After more than two years of writing...re-writing...cutting...shelving...co-writing...cutting demos only to throw them in the can...and a few marital disagreements over songs...we have finally landed on an album that we are super excited about.
It's completely us. The songs. The sounds. Our journey through music has intersected with our ragamuffin efforts in ministry to love the marginalized. While it is very noteworthy indeed to be a musician sponsoring a cause, we somehow wound up doing the entire thing backwards. We began Jesus Said Love grass roots style and wound up writing music about it. Every note, lyric and story sung here has a face behind it. This sound, this declaration, this faith and wrestling is where we are presently.
I am not sure where this album journey began, it seems prehistoric...and according to the Bible it very well is. Brett and I both know beyond circumstance that we were, in fact, destined to become one. What he is completes me and I him. We are not competitors though flesh and culture choose to match us as such, we are truly mates for the soul. This has transcended music and ministry and without either we would still be....but both have been the catalyst of our coming together and our sharpening of one another. Per the usual couple, we arrived with different skill sets, upbringings, joys and discomforts .... But instead of giving up we have fought. And we still fight. We fight good, not dirty. Part of chivalry is fighting. Part of the quest is a battle. Part of lust is the fear of what may be. The fight for truth, excellence, authenticity and above all, love, is what keeps us spry and interested in what's beyond the next horizon.
Concerning faith, Christ has molded and kept each of us individually and now holds we and our family of 5 together. His central force is our foundation, our hope. His kingdom our goal. We try not to concern ourselves too much with the rest but know we have to at times and yet it seems like" the rest" IS what we are supposed to be concern with. Thus, the paradox of simple living and having a purpose. But then, Isn't the purpose plain and simple? Ahhh..see wrestling.
Influences: Brett grew up on classic country and Al Denson...how confusing is that? I grew up on Motown, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills,Nash and Young...not much better. My first concert was Cindy Lauper in Tyler, TX and Brett's was Kenny and Dolly at the Houston Rodeo. Music is evolutionary and I don't know if this album "defines" us as much as it has "become" us. These songs have morphed into a life of their own, almost as if another spirit was driving some of them entirely. The process has been so gradual, so organic that it kind of feels odd to put our name on it. They ARE us but they are not FROM us entirely. We have been influenced, guided and at times overcome entirely with a driving power to get the lyrics and structure just right.
I know that when Brett first heard Bruce Hornsby he felt understood. The piano he played was not bound by any genre or pride. While it was skilled it was not cold, but it called...and still calls to something deeper. And When my friend Brooke handed me a Patty Griffin cd in college, I felt the same way, home. It was the warmth of Emmy Lou and the soul of Aretha wrapped up in voice that didn't ask for an invitation to your soul, but pierced it's way there. ..and I am all the better for it.
On Parenting: 3 of the most heavenly morsels I've been blessed to munch on: Hattie, Lucy, and Gus. I really can't type now because my eyes are flooded:
Proverbs 3...'nuf said.
Lastly: I think gratitude is the most precious commodity going right now. For so many of us, what we have is being stripped away but what we long for is still available: love, faith, hope. We cannot forsake the quest for these things lest we fall and sink into vanities and succumb to cultures whims. Though this life is made up of choices, it is not about seeking reward in the choices but understanding that the very act of choosing is the gift itself. We are indebted daily to a sovereign God and our choice of gratitude equals immeasurable joy. Simply put-live thankfully.
On Jesus Said Love: When God moves mightily it's usually because we've had nothing to do with it but be available. This is how Jesus Said Love and our ministry in strip clubs began. You can visit the website to learn the history of our ministry but I want to say thank you to some beautiful people who've allowed our lives to become more full and more fun: Kathleen, Dixie, Star, DeeDee, Heather, Wendy, Jennifer, Teri, Majdi, Melissa and Terrance, Rhonda and Joe. And specifically the clubs for allowing us the chance to form great relationships and show God's love every month:
Waco- Showtime, Sonny's, and Two Minnie's
Dallas- Pandora and Dallas Cabaret
College Station- The Silk Stocking
On the cover art: This album is conceptual. We decided to follow suit with the cover. While the image is sure to invoke particular thoughts and even judgements, keep in mind that not everything is as though it appears. Is Brett a pimp and Emily a prostitute? Are they on a JSL outreach laboring to reach the unloved for the Great Lover? Don’t allow presumption to imprison you from experiencing the texture and beauty of people...ALL created in the image of God. We all, in reality, are never too far from being a sinner or saint. So, which is it on the cover? Sinner? Saint? Or both?
