A suburban mom's rock-star moment

You know the story. You might even know the girl -- the religious one who got married at 19 to the youth intern at church. Children, the suburbs and a conservative theology often follow. Think Tammy Faye. Kathie Lee.

Or even Jessica Simpson.

But let's consider, for a moment, a different Jessica. Jessica Ketola, of Edmonds.

She's a 37-year-old mother of four, church music director, songwritin' daughter-of-a-preacher man. And, in this story, she's far from the suburbs. She's at The Gorge, last summer. She's sweating in the 90+ degree heat. And she's frantically trying to change her clothes.

In a porta-potty.

Ahh, showbiz.

Though Ketola has a reputation as a singer/songwriter in the Christian music community, she never expected that she'd leave her husband on their 17th anniversary, mind you, and take up with another man. On stage. In front of 20,000 people.

But what's a gal to do when she's literally plucked from a chorus line and thrust into the spotlight of the concert stage to share a microphone with Sting and the Police?

Answer: 86 the peasant skirt, send hubby to the car for the more stage-worthy black capri pants and make a beeline for that porta-potty.

The highlights of this day, the plucking and thrusting, were captured on video and have delighted viewers on both YouTube and on Ketola's MySpace page, where she recounts her unforgettable experience.

Now, it's fall, and I recognize Ketola's red hair when she enters the Queen Anne coffee shop for a chat. And in a cosmic bit of humor, the sound system is playing a selection of Sting's greatest hits as she walks through the door. (She laughingly denies having anything to do with that bit of serendipity.)

Because her employer (Unitus, a nonprofit that deals with global poverty) was one of the Sting/Police concert tour's charitable partners, Ketola was one of many employees who took the opportunity to sing a few bars into a microphone during a preconcert sound check at The Gorge at George. (For a concise, "professionally filmed" version of the events that followed, go to www.unitus.com/get-involved/the-police-concert-tour">http://www.unitus.com/get-involved/the-police-concert-tour).

Were it a preview of coming attractions reel, the narrator of the sound-check video might say: "Watch, as a simple, redheaded girl approaches the microphone! Thrill to the unexpected sound! Like Sting, you'll be goggle-eyed at the discovery of an exciting new voice in the music firmament!" In the video, you see him actually genuflect toward Ketola, who is bent over laughing at the microphone.

Sting was so impressed that he had Ketola stick around for several songs, and, then, in the ultimate fairy-tale moment, asked her to join him onstage that night at the concert.

The stage manager later said, "I've done 60 of these sound-check parties, and I've never seen anything like it."

Cue a flurry of phone calls home to the kids ("Mom, you're a rock star!") and friends (several make the hours-long trip across Snoqualmie Pass for the festivities). Husband David, in the ultimate anniversary gesture, trudges through the crowds and the heat to the far parking lot to retrieve the stage-worthy capri pants.

Cut to the porta-potty.

"So here I am, trying to fix myself up," Ketola says. "I'm chugging water, trying to stay hydrated, and I'm going over a lyric sheet. And all of a sudden I'm looking in a mirror the size of a 3x5 note card and thinking, Oh crap, what have I signed up for?"

These weren't performance nerves. Ketola is no stranger to music. Her works have been featured on a variety of Christian CD collections, and she spent 13 years as musical director at Shoreline's Vineyard Community Church. Born into the evangelical tradition, Ketola is active in the efforts of Off the Map, a group that advocates evangelism through simple works and everyday actions.

But even a preacher's daughter might need forgiveness for a bit of nervous idol worship.

The stage manager didn't help.

"Sting never shares a microphone," he muttered to Ketola as she waited in the wings before the concert. "So don't [expletive] up."

But in true fairy-tale tradition, a white knight swept in with a bottle of water and a few reassuring words. "He says that to me every night, too," Sting confided.

About five songs into the concert, Ketola was summoned from the wings as Sting proclaimed her "My Discovery!" In the video, she strides confidently onto the stage.

"I love to perform, so I wasn't nervous" Ketola remembers. "But it was surreal. I had to keep reminding myself to 'be in the moment.' "

The two, huddled together over one microphone, launched into, ironically, "Don't Stand So Close to Me," and, after Ketola's solo, you can hear the crowd go wild.

Ketola walked off the stage with unforgettable memories, some useful entertainment industry business cards and a renewed motivation to cut a demo disc of her songs. "God couldn't have made it any clearer," the preacher's daughter smiles.

This weekend, she'll be performing at the Born Again Church Tour at the Calvary Christian Assembly in the Roosevelt area.

"It teaches evangelicals how to be nice, how to listen, and learn how to talk about their spirituality in a way that is relevant and not offensive," Ketola explains, adding, "About time, huh?"

One of the founders of the Born Again Church Tour is Ketola's longtime friend and former pastor, Jim Henderson, who expects 200-300 people to attend.

"We're the only Christian event that features non-Christians," says Henderson, who is known for his straight talk (such as asking evangelicals, "How can we be more real, better listeners, and generally less weird?") and for encouraging discussion between Christians and those who for, whatever reason, feel like "outsiders." Most famously featured in The Wall Street Journal, Henderson bid $504 to have a fellow known as the "eBay Atheist" visit and provide an online critique of churches across the country.

Ketola is featured on Friday night and will be singing her own songs in what Henderson calls an "informal TV-talk show format" that allows you to feel up close and personal to this mother, wife, evangelist, songwriter, investor relations manager, and preacher's kid. And, oh yes -- rock star.

"Sting brought me water," she laughs. "How cool is that?"

Megan Sheppard is a regular contributor to The Seattle Times and writes The Thin Blue Blog, Seattle's Police Beat. www.thinblueblog.com