Sweet Comfort Band was an American Christian rock band that first performed in 1973 in Riverside, California, and were active until 1984. The band was initially composed of keyboardist/lead vocalist, Bryan Duncan, and brothers Kevin and Rick Thomson. The band was the brainchild of the Thomson brothers. Randy Thomas, guitarist/vocalist joined the group around 1976. After their second album, Sweet Comfort Band also became well known for their highly detailed, airbrushed album cover art by Kernie Erickson, a trend that had previously been considered too costly for Christian groups who did not produce the high-volume album sales of mainstream bands such as Kansas. The Sweet Comfort Band logo was created by Rick Griffin. Sweet Comfort Band was a late entry into Jesus music with their 1977 self-titled release on Maranatha! Records. When they started, they had a funky, jazzy, R&B and 70's rock sound. This set them apart from many of the bands in the nascent Contemporary Christian music industry who were primarily performing folk-rock and soft rock. Few bands had the musicianship displayed by this quartet. However, Maranatha! decided to quit releasing rock and roll albums and focus on children's releases, gospel and worship music. Light Records welcomed them for their second release Breakin' The Ice. For the next six years they toured heavily to support their releases and the band drifted towards a more traditional radio-rock sound. Keyboardist, John Andrew Schreiner was added as a supplemental musician during their tours in later years, as Duncan took more of a vocal-heavy, lead frontman role on stage and away from performing integrated keyboard parts. The band went their separate ways in the summer 1984, culminating at their final concert near their home at Riverside Municipal Stadium after releasing six albums and garnering a large fan base. Bryan Duncan released a number of solo projects over the next eighteen years. Randy Thomas went on to found the band Allies and co-wrote radio hit Butterfly Kisses with former Allies band member Bob Carlisle. Rick Thomson co-produced a compilation album called Voices in 1987 featuring CCM artists such as Bob Carlisle, Bryan Duncan, John Elefante, Tommy Funderburk, Benny Hester, Howard Mc Crary, Rick Riso, Matthew Ward and others. The project had numerous hits. Rick was also licensed as a General Contractor in 1984 and has run a successful construction business for 29 years. In 1987 he built Shelter Sound Studio and continued as a prolific songwriter and producer. On January 13, 2010, the wife of Rick Thomson reported online that Rick Thomson, Randy Thomas, and Bryan Duncan were in the studio for the first time in over twenty-five years, having written several new songs. The resulting 2013 album is called The Waiting Is Over. Kevin Thomson, brother of Rick and longtime bassist for the group, died on May 30, 2010 at age 57, after a long illness.
