Leah Rade

NHC Live Worship Vol. 1 is Here!

Wow!  I just listened to NHC's first live worship CD and boy-o-boy, Gary, the band, and praise team did an awesome job!  After I listened the first time, I played it for my family and a friend, who was having dinner with us...wow!  If you haven't pre-purchased your cd, make sure you buy one on Sunday!  And, buy one for an unchurched friend...blow their mind!

I Miss My iPod

We have this cat, Cyrus, who is mostly human and always seeks to be the center of attention.  How many other humans do you know who are like Cy?  Anyway, for about two weeks after Michael came home from college, Cyrus, who was not happy that Michael had moved back into his room, decided to reveal his unhappiness in a big way...by peeing on stuff.  On the first day of Michael's internship, after settling in at the church, we both smelled something awful and upon further investigation, discovered the smell was coming from my canvas laptop bag.  Just before we left that morning, I laid my laptop bag flat on a chair so I could take a phone call...just enough time for Cyrus to thoroughly pee all over it.

Needless to say (and excuse the pun), but I was p#@%d!  I very abruptly took everything, or what I believed was everything, out of the stinky bag and threw the bag in the dumpster.  On Friday afternoon, when I typically begin listening to a few sermon podcasts from the previous Sunday, I could not find my iPod.  When I reached into my new bag, which is almost identical to the old bag, I experienced one of those "kicked-in-the-gut" moments when I realized that I had thrown my iPod away with the old bag...and the trash pick up was Friday morning.

Fortunately for the cat, he got over his jealousy right about the time that he peed on my bag.  I just read Dave's and Jamie's blog posts and was reminded just how much I miss my iPod.

Over The Rhine

I haven't been this excited about a new music discovery in quite some time.  My favorite music is classical jazz.  Ironically, I really don't listen to many modern-day female vocalists, but I absolutely love the jazz greats...Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Etta James and Billie Holiday. 

The discovery of Over The Rhine has been a tremendous gift.  Not only are the lyrics really deep, but Karin Bergquist's vocals remind me of Billie Holiday, and I haven't been able to stop listening.   I have also acquired the double album, Ohio and Drunkard's Prayer.

Paste Magazine ranks Karin Bergquist and her husband Linford Detweiler (Over The Rhine) in the top 100 living songwriters.  Here is just one of the reviews of their recent release The Trumpet Child.

“The Trumpet Child is the best record of Over the Rhine’s career, and I’m happy to go on record saying as much. After my first few listens, what I find most striking is the sense of Friday-at-5pm bliss, the sleeves-up fun of friends hanging out and playing just one more tune...
(Seriously this time, last one.)”

Jason Killingsworth, Music Editor, Paste Magazine

Here's an excerpt of another great review of The Trumpet Child by Jesus Freak Hideout.  Lyrically, the album is mostly about love and affection in the same vein as the biblical book, Song of Solomon. Some may find a few of the songs a bit suggestive, but if taken in the marriage context they are beautiful expressions of love. The band also shows its lighter side on the ode to Tom Waits, "Don't Wait for Tom," in which Detweiler lends his voice for some spoken word fun. "If a Song Could be President" touches on politics, wistfully imagining what it would be like if the government were made of up songs and songwriters. Those wondering about the band's faith need look no further than the title track in which Berquist sings a haunting song about Jesus.  Click on the link above for the full review.

Listening to this album seriously has inspired me to take a day off.

Square Pegs

We discovered "contemporary Christian" music in 1995, when Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman were the top selling artists; with the Newsboys & DC Talk coming on strong.

Alana and Michael were 11 & 8 and we were thrilled to be able to expose them to good Christian music, taking them to every concert between Ohio and NC.  Up until about 6 years ago, we amassed a collection of at least 600 Cd's.

Six years ago or so, realizing that we had become somewhat bored with the lyrics that for the most part had become complacent, we discovered some independent artists, who now have formed a really cool alliance.  These artists are some of the best storytellers and musicians out there, with lyrics that demand that you think about your Christian walk.  They are 13 artists "who like each other" and came together to create the Square Peg Alliance.

Andrew Peterson, who is the most down-to-earth artist that I've ever met, released The Far Country in August 2005 with all of the songs written about heaven.  This album was a gift when I needed it most.

Other square pegs include: Andrew Osenga (also with Caedmon's Call); Derek Webb (formerly with Caedmon's Call); Andy Gullihorn (really funny guy); Jill Phillips (married to Andy G.); Eric Peters (big time on my new iPod); and Matthew Perryman Jones.

Check out these square pegs if you're interested in listening to some incredibly talented musicians who write lyrics with substance.