Faith and music — especially when they go together — serve as the foundation for Lloyd and Nancy Houk.
“Music is kind of an escape into a wonderful place. Whenever the world feels like it comes crashing in, I get into my music and I just get at peace,” Lloyd said.
The couple has been named City Marshals for Saturday’s Farm-City Days parade, which begins at 11 a.m. downtown.
LLOYD is known for his music, performing at funerals, weddings and events.
“Music has taken me a lot of places,” he said.
He’s played at the Eisenhower Memorial at Abilene and on the steps of the Kansas Capitol in Topeka for Gov. Joan Finney. Each year during the Christmas season, he performs at the Brown Mansion in Coffeyville.
He also was part of a touring group, Three Rusty Nails, and performed in Branson and at the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Mo.
He served as the state chaplain for the American Legion from 1988 to 1998, traveling across the state for conferences and memorial services.
“I like to do music from the 1920s and ’30s, but I do everything except rap,” he said.
Music and his faith are so intertwined, it’s impossible to talk about one without the other.
Lloyd was born and raised in Moran.
He doesn’t remember it, but according to his mother, he started to play the piano when he was 3. Officially, he began taking piano lessons when he was 10. Former Miss America Debra Barnes was one of his teachers; they reconnected a few years ago when she was a guest speaker at an event and he was asked to play the piano.
“I probably learned more from her than anybody,” he said.
His journey through faith began when his grandparents took him to church as a child. At the age of 13, he accepted Jesus Christ as his savior.
At the age of 15, he started helping at the funeral home in Moran. He would wash cars and run the vacuum. Eventually, he started to sing at funerals.
