Mike's Blog

The Perfect Paradox Years: Every Show from 2004-2007

From 2004 to 2007, I kept text document “diaries” of every show I played, whether with my band or by myself. I’m not quite sure why I did it other than a desire to keep a record and track how many shows I played in a year. Tonight, I opened those text files for the first time in years, and I was struck by a) how many shows I played back then, and b) how many of these shows included post-performance commentary!

Instead of letting these memories fade away on an old hard drive, I thought I’d share them with you. These dates represent my musical endeavors as a college student as well as the entirety of The Perfect Paradox’s career. Maybe you were at one or two of these shows, or maybe you even played the show with me! Let me know if you remember any of them 🙂

Note: I have highlighted the performances with strong personal significance in red. I have also added new comments in [brackets].

January 2, 2004 – Perk Ave
With April In Andalusia, Bellaluna, and Chris Cantoya

January 7, 2004 – Oleaver’s
With Mint Pink and Rebecca Wolfson

January 16, 2004 – The Rock
Remedy Magnify CD Release Show (Sleepy Jacks Debut)
The first Mike Harvat & The Sleepy Jacks performance! We did alright for only having 2 weeks of experience under our belts. Thanks to Remedy for having us play, we had a great time.

January 17, 2004 – The Pizza Shoppe
With Tess Eidem, Cay Combs, Aaron Nigro, and Sonus

January 23, 2004 – Perk Ave
With Lindsay Donovan and Andrea Penka

January 31, 2004 – Rebels
With The Shooting Star Chronicles and A Hiding Place

February 6th, 2004 – Community Covenant Church
Not Yet CD Release Show
With Chris Cantoya
Finally, I released my CD on the 6th of February – more than half a year after I started the project. Thank you so much to everyone who came to the show or has bought the CD since then.

February 7th, 2004 – The Anchor Inn (Sleepy Jacks Performance)
Sam Stiehl Benefit Show
With Snatch, 3 Day Meat Sale, Working Class Heroes, Lovetap, Vago, Lower Case i, Sonic Diversion, Shiver, Liquid Static, Names Without Numbers, and Anchondo

February 17th, 2004 – Old Chicago (78th & Cass)
With Joe Ranne and Andrea Penka
JJ Tiziou was with us this night taking some snapshots of the performance. I had a good time, and we actually made some dough on the night.

February 19th, 2004 – Rebels Acoustic Night
Due to poor promotion, I played this show for Ben Eberly and a guy that kept falling asleep. Hopefully Rebels got their acoustic night off the ground; this was their first crack at it.

February 27th, 2004 – The Pizza Shoppe
With Tess Eidem

March 12th, 2004 – Rebels (Sleepy Jacks Performance)
With Officially Terminated and Libido

March 26th, 2004 – Christ Community Church (Sleepy Jacks Performance)
Relay for Life
With Social Anxiety and Beef Of The Sea

March 31st, 2004 – Oleaver’s
With Roxanne Redd, Miraj, And Luv Luv

April 13th, 2004 – UNO (Sleepy Jacks Performance)
Campus Crusade for Christ Outdoor Concert

April 16th, 2004 – Perk Ave
With Chris Cantoya

April 24th, 2004 – Rebels (Sleepy Jacks are no more…Perfect Paradox Performance)
With Tonedeaf Mime and Maybe Next Year
I want to thank all of the folks who came out to this show and bought a CD when they hadn’t even heard of us. The guys in Maybe Next Year are great people; they made the night fun. [If I recall correctly, we played this show as “Mike Harvat and the Ninja Robots” because we hadn’t settled on a name yet.]

May 15th, 2004 – Mick’s Music & Bar
Omaha Songwriters’ Festival
With Sarah Benck, Kyle Harvey, Landon Hedges, Reagan Roeder, Greg Loftis, Chris Cantoya, Justin Lamoureux and Jennie Lee, Adam Johnsen and Matt McLarney, Mike Friedman and Korey Anderson, Joe Ranne, Lindsay Donovan, Paul Luxon, Ryan Fought, Adam Weaver, and Michael Campbell
Justin Lamoureux is a great guy and I was proud to be a part of this event. I look forward to the Omaha Songwriter’s Festival each year.

May 22nd, 2004 – Mike’s Place (Perfect Paradox Performance)
With Working Class Heroes, Special People Club, and And Casanatra
If the pitch for this show was, “Hey, do you want to do a show on the stormiest night yet this year at a Bar with an easily-flooding loading area and bands that think you’re just an acoustic act so they’ll be unprepared for your band to show up and then you can leave as soon as you’re done playing because you’re under 21?” I would have probably turned it down.

May 29th, 2004 – Ben Eberly & Ben Richmond’s Grad Party

June 4th, 2004 – Caffeine Dreams
With Midwest Dilemma, Chris Cantoya, and Adam Weaver

June 11th, 2004 – The Rock (Perfect Paradox Performance)
With Ancient Soul, Matt Banta Band, and David Potter Band
Our friend Chris Spurgin filled in on guitar for us at this show. Thanks, Chris.

June 12th, 2004 – The Rock (Perfect Paradox Performance)
Lifelight Battle of the Bands
With Fortress, Seven, Thirty Pieces of Silver, Kaotic Order, Riding Shotgun, Voice of Reason, Unknown Prophecy, Jason Hinze Band, Ali Lawler, and Greyskyblue
Everything clicked this night. It was by far our best performance to date, even better than the amazing chemistry we experienced at the Relay for Life earlier in the year. Seeing Seven for the first time in several years was pleasing, and Greyskyblue was a great worship band out of Missouri (I think). Thank you so much to everyone who came; you made it worth our time. Though we didn’t win the battle, we were still invited to come out and play at Life Light!

June 19th, 2004 – The Rock
With Casting Pearls, Remedy, The Livingstons, Names Without Numbers, From Dust, Sommer Waite, and The Few and Far Between

July 9th, 2004 – The Rock
With Far From Lost, Trust Fund Kids, and Your Face
We dressed up in formal attire for this gig. ‘Twas our first performance with Your Face, and it was amazing. These guys have talent. I look forward to playing shows with them in the future!

July 17th, 2004 – Rebels
“Raise The Roof” – Benefit Show For A New Roof
With Shooting Star Chronicles, Nameless Theory, Libido, Tone-deaf Mime, West of Reality, Bagshot Row, Amarthatic, Trippin Default, Voice of Reason, Forever in Her Eyes, The Livingstons, and White Collar Mercy

July 23rd, 2004 – Caffeine Dreams
With David Potter

July 30th, 2004 – Rebels
With Nameless Theory and Epiphany

August 13th, 2004 – The Rock
With Nicholas Peterson and the Vintage, The Few And Far Between, and Fortress
This was our first time playing with The Vintage and Nicholas Peterson and we loved it! He’s a great guy; we left looking forward to the upcoming show on the 27th.

August 27th, 2004 – Kingsway Christian Church
Back To School Event
With Remedy and Nicholas Peterson And The Vintage
Thanks so much to all of the hard work put in not only by the other bands, but the people who put the event together. Especially to Cassie and everyone else over at Kingsway.

September 2nd, 2004 – LifeLight Music Festival
Lifelight was wonderful. Although we didn’t take first place, it was a blast. The guys from Remedy were out there that weekend and did the sound for us. If you haven’t heard their stuff yet, you NEED to. www.oneremedy.net

September 17th, 2004 – The Rock
With Aloha Something, Quarter To Seven, and Event Staff
Acoustic set. We left early to go play at The Foundry. Two shows in one night!

September 17th, 2004 – Kingsway Christian Church
Coffee Shop Performance @ The Foundry
This place is great. I plan on coming back in the near future. Thanks to Jeff Spiehs for having us and being a great guy in general. I especially had fun playing acoustic for the first time in quie a while.

September 25th, 2004 – Rebels
With Nicholas Peterson And The Vintage, Luke Mills of After The Order, and The Livingstons
This show was a benefit for Tanya Schiller’s medical expenses, whom I am always happy to help out – she’s a wonderful woman of God. The Livingstons were also very supportive and they even could pick up the Brian McSweeney influence. With that said, they are my new best friends.

October 9th, 2004 – The Warehouse (Willmar, MN)
With Names Without Numbers
Our first real out of town show. Thank you to Names Without Numbers, The Warehouse, and the kind people who let us sleep in their basement (though I can’t remember their names!). We’d love to come back any time, and hopefully do a little better.

October 30th, 2004 – The Rock
“Kenya Spare A Dollar” Tour
With Roper and For Higher
Opening for Roper was a blast! We had a lot of support for the show; thank you to everyone who came out.

November 21st, 2004 – First United Methodist Church

December 17th and 18th, 2004 – Community Covenant Church
Do It For Marco! Benefit Concert
Thank you to everyone who came to these shows! Though we had our technical difficulties and a somewhat less than desirable turnout due to the holiday season, bad promotion, finals, and the fact that we have a very small fanbase, we still managed to raise enough money to fund 4 months’ worth of support for Marco.

December 31st, 2004 – Covenant Cedars Bible Camp
New Year’s Eve Show
With Names Without Numbers & The Livingstons

January 17th, 2005 – UNL
Seven Live CD Recording
With Seven

January 21st, 2005 – The Rock

February 11th, 2005 – The Foundry

February 12th, 2005 – Steam’n Koffee

April 1st, 2005 – Brookside Church
Battle of The Bands
With Your Face, Barter The Trigger, April In Andalusia, & Others…

April 2nd, 2005 – Fremont, NE
For His Sake Music Festival
With Sanctus Real & Remedy Drive
[I believe this may have been the first time Remedy played in Nebraska as “Remedy Drive.”]

April 7th, 2005 – The Rock
With Roper and Edison Glass

April 15th, 2005 – The Foundry

April 22nd, 2005 – The Rock

May 6th, 2005 – Turning Point

June 17th, 2005 – Community Covenant Church
Mexico Mission Trip Benefit
With The Livingstons, Nicholas Petersen, & Common Jones

June 26th, 2005 – The Rock
Worship Night
With Nicholas Petersen & The Fuel Band

August 6th, 2005 – Sioux Falls, SD
Lifelight Battle Of The Bands
[The BOTB took place on a loading dock outside of the Firehouse Coffee Shop in downtown Sioux Falls. Their sound system was poorly grounded, which was a problem because I attempted to do the sound check barefoot…I took the worst shock of my life – to my lips – when I first talked into the microphone. This was also the first time I ever saw Children 18:3; I thought their lead singer was just a homeless dude checking out the music all day until they took the stage.]

September 3rd, 2005 – Sioux Falls, SD
Lifelight Festival

October 1st, 2005 – The Foundry

October 14th, 2005 – The Rock

December 3rd, 2005 – Steam’n Koffee
With Names Without Numbers and Brad Hoshaw

December 16th, 2005 – Community Covenant Church
Undivided CD Release
[While the original text document didn’t have a note attached to it, I remember what happened after this show well. I received a phone call from Nicholas Petersen telling me that he genuinely enjoyed the songs from Undivided. To receive a compliment like that from someone I respect (both as a person and a songwriter) meant a lot to me!]

December 31st, 2005 – Western Bowl
Terra Nova New Year’s Celebration

January 13th, 2006 – Caffeine Dreams
With Zach Perkins and Aaron Hadenfeldt

January 27th, 2006 – Crossroads Christian Center
With Names Without Numbers, Life’s Last Breath, and Your Face

February 2nd, 2006 – South Sioux City, NE
First Thursdays
With Nothing Between
[This was an event put on by the amazing Les and Angie Lutter! I believe their son Tucker played his first song for us in the back room that night. Also, our trip to South Sioux City was a journey that will live in infamy: Our Mapquest directions blew out the window at one point, and John didn’t realize that his gas gauge was faulty…so we ran out of gas in the middle of the interstate. Thankfully, we were able to coast to a gas station in the nick of time. If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because I am describing the real-life events that inspired the song I-29.]

March 2nd, 2006 – The Rock
With An Angle, Flyover Country, and O Lovelle

March 3rd, 2006 – Mosaic Community Development
Homeless Benefit Concert
With Flyover Country and O Lovelle

March 11th, 2006 – The Foundry

March 30th, 2006 – Wayne Sate College (Wayne, NE)
With Aaron Hadenfeldt
[We strategically drove to avoid a tornado on the way to this show. I also remember listening to Aaron’s Falling Up CD and being appalled by the prices at the student union’s Taco Bell.]

March 31st, 2006 – Oleavers
With Skybox and Tie These Hands

April 14th, 2006 – Westwood Church
Remedy Drive’s Rip Open the Skies CD Release Concert
With Remedy Drive and Quarter to Seven

April 29th, 2006 – Shea Riley’s (1000 Wells Benefit)
With Crack Team Of Scientists, Iris Pattern, and Civicminded
[This must be the first time I met Phil Reno! It’s hard to remember, because I was “star struck” by him for a while before I felt comfortable interacting with him. This was also the only time I remember seeing my brother’s band live, which is a shame because I really liked it. Oh, also there was a drunk lady throwing our Blood:Water pamphlets everywhere at the end of the show. I was pissed.]

May 10th, 2006 – Watertown, SD
Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer
[We got paid $150 to play this show, which we were excited about until we borrowed the church van and spent over $100 on gas. Also, our sound engineer was a formerly deaf woman who told us we were much too loud.]

May 20th, 2006 – The Rock
Lifelight Festival Audition

June 25th, 2006 – Perk Ave Coffee Shop
With Flyover Country and The Campaign 1984

June 2nd, 2006 – Music Plex
With The Livingstons

June 13th, 2006 – York, NE
With Sequel To Adam
[While I don’t remember much about the show itself, I remember the guys in Sequel to Adam being super hospitable to us. I also was and still am a huge fan of their music.]

June 23rd, 2006 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic w/ John Moessner)
With Jason Hinze and Jamey Holiday

June 25th, 2006 – Perk Ave
With Flyover Country and The Campaign 1984

June 26th, 2006 – The Foundry
With Midwest Dilemma and The Honored Guests

July 6th, 2006 – Mosaic Community Center
Homeless Benefit
With The Livingstons, Nicholas Petersen, Bartlett,O Lovelle, Curbside Motel, and Tim Wildsmith

July 29th, 2006 – Pit Crew
With O Lovelle, Curbside Motel, & Of Military And Mathematics

August 4th, 2006 – The Foundry
Mali Project Benefit
With David Potter, Ben Shafer, etc.

August 12-13th, 2006 – Pella Church (Pella, NE)
Concert / Worship Event with Kevin Pringle (Speaker)
[There are so many memories attached to this event, from playing softball with the youth group to pretending to enjoy the undercooked bacon that our hosts made for breakfast the next day. I’ll never forget when they showed us to our quarters for the evening…I was terrified to be staying in their 18-year-old daughter’s (unoccupied) room. When I went to go check on John, he was stripped down to his boxers in their son’s bed, reading said son’s Harry Potter book. Ha!]

August 18th, 2006 – Lincoln, NE
EDGE64
[I forgot to bring my guitar to this show, so I had to borrow one from another band. EDGE64 was a sweet space, though. Kind of a proto version of The Bay with an indoor skate park, coffee shop, hangout space, etc.]

August 19th, 2006 – Downtown Benson
Benson Nite
With Remedy Drive, Chris Saub Trio, Kill Bosby, Brent Crampton, Breathless, David Potter, Danny Sabra, etc.
[I’m pretty sure this was the night I met Danny Sabra. I also remember my mom thinking David Potter’s comments about his “poofy hair” while he performed were hilarious.]

August 25th, 2006 – Seward High School
Fall Semester Kick-off Concert
[This show was supposed to be at Concordia University, but they moved it to Seward High School due to a bomb threat. Not joking.]

September 2nd, 2006 – Sioux Falls, SD
Lifelight Fest – Firehouse Stage
Scheduled for Main Stage but moved due to inclement weather. [I also missed Audio Adrenaline because I was sleeping in the van with bronchitis. I’ll never forget venturing out to go use the porta potty, feeling like garbage, wearing a trash bag as a poncho, and having a couple of girls ask me, “Aren’t you Mike Harvat?” as we stood in line to pee. Ugh.]

September 3rd, 2006 – Sioux Falls, SD
Lifelight Fest – Firehouse Stage

September 9th, 2006 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
With Jason Harwell

October 7th, 2006 – Sokol Underground
With Sleeping At Last, Lindsay Donovan, And O Lovelle

October 10th, 2006 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
With Bradley Hathaway

October 14th, 2006 – The Rock
With Meg and Dia, Good With Guns, and Once A Pawn

December 1st, 2006 – Mosaic Community Center
With The Spaghetti Bears, The Tax Men, Make Believe Bombs To Blow Up Make Believe Worlds, and Fetch

December 3rd, 2006 – Christ Community Church
Restored Hope Benefit
With Remedy Drive

December 8th, 2006 – Brookside Church
Your Face CD Release Show
With Your Face and Nifty 250

January 20th, 2007 – Pit Crew
Turkey Team Fundraiser
With Day & Hour Unknown, Bartlett, and Curbside Motel

January 26th, 2007 – Rebels (Mike Acoustic)
With Flawed Lojik, Nifty 250, Your Face, and Zach Short

February 9th, 2007 – The Foundry
The Perfect Paradox CD Release Show
With Leslie and Sequel To Adam

February 17th, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
With Brandon Rogers

February 23rd, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
Blood:Water Mission Benefit Concert
12 Area Songwriters
Raised $6000 – Enough for 2 wells

February 25th, 2007 – Christ Community Church
With Perlend
SHOW CANCELLED due to weather

March 9th, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic – Asia Benefit)
With Jared Strock and Aaron Hadenfeldt

March 16th, 2007 – Pit Crew
Worship Set
With Nicholas Petersen, Zach Perkins, and The Pit Crew Worship Band

April 27th, 2007 – Creighton University
With Remedy Drive
[I think this might be the first time I played an electric guitar at a Perfect Paradox show. Aka, the beginning of the end!]

May 1st, 2007 – Ozone Lounge (Mike Acoust9c)
Acoustic Roundtable
With Chris Saub, Monica Eby, Matt Whipkey, Acoustic Groove, Korey Anderson, Oxygen, Scott Severin, Stephanie Pilypaitis, etc.

May 5th, 2007 – Waterloo, NE
The Frequency
With Remedy Drive

May 12th, 2007 – The Foundry
Africa Missionary Benefit
With Brandon Rogers and friends

June 2nd, 2007 – Sokol Underground
The Perfect Paradox Farewell Show
With Sleeping At Last, O Lovelle, & Bartlett

July 2nd, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
With Sean Michel and John Moessner

July 13th, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
Mav Aid
With Tea Ceremony, Scott Severin, and Goodbye Sunday

August 23rd, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
Nicholas Petersen Farewell Show

August 24th, 2007 – Pit Crew (Mike Acoustic)
Tanzania Benefit
With Micah Perkins

August 25th, 2007 – Caffeine Dreams (Mike Acoustic)
With Chris the Whale and Micah Perkins

August 31st, 2007 – Lifelight Festival (Last Official Perfect Paradox Show)
Coffeehouse Stage
[While the band broke up over the summer, we still wanted to play at Lifelight one last time. Craig Nashleanas joined us on guitar because John had already left for college.]

September 21st, 2007 – Chili’s on 132nd & Maple (Mike Acoustic)
St. Jude Children’s Hospital Benefit

October 16th, 2007 – Ozone Lounge (Mike Acoustic)
Acoustic Roundtable
With Chris Saub, Monica Eby, Chalee, Matt Whipkey, Sarah Benck, Oxygen, Leslie, Brad Hoshaw, Stephanie Pilypaitis, etc.

October 18th, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
The Gathering

October 26th, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
With Adam Trabold and Taylor Burkum

December 1st, 2007 – The Foundry (The Redemption Show)
With Adam Trabold and Taylor Burkum

December 7th, 2007 – The Foundry (Mike Acoustic)
Simple Way Benefit (Worship Night)
With Aaron Hadenfeldt, Jared Kliewer, Jason Hinze, David Eberly, and Zach Perkins

December 16th – The Waiting Room (Flight Metaphor Debut)
With Tim Wildsmith, The Wildbirds, and Skypiper

Best Christian Albums of the 2010s

A few months ago The Gospel Coalition published their list of the best Christian albums of the past decade, and as the humble music snob that I am, I felt that there were some glaring omissions. It’s a fine list if you’re really into singer songwriters, but I’m…not. I’m more of a band guy. So here are my picks!

The criteria for my list is as follows:

  1. The album has to have been marketed as “Christian music.”
  2. Albums from worship artists are permissible, but albums from churches or worship collectives (e.g. Hillsong) are not.

I am also omitting Christian hip hop and metal from the list, simply because I’m largely ignorant of those genres (y’all don’t need another white guy telling you that he thinks Lecrae is pretty good, right?). Because musical taste is subjective, please be aware that I am simply sharing the albums that had the greatest impact on me. If you don’t like it, feel free to make your own list. That’s what I did!

So, without further ado…

10. House of Heroes – Cold Hard Want (2012)
Cold Hard Want is a love letter to 90’s rock. From the opening riff, the album differentiates itself from its pop rock predecessor, 2010’s Suburba. It isn’t a perfect record (it starts to meander a bit on the back half), but in my opinion it’s the last time House of Heroes truly, unapologetically rocked. Hear for yourself:

9. Five Iron Frenzy – Engine of a Million Plots (2013)
Ten years after what everyone thought was their last show, Five Iron Frenzy put out the best album of their career. Everything is firing on all pistons here – for the first time, the music, the lyrics, and the production are all top notch for a Five Iron album. It’s just too bad we’ve been waiting over six years for a follow-up…

8. Jars of Clay – 20 (2014)
It feels a bit odd putting what’s technically a “best-of” album on this list, but what separates 20 from its peers is the fact that Jars of Clay completely re-recorded every song from the ground up for this project. The result is a cohesive collection of songs spanning my favorite band’s career, including several arrangements that are superior to the originals.

7. The Brilliance – Self Titled (2010)
I first saw The Brilliance open for Gungor during their Creation Liturgy tour in the spring of 2012, and they nearly upstaged the main act. While I love the music David Gungor and friends have continued to make since then, nothing compares to the indie worship vibes of their first record. Sadly, it seems that they’d rather leave it in the past, as only a handful of songs are available on Spotify as The Original Mixtape. Here are two essentials that were left out:

6. The City Harmonic – I Have a Dream (It Feels Like Home) (2011)
I point to I Have a Dream (It Feels Like Home) as the last great CCM album. The City Harmonic was a band with its feet firmly planted in the Contemporary Christian Music industry, yet they somehow were able to produce a record that is theologically far-sighted and musically timeless. If all you’ve heard from this record is “Manifesto,” you really need to check the rest of it out. I come back to this one every couple of years, and it still holds up.

5. Citizens – Self Titled (2013)
While I appreciate all of their records, the straightforward rock worship of Citizens’ self-titled debut is something special. Think about it: when’s the last time you heard a rock and roll worship album? Maybe something from Delirious? I don’t know. In any event, in my opinion Citizens is at the top of their game when Zach Bolen is leading worship with his amp turned all the way up.

4. Remedy Drive – Commodity (2014)
Commodity is a great example of a band reinventing itself while remaining true to its musical roots. As someone who’s been following Remedy Drive since the early 2000’s, it has been a joy to watch them evolve from a worship jam band into a pop rock group into what they’re doing now: abolitionist indie rock. While individual tracks from their previous two records are among my favorite Remedy Drive songs (“Resuscitate Me” might be my favorite of all time), I think Commodity is their most complete and cohesive record. Fun fact: I first listened to both Commodity and Coldplay’s Ghost Stories on a flight to Israel…I liked Commodity more.

3. Switchfoot – Vice Verses (2011)
Can you believe that Vice Verses released during this past decade? It feels like a lifetime ago, especially considering the musical journey Switchfoot has been on since then! When Vice Verses first came out I saw it as little more than a collection of Hello Hurricane b-sides, but it has quietly turned into one of my favorite Switchfoot albums. And the music is anything but quiet: out of all of their albums, Vice Verses‘ amps are turned up to eleven. For a while I considered it to be the last truly great album from Switchfoot (sorry Kevin), but this past year’s Native Tongue has restored my faith in the band. Native Tongue probably deserves to be on this list, too, but it’s such a recent release that I wasn’t sure where to put it. So here’s a song from each…

2. Relient K – Air for Free (2016)
In my mind, the best way to describe Air for Free is that it’s the follow-up to Forget and Not Slow Down that Collapsible Lung should have been. Musically and lyrically, Air for Free is Relient K’s most mature offering to date. It’s an understated album compared to their previous work, but I think that’s a good thing. After all, the Matts are in their late 30’s noawadays…who wants to hear emo breakup songs from old dudes? That would be lame. Is Air for Free their best album? No. But we’ll always have Mmmhmm, so I’m glad they decided to try something different. I sincerely hope we get to hear new Relient K music in the future, but if this is their final work, to me it feels like a proper sendoff.

1. Kings Kaleidoscope – Becoming Who We Are (2014)
The best Christian album of the 2010’s was also the biggest disruptor in Christian music. After releasing a couple of EP’s under the umbrella of Mars Hills Music, Chad Gardner’s Kings Kaleidoscope finally broke through with their genre-bending full-length in 2014. Fusing rock, funk, big band, indie, and hip hop influences together is no small feat, but when Kings Kaleidoscope does it, it comes across as effortless. The album straddles the fence between sacred and secular music well, too – and by this I don’t mean its lyrical content or even its audience. Becoming Who We Are is undeniably Christian music, but it’s refreshingly absent the decisions you expect from Christian music in terms of arrangement or production. In other words, Kings Kaleidoscope actively challenges the presumption that, if you’re a Christian artist, you have to play it safe. This is especially true of the songs on the album that are explicitly intended for congregational worship, and as a result, Kings Kaleidoscope somehow made the only cool worship album of the 2010s (just ask the kids who were in college when this one came out). There isn’t a single Matt Redman or Chris Tomlin record that came out from 2010-2019 that I’m still spinning, but I could easily see myself coming back to Kings Kaleidoscope’s songs even 10 years from now. The world of Christian music, including modern worship, is enriched by this album.

There are plenty of great selections from this album to share, but below I’ve included a song that I feel perfectly encapsulates what I’ve expressed above. It’s a bit of a slow burn at first, but I implore you to listen to it in a distraction-free environment with the volume up…it’s worth it.

An Open Letter to the Family Who Leaves Their Christmas Lights on All Year

I know this might sound strange coming from someone you’ve never met, but…THANK YOU.

Allow me to explain:

Last February, due to insurmountable financial struggles, my church asked me to step down as their worship and youth pastor. After years of penny pinching and declining attendance, the financial load of two full-time pastors became too much for one congregation to bear. I was faced with the difficult decision of either staying and fighting for my job, or walking away and giving the church I love a fighting chance to survive. I chose the latter.

One of the worst parts of receiving this news is that I was asked not to share it with any congregants, which included my parents. For months, I had to keep the secret that my days there were numbered. It was heartbreaking to lead so many “last” youth events without my students knowing about it. Likewise, it was unsettling planning our Easter celebration knowing that a major announcement would be made mere days later.

Needless to say, it was a rough couple of months for me. I confided in my siblings and a few close friends about my situation, for whose support and prayers I am incredibly grateful. But in my day-to-day life, the secret I was carrying left me feeling abandoned and alone. I would play video games for hours, go to movies by myself, or drive aimlessly while praying. Anything to keep myself occupied.

One habit I picked up during my winter of discontent was listening to Christmas music. As you probably remember, this past year’s snowfall was particularly brutal. It felt like we had snowdrifts from December until March! In my aimless driving, I would often pop in Perry Como’s Greatest Christmas Songs and pretend that I was prolonging the magic of Christmas (After all, back in December I had a stable job and a sense of security). I also had a wonderful childhood when it comes to Christmas – my parents pulled out all the stops to make it a special time for me and my siblings. Combined with my penchant for sentimentalism, driving around in the snow suddenly became a welcome escape from otherwise dreary conditions.

So what does this have to do with you? Well, I play in a rock and roll band, and we practice at a house in your neighborhood. After rehearsal one night, I decided to take a different route home…and that’s when I saw it, the house that still had its Christmas lights up! In the bleak midwinter, with Perry Como crooning in the background, the light of Christmas continued to shine for me. It caused me to reflect on the meaning of Christmas: Immanuel, God with us. It served as a reminder that, even though I sometimes may feel alone, I am not. If anyone can relate to me feeling this way, it’s Jesus. He is with me in the midst of my suffering. All this was stirring in my heart just because one family decided to leave their lights up.

So here we are, nine months later…and I wish I had good news to share about finding a new job. But this is real life, and sometimes stories don’t get wrapped up with a bow like a Christmas present. I have faith that God will eventually lead me to the right church, so I am doing my best to trust in his timing. In the meantime, the lights on your house will serve as a reminder of Jesus’ faithfulness. The same baby who was born in a stable would one day die on a cross to save sinners, including me. I am blessed, and I am grateful.

Thank you for the wonderful gift. Merry Christmas!

Song Explanation: Heaven Is My Home

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
– Philippians 3:20-21

Heaven Is My Home is a song that I wrote in honor of my friend Chris, who went to Heaven in September of 2004. I have been singing this song for 15 years because he deserves to be remembered. He was a genuinely kind person who loved Jesus and had a heart for helping others.

In its first incarnation, Heaven Is My Home was a sappy “I know my soulmate is out there somewhere” kind of song. I don’t remember any of the original lyrics except the bridge: “I’ll wait for you, my love.” Lame. But upon Chris’s passing, the subject matter of life, death, and eternity started to permeate my songwriting. If anyone remembers the Perfect Paradox song, Blur the Lines, I wrote it around the same time: “You blur the lines between death and life.”

Essentially, Heaven Is My Home is a reminder that for Christians, the end is not the end. Even though we all die a physical death, we will be raised in Jesus to eternal life. As Jesus said to his friend Martha when her brother Lazarus died, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (Jn 11:25-26).

It’s interesting to consider how my thinking has changed from when I first wrote Heaven Is My Home to what I believe today. While my faith in Jesus has remained steadfast, my theology of the afterlife is different than when I wrote it. Lyrically, it’s apparent that, as a 19-year old, my understanding of Heaven was more abstract and cultural than it was Biblical; the song paints a picture of a far-off place to where we escape when we die. I think there’s room for that within orthodoxy, especially considering Jesus’ words to the repentant thief as he hung on the cross: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). Nevertheless, if all that comes to mind for Christians is an other-worldly state of nirvana, we’re missing at least half of the picture.

Today, my hope is not so much in escaping the world but rather in God’s promise to redeem it. Consider Revelation 21:1-5a:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

On the last day, there will be a co-mingling of Heaven and Earth in which God himself dwells with humanity. Heaven won’t be far away; it will be right here! How this plays out is a mystery, but I am confident in two things: God will be with us, and he’s going to make everything right. At the end of the day, I’m still just a kid whose understanding of God is only a water drop in an ocean of comprehension.

Heaven Is My Home means even more to me now than when I wrote it. In addition to the song being written in honor of my friend Chris, I’ve also had the sacred privilege of singing it at both of my grandmothers’ funerals. The older I get, the more I understand that every moment is a gift. Every second we’re alive, every breath we breathe, every heartbeat…it’s all grace. And through Jesus, we have confidence in a life that never ends. Because of this truth, I’m looking forward to hanging out with Chris – and my grandparents – again someday.

Lyrics:
Fear, it means nothing
to the one who is most assured of
a life everlasting;
there’s nothing to be afraid of

Heaven is calling
This time I intend to answer
I don’t belong here
I yearn for the day I’ll be there

‘Cause I know that Heaven is my home
And my hope is in your love alone

It’s so ironic
that death could be arbitrary
But life everlasting
makes our endings so necessary

I’ll wait for you, my Lord

You can stream and purchase Flight Metaphor via Bandcamp, iTunes, and Spotify.

Song Explanation: You’re There

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
– Psalm 139

I am terrible at writing worship songs. Allow me to explain:

Part of my job at Community Covenant Church is evaluating and selecting appropriate music for our worship services, and it’s something I take very seriously. There’s a (dated) saying that goes, “If you want to know what’s important to a person, look at their checkbook.” Well, it’s kind of like that with a church’s theology: if you want to know what they believe, look at their songbook.

Consider these words from Constance Cherry in her book, The Worship Architect:

The persons responsible for song selection are accountable to God for what they ask the community to sing. Selecting music is a holy duty that carries the weight of great spiritual responsibility. The implications for our choices are enormous because…song selection wields tremendous influence on singers…Selecting song texts, then, is one of the most significant things that worship architects do because they are shaping their congregations’ theology (and therefore worldview) by the texts they select. It is an awesome responsibility. (182)

This is a very high standard! If I’m responsible for putting words in the collective mouth of the congregation I serve, then I want to be sure that I’m selecting songs consistent with our theology. The music that’s popular on Christian radio or churned out by mega churches isn’t always a good fit for us. If I’m not careful, I can inadvertently use songs that confuse people or lead them to believe the wrong things about God. I need to be careful, mindful, and most of all, faithful.

Of course, when evaluating a song I’m also mindful of practical concerns: is the song congregationally-friendly? Is it easy to pick up on the melody? Is it in a singable key? What’s the melodic range? Is it in a style or genre that works for my church, and if not, can I adjust it? Does the instrumentation make sense for our team? Is it worth pushing musical boundaries for the sake of good theology? Etcetera, etcetera.

So what does this have to do with You’re There? Well, You’re There is a worship song, and it’s one of the only worship songs I’ve written that I actually like. Most of the time, I overthink it. If I sit down with the goal to write a worship song, I get bogged down asking all of the questions listed above before I write a single note or lyric. What comes out is something clunky, or too heady, or so mind-numbingly simple that it sounds like a poorly written Tomlin knockoff.

So what was the difference this time? I threw my “worship rules” out the window, and, instead, tried to write an honest song that doesn’t suck. Does this mean that my concerns about congregational worship don’t matter? Hardly! But what I realized is that if I’m a follower of Jesus and I care about good theology already, it will naturally be reflected in the songs that I write. Will I always hit a homerun? No, but not every song that I write needs to be sung by my church. I just need to keep trying to write good songs, and once they’re complete I can evaluate them based on the criteria that’s important to me.

I recognize that this entry is more about my philosophy of songwriting, but I figure some of you might appreciate having the curtain drawn back a bit. This is the kind of stuff that worship leaders and songwriters are thinking about all the time!

Fun Fact: You’re There is used as the opening music for the Husker Football Fan Podcast. It’s the kind of thing that happens when one of the co-hosts is in a band 🙂

Lyrics:
When I’m surrounded by friends, you’re there
When I’m alone in my bed, you’re there
Through the night and the day
When asleep or awake
I will not be afraid, ‘cause you’re there

Oh, you’re everywhere
And you’ve made my heart your home
Yeah, you’re always there
And I will never be alone

When I’ve figured it out, you’re there
When I’m scared by my doubts, you’re there
When the world’s crashing down
And there’s no one around
Still your mercy abounds, ‘cause you’re there

You can stream and purchase Flight Metaphor via Bandcamp, iTunes, and Spotify.