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5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 7 | https://www.integritymusic.com/news/2023/11/17-new-worship-friday-g3mpw-zswzj-4hy7g-pfz72-e2gnn-n224k-ffdw4-8xn4k-9aply-7fa33-9nset-x5f66-9l6a4-cfx7y-bep3m-8rche-kzn6s | en | NEW WORSHIP FRIDAY: Matt Redman, Mission House & The Spirituals — Integrity Music | http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c34e2bc2971145d5d83d73a/5c34ead8898583fa6d95d33c/667ece7b011cc97ebd60dcc9/1720187135237/NEW+WORSHIP+FRIDAY_JUNE+28_SITE+IMAGE_530x350.jpg?format=1500w | http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c34e2bc2971145d5d83d73a/5c34ead8898583fa6d95d33c/667ece7b011cc97ebd60dcc9/1720187135237/NEW+WORSHIP+FRIDAY_JUNE+28_SITE+IMAGE_530x350.jpg?format=1500w | [
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] | 2023-11-17T00:00:00 | Coming Back To The Heart | en | https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c34e2bc2971145d5d83d73a/1550168256347-J20SJYCTPJBXF7GL3SXZ/favicon.ico | Integrity Music | https://www.integritymusic.com/news/2023/11/17-new-worship-friday-g3mpw-zswzj-4hy7g-pfz72-e2gnn-n224k-ffdw4-8xn4k-9aply-7fa33-9nset-x5f66-9l6a4-cfx7y-bep3m-8rche-kzn6s | Matt Redman releases a special album titled “Coming Back To The Heart (Live Collection).” Recorded at the Beverly Theater in Las Vegas, this project revisits songs written or co-written by Matt for the Church over the last 25 years. After noticing new enthusiasm around some of his older songs, he decided to re-imagine them and invite people into a fresh expression of worship. One of the hallmarks of this record is the joining together of various songs: “I was amazed how well that worked – some just interlocked together so beautifully and naturally – like ‘Better Is One Day’ with ‘Facedown’ (both reverential songs around the theme of God’s presence) and ‘Never Once with ‘You Never Let Go’ (both songs about the faithfulness of Jesus),” Matt shares.
This live collection also introduces a brand-new song, “Let Me See Jesus,” which captures the album’s central message, as Matt explains, “that’s what the ministry I’ve been entrusted with is about.” Beholding God naturally leads to expressing praise and singing, “it’s the natural reflex of a soul who has glimpsed something glorious about God,” he continues.
“Coming Back To The Heart (Live Collection)” is sonically communal and dynamic as it was recorded with stripped-back instruments in order to make room for the congregation’s voices. The room was filled with local worship leaders and singers, a deliberate move to go beyond the city’s entertainment reputation and into encounter with the living God. Featuring classics such as “Heart of Worship,” and a gospel-inspired outro on “10,000 Reasons,” the new album expresses something familiar in an unfamiliar manner. “I hope these songs will help us sing age-old truth in a fresh way,” Matt concludes.
Mission House releases another title from their second edition of Family Nights. The dual single, “The Whole Earth Is Full of Your Glory + Can't Stay Down,” is a folky Americana tune. Recorded live alongside friends in Charlotte, North Carolina, the new release captures Mission House’s signature warmth and their worshipful gratitude. The first portion of the single was written with Jessie Early and Jacob Early, and the second part features lyrics co-penned with John Mark McMillan. The new single takes us from awe at the beauty of the Creator, to a song of courage and faith out of that wonder. Mission House created a space that is as inspiring to worship as it is sonically engaging.
The Spirituals continue their journey of reimagining hymns with their newest release, "Tis So Sweet,” a standout track from their new Hymns project coming in October 2024. The Hymns project was born out of the desire to breathe new life into timeless songs, bridging the gap between the past and the present and telling God’s endless story in a fresh manner. These hymns have transcended generations, carrying the message of God's love and hope.
"Tis So Sweet" is a joyful and uplifting song that explores the meaning of trusting in Jesus. It reminds us of the importance of placing our faith in Him at all times, through every season of life. The Spirituals's rendition invites a new generation to fall in love with these sacred words and melodies, fostering a deeper connection with God. | ||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 28 | https://www.premierchristianity.com/home/50-years-of-ccm-why-the-glory-days-of-christian-music-are-over/914.article | en | 50 years of CCM: Why the glory days of Christian music are over | [
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] | 2019-11-21T00:00:00+00:00 | As Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) turns 50 years old, Derek Walker says the genre has lost its way | en | /magazine/dest/graphics/favicons/favicon-32x32.png | Premier Christianity | https://www.premierchristianity.com/home/50-years-of-ccm-why-the-glory-days-of-christian-music-are-over/914.article | When comedian Ross Noble appeared on the BBC2 show Room 101, where celebrities list items they would most like to eradicate from the world, his first choice (ahead of “people with clipboards”, “Craig David” and “people who look like cats”) was Christian rock bands.
The thought of them going on tour and “tidying hotel rooms” was just a passing objection. His major issue was that Christian music is bland and boring, and he’s not alone in holding that view. Today, many God-loving bands avoid the label ‘Christian rock’ at all costs; the term carries a negative connotation in the minds of many, but this wasn’t always the case.
The birth of Christian music
A denim-clad hippie with shoulder-length blond hair was the pioneer who gave young Christians their own music 50 years ago. Commentators generally agree that Larry Norman’s 1969 album Upon This Rock (Solid Rock) marked the beginning of Contemporary Christian Music. He had already seen chart success with his band People!, but was peeved when his label blocked his proposed album title ‘We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock & Roll)’, from the 1950s country song. So he quit. And with his signature ‘One way’ upwards-pointed finger gesture, denoting Jesus as the only way to salvation, he became the poster boy for new Christian music.
Norman’s landmark album Only Visiting This Planet (Solid Rock) sealed his place in history. And crucially, the album’s approach still works as a template of what Christian music, at its best, should be. The songs clearly spoke to the world around, critiquing contemporary society, making a stand for Christian values and pointing the way to Jesus.
That’s not to say Only Visiting This Planet was appreciated by everyone. Norman’s reference to gonorrhoea didn’t go down too well in the Christian market, and the singer was often described as being too religious for rock and roll stores, and too rock and roll for the Church. Cliff Richard remembered a similar tension in his music when he spoke to me some years ago: “There was a feeling that rock and roll and church didn’t go together...I remember reading of Christian fundamentalist preachers in America burning rock and roll records– and thinking: ‘Oh, my goodness, that’s me!’”
Light up the fire
Singer-songwriter Bryn Haworth also felt the church-rock tension. He was on the groundbreaking Island record label’s original roster, and gained a reputation as England’s leading slide guitarist. He came to faith after strangely experiencing someone onstage with him one night, whom no one else saw, and later finding himself in a revival tent, thinking it was a circus. He recalls: “After a year of churchgoing we thought: ‘We can’t do this; it’s too alien a culture’, and were about to give up. Garth Hewitt, a fellow Christian musician, who was keeping a pastoral eye on us, recognised we were struggling and invited us along to the Albert Hall to see Larry Norman. We went along reluctantly, but loved it, and were so encouraged. We thought: ‘Well, if he can follow Jesus and be himself, then so can we.’”
A rare example of a track hitting the charts and being printed in youth groups’ songbooks at more or less the same time was folk trio Parchment’s 1972 ‘Light up the fire’ which was the theme song to the Nationwide Festival of Light (a Christian movement aimed at reducing ‘moral pollution’). Premier Christianity’s predecessor Buzz magazine noted that Radio One DJ Tony Blackburn said he wouldn’t play it, even if it got to number one, showing that both sides of the culture gap had their issues.
Green and Dylan
The groundswell of Christian teenagers looking for integrity in their music in the 1970s led to a small but growing list of artists whose quality matched their enthusiasm. In the States, rock bands Petra and Resurrection Band were pioneers, while English prog band After the Fire were so good that they headlined both the first and last nights of the Greenbelt Festival in 1975.
Having started to play the ukulele at age three, and becoming the youngest person ever to sign with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) at eleven, a young Keith Green was named in Time magazine as Decca Records’ “prepubescent dreamboat”. When he and his wife, Melody, came to faith, his work became so spiritually charged that some called him a prophet. After agreeing a release from his record label, he refused to charge for either albums or shows, asking people to pay what they could afford. He ended up giving away thousands of copies of his next album, the less fiery and more pastoral So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt. Guesting on harmonica on that album was the most dramatic of the many well-known conversions taking place during that time...
For counter-cultural icon Bob Dylan to espouse what many saw as the institution of Christianity was the biggest shock to his fans since he turned electric at Newport in 1965, and probably gave them an even greater sense of betrayal. Several members of Dylan’s mid-decade backing band for The Rolling Thunder Revue tour had come to faith and were associated with the new Vineyard Fellowship. In a hotel room in late 1978, Dylan had an experience of Christ and later claimed: “There was a presence in the room that couldn’t have been anybody but Jesus...Jesus put his hand on me. It was a physical thing. I felt it all over me.” Dylan released three Christian albums after that (Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love). Within a year of the last being released, three of his colleagues were dead. One was Keith Green, who died in a plane accident.
1980s: The rise
With a host of professional musicians, such as Santana singer Leon Patillo and Earth Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey coming to faith, CCM became far broader and deeper in the 1980s. Celebrated Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn and Alice Cooper also made commitments to Christ.
At this stage, CCM was not a monochrome genre, but a term to bind together music with Jesus at its heart. It was losing the initial safeness it had when rock cautiously infiltrated Church culture. As a result, it displayed a range of sonic colour, as creative artists did what they do best: Glen Kaiser brought blues; Phil Keaggy had begun his journey into world-class instrumental guitar; The Choir drew indie into the Nashville scene and Steve Taylor brought punk, infusing it with an unusually intelligent and acerbic wit. DC Talk encapsulated this by drawing together three genres within one band and went on to become one of the biggest-selling Christian acts of all time.
In 1985, U2’s Bono and his wife, Ali, spent a month quietly working at an orphanage in Ethiopia. U2 had played Live Aid only weeks before in 20 minutes that turned their appeal global. Now, Bono was finding out first-hand about the famine crisis, and later learned that the £250m raised by Live Aid was as much as Africa spends every couple of weeks to repay loans to the richest nations. The fight against this structural injustice would colour his life and music from then on. The band that was formed in violent Dublin and exposed to a smorgasbord of faith expressions, from Catholic to ultra-evangelical, now had a personal understanding of global politics, and Bono would go on to talk to world leaders about issues of justice. U2’s output now had an integrity of faith, creativity and activism that set a new standard for how to do music, Christian or otherwise.
1990s: The highpoint
The early 90s saw an explosion of Celtic-flavoured music, yet by the time that Riverdance was first performed during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest interval, Iona – a group of Christian session musicians, who came together to produce their own rock-Celtic hybrid – were already on their third release. Their fourth record Journey into the Morn made
Q magazine’s top five folk albums of the year. Later, when Rob Beattie reviewed Delirious?’s Mezzamorphis for the same publication, he noted how it was: “Something of a rarity this, a Christian band who are neither Celtic nor crap” before going on to observe with prescience how they were nicely poised in their career, selling well with vision intact and everything looking rosy.
Christian music had been given a template to communicate to the secular world with lyrics that critiqued the culture from a distinctly Christian perspective, putting Christ centrally in that worldview. Some of the biggest musical names on the planet were now avowedly Christian. Secular record companies were setting up Christian divisions to capture the hunger for God-centred music and putting in resources, so that it was sounding more professional than ever before. Surely, with all this momentum, Christian music would make a dramatic impact on our culture?
The fall
Paradoxically, it was the success of Christian music that led to its failure. The industrialisation that managed people’s demands for Christian music ended up being the cause of its own demise.
In the 90s, sales of Christian music albums exceeded those of classical, jazz and new age music. Supply could not keep up with demand. Record companies had to keep signing bands, just to keep the machinery of business going, feeding the playlists of Christian radio stations in the USA with new material. In the rush to sign new acts, labels became less discerning about who to back. Bands with little character or talent found themselves being snapped up by the industry.
Not only did this increased supply inevitably mean lower quality, but the need for predictable sounds to fill the specific styles of those shows meant that Christian music gradually became part of a commercial monster that was unable to cope with creativity. And with secular labels dictating content, the desire to impact the surrounding culture for Christ faded away. Instead of being on the cutting edge and pushing creative boundaries in the way Larry Norman did, CCM turned in on itself and became safe.
Emmy Award-winning television producer Bob Briner saw the danger signs, writing the book Roaring Lambs (Zondervan) in 1993, which urged Christians to infiltrate and impact their workplace and world with their faith. The eponymous CD it inspired featured Christians who were doing just that in the mainstream music industry, avoiding the temptation to simply ‘play for the choir’. It included Steve Taylor, Over the Rhine, Sixpence None the Richer, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Jars of Clay, Delirious? And Charlie Peacock.
Sometimes good things can be overdone. By the end of the 90s,the modern worship movement was placing a great emphasis on intimacy in worship. Songwriters were making worship appropriately personal. Its popularity in the Church – and the ease with which such lyrics can be banged out – was another driver for record companies to chase the safe money and roll out the formula. Writing for the Cross Rhythms website in 2006, Larry Norman was searing in his criticism, claiming the labels’ approach had been one of “calculation, imitation and saturation”
Kanye, Bieber and Stormzy
The glory days of CCM are over, but God is still at work. The alt-folk all-female trio Wildwood Kin who are signed to Sony and recently charted, see their music as a force for good and are determined to keep their faith central. They’ve played everywhere from the Big Church Day Out to Glastonbury, proving it’s still possible to be successful in both the Christian and mainstream arenas.
Perhaps most notably of all, Justin Bieber – a man with greater musical talent than he is often given credit for – was raised an evangelical Christian and struggled for a while due to the ever-dangerous mix of being young, famous and rich. But since deciding to return to the faith of his upbringing, he has celebrated it across many platforms: “I feel invincible like, nothing is bigger than God,” he told Complex. “If God’s for me, who can be against me? That’s helped me in a lot of situations where I feel judged. It gives you confidence and you can carry yourself in a cool way, but it’s not cocky. It’s a confidence that’s a godly confidence.” Bieber is arguably the biggest popstar on the planet, and he’s bold about his faith in Christ. He even recently led worship at a megachurch in LA, and later admitted to US entertainment site TMZ that doing so was more nerve-racking than performing at concerts.
In the rock arena, former Spock’s Beard multi-instrumentalist and singer Neal Morse is arguably the best role model. His exhilarating albums about God’s glory, his own testimony and Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress– and this year a rock opera about Jesus – consistently excite even his many unchurched fans.
Stormzy’s explosive headlining set at Glastonbury this year was a landmark moment, and not just because he was the first British rapper to do so. It may be stretching a point, but you could say an artist with street credibility from a demographic often looked down on by the establishment, and creating authentic music that makes political points alongside blatantly Christian material, is actually echoing that original Larry Norman approach.
Most recently, Kanye West has shocked the world by releasing a gospel album entitled Jesus is King (Getting Out Our Dreams II/Def Jam Recordings). He’s also brought his ‘Sunday Service’ – an approximation of a worship service, including his faith-based tracks and covers of gospel songs – to Coachella, the first such performance to debut at a mainstream festival.
The future looks diverse – a mix of independents, major artists on labels and jobbing musicians networking. For musicians, as for the rest of us, if and when they let God lead, things can happen.
But the particularly low number of Christian bands and artists on recent summer festival listings suggests that CCM’s current focus of Sunday morning music (rather than Monday-to-Saturday) has resulted in young Christian musicians aspiring to lead worship, rather than impact the world around them, and the resulting lack of creativity suggests that the old saying, “Why should the devil have all the good music?” still applies. | ||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 64 | https://www.weareworship.com/worship-leaders/jennie-lee-riddle/ | en | Jennie Lee Riddle | data:, | data:, | [
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] | null | [] | null | en | data:, | https://www.weareworship.com/worship-leaders/jennie-lee-riddle/ | âI can write songs that can impact my sphere of influence for God and I will do so. However, if I will train an army of Kingdom pens to do the same, the multiplication effect for the spread of the gospel through music would be exponential.â JLR
This single focus, and her all-consuming love for Jesus and His Bride, leads Jennie Lee Riddle to intentionally invest herself widely in the Kingdom.
She is a passionate worship leader, team trainer, songwriter, and conference speaker. She is honored as a five-time Dove award nominee and three-time Dove award winner, top 10 CCLI songwriter, and multiple BMI award winner for top 25 radio. She is best known for authoring Phillip, Craig and Deanâs gold-certified #1 hit single âRevelation Songâ along with several other songs like âWhen The Stars Burn Down,â âHope of the Broken World,â âMystery of Faith,â to name a few. Numerous artists have covered Jennieâs songs, including Kari Jobe; Gateway Worship; Michael W. Smith, Selah; Newsboys; Jesus Culture; Dustin Smith; Travis Cotrell; NewSong; Shane & Shane; Superchick; Rebecca St. James; JJ Heller; Glen Packiam; Jared Anderson; Fike; Sixteen Cities; Travis Ryan; Crystal Yates; Michael English; Matt Papa and many others.
Her songs have been carried by the largest Christian tours including Passion and Winter Jam and are sung by churches both large and small in every denomination throughout the world.
The latest personal musical endeavor of Jennieâs is the forming of the cooperative People & Songs and the release of her critically acclaimed album, âOpus 1, Collective,â the first in a series. âOpus 1â³ enjoyed a #1 debut on iTunes, receiving all five-star reviews to date, in addition to being touted by Worship Leader Magazine as the âIndie Best of Best for 2012.â Her record was listed in the top 10 albums of 2012 by New Release Tuesday. âOpus 2â is currently underway.
Jennieâs strong calling towards mentoring leaders, fostering Kingdom culture, and growing healthy communities of creatives has led her to hold key roles for the GMA (Gospel Music Association) and NPWI (National Praise & Worship Institute). She is regularly found in classrooms of all sizes around the US in hopes of inspiring creatives and travels throughout churches in the United States, Europe, and Asia with fellow writers, artists, speakers, and those she mentors. Jennie also owns and operates New Nation Music, LLC and its affiliates: www.analyzemysong.com, www.theemergingsound.com â a summer intensive for creative teens, www.memoryhousemusic.com â an indie production company, and www.peopleandsongs.com - a interdenominational community of worship leaders and pastors who serve together to unify the Body of Christ through music.
Jennie has been married to her best friend, Darrin, for 26 years. They have four children, ages 16-25, and split their time between McKinney, TX and Nashville, TN, where Jennie is an Integrity Music staff writer and helps lead at LifePoint Church under Travis Ryan as part of the worship community. | ||||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 90 | https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/prayer-in-public-schools-its-time-to-set-the-record/ | en | Prayer In Public Schools: It's Time To Set The Record Straight | [
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] | null | [] | 2020-03-02T12:24:45-05:00 | Editor’s Note: This article outlining 10 common myths about religion in public schools originally ran in Church & State magazine in March 2019 in conjunction with a story about Americans United’s victory in a school prayer case in Bossier Parish, La. Because the issue of prayer in school remains so contentious and is plagued with misinformation, we’re reprinting it here. Myth One: | en | Americans United | https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/prayer-in-public-schools-its-time-to-set-the-record/ | Editor’s Note: This article outlining 10 common myths about religion in public schools originally ran in Church & State magazine in March 2019 in conjunction with a story about Americans United’s victory in a school prayer case in Bossier Parish, La. Because the issue of prayer in school remains so contentious and is plagued with misinformation, we’re reprinting it here.
Myth One:
We had prayer in schools for 200 years, and no one complained until the 1960s. There are a couple of problems with this statement. For starters, public education in the United States didn’t really begin to take off until the latter half of the 19th century. That’s when states began to fund public schools (often called “common schools” then) and pass laws mandating that children be educated.
Some states had laws requiring public schools to begin the day with a prayer and/or Bible reading, but others did not. Regardless, the practice was controversial from the start. Roman Catholics often complained because the prayers recited were Protestant and the Bible used for readings was the King James Version. Some parents filed lawsuits in state courts against these coercive religious practices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The rulings that resulted were a mixed bag. Courts in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Nebraska invalidated the practices, but courts in Iowa, Massachusetts and Kentucky upheld them.
Far from no one complaining, the issue of religion in public schools was so controversial that it sometimes sparked outbreaks of violence. In the 19th century, riots and other forms of violence erupted in New York, Pennsylvania and Maine over the issue of religion in public schools.
Myth Two:
All public schools had prayer and Bible reading prior to 1962. As mentioned above, policies on religion in schools varied from state to state. State-sponsored religious practices in public schools were less common than many people think.
In 1960, two years before the Supreme Court ruled on the matter, Americans United surveyed states to find out what (if anything) they were doing about official Bible reading in public schools. AU found that only five states had laws on the books mandating that some form of Bible reading take place in public schools. An additional 25 states had laws allowing “optional” Bible reading at the discretion of local public school districts. The remaining states had no laws on the books addressing the matter. It’s also worth noting that despite what state laws might have said, courts in 11 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin – had already declared the practice unconstitutional.
Myth Three:
We can find a “non-sectarian” prayer for public schools that fits all comers. A moment’s thought will demonstrate that this is impossible. In a country as diverse as the United States, there is no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” prayer. Many believers would find a watered-down prayer to be offensive, and, obviously, some people reject belief in God (atheists, agnostics and humanists) and thus don’t pray at all; others have non-traditional concepts of God.
The first school prayer case to reach the Supreme Court, Engel v. Vitale in 1962, challenged an allegedly “non-sectarian” prayer that had been composed by a bureaucratic body called the Board of Regents in New York state. The so-called “Regents’ Prayer” was allegedly non-sectarian and had been adopted in part to combat juvenile delinquency and ward off communism. Several parents objected to their children’s being compelled to recite a government-composed prayer and filed a lawsuit.
Myth Four:
Only non-religious people oppose school prayer. It’s true that many non-religious people have opposed official school prayer over the years. Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a prominent atheist leader, filed one of the early cases against school-sponsored Bible reading, and today many atheists are quick to oppose it as well. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a non-religious person would oppose mandatory prayer, but plenty of religious people have opposed these practices as well. When the “Regents’ Prayer” was challenged in court, many clergy labeled it spiritually vacuous. The Rev. Charles Lee, a Methodist minister in New York, blasted the state-written invocation, calling it “a mockery of the idea of prayer” and “an insult to our spiritual integrity.”
Myth Five:
Students who don’t want to take part in prayer can remain silent or get up and leave the room. Children should not be compelled to single themselves out and run the risk of abuse from others later by walking out of the room. Nor should they be expected to remain silent while an activity takes place that violates their fundamental rights.
Myth Six:
Thanks to the school prayer rulings, there can be no religious activity or discussion about religion in public schools at all. That’s simply not true. In the school prayer rulings of 1962 and ’63, the Supreme Court struck down only mandated, school-sponsored and coercive forms of prayer and Bible reading. Truly voluntary prayer was left intact. Students are free to engage in voluntary, non-disruptive forms of prayer, and they may read religious books during their free time. In secondary schools, students may form voluntary religious (and non-religious) clubs that meet during non-instructional time. Attendance at these clubs is entirely voluntary.
Furthermore, nothing in the school prayer rulings limits objective instruction about religion in public schools. Justice Tom Clark, who wrote the majority opinion in School District of Abington Township v. Schempp in 1963, made this clear.
Clark wrote, “[I]t might well be said that one’s education is not complete without a study of comparative religion or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization. It certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment. But the exercises here do not fall into those categories. They are religious exercises, required by the States in violation of the command of the First Amendment that the Government maintain strict neutrality, neither aiding nor opposing religion.”
Myth Seven:
If the majority of people want prayer in schools, they should be able to have it. Our constitutional system doesn’t work that way. Under the First Amendment, all religious and non-religious beliefs have equal rights. The majority does not have the right to impose its views on the minority simply because it has numerical superiority.
Myth Eight:
The lack of official prayer in schools has spawned negative consequences, such as violence and school shootings. Such claims are symptomatic of what could be characterized as lazy thinking in that they attempt to link two things that, in fact, have no connection at all (i.e., post hoc, propter hoc). Furthermore, the claim that school prayer will cure every ill that plagues modern society is simplistic. The difficulties that some schools (and by extension entire communities) are undergoing are complicated and will require equally complex solutions. A few minutes of mandated prayer in schools is unlikely to do much to address entrenched social problems.
Myth Nine:
Some children don’t receive religious instruction at home, and that’s why we need prayer in schools. Some children don’t receive religious instruction at home because that’s what their parents want. It is up to parents, not public school officials, to decide what religion, if any, a child is exposed to. When public school officials interfere in this relationship by imposing prayer and religious activity on youngsters against their will, they are usurping parental rights.
Myth Ten:
Because official prayer has been expelled, public schools can offer no moral instruction. While public schools can’t sponsor prayer or other religious activities, they can and do work to instill a sense of ethics and morals in students. Public schools promote cooperative learning, encourage tolerance for different points of view and promote shared civil values. Schools reward good behavior and punish infractions such as cheating, lying and disrupting class. In this sense, public schools reflect and enforce the commonly held values that are embraced by larger society. | |||||
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The Executive Behind Mary Mary
As Senior Vice President of Columbia Music, Demmette Guidry is at the helm of the marketing storm that propelled new-fangled Gospel duet Mary Mary into the consumer stratosphere.
The unique challenge of handling the only Gospel act on this otherwise mainstream label doesn't throw this record executive off. It actually gives him a chance to flex his marketing muscle with a product that is perhaps closer to his heart than many things he's had an opportunity to work on. His is a heart for God.
Guidry explains that Mary Mary came to Columbia through producer Warryn Campbell. "We were determined to have them here. We took meetings with Warryn, and as a result of the enthusiasm from everybody here from the top down to the promotion ranks, I think he felt our enthusiasm. I have had a relationship with Warryn (see interview) and have known him [for quite a while] and I think he felt like this was a place where his vision for the group could be carried out with integrity and it wouldn't be a compromise. We would represent it for what it was."
"We weren't necessarily looking for a Gospel act, it just kind of happened. But you know, God is good, so I don't believe that anything just happens. We just always have our feelers out for hit material, hit records and more importantly career oriented artists. God just kind of brought them my way, and for me in particular, I was [excited] to be a part of a Gospel project. It just all kind of came together. I don't think it was a coincidence." And if notoriety is any indication, it was certainly divinely orchestrated that Mary Mary got to spread their wings at Columbia.
Having already enjoyed incredible chart success, Guidry says this is only the beginning for Mary Mary.
"We are just getting started. I think the key to the success that we've experienced thus far has been the set-up. We took tracks, even prior to them being mixed down, to GMWA [in 1999] and began to play them for the pacemakers and announcers down there. We've been setting them up since September (1999). We handle them the same [as any other artist]. Certainly there is a ministry from their point of view and we are careful to not tamper with the integrity of their ministry, but we don't put it through any less of a process that you would put a Mariah Carey record or a Lauryn Hill record. You handle it the way would market anything. With any project there are certain stages and set-ups, marketing mixes and strategies that you would employ and Mary Mary is getting that full complement here." (See album review).
One might think that having to protect the ministry of an artist in a business world where that is not normally a consideration; there might be room for conflict.
"For us it's all about hit records, but at the same time because it's Gospel and because we support the vision of the artist and from the artist's standpoint it is a ministry we respect and embrace that. [We took this project] to GMWA because I know with their track record, that is their core audience. At the same time I was setting up the Gospel audience, we also put a twelve-inch in the clubs. We did that because we had a hit record and we know that there is a maturation period for a hit record. We knew that once we had a hit record in the clubs, it would be an easier sell to radio. So we sort of had a two-fold agenda going."
But if not a conflict business-wise, does that present a spiritual conflict? Guidry shares his position as a Christian record exec.: "I believe that the Gospel is to be taken out to the masses. People in the church definitely need hear praise & worship music, [as it is clearly] for people in the church. But Gospel needs to be carried out to those that don't know about Jesus, and those people are in the clubs for better or for worse. And that's part of what Mary Mary is about; to touch people that don't know (see interview). And [our marketing] wasn't just about the clubs, we took it to roller-skating rinks, youth fellowships, and places like that.
It's about taking it into places where people are not going to listen to a James Cleveland record or not even a Fred Hammond record [because they don't yet know God]. You read the bible and you see Jesus dining and having supper with the sinners and the tax collectors. The Pharisees and everybody criticized Jesus for that. I believe the Gospel has to go all across the world and to places where people have no idea about Jesus and need the good news and need to be saved. Whoever sees that as a conflict spiritually is wrong."
As secular labels get more skin in the field of Gospel music, it remains to be seen how the rules will change. Purely Gospel labels have become skilled in stretching budgets and maximizing existing listener and ministry support bases to promote their artists. New Gospel factions of mainstream labels sometimes recruit Gospel-industry people to share the knowledge, but in some cases do what they can with what they've got. In most cases that's a lot. Can't we all just get along without worrying about getting gobbled up? Guidry offers his perspective:
"I think [as Christians and people who care about Gospel music] we all have to be careful. I do believe that there are major labels that see what Gospel music is bringing just in terms of marketshare. Gospel and Christian music marketshare is growing [quickly]. People can sit back and see that it had a seventy-five percent increase over last year and has doubled in sales the last three or four years. Major labels are interested in it [if only] from a business standpoint. I don't think the bar is necessarily going to be raised for Gospel labels, but it should certainly open [everyone's] eyes to see that there are other ways to do things. [Gospel music] shouldn't be marketed any differently. It can be done [at any type of label] with integrity. [God] has people sitting in certain places to make sure that things are done right and with integrity."
It is this integrity that Guidry tries to impart in his sometimes world-driven work. "I struggled with what was my purpose and why [the Lord] has me in the position of influence that I'm in. And a simple answer came back to me I am here to be an example in an industry that is defined by compromise. For my staff and the people around me, I try to be an example, and walk what I believe. I'm aware that I might be the only Jesus [someone might] see. That's my ministry to walk upright in this place, where maybe no one else will."
interview by Melanie Clark | |||||||
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] | null | [] | null | en | https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6288020ea22317066ce22f03/52243ecf-1f4a-424e-9d84-904ba493c58a/favicon.ico | Avalon | https://www.avalonthegroup.com | “For the past eleven years Greg and I have been staff worship leaders at a local church north of Houston,” Janna says. “Jody’s also a staff worship leader at a church in Ohio. Dani became a worship leader right out of high school. Leading worship has been a natural progression in our personal lives, so it made sense to extend that into our recording world.” “We’re all personally in a place where we need the connection only genuine worship can bring,” Jody adds. “There’s real healing and safety in the presence of God. These songs are where we are as adults and as Christians and believers.”
This natural evolution has given the group a renewed energy for creating music that edifies and encourages. Avalon Worship includes both original recordings as well as worship covers of some of the biggest songs being sung in churches right now, all carried by the group’s signature, powerhouse vocals. Original track “You Deserve It All” is a vocal-forward, heart-mover reminiscent of the group’s early hits. “It’s a stunning song that encompasses what worship is all about,” Jody says. “We were created to worship. Every weekend I drive from Nashville to Cincinnati where I serve at a local church there. Sometimes when it’s time to leave I think, I don’t want to go do this. But this song, every time I hear it, I’m reminded this opportunity is afforded by God and I have a chance to give it back to Him. He deserves that back in praise.”
“Here,” an original Greg Long co-wrote with Don Koch (who produced the album) and Dave Clark, is an honest cry about our need for God’s presence. “That line, ‘we’re fine to come here empty, as long as we leave with you,’ came from the writer’s room,” says Greg. “It was one of those days. I’d flown in from Houston to Nashville and had several writing appointments. I got in the room with Don and Dave and said, well, any ideas? We were kind of empty. I said, we need Him here with us. Let’s stop and pray. So we did, we asked the Lord to be in the room and He was. When He shows up, everything changes. And we’re so glad.”
Musical and vocal standout “So It Will Ever Be,” is an impassioned track heralding God’s sovereignty and how there is none like Him. “It’s not an easy word to accept, sovereignty,” Greg shares. “Especially when things aren’t going your way. Resting in His sovereignty is not always easy, but it’s always right.” “You cannot deny the sovereignty of God,” Jody says. “He is going to be that forever. We can rewrite that to make ourselves feel better, we can try to manipulate the gospel, manipulate who God is, but He will always be who He is. His narrative is forever. His sovereignty is forever.”
Adding their well-tuned vocal arrangements to worship hits like “Rattle,” “The Blessing,” and “Graves Into Gardens,” the songs become instantly singable. But the group chose which covers to include based on what the message and lyrics meant to them. “We chose these covers based on how they connected with us and how they’ve connected with the body of Christ as a whole,” Janna says. “’The Blessing’ is one of those songs that came during the pandemic,” Dani says. “I think we’re all grieving something we don’t know how to process. Most of us haven’t grieved what happened, we just survived it and went through it. For me, ‘The Blessing’ reflects the grieving process, the Lord carrying us through the unknown.” “It’s a song we all wanted to do,” Jody says. “We all have families and children and the way that song echoes the favor of God on our children…the first time I heard it I sat in my living room and wept. Because that’s what we want.”
With a balanced mix of known favorites and brand-new songs ready for congregations to sing, Avalon Worship cements the group’s purposeful step into the worship genre. Powerful and poignant, each track was handpicked to reflect a personal cry for God to draw near. More than a collection of songs, Avalon Worship is faith extending outward to be a blessing to all who hear it. | |||
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] | null | [] | null | Kaylyn Sahs is a rising pop country singer/songwriter and Nashville recording artist. She was born and raised in the Midwest in 1997 with a God-given talent and began singing almost as soon as she could talk. With a voice some have said sounds like pure gold, she has been pursuing & honing her musical gift ever since. | en | //kaylynsahs.com/cdn/shop/files/Kaylyn_Sahs_WS_Square_20231107_sel_0354-Enhanced-NR-Edit_1800pxlongedge_45393d8c-5664-4461-be3c-9223abc911aa_32x32.jpg?v=1721940150 | Kaylyn Sahs | https://kaylynsahs.com/ | |||
5676 | dbpedia | 1 | 76 | https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/10/its-in-my-blood-to-see-barriers-break-christian-pop-star-lauren-daigle-on-trump-trolling-and-abortion | en | ‘It’s in my blood to see barriers break’: Christian pop star Lauren Daigle on Trump, trolling and abortion | [
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] | 2023-05-10T00:00:00 | The Grammy-winning songwriter’s new album is her first for a major label. But does it risk enraging her core audience – and opening up a cautious musician to mainstream expectations? | en | the Guardian | https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/10/its-in-my-blood-to-see-barriers-break-christian-pop-star-lauren-daigle-on-trump-trolling-and-abortion | In March Lauren Daigle released Thank God I Do, the first single from her forthcoming self-titled album. The music video is set on a flower-festooned street in her home state of Louisiana. Daigle, equally garlanded, wanders through them singing uplifting things about love. Many of the YouTube comments mention how it has touched their hearts or helped them through a difficult time. They make the ones accusing of her apostasy and paganism sound even more unreasonable.
Daigle, 31, has experienced plenty of these kinds of attacks. For a decade the two-time Grammy winner has been one of the biggest names in contemporary Christian music (CCM), a multimillion-dollar industry that tends to go unnoticed beyond its religious base. Its most popular hits are regularly incorporated into modern worship in churches worldwide. Meanwhile its artists exist under a unique level of scrutiny.
Daigle recently signed her first major label deal with Atlantic Records, hoping to cross over into the pop mainstream with her third album – her soulful sound is a mixture of Adele and Joss Stone – while bracing herself for the backlash from Christians who don’t condone mixing the sacred with the profane. “It’s not nearly as bad as it could have been, I’ll say that,” Daigle tells me from her home in New Orleans, wearing a broad smile under an even broader hat. “There’s way more people cheering me on than upset, so I’ll take it.”
Yet Daigle has courted controversy at both ends of the political spectrum. In 2018 she upset conservative Christians by appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, then upset her critics when she said she couldn’t say whether homosexuality was a sin. Two years later she provoked wrath for singing at a worship rally during lockdown restrictions, which earned her a personal rebuke from New Orleans’s Democrat mayor.
The second incident was a “tough one”, says Daigle, because “it painted me in a light that [suggested] I didn’t care”. She had been riding her bike through the French Quarter when she saw fellow CCM artist Sean Feucht leading the event, “and there were police around, blocking the street, so I thought: ‘Oh, there’s this approved event that people are singing at? This is wonderful.’” In fact, Feucht’s event was part of a campaign against Covid restrictions on church gathering. “And it caused this huge fuss.” She didn’t comment on it at the time. “Someone once told me true freedom is giving people the permission to misunderstand you, and that was one of those moments.”
Still, Daigle’s experiences informed the new album, her first to move beyond solely faith-based themes. A seven-hour panic attack brought on by “a deep state of paranoia” inspired the low-key opening ballad Thank God I Do. “I didn’t know what was going on, but two people sat with me through the night, my mom and one of my friends, and they were so kind, so calm. If God had to show up for me through two people, he chose those two.”
Daigle was raised in a Christian family and a laid-back Cajun culture – a world where, she says, “If you have an appointment for 1pm and you show up at 1.30pm you’re still on time.” Daigle was surrounded by music made for dancing. “Every Sunday night in Lafayette, at this place called Randol’s, a zydeco band would come and the whole city would come out and dance. I remember when I was 10 years old, my grandfather putting me on his feet and saying: ‘Come on girl, you’ve gotta learn the waltz.’”
Hurricane Katrina hit when she was 14. “Disasters like that show you what matters in life. There’s this bonding that comes after a hurricane – you’ll never have seen someone before and all of a sudden you’re in their house chopping a tree out of their living room.” Daigle still remembers the sight of people on their roofs, “their skin boiled because it was the thick of summer and they’d been there three days straight”. Her parents made huge pots of gumbo and distributed them in Four Corners, Lafayette’s red-light district. “My family were very open to loving people, that’s always been a part of their narrative, so it’s in my blood to see barriers break.”
When Daigle was 15, she contracted cytomegalovirus, an enervating condition that required her to complete her education at home. First a creative outlet, singing soon became a religious calling – she has described having prophetic visions of “stages and tour buses” while a teenager. After competing in the audition rounds of American Idol, she signed to the CCM label Centricity Music in 2013. Two years later her debut album, How Can It Be, topped the Christian charts. Her 2018 album, Look Up Child, was a blockbuster hit, reaching No 3 on the mainstream US albums chart.
But her popularity was contingent on a Christian audience who were not always as forgiving as they ought to be. “The microscope of people always looking at your life, feeling people will take your best intentions and turn them on you, and doing that in the public eye – that’s a lot,” she says. Attempting to immunise herself from criticism, Daigle kept her private life hidden to the point that she became a self-professed control freak – until the panic attack. “I learned that if I’m going to constantly keep myself contained then I am going to combust.”
There’s more than a glimpse of the personal in her new album: Waiting celebrates holding out for a romantic relationship. Being single as a famous Christian doesn’t make dating easy – Daigle can’t do dating apps, and she’s only willing to be set up by trustworthy close friends. “People will shame you for it, judge you for it, make you think you’re being too picky,” said Daigle. “But being patient, that type of longing, I think is really fruitful.”
She splits her time between Louisiana and Nashville, a city she loves for its tight musical community. The church she attends is a mix of Republicans and Democrats, and she finds herself straddling the same divide that has beset country music for many years: an audience with a deeply conservative core and industry professionals drawn from a more progressive pool (her co-writers on the album include the Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby and Brandy Clark co-writer Shane McAnally, a gay man).
While Daigle is well practised at keeping her political opinions to herself, she admits that her perspective has shifted since Trump’s presidency. “I got wrapped up in the way the politics was being projected, and the animosity,” she says. “Now we’re on this side and I’m looking back at myself, I’m like, wow, yes, I do believe certain things, but did it actually get the best of my faith? At the end of the day, the Bible calls us to unity.”
She finds it “shocking” that Trump is still in the headlines – “it’s wild that there’s this gravitational pull to constantly talk about him” – in a way that suggests a certain naivety. The 45th president’s legacy remains encoded in the country’s current legislative agenda: what about the near-total ban on abortion that went into effect in Louisiana last year, with no exceptions even for rape or incest? “I have no idea, I’m terrible,” says Daigle. “I know that we have a Democrat governor but I don’t know where our abortion laws are in Louisiana.”
There can’t be many thirtysomething women who can afford to remain similarly uninformed. Her US representative steps in to change the subject. But the repeated message of Daigle’s album is to keep listening to other points of view. “It’s a tricky line that we’re walking,” she sings on the gothic Don’t Believe Them. “We got so many people talking, and nobody thinks that they’re wrong.” | |||||
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5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 96 | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/06/05/ed-sheeran-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-marvin-gaye | en | The Case for and Against Ed Sheeran | [
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"John Seabrook",
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"Antonia Hitchens",
"Victor Lodato",
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] | 2023-06-05T00:00:00 | Ed Sheeran’s trial for copyright infringement of Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend’s “Let’s Get It On” highlights how hard it is to draw the property lines of pop, John Seabrook writes. | en | https://www.newyorker.com/verso/static/the-new-yorker/assets/favicon.ico | The New Yorker | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/06/05/ed-sheeran-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-marvin-gaye | Audio available
Listen to this story
One day in 1973, Edward Townsend, a singer-songwriter who’d had a minor hit with the 1958 ballad “For Your Love,” invited a friend, the R. & B. superstar Marvin Gaye, to his home in Los Angeles, to hear some new tunes. Sitting at the piano, Townsend played a four-chord progression in the key of E-flat major while singing a melody that harked back to his doo-wop days. Townsend, then forty-three, had recently been released from rehab, and the song was a plea to a higher power to help him stay sober. “I’ve been really tryin’ baby, tryin’ to hold back this feeling for so long” was one of the lines.
Gaye, who was suffering from writer’s block after the huge success of “What’s Going On,” for Motown Records, in 1971, heard his friend’s song as a hymn to sex. Together, they created “Let’s Get It On.”
Motown’s music-publishing company, Jobete, took fifty per cent of the song’s copyright. Gaye and Townsend agreed to split their share of the composition’s future earnings. Gaye recorded the song in L.A., in March, 1973, with members of the Funk Brothers, Motown’s house band, who added the wah-wah guitar introduction and the song’s undeniable groove, in which the second and fourth chords are anticipated—slightly in front of the beat. Gaye, in addition to his soaring vocal, played keyboard on the record. The song, Gaye’s first No. 1, was one of the biggest hits of the year. It became a foundational track in the quiet storm of seventies R. & B. and soul, and has remained an evergreen—a steady earner.
“Let’s Get It On” launched a new phase in Gaye’s career; four years later, his song “Got to Give It Up” also reached No. 1. Before his death, a filicide by Marvin Gaye, Sr., in 1984, Gaye had a final smash with “Sexual Healing.”
Townsend’s career peaked with “Let’s Get It On.” He fell back into alcohol abuse, acquired a cocaine habit, and ended up living on the streets of Los Angeles. He eventually beat his addictions, and, near the end of his life, devoted himself to helping others on the street. He died in 2003, at the age of seventy-four.
In February, 2014, an English singer-songwriter named Amy Wadge visited the pop star Ed Sheeran at his home in Suffolk. Wadge was an old friend and a frequent collaborator. Sheeran’s paternal grandfather had recently died, and his maternal grandmother was in a wheelchair, following cancer surgery. Sheeran and Wadge had a long talk that evening about enduring love.
Sheeran excused himself to shower before dinner with his parents, who live nearby, and Wadge picked up one of his acoustic guitars (a gift from Harry Styles) and began strumming a four-chord progression in D major. Sheeran heard it when he came out of the shower, and called out, “We need to do something with that!”
After dinner, Wadge and Sheeran returned home and continued writing in Sheeran’s kitchen. The first line, “When your legs don’t work like they used to,” referred to his grandmother’s condition. By midnight, “Thinking Out Loud” was finished. Sheeran recorded the song, in which the second and fourth chords are anticipated, just in time to include it on his second album, “Multiply.”
As a writer, Sheeran is known for his speed and facility. He can toss off four or five songs a day when he’s recording an album. His EP “No. 5 Collaborations Project” led to a deal with Atlantic Records, a Warner Music label, when he was nineteen. He writes ballads as well as bangers; he also raps. He has collaborated with artists including Taylor Swift, Rita Ora, and Justin Bieber. His songs are popular partly because they are so accessible. It’s as if you already know them.
Sheeran usually performs solo with a guitar—without costume changes, dancers, or pyrotechnics—backed only by looped tracks that he makes with a pedal as he plays. The two-year-long tour for his 2019 album, “Divide,” took in more than seven hundred and seventy-five million dollars, making it the second-highest-grossing tour of all time. Now, at thirty-two, he is one of the wealthiest people in the U.K.
“Thinking Out Loud,” released in September, 2014, was one of the first songs to be streamed half a billion times on Spotify; it has since passed 2.2 billion streams. It won the 2015 Grammy for Song of the Year, and its success shot Sheeran into the thin air of the world’s top hitmakers. The song also became a favorite at his concerts.
In a YouTube video of a Sheeran show in Zurich in November, 2014, the artist, playing an electric guitar, smoothly transitions from “Thinking Out Loud” to “Let’s Get It On” and back to “Thinking,” without changing chords or the harmonic rhythm—the syncopated cadence at which chords are played. He smiles a bit mischievously. The crowd loves it.
Most pop songs are made out of other pop songs. Many are constructed on three- or four-chord progressions, and have a near-identical blueprint—intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro. Other than words and melody, not much in a composition is protected by copyright. As the Australian comedy trio Axis of Awesome demonstrates in a video that went viral, any number of pop songs can fit inside the same four chords. For this reason, the property lines of popular music are hard to draw. Inspiration, imitation, homage, and pastiche are all at play. Often, the trick is to sound new and old at the same time. But at what point do influence and interpolation become appropriation and plagiarism?
In 2019, the hitmaker Pharrell Williams spoke with the producer Rick Rubin, for a filmed conversation about creativity. Williams described his reaction to hearing a song that makes him feel something he hasn’t felt before: “I’m going to have to reverse engineer the feeling in order to get to the chord structure.” He did just that with “Blurred Lines,” his 2013 hit with Robin Thicke, for which he seemed to metabolize almost every aspect of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up,” including the crowd noises and the cowbell.
But, according to a jury in Los Angeles, Williams went too far. In 2015, it found that the composers of “Blurred Lines” had illegally copied Gaye’s song. The songwriters were ultimately forced to pay the Gaye family $5.3 million, and to share half the song’s future publishing royalties. The verdict was a victory for the copyright attorney Richard Busch. Afterward, more than two hundred producers and other people in the music business signed an amicus brief predicting that, if the verdict was upheld, they would be forced to work “always with one foot in the recording studio and one foot in the courtroom.” It was upheld anyway, in a 2–1 vote, in 2018. The dissenting judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Jacqueline Nguyen, described the ruling as “a devastating blow to future musicians and composers everywhere,” because it allowed “the Gayes to accomplish what no one has before: copyright a musical style.”
Many people correctly predicted that the “Blurred Lines” ruling would trigger a wave of frivolous infringement cases. “I can’t tell you how many calls we get after the Grammys,” Judith Finell, who was the Gaye family’s expert musicologist in the “Blurred Lines” case, told me. “Mostly from lawyers wanting to see if their client’s claim of infringement is winnable.”
Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, and Justin Bieber are only a few of the artists who have been subject to recent allegations of infringement. The composers of Dua Lipa’s 2020 hit “Levitating” are being sued on both coasts: In Los Angeles, the reggae band Artikal Sound System is claiming that the song copied its 2017 track “Live Your Life.” In the Southern District of New York, L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer believe that “Levitating” infringes on two songs they wrote, “Wiggle and Giggle All Night,” from 1979, and “Don Diablo,” from the following year.
Two influential decisions in California’s Ninth Circuit in the past few years have repaired some of the “Blurred Lines” damage. In 2020, the appeals court confirmed a jury’s verdict that Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” did not infringe on “Taurus,” by the late-sixties rock band Spirit, because the descending A-minor figure in “Taurus” consisted of “common musical elements” that can’t be copyrighted. In 2020, a district judge in Los Angeles overturned a verdict that found Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” had infringed on eight notes from “Joyful Noise,” an obscure song by the Christian artist Flame. The judge’s decision was upheld on appeal.
This spring, a high-stakes copyright trial took place in New York City. The issue in Griffin v. Sheeran was whether Sheeran and Wadge had illegally copied from “Let’s Get It On” in creating “Thinking Out Loud.” The larger issues were how much songwriters like Sheeran should be allowed to borrow from earlier works, and the opaque and antiquated process by which the law determines what part of a pop song the composer actually owns.
Music copyright, which became law in the United States in 1831, allows composers to establish the “metes and bounds” of their intellectual property, just as mechanical inventors do in obtaining patents. But a patent is granted only after examiners have determined, by way of an investigation, that an invention is truly new and useful. A music copyright is more like a virtual rubber stamp that a musician gets automatically as soon as a song is “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” If the song is a hit and the musician is sued—because “where there’s a hit, there’s a writ,” as an old adage goes—it is up to the courts to figure out how original the work is.
Copyright makes it commercially viable to be an artist. But painters can’t claim ownership of a color, and songwriters can’t monopolize notes or, for that matter, common chord progressions, modes, or rhythms. A composer is entitled to own only a particular expression or arrangement of a musical idea, not the idea itself. (The concept of an arpeggio, or of counterpoint, cannot be copyrighted.) The question is how to legally separate the two. The law, which represents the Apollonian side of human experience—the rational, analytical, and intellectual—is a leaky sieve for containing the Dionysian elements of music: the irrational, abstract, and emotional parts.
“Songwriters almost never steal melodies from one another on purpose,” Joe Bennett, a professor of forensic musicology at Berklee College of Music, told me. “In almost every case, the copying is inadvertent.” Still, outright theft does happen—compare Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” from 1955, to Gordon Jenkins’s 1953 song “Crescent City Blues.” Cash ultimately paid Jenkins seventy-five thousand dollars (which now amounts to some six hundred and sixty thousand) for lifting his melody and some of his lyrics.
Bennett explained that songwriters can be found liable for infringement of copyright even if the infringement was “subconsciously accomplished.” The phrase comes from the judge in a 1976 case, which found that George Harrison had unknowingly but unlawfully copied the Chiffons’ 1963 song “He’s So Fine” in his 1970 hit “My Sweet Lord.” The two melodies are virtually identical.
“Also known as ‘cryptomnesia,’ ” Bennett added. He defined the term as “a forgotten memory that is mistaken for an original idea.” Pop music is bursting with cryptomnesiacs.
Before the Internet, lack of access was the standard defense against a claim of subconscious copying: the composer couldn’t possibly have heard the accuser’s obscure song. At music publishers’ offices, assistants were instructed to return unsolicited recordings unopened, so that the sender couldn’t argue later that his work had been filched. But platforms like SoundCloud, Spotify, and TikTok have severely curtailed that defense. Finell, the musicologist, told me, “Some kid will come to me and say, ‘I just heard the latest Beyoncé song, and she stole my drum track!’ I say, ‘How did Beyoncé get to hear a drum track that you composed in your garage?’ ‘Well, I put it out on social media, and I have a hundred thousand followers. One of them could work with Jay-Z!’ ”
Can a style or a vibe ever be infringed on, if not all that much in pop is really new? True, some homages to past styles are more brazen than others: Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson took eighties funk grooves from the Gap Band’s “Oops Upside Your Head” and made them part of the Grammy-winning song “Uptown Funk” without asking for permission. After the “Blurred Lines” verdict, a number of songwriters were added to the song’s credits.
The music industry was recently shaken by “Heart on My Sleeve,” a song featuring a duet between a fake Drake and a fake the Weeknd, in which both vocals were created, using generative A.I., by an anonymous user called Ghostface. Artists and rights holders are concerned that their creations will be used to train A.I. generators that will eventually replace them. Faced with that possibility, rights holders are likely to seek more protection for style, even though doing so could make it harder for artists to do their work without infringing.
Ed Townsend had two sons, Clef Michael and David, born to his wife, Cherrigale, and a daughter, also named Cherrigale, born in Los Angeles in 1960 to a singer, who gave the child up for adoption at birth. The adoptive family, the Griffins, changed the baby’s name to Kathryn. When Kathryn was a child, her adoptive mother would point at a hysterectomy scar on her stomach and say, “This is where you came from.”
Kathryn showed an aptitude for music, which made her parents nervous. “My whole life, I wanted to play piano, flute, piccolo,” she told me. The family moved from L.A. to Hattiesburg, Mississippi: “They didn’t want me in the music industry, because they were afraid I’d find out who my father was and fall into the life he did.”
Griffin fell anyway. She became addicted to crack cocaine and got into sex work to support her habit. She was trafficked, she told me, and after escaping her abusers she lived for a time in a “cardboard condominium” under a bridge. She speaks in a hoarse Southern drawl; in spite of her past, she laughs a lot.
In 1986, when Griffin was twenty-six, her grandfather, a Christian minister, told her that she was adopted. Her mother then confessed that her biological father was a famous musician. Griffin called an acquaintance, Hubert Laws, the jazz musician. “Have you ever heard of a man named Ed Townsend?” she asked. Laws replied, “Everybody knows who Ed Townsend is!” Griffin said, “Well, I don’t!”
She recalled reaching Townsend by phone for the first time: “I said, ‘This is your daughter.’ He said, ‘I have looked for you your entire life.’ ” But he had been searching for a Cherrigale, not a Kathryn.
Townsend left Griffin a third of his “Let’s Get It On” royalties. (In the nineteen-eighties, he had sold part of his share of the song’s publishing copyright to Jobete.) She promised to protect his legacy. Griffin got sober in 2003, the year Townsend died. She began counselling women in prison in Houston who had been sex workers; she is now an expert in human-trafficking victims’ rights. Griffin estimates that she has rescued more than a thousand women from “the life.” When her half brother David died, in 2005, he left Griffin his share of his father’s royalties, as did her aunt Helen McDonald, in 2020.
Early in 2015, friends of Griffin alerted her to the similarities between “Let’s Get It On” and a new song called “Thinking Out Loud.” “They said, ‘This British guy, he just changed the words and kept all the music!’ ” she told me. Griffin listened to both: “And I went, ‘Oh, my God. Wow.’ ”
Griffin tried to notify Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the behemoth that had recently acquired the Jobete catalogue. But no one at Sony returned her calls. “Let’s Get It On” was in the American Songbook. Shouldn’t Sony want to protect its I.P. from infringement? Then Griffin figured it out: Sony was probably conflicted because it was also the publisher of “Thinking Out Loud,” along with much of the rest of Sheeran’s catalogue.
Sony eventually asked two musicologists to investigate the claim. Both advised the company that there was no infringement, as did a third musicologist, whom Sheeran had hired in the U.K. Still, it seemed to Griffin that no one at Sony was looking after her interests or her father’s legacy. (Sony says that it often finds itself on both sides of infringement suits, and that it remains neutral in these cases.)
Griffin found lawyers, Pat Frank and Keisha Rice, in Tallahassee, Florida. They contacted Alexander Stewart, a professor of music at the University of Vermont. Stewart heard enough similarities between the two songs to write a report saying that Sheeran and Wadge were infringing on Gaye and Townsend. In 2017, Griffin’s attorneys filed a civil suit in New York, where Sony is headquartered, which charged that “the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of ‘Thinking’ are substantially and /or strikingly similar” to “Let’s Get It On.” As with “Blurred Lines,” the claim focussed not on obvious similarities in the songs’ melodies or lyrics but on compositional elements associated with the rhythmic harmony—the groove.
On a Monday a few weeks ago, shortly after 11 A.M., Judge Louis L. Stanton, who is ninety-five years old, took his place at the bench in a federal courtroom in downtown Manhattan. The plaintiff, now Kathryn Griffin Townsend, was seated next to her attorneys. She wore a dark-green dress, a long black coat, and an expression of sombre resolve. Her daughter Skye was also in attendance.
In music-copyright trials, similarities are assessed by two kinds of people: expert listeners and lay ones. The élite ears belong to forensic musicologists, who are often academics with advanced degrees. They hear music intellectually, in quantifiable component parts: tempo, amplitude, arrangement. The musicologists offer supposedly objective analyses of the “musical fingerprints” of songs, but they manage to arrive at opposite conclusions, depending on which side is employing them—generally for around five hundred dollars an hour. The lay listeners on the jury, who are a kind of proxy for pop music’s audience, temper the experts’ testimony with what their own ears tell them.
In federal court, this methodology is known as the Arnstein test. It derives from Arnstein v. Porter—a famous 1946 case that was heard during New York’s heyday as a songwriting town—involving Cole Porter, the Broadway composer, and Ira B. Arnstein, a writer of Yiddish folk songs and light opera, who became convinced that many of the biggest hits of the era had been stolen from him. The songwriter accused Porter of copying the melodies in “Night and Day” and “My Heart Belongs to Daddy,” among other songs, from sheet music kept in a trunk in his shabby Upper West Side apartment, possibly aided by a duplicitous landlord. Arnstein ultimately lost the case, as he lost every case in his long career as a copyright troll. However, as Gary Rosen notes in his book “Unfair to Genius,” from 2012, “It is within American jurisprudence and not popular music that the name Ira B. Arnstein reverberates.” He adds, “If only he could have collected a royalty on the case law that bears his name.”
Fourteen prospective lay listeners were called into the Griffin v. Sheeran jury box, and Judge Stanton asked whether anything prevented them from rendering impartial judgment.
“ ‘Perfect’ was my wedding song,” a young woman said.
“My teen-age daughters love Ed Sheeran,” another said. “I don’t know his music.”
Both women were eventually rejected during voir dire, as was a young man who said that he was pursuing a doctorate in musicology at Columbia University. Even though he was probably the best-qualified potential juror to decide the case, he clearly wasn’t a lay listener. The final seven-person jury included a lawyer, a special-ed teacher, a dramaturge, an amateur singer, a recent college graduate, and a guy who’d played trumpet in middle school.
Because “Let’s Get It On,” or “L.G.O.,” as the legal documents refer to the song, was recorded before 1978, it is governed by the 1909 Copyright Act, which stipulated that, in order for a musical work to be registered for copyright, a written composition must be submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office, in Washington, as the “deposit copy.” (It wasn’t until the 1976 Copyright Act, which went into effect on January 1, 1978, that sound recordings were admissible as deposit copies.)
In both the “Blurred Lines” and “Stairway to Heaven” cases, the jury was not permitted to listen to any pre-1978 recording. The jurors in Griffin v. Sheeran could listen to the recording of Sheeran’s song, but they had to rely on the five pages of sheet music for “Let’s Get It On,” a skeletal transcription that contained lyrics, melody, chords, and a notation of where the syncopated beats fall. Gaye’s piano and the Funk Brothers’ additions to the groove, such as the bass line, weren’t on the deposit copy. Gaye, who didn’t read music, probably never even saw the transcription. (Sheeran can’t read music, either, a fact that he readily admitted on the stand.) The only versions of “L.G.O.” that the jury could listen to were the experts’ MIDI audio files, which were made from the sheet music using musical software, and sung by a computer-generated voice. The tinny, wheedling sound of the synthesized music and the high-pitched android vocal made a classic soul song sound utterly soulless.
Almost all the major African American contributions to American music—ragtime, jazz, swing, hip-hop—were built on rhythmic innovations that weren’t transcribed in sheet music and copyrighted. (The bent third and seventh blue notes that lie at the heart of the blues can’t even be written in twelve-note chromatic-scale notation.) Ingrid Monson, the Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music at Harvard, who also served as an expert witness for the Gaye family in the “Blurred Lines” trial, told me, “There could be no copyright system less suited to rewarding the creativity of African American music than the one we have. It was obviously modelled on classical music, and on the idea that a real piece of music, one that was worthy of copyright, would be written in notation.”
Even though the Copyright Office now allows recordings to be submitted in place of transcriptions, melody and lyrics remain the most important elements of a musical copyright involving a song’s composition, partly because they can be seen by judges and juries on paper. The focus on protecting the topline seems out of step with the dominance in contemporary pop of the track—the harmonic and rhythmic bed for a song, usually made by a producer on a digital workstation—which frequently precedes melodies and lyrics. It’s often the track that makes a song sound unique.
Kathryn Griffin Townsend isn’t the first person to accuse Ed Sheeran of copying a song. In 2017, on the advice of counsel, Sheeran settled an infringement claim brought by the writers of “Amazing,” a song performed by Matt Cardle, an “X Factor” winner, who maintained Sheeran’s 2014 hit “Photograph” infringed on their track. Infringement claims are often resolved this way. In 2015, Sam Smith settled amicably with Tom Petty over the similarity between the chorus hook in Smith’s song “Stay with Me” and that in Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” In 2021, Olivia Rodrigo offered the band Paramore a writing credit and a share of the profits from her song “Good 4 You,” whose hook sounds a lot like the pre-chorus of Paramore’s “Misery Business.”
But Sheeran came to feel that settling (reportedly for five million dollars) made him a target for copyright trolls. “Shape of You,” a 2017 Sheeran megahit, was the subject of multiple disputes. He amicably resolved one, with the songwriters of TLC’s hit “No Scrubs,” for borrowing its melody. (While writing the song, he’d referred to it as “the TLC song.”) He initiated and won another case, brought in the U.K., against Sami Chokri, a British songwriter and grime artist, who’d asserted that Sheeran’s “Shape of You” had stolen the chorus from his 2015 song “Oh Why.” The magistrate who decided the case in Sheeran’s favor ordered Chokri to pay more than nine hundred thousand pounds, to cover Sheeran’s legal fees.
In a BBC Two “Newsnight” interview that aired in the U.K. after the victory, Sheeran and his co-writer John McDaid, of Snow Patrol, talked about the “extraordinary strain” of the lawsuit on their creativity and mental health. “The best feeling in the world is the euphoria around the first idea of writing a great song,” Sheeran said, perhaps recalling that night in the kitchen with Wadge. “The first spark, where you go, ‘This is special—we can’t spoil this.’ ” He went on, “But that feeling has now turned into ‘Oh, wait, let’s stand back for a minute, have we touched anything?’ You find yourself in the moment second-guessing yourself.” As a precaution, Sheeran added, he films all his songwriting sessions, should a claim later arise.
“This is not about money,” Sheeran said. “It’s about heart, honesty, and integrity. Win or lose, we had to go to court—we had to stand up for what we thought was right.”
Sheeran decided to go to court rather than settle with Griffin for the same reason. He testified that his songwriter and artist friends were urging him to fight, saying, “ ‘You have to win this for us.’ ” These days, Sheeran observed, “it’s just something that happens. When you write songs and they’re successful, someone comes after you.” He also said that, if he lost this case, he was going to quit music. “I’m finished,” he declared. “I’m done.”
Sheeran arrived in court the day after jury selection. He wore a dark-navy suit with double vents in the back, and a blue necktie with small white polka dots, but he still managed to look scruffy, like a subway busker turned banker. He sat at the defense table, where, in the course of seven days, the spectators behind him—a mix of copyright attorneys, music journalists, and superfans—could study his distinctive copper-colored coif.
Townsend sat just in front of Sheeran, at the plaintiff’s table. Her coat, a gift from the musician George Clinton, had the word “INTEGRITY” emblazoned on the back, directly in Sheeran’s line of sight. Townsend’s legal team included the civil-rights lawyer Ben Crump, a personal friend, who represented George Floyd’s family after Floyd’s murder, and worked with Keisha Rice on the Trayvon Martin wrongful-death case. This would be his first music-copyright trial.
A few weeks earlier, Crump had held a press conference outside the courthouse. With Townsend standing next to him, he’d said, “It is important that we understand that this is part of a larger issue. Far too many times in history, Black artists have created some of the most miraculous music in the world, only to see white artists come and usurp that music and reap untold fortunes while these Black artists and their families derive nothing from their genius.”
But surely the Yorkshire-born Sheeran wasn’t solely responsible for the shameful exploitation of Black artists within the U.S. music industry? As Jennifer Jenkins, a copyright-law professor at Duke, put it to me, “Sheeran isn’t Pat Boone covering songs by Little Richard, and he isn’t Alan Freed taking credit for Chuck Berry’s ‘Maybellene’ without writing a single note.” Nevertheless, Crump called on Sheeran to “do the right thing” and settle with Griffin before the trial started. Otherwise, Crump thundered, “let’s get it on!”
In his opening statement, Crump called for “credit where credit is due,” but he stopped short of accusing Sheeran of appropriating Black music. He characterized the video of Sheeran’s Zurich concert as a “smoking gun.”
“Maya Angelou tells us that when a person shows you who they are, it’s our duty to believe them,” Crump declared. “When someone provides you a voluntary confession, believe them.”
Ilene Farkas, a copyright specialist at the powerhouse firm Pryor Cashman, who along with Donald Zakarin led Sheeran’s legal team, delivered the defense’s opening. She said that the only similarities between the two songs were a common chord progression and an equally common syncopated rhythm. The plaintiffs, she argued, “cannot own these common musical elements.”
On the stand, Townsend described her feelings about Sony’s failure to respond to her inquiries. “I feel they’ve been so negligent,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “And I promised my father I would protect his work and artistry.” She went on, “I have nothing against Mr. Sheeran personally. I think he’s a great artist with a great future. I am simply trying to protect my father’s legacy.”
After lunch, the plaintiffs called Sheeran to the stand, where Rice questioned him. Sheeran testified to hearing “L.G.O.” for the first time in an Austin Powers movie, but denied copying it.
Rice asked Sheeran about his song “Take It Back,” which boasts about stealing rap lyrics:
You’ll find me ripping the writtens
Out of the pages they sit in
And never once I get bitten
Because plagiarism is hidden
“Are those your lyrics?” Rice asked.
“Can I just give context?” Sheeran replied.
“If I need more context, I’ll certainly ask,” Rice said.
“I feel like you don’t want me to answer because you know what I’m going to say is going to make a lot of sense,” Sheeran said.
Finally, the plaintiffs played the Zurich video, which they saw as their strongest single piece of evidence. (The admissibility of the video as evidence had been the subject of much legal maneuvering by the defense, who appeared keen not to see it played.) Sheeran watched from the witness box, his moon face expressionless. Afterward, he remarked, with some heat, “Quite frankly, if I had done what you’re accusing me of doing, I would be an idiot to stand on a stage in front of twenty thousand people and show that.”
Sheeran is a master of the mashup. At shows, he often interpolates his songs and other people’s songs, as a kind of musical party trick; he sometimes takes requests from the audience. Throughout his time on the stand, he entertained the jury and spectators by demonstrating this with an acoustic guitar that his team placed within reach of the witness box. At one point, he started singing “Thinking Out Loud,” transitioned into Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One,” then into Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman,” and finished with Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love.” Recordings of Sheeran’s mashups were played: “Take It Back” with “Superstition,” by Stevie Wonder, and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” by Bill Withers.
“You can kind of play most pop songs over most pop songs,” Sheeran told the room. It was persuasive testimony, but it also helped explain why Sheeran’s songs sound familiar—they’re not so different from many other songs.
In the “Blurred Lines” trial, Judith Finell devoted much of her testimony to a PowerPoint presentation. Average listeners have a hard time comparing two songs aurally, she told me: “The first song doesn’t stay in their memory when the second song starts playing.” But, she added, “people do retain visual information.” Her presentation used a time-stamped map of intervals in the two songs which showed “significant similarities” by way of color-coded charts. To critics, her presentation was all smoke and mirrors, designed to trick the jury into thinking that a collection of unprotectable elements was forensic proof that “Blurred Lines” was stained with Marvin Gaye’s musical DNA.
Townsend’s expert, Alexander Stewart, had also prepared a slide show, and his presentation focussed on three areas of similarity between the songs. These were several melody fragments; the syncopated rhythm that anticipated the second and fourth chords; and the progression, which Stewart claimed was, in the Roman nomenclature of chords, a I-iii-IV-V progression. He testified that, of all the songs that came before “L.G.O.,” he could find only one—a version of “Georgy Girl” recorded by “a rather obscure Mexican bandleader” in 1966—that employed the same combination of chord progression and syncopation. He estimated that seventy per cent of the “musical value” of Sheeran’s song was derived from Gaye and Townsend’s.
Lawrence Ferrara, a professor of music at N.Y.U., was the forensic musicologist for the defense. He pointed out that the chord progression Ed Townsend had played for Gaye was so common that it was in elementary music-method books such as “How to Play Rock ’n’ Roll Piano,” published in 1967. He claimed that six songs had the same progression and rhythm as “L.G.O.,” including Holland-Dozier-Holland’s “You Lost the Sweetest Boy” (1963), sung by Mary Wells, and the Mexican recording of “Georgy Girl.” (In the Seekers’ hit version, the expert noted, the guitar is anticipated, but the bass plays on the beat.) If Sheeran were found to have illegally copied “Let’s Get It On,” then the rights holders of those earlier songs could claim that “L.G.O.” had infringed on them, resulting in a circular firing squad of lawsuits. Ferrara variously characterized parts of Stewart’s testimony as “farcical,” “absurd,” and “ludicrous.”
Sheeran also commented on Stewart’s presentation. “I think what he’s doing is criminal,” he said. “I don’t know why he’s allowed to be an expert.” What annoyed Sheeran most was that Stewart heard an F-sharp minor chord at the beginning of “Thinking Out Loud.” This would make it identical to the I-iii-IV-V progression in “L.G.O.,” if Sheeran’s song were transposed to E-flat. But, in fact, Sheeran said, Stewart was wrong: the chord was a D over F-sharp—a D-major first inversion, which Sheeran demonstrated by strumming both progressions.
“I know what I’m playing on guitar,” he said. “It’s me playing it.”
“And how do you know Dr. Stewart is wrong?” Farkas asked.
“I wrote it, and I play it every week, a lot,” Sheeran said.
The other third of Ed Townsend’s third of the “Let’s Get It On” royalties, which was once owned by his son Michael, now belongs to Structured Asset Sales, an L.A.-based company founded by the financier David Pullman. Pullman is a pioneer in packaging song catalogues as investment-grade securities, a common practice today. Essentially, an investor buys a share and reaps a portion of future earnings from royalties, licensing, and new technologies like streaming. Pullman created the first of these securities, Bowie Bonds, in collaboration with David Bowie, in 1997. He has worked on similar deals for catalogues belonging to the estates of James Brown, the Isley Brothers, and Holland-Dozier-Holland, among others.
Pullman filed a separate hundred-million-dollar suit against Sony in 2018. In another legal action, he is seeking to capitalize on an amicus brief filed by the Copyright Office in the “Stairway to Heaven” case, which noted that there could be “multiple, distinct copyrightable works that are all versions of the same song.” This opened up the possibility of refiling a sound recording with the Copyright Office as a new arrangement, which would be covered by the rules of the 1976 Copyright Act. After reading the brief, Pullman submitted the recording of “L.G.O.” and sued Sheeran again, based on substantial similarities that were not reflected in the original deposit copy. Sheeran might well spend the rest of his life defending his tender evocation of enduring love against an implacable opponent whose name, like Arnstein’s, is embedded in New York case law. (To “Pullmanize” someone is to legally remove an unwanted owner from a co-op building, named for the process that Pullman’s fellow-owners on West Sixty-seventh Street went through in state court in 2001.)
Pullman now lives in an art-filled villa high atop Hollywood, with an unbeatable view of the city from his trapezoidal pool. As a music investor, he favors evergreens. In his estimation, there are so many more infringement cases these days not because of frivolous lawsuits but because of bolder instances of theft. “It used to be, you’d find a song that wasn’t that big a hit,” he said, in his rapid-fire speaking style. “Now they’ll take hits. You have a better chance of having a hit if you take a giant hit. Why? Because people already recognize it!”
In Pullman’s opinion, Sheeran is a serial infringer: “Why does he write songs so quickly? Maybe it’s because parts of them are already written.” He mentioned the Zurich video: “He seamlessly goes into ‘Let’s Get It On’—did you pick that song out of a hat? Out of sixty million registered songs, why do you pick that song? It’s a tell.” He recalled the well-known story of Paul McCartney going around and asking people if the melody of “Yesterday,” which had come to him in a dream, was in fact remembered from another song. Today, Pullman said, it’s “infringe now, worry about it later.”
Pullman said that he would consider settling for a respectful sum: “I don’t understand why someone wants to go through so many trials. Every case against him will just get stronger.”
When I saw Kathryn Griffin Townsend in the courthouse cafeteria before closing arguments, she looked rested and happy. “Win, lose, or draw, it doesn’t matter, because we won,” she told me. “Now people know what happened. And they’ll think before they do it again.” She added, “This has never been about money.”
Ilene Farkas, who closed for the defense, noted that we were all here because, exactly fifty years ago, Ed Townsend sat down at his piano and played Marvin Gaye four chords. Townsend had been free to use them to make a song, just as Sheeran should be. “Do we have to tell the eleven-year-old next Ed Sheeran that they better find out who owns that chord progression?” she asked.
Ben Crump reminded the jurors that this Ed Sheeran had threatened to quit music if they decided against him: a heavy burden. Millions of Sheeran fans would despise them, and the promoters and stadium owners involved in Sheeran’s forthcoming world tour for his new album, “Subtract,” would be on the hook for the cancelled shows. “That’s simply a threat to try to play on your emotions,” Crump said. “I promise you, no matter what your verdict is, he won’t be done with music.” The lawyer observed that Sheeran is, above all, a performer. “Don’t be charmed,” he said. “I’m sure if Ed Townsend was alive and in this court, he would have been just as charming.”
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before handing its verdict to Judge Stanton: Sheeran and Wadge had independently created “Thinking Out Loud”; they had not infringed on “Let’s Get It On.”
Sheeran, who had missed his paternal grandmother’s funeral to testify, emotionally embraced Farkas and Zakarin. Wadge wept. The music executives looked pleased. The trial had given both songs streaming bumps.
Outside, on Worth Street, the pop star read a statement. “It looks like I’m not going to have to retire from my day job,” Sheeran said. However, “I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.” He hoped that now he and his fellow-songwriters could “all just go back to making music.” (Judge Stanton dismissed the first of Pullman’s lawsuits a week later.) Then his artfully tousled head disappeared into a black S.U.V. and was gone.
Townsend did not seem at all downhearted by the verdict. She had honored her promise to her father, she told me, which was “to protect his intellectual property.” She’d embraced Sheeran in the courtroom after the verdict, and they’d chatted briefly. “ ‘All I ever wanted to do was talk to you about this,’ ” she said she’d told him. “ ‘I’m sorry it took all this to make that happen.’ ”
Townsend went on to say that Sheeran had offered her tickets to his upcoming concert at NRG Stadium, in Houston. She ended up declining the offer, opting to attend her grandson’s pre-K graduation instead. At the show, “Thinking Out Loud” came midway through. “Let’s Get It On” did not make the set list. ♦
An earlier version of this article misidentified the street where David Pullman lived in a co-op building.
Audio: Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell Williams, “Blurred Lines” (Star Trak); Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues” (Sun Label Group); The Chiffons “He’s So Fine” (Capitol Records); Marvin Gaye, “Let’s Get It On” (Motown Record Company); Cory Daye, “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” (Featherbed Music); Tom Petty, “I Won’t Back Down” (MCA Records); George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord” (G.H. Estate); Gordon Jenkins, “Crescent City Blues” (Universal Music); Miguel Bosé, “Don Diablo” (Sony Music); Sami Switch, “Oh Why” (Sami Switch); The Gap Band, “Oops Upside Your Head” (One Media); Sam Smith, “Stay with Me” (Capitol Records); Paramore, “Misery Business” (Atlantic Recording); Ed Sheeran, “Shape of You” (Asylum Records); Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk” (Kobalt Music); Matt Cardle, “Amazing” (Columbia); Dua Lipa, “Levitating” (Warner Records UK); TLC, “No Scrubs” (LaFace Records); Katy Perry and Juicy J, “Dark Horse” (Capitol Records); Olivia Rodrigo, “Good 4 U” (Geffen Records); Ed Sheeran, “Photograph” (Asylum Records UK); Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” (Asylum Records UK); Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” (Mythgem); Marvin Gaye, “Got to Give It Up” (Motown Records); Flame, “Joyful Noise” (Cross Movement Records); Spirit, “Taurus” (Sony Music); Artikal Sound System, “Live Your Life” (Controlled Substance Sound Labs). | ||||
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5676 | dbpedia | 1 | 37 | https://www.annewilsonofficial.com/ | en | Anne Wilson | [
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] | null | [] | null | Angels of Light is the songwriting project I started immediately after terminating Swans (1982-1997). The first album, New Mother, was released in 1999. Next came How I Loved You, released in 2001. Then, Everything Is Good Hear/Please Come Home was released in 2003. The album The Angels Of Light Sing ‘Other People’ was | YOUNG GOD RECORDS | https://younggodrecords.com/pages/angels-of-light-michael-gira | Angels of Light is the songwriting project I started immediately after terminating Swans (1982-1997). The first album, New Mother, was released in 1999. Next came How I Loved You, released in 2001. Then, Everything Is Good Hear/Please Come Home was released in 2003. The album The Angels Of Light Sing ‘Other People’ was released in 2005. We Are Him was released in August 2007. ( I’ve also done a few solo, at-home recordings along the way – one mic and my voice and guitar - available only at this website, as well as a mostly instrumental soundtrack-without-a-film recording called The Body Lovers).
I write the songs on acoustic guitar, then gather musicians and friends, and build up the orchestrations with them in the studio and in live performances. I guide the process, but solicit their creative contributions actively. Each recording contains the contributions of an ever-changing plethora of amazing musicians, whom I thank here heartily! After many years (too many to comfortably contemplate!) of dwelling on “sonic overload” with Swans, I now concentrate on augmenting the songs I write with orchestrations that support the basic song, rather than the sound itself taking over. My goal is to achieve the same sense of magic I experienced as a child listening to Burle Ives recordings of Brer Rabbit and other such marvels, including the early Disney children’s records I listened to long ago. I view the arrangements as little films created to make a context for the words and voice, so that one can drift off into the world the music creates. I produce the Angels recordings, and the production of the recordings is as important to me as the songs themselves. Most of the instruments used in the recordings are acoustic, but not all. Electric guitars, bass and drums etc., are sometimes used (as well as an occasional electronic sound, or loop), but I intentionally steer clear of a “Rock” sound. It doesn’t interest me at all any more. However, I have no particular fealty to “The Song” as if it were some sacred codex. On the other hand, just sitting around my house, writing these things, and finally coming up with a statement that I think makes sense, I want to bring them to life as much as possible, in new and challenging ways for both myself and you, so I always strive to present them in a fresh and interesting context. For this reason, I’m always changing the sonic approach from record to record.
My greatest wish is that you will find something to enjoy in the music. Thanks! Michael Gira –
Here’s a bio that RW Hessler was kind enough to write a while back
Michael Gira Bio By RW Hessler (from 2005)
In the spring of 2005, YOUNG GOD RECORDS releases two new recordings, AKRON/FAMILY’s self titled debut, as well as the fourth album by Michael Gira’s ANGELS OF LIGHT, entitled THE ANGELS OF LIGHT SING “OTHER PEOPLE”. The new works represent 24 years and 28 recordings of stubborn musical and artistic resilience to present vital (and more often than not, unrepresented) music, as well as, to a lesser degree, a means of fiscal survival within the clutches of a record industry that has undergone what is essentially a revolution (thanks or not to the Internet) as far as how listeners preview and buy the music that interests them. At the helm of this ever-changing vision is Michael Gira, whose undying passion and self-reliance to be heard musically at any cost has given fans the undying legacy of SWANS (1981-1997), a slew of solo projects/recordings, and since 1999, his continuing musical saga, ANGELS OF LIGHT, which features Gira and a revolving cast of collaborators.
THE ANGELS OF LIGHT SING “OTHER PEOPLE” features seven retooled songs from Michael Gira’s solo recording I AM SINGING TO YOU FROM MY ROOM (a limited edition, website only production, recorded live in his home/office in 2004—a way of giving something to committed fans that can’t be had elsewhere), as well as five new compositions. It sounds like nothing Gira has ever produced before; “OTHER PEOPLE” is simply the most focused and relaxed album that Gira has ever made, and is likely to represent a new phase of his entire career. According to Gira, “I didn’t really set out to make a “pop” record, and don’t think I have, at least by the current standards. It is maybe more accessible though, and that’s a welcome aspect.” Several elements contribute to this assessment, and Gira speaks very candidly (which is rare!) on this shift of direction: “One factor in the new album sounding so different is that I used different musicians. By the time I finished with the last ANGELS album, I was a bit uncomfortable with the fact it was beginning to sound like a “band”—the same instrumentation basically, played by generally the same group of people, which was definitely not the concept I had in mind when I first started the project. It was always meant to be a group of revolving, changing personnel. I don’t usually like bands per se, since their “sound” eventually becomes predictable. For better or worse, I’m a songwriter, and I want the context and orchestration for the songs to change as I go along. I’m not comfortable staying in the same place.”
In a recent YOUNG GOD RECORDS press release, Gira continues to describe the process of constructing “OTHER PEOPLE”: ” I intentionally eschewed long instrumental passages, crescendos, that sort of thing—I’ve done enough of that, and I’m tired of it. The songs say what they have to say, then end. Many are entirely acoustic. When electric instruments are used, they’re used sparsely. I set a limitation before recording: there would be no drums (one song contains about ten seconds of drums, but otherwise, nothing)—double bass or bass guitar is used instead as the rhythmic base. This had the effect of opening up a lot of space, as well necessarily forcing the songs into focus. This is as close as I’ll ever get to making “pop” songs, though I of course realize my definition is probably a little different than yours! He goes on further to say, ”I enjoyed working with AKRON so much in fact that for my own current ANGELS OF LIGHT album I solicited their services as backing band and full collaborators on the arrangements… The result was a revelation to me—a complete turnaround in many ways. I guess it’d be fair to say that their youthful enthusiasm and continually erupting stream of ideas infected me with a long absent sense of elation. They all play about 20 instruments with varying degrees of skill, and their approach was often the exact opposite of what I would have initially thought. Of course, in some cases, they did exactly as I said, and shut the hell up about it—ha- ha! But the best thing for me was the surprise of hearing the songs in a new light… I had a great time making this record.”
Gira acknowledges “OTHER PEOPLE” is largely a tribute to heroes and friends, and that the record is “a place for the people in the songs to live”—this is certainly obvious in songs like “My Friend Thor”, “Dawn”, and “Simon is Stronger Than Us”, which almost have a Lou Reed-esque quality in that each song’s subject possesses an heroic ability to somehow transcend their surroundings. Gira explains, “When I think about them—whether they’re still here or gone—they occupy the mythic space of HERO in my mind. In any event, they’re ultimately just as unknowable, which is one of the things that makes “OTHER PEOPLE” so attractive.”
Michael Gira Several songs also weigh topical issues, such as Michael Jackson and Saddam Hussein (“Michael’s White Hands”, and the “war on terror” in Iraq (“Destroyer”). “To Live Through Someone” examines the War on Stalingrad in WWII where a million people died, having a deep effect on the muse of Gira. “They endured hardships that are impossible to imagine”, Gira suggests, “but they continued beyond reason—squeezed in the vice of history, like all of us.” The song is charged and haunting, one of the high points of the album. Perhaps the most heartfelt and sincere performance comes out on “The Kid is Already Breaking”, clearly an apology of sorts regarding unresolved feelings in the setting of what must be a very close personal relationship, whether these “other people” are real or idealized is irrelevant. According to Gira, from a recent press release, “When I choose a subject, or a subject chooses me, I ascribe no particular hierarchy of importance to it in comparison to other subjects. It’s all equal. It’s just something that passes through me, and thankfully, as I say, it’s beyond my control—at least in the best of circumstances. In the end, it’s all experience, and experience is incredibly strange, completely beyond my personal ability to comprehend, whether it’s received through the media or through a person standing right there in front of me. So if there’s a song about you on this record, don’t go thinking you’re a big deal now—it’s all coincidence!”
AKRON/FAMILY,the latest contributors to YOUNG GOD RECORDS and Gira’s work are four young men from different parts of rural America who banded together in NYC in 2002 (around the same time as YGR artist Devendra Banhart’s premiere recording OH ME OH MY… hit the streets). Gira describes in a recent press release that AKRON/FAMILY’s exodus was an attempt “to make music, hoping to find a thread of real magic still winding through this city’s music scene. They certainly did just that, but they did it by retreating into a tiny Brooklyn apartment, where they made their own world instead, in complete and stubborn isolation. They proceeded to make several albums worth of recordings on crude home equipment—the material compulsively chopped, spliced, and orchestrated into fractal jewels of song and schismatically opposed atmospheres. Along the way they sent me the increasingly compelling results.”
Michael Gira seems that the aspect of live performance, however, was what would come to win over Gira’s support, as he describes in an interview associated with the construction of this essay: “I actually had a little time to start thinking about new releases, I fished them out of the pile and thought “Holy shit! I can’t believe I haven’t pursued this yet!” and contacted them right away. Fortunately they hadn’t gone elsewhere. Then I saw them live, in a really intimate setting in a tiny room at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn—about 20 people in there and it’s packed, and the show was so good I knew they had to be on the label. Aside from the sprawling and weird arrangements of the music, the vocals were stunning. I think that’s the crucial one element I look for these days—the vocals.”
Gira gives a brief synopsis of the making of AKRON/FAMILY’S delicious and sonically varied first recording for YOUNG GOD RECORDS: “When we started work on this album we first spent a good deal of time sifting through the trove of already-recorded songs. A few of those are included here with varying amounts of further orchestration. The rest of the songs are highly edited-down studio versions of the abovementioned live “epics”, YOUNG GOD RECORDS not being just yet in the position of being able to release a triple cd debut…”
In another interview regarding AKRON/FAMILY’S debut, Gira describes the whittling down/reconstruction process further, “It’s a delicate balance as a (in this case CO-) producer. I didn’t want to constrict them of course, but on the other hand, some things that work live don’t necessarily work on a record. So there was a great deal of work there, before even going into the studio. Then, I helped with the basic sounds of course, and made suggestions about further orchestration. But this latter aspect was largely their doing—they’d take my suggestions or not, and they had plenty of their own ideas anyway. Too many! Ha-ha! Like kids in a candy store. So another role of mine, having been in the studio for many years, was to keep looking ominously at my watch (!), and enforce the need to get things done, and quickly, within budget. I think it’s fair to say it was an equal collaboration, but with their musical ideas taking the lead, as they should.”
Michael Gira Flashback to October, 2002 --Michael Gira performs live at San Francisco’s Noe Valley Ministry, an intimate stage that is used on Sundays for the purpose of Christian Fellowship, but has been shared by thousands of national/international music and performance acts, secular and otherwise, in the organization’s grass roots effort to invite and embrace the diversity of their immediate community. The stage has exceptionally warm and inviting acoustics, the perfect setting for a solo Gira and his acoustic guitar; his presence and semi-formal dress is reminiscent of a backwoods minister, his very countenance and smoldering eyes suggesting that he has walked into the very mouth of Hell and has lived to tell the story...
Gira paces the stage like a prisoner, carefully measuring the dimensions of his cell; he personally oversees the few, simple technical specifications his performance requires after opening band VETIVER (featuring the talents of YOUNG GOD RECORDS artist Devendra Banhart) breaks down, while sucking cough drops like candy and occasionally sipping at what is presumably tea. His preparation seems slow and deliberate, as if he were mentally running through a checklist he has gone over thousands and thousands of times before; something about the odor of his microphone profoundly disrupts his quiet and commanding air, and a palpable hush breaks through the church’s expectant crowd as Gira slowly wipes the microphone off with his sleeve, an expression betraying annoyance creeping into his typically stoic glare.
He introduces himself with a wry wit, opening the show with self-deprecatory comments about his poor guitar skills... then proceeds to play the set of his life, his voice alternately purring or roaring through 90 or so minutes of new songs from his band ANGELS OF LIGHT, as well as acknowledging the strengths of a handful of songs from his former glory, New York’s legendary SWANS. Included amongst these older songs that have been reworked to their basic bones for purposes of solo performance is the classic gem from 1987’s CHILDREN OF GOD recording, “New Mind”. Gira’s performance is nothing short of pure excellence, including his simple yet dynamic guitar work; he seems at home as echoes of 1989’s “God Damn the Sun” resound and spellbind the audience to complete and tangible silence in this house of God. The performance of “Nations”, a new song to be featured on ANGELS OF LIGHT’s new recording EVERYTHING IS GOOD HERE/PLEASE COME HOME is urgent and relevant; the song suggests the horrors that lie ahead with America’s current political projections, and is a salute to the people whose lives have already been permanently stained by those that “...sound the scream of nations...”
Michael GiraFollowing the performance at the Ministry, Michael Gira continues with the role of backwoods minister, personally greeting the outpouring audience in the church foyer and hawking his own merchandise; his energy is not unlike a loving pastor who has just delivered the sermon of his career. The audience drifts like gas into the warm October night in San Francisco transformed by Gira’s power to captivate an audience; his ability to find a familiar yet uncomfortable place in the human psyche through his words, as well certainly as the intensity of his vocal delivery, which since the beginning of his career has been a testimony to his strong personal drive and diligence to create uncompromising music and be heard-- somehow this night has been enormously fulfilling.
Michael Gira is an extremely private person; he doesn’t like interviews, and he does not enjoy the prospect of sharing his personal emotions (outside of the realm of performance) with anyone... unless he chooses to. Choice is a key concept in relation to attempting to better understand Gira; his personal freedom is perhaps the core, the very foundation of a musical odyssey that has lasted nearly a quarter of a century and shows no signs of slowing or mellowing by any interpretation. The man says and does exactly what he chooses to do, woeful to the point of insolent at any forces outside of his choosing that might attempt to control or carve out his destiny. Out of this resistance to anybody or any institution that might exercise authority or control over his person or his thoughts, one could argue that Gira has forged a meaningful career.
That is not to say that Gira is a closed or obviously temperamental personality these days, though he would be the first to admit that his unpredictable and often caustic behavior served as a distancing factor early in his career with SWANS; on the contrary, he is capable of demonstrating a very keen sense of humor and is self-deprecating to a fault. His dealings in the past with the record industry and music journalists have caused him to shun rubbing shoulders with their ilk, even to dread it; any effort to analyze or intellectualize his works seems equally irksome to Gira who claims, “I have absolutely no “mission” whatsoever except to make music. I have no “point” to make. There’s no ulterior motive. I love making music, singing, shaping sound. That’s enough.”
Michael GiraIt took nearly two months to pin Michael Gira down long enough to score an interview; running YOUNG GOD RECORDS is satisfying for Gira, though the toll he pays is one of time: “I am incredibly, stupidly, mind numbingly BUSY. I am not only trying to make music, but also run a record company, and service merchandise from our website, and 1000 other tasks. My supreme goal is to clear up busy work here, stuff that HAS to be done to keep YGR afloat, so that I can again pick up my guitar, and also deal with aspects of my own career... My priority is to first clear up this mountain of nagging junk on my desk and screaming unanswered e-mails in my inbox, which often reaches about 300 e-mails I need to answer... I have to clear up basic exigencies first...”
Gira’s background is reasonably researched and displayed on the YOUNG GOD RECORDS website: to summarize several excellent articles about Gira’s background, he was born in the 50’s and grew up in a relatively affluent suburb of Los Angeles during the 60’s, the son of a wealthy international businessman and a housewife. Shortly before entering adolescence, Gira’s parents split up; his father moved to Europe, then Indiana and his mother slowly spiraled downward into alcoholism, drinking away the holdings and neglecting the young boy. Soon, at 12, he began delving into the world of drugs, enjoying the music of his day such as the DOORS, the SEEDS, LOVE, and BLUE CHEER. His delinquency culminated into getting busted during junior high with a pocket full of Seconals; to avoid a lengthy sentence in juvenile hall, he was required to live with his father in Indiana, which Gira recollects as “an armpit”.
Around 1969, Michael Gira moved to Paris with his father, where Gira began hanging out with hippies, panhandling (though he didn’t need to), and taking drugs. At one point he was jailed for several weeks (as a minor) for vagrancy, abandoned by his father in hopes of teaching the young boy a lesson. After a stint at a tool factory in Germany which he chose over a prestigious school in the Swiss Alps, Gira ran away, hitch-hiking through Greece and Yugoslavia until arriving in Israel at the age of 15, selling hash first on a collective farm, or kibbutz, and later (after a near-bust) a hostel, where he was finally taken into custody by Israeli police.
Gira was incarcerated for a month and a half in Jerusalem without formal charges before a civil rights lawyer found out about his case. Released without bail, he hung out in Jerusalem, mostly panhandling or selling his blood before his trial, in which he was sentenced to another two months in an adult prison, where he depended heavily on his luck and quickly acquired shrewdness to avoid being gang-raped. Gira recollects, “Total time was only about three months, not much really, but enough to get me thinking later about TIME (one’s own control of it) being the most valuable thing one can possess...” After his release, he spent nearly a year in Israel working twelve-hour days in a copper mine before being tracked down by his father with the aid of Interpol agents. Deciding he could no longer deal with his son, Gira’s father sent him back to his mother in California, who was now living in the working class community of Torrance. He tried his hand at working at a plastics factory, roofing, and plumbing before jumping back into formal education. After passing a high school equivalence exam, he went to junior college to study art; later, he attended Otis Academy Art Institute (where he first met Kim Gordon, who would later go on to join SONIC YOUTH in New York), and soon after began publishing NO MAGAZINE with Bruce Kalberg, featuring band interviews, stories and pornography.
It was also around this time that Michael Gira became highly influenced by the DIY ethic of the burgeoning Punk rock scene. “I always thought I’d be an artist all my life (visual, that is). I was attending art school in LA, and was having qualms about the art world per se, the increasing irrelevance of it, the academic elitism and cloistered quality of it. I heard the SEX PISTOLS on the radio. I didn’t want to make music like that, but I liked the “guerilla” aspect of it; its violence and media savvy quality just seemed immediately relevant and more important and interesting than most art of the time. I’d always been hungry for extreme music-of the overwhelming, body and mind pummeling variety- and soon found out about a lot of other music being made that had the violent energy of punk, without using the standard rock format: THROBBING GRISTLE, SPK, TEENAGE JESUS, DNA, the CONTORTIONS, Glenn Branca (as THEORETICAL GIRLS)... So I was inspired to think that I could make something happen, even with my extremely limited musical means. It took several years to find my way, though. I was in a bad punk/art band in LA called the LITTLE CRIPPLES, which was silly. Then I moved to New York City, and had another silly band for a while called CIRCUS MORT (yikes!). Anyway, after that I’d gleaned enough musical ability and confidence to completely oversee the music, which is when I started SWANS (1981)...”
Gira came to New York at the tail end of New York’s No Wave scene, hoping to find his own unique niche; initially, he was met with disappointment. “I moved to NYC because I was frustrated with the style-oriented punk scene in LA, and thought when I arrived here it’d be a great place to do something new. I loved SUICIDE, for instance, as well as TEENAGE JESUS, etc.- the NO New York area of things. But when I arrived here that had all fizzled out, and there wasn’t much going on anymore, just the tail end of it all.”
Out of the death of No Wave was born the rise of the so-called “Noise” scene, a movement in which SWANS and SONIC YOUTH were pioneering forefathers, not to mention two bands that have had as much influence over hardcore, industrial, and indie rock as the VELVET UNDERGROUND and its offshoots have had on all modern music. In SWANS’ camp was Gira on bass and vocals, and Jonathan Kane, who had also been part of CIRCUS MORT (who had split up after releasing one record); by the spring of 1982, they were joined by Sue Hanel, who already had a reputation for being one of the “Noise” scene’s “most fearsome” guitarists (she was later replaced by Norman Westberg); SWANS’ first gigs were joined by SONIC YOUTH’S Thurston Moore on second bass and various friends of the band playing a variety of found percussion. SWANS were sharing a rehearsal space with SONIC YOUTH as well. By May of 1983, SWANS’ line-up solidified with the addition of Roli Mosimann as a second drummer/percussionist and Harry Crosby on bass, freeing up Gira for vocals and tape loops.
It was also around this time that the camps of SONIC YOUTH and SWANS embarked on their first U.S. tour together, which amounted to ten people in one airless, seatless van pulling the equipment behind them in a trailer-several long months dubbed by SONIC YOUTH’s Lee Ranaldo as the “Savage Blunder Tour”. According to Jonathan Kane (featured in his insightful article about the early days of SWANS, which can be read on the YOUNG GOD RECORDS website), “Michael was notoriously difficult to deal with.” When asked about those early days, Gira responds, “SONIC YOUTH and SWANS were very supportive of each other in the early days, but we grew apart, and I distanced myself from the so-called “Noise” scene. I don’t know why-egotism, I guess.”
The live shows in these early years of SWANS were legendary for their volume and sheer brutality; consisting of thunderous walls of guitar feedback and relentlessly slow rhythms of early industrial style bass and drums that scrape and pummel away at the mind and body, SWANS invaded every show with the subtlety of a jackhammer, ripping away at the collective flesh to expose a horrifying and barren landscape from which Gira’s savage rants exemplify, purge, and cleanse the inescapable weaknesses of the human body and the mind while examining with brutal honesty the power structures and violence that emanate from every human aspiration and desire.
Gira’s explanation of the vocal attack and its influences is simpler: “I usually took my lyrical ideas from a lot of different sources-work (which uniformly felt like slavery at the time), to sex (which felt like an invasion of my privacy) to mass media (which felt like complete mind control-and still does)...”
Following the release of two e.p.s from 1982, SWANS released a full-length recording entitled FILTH in 1983 that received serious critical attention, not to mention a great deal of national attention due to significant exposure from college radio; New York had found its new hardcore band, and Michael Gira was at the helm of its vision. The core of the band was made complete by 1985 with the induction of Jarboe, who had made a pilgrimage in 1984 to meet Gira from way down in Atlanta, Georgia, based on the impact that FILTH had made on her. While Gira admits in interviews on his web site that he felt an immediate connection to Jarboe, she did spend her share of time schlepping band equipment before she was officially asked to join in 1985 to sing and play keyboards. In time, she would come to be Gira’s lover and principal collaborator.
By 1987’s CHILDREN OF GOD, Gira’s strong sense of drive and seemingly unconquerable will had impressively guided SWANS through seven brutal and uncompromising recordings; the new record was a radical departure stylistically and lyrically from anything the band had ever recorded before.
Gira explains, “Musically, the reason for the shift was that SWANS had run its course with the physical assault of sound that we employed previous to that. I wanted to move on to other things and didn’t want to get stuck in some style, which in our case had the potential of becoming cartoonish if we’d continued in that direction. So I forced myself, and the music, into unfamiliar territory. Lyrically, I’d always seized on abstract subjects like money/power/sex/work, etc., and I was watching a lot of Jimmy Swaggart on TV (the televangelist), and I thought he was a great rock performer, so I stole his thunder. I tried not to mock the religious impulse, which would have been a typical thing to do at the time, but instead to get inside it. Everyone wants to lose themselves in something bigger than they are. I don’t know if this is a bad thing or a good thing, honestly...”
Many of the hardcore-oriented fans of SWANS departed at this stage of SWANS’ career, despite new and varied sources of critical acclaim for Gira’s new vision of SWANS. Out of the ashes of the old SWANS rose a new direction that included the once forbidden notion of traditional song structure, actual melodies as well as complex harmonic parts, and greater senses of collaboration with Jarboe, whose background came from a strong choral tradition and formal song structure. As members of the band came and went, the new core of Gira and Jarboe began to fill once barren sonic soundscapes with a strong sense of musicality, citing strong influences of Greek and Middle Eastern traditions of drone and repetition mixed with a layered “wall of sound” that would become SWANS’ stock trademark.
The next ten years would prove to be both physically and financially draining for Gira, despite the critical success of what is essentially his most prolific period consisting of: six more SWANS’ studio albums; an outtakes recording; two WORLD OF SKIN recordings (a side project of Gira and Jarboe, focusing more on individual compositions); 1994’s publication of Michael Gira’s first book of fiction entitled THE CONSUMER AND OTHER STORIES; two live recordings; a compilation of SWANS material, ironically titled VARIOUS FAILURES; as well as his first solo recording, DRAINLAND (Alternative Tentacles, 1995). In 1997, even though SWANS were at the top of their creative powers, Michael Gira called it quits.
“I was damn happy to kill it,” says Gira, regarding his decision to end SWANS, once and for all. “It was 15 years of total immersion in something, which is enough. But of course it was painful-like giving birth, finally, to a child which came out retarded, wrinkled, old, and ugly...”
Gira also cites on the YOUNG GOD RECORDS website that “After 15 years of this grueling struggle with really no reward to show for it, the intelligent thing would be to move on.” Another article on the site indicates that Gira really has no love lost for the former glory of his own creation and quite possibly, the only band that ever really mattered. “I just want to have it discreet, finished and over, and I can move on. I have other ideas I want to do. I think it’s necessary”.
Nothing has changed with Gira’s seemingly endless sense of drive or his work ethic. Out of the death of SWANS came the BODY LOVERS/BODY HATERS recordings, two strongly contrasting productions which began as conscious steps in the direction of experimentation with pure sonic ideas (this is especially more true of BODY HATERS), with little to no emphasis on song structure of any sort. 1998 also marked the last Gira/Jarboe collaborations, as she provides background vocals and perhaps not so strangely, weeping, on the recordings by Gira called BODY LOVERS: NUMBER ONE OF THREE and BODY HATERS: 34:13, which upon several listens, one could almost see as the next logical SWANS albums. According to Gira, “The BODY LOVERS grew out of the sonic ideas/ manipulations I’d begun to use in SWANS towards the end. I’m not sure if I’m ever going to do another BODY LOVERS/HATERS. I’m a little distanced from that area of things sonically now. I just want to write good words, with simple accompaniment, and try to deliver the words convincingly. I want something simple these days"...When asked if he could foresee working with his former lover/SWANS’ collaborator in any future recordings, Gira responds, “I try to look forward. It’s the only way to keep yourself interested in what you’re doing really. I wish Jarboe all the good things in her life and work...”
YOUNG GOD RECORDS, owned and operated by Michael Gira, finally became somewhat of a living entity around this time, largely due to the successful liaison between YOUNG GOD and San Francisco-based distributors REVOLVER RECORDS. While nearly all of Gira’s recordings bear the quasi-ominous YOUNG GOD stamp, it took slightly over 15 years and nearly a dozen burnt bridges and bad luck with the record industry (HOMESTEAD, CAROLINE, MUTE RECORDS, UNI/MCA, ROUGH TRADE, to name a few, and the list reads like a graveyard discography) for YOUNG GOD RECORDS to see the light of day in the record stores, with Gira being able to keep his metaphoric shirt on and relatively intact. His comments on the current state of affairs in the record industry, displayed on the YOUNG GOD RECORDS website, are particularly poignant: “I loathe it entirely. We found our own little niche now, with our own business and good distribution system, so we’re able to survive on our own, I just can’t deal with it. I don’t go out to clubs. I don’t talk to A & R people; I don’t schmooze; I don’t do anything to advance myself in that way. I just can’t stand it anymore. I tried in the early days. Of course I was always pounding away. But there’s only so much you can take.”
Despite better luck in recent years, Gira is still “pounding away” to keep YOUNG GOD out of the red, a Herculean labor made slightly easier since the introduction of Devendra Banhart (who now stands in the forefront of what is being called by West Coast journalists a “freak-folk” movement, along with equally distinguished talents such as BRIGHTBLACK, VETIVER, JOANNA NEWSOM, and a tight-knit, revolving door of several others) into the YOUNG GOD RECORDS roster in 2002. Gira explains how Banhart became associated with YGR: “My fiancé, Siobhan Duffy, was playing drums with FLUX INFORMATION SCIENCES, and they did a show in L.A., where Devendra opened. Siobhan is a big aficionado of all things “roots” music, and she was standing out in the parking lot smoking a cigarette after sound check and heard this unearthly, wailing voice emanating from the club. She knows a good thing when she hears it. She went in and watched Devendra’s sound check, and was mesmerized. She talked to him and he sold her (for $2!) a hand made cd-r of his songs (many of the same songs that eventually found their way onto “OH ME OH MY…”). She couldn’t listen to it in the van on tour, since the recordings were so quiet, but when she got home she played it around the house and we were both just enthralled. It was obvious that he was (and is) very, very special. I wrote him a very long letter telling him how much I liked his music, and explained what YOUNG GOD RECORDS is all about, and sent him a few ANGELS OF LIGHT cds. He then moved here to NYC from L.A. to be on the label.”
It’s easy to see that Michael Gira has a protective, almost “fatherly” affection for Devendra Banhart, and his musical evolution, which has undeniably been a huge commercial and critical credit to YOUNG GOD RECORDS and its evolution. Throughout the development of this essay, Gira stressed over and over Banhart’s personal importance to him: “At first, rightly or wrongly, I viewed myself as a mentor of sorts. I just wanted to teach him what I’d learned from years and years of basically doing all the WRONG things professionally, alert him to the things he should know to protect himself from the wolves that would eventually gather. He was so innocent. He had almost no professional experience at all. I also tried to emphasize the importance of just rehearsing the hell out of the songs too, running through the live set at home endlessly, so that it could become second nature when performing live. In retrospect though, none of this was necessary at all, and I was probably a little intrusive on my part, against his nature, and I think he disregarded most of it anyway! Ha-ha! But Devendra has this quality, where when you meet him, you just instantly want to help him, take him in, protect him. He’s such a natural though that none of this was ultimately necessary. I remember his first “big” show at Tonic here in NYC. He started the set with his acoustic guitar, then instantly thought better of it, put it down, and just belted out an amazing, sort of psycho-gospel version of one of his songs a cappella. It was riveting. The crowd went nuts, and he was on his way. The thing about him is, and it’s a rare, rare quality, is that his voice and songs appeal to a huge amount of different types of people, from folk purists, to experimental music fans, to rock fans, just everyone. But he just does what he does, doesn’t analyze it. It’s who he is. He doesn’t second guess himself. He’s CONSTANTLY playing guitar or drawing, always just EXHALING an endless creative output. I’ve never seen anything like it, actually… Anyway, NINO ROJA (Banhart’s fourth recording with YOUNG GOD RECORDS) was the last record he’ll do for YOUNG GOD RECORDS—he’s moved on now to a bigger label (XL, a subsidiary of BEGGAR’S BANQUET). This is actually fine with us, a good thing! He’s grown beyond our capacity to deal with effectively, and he needs a larger system to reach his potential now. I have no doubt that he has the potential to sell records in huge, huge quantities, and for once, it would be an instance where a widely popular artist doesn’t completely suck! Ha-ha! I have no a priori dislike of commercial music per se—my childhood heroes, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, etc., sold millions of records, and they were absolutely great. Sadly, the situation has changed, of course, and almost anything on that scale these days is mind-numbingly awful and repellant. But, as I say, I think Devendra has a rare quality that could reach pretty great heights, and he deserves it. I hope his new record company sees that too. We are of course really proud to have helped him on his way, and we’re grateful to have the records he’s done for us in our catalog…”
Based on West Coast sales alone, Devendra Banhart’s work has been a huge feather in YOUNG GOD RECORD’S cap, a point that Gira has been insistent to downplay: “Sure, it’s opened up a lot of possibilities. I suppose the biggest change is that people actually listen now, and pay attention to what we release in the initial stages. But in other aspects, we still keep things very simple here, and we don’t really have any ambitions to become a huge label or anything. It’s just me and Kerstin Posch (she’s the right side of the YGR brain) here at the label, and we don’t want it to get to the point it where it needs other employees. We both work from our houses—we don’t have an office. We do hire my friend Howard Wuelfing to do publicity, and occasionally an outside radio promo company, but that’s enough. It’s best to keep it simple… I’m first and foremost only interested in releasing music that seems NECESSARY, that can’t be heard anywhere else. I of course want to sell records, but that’s not the first consideration in choosing music for the label. We have to like the music and the people involved and feel that we’re working for and with our friends.”
Gira has never been a stranger to hard work, though; maybe it represents his earthly purgatory for being such an evil child. At any rate, his hard work has won him the right to make his own decisions in his career, without kissing one ounce of corporate ass or depending on the fashion whims of the money-grubbing record industry. “Having my own record label now, which operates very simply-like selling shoes! - I don’t concern myself with it or care about it at all. I had enough heartaches with it, and am happy to have been able to carve out a place for my work and other people’s work I enjoy...”
YOUNG GOD RECORDS has put out the music of such varied bands as WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY, CALLA, DAVID COULTER, (CHARLEMAGNE) PALESTINE/COULTER/MATHOUL, ULAN BATOR, LARSEN, FLUX INFORMATION SERVICES and DEVENDRA BANHART, and now AKRON/FAMILY. When asked what he was looking for in the bands he releases on the label, Gira responds, “I release music on the label that I feel has a personal integrity and immediacy, as well as a commitment to making a genuine experience happen through sound. I have no interest in what’s popular or fashionable, or even “interesting” for its own sake. I have no interest in genre specific music, nor do I want anything to do with anyone that wants to “make it” in the repulsive music biz...”
Michael Gira released the first recording of his new band, ANGELS OF LIGHT (entitled NEW MOTHER ), in 1999, and was later followed in 2001 by HOW I LOVED YOU. There may not be a more poignant love song in Gira’s entire career than “Two Women”, the last song on HOW I LOVED YOU, which features Gira’s mother on the front cover and an imposing photograph of his father on the back liner. Gone is the “wall of sound” that typified the earlier SWANS work, but the major difference between ANGELS OF LIGHT and the previous band is Gira’s tone, both musically and vocally. The resulting recordings are some of the most honest and heartfelt music being independently produced today-fragile yet crushing, cathartic and probing, without sacrificing the momentum or passion of his pioneering work with SWANS. Gira attributes the difference in this Gira incarnation to a change in his personal drive: “I was boiling with a sort of non-specific rage in those days, and it fed everything I did, my music, my personal life, everything. That’s not completely dead, but it’s not really the source of my work anymore.”; and later, in another article on his web site: ”I left my past behind ... The way I work as a producer is first to follow the visual picture I had of the song’s final outcome when I wrote it-then eventually I throw out all my high fallutin’ ideas and dreams, remaining open to chance, “mistakes” (especially), random juxtapositions, blind alleys, and most importantly, the input of others.”
Gira’s collaboration with WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY’S Dan Matz capably demonstrates Gira’s inability to avoid what he calls genre specific music. WHAT WE DID (2001/2) reveals shades of evolution in composition style we’ve never heard before in Gira’s work; as well as what feels like comfort and ease, which are qualities hardly alien to his work, and yet the relaxed mood of the album truly seems very un-Gira like, one of those misperceptions an old fan might have, even from repeated listens to his past catalogue. Gira suggests, “Well, what Dan and I did was very unselfconscious. We just came together in a room over a period of months and each proffered ideas/sketches for songs, and then built them up without any preconceptions as to the outcome. Again, neither of us wants to repeat ourselves, I’m sure.”
EVERYTHING IS GOOD HERE/PLEASE COME HOME (2003) was the third ANGELS OF LIGHT offering, and it joyously indicates that the experimental side of Gira grew restless and has returned to the equation of composition. This recording still has the earthy, grounded simplicity and traditional warmth of the other ANGELS OF LIGHT albums; what Gira built as a foundation with NEW MOTHER and HOW I LOVED YOU is essentially intact in the compositions, but that might be the only point of comparison between the three recordings. The EVERYTHING IS GOOD HERE… recording seems to be the natural culmination of Gira’s former approach to the wall of layered sound he experimented with in SWANS, combined with a warm grassroots flavor and instrumentation (take the sonic manipulations on the dirge-like “Sunset Park” or the hauntingly beautiful “What Will Come). And yet it also possesses an urgent, manic quality (take the relentlessly driving “Rose of Los Angeles”, another of many high points on this collection of eleven songs) that Gira only hinted at with his work in SWANS. Nearly all of the vocals are farther stretches of anywhere Gira has been in past recordings. Some of the most memorable moments on EVERYTHING IS GOOD HERE are contained in the excellent “Family God”, which in Michael Gira’s words is, “…based on images/memories of someone (fictionalized) quite like my mother- the first half is a portrait of her, the second talks about how she- and her affliction- lives inside the singer/narrator…funny, I couldn’t stand to be around her for more than five minutes when she was alive, but once she died her “persona” (the only way I can put it- she was a very extreme character) inspired quite a few songs. But it’s not too specific, I hope. I don’t view any autobiographical event/memory as being important in and of itself (or relevant to anyone else) – just a starting point for writing something, like any other subject…”
His personal examination of his past catalogue points towards ambivalence: “As for the older recordings, they’re all equally embarrassing. Sometimes I like them, sometimes not. Whenever I finish a new album, I can’t even listen to it anymore. I wish someone else could make my music for me!” Self-deprecation seems to be a fairly normal state for Gira these days; when asked if he has radically changed his approach to the craft of singing and songwriting since the old days with SWANS, Gira laughs, “Ha ha! Craft seems like a lofty term when applied to me. I still have zero conventional skills. I just go where my imagination leads me. My approach now is to try to challenge myself, to make an uncomfortable or unfamiliar moment in time happen. I think that’s how it’s always been...” Simultaneously, he recognizes that all the dues he has paid has earned him at least a shred of credibility as a live performer: “I think I have a talent for performing, because I’m not scared of being embarrassed. What’s the worst that could happen? Maybe I even crave the worst that could happen! I try to embody the material I’m singing, and give as much as I can. I absolutely hate irony and distance, as is sadly so prevalent in today’s music. My idols are people that were/are able to make a song real, no matter if it’s solo or with a group... People like BOB DYLAN, JOHNNY CASH, NINA SIMONE, WILLIE NELSON- they’re all way above me though, and I’m not putting myself in their company here...”
Michael Gira has experienced a plethora of momentous career highlights in the live setting and definitely considers his 2004 tour of Russia and Scandinavia to be amongst those: “Just the fact of being there was in itself disorienting and magical, and coupled with the intense jetlag—from which I never recovered, the entire trip—it made the whole thing like a dream in a way. But I had no idea what response I’d receive, especially in Moscow. There were over 1300 people there to see me perform with my little useless acoustic guitar, ha-ha! They had to turn people away. I think I did a good job of hooting and hollering my songs, and the response was like Tartars rampaging through the tundra. Pretty gratifying. I guess SWANS had built up something of a reputation through the years through cassette bootlegs, etc., during communist times, but people also seemed to know ANGELS OF LIGHT. So, after that, the audiences were more realistic—500 or so in St. Petersburg, then anywhere from 100 to 300 throughout Scandinavia. A show every night, always spinning with jetlag for two weeks; I guess my age is starting to show in that regard. I am completely, utterly exhausted at all times on tour these days. I sleepwalk most of the time, come alive on stage, then collapse.”
What does Michael Gira see in the crystal ball as far as the future projects of YOUNG GOD RECORDS? “ANGELS OF LIGHT and AKRON/FAMILY will be recording a split ep/cd immediately after our U.S. TOUR(mid April through early June 2005). We’re aiming for a fall release for that too. The double cd re-issue of BODY LOVERS/HATERS (with a new track recorded for this release) is finally seeing the light of day in April 2005, with deluxe new packaging (and there will be an ultra special version available at the website too).”
Gira also looks forward to working with international artists L’au and Mi: “In Tempere, Finland, I got to meet L’au and Mi, whose music I’d heard through Devendra. She (Mi) is Finnish and he (L’au) is French, and they met in Paris, fell in love, and gave up everything, and moved to a tiny cabin in the country outside Helsinki. After seeing them perform live (they opened for me), and meeting them and seeing that they were good and decent people (another prerequisite for anyone being on the label), I decided they had to be on YGR. They make very beautiful, sparse, songs with just two acoustic guitars and their voices. The songs have a sort of loneliness, and a sonic emptiness, that could best be described as sounding like one might imagine a barren, Finnish landscape looks. Austere, and not at all “folk”. The songs are great, very “classic” in a way. We start recording their new album soon, and it’ll be out in the fall of 2005.”
And despite the workload that inundates Gira, he does fantasize about projects that, for some reason or another, have not yet come to pass. “I would love to produce a record by Leonard Cohen, get him thinking again about the arrangements that accompany his amazing words and voice.”
While it would have been easier for Michael Gira to throw in the towel after the death of SWANS, inarguably one of the most influential and under-appreciated band of the past two decades, Gira recognizes the importance of his own time being just that-his own; he has made the sacrifices he believes will facilitate the possibility of his own career in music, and has lived by the repercussions of those decisions. He is a survivor of his own death and continues to demonstrate a strong resilience to being rolled over by the fickle music industry , trudging ahead to make challenging, uncompromising music at his own pace and with his own set of standards. When asked what he perceives to be the most common misunderstanding people have regarding him, Gira offers, “They’re all wrong! Positive or negative...” And yet he recognizes what he considers to be mistakes. “Well of course I try never to repeat myself, though naturally, I am who I am so certain moods and approaches will be inevitable. My mistake, always, has been to not be able to reign myself in, to learn when enough is enough. But I accept that flaw.” | ||||||
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For other uses, see New Song.
NewSong is an American contemporary Christian music group that was established in 1981, at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia.[1] They have had twelve GMA Dove Award nominations, and one Grammy Award Nomination.
They are also the founders of the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, the United States' largest annual Christian music tour.[2] It began in 1995, and is hosted by NewSong. Winter Jam has artists perform including TobyMac, Hillsong UNITED, Newsboys, Lecrae, MercyMe, and Skillet.[3]
NewSong has provided support for organizations working with abandoned and underprivileged children. For years they worked with World Vision. Then in 2006, the band became involved with Holt International.
The original four members included the current members Eddie Carswell, Billy Goodwin, and former members Eddie Middleton and Bobby Apon.
History
[edit]
Early history
[edit]
NewSong recorded three custom albums independently. In 1982, they signed on with Covenant Records, and released The Son In My Eyes the next year. In 1984, they signed a contract with Canaan Records, a branch of CCM label giant Word Records and released The Word. NewSong continued to stay with Word Records until 1991 when they signed on with DaySpring Records. The next year they released One Heart At A Time, The Best of NewSong, which featured 12 hits from their previous albums. In 1993, they joined up with the Benson Music Group and released All Around The World, which brought four No. 1 hits.[citation needed] In 1993, lead vocalist Eddie Middleton left to pursue a solo career, and Bobby Apon left to spend more time with his family.
In 1994, songwriter Leonard Ahlstrom, soloist Charles Billingsley, musician Scotty Wilbanks, and the lead vocalist from the contemporary Christian band Truth, Russ Lee, joined NewSong. That year NewSong released People Get Ready which brought four No. 1 hits,[citation needed] and featured a re-recorded version of "Arise My Love", which was first recorded by the original group in 1987.
In 1996, Billingsley left to pursue a solo career. In 1997, NewSong released Love Revolution. It featured four No. 1 hits, including "Miracles," which stayed at No.1 on the CCM Adult Contemporary chart for four consecutive weeks.[citation needed]
In May 1999, Apon died. He was recognized on the album Arise, My Love, The Very Best of NewSong. This featured 12 of their previous No. 1 hits. It also included two new songs which became No. 1 hits, "Can't Keep A Good Man Down", and "Jesus To The World (Roaring Lambs)", which was inspired by Christian speaker and author Bob Briner, who died later that year. They also had a third new song, "Like Minded, Like Hearted", which NewSong recorded with Out of Eden of Gotee Records.
Lee and Wilbanks left NewSong in 2000. They were replaced by soloist Michael O'Brien, Steve Reischl, and former Truth member, Matt Butler. Songwriter and electric guitarist Leonard Ahlstrom also left later to help a friend manage a recording label in Florida.
Leading up to 2000, NewSong caught the attention of radio personality, DC Daniel (then, of "Steve & DC") and began collaborating on production ideas for future projects. The partnership led to releasing the album Sheltering Tree, in late 2000.
Breakthrough
[edit]
DC, Eddie Carswell and Leonard Ahlstrom penned the bonus track "The Christmas Shoes" for Sheltering Tree, which became a No. 1 mainstream radio hit in a Billboard chart-record three weeks, topping Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart.[citation needed] Shortly after this, Clive Calder shut down the Benson label. NewSong stayed with Zomba Music, on the major Reunion label, and released a full studio Christmas album, The Christmas Shoes, which was nominated in 2003 for a Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.[citation needed] Along with the title track, the album featured a variety of original Christmas tunes and Christmas classics "O Holy Night". The song's success inspired Christian author Donna VanLiere to write a book based on the song.[4] The book was later made into a TV movie for CBS, called The Christmas Shoes, starring Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, which was released on December 1, 2002.[5]
In 2003, Donna VanLiere released The Christmas Blessing, the second book in the series spawned by "The Christmas Shoes" song. It was later made into a TV movie by CBS. It had an appearance by NewSong, which showed them singing their holiday single "The Christmas Blessing". NewSong also received a Dove Award for Musical of the Year for The Christmas Shoes Musical.[citation needed]
In March 2004, NewSong announced that they were leaving Reunion Records and moving to Integrity Music. In November 2004, NewSong recorded their live worship album and DVD, Rescue: Live Worship at First Baptist Church of Woodstock.[citation needed] The album was officially released in May 2005, and the DVD of the concert came out in September. In November, Wilbanks left to join the group Third Day, and to produce bands. Also in 2005, NewSong was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.[citation needed]
In March 2006, O'Brien left to restart his solo career and Drew Cline was asked to fill in. In September, Eddie Carswell, Matt Butler, Billy Goodwin, and guest artist Drew Cline released The Christmas Hope, featuring traditional Christmas carols, NewSong originals, and three songs to complement the book trilogy by Donna VanLiere. In November, The Christmas Shoes movie was released on DVD. The Christmas Hope, the third TV movie installment of the trilogy, was released in December 2008 by CBS.[citation needed]
In March 2007, Christian solo artist Nate Sallie joined NewSong. In April, The Christmas Hope album was nominated for a Dove Award, for Best Christmas Album of the Year.[citation needed] On December 29, 2008, in an email to subscribers of his newsletter, Russ Lee announced that he will be rejoining NewSong as lead vocalist.[citation needed]
Founding member Eddie Middleton died on August 21, 2021.[6]
Discography
[edit]
Albums
[edit]
Year Album Chart positions Label US Christian US US Heat 1981 More Than Music Independent NewSong Alive All the Best 1982 The Son in My Eyes Covenant 1984 The Word Canaan 1986 Trophies of Grace Word 1987 Say Yes! 1989 Light Your World 34 1990 Living Proof 19 DaySpring 1992 One Heart at a Time: The Best of NewSong 1993 All Around the World Benson 1994 People Get Ready 16 1997 Love Revolution 25 1999 Arise My Love: The Very Best of NewSong 25 2000 Live...The Hits Sheltering Tree 5 130 2 2001 The Christmas Shoes 9 113 1 Reunion 2003 More Life 10 172 9 2004 Simply NewSong Provident 2005 The Very Best of NewSong Reunion Rescue: Live Worship 10 15 Integrity 2006 The Christmas Hope 25 5 2009 Give Yourself Away 10 149 5 HHM 2011 One True God 1 27 2013 Swallow the Ocean 3 65 2015 Faithful: Live Worship 3 88 Integrity 2016 The Best Christmas Ever — — HHM 2018 Greatest Hits[7] — — HHM 2020 Just Jesus[8] — — HHM
Singles
[edit]
Year Single Chart Positions Album US AC US US Country US Christ 2000 "The Christmas Shoes" 1 42 31 20 Sheltering Tree 2004 "When God Made You" 33 — — — More Life 2012 "The Same God" — — — 25 One True God 2017 "I Am a Christian" — — — — Just Jesus[8] 2018 "Down" — — — — "Bright" — — — — "Glue" — — — — "Already Loved"
(featuring Tedashii) — — — — "Shine" — — — — "Look Up" — — — —
References
[edit] | ||||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 75 | https://www.instructables.com/3D-Printed-Record/ | en | 3D Printed Record | [
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] | 2012-12-20T00:00:00 | 3D Printed Record:
In order to explore the current limits of 3D printing technology, I've created a technique for converting digital audio files into 3D-printable, 33rpm records and printed a few functional prototypes that play on ordinary record players. Though th… | en | /assets/img/siteassets/favicon.ico | Instructables | https://www.instructables.com/3D-Printed-Record/ | In order to explore the current limits of 3D printing technology, I've created a technique for converting digital audio files into 3D-printable, 33rpm records and printed a few functional prototypes that play on ordinary record players. Though the audio quality is low -the records have a sampling rate of 11kHz (a quarter of typical mp3 audio) and 5-6 bit resolution (less than one thousandth of typical 16 bit resolution)- the songs are still easily recognizable, watch the video above to see the process and hear what the records sound like. Also check out my laser cut records, made on wood, paper, and acrylic.
This past year I've been posting a lot of audio projects, specifically, I've been experimenting with using relatively simple tools and techniques and very little memory to approximate and recreate digital audio signals. A great example is my Arduino Vocal Effects Box, where I used an Arduino to perform realtime pitch-bending on an incoming audio signal. Through these projects, I've learned that audio is a very resilient medium, it can take a fair amount of abuse (in the form of distortion and compression) while still maintaining most of the integrity of the original sound. The key is as long as you loosely approximate the overall shape of an audio signal, the output will sound reasonably recognizable. We have evolution to thank for this: as we hear audio, some complicated processing goes on in our brains that makes us very good at ignoring noise and focusing on the important pieces of information coming through. We can work off of relatively few cues (sometimes these even include contextual or visual cues) to piece together mangled or noisy audio and make sense of it; this is how we are able to focus on one voice in crowded room or decipher a message sent over a cheap walkie talkie.
This project was my first experiment extending this idea beyond electronics. I printed these records on a UV-cured resin printer called the Objet Connex500. Like most 3D printers, the Objet creates an object by depositing material layer by layer until the final form is achieved. This printer has incredibly high resolution: 600dpi in the x and y axes and 16 microns in the z axis, some of the highest resolution possible with 3D printing at the moment. Despite all its precision, the Objet is still at least an order of magnitude or two away from the resolution of a real vinyl record. When I first started this project, I wasn't sure that the resolution of the Objet would be enough to reproduce audio, but I hoped that I might produce something recognizable by approximating the groove shape as accurately as possible with the tools I had.
In this Instructable, I'll demonstrate how I developed a workflow that can convert any audio file, of virtually any format, into a 3D model of a record, and how I optimized these records for playback on a real turntable. The 3D modeling in this project was far too complex for traditional drafting-style CAD techniques, so I wrote an program to do this conversion automatically. It works by importing raw audio data, performing some calculations to generate the geometry of a record, and eventually exporting this geometry straight to a 3D printable file format. Most of the heavy lifting is done by Processing, an open source programming environment that's often used for 2D and 3D graphics and modeling applications. Here's a basic overview of my Processing algorithm:
use raw audio data to set the groove depth- parse through the raw audio data, this is the set of numbers that defines the shape of the audio waveform, and use this information to set the height of the bottom of a spiral groove. This way, when a turntable stylus moves along the groove it will move vertically in the same path as the original waveform and recreate the original audio signal.
draw record and groove geometry- A 3D model is essentially a list of triangles arranged in 3D space to create a continuous mesh, use the data from the last step and some general record parameters (record diameter, thickness, groove width, etc) to generate the list of triangular faces that describes the record's shape and the detailed spiral groove inscribed on its surface.
export model in STL format- the STL file format is understood by all 3D printers, export the geometry calculated in the last step as an STL file. To get Processing to export straight to STL, I used the ModelBuilder Library written by Marius Watz (if you are into Arduino/Processing and 3D printing I highly recommend checking this out, it works great).
I've uploaded some of my complete record models to the 123D gallery as well as the Pirate Bay. Check Step 6 for a complete listing of what's there and what I plan on posting. Alternatively, you can go to Step 7 to download my code and learn how to make printable record models from your own audio.
Special thanks to Randy Sarafan, Steve Delaire, Arthur Harsuvanakit, Phil Seaton, and Audrey Love for their help with this project.
Here's another video that gives a great overview of the printing process and shows the printers at work:
The basic mechanism of a record player is very simple. The record moves at a constant rotational speed (usually 33.3 or 45 rpm) and a needle (also called a stylus) moves along a long spiral groove cut into the record's surface. As the record spins, the needle hits tiny bumps in the groove and vibrates to produce audio signals. I won't get into the specifics of how the needle extracts data from the record, but it is really interesting and there's a great demo of it here.
The record player and record cutter were invented by Edison in 1877. Due to a lack of precise machinery and technique at the time, the grooves on the first records were much larger than those on modern microgroove records and, subsequently, the audio signals were much noisier. This is a similar situation that I found myself in when starting this project: despite the high precision of the Objet machines, the resolution is nowhere near modern vinyl quality. Here and here are two examples of Edison's first phonograph tests. You can hear that the quality of recording of these tests is pretty close to what I've been able to 3d print; although I can't find the exact specs on these records, I'd imagine that the scale of the grooves was similar to what I was working with.
To give you an idea of the resolution of a modern record, check out the images above. Figs 1-3 are from Chris Supranowitz, a researcher at The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. These are close up images of a vinyl record, taken with an electron microscope. The dark objects in figs 1 and 2 are tiny particles of dust. Fig 3 is a bird's eye view of the record grooves, the darker regions are the top (uncut) surface of the record.
Fig 4 was made by branku62 at vinylengine.com, it shows the profile dimensions of a standard microgrove mono groove, this is what you would find on a modern mono 33 or 45 (stereo grooves are actually cut a bit smaller). In the diagram 1 mil = 1/1000", which is about 25um. Microgroove records require a stylus with a 0.7 to 1.0 mil radius tip, the tip makes contact with the groove at E in fig 1, a width of about 1.4 mil. The total depth of the groove is around 1.1 mil. These dimensions match up nicely with the dimensions of the electron microscope images.
Fig 5 is from Ron Geesin and Mark Berresford's website, it shows the groove depths of the older 78's. These records were much more coarse than microgroove records, both the needle and grooves were about 3x as large in every dimension. Fig 2 shows the groove depth for 78's was somewhere between 2.2 and 3.6 mil. The stylus radius was around 2.7 mil.
Here at Instructables HQ, we have access to Autodesk's fleet of Objet Connex 500 printers. These printers use UV light to cure resin layer by layer until a complete model is produced. They are very different from the fused deposition printers you may have seen or used before (MakerBot, RepRap, Up!, etc), not only can they print out of many types of materials (ranging from flexible rubbery material to hard polymer), but they are also extremely precise. In the x and y axes they have 600dpi resolution (that's about 42microns), and in the z axis they have a resolution of 16microns.
Before I started printing anything, I used these numbers to calculate the resolution I'd be able to achieve- so I could decide if this project was even worth pursuing any further. First I wanted to make sure that I would be able to get a good sampling rate on my audio. Sampling rate is the amount of samples per second in a song. Usually the sampling rate is 44.1kHz (or 44,100 samples a second). When the sampling rate drops below about 40kHz the higher frequencies of a song start losing their detail, but depending on the song you can go down to 10kHz sampling rate without too much of a problem.
To calculate the sampling rate of the 3D printed record I used the following relationship:
sampling frequency = (resolution per inch)*(inches per revolution)*(revolutions per second)
in order to maximize the sampling frequency, I want all of these numbers (res/inch, inch/rev, rev/sec) to be as high as possible
First I'll start with revolutions per second. Record players typically play at two different speeds: 33.3 and 45rpm. (Some record players also have a 78rpm speed, but this is less common and only used for very old records). I wanted to use the lower 33.3RPM speed in order to make this more like a real 12" record (45 RPM is only used for 7" records, and 33RPM for the full sized 12") and so that I could fit more audio onto each side of the disc.
revolutions per second = (revolutions per minute)/(seconds per minute)
revolutions per second at 33 rpm = 33.3/60 = 0.55
Next is inches per revolution, this number depends on the circumference of the disk where the needle is hitting it. The largest sized records are 12" in diameter (30cm). According to the RIAA standards, the outermost groove of a 12" record falls at a radius of 5.75" and the innermost groove falls at about 2.25". I'll use these numbers to determine the range of sampling rates I can achieve at 33RPM. The circumference (the distance in inches traveled by the needle during one revolution of the record) is calculated as follows:
inches per revolution = 2*pi*(radius of needle)
max inches per revolution = 2*pi*5.75 =~ 36
min inches per revolution = 2*pi*2.35 =~ 15
I already know that the resolution per inch of the 3D printer is 600 (600 dpi in the x and y axes). So combining this all I get:
sampling frequency = (resolution per inch)*(inches per revolution)*(revolutions per second)
max sampling frequency at 33 rpm = 600*36*0.55 =~ 12000 = 12kHz
min sampling frequency at 33 rpm = 600*15*0.55 =~ 4900 = 4.9kHz
This is a pretty good starting point. If I scale this to 45rpm instead of 33 the sampling rate becomes:
max sampling frequency at 45 rpm = 600*36*0.75 =~ 16000 = 16kHz
min sampling frequency at 45 rpm = 600*15*0.75 =~ 6700 = 6.7kHz
I'll keep this option in mind in case sampling rate becomes an issue. The other piece of information that I needed was the bit depth I'd be able to achieve with the Objet printer. Bit depth is the resolution of the audio data. Most audio these days in 16 bit, meaning each sample can have one of 65536 (2^16) possible values. 8 bit audio has only 256 (2^8) steps of resolution and still sounds pretty close to the original. Even going down to 3 and 4 bit sounds recognizable. (I should note here that the music commonly referred to as "8-bit" like the music in early Nintendo games is actually 1 bit resolution, it's called 8 bit because it was first made with 8 bit computers, not with 8 bit resolution).
Since the z axis is the most precise axis on the Objet printer, I wanted to print my record so that the needle vibrates vertically in the groove to trace out the audio wave to maximize my bit depth. The following equation calculates the vertical distance that the needle will move as it traces the a wave of a given bit depth:
vertical displacement of needle = (2^bit depth)*(precision of z axis)
where the precision of the z axis is 16micron. I used this to calculate the following table:
bit depth vertical displacement steps of resolution
2 64um 4
3 128um 8
4 256um 16
5 512um 32
6 1.024mm 64
7 2.048mm 128
8 4.096mm 256
The bolded rows in the table are the numbers that I wanted to shoot for with this project. A vertical amplitude of 64-512um is an order of magnitude (~10x) larger than the amplitude of a vinyl record groove, but I felt like I'd probably be able to get away with it and still maintain a reasonable bit depth.
First I prepared some test files to print to get an idea of what is possible with the printer and optimize the dimensions of the grooves. These record files have circular grooves on them containing sine waves of various frequencies, amplitudes, groove depths, groove widths, and beveled groove edges. (When I say that the groove "contained" a sine wave, I mean the bottom of the groves moves up and down in a sinusoidal pattern around the record). I generated all of these files in Processing using the ModelBuilder library to export straight to STL.
TEST ONE:
My first test record had 72 grooves on it, screen shots of the model are shown in figs 2 through 6 I tested two frequencies of sine waves:
1000 cycles per revolution = 555Hz at 33RPM
500 cycles per revolution = 277Hz at 33RPM
I tested a few different amplitudes, depths, and groove widths for these frequencies and gave each groove a constant bevel size of 2px on each side (you can see in fig 5 how the edges of the groove flare outward). I printed the record in Objet's Vero Clear material, this material is a fairly hard, clear resin. I printed the file with the "smooth" setting to prevent any support material from being deposited in the grooves. Unfortunately, when I was ready to make this print we were having some problems with power in our shop, so I had to use another Objet machine that was not set up for high resolution printing; the best I could do was 300DPI X/Y resolution with 30um Z steps. This is half the resolution that each of these axes is capable of, meaning the print came out at (1/2)3, or 1/8th resolution overall. The results are shown in the video below (the grooves were not deep enough to keep the needle inside, so I had to hold in it place with my hand). The record was also a little big for my record player, I decreased the diameter of my STL file to 11.8" in later versions.
In this video you can hear a periodic frequency sweep on top of the steady sine wave (best heard w headphones). This sweeping sound is caused by the needle moving over the thousands of tiny parallel bumps in the print caused by adjacent print-heads on the Objet machine. This noise is unavoidable, but increasing the strength of the signal will help to make it less noticeable.
The Processing sketch that generated this record is given below:
<pre>//sine tests //by Amanda Ghassaei //Dec 2012 //https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Record/ /* * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or * (at your option) any later version. */ import processing.opengl.*; import unlekker.util.*; import unlekker.modelbuilder.*; import ec.util.*; UVertexList recordPerimeterUpper,recordPerimeterLower,recordHoleUpper,recordHoleLower;//storage for perimeter and center hole of record UVertexList lastEdge;//storage for conecting one groove to the next UGeometry geo;//storage for stl geometry //variables float theta;//angle variable float thetaIter = 10000;//how many values of theta per cycle float radius;//variable to calculate radius of grooves int diameter = 12;//diameter of record in inches float innerHole = 0.286;//diameter of center hole in inches float innerRad = 2.35;//radius of innermost groove in inches float outerRad = 5.75;//radius of outermost groove in inches float grooveSpacing = 20;//pixel spacing of grooves float bevel = 2;//pixel width of groove bevel //record parameters float recordHeight = 0.08;//height of record in inches int recordBottom = 0;//height of bottom of record //parameters to test float amplitude[] = {2,4,8};//in units of 16 micron steps (remember this is the amplitude of the sine wave, the total vert displacement will be twice this) int frequency[] = {1000,500,0};//cycles per rotation float depth[] = {0.5,1,0};//how many 16 microns steps below the surface of the record to print the uppermost point of the groove float grooveWidth[] = {1,2,3};//in 600dpi pixels float incrNum = TWO_PI/thetaIter;//calculcate inrementation amount int grooveNum = 0;//variable for keeping track of how long this will take void setup() {//everything that executes in this sketch is contained in the setup() geo = new UGeometry();//place to store geometery of verticies setUpVariables();//convert units, initialize etc setUpRecordShape();//draw basic shape of record drawGrooves();//draw in grooves geo.writeSTL(this, "test.stl");//write stl file from geomtery } void setUpVariables(){ //convert everything to inches float micronsPerInch = 25400;//scalingfactor float dpi = 600; byte micronsPerLayer = 16;//microns per vertical print layer grooveSpacing /= dpi; bevel /= dpi; for(byte i=0;i<3;i++){ amplitude[i] = amplitude[i]*micronsPerLayer/micronsPerInch; depth[i] = depth[i]*micronsPerLayer/micronsPerInch; grooveWidth[i] /= dpi; } } void setUpRecordShape(){ //set up storage recordPerimeterUpper = new UVertexList(); recordPerimeterLower = new UVertexList(); recordHoleUpper = new UVertexList(); recordHoleLower = new UVertexList(); //get verticies for(theta=0;theta<TWO_PI;theta+=incrNum){ //outer edge of record float perimeterX = diameter/2+diameter/2*cos(theta); float perimeterY = diameter/2+diameter/2*sin(theta); recordPerimeterUpper.add(perimeterX,perimeterY,recordHeight); recordPerimeterLower.add(perimeterX,perimeterY,recordBottom); //center hole float centerHoleX = diameter/2+innerHole/2*cos(theta); float centerHoleY = diameter/2+innerHole/2*sin(theta); recordHoleUpper.add(centerHoleX,centerHoleY,recordHeight); recordHoleLower.add(centerHoleX,centerHoleY,recordBottom); } //close vertex lists (closed loops) recordPerimeterUpper.close(); recordPerimeterLower.close(); recordHoleUpper.close(); recordHoleLower.close(); //connect verticies geo.quadStrip(recordHoleUpper,recordHoleLower); geo.quadStrip(recordHoleLower,recordPerimeterLower); geo.quadStrip(recordPerimeterLower,recordPerimeterUpper); //to start, outer edge of record is the last egde we need to connect to with the outmost groove lastEdge = new UVertexList(); lastEdge.add(recordPerimeterUpper); println("record drawn, starting grooves"); grooveNum = 0;//variable for keeping track of how much longer this will take } void drawGrooves(){ UVertexList grooveOuterUpper,grooveOuterLower,grooveInnerUpper,grooveInnerLower;//groove verticies //set up storage grooveOuterUpper = new UVertexList(); grooveOuterLower = new UVertexList(); grooveInnerUpper = new UVertexList(); grooveInnerLower = new UVertexList(); //DRAW GROOVES radius = outerRad;//outermost radius (at 5.75") to start for(byte frequencyIndex=0;frequencyIndex<2;frequencyIndex++){ for(byte amplitudeIndex=0;amplitudeIndex<3;amplitudeIndex++){ for(byte grooveDepthIndex=0;grooveDepthIndex<2;grooveDepthIndex++){ for(byte grooveWidthIndex=0;grooveWidthIndex<3;grooveWidthIndex++){ for(byte copies=0;copies<2;copies++){ //clear lists grooveOuterUpper.reset(); grooveOuterLower.reset(); grooveInnerUpper.reset(); grooveInnerLower.reset(); for(theta=0;theta<TWO_PI;theta+=incrNum){//for theta between 0 and 2pi float sineTheta = sin(theta); float cosineTheta = cos(theta); //calculate height of groove float grooveHeight = recordHeight-depth[grooveDepthIndex]-amplitude[amplitudeIndex]+amplitude[amplitudeIndex]*sin(theta*frequency[frequencyIndex]); grooveOuterUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius+bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); grooveOuterLower.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerLower.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth[grooveWidthIndex])*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth[grooveWidthIndex])*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth[grooveWidthIndex]-bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth[grooveWidthIndex]-bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); } //close vertex lists (closed loops) grooveOuterUpper.close(); grooveOuterLower.close(); grooveInnerUpper.close(); grooveInnerLower.close(); //connect verticies geo.quadStrip(lastEdge,grooveOuterUpper); geo.quadStrip(grooveOuterUpper,grooveOuterLower); geo.quadStrip(grooveOuterLower,grooveInnerLower); geo.quadStrip(grooveInnerLower,grooveInnerUpper); //set new last edge lastEdge.reset();//clear old data lastEdge.add(grooveInnerUpper); radius -= grooveSpacing+grooveWidth[grooveWidthIndex];//set next radius //tell me how much longer grooveNum++; print(grooveNum); println(" of 72 grooves drawn"); } radius -= 2*grooveSpacing;//extra spacing } radius -= 2*grooveSpacing;//extra spacing } radius -= 2*grooveSpacing;//extra spacing } radius -= 2*grooveSpacing;//extra spacing } geo.quadStrip(lastEdge,recordHoleUpper);//close remaining space between last groove and center hole }
TEST TWO:
In my next test I made a record with 108 grooves, still sine waves, but this time I made the grooves deeper, increase the bevel of each groove to equal half the amplitude of the sine wave, and tried out three different frequencies: 555hz, 277hz, and 139hz (1000, 500, and 250 cycles per revolution at 33.3rpm). I also tested different amplitudes (4, 8 and 16 steps), groove depths (2, and 3 steps below the top of the record), and groove widths (1, 2 and 3 pixels). Since our shop came back online, I switched printers and started printing with Objet's Vero White material, which is similar to Vero Clear in texture, but (as you might image) is a translucent white color. This time I was finally able to print with the full 16 micron and 600 dpi resolution of the printer. Here is a video of the results:
TEST THREE:
In my third test I increased the resolution of my stl file to test out some higher frequency sine waves. I used 22000 points per revolution to draw out the sine waves (as opposed to 10000 in my previous tests), this puts me at about the max resolution I can get with 600dpi (calculated in the last step). I tested three frequencies: 1110hz, 832hz, and 694hz (2000, 1500, and 1250 cycles per revolution at 33.3rpm). I also tested different amplitudes (12 and 16 steps) and groove widths (2 and 3 px). Here is the video:
RESULTS:
At the end of all these tests I learned a few things about 3d printing records with the Objet:
Groove Depth min of 48um below top of record - I found that grooves that kept the waveform at a minimum of 48um (or 3 16 micron steps) below the top of the record kept the needle in place while being played. This was true for all the frequencies I tested.
Groove Width 2px - At lower frequencies I found that the 2px grooves were much less noisy than the 1px, but I didn't hear too much of a difference between 2 and 3px. However, when I tested again with the higher frequencies (2000 cycles/rev) I could hear much more noise on the 3px groove than the 2px.
Frequency Range - at 22000 points per revolution, I easily achieved the upper limit of the human vocal range (about 1.1kHz). Theoretically I should be able to reproduce frequencies equal to half my sampling rate. With a sampling rate of 12kHz (calculated in the last step), the highest frequency I can theoretically achieve is 6kHz. I suspect that the movement of the liquid resin during the curing process will prevent me from actually achieving these frequencies, but if I can just get into the 2kHz range it will still sound reasonably good. Based on the tests I've run so far, I think this is possible.
Dimensions - Although it seems like a 12" record should measure 12" in diameter, I found that printing at 12" made the record slightly too large for my record player. I decreased the diameter down to 11.8" and it worked great.
Max file size of ~300MB - Although Processing is capable of producing much larger files, the Objet Software that runs the printers seems to only handle about 300MB of data at a time. It's possible that increased RAM might bring this up to 500mb, but this still does not give me a lot of room to work with. Although this is plenty for normal CAD purposes, I found out that I would have to be very efficient with the way I packed data onto the STL for the final version of my Processing sketch. One problem with my current sketch is that is has a constant angular sampling rate, this means that the same amount of data is used to describe a groove on the outer edge of the record and a groove near the center of the record. Since the groove at the center of the record is much smaller it would a higher resolution than the outer groove, unfortunately, this extra precision goes to waste because the printer has constant DPI across the entire surface of the record. Eventually, I hope to decrease the angular sampling rate of the inner grooves to save storage space and pack as much audio into the STL file as possible.
Finally, it was time to start printing real audio! All my initial audio tests were done with the first 30 seconds from the opening track of one of the greatest albums ever written, The Pixies "Debaser."
In the first test I used the same parameters that I'd had luck with in the sine wave tests:
amplitude: 16 x 16 micron z axis steps
groove width: 2px
groove depth: 3 x 16 micron z axis steps
sampling rate: 11,025hz (one quarter of normal mp3 sampling rate)
groove spacing: 20 pixels (at 600 dpi)
My processing code is below. The code is heavily commented, but here's the overall gist:
An audio file is basically a list of numbers that plot a waveform over time. The data that I pulled from Python in the last step is just that, the list of data points in the audio file. Essentially what I did in this Processing sketch was use this data to set the depth of a long, spiral groove on the record's surface. Later when the needle passes over this groove, its tip will follow this path and actually trace out the original waveform stored in the audio data.
<pre>//txt to stl conversion - 3d printable record //by Amanda Ghassaei //Dec 2012 //https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Record/ /* * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or * (at your option) any later version. */ import processing.opengl.*; import unlekker.util.*; import unlekker.modelbuilder.*; import ec.util.*; String filename = "debaser.txt"; UVertexList recordPerimeterUpper,recordPerimeterLower,recordHoleUpper,recordHoleLower;//storage for perimeter and center hole of record UVertexList lastEdge;//storage for conecting one groove to the next UGeometry geo;//storage for stl geometry //parameters float samplingRate = 44100;//(44.1hz audio) float rpm = 33.3;//rev per min float secPerMin = 60;//seconds per minute float rateDivisor = 4;//how much we are downsampling by float theta;//angle variable float thetaIter = (samplingRate*secPerMin)/(rateDivisor*rpm);//how many values of theta per cycle float radius;//variable to calculate radius of grooves float diameter = 11.8;//diameter of record in inches float innerHole = 0.286;//diameter of center hole in inches float innerRad = 2.35;//radius of innermost groove in inches float outerRad = 5.75;//radius of outermost groove in inches float grooveSpacing = 20;//pixel spacing of grooves //record parameters float recordHeight = 0.04;//height of record in inches int recordBottom = 0;//height of bottom of record //variable parameters float amplitude = 24;//amplitude of signal (in 16 micron steps) float bevel = 0.5;//bevelled groove edge float grooveWidth = 3;//in 600dpi pixels float depth = 6;//measured in 16 microns steps, depth of tops of wave in groove from uppermost surface of record float incrNum = TWO_PI/thetaIter;//calculcate angular incrementation amount int grooveNum = 0;//variable for keeping track of how long this will take int totalSampleNum; void setup(){ geo = new UGeometry();//place to store geometery of verticies setUpVariables();//convert units, initialize etc setUpRecordShape();//draw basic shape of record drawGrooves(processAudioData());//draw in grooves geo.writeSTL(this, filename + ".stl");//write stl file from geomtery exit(); } float[] processAudioData(){ //get data out of txt file String rawData[] = loadStrings(filename); String rawDataString = rawData[0]; float audioData[] = float(split(rawDataString,','));//separated by commas //normalize audio data to given bitdepth //first find max val float maxval = 0; for(int i=0;i<audioData.length;i++){ if (abs(audioData[i])>maxval){ maxval = abs(audioData[i]); } } //normalize amplitude to max val for(int i=0;i<audioData.length;i++){ audioData[i]*=amplitude/maxval; } return audioData; } void setUpVariables(){ //convert everything to inches float micronsPerInch = 25400;//scalingfactor float dpi = 600; byte micronsPerLayer = 16;//microns per vertical print layer grooveSpacing /= dpi; amplitude = amplitude*micronsPerLayer/micronsPerInch; depth = depth*micronsPerLayer/micronsPerInch; grooveWidth /= dpi; } void setUpRecordShape(){ //set up storage recordPerimeterUpper = new UVertexList(); recordPerimeterLower = new UVertexList(); recordHoleUpper = new UVertexList(); recordHoleLower = new UVertexList(); //get verticies for(theta=0;theta<TWO_PI;theta+=incrNum){ //outer edge of record float perimeterX = diameter/2+diameter/2*cos(theta); float perimeterY = diameter/2+diameter/2*sin(theta); recordPerimeterUpper.add(perimeterX,perimeterY,recordHeight); recordPerimeterLower.add(perimeterX,perimeterY,recordBottom); //center hole float centerHoleX = diameter/2+innerHole/2*cos(theta); float centerHoleY = diameter/2+innerHole/2*sin(theta); recordHoleUpper.add(centerHoleX,centerHoleY,recordHeight); recordHoleLower.add(centerHoleX,centerHoleY,recordBottom); } //close vertex lists (closed loops) recordPerimeterUpper.close(); recordPerimeterLower.close(); recordHoleUpper.close(); recordHoleLower.close(); //connect verticies geo.quadStrip(recordHoleUpper,recordHoleLower); geo.quadStrip(recordHoleLower,recordPerimeterLower); geo.quadStrip(recordPerimeterLower,recordPerimeterUpper); //to start, outer edge of record is the last egde we need to connect to with the outmost groove lastEdge = new UVertexList(); lastEdge.add(recordPerimeterUpper); println("record drawn, starting grooves"); grooveNum = 0;//variable for keeping track of how much longer this will take } void drawGrooves(float[] audioData){ UVertexList grooveOuterUpper,grooveOuterLower,grooveInnerUpper,grooveInnerLower;//groove verticies UVertexList stop1,stop2;//storage for very beginning and end of sprial groove //set up storage grooveOuterUpper = new UVertexList(); grooveOuterLower = new UVertexList(); grooveInnerUpper = new UVertexList(); grooveInnerLower = new UVertexList(); stop1 = new UVertexList(); stop2 = new UVertexList(); //DRAW GROOVES radius = outerRad;//outermost radius (at 5.75") to start float radIncr = (grooveSpacing+grooveWidth)/thetaIter;//calculate radial incrementtion amount int samplenum = 0; int totalgroovenum = int(audioData.length/(rateDivisor*thetaIter)); //first draw starting cap theta = 0; float sineTheta = sin(theta); float cosineTheta = cos(theta); //calculate height of groove float grooveHeight = recordHeight-depth-amplitude+audioData[int(rateDivisor*samplenum)]; stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//outerupper stop2.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//outerlower stop2.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//innerlower stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//innerupper //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); //then spiral groove while (radius>innerRad && rateDivisor*samplenum<(audioData.length-rateDivisor*thetaIter+1)){//while we still have audio to write and we have not reached the innermost groove //clear lists grooveOuterUpper.reset(); grooveOuterLower.reset(); grooveInnerUpper.reset(); grooveInnerLower.reset(); for(theta=0;theta<TWO_PI;theta+=incrNum){//for theta between 0 and 2pi sineTheta = sin(theta); cosineTheta = cos(theta); //calculate height of groove grooveHeight = recordHeight-depth-amplitude+audioData[int(rateDivisor*samplenum)]; samplenum++;//increment sample num grooveOuterUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); grooveOuterLower.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerLower.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); radius -= radIncr; } //add last value to grooves to complete one full rev theta = 0; sineTheta = sin(theta); cosineTheta = cos(theta); //calculate height of groove grooveHeight = recordHeight-depth-amplitude+audioData[int(rateDivisor*samplenum)]; grooveOuterUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); grooveOuterLower.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerLower.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); //connect verticies geo.quadStrip(lastEdge,grooveOuterUpper); geo.quadStrip(grooveOuterUpper,grooveOuterLower); geo.quadStrip(grooveOuterLower,grooveInnerLower); geo.quadStrip(grooveInnerLower,grooveInnerUpper); //set new last edge lastEdge.reset();//clear old data lastEdge.add(grooveInnerUpper); //complete beginning cap if necessary if (grooveNum==1){ //clear stop2 stop2.reset(); stop2.add(diameter/2+diameter/2*cosineTheta,diameter/2+diameter/2*sineTheta,recordHeight);//outer perimeter[0] stop2.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//outer groove edge [2pi] //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); } //tell me how much longer grooveNum++; print(grooveNum); print(" of "); print(totalgroovenum); println(" grooves drawn"); } //draw end cap of spiral groove stop1.reset(); stop2.reset(); stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//outeruppter stop2.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//outerlower stop2.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//innerlower stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//innerupper //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); stop2.reset(); stop2.add(grooveInnerUpper.first());//innerupper[0] stop2.add(diameter/2+innerHole/2*cosineTheta,diameter/2+innerHole/2*sineTheta,recordHeight);//innerhole[0] //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); geo.quadStrip(lastEdge,recordHoleUpper);//close remaining space between last groove and center hole }
and here is the result:
Success! You can clearly hear The Pixies coming through, but the signal to noise ratio is not great. In my next test I amplified the original audio signal a little bit before sending it to my Processing sketch. This way some of the louder drum sections would get slightly clipped and allow the overall amplitude of the normalized signal to get a little larger. Here's what that sounds like:
Signal to noise is getting better, I added a little more audio to this file so that you can start to hear Frank Black's vocals coming in. Next I increased the amplitude of the signal to see if I could get a better signal out. In my sine tests I thought that an amplitude of 16 was plenty loud, but not so large that it caused excessive distortion in the signal. Since the Pixies signal is not always spanning the full amplitude allowed by my program I increased the amplitude of the algorithm (most of the time the waveform is hovering around half of its peak amplitude, only the drums are able to kick the signal up to full amplitude). This may cause some extra distortion on the drum beats, but since drums are already pretty noisy I was ok with that. Here's the result of amplitude 32:
Signal to noise is better, but there is quite a bit of distortion. I decreased the amplitude to 24 next:
This sounds a lot better. Good signal to noise without too much distortion. Next I made a slight edit to my code to minimize the amount of data packed into the stl file. In the previous examples I created some space between grooves, basically a flat surface parallel to the top of the record. In the code below I removed this space and used the last upper edge of the previous groove as the upper edge of the next groove. The difference in the model is shown in fig 2.
<pre>//txt to stl conversion - 3d printable record //by Amanda Ghassaei //Dec 2012 //https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Record/ /* * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or * (at your option) any later version. */ import processing.opengl.*; import unlekker.util.*; import unlekker.modelbuilder.*; import ec.util.*; String filename = "bluemonday.txt"; UVertexList recordPerimeterUpper,recordPerimeterLower,recordHoleUpper,recordHoleLower;//storage for perimeter and center hole of record UVertexList lastEdge;//storage for conecting one groove to the next UGeometry geo;//storage for stl geometry //parameters float samplingRate = 44100;//(44.1khz audio) float rpm = 33.3;//rev per min float secPerMin = 60;//seconds per minute float rateDivisor = 4;//how much we are downsampling by float theta;//angle variable float thetaIter = (samplingRate*secPerMin)/(rateDivisor*rpm);//how many values of theta per cycle float radius;//variable to calculate radius of grooves float diameter = 11.8;//diameter of record in inches float innerHole = 0.286;//diameter of center hole in inches float innerRad = 2.35;//radius of innermost groove in inches float outerRad = 5.75;//radius of outermost groove in inches //record parameters float recordHeight = 0.04;//height of record in inches int recordBottom = 0;//height of bottom of record //variable parameters float amplitude = 24;//amplitude of signal (in 16 micron steps) float bevel = 0.5;//bevelled groove edge float grooveWidth = 2;//in 600dpi pixels float depth = 6;//measured in 16 microns steps, depth of tops of wave in groove from uppermost surface of record float incrNum = TWO_PI/thetaIter;//calculcate angular incrementation amount int grooveNum = 0;//variable for keeping track of how long this will take int totalSampleNum; void setup(){ geo = new UGeometry();//place to store geometery of verticies setUpVariables();//convert units, initialize etc setUpRecordShape();//draw basic shape of record drawGrooves(processAudioData());//draw in grooves geo.writeSTL(this, filename + ".stl");//write stl file from geomtery exit(); } float[] processAudioData(){ //get data out of txt file String rawData[] = loadStrings(filename); String rawDataString = rawData[0]; float audioData[] = float(split(rawDataString,','));//separated by commas //normalize audio data to given bitdepth //first find max val float maxval = 0; for(int i=0;i<audioData.length;i++){ if (abs(audioData[i])>maxval){ maxval = abs(audioData[i]); } } //normalize amplitude to max val for(int i=0;i<audioData.length;i++){ audioData[i]*=amplitude/maxval; } return audioData; } void setUpVariables(){ //convert everything to inches float micronsPerInch = 25400;//scalingfactor float dpi = 600; byte micronsPerLayer = 16;//microns per vertical print layer amplitude = amplitude*micronsPerLayer/micronsPerInch; depth = depth*micronsPerLayer/micronsPerInch; grooveWidth /= dpi; } void setUpRecordShape(){ //set up storage recordPerimeterUpper = new UVertexList(); recordPerimeterLower = new UVertexList(); recordHoleUpper = new UVertexList(); recordHoleLower = new UVertexList(); //get verticies for(theta=0;theta<TWO_PI;theta+=incrNum){ //outer edge of record float perimeterX = diameter/2+diameter/2*cos(theta); float perimeterY = diameter/2+diameter/2*sin(theta); recordPerimeterUpper.add(perimeterX,perimeterY,recordHeight); recordPerimeterLower.add(perimeterX,perimeterY,recordBottom); //center hole float centerHoleX = diameter/2+innerHole/2*cos(theta); float centerHoleY = diameter/2+innerHole/2*sin(theta); recordHoleUpper.add(centerHoleX,centerHoleY,recordHeight); recordHoleLower.add(centerHoleX,centerHoleY,recordBottom); } //close vertex lists (closed loops) recordPerimeterUpper.close(); recordPerimeterLower.close(); recordHoleUpper.close(); recordHoleLower.close(); //connect verticies geo.quadStrip(recordHoleUpper,recordHoleLower); geo.quadStrip(recordHoleLower,recordPerimeterLower); geo.quadStrip(recordPerimeterLower,recordPerimeterUpper); //to start, outer edge of record is the last egde we need to connect to with the outmost groove lastEdge = new UVertexList(); lastEdge.add(recordPerimeterUpper); println("record drawn, starting grooves"); grooveNum = 0;//variable for keeping track of how much longer this will take } void drawGrooves(float[] audioData){ UVertexList grooveOuterUpper,grooveOuterLower,grooveInnerUpper,grooveInnerLower;//groove verticies UVertexList stop1,stop2;//storage for very beginning and end of sprial groove //set up storage grooveOuterUpper = new UVertexList(); grooveOuterLower = new UVertexList(); grooveInnerUpper = new UVertexList(); grooveInnerLower = new UVertexList(); stop1 = new UVertexList(); stop2 = new UVertexList(); //DRAW GROOVES radius = outerRad;//outermost radius (at 5.75") to start float radIncr = (grooveWidth+2*bevel*amplitude)/thetaIter;//calculate radial incrementation amount int samplenum = 0; int totalgroovenum = int(audioData.length/(rateDivisor*thetaIter)); //first draw starting cap theta = 0; float sineTheta = sin(theta); float cosineTheta = cos(theta); //calculate height of groove float grooveHeight = recordHeight-depth-amplitude+audioData[int(rateDivisor*samplenum)]; stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//outerupper stop2.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//outerlower stop2.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//innerlower stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//innerupper //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); //then spiral groove while (radius>innerRad && rateDivisor*samplenum<(audioData.length-rateDivisor*thetaIter+1)){//while we still have audio to write and we have not reached the innermost groove //clear lists grooveOuterUpper.reset(); grooveOuterLower.reset(); grooveInnerUpper.reset(); grooveInnerLower.reset(); for(theta=0;theta<TWO_PI;theta+=incrNum){//for theta between 0 and 2pi sineTheta = sin(theta); cosineTheta = cos(theta); //calculate height of groove grooveHeight = recordHeight-depth-amplitude+audioData[int(rateDivisor*samplenum)]; samplenum++;//increment sample num if (grooveNum==0){ grooveOuterUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); } grooveOuterLower.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerLower.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); radius -= radIncr; } //add last value to grooves to complete one full rev theta = 0; sineTheta = sin(theta); cosineTheta = cos(theta); //calculate height of groove grooveHeight = recordHeight-depth-amplitude+audioData[int(rateDivisor*samplenum)]; if (grooveNum==0){ grooveOuterUpper.add(grooveInnerUpper.first());//grooveOuterUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); } grooveOuterLower.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerLower.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight); grooveInnerUpper.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight); //connect verticies if (grooveNum==0){//if joining a roove to the edge of the record geo.quadStrip(lastEdge,grooveOuterUpper); geo.quadStrip(grooveOuterUpper,grooveOuterLower); } else{//if joining a groove to another groove geo.quadStrip(lastEdge,grooveOuterLower); } geo.quadStrip(grooveOuterLower,grooveInnerLower); geo.quadStrip(grooveInnerLower,grooveInnerUpper); //set new last edge lastEdge.reset();//clear old data lastEdge.add(grooveInnerUpper); //complete beginning cap if necessary if (grooveNum==0){ //clear stop2 stop2.reset(); stop2.add(diameter/2+diameter/2*cosineTheta,diameter/2+diameter/2*sineTheta,recordHeight);//outer perimeter[0] stop2.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//outer groove edge [2pi] //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); } //tell me how much longer grooveNum++; print(grooveNum); print(" of "); print(totalgroovenum); println(" grooves drawn"); } //draw end cap of spiral groove stop1.reset(); stop2.reset(); stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius+amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//outeruppter stop2.add((diameter/2+radius*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+radius*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//outerlower stop2.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth)*sineTheta),grooveHeight);//innerlower stop1.add((diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*cosineTheta),(diameter/2+(radius-grooveWidth-amplitude*bevel)*sineTheta),recordHeight);//innerupper //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); stop2.reset(); stop2.add(lastEdge.last());//innerupper[0] stop2.add(diameter/2+innerHole/2*cosineTheta,diameter/2+innerHole/2*sineTheta,recordHeight);//innerhole[0] //draw triangles geo.quadStrip(stop1,stop2); geo.quadStrip(lastEdge,recordHoleUpper);//close remaining space between last groove and center hole }
And here's what it sounds like:
I was really happy with the way this came out, this is the code I used moving forward.
After nearly a week of printing, frantically running around downtown SF, and generally fighting with technology, I've got some reasonably good sounding audio to share with you:
You'll notice that all of these prints are only about a minute long- this was due to some issues I was having with file size and RAM. I'm currently working on troubleshooting these problems, but at the moment the largest file I can print out is about 250MB, or a little over a minute of audio. Each size has the potential to fit about 6 minutes of audio, this amounts to a file containing about 1.5GB of data.
Some of these files are up on The Pirate Bay and the 123D gallery for anyone to download. (Pirate Bay recently introduced new section on their site for sharing 3d designs called Physibles, many of the models are ready for 3D printing or other forms of digital fabrication). Unfortunately, some of my files were so large that I had to down-sample even farther, to 9kHz, to get them to export before my computer crashed. I'm still not done generating all the files I would like to make, it takes a bit of time to process and handle such large amounts of data, so things are moving along relatively slowly. Check back for updates, and if you download any of these, please seed them!
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (4 discs, 7 sides) Supposedly, there is a factory in germany that does nothing but press copies of dark side of the moon, maybe one day 3d printers will put that factory out of business, but for now I've had to split the album up onto seven sides of four discs to even get it to fit...
New Order - Blue Monday Single(1 disc, 2 sides) The top selling 12" single of all time. Side a is Blue Monday in its nearly 8 minute entirety, I had to cheat a little and extend the grooves into the space where the label should go to pull this off, but it's not too bad, and side b is a remix of Blue Monday called The Beach, just like the original release.
White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl(1 disc, 1 side) This is song is not even 2 min long, so I exported it at slightly higher res- 45rpm with a 16kHz sampling rate. Now that our 3D printing facility has an upgraded computer, I'd like to print out a bunch of short songs like this at 45rpm.
I made all these files at half the thickness of a regular record. That way, if you ever find a way to print them, you can glue two of them together to make a double sided record. | ||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 22 | https://worshipleaderresearch.com/raising-the-invisible-hand/ | en | Raising The Invisible Hand | [
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] | 2023-10-06T12:59:22+00:00 | This question raises a largely undetected tension between what Worship Leaders say they will do and what they may actually be doing... | en | Worship Leader Research | https://worshipleaderresearch.com/raising-the-invisible-hand/ | Worship Leaders interpreted question two (on general association) and question three (on specific association) in different ways. Among the most common interpretations, many justified their survey response (about whether song affiliation was “important,” “indifferent,” or “not important”) by focusing on the “popularity” of an artist or church. Other Worship Leaders focused on “controversy” (i.e. theological or ethical) associated with an artist or church. We detected four common responses among the surveyed Worship Leaders.
“WE USE LESSER KNOWN SONGS. WE AVOID BIG NAMES.” Many Worship Leaders who preferred selecting the songs of lesser-known artists (e.g. CityAlight, Charity Gayle, or a local church artist), indicated that artist affiliation was “unimportant” to them because they were not persuaded by the popularity of well-known artists or churches. For these Worship Leaders, primarily driven by the congregational fit of songs, popularity was not a high motivator for song choice. In fact, in some cases, a song source that was less “mainstream” was viewed as more favorable.
“SOUND LYRICS ARE REALLY WHAT MATTER.” Some Worship Leaders, placing high value upon theological and biblical excellence, tended to view the song’s lyrical content as far more important to them than the sources from which it originated. In this, we saw a common recurring appeal: a song’s theological and lyrical content should stand on its own merit, regardless of the source. Some Worship Leaders not only indicated they should judge songs based on their content, but they further suggested this was the primary mechanism by which they do choose songs. Where the song came from was inconsequential.
“IF THEY ARE DUBIOUS, WE AVOID THEM ALTOGETHER.” Other Worship Leaders indicated that affiliation was essential to their song selection. This was particularly true when artists or churches were perceived as being associated with questionable practices, theological heterodoxy, or publically reported ethical controversies. Worship Leaders holding this conviction commented that songs associated with these artists or churches, even if they were theologically or biblically solid, should be avoided at all costs.
“IF IT PLAYS AND SINGS, IT IS GOOD.” Despite the common refrain that “Big 4 worship music all sounds the same,” some Worship leaders acknowledged that the musical quality and character of specific churches and artists were, indeed, contributing factors to their song selection. As will be addressed in a later article, some Worship Leaders admitted they wished their congregational worship experience was musically and aspirationally more like that of the Big 4.
It is clear that Worship Leaders responded to our two survey questions about song selection and association with different presuppositions, biases, and assumptions. When asked about the power of association generally in survey question two, Worship Leaders seemed more indifferent. However, the question of association struck a nerve when specific Big 4 churches and prominent artists were identified in survey question three and stronger opinions (both for and against church and artist associations) were detected.
Part 2 – Broader Themes
The survey results above indicate that while it is quite important for some Worship Leaders, song association is not explicitly or self-consciously the primary motivation for most Worship Leaders. However, a closer look at the survey data and comments reveals that affiliation with these artists and churches, as brands, has far more influence than Worship Leaders realize.
Brand Longevity
Consider, for example, the survey responses about selecting songs associated with Hillsong and Bethel. In recent years, Hillsong has received the most public scrutiny among the Big 4, for issues related to moral failings among their leadership. At the same time, Bethel has received criticism for their theological positions and faith practices on various issues. Among the Big 4, Worship Leaders reported that when selecting songs for congregational use, songs associated with Hillsong had the highest likelihood to be selected, and songs associated with Bethel had the lowest likelihood. How does this hold together? A variety of factors are likely in play.
Here, it is helpful to introduce the concept of “brand.” Popular worship groups operate as brands insofar as they participate in a marketplace where their name, alone, draws particular associations, especially regarding the quality of their product. Most Worship Leaders presumably accept this without question. Hillsong serves as a clear example of how they do so self-consciously. Leaders at Sydney Hills Christian Life Church rebranded the name of its church organization to Hillsong in the early 1990s as the popularity of its worship music began to grow. Three decades later, Hillsong possesses international recognition as a trusted brand in worship music.
Brand trust and longevity influence attitudes toward artist and church affiliation. While Bethel is affiliated with the greatest number of songs on the top 25 charts, Hillsong has produced and published music for almost two decades longer. Hillsong’s first major international worship music hit was produced in the mid-1990s when Integrity Music (at the height of its influence) began widely distributing Hillsong music. Around the same time, Bethel’s youth band, Jesus Culture, began releasing albums in the late 1990s (later spinning off into their own church and independent brand and label). Bethel’s first music release, distributed by EMI CMG, was their 2010 album, Here is Love, and included Jesus Culture artists. While a history of Bethel Church and Bethel Music is beyond this article’s scope, it suffices to say that Bethel, as it pertains to its music propagation and brand, is nearly 20 years younger than Hillsong.
Why is this important? To state the obvious, today’s Worship Leaders have engaged with nearly 30 years of widely accepted and endorsed Hillsong albums and releases. A whole generation of Worship Leaders has built an experiential trust in the Hillsong music brand, contributing to Hillsong’s strong, positive reception and continuing use by Worship Leaders.
The theological associations with these brands in particular are related to brand identity in general. Survey comments indicated that theological differences between a Worship Leader and a brand have a larger impact on song choice motivations than the ethical failings of leaders within a worship brand’s organization. Among many Worship Leaders, theology is assumed to directly impact song content. Ethical issues within a brand or organization tend to be considered distinct from the theological veracity of the brand’s songs. Nelson Cowan has explored this propensity in a recent article on “tainted brands.” He offers two common responses to a brand facing ethical controversies: (1) a “cease and desist” reaction. Churches stop offering financial support to the brand under review and terminate all ties and backing (e.g. royalties). Cowan reports that, curiously, very few Worship Leaders have called for this kind of response in light of the recent Hillsong documentaries. Neither has the industry curtailed available resources from Hillsong, even during the period of public and private litigation. A second response—more evident in our survey results above—is what Cowan calls (2) an “anti-Donatist” reaction. Accordingly, Worship Leaders allow a song to stand on its merit without bearing the scruples of the associated writer, music group, or popular worship leader. While “bad theology” in a song may be perceived as tainting a brand for Worship Leaders, the prevalence of personal, moral, and ethical failings is less likely to affect the reception of a song and its brand.
Song Merit and Social Proof
Worship Leaders overwhelmingly self-reported that theologically and biblically sound content is crucial in choosing a song. However, it seems difficult to argue that the songs appearing on the top of the charts are the most theologically rich of all songs available to Worship Leaders. It could be more accurately said that the chart-topping songs are theologically palatable to the broadest range of users. In a previous article, WLR suggested that promoting songs as singles is a primary mechanism by which the industry identifies (potentially) chart-topping songs. In an upcoming WLR article, we will confirm that Worship Leaders view peer endorsement and first-hand experiences with a song (e.g. via a conference) as the most powerful social forces in new song selection and its subsequent popularity.
Peer recommendations, gathered worship experiences, and song charts are all examples of social proof. When Worship Leaders are unsure of their choices, knowledge of their peers’ choices strongly influences them. This peculiarity drives social media enterprises, evidenced by, for example, viral video repostings, influencer endorsements, and peer product recommendations. Likewise, the charts—church-facing (e.g. CCLI) and listener-facing (e.g. Billboard or Spotify)—are examples of social proof. Though survey respondents report that CCLI charts do not play a significant part in finding new songs, a casual engagement with these charts, when looking for musical resources, undoubtedly does impact brand affiliation and user choice.
Resource suppliers like CCLI, PraiseCharts, and other streaming platforms play an active role in “organizing and programming the content they carry.” They act as facilitators in the relationship between the content creators and the broader industries in which this content is embedded. Platforms like CCLI and PraiseCharts are unique among charts in the broader music market. They provide a critical resource (i.e. copyright compliance and music performance materials) for Worship Leaders’ work. They are not simply conduits for finding new music. Instead, they act as “lagging indicators” of popularity. These charts serve as “match-makers” between producers and consumers. Through their function as royalty providers, they bridge the sophisticated interconnection between the labels, songwriters, Worship Leaders, church entities, and the pew-going worshiper. Because of this mediatorial role, charts are like other industry platforms and are “not neutral distributors, [but] they are also not inherently ‘powerful.’ Rather, power is an always unstable and shifting outcome of the ongoing attempt to coordinate between these markets.” While CCLI and PraiseCharts operate with different business structures, they rely on creating products that enable Worship Leaders to do their jobs more efficiently and quickly. But more so, the charts they publish are one product among the various others that offer a certain kind of social proof. The charts help Worship Leaders cut through the many available worship songs, help Worship Leaders identify popular songs their congregations may want to sing, and help Worship Leaders feel connected to the global church. Indeed, as Worship Leaders, we, too, have selected songs from the top 100 lists in hopes that it points to what songs a group of people might know. At the same time, the charts direct profitable traffic to their licensing and music performance resources.
While it is beyond the scope of WLR’s research to detail how these charts impact brand affiliation, we want to highlight that they have power. Empirical data suggests that charts have power in their curatorial choices. Additionally, the charts activate the power of social proof as a clear and direct effect on song chart position (assuming a song has met a baseline level of quality). In our research on single releases, we argued that the release of a song as a single was a prerequisite to chart success but not necessarily a firm predictor. In some cases, more than 50% of songs released as singles by the Big 4 did not appear on the top 25 chart. Industry gatekeepers, as market experts, cannot accurately predict which songs will ultimately appear on the charts. This is, in part, because the chart position of a song is unpredictable. Once a basic threshold of song quality is met, the infinitely complex world of brand affiliation, industry mechanisms, and social proof kicks in.
Cross-Market Brand Affiliations
The final element we want to explore is the various industry configurations that make brand affiliation a messy situation. While surveyed, Worship Leaders tend to link distinct associations to each artist, some songs and artists affiliate beyond their brand or label identity. Thus, there appears to be a spider-webbing effect within brand affiliation. Because songs can be associated with multiple artists or brands, Worship Leaders’ attitudes towards those brands do not always neatly apply to those brands.
For example, Bethel affiliates with multiple individual artists beyond their core collective. When they release a cover of a song written by Phil Wickham simultaneously with Wickham’s release of that same song, how is brand affiliation impacted? On the one hand, the songwriter or artist may get wider exposure to their music through affiliation. They may also risk positive or negative associations based on a Worship Leaders’ perception of this affiliation. However, for lesser-known artists or individual brands (like Wickham or Leeland), the collaboration undoubtedly increases visibility and revenue for their songs. Hillsong provides another example. Hillsong’s albums do not cover or feature songs from other artists or collectives, but Hillsong artists do collaborate for songwriting. They have also appeared on Passion albums because they have performed at the Passion Conference (related to but distinctive from the Passion/sixsteps label). How do Worship Leaders deal with these complex webs of affiliation?
Another element of industry configuration is important to note: the synergistic affiliation between music labels and the churches linked to them. Beyond their legal and financial structures, Worship Leaders brand associations intermingle the church and music group entities/identities. How does the reputation of a megachurch like Bethel lend credibility to its music label? For many, the “covering” or association with a church is one way theological orthodoxy is handled. The worship label is presumed to fall under the church leaders’ spiritual leadership and organizational hierarchy, regardless of the actual legal relationship. Indeed, the “success” of the megachurch—at least in terms of the sheer number of attendees, long cherished as a primary success indicator—may be part of the social proof or authentication of the spiritual value of the worship music.
On the flip side, how does the success of the music label lend credibility back to the church organization in a culture that has equated powerful and meaningful (even “anointed”) worship with the act of music-making? Indeed, what is a successful megachurch in the U.S. context that does not also produce its own worship music recordings? The popular megachurch branding model uses worship music as a central marketing tool and social proof of the church’s health and success. The effect is magnified at scale. To have a successful music label is to have a successful church, as we see with the Big 4.
Conclusion
Worship leaders approach the work of choosing songs with a great degree of thoughtfulness—they just disagree about what matters for song choice. We explored above how Worship Leaders place varying amounts of emphasize the theological rigor of lyrics, associations with artists/brands, and musical fit as they make choices for their congregations.
Beyond the work of making these discrete choices, Worship Leaders seem to underrate the power of a song’s association in general when compared to their attitudes toward artists or brands in particular. Better understanding the complexities of branded worship provides a way to explain this paradox. First, brand longevity influences long-term trust (e.g. Hillsong’s established loyalty in the market for over three decades). Second, social proof influences Worship Leaders’ attitudes in subtle ways that are difficult to quantify and recognize through sources like top-song charts. Finally, cross-market affiliations among artists challenge any sense of clean and neat brand associations—despite the confidence Worship Leaders impart on any one brand.
For some in the contemporary worship music world, market success is perceived as a sign of God’s blessing. It is important to continue examining how the industrial work of brand management, social proof through media marketing, and songwriting affiliations can have a tangible effect on what songs and artists become successful. | |||||
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"PRAY FOR INTEGRITY",
"Quotes on Integrity"
] | null | en | /sites/default/files/favicon.ico | https://www.preceptaustin.org/Integrity_a_whole_heart | Integrity (from "integer" = the whole of anything, a whole number not a fraction - think "whole character" not a fraction of one!) speaks of the unimpaired state of one's mind and heart, of moral soundness and purity, of incorruptness, of uprightness, of honesty. Just as we would talk about a whole number, so also we can talk about a whole person who is undivided. A person of integrity is living rightly, not divided, nor being a different person in different circumstances. A person of integrity is the same person in private that he or she is in public. Integrity has the same root word as does the word integrated. A leader of integrity has taken the principles that govern his life, internalized them, and integrated them into every area of his life. Integrity is not like a weathervane that changes direction with every shift of the social winds, as Daniel will soon dramatically demonstrate.
INTEGRITY:"WYSIWYG" stands for "What You See Is What You Get." Congruency between what you verbalize and what you practice. Your "life" matches your "lips"! (Does mine?) cp Jesus' advice - Mt 23:2,3) The essence of integrity is to be on the inside what we appear to be on the outside. Secret indulgences undermine integrity. Public and private behavior are the same. Integrity is what you do when you’re unaware that you’re children are looking and listening. Integrity is who we really are on the inside. A popular book was entitled "Who Are You When Nobody’s Looking?" (This is obviously a secular book because we as believers know that God is ALWAYS looking - Pr 15:3 (See also - Ge 16:13 Dt 11:12 21:9 2Chr 6:20 Ps 33:18 Ps 34:15, Ps 113:6, Ps 139:2,3, Job 34:21, 31:4, Pr 5:21 Jer 16:17, 23:24, 32:19 Zech 4:10 Heb 4:13 1Pe 3:12 Ge 6:8. Related Resources: Omniscience of God; Pr 15:3 The Omnipresence of God - Charles Simeon; William Arnot's comments on Proverbs 15:3, 11 The All-Seeing; Proverbs 15:3 In Depth Commentary on site
Reputation is what men think you are, while character is what God knows you are. Daniel was both. He was not a hypocritical "OT Pharisee". Daniel knew the truth that what a man is in the sight of God (Pr 15:3), is what a man truly is!
1828 Webster's - Integrity comprehends the whole moral character, but has a special reference to uprightness in mutual dealings, transfers of property, and agencies for others. (How's your "integrity quotient"?) Integrity is an unimpaired condition or soundness, adherence to a code of moral values, and the quality or state of being complete and undivided. See also honesty. Integrity means soundness, completeness, honesty. A simple definition of integrity is doing what you say you will do. Does this describe me? The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out. (see also Judgment Seat of Christ)
Related Resources:
The power of personal integrity by Dyer, Charles H - Borrow book
INTEGRITY IS LIKE A SHIELD - A CHRISTIAN'S DEFENSE READ PSALM 26:1-12
Have you ever been blamed for something you didn't do? Leaders often are blamed falsely. The Israelites blamed Moses for lack of water, bitter water, enemies' attacks and lack of food. In this psalm, David is falsely accused, so he takes four steps to deal with his slanderers.
Step 1: An honest examination (Psalm 26:1-3). Human nature does not want to admit it's wrong, but we need to examine ourselves. David walked in integrity. Integrity means "wholeness of character." He also walked in faith, without wavering. We find David open before God, walking in the light and letting God examine him. We would save ourselves a lot of trouble if we would let Him examine us. He wants to teach us what we are really like. If we are right before God, it makes no difference what people say.
Step 2: A holy separation (Psalm 26:4,5). People accused David of being a hypocrite, even though he did not worship false gods. We must obey the biblical doctrine of holy separation (2Cor. 6:14-18).
Step 3: A happy celebration (Psalm 26:6-8). David washed his hands in innocence. He was cleansed by water and blood. He was concerned about praising, loving and glorifying God. Just as Jesus sang before His crucifixion, David sang songs of praise around the altar, the place of sacrifice. Do we sing songs of praise when we have to make sacrifices?
Step 4: A humble determination? (Psalm 26:9-12). David said, "As for me, I will walk in my integrity." When a person has integrity, he has a great defense, a great shield. Character is a marvelous shield against the accusations of men. A good conscience gives us courage in times of difficulty.
The Christian's defense is the grace of God, His Word and His truth. Because of this, we're able to walk. David's foot stood in an even place. He was not standing alone--he was in the congregation. Let's take the same steps David took the next time someone slanders us.
People can hurt you with false accusations, but you need not let slanderers defeat you. If you walk with integrity, your character will shield you. Keep yourself pure and avoid compromising situations. When someone slanders you, God's grace, His Word and His truth will protect you. (Warren Wiersbe - Prayer, Praises, Promises)
SINGLE HEART
PURE HEART
Two songs for your heart
Take a moment to listen to this song, one of my favorites from Craig Smith, entitled Single Heart...
He had only one aim
In placing us here
This is His domain
And His message is clear.
Single heart, Single mind.
My eyes forward all the time.
Single heart, purified.
Undivided, unified.
Single heart, Single mind.
May You find in us,
Solitary trust
May you find a single heart!
Here is another song Pure Heart -- take a moment to ponder your life in light the words sung by Craig Smith and make it your prayer to the Father today:
Over and over I hear it again
That the Father desires pure heart
Not to seek earthly treasure or the favor of man
But to be found with pureness of heart
Chorus
Pure heart is what the Father desires
Holy heart purified by God's holy fire
Broken heart, proven to be faithful and true
Fashion in me a heart that's thirsting for You
Search ever chamber, expose them to me
Create motives of honor and simplicity
May you find faithfulness, integrity
A heart which is worthy for Your eyes to see
Chorus
My only ambition is to stand before You
And find I was pleasing in Your sight
An obedient child of God, faithful and true
Found with pureness of heart
Chorus
Quotes on Integrity
It’s a fact of life that you never know when your integrity will be tested. But is is also true that integrity shines brightest against the backdrop of adversity. People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do.
Satan does not need to accomplish much to destroy integrity. Because integrity has to do with wholeness, even a small chink destroys it. Integrity is a true 24/7 concept. Consistently right choices create (or reveal) integrity. One evil choice creates a fault line of potential catastrophe.
A person of integrity is unimpeachable. He or she stands by principles no matter what the consequences. In fact integrity can cost you a relationship, reputation, promotion, job, even your life.
There are no degrees of honesty.
A good name keeps its brightness even in dark days.
A commentary of the times is that the word honesty is now preceded by old-fashioned.
Do you speak the truth (Biblical truth in love) no matter what people want to hear? That's integrity.
Do you have singleness of heart, of mind, of vision, of purpose? That's integrity. Paul said it this way "one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Php 3:13,14) Integrity manifest a single heart, a single mind, a single eye, a single focus - ONE THING - Integrity presses on toward the goal!
People of biblical integrity tend also to be people with unashamed boldness.
One thing you can give and still keep is your word.
Integrity enjoys God's favor (cp Da 1:9) for He delights in granting special grace and favor to those whose hearts are set on pleasing Him
1Chr 12:33 describes men "with an undivided heart" where undivided heart in Hebrew literally = they were without a heart and a heart! That's Biblical integrity!
Integrity practices what it preaches! If your enemies were out to get you, and did an audit of your lifestyle, could they find room to criticize you? Daniel’s life of utmost integrity was such that his enemies could find nothing with which to accuse and besmirch him! Why did Daniel's enemies know he would defy the King’s law in Daniel 6:10ff? Because Daniel was a man of integrity—he was consistent -- He did not pray to show his integrity, he prayed because of his integrity.
The Bible teaches that a believer's integrity is never for sale and never to be sacrificed.
Do not look upon the vessel, but upon what it holds.
Adrian Rogers - It has well been said that a child rejoices in what he has. A youth rejoices in what he does. But an adult rejoices in what he is. Now whether that's always true or not, I want to say that the more mature you are as a Christian, the more you will rejoice, not in what you have or what you do, but in what you are through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what these beatitudes talk about. (from his message entitled "Integrity: Don't Leave Home Without It." !)
The Puritan writer Thomas Watson might as well have said the following of Daniel - The plainer the diamond the more it sparkles. The plainer the heart is the more it sparkles in God's eyes. (Does you heart "sparkle" in His eyes? cp 2 Chronicles 16:9)
John Blanchard - It is better to go straight than to move in the best of circles.
Henry Ward Beecher - He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Phillips Brooks - A person who lives right and is right has more power in his silence than another has by words. Character is like bells which ring out sweet notes, and which, when touched—accidentally even—resound with sweet music.
G C Newton - Integrity describes a person whose thoughts and private behavior are consistent with their outward profession. The Christian leader with integrity is a person whose heart is set on loving and obeying God, no matter what the cost. (Newton, G. C. Growing toward spiritual maturity. Biblical essentials series. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.)
D A Adams - To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.
John Calvin - Integrity of heart is indispensable.
Dwight D. Eisenhower - The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.
William Feather - Integrity is a good word and those who guide their lives by it will die happy, even though poor.
Samuel Johnson - Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
Oswald Chambers - It is never “do, do” with the Lord, but “be, be,” and he will “do” through you.
Oswald Chambers - Jesus Christ is not teaching ordinary integrity, but supernormal integrity, a likeness to our Father in heaven.
Oswald Chambers - My worth to God in public is what I am in private.
Billy Graham - Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. What our young people want to see in their elders is integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and faith. What they hate most of all is hypocrisy and phoniness. That is why it is important for us to go to church, to read the Bible, and to say grace at the table. Let them see us doing what we would like to see them do.
Shakespeare - This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Shakespeare - What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted.
Abraham Lincoln - I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.
Abraham Lincoln - I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.
Charles Sommons - Integrity is the first step to true greatness.
C H Spurgeon - If we cannot be believed on our word, we are surely not to be trusted on our oath.
C H Spurgeon - If faith does not make a man honest, it is not an honest faith.
A W Tozer - A guileless mind is a great treasure; it is worth any price.
A W Tozer - A free Christian should act from within with a total disregard for the opinions of others. If a course is right, he should take it because it is right, not because he is afraid not to take it. And if it is wrong, he should avoid it though he lose every earthly treasure and even his very life as a consequence.
Thomas Watson - The plainer the diamond the more it sparkles; the plainer the heart is the more it sparkles in God’s eyes.
Shakespeare, Hamlet - Ay, sir; to be honest, as the world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.
Horace Greeley - Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today may curse tomorrow, only one thing endures—character.
John MacArthur - "A person with integrity is one whose thoughts, beliefs, words, and actions are all in perfect harmony. For the Christian, integrity involves having every area of life in submission to the truth of God’s Word, with nothing inconsistent or out of sync. A person with integrity is not like Talkative in Pilgrim’s Progress, who was described by those who knew him as a saint abroad but a devil at home."
Calvin Miller - Dear Christ, make one that which we are and that which we appear to be. Be Lord of naked faces.
Will Rogers - Lead your life so you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.
R C Sproul - "What enables a person to persevere is integrity. Integrity means that we are able to live without compromising what God has made us to be. Integrity enables us to stay on course, instead of panicking and bailing out. Integrity is strengthened through repeated tests. The trials God sends purge us of sin and enable us to mature in integrity."
Scott Morton- Integrity in leadership is inseparable from humility in leadership… Ultimately, our integrity in personal ministry comes from daily honesty with Christ. Don’t depend on someone else to keep you ethical.
Roy Hession - The only basis for real fellowship with God and man is to live out in the open with both.
Chuck Colson used hyperbole (albeit rightly) when said "The three most important ingredients in Christian work are integrity, integrity, integrity."..."Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of trick and duplicity, than straightforward and simple integrity in another."
Selwyn Hughes - Both we and the universe are made for integrity, and both the universe and we are alien to untruth and dishonesty. The whole thrust of the universe which God designed and created is simple, uncomplicated, and built on truth. There are great mysteries, of course, but no lies. Scientific laws are upheld by truth. Gravity, for example, will not lie; it is as true in one country as it is in another, as reliable in Jerusalem as it is in Japan.
Ted Engstromm- People of integrity can be trusted to be faithful. If they promise something, they will do it. Their actions are built on high moral principles. Their words are not spoken for gossip, spreading rumors, tearing others down, or for distorting the truth. People of integrity discover what pleases God—then they do it. Christians with integrity are committed both to hearing God’s Word and to doing what it says.
John MacArthur - In our society, those whose lives are marked by moral soundness, uprightness, honesty, and sincerity are usually thought of as people of integrity. However, society’s standards often fall far short of God’s. Spiritual integrity calls for the highest possible standard of behavior and requires supernatural resources available only to those who trust in Him.
Seek to have a life that bears scrutiny.
The Integrity of George Washington - Verna M Hall describes the incorruptible character of George Washington - "The integrity of (George) Washington was incorruptible. His principles were free from the contamination of selfish and unworthy passions. His real and avowed motives were the same (Ed: Read that description again! Does that describe me?). His ends were always upright, and his means pure. He was a statesman without guile, and his professions, both to his fellow-citizens and to foreign nations, were always sincere. No circumstances ever induced him to use duplicity. He was an example of the distinction which exists between wisdom and cunning; and his manly, open conduct, was an illustration of the soundness of the maxim, "that honesty is the best policy."" (George Washington : The Character and Influence of One Man: Foundation for American Christian Education) For the Christian, honesty is not the best policy it is the only one. Washington once said "I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."
The Integrity of Lincoln
Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 1 Peter 3:16
When Abraham Lincoln was 24 years old, he served as the postmaster of New Salem, Illinois, earning about $60 a year. Even then, Lincoln exhibited the character that made him one of history's greatest leaders and earned him the title: "Honest Abe." The post office in New Salem closed in 1836, but several years would pass before an agent from the nation's capital arrived to settle the accounts with Lincoln, who was struggling in his new profession as a lawyer. The agent handed Lincoln a bill totaling $17. Lincoln grabbed the bill, headed across the room and opened an old box. He pulled out a tiny, yellow sack tied at the top with a string. Abe untied it, and spread out the sack, revealing $17. For all these years, he'd been holding it untouched. "I never use any man's money but my own," he said. Integrity is a vital virtue, especially in the life of believers. Often, brothers and sisters in the Lord show a poor testimony, because they fail to keep their commitments. They cut corners at work, fail to pay their bills on time, or even cheat the Lord on their tithe. When the world examines the Gospel, they will inspect our lives for character. They will see if we practice what we preach. Our children will watch us closely to see if the faith we speak about is a reality. Take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself this question: Are you a person of integrity? (James Scudder - Living Water)
Few persons are made of such strong fiber that they will make a costly outlay when surface work will pass as well in the market. - E.M. Bounds
Abraham Lincoln aka "Honest Abe" - Mary Todd Lincoln once wrote to a friend that "Mr. Lincoln . . . is almost monomaniac on the subject of honesty." The future president was first called "Honest Abe" when he was working as a young store clerk in New Salem, Ill. According to one story, whenever he realized he had shortchanged a customer by a few pennies, he would close the shop and deliver the correct change-regardless of how far he had to walk. People recognized his integrity and were soon asking him to act as judge or mediator in various contests, fights, and arguments. According to Robert Rutledge of New Salem, "Lincoln's judgment was final in all that region of country. People relied implicitly upon his honesty, integrity, and impartiality." (Click here to read more fascinating examples of "Honest Abe's" Integrity. - recommended reading for all Americans!)
Taking Inventory - Integrity is a key issue to consider while making our inventory. We need to ask ourselves where we are still in hiding. If we are making renewed vows, saying God ordained a specific course, perhaps we would do well to ask ourselves why we need all the extra endorsements. Integrity will be the natural result of making an honest inventory of ourselves. (The Life Recovery Devotional)
John MacArthur - Integrity (from the Latin word integer, “entire”) may be defined as the condition or quality of being undivided. It describes those who adhere to their ethical or moral standards without hypocrisy or duplicity. People with integrity lead lives that are one with their stated convictions; they what they preach.” They are honest, sincere, and incorruptible. In biblical terms, those with integrity are “above reproach”—a quality that is to characterize all believers (Php 2:15-note; 1 Ti 5:7), but especially elders (1 Ti 3:2; Titus 1:6, 7-note).The Bible stresses the value of integrity by condemning hypocrisy. Jesus repeatedly denounced the religious leaders of His day as hypocrites (Mt. 6:2-note, Mt 6:5-note, Mt 6:16-note; Mt 15:7; 22:18; Lk 12:1, 56; 13:15). Matthew 23 records His blistering malediction on the scribes and Pharisees for their lack of integrity, because “they say things and do not do them” (Mt 23:3). After a series of curses, each introduced by the phrase “woe to you” (Mt 23:13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29), and after repeatedly denouncing them as hypocrites, Jesus concluded with a stern rebuke: “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Mt 23:33). (MacArthur, J: 2Corinthians. Chicago: Moody Press) (See his online sermon A Ministry of Integrity which discusses Biblical examples like Job and David; The Power of Integrity Building a Life Without Compromise)
Integrity in the Bible - Study the 27 uses of the English word integrity in the NAS - Ge 20:5, 6; Jdg 9:16, 19; 1Kgs 9:4; 1Chr 29:17; Job 2:3, 9; 4:6; 8:20; 27:5; 31:6; Ps 7:8-note; Ps 15:2-note; Ps 25:21-note; Ps 26:1-note, Ps 26:11-note; Ps 41:12-note; Ps 78:72-note; Ps 101:2-note; Pr 2:7; 10:9; 11:3; 19:1; 20:7; 28:6; Amos 5:10
What Will Be Your Legacy? - Fathers and mothers (but especially us as fathers for we are accountable to God to be the godly leaders of our families) read (and heed) Solomon's advice (something that he seems to himself have failed to heed! Witness his son - 1Ki 11:43, 12:7,8, 13)…
A righteous man who walks in his integrity. How blessed are his sons after him. (Proverbs 20:7)
Charles Bridges comments - The faithful man is here fully drawn—rich in the blessing of his God. Take the history of the father of the faithful—Abraham was the just man—accepted with God, and “walking before him” in his integrity. And did not the covenant of his God engage an everlasting blessing for his children after him? And thus does every child of Abraham, walking in the same integrity, secure “an inheritance for his children’s children.” It is ‘not however for the merits of the parents, that they deserve it; but such is the mercy of God to the root and the branches, that, because the fathers are loved, their children also are embraced.’4 But we must show our integrity, as did our father Abraham, in the practical habit of faith; not only “taking hold of the covenant” on our children’s behalf, but bringing them under the yoke of the covenant. Christian parents!—let integrity as before God, be the standard of our family responsibility. Walk not according to the maxims of the world yourselves, nor allow them in your children. Make God’s word—his whole word—our universal rule; his ways—however despised—our daily portion. “Seek first,” for our children as for ourselves, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Thus walking in our integrity—look for the honored blessing of being the parents of a godly race. Our children are blessed after us.
WHAT TO LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN - C H Spurgeon (From Faith's Checkbook on Proverbs 20:7)
ANXIETY about our family is natural, but we shall be wise if we turn it into care about our own character. If we walk before the Lord in integrity, we shall do more to bless our descendants than if we bequeathed them large estates. A father’s holy life is a rich legacy for his sons. The upright man leaves his heirs his example, and this in itself will be a mine of true wealth. How many me may trace their success in life to the example of their parents!
He leaves them also his repute. Men think all the better of us as the sons of a man who could be trusted, the successors of a tradesman of excellent repute. Oh, that all young men were anxious to keep up the family name!
Above all, he leaves his children his prayers and the blessing of a prayer-hearing God, and these make our offspring to be favored among the sons of men. God will save them even after we are dead. Oh, that they might be saved at once!
Our integrity may be God’s means of saving our sons and daughters. If they see the truth of our religion proved by our lives, it may be that they will believe in Jesus for themselves. Lord, fulfill this word to my household!
THE POWER TO LIVE WITH INTEGRITY - At its very core integrity is living like Jesus lived and our fallen flesh is intractably opposed to living like Jesus. The only way to do this is to daily yield to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to fill (control) us and empower us so that we are then able to walk by the Spirit and conduct ourselves with integrity. Read the following Scriptures and observe where the power to live with integrity come from. Eph 5:18, Gal 5:16-17, Gal 2:20-note, Php 2:12-note, Php 2:13-note, Php 4:13-note (But check the context - Php 4:11, 12-note), Col. 3:16-note,, Col 3:17-note, 1 Th 5:23,24-note. 2 Ti 1:7-note,, 2 Ti 2:1-note.
A clear conscience is a prime benefit of integrity, and it enables one to stand firm when the storms of life come upon us. If your heart does not condemn you, but affirms you, you can be a tower of strength for "The man of integrity walks securely" (Pr 10:9) where the Hebrew for "securely" means safety, security, place of refuge; feeling of trust, assurance, without concern, confidence. A person of integrity will have a good reputation and not have to fear that he or she will be exposed or found out. Integrity provides a safe path through life.
Lose all rather than lose your integrity, and when all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal… Serve God with integrity, and if you achieve no success, at least no sin will lie upon your conscience. Spurgeon - Morning and Evening.
Integrity is Attractive - There is an evangelistic magnetism in integrity (Think of the effect of Daniel on the lives of King Nebuchadnezzar and King Darius) Every day we rub shoulders with people who are watching. Here in Daniel 6 we see that some are watching who the become jealous, but others are attracted to what they observe. When Christ is our life and He is living through us (think of integer = one - Christ is in us, we are in Covenant with Him, we are "one" with Him, and when we walk in integrity, that "oneness" with Christ becomes obvious to others!), we become an aroma of life to some but an aroma of death to others (see 2Cor 2:14, 15, 16). The integrity of a believer's life will demonstrate to the lost world whether Christianity is true or false. They make value judgments about us by our attitudes and actions. Have we made the right choices? Remember we may be the "only Bible" those around us will ever read! What is the "Gospel" according to __________ (your name here)? In other words, people around us often judge the truthfulness of Christianity by its affect in our lives. If they see Christians as duplicitous, as hypocrites, etc, they may not go any further in their investigation of the gospel.
Jesus is the supreme model of integrity. His enemies, even in their flattery, could only declare, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth" (Mk 12:14). So one thing integrity means is that we speak the truth no matter what people want to hear.
As the perfect model of integrity He alone could declare "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). His will was so integrated with the will of His Father that there was no division of mind or heart (think "integer") Believers have been redeemed and are in the oneness of the New Covenant relationship that we are also to be so integrated, to be conformed to the image of God in Christ.
D. L. Moody wisely said, “Character is what a man is in the dark.” Live your life above reproach so that your integrity will illuminate the darkness.
Synonyms and Antonyms for Integrity - A few words that are synonymous with integrity = conscientious, honest, principled, true, honorable, noble, just, scrupulous, upright, blameless, aboveboard, forthright, straightforward, open, authentic, trustworthy, incorruptible, moral, upstanding, fair-minded.
A few words describing the opposite of integrity beginning with "d" = devious, deceitful, dissembling, doubletalk, double-minded, duplicitous, dishonest, double-dealing, deceptive, delusive, defrauding! The opposite of integrity is corruption (Daniel was incorruptible). This person lives in contradiction; without an integrating core one’s conduct is marked by a host of "d" words!
How Important is Integrity? - One tiny piece of dirt in the carburetor can prevent a powerful otherwise well tuned truck from successfully climbing a mountain. This is a rather small impurity but it is all-important in making the ascent. In the same way, one tiny lapse in our integrity can have a great impact on our spiritual trek.
In the book of Daniel, we read that Daniel began distinguishing himself (Daniel 6:3) - Why? Because he possessed an extraordinary spirit. Do you your work with excellence as unto the Lord, as if He were the One "inspecting" your work? (see Col 3:17-note, Col 3:23, 24-note = How is this possible? We need to obey the command to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly! Col 3:16-note, which relates to being filled with the Spirit, Eph 5:18-note, which relates to doing our doing our work heartily).
Proverbs 19:1 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity Than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.
Charles Bridges - POVERTY is never a disgrace, except when it is the fruit of ill-conduct. But when adorned with godly integrity, it is most honorable. Better is the poor man than he, whom riches lift up in his own eyes; and he is given up to his perverseness and folly. Often man puts under his feet those, whom God lays in his bosom; honors the perverse for their riches, and despises the poor for their poverty. ‘But what hath the rich, if he hath not God? And what is a poor man, if he hath God? Better be in a wilderness with God, than in Canaan without him.’ Was not Job on the dunghill, walking in his integrity, better than ungodly Ahab on the throne? Was not Lazarus in his rags, better than Dives with his “fine linen and sumptuous fare?” Calculate wisdom by God’s standard, who judges not by station, but by character. Estimate things in the light of eternity. How soon will all accidental distinctions pass away, and personal distinctions alone avail! Death will strip the poor of his rags, and the rich of his purple, and bring them both “naked to the earth from whence they came.”6 Meanwhile let us learn from our Lord’s voice to his despised people.—“I know thy poverty; but thou art rich.” How glorious the stamp upon the outcast professors walking in their integrity—“Of whom the world was not worthy—For such is prepared the honor that cometh from God only—his seal—his smiles—his everlasting crown.
Hebrew word for integrity = tom - "tōm: A masculine noun meaning completeness, integrity. This word is used in Job to describe how a man could die, i.e., in complete security (Job 21:23). When Absalom invited two hundred men from Jerusalem to his party, the word denoted that the men did not have any idea of what was about to happen (2 Sam. 15:11). In Genesis, Abimelech acted with a clear conscience after Abraham stated that Sarah was his sister (Gen. 20:5, 6). In a statement of wisdom, Proverbs uses the word to indicate that righteousness guards the person of integrity (Prov. 13:6); while the psalmist asks that his integrity and uprightness protect him because his hope is in the Lord (Ps. 25:21).
David a man after God's own heart prayed for integrity in Ps 86:11 and also asked that his integrity be examined, tried and tested (!) in Psalm 26…
Teach me Thy way, O LORD; I will walk in Thy truth; Unite my heart to fear Thy name. (Note: NIV, NRSV translates it "give me an undivided heart")
Read AN UNDIVIDED HEART or more in depth GIVE ME AN UNDIVIDED HEART
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. (Ps 26:1, 2) (Verbs in red are imperatives = commands)
Wiersbe comments: Integrity means that your life is whole, that your heart is not divided. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters" (Mt. 6:24-note). That's integrity. Duplicity means trying to serve two masters. Our Lord also said that nobody can look in two directions at the same time. If your eye is single, then your body is full of light. But if your eye is double, watch out. The darkness is coming in (Mt. 6:22,23-note). If you look at the darkness and the light simultaneously, the darkness crowds out the light. (Warren Wiersbe. Prayer, Praise and Promises).
This idea of an undivided heart is also found in the following passages - Mt 6:24-note, Jas 1:6-note, Jas 4:8-note Lk 16:13; cp. 1Ki 18:21; 2Ki 17:41; Ga 1:10] David prays for a single-mindedness, a single focus, a heart not focused with one "eye" on the world's delectables and the other on heaven's divinity. (cp Jesus' desire that our "eye be single, [and then] thy whole body shall be full of light." Mt 6:22-note)
OLD TESTAMENT MEN OF INTEGRITY - Several Old Testament characters (just a sample not an all inclusive list) are designated persons of integrity (yes, even Jacob! There's hope [and sufficient grace] for ALL of us! Forget what lies behind beloved! Don't be weighed down by internal accusations that you've already "blown" your chance to live a life of integrity. That is a lie from the accuser of our souls (Rev 12:10):
Noah (Gen. 6:9); These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
Abraham (Ge 17:1); Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.
Jacob (Ge 25:27); When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
Job (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3); (1:1) There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil....(1:8) And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”...(2:3) And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause.”
David (1 Kings 9:4) “And as for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances,
It is interesting that Jesus did not use the word "integrity" but he did use terms and phrases that are virtually synonymous when he called for purity of heart (Mt. 5:8), singleness of purpose (Mt. 6:22), and purity of motive (Mt. 6:1-6).
What does integrity look like in practice?
Do you refuse to compromise with the enemy when you’re under stress? That's integrity.
Do you fulfill your commitments, and are you devoted to your duties? That's integrity
Are you in constant, untiring pursuit of truth? Do you, in short, "ring true"? That's integrity
When you die and people file out of the church after your memorial service, will they comment, "He said what he meant and meant what he said"? Will they say, "You knew where he stood," or "You could trust him," or "You could count on him"? Will someone say, "He had integrity"?
Warren Wiersbe - “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD!” (Ps 119:1). Undefiled means “people who are blameless, those who have integrity.” Integrity is the opposite of duplicity and hypocrisy, which is the pretense to be something we are not. If we have integrity, our whole lives are built around the Word of God. The psalmist says, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” (Ps 119:2). Are you wholeheartedly into the Word of God? In the Bible, heart refers to the inner person, and that includes the mind. “I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments” (Ps 119:7). It also includes the will. “I will keep Your statutes” (Ps 119:8). In other words, when you give your whole heart, mind, and will to the Word of God, it starts to put your life together. Is your life or your home “falling apart” today? Turn to the Word of God. The Bible has one Author—God. It has one theme—Jesus Christ. It has one message—the salvation of your soul. And it has one blessing to bring—a life of integrity. The Word of God is a powerful spiritual resource. Its truth feeds your soul. As you walk in the life of faith, the Holy Spirit uses the Bible to minister to you. Get into the Word and allow it to make you whole and build integrity into your life.
Ten elements that make up personal integrity—and the Bible personalities who exemplified them—are honesty (Daniel), compassion (Boaz), wisdom (Solomon), self-control (Timothy), joy (Paul), trust (Abraham), faithfulness (Caleb and Joshua), balance (Mary and Martha), sexual purity (Joseph), and endurance (Job).
In his book I Surrender: Submitting to Christ in the Details of Life, Patrick Morley writes that the church’s integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior." He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance."
Maintenance of personal integrity calls for us to be diligent to watch over our hearts (every day) as Solomon commands in Pr 4:23 - See In depth discussion on Proverbs 4:23
Drawing a Line - G. K. Chesterton spoke to the need to discipline ourselves for godliness (1Ti 4:7, 8-note) by guarding our hearts writing that "Morality, like art, consists in drawing a line somewhere!" Dear reader, given the brevity of our life on earth and the length of eternity with Christ, is their some "line" you need to draw (enabled by the Spirit of grace, not by your flesh trying to keep the law) in your life? Are you willing to pray Psalm 139:23, 24? Beloved, a short time loss of some ungodly fulfillment, simply cannot be compared to the eternal glory wrought by our temporal obedience (not that we merit anything glorious from God! But He has ordained to bless our Spirit enabled obedience not only in this life but in the life to come. See 1 Timothy 4:8-)! So let me ask you again since you've read this far -- is there a "line" you need to draw in your life?
Warren Wiersbe on Integrity - We must be careful to protect our own personal integrity. When integrity goes, then character starts to decay; when character goes, we've lost everything important. No matter what you may possess—money, popularity, talent, friends—if you don't have character, you don't have anything. But character depends on integrity. People with integrity are people who are honest with themselves, with others, and with God. They don't wear masks and they don't waste energy pretending to be what they aren't. They're not afraid of what others may find out about them because they have nothing to hide. The alternative to integrity is hypocrisy, and that eventually leads to duplicity—becoming two persons inside, neither of whom knows the other. Without inner wholeness, we can't function successfully in life or enjoy all that God wants us to enjoy. We must cultivate integrity. That means knowing God, God's forgiveness, God's truth, God's church, and God's love. John's First Epistle is a guidebook for the kind of personal integrity that comes from a faithful walk with Jesus Christ, what John calls "walking in the light." No shadows—nothing to hide. As you ponder this letter these next thirty days, you can discover the joyful inner healing that comes from being exposed to the loving light of God's truth and being honest with God. I pray that this will indeed be your experience. (Pause for Power - If you would like to do a study on integrity Wiersbe uses the book of First John to walk the reader through 30 daily devotionals all on the subject of integrity.)
Gritty Integrity - "In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1).Lord Byron was on target when he wrote: "Truth is always strange; stranger than fiction." The Book of Job is not religious fiction. Job was a real person, not an imaginary character; both Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and James 5:11 attest to that. Because he was a real man who had real experiences, he can tell us what we need to know about life and its problems in this real world. Job was "blameless and upright." He was not sinless, for nobody can claim that distinction; but he was complete and mature in character and "straight" in conduct. The word translated "blameless" is related to "integrity," another important word throughout the Book of Job. People with integrity are whole persons, without hypocrisy or duplicity. In the face of his friends' accusations and God's silence, Job maintained his integrity; and the Lord ultimately vindicated him. The foundation for Job's character was the fact that he "feared God and shunned evil." To fear the Lord means to respect who He is, what He says, and what He does. It is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master but the loving reverence of a child before a father, a respect that leads to obedience. "The remarkable thing about fearing God," said Oswald Chambers, "is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else." Applying God's Truth: 1. What things would you need to do before other people considered you blameless? 2. Can you think of a recent situation where you considered compromising your integrity? If not, can you think of any situation where you might? 3. Would you say that you fear God? Explain. (Pause for Power)
Can You Be Trusted?
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. Genesis 39:2
When studying the life of Joseph, the most glaring characteristic of his life was that of integrity. Wherever he went, whatever situation he was thrust into, Joseph could be trusted. Not only was he reliable in the duties that his superiors gave him, but he also demonstrated leadership to those around him. Trust is an almost forgotten trait in our win-at-all-costs world. Backstabbing, lying, cheating, and fraud are all regularly used in order to advance. Sadly, many employers have a hard time finding people who can be trusted to work hard and get their work accomplished. Too often, Christians fall prey to worldly pressure to be dishonest and untrustworthy. Often, we are anchors in our churches, but unreliable at the secular workplace. We regard our job as unimportant. We treat our superiors at work with little respect and are often willing to cheat the employer if it suits our desires. We must realize that the workplace is where God put us to be a light to the world. How we act, what we say, and how hard we work reflects on the God we serve. Our fellow employees will judge God by our character. A lack of integrity discredits God's name and may drive a co-worker away from the Lord. Let me ask you: Can your employer trust you? Do you brush off your career as "just a job"? I challenge you to demonstrate integrity to your co-workers. It may be the only light they ever see. (James Scudder - Living Water)
Live on Monday like you appear to be on Sunday.
The Price of Integrity
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. Genesis 39:2
Often, in Christianity we hear that the surest path to success in life is to follow God. This is true and biblical. There are times, though, that doing the right thing will hurt us, sometimes greatly. Joseph's life was a demonstration of this principle. Young Joseph, living alone in a strange land, was suddenly tempted by his master's wife to commit adultery. Joseph, a man of integrity, refused because the act would be a tremendous sin against God. Joseph did the right thing. He didn't just refuse once, but many, many times. Not only did Joseph refuse to commit adultery, but he was also a hard-working, efficient employee for Potiphar. Everything that he handled in this royal house prospered. Yet, for all his character and courage, Joseph was wrongly accused and sent to prison. Had he given in to temptation, he would have kept his position in Egypt. At the moment, doing right seemed to be a wrong move. As the story continues, we know that God blessed Joseph and placed him in high authority in the Egyptian Kingdom. Integrity has a price. Often it may cost us our job, position, and our friends. It usually seems worthless. But, I've discovered that the price of not doing right is much more painful than the sacrifice made for doing right. Are you struggling with an issue of character? Are you being tempted to sin against God in your workplace, in your marriage, or in your ministry? Will you pay the price of integrity? (James Scudder - Living Water)
People observe your character by observing
what you fall for; stand for, and lie for.
Always Test for Integrity -
"Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach."—1 Timothy 3:1-2
At 7:00 PM, on September 27, 1994, the 510-foot deep-sea ferry 'Estonia' left the port Tallinn, Estonia, en route to Stockholm, Sweden. One hundred sixty-two crewmembers and 897 passengers were onboard for the overnight voyage. The ferry had been crossing the Baltic Sea for over a decade, the crew was experienced, and nothing indicated that there was any danger to the ship. At 8:30 P.M. the Estonia encountered rough weather. Rain and high seas slowed the ferry and pummeled its hull. At midnight water was observed pouring through the front-loading cargo doors. Pumps were activated immediately but within fifteen minutes the crew was overwhelmed by the water surging in. At 1:24 A.M. the ship sent a distress call. It had started listing and continued to take on water. At 2:00 A.M. the ship went down sixty miles from Stockholm. The sinking of the Estonia claimed 921 lives. Only 138 people survived. Before the Estonia sailed two Swedish safety inspectors had spent five hours examining her seaworthiness. They noted damaged and worn rubber seals around the front-loading cargo doors. These problems were written up but the lead inspector did not think they affected the ship's seaworthiness. Ships, like leaders, must have integrity. The Estonia failed the integrity test. Our church leaders must also have integrity. It is incumbent that we select our leaders not on their social status but by the measure of their integrity. This week pray that the church will select leaders of integrity. (From Generation to Generation - Peter Kennedy)
"Ministers, in order that they be shining lights, should walk closely with God and keep near to Christ. They should spend much time with him in prayer."—Jonathan Edwards
PRAY FOR
INTEGRITY
If we would be men and women of integrity we would be wise to continually let the words of David as be the sincere prayer of our heart…
Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity;
And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Examine me, O LORD, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.
Ps 26:1-note, Ps 26:2-note
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
Ps 139:23-note, Ps 139:24-note
The late esteemed Baptist preacher Adrian Rogers once asked…
Does character count? It does if there is a God in glory - a God Who helped our founders establish this nation, and Who has sustained this nation and brought us thus far. (Read his entire answer = Does Character Count)
Pray for revival
Prepare for survival
Get ready for arrival!
Solomon asks…
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before obscure men. (Pr 22:29)
Comment: Remember that this is a proverb, not a promise, and your good work in the Lord's sight (Who will reward you in this life and/or the next) may not always be perceived as "good" in the eyes of your pagan peers or superiors. Irregardless to how men respond, we need to heed Paul's command…
Whatever you do, do your work (present imperative = command to make this our habitual practice… LIKE DANIEL!) heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve (cp Da 6:20 "servant of the living God"!). (Col 3:23, 24-note)
Integrity Will be Tested - A pastor preached a sermon on honesty one Sunday. On Monday morning he took the bus to get to his office. He paid the fare, and the bus driver gave him back too much change. During the rest of the journey, the pastor was rationalizing how God had provided him with some extra money he needed for the week. But he just could not live with himself, and before he got off the bus he said to the driver, "You have made a mistake. You’ve given me too much change." And he proceeded to give him back the extra money. The driver smiled and said, "There was no mistake. I was at your church yesterday and heard you preach on honesty. So I decided to put you to a test this morning." Integrity - one's deeds match one's words!
Integrity League - Read: Psalm 26
He who walks with integrity walks securely. —Proverbs 10:9
We call it the Integrity League, but it’s really just a bunch of guys who get together at lunchtime to play basketball. We call fouls on ourselves, attempt to avoid angry outbursts, and simply try to keep everything fair and enjoyable. We are competitive and we don’t like to lose—but we all agree that integrity and honesty should control the atmosphere.
Integrity. Scripture clearly indicates the importance of this trait. And we honor the God of our lives when we practice it. Through His Word, God has given us clear reasons to “walk in . . . integrity” (Ps. 26:11). A person who has integrity has the security of a quiet life unknown to the one who “perverts his ways” (Prov. 10:9). The follower of God who lives with integrity is preserved by his confidence in God, for that person waits for God’s intervention in his life instead of running ahead of Him (Ps. 25:21). And the one who practices integrity will be given guidance and clear direction (Pr. 11:3). Why should we care about life’s “Integrity League”? Because obeying God this way shows that we trust Him with our lives and that we want to shine His great love on others. - Dave Branon
Dear Father, help my word be true. Help my actions be honest. Help my life to reflect Your holiness and shine God’s light for all to see. Help me to live with integrity.
Integrity is Christlike character in work clothes.
Dr W H Houghton, pastored the Calvary Baptist Church in NYC and later served as president of Moody Bible Institute. When Dr. Houghton became pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle in Atlanta, a man in that city hired a private detective to follow Dr. Houghton and report on his conduct. After a few weeks, the detective was able to report to the man that Dr. Houghton’s life matched his preaching. As a result of Houghton's faithful life, a life of integrity, that man became a Christian.
An Honest Heart - Read: Psalm 15
I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. —1 Chronicles 29:17
I came across an epitaph on an old gravestone in a cemetery the other day. It read,“J. Holgate: An honest man.” I know nothing of Holgate’s life, but because his marker is unusually ornate, he must have struck it rich. But whatever he accomplished in his lifetime, he’s remembered for just one thing: He was “an honest man.” Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, spent a lifetime in search of honesty and finally concluded that an honest man could not be found. Honest people are hard to find in any age, but the trait is one that greatly matters. Honesty is not the best policy; it’s the only policy, and one of the marks of a man or woman who lives in God’s presence. David writes, “Lord, . . . who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly” (Ps. 15:1-2). I ask myself: Am I trustworthy and honorable in all my affairs? Do my words ring true? Do I speak the truth in love or do I fudge and fade the facts now and then, or exaggerate for emphasis? If so, I may turn to God with complete confidence and ask for forgiveness and for a good and honest heart—to make truthfulness an integral part of my nature. The One who has begun a good work in me is faithful. He will do it. - David Roper
Lord, help me to be honest
In all I do and say,
And grant me grace and power
To live for You each day.
—Fitzhugh
Live in such a way that when people think of honesty and integrity,
they will think of you.
INSIGHT: David calls God’s people to live a life of integrity and purity (Ps. 15:2). He describes the upright as those who do what is right and who speak truthfully and honestly. Sincere, open, and transparent, they do not slander, discredit, or harm their friends (Ps 15:3). They honor those who fear God and keep their promises even when it is not advantageous to do so (Ps 15:4). They do not take advantage of others, but act justly and fairly (Ps 15:5).
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Ed comment: If you had to write your epitaph, what would you say? In fact you are "writing your epitaph" today with the choices you make and by the way you live out those choices. Your friends and family will remember you for something, what will it be? May our earnest desire be that when we are laid to rest our life will have earned the epitaph—He/she was a man/a woman of Integrity. True be told, when it is all said and done, integrity is all that really counts.
God’s Moral Integrity - Read: Nahum 1:1-8
The Lord avenges and is furious. . . . The Lord is good, . . . and He knows those who trust in Him. —Nahum 1:2,7
Bertrand Russell became an atheist after he read the words of Jesus about hell. He apparently wanted a God who would never become angry or punish anyone. Dr. Russell certainly wouldn’t like today’s Scripture reading, which speaks of God as One who “avenges and is furious.”
Personally, I would have trouble believing in a God who never became angry and didn’t punish sin. Such a God would not be a good God. What would you think, for example, of a witness to a brutal murder who felt no emotion and remained indifferent toward punishing the wrongdoer? Would you consider such a person a good person? Hardly! God gives us a free will and usually doesn’t stop us from carrying out our wrong choices. But He does hold us accountable, and He will judge us. In Nahum’s day, the Ninevites were a cruel people who committed unbelievable atrocities. But the prophet assured the Israelites that God saw the wickedness of those people, was angered by it, and would justly punish them. I’m thankful that God possesses that kind of moral integrity. It gives me reason to trust Him to keep all His promises, and it assures me that He will right all the wrongs of history. - Herbert VanderLugt
Sometimes it seems that sin’s ignored
And evil has its way;
But don’t be fooled, God’s eyes aren’t closed;
He’ll judge us all someday. —Sper
God’s judgment may not be immediate,
but it is inevitable.
A Passion For Integrity - Read: Genesis 39:1-12
How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? —Genesis 39:9
A newspaper reported an unusual incident at a fast-food restaurant. The manager had put the day’s cash in a paper bag for deposit that night, but an attendant mistook it for an order and gave it to a couple at the drive-through window. A short time later, when the man and woman opened the bag in a nearby park, they were shocked by its contents. They immediately drove back to return it. The manager had reported a robbery, so police cars and a TV crew were on the scene. How relieved he was to get the money back! He said to the couple, “You should be featured on the evening news for your honesty.” “Oh, please, no publicity!” replied the man nervously. “She’s not my wife.” To be honest with another’s money but dishonest with another’s spouse isn’t being consistent. Moral soundness in one’s whole character is called integrity. This character quality was clearly evident in the life of Joseph. Potiphar had entrusted all he owned to Joseph (Gen. 39:6). And when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, Joseph maintained his integrity by refusing her advances (Ge 39:8-12). It cost him dearly, but ultimately it yielded great rewards (Ge 41:37-50:26).
Lord, give us a passion for that kind of integrity. - Dennis J. De Haan
Sift the substance of my life,
Filtering out the sin and strife;
Leave me, Lord, a purer soul,
Cleansed and sanctified and whole.
—Lemon
A person of integrity has nothing to hide.
Communicating Integrity - Read: Psalm 26:1-12
As for me, I will walk in my integrity. —Psalm 26:11
One side of Harry Elders’ business card had a photo of his smiling face. On the other side was his motto: “Integrity Can Be Communicated.”
For half a century, Harry worked as a narrator and actor in radio and TV. One of his favorite ongoing projects was Unshackled, a Chicago-based radio show dramatizing conversions to Christ. But whether he was narrating a film about foreign missions or a promotional video for a bank, his integrity permeated everything he did. There was no conflict between his walk and his talk. When you hired Harry, you got all of him—virtue, kindness, and principle.
After Harry died, a local newspaper had a column of tribute titled: “A voice of integrity is silenced, but its messages will live on.”
People like Harry remind us of what David wrote in Psalm 26. It begins and ends with integrity: “I have walked in my integrity” (v.1), and “I will walk in my integrity” (v.11). In between these statements he wrote, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart” (v.2). David’s desire was to be pure before the Lord so that he could worship and tell of all His wondrous works (vv.6-7).
Integrity can be communicated—when we are true to the Lord everywhere, all the time. - David McCasland
Lord, help me put away deceit
And live a life that's true—
And may there be integrity
In all I say and do. —Sper
There is no legacy as rich as integrity.
Integrity 101 - Read: Psalm 101
I will behave wisely in a perfect way...I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. —Psalm 101:2
Officials in Philadelphia were astonished to receive a letter and payment from a motorist who had been given a speeding ticket in 1954. John Gedge, an English tourist, had been visiting the City of Brotherly Love when he was cited for speeding. The penalty was $15, but Gedge forgot about the ticket for almost 52 years until he discovered it in an old coat. “I thought, I’ve got to pay it,” said Gedge, 84, who now lives in a nursing home in East Sussex. “Englishmen pay their debts. My conscience is clear.”
This story reminded me of the psalmist David’s commitment to integrity. Although he made some terrible choices in his life, Psalm 101 declares his resolve to live blamelessly. His integrity would begin in the privacy of his own house (Ps 101:2) and extend to his choice of colleagues and friends (Ps 101:6-7). In sharp contrast to the corrupt lives of most kings of the ancient Near East, David’s integrity led him to respect the life of his sworn enemy, King Saul (1 Sam. 24:4-6; 26:8-9).
As followers of Jesus, we are called to walk in integrity and to maintain a clear conscience. When we honor our commitments to God and to others, we will walk in fellowship with God. Our integrity will guide us (Prov. 11:3) and help us walk securely (Pr 10:9). - Marvin Williams
Lord, cleanse my heart of all deceit
And teach me to be true;
Help me to have integrity
In all I say and do.
—Sper
There is no better test of a man’s integrity
than his behavior when he is wrong.
Integrity—Is It Possible? - Read: Psalm 119:121-128
Give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies. —Psalm 119:125
Samuel DiPiazza, CEO of a major public accounting firm, co-authored a book on building trust in the business world. The book proposes a spirit of transparency, a culture of accountability, and a people of integrity. But in an interview in Singapore, he noted there is one thing the book cannot teach—integrity. “Either you have it or you don’t,” he said.
Is he right? In our world of shifting standards, can integrity be acquired by those who don’t have it? The answer is found in our unchanging standard—God’s Word, the Bible. David the psalmist did not head a multinational corporation. But he did rule over a kingdom, and he was serious about doing what was right. He recognized how easy it is to slide down the slippery path of unethical behavior simply because it seems advantageous. So David asked God, “Teach me Your statutes” (Ps. 119:124). “Give me understanding,” he said, “that I may know Your testimonies” (Ps 119:125). David hated “every false way,” and based his life on the principle that “all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right” (Ps 119:128).
No one is born with godly character. But by studying God’s Word and listening to His Holy Spirit, we can learn to hate falsehood and love integrity. - C. P. Hia
For Further Study - How can faith flourish in a hostile work environment? Read Daniel: Spiritual Living In A Secular Culture
The measure of a man's character is
what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.
—Macauley
Wesley Pippert offers the following wise advice:
One of the most effective disciplines I know is not to do something that first time — for repetition will come far easier… Not doing something for the first time is a tremendous bulwark against not doing it later. As moral philosopher Sissela Bok has said in her book, Lying (New York: Pantheon, 1978, p. 28),
It is easy to tell a lie but hard to tell only one.
Discipline will help us avoid the guilt that we often experience by dabbling in things we shouldn’t.
An important fruit of discipline
is integrity.
Few things are more important than whether one has a good reputation, a “good name.” Not all people are gregarious or outgoing. Not all people are sought after or loveable. But everyone can have integrity. Integrity flows more out of a disciplined character than a daring personality. (From Letters to Graduates - Myrna Grant) (This quote is from a book I would highly recommend by Kent Hughes - see Google excerpt from Hughes on Integrity - Disciplines of a Godly Man - see also excerpt below from same source - enter page 123 for Chapter 10 - "Discipline of Integrity")
THE DAY AMERICA Told the Truth, a new book based on an extensive opinion survey which guaranteed the anonymity of the participants, reveals an alarming crisis of integrity in America. Only 13 percent of Americans see all Ten Commandments as binding on us today. Ninety-one percent lie regularly — at home and at work. In answer to the question, “Whom have you regularly lied to?” the statistics included 86 percent to parents and 75 percent to friends. A third of AIDS carriers admit to not having told their lovers. Most workers admit to goofing off for an average of seven hours — almost one whole day — a week, and half admit that they regularly call in sick when they are perfectly well… The truth is, American culture is in big trouble. The colossal slide of integrity (especially masculine ethics) has grim spiritual, domestic, and political implications which threaten the survival of life as we know it.
But for the Christian, the most chilling fact is this: there is little statistical difference between the ethical practices of the religious and the nonreligious. Doug Sherman and William Hendricks, in their book Keeping Your Ethical Edge Sharp, note Gallup’s statistics that 43 percent of non-church attenders admit to pilfering work supplies, compared to 37 percent of attenders. Seventeen percent of the unchurched use the company phone for long-distance personal calls, but 13 percent of those who attend worship do likewise. But is this true of real Christians? we may ask. Sherman and Hendricks answer yes. The general ethical conduct of Christians varies only slightly from non-Christians, with grand exceptions, of course. Sadly, Christians are almost as likely as non-Christians to:
• Falsify their income tax returns.
• Commit plagiarism (teachers especially know this).
• Bribe to obtain a building permit — “That’s the way business is done.”
• Ignore construction specs.
• Illegally copy a computer program.
• Steal time.
• Commit phone theft.
• Exaggerate a product.
• Tell people what they want to hear.
• Selectively obey the laws.
My great-grandfather, Daniel Bell, Jr., was scrupulously honest. Here is what one of his sons wrote about his integrity. One time, we took Daniel to the lumberyard with us. Our little four-year-old daughter, Ruth, picked up a small scrap of wood. As we left, Daniel asked Ruth where she got the piece of wood. She replied, "I found it on the floor." He then asked,
"Did you pay for it?" "No," she replied. "Did you work for it?" "No." "Did anyone give it to you as a gift?" "No." "Well, then, if you have not paid for it and if it was not a gift and if you have not worked for it and you took it, that is stealing. Now you go back into the lumberyard and return it."
Ruth has never forgotten this lesson in honesty.—Tricia Truax, Durham, North Carolina (Discipleship Journal 104: March/April, 1998)
EYES OF INTEGRITY - When friends at the pool teasingly told my husband that a beautiful blond was coming his way, they were amazed that he didn’t turn to look.
"Aren’t you going to look?" they asked him.
Dan joked that his wife wouldn’t let him.
"But it is your wife!" they laughed.
Dan’s obedience to Mt. 5:28 and his consistent modeling of Christ’s love for His church have made Jesus’ pure and unfailing love ever more real to me. —Julie A. Bailey, Carlsbad, California (Discipleship Journal 104: March/April, 1998)
Psalm 101 - The Walk of Integrity
• Integrity loves the Lord and His justice. Psalm 101:1-note
• Integrity lives a blameless life. Psalm 101:2-note
• Integrity keeps its eyes from evil. Psalm 101:3-note
• Integrity protects itself from the perverse. Psalm 101:4-note
• Integrity silences gossip and slander. Psalm 101:5-note
• Integrity seeks fellowship with God’s faithful and wisdom from the wise. Psalm 101:6-note
• Integrity denounces deceit and dishonesty. Psalm 101:7-note
• Integrity confronts those who compromise. Psalm 101:8-note
(From June Hunt's excellent recommended resource - Biblical Counseling Keys on Dating)
I. INTEGRITY OF A PERSON (Proverbs 11:1-9)
A. Integrity in Business (Proverbs 11:1)
B. Integrity and Humility (Proverbs 11:2, 3)
C. Integrity and God’s Judgment (Proverbs 11:4, 5, 6)
D. Integrity and God’s Deliverance (Proverbs 11:7, 8, 9)
II. INTEGRITY OF A COMMUNITY (Proverbs 11:10-14)
A. City Celebrates (Proverbs 11:10, 11)
Communal Integrity
B. Damage of Careless Accusals (Proverbs 11:12, 13)
C. Nation Adrift (Proverbs 11:14)
CONCLUSION
A. Satan Hates Integrity
B. The Hard Choice for Integrity
C. Pray
(Adapted from King James Version Standard Lesson Commentary)
Related resource: Proverbs 11:1 Honesty is the Best Policy
Integrity of Hearts not Walls! - In ancient China, the people desired security from the barbaric hordes to the north. So they built the Great Wall of China. It was too high to climb over, too thick to break down, and too long to go around. Security achieved! The only problem was that during the first hundred years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times. Was the wall a failure? Not really—for not once did the barbaric hordes climb over the wall, break it down, or go around it. How then did they get into China? The answer lies in human nature. They simply bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right in through a gate. The fatal flaw in the Chinese defense was placing too much reliance on a wall and not putting enough effort into building character into the gatekeeper.
MAINTAINING INTEGRITY - Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Job 2:9 - A FAMOUS PREACHER was once asked by a fellow clergyman, “Have you ever stared into the face of Satan?” Without missing a beat, the preacher answered, “No, but I’m married to his sister!” Sometimes I wonder if that’s how Job must have felt. At a time in his life when he most needed love and support, his wife gave him nothing but grief. He’d lost his wealth, his cattle, his children, and his health, and as if that wasn’t enough, his wife came at him with both barrels. “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity?” she asks him. “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). For what little we know about Job’s wife, we’re pretty certain of one thing: Most men are thankful they’re not married to her. Imagine having her at your family reunion each year. (For some it may not be much of a stretch!) And what is the “integrity” that she wanted Job to give up? Integrity simply means that he was “integrated” with God. The two were of one mind and heart. Job’s relationship with God was complete and whole. The Lord was an integral part of his being, and he knew that trials were not going to change that truth. Job was able to remain faithful to God, because God was woven into the fabric of his being. The greatest fear of someone who is integrated with God is that somehow that bond will be lost or broken. When the prophet Isaiah saw his sinfulness in light of God’s holiness, he cried out, “Woe to me … I am ruined!” (Isaiah 6:5, NIV). His integrity had been compromised, and he saw himself losing his oneness with God. It was the thing he most treasured—the one thing he couldn’t bear to live without. Isaiah’s integrity was more than a character trait; it was his lifeline. So it was with Job. When hard times come, it’s easy to lose perspective. We may be tempted to turn away from God and compromise our integrity. The bond we have with Jesus may suffer. Those closest to us may have thoughts of doubt and uncertainty. A lot of sin is born in the throes of a storm. But don’t let it happen. Don’t give in to the temptation. Don’t “dis-integrate” in a moment of darkness. Reach instead toward the One who shapes eternity. Trust in God, no matter what. REFLECTION - How does your “oneness” with God hold up in the middle of trials and temptation? How can you work to strengthen your faith and integrity? (Embracing Eternity)
Integrity - It didn’t take long for the baseball world to take sides over Sammy Sosa’s indiscretion over using a corked bat at the plate. Some say he was trying to break out of his batting funk created by being hit in the head by a pitch a few weeks before. Others took him at his word; he simply picked up the wrong bat as he was going to the plate-a bat that he said he used to put on a hitting show for the crowds during batting practice. I want to believe Sammy-most fans want to believe Sammy, because Sammy has become a celebrity to most people and a hero to others-even to people who aren’t baseball fans. In an editorial for USA Today, Andrew Abrams offers some insight into the difference between celebrities and heroes. “Society is generally eager to forgive when its heroes occasionally stumble. However, consistent with heroic mythic, when the heroes falter because of character flaws, they must realize the error of their ways and seek forgiveness with sincere remorse. Often this realization and redemption, if anything, make the hero even more heroic. Importantly, though, this redemption cannot come from a clutch home run or a game-saving acrobatic catch. The issue is not the physical prowess of the hero, but rather the individual’s character, because talent without character creates celebrities, not heroes.” Character does count. In the end, it is the true measure of a man, you can measure the popularity of a man by the length of the shadow he casts on society, but the real value of the man is in the trueness of his heart. The talents God gives us are His gift to us. What we do with them-the life of integrity we lead is our gift back to Him. No, I’m not talking about home runs, corked bats, denials, suspensions or fines—I’m talking about living life with integrity in the spotlight or in obscurity. We need people who don’t use “corked bats” in games or in batting practice. We have enough celebrities. We need heroes-men and women with character. Psalm 26:1 KJV “Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.” (Jim Wilson - Fresh Start Devotionals)
Wholehearted Dedication - Any task we do as Christians should be done with wholehearted dedication, for God is never satisfied with a halfhearted effort. H. A. Ironside learned this early in life while working for a Christian shoemaker. Young Harry’s job was to prepare the leather for soles. He would cut a piece of cowhide to size, soak it in water, and then pound it with a flat-headed hammer until it was hard and dry. This was a wearisome process, and he wished it could be avoided. Harry would often go to another shoe shop nearby to watch his employer’s competitor. This man did not pound the leather after it came from the water. Instead, he immediately nailed it onto the shoe he was making. One day Harry approached the shoemaker and said, “I noticed you put the soles on while they are still wet. Are they just as good as if they were pounded?” With a wink and a cynical smile the man replied, “No, but they come back much quicker this way, my boy!” Young Harry hurried back to his boss and suggested that perhaps they were wasting their time by drying out the leather so carefully. Upon hearing this, his employer took his Bible, read Colossians 3:23-note to him, and said, “Harry, I do not make shoes just for the money. I’m doing it for the glory of God. If at the judgment seat of Christ I should have to view every shoe I’ve ever made, I don’t want to hear the Lord say, ‘Dan, that was a poor job. You didn’t do your best.’ I want to see His smile and hear, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’” It was a lesson in practical Christian ethics that Ironside never forgot! - H. G. Bosch (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
In all the daily tasks we do,
The Bible helps us clearly see
That if the Work is good and true,
We’re living for eternity.
In God’s eyes it is a great thing
to do a little thing well.
Little Things Count (cp Da 1:8) - The story has been told of a bank employee who was due for a good promotion. One day at lunch the president of the bank, who happened to be standing behind the clerk in the cafeteria, saw him slip two pats of butter under his slice of bread so they wouldn’t be seen by the cashier. That little act of dishonesty cost him his promotion. Just a few pennies’ worth of butter made the difference. The bank president reasoned that if an employee cannot be trusted in little things he cannot be trusted at all. (Illustrations for Biblical Preaching)
Charles Simeon in a sermon on Job 23:10 (see commentary) discusses a great benefit of personal integrity…
A consciousness of their own integrity is a rich source of consolation to them in a trying hour—There are times and seasons when almost all the other springs of comfort seem dried up: sometimes it may be painful even to reflect upon God (Ps 77:3-note). Job acknowledges in the context, that God’s “presence was a trouble to him:” but knowing that God was acquainted with his heart, he could yet appeal to him respecting his own integrity: and from this source he derived a pleasing satisfaction, an encouraging hope. St. Paul, under a daily and hourly expectation of martyrdom, experienced much joy in the same thought (2Co 1:8,9,10,11,12): nor shall we find it a small consolation to us, under any trials we may be called to endure. (The Upright Person's Comfort Under Afflictions)
Lord's Prayer - A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn’t find a space with a meter. So he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: “I have circled the block ten times. If I don’t park here, I’ll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.” When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note: “I’ve circled this block for ten years. If I don’t give you a ticket, I’ll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation. (Illustrations for Biblical Preaching)
Integrity of Lincoln - Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president under fire, especially during the scarring years of the Civil War. And though he knew he would make errors of office, he resolved never to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, "I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me." Today In The Word
Truth and Integrity - Our relationship with an ever-faithful God demands an ever-faithful life from his people. Others should be able to bank on our promises and entrust to us any important matter, with no further thought. We need to be known for our integrity as Tiffany’s is known for jewelry. We are called to be moral absolutists in a society of moral relativists. We need to be responsible and to act responsibly. We need to integrate our faith in the God we trust with a personal integrity that can always be trusted. (Hurley, V Speaker's sourcebook of new illustrations Dallas: Word Publishers)
Works That Witness - Daniel's life revealed the reality of his faith. He conducted himself so honorably in his high office that Darius "gave thought to setting him over the whole realm" (Da 6:3).
The other presidents and princes, however, were jealous and began to devise means of getting rid of Daniel. But hard as they tried, they could find nothing in his life to use against him. The Bible says that "he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him" (Da 6:4).
What a record! What a testimony! He was loyal and conscientious on the job--all the while giving God first place. Daniel's life was so far above reproach that his enemies had to create a situation in which his commitment to God would come into conflict with his government position.
Would we stand up under close examination like this? Are we so faithful in our work that our fellow employees could "find no charge or fault" in us? It's commendable to witness for Christ. But consider the influence of a godly life and a job so faithfully performed that others could find no fault. That would silence the critics and glorify God.
Like Daniel, our behavior should be blameless (cp "Integrity"). Then we too will have works that witness! — Richard De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
The task Your wisdom has assigned,
Lord, let me cheerfully fulfill;
In all my works Your presence find,
And prove Your good and perfect will.
--Anon.
When you do your work faithfully,
your faith will be seen at work.
Warren Wiersbe in his book The Integrity Crisis (referring to the church in America) writes that
"In order to understand integrity, we must first realize that two forces are at work in our world today: (1) God is putting things together; and (2) sin is tearing things apart. God wants to make us integers; Satan want to make us fractions… Integrity is to personal or corporate character what health is to the body or 20/20 vision is to the eyes. A person with integrity is not divided (that's duplicity) or merely pretending (that's hypocrisy). He or she is "whole"; life is "put together," and things are working together harmoniously. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books. They are integers!… Jesus made it clear that integrity involves the whole person: the heart, the mind, and the will. The person with integrity has a single heart. He doesn't try to love God and the world at the same time (Mt 6:24-note). His heart is in heaven (THINK OF DANIEL PRAYING 3X A DAY) and that's where his treasure is (Mt 6:21-note)… An integrated person takes the command seriously "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart (Mt 22:37). The person with integrity also has a single mind, a single outlook ("eye") that keeps life going in the right direction. After all, outlook helps to determine outcome; "a double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways" (Jas 1:8-note)… Jesus also said the person with integrity has a single will; he seeks to serve but one master… The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master! Once you find your Master, Jesus Christ, you will find your freedom… for "if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (Jn 8:36). No one can successfully serve two masters. To attempt to do so is to become a fractional person, and a fractional person does not have INTEGRITY! Instead he is someone with a divided heart, a divided mind, a divided will." (Warren W Wiersbe - The Integrity Crisis, 1988).
Weekday Christians - A young man was being interviewed for a position in a small business firm. He had a neat appearance and made a good impression on the owner. He had also prepared an excellent résumé in which he listed his pastor, his Sunday school teacher, and a church deacon as references. The owner of the business studied the résumé for several minutes, then said, "I appreciate these recommendations from your church friends. But what I would really like is to hear from someone who knows you on weekdays."
Sorry to say, there is a sharp contrast between the way some Christians act in church and how they behave in the world. The principles they profess on Sunday should be practiced every day. Daniel was an ideal model in his relationship with both God and man. He did not live by a double standard. His daily conduct was consistent with his spiritual values. His enemies tried to find some charge against him, but no fault could be found (6:4). His walk in the world was in harmony with his walk with God. Would our church friends be shocked if they observed our actions and heard our speech at our job or in our home? A good Sunday Christian will also be a good weekday Christian. — Richard De Haan
Consistency! How much we need
To walk a measured pace,
To live the life of which we speak
Until we see Christ's face.
—Anon.
A hypocrite is a person who is not himself on Sunday.
Corruption - Webster's 1828 = perversion or deterioration of moral principles; loss of purity or integrity. A departure from the original or from what is pure or correct. Debasement; taint; or tendency to a worse state. "Keep my honor from corruption." (Shakespeare) | ||||||
5676 | dbpedia | 1 | 17 | https://reachfm.ca/articles/skillet-cuts-ties-with-record-label-after-20-years | en | Skillet cuts ties with record label after 20 years | [
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] | null | [] | null | After spending 20 years with Atlantic Records, Skillet is going off on their own new label and releasing a new single at the same time. The frontman of the Christian rock band is starting his own music imprint called Hear It Loud. | ReachFM | https://reachfm.ca/articles/skillet-cuts-ties-with-record-label-after-20-years | After spending 20 years with Atlantic Records, Skillet is going off on their own new label and releasing a new single at the same time.
The frontman of the Christian rock band is starting his own music imprint called Hear It Loud.
"After this long, we’ve learned enough about our audience to know what they want to hear," lead singer John Cooper said in an interview with Billboard. "We have a pretty good handle on that now, so it’s time for us to be pushed out of the nest, or maybe jump out of the nest."
Skillet is releasing a new single on August 9 called 'Unpopular' and is the first single on an upcoming album, Revolution coming out November 1.
"There’s not this chain of people that need weigh in on it. The system takes a really long time. Instead, I wrote a song and we recorded it eight days later. That is a huge benefit. With the change in pace of technology and of the industry, that was important to me to be able to make quick decisions." | ||||||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 42 | https://www.klove.com/music/blog/new-music/newcomer-christian-paul-debuts-testimony-driven-party-starter-yes-i-am--5557 | en | Newcomer Christian Paul Debuts Testimony-Driven Party-Starter ‘Yes I Am’ | [
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] | null | en | /favicon.ico | Positive Encouraging K-LOVE | null | Fresh talent Christian Paul officially enters the chat with “Yes I Am,” a party-starting, testimony-driven soul jam that unveils the rising star’s impressive falsetto and his transformative story.
Already dubbed an “Artist to Watch,” the Alabama native was first introduced to the soulful sounds that color his debut radio single during a childhood soundtracked by everything from Michael Jackson to Nirvana — thanks to his music-loving father.
WATCH NOW: "Yes I Am" Official Music Video
After a brief stint in a manufactured boy band, Christian signed a solo recording contract at 19, poised to become the next Justin Timberlake. However, it was in the midst of his first 12-week radio tour that he stumbled upon a sermon on YouTube that would change his life forever. Late that night in his hotel room, he gave his life resolutely to the Lord.
Uncomfortable with how the message of his secular music no longer aligned with his newfound values, the burgeoning singer walked away from his mainstream deal and his chance at pop superstardom. Afterwards, an intentional hiatus enabled him to dive headfirst into the deep end of his faith, which, in time, led him to start writing songs again. Eventually, he signed another record deal — this time with a Christian label.
“When God transformed my life, I wanted to live a life of integrity and uprightness. I wanted to be pleasing to Him, and that came at a cost,” Christian admits. “It required me to begin shedding practices and patterns that I had developed as an unbeliever, and some of those had implications on my music.”
“Yes I Am” marks a new beginning for the born again artist. He’s currently working with well-known mainstream producers to develop his unique sound that ultimately leans on his previous experience while fully elevating his unabashedly Christian lyrics. In addition to a handful of originals he’s already dropped, Christian has been serving up R&B-laced covers of songs by some of his favorite Christian artists, including TobyMac, Anne Wilson, Mac Powell and Blessing Offor, among others. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 18 | https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/musicians-guide-navigating-artist-producer-studio-casey-cavaliere | en | A MUSICIAN’S GUIDE TO NAVIGATING THE ARTIST / PRODUCER RELATIONSHIP IN THE STUDIO | https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D5612AQGb6qqNcrQ2uw/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/0/1681736095284?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=cqpbAAMHVTpppynKZExuorf-Ez1CJvtet1vdbUr6a0s | https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D5612AQGb6qqNcrQ2uw/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/0/1681736095284?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=cqpbAAMHVTpppynKZExuorf-Ez1CJvtet1vdbUr6a0s | [
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] | 2023-04-17T13:22:43+00:00 | Recently, much of the creative discussions we've been having on Season 4 of The Record Process have centered around the importance of finding the right people to work with in the studio. I've had the privilege of interacting with some of the most legendary producers in the game ( Joe Chiccarelli, St | en | https://static.licdn.com/aero-v1/sc/h/al2o9zrvru7aqj8e1x2rzsrca | https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/musicians-guide-navigating-artist-producer-studio-casey-cavaliere | Recently, much of the creative discussions we've been having on Season 4 of The Record Process have centered around the importance of finding the right people to work with in the studio. I've had the privilege of interacting with some of the most legendary producers in the game ( Joe Chiccarelli , Steve Evetts, Warren Huart , @ David Ivory , ect) and I've also spent time in the drivers seat bringing the visions of countless younger artists to life in the studio. With so many great insights from respected producers and artists popping up on the show each week, I thought it might be helpful to compile a few of the most valuable tips I've learned across my last 20+ years of making music. Here's what I've found...
One of the most crucial parts of the recording and creation process is working with the right music producer. Finding the right music producer has a major impact on the quality and potential of your songs and the overall growth of your music career. It’s about more than just finding someone credible and talented, but someone you vibe with and that will be excited to take your music to the next level.
Each collaboration is going to have its own dynamic, flow, and expectations. There’s nothing worse than constantly butting heads or dealing with tension in the studio. To avoid that, I'll share some tips on choosing the right producer for your band and how to best navigate that artist / producer relationship.
The Role of Music Producers (and why finding the right one is a game changer)
The music business is highly competitive. A skilled music producer has the ear and experience to get your work produced at the quality it deserves. During the recording process, they’ll work with you to come up with a creative direction and coax the perfect sound that delivers the collective vision. With expert knowledge of acoustics, musical composition, and audio engineering techniques, a music producer with a solid ear can shape a song into something that stands out and resonates with listeners.
Great music producers tend to have both technical and soft skills, with the ability to offer constructive feedback and valuable advice to music creators. They should be patient, a skilled problem solver, and an effective communicator. It’s important that both the artist and music producer feel comfortable sharing their ideas and experimenting. This is where the magic happens.
5 Key Tips for Finding and Working With the Right Producer for Your Band
1) Start the search
Unsigned artists will need to work harder to secure solid relationships. The first step is to stay curious and ask around. Who is making the records for bands in your local or online scene that seem to be making an impact? Keep a rolling list of all those involved in these records. Remember, assistants often turn into engineers, who often turn into studio owners and then producers. Follow up on the deep credits if you can’t afford to hire the larger-name producers just yet.
2) Do your research
To find the right producer, do your research and due diligence. Look for someone who has made a record you admire, and that is comparable with your band’s sound. Learn as much as you can about their work. Ask other musicians what it was like to work with that producer. Vet them to make sure they are professional, credible, and have a good reputation when it comes to their work ethic and reliability.
It’s worth mentioning that you should look out for signs that the producer hasn’t done THEIR research on the band ahead of time. This is a dead giveaway that they are just taking the call to entertain a request from a manager or friend.
3) Chemistry matters - BIG TIME!
Find a music producer who fits your sound, genre, and vibe, and who truly understands your music. For example, if they write your band off as just another Blink-182 (speaking from personal experience…) when you’re aiming for something more nuanced, it probably is not the best fit. It’s important that they LIKE the music, so it’s a good idea to ask the producer you’re considering what artists they enjoy listening to recently. They should be excited to work with you and potentially willing to offer initial thoughts on new demos or previous material.
Chemistry matters in the artist / producer relationship. Ask detailed, nuanced questions in advance to make sure there is good chemistry, and pay attention to the questions that they ask you. Are they curious about your artistic intentions and creative ideas? Have they digested your previous catalog and come with suggestions? Or are they only concerned with the budget? It’s important that you’re compatible and can get along. The recording process is already anxiety-inducing enough. No one wants to add loaded interactions and arguments to the mix. The band and music producer should work as a team.
(BTW: Want the weekly inside scoop on the artist-producer workflow responsible for albums from artists like Justin Bieber, Kylie Minogue, Coheed & Cambria, Sueco, and more??? Then check out my podcast THE RECORD PROCESS)
4) Set expectations
Set clear expectations from day one. Define the role the producer should play. Lay out the desired timeline, budget, and deal parameters for pre-production, production, mixing, and mastering. Establish what the producer is expecting from the band before recording begins.
Decide how the song should sound and feel BEFORE you step into the studio, and make sure every band member is on the same page. Don’t be vague, because not knowing what you want only wastes time and money for everyone involved (and can easily irritate the people hired to steer the ship). Time for experimentation in the studio is a creative luxury that many artists might not be able to afford early on.
Keep an open mind of course, but do your best to have an agreed upon blueprint for the songs before heading into the studio. Even if you can’t articulate it verbally, use examples of songs that inspire you and pinpoint specific aspects you want to draw inspiration from, whether it's the vocals, the kick/snare sound, or the transition between parts. Having some kind of reference is always better than walking in cold.
5) Communicate often and with respect
Communication is key to the artist / producer relationship and every part of the creation process. Speak up if the producer is suggesting changes that aren't an authentic reflection of your vision. Trust your instincts and don’t sacrifice your core identity out of intimidation. That said, don’t hire somebody you wouldn’t trust to experiment with an idea if they hear an opportunity to push the song further. Different producers and mixers have different levels of creative involvement. Let them know what you’ve enjoyed about specific projects they’ve worked on in the pass, and make sure they are actually the ones responsible for those choices.
Be respectful when swapping ideas or giving feedback. Be able to listen, absorb, and implement constructive criticism. The producer is there to help you and offer an outside perspective. When you’re so close to the music and all of your emotions are tied up in the song, it’s valuable to have someone who can listen objectively to find its strengths, and where there’s room for improvement. Mutual respect is necessary in creating a harmonious working environment where the music can flourish. It also strengthens the artist / producer relationship.
6) Put it in writing - agreements can be your friend
Before you begin the collaboration process, make sure you know and understand the music producer’s policy. What services are included? How much will it cost? Have a frank conversation about fees and splits. Producers may take an upfront fee that covers their time and costs, which can be billed by the hour, day, song, or album. Don’t expect someone to work for ‘exposure.’ Make sure you have the budget before you embark on this process. It can be helpful to get everything in writing to be on the safe side.
So to recap, working with the right producer is critical to making music at a professional level you can be proud of, as well as making the recording process as smooth as possible. You’re creating music, not filing your taxes—it should be fun! If it’s not - your days of prolific songwriting might be numbered… Take your time to do your research. Follow your gut to maintain artistic integrity while also being open to new perspectives and opinions. You don’t know what you don’t know yet? And sometimes it’s about unloading the tasks you can "technically” do yourself in order to free up space to expand other aspects of your talent.
Want to learn more about what roles different producers play in the studio? Check out my podcast The Record Process - (Apple | Spotify)
And if you found this article helpful, you can find more clips on career growth and music-making insights by following along on Instagram @Case_Rock
P.s. If you’re still looking for specific 1:1 advice on how to market, promote, and brand your band more effectively, then take a second and Schedule a call with me. | |||
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] | null | [] | null | The band NewSong has been reaching listeners with their inspirational music since they first formed together nearly thirty years ago. | en | /favicon.ico | null | The band NewSong has been reaching listeners with their inspirational music since they first formed together nearly thirty years ago. The group began as a nine-member church band for Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia.
Consisting now of Eddie Carswell, Billy Goodwin, Matt Butler, Russ Lee, Jack Pumphrey, Mark Clay, and Rico Thomas, NewSong revolutionized live shows with their annual, "Winter Jam Tour Spectacular" which began in 1995. The ticket-less concert gives thousands the opportunity to hear good music and the gospel message. The show has become one of the biggest annual tours in the Christian Music industry even setting a record in 1999 for the largest attended indoor event in the history of South Carolina.
“Being involved with Winter Jam is just God’s design for us, and it’s among the reasons we can still be around,” Eddie says. “We have a front row seat to the best concerts every year because of the amazing artists God sends out on Winter Jam. I think being around all these folks year after year helps us as well. It keeps us wanting to continue doing something relevant and purposeful, and most importantly to keep serving God through the mission He gave us.”
Throughout out the years, the band has released a variety of songs including: “Can’t Keep A Good Man Down,” "Jesus To The World (Roaring Lambs),” "Arise My Love,” “The Christmas Shoes,” and their latest “Swallow The Ocean,” off their new album of the same title.
“We have spent our whole lives trying to be artists and musicians who describe God’s love,” says Matt. “So the impetus behind the record is to use music for that purpose—to introduce God to people who don’t know Him.”
The song "Swallow The Ocean," was inspired by a story about a man who was in an insane asylum. Following the man's death, a poem was found carved into the walls of his cell, which spoke about the infinite love of God. “If we were to fill the entire ocean with ink, and if we were to take pens and try to write the love of God across the sky, we would drain the entire ocean dry and still not even come close to touching the surface of God’s greatness and the bigness of His love; that has become the heartbeat of this album,” Matt shares.
The band also has a passion for youth, and besides making music they encourage discipleship and evangelism. NewSong has partnered with World Vision, an evangelical organization dedicated to working with underprivileged children, and families worldwide. In 2006, the band decided they needed to do more and began focusing specially on helping orphans through adoption."We partnered with Holt International, which specializes in adoption and child welfare around the world," explains Eddie. "By that time, Holt had already placed more than 50,000 children in loving homes, and had done all that under the radar. It's been a real honor to come alongside them and tell others about them through our tours."
“We have an opportunity to affect this thing called Christian music way beyond our years, so I look at all those things as opportunities and as part of our calling,” Lee adds. “I believe all of that collectively helps formulate who we are and what we’re writing and what we feel like God wants us to say. I think NewSong’s mission expands as the ministry continues and as God opens new doors of opportunity.” | |||||
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Bob Dylan, 1987; P.O.D., 2001; Chuck Girard, 2010
A Brief History
Article and photos by Bob Gersztyn
(June 2021)
In 2012, ABC-CLIO academic book publishers published my book Jesus Rocks The World: The Definitive History of Contemporary Christian Music, volumes 1&2- It was based on my forty years of involvement with the genre that originally began as "Jesus Music" at the very end of the 1960's and the beginning of the 1970's.
After I was discharged from the army in 1968, I became a hippie college student back home in Warren, Michigan that attended concerts and tripped on LSD and mescaline over a hundred times, searching for God. After three years I flushed my acid down the toilet and began reading the Bible while smoking pot and listening to Jesus Christ Superstar.
A few months later, I moved to Los Angeles where I finished college and found a religious revival within the counter culture, made up of "Jesus freaks" and they had their own music that I never heard before. What TIME magazine called the "Jesus movement" was comprised of two parts: first were the traditional church youth that discarded old traditions in favor of new and fresh ones and the other half was comprised of counter culture hippies, seeking a solid spiritual foundation to build their lives on. I changed my major from photography to theology and graduated as an ordained Foursquare minister that was appointed to an associate pastor position at an inner city church in the Highland Park district of L.A. One of my duties was to schedule, promote and host "Jesus Rock" concerts on Friday nights.
The 1960's began with a movement away from religion as college students scrawled Nietzsche's "God is Dead" quote on bathroom walls, followed by the 1966 TIME magazine cover asking the question "Is God Dead?" By the end of the decade, that question was answered with a definite "No!" Pop music radio had a string of hits talking about Jesus, from "Ocean's" "Put Your Hand in the Hand" to Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky." The God of evangelical fundamentalist Pentecostal Christianity was very much alive in the hearts and minds of millions of "Jesus freak" converts. The 1960's decade began with the promise of "Satori" (instant enlightenment) through the use of entheogenic agents like LSD, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin and even marijuana. The same psychedelic drugs had been and were still being used by primitive aboriginal people's as an important part of their religious ceremonies and it was now instrumental in helping to instigate a religious revival among the now coming of age baby boomers.
Larry Norman, 2000
Artists like Larry Norman, Mylon Lefevre, Phil Keagy, The Talbot Brothers and Fred Caban were the first to release religious record albums that were in the folk rock and hard rock genres rather than the traditional gospel and southern gospel style. Larry Norman who many consider the father of "Jesus Rock" was originally in a bay area group called People that had a regional hit with a cover of the Zombies song "I Love You." After failing to convince the record company to title their album We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus and a Lot Less Rock'n'Roll, Norman quit the band in 1968. He spent a year playing at Hollywood First Presbyterian church's Salt Company coffee house and wherever else he could in Los Angeles and in 1969 he recorded and released Upon This Rock on Capitol Records which is considered by many to be the very first "Christian rock record."
Mylon LeFevre was a member of a famous Southern Gospel singing family (The LeFevres) that backslid after he was discharged from the army and began smoking pot. He formed a pioneering Southern Gospel rock band (Mylon) that I saw perform twice in Detroit, Michigan at the Eastown theater. He was part of the regular rock scene and produced secularly-accepted albums and interacted and shared the stage with all the rock stars of that era. Likewise, stellar guitarist Phil Keagy was part of Glass Harp, another act that played at the Eastown who by the early 1970's went solo strictly as a "Jesus rock" artist.
Mason Proffit, 1971
The Talbot Brothers were a country rock band that inspired the Eagles. The brothers' band was originally called Mason Proffit and used a backwoods mountain man motif for their act. The music was socially conscious and when the brothers Terry and John Michael left the group to follow Jesus, they recorded a "Jesus rock" album called Reborn. By the end of the 1970's John Michael Talbot became a Franciscan monk and released worship albums. I saw Mason Proffit perform in 1971 at both at the Eastown in Detroit and at the "Golden Bear" in Huntington Beach after moving to L.A. After graduating from high school, Fred Caban formed Agape, the first psychedelic gospel hard rock group and began recording albums. I purchased their second album in 1971 and it blew me away- it felt like Jimi Hendrix singing about Jesus.
The epicenter of the counter culture "Jesus freak" revival in Southern California was at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, whose pastor was Chuck Smith. Smith was a Foursquare minister who was the pastor of an independent church that had a congregation of a couple hundred when he began doing weekly inductive Bible studies, beginning with the book of Genesis. His teenage children convinced him to allow barefoot longhaired hippies to attend services. At the very same time, a charismatic young man named Lonnie Frisbee started attending services. Frisbee saw Jesus on an LSD trip and was called into the ministry as an evangelist so he combed the beaches and converted thousands of hippies that he brought to Calvary Chapel, where he was now an assistant pastor. By the end of the 1970's Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa became the largest protestant church in the US, with a weekly attendance of twenty-five thousand and was the very first mega-church.
Children of the Day, 1973
Out of the thousands of young baby boomer teenagers and young adults that attended Pastor Smith's church, some were musicians. People like Chuck Girard had a couple of doo wop hits back in the early pre-Beatles 1960's. Then, he worked with the Beach Boys and sang lead on a radio hit called "Little Honda." Living on his royalties, he moved to Hawaii and after 500 acid trips, he returned to the mainland to find Jesus and form the group Love Song at Calvary Chapel. The band became the Christian answer to the Beatles. Another Calvary band was Children of the Day, four high school friends comprised of sisters Marsha and Wendy Carter and two male friends that were all involved in music. They formed a "Jesus music" quartet that sang beautiful harmonies and were the easiest for the older church members to accept and enjoy. Yet another Calvary band was Mustard Seed Faith, led by Oden Fong whose parents were Hollywood actors. After high school, he joined Timothy Leary's commune and when he took a super dose of one hundred hits of acid at one time, he saw Jesus and became a born again Christian. Mustard Seed Faith was an acoustic three man group that had a happy Beach Boys sound.
Even though Calvary Chapel was producing a cadre of Christian music artists that appealed to the newly converted "Jesus freaks" that demanded record albums to replace their need for secular non-Christian music, it didn't fit the commercial model. Maranatha Records began as a solution to insuring that the music artists were able to support themselves ("Maranatha" is an Aramaic word and means "Come Lord," inviting the Second Coming or the end of the world). Invitations to play regionally were always accepted and if three or four artists drove a hundred miles to get there, sometimes the offering would barely cover gas money for the small churches. However, if they sold albums, then the profits from them after production costs would go to the artist.
Billy Graham at the Hollywood Bowl, 1974
The existing conservative church did not accept the new "Jesus music" and in some cases, Christian bookstores and outlets refused to carry the genre. It wasn't until 1972, at Explo 72, a weeklong festival in Dallas that Christian rock was finally accepted there by legendary evangelist Billy Graham. Prior to that, he called it 'the devil's music,' but on Saturday June 17, there was an all day long Christian music festival that was open to the public and Graham was the speaker. The media called Explo 72 the "Christian Woodstock" and it drew close to 200,000 people. Larry Norman, Maranatha artist Love Song and other Christian rock performers played throughout the day.
The very first album that Maranatha Records released in 1971 was titled The Everlastin' Living Jesus Music Concert and is commonly referred to as "Maranatha One." It was a compilation album with each artist performing one song. There were a series of Maranatha albums released throughout the 1970's. Once an artist was featured on one of the compilation albums, if they had the material, they would record their own album, just as Children of the Day, Mustard Seed Faith and Debbie Kerner did. Kerner was the first solo female "Jesus music" artist that recorded an entire album on the Maranatha label.
Debbie Kerner Retino, 1976
One of the biggest Christian record labels was WORD Records, located in Waco, Texas. WORD was started by Jarrel McCracken in the early 1950's as a teaching tool for Youth ministries. It primarily produced traditional gospel and recorded sermons. To record the new untraditional "Jesus music," new subsidiary record labels like Light and Myrrh were created and headed up by Ralph Carmichael and Billy Ray Hearn. The first artist recorded by Carmichael on Light Records was Andrae` Crouch's Take the Message Everywhere in 1968. It included "The Blood Will Never Lose its Power," a song that he wrote when he was ten years. He pioneered singing traditional gospel in an R&B style and became one of the most famous black gospel artist of the 20the century.
2nd Chapter of Acts, 1978
Billy Ray Hearn began Myrrh Records in 1972 and former folk rocker Barry McGuire was his first artist. McGuire was famous for the1965 anti-war radio hit "Eve of Destruction." A downward spiral from drugs, depression and disillusionment drove McGuire to Jesus and Hearn recorded his first "Jesus Rock" album, Seeds. McGuire's album used a trio of backup singers that soon recorded their own album under the name, The 2nd Chapter of Acts because they were Pentecostal and that chapter in Acts is about the "Baptism in the Holy Spirit." They, like Children of the Day, sang beautiful harmonies that were loved by both the established church and the New Paradigm ones. In 1976, Billy Ray Hearn founded Sparrow Records and brought his Myrrh recording artists with him. The other major Christian record label was Benson Records that had existed since 1902 as a sheet music company. In the late 1960's, it primarily produced Southern gospel music from artists like the Bill Gaither Trio, so in the 1970's, it began Greentree and Star Song to handle the new non-traditional artists.
The impact of the religious revival that TIME magazine labeled the "Jesus movement" effected Western civilization as far as Western Europe. The annual Greenbelt Festival began in England in 1974 and featured the best Christian performers from America, Europe and around the world. The most famous of the British Christian rock artists was Cliff Richard, who achieved fame with his group the Shadows back in the 1950's before the Beatles. One of the most popular British Christian acts in America was Malcolm and Alwyn, a duo with a couple of popular albums titled Fools Gold and Wildwall- their style was a cross between Simon and Garfunkel and T. Rex.
Randy Stonehill at Occidental College, 1979
When Larry Norman played in England, he met Malcolm and Alwyn and convinced them to come to America. Norman had his own record label that he started called Solid Rock Records where he produced his own albums as well as other artists like Randy Stonehill, the J C Power Outlet, Mark Heard and Tom Howard. In the mid 1970's Norman did a deal with WORD Records so they would take care of Record distribution.
Even though Southern California was the epicenter of the Jesus movement and most of the new Christian record labels were located there, it wasn't the only location that produced "Jesus music." The Mid West had the Adam's Apple coffee house in Ft. Wayne, Indiana that produced artists like Honeytree and Petra. Ohio Guitarist Glenn Schwartz started the James Gang before he handed it over to Joe Walsh and became the lead guitarist for Pacific Gas and Electric (who had their own hit with "Are You Ready"). However, after too much contemplation on acid, Schwartz abandoned his successful career. He joined a small "Jesus freak" religious cult that had their own Christian band called The All Saved Freak Band, which was fronted by its psychopath lead singing pastor.
And then there was a name that even most secular audiences know. Amy Grant began her career as a teenager in Nashville, Tennessee in the mid 1970's, she became the biggest Christian crossover artist since Sam Cooke. Normally, Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) albums are only available in Christian Bookstores and outlets but Grant's albums were distributed by a joint deal between A&M Records and Myrrh Records. The result was that she won six Grammy Awards and twenty-two Dove Awards.
The Dove Award is the Christian version of the Grammy Award for CCM artists. It is controlled by the Gospel Music Association (GMA), which is located in Nashville, Tennessee. In the late 1970's "Jesus music" became "Contemporary Christian Music" and headquarters was moved from Southern California to Nashville, the Country Music capitol, where GMA's headquarters was located. The reason why CCM is called "Contemporary Christian music" is because in the beginning, when Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa was exploding at the seams, they erected a gigantic Circus tent while a new sanctuary was being built, and they also began regular Saturday night concerts. The concerts were broadcast and hosted by a radio DJ named John Styll who was also the music editor of Contemporary Christian Acts magazine. It was the Christian equivalent to Rolling Stone and was part of Maranatha Records. They were the first to seriously tabulate Christian record sales and the magazine was well established by the time that WORD Records acquired it and it became part of the GMA. The name of the publication was changed to Contemporary Christian Music which now became the name of the genre. The GMA began the Dove Award in 1969 for Southern Gospel artists. However, Christian rock was not recognized with an award until 1988 when Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart won the Christian rock album of the year with Crack the Sky.
Bob Dylan, 1998
At the same time that CCM was entering the mainstream, an amazing conversion took place with one of the most highly regarded music artists of the era. Bob Dylan underwent his conversion as a "born again" Christian at the Vineyard church in Malibu. It was a spin off from Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa and was founded by Maranatha Records musician Ken Guliksen as an outreach to rock and movie stars. After former Righteous Brothers keyboardist and manager John Wimber became the pastor of the Vineyard, he employed Lonnie Frisbee to expand the congregation. Dylan released three Christian albums during what is now termed his 'Christian phase.' The second album was titled Saved and contained some hardcore gospel songs. By the 21st century, Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard had three-thousand churches worldwide, comprised of millions of converts.
U2, 2001
The members of U2 were high school students during the late 1970's in Dublin when they were impacted by the "Jesus movement." They wrote and performed religious imagery that was released on Island Records and their first two albums were primarily available in Christian bookstores thought they would also of course go on to becoming one of the best-selling rock acts ever. The Call was a cutting edge alternative rock group that included Garth Hudson from The Band for a period and was led by Michael Been. They, like U2, dealt with the spiritual ramifications of the reality that we live in.
Along with Christian record labels, churches are the normal venue to see Christian rock performers, along with dozens of annual festivals across the country and around the world. The Cornerstone festival in Bushnell, Illinois takes place over the 4th of July weekend for four or five days. It features some of the biggest Christian artists along with new, upcoming ones. The festival was begun in 1984 by Jesus People USA, an international Christian group that came out of the Jesus movement in Chicago in 1972. There are general Christian music festivals and even genre specific ones. The oldest Christian festival is the ICHTHUS festival in Wilmore, Kentucky that began in 1970 as an answer to Woodstock. There was even a traveling festival called Festival Con Dios modeled after Lollapalooza.
Bruce Cockburn, 1997
When a CCM artist becomes universally popular and has a more general appeal than most churches can accommodate (like Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith or Mercy Me), they then play regular secular venues. Then there are some Christian artists (and even some metal artists), like Jars of Clay, Lifehouse, Kings X and Stryper that were unique enough that they appeared on the pop music charts so they would play at secular venues too. There are also socially conscious Christian music artists that appear on regular record labels, like Bruce Cockburn, a Canadian artist that embraced liberation theology. Cockburn has released over forty albums exploring social and political issues from around the world as he reflects on the evolution of his own faith.
One genre of CCM that has always been the most popular among Christians over the past fifty years is "praise" or "worship" music. Until the 1970's, when the Jesus movement impacted existing churches and spawned new ones, most churches musical accompaniment was usually an organ and or piano. However, Baby Boomers introduced the regular use of an acoustic guitar that evolved into what is today called a "worship band." The worship band was made up of musicians in the church that accompany the worship leader who then leads the congregation in singing. In some cases, worship bands were high caliber enough of a performer that they would cut an album that got on the mainstream charts, like Lifehouse.
What is usually considered the very first "praise" or "worship" album was in 1974 when Maranatha Records released the Praise album. Prior to this, churches only sang traditional hymn's like "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" or "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand." The new worship music was more contemporary sounding and consisted of repeated choruses, while at the same time it espoused traditional Christian theology. One of the first "praise" songs was "Father I Adore You," written by Terrye Coelho, a former topless dancer in 1972.
The late 1980's saw the establishment of Integrity Music as a CD club that exclusively offered worship music album compilations. In 1995, Integrity began a partnership with Hillsong Music in Australia. Hillsong congregations are the next generation of new paradigm churches that began with pioneers like Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard. Hillsong churches have effectively combined music with the Bible and good old fashioned showmanship in the spirit of Aimee Semple Mcpherson for the 21st century. Today, Christian music is still produced by Christian record labels but operate under the umbrella of major record companies. Billy Ray Hearn is the person responsible for founding and being the chairman of EMI's Capitol Christian music Group, one of the world's largest record labels, until his death in 2015. Some of the most popular CCM artists performing today are Kutless, Skillet, Switchfoot, Third Day and hundreds of others.
See our video playlist of most of the songs mentioned above
Associate Pastor Bob Gersztyn 1978
References:
Cusic, Don, editor & Gersztyn, Bob, contributing writer. (2010). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music: Pop, Rock, and Worship. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO.
Cusic, Don. (2002) The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel and Christian Music. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Published by Hal Leonard Corporation.
Di Sabatino, David, producer, director and writer, Gersztyn, Bob contributing photographer. (2009) Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman (Film). Jester Media.
Di Sabatino, David, producer, director and writer. (2006) Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher (Film). Jester Media.
Gersztyn, Bob. (2012). Jesus Rocks The World: The Definitive History of Contemporary Christian Music, volumes 1&2. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger, an imprint of ABC-CLIO.
McNeil, William, editor & Gersztyn, Bob, contributing writer. (2005). Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Powell, Mark Allan. (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
Sheehy, Sandy. (1990) Texas Big Rich (Biographical Chapter of Jarrell McCracken). New York, NY: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
Stevenson, Jeff C. (2015). Fortney Road: Life, Death, and Deception in a Christian Cult. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota: Free Thought House.
Also see Bob Gersztyn's blog at https://jesusrockstheworld.wordpress.com/ | |||||||
5676 | dbpedia | 1 | 56 | https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/flamy-grant-interview-drag-queen-sean-feucht-christian-music-1234798866/ | en | A MAGA Preacher Condemned a Drag Queen. Then Her Album Topped the Christian Charts | [
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"Jon Blistein"
] | 2023-08-01T19:18:05+00:00 | Drag Queen Flamy Grant got her debut album to the top of Apple Music's Christian charts after being called out by far-right preacher Sean Feucht. | en | Rolling Stone | https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/flamy-grant-interview-drag-queen-sean-feucht-christian-music-1234798866/ | It’s never a good thing, per se, to get called out on Elon Musk’s Twitter.com by a person with more than 100,000 followers and the descriptor “contributor TPUSAfaith” in their bio. But when it happened last week to drag queen Flamy Grant and singer-songwriter Derek Webb, the pair were more than eager to respond.
“Artists like Flamy and I both wait for these moments,” Webb — a contemporary Christian music stalwart who’s had success as a solo artist and member of the band Caedmon’s Call — tells Rolling Stone. “Because there’s really no better press than somebody hating what you’re doing for the right reasons.”
Last Wednesday, Sean Feucht, a major figure on the religious right who (as Rolling Stone previously reported) stands at the intersection of far-right Christianity and Donald Trump’s MAGAworld, tweeted, “If you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb’s new collab with a drag queen. These are truly the last days.”
Feucht was specifically singling out coverage of Webb’s album release show in Nashville, which Grant opened. But the two have been close friends and collaborators for years. Webb’s new album, The Jesus Hypothesis, features the collaboration “Boys Will Be Girls,” and in the accompanying video, Flamy dresses Webb up in drag. Last year, Webb sang on Flamy’s own song, “Good Day,” off her debut album, Bible Belt Baby.
After Feucht’s tweet, Flamy was determined to make the most of the situation and especially prove his follow-up assertion — that “hardly anyone listens or cares what you do” — wrong. So she headed to TikTok and encouraged fans to stream “Good Day.” If they could just crack the Apple Music Christian music charts, it’d be a success. They not only achieved that, but on July 27, “Good Day” and Bible Belt Baby both hit Number One on the Christian songs and albums charts, respectively. Bible Belt Baby even rose as high as Number 48 on Apple’s album chart for all genres last Thursday. (A rep for Feucht did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.)
Editor’s picks
“I interact with trolls and negative people all the time online, but never somebody who has 100,000 followers and is known for being aggressive with some of his stances,” says Flamy, whose offstage name is Matthew Blake (they/them). “I definitely had a moment of pause where I was like, OK, queer people are legitimately under attack — physically, our bodies are under attack in this country, there are fights breaking out outside of drag shows. But at the same time, it was just too good. Because his point was, no one cares, no one listens to you, you’re a non-entity, you’re not going to make an impact. And just knowing what I know about the queer community and allies, I rolled the dice and placed my bet on that being dramatically wrong. And I think I won.”
Blake acknowledges the Apple Music chart is a bit of a “relic,” but the victory is far from Pyrrhic. In the cloistered, close-minded world of contemporary Christian music, very little space is made for artists like Flamy Grant or Semler, who are trying to broaden that scope with music that contends with faith, identity, gender, spirituality, and sexuality. Even a tiny shake-up in a small corner of the CCM industry can feel like an earthquake. (Semler similarly organized their fans earlier this summer to get their song “Faith” to the top of the Apple Music Christian charts.)
As Webb puts it: “I bet there were a lot of Christian music industry executives who woke up Thursday morning and were demanding answers to how in the world a drag queen was at the top of their chart. How in the world a drag queen boxed out their artists, who they’ve been spending tens of thousands of dollars on marketing, out of the top spot.”
Related
“Good Day” — which Blake wrote in 2016 — is an ideal song to build momentum around. When they wrote it, they weren’t yet performing as Flamy Grant, but they’d been writing and releasing music for years. They were also working as a worship leader at a progressive church in San Diego and grappling heavily with their Christian identity.
“Ask me on any random Tuesday, and I probably don’t feel the Christian label very much,” they say, “but at the time, I was particularly antagonistic. I was like, ‘This whole religion is fucked. I can’t associate with it anymore. I need to distance myself from that word.’”
One night, a friend dragged them to a small group for queer folks in the church, and the discussion began with a loaded icebreaker: “Everybody share how you reconcile your faith and your sexuality,” Blake recalls. Eager to make a point, they bluntly stated: “I don’t reconcile. I don’t have to, because I reject the term Christian, there’s nothing to reconcile. Next.”
Blake remembers feeling “proud” for a moment, before getting “progressively humbled” as more people shared their experiences and reasons for sticking with the church. “In so many words, it was, ‘I stay, because if I leave, there’s a void where I was, and it’s not going to be filled with queer-affirming theology. It’s going to be filled with people who are just glad to see me gone.’”
Blake wrote “Good Day” immediately after, the song coming in that otherworldly — dare we say “divine” — way songs sometimes do. “I just kind of blacked out and when I woke up, there were the lyrics in front of me,” they say.
“Good Day” began its life as a worship song: Blake taught it to the church’s congregants, and they sang it often during Sunday services. Years later, in 2022, after a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund Flamy Grant’s first studio project, Blake was looking for a few more songs to flesh out the album and returned to “Good Day.” Not only did the original message still resonate, it felt even more revelatory in light of the journey they’d embarked on since embracing drag during the pandemic.
“I don’t always know what I believe. I can’t put my finger on a creed for you,” they say. “But this song is still that anthem of ‘I’m staying. I’m here. I belong here just as much as anybody else.’”
Getting Webb to sing on “Good Day” was equally monumental. While the pair met and struck up a friendship in 2018, Blake had been a fan of Webb’s music for years. “We all have those voices that we listen to in our teens that just transport us, and Derek always does that for me,” they say. “It’s magic to listen to that song now.”
Webb wasn’t the only hero with whom Flamy Grant collaborated on Bible Belt Baby either. The other was Jennifer Knapp, a trailblazing contemporary of Webb and Caedmon’s Call, who reached similar heights in the contemporary Christian world during the late Nineties and early 2000s; Knapp also came out as a lesbian in 2010. As much as both she and Webb are progressive veterans lending their support to a new generation of artists, they also represent something of a bygone era in contemporary Christian music that artists like Flamy Grant and Semler harken back to.
During our interview, both Webb and Blake take a quick look at Billboard Christian charts and confirm pretty much everything on there right now qualifies as worship music. Meaning, it’s the kind of music you’d hear if you walked into an evangelical Christian church on any given Sunday — “big praise and worship choruses with big rock bands,” Webb explains.
He adds that contemporary Christian music has been trending this way for the past 10 years or so. “If you’re a Christian band and you don’t have a worship song — a song that literally could be used for a congregation to sing on a Sunday morning — then you don’t have a single.” (For those wondering, yes, this is the kind of music Feucht makes when he makes music.)
But back in the Nineties, when Blake was buying cassettes and CDs from the Christian bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina, worship music was, as they put it, “like the stepchild of Christian music.” The contemporary Christian music of that era — like Knapp, Caedmon’s Call, Jars of Clay, The O.C. Supertones, Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant (Flamy Grant’s namesake) — wasn’t limited to particular genres. It could be rock, folk, ska, metal, vocal pop, whatever. And its perspective was more subjective, personal.
“It was people writing about their experiences as Christians in the world,” Blake says.
Or as Webb puts it: “The joke used to be with your average Christian song, if you took the bridge out, where it brought it around to how the whole thing was about God, it could just be your typical, really good love song.”
In contrast, Blake says, the focus of worship music is praising and glorifying God. “It’s like, ‘from me to you’ — most of the lyrics are second person and the ‘You’ is God. It creates an emotional connection that way.”
And while there’s always been a conservative streak in contemporary Christian music, it seems to have only gotten more pronounced with the shift to worship music.
“In the same way that history is typically told from the perspective of the conquerors,” Webb argues, “Christian music — and especially Christian worship music — really only represents an extremely narrow viewpoint in terms of the experience of people who are Christians in the world.”
It’s no surprise then that an artist like Flamy Grant makes music in that older CCM tradition, where individual experiences are explored in relation to a higher spiritual power or journey. “Good Day,” to bring it back, is a prime example of this — but what makes it unique is that it is a worship song, too. Congregants did sing it on Sunday mornings, with Blake leading the way.
Though “Good Day” is sung in second person, to God, like most worship music, Blake notes that the voice “is a queer person singing to the church that’s rejected them … We’re taking that worship trope and turning it into an internal dialogue here in the church. Let’s talk about how you’ve treated us and why we are still going to celebrate the good day that God’s given us.”
Though the “Good Day” campaign was by all accounts a success, the barriers built up around the Christian music world are mighty. Again Blake cites Semler, who tried to get their music recognized by K-Love Radio, the dominant Christian station, and the Dove Awards, the gospel/CCM equivalent to the Grammys; so far, K-Love has ignored calls to play Semler’s music, and they only made it to the Dove Awards last year as somebody’s guest. Still, there’s room to plot and disrupt. Blake says they and Semler are considering ways to make a mark on the Dove Awards in October, maybe an “alt-show in Nashville the day before.”
Trending
For now, though, Blake is preparing for a major life overhaul. They just quit their day job and are preparing to move back to Asheville and pursue music and drag full-time. New Flamy Grant music is on the way, including an EP and, possibly, a full-length album in 2024. There are live plans as well, with Flamy Grant taking her “Godless Sheathen” show on the road this fall and winter. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 8 | https://thewordfm.com/music/matt-maher-on-music-fatherhood-and-christ | en | Matt Maher on Music, Fatherhood, and Christ | [
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] | 2015-01-20T09:25:00-06:00 | We had this conversation with him in October, backstage at the Charlotte Convention Center where Maher, who is outspoken in his pro-life convictions, was preparing to perform at the Charlotte Pregnancy Resource Center’s annual banquet. | en | //cdn.saleminteractivemedia.com/shared/images/favicons/cross-32x32.ico | The Fish Base Station | https://thewordfm.com/music/matt-maher-on-music-fatherhood-and-christ | (WNS)--Matt Maher was born and raised in Canada. He is a practicing Roman Catholic who has seen widespread acceptance in evangelical circles, receiving three Dove Award nominations and one win. His first major label album, Empty & Beautiful, came out in 2008. That album and all three subsequent albums have made the Billboard Top 200 secular album chart, making him one of the few Christian artists ever to accomplish that. I had this conversation with him in October, backstage at the Charlotte Convention Center where Maher, who is outspoken in his pro-life convictions, was preparing to perform at the Charlotte Pregnancy Resource Center’s annual banquet.
You’re a Canadian. You were born in Newfoundland. You came down here to the United States to go to college, right? My parents got separated, and I moved to Arizona to finish my degree in music. I wanted to go to Los Angeles and do film scoring at UCLA, but I ended up going to church instead and got involved in ministry.
You did get a degree in music. I got a degree in jazz performance in piano.
You put yourself through college, in part, by playing music. Yes, I did. The first three years, in Canada, I played piano in a hotel lounge and a hotel bar. … I wasn’t allowed to have a tip jar in the lobby. In the lounge I had one. I did that for three years, and then when I came to the states I spent a year working to get residency. Then I actually got a scholarship for the following 3 1/2 years.
Were you, from the beginning, playing praise and worship music? Not at all. I grew up playing keyboards in a rock band. We played in bars, and we played covers and wrote originals. It was very contemporary rock music. When I moved to Arizona and picked up a guitar, I was learning how to play songs for youth groups and playing at coffee houses, but I was writing songs about girls and love and relationships. In 1999, I graduated from college, and I got offered a full-time job at this Catholic parish, St. Timothy’s in Mesa, Ariz. I saw part of my job being that I wanted to write songs. Obviously, being somebody who loves modern music, that influences your songwriting. Then, in particular, I heard the music of Delirious? in the late ’90s, and that and the music of Passion. I was the same age as those guys. It made me realize that it was possible. I didn’t know how this was all going to work. Out of a sense of service—that I was working at a church and I was trying to write songs that helped articulate my faith and the faith of the young people I was serving—I started writing songs.
You and I met on an airplane a few years ago, probably four or five years ago, just happened to be sitting next to each other. My recollection is that you were not married then. I’ve been married four years.
You must’ve gotten married soon after we met. You’re about, in round numbers, 40 years old? I’ll be 40 in November.
How’s that changed your life? That would mean you were 35, 36 years old when you got married. I think you and I met literally right before I met my wife because I was about to go on tour with Michael W. Smith, and at the end of that tour was when I started pursuing my wife, Kristin. We also have a 3-year-old son, Conor. Once again, I would say that marriage and parenthood have fundamentally changed my understanding of the gospel. It’s rooted in a greater sense of what commitment and unconditional love really, practically looks like.
Case in point: My wife has a cold, so I put our kids down last night, thought I cleaned up the kitchen, and left the house and went to bus call. She had sent me a text saying, “Hey, can you be sure and let the dog out before you leave?” I didn’t do that. There were dishes left in the sink. I was telling my band, “One of those days you just feel like, man, I totally failed today as dad, as a member of my team called my family,” but that’s the thing. She said, “It’s okay. You have a lot on your mind and it’s a lot to deal with.” Then my kids—knowing my son’s ability to be so thoughtfully present to some things and couldn’t care less about other things has taught me a lot, much more about God’s affection for me, I think, than anything else.
By that you mean that you can sometimes be thoughtfully present and sometimes really unpresent with God? Absolutely. I think more so probably the second. I just love to hang out with my son and watch him just play. He’s not doing anything meaningful. It’s not like he’s over there at 3 years old trying to discover the cure for cancer. He’s just being a 3-year-old. I’m not saying that’s an excuse for me as a 40-year-old man to act like a 3-year-old. It’s more me saying that, whatever I’m doing in life, I think God’s design is for us to be fully present and fully alive in those moments and to know that He takes joy in that. I think that my capacity for loving my kids, for extending grace to my kids, has taught me much more about the infinite love of God.
I want to shift gears and talk to you about the Christian music industry just a little bit. Your 2013 album was your biggest by a longshot. It seems like they just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and you’re getting older and older and older. People say the problem with contemporary Christian music is that it’s taken on too much of the trappings of the world. You have to be young and sexy to be in that world, and yet, here you are, Matt. How do you explain that? God has a great sense of humor. I was really inspired a couple of years ago. I actually was on tour with Don Moen, and he was a guy, what a legacy.
Don Moen founded Integrity Records, which was one of the earliest Christian music labels, and he’s been at this for what, 40 years, 50 years? Yeah, it’s been a long time. We were on a flight from Winnipeg to Vancouver. I was waiting on a flight, and one of the movies Air Canada had as part of it’s free, on-demand service was a PBS documentary on the life of Frank Lloyd Wright. I watched it, and it was one of the most inspiring things I’d watched in a long time. Most people don’t realize that all the major contributions he made, he made in the back half of his life. When he did the Guggenheim he was, like, 91 years old or something.
What that spoke to me was volumes of this notion that if there’s any place in the world where we should treasure and value the contributions of our elder statesmen, it’s the church. You’re right, in a sense, that there is some real tension right now. We’re basically trying to put all our efforts into younger, more attractive, a little bit flashier. … You know, we need the energy of the young and the wisdom of the old. That’s really what we need, the church needs.
Tell me about your songwriting process. How do you write a song? Words first, then music? There’s no rhyme or reason. I can’t really tell my muse, “Only inspire me this way, please.” My preferred way is getting a conceptual idea. It’s a lot like country music. Country music typically revolves around some sort of mechanism or lyrical twist, where the song’s doing this, and there’s this ironic turn.
In terms of writing worship music, I think, typically, there’s always some idea or phrase. There’s a little window of revelation. The song, “White Flag,” which I wrote with a bunch of people, came with this image of looking at a white flag being a sign of surrender and thinking about how the cross, ultimately, is our sign of surrender. Yet, it’s in that surrender that we find victory. For me, a big part of writing that song when I did was looking at this constant use of the phrase, “culture wars,” and, “it’s us versus them," and I’m just being exhausted and sick of it.
I don’t want to fight my neighbor anymore, regardless of what they believe. Obviously, I want to stand for the right in a free society to have a Christian belief. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor.” He didn’t say, “Argue with your neighbor until you’re right.” I think that song was very much saying, our line in the sand is the cross and it’s Jesus laying down his life and us finding victory in that defeat. That resurrection comes through a certain sense of resignation, and it’s actually a healthy thing.
*This article first published by WORLD News Service.
; | ||||
5676 | dbpedia | 1 | 57 | https://www.movieguide.org/news-articles/top-10-movies-featuring-popular-christian-music-artists-and-songs.html | en | Top 10 Movies Featuring Popular Christian Music Artists and Songs | [
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"Lillie Jaenchen"
] | 2023-07-31T16:30:57+00:00 | Christian contemporary music inspires believers to worship through the power of music. Many faith-based movies feature songs written... | en | Movieguide | The Family Guide to Movies & Entertainment | https://www.movieguide.org/news-articles/top-10-movies-featuring-popular-christian-music-artists-and-songs.html | Christian contemporary music inspires believers to worship through the power of music. Many faith-based movies feature songs written and performed by well-known Christian music artists. From movies that follow the lives of our favorite performers to scenes containing familiar praise tunes, these are the top 10 movies featuring Christian music, artists and songs.
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE follows the inspiring true story behind MercyMe’s most popular Christian contemporary song of the same name. The plot centers around lead singer Bart Miller’s path to reconciliation with his abusive father after he turns his life over to Jesus. It features a solid Christian worldview and serves as a poignant reminder of the power of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. There’s no objectionable content – save for tastefully executed abusive violence. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE is a heartfelt film appropriate for the 10+ crowd.
Full Review ⇾
GOD'S NOT DEAD
GOD’S NOT DEAD is a powerful evangelistic movie about a college student who challenges his philosophy professor’s curriculum when asked to sign a pledge that God is dead. Several lawsuits involving the place of Christian faith in universities inspired the plotline. It features a well-known song of the same name written and performed by the contemporary Christian band Newsboys (released in 2011). Parents should be aware of light violence that might be intense for young children. GOD’S NOT DEAD is an exceptional movie with a great soundtrack.
Full Review ⇾
I STILL BELIEVE
I STILL BELIEVE is based on the inspiring true story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp’s marriage to his first wife Melissa, who is dying of cancer. It’s a story of hope during tragedy. The movie shows a very strong Christian worldview and is a shining example of sacrificial love. It contains light violence, hospital scenes and mature elements, so MOVIEGUIDE® suggests caution for younger children. I STILL BELIEVE is a wholesome film filled with inspiring praise music for teens and adults to enjoy.
Full Review ⇾
FIREPROOF
Kirk Cameron stars in the faith-based film FIREPROOF about a fireman whose marriage is on the rocks. He takes on a 40 Day experiment called “The Love Dare” to try to save the relationship. The film features the hit song “While I’m Waiting” by the Christian music artist John Waller. It contains a robust Christian worldview and shines a light on forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Parents should know there is light violence and some adult material but nothing overtly salacious. FIREPROOF is appropriate for kids ages 12 and up.
Full Review ⇾
THE JESUS MUSIC
THE JESUS MUSIC tells the untold story of Christian Contemporary Music. It features interviews with Christian musicians Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Lauren Daigle, and many more. The film focuses on the history of the Christian music genre from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present. The soundtrack includes songs by chart-topping artists like Hillsong Worship, Chris Tomlin and TobyMac. THE JESUS MUSIC contains a Biblical worldview with light language and violence. This one is a fun option for parents and teens 13+.
Full Review ⇾
HILLSONG: LET HOPE RISE
HILLSONG: LET HOPE RISE is a documentary that offers viewers a worship music experience. It follows the Christian worship team from Hillsong Church as they prepare a new song to perform in the Los Angeles Forum. The film contains a strong Christian worldview with no questionable elements, making it safe for the entire family. The soundtrack features many of the team’s most-known songs, like “Oceans (Where My Feet Will Fail).” HILLSONG: LET HOPE RISE might inspire everyone to sing along.
Full Review ⇾
BREAKTHROUGH (2019)
BREAKTHROUGH is a moving film about a faithful mother’s prayer for her son’s healing and restoration after he drowned in a lake. The movie features a remix of the hit Christian song “This Is Amazing Grace” with a performance by Phil Wickham and gospel rapper Lecrae. It has a very strong Christian worldview that shines a light on the power of prayer. Parents should know there is light violence with scenes of peril that may frighten young children. BREAKTHROUGH is a tear-jerker worth a watch on the next family movie night.
Full Review ⇾
COURAGEOUS
COURAGEOUS is an emotional movie made by the creators of FIREPROOF. When tragedy strikes a sheriff’s deputy, he questions his priorities in life. Leaning on his religion, he vows to be a better parent and inspires his fellow Policemen to sign a contract to be stronger Christians and fathers. The film features the hit song “Courageous” by Casting Crowns, which calls for believers to have the courage to serve the Lord. Despite some action violence, COURAGEOUS is an uplifting film appropriate for the 13+ crowd.
Full Review ⇾
AMAZING GRACE
AMAZING GRACE tells the true story of William Wilberforce, an abolitionist who leads the charge to end slavery in 18th-century England. He draws inspiration from ex-slave trader John Newton (who wrote the beloved hymn “Amazing Grace”). This stirring movie features the well-known Chris Tomlin song “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone).” Parents should know there is light language and violence, but the Christian message shines through. AMAZING GRACE is a remarkable story appropriate for kids 11 and up.
Full Review ⇾
GRACE UNPLUGGED
Tweens will love GRACE UNPLUGGED, which follows the story of Grace Tray, who has her faith tested when she launches a music career in Hollywood. She must fight the lure of stardom after being thrust into the real world. This unforgettable film has a very strong Christian worldview with pro-family messages. Parents should know there is a scene with alcohol, and a girl runs away from home. The positive messages outweigh the questionable moments, as it’s a prodigal story. It’s filled with incredible praise music to boot. Kids 12 and older will enjoy GRACE UNPLUGGED.
Full Review ⇾ | |||||
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] | null | [] | 2015-03-02T01:51:21+00:00 | Representing such iconic artists as Amy Grant, Mandisa, Hillsong UNITED, Chris Tomlin, Tye Tribbett and TobyMac, Capitol CMG is a multi-faceted company whose assets include such legendary brands as Sparrow and ForeFront Records as well as an award-winning publishing division. | en | Capitol Christian Music Group | https://www.capitolcmglabelgroup.com/ | Emails will be sent by or on behalf of Universal Music Group 2220 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310) 865-4000. You may withdraw your consent at any time. Privacy Policy / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
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5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 43 | https://www.musicalternatives.com/roster/disciple | en | Disciple — Music Alternatives | http://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d6063d86e6c087a92b2273/t/58d610d78419c267b7274924/1490424023492/MA_Logo.png?format=1500w | http://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d6063d86e6c087a92b2273/t/58d610d78419c267b7274924/1490424023492/MA_Logo.png?format=1500w | [
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] | null | [] | null | en | https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58d6063d86e6c087a92b2273/1490424014687-Q886N6900UARCIZVP0MO/favicon.ico?format=100w | Music Alternatives | https://www.musicalternatives.com/roster/disciple | Disciple
Christian hard rock outfit Disciple was formed in 1992 by friends Kevin Young, Brad Noah, Tim Barrett, and Adrian DiTommasi (who would leave the band shorty after inception) in an attempt to spread the Gospel while playing the loud, metallic music they loved. Over the years, their style evolved into one similar to many secular alternative metal groups, as they toured churches, high schools, colleges, and similar venues. Their self-released debut, What Was I Thinking, came out in 1995, followed by an EP, My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy, on Warner Resound in 1997. Their sophomore full-length effort, This Might Sting a Little Bit, followed two years later on Rugged Records. By God followed in 2001 on the same label. 2003’s Back Again found the band on a new label, their own independent Slain Records. That year, the trio became a quartet with the addition of bassist Joey Fife to their lineup. The group signed with INO Records the following year and released a self-titled LP in June of 2005. Scars Remain arrived on Integrity in late 2006. After years of nominations, the album won the band their first Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year. In 2008, Noah and Fife stepped down from the band and their spots were filled by bassist Israel Beachy and guitarists Andrew Welch and Micah Sannan. Southern Hospitality arrived later that year. Before their next release, founding drummer Tim Barrett would also part ways with Disciple, replaced by Trent Reiff. Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Disciple’s eighth LP, in April 2010. It topped the Christian chart and entered the Billboard Top 50. As the band’s popularity grew, they embarked on a handful of tours with other top Christian acts like Thousand Foot Krutch and Skillet. 2012 saw the release of O God Save Us All, as well as a flurry of line-up changes. After four years with Disciple, Welch left the band to join Thousand Foot Krutch, while Sannan and Beachy were replaced by Josiah Prince (Philmont) and Jason Wilkes (High Flight Society). By early 2013, Reiff exited and was replaced by Joey West. Andrew Stanton also joined the band, leaving Young as the only original member. The refreshed quintet forged ahead with the crowd-funded release of 2014’s Attack, which was their highest Billboard 200 entry to date, peaking at number 44. Produced by longtime Disciple producer Travis Wyrick, Attack also rose to the number two spots on the Hard Rock and Christian charts. It would be the first and last album with Wilkes on bass, who left the band the next year. Vultures, a six-song EP recorded during the Attack sessions, was released at the end of 2015. Another EP, Live in Denmark, arrived the following year, accompanied by a series of concert videos from Denmark’s RiverFest. The band — now a quartet — issued another crowd-funded effort in 2016. Their eleventh album, Long Live the Rebels debuted at number 125, making it the band’s sixth Billboard 200 entry to date. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Steve Huey | |||
5676 | dbpedia | 1 | 16 | https://www.gettymusic.com/ | en | Getty Music | http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5716a5ea7da24f462d7beeca/t/5717ddb04d088e58f3747f8f/1461181875522/getty_music_large_g_logo_bw_web.png?format=1500w | http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5716a5ea7da24f462d7beeca/t/5717ddb04d088e58f3747f8f/1461181875522/getty_music_large_g_logo_bw_web.png?format=1500w | [
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] | null | [] | null | The official website of modern hymn-writers Keith & Kristyn Getty (known for "In Christ Alone") with music resources, articles, videos, and more! | en | https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5716a5ea7da24f462d7beeca/1461602596695-547P4A78QZ4VPEI5KF5O/favicon.ico?format=100w | Getty Music | https://www.gettymusic.com | SCARLET THREAD
Keith & Kristyn Getty ft. Zach Williams
Co-written with award-winning songwriters Michael Farren and Tony Wood, "Scarlet Thread" knits together millennia of Biblical imagery where blood red is the color of kindness, redemption, and love.
EVERYTHING
Hymns for Little Hearts
Everything (Hymns for Little Hearts) is a 3-song collection for children (and their parents!) teaching Jesus as the reason for adoration, discipleship, and peace.
OUR GOD WILL GO BEFORE US
The Hymns of Matt Boswell & Matt Papa, Vol. 3
“Our God Will Go Before Us” is Matt Boswell & Matt Papa’s eagerly awaited third album of modern hymns featuring special guests Cochren & Co, Keith & Kristyn Getty, Sandra McCracken, and Matt Redman. | ||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 14 | https://lawreview.gmu.edu/print__issues/religious-and-secular-comparators/ | en | Religious and Secular Comparators | [
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] | null | [] | 2023-06-11T18:22:00+00:00 | en | The George Mason Law Review | https://lawreview.gmu.edu/print__issues/religious-and-secular-comparators/ | Introduction
At the height of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the United States Supreme Court resolved a decades-long debate about the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Not in a lengthy opinion evaluating the complex doctrine, but in a four-page per curiam decision. In just a few lines, the Court shifted the free-exercise framework, holding that religious observers are entitled to exemptions from laws that exempt “comparable” secular conduct.
What makes religious and secular conduct comparable has since become the subject of considerable discussion. New cases posing hard questions seem to arise daily. Is a movie theater comparable to a church? Is declining a vaccine for medical reasons comparable to declining for religious reasons? Is a school affinity group that limits membership based on gender identity comparable to a religious student organization that limits membership based on sexual orientation?
Despite framing the key question in terms of religious and secular comparators, the Court offered little guidance on how to compare religious and secular acts and entities. It thus gave district judges virtually free reign, and the results in recent years have been disturbingly partisan. Even so, commentators have paid little attention to the questions of who must prove or disprove comparability, and how. This Article focuses on those questions.
The Free Exercise Clause says that “Congress shall make no law . . . prohibiting the free exercise” of religion. Courts have interpreted this to mean that some religious observers are entitled to exemptions from laws that restrict their religious conduct. As the Supreme Court said more than a century ago, however, the First Amendment doesn’t “make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land.” More recently, the Court held that the First Amendment doesn’t exempt religious observers from “neutral, generally applicable law[s]” that incidentally infringe on their “religiously motivated action.” If a law isn’t neutral and generally applicable vis-à-vis religion, it warrants strict scrutiny. That is, religious observers are entitled to exemptions from laws that burden their religious exercise and aren’t neutral and generally applicable, unless the government can prove that such laws are narrowly tailored to achieving compelling state interests.
Unsurprisingly, the crucial issue in many exemptions cases is whether the law or state action in question is neutral and generally applicable. In its short per curiam opinion in 2021, the Supreme Court held that a law isn’t generally applicable with respect to religion, and “therefore trigger[s] strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause, whenever [it] treat[s] any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise.” Comparability is “judged against the asserted government interest that justifies the regulation at issue.” Religious and secular acts are “comparable” if they “undermine[] the government’s asserted interests in a similar way.” A state can’t prohibit the slaughter of animals for sanitation reasons but then exempt secular forms of slaughter that undermine the sanitation interest as much or more than religious killings that remain prohibited. Nor may a police department that prohibits officers from growing beards exempt officers with medical conditions but decline to exempt Muslim officers, when the two sets of exemptions would detract from the purpose of the rule in a similar way.
But when a law exempts certain secular conduct, how can courts assess whether a requested religious exemption would “undermine[] the government’s asserted interests in a similar way”? What interests can the government assert? Who bears the burden to show or disprove comparability? What evidence is relevant to that inquiry? Since the Supreme Court formally adopted the new general-applicability standard in 2021, these questions have become all the more critical in exemptions cases.
Even so, courts rarely address them explicitly and have reached inconsistent conclusions. The Supreme Court has said that religious claimants bear the burden to show that laws are “not ‘neutral’ or ‘generally applicable’” (i.e., that “comparable” secular activity is exempt). But in addressing California’s COVID-19 restrictions, the Court commented on the State’s failure “to explain why it could not safely permit at-home worshipers to gather in larger numbers” despite permitting larger gatherings in commercial settings (i.e., why the religious gatherings at issue were incomparable to the exempt secular gatherings).
Courts also have struggled to ascertain what the relevant governmental interests are. While the government’s “asserted” interests count under recent Supreme Court doctrine, questions remain about which assertions are relevant (e.g., pre-enactment explanations vs. post-hoc rationalizations), and how broad and numerous the asserted interests can be.
Finally, courts have applied inconsistent evidentiary standards in assessing comparability. In declining to exempt religious observers from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, one court emphasized that the mandate’s medical exemptions were “likely to be more limited in number than religious exemptions,” and thus that the requested religious exemptions would undermine the state’s COVID-19 measures more than the medical exemptions. A judge in another vaccine-mandate case rejected the same reasoning, concluding that “an influx of religious accommodation requests,” compared to a small number of medical exemptions, “is not a valid reason to deny First Amendment rights.”
These doctrinal inconsistencies are becoming more pronounced as lower courts attempt to apply the new standard. This Article identifies these often-implicit discrepancies and proposes ways courts might approach these issues in future cases. In other words, this Article attempts to answer the “how” questions—namely, how courts can and should align the new comparability standard with the purposes of the general applicability test. Part I traces the origins of general applicability in the free exercise context. Part II examines the competing interpretive theories, the approach the Supreme Court recently adopted, the practical implications of the new standard, and the reasons general applicability matters. Part III focuses on how courts have been applying the recent doctrine and how they should determine whether secular and religious exemptions would undermine state interests in similar ways. This Article concludes by suggesting that the best way to assess religious and secular comparators is through a burden-shifting framework familiar in the antidiscrimination context, as well as a permissive evidentiary inquiry.
There are many important questions this Article doesn’t address. It has little to say about whether general applicability should matter for free exercise purposes, or whether general applicability should turn on the comparison of religious and secular activities. Although some of the following discussion inevitably implicates such questions, they aren’t this Article’s focus. Courts and commentators have debated these issues for decades. The Supreme Court answered the first question in 1990, and declined to revisit that decision in 2021. It answered the second question at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. For better or worse, neutral, generally applicable laws don’t trigger strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause. And laws are generally applicable unless they treat religion worse than comparable secular conduct. These are the waters of modern free exercise. The question now is how to navigate.
I. General Applicability Origins
The concept of general applicability emerged in the free-exercise context in the last fifty years. Before then, the Free Exercise Clause typically was read to require exemptions from certain laws that infringed on the exercise of religion, regardless of whether those laws were neutral and generally applicable. In a series of cases at the end of the twentieth century, the doctrine changed.
A. United States v. Lee
In the 1970s, an Amish farmer refused to pay social security taxes or participate in the social security system. The IRS fined him more than $27,000 for unpaid taxes. He paid $91, the amount owed for the first quarter of 1973, then sued the United States in federal court for a refund, claiming that the imposition of the social security tax violated his free-exercise rights. The case reached the Supreme Court, which accepted his belief that his faith forbade making social security payments or receiving benefits. But the Court held that the government had “justif[ied] [this] limitation on religious liberty by showing that it [was] essential to accomplish[ing] an overriding governmental interest.”
Justice John Paul Stevens concurred in what would become crucial language in the development of free exercise jurisprudence. He began by observing that the Court’s “constitutional standard suggest[ed] that the Government always bears a heavy burden of justifying the application of neutral general laws to individual conscientious objectors.” He disagreed with that structure, arguing that a religious objector should “shoulder the burden of demonstrating that there is a unique reason for allowing him a special exemption from a valid law of general applicability.” He agreed with the Court’s reasoning “that the difficulties associated with processing other claims to tax exemption on religious grounds” justified rejecting the petitioner’s claim, but only because “this reasoning support[ed] the adoption of a different constitutional standard than the Court purport[ed] to apply.” That is, “[t]he Court’s analysis support[ed] a holding that there [was] virtually no room for a ‘constitutionally required exemption’ on religious grounds from a valid tax law that [was] entirely neutral in its general application.”
B. Employment Division v. Smith
Almost a decade later, the Court adopted Justice Stevens’s view in what would become one of its most significant free exercise decisions. In the 1980s, the State of Oregon prohibited possession of “controlled substance[s]” except when prescribed by medical practitioners. Alfred Smith and Galen Black were fired when they used the controlled substance, peyote, for sacramental purposes at a ceremony of the Native American Church. The State denied them unemployment benefits because they had been fired for what counted as work-related misconduct. They brought a free-exercise challenge in state court, and their case reached the Supreme Court of Oregon. The court concluded they were entitled to unemployment benefits because the State’s reason for the “misconduct” rule—to preserve the financial integrity of the compensation fund—didn’t justify infringing on their religious practice.
The United States Supreme Court reversed. It held that the compelling interest test—strict scrutiny—doesn’t apply to “neutral, generally applicable law[s]” that burden “religiously motivated action.” “We have never held,” it explained, “that an individual’s religious beliefs excuse him from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate.” It opined that “precisely because we value and protect religious divergence, we cannot afford the luxury of deeming presumptively invalid, as applied to the religious objector, every regulation of conduct that does not protect an interest of the highest order.”
C. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah
Several years after Smith, the Court had its first opportunity to clarify the scope of its holding. The case, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, arose when a Santeria church, which practiced animal sacrifice, leased land in a Florida city. In response to “concern” from members of the community “that certain religions may propose to engage in practices which are inconsistent with public morals, peace, or safety,” the city council convened and enacted several ordinances. The ordinances prohibited “sacrific[ing] any animal within the corporate limits of the City.” They applied to any group that killed, slaughtered or sacrificed animals for “any type of ritual.” They exempted slaughtering by “licensed establishments” of animals “specifically raised for food purposes,” including kosher slaughter.
The church brought a free-exercise challenge, and the case reached the Supreme Court. The Court held that the ordinances violated the church’s free-exercise rights. First, it explained that, “[a]t a minimum, the protections of the Free Exercise Clause pertain if the law at issue discriminates against some or all religious beliefs or regulates or prohibits conduct because it is undertaken for religious reasons.” Citing Smith, the Court explained that “if the object of a law is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivation, the law is not neutral, and it is invalid unless it is justified by a compelling interest and is narrowly tailored to advance that interest.” Because the ordinances “exclude[d] almost all killings of animals except for religious sacrifice” and permitted “killings that [were] no more necessary or humane” than Santeria slaughters, they were both overinclusive and underinclusive with respect to their purported objective. The Court thus determined that the ordinances weren’t neutral.
Second, the Court held that the ordinances weren’t generally applicable. Although it declined to “define with precision the standard used to evaluate whether a prohibition is of general application,” it held that the ordinances failed the test for the same reasons they weren’t neutral. It noted, for example, that the city “ha[d] not explained why commercial operations that slaughter ‘small numbers’ of hogs and cattle”—which were exempt from the ordinances—did “not implicate its professed desire to prevent cruelty to animals and preserve the public health.”
Because the ordinances weren’t neutral and generally applicable, the Court applied strict scrutiny. It noted that “[a] law that targets religious conduct for distinctive treatment or advances legitimate governmental interests only against conduct with a religious motivation will survive strict scrutiny only in rare cases.” Even if the city had compelling interests for the ordinances, they weren’t narrowly tailored because “[t]he proffered objectives [were] not pursued with respect to analogous nonreligious conduct” and “could [have been] achieved by narrower ordinances that burdened religion to a far lesser degree.”
Justice Antonin Scalia, the author of Smith, concurred. He urged that a
defect of lack of neutrality applies primarily to those laws that by their terms impose disabilities on the basis of religion (e.g., a law excluding members of a certain sect from public benefits), whereas the defect of lack of general applicability applies primarily to those laws which, though neutral in their terms, through their design, construction, or enforcement target the practices of a particular religion for discriminatory treatment.
II. General Applicability Theory
In determining whether laws are generally applicable under Smith and Lukumi, courts must make two decisions. First, they must decide what makes a law generally applicable. Second, they need to figure out how to ascertain general applicability under the substantive standard. All the while, they must keep in mind the reasons why general applicability matters. The Supreme Court recently answered the first question, as discussed below in Section A. The second question, outlined in Section B, remains unresolved and is this Article’s primary focus. Section C discusses the normative theory underlying the general applicability test—in other words, the goals general applicability aims to achieve.
A. Substantive Theory (the “What”)
What does generally applicable mean? Since Smith and Lukumi, many courts and commentators have disagreed about when laws are generally applicable. One view is that a law is generally applicable unless it is intended to discriminate against religion. After all, the Court in Lukumi spoke in discrimination terms when it called general applicability “[t]he principle that government, in pursuit of legitimate interests, cannot in a selective manner impose burdens only on conduct motivated by religious belief . . . .” The Supreme Court seemed to endorse the intentional discrimination view shortly after Lukumi, in City of Boerne v. Flores. The Court opined that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”), enacted in response to Smith, attempted to “substantive[ly] alter[]” Smith’s holding by creating religious exemptions to laws “without regard to whether they had the object of stifling or punishing free exercise.” The Court in City of Boerne held that RFRA was not a proper use of Congress’s power under Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment because it called for strict scrutiny of laws not “motivated by religious bigotry.” The Court thus suggested that a law doesn’t warrant strict scrutiny under Smith—and therefore is generally applicable—unless it is “motivated by religious bigotry.” Some courts have adopted versions of this interpretation.
Still, the “discriminatory intent” view has received criticism. As Lukumi reiterated, Smith prescribed strict scrutiny for laws that aren’t neutral and generally applicable. While discriminatory intent usually undermines neutrality, “general applicability” refers to the effect of the law rather than the intent of the legislature. A law may be generally applicable (or not) regardless of its underlying purposes. This is evident in Lukumi’s distinct discussions of neutrality and general applicability. Whereas the former concerned the “object” of a law, the latter involved inequitable “results.”
Other courts and commentators have endorsed what could be called a “substantial underinclusion” interpretation. Under this view, a law isn’t generally applicable if it is so riddled with secular exceptions that it effectively applies only to religious conduct. This approach relies on Lukumi’s admonition that “inequality results when a legislature decides that the governmental interests it seeks to advance are worthy of being pursued only against conduct with a religious motivation.” Under this interpretation, a law can violate general applicability even without intentional discrimination, but only if it allows “substantial” secular conduct while prohibiting comparable religious exercise. Appealing as this category may be on an intuitive level, however, it is susceptible to practical criticism insofar as it turns on degrees of underinclusiveness and the meaning of nebulous terms such as “substantial.”
At the other end of the spectrum is the theory the Court recently adopted, often called the “most-favored-nation” interpretation. Under this theory, a law isn’t generally applicable if it makes implicit value comparisons between religious and secular motives. A legislature can’t say, for example, that a secular reason for noncompliance with a law is more important than a religious reason. This means that a law isn’t generally applicable with respect to religion if it exempts any form of secular conduct that detracts from its purpose as much as the prohibited religious conduct would. In other words, a law “lacks general applicability if it prohibits religious conduct while permitting secular conduct that undermines the government’s asserted interests in a similar way.”
This is true even of laws that “treat[] some comparable secular businesses or other activities as poorly as or even less favorably than the religious exercise at issue.” “The question is not whether one or a few secular analogs are regulated,” but “whether a single secular analog is not regulated.” Commentators sometimes use the analogy of racial favoritism in employment. According to this argument, “the exercise of religion is entitled to be treated like the best-treated secular analog,” just as “[m]inority employees are entitled to be treated as well as the best-treated race, not merely as well as some other badly treated race.” Because the Constitution provides special solicitude for religious exercise, the argument goes, the government must place religious conduct in any preferred category it creates for analogous secular conduct.
Imagine that a police department prohibits all officers from growing beards because it wants to foster a uniform appearance on the force. If a Muslim officer seeks to grow a beard for religious reasons, the police department can refuse so long as the no-beard rule is rationally related to a legitimate state interest. There’s no question that the rule covers all officers and evinces no discriminatory intent, so it is generally applicable under any theory.
But if the police department were to exempt officers with medical conditions from the no-beard rule, the rule would no longer be generally applicable under the most-favored-nation approach because a medical exemption would compromise the uniform appearance of the force as much as a religious exemption. By allowing the medical exemption, the department would have acknowledged that some individual concerns outweigh its interest in uniformity, and religion, as the “most favored” reason for an exception, therefore must be exempt, also. This was then-Judge Samuel Alito’s reasoning in Fraternal Order of Police Newark Lodge No. 12 v. City of Newark. There, the Third Circuit concluded that the police department’s “decision to allow officers to wear beards for medical reasons undoubtedly undermine[d] the [d]epartment’s interest in fostering a uniform appearance through its ‘no-beard’ policy.”
The Supreme Court adopted the most-favored-nation interpretation in a per curiam decision in Tandon v. Newsom. In 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, California promulgated regulations restricting social interactions. The regulations limited private, in-home gatherings to three households. Two California residents seeking to hold in-home religious services with more than three households challenged the regulations on free-exercise grounds. They argued that the regulations weren’t neutral and generally applicable because they didn’t apply the same three-household limit to commercial entities such as salons, retail stores, indoor restaurants, and train stations.
The district court denied the claimants’ request to preliminarily enjoin the regulations, explaining that “[t]he State’s private gatherings restrictions appl[ied] to all gatherings, whether religious or secular.” Only commercial gatherings were treated differently. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to stay the regulations pending appeal, pointing to the district court’s further “conclu[sion] that the State reasonably distinguishe[d] in-home private gatherings from the commercial activity [the claimants] assert[ed] [was] comparable.”
The Supreme Court reversed. It held that the regulations likely weren’t neutral and generally applicable because they applied a less restrictive standard to what the Court deemed “comparable” secular gatherings. The Court explained that “whether two activities are comparable for purposes of the Free Exercise Clause must be judged against the asserted government interest that justifies the regulation at issue,” meaning “the risks various activities pose, not the reasons why people gather.” According to the Court, “the Ninth Circuit did not conclude that [the comparator commercial] activities pose[d] a lesser risk of transmission than [the] applicants’ proposed religious exercise at home.”
As discussed below, Tandon rested on several questionable premises and created more uncertainty than it resolved. Even so, it cemented the most-favored-nation interpretation as the prevailing theory of general applicability under the Free Exercise Clause. Laws aren’t generally applicable if they exempt secular conduct that is “comparable” to the prohibited religious conduct.
B. Procedural Theory (the “How”)
How can parties establish or refute comparability? Ascertaining the substantive law isn’t enough. Just as important is determining the steps the parties must take to achieve their goals under the law. Anyone who watches legal dramas on television knows that criminal defendants are “innocent until proven guilty.” Lawyers and nonlawyers alike understand that the prosecution bears the “burden of proof.” The burdens and presumptions, in turn, can mean everything. They tell us what happens when the evidence is lacking. If the record is sparse or inconclusive, criminal defendants can’t be convicted.
The burdens and presumptions in constitutional cases are just as impactful. Usually, courts presume that laws are constitutional. A person challenging a law as unconstitutional thus bears the burden to demonstrate why. Almost a century ago, however, the Supreme Court announced a “narrower scope for operation of the presumption of constitutionality when legislation appears on its face to be within a specific prohibition of the Constitution.”
Consider discrimination claims under the Fourteenth Amendment. When a law applies to some groups but not others, a person in a restricted group can challenge that law under the Equal Protection Clause. If the law expressly distinguishes between people along “suspect class” lines, such as race, it is presumptively unconstitutional and triggers strict scrutiny. To establish a compelling justification for such classifications, the government essentially must prove that people in the restricted and unrestricted classes aren’t similarly situated. That is, the government must demonstrate differences between the groups that provide compelling justifications for treating them differently.
Laws that classify based on innocuous or “benign” characteristics, by contrast, remain presumptively constitutional and trigger rational basis review. For example, a law requiring police officers to retire by a certain age doesn’t violate the Equal Protection Clause if it rationally relates to a legitimate state interest. In such cases, it is the challenger who must prove that the restricted and unrestricted groups are similarly situated in all relevant respects.
The presumption of constitutionality attaches in these cases because benign classifications necessarily appear in almost every law. Equal-protection claimants alleging selective mistreatment under facially neutral policies likewise must show that others who are similarly situated have received better treatment. In the rational basis cases, where claimants bear the burden, laws are much more likely to survive than in strict scrutiny cases where the government bears the burden.
Allocating the burdens and presumptions is just as important in free-exercise cases. In his concurrence in Lee, for example, Justice Stevens criticized the majority for requiring the government to carry “a heavy burden of justifying the application of neutral general laws to individual conscientious objectors.” He argued that a religious objector should “shoulder the burden of demonstrating that there is a unique reason for allowing him a special exemption from a valid law of general applicability.” Although Justice Stevens cared largely about what evidence would suffice to carry the relevant burdens, he saw the allocation of the burdens and presumptions as significant. The government might not be able to demonstrate a sufficient justification for taxing the Amish claimant, but the claimant couldn’t prove the government lacked a sufficient justification.
In Smith, the Supreme Court latched on to Justice Stevens’s argument, explaining that “we cannot afford the luxury of deeming presumptively invalid, as applied to the religious objector, every regulation of conduct that does not protect an interest of the highest order.” In Tandon, however, the Court criticized the Ninth Circuit for failing to “requir[e] the State to explain why it could not safely permit at-home worshipers to gather in larger numbers while using precautions used in secular activities.” In that sense, the Court seemed to say that California bore the burden to prove that the exempt secular conduct was incomparable to the requested religious exemption.
Akin to the concept of presumptions and burdens is the notion of deference. In free exercise and other constitutional cases, the outcome often turns on whether the government has a sufficient justification for its actions. This requires courts to determine whether the factual assertions underlying those justifications deserve deference. The Supreme Court has held, for example, that epidemiological evidence supporting state-enacted vaccine mandates is entitled to some level of deference, because “the police power of a State must be held to embrace, at least, such reasonable regulations established directly by legislative enactment as will protect the public health and the public safety.” And when the government chooses to prosecute a particular person for a crime, that decision warrants a degree of “judicial deference” because prosecutorial discretion is a component of the executive power.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court faced a string of free-exercise cases requiring it to determine how much deference is due in particular circumstances. In the first case, decided in May 2020, the Court declined to enjoin a California executive order limiting attendance at public gatherings and prohibiting “places of worship” from exceeding twenty-five percent capacity or one hundred attendees. Concurring, Chief Justice John Roberts observed that “the Order exempt[ed] or treat[ed] more leniently only dissimilar activities, such as operating grocery stores, banks, and laundromats, in which people neither congregate in large groups nor remain in close proximity for extended periods.” His reasoning is worth quoting at length:
Our Constitution principally entrusts the safety and the health of the people to the politically accountable officials of the States to guard and protect. When those officials undertake to act in areas fraught with medical and scientific uncertainties, their latitude must be especially broad. Where those broad limits are not exceeded, they should not be subject to second-guessing by an unelected federal judiciary, which lacks the background, competence, and expertise to assess public health and is not accountable to the people.
In 2021, the Court changed course and enjoined a different California order insofar as it prohibited indoor worship services. Chief Justice Roberts reiterated his view that “federal courts owe significant deference to politically accountable officials with the ‘background, competence, and expertise to assess public health,’” but concluded that California’s latest order “appear[ed] to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake.” Justice Elena Kagan dissented, arguing that the Court’s injunction “displace[d] the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic,” and thereby required the State to “treat worship services like secular activities that pose[d] a much lesser danger.”
Professor Cass Sunstein has endorsed the Court’s reversal of course in these COVID-19 cases, arguing that too deferential a standard might allow states to trounce constitutional rights in the face of crises. Declining to accord such deference, he argues, “can reasonably be seen as a kind of anti-Korematsu—as a strong signal of judicial solicitude for constitutional rights and of judicial willingness to protect against discrimination, even under emergency circumstances in which life is on the line.” This admittedly “harsh” comparison has caught on, leading others to warn against applying the “doggedly deferential reasoning” of Korematsu v. United States 323 U.S. 214 (1944). In Korematsu, the Supreme Court upheld Fred Korematsu’s conviction for violating an order interning United States citizens of Japanese ancestry, based largely on deference to military authorities about national security issues. Id. at 218–19. to free-exercise cases.
The upshot is that the allocation of presumptions and burdens is often as important as ascertaining the substantive law. This is certainly true in free-exercise cases, where substance and methodology work in tandem. Unfortunately, courts are able to—and often do—manipulate the procedural levers to reach partisan outcomes. Perhaps because these maneuvers don’t involve the more controversial—and academically attractive—substantive questions (the “what” questions), courts are able to allocate presumptions and burdens implicitly, if the parties even bother to dispute them in the first place. Given the Supreme Court’s recent endorsement of a substantive theory—the most-favored-nation approach—answering the “how” questions is more important now than ever.
C. Normative Theory (the “Why”)
Why does general applicability matter? That is, why do courts care about religious and secular comparators? Deciding what general applicability means (the “what”) and the relevant procedural framework (the “how”) requires courts to make some version of these normative judgments. General applicability isn’t written in the First Amendment. It is a judicial standard adopted to preserve what the Smith Court saw as the most likely meaning of the Free Exercise Clause. When courts decide which substantive interpretation is “correct,” and what practical standards they “ought” to adopt, they need to consider the reasons the Court announced general applicability as a threshold test in the first place. When this Article discusses how courts have attempted to ascertain comparability, and when it proposes alternatives, it relies on the goals underlying the general applicability standard. This isn’t to say these goals are necessarily worthwhile, but merely that they undergird any application of the general applicability test.
The Court in Smith adopted general applicability as a threshold requirement largely to limit the universe of laws susceptible to free exercise challenges. It decided the case within the familiar framework of constitutional presumptions, explaining that “we cannot afford the luxury of deeming presumptively invalid, as applied to the religious objector, every regulation of conduct that does not protect an interest of the highest order.” Given the diverse array of religious beliefs in the United States, the potential consequences of subjecting laws to strict scrutiny at the behest of individual religious observers, at least as a constitutional matter, concerned the Court. In formulating the neutrality and general applicability requirements, the Court thus invoked its warning from more than a century earlier that the Free Exercise Clause doesn’t “make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land.” It observed that applying strict scrutiny to all laws that burden religious exercise “would be courting anarchy.” The Court then listed “civic obligations of almost every conceivable kind” that it anticipated the neutrality and general-applicability barriers would insulate against attack. These weren’t assurances that laws in each category would always satisfy neutrality and general applicability, but their inclusion emphasizes the Court’s desire to limit the universe of laws susceptible to legitimate free-exercise challenges. In the words of one commentator, Smith signaled the beginning of “a jurisprudence whose master principle was that courts should not give religious exemptions.”
Ultimately, this Article accepts that Smith remains the controlling law and that the most-favored-nation interpretation is the prevailing theory of general applicability. It contends that general applicability was meant to avoid free-exercise challenges to “civic obligations of almost every conceivable kind.” Keeping these considerations in mind, the next Part discusses the practical questions that remain in assessing general applicability through an analysis of religious and secular comparators.
III. General Applicability Comparators
Under the most-favored-nation interpretation, cases like the police department’s no-beard rule might be easy to resolve in favor of religious challengers for substantially the same reasons that the Third Circuit gave in Fraternal Order. But by declaring the medical exemption “undoubtedly” comparable to the requested religious exemption, the court elided the “how” questions that would become important in harder cases. It didn’t say, for example, how courts should make the relevant comparisons, who should bear the burdens, the level of proof required, or the level of deference that should be accorded the government’s stated reasons for granting secular exemptions. Put simply, it didn’t say how to determine when a secular exemption is “comparable” to the religious conduct at issue (i.e., how to determine whether a law “permit[s] secular conduct that undermines the government’s asserted interests in a similar way”). The Supreme Court provided little helpful guidance in Tandon, and lower courts have continued to struggle with the standards.
Developing a coherent understanding of the modern doctrine is more important now than ever. The exemptions cases are socially divisive, and the amorphous nature of the law has led to outcomes that seem more political than principled.
This Article doesn’t wade into the lengthy debate on whether general applicability is the proper standard or whether the Supreme Court has properly interpreted the test. Under Tandon, laws aren’t generally applicable if they exempt secular conduct while prohibiting religious conduct that would do “comparable” damage to the government’s interests. Rather, this Article proposes a practical implementation of the most-favored-nation theory and its “comparability” test that comports with the goals of the general-applicability requirement. This Part considers how courts can (A) ascertain the “government’s asserted interests,” and (B) determine whether religious exemptions would undermine those interests “in a similar way” to exempt secular conduct. It then (C) proposes how a court might best evaluate religious and secular comparators in a case resembling Smith.
A. Ascertaining the Relevant Interests
In determining whether religious and secular exemptions would undermine the government’s interests in similar ways, the first issue is ascertaining the relevant interests.
1. Identification
In Lukumi, the Supreme Court considered whether religious and secular animal killings were comparable vis-à-vis the City’s “professed desire to prevent cruelty to animals and preserve the public health.” The Court in Tandon held that “whether two activities are comparable for purposes of the Free Exercise Clause” is “judged against the asserted government interest that justifies the regulation at issue.” And in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, it explained that religious and secular acts are comparable if they “undermine[] the government’s asserted interests in a similar way.” These statements suggest that the government’s characterization of its interests warrants some deference.
On the other hand, there must be limits to this deference, since the “government’s asserted interests” are, in one sense, to accomplish exactly what its laws accomplish. Just as it is circular to say that “a law is always generally applicable to the objects to which it applies,” it is circular to say that the interest justifying a law is the prevention of the things the law prevents. A police department with a rule against beards for nonmedical reasons can’t assert an interest in “preventing officers from growing beards for non-medical reasons.” The government must say why it prevents or requires certain conduct. The police department must explain why it forbids beards at all, and why it nevertheless allows beards in some circumstances.
To further complicate things, many laws target interests that aren’t explicit in their text. And the government often has multiple reasons for its actions, some of which may be general and others specific. These complexities confounded the Ninth Circuit in 2021 when a school district in California mandated that students and staff receive a COVID-19 vaccine unless they qualified for a medical exemption. The court denied a religious student’s request for an injunction pending appeal, explaining that the medical exemption served the “primary” interest for imposing the mandate—protecting student “health and safety.” In the court’s view, religious claimants could take the vaccine without risking their health and safety, whereas the vaccine itself would compromise the health and safety of medical claimants. A medical exemption therefore would undermine the government’s asserted interest less than a religious exemption. The dissent argued that religious and medical exemptions would “pose identical risks to the government’s asserted interest,” which the dissent framed as “‘ensur[ing] the highest-quality instruction in the safest environment possible for all students and employees’ by preventing the transmission and spread of COVID-19.” The dissent contended that allowing a religious claimant to remain unvaccinated would undermine the goal of stemming COVID-19 just as much as allowing a medical claimant to remain unvaccinated.
The case thus turned in large part on what the district’s “asserted interest” actually was. That is, an interest in protecting student “health and safety,” generally, or creating a COVID-19-safe environment, specifically. In a footnote, the majority rejected the dissent’s “narrower formulation,” reasoning that “the interest the District emphasize[d] most frequently in the record with respect to the student vaccination mandate [was] protecting the ‘health and safety’ of students.” Whether California should have been permitted to assert such a broad interest is another issue, but the important point for now is that the court opted for the broader interest because it was the government’s most frequently asserted version.
Whether one ultimately agrees with the majority or dissent, frequency was an odd focus. As noted, laws often have multiple goals. Claimants always can contest whether laws actually serve each asserted goal, or whether religious exemptions actually would undermine each goal. But claimants can’t simply ignore interests that their conduct would uniquely jeopardize on the ground that their conduct wouldn’t uniquely jeopardize other interests. As one commentator has argued, a “law [that] is found to be underinclusive for [one] purpose[]” may “still satisfy the test of general applicability so long as the law addresses at least one legitimate governmental purpose and is not underinclusive with respect to that purpose.” This makes sense, since the government should be able to decline a religious exemption that would uniquely undermine any legitimate state interest, even if the exemption wouldn’t undermine certain other interests.
Courts consider multiple governmental interests all the time in the parallel context of RFRA. In Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, the Court assessed the government’s evidence that allowing religious uses of a hallucinogenic drug would (1) cause health risks to religious users and (2) lead to diversion into the recreational market. And in Holt v. Hobbs, the Court considered whether banning beards in prisons would prevent inmates from (1) smuggling contraband and (2) disguising their identities. It would make no sense to deem religious drug use comparable to, say, medical use, just because both uses would compromise people’s health, if religious use would lead to substantially more recreational diversion. Nor would it make sense to deem a dermatological exception to the no-beard rule comparable to a religious exception simply because they would equally undermine the contraband interest, if only the religious exception would undermine the disguise interest.
Another key question is timing. When has the government asserted its interests? Do the asserted interests incorporate what lawmakers said before the law was enacted? Are the interests limited to what’s written in the law’s text? Can the government formulate its interests in response to requests for religious exemptions or even litigation? What if, after its enactment, a law provides more benefits than those originally intended?
The first question—whether to consider preenactment statements—concerns legislative history. In his Lukumi concurrence, Justice Scalia noted the practical difficulties of attempting to “determine the singular ‘motive’ of a collective legislative body.” Justice Anthony Kennedy, by contrast, would have considered “the historical background of the decision under challenge.” Justice Kennedy’s view prevailed decades later, at least with respect to neutrality, when he wrote for the Court in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission 138 S. Ct. 1719 (2018). that “[f]actors relevant to the assessment of governmental neutrality include . . . ‘the legislative or administrative history, including contemporaneous statements.’”
At least some lower courts also have considered contemporaneous legislative statements in assessing general applicability. In another vaccine mandate case, the Second Circuit accepted New York’s asserted interests in seeking both to “prevent the spread of COVID-19 in healthcare facilities,” and to “reduce the risk of staffing shortages that [could] compromise the safety of patients and residents even beyond a COVID-19 infection.” The court emphasized that “[t]he State [had] identified these objectives in the Regulatory Impact Statement accompanying [its] emergency rulemaking,” and the claimants had “not point[ed] to any evidence suggesting that the interests asserted [were] pretextual or should otherwise be disregarded in the comparability analysis.” The court thus viewed New York’s official statement at the time of enactment as reflecting its “asserted” interests.
At the other end of the spectrum are instances where the government articulates an interest for the first time in responding to a free exercise challenge. Justice Neil Gorsuch has argued “that only the government’s actually asserted interests as applied to the parties before it count—not post-hoc reimaginings of those interests expanded to some society-wide level of generality.” This principle is familiar in the context of heightened scrutiny, where “[t]he justification must be genuine, not hypothesized or invented post hoc in response to litigation.”
But Justice Gorsuch’s insistence that “post-hoc reimaginings” don’t count in assessing general applicability doesn’t follow from the heightened scrutiny cases. The general-applicability inquiry is a threshold test to determine whether strict scrutiny applies, not a form of heightened scrutiny itself. If anything, the comparability test is more akin to rational basis review, where courts may consider not only the legislature’s asserted purposes, but also hypothetical justifications. This is because the Supreme Court “has never insisted that a legislative body articulate its reasons for enacting a statute.”
The general-applicability test isn’t simply rational basis review, of course, so the analogy isn’t perfect. But the “plausible reasons” approach still seems more sensible than the “actually asserted reasons” standard Justice Gorsuch proposes. Smith requires courts to determine whether a law is or isn’t generally applicable, not whether it would be generally applicable if limited to the reasons the legislature actually gave at the time of enactment. As the Court noted in Lukumi, neutrality concerns “the object of a law,” whereas general-applicability concerns “[unequal] results.” While the government’s stated interests at the time of enactment may be relevant to whether a law is generally applicable, the actual legislative motive, to the extent it can be discerned, isn’t dispositive of the interests the law serves.
Say, for example, that to reduce overdoses from an addictive drug, a state prohibits the use of that drug except in designated, state-sanctioned facilities where users can be monitored and discharged when they become sober. Imagine a religious observer later seeks an exemption, arguing that limited sacramental use of the drug in churches wouldn’t lead to overdoses either. Say also that, since the statute’s enactment, illegal, recreational uses of the drug have led to numerous car accidents, whereas uses in state facilities haven’t resulted in accidents because users are monitored as they leave. Finally, assume that such monitoring wouldn’t be feasible in the sacramental context. Is the religious exemption comparable to the secular exemption just because both would similarly preserve the law’s original articulated purpose of stemming overdoses? In other words, are potential sacramental uses and state-facility uses analogous for general-applicability purposes, just because neither would lead to many overdoses? Or may a court consider the post-hoc accident-prevention rationale, too?
It seems that Justice Gorsuch would say only the overdose interest is relevant, because that’s the only reason the legislature gave for enacting the statute. But this is hard to justify, since there is a legitimate reason to exempt the secular conduct that doesn’t apply to the religious conduct. The law is generally applicable without a religious exemption, regardless of whether it would be generally applicable if it served only the original legislative purpose. And were post-enactment interests off limits, religious claimants could uniquely undermine benefits of laws simply because those benefits weren’t obvious or expressed at the time of enactment.
Ultimately, in assessing whether secular and religious exemptions would undermine the government’s asserted interests in similar ways, courts should consider interests asserted at any time. Those interests still must be legitimate, but it shouldn’t matter when the government first articulates them. Further, the government should be able to assert multiple interests. After all, under the modern approach, general applicability is an effects-oriented inquiry, not an effort to ascertain discriminatory intent.
2. Scope
Justice Gorsuch also has argued that the government shouldn’t be permitted to “expand[]” its asserted interests “to some society-wide level of generality,” such as protecting “‘health and safety.’” As he wrote when he was a judge on the Tenth Circuit, “[t]he more abstract the level of inquiry, often the better the governmental interest will look,” resulting in “individual interest[s] appear[ing] the less significant.” Commentators have raised the inverse concern, too—that construing interests at a high level of generality can unfairly aid free-exercise claimants.
But these concerns pertain to the compelling-interest test that arises under strict scrutiny, not to the modern formulation of the threshold general-applicability inquiry. The compelling-interest test in the free-exercise context historically has involved interest-balancing and value judgments. In assessing general applicability under the Tandon approach, however, the importance of the government’s interest is largely beside the point; the religious conduct underlying the requested exemption must be considered just as important as whatever secular conduct the existing exemption preserves. The “individual interest” in religious exercise never runs the risk of appearing “less significant,” because that conclusion is legally impermissible. The only question is whether the secular and religious conduct would undermine the government’s interests, whatever those interests are, in similar ways. The government’s interests must have been asserted and must be “legitimate,” but that’s it. If a religious exemption undermines any asserted and legitimate governmental interest more than a secular exemption, the breadth of that interest hardly matters at the general-applicability stage.
Return to the police department’s no-beard rule in Fraternal Order. Although the department framed its interest as preserving a uniform appearance, the scope of the asserted interest was essentially irrelevant. No matter what, exempting religious claimants wouldn’t have undermined that interest more than exempting medical claimants. Say the department had framed the interest narrowly, such as “preserving a uniform appearance on the force.” Allowing officers to have beards for medical reasons obviously would have undermined that interest in a similar way to a religious exemption. Alternatively, say the department had framed its interest broadly, such as “protecting the community.” Allowing officers to grow beards for religious reasons might have undermined that interest by compromising the professional appearance of the police and thereby diminishing civilians’ respect for officers. But a medical exemption would have had the exact same effect. It still would have resulted in officers with beards. No matter the reason for the no-beard rule—broad or narrow—medical and religious exemptions would have undermined that rule in similar ways; namely, some officers would have beards.
Likewise, religious conduct that would uniquely undermine any of a law’s legitimate purposes, whether broad or narrow, isn’t analogous to secular conduct that would leave any of those purposes intact. If religious conduct would compromise a broad, abstract interest in “health and safety” more than the exempt secular conduct, the two activities aren’t comparable. Consider a murder statute that has an exception for self-defense. The statute undoubtedly serves an interest in “preventing killings.” But an exception for religiously-motivated killings arguably would undermine that interest to the same degree as the self-defense exception, because both would allow certain killings. Were the purpose of the murder statute limited to this formulation, the most-favored-nation interpretation would favor allowing people to kill others for religious reasons. Framing the relevant interest as “preventing unjustified killings”—as some have suggested —wouldn’t avoid this issue. Rather, this framing would solicit the same impermissible value-judgment of whether religious killings are as “justified” as self-defense killings.
But our intuitions against this outcome can be reconciled with the most-favored-nation approach. A murder statute may serve the narrow interest of preventing killings, but it may also serve broader interests such as preserving a societal sense of peace. Allowing religious killings would undermine this interest more than allowing self-defense killings, which can occur only when a reasonable person would perceive an imminent and grave danger. Even when self-defense killings are permitted, people can’t legally kill one another based on purely subjective motives that a “reasonable person” wouldn’t share. A religious exception to a murder statute would disrupt this sense of peace, because it would deprive citizens of the confidence that they won’t be killed for other people’s internal reasons. This doesn’t mean religious motives are less “valuable” in some abstract sense than self-defense motives; it merely recognizes that religious and secular killings aren’t comparable vis-à-vis a murder statute simply because they equally compromise its narrower purpose.
Finally, secular and religious practices that equally undermine a law’s broad purposes sometimes disproportionately undermine its narrower purposes. The Ninth Circuit recently elided this nuance when it enjoined a school’s enforcement of an antidiscrimination policy in Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District Board of Education. The school revoked a Christian student organization’s official status when the organization required its leaders to attest that homosexuality is an “impure lifestyle” and that “marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman.” The school’s policy prohibited official clubs from discriminating based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and certain other characteristics, which the Christian organization’s rule clearly violated. The court held that the rule wasn’t generally applicable, however, because the school allowed affinity groups such as the “Big Sisters/Little Sisters” club to limit membership based on protected characteristics such as gender identity. According to the court, the rule thus exempted “comparable” secular organizations from the antidiscrimination rule.
In reaching its conclusion, the court appeared to treat the interest underlying the policy as singularly broad (e.g., preventing disparate treatment based on protected characteristics). But the court didn’t consider that the policy might serve another, narrower interest (e.g., preventing stigmatization of certain protected classes of people). Affinity groups supporting women, such as Big Sisters/Little Sisters, arguably don’t stigmatize those who can’t join. Such groups don’t exclude based on perceptions that nonmembers are inferior or “impure.” But a religious group that calls homosexuality an “impure lifestyle” arguably stigmatizes a protected class. It potentially undermines an antistigmatization purpose of the policy that the Big Sisters/Little Sisters club doesn’t. All this is to say, the school in the Ninth Circuit case might have enforced its policy exclusively against the religious group because the religious group uniquely undermined the school’s legitimate interest in preventing stigmatization and dignitary harms. The Ninth Circuit didn’t broach the issue.
The Ninth Circuit’s decision also highlights Tandon’s impact on another category where the scope of an asserted interest is crucial: cases where religious views compete with antidiscrimination laws. Take Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discriminatory employment decisions but exempts businesses with fewer than fifteen employees. A federal district court in Maryland recently deemed Title VII generally applicable because the claimant’s business and businesses with fewer than fifteen employees were not “reasonably comparable institutions.” A federal district court in Texas, by contrast, held that Title VII isn’t generally applicable because the small-business exception undercuts the governmental “interest in eradicating all forms of discrimination” just as much as a religious exception.
What explains the different results in the Maryland and Texas cases? One possible answer is interest-framing. The EEOC in the Texas case apparently articulated only one, broad purpose for Title VII—”eradicating all forms of discrimination.” While this may be one of Title VII’s goals, however, this framing seems unnecessarily general. Title VII also helps provide equal access to employment for members of protected groups, protects people in those groups from experiencing discrimination and the attendant dignitary harms, and reduces economic inequality.
While the small-business exception certainly undermines the equal-access purpose to a degree, it may not generate as much discrimination and inequality as a religious exception that applies to employers of any size. Allowing the occasional small business to discriminate undermines Title VII’s goals to a degree, but allowing companies with thousands of employees to discriminate on religious grounds could be substantially more disruptive. This rationale persuaded the court in the Maryland case. Further, a religious exception likely would cause more otherwise-protected employees and prospective employees to experience discrimination. This is because job applicants can determine whether businesses have fewer than fifteen employees, whereas they likely can’t easily learn the religious views of each prospective employer. They are thus more likely to seek employment from, and face discrimination by, employers invoking the religious exception.
Ultimately, Justice Gorsuch’s focus on the breadth of the interests might be useful in a balancing test where value judgments are required. But that focus misses the point in the modern general-applicability context, where such judgments are impermissible.
3. Category
Despite missing the mark with respect to identity and scope, Justice Gorsuch was right about one thing. Under the most-favored-nation theory, the question is whether the religious and secular activities would similarly undermine the purpose of the law itself, not whether the exempt secular activity itself serves a valuable countervailing purpose. If a COVID‑19 restriction on building occupancy exempts grocery stores but not churches, the question is whether grocery stores spread COVID‑19 more than churches, not whether grocery stores further some other interest that churches don’t (e.g., providing sustenance). Taken to the extreme, this means that a secular exception that would save lives is just as likely to warrant strict scrutiny as a secular exception that would merely prevent minor inconveniences. If a vaccine mandate exempts people who would die from the vaccine, the most-favored-nation interpretation says that any sincerely-asserted religious harm must be considered equally dire. Religion is always as important as the exempt secular conduct.
When the Ninth Circuit declined to exempt religious claimants from the school vaccine mandate because the comparator medical exception furthered a crucial health and safety interest, the court arguably erred by “focus[ing] on the reasons for the [medical] exemption rather than the asserted interest that justifie[d] the mandate.” The medical exemption undermined the primary interest for the mandate because it increased the number of unvaccinated people, and thus increased the viral risk, even though it furthered a different health and safety interest—namely, protecting people from the more severe medical consequences of taking a contraindicated vaccine. In that sense, the medical exception allowed the very harm the vaccine mandate was meant to curtail, but that compromise was worth it to further a countervailing interest in preventing adverse reactions. The case appeared more challenging because the interest underlying the medical exception also involved health and safety. But the health goals of the medical exception had to be treated as equal to the religious interest underlying the claimants’ requested religious exemption. The question should have been whether the medical and religious exemptions similarly undermined the health and safety goals underlying the vaccine mandate itself.
This isn’t to say that the Ninth Circuit got the ultimate answer wrong. If, for example, the vaccine would have been less effective for those with medical contraindications, then a religious exemption would have undermined the effectiveness of the mandate more than the medical exception. And, as discussed below, religious exemptions appeared likely to uniquely compromise the purpose of the mandate insofar as they would have been more numerous and clustered.
Ultimately, states should be able to assert whatever interests they want, since they are the entities that enact the rules in the first place. Those interests must be “legitimate,” but that’s it. States should also be able to identify multiple interests, since laws often serve multiple goals. And states should not need to have asserted those interests at any particular time before the litigation, since laws don’t always list everything they are designed to accomplish, and additional benefits may emerge after enactment. On the other hand, the asserted interests must be those that underlie the laws themselves, not the interests that underlie the secular exemptions.
One point is worth reiterating. Recognizing that the government can assert as many interests as it wants at any level of generality isn’t acknowledging a loophole for savvy litigators. The government can’t assert interests that its laws don’t actually serve. If it did, exempting religious conduct wouldn’t undermine those interests at all, and would thus be comparable to secular exceptions that also wouldn’t undermine those interests. And if a law actually does serve multiple purposes, and a religious exemption actually would uniquely undermine one of those purposes, there is good reason to deny the religious exemption. This may mean most laws that include secular exceptions are generally applicable. But that’s exactly what Smith suggests.
B. Proving or Disproving Comparability
Once courts ascertain the relevant governmental interests, how can they determine whether the exempt secular conduct and proposed religious conduct would undermine those interests in similar ways? Should courts defer to the government’s assertions of what activities are comparable? Who bears the burden to show or disprove comparability? Is a requested religious exemption comparable to a secular exception if the specific claimant’s religious exercise would undermine the purpose of the law no more than a single secular exemption? Or should courts assess whether exempting all potential religious claimants would undermine a law’s purposes more than granting the secular exemption to all eligible applicants? Courts have given inconsistent answers to these questions, both explicitly and implicitly. This Section considers the issues of (1) Burdens and (2) Evidence.
1. Burdens
This Section discusses (a) how courts have allocated the burden of proving or disproving comparability, and (b) a possible methodology that would create consistency and bring the doctrine into line with the purposes of the general applicability standard.
a. Burdens in Practice
In reversing the lower courts, the majority in Tandon reached two questionable conclusions, even under the most-favored-nation interpretation of general applicability that the Court endorsed. First, in criticizing the Ninth Circuit for failing to “requir[e] the State to explain why it could not safely permit at-home worshipers to gather in larger numbers while using precautions used in secular activities,” the Court ignored that the State provided precisely this explanation. As the Ninth Circuit noted:
[T]he district court found that the State reasonably concluded that when people gather in social settings, their interactions are likely to be longer than they would be in a commercial setting; that participants in a social gathering are more likely to be involved in prolonged conversations; that private houses are typically smaller and less ventilated than commercial establishments; and that social distancing and mask-wearing are less likely in private settings and enforcement is more difficult.
The district court, in turn, had relied on evidence the State submitted, and the religious claimants didn’t “dispute any of [its] findings” on appeal. Justice Kagan pointed this out in her dissent, arguing that “the Court ha[d] no warrant to ignore the record.”
But perhaps more importantly, the Supreme Court muddled the threshold question of who bore the burden to show whether the commercial businesses were comparable to the private religious gatherings at issue. The Ninth Circuit had held that the religious claimants bore the “burden of showing that the regulation trigger[ed] strict scrutiny by regulating religious activities more strictly than comparable secular activities.” It considered, for example, “whether [the claimants] ha[d] shown that rallies and protests [were] comparable secular activities.” And it noted that the claimants had “not explain[ed] why salons should be considered analogous secular conduct” and had “point[ed] to nothing in the record to support that comparison.” The Ninth Circuit thus placed the relevant burden on the religious claimants, so any evidentiary deficiencies supported—not undermined—general applicability.
The Supreme Court, by contrast, seemed to place the burden on the government, criticizing the Ninth Circuit for failing to “requir[e] the State to explain why it could not safely permit at-home worshipers to gather in larger numbers.” The Court then summarily concluded that “California treats some comparable secular activities more favorably than at-home religious exercise.” The Court thus implicitly rejected the Ninth Circuit’s allocation of the burdens.
Lower courts, both before and after Tandon, also have inconsistently allocated the burdens of showing or disproving comparability. Some, like the Ninth Circuit in Tandon, have placed the burden on religious claimants, at least implicitly. For example, the Second Circuit seemed to do so in a 2021 case involving New York’s emergency COVID-19 vaccination requirement for healthcare workers. In that case, various healthcare workers subject to the mandate sued, arguing “that because the State ha[d] afforded a medical exemption to its requirement, the Free Exercise Clause require[d] the State also to afford a religious exemption.” The court began by explaining that the claimants bore the burden to disprove neutrality and general applicability. Although it noted that the State had ”presented evidence that raise[d] the possibility that the exemptions [were] not comparable in terms of the ‘risk’ that they pose[d],” it denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction because the “sparse” record did “not support a conclusion that [the] [p]laintiffs ha[d] borne their burden of demonstrating that the medical exemption . . . and the religious exemption sought [were] likely comparable.” This suggests that the claimants bore the burden of showing comparability, because, otherwise, the “sparse” record easily could have compelled the opposite conclusion.
Likewise, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its position, post-Tandon, that religious claimants bear the burden of showing secular comparators. In late 2022, the court affirmed the dismissal of a religious therapist’s challenge to a Washington law against practicing “conversion therapy, which seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” The therapist argued that “gender-affirming therapy,” which the law allowed, similarly undermined the state’s interests by causing “the very types of psychological harms Washington [said] it want[ed] to eliminate by prohibiting conversion therapy.” The court rejected this purported comparator because the law addressed “scientifically documented increased risk[s] of suicide and depression,” and the therapist provided only “anecdotal reports of ‘regret’” from gender-affirming therapy.
The Tenth Circuit likewise placed the burden on the religious claimant in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis 6 F.4th 1160 (10th Cir. 2021).—a case the Supreme Court recently reviewed on free-speech grounds —where a website designer refused to create websites for same-sex marriages in violation of a Colorado antidiscrimination law. The court rejected the free exercise challenge, holding that the designer bore the burden to show that the law wasn’t neutral and generally applicable. As to general applicability, the court noted that the designer had “provide[d] no examples where Colorado permitted ‘secular-speakers’ to discriminate against LGBT consumers,” and thus had “fail[ed] to show that Colorado disfavor[ed] similarly-situated ‘religious-speakers.’”
Finally, in a pre-Tandon case, the Northern District of New York placed the burden of proving comparability on religious plaintiffs, the Association of Jewish Camp Operators and various parents, who had asked the court to enjoin a COVID-19 restriction banning children’s overnight camps. The court explained that although the restriction exempted college dormitories, and some overnight camps used similar facilities, the plaintiffs had “provided no evidence regarding the sleeping arrangements for the overnight camps themselves,” and “fail[ed] to mention whether individuals would be required to wear masks during camp activities, including sleeping.” The court thus concluded “that none of the specific explicit exemptions” that the claimants identified were “sufficiently comparable to permitting an overnight camp for the purposes of a general-applicability analysis.”
Other pre-Tandon cases appear to reflect the opposite allocation of the burdens. For example, in Central Rabbinical Congress of the United States & Canada v. N.Y.C. Department of Health & Mental Hygeiene, the Second Circuit applied strict scrutiny to a city ordinance that prohibited performing oral suction during circumcisions, a practice that allegedly had been spreading infections. Orthodox Jewish organizations in New York asked the court to preliminarily enjoin the ordinance for violating their free-exercise rights. After determining that the ordinance wasn’t neutral, the Second Circuit considered general applicability as an alternate basis for its holding. It explained that, on “the sparse record at th[e] preliminary stage,” it could not “conclude that [the ordinance was] generally applicable.” Unlike in the vaccine mandate case, therefore, the “sparse” record supported—not undermined—a finding of comparability.
Likewise, in Blackhawk v. Pennsylvania, the Third Circuit appeared to place the burden of disproving comparability on the government. Pennsylvania’s Game and Wildlife Code required people seeking to possess certain animals to obtain permits. A Native American religious claimant sought an exemption to possess black bears without paying the permitting fee, citing his religious beliefs. At the summary judgment stage, the Third Circuit agreed with the claimant that the Game and Wildlife Code wasn’t generally applicable, in part because it contained categorical exceptions for zoos and circuses. Pennsylvania had asserted two “main interests” behind the law: earning money through permit fees, and discouraging the keeping of wild animals in captivity where captivity would not benefit the wildlife populations. The court first concluded that “[t]he state’s interest in raising money [was] undermined by any exemption, and the Commonwealth ha[d] not argued, much less shown, that religiously based exemptions, if granted, would exceed the exemptions for qualifying zoos and circuses.” The court also observed that Pennsylvania “ha[d] not explained how circuses, whether nationally recognized or not, provide tangible benefits for animals living in the wild in Pennsylvania.” The court thus placed the burden on the state to disprove that the secular exemptions and requested religious exemption would similarly undermine the purposes of the law.
b. Burdens in Theory
These cases highlight that the burden question is far from resolved, even after Tandon. Although many courts agree that religious claimants bear the burden to disprove neutrality and general applicability, others seem to require the government to prove that religious and secular exemptions aren’t comparable. The lingering uncertainty warrants a normative and doctrinal question: Who should bear the burden to show or disprove comparability?
To begin with a relatively uncontroversial point, the government should bear at least a limited explanatory burden. Once a claimant shows that a law limits a particular religious practice and has at least one secular exception, the government should need to explain the reasons for the law and why it can’t simply extend the exception to the claimant’s religious exercise. Lawmakers presumably know why their laws contain secular exceptions but not religious exceptions. And if they can’t explain, they shouldn’t object to simply granting claimants’ requests. In any event, religious observers shouldn’t need to guess at legislative goals. In Blackhawk, therefore, the Third Circuit was right to conclude that religious and secular exemptions similarly undermined Pennsylvania’s monetary interests to the extent “the Commonwealth ha[d] not argued . . . that religiously based exemptions, if granted, would exceed the exemptions for qualifying zoos and circuses.” It also was right to emphasize that the state “ha[d] not explained how circuses, whether nationally recognized or not, provide tangible benefits for animals living in the wild in Pennsylvania.” If the State truly didn’t offer any reason for treating religious conduct differently, it failed to carry its explanatory burden.
But once the government articulates its reasons, religious claimants should bear the evidentiary burden to disprove those explanations. As noted, a law can fail the general-applicability test under the Supreme Court’s recent interpretation if it contains a single secular exception, and even if there is no evidence of discriminatory intent. Nearly all laws include exceptions, so nearly all laws are susceptible to general applicability challenges. And as the Court recognized in Smith, we live in a “cosmopolitan nation made up of people of almost every conceivable religious preference,” so nearly all laws also have the potential to burden someone’s exercise of religion. Courts, in turn, are reluctant to scrutinize the sincerity of claimants’ professed religious beliefs. And once sincerity is established—or, more likely, assumed —those “beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection.” The result is that almost all laws are susceptible to free exercise challenges under the modern framework.
Placing the evidentiary burden on claimants to prove comparability thus would avoid the concern the Court expressed in Smith when it adopted the general-applicability standard. As the Court cautioned, “we cannot afford the luxury of deeming [generally applicable laws] presumptively invalid,” forcing the government to track down evidence at the behest of observers of “every conceivable religious preference.” Requiring the government to disprove comparability would, in a similar sense, presume most laws aren’t generally applicable. Such a presumption would allow religious claims to slip through a window adjacent to the door the Court closed in Smith.
Placing the burden on the government also would create a strange paradox. As the Court explained in Lukumi, a law fails the narrow-tailoring element of strict scrutiny when the government’s “proffered objectives are not pursued with respect to analogous nonreligious conduct.” Under Tandon, however, “government regulations are not neutral and generally applicable, and therefore trigger strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause, whenever they treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise.” If the government must disprove comparability at the general-applicability stage, it essentially must satisfy strict scrutiny to avoid strict scrutiny. Requiring religious claimants to establish comparability would avoid this paradox. And although the government is unlikely ever to prevail at the strict scrutiny stage once a claimant shows comparability, this is exactly what the Supreme Court envisioned in Lukumi. Thus, the Third Circuit in Blackhawk was wrong to emphasize that Pennsylvania had not “shown” that the religious and secular activities in question weren’t analogous. It should have been enough for the state to explain the difference, at which point the claimant, to proceed, should have been required to prove otherwise.
The Supreme Court’s jurisprudence under the Equal Protection Clause also suggests that claimants should bear the burden to show comparability. In important respects, assessing comparability for free-exercise purposes resembles the “similarly situated” analysis in selective-enforcement and rational-basis equal-protection cases. First, the key questions are similar. A law is generally applicable for free-exercise purposes unless the exempt secular conduct is “comparable” to the proposed religious conduct. Likewise, a law treats classes or individuals equally for equal-protection purposes unless it effectively exempts other classes or individuals who are comparable to (i.e., “similarly situated” with) those it restricts. Second, benign-classification and selective-enforcement cases, like general-applicability cases, arise from facially neutral laws.
In the equal-protection context, claimants bear the burden to prove comparability in such cases because there is reason to presume that the disparate effects of benign classifications and neutral laws stem from rational distinctions. Because nearly all laws classify, it would be infeasible to presume laws invalid by virtue of classification alone. And many laws can’t be enforced against all violators, much less at the same rate, so it would be infeasible to presume enforcements invalid by virtue of disparate treatment alone. Thus, in the equal-protection context, the government bears the burden to disprove comparability only when it classifies for presumptively invalid reasons. The government must prove, for example, that it has good reason to treat people differently based on race, since the Court has held that race presumptively isn’t a good reason to treat people differently.
In free-exercise cases, neutral laws that contain exemptions are closer to laws with benign classifications in the equal-protection context. Because “[a]ll laws are selective to some extent,” courts also have good reason to presume that laws with secular exemptions remain generally applicable. After all, the Supreme Court in Smith suggested that most “civic obligations” are generally applicable despite including secular exceptions. In fact, the Court in Smith listed numerous laws with secular exceptions as examples of general applicability.
The equal-protection cases also offer some insight into a workable analytical framework. Courts often analyze equal-protection claims under a burden-shifting test. In employment-discrimination cases, for example, a plaintiff must establish, as part of a prima facie case, that the employer took an adverse employment action. The burden then shifts to the employer to articulate—but not prove—that the action was taken for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons. If the employer provides such reasons, the burden shifts back to the employee to prove that those reasons are pretextual. The employee may do so by identifying a similarly situated coworker whom the employer treated more favorably.
A version of this framework would be useful in free-exercise cases. The prima facie case would entail the claimant needing to show (1) a sincere religious belief, (2) that the law in question burdens the exercise of that belief, and (3) that the law exempts certain secular conduct. The burden would then shift to the government to articulate the purposes of the law and why the religious conduct would undermine any of those purposes more than the exempt secular conduct. The religious claimant would then need to prove that a religious exemption wouldn’t undermine those purposes any more than the exempt secular conduct. The claimant, as in the employment context, would need to establish that the secular and religious conduct would undermine the government’s asserted interests in a similar way (i.e., that the religious and secular groups are similarly situated).
The evidentiary burden on religious claimants according to this framework would be heavy. In many cases, claimants likely would be unable to produce evidence undermining the government’s reasons for treating religion differently. The point is, that’s consistent with the general-applicability doctrine. The general-applicability test resulted from the Court’s concern that too many “civic obligations” were susceptible to attack by individual religious believers. This concern stemmed from the notion that the First Amendment doesn’t “make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land.” A burden-shifting framework familiar in the antidiscrimination context would help avoid this pitfall under the Court’s recent interpretation of general applicability.
To be sure, the analogy between free exercise and equal protection has limits. The Equal Protection Clause protects against discrimination, whereas the Free Exercise Clause protects the exercise of religion, generally. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor pointed this out in her concurrence in Smith, where she observed that “the Free Exercise Clause protects values distinct from those protected by the Equal Protection Clause.” After all, a law that treats everyone the same still can prohibit some people’s exercise of religion. For example, a complete ban on alcohol would be neutral and generally applicable, but it would, in a sense, still “prohibit[] the free exercise” of religious observers seeking to use sacramental wine. Some have argued that “it would be a mistake to conflate” the free-exercise analysis “with traditional equal protection doctrine.”
Further, “[p]roof of racially discriminatory intent”—or another impermissible motive—”is required to show a violation of the Equal Protection Clause,” whereas discriminatory motive is unnecessary to disproving general applicability under the modern approach. Determining whether people are similarly situated for equal-protection purposes is merely the first step in the process of discerning discriminatory intent. In the free-exercise context, by contrast, the comparability analysis can be the only step in determining whether laws are generally applicable (i.e., whether they apply equally to religious and secular conduct).
For better or worse, however, general applicability is the standard in free-exercise cases, and, as of Tandon, comparability between secular and religious conduct is the crucial test. Whether two entities are analogous thus is an element in free-exercise cases, just as it is an element in equal-protection cases. That comparability is a means in the latter (i.e., a step toward showing intentional discrimination) and an end in the former (i.e., evidence that religion is being treated differently) doesn’t matter for purposes of allocating the burdens. In that sense, the burden-shifting framework in equal-protection cases applies just as well in the free-exercise context. While it would be wrong to equate the goals of free exercise and equal protection, they are useful comparators to the extent they both incorporate a “similarly-situated” analysis. This accords with the view of the most-favored-nation theory that “[a] stringently interpreted general-applicability rule can be understood as implementing a nondiscrimination requirement in the face of complexity.” In assessing alleged comparators at the general-applicability stage, courts have good reason to look to equal-protection cases.
A better argument against presuming incomparability stems from solicitude for minority faiths. Underrepresented religions are less politically powerful than some secular interests, so when the government enacts laws, it may be more likely to accommodate well-represented secular groups than idiosyncratic religious ones. In such cases, the failure to include religious exceptions may be the result of inadvertence rather than considered judgment. Secular conduct may end up exempt, while religious conduct may not, because politically-powerful groups want exceptions for the secular conduct they value, not because secular exceptions would undermine their goals less than religious exceptions. This concern is especially salient when the religious conduct at issue is politically disfavored, such as animal sacrifice in Lukumi.
Still, requiring the government to carry an explanatory burden would ameliorate these concerns. If there is no reason to treat religion differently, the government won’t be able to articulate legitimate reasons for omitting religious exceptions. This is apparently what happened in Blackhawk, where Pennsylvania didn’t even argue that religious exemptions would undermine its interests more than the secular exceptions to the permit requirement. There may be cases in which the government attempts to fabricate illegitimate reasons for declining religious exemptions, but if the omissions truly are inadvertent, this shouldn’t happen often. In any event, the fabricated reasons should be relatively easy for claimants to dispel at the evidentiary stage. Finally, to the extent the failure to include religious exceptions stems from discriminatory intent, disfavored religious groups would be more likely to find evidence undermining neutrality. For these reasons, placing the evidentiary burden on religious claimants still makes most sense, given that nearly all laws include exceptions and will inevitably infringe on some religious practices.
In sum, although an evidentiary burden might be difficult for religious claimants to carry in many cases, that result is consistent with Smith. While Smith remains the law, the government can’t be required to provide evidentiary support for its legislative decisions at the behest of individual religious claimants who can show nothing more than that the laws in question, like nearly all laws, have exceptions. Once the government articulates the reasons for the secular exceptions and why those exceptions don’t apply to religion, religious claimants should bear the burden to prove that religious exemptions in fact would undermine those reasons no more than the exempt secular conduct. In that respect, modern general-applicability doctrine may be administrable through a burden-shifting framework similar to that used in equal-protection and employment-discrimination cases.
2. Evidence
Allocating the burdens is only half the battle. Next, courts must weigh the evidence. Although this exercise depends on the facts of given cases, there are some threshold questions that arise routinely. One, numerosity, is a recurring issue that continues to divide courts. The second, uncertainty, is seldom discussed, but is becoming increasingly important.
a. Evidence of Numerosity
In deciding whether religious exemptions would undermine governmental interests more than secular exceptions, courts are divided as to whether they may consider the number of potential exemptions in each category, or, by contrast, must consider the effect of only the specifically-requested religious exemption. In other words, is the question the effect of one religious exemption compared to one secular exemption? Or should courts compare the likely universe of religious exemptions to the likely universe of secular exemptions?
Justice Gorsuch would limit the inquiry to the government’s “interests as applied to the parties before” the court. In his view, “the relevant question [at the general applicability stage] involves a one-to-one comparison between the individual seeking a religious exemption and one benefiting from a secular exemption.” Some courts have endorsed this position. In U.S. Navy SEALs v. Biden, for instance, a judge in the Northern District of Texas rejected the government’s justification that “there [were] only seven permanent medical exemptions” to its vaccine mandate, whereas “there [were] more than three thousand pending requests for a religious exemption.” The court reasoned that “an influx of religious accommodation requests is not a valid reason to deny First Amendment rights.” In another vaccine case, Air Force Officer v. Austin, a district judge in Georgia reached a similar conclusion that “[t]he general applicability test doesn’t turn on a numbers game,” and that “[a]ll it takes is one.”
The Second Circuit reached the opposite result in We The Patriots. It noted that the evidence “indicate[d] that medical exemptions [were] likely to be more limited in number than religious exemptions,” that “it [might] be feasible for healthcare entities to manage the COVID-19 risks posed by a small set of objectively defined and largely time-limited medical exemptions,” and that “it could pose a significant barrier to effective disease prevention to permit a much greater number of permanent religious exemptions.” The court thus expressed “doubt that, as an epidemiological matter, the number of people seeking exemptions is somehow excluded from the factors that the State must take into account.” Likewise, in Blackhawk, the Third Circuit considered whether additional religious exemptions resembling the claimant’s request “would exceed the exemptions for qualifying zoos and circuses.”
No matter which side is right as a constitutional matter, there’s no denying that numbers are relevant to the government’s interests in some cases. If the government enacts laws to prevent the spread of a virus or earn money, the number of people exempt from those laws directly affects the relevant goals. While a single religious exemption might undermine those goals to the same extent as a single secular exemption, the legislature obviously isn’t so limited in deciding which exceptions to write into the rules and which to leave out. And granting a religious exemption to one claimant on free-exercise grounds may create a precedent requiring similar exemptions for similar claimants.
Even so, the Supreme Court has hinted at endorsement of a view similar to the position in the Texas vaccine cases. For example, it said in Fulton that religious and secular acts are comparable if they “undermine[] the government’s asserted interests in a similar way.” It didn’t say secular acts are comparable if they undermine the government’s asserted interest to a similar degree, in which case the number of likely exemptions would seem more relevant. And in Tandon, the Court considered the risks of allowing the specific “applicants’ proposed religious exercise at home.”
As discussed, Justice Gorsuch has provided the clearest endorsement of this position, albeit in dissent, arguing that “the estimated number of those who might seek different exemptions is relevant,” if at all, only during “the application of strict scrutiny.” In his view, the “general applicability test doesn’t turn on that kind of numbers game.” He would, as noted, apply “a one-to-one comparison between the individual seeking a religious exemption and one benefiting from a secular exemption.”
But Justice Gorsuch’s refusal to consider the numbers is more familiar in the context of strict scrutiny than it is at the general applicability-stage. Under RFRA and its counterpart, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), the Court has “require[d] the Government to demonstrate that the compelling interest test is satisfied through application of the challenged law ‘to the person’—the particular claimant whose sincere exercise of religion is being substantially burdened.” At that stage, the Court has “scrutiniz[ed] the asserted harm of granting specific exemptions to particular religious claimants” and “look[ed] to the marginal interest in enforcing the challenged government action in that particular context.” The Court also has rejected the purportedly “compelling interest” that allowing a single religious exemption would invite more religious-exemption requests. In Fulton, the Court incorporated this requirement into the compelling-interest test under the Free Exercise Clause. In deeming the application of Philadelphia’s antidiscrimination law unconstitutional, it held that the question was “not whether the City ha[d] a compelling interest in enforcing its non-discrimination policies generally, but whether it ha[d] such an interest in denying an exception to [the religious claimant].”
Of course, the compelling-interest test takes place only after the court determines that the law in question isn’t neutral and generally applicable. Only then does the government need to prove that it has a compelling interest in refusing the specific exemption the religious claimant seeks. By contrast, the general-applicability test under Smith and Lukumi seems to call for a comparison of the categories of conduct the law covers and the categories it exempts. In Lukumi, for instance, the Court emphasized that the “categories of selection are of paramount concern.” In other words, a law is generally applicable if a categorical religious exemption would undermine its purposes more than the categorical secular exemption it already includes.
The vaccine mandate cases are a perfect example. The states in those cases asserted that granting large numbers of religious exemptions would undermine the purposes of the mandates substantially more than granting a small number of medical exemptions. That is, exempting numerous religious observers, in clustered areas, would cause the virus to spread more rapidly and widely than granting discrete medical exemptions. These concerns may be precisely why some states decline to include religious exemptions in immunization mandates. As the Second Circuit noted in We The Patriots, it would be odd if “the number of people seeking exemptions [were] somehow excluded from the factors that the State must take into account in assessing the relative risks . . . .” The vaccine mandate in that case was generally applicable because exempting the small category of people with medical needs was likely to undermine its goals less than exempting the large category of potential religious applicants.
Still, by focusing on the religious exercise of the applicants, Tandon indicated that the categorical interpretation is at least limited to the type of religious conduct for which the specific claimants seek an exemption. This stems from the simple idea that different religious practices affect governmental interests to different extents. A religious claimant seeking an exemption to use a hallucinogenic drug for a limited, private ceremony differs from a religious claimant seeking to use a hallucinogenic drug while driving a school bus. If the private-use claimant seeks an exemption, that person should need to demonstrate only that the number of other people seeking to use the drug for such ceremonies wouldn’t undermine the purposes of the ban more than an existing secular exception. The claimant wouldn’t need to introduce evidence of the number of people seeking exemptions for religious uses that would more severely undermine state interests, such as people seeking to use hallucinogens in public spaces. This means that a law with a secular exception might remain generally applicable despite prohibiting some forms of religious exercise but not others. This approach best accords with Tandon’s focus on the “applicants’ proposed religious exercise.”
Ultimately, Smith, Lukumi, and Tandon suggest that, in cases where numbers are relevant, the key figure is how many people would seek to engage in the same sort of religious conduct as that proposed by the specific claimants before the court. These categories are defined by the extent to which the specific claimants’ religious activities would undermine the government’s interests.
b. Evidence of Uncertainty
One more category of evidence, similar in a sense to numerosity, is “uncertainty.” This category reflects how religious beliefs often are unpredictable, subjective, and diverse. Religious exemptions therefore may be harder to grant, manage, and police. Such practical barriers to accommodating religion don’t necessarily arise with respect to otherwise similar secular conduct. This isn’t to say religious conduct is less worthy of exemption than secular conduct—again, a conclusion the most-favored-nation theory forbids —but merely that, as a practical matter, some religious conduct is more difficult to exempt than secular conduct that otherwise would be comparable.
Consider the vaccine mandate cases. If a state exempts anyone who can provide a doctor’s note, it has an easy enforcement mec | ||||||
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Charli XCX’s home in Hackney is a simple, white, terraced flat. She bought the East London pad a year ago, but only properly moved in recently, because she spends most of her time in Los Angeles. Decor is minimal. A white Togo couch, the god-tier status symbol for chic millennial one-percenters, has been squeezed around a heavy wooden coffee table. Jars of flowers are dotted around, as are neat stacks of books by Rachel Cusk, Sean Thor Conroe and Barbara Marstrand. A tiny decorated tree sits in one corner, a concession to the holiday season from a self-confessed workaholic who once tweeted that she doesn’t like Christmas because no one replies to emails.
The space is as tranquil as a spa. But when Charli, who’s sitting on the floor in blue skinny jeans and an oversized, grey, V‑neck jumper, hits play on her phone, that serenity dissipates.
We’re not allowed to print the title of her forthcoming sixth album, nor more than a couple of song titles, because Charli is particularly susceptible to leaks, so let’s call it XCX6. It features irresistible club-pop made by a dyed-in-the-wool party girl. Some of the tracks I hear recall ’00s-era Ministry of Sound compilations The Annual and Rihanna’s 2010 masterpiece Loud. Its lyrics are shady and bratty, but tender and heartbreaking. Charli writes about herself, her friends and, occasionally, her rivals with such openness that it feels like you’re listening to transcripts of her iMessages. She’s excited that it’s so bold, but punctuates our interview with a caveat: “I’m prepared for people to think I’m a bitch, but I’m not that.”
When we have breakfast at a café near her flat, she describes her look – the above ’fit, worn with no makeup, a scarf, a bulky leather motorcycle jacket and a khaki leather clutch – as “bitchy skier”. In the vape era, she still smokes Parliament Lights. When a flash of recognition crosses the face of the waiter delivering delicate charcuterie plates and cold brews, she smiles at him slyly and winks. Although she’s dressed incognito, Charli’s sheer star wattage radiates through the wintry Dalston gloom.
“I kinda miss the time when pop music was really volatile and crazy. I miss the Paris Hilton days. Everybody is so worried about everything right now, how they’re perceived, if this art they’ve created is going to offend anyone,” she says, spreading the yolk of her soft boiled egg on a piece of bread like Marmite. “It limits creative output to think like that.” (She later muses, in her arch, irony-rich drawl, “I’m also just into this idea of lying all the time. Being really truthful, but also lying. Fuck it!”)
As she puts it, aside from her relationship with her fiancé, music producer and The 1975’s drummer George Daniel, “the main relationship in my life is the relationship I have with the industry I’m in, and the way it makes me feel. Sometimes it makes me feel incredible and sometimes it makes me feel like nothing.” With Crash, Charli set out to make a commercially viable record. Now, she’s sick of the “vanilla palatable flatness” in the pop landscape. “There were songs on Crash that I would never listen to,” she admits, picking out smooth disco track Yuck as an example. “I needed to switch after Crash – I wasn’t born to do radio liners,” she says of the call-outs that appear between songs on stations. “That’s not who I am at all.”
Charli was raised on spunky, fearless music like this. Growing up, she loved Lily Allen, who “was outspoken and ran her mouth, and had the songs to back it up. She was a fully- formed, flawed person.” She still finds that archetype attractive. “I remember my dad saying: ‘You know, Charli, you should be like Tom Hanks. He has a reputation for being nice,’” she recalls. “And I was like, yeah, but I don’t know that people think Tom Hanks is cool.”
Lead single Von Dutch, produced by Speed Drive collaborator EasyFun, is a perfect introduction to her acidic, freewheeling new mode. The track is a throwback to Charli’s teens, when she was on MySpace and “first began thinking my taste was cool”. Paired with a wild video shot at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, in which Charli jumps off the wing of the world’s largest passenger plane, an Airbus A380, the song plays like bravura tweets fired off after a glass of champagne: “It’s alright to just admit that I’m your fantasy /you’re obsessing, just confess it ’cause it’s obvious”.
Charli used to write lyrics like an industry songwriter, stringing together nonsense vowel sounds then matching words to them on a second pass. For XCX6, though, she “had to have this specific feeling or narrative ahead of time”. Von Dutch, for example, was written about being an object of gossip or obsession for people around you and embracing it.
“I was sharing my process with friends and people who don’t make music, and [the lyrics] were becoming conversational, like things I would text people,” she says. “It was beginning to feel gossipy in a fun way, so I leant into it.”
Keen fans will have noticed that many of Charli’s relationship songs, like 2018’s No Angel and 2019’s February 2017, have centred around her struggle to commit. (“You can call it infidelity, I’m not embarrassed.”) But her relationship with George, she says, is stronger on the basis that it feels a lot more equal than what she’s experienced in the past.
“I think there’s been a power dynamic in my previous relationships, where I was the powerful person. Whether it be my personality, or financially, or ego, there was an imbalance,” she says. It helps that George shares her line of work. “We do the same thing, we understand the same world, we challenge each other. And I think he’s really hot and funny. I feel inspired to be with someone who’s unbelievably talented. That’s really sexy to me.”
She has, however, had to adjust to spending so much time around one of the world’s biggest bands. “One thing that’s interesting about being in a relationship with someone who does what I do is that you’re in their orbit a lot – sometimes when you’re not prepared, or when I’m in this total dry phase where I’m not feeling inspired. Sometimes you’re watching your boyfriend’s band sell out arena after arena, and that can make me feel small.”
“When you’re an artist, you can pretty much choose when you want to be around other people with big egos who are performing,” she says. “But when you’re in a relationship with another artist who’s part of a band with quite a, let’s say, controversial frontman, you suddenly don’t get to choose when you’re subjecting yourself to someone else’s environment.”
As Charli implies, Matty has caused no little controversy in recent years. In February 2023, he appeared on an episode of The Adam Friedland Show podcast, during which he laughed at and encouraged the hosts’ jokes about Asian and Inuit people, and watching extreme porn. Charli was dragged into the backlash when, in August, fans noticed she’d unfollowed Rina Sawayama, a collaborator on Crash and signee to The 1975’s longtime label Dirty Hit. From 2018 until April 2023, Matty was a director of the label, and he remains a shareholder. At Glastonbury, Rina called out Matty while introducing her song STFU! with, “Tonight, this goes out to a white man that watches Ghetto Gaggers and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters.”
Charli says unfollowing Rina “was over a personal disagreement between friends” and that “it wasn’t even a falling out, we’re good”. She’s quick to say Rina never asked her to take sides. But she acknowledges “the masters conversation annoyed me and I told [Rina]”.
It’s common for record labels to own artists’ masters, which hold the copyright to original recordings of their music. But the subject has become the source of emotionally charged discussion among fanbases, perhaps because of Taylor Swift’s highly publicised dispute over the ownership of her first six albums.
When Charli signed a five-album deal with Atlantic aged 16, she owned about 15 per cent of her masters and the label owned the rest. “I’ve been in a position for a long period where I didn’t own a lot of the music that I made, so it’s hard for me to see that word [masters] being weaponised when it’s not the case,” she says of an ownership setup that is, by and large, standard industry practice.
With Crash she fulfilled her Atlantic deal after nearly 15 years and re-signed with the label. She talked to Interscope but realised more of her masters would be kept if she stayed with Atlantic. She’s emphatic that the decision to stay was “not in any way because I was backed into a corner to do so, or because I’m a victim. That [narrative] really bothers me.” The Swift debacle is “really unfair” but not representative of the situation faced by most artists, not least herself. “I don’t want people to be like ‘Oh my God, they trapped her because they own her masters.’ Like, yeah, they own my masters – that’s a fucking record deal. That’s what they’re paying for.”
The push-and-pull between vulnerability and braggadocio is at the heart of XCX6. Because, despite her brash public face – and the pure ease with which she, say, shit-talks the Brit Awards from its own red carpet – Charli has often felt like an outsider in the industry. “I’ve always been very embarrassed by myself, like I’m the girl who’s got her dress tucked in her knickers after she comes out of the toilet.”
She’s anxious about releasing the new record, in part due to the intense scrutiny her music receives on social media. “Releasing an album is sometimes totally triggering,” she says. While promoting Crash, she responded to fan criticisms of lead single Baby with a string of tweets, ending with a swiftly-deleted message that instantly became gay Twitter canon: “Bitch BYE. I will NEVER understand what possesses people to be such C*NTS online.”
“Oh my God, I felt so bad. But then I was like, wait, that’s actually kinda epic,” she says, laughing witheringly. “A fan was being mean to me and I think I’d just had enough. I was rehearsing for SNL. It was fucking stressful. As soon as I sent [the tweet] I was like, ‘Oh my god, I called this probably, like, 15-year-old gay boy a cunt. What a nightmare!’”
Charli, clearly, still feels terrible about the Baby incident. But she’s also feeling empowered by her prediction that “we’re about to be done with niceness being currency”.
This is the energy – defiant, bratty in an empowered, drily funny way – that’s inspired XCX6. Charli, unsurprisingly, believes it’s her best album. “I get tired of behaving in a way that people expect me, or expect pop stars, to behave. I’m not a role model – and I never did this because I wanted to be.” She pauses, then offers a caveat. “But I understand it comes with the territory. I am a role model for a very flawed, genuinely real, non-perfect person. And that’s all I would ever want to be.” | ||||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 80 | https://www.reviewofreligions.org/45280/a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-the-holy-prophet-sa-the-holy-prophets-sa-integrity-and-honesty/ | en | A Glimpse into the Life of the Holy Prophet (sa) – The Holy Prophet’s (sa) Integrity and Honesty | [
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] | 2024-06-20T10:00:46+00:00 | The Holy Prophet’s (sa) integrity and honesty. | en | The Review of Religions | https://www.reviewofreligions.org/45280/a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-the-holy-prophet-sa-the-holy-prophets-sa-integrity-and-honesty/ | © Shutterstock
‘Verily, Allah, commands you to make over the trusts to those entitled to them.’ [1]
In the shariah [religious law] of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), this is the basic teaching for safeguarding trusts. The most trustworthy persons in the world are the prophets of God, who convey His message without any discrepancy, to His creation. For this reason, the Holy Qur’an recorded the claim of so many prophets as ‘I am the trustworthy prophet of God.’ The glorious aspect of our Prophet’s (sa) character is that God Himself testified to his trustworthiness. God says, ‘Obeyed there, and faithful to his trust.’ [2]
‘Verily, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it. But the man bore it.’ [3]
The heaven was unable to carry this trust. They drew lots, and the heavy burden fell on the shoulder of this passionate devotee. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) discharged the onus of his trusts and taught the same to his followers.
‘Surely success does come to the believers…and who are watchful of their trusts and their covenants.’ [4]
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) said, ‘A person who does not fulfil his trust is devoid of faith.’
The basis of honesty and integrity is purity, fidelity and veracity. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) was distinct in this respect to the extent that the people of Makkah gave him the titles of Amin [trustworthy] and Sadiq [truthful] and used to deposit their trusts with him without any apprehension.
There is a strong connection between faith and trustworthiness. This is the distinctive quality of the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). When Heraclius, the emperor, asked Abu Sufyan what the Prophet (sa) taught them, Abu Sufyan testified that he taught the worship of God, truthfulness, chastity, honouring the promises and fulfilment of trusts. Hearing this, Heraclius exclaimed spontaneously that these are the qualities of a prophet.
ENDNOTES
[1] The Holy Qur’an, 4:59.
[2] The Holy Qur’an, 81:22.
[3] The Holy Qur’an, 33:73.
[4] The Holy Qur’an, 23:2,9.
Muhammad (sa) – The Perfect Man (Qadian, India: Nazarat Isha’at, 2015), 225-226. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 23 | https://itsalldead.com/2016/10/25/review-jimmy-eat-world-integrity-blues/ | en | Review: Jimmy Eat World – Integrity Blues | [
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] | null | [] | 2016-10-25T00:00:00 | Jimmy Eat World is a band that I respect immensely, but for some reason, I tend to view each new release as though it were their final one. I don’t have any precedent for this other than the fact that I have spent 15 years watching what was essentially an emo band morph itself into… | en | it's all dead | https://itsalldead.com/2016/10/25/review-jimmy-eat-world-integrity-blues/ | Jimmy Eat World is a band that I respect immensely, but for some reason, I tend to view each new release as though it were their final one. I don’t have any precedent for this other than the fact that I have spent 15 years watching what was essentially an emo band morph itself into an incredibly successful indie pop rock band that is still active.
What is spectacular in this regard, though, is that the band manages to retain a familiar sound from album to album while discovering ways to reinvent themselves. Even though they are a band that prefers acoustic ballads over hard guitars, finding new ways to showcase themselves as a band is the most punk rock thing I can think of.
That said, Integrity Blues, threw me off balance on first listen. While most Jimmy Eat World records find a loving balance between aggressive punk songs and soft acoustics, Integrity Blues takes a different approach – whether on purpose or by accident, the album seems to narrow in on one of the greatest twenty 20 of music I can think of and expand it in every way.
While the past couple of albums have become noticeably less rock heavy, Integrity Blues is the first to full abandon the rock format almost completely. Instead, it feels like it has focused in on the final few minutes of Futures and explored the sound of two of my favorite songs the band has ever put out (“Night Drive” and “23”) so as to create a full album out of gentle serenade. If you weren’t listening closely, you’d almost confuse it for a Death Cab for Cutie record from the early 2000’s.
Integrity Blues is an emotional album. It relies heavily on percussion and harmonious bass guitar to do the heavy lifting of the songwriting. It is one of the rare occasions where it feels like the guitar and vocals are more of an extra element that adds to the depth of the music instead of being the main focus (“You With Me”, “It Matters”). Bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind certainly feel like the MVPs of this record compared to previous releases.
While I am unable to say that Integrity Blues has any bad songs on it, the guitars and vocals definitely take a noticeable step back. Rather than forge the course of the music, they seem to find ways to fill the melody into something wonderful. Each song feels like something that I’ve heard from Jimmy Eat World before, but it is distinctly different from their past work.
What is slightly disappointing is that it doesn’t feel like guitarists Tom Linton and Jim Adkins are pushing themselves. Instead, they are falling back on loving rhythms that create an enticing record, but does little to showcase their skill. “Through” might be the best example of the guitars swirling through melody, but even then it builds towards a bridge before giving way to the incredible bass line.
Jim Adkins’ vocals feel restrained throughout, unfortunately. He doesn’t sound off in any way, but without the rush of guitars, he has no incentive to push himself. Adkins finds his voice in half-breathy gospel tones, similar to Futures’ “23”. His voice fills the songs with an earthy folk tone, but never quite reaches for the higher notes he’s shown in the past. It fits the mood, but doesn’t showcase in the way that you might hope.
A central theme of Integrity Blues is overcoming and standing tall. Though the music lacks the energy of a punk album, the lyrics are beautiful, encouraging and heartbreaking. “You With Me” sets the tone, as some of the opening lines sling off a thesis of, “The list of things I feel is crazy / News to me that I would need a second wake-up / It’s all been happening like they said it might / Am I weak if I want to fight?”
Against the grain of pulsing drumming and a haunting keyboard, Adkins finds himself lost, but hopeful on “Pretty Grids”. “When the fight is done and the feelings come / Is it more than what you thought? Or even want? / No place feels right for a busy mind / However goes the night, it’s what you got / Someday we might not bother / Line up the way we should / Why not? The sun just feels too good”.
“The End is Beautiful” reflects fondly an on a relationship in its final days, as Adkins comes to terms with the fact in his own way over mounting guitars. “There must be a plan that neither of us could see / So we went along where it went, a party within a dream / I never felt peace like that, it was safety as I’ve never known / Oh, but I knew nothing, I was sick / And I don’t blame a thing that you did”.
“Pol Roger”, the final song on the record returns to the thesis of looking for the bright side and encourages the listener to do their best over the course of nearly seven minutes. The final chorus is perhaps the most positive message JEW has ever written.
“First they’ll think you’re lost – it’s the easy feeling / Yeah, there’s every chance you could crash if you don’t believe it / Why spend more time in a lie if it goes on that way? / Love don’t come to you, who knew, it just was there, always”.
Integrity Blues isn’t the most progressive album that Jimmy Eat World has put out, but it is one of the most positive. It’s a slow build-up of music that finds the charred march of pulling yourself from a dark place and picking yourself up to the point that you can believe in yourself again. Integrity Blues doesn’t have any answers, but what it offers is hope.
The songs are heartfelt, melodic and soft, much in the same way that good advice always finds its way to you. It’s not an album that may rival the most loved of Jimmy Eat World’s albums, but it may be the most Jimmy Eat World album ever written. It’s cohesive, thunderously emotional and taps into every emotion it can with sincerely great writing. If this was the last album the band ever put out, I would see it as their opus. But since I have been wrong literally every other time I have thought that, It is an honor to see the band dial in on their one section of their own sound from past discography and expand it in every way.
3.5/5
by Kyle Schultz
Kyle Schultz is the Senior Editor at It’s All Dead and has worked as a gaming journalist at Structure Gaming. He lives in Chicago and has no reason to believe that Jimmy Eat World would break up any time soon. They seem so well put together. But for some reason, each time they announce a new album, it comes as a shock to him. Why? KISS is technically still together, and they are way more volatile. There is no solution. Enjoy the music while the getting is good, then scurry off into the night – that’s his motto. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 1 | https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/newsong | en | Encyclopedia.com | [
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"NewSongChristian group After performing for more than two decades",
"the Christian group NewSong is known as one of the most evangelistic groups in Christian music today. They are known for their performances of classic hymns",
"and have had 17 number one singles on the Christian charts."
] | null | [] | null | NewSongChristian group After performing for more than two decades, the Christian group NewSong is known as one of the most evangelistic groups in Christian music today. They are known for their performances of classic hymns, and have had 17 number one singles on the Christian charts. Source for information on NewSong: Contemporary Musicians dictionary. | en | /sites/default/files/favicon.ico | https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/newsong | NewSong
Christian group
After performing for more than two decades, the Christian group NewSong is known as one of the most evangelistic groups in Christian music today. They are known for their performances of classic hymns, and have had 17 number one singles on the Christian charts.
NewSong began as a nine-man band performing during services at the Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia, and they eventually began performing at other churches. Four of the original members, Eddie Carswell, Billy Goodwin, Eddie Middleton, and Bobby Apon, decided to become full-time Christian musicians. This turning point occurred while they were performing at a high school assembly. They were struck by the fact that after they performed and asked the students if they wanted to commit their lives to Christ, an overwhelming majority walked forward. On May 1, 1981, the four men loaded up Goodwin's 1973 Dodge Aspen station wagon and headed off on what would turn out to be a lifelong mission.
Currently the band includes founders Carswell and Goodwin, as well as three newer members, Michael O'Brien, Steve Reischl, and Matt Butler. On the website of the group's publicist, Richard De La Font, O'Brien commented, "One of the best things about NewSong is our diverse backgrounds and musical perspectives. Each member brings an individual style or component to what we do, and when it all comes together on stage, it's a wall of sound that seems to energize audiences."
In addition to their regular performances in churches, the group hosts a "Winter Jam" and "Summer Jam," and these have become some of the largest events in Christian music. The Jams bring together a broad range of Christian artists and are known for their free admission policy: there is no charge for tickets, but attendees donate whatever they are able to give; if they can't afford it, the concert is free. The goal of the Jams is evangelism. According to De La Font's website, "More than 12,000 individuals have made decisions for Christ through the 'Jam' tours." The group also hosts "Xtreme Youth Conferences" twice a year. These are intensive two-day seminars for young people, and feature top Christian artists. Goodwin noted on De La Font's website, "Typically, in our line of work, everyone has his or her own ministry, and we tend to compare ourselves to others. But in working together at these 'Jam' events and 'Xtreme' conferences, this Christian community becomes more connected. We have seen God do unbelievable things."
NewSong is known for a reliable style, described by Russ Breimeier in Christianity Today as "textbook Christian adult contemporary." He noted, "They're not so much a model of innovation as they are of masterful production and performance. ...And though they may not be the most interesting band out there, their music is filled with moments of inspiration and joy." In an interview on the website Christianmusic.about.com, O'Brien commented to Kim Jones that the band's real purpose was sharing "testimony every night and see people coming to know Christ. To us that's just the ultimate thing. Music is just a tool to spread the Gospel."
The group's 2000 song "The Christmas Shoes" hit number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles chart within three weeks of its release. The single had its genesis in a story that St. Louis radio personality D.C. Chymes sent to Carswell, who developed it into a song that became an instant hit. It was so successful that the group followed it with their first Christmas album, 2001's The Christmas Shoes. In addition, a novella based on the single, written by Nashville author Donna VanLiere, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list two years in a row. The song and album also inspired a made-for-TV movie, The Christmas Shoes, produced by CBS and starring Rob Lowe and Kimberley Williams. In 2003 the album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
In 2005 the group released Rescue, their first live album. The 75-minute CD was recorded during a worship service at First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Georgia. On the group's website, Carswell noted that the worship service and recording session were a "homecoming" for the group: "First Baptist is the church home for several of us in the band. And because we've always put so much effort into our concert performances, doing a live recording just seemed natural." Goodwin added that because of the live aspect of the recording, "the whole experience was something fresh for us." Part of the spontaneity of the evening came from the fact that, as O'Brien commented on the group's website, "There were songs I learned the night before that I didn't know the words to. I didn't know how I was going to get through it, but I was amazed at how God took us through it."
Russ Breimeier commented about the album, "It is striking (if not surprising) how well suited NewSong is to performing live worship." He also compared their arrangement of the classic hymn "How Great Thou Art" to the music of U2 or Delirious.
On Christianmusic.about.com, Goodwin explained what has kept the band going for so long: "I think what keeps us going is not necessarily the fun we have with the music, but it's that time at the end of the evening when we see people respond. It's like a shot of adrenaline. It's amazing to see God use what little bit we're doing to reach people. That's really our motivation." On the group's website Goodwin noted, "Our commitment for 25 years has been, 'God, we'll do this as long as your hand is on it'," and added, "He has shown no sign of letting up."
For the Record . . .
Members include Matt Butler (joined in 2000, left in 2002 and rejoined in 2003), cello, keyboards, violin, accordion, backing vocals; Eddie Carswell (founding member), songwriter, backing vocals; Billy Goodwin (founding member), lead vocals, guitar; Michael O'Brien (born on August 23, 1964, in Miami, FL; joined group, 1999), lead vocals, keyboards, songwriter; Scotty Wilbanks (born on July 25, 1970; joined group, 1993), piano saxophone, keyboards. Former members include Bobby Apon (1981-1993; vocals); Charles Billingsley (1994; vocals); Clay Cross (2002; vocals, guitar); Eddie Middleton (1981-1993; vocals); Steve Reischl (1999-2002; vocals, guitar); Russ Lee (1994-1999; vocals).
Group formed in Valdosta, GA, 1981; released Son inMy Eyes, 1982; released The Word, 1984; released Trophies of Grace, 1986; released Say Yes!, 1987; released Light Your World, 1989; released LivingProof, 1991; released All Around the World, 1993; released People Get Ready, 1994; released Love Revolution, 1997; released Joy to the Rhythm of theWorld, 1997; released Arise, My Love, 1999; released Sheltering Tree, 2000; released Live ... The Hits, 2000; released The Christmas Shoes, 2001; released moreLife, 2003; released Rescue, 2005.
Addresses: Record company—Integrity Music, 1000 Cody Rd., Mobile, AL 36695. Website—NewSong Of ficial Website: http://www.newsongonline.com.
Selected discography
Son in My Eyes, Covenant, 1982.
The Word, Word, 1984.
Trophies of Grace, Word, 1986.
Say Yes!, Word, 1987.
Light Your World, Word, 1989.
Living Proof, DaySpring, 1991.
All Around the World, Benson, 1993.
People Get Ready, Benson, 1994.
Love Revolution, Benson, 1997.
Joy to the Rhythm of the World, Benson, 1997.
Arise, My Love ... The Very Best of NewSong, Benson, 1999.
Sheltering Tree, Benson, 2000.
Live ... The Hits (Promotional CD), Benson, 2000.
The Christmas Shoes, Reunion, 2001.
More Life, Reunion, 2003.
Rescue, Integrity, 2005.
Sources
"Newsong," Christianmusic.about.com, http://www.christianmusic.about.com/od/interviewsmz/p/prnewsong.htm (June 27, 2005).
NewSong Official Website, http://www.newsongonline.com (June 27, 2005.
"Rescue: Live Worship," Christianity Today,http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2005/rescue.html (June 27, 2005).
Richard De La Font Agency Website, http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/newsong.htm (June 27, 2005).
"Sheltering a New Song," FamilyChristian,http://www.familychristian.com/music/interviews/newsong_sheltering.asp (June 27, 2005).
"Sheltering Tree," Christianity Today,http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/shelteringtree.html (June 27, 2005). | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 62 | https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/charts/ | en | Spotify | [
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Find Spotify charts at charts.spotify.com or in the Spotify app via Search > Charts.
We generate chart stream numbers using a formula that protects the integrity of our charts, and makes sure all voices of our users are reflected.
This formula means not every stream on Spotify is eligible for charts. Some songs may have fewer chart-eligible streams than others, depending on streaming behavior. So the stream count you see in charts might look different to the app and Spotify for Artists.
Our chart filtering doesn’t impact the royalties we pay to creators.
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Daily charts usually get published before 12 PM EST (4 PM UTC) the day after the chart period.
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For a daily chart, any song or album live on Spotify before or during a charting day is eligible (12:00 AM - 11:59 PM UTC).
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A streak is the number of consecutive weeks or days an entry’s been on a chart, not the total number of weeks or days ever on the chart.
The peak position doesn’t reset. It’s the highest position an entry’s ever been on the chart.
Sharing your chart position
Use Promo Cards from charts.spotify.com to share your (or someone else’s) chart position on social media. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 96 | https://sermons.love/david-jeremiah/3051-david-jeremiah-a-life-of-integrity.html | en | A Life of Integrity » Watch Online Sermons 2024 | [
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] | 2019-01-20T18:45:18+02:00 | We are suffering from a deficit of integrity in our culture. To have integrity is to have all parts of your life integrated, to have them interconnected and uncorrupted and working well together as a | en | /templates/Default/images/favicon.png | Watch Online Sermons 2024 | https://sermons.love/david-jeremiah/3051-david-jeremiah-a-life-of-integrity.html | David Jeremiah - A Life of Integrity
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A facial cream ad claims it will make women look as good as Photoshop can but the woman's face in the ad is actually photoshopped. Educators rewrite history to fit modern secular objectives and scientists falsify data to advance their theories. The integrity of government is undermined by leaks and slander and fake news and media corruption, and opponents deliberately impugn each other's motives, distort their positions, and just tell outright lies to advance their agendas. Integrity is lacking in our culture and very little is being said about it. We complain about everything else. We call it by many names but we are suffering from a deficit of integrity in our culture. To have integrity is to have all parts of your life integrated, to have them interconnected and uncorrupted and working well together as a single unit.
A person of integrity has integrated his innermost being, a consistent standard from which all of his actions flow. Such a person, we say, has it all together. The rock of integrity is faithfulness. That's the biblical word for integrity, the word "faithfulness". Maybe you remember the commercial that was on television and still is in some places. Built on the visual of a gigantic rock that's supposed to demonstrate stability. They ask you to buy a piece of the rock and if you buy this kind of insurance you can be sure that when you need it, it will be there. But I want to tell you about a different kind of rock. "He," God, "is the Rock, His work is perfect; and all of his ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He". If you build your life upon that rock, the faithfulness and integrity of God will begin to flow into your life and the better that you know him, the more integrity you will have in your own life. Integrity's not just an important truth about God. It's also an important theme in the Bible. The word itself appears 21 times, the word "integrity".
So integrity is a thing of the Bible. It's not something that we made up or does it come from a motivational book. The Bible is about integrity because God is about integrity. And the record of integrity is so easy for us to follow. People of integrity are honest in their business. They give selflessly of their time and resources. They watch their speech, avoiding profanity and slander and gossip. They never reveal confidences or impugn the integrity or motives of other people. When they commit, they follow through. They treat others well, even those they do not know. They are willing to say, "I was wrong," taking responsibility for their own errors, even those they could have hidden or blamed on others. To paraphrase Will Rogers: "People of integrity live in such a way that they wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip".
Now, there you go. And now let's talk about the road to integrity. How do we implement this virtue in our lives? I'd like to suggest that we start with being honest with ourselves. Be honest with yourself. Before you begin your journey toward integrity you need to determine your starting point. In other words, what is your integrity quotient? How much integrity do you already have? As believers, we need to be ruthlessly honest with ourselves. Of all the lies that we tell, the ones we tell ourselves are the most deadly. Question your motives, stop justifying what you know to be wrong. Stop excusing yourself. David once asked God to help him with this and when we ask God to help us see ourselves as we are and get honest with ourselves, he always does it. At least, he always has for me. If you don't wanna know the truth about yourself, don't ask God to help you. He'll point it out and you will know the starting point for your integrity.
Second, don't just be honest with yourself. Tell the truth. I mean, that's so basic I almost am embarrassed to put it in the outline. Proverbs says: "The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them". Did you know that we reflect the character of God when we tell the truth because Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie. God never lies and neither should we. When we speak the truth, we do not have to look back over our shoulder, we don't have to make up a story to cover the story that we told that wasn't true when we told it. We don't have to cover our tracks. Speaking the truth is at the core of integrity. And, believe it or not, speaking the truth is one of the character traits that Christian leaders need to work on. The favorite indoor sport of many pastors is the embellishment of church attendance. Embellishment means exaggeration. And we even coined a name for it that gives it a sense of spirituality. You know what they call that among pastors in our pastoral language? We call that speaking evangelistically. That's what we call it.
I heard about two pastors who were talking one day and one said to the other, they were talking about their church attendance and this is how the conversation unfolded. The one pastor said, "If I lie about my attendance and you know that I'm lying about my attendance and I know that you know that I'm lying about my attendance, isn't that like telling the truth"? I don't think so. No, I don't think so. On the other hand, there are some who speak the truth about their numbers. Someone asked a pastor about his attendance with this inquiry: "Pastor, what are you running this year in your church"? To which the pastor honestly replied, "We're running over 1000 but we're only catching about 600 of them," so there you go. That's the way you be honest. So be honest with yourself and tell the truth. Tell the truth. And then keep your word. If I have made a promise, I have no alternative but to keep it.
We are told in Deuteronomy 7: "The Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for 1000 generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments". Here's another definition of integrity that I remember from a study I did on the life of Joseph way back in the '80s. In that study there was a story about a guy named Routledge who was a PoW. He was in what they call the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam. Somehow through that, he came out of that whole experience with this definition of integrity. Here it is: "Integrity is keeping a commitment after the circumstances under which you made the commitment have changed". And I wish I could push that into all of the troubled marriages of today. Listen to that again: "Your commitment is only commitment when you keep that commitment after the circumstances under which the commitment was made have changed".
That's truly the highest level of integrity you can ever express. So be honest with yourself. Tell the truth. Keep your word and be who you are. Be who you are. Many years ago, I heard a Southern preacher give this word of wisdom about integrity. Here's what he said: "Be who you is, not what you ain't 'cause if you ain't what you is, then you is what you ain't". Let me say that again. "Be what you is, not what you ain't 'cause if you ain't what you is, you is what you ain't". To live with integrity, you have to conduct yourself in an authentic way. You don't posture. You don't change because of the circumstances Philippians 1:10 says to all of us: "Be sincere and without offense 'til the day of Christ".
Do you know what the word "sincere" means? Listen to this. It comes from a Latin word which means "without wax". Now, that's a strange thing. It originated in a marketplace. It originated in ancient Rome. If anyone wanted an authentic statue of fine quality, carved by someone who took pride in his workmanship, they would venture to the artisans' marketplace in the Quad in Rome and look for booths bearing a sign: "Sine cera," or "Without wax". You see, there were many merchants who would take broken figurines, broken pieces of pottery, and they would repair the crack with wax and paint over the wax and it would not be visible to the normal, visual eye. It would only become visible when the figurine was set in the sun and the wax would melt and then you would realize you had a defective product.
So the term became "sine cera, without wax," which meant this is a product of integrity. This is a real, no flaw, no cover-up, no shady deal opportunity for you to get what you think you're getting. So they would find these signs that had the words "sine cera" over them and we need to have those words over us. We need to be men and women of integrity so that there aren't hidden flaws and hidden agendas but we are authentic and genuine. I have to honestly tell you that of all the questions people ask about me to my family and my friends, this is at the top of the list. They tell me about this. "What is Dr. Jeremiah really like at home? What is he like with his children? What is he like with his wife? What is he like backstage before he walks out to speak"? And what they're asking is this: is he a man of integrity?
I don't know that there's any goal in my life that is higher than that one. That I become the same person whether I'm at home or here. In fact, if I'm a different person at home and that person isn't the right person I have no right to be here. My life ought to be what it is from the core. This, what I do on Sunday is just a part of my life but it isn't a different life with a different set of standards. It's the same life that demands from me the same level integrity that being a father and a husband has always demanded of me as well. I pray that the answers that people give to that question can be positive. I don't claim to be perfect and I know I have a lot of flaws, but I care deeply about being a man of integrity and I pray that you have that same concern for your own life. Be honest with yourself, tell the truth, keep your word, be who you are, avoid bad company. Really important.
You say, "Where's that in the Bible"? I'm glad you asked because I'm 1 Corinthians 15:33 says it this way: "Bad company corrupts good character". A word of advice to those of you who strive for integrity. Stay away from those who are not honest. If we surround ourselves with people who are dishonest and willing to cut corners to get ahead, we'll surely find ourselves following this pattern, first enduring their behavior, then accepting their behavior, then explaining their behavior, and finally adopting their behavior. if you want to build a reputation as a person of integrity, you need to keep people of integrity around you so you can help each other achieve the goal. Be found faithful. That's the next one. One of the great verses of integrity is 1 Corinthians 4:2. Do you know what that verse says? That verse says: "It is required of stewards that a man be found faithful".
The question in this verse is how does God determine whether someone is faithful? He's watching to see how we treat people, how we respond to pressure, and whether or not we have the tenacity to stay on track even when we don't think anybody is watching us. And so I wanna encourage you to be found with integrity. That's what this Scripture says. "It is required of a steward that he be found faithful". What that means is wherever you are, whatever you're doing, in any situation, be found faithful. Be who you are all the way through and at all times. And the next thing I wanna say to you is that if you have integrity you will be tested under fire. Be strong under fire.
Do you remember Daniel and his three buddies, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you remember how they were told that they had to bow down to a Babylonian idol and they wouldn't do it? And Nebuchadnezzar told them that if they didn't do it, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace. And those three boys gave their reply to Nebuchadnezzar in these words. They said, "Our God will deliver us from your fiery furnace, but even if he doesn't, we will not serve your gods or worship your golden image, period". And the three young men refused to compromise even in the face of death because, for them, their integrity was more important than their life. And you know the story. God saw their integrity and preserved them in a miraculous way through that fire. Here's my last thought. Be accountable to somebody. Be accountable to somebody.
The author of the book of Hebrews said, "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, exhorting one another". Literally, the text says provoking one another. And in the New Testament we are taught that the Christian life is about one another. It's not lived in silence or in solitary. We need each other and we kind of grind against each other so that we stay focused and go in the right direction. We need people who will tell us the truth about ourselves. So there you have these thoughts about how we develop integrity in our lives. And it's convicting to all of us from the preacher right down to the person sitting in the last row. We all have areas that when we shine the light of integrity over our lives, we say, "Yeah, no, I need to work on that one".
And sometimes, we have godly wives or husbands who help us understand where those areas are. "Honey, you said this but then you did this and Johnny watched". God wants us to get better. And we need to have a desire to look at these things and look at our lives and measure our lives against the ruler of God's Word and say, "Here's where I can work on that. Here's where I can". And sometimes we hear stuff we never even thought about before and it awakens in us a new sense of desire to get to that place where we have this life that's beyond amazing. Jesus who lives within us, embodies us, and we are the hands of Jesus and we are the feet of Jesus and we are the words of Jesus and we are the love of Jesus to the people around us.
So I challenge you today, join your pastor in the quest for integrity. Let's do our best to be the people of God who are genuine, not fake, not posturing, not learning Christianese and living like Christ on Sunday and like everything else the rest of the week. God is looking for some real, genuine articles. And we can be that by his grace, amen? | ||||
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] | 2010-01-28T00:00:00 | Why is Beyonce's ballad, "Halo," up for the Record of the Year Grammy, while her super-produced dance track, "Single Ladies," is up for Song of the Year? The VP of Awards at the Recording Academy defends Beyonce's nominations this year and explains the Grammy selection and categorization process. | en | NPR | https://www.npr.org/2010/01/28/123071543/could-single-ladies-win-song-of-the-year | The traditional knock on the Grammy Awards is that they skew toward veterans at the expense of more vibrant young performers. It's not an unfair charge: See Steely Dan's 2001 Album of the Year victory over Beck, Eminem and Radiohead (plus Paul Simon), or Herbie Hancock's win over Kanye West and Amy Winehouse in 2008.
The 2010 awards, on the other hand, are like the kids' revenge, at least in the major categories of Record, Song and Album of the Year. Beyonce (up for all three), The Black Eyed Peas (Record and Album), Maxwell (Song) and Dave Matthews Band (Album) all emerged in the '90s, with 43-year-old Matthews the oldest of the lot (Maxwell is 37, The Black Eyed Peas all around 35, Beyonce 29). Genre categories sometimes skew older, particularly in Rock — this year, the only nominee for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance not in his 60s is Prince, who's 51.
Nevertheless, of the two Beyonce song nominations, it seems odd that "Halo" is getting a Record of the Year nomination while "Single Ladies" is getting Song of the Year. Surely, the big, swooping ballad (written by the newly crowned king of the big, swooping ballad, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic) is more of an obvious Song nominee, and the insistent dance number is more in line with Record? One nod to rationality is the second nomination of the songwriting team Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell in the Song category (they were nominated in 2007 for Rihanna's "Umbrella"). If Tedder is the king of the ballad, the trio rules the realm of insanely catchy, fiendishly layered dance-floor-fillers.
The distinction between those two fields has long been fuzzy, even to music-savvy fans. To clear up the confusion — and for a glimpse into the process by which these things are decided — I spoke with Bill Freimuth, the Recording Academy's Vice President of Awards, over the phone about Grammy categories, the nomination process and the politics of the awards.
NPR Music: One thing that I think tends to confuse people who don't pay close attention to the Grammys is the difference between Song of the Year and Record of the Year. How would you explain it?
Bill Freimuth: Song of the Year is a songwriter's award. The only person who gets the Grammy for Song of the Year is the songwriter or songwriters. Record of the Year is more for the complete work. The people who receive Grammy statues in Record of the Year are the artist — the featured artist, if there is one — the producer and the engineer. It's really about the creative side, excluding the writing of the song. A Record of the Year can be an old song that's been covered, as long as it's a new recording. Song of the Year has to be a new song.
NPR Music: This year, what I noticed are the two Beyonce songs in those categories. "Single Ladies" strikes me as more a record than a song, but it's up for Song of the Year, while "Halo" is more of a traditional song, but it's up for Record of the Year. I'm guessing that, because this is an industry award, a lot of lobbying goes on. How much does that weigh into particular songs being in particular categories?
Freimuth: First of all, there is some lobbying that goes on to our voters as far as, you know, people will take the "For Your Consideration" ads out in Billboard, maybe do an email blast to everyone they know who's a voter. We, of course, don't share that information [about who is a voter] with anybody, so they have to be guessing. But I think it goes back further than that in our process, which goes back to the entry process. Entries can be made by members of the Academy, and these members don't necessarily have to be affiliated with the recording at all. They can just say, "Boy, I really loved 'Single Ladies,' and I want to enter it everywhere."
But on the other side of that, we do accept entries from labels, and I would say probably at least two-thirds of our entries are coming straight from the labels. And the labels, by making their entries, are sort of doing their own bit of deciding what they think is best. Sometimes, they're clearly going to be doing that with a bit of political motivation: "We really want this particular track recognized for songwriting, and we want this particular track recognized for production and performance." Or, "We want this track recognized in" — keeping Beyonce in mind for a minute — "we're going to nominate this track in Pop Female and this track in R&B Female and this track in Traditional R&B." Because she's such a versatile artist, she really does span those genres.
Sometimes, our screening committees will move them, especially in the genre categories. We'll have actually a very large group of people sit and listen to something that's in Female R&B and they'll move it to Pop Female. Or something that's entered in Traditional R&B, and they'll move it to R&B Female, which is not for traditional R&B-based stuff.
Of course, in Record and Song of the Year, we don't do any moving in and out of those categories. If something is entered in Song of the Year and not in Record of the Year, it has to stay in Song of the Year, and we respect that decision on the entrants' part that it be considered for Song and not for Record.
It's a combination of that, and what our voters are choosing when they are thinking about these things; they like the songwriting on this one and the production on this one. And also, for many of our fields, including our general field, it goes through a third step, other than the two ballots from the voters in between there and the nominations-review committee. They'll go and actually listen to everything in the Top 20 slots that the voters give us. In other words, for something like Record of the Year, we have 700-odd entries. The voters on the first ballot narrow it down to 20, and then this committee takes that 20 and narrows it down to five. One of the things they might do is, if the voters put two or three or eight Beyonce songs, or any other artist's songs, in the Top 20, they might listen to it and say, "This is the one we think is best in this category." Our rules state that a single artist cannot have more than one nomination in most of our categories.
NPR Music: A lot of the commentary I've seen for the big three Grammy categories this year — Album, Song and Record of the Year — is that they're skewing younger than usual, which is how it seems to me, as well.
Freimuth: As opposed to the genre categories?
NPR Music: Pretty much.
Freimuth: We have quite a few older artists — well, by older, I don't mean aged [laughs] — but older than their 20s, artists who are represented all over the place. I think The New York Times pointed out that the median age of the [Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance] category artists is 58.
NPR Music: You're talking about the process by which all this stuff is hashed out. Is there a lot of politicking that goes on inside the voting, amongst the voters themselves? Without wanting to violate confidentiality.
Freimuth: To be perfectly honest, there's not. If anybody has any kind of affiliation, they have to state that in writing to us, and we share that with the group. First of all, we try not to get anyone with label affiliations with us in meetings, so they don't feel compelled to do their job. Furthermore, if somebody has produced or engineered or is in any way related to a particular recording that's up for nomination, that's put on the table up front. Partly due to that, and partly due to the overall integrity of the people involved in these committees, there really is not politicking going on in any of the discussion. They come in, and they sit and listen to the music, and they talk about the music simply on quality standards, not political or any other standards. It's very nice to see, I have to say. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 4 | https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/mayjune/worship-music-industry-business-song-royalties-ccli-ccmg.html | en | Our Worship Is Turning Praise into Secular Profit | [
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"Kelsey Kramer McGinnis"
] | 2023-04-19T06:00:00 | With corporate consolidation in worship music, more entities are invested in the songs sung on Sunday mornings. How will their financial incentives shape the church? | en | /ct/apple-touch-icon.png | ChristianityToday.com | https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/mayjune/worship-music-industry-business-song-royalties-ccli-ccmg.html | When worship leader Jonathan Anderson selects the song “Lion and the Lamb” for a service, he thinks about what it means for his multigenerational Assemblies of God church to sing about the return of Christ and his final victory: Every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb.
“We have older people who love to imagine seeing God’s face, who look forward to that, to seeing pure beauty,” said Anderson, who serves at Bethel Church in Tallmadge, Ohio.
Songwriter and recording artist Leeland Mooring (who performs with the band “Leeland”) started composing the song at a worship event. He found himself and those with him profoundly moved by the words and music as they took shape.
Mooring told NewRelease Today, “We were just weeping, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room …. God dropped the whole chorus of the song on me right there.”
Eight years after its release, “Lion and the Lamb” remains among the top 30 contemporary worship songs sung in churches on Sunday, with recordings by popular bands including Leeland, Shane & Shane, and Big Daddy Weave.
The song’s continued popularity means congregations lift those powerful words in praise each week, as Mooring and his cowriters (industry veterans Brenton Brown and Bethel Music’s Brian Johnson) hoped. And each time churches like Anderson’s sing “Lion and the Lamb,” it adds up—especially if the service is livestreamed—for Christian music licensing companies, corporate labels, and private investors who have come to see the Christian corner of the industry as a previously untapped income stream.
A portion of the rights and royalties for Mooring’s song, which would have once been continuously paid out to the song’s creators and label, were sold at auction in 2020 as part of a $900,000 package to a private investor. The bundle of songs had made $156,393 the year before, more than three-quarters from the use of “Lion and the Lamb.” The investor who made the winning bid was quoted an industry-projected return of nearly 15 percent.
The words and melodies that stir hearts to worship each Sunday are also intellectual property (IP) on the market, caught up in a recent surge of acquisitions across the music industry. The investment activity has become a “feeding frenzy,” according to industry executive Hartwig Masuch, with worship hits a small part of the billions invested in IP and royalty streams.
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As churches worldwide sing, play, and live-stream songs like “Lion and the Lamb,” “How Great Is Our God,” and “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” the popularity of these songs has ushered Christian music further into the mainstream music industry and the vast economic ecosystem adjusting to make a profit in a new era.
Trends toward IP acquisition, lucrative arena tours, and corporate consolidation have helped drive record-setting revenues over the past two years—the touring industry saw $6.28 billion in 2022, and recording revenues in the US reached an all-time high of $15.9 billion, growing for the seventh consecutive year.
Many Christian artists, including those whose careers and brands are built on worship music, are benefiting from this growth.
Making money from the genre is nothing new. Christian music has turned a profit for American investors for centuries, ever since bookseller Hezekiah Usher distributed the Bay Psalm Book in 1640, the first book printed in the colonies. What’s new is the complicated web of demand, creation, and moneymaking in today’s version of the industry. The more corporate entities stand to profit from worship hits, the more they are positioned to introduce incentives and exert pressure along the way.
In the worship music landscape, each participant has its priorities: Churches seek out songs to serve their congregations, artists create music to minister to the church, the industry provides a platform and finds ways to profit from popular media, and investors look for promising assets.
Among writers, performers, agents, publicists, tour organizers, record labels, publishers, and investors, all are looking for new worship songs to become hits and for hit worship songs to stay popular and profitable. But not all of these people have equal sway in a song’s trajectory, and not every push toward success is morally or theologically neutral.
As worship music is further integrated into the economic landscape of the mainstream music industry, can it retain its distinct spiritual purpose? Will the powerful incentives of the business—fame and celebrity and financial success—influence the way worship songs are produced and promoted?
Contemporary worship music has gained the intensifying interest of the mainstream entertainment industry over the past two decades. Worship artists fill the country’s largest arenas. Instead of Christian artists crossing over with secular hits, worship songs make their way into the mainstream: Justin Bieber performs “Jireh” and “How He Loves” with Chandler Moore; contestants on The Voice sing “Oceans”; the Today show and Fox and Friends feature sets by Taya, Maverick City Music, and Hillsong United.
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Songwriters and worship artists “love the church and want to provide songs that serve the church,” said Shannan Baker, a postdoctoral fellow in digital humanities at Baylor University’s Center for Christian Music Studies. But today’s top worship artists and songwriters face these intensified market pressures.
“I’m hesitant about the role money can play in elevating certain worship songs,” Baker said, sharing one concern about the industry. “It’s a music business. Money drives decision-making at the upper levels.”
Financial gain—especially financial excess—is not a neutral incentive and can narrow the kinds of artists who make it to the top.
“For evangelicals, the market has always been a way of proving God’s blessing,” said Adam Perez, assistant professor of worship studies at Belmont University in Nashville—the hub and headquarters for the Christian music industry. “Investment is a lagging indicator of success.”
“Any time someone increases their access to capital, it increases their access to power,” he said. “Now, how will that power be exercised?”
More mainstream companies and investors have recognized opportunities for profit in hit Christian artists and songs, particularly as major corporations consolidate ownership. This interest has led to major arena tours once reserved for rock stars and royalty auctions to get a cut of worship hits.
Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG), for example, has acquired major Christian labels Sparrow Records, Hillsong Music, and sixstepsrecords. CCMG is part of Universal Music Group, which held a market share of just over 37 percent in the music industry at the end of 2022. Its artists now include Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United, Brooke Ligertwood, Crowder, Cody Carnes, Jesus Culture, and the Newsboys. Last year, it claimed to have 60 percent market share of the top 10 worship songs used in churches.
These songs get licensed for services and events through Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI). The organization began as a resource to keep churches from violating copyright when using lyrics and music from worship artists.
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Now the music industry has begun to see popularity on CCLI as an indicator of a song’s ongoing profitability, since over a quarter million churches worldwide license their worship music through the ministry. A listing selling royalties for the “Lion and the Lamb” package noted that two-thirds of the annual profits could come from CCLI—$100,000—and that the earnings were stable.
CCLI also ranks songs based on weekly usage as reported by churches its licensing protection covers. According to CCLI, “Lion and the Lamb” landed among the top 30 songs sung at churches as of spring 2023, eight years after its release.
“A Christian radio hit makes a little money for a little while,” said Andrew Osenga, director of artists and repertoire (A&R) for Integrity Music. “Evergreen [worship] songs bring in a lot of income.”
The “song-centric” nature of the worship music market works to its advantage. In a rapidly changing industry (How often do you pay to listen to music?), revenue from songwriting and publishing royalties in the niche have remained reliable sources of income.
Osenga noted that since the beginning of the pandemic, royalty revenues for worship music have increased substantially because of the sudden rise in churches livestreaming and posting service recordings to YouTube. Before 2020, most churches covered by CCLI for the use of contemporary worship songs were paying $170–$215 per year for licensing. The right to legally stream performances of those songs required churches to add a new streaming license, which can cost another $110 a year based on church attendance of 400 people per week (the cost increases with church size).
“Think about the number of church services that are streamed,” said Osenga. “If ‘Good Good Father’ is sung in thousands of churches, many of which are livestreamed, the revenue of that copyright is huge.”
Worship songs typically don’t have a very long lifespan, but a few favorites like “How Great Is Our God” and “In Christ Alone” make it to the CCLI top 100 and stay there. A recent study found that between 2015 and 2019, the average lifespan of a worship song was four years. Between 1995 and 1999, it was 11 years.
The most successful recording artists have still been able to achieve longstanding hits on the CCLI charts; their songs now appear on sites like Royalty Exchange, where investors can evaluate them as financial assets.
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Historically, there has been very little interest in back catalogs of Christian artists.
“In contrast to the general market,” ethnomusicologist Andrew Mall said in his 2021 book God Rock, Inc.: The Business of Niche Music, “in the Christian market there is comparatively little demand for (or even awareness of) older music and artists.”
But Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a Blackstone-backed music rights investment company, recently acquired a stake in the back catalogs of Third Day and Jason Ingram, a producer and songwriter who has worked with Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher, Kari Jobe, Lauren Daigle, David Crowder, and Christy Nockels. Hipgnosis is the same entity that acquired the rights to Justin Bieber’s catalog in January 2023 in a high-profile $200 million deal.
Hipgnosis’s website touts Ingram as a force in the Christian music industry who “has helped shape the genre in a modern distribution world.” Ingram cowrote “Goodness of God” by Bethel Music, No. 1 on the CCLI Top 100 in 2023, as well as two others in the top 10: “Great Are You Lord” by All Sons & Daughters and “King of Kings” by Hillsong Worship.
In January 2022, the privately funded publishing and talent management company Primary Wave Music acquired a stake in worship artist Matt Redman’s entire publishing catalog. His song “Blessed Be Your Name” has spent 20 years in the CCLI top 100.
“It’s a good deal on both sides,” said Andrew Osenga. (Redman is currently signed with Integrity Music, Osenga’s employer.) An artist like Redman or Ingram can take a buyout, a lump sum from a company willing to bet that their songs will bring in additional earnings. It’s a smart way for a musician to pay off a home or send kids to college. Earnings on future songs they write will still be theirs.
The language used by entities like Primary Wave, Hipgnosis, and Royalty Exchange lays bare the purely financial motivation behind their investment in worship music. In a press release, Primary Wave described the move to acquire Redman’s catalog as one that would continue to “strengthen its position in the faith-based market.”
The Royalty Exchange listing for the 2020 auction of the asset package with “Lion and the Lamb” even named CCLI as a “notably unique and lucrative income source,” whose “earnings are quite stable year-over-year.” The listing also clarified that 78 percent of the catalog’s income came from “Lion and the Lamb,” referring to the song as “the star of this collection.”
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Investors may or may not have any interest in the spiritual aspect of the music, but since their profits rely on songs’ continued use by church congregations, they have a financial interest in what churches sing on Sunday mornings.
It’s too soon to say how the relationships between investors and worship artists’ back catalogs will influence the future use or trajectory of hit worship songs. However, with financial backers poised to profit from the continued use of some songs and not others, those with a stake in a particular hit could look for ways to reintroduce it and keep it fresh in the minds of worshipers, through covers, new recordings by popular artists, or novel arrangements.
The royalties marketplace is just one example of how the revenue streams in the worship music industry—and the music industry more broadly—have introduced new stakeholders, incentives, and pressures to the process. For artists who are popular enough to draw huge crowds, touring presents the opportunity to generate revenue with less interference from labels and publishers, who take cuts of recorded work.
The Christian industry mirrors the financial incentives and structures of the mainstream music industry, so it makes sense that Christian artists would rely on touring for income. Over the past three decades, as worship artists make their way onto arena stages, the bigger venues add to the public’s awareness of monetization in the industry. “Christian listeners are increasingly encountering worship music in entertainment contexts that used to be the domain of pop/rock,” wrote Mall.
The line between entertainment and worship in these contexts has grown blurrier, even as touring artists explicitly frame performances as worship services or experiences. Chris Tomlin toured in 2022 with Hillsong United, telling the Gospel Music Association, “I always say, there’s nothing like the sound of the people of God, singing the praises of God, in the presence of God and to be able to experience that night after night is truly a gift.”
Big names like Hillsong and Bethel hold arena tours, sometimes with VIP packages and experiences like early entry, custom merchandise, premium seating, and staged photo ops. And, like Coldplay, Taylor Swift, or others performing in stadiums, they’re subject to ticket scalping.
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Last year, Elevation Worship had to clarify that a $1,000-plus front-row ticket listed for their show wasn’t the sticker price but an inflated resale value.
The 2022 Chris Tomlin–Hillsong United tour—playing Target Center in Minneapolis, the United Center in Chicago, and the Banc of California Stadium in LA—initially offered a VIP ticket option for purchase, but in response to online backlash from fans, the tour removed the VIP option and replaced it with two tiers of “experience packages.”
The “Tomlin-United Experience” included a close-up seat, early access to the venue, a photo opportunity on the catwalk, a “pre-show merchandise shopping opportunity,” an “intimate on-stage experience with Chris Tomlin and United,” and “limited gift items specifically designed for VIPs by the artists.”
Christian artists often promote worship concerts or “worship experiences” as more than just performances, and the delivery of a sermon or short message can make the event feel like a heavily produced church service. And some are troubled by the prospect of paying to attend—or get VIP access to—something billed as a worship service.
“Should we ever pay to attend a worship event?” wrote UK-based worship leader and songwriter Tom Read in a column for Premier Christianity about the Tomlin-United Tour in October 2021. “Let’s be honest, there is a significant difference between paying an artist for their work and buying VIP tickets so you can have a photo on a catwalk at a worship event. What is so problematic here is the leveraging of the worship of God for the creation of personal fame and fortune.”
Winter Jam often lands among the music industry’s highest-ranking tours for the first quarter of the year. Organizers have kept ticket prices low—just $15 at the door—hoping to make each stop an accessible evangelistic event. But those looking for a more exclusive experience can still purchase additional access by joining Jam Nation, a tiered fan club with options for groups and individuals.
Attendees who join Jam Nation Max for $149.99, the highest-tier option, will get a meet-and-greet and photo with We The Kingdom and recording artist Jeremy Camp, seating in an “exclusive reserved section,” merchandise discounts, a T-shirt, and early admission.
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The highly successful tour illustrates the increased blurring of the distinction between performative Christian music (like radio hits) and worship music. Winter Jam isn’t billed explicitly as a worship concert or experience, but worship and a gospel presentation are part of the event. The 2023 tour included popular worship bands Thrive Worship and We The Kingdom.
The increased consolidation of popular contemporary worship music under fewer companies—entities like CCMG—means the industry has a bigger incentive to promote worship music and bigger artists have a better chance at making solid revenue.
It also means that CCMG has an incentive to gain greater access to the Christian music market, especially anyone looking for worship music.
CCMG owns Worship Together, an online resource for worship leaders that promotes new music, puts out blogs and podcasts, and hosts an annual conference. The featured performers at its 2023 conference will be Hillsong United and Cody Carnes, both CCMG artists.
Despite the involvement of players like CCMG in the promotion and marketing of worship music, Andrew Osenga has faith in songwriters’ commitment to serving the church and in worshipers’ sense of what music belongs in their sanctuaries.
“We don’t want to sing a product,” said Osenga, a former member of the band Caedmon’s Call. “We want to sing a song that is genuine.”
He isn’t worried about increased corporate investment in worship music because he and the artists he works with still approach writing worship music as a calling and spiritual practice.
“You can see short-term attempts to monetize [worship], but they feel outside of the community,” Osenga reflected. “It’s hard to fake it.”
Earlier this year, worship artist Dante Bowe told CT, “If someone’s getting into writing Christian music for the money, they’re in the wrong genre,” given the risk and sacrifice involved.
“A lot of these guys could write anything or do anything. But they haven’t,” said Bowe, who previously sang with Maverick City Music and is launching his own label. “They’ve made a choice to serve the church locally and worldwide.”
Consolidation under major conglomerates offers new access to the marketing and promotional machinery of the music industry, access that many in the industry have welcomed.
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Nearly a decade ago, the Gospel Music Association’s review of the industry touted partnerships between Christian artists and NASCAR, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola. GMA executive director Jackie Patillo expressed optimism that the report would attract new commercial partners by providing strong evidence that Christian music could be an effective marketing tool. It’s only become more lucrative since.
But the boost from corporate partnerships and music conglomerates has also widened the gap between hitmakers on the worship charts and the vast majority of songwriters.
Most people making worship music see their royalties quickly dwindle as their songs fall lower on the CCLI lists and out of use among churches—if they ever become that popular in the first place. CCLI licenses over 450,000 songs; most of them have never been performed in a stadium or streamed hundreds of thousands of times.
“You’ll get your first royalty check, and maybe you’ll be able to take your wife out for coffee,’” said Chris Juby, a songwriter with Resound Worship. “You know you’ve made it when the check covers a nice dinner.”
Juby, manager of UK-based Jubilate Hymns Ltd. and director of worship, media, and arts at King’s Church Durham, expects that corporate consolidation in Christian music will also affect the range of theological themes present in the worship of the church.
“Worship songs bear so much liturgical burden in the content of the service,” he said. “The range of [music] that could ever be successful via those channels is so much narrower than the range of what the church should be singing.”
Jonathan Powers, assistant professor of worship and associate dean of the school of mission and ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary, shares Juby’s concern.
“A lot of people are getting their theology from music,” said Powers, who recently edited the Wesleyan Our Great Redeemer’s Praise hymnal. “There is a piety being formed by music in the church—ideas of who God is, what God does.”
When left up to industry promotion and market forces, Christian worshipers often don’t get as broad of a range of expressions, themes, and doctrines as in the curation of a hymnal.
“How many songs of lament appear on the CCLI Top 100?” Powers said, remarking that it’s easy to find songs of adoration or joy but much more difficult to find songs that reflect true lament and sorrow. CCLI’s SongSelect service can sort selections by theme, with 8,658 songs assigned to “adoration” and another 19,914 to “praise.” There aren’t categories for lament or mourning; “sorrow” has 336 songs, “weeping” 35.
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“With a hymnal, we’re very intentional. We want to make sure these themes are covered. We want to teach our doctrine. We want to use this to say, ‘This is who God is,’” Powers said. “Our relationship with God, God’s character, all of these ideas are being formed in worship, but I think it’s in very limited ways when the market is driving it.”
A significant portion of worshipers now attend churches where lyrics on screens have replaced hymnals, and song selection is influenced by what leaders hear on the radio, stream online, and see on the CCLI charts.
Worship songs don’t make money and climb the charts unless leaders at churches see them as theologically sound and valuable resources. As the industry seeks stable revenue, experts expect it will keep looking to the songwriters, recording artists, and worship brands that have already proven themselves profitable.
So even with more money to be made in worship songs, this inclination to stick to what works narrows the model for new artists and songs.
“Think about the limited canon of songs. A limited witness to the diversity of God’s kingdom. Limited expressions of beauty, because of a ‘market-shaped’ sound,” said Nelson Cowan, director of the Center for Worship and the Arts at Samford University. Worshipers recognize—and leaders try to recreate—the guitar-hook-with-delay Hillsong United perfected in the early ’00s in songs like “The Stand” and “Mighty to Save,” and the distinct vocal styles of singers like Kari Jobe and Jenn Johnson.
“This self-replicating process is extremely disheartening for me, as a worship leader, a pastor, and a theologian,” Cowan said.
Songwriter Krissy Nordhoff, who wrote the 2010 hit song “Your Great Name,” told CT last year that it’s harder than ever for a song to get in front of anyone in the business unless you’re a recognizable figure or have some powerful connections.
The model set by celebrity worship leaders trickles down to the local level, where worship leaders are expected to emulate everything from guitar effects and vocal styles to physical attractiveness and fashion taste.
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“There’s such a real sense that, ‘Well, I could never be a good worship leader because I can’t carry the image,’” Powers said.
At the Asbury University revival in February, he saw Gen Z students reject celebrity performers for “nameless” worship leaders. That commitment to obscurity and humility is difficult to maintain when faced with a powerful industry with even greater interest in elevating an artist’s creative work, even if that work was created for God’s glory and not their own.
As worship songs become assets in the marketplace and the names associated with them draw crowds to arenas, local congregations continue to faithfully worship using songs that speak to their members as tools to corporately sing praise to God.
“Lion and the Lamb” still ministers to congregations like Jonathan Anderson’s every week. The song has special meaning for Anderson; it was one of the first songs he learned as a new worship leader years ago. It has become part of his church’s regular music rotation.
As he works on his first album, he hopes to record a cover of “Lion and the Lamb.” The song has transcended its connection to any particular artist or recording; in a way, it belongs to him and his church.
And yet, with every use in worship, and every stream on Spotify and YouTube, the song continues to generate revenue. It proves itself to be a smart investment. The profound impact of the song on its creators and those who use it for worship is exactly what has made it profitable. Industry and investors are taking notice.
Kelsey Kramer McGinnis covers worship music for CT. She is a musicologist with a PhD from the University of Iowa, specializing in music in Christian communities. | ||||
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"WLR Team"
] | 2023-03-28T17:16:53+00:00 | Last Updated March 28th, 2023
STUDY METHOD
In 2021, six curious people, with various academic, pastoral, and music industry backgrounds, met to frame two main questions. Firstly, we asked, “What can be said about the volume of popular worship music Christians are singing today?” Secondly, we wondered, “What are the attitudes of | en | Worship Leader Research | https://worshipleaderresearch.com/study-methodology/ | STUDY METHOD
In 2021, six curious people, with various academic, pastoral, and music industry backgrounds, met to frame two main questions. Firstly, we asked, “What can be said about the volume of popular worship music Christians are singing today?” Secondly, we wondered, “What are the attitudes of worship leaders toward this same music and the people that produce it?” The group had acquired a complete list of CCLI’s Top 100 songs, dating back to 1989 (i.e. 64 Top 100 lists, in total), and the Praise Charts Top 100 (or in some cases only Top 77), back to 2010. We considered how to use this valuable data to serve the Church. With a view toward analyzing behavioural trends around new music, in particular, we focused only on songs which were released between 2010 and 2020.
SONG VOLUME AND AFFILIATION
It was decided that assessing song volume and affiliations, dating back to 2010, would provide an adequate and comparable evaluation of the current and most recent Christian worship music landscape. To minimize limitations associated with data retrieval, the CCLI song lists, from 2010-2020 (i.e. up to the global-altering COVID-19 pandemic), were cross-referenced with similarly published lists from Praise Charts. By cross-referencing the most popular songs (i.e. 182 songs on the CCLI lists and 157 on the Praise Charts lists) across these two highly used Christian worship music platforms, 107 songs were common to both lists and would supply the corpus for this study.
Next, attempts were made to confirm the affiliations of the songwriters associated with these songs. In some cases, affiliations to various entities were clear and explicit. In other cases, admittedly, some group decisions had to be made based on the diligent pursuit of a song’s unique history. With major affiliations determined, the decisive step was to find the i) total number of songs and singles written, produced, released, and on our list by each affiliate, ii) total number of songs and singles written, produced, released, and not on our list by each affiliate, and iii) total percentage of songs and singles written, produced, released, and on our list (in comparison to those not on our list).
ATTITUDES OF WORSHIP LEADERS TOWARD THESE SONGS
The second part of the study contained demographic and attitudinal data in a six-question digital survey, as well as user-generated setlists used in their churches during the research period. The assessment was made available to participants for four weeks in October 2022. It was offered on several social media and email worship music platforms. Incentives for the completed surveys included four $500 Sweetwater gift cards, donated by Integrity Music.
The survey questions were vetted by a university social science professor. In total, 417 people responded to the 5–10-minute survey. Demographic data about the respondents was also collected on i) gender, ii) age, iii) church affiliation, iv) church worship style, and v) church size. Many users also uploaded their Planning Center setlists for the research period when possible. Data was also gathered from the responses to the following questions:
How do you feel about the number of new songs promoted for congregational use?
When considering a song for congregational use, how important is the song’s association with an artist or church to your decision on whether to use it?
How likely would you be to select a song for congregational use associated with (major affiliates from section 1)?
Do you wish your church was more similar in worship culture / style to the churches and/or artists previously mentioned?
I believe new songs promoted for congregational use are primarily written in response to ______ (various motives).
How likely are you to consider a new song for congregational use when you first encounter it through ________ (various platforms)?
Each of the six questions offered opportunities for respondents to provide their comments. As a result, a large body of both quantitative and qualitative data was secured from the survey. For several months, our group gathered to verify, discuss, and analyze the results presented to you here on this website and the content you find here is produced in light of cross-correlating and contrasting these various data sets. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 54 | https://www.songstuff.com/songwriting/article/process-of-writing-a-song/ | en | The Process Of Writing A Song | [
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"Songstuff"
] | 2014-02-19T21:34:53+00:00 | The process of writing a song discusses the use of song writing phases to enhance the quality of your work and the speed that each work is created. | en | Songstuff | https://www.songstuff.com/songwriting/article/process-of-writing-a-song/ | Motivation For Using A Songwriting Process
There are many ways of writing a song. Almost as many ways as there are songwriters. Some songwriters follow a formal or semi-formal process, but most songwriters tend to work in an random, ad hoc way. It probably comes as no surprise, but having such an unpredictable method of writing songs leads to less perdictable results, with more variation in the standard of the songs, and less songs being fit for purpose. While there is no correct way to write a great song, there are techniques that consistantly work, and using a process will increase the number of songs that you start that make it through to being finished songs, that you are proud to represent you to the rest of the world.
There are many factors that contribute to the success of a song. Not everything is within the scope of the songwriter, but the foundation of a successful song, is the song itself. It is the one part of the process of taking a song from an idea to being a successful it song that is completely under the control of the songwriter. True, there are songs that achieve a degree of success due in the main part to marketing and hype, plus large numbers of fans for an existing artist performing that song, but such success tends to be short lived. There are always exceptions.
Listeners care about the end result. They don’t care if the writer grew trees and re-invented paper and ink to do it. Nor do they care whether you used a rhyming dictionary, or if you prefer to sweat as you try and pull words from the vocabulary stored in your head. What has been repeatedly demonstrated is that they care about words and music that move them, that they connect to. Songs that can mean something to them, the listener. Some listeners do want to think the song meant something to the writer, but most don’t hold that as a strong opinion. They want to be entertained and engaged.
They also want to share the music they like with others with similar tastes as a validation and ego boost if nothing else.
The Drawbacks Of Not Using a Songwriting Process
Writing a song ad hoc, with no process, doesn’t help you to organize your thoughts. It also doesn’t help you to focus on all the elements and perspectives that give a song polish and longevity.
The myth about using a songwriting process is that somehow by using one your songs lack emotion and honesty, that they are not genuine and the songwriter was motivated by reasons beyond creating good songs. That somehow a song created with a process is tainted. Such feelings show a lack of understanding that all songwriters employ creativity in one way or another, but creativity is a process. The difference here is whether you use an informal process or apply a formal process to your songwriting to aid creativity, to help you improve the quality of your work, and the speed you work at. Importantly, to also help you to improve your songwriting skills over time. If you are serious about your songwriting then you will care about the quality of your work, and care that you improve over time. To achieve those things, amongst others, you have to care about the process of creating a song, be prepared to look at your working practices and improve them, and learn to look at your work objectively.
We use informal methods to do things all the time. It is second nature and ingrained in most things we do. However it takes effort and discipline to use a formal process.
At first using a formal process can feel awkward or alien, but by using it over and over you will quickly find that you become familiar with it, you will work much faster, much more efficiently and with more accuracy.
The standard of your songs will improve at a faster rate and the depth and breadth of your songwriting skills will also improve at a faster rate than with informal methods alone.
True, not all processes are equal. There are good ones, and bad ones, and processes that kill creativity and processes that support creativity. Some processes will suit you as an individual, others will not.
The method outlined in this article is straightforward. It leaves plenty of room to use informal methodologies, in fact it embraces them.
So the only real drawback is the effort it takes to implement the process and improve that process over time. Like anything you repeat, by far the most part of that effort is in using it the first time. After that it comes down to having the discipline to keep using it. As time passes the results speak for themselves until using and adapting the process becomes second nature and almost effortless.
Is it worth the effort? Absolutely.
Some Of The Benefits Of A Songwriting Process
Using a songwriting process makes writing a song easier and more effective.
In using some flexibility in your songwriting process, you can use just as much, if not more, creativity in your songwriting. Write songs your fans will enjoy, because from the start of the process you write with them in mind as your listeners. This is no different to having a conversation with a stranger versus having a conversation with someone you know.
The trick is to use a process that:
helps the songwriter to be creative in the way that works for them
builds in aspects that helps the songwriter both broaden and focus their creativity as needed
gives a framework for working
helps them look at their song from a number of perspectives
helps them polish their song to be the best it can be
helps them avoid writer’s block
reduces the number of unfinished songs and songs not fit for purpose
ultimately helps the writer achieve the aims for any individual song
So why not use a process to help you work more efficiently? There is nothing to be lost and a whole lot to gain.
A Draft Songwriting Process
Phases Of Songwriting
It is a good idea to develop more than one phase in your songwriting process. Unless you are focusing on specific parts of the process as a LEARNING EXERCISE ONLY, the aim is to write complete, quality songs, with a minimum number being shelved marked as incomplete or dumped in the trash as a poor idea.
Getting the benefits of a process for songwriting doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t mean less creativity is involved, or that less genuine emotion is expressed, or that somehow it is less authentic. It simply means that you have organized your thoughts and the order in which you do things.
Using songwriting phases can really help you get the best of both worlds: the “in-the-moment” authenticity; songs that are finished more quickly and of a higher standard. By introducing simple phases it allows us to more easily create the song we want to write, instead of the song that appears after some more or less random evolution.
Can a song randomly evolve be successful? Of course it can, but it is a less dependable outcome than songs written using a songwriting process.
Core Songwriting Phases
The Ideas Phase
The Draft Phase
The Development Phase
The Ideas Phase
Effectively Capture Your Ideas
How many tunes, hooks phrases, titles, and lyrics do you think are lost each year simply because we forget them? A fleeting idea crosses our mind, the moment passes and the idea is probably lost.
It’s easy to under estimate just how useful being able to instantly capture an idea can be, or to over estimate how well we remember the ideas we come up with through each day.
If you don’t have a mobile recording device then it’s time to go get something you can use for mobile recording. Something you can take with you everywhere you go. A modern smart phone is an ideal recording device for both audio recordings, and written lyrics.
Collecting Melodies and Lyrics Ideas
You can write a good melody while walking about, driving, in the shower, while you make food. At almost any time.
Keep your recorder with you at all times, or at least handy (don’t take your recorder into your shower! Not much of a surprise but water and recording gear do not go together.). Whenever you come up with a melody, record it as soon as possible.
The same goes for lyrics, titles and hooks. Either keep a notepad with you, or get a notepad app for your phone. When a line comes to you, write it down as quickly as possible, simply as a collection of individual lines and phrases.
This will give you a growing collection of melodies and lines of lyrics, titles and hooks.
The Draft Phase
You do not need to have ALL the ideas you use within a song before you begin the drafting phase.
It is during the draft phrase that you best capture raw emotion in songs. I would encourage the use of any tools which help you get into a flow, generate new ideas to supplement ideas you have when you start the drafting process etc.
Drafting is an essential step, but it is not the final step. Often stopping after the draft phase is an excuse by songwriters who have shiney object syndrom, forever wanting to churn out songs, always wanting to move quickly to the next idea, leaving a large number of songs unfinished.
Drafting and Developing Your Melody
When writing melodies it is a good idea to connect melodies with emotion. You might start with a short riff that suggests an emotion and take it from there, or you might start from the outset feeling that emotion before writing a note. Let the emotion and your ear guide you.
If you start from a riff, emotionally, what does it suggest to you? Is it happy? Sad? Angry? Sexy? Whatever it is, get in that emotional zone. If it’s got a sad feel, think of things that make you feel sad. Being in that emotional place while writing a melody can have a profound impact when that melody eventually gets played to a listener. Very quickly your melody establishes the mood of the song, or section of the song. By reflecting how you felt at the time of writing, listeners will far more easily connect to the song and feel something close to what you felt when you wrote the song.
As you develop the melody, try to do some rudimentary song structure development. By that I mean, try and identify a good chorus melody, a good verse melody, and a good bridge melody. Try placing them in an order that supports the mood of the song. These are all DRAFT melodies for a song. Hopefully they will have a good emotional connection, precisely because you wrote the piece in that state of mind, using emotion evoked by the melodies and melodies fed by the emotion.
Emotion And Your Song
It is a good idea to take the listener on an emotional journey. Songwriters achieve this, intentionally or not, by varying the mood and the intensity of emotions as the song progresses. The exact combination and order of emotions varies according to topic and writer, but there are some characteristics that are common to many successful songs and other pieces of music:
Base your melodies on fairly strongly felt emotions to extremely strongly felt emotions. Wishy-washy emotions become too vague and confusing
At it’s simplest think of each section of music as having a distinct emotion. For example, a song about thinking back on sad circumstances and learning from what happened might plan to have the background story from the past delivered during the verses, a chorus that makes a thoughtful and hopeful comment on the verse set in the present, and a bridge that puts them in perspective by connecting them with perhaps a revelation that helped turn a sad event into something hopeful.
The verse melody may well overall evoke a strong sad emotion. The chorus might be more thoughtful and hopeful in nature, while the bridge is more unexpected, more surprising, containing some sad and some upbeat tones.
That could be translated into smooth and flowing passages, almost painful resolutions with most of the melody being within a short range of notes, the use of cadence or half-cadence in the chords, faster flowing melodies in the chorus with the melody covering a wider range of notes, while the bridge could contain larger transitions.
Moving on from there and developing the melody, we first arrange the melodic sections in some song form, for example ABC (verse-chorus-bridge) derived as a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge chorus, chorus layout. If we then replace each section with the emotion felt during the corresponding section we can visualize the emotional basic dynamic of the song.
Changing Emotional Intensity and Energy
Building on that we can evolve the melody and harmony in such a way as to vary the energy and intensity of the emotion as we travel through the song.
Yet again here there are common trends in songs:
Songs generally build energy and intensity as the song progresses.
Songs generally go from lower pitches and tones, to higher pitches and tones as the song progresses.
Often there is a step up in energy and emotional intensity when the chorus starts.
Usually there is a step down in energy and intensity when leaving a chorus. If the transition is to a bridge this may not be the case.
For more discussion about this please read our article “Keeping A Song Interesting“
Drafting Titles and Hooks
Take a look at your draft titles and draft hooks while still in that emotional space. Preferrably fresh after working on the melodies.
Do any of the titles or hooks work with the emotion of the song? If not, time to brainstorm some more titles and hooks. What is important?
Something that has a meter that reflects the chorus melody
It should contain an emotive word or phrase about how you feel (when in the song).
It should be memorable
It shouldn’t reveal exactly what the song is about. Keep an air of mystery.
Pose a question in the listeners mind that they can only answer by listening to the song. This can be done in many ways. For example,
Make the hook a question.
Make a statemet that infers a question
Make an ambiguous but emotive statement
So by now you have a draft title and main hook that works with the melody. You have a draft verse melody and a draft chorus melody.
The trick is, not to be precious with your work so far. It is only a draft. Be prepared to make the changes necessary to make the song work.
Drafting A Chorus
Now, write a draft chorus, using your title / hook. This may mean times where the meter of the lyrics does not exactly work with the draft melody. Luckily all your work so far is draft.
Generally, melody wins the day. Only change the melody IF the meter from your draft lyrics will enhance your melody and stay true to the emotion. Yet again it is a good idea to be in that emotional place when you write the chorus.
IF your lyrics change the melody, go back to the melody and check it in isolation…. ie with no words. Try and see if the new meter will create a melody that still contains the raw emotion.
If the existing melody is string, then you need to re-think your words.
Your Chorus should deliver the main message of your song for the strongest delivery of the message.
Drafting Verses and Bridges
Once you nail a DRAFT chorus, start on the verse. This is the part of the song where you ideally want to deliver the story, the setting, the backdrop… it’s where you ellaborate on the theme of your song. Your theme is just that… I can tell a sad story in many ways, set in different situations etc. Your verse is where you have all that… it should:
Not blow your entire story line in the first verse.
It shouldn’t answer any questions posed in the title.
In early verses, pose some questions in the mind of the listener, either directly or indirectly.
In the last verse, or bridge lyrics, that is when you answer any of the bigger questions. Sometimes it can be good to leave a little ambiguity.
It is this leaving unanswered questions in the earlier part of the song that helps draw listeners through the song, makes them want to hear more, so they can understand the song.
The Last Verse Or The Bridge
The last verse or bridge is where you make sense of the song. It works really well when it reveals the key fact, adjusts the previously understood chorus (a twist), or it connects seemingly unconnected verses with the chorus. In ballads the last verse usually completes the story.
The Development Phase
Editing
Now you have a draft song. Don’t leave it there. Editing is a skill. It’s the one facet of songwriting that really focuses you on the quality of your work. Editing is a cycle. Go around it several times.
It is a sad excuse that simply by looking to improve a song by editing that, somehow, the integrity of the song is undermined. Editing is about making a song be the best it can be, to ensure that any emotion and message are delivered with maximum impact.
Ask questions of your lyrics and melodies. For example:
Do they logically and emotionally flow?
Do they make sense?
Do they convey strong emotion? (Strong being the best for a strong connection with the listener).
Editing and Quality
It is during the edit process that you really focus on improving the quality of the song. It is you, the songwriter, that sets the level of quality of your work, no one else. The edit process is the final gate, or should be, on deciding a song is fit for purpose.
Don’t skimp on your edits. Why? Because people do notice when a song isn’t quite working. Even when you get passed obvious stuff. As listeners they may not know why it doesn’t work as well as it should, if you know them they may know but don’t want to upset you, but they will know when a song doesn’t come up to the mark.
For songwriters, setting a high standard for their work is very important. Getting a good, balanced perspective on their own work to really set the bar high is not straightforward. Why? Attachment. Songwriters get attached to their work to the extent that they struggle to get any sort of perspective on their work other than their own, inherent perspective.
The more commercial a songwriter you are, the earlier in the songwriting process you are likely to consider elements like your target audience and the perspective of listeners. At a minimum these elements should be considered during your edit cycle.
Edit Cycle
Go around an edit cycle a few times to hone the song to be it’s very best. A bit of polish goes a long way. It is far better to have fewer songs of high quality than 100 songs of an okay quality.
Editing is strongly tied to the critique process.
Critique what you have (either yourself or other songwriters)
Observe
Analyse
Consider Solutions
Make the changes YOU think are needed to enhance the song.
Try to think about your song from the perspective of a variety of listeners.
Try NOT to be too restrictive on changes. You can always go back. Just remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Songwriters, especially those who have less experience, are often too tied to what they already have. For example, during the ideas or draft phase you write what you think is an excellent / interesting melody or lyrics. That may even spark the draft song into being a song in the first place. However as the song grows into a fuller song that melody or line might no longer fit with the rest of the song quite as well as it should. At this point the fact that the songwriter is strongly attached to the genious of that one line, and so avoid making a change that the song really needs, all because of their own attachment to that one bit of melody or line of lyrics.
It’s better to make the change and at least try to get something that works with the song. The only real other alternatives are:
Re-write the rest of the song to be more in-keeping with the line you cherish
Leave it not quite fitting the song as well as it should.
Perhaps the line can be tweaked, but if it needs a complete re-write of the line, you could always try using that line in another song!
Nothing ends up in the trash. Ideas that aren’t used just end up back in your ideas bank, ready to be used somewhere else.
Getting Critique
It is a good idea to go around an edit cycle at least once before seeking critique, if only to help improve your critique skills when it comes to your own music, but it is also useful to develop your ability to be less invested in your lyrics being a set way. The less invested you are, the less tied you are to a particular line or a particular phrasing, the more you will be prepared to do during edits to improve your song.
To get critique, post your songs to the Songstuff Community boards, or perhaps you know people who could offer critique? Go around the edit cycle a couple of times using critique in each cycle.
Giving Critique
The beauty about giving critique to other songwriters about their songs is that you truly develop your ability to critique your own work, by allowing you to improve your critique and editing skills WITHOUT being attached to the work you are critiquing! It lets improve your level of observation, the depth and detail of analysis, jusge how appropriate your solutions are and helps you get better at saying to yourself “make the edit and try out the change”.
It also helps you to develop your ability to shift perspective, precisely because you are not attached to the work you are looking at.
To be good at giving critique (especially on your own work) you have to look at your work from different perspectives while going through an Observation, Analysis and Solution Finding cycle for each perspective, or at the very least to consider your solutions from different perspectives.
It is these points that make giving critique as valuable to songwriters as gold dust is to a pan handler.
It takes time to develop good skills in giving critique. Critique is NOT a verdict. It is a discussion, and in that discussion you are as likely to encounter new thoughts and ideas, new rationales and skills from genres you are not a master of, drawing on the experience of all those involved in the discussion, as you are to finding out why suggested solutions might not work before you go spend time trying them.
The point is to help the other songwriter on one level, but far more to the point, it helps you, the songwriter, improve your own works.
Do I have to give critique on the work of other songwriters?
The short answer is no. If anything, this article should at least reduce some of the fear or disdain that some songwriters feel towards using a songwriting process, and hopefully it allows you to make a more imformed choice. If you choose not to use a song writing process, it is your loss. A big loss at that.
Is Your Song Fit For Release?
Ultimately you are the one who decides what goes out the door. Each song potentially represents you on a world stage. That means it is up to YOU just how seriously people take your music. If they don’t take your work seriously, be they listeners, or other songwriters, musicians and bands, or publishers, labels and production houses… it is down to YOU.
Conclusions
Using a song writing process is not simply to help you to make decisions. It is to help you make informed decisions. Understanding helps you to operate at a higher level. Learn to work quickly AND effectively.
Using the draft process, outlined above, you can begin to work with the core elements of the process, and have some ideas as to how you can evolve the basic process to completely fit with hum you the songwriter.
In using a song writing process there is nothing to lose, and everything to be gained. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 18 | https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/gospelbound/authority-integrity/ | en | Authority with Integrity: How Jesus Guides Our Leading | [
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"Collin Hansen",
"Jonathan Leeman"
] | 2024-03-05T05:02:00+00:00 | In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman discuss the need for godly leadership and authority to see human flourishing. | en | /apple-touch-icon-57x57.png | The Gospel Coalition | https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/gospelbound/authority-integrity/ | The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Collin Hansen
You might hate it, but you can’t live without it. And I’m talking about authority. If that word strikes fear in your heart, I understand many of us have been hurt by authorities were raised to trust ourselves and to question authorities. Yes, authorities under God will always be imperfect and yet, to live without authorities is truly terrifying. And thankfully, not something that most of us have ever really experienced. Authority is necessary even good if you have authority in your family, your workplace, your community or your church, then it comes from God under his own authority, and he intends for you to use his authority to bring life to others. Perhaps if we saw more of this good and godly authority from our leaders, and if we leaders were better at submitting and sharing authority, than we might not be caught in this crisis of authority. Yet here we are, with each day bringing news of foreign leaders and fervent protests against authority. Jonathan Leeman shows us the good, bad and ugly in his new book authority, how godly rule protects the vulnerable, strengthens communities, and promotes human flourishing. His book is published by crossway, a nine marks. I believe this book can be used by God to make to make us and give us better authorities, especially in the church. After all, we have the only perfect example of authority where Lehmann writes this, quote, the central picture of authority in the Bible is Jesus offering himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for sins and quote, so this is a gospel centered take on authority where Jesus is the example but also the means, by our fallen nature, we will misuse authority and others will misuse it against us. Jesus can forgive us those sins when we ask forgiveness and repent. And he can bind up those wounds when we trust Him in faith. And my friend Jonathan is an experienced authority, the editorial director for nine marks and an elder has Cheverly Baptist Church in Maryland. And he joins me now on gospel bound to discuss why young men don’t want to be lead pastors, why leaders need accountability and why leaders must learn to absorb anger, among other subjects. Jonathan, thank you for joining me on gospel bound column.
Jonathan Leeman
Great to see you. And thank you for inviting me to this conversation. Yeah,
Collin Hansen
so bold move to write a book on authority, especially now I appreciate it very much. Right away. In the book, you say that you’re not perfectly good. And neither is the reader than any other approach would make us like the Pharisee. Who thinks God, he wasn’t like the tax collector. And then you write this quote, are profoundly Ferris aichele Post Christian world, which has abandoned all ideas of Original Sin teaches us to think that way. It classifies everyone has an abuser or a non abuser, oppressor or non oppressor. Those are the only moral categories it has left and, quote, help us understand. Jonathan, why did you choose to start the book with this framing?
Jonathan Leeman
Yeah, sure. Thank you. I think many of the indictments, certain postmodern, and what you know, Western philosophies make against authority are accurate. But as Kevin De Yong has put it, they just don’t go far enough. Right. And so far as you’re creating a world with all white hats, or black hats, those are the oppressors. These are the oppressed. You’re missing the one of the first claims of the Gospel itself, which is all have fallen, and are fallen short of the glory of God, right? All of us are sinful, and including how we use our authority. Right? There’s a sense in which human decision making agency is a kind of exercise of authority, right? God gives us dominion, like, steward this Be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth. That is to say, exercise choice exercise agency, and bringing dominion to creation, the relationship between our agency and our authority are very close. So that is to say everybody’s exercising authority. And if we’ve all fallen, that means we’ve all misused our authority. So to start anywhere other than a word of contrition, like yeah, I’ve messed up, means you’re missing something hugely significant to this conversation. And so as you put it, I begin the book by saying, Yeah, I’m gonna I’m gonna write about better than I am, in certain respects.
Collin Hansen
Do you think Americans have a particular problem with authority? Or do you find that even differs from region or region or maybe even denomination to denomination?
Jonathan Leeman
Yeah, I think I think that’s absolutely true. Now, in one sense, the problem with authority is a Genesis three problem, right? Since Genesis three we’ve always been suspicious of authority. We’ve always wanted to displace the authority over me and grab onto it ourselves as Eve does and then Adam does right there in the garden. Nonetheless, since the enlightenment, which is you know, principally an experience of the Western world, at least in the beginning, we’ve been especially suspicious of authority, that is to say the Enlightened philosophies gave a kind of legitimacy to our questioning of authority that other times and cultures didn’t necessarily have. And I do think that persists in America relative to other places in the world, or let’s say the West, relative to other places in the world, by comparison, now, so So for instance, as I’m writing this book, I’m talking to pastors and, and people and say, Hispanic cultures or African cultures or Central Asian cultures. And they’re sometimes there’s different threats. There’s an overexertion of authority. Sure, right? Too much as it were deference given. So you talk to a senior pastor in a Hispanic or African context, and you’re talking about plurality of elders, and those pastors will say to you, I have an impossible time getting these these other elders to ever say no, to me, they just say yes to me, how do I get them to step up and lead? You know, so there are different problems and different places on the planet. And I think you’re right to your instinct, different regions of the United States, you’re gonna feel that go to the West Coast, when we you know, when nine marks was out to the West Coast to talk about church membership, man on the West Coast. Hey, Church membership, because it’s a kind of authority. You know, so you’re working against suspicions against authority in the West Coast differently than you are in other places of the country, Midwest, or, frankly, maybe even east coast. So yeah, and I’m sure we could draw out denominational examples, too.
Collin Hansen
I think perhaps when you combine the word southern with Baptist, you get a couple of different aspects that are very well, I mean, part of it’s their formative experience, the very definition of something being southern is in part a break with authority, which, of course, is just through the United States as well. And he combined Baptist and the Baptists also emerged out of a context of persecution in many cases, and being on the other side, you know, the dissenters. I mean, that’s, that’s the tradition that come out of the dissenters, that’s a very out of the Protestant movement. So it’s really based in a lot of ways in that sort of rejection of what they found to be unbiblical and ungodly authorities.
Jonathan Leeman
So, the takeaway lesson from this, I think, is to know the audience that you’re talking to, there are certain audiences that I might be speaking to, I need to lean into authority is good and given by God, there’s other audiences, I’d lead into and say, Hey, we need to be a little more suspicious of it, you’re over exerting it, you’re, you’re being authoritarian in ways you might not even recognize. And so one of the main things I’m trying to convey in the book is as Christians, we have good authority, authority, creation and redemption, and bad authority authority in the fall. And we don’t have the luxury of taking your eyes off of either we got to keep one eye on good authority and talk about it and another eye on bad authority and talk about it. Yeah.
Collin Hansen
Now, I’m gonna give you an either or, and you can’t say both. You understand this? Okay. You cannot say, Oh, I’m
Jonathan Leeman
not gonna like this. Does today’s version, you’re asserting your authority, or exactly,
Collin Hansen
it’s my podcast, you gotta you gotta submit. Does today’s aversion to authority have more to do with a individualistic culture where no one can tell me what to do? Or be increasing evidence that leaders abuse authority?
Jonathan Leeman
Can I get some Jeopardy theme music? Doo doo doo doo? Honestly, I think it’s a. Okay now, because abuse is a huge problem. I think it’s just being exposed. Sure, more than it has been before. So it’s not new there. I think abuse is as it were the urgent problem. Everybody feels right now because it’s being exposed. Nonetheless, I think a suspicion of authority is the longer undergirding long term problem. There’s a place to give attention to urgent problems. And there’s a place to give attention to long term problems. And I mean, look, abuse is a long term problem, too. I don’t want to deny that.
Collin Hansen
While the internet, the internet exposes things in ways that are, are new in the last 2525 years. I mean, one of the things that I do in teaching on cultural apologetics and the decline of church attendance since 2000, is to ask people to find what date on the calendar, the Boston Globe published its Spotlight Series. There were all kinds of reports in the Boston Globe and other media over the years about abuse,
Jonathan Leeman
sex abuse in the church, because that’s right.
Collin Hansen
Yeah, that’s right. So and the point is that it follows the majority use of the Internet. And so what used to be buried in, you know, the second section 10 page or something like that in the newspaper about another abuse scandal or one that was not even a scandal yet, but just an accusation or sacking of a priest or something like that. All of a sudden, it was it was huge news and it spread like crazy. And in many ways, of course, we recognize that as a good thing. Of course, it’s a good thing that abuse and evil was being exposed. It goes along then with a severe distrust of authority in terms of how that has spread throughout the Catholic Church, and then certainly to clergy, in general in there. So that’s a significant factor and a real phenomenon. But I don’t think anybody would argue that it wasn’t happening before. But the distrust is, is changed because of the exposure of it.
Jonathan Leeman
Let me let me answer the question like this, if I can, maybe take a slight retake on how I answered that question. This was about 10 homes, right? In those 10 homes, my assumption, and I’m happy to be corrected and say, Jonathan, you’re idiot, you’re just ignorant. And that may be the case, my assumption as a pastor who’s who’s, you know, Pastor, two or three different churches now. And based on what I see, my assumption is of those 10 homes, abuse is going to be a problem. And one, maybe two of them, or as an abdication of authority is going to be a problem and eight of them. Okay, it’s the more common problem, at least in the West. Now, if you take me to, you know, certain Arabic countries, that ratio is going to change quite a bit. Yeah, in a western context, right now, I’m assuming eight, maybe 910s out of the home that we’re airing in the direction of abdication. And
Collin Hansen
I think that says so in that
Jonathan Leeman
sense. That’s what Yeah, but now in that one home, or in those two homes, the problem of abuse is a huge urgent problem, huge problem. Now, it’s the most important problem you have to talk about. And I don’t want to downplay that often, that’s not the real problem. No, in those homes, that’s the real problem. And so pastors and leaders generally need to have a certain urgency about that.
Collin Hansen
Well, maybe to come back and also answer my own question. abuse of authority is the problem that we notice. Individualism is the problem that in many ways that we don’t, because it’s so taken for granted as an assumption in our culture. So that is probably the more prevalent phenomenon underneath everything. But the presenting phenomenon that we’re that we’re dealing with now, in an acute manner is the exposure of that abuse, specifically in the West. Let’s go back to the 1960s. I really appreciated your comments on the civil rights movement, and also related to what we’re talking about here abuse advocates of today. And one thing that’s I don’t know why this wasn’t obvious to me, Jonathan, but you really drew it out? Well, it’s not that they oppose authority. You write this quote, We instinctively recognize that the solution to bad authority is seldom no authority, but almost always good authority. And there was actually a book written appeal at surprise book winning and winning book in history, talking about a city in Alabama, and the resistance to federal authority. And, of course, the response to the civil rights movement and other anti slavery advocates and all that through history was never just against local authority, it was the invocation of federal authority to come and help them in there. So I’m wondering how much do you think today’s angst is either on the one side, it’s it part of it’s just a question of who’s in charge, that sort of federal versus state phenomenon or more optimistically, maybe it’s just a longing for better authorities? Overall,
Jonathan Leeman
I think there is a longing for better authorities. But I don’t think people quite recognize that I think they assume the problem is authority itself. And so even Christian writers, I’ll see where it’s like, oh, authority is a necessary evil when prominent Christian journalist use that language not long ago, it’s a necessary evil. You know, another example is so it’s not just the Civil Rights is one example of that. I think another example of that is the abuse scandal. When abuse happens in churches, what are abuse advocates calling for? They’re calling the times for intervention of the state, right, in various forms of, of investigation. So they’re not just saying, you know, nobody should lead, they’re saying, No, the protectors need to come in and protect, right, and those protectors are going to be other authorities. So we have this sort of schizophrenic attitude, I would say in some ways towards authority. On the one hand, we recognize as dangerous and we want to throw it off and say it’s all bad or at best, it’s a necessary evil. On the other hand, we can’t help but appeal to other authority. So my question is, okay, well, let’s let’s look at that and think about it. What is good authority? How much time it will give into that topic? Let’s think about it. Yeah.
Collin Hansen
Yeah. It’s very helpful. It just crystallized a lot of things. Now, here’s something I talked about Jonathan often with, especially with pastors And this seems to resonate with them. I’ve noticed about three shifts in five years, which tells you how rapidly these things seemed to come and go. The first shift in the last five years was this general sense that pastors are bad. The second shift then was being a pastor as miserable. And then the third shift was, why would anyone want to be a lead pastor. And I think you have the right perspective, which is, it’s sobering for anybody who wants to be a pastor, you know, that if you, you want to have authority, you better be good at submitting to higher authority and suffering with humility. And you write this quote, what the godly leader feels today, or not all the advantages, but the burdens of responsibility, of culpability of even bearing and others guilt, good authority is profoundly costly, usually involve in the sacrifice of everything. And close quote. Let’s say you’re talking now, Jonathan to a room of young adults, why should they aspire to authority
Jonathan Leeman
for the sake of loving and caring for others, for the sake of serving, for the sake of, as I put in the book, authour authority, authority authoring life in others, to flee authority is to fleet Yes, the possibility of being attacked or harmed, or, you know, working extra hard. But it’s also fleeing the opportunity to use the authority that God would give to do good. So if you’re truly going to be others centered, you’re not going to simply protect yourself from harm, you’re going to put yourself in harm’s way. And that’s one of the things I talked about in the book, good authority, drawers as it were, the costs upward, and so far as you can, right. So I, you know, the hard working principle is the first car in the parking lot and the last card on leave in a day, you know, that principle is working in some ways harder than anybody else. Or if I’m sitting around watching football and my home on a Sunday afternoon, while my wife is kind of scurrying around getting the laundry done getting grocery lists made and getting ready for the week, and she just going crazy on Sunday trying to prepare the kids for the week. And I’m just like sitting there, you know, watching TV, my wife should not be more tired than me. I should be more tired than my wife. At the end of the weekend. If I’m going to be a good authority in her life, I’m doing all I can do absorb those costs. So yes, let’s let’s, let’s talk about cost absorption. He came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many going back to Jesus as the perfect authority. Right. He’s built he poured himself out to give life. So again, back to your question, what do I say to that young person who’s afraid to aspire to business or leadership? Because it seems so costly? I want to say yes, it is costly. But it’s precisely in those costs. That you are fulfilling what you were called to do, which is author life, give life create life in other people and love them.
Collin Hansen
It just occurred to me, Jonathan, I wonder if the move away from a desire for that authority, because of its cost might also be related to the decreasing desire to be parents. To have children, it’s the same phenomenon. We’ve all experienced the problems, because we’ve all had parents, those parents were not perfect. If I mean, if we had them, we know they weren’t perfect. And if we didn’t have them around that we know that that’s also a source of pain. But maybe we’re also just afraid of what we would do. As parents. It’s kind of afraid that
Jonathan Leeman
that may be a quick, quick story. I don’t know if it makes your point or not. But when my wife and I were dating, we were still dating. At one point, I was convinced I didn’t want to have kids. Because I was in seminary at the time. And I wanted to, I wanted to do a lot of great things for Jesus. And I didn’t want to be hindered by family so that I could go out and do great things for the Kingdom. Right. And so one point you’re dating, I said, Are you know, I don’t think we’ll have kids. And she’s like, are you serious? I’m like, I’m pretty sure I don’t have kids. And she’s like, Okay, well, then we’re breaking up. And she broke up with me on the spot like that. Colin, you wouldn’t believe it. But 24 hours later, I was pretty sure I wanted to.
Collin Hansen
Well, I do think it makes my point because if you’re not willing to change diapers, you probably are not going to be able to do great things for the Kingdom. And I’m wondering about willingness, it doesn’t mean that that’s some sort of qualification, but it’s the same reason we’ve talked before at the gospel coalition and elsewhere about, well, you guys do this at nine marks all the time and around Capitol Baptist Church, and you want to do great things for Jesus. Start with the nursing home. Start and start by start by bringing those those women to church by preaching their start by helping with the children’s ministry, that if you’re willing to do those things, then maybe you can be used by God. had to do great things. But if you’re not willing, that’s probably a probably a bad sign that you’re not willing to submit.
Jonathan Leeman
He who is responsible to few things will be responding and will be. Will be entrusted with many things. Yeah. Quick, a quick, a quick story there. And I tell this in the book, I’m sitting in a chair, comfortably, my nine year old daughter’s sitting in her chair on the other side of the room, and I say, Sweetheart, what you go get Daddy a drink? What am I doing at that moment, I’m exploiting the fact that I know nine year old her will be happy to get up and get Daddy a drink. Right? Now, I might have good reasons to do that. You know, there might be good things about teaching her to honor her father, and so forth. So I don’t want to say that’s necessarily sin. But I know what’s going on in my sinful heart in that moment, I just want to push the cost down onto her of getting up out of the chair. And it occurred to me, I remember doing that, and it occurred to me, he came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Now, there is a place that when you in a position of authority, you push costs downwards. And the general says to the soldiers, you got to take that hill. Absolutely right. Or the Cinterion, who comes to Jesus and I sorted this one guy, and he goes, this one comes in, he comes by to and under authority. So there is a place to push costs down. But there’s there should be an ambition, and a good leaders heart to as I said, dropped costs upward, and not push them down when one can. And children are a place where that clearly happens. doing all we can to push costs downward. But yeah, that was
Collin Hansen
one of the more convicting parts about the book, maybe we should keep going in the interview here.
Jonathan Leeman
Really never done that with your never call it never
Collin Hansen
I’m thinking about a moment related to the TV two nights ago, but let’s let’s just get me yeah. Let’s talk about spiritual spiritual abuse. You define it this way, using the Bible or the name of God to justify your abuses? Whatever they are? How do you feel about this category of spiritual abuse the way that it’s used today? Is it is it been generally helpful to understand a particular dynamic related to abuse? Or has it been perhaps confusing? In some other ways? How do you assess it?
Jonathan Leeman
Yeah, I’ve been a little reluctant to use those categories, a little suspicious of them, because I think they’re so easily misused, and used to criticize pastors and criticize leaders to Oh, you’re, you know, you’re asking me to do something, or I don’t want to do or you’re, you’re correcting me or you’re being negative or that spiritual abuse. And I think it’s really easy to throw out those words and those charges in a way that’s irresponsible and loving and ultimately is going to hurt you. Because it doesn’t give you the opportunity to be corrected, to grow and so forth to be challenged. So yeah, I am a little suspicious of that language. Nonetheless, I think it is something very real, and we need to be mindful of it. So it was it was actually dealing with an abused wife that helped me understand it better, I think, I think she actually gave definition to it, which is what you just said. So if abuse is using my authority selfishly to harm another, or in a way that results in another’s harm, right? spiritual abuse is then invoking God’s name to justify that. Well, God put me in charge therefore, in other words, I’m doing harm using my authority in a way that harms. But I’m trying to pass the buck to God. I think that’s terrible. Right. And so I do think pastors and leaders genuine generally need to be very careful about lying about God in that way, and ascribing the selfish, exploitative, oppressive harm that you do to him. Because what do you do when you do that? You undermine a person’s faith in God, and ability to rely on him as a good Creator, who only exclusively 100% uses his authority for good, right? So I think the parent who, or the manager or the military officer who uses his or her authority, for harm will be judged, will be called to account. And the one who invokes God’s name and doing that harm will especially be judged will especially be called to account. So if you use your authority in a way that harms others, you know, I would plead with you do not blame God or draw God into it. No, you do not want to undermine the faith of others think about Jesus warning about the person who does that. Might as well you know, tie a millstone around the neck and toss him into the sea. Because when these little ones to stumble,
Collin Hansen
he can see I mean, this is your your writing here in this book is very helpful, but it’s also very heavy. Because we’ve been on both sides of this so many different times. Having been mistreated but also mistreating and misusing that authority which happens at so many different levels. I think he hit the nail on the head when he wrote this, quote, bad authority exists whenever an authority figure insists on holding others accountable, but refuses to be held accountable. And quote, I think Jonathan, I can look back on at least it’s
Jonathan Leeman
good. You want to talk about American politics?
Collin Hansen
Do not want to
Jonathan Leeman
assume you’re bringing up American politics.
Collin Hansen
I was. I was not I was actually thinking about back to the church. I well, I mean, I will say, I will say one thing that about politics, which is that it’s interesting that both parties seem to be so good at, like, they seem to be popular when they’re complaining about the other groups authority, and then they seem to collapse when they have authority. And that helps you to understand we don’t even cement so much have. We have to I mean, maybe we have some ideological problems. But underlying that we have a clear authority, accountability problem.
Jonathan Leeman
There, nobody wants to be held accountable. Either party, nobody want to be held accountable.
Collin Hansen
Yeah, well, and that’s what happens with an election. And like all the incentives are on the side of saying, here are the problems, but the system actually seems incentivized to not offer solutions. Because taking responsibility and taking authority just makes you a target for everybody else to tear down. And oh, my goodness, we could do a whole nother podcast on the media you don’t want to talk about I didn’t I wanted to talk about in the church, almost. I think maybe every major leadership failure that I have seen, had this same problem. But my question is, let’s imagine you see somebody in this position before the fall. Yeah. In other words, it’s not enough afterward to say I could see that coming. Okay, well, if you can see it coming, what, what should you do in the moment? When you see something?
Jonathan Leeman
Yeah, sure. Well, I think there’s both structural elements and personnel elements. I do think certain structures, I think any structure can be abused. I think congregational, Presbyterian, Anglican, whatever, structures can all be abused, misused. I do think some structures are better than others. So I think there is value in giving, or let’s say, more inclined towards creating bad situations. I mean, isn’t that the experience of the American Revolution where there was an emphasis not on raising authority up higher, but pushing authority down? Right. So I do think some structures are better than others? Number one, number two, okay, the person I think that’s more the spirit of your question, what I’m gonna give him church, I’m gonna give an organization ministry or otherwise, and I, in observing certain what abuses of power, is that is that what I’m facing? What do I do? Yeah.
Collin Hansen
Well, just somebody who is holding others accountable, and is unwilling to be held accountable themselves, I think we can see this with, with senior pastors, we can see this with fathers with husbands I just saying, every situation, it seems like you really nailed that issue of they are willing to hold others to account but they are not willing to be held to count themselves. What do you do? Sure, you can see it,
Jonathan Leeman
what do you do? First of all, it’s a really tough situation, and there’s probably not going to be a clean solution. But okay, a few steps. Number one, obviously, pray about it. Number two, if if it’s not the church, or even if it is the church, you know, you might talk to an elder about it. Now, if it’s the elders, who are the problem, okay, fine. But but but if it’s not, you know, I’d encourage you to talk to an elder about it. That is to say, invoke older, mature people who you trust, to help navigate you through it. Number three, in some situations, I think you might address the individual themselves. Now, in some situations, that’s not safe. You can’t I get that, if you can. I do think you have a responsibility to speak to the person who’s in charge or who’s over you who is is creating the problems or saying certain patterns. And when you have that conversation, you don’t go with accusations you go into the questions you go in with not indictments so much as personal experiences. You know, there’s wiser and less wise ways to have that convert conversation. Oh, you know, let me let me let me say this. You know, assume that people in positions of authority might have more facts than you. You might not be seeing everything rightly. You know, give them genuinely an opportunity to say well, actually, there’s other these other factors at play, and that’s why we, the elders are we the boss would ever acted in the way that we did. So don’t assume that your understanding is exactly the right understanding. Call that call that step four, so that when you go in step three to talk you you are there At a genuinely listen. I do think that if a fifth, you may if you can, you may need to leave. Right I think I think about how Paul in talks about slavery, for instance, or an MP to talk about slavery. So if you look at First Peter chapter two and he talks about submitting to even harsh masters, I think Peters assumption there is you can’t leave your you’re stuck in the system. How do you deal with it? Right? That’s a tough passage. But Peters assumption is that you’re stuck inside of this system. And so he’s kind of giving you advice about how to deal with it at the same time, as Paul says in first Corinthians seven, if you can get out
Collin Hansen
of that slavery, get out of freedom, get your freedom. Yeah. That’s right.
Jonathan Leeman
So I do think there are situations where, depending on the nature of abuse, depending on the you know, there’s a difference between a husband who’s hitting you and a boss, you can be a little snarky at times. Right. Okay, the husband is hitting, you gotta get out. Yeah, the boss was a little snarky at times. Well, that’s different. Right. And so your decision about to stay there depends on if you’re stuck or not. And it depends on how bad it is. And again, I think back to the first thing, I said, prayer and speaking to other people who might be able to guide you, I think is important.
Collin Hansen
No step of going to social media, Jonathan. Well, to warn others,
Jonathan Leeman
I don’t want to say that that’s always a bad idea. But I think it’s a bad idea. Probably 90% More of the time, 95% more of the time than people think.
Collin Hansen
Well, I mean, it’s it’s certainly very, very complicated. It’s fraught with all sorts of temptations and misunderstandings. And yet also, sometimes that’s been precisely what’s been used to be able to take down of an unjust system. But that is a very complicated dynamic in there. Two more to keep up the you guys are getting a sense. If you’re watching, you’re listening here of of just all the different topics that Jonathan gets into, in his book, authority, how godly rule protects the vulnerable, strengthens communities, and promotes human flourishing, I had two more, and these were probably my, the ones that I wanted the most help with, or that were most I mean, all this has been insightful to me. But maybe that stuck with me the moat, most there was a moment in here, Jonathan, where I felt like a light bulb went off. And when that happens, when I’m reading a book, I just keep talking about it to other people. You write that, Pastor?
Jonathan Leeman
Go ahead, keep in mind, we’re gonna have to turn the tables and I get to ask a couple of times,
Collin Hansen
no way. No way. It gets your own podcast. You’ve already done that with me on pastors talk. No, I in a moment, okay. All right. That’s fine. One of the best right now. Okay. All right. I’m getting prepared. Here’s the light bulb. Pastors must be willing to carry or absorb their churches, anger. That I don’t know that that’s something a lot of young pastors heading into ministry expect? Let’s put this observation and other way in form of a question. What happens Jonathan, when they don’t, when they’re not willing to carry or absorb their church’s anger?
Jonathan Leeman
Yeah, I hate that point. It’s a stupid point. I wish I hadn’t heard that. Because it’s so hard. It’s so hard, it feels so unjust. And when I’m in those moments, where I’m asked to as a pastor of the church is one of the pastors that just to absorb it, and say nothing. Everything inside of me is like no way. And that certainly there is a time to say, to draw lines, I’m not denying that. But, but you also have to have a category of absorption. Well,
Collin Hansen
what I find in a congregation is that you have especially in these days, a sort of accumulation or collection of anxiety. And a lot of that which is expressed often in the form of anger is just directed either directly or indirectly, at the pastor. And it seems like a lot of the pastor’s job is to simply is to absorb it and not transmit it and not to exacerbate it. That just seems like when they Yeah, go ahead.
Jonathan Leeman
I was gonna say I think when that when they don’t. Number one, they build a ministry on themselves on building a ministry that’s on protecting themselves not on giving to the flock number two, I think they provoke further controversy in the congregation because they’re just deflecting, push it off to somebody else rather than absorbing it. Number three, I think there’s a sitting setting a non Christ like example, a huge part of elders job a pastor’s job is to set an example so first Peter five, not domineering does under your charge, but setting the example Imitate me as I imitate Christ. First Corinthians four First Corinthians 11 Hebrews 13 Seven, consider the outcome of their aware lie of their way of life and imitate their faith. So if I’m not demonstrating a, he came not to be served, but serve and give his rather life as a ransom for many, if I’m not demonstrating that kind of use of authority, I’m teaching an anti gospel example with my authority. So I’m undermining the very thing that I am called to do, which is teach people the gospel and what it means to live the gospel. Right. So though I hate having to absorb what I perceive to be other people’s in justices, that’s what I’m called to do as a dad, husband, as a as a, as a as a manager, as a pastor, perhaps especially.
Collin Hansen
And on the maybe self interested or practical side, as well. If you don’t absorb it, if you exacerbate it, or you transmit it, you also incentivize high anxiety people in your congregation to keep doing it. Yeah, I’ll keep doing it to you. You’re never gonna, you’re not gonna solve their problems.
Jonathan Leeman
Now, yeah, it shows that you know, the things of this world can make me tremble. Yeah, rather than having a steady foot on the rock of God, an elder must be says Paul and elder must be sober minded. And by demonstrating that soberness steadiness. I
Collin Hansen
think Paul Tripp talks about this well as with parents, and their parental authority, that so much of what we do is absorbing that. And when we deflect it back to our kids, in anger, or frustration, or project onto them, those anxieties, it makes everything go go wrong, which is why it’s so helpful for Paul to often Paul tripped off and say that, what they were feeling within these anxieties and these frustrations, and this anger is, is about us. It’s not about the other people in there. So this is an opportunity for us to take that. We absorb it and take it to the Lord and take it to not take it to others. All right. I have one last question. It’s a big one. So you better you better ask your question. Now. I’m prepared a
Jonathan Leeman
comment and a question. Brother, you and I were standing in a church building in Atlanta, a year or two ago. And I remember this, I don’t know if you remember this. But you said to me in that moment, you said, Oh, my goodness, I have just been amazed to reflect on the power of good leadership versus bad leadership. I remember that conversation. And it was that comment that was in my head a lot. As I was working through this book, and reflecting on my own experiences of life of being under by God’s grace, mostly good authority. A few a few instances about authority. And why did so my my, my question for actually have two questions. My first question for you is why did you What were you thinking? You could tell us about your life, per se. But what were you thinking when you said, Oh, my goodness, good leadership makes all the difference?
Collin Hansen
Yeah, I think I think in reformed communities, especially in the church, we sort of assume leadership is downstream from other giftings. We assume that it comes along with an ability to write books, to host podcasts to write articles, the kinds of things that you and I do, execute attacks, execute attacks, all that kind of stuff, lead a prayer meeting, things like that. I mean, that is a form of leadership, of course, and these others are necess essential elements of spiritual leadership. But there is also a true gifting and also a discipline and also a demand of leadership. And when you’re in I mean, I’ll give you an example of somebody that I think is really good at this. Mark broke up at College Park church when you’re around him. And he’s had many challenges. It’s a very large church, leading it through through difficulties. But you can just see what a good leader does. Like when you see a good leader at work, a gifted leader, a dedicated leader, somebody who has that first in the office last to leave absorbs that kind of stuff. You just see the way other people flourish. That’s why, you know, promote human flourishing is the last bit of your subtitle in there. I was just thinking that when you can look around at churches when you can look at Capitol Hill Baptist Church under Mark Devers leadership over the years, you can just you see a place where people flourish in the Lord. It’s almost like that leader creates that canopy under which others can grow up in a healthy, protected way. They’re just not everybody is like that. Not everybody is gifted that way. And you’ll see other churches and other organizations dealing with neverending forms of dysfunction either because the culture let’s take a lot of churches for example, they might Have a dysfunctional culture that makes leadership impossible for somebody coming in. And you know, and they just they just abused those pastors and those pastors can’t lead such we can see that one problem. And then another problem, you can just see how a pastor is bad leadership or negligent. You pointed out, Jonathan, that bad leadership is not always this present abuse. It’s often just it’s an abdication of authority. It’s an unwillingness to do the necessary things of work of leadership. And I’ve seen, you know, let’s take one example here. Last Last point I want to make some people who are in leadership positions are very conflict averse. And so they hope that just by ignoring problems, they suddenly go away. But an effective leader is not like drawn to conflict, but they’re drawn toward healing. They’re drawn toward helping, they have discernment, they have wisdom that can help to mediate and ultimately to move through. So you don’t need a leader who is, again, you don’t want a leader who’s drawn toward conflict, but you want one who is who has an ability to be able to absorb that anger and defuse it for the sake and to step into it willing to step into it, because as a leader conflict is an an unavoidable, unavoidable part of your life. Does that make sense? That’s what I have in mind is exactly what that is.
Jonathan Leeman
Alright, one one text. If you’ve heard me talk on this subject, or been around nine marks, we use this text all the time. But if you’re new to the conversation, that’s a good one to know. Second, Samuel 23, David’s final words of David, he says, when one rules justly over man ruling in the fear of God, notice how we fears and the fear of God, he dawns on them, like morning light, sun shining forth on a cloud this morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. So there is a flourishing, that field is green, because the sun’s coming down and the rains coming down, and it’s giving life. So yeah, good leadership. Does that
Collin Hansen
last one here, then, Jonathan? Why don’t we want our government to rule with spiritual authority? To put it another way that I’ve heard pretty often, how can Christians government be a bad thing that we wouldn’t ask God to give us?
Jonathan Leeman
Seriously? Yep.
Collin Hansen
Why do you think I waited till the last year you’re a friend? That’s why I do this to you.
Jonathan Leeman
Like my computer battery? Fire. Just
Collin Hansen
sounds so simple, Jonathan, I think you’ve heard this as many times as I’ve had, how can Christian government be a bad thing that we wouldn’t ask God to give us?
Jonathan Leeman
Yeah, because the priestly role that belonged to the nation of Israel, was not also handed to Nebuchadnezzar, and snacker robe, and Pharaoh and Pilate and Caesar and the government of the United States from China or Nigeria, that priestly role of being identified with God and protecting the name of God and a right understanding of God, and what’s the inside versus the outside of God’s people and what’s right doctrine that priestly authority doesn’t go to the nation, it goes to the church, the church has given the keys of the kingdom is is given that authority to declare this is the right doctrine. These are the who are the people of God are and that’s a church leader authority ecclesial authority, not a state authority, the state has authority of the Thor, sorry, the sword, to protect life preserve life, create a platform for human flourishing. And so when Jesus says render to Caesar what Caesar’s and render was God was God, he was not saying, you have God’s things and Caesar’s things, and they have nothing to do with each other. He wasn’t saying that he very much had Caesar under God. Nonetheless, Caesar this pagan ruler, still out authority to do what he was doing whether or not he recognized God or not. Right, so there was the kingdom of God was on earth in the nation of Israel. Right so so the kingdom God was was visible, seeable there at the temple there the king to David’s throne and his descendants thrones. But when Jesus says render to Caesar, what Caesars to God was God he was as it were saying, okay, the kingdom of God now on Earth visibly, as you guys the church, and the state Caesar isn’t speaking for isn’t representing the kingdom of God on earth, those things are separate. The priestly goes here, the kingly goes there. And then you look at the care of the apostles take in the book of Acts with the name of Jesus, the preaching and the name of the gene, they they celebrate going up for the sake of the name and they baptize it in the name, who possesses the name of God. Now, Christ will those who are baptized into the name and gather in the name and sort of put the Jesus His name tag on mixed assembly’s deliberately that is to say a nation while you’re being anti Lord supper, anti baptism, anti gospel, anti Great Commission, the name of Jesus gets attached to Christians. And if you want to say, you know the works of Christian Christian publisher fine, I can say that Chris, even a Christian radio station, fine. I can, I can live with that when I can’t live with is putting it on groups of people that are deliberately Christian and non Christian, like a nation. I don’t think we have any precedent for that in the New Testament. Okay, there was a good summary of church and state. I’m not 60 seconds. That’s like a deal.
Collin Hansen
That was really it was really good. And I’m, I’m not asking it out of left field. You do talk about this in the book. And it is something that comes up pretty often. So hopefully you guys have heard and seen here. I think this is especially helpful for anybody who’s in church leadership, deacons, elders, pastors. It’s a great book for seminary classes, all that sort of stuff. So check it out. Jonathan Lehmann, the author, my guest and gospel bound this week, his book, authority, how godly rule protects the vulnerable, strengthens communities, and promotes human flourishing. It’s new out there from crossway and nine marks. Thanks, Jonathan. | ||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 97 | https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/travis-kelce-jason-kelce-billboard-charts-debut-1235502120/ | en | 10 First-Timers on Billboard’s Charts This Week: Travis Kelce, Jason Kelce, The Red Clay Strays & More | [
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] | 2023-11-21T16:18:51+00:00 | Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce have debuted on the Billboard charts dated Nov. 25. Here are other first-timers on the tallies. | en | Billboard | https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/travis-kelce-jason-kelce-billboard-charts-debut-1235502120/ | Billboard has more than 200 different weekly charts, encompassing numerous genres and formats.
While established artists often compete for a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard 200 albums ranking, which track the most popular songs and albums of the week, respectively, up-and-coming talents typically start off on genre-specific lists.
Here’s a look at 10 artists who appear on surveys for the first time on the Nov. 25-dated charts:
Travis Kelce & Jason Kelce
The sibling NFL stars are Billboard-charting artists for the first time thanks to their new holiday collaboration “Fairytale of Philadelphia.” The song, released Nov. 15 via Vera Y/Avenue A/Range Music, debuts at No. 2 on Rock Digital Song Sales and No. 5 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart with 6,000 downloads sold in the Nov. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate. The song is a reimagining of the Pogues’ 1987 holiday classic “Fairytale of New York,” with the Kelce brothers trading verses in praise of Philadelphia.
The track is slated to appear on A Philly Special Christmas Special, due Dec. 1 on Vera Y Records. The set, by Jason Kelce and Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata, includes 10 covers of holiday hits, including Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Vince Guaraldi Trio’s “Christmas Time Is Here” and Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.” It also includes one original track by Jason Kelce, “Santa’s Night.” The collection is the sequel to last year’s A Philly Special Christmas, which reached No. 80 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Vinyl Albums chart (billed as by various artists). Other Eagles stars also appear on the album: quarterback Jalen Hurts, wide receiver A.J. Brown, defensive end Brandon Graham, linebacker Haason Reddick and defensive tackle Jordan Davis, along with the Philadelphia native and R&B icon Patti LaBelle. Proceeds from the vinyl sales of the new album will benefit Children’s Crisis Treatment Center’s Toy Drive and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Snowflake Station.
Jason Kelce has been a center for the Eagles since 2011, including on the team’s Super Bowl LII win in 2017. He’s a six-time Pro Bowl selection and a five-time first-team All-Pro.
Travis Kelce has been a Kansas City Chiefs tight end since 2013. He’s a two-time Super Bowl champion (LIV in 2019, LVII in 2022), an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and a four-time first-team All-Pro. He’s made headlines in recent months due to his relationship with Taylor Swift. At a recent stop on Swift’s Eras Tour in Buenos Aires, in which Kelce was in the crowd, Swift changed the lyrics of her hit “Karma” to “karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me …”
The Kelce brothers, from Westlake, Ohio, also co-host the weekly podcast New Heights With Jason and Travis Kelce, in which they discuss football and pop culture.
The Red Clay Strays
The group from Mobile, Ala., scores its first Billboard chart appearance thanks to its breakthrough hit, “Wondering Why.” The band self-released the single in March 2022 ahead its debut full-length studio album Moment of Truth. The track debuts at No. 33 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs with 2 million U.S. streams Nov. 10-16 (up 199%). Recent gains for the song can be traced to TikTok, where it went viral following the release of its official video two months ago.
The band is currently on the road on its headlining The Way Too Long Tour, which runs through March 2024. The act has opened for Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Eric Church, Elle King and Old Crow Medicine Show, among others. In May, the group made its debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. The quintet comprises Brandon Coleman (lead vocals/guitar), Drew Nix (vocals/electric guitar/harmonica), Zach Rishel (electric guitar), Andrew Bishop (bass) and John Hall (drums).
Joey Valence & Brae
The duo recently scored its first Billboard chart hit with its song “Hooligang.” Released in May 2022 on JVB Records, it debuted at No. 21 on last week’s TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart (dated Nov. 18). The song has soundtracked more than 180,000 clips on the platform to date.
Joey Valence & Brae released their debut full-length, Punk Tactics, Sept. 8 (also via JVB Records). Before that, they dropped their debut six-track EP The Underground Sound in 2022. Their upcoming Punk Tactics Album Tour kicks off in January and runs through February.
Dwan Hill
The Grammy Award-winning Nashville-based artist is already an established songwriter on Billboard’s charts, but he lands his first entry under an artist billing, thanks to “Mansion” with Evvie McKinney. The song, released in March on Integrity Music, debuts at No. 29 on Gospel Airplay (up 32% in plays).
Hill has written six Hot Gospel Songs-charting hits in his career, including Cece Winans’ 12-week 2021 No. 1 “Believe for It.” Two others also reached the top 10: Winans’ “Never Have to Be Alone” (No. 4 peak in 2017) and Nashville Music Life’s “My God” featuring Mr. Talkbox (No. 6, 2019; he also produced the song). He has additionally worked with Lauren Daigle, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors and Tauren Wells, among others.
Hill has won three Grammy Awards in his career: best contemporary Christian music performance/song for “Believe for It” and best gospel album for Believe for It at the 64th awards in 2022, and best gospel performance/song for “Never Have to Be Alone” at the 60th awards in 2018. Outside of music, he’s a pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville.
Young Duu
The Nigerian arrives on Billboard’s charts with his collaboration with Carterefe, “Oyinmo.” The song, released Nov. 8 on Eh God Records/Explo Music, debuts at No. 42 on Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs. Young Duu has released five other songs on streaming services, all since 2022: “Sho Sho Sho” and “Kunfayafun,” both with Portable; “Kilowa” with Olamzzy; “Mr Money” with Manny Monie; and “E Gbemi.”
As for Carterefe, “Oyinmo” marks his second chart appearance, after “Machala” with Berri Tiga. The song reached No. 14 on Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs in August 2022.
Baasik & Kevin Foster
Both artists tally their first Billboard chart entry thanks to their collaboration with Black GryphOn and The Living Tombstone, “Stuck Inside.” The song, from the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game franchise, debuts at No. 45 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with 678,000 on-demand official U.S. streams Nov. 10-16. The song tells the story of FNaF from the perspective of the William Afton character. It was released Oct. 30, after the film adaptation of the series premiered Oct. 27. The song has been gaining in recent weeks due to its popularity on TikTok.
Foster, notably, is the suit performer who portrayed Freddy Fazbear in the new film; “Stuck Inside” marks his first credit on a song. Baasik co-wrote and co-produced the track. Black GryphOn (real name Gabriel Brown) performs and co-wrote it, while The Living Tombstone provided additional production.
Jayson Tipp
The keyboardist appears on Billboard’s charts for the first time thanks to his first solo single, “Time to Roll,” featuring saxophonist Quintin Gerard W. The song, released in July via Mind in Overdrive, debuts at No. 23 on Smooth Jazz Airplay (up 39% in spins).
Tipp founded the jazz group Under the Lake nearly 30 years ago and has released six LPs, dating to Dine In in 1993. “Time to Roll” is the second release off his upcoming debut solo project Table for One, after “Groove Together.”
Marc Mysterio
The Irish-Canadian artist nets his first Billboard chart hit as “The Dancefloor” debuts at No. 41 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The song, released in September 2022, tallied 580,000 U.S. streams in the latest tracking week. Mysterio has been releasing music for nearly two decades and has collaborated with Avicii, Crash Test Dummies, Flo Rida and David Guetta, among others. | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 78 | https://www.absolutelygospel.com/2019/06/20/dana-williams-of-diamond-rio-joins-red-hen-and-65-40-production-team/ | en | Dana Williams of Diamond Rio Joins Red Hen and 65 | [
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] | 2019-06-20T00:00:00 | NASHVILLE, TN - Red Hen Records is pleased to announce the addition of GRAMMY® Award-winning vocalist, musician, and producer, Dana Williams to the Re | en | Absolutely Gospel Music | https://www.absolutelygospel.com/2019/06/20/dana-williams-of-diamond-rio-joins-red-hen-and-65-40-production-team/ | NASHVILLE, TN – Red Hen Records is pleased to announce the addition of GRAMMY® Award-winning vocalist, musician, and producer, Dana Williams to the Red Hen Records and 65/40 Records production team. Dana has a solid history in Country, Bluegrass, and Christian Music as a member of the Country Supergroup, Diamond Rio.
As a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry, Dana has also been the voice of his own radio programs, RadioRehab and The Dana Williams Show on WSM. Aside from his contributions to the artistry of Diamond Rio, he has worked on many other notable recordings from artists such as Josh Turner, Kenny Rogers, Jerrod Neimann, Rhonda Vincent, Ralph Stanley, and many others.
“We are so honored to have Dana on board as we grow further to fortify our production quality and professionalism.”, says Rick Schweinsberg, A&R Director of Red Hen Records. “We’ve always valued Dana’s friendship on a personal level, but we’ve also admired the integrity he has among those who have worked with him across the Country, Bluegrass, and Christian Music genres.”
“This is a venture that has come from the love of music and the want to help other artists”, says Dana. “I have had such a blessed career over the last 30 years, and I’ve learned so much from so many. Teaming up with Rick and Micah (Schweinsberg) is the best way I know to help others in the same way. All of the elements are present with the Red Hen crew- great songs, great musicians, and wonderful studios.”
Ren Hen Records and 65/40 Records are divisions of Daywind Music Group, which includes Daywind Studios, Daywind Records, and Daywind Music Publishing and their affiliates. Artists for Red Hen Records and 65/40 Records are distributed by New Day Christian Distributors to physical retailers and on digital and streaming platforms everywhere. For media, contact record@daywind.com | |||||
5676 | dbpedia | 3 | 81 | https://www.chuckgirard.com/song-commentary6.html | en | Song Commentary | [
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5676 | dbpedia | 2 | 22 | https://awakengeneration.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/michael-gungor-on-the-problem-with-the-christian-music-industry/ | en | MICHAEL GUNGOR On The Problem With The Christian Music Industry | [
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] | null | [] | 2011-11-16T00:00:00 | +++ SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT !!!! READ MICHAEL GUNGOR’S FOLLOW UP BLOG TO HIS POST ‘THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHRISTIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY !!! Date: Monday, December 9, 2013 Hey Everyone, As promi… | en | https://s2.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/under-the-influence/images/favicon.ico | AWAKEN GENERATION | https://awakengeneration.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/michael-gungor-on-the-problem-with-the-christian-music-industry/ | +++
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT !!!!
READ MICHAEL GUNGOR’S FOLLOW UP BLOG TO HIS POST ‘THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHRISTIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY !!!
Date: Monday, December 9, 2013
Hey Everyone,
As promised earlier, after the incredible buzz around his blog post below in the past week (there have been more than 360,000 views of this blog post in the past 7 days) Michael Gungor expressed to me a desire to write a follow-up blog post to this original post he wrote almost 2 years ago.
I am excited to announce that Michael emailed me his follow-up blog post that he just finished two days ago, and you can read it immediately, by clicking on the link below.
Michael Gungor: A Follow-Up To My Blog Post On The Problem With The Christian Music Industry
Regards,
Hervict
+++
When you are in a touring band, there is a lot of time that is spent waiting. Waiting to board a plane, waiting for the bus to arrive at the venue, waiting for sound check…etc One of the many games that people in our band have implemented now and then to fill the waiting time is a little game we might call the “Christian or secular” game. Basically the game is simply playing a very short clip of music and having someone guess whether it is “Christian” or “secular” music. The person who is most accurate with his or her guesses is the winner.
This is surprisingly easy to do.
Especially when you talk about radio stations. It is easy for me to spot a Christian music radio station within about 3 seconds. Far before any Christian lingo is uttered to make it clear.
It’s weird. I’m always trying to figure out what it is that makes something sound like Christian music, because there’s definitely something… I’d love to get some of your thoughts about it. But for me (and I’m actually one of the better players of the game if I must say so myself), I find something very disingenuous about most Christian music. This is something I can simply feel at a gut level. If I hear a song, and I hear any sort of pretending or false emotion, that’s a good first indicator. I’m really not trying to throw mud here, I’m being honest at how I am good at this game. Christian music often has a sheen to it that other music doesn’t have. Some pop and country music has a similar sheen, but the Christian sheen is like a blander sheen somehow.
The vocals are always really hot in the mix because for Christian music, the words are the most important part. That’s kind of similar to country though as well, so you have to be careful there. Country has some of the same Nashville tones, players, and compression styles that Christian music has most of the time, but the twang is just a little deeper with the country side of things. There’s also a little more “humanness” or “soul” in Country to my ears.
The false emotion that I’m talking about might be familiar to some of you. There’s just something more believable about the whispery sexy voice that is singing about sex on the mainstream radio station than the voice that copies that style of singing while putting lyrics in about being in the arms of Jesus. And it’s really not even the style or the lyric that is the problem to me, it’s the fact that I don’t believe that the singer is feeling the kind of emotions in singing that lyric that would lead to that style of singing. It’s that same kind of creep out that you feel when somebody gives a really loud fake laugh. It’s just weird and uncomfortable feeling.
An example of this would be a song that somebody sent us recently of an older song of mine called “Wrap Me In Your Arms.” The lyric is a very intimate and soft sort of lyric. “Take me to that place where I can be with you, you can make me like you…etc” This person did a hardcore/screamo version of this song. Not just like getting a little loud, I mean full out death metal sounding, demon-voiced screaming. It was so freaking weird mostly because it seemed so disingenuous. You would never speak such gentle words to someone you loved by screaming in their face like you were possessed by Beelzebub. That’s an extreme example, but it’s very typical of the basic premise of most Christian music to me, which is–use whatever musical style you wish as a medium to communicate your message. It’s not about the art, it’s about the message. So use whatever tools and mediums you have at your fingertips to do so. If you want to reach emo kids, then sing emo music but with Jesus language. The problem with this is that emo music is not simply reducible to certain sounding tones and chords. There are emotions and attitudes of different genres of music that are the soul of the music. You can’t remove the anger from screamo and have it still be screamo. It’s the soul of that music, whether that soul is good or evil is not the point, simply that it is the soul. So when you remove the soul from music and transplant the body parts (chord changes, instrumentation, dress, lights, and everything but the soul…) and parade it around with some more “positive” lyrics posing as Christian music, then what you have is a musical zombie.
It looks like a human.. It eats like a human… It still walks and makes noise and resembles a human, but it’s not. It’s a zombie. It has no soul. It just uses it’s human body for its own purposes.
This is what I initially feel when I play the “Christian or secular” game. I look into its eyes, and I perceive whether the thing has a soul or not. And 9 times out of ten, I can do it very quickly and efficiently.
Why is this like this? I don’t know, and it makes me very sad. I don’t hate all Christian music. There are a few artists that I know in the Christian industry that are really trying to transcend the inherent limitations and zombying effect of the industry. But the industry as a whole is broken, friends. We call it Christian, but it’s certainly not based in Christianity. It is based on marketing. That’s it. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but it wouldn’t be true.
Example:
We just were part of one of the biggest tours of the fall in the Christian music industry. To my knowledge, every night but one night was sold out, and that’s because they added a second show in the same city kind of last minute. The interesting thing about this tour was that it was pretty much in all mainstream venues. Clubs, theatres…etc It was awesome.
But you know what made me sad? That empty bar every night.
Even though these shows were all sold out, I would imagine that the bartenders at all those clubs were like “oh man, Christian night… that means no tips for me.”
Sometimes the promoters would just buy out the bar so there wouldn’t be any liquor sales at all.
I’m not saying that I wished that everybody was getting hammered at the show… But for crying out loud, buy one beer. Or heck, if you don’t drink beer, buy a Coke.
But here’s what is super weird about this situation. I bet you if you took all of those Christians that came to the shows and split them up and had them go to “secular” shows, A LOT of them would have bought a drink. It’s the fact that there is this assumption among all of the Christians there that having a drink at a Christian event is sort of a questionable thing to do.
Why is this?
It’s certainly not because of the Bible. Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding. And not just any wine. The kind of wine that made people think they saved the very best wine until the end. And you preachers who pervert the scriptures with your own extremely biased interpretations, here’s a news flash, people at parties don’t think the best wine is non-alcoholic grape juice. Religious people didn’t call Jesus “a glutton and a drunkard” because he ate communion loafers and grape juice all of the time.
Sheesh. It’s just so ridiculous to me.
And here’s the thing. I don’t even drink very much. I’ve never really been drunk, and I’m not advocating that people should just be foolish with their drinking or eating habits. But for crying out loud, this whole spiritualizing of alcohol being an inherently bad thing is so annoying. It’s mostly just an American thing, by the way (as well as places where America has exported these ideas with our missionaries). If you go most other places in the world, or anywhere else in history for that matter, Christians drink alcohol. Ever heard of a little thing called Communion? You know, the bread and the wine? That’s a pretty big deal in Christianity. Jesus didn’t pour out a cup of grape juice.
Man alive.
You know what the alcohol thing is based on? You ready for this? You sure?
Money.
Old people are the people that give the most money to Christian organizations like religious media outlets. And old people grew up in a time where alcohol was seen as a taboo social reality. Just like dancing or playing cards or “mixed bathing” (swimming). It’s based in an era of prohibition. These are old American values that we’re dealing with, not Christian values. It’s the old American people that have money that the Christian organizations do not want to offend. So they create an environment where drinking is seen as evil. If you want to start a television ministry, you can’t have it known to your donors that your staff likes to go out for drinks after work. So you implement rules for them. Do you know how common this is? I have friends that have lost their jobs over crap like this.
Do you see the irony of this? If you had been a disciple of Jesus and drank some of the wine of his first recorded miracle with him, you would be fired from a lot of the churches in this country. Shame on us.
So the point? (I haven’t forgotten) The point is that the industry that labels things as Christian and sells them to you has far more to do with marketing then Christianity. They are marketing to the mixed bag of values that has created the Evangelical Christian subculture. It’s a mix of some historically Christian values, some American values, and a whole lot of cultural boundary markers that set “us” apart from “them.” This sort of system makes us feel safe and right, and it makes some of its gatekeepers very wealthy and powerful.
The effect is then the filtering down of this subculture to people that don’t necessarily want to think through the viability of every one of these boundary markers, but in their simple desire to belong to what they consider the good guys, they acquiesce to the rules handed to them. At least in public. As the joke goes, why do you take two Baptists with you when you go fishing? Because if you only bring one, he’ll drink all your beer.
Here are some of the actual effects of this subculture though.
1. It makes us dishonest
When the foundation of the market and music you are trying to make is pretense, it’s very hard to be honest and successful. There is an unspoken assumption from most of us that we really want the people on the stage or on the book or album cover or on the radio need to have it together more than we do. Because we are messed up, we need them to be a sort of savior and hope for us. The result of this is that it’s often the people who are really good at pretending that they have it all together that make it to the stage and the book or album cover and the radio stations.
So Christians that would normally buy a beer don’t because they are in the Christian concert. Christian bands that smoke (which a lot of them if not most of them do, including some of my players) have to duck into back alleys as to not offend anybody. I think smoking is stupid. But I think it’s stupid because it smells bad and it kills you. I don’t use my religion to judge other people about it.
Rather than just being honest about where we are at and what we all struggle with though, we look to our gatekeepers to believe and live morally vicariously for us. That way we feel better about being part of the system of good, and the moral brokenness in our own lives is repressed like the fear of a child with her security blanket.
This sort of dishonesty is at the heart of much of what I and so many others find so repulsive about much of modern American Christendom
2. It kills creativity
I had a conversation with John Mark McMillan last night about something that I think is very interesting. By the way, I consider John Mark to be one of the ones I consider to be making a valiant effort in transcending some of these imposed limitations in this industry. But he mentioned to me how strange it is that people keep calling his new album “creative.” That word is actually one of the most used words when people describe our music as well. In fact, I bet some of you reading this have described as such. Here’s the weird thing about this…
Why do you find it necessary to say that?
Do you notice that nobody really uses that word about other types of music? I just was perusing some Itunes user reviews to see if this holds up. I checked John Mark and mine, and “creativity” is very often found. But it’s not often found in reviews of bands like Sigur Ros, Bon Iver, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens or other artists who are certainly very “creative.”
Nobody goes to an art gallery and says, “boy, that painting is so creative.” Why? Because it’s art! Of course it’s creative! Why else would it be there? It’s very nature is creativity. Or like Lisa pointed out to me today, “that would be like saying, I love your house, it’s so architectural.”
But when someone in the Christian industry actually takes their art seriously, everybody is like “holy crap, listen to how creative it is!”
It’s like a person that’s been living among zombies for years seeing an actual human being and exclaiming, “wow, look at how clean her face is! She doesn’t even have any blood on it or anything!”
I’m not slamming the people that describe our music as creative. I appreciate the kindness that’s behind the words, but it does make me sad that the idea of creativity is so foreign to our industry that we have to actually point it out when someone actually sees the art as art and not zombie propaganda. Ok, that might have been a little much. But I like the sentence so I’ll leave it.
So that’s why I’m good at the Christian or secular game. I’ve seen behind the curtain, and I know the little man that’s pulling the levers, and he’s not impressive. I recognize his voice at this point, and it’s all over religious media.
Why am I writing this blog?
Some of you have commented in the past when I’ve been critical of the Christian music industry that I’m being hypocritical by still being a part of it. I don’t see it that way. I actually love a lot of the individual people in the industry. There really are some amazing people in it, many of who share my weariness about the way things have been. And I also love you guys. I love our fans. I love the people that we get to meet and I love being able to get our music to them. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try our best to purify the systems that we are part of. I just want to be honest about what I see and call us to find better ways of doing things.
Two quick recommendations and I’ll stop this blog that has already gone on WAY too long:
Consumers: I would suggest that you actively support those artists that you love that the industry hasn’t necessarily bought into. The cards are stacked against people that actually want to do honest creative art in this industry, and the people that try really need your direct help and support to have any chance. For us, we’ve had one guy for instance that has been sending us a check every month for years because he appreciates what we are trying to do. Do you know how much that one family has helped us stay encouraged? Even if it’s not a huge amount of money or anything, just having people behind you in this sort of battle is really helpful.
Industry people: Stop being so afraid. I know you want things to be different than they are as well. I know you want creativity to be valued as much as “Becky” analysis, but we need some of you to have some balls and make some decisions based on that value system. Yes money matters. But so does beauty. Art actually makes a difference in the world. Have the courage to actually make decisions on values and not simply on past numbers and trends. And for crying out loud, if it really is good, the numbers will follow eventually anyway.
Artists: Take heart. I think the tides may be turning. The recent attention and success of our band speaks to it I think. People are growing weary of the status quo. The machine and its sheen have seen its strongest days. So I encourage you as well to not be afraid. Your art is worth making even if the industry around you isn’t quite ready for it yet. Make it and let them catch up with you. Your art is sacred. Be honest. Be brave. And don’t let the markets or the industry be the final filter on your art, let your heart do that. Ok that’s all from me tonight. | ||||
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Rebecca St. James, born Rebecca Jean Smallbone; July 26, 1977, is a Christian pop rock singer, songwriter, musician, author, and actor. She began performing in Australia in the late 1980s and released her first full-length studio album in 1991. In 1993 she was signed to the record label ForeFront Records and released her major label debut a year later.
St. James rose to fame in the late 1990s with her RIAA certified Gold albums God and Pray, the latter of which won a Grammy Award in 1999 for Best Rock Gospel Album. The albums spawned multiple singles including "God", "Pray", and "Yes, I Believe in God". Since then she has established herself as one of the most prominent musical artists in CCM with four additional full-length studio albums; Transform, Worship God, If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something, and I Will Praise You. Staple songs such as "Wait for Me", "Reborn", "Song of Love", "I Thank You", "Alive", and "Shine Your Glory Down" have all been derived from these releases. Since the beginning of her career, St. James has sold a total of two million albums.
"St. James rose to fame in the late 1990s with her RIAA certified Gold albums God and Pray, the latter of which won a Grammy Award in 1999 for Best Rock Gospel Album."
Outside of her musical career, St. James is an accomplished author and actress. To date, she has released nine published books and starred in five films, a musical stage show, and a VeggieTales episode (Spring for Strawberry Shortcake). Her ninth book "What Is He Thinking" was released on September 26, 2011, and she has starred in the films Unidentified, Sarah's Choice, Rising Stars, The Frontier Boys, and Suing the Devil. St. James is also an outspoken sexual abstinence and pro-life advocate, as well as a spokesperson for Compassion International. She is also the sister of Joel and Luke Smallbone, who compose the band for King & Country, and the wife of Foster the People bassist Jacob "Cubbie" Fink.
Early life Rebecca St. James was born Rebecca Jean Smallbone on July 26, 1977 in Sydney, Australia to parents David and Helen Smallbone.
In 1990, at twelve years of age, she opened shows for CCM artist Carman during his Australian tour. The following year she released an independent album titled Refresh My Heart in Australia, under the stage name of "Rebecca Jean". Soon after its release, her family moved to the United States where her father received a job offer. She signed with ForeFront Records, and took her stage name at the label's request. In 1994 she released her major label debut titled Rebecca St. James. She also released an EP titled Extended Play Remixes in 1995.
On June 25, 1996, Rebecca St. James released her second major album God, led by the title track. The album took St. James' music in a new direction, focusing more on rock. It opened to positive reviews and debuted at 200, and peaked at 168 on the Billboard 200. It also charted at No.10 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 6 on Billboard's Contemporary Christian chart. In 1997, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album for God and in 2005 the album was RIAA certified gold for selling over 500,000 copies. To promote the album, St. James released a devotion book titled 40 Days with God: A Devotional Journey in 1996. In 1997, St. James released the sequel to her devotional book, titled You're the Voice: 40 More Days with God. On October 7 of the same year, she released her first holiday album, simply titled Christmas. The album charted at No. 12 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and No. 14 on the Top Contemporary Christian chart. On October 20, 1998, St. James released her third studio album, Pray, which opened to mixed reviews. The album managed to chart at No. 168 on the Billboard 200, and No. 5 on both the Heatseekers Chart and the Contemporary Christian Chart. The album won a Grammy in 1999 for Best Rock/Gospel Album, and in 2006 it was RIAA certified gold for selling over 500,000 copies. In 1999, St. James released a song titled "Yes, I Believe In God" to radio only, in memory of the lives lost at the Columbine shooting. The song was later released on the album Wait For Me: The Best From Rebecca St. James. Also in 1999, Rebecca released a VHS titled No Secrets featuring interviews of her and her family, behind-the-scenes footage and the music video for the song "Pray". In addition to her own projects, St. James took part in a CD release titled Heaven & Earth: A Tapestry of Worship, which featured female Christian artists such as Nichole Nordeman, Jennifer Knapp, herself and others. The album was released in November 1999 and features two songs by St. James; "As We Wait" and "River of Life".
On October 24, 2000, St. James released a brand new album titled Transform. The album charted at No. 166 on the Billboard 200, No. 7 on the Heatseekers Chart and No. 14 on the Contemporary Christian Chart. The album garnered positive reviews and featured the songs "Wait For Me" and "Reborn". Also in 2000, St. James made a cameo in the film Left Behind: The Movie. A year later, the devotional book, 40 Days with God was re-released with a new layout and five new devotions. In 2002, to promote the single "Wait For Me" from Transform, St. James released the book Wait For Me: Rediscovering the Joy of Purity in Romance, which went on to sell over 100,000 copies and spawn a journal and study guide. The song and book promotes sexual abstinence before marriage, and St. James has since become a major spokesperson for the subject.On February 26, 2002, St. James released the album Worship God. The album opened to extremely positive reviews and charted at No. 94 on the Billboard 200, marking St. James' first Top 100 album, and No. 5 on the Contemporary Christian chart. She released a DVD to promote the album November 19, 2002 that featured music videos, interviews, etc. On March 25, 2003, celebrating 10 years signed to ForeFront Records, St. James released her first compilation project titled Wait For Me: The Best From Rebecca St. James which features 16 of her most popular songs and two new ones, including "I Thank You" which managed to peak at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart. The album failed to make the Billboard 200, but charted at No.16 on the Contemporary Christian chart. On February 24, 2004, St. James released her very first live album titled Live Worship: Blessed Be Your Name which features 7 new songs and 2 studio recorded songs. The album charted at No. 187 on the Billboard 200 and No. 12 on the Top Christian Albums chart. Later that year, St. James released a compilation album titled The Best of Rebecca St. James, and her book SHE: Safe, Healthy, Empowered: The Woman You're Made to Be. Also in 2004, St. James starred in the stage musical "Hero" as a modern day Mary Magdalene aka "Maggie". St. James later lent her voice to the VeggieTales episode An Easter Carol as Hope the Music Box Angel She also took part in a pop/rock VeggieTales album titled Veggie Rocks! She covered "The VeggieTales Theme Song" for the album.
After taking a hiatus from recording music, St. James returned to the studio in early 2005 to record new songs. On October 24, 2005, the first single from the album, "Alive", was released. The song managed to chart at No. 3 on R&R's CHR Chart and No. 13 on Billboards Hot Christian Songs Chart. The new album, titled If I Had One Chance To Tell You Something was released on November 22, 2005. The album opened to fairly positive reviews. It charted at No. 14 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums Chart, but failed to make the Billboard 200. On July 1, 2005 St. James released a Teen Edition of her book, SHE and on October 1, 2005, she released another book titled Sister Freaks: Stories of Women Who Gave Up Everything For God. In early 2006, St. James embarked on her If I Had One Chance To Tell You Something Tour with fellow Christian group BarlowGirl. She also recorded the theme song for the National Day of Prayer. The song was titled "America" and was released to iTunes on May 2, 2006. She also recorded a cover of Chris Tomlin's song "Forever" for the album WOW Worship: Aqua. The same year, ForeFront Records put together a compilation album titled The Early Years, that covered ten songs from her earliest releases: Rebecca St. James, GOD and Pray. Aside from music, St. James made her major character film debut in Unidentified as Colleen in 2006. In 2007, ForeFront Records took live footage and recordings from the If I Had One Chance... Tour and released a CD/DVD collection on March 20 titled aLIVE in Florida. The album features 14 live songs and an exclusive remix of "You Are Loved". The album charted at No. 43 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums Chart. At the time of the album's release, it was announced that St. James has sold over 1.8 million albums to date.
In the midst of a musical hiatus, ForeFront Records put together a two-disc compilation album titled The Ultimate Collection which was released March 11, 2008. Another compilation titled Greatest Hits was released later that year on October 28, 2008. On September 3, 2008 Rebecca released another book titled Pure: A 90-Day Devotional for the Mind, Body, & Spirit. In late 2008, St. James announced she would star as the lead role in a new film titled Sarah's Choice, which was released November 17, 2009 to DVD. The film also features a song by St. James titled "Little One". The song was released almost two years later on September 2, 2011. The film received good reviews from Christian movie critics. On April 16, 2009, St. James released a new song titled "You're Alive" to iTunes as part of an album titled Resurrection Worship: Songs of Hope. Then, in June 2009, St. James released another new song titled "Wish" to her MySpace page. Aside from music, St. James' book Loved: Stories of Forgiveness was released on September 1, 2009.
On August 19, 2009, Christian Cinema reported that St. James had wrapped up filming a new movie titled Rising Stars, which was released on October 22, 2010. On April 28, 2010, it was announced that St. James is working on another film titled Frontier Boys, and a book titled What Is He Thinking?, both to be released in 2011. It was also later announced that she will star in a film titled Suing the Devil, which was released in August 2011. In late 2008, St. James announced she was filming a new movie with Stephen Baldwin and Candace Cameron, titled Faith of Our Fathers (previously To the Wall), which has not yet been released. On October 19, 2010 Rebecca St. James released her version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" on the album The Essential Christmas Collection. On November 18, 2010, St. James announced that she had parted ways with ForeFront Records and would be releasing a new worship album in April 2011 via Beach Street/Reunion Records. Her ninth studio album, I Will Praise You, was released on April 5, 2011. It was preceded by the single "Shine Your Glory Down", which was released to Christian radio on February 11. The album was met with positive reviews from Christian music critics and was highly successful, debuting at No.18 on Billboard's Hot Christian Albums chart and later peaking at No.9. It also peaked at No.153 on the Billboard 200, her highest charting effort after Worship God.[65] Her ninth book, What Is He Thinking?, hit shelves on September 26, 2011.[66][67]On June 16, 2011 it was announced that St. James will be starring in a new romantic comedy film titled A Strange Brand of Happy, to be released in 2013. The film revolves around a single Christian life coach Joyce who falls for an agnostic client. The movie began filming on August 15, 2011 in Cincinnati. On March 12, 2013 Rebecca announced via her Facebook page that she is currently publishing her first Christian fiction novel titled The Merciful Scar, co-authored with Nancy Rue. It will be released on September 10, 2013.
Originally from Australia, St. James currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Her brothers are Joel and Luke Smallbone from the band for King & Country. On January 3, 2011 she announced her engagement to Jacob Fink, a Colorado native and sometime missionary to South Africa, via her website, mailing list and social networking sites. Fink proposed on Christmas Day 2010 at St. James' family farm in Franklin. The couple were married on April 23, 2011 at the Junípero Serra Museum in San Diego, California.
Awards Include: 2000: Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album – Pray 2002: GMA Dove Award for Special Event Album of the Year – Prayer of Jabez 2004: GMA Dove Award for Special Event Album of the Year – !Hero 2006: GMA Dove Award for Special Event Album of the Year – Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Albums Include: 1991: Refresh My Heart 1994: Rebecca St. James 1996: God 1997: Christmas 1998: Pray 2000: Transform 2002: Worship God 2005: If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something 2011: I Will Praise You | |||||||
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] | null | [] | null | Learn about R. Kannan on Apple TV. Browse shows and movies that feature R. Kannan including Settai, Boomerang, and more. | en | /assets/favicon/apple-touch-icon-9a18d92f405f4cba68b503b186df5f5b.png | Apple TV | https://tv.apple.com/us/person/r-kannan/umc.cpc.20d3jh0ubh0w5mxuoppml1qnp | R. Kannan is an Indian filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the successful Tamil film Jayamkondaan starring Vinay Rai and Bhavana in 2008. | ||||
17005 | yago | 3 | 16 | http://prasanthonmoviesmusic.blogspot.com/2008/10/jayam-kondaan.html | en | I am here for Movies & Music | [
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17005 | yago | 0 | 43 | https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf_GubvD7dA/ | en | Instagram | [] | [] | [] | [
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17005 | yago | 1 | 19 | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6167517 | en | Jayamkondaan | https://www.wikidata.org/static/favicon/wikidata.ico | https://www.wikidata.org/static/favicon/wikidata.ico | [
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edit | |||
17005 | yago | 0 | 55 | https://mp3tune.wordpress.com/upcoming-movie/settai/ | en | Settai | [
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] | null | [] | 2012-06-11T15:47:06+00:00 | Settai (Tamil: சேட்டை) is the tentative title for an upcoming Indian Tamil comedy film directed by R. Kannan. A remake of the 2011 Hindi film, Delhi Belly, it stars Arya, Hansika Motwani, Anjali, Santhanam and Premji Amaren.The film, which began filming began in Chennai on 7… | en | https://s1.wp.com/i/favicon.ico | mp3tune | https://mp3tune.wordpress.com/upcoming-movie/settai/ | Settai (Tamil: சேட்டை) is the tentative title for an upcoming Indian Tamil comedy film directed by R. Kannan. A remake of the 2011 Hindi film, Delhi Belly, it stars Arya, Hansika Motwani, Anjali, Santhanam and Premji Amaren.The film, which began filming began in Chennai on 7 May 2012, is scheduled for a release in December 2012.
After UTV Motion Pictures announced that the studio will be remaking the Hindi film Delhi Belly in Tamil, R. Kannan, who had earlier directed Jayam Kondaan and Kanden Kadhalai, was selected as the director. G. Dhananjayan, South Business chief of UTV, stated that, unlike the original version, which received an adult rating, the remake would be made for a family audience, making clear that the core plot would be retained, while the dialogue would be changed and “risque jokes” be avoided. Dhananjayan further added that he, Kannan and John Mahendran would be creditted for additional screenplay and adaption, while the latter would write the new dialogues as well.Varuthapadaatha Vaalibar Sangam and Vai Raja Vai were amongst the suggested titles for the film, with the team eventually zeroing in on Settai. Arya, Santhanam and Premji Amaren were selected to play the three lead roles. Vijay Raaz, who portrayed the main antagonist in Delhi Belly, was approached to reprise his role.His role later went to Nasser. Suja Varunee was cast to appear in a cameo role which was played by Anusha Dandekar in the original. Telugu comedian Ali joined the cast, making his Tamil film debut.
The film was launched on 7 May 2012 in Chennai. Two huge sets resembling a hotel and a bachelor’s room were reportedly constructed for the shoot. The first schedule got over after 20 days of shoot in three differently constructed sets. The makers are planning to finish the film in two more schedules. | ||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 96 | http://madhushree-mania.blogspot.com/2008/08/naan-varainthe-vaitha-jayam-kondaan-hit.html | en | •·.·´¯`·.·•¤ MåÐHú§hRë€ MãÑîà ¤•·.·´¯`·.·•: Naan Varainthe Vaitha | [
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] | null | Jayam Kondan is ready Saturday, 16 August , 2008, 22:00 The Vinay- Bhavana- Lekha starrer Jayam Kondan, directed by debutant R.Kannan and pr... | en | http://madhushree-mania.blogspot.com/favicon.ico | http://madhushree-mania.blogspot.com/2008/08/naan-varainthe-vaitha-jayam-kondaan-hit.html | ||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 79 | http://kollya.blogspot.com/2008/08/jayam-kondaan-to-release-this-month-end.html | en | Jayam Kondaan to release this month end | [
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] | null | [] | null | The Vinay-Bhavana starrer, produced by Sathyajothi Films, is all set for an August-end release. Paving the way for biggies like Kuselan and ... | http://kollya.blogspot.com/favicon.ico | http://kollya.blogspot.com/2008/08/jayam-kondaan-to-release-this-month-end.html | The Vinay-Bhavana starrer, produced by Sathyajothi Films, is all set for an August-end release.
Paving the way for biggies like Kuselan and Sathyam, this movie, whose audio launch was held over two months ago, it is all set to hit the screens this month end.
Coming from a production house that has been nitpicky in choosing only family-oriented healthy entertainers, the movie is said to be an interesting love story.
Directed by R Kannan, a former assistant to Maniratnam for movies like Guru, Kannathil Muthamittal and Ayutha Ezhuthu, the music has been done by Vidyasagar, which is already famous.
One of the songs in the movie, Naan Varaindhu Vaitha, sung by Madhusree and Hariharan, was shot in the rarely captured mosque called Bibi-Khanym Mosque of Uzbekistan.
“I told the story over two years ago and it has come out very well. We’ve not exaggerated anything in the story, which is about a relationship between Vinay, a civil engineer educated abroad, and Bhavana, a sprightly volleyball player in Madurai,” explains the director.
However, the suspense element in the movie is an untold relationship between the main characters in the movie, Vinay, Bhavana and Lekha Washington.
Related Posts by Categories
.... | ||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 5 | https://www.themoviedb.org/person/586582-r-kannan%3Flanguage%3Den-US | en | R. Kannan | [
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17005 | yago | 3 | 82 | https://venkatarangan.com/blog/2017/09/aayirathil-iruvar-2017/ | en | Aayirathil Iruvar (2017) | [
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] | 2017-09-22T18:10:28+00:00 | Aayirathil Iruvar (ஆயிரத்தில் இருவர்) starring Vinay Rai in dual roles, is a film of an unidentifiable genre. The story is about the hatred between twin - Mangoidiots | en | Mangoidiots | https://venkatarangan.com/blog/2017/09/aayirathil-iruvar-2017/ | Aayirathil Iruvar (ஆயிரத்தில் இருவர்) starring Vinay Rai in dual roles, is a film of an unidentifiable genre. The story is about the hatred between twin brothers, naturally, that means two heroines and two love stories – told in the backdrop of family rivalry in Tirunelveli and a Hyderabad politician’s black money kept in a Swiss bank. I went to see the film for Director Saran who in previous decade has given memorable Tamil films including Kadhal Mannan (1998), Amarkalam (1999), Gemini (2002) and Vasool Raja MBBS (2004). What could’ve been an engaging story falters due to a disjoint screenplay and poor performance by Vinay Rai – in the past, I had been impressed with his debut Tamil film JayamKondaan (2008) and his recent appearance in Thupparivaalan (2017) as the villain.
Samuthrika alias Sakshi Chaudhary appears as Bhoomika, a Hyderabad girl and daughter to a wealthy politician there, whose role in the movie is limited to being the person who has a tattoo in her body with secret numbers to a Swiss bank account. Compared to that Swasthika alias Surabhi Santhosh as Athirshtalakshmi has got a better role as a town girl who loves jewels and plays confidently to win her love. Kesha Khambhati appears as a hawala dealer, a hooker and a computer hacker – don’t ask me about the combination. The film tries to be too many things at the same thing. Having 3 lead female actors was unnecessarily adding a lot of glamour quotient, and a hindrance to storytelling – why should all the 3 heroines be imports to Tamil Nadu?. Similarly, there are 3 villains and too many subplots for no obvious reasons.
To resolve the fighting between the brothers, the idea of having them both locked up in a room with their eyes closed is a good idea, reminding me of my mentor telling me that the best people management technique when two people are providing conflicting “truths” is to lock them up each with a loaded (figuratively) gun!. One of the villains, a moneylender from Madurai, played by ArulDoss is a terror outside to everyone; but cries along with his two brothers inside the hotel room – this was one of the very few enjoyable moments in the film.
The first half of the film running over 90 minutes required a lot of patience for the few who were present in Screen-5 at Luxe Cinemas for the first-day evening show, a family of 8 seated next to me was not to be seen after the interval – unfortunate, as the film became tolerable and even a bit comical only that. | |||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 74 | https://en.kinorium.com/526560/ | en | Jayam Kondaan (movie, 2008) | https://img.kinorium.com/?target=facebook_poster&movie_id=526560&f=en.kinorium.com&t=1714973277 | https://img.kinorium.com/?target=facebook_poster&movie_id=526560&f=en.kinorium.com&t=1714973277 | [
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] | null | [] | 2008-08-29T00:00:00 | All about Movie: directors and actors, reviews and ratings, movie facts, trailers, stills, backstage. The film revolves around an Information technolo... | en | //static.kinorium.com/img/favicon/favicon_16.png | Kinorium | https://en.kinorium.com/526560/ | The film received positive reviews and lauded by critics for its simplicity in its presentation. The film was described by Sify.com as a "breezy entertainer", with the reviewer taking a liking to the film, comparing Jayamkondaan to the films Run, Sandakozhi and the Malayalam film Kireedom. The script and direction is described as "successful due to straightforward narration and packaging". Lekha Washington's performance was praised, citing that she "sparkles as the half sister in a well etched role" and is "the surprise packet and has the credentials to make it big". Vinay "looks too thin and fragile" but "adds to the film's energy", while Bhavana has nothing much to do other than "looking prim and proper". Out of the comedians, Sify reports that Krishna and Santhanam were more effective than Vivek who at times you feel speaks more dialogues than necessary. Praise is also heaped on Athisaya as the small town girl who gets enamored by the rowdy, describing her as a "revelation", while Kishore "fits the bill as the bad guy". | ||
17005 | yago | 2 | 21 | https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2011/Sep/15/three-years-for-a-film-290945.html | en | Three years for a film! | [
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] | 2011-09-15T00:00:00 | For director R Kannan, (director of Jayam Kondaan and Kandaen Kadhalai), scripting for Vandan Vendran took three years. Hence, it is definitely not on the lines of the Hindi film I Hate Luv St | en | /favicon.ico | The New Indian Express | https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2011/Sep/15/three-years-for-a-film-290945.html | For director R Kannan, (director of Jayam Kondaan and Kandaen Kadhalai), scripting for Vandan Vendran took three years. Hence, it is definitely not on the lines of the Hindi film I Hate Luv Storys, which released in 2010.
The director’s challenge lies in making a remake. Says he, “Remakes are far more challenging than working on an original script. You always face comparisons. In Jab We Met, the character of Santhanam was not there, but it was an addition to the Tamil version. When the film was released in Tamil, Imtiaz Ali, director and writer of Jab We Met, called up and congratulated me on the screenplay of Kandaen Kadhalai.”
Talking about Vandan Vendran, he says, “The title takes inspiration from the famous quote, ‘He came, he saw, he conquered’. This film is about a man from Chennai who goes to Mumbai, struggles and makes a name for himself,” he says.
The director scores again when it comes to casting. Stars like Jiiva, Taapsee Pannu, Nandaa and Santhanam, have helped the director in taking the film forward. “I felt Taapsee fits the role of Anjana, the daughter of a rich industrialist in Mumbai perfectly.”
Apparently, Jiiva’s Ko and Taapsee’s Aadkulam helped the director take the budget forward. He was able to shoot a song in the exotic locales of Badaami near Karnataka.
In this film, the screenplay is its USP. “Santhanam, unlike other comedians in the industry, does not work in groups. He is committed, punctual and regular. And here, he has a significant role to play. If you observe, his tracks go with the main plot of the film.”
After two films with Vidyasagar, Kannan has gone for a change. Music director Thaman has scored the music. “Vidyasagar’s music is subtle and melodious. Since this film has Mumbai as the backdrop, I needed some fast-paced numbers, loud and boisterous in tune with the lifestyle of Mumbai,” he says.
Having assisted Mani Ratnam, the director has imbibed the director’s style of execution in his films. “He knows his script well before he starts rolling. He plans his scenes perfectly. But I have my own style with regard to script.” | ||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 80 | https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-film-directors-from-india/reference%3Fpage%3D14 | en | Famous Film Directors from India | https://imgix.ranker.com/list_img_v2/8044/348044/original/famous-film-directors-from-india-u1 | https://imgix.ranker.com/list_img_v2/8044/348044/original/famous-film-directors-from-india-u1 | [
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] | 2011-07-22T00:00:00 | List of famous film directors from India, listed alphabetically with photos when available. India has given birth to some great movie directors over the ... | en | /img/icons/touch-icon-iphone.png | Ranker | https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-film-directors-from-india/reference | List of famous film directors from India, listed alphabetically with photos when available. India has given birth to some great movie directors over the years, many of who have gone on to direct popular comedies, dramas, horror movies and more. These are some of the best Indian directors in the history of the world, so if you're a native of India and an aspiring director then these are people you should look up to.
This list contains items like Sibtain Fazli and Mohan.
This list answers the questions, "Who are the best Indian directors?" and "Which directors are from India?"
You can click on the names of these legendary directors of India in order to get more information about each one. If you're a film buff use this list of talented Indian directors to find some new movies you haven't already seen. | ||
17005 | yago | 1 | 0 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayamkondaan | en | Jayamkondaan | [
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] | 2007-11-13T17:28:09+00:00 | en | /static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayamkondaan | 2008 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film by R. Kannan
Jayam KondaanDirected byR. KannanWritten byPattukkottai Prabakar
(Dialogues)Screenplay byR. KannanStory byR. KannanProduced byT. G. Thiyagarajan
Selvi Thiyagarajan
T. ArjunStarringVinay Rai
Bhavana
Lekha Washington
Kishore
Nizhalgal Ravi
Malavika Avinash
Saranya Mohan
Vasundhara Kashyap
Vivek
SanthanamCinematographyBalasubramaniemEdited byV. T. VijayanMusic byVidyasagar
Production
company
Distributed bySatya Jyothi Movies
Release date
Running time
145 minutesCountryIndiaLanguageTamil
Jayam Kondaan (transl. The Victor) is a 2008 Tamil-language romantic action film directed and written by Kannan and produced by T. G. Thiyagarajan, Selvi Thiyagarajan,Sendhil Thyagarajan and T. Arjun. It stars Vinay Rai, Bhavana and Lekha Washington while Vivek, Santhanam, Kishore, Vasundhara Kashyap, Malavika Avinash, and Nizhalgal Ravi, among others, play supporting roles.
The film revolves around an NRI civil engineer who returns to Chennai from London to set up his own business. He feels that if one has to reach his goal in life, it is better to win over your enemies and take them along with you. He finds out that his late father had another family, and that his stepsister wants to steal his home. After clashes with his sister, he discovers another tragedy involving someone who wants to make a vendetta with the family. The film follows the sibling relationship and the threat from the avenger.
The film opened to worldwide audiences after several delays on 29 August 2008 to generally positive reviews.[1][2]
Plot
[edit]
Arjun (Vinay Rai) is an IT professional who resigns his job in London and returns to India, following his father's sudden death. He decides to set up a real estate business in Chennai from the funds he has saved so far. He goes to the bank to withdraw the money, but is shocked to see that only Rs.18,000 is available in his account. He estimated the amount to be Rs.65 lakhs. Arjun doubts that his father must have invested the money somewhere in India. He inquires with his father's friends to get to know about the money. At last, Arjun finds that his father has purchased a house in Madurai with the money, but also is shocked to know that his father had another wife named Chandrika (Malavika Avinash), who is a French teacher and has a daughter named Brinda (Lekha Washington) through her.
Brinda gets admission to study in MIT in the US, but her education loan is rejected. She decides to sell the house in Madurai and get the money needed for her education. Arjun comes to meet Chandrika and Brinda, asking Brinda not to sell the property as it was purchased through his money. Chandrika understands that her daughter's activities are not right and the house should belong to Arjun. Brinda is short tempered and does not listen to Chandrika. Chandrika hands over the house documents to Arjun, and he leaves to Madurai to sell the house.
At Madurai, he meets Durai Raj (Nizhalgal Ravi), a chilli vendor, and his daughter Annapurani (Bhavana), who are the tenants. Durai is a friend of Arjun's father. Arjun explains his situation and requests them to vacate the home so that he can sell. To convince Annapoorani, Arjun cooks up a story that both Annapoorani and Arjun are childhood friends. To his surprise, Brinda comes to Madurai to prevent Arjun from selling the property. She approaches Guna (Kishore), a local goon, to help her from stopping Arjun. Guna comes along with his wife Poongodhai (Vasundhara Kashyap) to the registrar office to stop the deal. A quarrel erupts between Arjun and Guna, and when Guna tries to hit Arjun with a hammer, Arjun hits the hammer's head, which ends up hitting Poongodhai, and she dies. This angers Guna, and he wants to kill Arjun.
Arjun escapes to Chennai with Brinda, but Chandrika passes away, and Brinda has no one to care for. Arjun takes Brinda to his home and asks her to stay with him, and she hesitantly agrees. Slowly, Arjun develops affection towards Brinda and decides to give the money to her for education. Annapurani comes to Chennai for a volleyball match, and love blossoms between her and Arjun. To Arjun's surprise, Arjun and Annapurani were really childhood friends and were so close during childhood. Arjun decides to leave to London and join his previous job as Guna keeps searching for him. On the day of Arjun's flight to London, Guna kidnaps Brinda. Arjun comes back from the airport to rescue Brinda, and in the fight, Guna gets killed. Brinda realizes her mistake and gets close with Arjun. Finally Brindha, Annapurni, and Arjun unite.
Cast
[edit]
Vinay Rai as Arjun Sekhar, an IT professional returning from London
Bhavana as Annapurani, the daughter of Durai Raj, who lives in Arjun's ancestral house
Lekha Washington as Brinda Sekhar, the illegitimate daughter of Arjun's father who wants to sell the ancestral house
Kishore as Guna, a rowdy in Madurai who begins to clash with Arjun
Vivek as Gopal, Arjun's friend
Malavika Avinash as Chandrika, Brinda's mother who is a French teacher
Nizhalgal Ravi as Durai Raj, a chilli vendor who lives in Arjun's family house and Annapurani's father
Saranya Mohan as Archana, Annapurani's sister
Vasundhara Kashyap as Poongodhai, Guna's wife
Santhanam as Bhavani, a chilli broker in Madurai
Krishna as Krishna, Arjun's friend
Cochin Haneefa as Kasi, Arjun's neighbor
Meera Krishnan as Annapurani's mother
Livingston as Police Officer
Devan Ekambaram as Devan, Arjun's friend and lawyer
Deepa Venkat as Aruna, Gopal's wife
Mekha Rajan as Meera Krishna, Krishna's wife
Aarthi as Sindha Mani
Mayilsamy as Advocate
Thalaivasal Vijay as Poongodhai's father
Kamala Krishnaswamy as Apartment President
Munnar Ramesh as Nagu, Guna's right hand man
George Maryan as Michael
Vatsala Rajagopal
R. S. Shivaji
Suja Varunee (special appearance in 'Ore Or Naal En')
Production
[edit]
The movie song “Nan Varainthu vaitha” song shot in Uzbekistan. Actress Bhavana dubbed her self in Tamil in this movie.
Reception
[edit]
The film received positive reviews and lauded by critics for its simplicity in its presentation. The film was described by Sify.com as a "breezy entertainer", with the reviewer taking a liking to the film, comparing Jayamkondaan to the films Run, Sandakozhi and the Malayalam film Kireedom. The script and direction is described as "successful due to straightforward narration and packaging".[2] Lekha Washington's performance was praised, citing that she "sparkles as the half sister in a well etched role" and is "the surprise packet and has the credentials to make it big". Vinay "looks too thin and fragile" but "adds to the film's energy", while Bhavana has nothing much to do other than "looking prim and proper".[2] Out of the comedians, Sify reports that Krishna and Santhanam were more effective than Vivek who at times you feel speaks more dialogues than necessary. Praise is also heaped on Athisaya as the small town girl who gets enamored by the rowdy, describing her as a "revelation", while Kishore "fits the bill as the bad guy".[2]
In unison, Rediff.com also praise the film as a "nice blend of the cinematic and logic".[1] The reviewer describes Vinay, "as the protagonist is very comfortable in his role" and thathe has "expressive eyes, emotes well, and makes sure his audience isn't disappointed. However Lekha Washington is clearly the surprise package", echoing Sify.com's views. However it claims that Bhavana, with her "soulful eyes and acting talent, could have done with a meatier role".[1] "The film has risen above the clichés as per the review of The Hindu and the reviewer has praised Vinay for choosing this film as his second project".[3]
Critics claimed that Kannan deserves credit for a "good job" on his story and screenplay.[1] Vidayasagar's music was described as is "so-so", there is a feeling that you have heard these tunes before with the "picturisation is nowhere near the high standards set up by the director's guru (Mani Ratnam).[2] Rediff claims that Balasubramaniam's camera makes sure the "viewers aren't treated to bizarre angles" and that V. T. Vijayan's editing is "slick and smooth".[1]
Soundtrack
[edit]
Jayam KondaanSoundtrack album by Released12 August 2008RecordedVarsha Vallaki StudiosGenreFeature film SoundtrackLength25:13LanguageTamilLabelThink Music
Ayngaran MusicProducerVidyasagarVidyasagar chronology
Muniyandi Vilangial Moonramandu
(2008) Jayam Kondaan
(2008) Alibhabha
(2008)
The film has six songs composed by Vidyasagar. The audio of the film released worldwide on 3 June 2008, two months prior to the release. The soundtrack was successfully received with praise.[4][vague]
Song title Singers Lyrics Length Description "Adaimazhai Kalam" Karthik Vaali 5:25 A montage/background number. "Adhaikoodavaa" Sriram Parthasarathy Kabilan 5:09 A duet picturized in Coorg featuring Vinay and Bhavana. "Naan Varaindhu Vaitha" Hariharan & Madhushree Yugabharathi 4:49 A romantic interlude featuring Vinay and Bhavana in Uzbekistan. Click here to Listen "Ore Or Naal En" Benny Dayal Vaali 4:22 An introduction song with Vinay and his friends in Pondicherry. "Sutrivarum Boomi" Sadhana Sargam Na. Muthukumar 4:42 The song features Bhavana and Saranya Mohan in the localities of Madurai. "Ullaasa Ulagam" Tippu A. Maruthakasi 2:39 A montage song which features the successes of Vinay and Kishore.
References
[edit] | ||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 59 | https://www.indiaglitz.com/kasethan-kadavulada-remake-update-mirchi-shiva-latest-update-movie-yogi-babu-karunakaran-priya-anand-r-kannan-aayutha-pooja-release-tamil-news-293596 | en | Mirchi Siva & Yogi Babu’s ‘Kasethan Kadavulada’ remake to release in theaters on this date? | [
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] | null | [
"IndiaGlitz"
] | 2021-08-23T00:00:00+00:00 | Actor Mirchi Siva has previously starred in the remake of Superstar Rajinikanth's comedy masterpiece 'Thillu Mullu'. Now, Siva is teaming up with Yogi Babu and Karunakaran | IndiaGlitz.com | https://www.indiaglitz.com/kasethan-kadavulada-remake-update-mirchi-shiva-latest-update-movie-yogi-babu-karunakaran-priya-anand-r-kannan-aayutha-pooja-release-tamil-news-293596 | Actor Mirchi Siva has previously starred in the remake of Superstar Rajinikanth's comedy masterpiece 'Thillu Mullu'. Now, Siva is teaming up with Yogi Babu and Karunakaran for the remake of the comedy classic 'Kasethan Kadavulada'. This remake is directed by R Kannan of Jayamkondaan and Ivan Thanthiran fame.
Remade with the same name, it is called 'Kasethan Kadavulada 2.0', the shooting of the movie kickstarted on 16th July 2021. The filming took place at a bungalow in ECR, Chennai. Indiaglitz had previously reported that the makers are shooting the film at a lavish bungalow for 20 days and will wrap up the entire shooting with a fight sequence between Shiva and Yogi Babu, choreographed by Stunt Silva.
The latest news is that the team had completed the shooting of Kasethan Kadavulada 2.0 in 35 days at a single stretch. They are planning to release the movie on the special occasion of Aayutha Pooja in theaters. Priya Anand is the female lead of this remake flick. Yogi Babu, Mirchi Siva, Priya Anand and Karunakaran are reprising the roles of Thengai Srinivasan, Ravichandran, Lakshmi and Srikanth respectively from the original movie.
The star cast includes Super Singer fame Sivaangi and Cooku with Comali fame Pugazh, Thalaivasal Vijay, Manobala, VTV Ganesh and many more prominent actors. N Kannan is scoring music and Prasana Kumar is handling cinematography. The movie is produced by director R.Kannan's production house Masala Pix in association with MKRP Productions. | ||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 75 | https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment/on-santhanams-birthday-check-out-the-list-of-popular-movies-featuring-the-comic-star/ | en | Page Not Found | [
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17005 | yago | 2 | 83 | https://www.jiotv.com/full-movie/jayamkondaan/65f967dbc08d5d658d58bcd566a8fecd | en | [
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17005 | yago | 3 | 20 | https://www.moviefone.com/movie/jayam-kondaan/20077897/main/ | en | Jayam Kondaan - Movie | [
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"R Kannan"
] | 2020-06-29T00:00:00 | Visit the movie page for 'Jayam Kondaan' on Moviefone. Discover the movie's synopsis, cast details and release date. Watch trailers, exclusive interviews, and movie review. Your guide to this cinematic experience starts here. | en | https://cdn.moviefone.com/legacy/assets/favicon/mf_favicon_rounded.ico | Moviefone | https://www.moviefone.com/movie/jayam-kondaan/20077897/main/ | NR 2 hr 25 minRomance, Action
The film revolves around an Information technology professional who returns to Chennai from London to set up his own business Follows the sibling relationship and the threat from the rowdy | ||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 22 | https://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/aug/29ssj.htm | en | Go watch Jayam Kondaan! | [
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] | null | [] | null | Jayam Kondaan is a nice blend of the cinematic and logic. It is a good, watchable fare. Go for it. | null | The hero and his friends are in a cinema theatre, crunching on popcorn and getting ready to watch a Vijay-starrer. But just as Vijay erupts on screen, a goon insults our hero's friends, rousing them into a fury. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But Sathya Jyothi Films' Jayam Kondaan (He Who is Victorious) has a twist: the hero plays pacifier, and smoothes down the issue. Reason: 'Not every problem can be solved by beating people up.'
That is the general tone of Tamil film, Jayam Kondaan, directed by R Kannan, the erstwhile assistant of Mani Ratnam. So has the student made sure his teacher's name remains unsullied? More or less. Which, in itself, is quite a victory.
For starters, Kannan seems to know that a good movie, like a good short story, gains a lot of points when it takes off right from the first scene -- the film begins with Arjun (Vinay) returning from London [Images] to start a new venture.
Arjun and his friends, including Vivek, are keen on enjoying life, and are full of eager plans to set up business in Chennai. But they need the capital first. They decide to utilise Arjun's savings, rather the money that his father left him. But when they withdraw it from the bank, they're in for a rude shock: there's only a meagre balance of a few thousand rupees left. What happened to the lakhs of money saved?
That sets the ball rolling. Careful enquiries turn up more shocking news: Arjun's father has had another family, most importantly, a daughter Brinda (Lekha Washington), who is determined to go to the MIT in the US. Arjun and Brinda have a clash when it comes to disposing off a property in Madurai [Images], supposedly bought from Arjun's own funds -- but neither can sell it without the other's approval. And then, battle lines are drawn.
Arjun journeys down to Madurai to take a look at the property himself, and meets the gangly, na�ve and attractive sports-girl Poorani (Bhavna), who mistakes him for her groom-to-be and falls at his feet. Much hilarity ensues, after which it is discovered that Arjun is here to sell the property and then hostilities start.
A reasonably fast-paced vendetta follows Arjun to Chennai, leading him to shack up with his angry step-sister. The man who had everything when he first came to Chennai -- now has nothing.
Vinay, as the protagonist is very comfortable in his role. He has expressive eyes, emotes well, and makes sure his audience isn't disappointed. But it is Lekha Washington, who is clearly the surprise package: this girl can act, and how.
Bhavna, with her soulful eyes and acting talent, could have done with a meatier role. As it is, she shines during the comic parts and has tried, with moderate success, to speak the Madurai tongue herself. It induces some laughter in the beginning, but she wins you over.
Vivek seems to have lost his touch; his jokes fall flat. Livingstone, even if he appears in a meagre role, is finally a true-blue police officer. Malavika, Santhanam and Nizhalgal Ravi have done well.
Kannan deserves credit for a good job on his story and screenplay. His twists and turns make you sit up, (Pattukkottai Prabhakar's dialogues are natural)Â -- and he etches small characters in a way that makes it easy to identify with them.
Balasubramaniam's camera makes sure the viewers aren't treated to bizarre angles. V T Vijayan's editing is slick and smooth.
Jayam Kondaan is a nice blend of the cinematic and logic. It is a good, watchable fare. Go for it.
Rediff Rating: | |||||||
17005 | yago | 3 | 2 | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1621424/fullcredits | en | Full Cast & Crew | [
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17005 | yago | 0 | 34 | https://www.komparify.com/entertainment/movie/jayam-kondaan | en | Jayam Kondaan Reviews, Ratings, Box Office, Trailers, Runtime | https://movieassetsdigital.sgp1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumb/a4fcdf6bdcdecd8f001ee077ec003b9b30da9144 | https://movieassetsdigital.sgp1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumb/a4fcdf6bdcdecd8f001ee077ec003b9b30da9144 | [
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"Komparify.com"
] | null | Jayam Kondaan / Jayamkondaan,The victor,Maargam,Jayam kondan,Jayamkondan Get aggregated reviews, box office, runtime, trailers, ratings, cast and crew, photos, posters, songs, tracklist, and videos. | komparify.com | https://www.komparify.com/entertainment/movie/jayam-kondaan | Jayam Kondaan is a 2008 Tamil-language Action Romance film written by R. Kannan, Pattukottai Prabhakar, T. Arjun, T.t.g. Thyaga Saravanan, Selvi Thyagarajan, T.g. Thyagarajan and Pattukkottai Prabakar. The movie is directed by R. Kannan and produced by T. G. Thiyagarajan, Selvi Thiyagarajan and T. Arjun under the banner of Sathya Jyothi Films. When Arjun relocates from London to Chennai to start a business, he finds out that his late father had a second family and that his half-sister Brinda is trying to sell their ancestral property. Jayam kondaan stars Lekha Washington, Nizhalgal Ravi, Malavika Avinash, Saranya Mohan, Vasundhara Kashyap, Vivek and R.s. Shivaji. The screenplay is written by R. Kannan. The music was composed by Vidyasagar. Cinematography was done by Balasubramaniem and editing by V. T. Vijayan. The film has a running time of 145 minutes. It was released on 29th August 2008. Distribution rights for the motion picture were acquired by Satya Jyothi Movies. | ||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 97 | https://masstamilan.com.im/jayam-songs | en | Jayam Masstamilan Tamil Songs Download | [
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Duration: 1:51 min (4.4 MB)
Singers: Tippu, Gowri, Raja, Ravi
Duration: 4:31 min (10.5 MB) | ||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 63 | http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/oct-10-04/vandhan-vendraan-jiiva-19-10-10.html | en | Vandhan Vendraan - Tamil Movie News - Vandhan Vendraan Jiiva - Vandhan Vendraan | [
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"Vandhan Vendraan",
"Jiiva",
"R Kannan"
] | null | [] | null | Vandhan Vendraan Jiiva R Kannan | null | Vandhan Vendraan, produced by Vasan Visual Ventures, who had given hits like Naan Kadavul and Boss Engira Bhaskaran, is being directed R Kannan, the director of Jayam Kondaan and Kandein Kadhalai.
Jiiva, Tapasee and Santhanam play the lead roles in this film which is about a youngster who crosses all hurdles to achieve the goals set for him.
VV is not just an action-love story but an emotional entertainer, we hear. The producer was happy over the screenplay and hence decided to rope in R Kannan.
Jiiva plays a boxer in this film and Tapasee as an architect. A major portion of the film happens in Mumbai and remaining in Chennai and in some villages. | |||||||
17005 | yago | 3 | 37 | https://www.digit.in/digit-binge/movies/jayamkondaan-750037.html | en | Jayamkondaan Movie (2008) | [
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] | null | [] | 2021-08-13T07:10:00+05:30 | Jayamkondaan Movie (2008) with release date, trailer, cast and songs. Find out where you can watch or stream this Tamil Action film online on DIgit Binge. | en | https://static.digit.in/digit_assets/images/favicon.ico | https://www.digit.in/digit-binge/movies/jayamkondaan-750037.html | Action | Romance | Drama | Adventure | Fantasy |
Tamil | 2 hr 25 min | Release Date Aug 28, 2008
6.2
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Jayamkondaan : Release Date, Trailer, Cast & Songs
Title Jayamkondaan Release status Released (OTT Release) Release date Aug 28, 2008 Language Tamil Genre Action, Romance, Drama, Adventure, Fantasy Actors Vinay, Bhavana, Lekha Washington, Kishore, Malavika Avinash, Nizhalgal Ravi, Meera Krishnan, Saranya Mohan, Livingston, Vasundhara Kashyap, Vivek, Aarthi, Thalaivasal Vijay, Santhanam, Krishna, Cochin Haneefa, Deepa Venkat, Mayilsamy, Kamala Krishnaswamy, George Maryan, Vatsala Rajagopal, Suja Varunee, Vinay Rai, Krishnakumar Ramakumar Director R. Kannan Digit binge rating 6.2 Streaming on MX Player Duration 2 hr 25 min
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17005 | yago | 0 | 62 | https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/shoot-for-kannans-next-with-santhanam-begins/articleshow/70956418.cms | en | Shoot for Kannan's next with Santhanam begins | [
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"TNN"
] | 2019-09-03T11:58:00+05:30 | The film, is said to be an action comedy, for which Santhanam is learning Silambam from action choreographer Stun Silva. | en | The Times of India | https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/shoot-for-kannans-next-with-santhanam-begins/articleshow/70956418.cms | Weekend Special: How to make Instant Beetroot Ragi Idli at home
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Wedding style inspiration from soon to be Mrs. Akkineni, Sobhita Dhulipala
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17005 | yago | 1 | 79 | http://kollya.blogspot.com/2008/08/jayam-kondaan-to-release-this-month-end.html | en | Jayam Kondaan to release this month end | [
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] | null | [] | null | The Vinay-Bhavana starrer, produced by Sathyajothi Films, is all set for an August-end release. Paving the way for biggies like Kuselan and ... | http://kollya.blogspot.com/favicon.ico | http://kollya.blogspot.com/2008/08/jayam-kondaan-to-release-this-month-end.html | The Vinay-Bhavana starrer, produced by Sathyajothi Films, is all set for an August-end release.
Paving the way for biggies like Kuselan and Sathyam, this movie, whose audio launch was held over two months ago, it is all set to hit the screens this month end.
Coming from a production house that has been nitpicky in choosing only family-oriented healthy entertainers, the movie is said to be an interesting love story.
Directed by R Kannan, a former assistant to Maniratnam for movies like Guru, Kannathil Muthamittal and Ayutha Ezhuthu, the music has been done by Vidyasagar, which is already famous.
One of the songs in the movie, Naan Varaindhu Vaitha, sung by Madhusree and Hariharan, was shot in the rarely captured mosque called Bibi-Khanym Mosque of Uzbekistan.
“I told the story over two years ago and it has come out very well. We’ve not exaggerated anything in the story, which is about a relationship between Vinay, a civil engineer educated abroad, and Bhavana, a sprightly volleyball player in Madurai,” explains the director.
However, the suspense element in the movie is an untold relationship between the main characters in the movie, Vinay, Bhavana and Lekha Washington.
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] | null | [] | 2008-01-01T00:00:00+00:00 | Arjun (Vinay) is an IT professional who was in London for years, and has now come down to Chennai to set up his own business. He has a wide friends ci⦠| en | /assets/favicon/apple-touch-icon-9a18d92f405f4cba68b503b186df5f5b.png | Apple TV | https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/jayam-kondaan/umc.cmc.71k9imt0r4kodsvlzvdj3zax | |||||
17005 | yago | 3 | 76 | http://kollya.blogspot.com/2008/08/jayam-kondaan-to-release-this-month-end.html | en | Jayam Kondaan to release this month end | [
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] | null | [] | null | The Vinay-Bhavana starrer, produced by Sathyajothi Films, is all set for an August-end release. Paving the way for biggies like Kuselan and ... | http://kollya.blogspot.com/favicon.ico | http://kollya.blogspot.com/2008/08/jayam-kondaan-to-release-this-month-end.html | The Vinay-Bhavana starrer, produced by Sathyajothi Films, is all set for an August-end release.
Paving the way for biggies like Kuselan and Sathyam, this movie, whose audio launch was held over two months ago, it is all set to hit the screens this month end.
Coming from a production house that has been nitpicky in choosing only family-oriented healthy entertainers, the movie is said to be an interesting love story.
Directed by R Kannan, a former assistant to Maniratnam for movies like Guru, Kannathil Muthamittal and Ayutha Ezhuthu, the music has been done by Vidyasagar, which is already famous.
One of the songs in the movie, Naan Varaindhu Vaitha, sung by Madhusree and Hariharan, was shot in the rarely captured mosque called Bibi-Khanym Mosque of Uzbekistan.
“I told the story over two years ago and it has come out very well. We’ve not exaggerated anything in the story, which is about a relationship between Vinay, a civil engineer educated abroad, and Bhavana, a sprightly volleyball player in Madurai,” explains the director.
However, the suspense element in the movie is an untold relationship between the main characters in the movie, Vinay, Bhavana and Lekha Washington.
Related Posts by Categories
.... | ||||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 80 | http://cinebazaar.blogspot.com/2008/10/jeyam-kondaan.html | en | Jeyam Kondaan | https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uhikOifmuNcSb6V2pQcegsAFcQpFjZXpQZFgF1fpArfCuQYanTkDFcdlAawE50uuZ3pz1IoceUNXc1EWRCu4S_vK5Ircuk3VA5WnEYsgNQ2pJ9J7k3QWbsAl70m9ye7VLvfQ=w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu | https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uhikOifmuNcSb6V2pQcegsAFcQpFjZXpQZFgF1fpArfCuQYanTkDFcdlAawE50uuZ3pz1IoceUNXc1EWRCu4S_vK5Ircuk3VA5WnEYsgNQ2pJ9J7k3QWbsAl70m9ye7VLvfQ=w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu | [
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] | null | [] | null | Cast Vinay, Bhavana, Lekha Washington, Vivek, Santhanam, Nizhalgal Ravi, Cochin Haneefa Review: With chocolate-boy Vinay, Bhavana and Lekha... | http://cinebazaar.blogspot.com/favicon.ico | http://cinebazaar.blogspot.com/2008/10/jeyam-kondaan.html | Cast
Vinay, Bhavana, Lekha Washington, Vivek, Santhanam, Nizhalgal Ravi, Cochin Haneefa
Review:
With chocolate-boy Vinay, Bhavana and Lekha Washington in the lead roles, at first glance Jayam Kondaan gives the impression of being a soft, romantic film. But in reality, the film goes well beyond that; having a fine blend of sentiment, romance, comedy and action, it is a thorough entertainer.
Responsible and highly-qualified, Arjun (Vinay) returns to India after a sojourn in London. His ambition is to start a construction company, providing local employment to deserving Indians. But a whirlwind of problems distract him from this dream. Whether he manages to overcome these problems and fulfil his goal constitutes the remaining plot of Jayam Kondaan.
Arjun's string of problems begins in his home. When he checks his deceased father's savings account to pool funds for his project, he is surprised to find just a meagre sum in the account; he also unearths a shocking truth. His father had another family comprising his wife and a daughter Brinda (Lekha Washington). Soon, coming to grips with the fact and taking it in his stride, Arjun travels to Madurai to inspect his father's property which he wishes to sell to raise funds for his dream project. He holds discussions with the tenant (who has been occupying the house for a very long time) to work out a deal with the old man and his beautiful daughter Poorani (Bhavana) to make them vacate the house. In the bargain, Arjun also has some romantic interludes with Poorani and a sweet romance blossoms between them.
Meanwhile, Arjun's half-sister Brinda (Lekha Washington) too tries to sell the same property, claiming equal rights of inheritance. Brinda, in a bid to go a step ahead of Arjun, contacts the local rowdy Guna (Kishore Kumar) and takes his help in driving Arjun out of house. However, Arjun takes the legal route; through legal means, he establishes his ownership. But the court verdict does not put an end to Arjun's problems; Guna, along with his thugs, appears for Brinda. What begins as a polite exchange of words develops into a fiery argument. In the tussle that follows, Arjun accidentally kills Guna's wife. Guna takes the loss seriously and chases Arjun with a vengeance to kill him.
Meanwhile, putting all the bad experiences behind him, Arjun compromises with Brinda and settles down with her in the same property. Though Arjun extends a pure brotherly love for her, Brinda is not the submissive kind to forget the past. She continues to detest him. Finally, both Arjun and Brinda find a way out of their embarrassing co-existence; Brinda decides to pursue her education in a foreign university and Arjun too, decides to go back to London. Poorani comes forward to finance Arjun's trip. Does the separation diffuse the animosity between Brinda and Arjun? Does Arjun's decision work out in his favour? Does he finally leave his half-sister Brinda to face her problems on her own? Does Poorani's love assuage all the hardship he has earned? Will Arjun remember Poorani's timely help and come back to make her his wife? How does he put an end to Guna's revenge? Watch Jayam Kondaan to know!
Director R. Kannan (Mani Ratnam's understudy) has done well in his debut. Playing within the commercial formula constraints, he has presented a strong storyline with an emotional undercurrent in Jayam Kondaan. Lekha's character is particularly penned with significance, almost equal to the hero's role. And that must have been quite a challenge for the actress to perform in her big screen debut. After the romantic caper Unnalae Unnalae, it is an adventure of sorts for hero Vinay too. However, the change does not stop with his looks. He has handled the character with suitable maturity and performed a balanced act, being the charming lover-boy, a caring brother and an ambitious person.
In fact, though the chemistry between Vinay and Bhavana is so charmingly evident, no extra emphasis is given to their romance (unlike usual potboilers). From a mutual understanding, their friendship develops into a beautiful romance and grows with each sequence in the film into a matured relationship. In the last sequence (when Vinay leaves for the airport and Bhavana asks him where to get a passport since she has to join him later), the emotion portrayed between the two perfectly projects the director's message. Vivek is Vinay's ally in the city and Santhanam is his aide in Madurai. Both their comedy tracks add to the entertainment value. Kishore Kumar's role as the villain resembles his character in Pollaadhavan. However, his performance in Jayam Kondaan is sure to earn plaudits.
Cameraman Balasubramaniem's colour combinations in the song sequences are appealing. 'Naan Varaindhu Vaitha Oviyam' with Yugabharathy's lyrics and Vidyasagar's music is a lovely song.
All in all, youthful entertainer Jayam Kondaan is another winning production from the Sathyajothi Films stable. | ||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 23 | http://somaasri.blogspot.com/2008/09/jayam-kondaan.html | en | CrossRoads: Jayam Kondaan | [
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17005 | yago | 3 | 21 | http://somaasri.blogspot.com/2008/09/jayam-kondaan.html | en | CrossRoads: Jayam Kondaan | [
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17005 | yago | 0 | 74 | https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/delhi-belly-to-mumbai-underbelly/article4564322.ece | en | Delhi Belly to Mumbai underbelly | [
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] | 2013-03-30T10:05:51+00:00 | Director R. Kannan, whose Settai releases this week, on why he alternates original films with remakes | en | https://www.thehindu.com/favicon.ico | The Hindu | https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/delhi-belly-to-mumbai-underbelly/article4564322.ece | Two out of the four films he has directed, including Settai , that's releasing on April 5, are remakes.
But director R. Kannan isn't the least bit insecure.
“A good script takes three years to write. I spend a lot of time researching and detailing my script. A remake, on the other hand, is a little less work. That's why after I did an original film Jayam Kondaan , I did Kanden Kathalai (a remake of Jab We Met ) and then an original Vanthaan Vendraan and now the remake... Settai ,” he says.
A huge departure
While the Jab We Met remake was faithful to the original with just a comedy track by Santhanam added to it, Settai is a huge departure. Kannan has taken the expletive-ridden Delhi Belly and turned it into a film that the Censors recently awarded a U certificate!
A toilet-humour based film turned into a clean, family entertainer, as the makers want us to believe. How is that even possible?
“ Settai is about a journalist and how he achieves his dream of making headlines. This was a line that was in the original film but wasn't exploited enough. So we took away the vulgar content because the Tamil audiences are not ready for it,” explains Kannan. “Otherwise, we have retained the original look, style, costumes and even the kind of performances. Only the jokes have been rewritten.”
The film works better in Tamil, he says.
“The friendship between the three roommates is the crux of the film. We have balanced it out and given all the three equal importance,” he adds.
“Not even ten per cent of the Tamil audiences would have seen Delhi Belly . The fact that it is a remake will not matter beyond Chengalpet. So it's like any other new film.”
Set in Mumbai
Kannan decided to set the film in Mumbai because of the plot elements from the original. “Prostitution, gun culture, kidnapping, etc. would have looked out of place in Chennai. So while we have retained the nativity by making the three work for a Tamil newspaper, we had to base it in Mumbai.”
The casting was an elaborate process, says Kannan.
“Arya suited the young look we wanted and he's one of the most selfless actors who puts the script ahead of his role. Though he initially wondered how well we would be able to adapt Delhi Belly , once he heard it, he agreed immediately. He has a very good equation with Santhanam, who came on board next. Instead of casting a new actor who had to play the third friend, we decided to look at people who were already good friends with Arya and Santhanam in real life and Premgi was one of them. Our casting helped a lot to make sure that the guys did look like they had been friends for 10-15 years.”
“Casting Hansika as an airhostess was easy since she is from Mumbai, but we had to work on Anjali because we were casting her against the type. We have given her a sophisticated look. So the audience used to her rustic looks will be surprised. Nasser took up the role because his son had told him that nobody could do what Vijay Raaz did. He liked the challenge and he's really good in the film.”
Has anyone from the original team watched the film?
The producers from UTV did, he says. “We sent them the full film with English subtitles and they said they didn't realise how well it could be adapted for the native audiences here.”
After Settai, Kannan will start work on his new project. | ||||
17005 | yago | 2 | 82 | https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/7941523 | en | Jayamkondaan | [
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] | null | [] | null | Infobox Film name =Jayamkondaan writer = Kannan starring = Vinay Rai, Bhavana, Lekha Washington, Vivek, Santhanam, Cochin Hanifa, Saranya Mohan director = Kannan producer = T. G. Thiyagarajan distributor = released = August 29, 2008 runtime =… | en | https://en-academic.com/favicon.ico | Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias | https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/7941523 | cite web|work=Sify.com (Moviebuzz)|title=Jayam Kondaan|url=http://sify.com/movies/tamil/review.php?id=14748742&ctid=5&cid=2429|accessdate=2008-08-29]
Plot
Arjun (Vinay) is an IT professional who was in London for years, and has now come down to Chennai to set up his own business. He has a wide friends circle like Krishna (Krishna), Gopal (Vivek) and their wives, who make merry. Arjun's philosophy in life is to be always cool and never lose one's temper under any circumstances. He feels if one has to reach his goal in life it is better to win over your enemies and take them along.
However Arjun is shocked when he finds that his late father had another family, and his half sister Brinda (Lekha Washington) is now trying to sell his family house in Madurai. She needs the money to go to US, as she has got a scholarship at MIT! They lock horns over the property and land up in Madurai, where a red chilly dealer (Nizhalgal Ravi) is staying in their house with his daughter Annapoorni (Bhavana). Arjun pretends that Poorni is his childhood sweetheart, wins her over and manages to get her vacated from the premise.
There is a rowdy Guna (Kishore) who is a terror in Madurai and Arjun gets entangled with him that leads to an accident in which his wife Poonkodi (Athisaya) gets killed. Now Guna is baying for revenge as he follows Arjun to Chennai. The rest of the film is how Arjun tries to take the responsibilities as a big brother and wins over Brinda and deals with Guna, who is determined to kill him.
Cast
*Vinay Rai ... as Arjun Sekhar. An IT professional returning from London, Arjun has plans to start his own business. Arjun's philosophy in life is to be always cool and never lose one's temper under any circumstances. He feels if one has to reach his goal in life it is better to win over your enemies and take them along.
*Bhavana ... as Annapurani. A champion volleyball player and student from Madurai. She is the daughter of the chilli vendor, who lives in Arjun's family house.
*Lekha Washington ... as Brinda. Illegitimate daughter of Arjun's father, whom wnats to sell the family house in order to afford to travel to America to study at the MIT. Clashes with Arjun regarding the sale of the family house.
*Kishore ... as Guna. A rowdy in Madurai who begins to clash with Arjun following the tragedy caused upon him by Arjun, who unintentionally was involved in the killing of his wife.
*Adhisayaa ... as Poonkodi. The village wife of Guna, who gets killed in a mishap by Arjun. Causes the major conflict between Arjun and Guna.
*Santhanam ... as . A carefee friend of Arjun.
*Vivek ... as Gopal. married carefee friend of Arjun.
Release
Reviews | ||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 43 | http://www.geocities.ws/bbreviews/2008/jkondaan.html | en | [
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] | null | [] | null | null | I mentioned that Dhaam Dhoom appeared to be less than the sum of its parts. Jayam Kondaan, on the other hand, seems to be more than the sum of its parts. It is stocked with rather familiar characters and it puts them in familiar situations. But the tight screenplay ties things together in entertaining fashion and as a result, it is an engaging, even if unexciting, film.
Arjun(Vinay), having had enough of the sacrifices he was forced to make for the sake of his job in London, has returned home with dreams of launching his own business. Planning to use as capital, the money he had sent to his father while in London, he is shocked to find that very little of the money left. Further digging leads him to more shocking news about his father. Arjun travels to Thirumangalam to sell his father's house and get his capital and manages to charm the tenants, a chilli seller and his daughter Poorani(Bhavana), living in the house. But he soon finds out that he has some competition.
The film has a number of story tracks and characters and this makes the two and a half hours go by fast. Many of these characters and the situations they get into may have a familiar feel but the director is able to overcome the nagging feeling with his screenplay. It keeps moving with almost no slow spots and keeps us entertained. At the same time, the movie can't boast of any real high points that could have pushed it up from just a good movie to a great movie. It has romance(Vinay's first meeting with Bhavana is very sweet), comedy(Vivek has his moments as a henpecked husband), emotions(for instance, the point where Lekha realizes what Vinay's done for her) and small surprises but none of these are strong enough to really thrill us.
Like Kokki, Jayam Kondaan benefits from having a hero who tries to avoid trouble instead of looking for it or tackling it head-on when it comes. So, while the movie creates many familiar situations, they are not always resolved in familiar ways. The nature of looking for a trouble-free way out also makes Vinay more realistic and easier to warm up to. Lekha is also an interesting character. While she is stubborn and doesn't always think straight (atleast in hindsight), she has strong, acceptable reasons for doing what she does. So we're unable to really takes sides in the fight between Vinay and her and this makes the movie interesting.
With the heavy story, the director is able to keep the movie lean without any unnecessary frills. And the leanness isn't just the lack of a separate comedy track or forcibly inserted fight sequences. Almost every scene(like the first one where Vinay gifts Lekha a pen) that appears to be a one-off incident and every character(like the dada's wife) that appears to be an unnecessary character, end up playing a part in the proceedings. | |||||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 58 | https://www.yidio.com/movie/jayam-kondaan/133639 | en | Watch Jayam Kondaan | [
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] | null | [] | 2008-08-23T00:00:00 | Watch Jayam Kondaan Online. Jayam Kondaan the 2008 Movie, Trailers, Videos and more at Yidio. | en | //cfm.yidio.com/favicon-16.png | Yidio | https://www.yidio.com/movie/jayam-kondaan/133639 | Jayam Kondaan is a 2008 Tamil romantic-comedy film directed by Kannan and produced by T. G. Thiyagarajan of Sathyam Cinemas. The film stars Vinay Rai, Bhavana, and Lekha Washington in lead roles, with Vivek, Santhanam, and Kishore also appearing in supporting roles. The movie was a commercial success at the box office. Jayam Kondaan tells the story of Arjun (Vinay Rai), a civil engineer, who comes to Chennai from Coimbatore to complete his studies. Arjun meets Anu (Lekha Washington), a college student, and they fall in love. However, when Arjun's father (Nizhalgal Ravi) learns about their relationship, he opposes it as Anu is from a different community.
Meanwhile, Arjun meets Jo (Bhavana), a television journalist, when he saves her from a group of gangsters. Jo helps Arjun find a job, and they become friends. Arjun is unaware that Jo has feelings for him. Jo's father (Mayilsamy) asks Arjun to marry Jo as she is in love with him, but Arjun tells him that he loves someone else. Jo is heartbroken and decides to leave Chennai.
Arjun's father fixes his marriage with Meera (Kavitha), a girl from his community. Arjun agrees to the marriage as he believes that he can forget Anu with time. However, when he meets Anu again, he realizes that his feelings for her have not changed. Arjun is torn between his love for Anu and his commitment to Meera.
The rest of the movie follows Arjun's attempts to win over Anu and convince his father to accept their relationship. He also tries to stop Jo from leaving Chennai and apologizes to her for hurting her. Along the way, Arjun faces numerous obstacles, including a gangster who wants to kill him and a corrupt politician who wants to destroy his career.
Jayam Kondaan is a romantic-comedy that balances humor with drama. The chemistry between the lead actors, Vinay Rai, Bhavana, and Lekha Washington, is excellent. Vinay Rai delivers a decent performance as Arjun while Bhavana and Lekha Washington are impressive as Jo and Anu respectively.
The movie's music, composed by Vidyasagar, is also noteworthy. The songs, especially "Jayam Kondaan" and "Unnai Naan", were popular among audiences. The film's cinematography, by K. V. Guhan, is top-notch. The visuals capture Chennai's beauty, and the action scenes are well choreographed.
In conclusion, Jayam Kondaan is an entertaining movie that will leave you with a smile on your face. The film's romantic-comedy genre, coupled with excellent performances by the lead actors, makes it a must-watch for fans of the genre. The movie's music and cinematography add to its appeal. Jayam Kondaan is an enjoyable watch that you won't regret. | ||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 1 | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1621424/ | en | Jayam Kondaan (2008) | [
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17005 | yago | 0 | 19 | https://trakt.tv/people/r-kannan | en | R. Kannan | [
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Hand crafted around the world. | ||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 81 | https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/biskoth-will-be-for-santhanam-what-imsai-arasan-23am-pulikesi-was-for-vadivelu-director-kannan/ | en | ‘Biskoth’ Will Be For Santhanam What ‘Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi’ Was For Vadivelu: Director Kannan | [
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"Aparajitha Balu"
] | 2020-07-23T19:26:59+05:30 | Actor Santhanam has a string of films in the pipeline that are in different stages of production - debutant Karthik Yogi’s Dikkiloona ready for release, A1 fame director K Johnson's untitled halted at the first leg of shoot, and R Kannan's Biskoth also gearing up for a release. | en | Silverscreen India | https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/biskoth-will-be-for-santhanam-what-imsai-arasan-23am-pulikesi-was-for-vadivelu-director-kannan/ | Actor Santhanam has a string of films in the pipeline that are in different stages of production—debutant Karthik Yogi’s Dikkiloona ready for release, A1 fame director K Johnson‘s untitled halted at the first leg of shoot, and R Kannan‘s Biskoth also gearing up for a release.
While colourful posters of Dikkiloona were unveiled recently, details regarding Santhanam’s characters in Biskoth have been revealed now by director Kannan. The film, which is being bankrolled by his Masala Pix banner in association with MK Ramprasad’s MKRP Productions, will be the first time Santhanam is working as the director’s leading man, after their associations in films like Jayam Kondaan (2008) and Kandaen Kaathalai (2009).
Director Kannan has revealed that Santhanam plays a king named Rajasimha in the film and that the respective portions of the character have been shot at sets constructed in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. “This portion and character will feature for about 30 minutes in the film. Drawing references from ancient times, art director Rajkumar managed to pull off wonderful sets and the required props, perfectly recreating the palaces from the 18th century. Costume designer Priya had a tough time working on the outfit of not just Santhanam sir but also for the rest of the 500 background artists who feature in that 30-minute sequence. The visuals of Shanmuga Sundharam (96 fame) have come out really well and seem like they are straight out of a painting,” says Kannan.
Speaking of Biskoth and its lead actor Santhanam, Kannan says, “A biscuit factory plays a very important role in the film, and hence we gave it the title Biskoth. The film will see Santhanam playing three roles, one from the 18th century, one from the 80s, and one from the current times. The connection between the three roles will be understood once the film releases.”
“Post-lockdown and all the chaos around the pandemic, people would definitely need something to refresh their minds and pump their energy. In that way, Biskoth is going to be the perfect film not just for Santhanam fans but for all audiences who require unwinding. We’ve tried to showcase the different shades of Santhanam in the film, unlike the usual ones we’ve seen in his films until now and Santhanam has been extremely cooperative in this sense. For the Kalaripayattu (Kalari) sequences in the film, he first underwent training with stunt master Hari Dinesh and then only got onto the set. I’m confident that Biskoth is going to be a trademark film for Santhanam just like how Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi was for comedian Vadivelu. It will definitely be appreciated by all.”
Sowcar Janaki, who was last seen in the Karthi starrer Thambi, will be essaying the actor’s grandmother in the film which marks her 400th film. “I have enjoyed her work since Thillu Mullu (1981) and wanted her to be a part of my film. As always, she has done a wonderful job,” says Kannan.
Tara Alisha Berry who was paired opposite Santhanam in A1 will be seen with the actor in this film too. Debutant Swathi Muppala will play the second female lead. Apart from them, Anand Raj, Motta Rajendran, Sivashankar, and ‘Lollu Sabha’ Manohar have also landed important roles.
Arjun Reddy/Adithya Varma fame Radhan is composing music, Selva RK is editing and Sandy and Sathish are choreographing dance. Kiruthiya and Radhan have penned the lyrics.
The first look poster of the film was unveiled a few months back. With the final cut ready, the trailer will drop soon and will see a release in theatres post-lockdown. Trident Arts‘ R Ravindran will be releasing Biskoth.
Read: The ‘Biskoth’ First Look Poster Featuring Santhanam Screams 80s : Out Now
While Santhanam’s previous film Dagaalty helmed by Vijay Anand did not do well in the box office, his long-pending release Server Sundaram helmed by Anand Balki is still awaiting a theatrical release. Rumours have also surfaced that the film might opt for a direct OTT release if the deal comes through.
Watch the teaser of Dagaalty here: | |||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 22 | https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Mar/07/hurting-others-has-never-been-my-intention-1947659.html | en | Hurting others has never been my intention: R Kannan | [
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"Navein Darshan"
] | 2019-03-07T00:00:00 | Despite the theatre shut-down issues plaguing the release of his previous film, Ivan Thanthiran, and the multiple postponements of his recent film, Boomerang, he remains positive. | en | /favicon.ico | The New Indian Express | https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Mar/07/hurting-others-has-never-been-my-intention-1947659.html | “What goes around comes around. We have given our best for the film and believe our hard work will be reflected in the form of audience’s response.” The film too is about karma, he says. “It plays a major role in the plot. We initially named the film Alangaram, and came up with almost twelve versions. What the audience are going to watch on screen is the final version titled Boomerang.”
After debuting with a family drama, Jayam Kondaan, Kannan did a couple of romantic films before switching on to social thrillers with Ivan Thanthiran. Asked if he always wanted to make films carrying a social message, he says, “ Maturity determines the kind of film a director makes. One can’t survive forever in this competitive industry by making only love films. To make heads turn, a creator should make films that address real-life issues and politics. Boomerang will be a step ahead of Ivan Thanthiran. It can be called my most political film till date.”
Despite his films being heavy on political content, Kannan hasn’t faced any backlash or threats. “I’ve never got a threat call because of my films (laughs). Hurting others has never been my intention. Irukardha dhana solrom... Cinema is a reflection of society. If they shut down TASMAC shops today, there won’t be bar songs or drinking-related jokes in upcoming films. It’s as simple as that.”
Taking a look at the promos of Boomerang, it’s hard not to see similarities to Aayutha Ezhuthu, directed by his “guru” Mani Ratnam. Quizzed if Boomerang has any connection with the 2004 political thriller, he says,” No, there’s nothing in common. The look and feel might seem similar, but once Boomerang hits the theatres, its uniqueness will be evident.”
Atharvaa, the lead of Boomerang, has signed one more film with Kannan, which goes on floors in April. Asked if he was the first choice for Boomerang, Kannan says, “The script demanded a youngster who could play the role of an IT professional and also one that needed a seasoned performer. Atharvaa was perfect; all his performances after Paradesi have been refined and flawless. The audience will witness the performer in him in this film.”
He goes on to talk about the physical transformation and strain that Atharvaa had to undergo for the role. “He has two never-before-seen getups in this film. The looks demanded that he shave his head and sport a prosthetic makeup. He readily agreed to do all this, despite working on a couple of films in parallel.”
The director’s not one to let past grouses dictate his relationships. RJ Balaji, for instance, played an important role in Kannan’s Ivan Thanthiran, though there was a spat between the actor and director over the former’s review of Settai. “Our friendship is like a Kollywood love story. We met over a fight and then it slowly transformed into a beautiful friendship. During the scripting of Ivan Thanthiran, my co-directors felt that he would be apt for the role. When I called him, he was genuinely scared that I was plotting revenge on him by casting him in a bad role. But we became good friends on the sets, and in fact, Balaji himself has said to me several times that he got the idea and confidence to do LKG after working with me in these two films.”
Traditionally, whenever a film has multiple female leads, one is portrayed as a ambitious and no-nonsense girl and the other one is plain silly. But Kannan denies that will never be the case in any of his films. “I come form Mani (Ratnam) sir’s school and I can never write an immature female character and call it ‘bubbly’. Both Megha Akash and Indhuja have equal importance in the film and they are sensible and independent.”
Out of the seven films in his career, two of them (Kanden Kadhalai and Settai) are remakes of Bollywood films, Jab We Met and Delhi Belly. Asked if he would ever direct a remake again, he says, “No. I believe the writing is stronger when a director writes his own film. I’m able to infuse a lot of social messages when I write my scripts, but while doing remakes, the options are highly restricted.” He goes on to reveal the reasons behind his remakes: “I had to direct both films under compulsion. I did Kanden Kadhalai as Dhananjayan sir insisted and Settai happened because of my friendship with Arya and Santhanam.”
The biggest films of Kannan’s guru, Mani Ratnam, were inspired from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharatha. Quizzed if he would ever make a film inspired from a book, Kannan says, “Definitely. I love Ki Rajanarayanan’s books; the dialects and references he uses in his books are unique and amazing. I also love Jayakanthan’s novels. All his books were 30-40 years ahead of their time. He broke a lot of superstitions and made heads turn. If I ever make a film on novels, it would be based on their works.”
Though Kannan’s Boomerang is finally hitting the screens this week, there are still numerous films struggling to get released. “The accumulation of amateurish films is the reason for this. Munadi madhri yeno thaano nu padam edukka mudiyadhu. I believe the situation is improving slowly and films being made now are more refined. Producers’ Council is also trying its best to take the films to the audience. The change is near!” It’s very much a sign of the optimist he is. | ||||
17005 | yago | 2 | 20 | https://watch.plex.tv/movie/jayam-kondaan | en | Jayam Kondaan | https://images.plex.tv/photo?size=large-1280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmetadata-static.plex.tv%2F7%2Fgracenote%2F7482f50a43ee4573db58763abfb4cb37.jpg | https://images.plex.tv/photo?size=large-1280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmetadata-static.plex.tv%2F7%2Fgracenote%2F7482f50a43ee4573db58763abfb4cb37.jpg | [
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] | null | [] | 2008-08-29T00:00:00 | Jayam Kondaan (2008) starring Vinay Rai, Bhavana, Lekha Washington and directed by R. Kannan. | en | /icons/favicon.ico | https://watch.plex.tv/movie/jayam-kondaan | When Arjun relocates from London to Chennai to start a business, he finds out that his late father had a second family and that his half-sister Brinda is trying to sell their ancestral property. | |||
17005 | yago | 3 | 83 | https://www.tiktok.com/discover/Thupparivaalan%3Flang%3Den | en | Make Your Day | [] | [] | [] | [
""
] | null | [] | null | en | null | ||||||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 75 | https://letterboxd.com/director/r-kannan/ | en | Films directed by R. Kannan | [
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] | null | [] | null | Films directed by R. Kannan | en | https://letterboxd.com/director/r-kannan/ | Letterboxd is an independent service created by a small team, and we rely mostly on the support of our members to maintain our site and apps. Please consider upgrading to a Pro account—for less than a couple bucks a month, you’ll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages (example), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads! | ||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 97 | https://www.latestly.com/entertainment/south/the-great-indian-kitchen-malayalam-film-starring-suraj-venjaramood-nimisha-sajayan-to-be-remade-in-tamil-and-telugu-by-r-kannan-2327343.html | en | The Great Indian Kitchen, Malayalam Film Starring Suraj Venjaramood – Nimisha Sajayan, To Be Remade In Tamil And Telugu By R Kannan! | [
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"Team Latestly"
] | 2021-02-18T10:14:36+05:30 | The Great Indian Kitchen is the recently released Malayalam film that starred Suraj Venjaramood and Nimisha Sajayan in the lead, written and directed by Jeo Baby. 🎥 The Great Indian Kitchen, Malayalam Film Starring Suraj Venjaramood – Nimisha Sajayan, To Be Remade In Tamil And Telugu By R Kannan!. | en | https://stfe.latestly.com/images/fav/favicon.ico?ver=112 | LatestLY | https://www.latestly.com/entertainment/south/the-great-indian-kitchen-malayalam-film-starring-suraj-venjaramood-nimisha-sajayan-to-be-remade-in-tamil-and-telugu-by-r-kannan-2327343.html | The Great Indian Kitchen is the recently released Malayalam film that starred Suraj Venjaramood and Nimisha Sajayan in the lead as the onscreen husband and wife duo. Written and directed by Jeo Baby, this film was directly released on the Malayalam OTT platform, Neestream, on January 15, after it was rejected to be released by other streaming giants and television channels. The film shows how ‘a newly married woman struggles to be the submissive wife that her husband and his family expect her to be’. The Great Indian Kitchen Movie Review: Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Social Drama Is Brilliant! (LatestLY Exclusive).
The Great Indian Kitchen opened to positive reviews for its engaging narrative, well-written characters, highlighting on patriarchal system, religion and much more. This much-loved film is now been remade by filmmaker R Kannan in Tamil and Telugu languages. As per industry expert Sreedhar Pillai, popular actors will be roped in for the remake versions and it is reportedly been planned to be released in theatres.
The Great Indian Kitchen To Be Remade By R Kannan
R Kannan had made his directorial debut in 2008 with the Tamil film Jayamkondaan that starred Vinay Rai and Bhavana. His second directorial project was Kanden Kadhalai, a remake of Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met. He has also remade the Hindi film Delhi Belly in Tamil titled Settai. There are many more intriguing films written and directed by him. We just cannot wait to hear more details on The Great Indian Kitchen remake! | ||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 4 | https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Mar/07/hurting-others-has-never-been-my-intention-1947659.html | en | Hurting others has never been my intention: R Kannan | [
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"Navein Darshan"
] | 2019-03-07T00:00:00 | Despite the theatre shut-down issues plaguing the release of his previous film, Ivan Thanthiran, and the multiple postponements of his recent film, Boomerang, he remains positive. | en | /favicon.ico | The New Indian Express | https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Mar/07/hurting-others-has-never-been-my-intention-1947659.html | “What goes around comes around. We have given our best for the film and believe our hard work will be reflected in the form of audience’s response.” The film too is about karma, he says. “It plays a major role in the plot. We initially named the film Alangaram, and came up with almost twelve versions. What the audience are going to watch on screen is the final version titled Boomerang.”
After debuting with a family drama, Jayam Kondaan, Kannan did a couple of romantic films before switching on to social thrillers with Ivan Thanthiran. Asked if he always wanted to make films carrying a social message, he says, “ Maturity determines the kind of film a director makes. One can’t survive forever in this competitive industry by making only love films. To make heads turn, a creator should make films that address real-life issues and politics. Boomerang will be a step ahead of Ivan Thanthiran. It can be called my most political film till date.”
Despite his films being heavy on political content, Kannan hasn’t faced any backlash or threats. “I’ve never got a threat call because of my films (laughs). Hurting others has never been my intention. Irukardha dhana solrom... Cinema is a reflection of society. If they shut down TASMAC shops today, there won’t be bar songs or drinking-related jokes in upcoming films. It’s as simple as that.”
Taking a look at the promos of Boomerang, it’s hard not to see similarities to Aayutha Ezhuthu, directed by his “guru” Mani Ratnam. Quizzed if Boomerang has any connection with the 2004 political thriller, he says,” No, there’s nothing in common. The look and feel might seem similar, but once Boomerang hits the theatres, its uniqueness will be evident.”
Atharvaa, the lead of Boomerang, has signed one more film with Kannan, which goes on floors in April. Asked if he was the first choice for Boomerang, Kannan says, “The script demanded a youngster who could play the role of an IT professional and also one that needed a seasoned performer. Atharvaa was perfect; all his performances after Paradesi have been refined and flawless. The audience will witness the performer in him in this film.”
He goes on to talk about the physical transformation and strain that Atharvaa had to undergo for the role. “He has two never-before-seen getups in this film. The looks demanded that he shave his head and sport a prosthetic makeup. He readily agreed to do all this, despite working on a couple of films in parallel.”
The director’s not one to let past grouses dictate his relationships. RJ Balaji, for instance, played an important role in Kannan’s Ivan Thanthiran, though there was a spat between the actor and director over the former’s review of Settai. “Our friendship is like a Kollywood love story. We met over a fight and then it slowly transformed into a beautiful friendship. During the scripting of Ivan Thanthiran, my co-directors felt that he would be apt for the role. When I called him, he was genuinely scared that I was plotting revenge on him by casting him in a bad role. But we became good friends on the sets, and in fact, Balaji himself has said to me several times that he got the idea and confidence to do LKG after working with me in these two films.”
Traditionally, whenever a film has multiple female leads, one is portrayed as a ambitious and no-nonsense girl and the other one is plain silly. But Kannan denies that will never be the case in any of his films. “I come form Mani (Ratnam) sir’s school and I can never write an immature female character and call it ‘bubbly’. Both Megha Akash and Indhuja have equal importance in the film and they are sensible and independent.”
Out of the seven films in his career, two of them (Kanden Kadhalai and Settai) are remakes of Bollywood films, Jab We Met and Delhi Belly. Asked if he would ever direct a remake again, he says, “No. I believe the writing is stronger when a director writes his own film. I’m able to infuse a lot of social messages when I write my scripts, but while doing remakes, the options are highly restricted.” He goes on to reveal the reasons behind his remakes: “I had to direct both films under compulsion. I did Kanden Kadhalai as Dhananjayan sir insisted and Settai happened because of my friendship with Arya and Santhanam.”
The biggest films of Kannan’s guru, Mani Ratnam, were inspired from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharatha. Quizzed if he would ever make a film inspired from a book, Kannan says, “Definitely. I love Ki Rajanarayanan’s books; the dialects and references he uses in his books are unique and amazing. I also love Jayakanthan’s novels. All his books were 30-40 years ahead of their time. He broke a lot of superstitions and made heads turn. If I ever make a film on novels, it would be based on their works.”
Though Kannan’s Boomerang is finally hitting the screens this week, there are still numerous films struggling to get released. “The accumulation of amateurish films is the reason for this. Munadi madhri yeno thaano nu padam edukka mudiyadhu. I believe the situation is improving slowly and films being made now are more refined. Producers’ Council is also trying its best to take the films to the audience. The change is near!” It’s very much a sign of the optimist he is. | ||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 54 | https://watch.plex.tv/movie/ivan-thanthiran | en | Ivan Thanthiran | https://images.plex.tv/photo?size=large-1280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmetadata-static.plex.tv%2F3%2Fgracenote%2F39449dc4c68bb65363e1aefc8903b895.jpg | https://images.plex.tv/photo?size=large-1280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmetadata-static.plex.tv%2F3%2Fgracenote%2F39449dc4c68bb65363e1aefc8903b895.jpg | [
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] | null | [] | 2017-06-30T00:00:00 | Ivan Thanthiran (2017) starring Gautham Karthik, Shraddha Srinath, Balaji Patturaj and directed by R. Kannan. | en | /icons/favicon.ico | https://watch.plex.tv/movie/ivan-thanthiran | Two engineering dropouts stumble upon the activities of a corrupt education minister owning engineering colleges and expose him. The minister wants revenge and launches a manhunt for them. The cat-and-mouse game begins. | |||
17005 | yago | 0 | 42 | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613110/ | en | Kanden Kadhalai (2009) | [
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] | null | [] | 2009-10-30T00:00:00 | Kanden Kadhalai: Directed by R. Kannan. With Bharath Srinivasan, Tamannaah Bhatia, Santhanam, Munna. A chance encounter between two polar-opposite strangers on a train journey ends up changing their lives. | en | IMDb | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613110/ | Nice film. Tamanna's acting is good. Jab we met is one of my favourite film but this film is also good though it cannot beat that film, still a good watch. Don't except Jab we met just watch it | |||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 15 | https://www.facebook.com/watch/AyngaranMovies/358903202328819/ | en | Facebook | https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/yv/r/B8BxsscfVBr.ico | https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/yv/r/B8BxsscfVBr.ico | [
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17005 | yago | 2 | 6 | https://www.tvguide.com/movies/jayamkondaan/cast/2030319380/ | en | Jayamkondaan - Full Cast & Crew | [] | [] | [] | [
""
] | null | [] | null | Learn more about the full cast of Jayamkondaan with news, photos, videos and more at TV Guide | en | /favicon.ico | TVGuide.com | https://www.tvguide.com/movies/jayamkondaan/cast/2030319380/ | 2008
2 hr 25 mins
Drama, Action & Adventure
NR
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Arjun returns to India to start his own business, after spending years in London. He finds out that he has a half sister who is trying to sell off their family house. He aims to try and stop her and in the process crosses a local goon's path, which leaves him with one more thing to worry about. | ||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 59 | https://m.rediff.com/movies/2008/aug/26sd1.htm | en | rediff.com: Meet Jeeva's boy | [
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] | null | [] | null | Interview with Vinay about his second film | null | Cinematographer-turned-director, late Jeeva picked up an upcoming model, Vinay Rai from Bangalore, shorten his name to just Vinay and then cast him as the hero of his film, Unnale Unnale.
Unfortunately, Jeeva did not get to see the success of his film as he passed away in Moscow while shooting for Dhaam Dhoom, a few weeks after the release of Unnale Unnale.
On the eve of the release of his second film, Jayam Kondaan directed by Kannan, an assistant of Mani Ratnam, Vinay tells Shobha Warrier more about the film and working with Jeeva. Excerpts:
It has been more than a year since your first film Unnale Unnale was released. It was a big hit. Now your second film is releasing on August 29. Are you nervous?
Yes, I am nervous. I have done my duty and now the public has to decide.
What made you choose Jayam Kondaan as your second film?
It was the producers of the film who introduced me to Kannan, the director. Apart from the fact that he was an assistant director to Mani Ratnam for almost six or seven years, the story was very simple and straight forward.
His confidence in the script also made me say yes to the film without any hesitation. Once we started shooting for the film, we were like family. The six months we were together went by in a jiffy.
As far as portraying my character goes, Kannan wanted it to be as real as possible -- from the way I shrugged my shoulders to raising my eyebrows. He has reduced melodrama to the minimum. It is the story of a common man. I would not say it would happen to everyone but it happens quite often.
Text: Shoba Warrier | |||||||
17005 | yago | 0 | 49 | https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Hsn0-LuGPVk | en | Bevor Sie zu YouTube weitergehen | [
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17005 | yago | 2 | 46 | https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7r2cgw | en | Dailymotion | [] | [] | [] | [
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17005 | yago | 2 | 11 | https://www.moviecrow.com/movie/142/jayam-kondaan-tamil-movie-review | en | Jayam Kondaan tamil Movie | [
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] | null | [] | 2008-08-29T00:00:00 | Jayam Kondaan Tamil Movie - Overview Page - Jayam Kondaan is a 2008 tamil romance action film directed by Kannan R starring Vinay Rai, Bhavana Menon, Lekha Washington, Kishore in lead roles. The movie is produced by T.g.thiyagarajan and musical score by Vidyasagar. | //static.moviecrow.com/Versioned/v4.20/Content/img/logo-s.png | https://www.moviecrow.com/movie/142/jayam-kondaan-tamil-movie-review | A few fries short of a happy meal.
The story is simple and well written and the script to a large extent remains true to its character, but the vital element of briskness is missing in the narrative. One can’t really put a finger on what went wrong, but the film fails to grip for any length of time and that’s where the script has fai...(more)
Source: Editorial Board, Behindwoods.com
Breezy entertainer.
R.Kannan asserts with his debut film Jayam Kondaan that he has the potential to churn out a neat feel-good entertainer. The racy screenplay and the crisp message at the end deftly packaged on the back of the age-old formula, makes the film work in these hard-up times. The most refreshing thing about...(more)
Source: MovieBuzz, Sify.com
Sibling reconciliation.
Director Kannan's debut film 'Jeyam Kondaan' comes across as an entertainer sans conviction. The film does boast of some slick cinematography but then every other department fails to impress much. Vidyasagar has certainly had an off day with his music. Kudos to Kannan for coming up with good charact...(more)
Source: Editorial Board, IndiaGlitz.com
Go watch Jayam Kondaan.
Kannan deserves credit for a good job on his story and screenplay. His twists and turns make you sit up, and he etches small characters in a way that makes it easy to identify with them. Balasubramaniam's camera makes sure the viewers aren't treated to bizarre angles. V T Vijayan's editing is slick ...(more)
Source: Pavithra Srinivasan, Rediff.com
On the right track straightaway.
Rising above clichés for the most part, writer-director R.Kannan presents a story of underplayed sentiments and logical action. Neat narration marks Jayam Kondaan. Kudos to Vinay for choosing his second project with care! Lekha has landed on a plum debut role, which she pulls off with elan. In beaut...(more)
Source: Malathi Rangarajan, The Hindu | ||||||
17005 | yago | 1 | 44 | http://www.behindwoods.com/features/Gallery/tamil-movies-events/photos-3/jayam-kondaan/jayam-kondaan-05.html | en | Tamil Movie Events DIRECTOR MANI RATNAM Actor vinay actress Bhavana Vj lekha jeeva kannan TAMIL MOVIE NEWS PICTURE IMAGE GALLERY STILLS WALLPAPERS | [
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"Tam... | null | [] | null | Tamil Movie Events DIRECTOR MANI RATNAM Actor vinay actress Bhavana Vj lekha jeeva kannan TAMIL MOVIE NEWS PICTURE IMAGE GALLERY STILLS WALLPAPERS tamil movie news Tamil movies Tamil trailers ringtones songs Tamil film gallery wallpapers previews reviews | null | Behindwoods.com © 2004-2007 ; Privacy Policy ; Terms of Service ; For advertising contact behindw@behindwoods.com |