Perhaps you have asked yourself, "Why did the Bob Young Band choose the motto 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blues'?" If so, this blog entry is for you…
SOMETHING OLD…
Let's start with the first of the four items, "something old". By that, we are implying that we are willing to do songs that were written a long time ago (though, of course, we attempt to do them in a style that fits our core sound and musical sensibilities). We find value in a number of songs from across church history (though sometimes they need lyrical or musical "freshening").
From time to time we leverage familiar tunes to present additional, new lyrics that fit a sermon topic – we've done that for a number of songs including The Church's One Foundation, I Sing The Mighty Power Of God, and And Can It Be.
I do find it kind of funny when I discuss music with people who are strongly committed to the "old hymns", only to discover that most of their favorites are actually less than 100 years old. Then again, it's probably more typical here in America where we have no real sense of history that goes back for millennia.
It's also strange to me the people deride contemporary music because of it's "worldly sound". Music is a medium of expression that can be used to express every high and low, every light and dark topic that God reveals to us in scripture or that we experience in life. It's vocabulary changes over time, and popular hymn writers have leveraged that, from Martin Luther's German drinking songs to Charles Wesley's use of popular music of the day to the John Philip Sousa-esque march-style hymns of the early 1900s to the World War II era John W. Peterson "oom-pa-pa" music. All music is worldly. And all can be used for God. That's why we love to emulate the hymn writers of yesteryear and take popular songs of the day and "sanctify" the lyric for God's use.
Another thing that cracks me up is the accusation that contemporary worship music is primarily filled with "Jesus is my boyfriend" kind of lyrics. I challenge you to read through an old hymnal looking for the same kinds of songs – you'll see that this mindset has ALWAYS been present in hymnody. It's the feminine, relational side of the equation where we, the church, are the bride of Christ. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, though an imbalance of only this kind of theme in regular worship is probably not very healthy, since there are also many other important topics we need to be singing about.
SOMETHING NEW…
By "new", we mean original songs that someone in our group has written. In the Psalms we are encouraged on many occasions to "Sing a NEW song unto the Lord", and we strongly believe that we should follow that advice. Each generation has it's own issues, needs, struggles, etc. that need to be addressed. Each writer has a unique set of experiences and learnings that they need to personally express and can share with others so that they teach one another with "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" as the New Testament encourages us to do.
Writers writes because they MUST – it's how they are "wired" and gifted by God, and to do anything less is a disservice to God and to His people. It doesn't make them better than anyone – it's just the particular thing God for which entrusted them to be faithful.
SOMETHING BORROWED…
When we say "borrowed" we mean contemporary songs, often referred to as "cover songs". While we write a LOT of our own music, there is so much other good music out there that expresses our hearts and the hearts of congregations we lead, or that reflects the theme for the week's sermon topic, that we simply HAVE to do these songs as well.
We are deeply grateful for so many of the artists out who have served God in their respective areas and wrote honestly from the heart about the things of God. Special thanks to Third Day, Lincoln Brewster, Israel Houghton, Rich Mullins, Keith Green, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, John Michael Talbot, and the folks from Enter The Worship Circle.
SOMETHING BLUES
The blues - why would we include that? Isn't that just a bunch of whiny, drunk, depressed old people who are into that? Oh how wrong you are…
The blues is a cross-cultural, cross-generational song form that has inspired and is closely related to southern gospel, black gospel, "mountain gospel", R&B, rock, rap, jazz, and much of today's popular music. In some senses, it is the black equivalent of white-dominated country music. Check out Don Was' documentary Rhythm, Country, & Blues and you'll see the close ties between the two.
When we play the blues, both young and old can intuitively understand the song form and can "get into it". Folks who have more "country" leanings find it familiar enough to embrace it. People raised on southern gospel quartet music catch strains of something in the blues that connect with them. The blues are the closest thing we've found to a universal song form.
Those steeped in the blues understand that while misery and despair are often expressed with this form, there is also an element of purging, resolution, and hope found in them that fills the heart with joy in spite of and/or through the problems sung about. The blues can express a joy as high as depression could be low.
When you seriously consider the Psalms, you'll see that a huge percentage of these are filled with ancient blues concepts and could be sung as such today. What is the book of Lamentations if not the blues? What is Romans 6 and 7 if not the blues – "Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" And yet the response is also able to be expressed by the blues – "I thank God through Jesus Christ… therefore there is NO CONDEMNATION to those that are in Christ Jesus!"
So until I get to heaven, get a new robe and shoes… I'll be a new man with the old man blues.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Just a taste...
What a beautiful sight: Comerica Park on a cool October night, the Detroit skyline glistening in the background as a crowd stretched beyond capacity screams, cheers, applauds with abandon.
Yet it reminds me that it's just a TASTE, a very small sampling of what awaits those who in their hearts love to praise the name of Jesus.
I love baseball. I l-o-v-e Tiger baseball. I LOVE Tiger Post-Season Baseball! But I love Jesus more, and I can't wait for the day when we toss our fears, preferences, scruples, denominational pride, and inhibitions aside and worship Him as ONE. What a day THAT will be!
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Out of the Blue
In an earlier blog I mentioned that I'd fill you in on how God "launched" us. Better late than never, eh?
THE BACK STORY
God brought Tom Kozanecki and I together at Faith Bible Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan back around 1998. We played together on several rotating worship teams (The Old Guys Band, The Koz Krew, Mighty Mike & the Midgets, The Remnants, etc).
As Tom and I grew closer, God gave us a vision to raise the bar on how we approached worship leading, and we thought it would be a great idea to consolidate several of these disparate worship teams into a single band that could lead worship, provide original skits and drama, perform original music, and even take it outside the four walls of the church. We were GEEKED.
Unfortunately, our desire didn't necessarily match the direction the pastor and elders were taking the congregation, and we regretfully tried to force a cultural changes on the church whenever we had a chance to perform. We were wrong. And it ultimately led to me needing to leave that church for its sake and for mine.
THE TRANSITION
A year before we left that church, we started to see the importance of working with the congregation where they were rather than where we'd like them to be (each church is different, after all). Our focus shifted from pushing our agenda to serving the church as worship leaders. It was a major step, but God wasn't done.
Now, I happened to be the only person left in the group who attended that church regularly; everyone else went elsewhere but joined me there monthly. All of the other guys said they believed in what were now doing and wanted to keep it up wherever God led. And, of course, I had no idea where He was leading.
I had kind of an "exit review" with the elders on a Monday, and then proceeded to bump into an elder on Wednesday and the pastor on Thursday. I admit I still had some deep feelings, but I did my best to let my words be full of grace and love. Well, that Thursday when I got home, a dear old friend who had moved on to another church in Plymouth, Michigan called and asked if we'd be willing to lead worship. I spoke with their pastor that night and we scheduled a date. Coincidental timing, eh? I think not…
Then four days later my wife Joyce was chatting with another homeschool mom at a swimming class for the kids, and this lady mentioned how her husband pastors a church and is having a hard time finding someone who can blend old songs with new. Joyce mentioned that I do that very kind of thing, and within a day or two we had a date at that church as well. Coincindence? Nuh uh…
THE DISCOVERY
As we served at these churches, similar and dissimilar in many ways, we developed a relationship with the pastors that led us to frame our song selection not only around the church culture, but also around the topic for the day. This may sound simple, but it was revolutionary for us because it took away the temptation to do songs we liked (or that the congregation liked) and instead put the focus where it should have been all along – on the message being proclaimed that day.
Since that time, we have worked hard to insure that every worship service is a complete package that reinforces what God has led the pastor to present. It has given us unimaginable freedom to choose good songs from any point in church history and weave them together to serve God, the pastor, and the congregation, while still staying true to ourselves artistically so we can play from our hearts.
And God didn't stop there; he opened up new doors and gave us new opportunities. One of the most mutually-fulfilling has been leading worship periodically at the Detroit Rescue Mission for their Sunday night service. Not only are we on the "front lines" where Satan seems to be more active, we have complete musical freedom in that culture to do anything from the classic "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" to the popular "Friend of God" and anything in-between. They appreciate when we cut loose, and when we bring it down. It's a joy. And to see people there make decisions for Christ… it's priceless.
THE FUTURE
And now it seems a new door is opening up as we near the release of our latest CD that we've labored so hard on for the last year or so. My longtime friend Paul Edwards has asked us to join him on his daily radio show, The Paul Edwards Program. Tom and I are scheduled to join him on Friday October 27, 2006 for his 5:00pm show. We'll do a few acoustic numbers, play some of the new songs from our CD, and chat about God, worship, music, and maybe even our common love for the Detroit Tigers.
I have no idea what God is doing with this, and maybe it's just an opportunity to sit down and share with a good friend. But we'd appreciate your prayers for wisdom and either courage or restraint as appropriate should God be leading us to or away from something. He has provided all of our needs, fitted us for ministry, and given us ample opportunities to serve. We just want to be sure that we keep serving Him as He wants us to, and that never ever neglect our families for the sake of "ministry", because God gave us our families as our first ministry.
THE BACK STORY
God brought Tom Kozanecki and I together at Faith Bible Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan back around 1998. We played together on several rotating worship teams (The Old Guys Band, The Koz Krew, Mighty Mike & the Midgets, The Remnants, etc).
As Tom and I grew closer, God gave us a vision to raise the bar on how we approached worship leading, and we thought it would be a great idea to consolidate several of these disparate worship teams into a single band that could lead worship, provide original skits and drama, perform original music, and even take it outside the four walls of the church. We were GEEKED.
Unfortunately, our desire didn't necessarily match the direction the pastor and elders were taking the congregation, and we regretfully tried to force a cultural changes on the church whenever we had a chance to perform. We were wrong. And it ultimately led to me needing to leave that church for its sake and for mine.
THE TRANSITION
A year before we left that church, we started to see the importance of working with the congregation where they were rather than where we'd like them to be (each church is different, after all). Our focus shifted from pushing our agenda to serving the church as worship leaders. It was a major step, but God wasn't done.
Now, I happened to be the only person left in the group who attended that church regularly; everyone else went elsewhere but joined me there monthly. All of the other guys said they believed in what were now doing and wanted to keep it up wherever God led. And, of course, I had no idea where He was leading.
I had kind of an "exit review" with the elders on a Monday, and then proceeded to bump into an elder on Wednesday and the pastor on Thursday. I admit I still had some deep feelings, but I did my best to let my words be full of grace and love. Well, that Thursday when I got home, a dear old friend who had moved on to another church in Plymouth, Michigan called and asked if we'd be willing to lead worship. I spoke with their pastor that night and we scheduled a date. Coincidental timing, eh? I think not…
Then four days later my wife Joyce was chatting with another homeschool mom at a swimming class for the kids, and this lady mentioned how her husband pastors a church and is having a hard time finding someone who can blend old songs with new. Joyce mentioned that I do that very kind of thing, and within a day or two we had a date at that church as well. Coincindence? Nuh uh…
THE DISCOVERY
As we served at these churches, similar and dissimilar in many ways, we developed a relationship with the pastors that led us to frame our song selection not only around the church culture, but also around the topic for the day. This may sound simple, but it was revolutionary for us because it took away the temptation to do songs we liked (or that the congregation liked) and instead put the focus where it should have been all along – on the message being proclaimed that day.
Since that time, we have worked hard to insure that every worship service is a complete package that reinforces what God has led the pastor to present. It has given us unimaginable freedom to choose good songs from any point in church history and weave them together to serve God, the pastor, and the congregation, while still staying true to ourselves artistically so we can play from our hearts.
And God didn't stop there; he opened up new doors and gave us new opportunities. One of the most mutually-fulfilling has been leading worship periodically at the Detroit Rescue Mission for their Sunday night service. Not only are we on the "front lines" where Satan seems to be more active, we have complete musical freedom in that culture to do anything from the classic "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" to the popular "Friend of God" and anything in-between. They appreciate when we cut loose, and when we bring it down. It's a joy. And to see people there make decisions for Christ… it's priceless.
THE FUTURE
And now it seems a new door is opening up as we near the release of our latest CD that we've labored so hard on for the last year or so. My longtime friend Paul Edwards has asked us to join him on his daily radio show, The Paul Edwards Program. Tom and I are scheduled to join him on Friday October 27, 2006 for his 5:00pm show. We'll do a few acoustic numbers, play some of the new songs from our CD, and chat about God, worship, music, and maybe even our common love for the Detroit Tigers.
I have no idea what God is doing with this, and maybe it's just an opportunity to sit down and share with a good friend. But we'd appreciate your prayers for wisdom and either courage or restraint as appropriate should God be leading us to or away from something. He has provided all of our needs, fitted us for ministry, and given us ample opportunities to serve. We just want to be sure that we keep serving Him as He wants us to, and that never ever neglect our families for the sake of "ministry", because God gave us our families as our first ministry.
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