The original group, Live Issue, was formed back in 1982 by two young Donacloney men called Barry Hall and Robin Clarke. Colin joined the group on bass guitar in early 1982, and before long they were playing thoughout the local area of Banbridge, Lurgan and Portadown. When Barry left in 1984 to go to the Nazarene Bible College in Manchester, Roy Dreaning took over on lead vocals. Roy had been the sound engineer with Live Issue for the previous year and a half, and was eventually coaxed up to the front.

Colin Elliott recalls, "That was quite an interesting time, because Roy didn't take over right away but started off by doing a song or two each night and then gradually increased his quota until he was the vocalist for most of the programme. The funny thing was that Barry and Roy's musical styles were totally different, so we ended up sounding like two separate groups depending on who was singing."

By the time Barry left the group for Bible College in September of 1984 the transition was complete. Where Live Issue had become known for having a more contemporary sound with Barry at the helm, Roy led the group towards a more country style of music. This meant that the band's audience changed and they began to appeal to a slightly older age group. In 1985 they recorded their first album entitled "The Old Account," and before long bookings were coming in from all over the country.

"There weren't too many groups doing this type of Country Gospel at that time," continues Colin, "'The Genesis' and 'High Country' were the two really popular Gospel groups a few years earlier, but they had now broken up, so I suppose we were filling a gap in the market, so to speak."

Live Issue were in great demand, and could be out singing the Gospel several nights a week at various church events and services. This, however, began to take its toll as Colin explains,

"We used to be out four nights a week and could be in Enniskillen one night and Ballymoney the next. The others in the group were trying to hold down jobs, and I was trying to do my A-Levels. After a while it all became quite a strain because we were always home very late and then up for work or school the next morning, but we felt it was God's will that we serve Him in that way so we never refused to do anything."

In 1986 Live Issue did a short tour of the western coast of Scotland and released another very successful album called "What Kind of Love," but by this stage the cracks were beginning to show.

"We didn't realise it at the time but we were all exhausted. It's only now when we look back at photographs of us then that we can see how gaunt and tired we all were. Barry Hall once give me some sound words of advice, he told me that if the devil can't blow you out then he'll try to burn you out. In retrospect I think that's what happened to us in those couple of years."

At the start of 1987 Roy left the group to sing on his own and he soon answered God's call into full time service with The Faith Mission.

Roy was replaced on lead vocals by David Dickson, who was a friend of Colin's at Stranmillis College, where they were both training to be teachers. They were soon joined by another student from Queen's University called Dale Gordon, who became the keyboard player for Live Issue. Because David didn't play guitar they asked a young man they knew from Lurgan Baptist Church called Philip Cousins to join them, and along with Sam Armstrong, Live Issue's original drummer, the new version of the group was complete. This new line up began to concentrate more on reaching young people, and over the next couple of years the music moved back towards a more contemporary style which in turn meant they started to play fewer venues, and only those which were mainly geared towards reaching young people.

In 1988 Live Issue released an album entitled "In His Time," in which Colin and Dale began to develop their songwriting. In 1990 their move to a more contemporary style was completed in the release of an album entitled "Paradise Road." As Dale recalls,

"Recording 'Paradise Road' was a new experience for us because we didn't go to a 'Christian' recording studio to record it. We recorded the album in 'Active Recordings' with a super producer called Colin Martin. Colin worked for the BBC and was an excellent musician and sound engineer. He showed us how to score string parts and harmony vocals, so recording that album was very much an education in itself, and we were very happy with the finished product."

Despite the many thousands of miles the group have travelled criss-crossing the province and beyond, the boys feel that the Lord has always looked after them, even in some of the darkest days of the troubles in Northern Ireland. Colin recalls one night however when things got a little too close -

"We played at a number of youth meetings in the South Armagh area, and these journeys usually meant travelling down lonely narrow roads at night. One such evening we were in our minibus on the way to a booking in that locality when we were stopped at a set of traffic lights on a small bridge. These appeared to be the traffic lights that you find filtering vehicles at roadworks. We pulled up at the red light and waited. After a few seconds I got a very uneasy feeling that something wasn't quite right, and I think all of us were feeling the same. Sam, our drummer, who was driving turned round to the rest of us and said "I don't like this," with that he put his foot down and ran the red light. On our return later that evening the road was closed by the police and the whole area was full of security forces. As it turned out an army patrol in two Land Rovers arrived at the traffic lights a few moments after us. As the first soldiers pulled up at the red light the IRA launched an RPG rocket into the side of the first Land Rover. The rocket exploded killing two soldiers and injuring several others. The terrorists had been working the lights and had placed the rocket on the wall of the bridge. We don't tend to mention that night very often, but we believe that God was watching over us."

In the Autumn of 1991 David Dickson left the group so he could do a Masters degree and pursue his career in Education. He was replaced by a young Lurgan man called Pete McCarter. Pete was a gifted guitarist and songwriter, and for the next two and a half years he helped the group to develop and mature musically.

This was a very good time for the group because they were seeing many young people coming to the Lord through their ministry. They also recorded two new albums at the Nova-Tech Recording Studio in Belfast. The first called "There is Love" was a compilation album with contributions from various Christian artists including themselves. The band used the proceeds of this album to send relief missions to the war stricken Croatia which was in great need at that time.

The second album "Two Sides" was used by God to reach many young people who perhaps would not normally listen to Christian music. It was during this time that Live Issue began their association with American Country Gospel singer Jerry Arhelger. When Jerry would visit Northern Ireland he would ask the boys to back and support him during his tours. With Live Issue's wide experience they were able to play Country music as if they had been playing it all their lives.

In the summer of 1993 Jerry invited the band and their families to America where he set up a number of bookings in Pennsylvania, Alabama and North Carolina. Unfortunately not all the members of Live Issue could go on the trip, and Mark Corry was asked to stand in for Sam on drums during the three weeks they were away. As Mark recalls, "I knew Philip Cousins from work and he had told me about the group going to play in America. Then one day out of the blue he told me that the drummer wasn't able to go and asked me if I would be interested in replacing him for the trip. As you can imagine I jumped at the chance, and here I am still with the boys to this day."

After Live Issue's return from the States some of the members of the group, including Sam, felt God calling them to other things, and then, just before Easter in 1994, Pete decided to call it a day as far as playing out week after week was concerned - although he continues to work with the group in the recording studio. Dale remembers the decisions that had to be made at that time. "We weren't sure what to do, so we left it a few months and then Mark, Colin and myself decided that we wanted to go on playing and serving God through our music. We had several meetings to discuss what direction we should take, and eventually talked Colin into taking the lead vocal and moving to rhythm guitar instead of bass. This left us without a bass player but we felt if it was God's will then the right person would show up. We also felt that this would be a good time to change the name of the group and make a fresh start. Eventually after much debate and discussion we came up with INSIDE OUT. The idea being that the one who is inside us i.e.... the Lord Jesus will come out through our music and ministry."

After a few months the group did find the right man to play bass for them. David McCartney was helping with the praise in his home church of Glengormley Baptist when Inside Out arrived to take a special youth praise service. David remembers the night well, "Colin and I got talking and he asked me if I would be interested in coming along to a few practices and perhaps even playing the odd booking if I had time. I agreed and the four of us all hit it off so well that they soon asked me to join as a permanent member of the band."

During the summer of 1995 Inside Out returned to America and played extensively throughout the country for over two weeks. This was a very important time for the group and an experience not to be forgotten. Colin remembers a youth concert in Nashville, "This was one of my favourite bookings because the young people were so open and willing to listen to everything we were saying. Everyone was really appreciative, and when we finished playing we were ushered to a back room where there were a number of reporters from the Nashville press. They were asking us about our faith, our music and our country. Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader, had just visited America before we arrived so the reporters were very interested in Northern Ireland and wanted to hear what we had to say. We also worked with young black kids who were coming off drugs in a Christian rehabilitation centre in Mobile, Alabama, and it was amazing to see so many of those young people coming to Christ through the ministry of that outreach centre. It was certainly an inspiration to us all."

Inside Out recorded an EP for that tour and then went back into the studio in 1996 to record a follow-up entitled "Loose Ends." During the latter part of 1997 and early 1998 the boys took a break for a while so they could pursue some individual projects which would have been difficult to do if the group had been fully committed as in previous years, for instance, Colin did some solo recording and Mark set up his own car body repair business. At the start of 1998 three members of the band found themselves with their hands full, so to speak, when over a six week period in January and February of that year, three little boys were born ......... alias Daniel Elliott, Josuah Gordon and Benjamin McCartney, so perhaps the beginnings of a new group was forming to take over from their fathers someday. During this time off the road the group began working on a new album. Dale and Colin would meet at their own studio which is built into the converted attic of Colin's house outside Portadown. They began to write some songs and look for others that they might record. The basic tracks were completed by Easter 1998, and then during that summer they moved to the Nova-Tech Recording Studio in Belfast to work with Gary Aiken who has produced all their recordings since 1992. In September 1998 the band went back out on the road again, so the boys took their time over the following months to finish the recording. The album entitled "Fading Pictures" was eventually completed and released on CD.

Over the years God has used the group, both as Live Issue and Inside Out, to change people's lives, including the lives of those in the band themselves with some of the past members moving into full time ministry and others using their experience to serve God in their own churches. The boys often joke that they could 'write a book' recalling all their experiences, both good and bad, over the years. Perhaps someday they will!