Victor Barden grew up in a church-going family, but none of them were born again until his mother came to Jesus Christ in early 1974, when Victor was 14. By that time he had declared himself an atheist, since he had never seen God; this declaration was primarily the best counter-strike he could think of against authority.
As Victor went through high school he developed a dream of becoming a folk-rock star. He got his first guitar for Christmas in 1975 at the age of 16 and played it whenever he could. After four years of guitar playing he received his fourth offer to join a band as a bass guitarist; Victor knew where the notes were on the bass neck, and he was drawn to bass lines anyway, so at the age of 20 he began playing bass to join his first band, which played the pop music of the day and some reggae — and he fell in love with the instrument.
Vic was part of several rock and oldies bands over the next nine years, always functioning as the bass player and sometimes also doubling on keyboards. In 1987 he started teaching guitar and bass at a local music store.
By 1989 Victor had developed a “so-what” attitude toward life. He was now making a living from music, which had been his dream, but the satisfaction he had expected was not there.
On March 8, 1989, 17-year-old Renée Yutzler was in a car accident in the neighboring town of Unity; on the 10th she died from her injuries. Victor knew Renée because she had worked after school at the music store. Her funeral was on the 14th at Calvary Baptist Church in Claremont, New Hampshire, with Pastor Ivan Hatch presiding, and Victor was in the standing-room-only crowd.
Pastor Hatch opened with a short message that ended with an invitation “to live for Jesus.” Victor had been reading his Bible often, but he had not made the step to accept the Lord; now, at the age of 29, he did so. Three months later he was out of the rock band business and back in the work force.
Since that day, Vic has sung in the choir and played his guitar and his bass (and occasionally the piano) for the praise team at First Baptist Church in Claremont. He has also sung tenor and served as music director for the Godsmen, a barbershop chorus at the church. In February 1992 he began voice lessons with Professor Semion Tregubov, an accomplished operatic baritone who had taught voice at the Moscow Conservatory before immigrating to the United States in 1977, and he began to learn some of the lyric tenor’s repertoire.
Victor had learned about music when he was a boy; by the time he was 9 he had written several of his own songs, but over time he had lost his confidence in his songs, particularly with his lyrics. He now took up writing songs again and was able to come up with songs he could stand. He dreamed of releasing a CD, but he knew it had to be in the Lord’s timing, so he waited until he felt Him give the go-ahead through the Rev. Shirley Stevens at a service at First Baptist in October 2000.
Shortly thereafter, the recording began. The "Child of the King" project took a little more than a year to complete, and the release took place on March 14, 2002, thirteen years to the day after Victor Barden accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.