LOCAL BAND FINDS ROOM TO BREATHE GROUP BRINGS MUSIC INSPIRED BY CHRISTIANITY INTO THE WORLD.

Byline: Fred Shuster

Music Writer

In the hands of currently buzzing local band Breathing Room, spiritual power-pop rocks.

The quartet, which has been operating for two years, has a clean, expansive sound highlighted by the fine vocals of Jan Roper, who worked as a studio singer and musical director before putting her energies into the band.

Prior to forming Breathing Room with top session guitarist Kevin Dukes, Roper -- who also plays keyboards in the group -- was leading and directing music at a Chatsworth church and handling pop sessions and corporate gigs in Los Angeles and beyond.

Rather than continue doing record dates and shows merely for a paycheck, Roper and Dukes agreed they wanted to create original music with deeper meaning.

"There's definitely a Christian element," says Roper, who lives in Chatsworth. "The music is meant to be inspirational. But we're not trying to hit anyone over the head."

Adds Dukes: "We started writing to have some songs to share with our church and got caught off guard when people asked where they could buy a CD. It's really cool to be part of that kind of connection."

Breathing Room, which also includes bassist Dan Franklin and drummer Chad Norris, appears at 7 tonight at West Hills Church and on March 17 at the Verity Room in Canoga Park. In August, the band will open for the Little River Band at Warner Center Park.

The foursome has a following. "Their music lets people know that no matter if you feel defeated, you're not alone in this world," said CSUN student Sandy Ramos of Mission Hills, who has caught Breathing Room about five times and plans to be in the audience tonight.

The West Hills Church date marks the release of Breathing Room's 11-track album, "Coming Clean," available at gigs, through the band's various Internet pages and at iTunes. Songs like the title track deal with "getting real and leaving pretense behind," Roper explains.

Along with local fans, Breathing Room has friends at Project Teamwork, a Florida-based volunteer group that is rebuilding homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The band's track "On Your Side" is the basis for the relief group's new promotional video, to be screened for the first time this evening in West Hills.

Roper says Breathing Room is looking forward to focusing a bit more on the club circuit, although she has no illusions about the business side of the scene.

"Right now, it's very hard to play clubs in this city," says the red-haired singer, who works as worship leader at Church for the Nations in Studio City. "First of all, there's no pay. And a lot of clubs want you to pay to play. We love church concerts, but we like playing in secular locations, too."

For his part, ex-session cat Dukes -- whose resume includes work with Don Henley, Shania Twain, Billy Joel and Jackson Browne -- says Breathing Room's songs are designed for audiences of any kind.

"It's not hard to cross over," said Dukes, who lives in Woodland Hills. "We've all done a lot of stuff -- and a lot of our stuff is inspirational by nature, not overtly religious. Subtlety is probably the best way to get the message across."

Fred Shuster, [phone]

[e-mail]

BREATHING ROOM

Where: West Hills Church, 7475 Fallbrook Ave., West Hills.

When: 7 tonight.

Tickets: Free; offerings taken for the support of local ministries. [phone]; breathingroomband.com or myspace.com/breathingroomband.

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Breathing room - Chad Norris, left, Jan Roper, Kevin Dukes and Dan Franklin - brings Christian spirit to West Hills Church tonight.