are actually a group of ten kids altogether. Our Mom and Dad have been blessed with eight children. And two years ago, we were blessed with a foster brother and sister.
TR: Tell me about your parents taking in those foster children. How did it happen and why did they do it when they already had a significant number of mouths to feed and raise?
Paige Rees: My parents, about seven or eight years ago, became open to life as they grew deeper in their faith…Then we met this little family in New Orleans shortly after Katrina. Their mother was very young and
she had four little ones herself. (She had) no family or support system and was suffering very much the effects of the storm. After meeting her and getting to know her over a few days, there was a lot of uncertainty but we just tried to trust in God and follow what He has shown us over and over in Scriptures and through the examples of the saints of how we are supposed to care for one another. So we’ve had this relationship with their mother for the past few years, and she just graduated from a medical assistant program. She actually came into the church this past Easter. The children were baptized and it was a really glorious day for everybody.TR: Paige, your music career has become more successful through the years, and sometimes it would seem that the busier you would get, the more faith would be pushed to the side. But the exact opposite has happened with your family. Why do you think that is?
Paige Rees: We started out playing music when we were pretty young. Early on, our uncle who has had a career in the music business - he doesn’t necessarily practice any faith. But he did tell my Dad when we were still quite young, “If you’re going to be in this business, you better take those kids to church.” There are so many challenges to the faith that are presented in this business, in media in particular. So I think my Dad really took that advice to heart and we tried to stay really close to the sacraments and close to each other so that we would have that support system, that accountability. So I think it’s been a grace, not necessarily anything that we’ve done but our heavenly father protecting us and thankfully giving our father a lot of wisdom.
The following albums by L'Angelus are available from Ignatius Press:
Just a note: It's "lawn-jay-loose", not "lawn-lay-loose". It's French/Cajun, essentially. "jay" rather than "lay".
Posted by: Alan Phipps | Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 05:53 AM
Sorry to be a picky little prickly pear, but it's "lawn-JAY-loose." It looks like an L on their website but it's actually a J.
Posted by: David K. Monroe | Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 07:12 AM
I think you mean "Lawn-Jay-loose."
Posted by: Michael Denton | Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 07:28 AM
No matter how you say it, the band is great.
Posted by: Nicholas Jagneaux | Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Okay, I have to admit: it's rather sad that I misspelled the pronunciation of the name...
Posted by: Carl E. Olson | Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 10:41 AM