Front Page Article

A peek at Pike’s climb up the charts
2011-11-02 / Front Page

Jacksonville native Miles Pike scores 3 big hits in a year
BY BETTY EWALT TAYLOR

Miles Pike is on a mountain climb and he’s moving up the music chart’s ladder of success.

A peek into his life reveals planning, packing, traveling, performing and sharing have become a way of life for the country/gospel singer and his wife, Martha.

Mr. Pike has had three of his songs reach No. 1 status on the country/gospel charts in the last year. First came “Jesus Savior, Pilot Me,” which reached No. 1 status and stayed in the top 10 for six months.

Then came “I’ll See You in the Rapture,” which stayed in the top three for four months and in the top 10 for six months. Most recent is “I’m Going Through, Jesus.”

The Pikes have just returned from a 10-day trip through six states as they performed at 14 events, and covered 2,500 miles. They got home just in time to perform at a concert in Whitehouse.

Then came more planning and packing as they embarked on a trip to Louisiana where they joined a group, with whom Mr. Pike sings, called The Gospel Tones. Other members of the group are Ben Waites, lead singer; Nick Bergeron, baritone; and Jordan James, bass singer. Mr. Pike sings tenor.

Then comes a six-week trip with performances in Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. While in that area, the Pikes will visit her family in Georgia to celebrate Thanksgiving, Martha’s birthday and an early Christmas before returning home to Pierces Chapel.

Mr. Pike has limited vision and for years, his mother, Kim Pike, drove him to engagements. Now Martha, whom he married last December, handles the chauffeur duties.

Mr. Pike has been singing most of his life, and sang in public for the first time when he was nine years old in a duet with his mother. He attended Ben Speer’s Stamps-Baxter School of Music in Nashville for eight years. There he studied music theory and performance training. He had the honor of singing on the school’s DVD all eight years, sometimes as a soloist and sometime with in duet or quartet.

When he was 15 years old, he started working at radio station KBJS as a deejay. Although he loves singing, he also likes to listen to music. One of his prized possessions is a collection of 600 albums given to him by a deejay.

The Pikes stay very busy. He is an ordained minister and performs wedding ceremonies and other events. She is a piano teacher and he teaches voice, so they have a lot of students.

They also do a prison ministry, performing and singing. On these occasions, they are joined by his mother and his aunt, Sheila Paris, who also join him as backup singers for recordings.

For the concerts, Mrs. Pike always joins her husband for at least one song, and accompanies on the piano. She has played piano since she was six years old and for many years was pianist for her home church - until she married and moved to Texas.

Pike remembers the day he first saw Martha. “I fell in love with her at first sight.” They were both attending music school; her first year, his fourth.

They became good friends and dated long distance. Then in September 2010 they became engaged and married Dec. 19, 2010. Neither had ever dated before they met.

They say with pride that they saved their first kiss for their wedding.

“We travel to sustain our ministry and the ministry sustains us,’’ Mr. Pike said. “We go where the Lord sends us. We love the variety, learning, teaching and performing.”

Mr. Pike thinks that wherever the Lord wants them to go, he’ll provide a way. “I want my music to take the listener somewhere,” he said.

They are looking forward to the next recording project, which will include songs written by his father, James Pike. Also, his mother and his aunt will sing backup for the music. Some of the accompanists will include members of the Gaither band. Mr. Pike is very excited about this.

The Pikes have many dreams for the future. They want to go on an extended trip to Israel. Mr. Pike has been there twice and was baptized in the Jordan River when he was 15. His parents were on that trip with him, and later, his aunt, Linda Pittillo, accompanied him there.

He wants to take Martha there for a delayed honeymoon. Although they went on a cruise to the Bahamas following their marriage, he performed on that trip.

Other plans for the future include a tour of the western states for concerts, since most of their travel has been in the middle and southeastern states, and a trip to England so that Martha can visit with her grandparents.

The immediate future includes Mr. Pike’s annual homecoming concert at 6 p.m. March 3, 2012 at People’s Church in Jacksonville, his home church. Mark Bishop will be his special guest artist, and the concert is open to the public.

This young couple is excited about their lives, enjoying the present.

They most certainly have a bright future, which they want to share with others. And, it all came about from their love for music and sharing it with others.