Being a rock star has always been a common teenage fantasy.

Although very few kids get to live out their dreams of rock stardom, it’s a safe bet that those who plan to run an insurance company have almost no chance of ever being a rock star.

David Crowder is the exception to that rule.

“In college, I just wanted any sort of degree,” Crowder says. “I thought I was going to work for my dad and sort of take over the family business, so I studied music.”

Luckily for his thousands of fans, he stuck to it.

When looking for material, Crowder, like most artists, turned to his strongest inspirations, which happened come from his Christian beliefs.

After making connections at a local church, Crowder and other student musicians began performing on Sunday mornings to a congregation that was excited about what they were doing.

“I would start writing songs to lead in on a Sunday morning, and it started to spread to other congregations until we had this following. Then a label caught wind and wanted us to record what we were doing,” Crowder says.

Crowder keeps the focus of his songs on worship and unity and counts on the audience to participate and sing along.

“In a corporate sense, it’s about working in a community with a common goal of addressing our creator,” Crowder says. “When you get people together to express their faith, it’s a pretty powerful thing.”

Once the band moved out of churches and onto the tour circuit, it was unrelenting in its attempt to bring the music to as many listeners as possible, playing, by Crowder’s estimate, 250 to 260 shows last year.

Crowder says he believes playing to so many people around the country has allowed the band to reach people on a meaningful level in a way that normal bands don’t have the opportunity to.

“I think an advantage is that, in a band like ours, you’ve already pulled people in; their voice is as relevant and necessary as ours. A band like us, we have that built in; it’s totally unfair,” Crowder says.

“Another advantage is that when someone goes and sees their favorite band, they can come out and say, ‘That band rocked,'” he says. “If a night goes well in my mind, people will come out and say, ‘I connected with my maker.'”

Aside from its hectic tour schedule, the David Crowder Band also found time to produce and release its sophomore effort, “Illuminate,” in 2003 with the help of producers like Charlie Peacock of Switchfoot and Zach Lind of Jimmy Eat World.

Although the band had already had success with its debut, Crowder says the band didn’t feel pressured to recreate the success.

“I think it’s a picture of our development as a band, we feed off of each other more, there’s better energy,” Crowder says. “We’re just making music and enjoying it.”

Who: David Crowder Band

Where: Vermeer Pavilion, 2110 Vermeer Road, Pella

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Cost: $10 students, $12 public, $15 at door