BIOGRAPHY of BRIAN ARNOLD

I was born on March 4, 1967 in Maryville, MO. My parents were attending college there at the time and we soon moved back to my mother’s hometown of West Plains, MO. We didn’t have any family in Maryville so that is why I don’t call it my hometown. West Plains has been and always will be, my hometown. (Not to mention the hometown of Porter Wagoner, Preacher Roe, Jan Howard, Dick Van Dyke and Bill Virdon… just to name a few.)

At the age of six, while visiting my grandparents on vacation, I slipped under a riding lawn mower driven by my father, Bob Arnold. My left leg was severed below the knee. I nearly lost my life because of so much blood loss. This accident forced me to wear an artificial leg. My father was a basketball coach at the time, so having a leg missing caused me to feel inadequate.

My mother, Shirley, decided I needed a new adventure in my life, something that didn’t require running. She found my new adventure in the newspaper for $25.00 and bought it sight unseen. My new adventure was a piano, here I am at age 13 with my Dad.

I graduated high school with a scholarship to SMSU in Springfield, MO. for classical piano. Life then directed me toward the music business. First in Osage Beach MO., at Mark Sexton’s Starworld Showroom, then to Branson, MO., where I joined the Wilkinson Brothers Show in 1989.

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My next career stop was the Roy Clark Celebrity Theater in 1990. Here I was in the house band, which opened for many nationally known music artists. Here’s a short list of artists I opened for: Roy Clark, Tammy Wynette, Ray Stevens, Jim Stafford, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Roger Miller and Conway Twitty.

In 1991, I moved on to Silver Dollar City to play in the Time Machine Band for the Branson Brothers in the Echo Hollow Amphitheater. During this time, I started a part-time gospel trio called Chosen Few with my long time friend, Ashley Ellison and Branson Brother, Terry Kaufman.

By 1993, Chosen Few was a full-time gospel quartet working at Silver Dollar City.

Click here for more information on Chosen Few.

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On Jan. 16, 1994 (my father’s birthday), I was hit by a semi-truck while on route to a church singing. This accident left me with a broken neck and paralyzed left arm. This dramatically changed my life again. One week after leaving the hospital on Feb. 18, I married my fiancè, Diane Kukal. This was a very hard time for us, along with her daughter, Kelsey, because I was basically helpless.

My life took a completely different course with the loss of the use of my left arm. I fought bouts of depression and anger over my situation. I continued on though, trying to work my way through it all. Eventually I went back to playing the piano with one hand. On Feb. 14, 1996, Diane and I had our first child together, Kerrigan. By 2000, Diane and I got custody of my twin boys, Austin and Justin Reed. Our family was much larger overnight.

Together, we have been through a lot of tough times. There were a lot of rough nights with me on the road and Diane at home with four kids alone. Both of us made mistakes and I even tried to bail out of the marriage a few times. Running away from my problems seemed the easiest way to deal with them. The last time I bailed almost cost me everything. When you isolate yourself too much, you start thinking you have all of the answers. I thought a new relationship was the answer and I was completely wrong.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13