Archive for March, 2006

The interviews for the book have begun.  I’m still reluctant to “name names” until the process is further along; suffice it to say if you have so much as a passing familiarity with Christian music from the ’80s through early ’90s you’ll immediately recognize those involved.  I’ve also been fortunate enough to arrange some face-to-face interviews for next weekend and a following one, plus another artist has agreed to be part of the project.  Woo-hoo!

One of the many threads I’m picking up on that will be woven throughout the book is how artists often have little if any idea of the lasting impact they, and their music, have had on people throughout the years.  There’s a natural tendency to look on listening to or preserving past pop music as little more than a nostalgic exercise in the ‘remember when’ game; quaint reveling in aural bookmarks of days gone by.  Natural, but with music that matters this rule doesn’t apply.  Sure, there is a touch of nostalgia in dusting off tunes from days of youthful wonder.  However, this is anything but all there is to the matter.

The song the Lord spoke through to you when you were caught in an unguarded moment (thank you Mike Roe and the 77s), one of deep lasting impact on your everyday every day.  The tune played before the altar call when you went forward to first accept or recommit.  These songs are not the stuff of mere reminiscing about a time when we were the young lions.  They are part of our souls; something worth preserving both for ourselves and those who follow as we teach where we came from so others will better understand where they’re going.  Musical styles come and go.  The Spirit remains steady.  And what of the music itself?  As more than a few have noted, if it was good then it’s good now.

If you’re waiting for the Christian music industry to start recognizing and respecting its own heritage, you’re best advised not to hold your breath during the process as asphyxiation is a terrible way to go.  There are a few slivers of respect here and there, but for the most part it’s “oh — did we release that?” city.  While the need to have every everything in stock everywhere is way over the top, it wouldn’t cost that much for labels to open custom shops where orders could be produced on an individual basis whenever someone wanted a CD or DVD of their life’s soundtrack.  Certainly better than scouring eBay for something that might not even exist, as anyone who’s looked for a CD of Incandescent by Crumbächer can testify, and there’s the factor of artists receiving exactly nothing for their work whenever recorded music is re-sold.  However, expecting the industry to show proper respect for those without whom it would not exist, not to mention exhibiting business acumen via taking currently zero revenue-producing items in its catalog and through intelligent marketing plus low genuine expenditure create a revenue-producing product line… I’ll get back to you on that right after Twinkles the happy pixie stops by for tea and scones.

Since the number of Christian artists who were on the edge of creativity currently living in glorious material splendor with a money tree in the back yard is exactly zero, it’s not likely they’ll be able to rescue their own creation and return it to availability anytime soon.  Record labels are prone to a “we don’t want it but you can’t have it either” mentality when their back catalog is mentioned.  You also have the factor of how most artists, frankly, have no ability to discern the quality and/or importance of their own work, usually erring on the side of severely undervaluing their creation.  “Why would anyone want a new copy of that old thing?” is heard far more often than you’d think.  Um… because it matters?

While there is no ready solution for this, hopefully by bringing the artists and music back into the spotlight a few clues will be stirred up among the powers that be and we’ll start seeing active respect for this music.  In the meanwhile, we’ll keep on doing what we can.

Wow… again.  It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog.  My bad.

Ah, let’s see what’s happening… more like what isn’t; it’d be a shorter list.  Starting with the workplace: it’s going wacko.  My best friend at the office, a beloved and beautiful sister in the Lord, quit to work closer to home (and to get away from some of the inanity and insanity).  Can’t blame her, but I sure do miss her.

My boss is going in for gallbladder surgery this week, so she’ll be out of commission for a while just as our department is in its raging glory with different critical projects abounding.  She’s one of if not the absolute best boss I’ve ever had, by the way.  So this is a deep concern.

For my part at the office, things are hot and heated.  I’m in the middle of designing the company’s annual report, which is a challenge.  Um… it’s a company annual report.  Not exactly a thrilling read, or for that matter look.  But hey, gotta do what one must in order to pay for the next vacation.  This is in addition to still putting together the company’s new public Web site, a project that might get done sometime before Internet 2.0 is a reality and available to everyone.  Might… sigh…

In brighter news, the new book is rapidly changing from concept to actual work; the first interview is scheduled for this Friday evening.  I’m blown away by the list of people who’ve agreed to tell me their stories.  Still don’t want to name names until the interviews are completed and the writing is well underway, but suffice it to say if you were so much as casually acquainted with alternative Christian music in the ’80s or early ’90s you will recognize so many of the names involved.  It’s a deeply humbling honor to be doing this.

My other “in process” book is also taking shape.  Completely different from the Christian music book, and yet also deeply connected.  No hints, though; the people that need to know are in the know.  Everyone else… why, you’ll find out in due time (okay, there was a hint in there somewhere).

That covers most everything for now.  More later — hopefully not as long of a “later” as it was from the last post to this one!

Wow, I’ve been negligent in posting updates.  My bad, especially with so much positive, exciting good stuff happening in regard to the book.

So far, no one who’s replied to my asking them to participate has said no.  In fact, the response has been extremely positive from everyone.  Starting next week I’ll begin scheduling the interviews, including hopefully a few in person next month when I’m in southern California a couple of times.

I’m still hesitant to list who’s on board, as I’d rather wait until the interviews are done and that artist’s portion of the story is approved by the artist.  Suffice it to say, in a hopefully not too teasing kind of way, known names have agreed to tell their stories.  My prayer is I don’t mess it up with the lineup that’s going to be part of this!

More soon.

So far I have four people lined up to interview for the book, with more to come!  Names later on as things get lined up.

Before I trot off to the office, a quick update on what’s happening:

I was humbled and honored to meet Beth and Dawn this past Monday evening on a very rainy night in Colton.  Now more than ever I am determined to get the book done.

Now comes the hard part: setting up and doing the interviews, then the transcribing, then the follow-up interviews, then more transcribing, then putting it all together in written form.  But that’s okay.  This workload is one I joyfully embrace.

Now if I could just shake this cold!  Oh well.  It’ll be gone in a few days and I’ll stop sounding like Flippy The Frog after gargling with drain cleaner (cough, sniff, honk, ah-choo).