Septimo Dia to peform in Libertyville

The members of Septimo Dia ("Seventh Day" in Spanish), a Waukegan-based Christian contemporary rock band, have different stories about how they got into this genre.

Lead singer and base player Cornelio Rodriguez, a native of Mexico, started in a regional Mexican music group at age 13. But when he moved to Waukegan at age 15, he got involved in drugs and gangs and lost his way for a time, he said.

Rodriguez had a spiritual awakening at age 21 when he realized that the choices he was making would only lead to suffering, he said. "I realized that it wasn't worth it to keep going like that, and I felt a desire to get to God," he said.

Guitarist Edgar Albarran, 34, a former Waukegan police officer, also said he had stopped going to church for a few years. But in early 2007 he suffered a gunshot wound to the neck after getting caught in the crossfire of a shooting outside a Waukegan club. After a six-month recovery and realizing that he was alive by miracle, he started attending church again, he said. "Some of the songs we write come from personal experiences we've had and the kinds of pasts we have," he said. "All our songs are worship songs."

Unlike his bandmates, keyboard player Juan Zavala, 24, said he never strayed too far from the church. He started composing love poems in middle school, and later Christian rap in high school. "I'm a very shy person, I like to share the stage, so being in a band I can share the stage and also do my own thing," he said.

Rodriguez, Albarran and Zavala will play their biggest concert to date, a Jan. 16 performance hosted by the Ministerio Plenitud de Vida at Evangelical Free Church, which seats about 800 people. Septimo Dia, which sings mostly in Spanish with some English songs, will play a mix of original and well-known Christian songs. They will headline along with the Libertyville-based Christian group Escape to Eden, which sings in English and Spanish.

Finding time for Septimo Dia to rehearse can be difficult since all the members have full-time jobs and still play with their church group on Sundays, they said. Rodriguez works in landscaping; Zavala is a warehouse analyst and is studying medical imaging at College of Lake County; and Albarran is a self-employed heating and cooling technician.

All three say that becoming rich or famous is not their primary motive for playing in the band. The reason they do it, they said, is simply to spread the Christian message.

"The goal is show God through us, and that we act as instruments so that people can know that God is not a myth," Rodriguez said.

The members of Septimo Dia met through their local church, Ministerio Punto de Contacto in Waukegan, where they play in the nine-member church band. Six months ago, they decided to start their own group. Even though he is a decade older than his bandmates, Albarran said that they are all equals in the group, adding jokingly that "I act their age."

Septimo Dia has a repertoire of original songs, a demo of which can be found on their church's MySpace page at MySpace/sendaderestauracion. Albarran said he's working on creating a Web page for the group.

If you goWhat: "Noche de Avivamiento," ("Night of Awakening") a Christian rock concert in Spanish and EnglishWho: Septimo Dia and Escape to Eden, presented by Ministerio Plenitud de VidaWhen: Saturday, Jan. 16. Doors open at 5 p.m.Where: Evangelical Free Church, 431 W. Austin Ave., LibertyvilleCost: FreeInfo: (224) 475-1009