Diane Needham Mummert Bio

Diane Needham Mummert grew up in rural New York State surrounded by cows, corn, apple orchards, snow-laden winters and the warmth of a loving, Christ-centered family. With her first stage appearance at the age of 2 singing “Do Lord”, music was a central part of the family dynamic. After eight years of piano lessons and much persistent begging, Diane finally bought the drum set she wanted and the Needham family band was complete with her parents David and Eileen on lead and rhythm guitar, and her brother Dave on bass.

Since Southern Gospel was a rare occurrence in New York, influence on Diane’s music tended toward the country and western variety. Any given evening found Dave and Diane playing along with the stereo blaring out Buck Owens, the Statler Brothers, the Kentucky Headhunters and others in an eclectic collection. Most weekends found The Needhams playing in area churches and various local functions.

Diane wed the man of her dreams in 1993 and moved to Pennsylvania.  She joined her husband’s group as a vocalist and guitarist (Steve was the drummer), began honing her songwriting skills, and most importantly, had two beautiful children.

In 2000, Steve Mummert moved Diane and the children to Tennessee to join The Needhams music ministry. She had her third child in 2002, and was a contributing editor to the US Gospel News until its retirement. Today, Diane writes songs and plays mandolin for The Needhams, home schools her children, and tries to keep up with the laundry.

diane@theneedhams.com
www.theneedhams.com

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I begin this article with a request for prayer for the Parker Jonathan family. The Jonathans have been a tremendously influential part of Gospel music in the Northeast and beyond for decades. Fans of the Kingsmen will remember former member Parker Jonathan, Jr. Though I do not have all the details at the time of this writing, my heart goes out to the Jonathans as they grieve the loss of the family patriarch, Parker Jonathan, Sr. 

Parker was leading song service for his church in New York State when he collapsed and passed into glory on the Sunday after Christmas. As difficult as this must be for his family, I cannot imagine a more blessed way to meet the Savior than to sing one’s way into His presence. Please pray for Parker’s wife Carol and the Jonathan family as they mourn for and celebrate the life of this fine Christian man.

Every once in a while someone makes the comment, “It must be so amazing traveling like you do!” Occasionally, the next sentence is, “I wish I could do that.” Often, the meaning behind those statements is the perception of glamour in this lifestyle. I try not to be amused. At least for my family, The Needhams, being gospel artists can rarely be described in that way.

A look behind the scenes gives a better view. We are scheduled for about 150 to 170 concerts a year. Not nearly as many as, say, the Dixie Melody Boys with a schedule of well over 200. But we have young children and like to see them. I home school (or road-school) my children which enables them to travel with us at any point. They do miss a lot of their peer functions at church and with friends. It’s a sacrifice, but they do so knowing it is unto the Lord. For the adults, being away from our families on a longer tour certainly helps us appreciate the time we do spend with them. Most recently, I hit a deer with our coach in Mississippi, and we missed my daughter Adrienne’s Christmas performance at our church. (The coach is still being repaired; no one was injured.)

The Needhams do get to see the country. I will never forget the first time I saw the Rocky Mountains—starkly majestic. The Pacific coast changes faces from California to Washington State. I grew up near Niagara Falls. We’ve been blessed to have performed on cruises and stayed in some beautiful places and met amazing people. That being said, traveling in a van and trailer earlier in The Needhams’ ministry meant sleeping in the van from time to time, awakening with hair standing on end and having to use a church restroom to get ready. Yep. Glamorous! Actually, it keeps one humble and people learn that we are fairly normal (except that we are crazy enough to sleep in a van to sing a song).

Sometimes the audience has gotten an unintentional behind the scenes look. The Needhams were in northern Maine. We were traveling in our coach, but the rain was coming down in buckets. The church was a converted school building, which meant there were locker rooms available to us for getting ready. At the time, my mother, Eileen Needham, was on the road with us both singing and helping with childcare since my youngest was an infant.

Mom is very practical. It was raining so much that she figured she didn’t want to go out into the rain to bring in several armfuls of stuff and my little daughter. Also, it was getting close to start time. She had been getting ready in the coach and had quickly applied two globs of moisturizer on each cheek (planning to finish inside), grabbed everything she could handle and hurried into the building. However, the entrance to the church was directly behind and above the stage area, completely visible to those in attendance. I can only imagine what went through the minds of the rather large audience at the sight of Eileen—diaper bag and clothes in one hand, baby in the other, globs of moisturizer on her cheeks and a coat thrown over her head to protect her hair from the rain. (Lucille Ball, anyone?)

Another time, New England once again, The Needhams were scheduled for a summer night event. As with many buildings in that region, there was no air conditioning. Cape Cod is hot and muggy in the summer. My husband, Steve Mummert, is a wonderful man. Talented, capable, reliable, kind, oh, and handsome (are you reading this, Honey?) Seriously, if something needs to be done, he is there to handle it.

My sister in law, Corina Needham was pregnant. The heat had parched her and she needed some water badly. Someone at the venue had thought to put water on the stage for us, but I noticed it was behind some stuff and was pretty much inaccessible. So, I asked Steve if he would go climb through and get Corina her water. With about minute to spare, he went up on stage, leaned over the table and got Corina her glass of water. What he didn’t know was that the person who placed the water there had spilled a lot of it on the table. He turned around to come back to me and his gray pants had a very large water mark on the front, making him look like he’d had an accident, of sorts. There was no time to change. The Needhams were introduced, and Steve hit the stage in a state of embarrassment. It didn’t last long. In a few moments, his pants were fairly dry, though his shirt was soaked through from the heat.

I have had my share of foibles, battles with spiders, sparkles and more, but in the interest of space (wink) I will share them another time. May God bless you as you begin a New Year in His service. We’ll see you somewhere out on the road!

The Needhams are based in Murfreesboro, TN. Their current radio single is “Give It All to Me”--a Needham original released by Song Garden Music Group. For information on bookings, schedule, product, news and more, please visit www.theneedhams.com or call Dave Needham at 615.849.8352.