christian radio, part deux

Thanks everybody for jumping into the discussion from last night's post. The comments section is strong right there, and I love that. There have been some good thoughts and it's keeping me thinking. It's good for me.

So here's a continuation of the question based on a lot of your comments. Many of you said that you've stopped listening to christian radio, if you ever did. For the record, I am squarely in your camp there. So how do you find out about music from believers trapped in this industry? You found me, so you heard about us somewhere. Are there good alternate ways of finding music to encourage your faith? Are there places that could be good? To further dive in: do you look to resources outside of your community for development and encouragement in your faith, and if so, where and why? Sheer curiosity is asking, so feel free to take this wherever you desire.

Two quick side notes:

1. I am playing upright bass on Andy P's christmas tour for a song or two, something I haven't done since college, and I'm loving it. The tour starts Thursday, dates are over here <---, and you need to come see the show. Rehearsal was AMAZING today. I love playing these songs.

2. Jeff Irwin, who played bass on AP's Far Country tour as well as the bulk of my new record, just had a baby Saturday, a month earlier than due. Their baby boy, Israel, is healthy but tiny (4 lbs, 9 ozs) and his wife Amy is recovering well. He's having to travel a bit this season, and there is still healing and much rest needed, so you can keep them in your prayers.

So, yeah, feel free to keep the discussion going, and let me know your thoughts on this subject. It's great to hear from people who don't deal with this stuff for their livelihood, and I'm learning a lot from you guys. Take care, sleep well and I'll try to write more tomorrow.

Lost on Christian Radio

Ok, so I'm sitting here watching the end of Conan, Brad Paisley's on and I was in orchestra in college with a couple of his band guys so I always like to watch him, and he's a great guitar player, and a commercial comes on. It's for "chat now with local singles." Totally lame and I always tune them out, but the girl on it was the girl from Lost, the one who plays Kate. How weird. Bet she's glad that one's still on.

All right, so this is something I've wanted to write about for a while, and now seems like as good a time as any. I was running a couple errands tonight and I decided to check out ol' Christian radio while I was driving around. The station here calls itself listener-supported, as do many christian stations around the country. These are the ones who do those call-in "share-a-thon's." And that's fine. I'm ok with that. Here's my thing.

This station plays commercials. But there's a catch. They call them "sponsorships," not "commercials." Companies, tonight's were a Lexus dealership, a mortgage lender, the doctor that delivered Ella, (that was weird) and one other I forgot, "donate" money to the station, then they do a "sponsor acknowledgement" where they talk about the business, give their phone number and address and what deals they're doing. They also make sure everybody knows that this business honors people with "values" and that their business has "values" too. Since Christianity is all about family values...

Listener-supported stations are tax-exempt, AND they don't have to pay nearly as much in artist royalties, some don't have to at all. Just in case you're wondering, this does mean that christian artists don't get paid when their songs are played on these stations as they would if it were any other station.

A few years ago I heard this stuff on the radio, got ticked off and called their 1-800 number livid. "I just heard a bunch of commercials!" I told the poor lady who answered, "you said you're commercial-free and listener-supported!" She's the one who told me that they consider them sponsorships. She said the difference is that on their station they don't tell you to go shop there, but just tell you about their services.

Honestly, I've thought about this for years, and my opinion on the necessity of christian radio has changed somewhat, but on this topic, I really disagree with her statement. I think this is dishonest and unfair, and it seems they are definitely taking advantage of a loophole in the system.

In all fairness, NPR does this too. Not nearly as much, but Nashville's christian radio is not the only place that does this. Still, just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.

The stations are making money selling airtime to businesses who want to talk about their products. Because they play religious music AND take donations, they are able to not pay taxes or pay the artists whose product they operate with. To do this they have to bend the rules AND it sets these businesses up to try and sell themselves on their Christianity, not their product.

I just don't understand why this doesn't seem to rub anyone else the wrong way. Has anybody else ever heard this stuff and wondered about it? Am I over-reacting or just plain wrong? I'm open to changing my mind about this, but as I see it, the ends justify the means to the people involved so they ignore the fact that they're lying to the people they intend to be serving.

It used to make me really mad, and in a lot of ways it still does, but it also makes me sad for the people who do listen. I feel like they're being taken advantage of. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I probably am. I get easily over-riled up about this kind of stuff. I just hate our culture's intermingling of God and money and how it has infiltrated so much of our Church. Even if stuff isn't wrong, it's hard for it to feel right sometimes.

So those have been some of my thoughts tonight, and it's something I've wanted to see what you guys think about. Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts or reactions you may have, negative or positive. And honestly, I'm hoping for some positive views on this. It would do my heart good. If I offended anyone by this post, I apologize, and I hope I'm not wagging a finger but talking about change for the better. It is my hope and prayer that any media that promotes the name of Jesus would be above reproach, and that's why I'm so hard on this, and TBN and crazy Pat. (Robertson) These stations publicly stand for Christ and I want them to be honest and loving in all they do, as Christ did, but I need to allow that they're run by humans and not God, something I often fail to take into account.

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and for supporting me and my music. Please leave a comment or a note hello, and I'll try and write again tomorrow. Good night.

two questions, one correction

Okay, I have two questions and one correction to leave here really quickly before I get to go pick up my family at the airport.

CORRECTION : Chris Weigel apparently tried to use "turkey biscuit" as a "breakfast food" in Scattergories, not Cason. (See last entry for more details...) My apologies to Cason for the defamation of character. Please don't sue. And I still don't think it counts, which leads to...

QUESTION #1 : Do you think this site could benefit from a forum again? Now that people actually visit here on a regular basis, is that something you guys would be interested in? It would be for you, so if you want it, let me know. I'll try to set it up so the Russian Mail-Order brides can't spam us again this time. Which leads to...

QUESTION #2 : Why did I wake up with "I'm Proud To Be An American" by ol' bearded whats-his-name in my head this morning, and why won't it leave?


(question #2B : what is ol' bearded whats-his-name's name? It's on the tip of my brain...)

way too late

It's about 3:30 am, Monday morning, and I should have been in bed hours ago. I have a lot to write about, though, so I'll try to stay awake enough to share it with you. You should know, as well, that the movie Blade Runner is playing in the background as I'm writing this. I love science fiction with flying cars and androids that's supposed to take place in the next couple of years. So funny.

So I had a great and peaceful day yesterday in San Antonio. I had a good seven hours off in the middle of the day and spent about five walking around the River Walk, a sort of "linear park" that lines the river throughout the city. I probably walked six or seven miles, way more than I usually do when I'm just working at my house, so I was pretty tired by the end. I met a couple of nice people, played guitar with a homeless man named Donnie, and saw a wedding on the shore of the river. I took a picture with my phone...



I just thought that was pretty cool. Tour boats kept cruising by and they would all clap for the couple. It was fun, and made you feel good. I got fairly lost, but didn't really mind. I ate some good Texas BBQ and read some of the Psalms while sipping a cold Bass and doing some people watching. A really nice time.

Alison and Ella are still in North Carolina with my in-laws, but they're flying back in the early afternoon tomorrow. Thank God. I miss them and can't wait to be with them again. Poor Ella has been cutting a couple more teeth, we think, and it's not too fun for her. She started clapping this week, though, which is about the greatest thing in the world. She only moves one hand, and just hits her other hand which she holds steady, but she gets a huge kick out of it. So fun.

I got back to Nashville this morning in time to get to church and hear "Let's pray..." and sing the last couple of songs. They were some great songs, though, and the Lord really met me in that time, and I heartily enjoyed it. After church I met a homeless guy named Mark who was trying to get somebody from the church to give him some food. I took him to McDonald's, we went through the drive-through, and ate some burgers in the parking lot. He was a nice guy, came up from Florida to try and play bluegrass and it just isn't happening.

I go through such a weird thought process with homeless people, probably like everybody else. Alison worked at the Nashville Rescue Mission for a couple of years when we were dating and first got married, and it was an amazing thing to get to know some of those guys. I spent a lot of time there, served many lunches, and occasionally ate as well. After all, I was in the Normals... Anyway, I hate that I always imagine any money I give will go to drugs, or that I'm going to get stabbed. There but for the grace of God go I, you know? Since she left her job at the mission I haven't spent that much time with people in that position, but yesterday and today I did, and I was glad. I don't have any huge realizations or anything, just that I wish I did that stuff more often. Jesus loves them, but a lot of times I don't, and that's not right.

Anyway, after lunch I dropped him off and came home. I hung out with my cousin Dean for a while and spent a few hours fixing hard drives and doing some file management on my record. Oh, joy! I started Blade Runner during a long transfer and had a nice, little nap on the couch. This movie is not very good. After I woke up I finished my file stuff and headed to 3rd and Lindsey to hear Sandra play.

Her band was Cason, Derek, Garett and Mark Polack on bass. They were great. I know most of you like them as well, so I took a camera phone picture for you...



It's not the greatest shot, but it's all I had, and I really enjoyed the show. She played a new song called "Gravity" that was great. Kristi Neumann, an old friend of mine who I haven't seen in years opened up, and she did a good job as well. Sort of random that I'd meet up with her there...

I don't think I've gone to hear music be played without being a part of it in almost a year. Actually, the last time was a few days before Ella was born, and it wasn't a concert. It was Paul Moak's wedding reception. Kenny Meeks played a set for the reception, with Will and Cason and Ben Shive and Kenny Hutson and Weigel, and man, they were great. It was so fun to just sit and listen for a change.

After the show last night a bunch of us went over to Derek and Sandra's to count down to Cason's birthday, which is today. I was over for about an hour, with a bunch of old friends, and had a nice time. I got to spend a few minutes talking with Matthew Jones, who I haven't seen in a while, and who is going with his wife and the Goodgames to Africa tomorrow. You can be praying for them and their trip. I think he has some more information about it on his website. If not, I bet Randall does. I'm just being lazy and not checking, but they're both linked right over here --->

Blade Runner is really not a very good movie.

When I got home my hard drive transfers were done so I went down to shut off my computer, but saw my gear and thought about how much fun hearing music was, and since there was nobody home I cranked up my amp and put some guitar tracks on a song called "House of Mirrors." I wrote this song about a year ago, right before Andy P's last Christmas tour actually, after hearing the Cardigans' "Long Gone Before Daylight" album. It was so inspiring that I wrote the song, trying to capture the way that record felt to me, that next morning.

I used to think it was lame, or bad form, to write a song based on another one, but I don't think that's the case anymore. A lot of times a great song will inspire a good one for me. The goal has always been to take what was so inspiring about another's song and let it become something else. Some times, to get myself started creatively, if I've written a melody and lyric in the vein of one artist, I'll try to perform it like another and see what happens. That's probably what a lot of us do, maybe unconsciously.

Anyway, this song was written around a big guitar melody, like their guy uses often, but over the past year I've gotten far more interested in his rhythm playing, and my performance of the guitar on this song tonight ended up reflecting that instead. I'd always imagined a big Gretsch solo track, but that guitar seemed to want to be a rhythm part instead, and the Suhr Strat felt right for the solo. Turned out kind of Pink Floyd/Matt Slocum on the solo. It's amazing how you can be surprised by your own instincts sometimes. I'll have to see if I still like what I did in a day or two, but it sure felt good tonight.

I guess that's about it. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to spend with my family, and then will rehearse with Andy P on Tues and Weds for the Christmas tour, which will start on Thursday. I'll miss my family a ton, but if I have to be gone, playing Andy's Christmas record with so many of my friends has got to be one of the best reasons to be away.

This movie is so dumb.

I'm going to go to bed now. Hope everybody has a great week back from Thanksgiving. That reminds me of a question we never really settled in the Normals. We were playing Scattergories one day, a game where you have to fill in a series of blanks with words that all start with a certain letter, determined by a dice. The blank was "breakfast food" and the letter was "T". Cason put "turkey biscuit." We didn't count it. He claimed he ate them after Thanksgiving and that it was a breakfast food. I still don't agree, but anyone out there have any opinions?

Ok, I've rambled enough. Good night.

San Antonio, TX

Man, it's been a while since I've written last. However, when I used to say that it meant I hadn't journaled in like six months, so a little over a week isn't too bad... Anyway, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I had a great time with Alison's family. Man, can those Southern ladies cook. Whew. Loved it.

So I'm in San Antonio, TX now where Caedmon's is playing at a big youth conference. The guys in the band all went out to hang a little bit tonight, but I'm just pretty worn from traveling, and frankly I smell and I just want to order a pizza and watch Letterman. So that's what I'm doing.

I'll catch you up really quickly on the past week and a half or so. Last Tuesday, Alison, Ella and I pulled all-night drive #2 (my Arkansas show the Friday before was #1) up to Normal, IL, my home-town, to visit my folks. I woke up about two hours after we got there and drove further north up to Kankakee, IL, no lie, to play at Olivet University. Jake Randall, whose cd I recently produced, brought me up there and I had a great time. I have three cousins who attend that school, although one is in an exchange program right now, but I got to hang out with them, and got to see my grandparents a little bit as well. It was a long and tiring day, but a good one, and I got to eat Monical's Pizza. Always a good thing.

The next couple days I spent in Normal with my family, getting to hang out with my folks, Rob and Candice, my brother and his wife, Mark and Dawn Lockett, and our old Young Life leaders Ben and Amy, who just moved back to town. We mainly just caught up and watched Ella roll around, but we also saw the new Harry Potter movie. We didn't get to spend time with everybody we wanted to, but the time we did spend was quality and refreshing.

On Sunday I played in Champaign, IL, about an hour south of Normal. Mark and my brother Rob sat in on a few songs, which was a total blast. I hadn't played with Mark in front of people for probably two years, and it was really fun. He's so good, and we have such a history together. We also ate at Garcia's pizza, which was our favorite haunt in high school until it closed our Junior year. The one in Champaign is the only one left. And it was delicious. There's just so much good pizza up in Illinois. Not so much in Nashville...

Which is where drove (all-nighter #3) after the show. Man, I'm still tired from all that driving. Anyway, we were home for about 36 hours, during which I had two sessions and tried to sleep a bit. I swapped my old Volvo wagon for my dad's mini-van on the way home so that I could bring back a giant Hammond organ that a friend of my mom's was getting rid of. We got it into the studio on Monday afternoon. It's a Monarch, one I've never heard of, and it has a Leslie in it. Very bizarre and pretty cool. I'm looking forward to using it on some records.

Tuesday night we flew to Durham, NC to spend Thanksgiving with Alison's family, which brings me back to my hotel room here in San Antonio. We have a good part of our day free tomorrow so I'm going to head down to the river-walk when I'm clean and awake, and I'm looking forward to it. I want to find a record store and get the new Neil Diamond album and the new Death Cab for Cutie, both of which I've heard great things about. And it'll be great to get to spend a nice, quiet day alone. I get pretty frazzed out when I haven't had Andy-time for a while, and it's been way too long...

So yeah, that's about it. Oh, no, it's not. That was a lie. There's one more thing. I'm almost out of copies of "Photographs" and I never really liked the way it was mastered or how the artwork looked, so Matt Odmard is re-mastering it and the guys at Portland Studios, who did "The Far Country" art as well as my new record, are re-doing the artwork for it. The rough drafts they've sent me so far have been stunning and I can't wait to have that album looking and sounding as good as I always wished it would have in the first place. And I slightly re-mixed "When Will I Run" because I hated a last-minute knob turn on the guitar solo of the original and it sounds so much better now. I'll let you know when I have a release date for this re'release. I might put a bonus track or two on there as well. Keep you posted.

And that really is all, and my pizza should be here any minute. Feel free to drop a comment saying hello and how much you missed me, and I'll be writing again soon. Have a great weekend.