Every Christmas the idea that I should record something rattles around in my brain. (Not to mention the fact that you guys have asked me for years and years to do something Christmas-y!)
But as is always the case, the year races away and before I know it, the Yule Tide has swept in. The shops are all glittery, the Muzak is full-tilt Christmas carols, and I think to myself…ah, I should have recorded something this year. GRRR!!!
Thanks to some friends who have a bit of recording gear and big hearts, I managed to get this banged together just in time for a bit of Christmas. So, from the sunny coast of New South Wales, I send you good tidings and lots of love! Have a blessed holiday season!
As we say Down Under: GET THAT INTO YA!
download here: WHAT CHILD IS THIS?
Jennifer
“What Child Is This” written by William Dix
Recorded 2011 at Spiral Studios, Bomaderry, NSW
Jennifer Knapp: vocals, acoustic guitar, perc
Clea Crimson: vocals
Spike Mason: pump organ, duduk, recording engineer
Today is National Coming Out Day. A day that I find myself reflecting on the last year and a half of living as an “out” public figure.
Far away from the public eye, I long contemplated the importance or significance of this fact being available for public knowledge. People accused, asked, wondered and hoped for a long time whether or not I would ever answer the question: Are you gay?
I seriously considered the idea that it really isn’t anyone’s business. I am who I am. I love who I love. What difference does it make whether or not people know? My partner, friends and family, and my faith have been the backbone to affirming in me a sense of pride, responsibility and compassion that I have always sought to reflect. Still, I can say it’s very strange to consider whether or not to issue a press release regarding my sexual orientation. So the pressing question was: What difference does it make?
For me, the difference maker was one of personal integrity. I am gay and that is the truth. I wanted to honor not only myself, but those who know me best. By believing in my own journey enough to claim it, I found that who I am is not written by the pen of others, but how I personally take responsibility for my life. By speaking aloud that I am gay, I soon began to realize the impact of that truth was not only personal, it has been powerful for others as well.
It is always a test of courage and self-worth to share yourself with another person. Perhaps that is why one of the greatest offenses to the human spirit is silencing the voice of another. Today, you may discover a friend, your child, a fellow church member or co-worker identifies as LGBT. Today, you may be asked to “out” yourself when you reveal how you feel about them. What difference does it make to you?
A cheeky video blog where I drop in on Liberty University
My answer usually sounds something like this: Do music: Listen. Create. Play. Share it now, worry about selling it later. (Seems like a better answer than: uh, I dunno?)
If I had never fallen in love with ‘doing’ music even when no one was listening, I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t be playing today.
At the risk of sounding trite, I think, so often, we put our fullest dreams in the cart and put it straight in front of the horse. My take has always been that music is a gift. In and of itself music can and should be enjoyed simply for the sake of it regardless of the employment possibilities. Thousands upon thousands of musicians are out there plugging away regardless of hope for income, and purely for the sheer joy of what playing/performing does for the human spirit.
Honor the music, honor your creative spirit, honor the listener…Listen. Create. Play.
Nowadays, you need go no further than your own computer to record your songs, your local coffee house to play them, or a click of the mouse to listen to others. If the only measure of success that we attach to music is one of popular recognition and marketability, then I suspect that we’ll miss the full purpose of joy and deep meaning that drew us in to listen and sing in the first place.
We have to water our creativity to make it grow. To inspire as well as be inspired.
I can truly say, it is has been an honor to be a small part of that process. I pay homage to the artists that have moved me to create. I am humbled when I am marked as one who has inspired others. Honestly, I don’t know how I got here, I’m just glad to be here. I get to meet some of the most fantastic people and incredible musicians.
Over the last year, I’ve accumulated quite the stack of music from indie artists/bands, local acts, at-home musicians, vagabonds and fans. You’re out there ‘doing it’ and I’m loving it! It’s inspiring to be reminded that music is just simply a wonderful thing to be able to do.
So in honor of all these amazing folks, I thought I’d share some of what’s going on outside of the mainstream far from the maddening hordes.
Thanks for sharing your recordings with me. I’ve enjoyed listening…
MEET THE INDIES
Jacob Jeffries Band took the opening spot for one of my Florida gigs last year. Professional caliber musicians by any measure, Jacob and his crew are excellent performers. Jacob is a crafty song writer with hooks that last for days. I walked away with a copy of Wonderful . My only complaint is that my recording is a CD and not vinyl. Seriously, this is a classic sounding record I would describe as Billy Joel meets Ben Folds. But make no mistake, Jacob is his own man. Watch out for tunes like “Mr. Weatherbee Freeman” and “Flashlight “. Both are super catchy with romping choruses and a vintage flair that never gets old.
Lorna Bracewell I don’t remember how her record Flowers on the Chains got into my hands (sorry if we actually met Lorna…) but I’m digging it. It’s SO super hard to be an original guitar-weilding, ass- kicking chick songwriter come rocker, but Lorna makes her way without any need to apologize. Begrudgingly, I’ll mention Melissa Etheridge, Joan Jett and Ani DeFranco just so you’ll click through and listen…but then, as fast as you can, never mention their names again…and just say “Lorna!” If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get a chance to see her live sometime when I’m in Florida.
Trees Leave unites Wyatt Espalin and Cobi Ferguson. Their indie recording The Gospel of Hurt is an honest fusion of the past and the present. Part country, bluegrass, folk and rock…I love this record! This is a work of art, modern southern men with all their joys and sorrows inexorably tied to the past. Wyatt & Cobi seem held by the haunting chains of mandolin strings, cursed by the devil in the electric guitar and released by God in the bowing of the violin…What’s better, is that these guys are local to Nashville…which means I get to see them live!
Share some of your favorite indies in the comments section. (click on the blog heading)
The cynicism that surfaces in conversations of Christianity are not merely for the secular observer, but a fact that is also often experienced by those who sit in the pews.
For my nearly twenty years in being in and around conversations of faith, I can tell you first hand, that it is easy to assume that Christianity is an exercise of separation rather than one of integration and expansion. There are points along the continuum of faith practice that incorporate these qualities at some point, to helpful purpose as well as devastating exclusion. There are times when separating ourselves out from the whole is valuable and life-giving, but also a time when we must return. It is the strangest irony that separation can create heartache one time and yet be the greatest release into freedom and self-identity the next. …But eventually, we will seek return to community. In our return, this same irony seems to hold true. Sometimes we return to great rejoicing and community wholeness, the next we are the very fly in the ointment that seems to prove the need for distance.
Perhaps it is the artist in me that is familiar in watching these roles play out. The predictability of our human ways, acted out, for better and for worse, give insight to the beautiful narrative of our existence. More so, I am ceaselessly inspired when in our troubles and short-comings, we refuse to live shamefully, but rather with hope and courage. When, in our victories, we live humbly and charitably, sharing our bounty with others.
For all these reasons, I found it an honor to be asked to write the forward for RAW: A Poetic Journey. This inaugural offering from NuWine Press, in many ways, mirrors the conversations I have every single day out on the road. Ordinary people living out extraordinary lives. From resting in moments of silence and darkness to exploding to the surface with full strength and joy.
It’s a little book, an easy read, but trust me, there’s a lifetime in it. You can cruise through it if you want, but if you care to take the time, it will be by your side for a good, long while. Believe me, when I say, there are few books like this. No one here is trying to sell you anything, or trying to create some story to please others. These writings are ‘raw’ indeed. Unshielded, vulnerable, celebratory and often harrowing…it’s what we all think when we doubt, when we don’t believe, when we don’t care, when we care so deeply that we think we might split in two. More than that, these are vignettes of those willing to be put back together.
For more information see NuWine Press on Facebook and Twitter
Cute American Mink
Whilst sitting lakeside, sunning myself on some larger rocks, I discovered I was not the only one enjoying the weather.
Scary American mink
Last night I went to my first lesbian night club.
(pause for you to catch your breath)
Like so many of the diverse and amazing experiences I’ve had in my life, I have music to thank for it. As usual, I am always curious as to how the music I play will adapt to those who have come to listen. Of course, the lyrics and music are set, they are the same wherever I play them. Still there is an amazing effect that happens each night when so many different individuals come together, each from their own private world, and enter into the community of a concert.
I talk about this a lot. The concept that we individually connect with music in our private rooms, tying the song to some place deep in our hearts. Then when we follow the sound, we find others at the epicenter, drawn as we were, to the place of shared ground and find that ours is not a lonely journey at all. What’s more, we are often surprised as to who find there…
In my mind, I imagined what Sisters Night Club was going to be like when I got there. Of all that I could conjure up, I can tell you I wasn’t even close to guessing. Every color, every gender, urban, sub-urban, the churched and areligious; there were straight married couples, L’s, G’s, B’s & T’s…It was beautiful! Like the biggest and best box of crayons you could imagine. I couldn’t have been more wrong about who I thought I would meet, and I couldn’t have been more delighted to be found in error.
But it wasn’t the diversity alone that made it special. It was the spirit of those who were there that made the evening so touching. As we allowed our differences to fade, we gathered our courage to connect with others around us: just as we came, are and hope to, someday, be.
Hop down to any pub and share a schooner with your Aussie (Australian) mates (translation: share a chat and a beer with your friends) and, before long, the reminiscing begins. You remember the good times with the bad, recall friends you haven’t seen in ages. Some living the good life and others not so much. But you still love them, and you raise a toast, wishing them the best wherever they may be. For those who have walked a less glamorous or even arduous path, there is a phrase that is commonly used: He’s been through the wars.
The conversation may go something like this:
Bloke #1: “Yeah, mate, what’s up with Jennifer these days? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
Bloke #2: “Yeah, no, yeah. She’s been through the wars, but she’s alright. Heard she’s back to the ole entertainment thing again.”
Bloke #1: “Now that’s a yarn I’d like to hear her tell…”
Somewhere in the phrase, there’s an appreciation that whatever scars we receive, they carry the hope of our potential to create character. I can think of few American phrases that we use that release us from the shame of how we get into our precarious messes and still hold esteem for the battle weary.
It’s the term that comes to my mind when I think of Christa Black. 
I know Christa from our time together “on the road.” She’s a talented violinist who has spent countless hours enduring the bliss of the spotlight and the grind of the confined and yet, exposed life on the tour bus. She’s toured with me, Michael W. Smith…even the Jonas Brothers!
Like many of the musicians supporting the artists you know and love, she has a story of her own. Let’s just say, she’s been through the wars.
Recently she penned her first book “God Loves Ugly” . It is a courageous account of her head-on war with an eating disorder. From struggle to insight, she has come out the other side with a story to tell. No surprise, the artist in her has set the story free to do it’s work.
Visit her here: www.christablack.com
The circumstances surrounding the sudden departure of soccer coach, Lisa Howe from Belmont University left many students and the Nashville community concerned and confused. What, exactly, is Belmont’s policy regarding sexual orientation? Will students and faculty face discrimination if they are open about their sexuality?
It is important to note, that from the beginning, Dr. Fisher has been adamant that sexual orientation is a non-factor in it’s hiring practices, nor is it the mind-set of the university to discriminate. Yesterday, Belmont released it’s updated non-discrimination policy to the public to include specific language of their accountability to Title IX and their commitment to those under their care.
Thank you, Belmont, for your continued efforts in what has been a harrowing time of uncertainty. To borrow thoughts from Andrew Marin, living in the tension is only the beginning of dialogue.
Cheers to long, continued growth…
I am disheartened by the circumstances surrounding Lisa Howe’s departure from Belmont University.
That any employee, student or church member in our society be required to remain silent about their sexual orientation in exchange for secure employment, academic growth or spiritual support is an intolerable injustice. Unfortunately, this conditional coercion is far too often the norm.
Discrimination presents in many forms, not the least of which is passive silence. We look to our both our academic and religious institutions to engage us, lead us, and inspire us—-not to avoid our deepest needs and concerns out of fear of popular approval. We look to our institutions of higher moral reasoning as we seek knowledge, understanding and advancement as a human race. We must hold sacred the responsibility to confront our fears and biases; with all courage, engage critical thought when approaching long held traditions.
Acceptance of LGBT persons as full and equal community members must begin with a welcome invitation in clearly defined anti-discrimination polices, as well as public accountability to address and act upon any ethos that would diminish the right of any human being.
Belmont, as a gay person of faith, I humbly challenge you to inspire us with your willingness to facilitate safe, open dialogue on matters of faith and sexuality.
In this Advent season, I encourage the Belmont community to boldly embrace the opportunity to act with the human compassion, leadership and abiding love that honors Jesus Christ, the university, and your Nashville neighbors.
Such an endeavor could begin with both an offer for Coach Howe to return to her position and with a sincere apology to all who have been harmed by her dismissal.
Peace—-with justice—demands nothing less.
Yours sincerely,
Jennifer Knapp
Associate Press
Dr. Robert Fisher’s statement
Nashville Scene
Mike Curb, Nashville speaks out
