adalya is a band that emerged out of an evening worship service at a local church in Tucson, Arizona.  The band started out with five members—Gannon McGhee on guitars, Dan Wood on bass, Zac Miles on drums, Julia Higgins on keyboard and vocals, and Rebekah McGhee on keyboard and vocals.

                    Although the service the band was formed for ended in the winter of 2004, requests continued to be made for the music Rebekah had written to be recorded.  So in the spring of 2005, adalya released their first self-titled CD.  The CD included many songs that were written for specific services as well as original songs that Gannon and Rebekah wrote together.

                    When Rebekah began writing again, she decided that her primary goal was to set scripture to music.  “Memorizing scripture is difficult for me,” says Rebekah, “but I always remember songs.  I figured it would be a good way to help me memorize scripture if I could set the words to music.”  The result was Sanctuary, adalya’s second CD, released in August of 2006.

                    adalya has gone through some personnel changes in the last two years and it is now the husband and wife team of Gannon and Rebekah McGhee.  Their desire remains the same as it was at the band's inception--to ignite the spark of passion for God and relationship with Him.  adalya is a Hebrew name which means, God Is My Refuge.  Names and the choosing of names were very important in scripture.  Names were not only a means of identification, they also signified ownership and possession.  The name, adalya, declares who the members of the band belong to and who they trust completely.  It’s a way to communicate their relationship with God in a name.

                    Relationship with God and with Himself is first and foremost what Jesus taught, and that is exactly the message adalya would like to share.  Their desire is to communicate that God wants people to know Him and be in relationship with Him, not just serve Him in an intellectual way and be morally good.  Through music and testimony, adalya wants to reach people in an unexpected way, transforming a message that has been heard many times into something brilliant and unavoidable, something that gets people thinking and asking questions.