Rich Mullins was many things to the CCM community: a beloved performer nominated for 12 Dove Awards, an expert on several instruments (including hammered dulcimer, piano, guitar) and a very successful songwriter, responsible for one of the most popular contemporary praise songs in existence, "Awesome God." Born in 1955 in Richmond, Indiana, he began playing piano at the age of four, and gradually became proficient on guitar and dulcimer as well. In 1974, he began studying at Cincinnati Bible College, where he wrote praise songs and often performed on acoustic guitar.