What is the deal?

If God is the author of creativity; and Christians are in theory closest to God because of Christ, why are Christians so weak when it comes to creativity? OK, maybe that statement is too much of a generalization. Let me slim it down the lack of creativity in some “popular” Christian music. I just searched itunes; there are:

7 artists renditions of “here I am to worship” (Including a Jeremy camp version)
12 artists renditions of “You’re worthy of my praise” (Including a Jeremy camp version)
16 artists renditions of “Open the eyes of my heart”
116 artists renditions of “Blessed Assurance”

I say “artist rendition” loosely because they are for the most part arranged the exact same, no real change except for a different band name. Here are some other thoughts/questions/observations:

Jeremy Camp’s worship album “Restored” (which I own) has only 5 originals out of 13 songs. The others 8 songs are standards/popular/mainstream in Christian terms. Why re-record them unless you are going to drastically re-arrange them (you know, make re-recording them somewhat of an art instead of a re-gurgitation).

Why does Michael W. Smith need to put a worship album out with his versions of “Forever”, “Heart of Worship”, “Draw me close”, “Open the Eyes”, “Above all”, “Breathe”, “Agnus Dei”, Awesome God”, “More Love more Power” – HELLO, THESE ARE ALL POPULAR COVERS. What ever happened to creativity? And the thing that really ticks me off about this is that Michael W. Smith’s worship album keeps other original worship albums off the shelf (If a store is going to give Smith’s regurgitated album shelf space, that precludes them from carrying other worship albums by folks who actually write new songs).

The same is true about "Philips Craig and Dean's" worship albums - almost exclusively covers of popular worship songs, which keeps other's originals off the shelf.

Why did Tree63 re-do “blessed be Your name” the exact why Matt Redman did it. And since they sound the exact same, why does Christian radio play the Tree63 version every hour? Just play the original Redman version (which sounds the same) and move on.

And the thing that kills me the most is Selah’s rendition of “You Raise me Up” by Josh Groban. COME ON, the song arrangement is the exact same as the original. The only difference is that no one on earth can match Josh Groban’s amazing voice, Selah doesn’t even come close (they are not even in the same vocal league). So why is the Selah’s clearly inferior version all over Christian radio? Is it because Josh Groban is not a “Christian artist”?

Why is it that Coldplay doesn’t feel the need to play covers?

Why is it that David Wilcox (one of the best song writers/guitarist ever) only covers a few songs (and when he does, they are significantly different from the original)?

There is only one rendition of Jack & Diane on itunes (Clearly because no one feels the need to cover/ruin such a classic).

So I ask, why do Christians purchase the same songs done in the same way over and over again? Can we please get some more creativity out there in the “mainstream Christian music”, especially when it comes to worship? I personally would rather have sub-par originals as album fillers then have a regurgitated version of “open the eyes” as filler. This is the major reason why I can sometimes be embarrassed to be worship leader. The state of the inbreed Christian music industry is really sad. Sorry if I offended anyone,…. If I did, why? What did I write (about some of the “mainstream”/“popular” Christian music) that is not true?

Keith

What a crazy week

This has been a week to remember. On June 22nd our daughter (child #3) Anna Grace was born. She was 8lb 5oz, and as healthy as can be. She has a wonderfully calm temperament to her, and is quite a joy. We then received word that my wife’s brother had passed away on June 24th unexpectedly; he was only 29 years old.

And after 6 months of 2 homes/mortgages, we finally received a bid/contract on our home in Dayton. Unfortunately the basement flooded the same night (stupid sump-pump back-up battery was dead and the power went out), so I am now in Dayton Ohio, 5 hours away from my family, while the carpeting in our basement gets dried out by some “professionals”.

What a crazy week. It is amazing how fragile life is. I am reminded of that while holding my little daughter who can’t hold her head up on her own and completely relies on us for the necessities to sustain life. I was reminded of that watching the slide show montage of my brother-in-law at his funeral. I wish I had something profound to say about these two events. One would assume that a musician like myself would be pumping out lyrics or prose by the dozen during this season. That as an extreme introvert (who has to be extraverted in his job, but is never the less an off the chart home body introvert) I should be able to really process through my feelings and come to some profound understanding/meaning that I then weave into something that you or I would then read and go “wow, that is deep”

Well, I’ve got nothing. Really I don’t. I guess that is why my Blog is titled “Nothing profound, just what’s on my mind”. Yea, I am overjoyed. Yes, I am deeply saddened. I can tell you that I feel for my wife who gave birth, buried her older brother, and had to ride a total of 10 hours in a car 5 days after giving birth (men, you might need to think a little for it to click why this car ride would be stressful/painful).

And to be honest, as I am walking through our old home in Dayton (but unfortunately still one of our current homes) I had my second “oh XXXX, why did I leave this” moments. Don’t get me wrong, I love my new job/career leading worship. But I do miss a lot of things from the corporate world and P&G. I miss the intellectual challenge. I miss managing multiple people/functions. I miss working for a fortune 50 company and the training that that brings. I miss being able to look at a sheet of paper and knowing that I am being successful in my job because the top-line and bottom-line are where they need to be (try doing that as a worship leader,…. Ha!). I miss being able to make a mistake and only screwing up dog food and money. And sure, it’s probably sinful, but I miss the status stripe, the extravagant travel, and the wine/dining that I got to do on the corporate dime. And while flying first-class across the country stunk because it meant that I was away from my family a ton, there is still a part of me that misses the stature that came with it (stature is not the right word, but I am getting tired and don’t want to search for a thesaurus on my computer right now).

So that is it,…. Crazy week,… I guess it has been a crazy 3.5 years if you think about it. In 3.5 years I have gotten married, had three kids (with the first two spending 2.5 months in the ICU), owned 3 homes (lived in 4), buried a cousin a grandfather and a brother-in-law, and left a great corporate job for a career in paid ministry.

You know what, I think I am a wanderer. I don’t know what that means, but as I look at that list above, that is what comes to mind, I am a wanderer.

Peace and love to you,

Keith