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Much of the popular music of the early 70's found its roots in folk, country and rock music and produced a blend commonly referred to as soft-rock. Influencing the musical stylings of the band were many well-known artists such as The Beatles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, Carole King, Poco, Elton John, Jackson Browne and The Eagles. The sound of acoustic guitars and bass with a full three-part harmony overlay became the signature sound of The Children of the Light in their early years. After being together a few years their sound expanded to include piano, pedal steel guitar and dobro, along with the rhythmic sound of drums, shakers and congas. However, no matter how complex their music became instrumentally, the focal point of the group's sound was still their rich three-part harmony vocals.
Randy, Dave and Steve started out doing a mix of original compositions and cover songs by artists such as Simon & Garfunkel, the Beatles, John Denver and Crosby, Stills & Nash – especially ones that could be adapted towards a Christian message. In the early days the guys found this helpful in bridging the gap with some of the audiences who literally came in off the streets to listen to them sing. After a couple of years the guys had written enough songs that they decided to only play original material. Over the course of time, the group performed over 50 original songs, half of them being penned by Randy, the most prolific songwriter in the group (who was also responsible for composing The Prodigal in its entirety). The rest of the fellows took their turn at composing songs and singing lead vocals with the exception of Bobby who, while talented in both singing and song writing (and guitar), chose to let the rest of the guys handle things while he focused on the drums.
One of the recognizable traits and talents of the group, which became especially apparent in the latter years, was their versatility in playing instruments. As the group played their song set it was common to see instruments being traded between them as nearly everyone in the group played guitar, bass and percussion. However, they each had their dominant instrument(s) which included Randy on piano and guitar, Dave on bass and guitar, Steve on guitar and pedal steel, Greg on guitar, and Bobby on drums.
