Singable Songs

Hey friends. I read a blog post recently commenting on the singability of Restoration Project songs. I was flattered to be the topic of conversation, and thought I would respond a bit here. Historically no, I have not been concerned about writing "singable" songs in the sense that people could just know the melody and words and sing them together at will. I love singable songs...but I have always been more concerned with authenticity and unique perspective, and...I am a live performing artist and I weave songs in and out of stories and poetry. So, being a worship songwriter is actually a little newer to me. It was actually groups like COTA in Seattle that first started using my songs in their own gatherings. Lacey Brown, the then worship leader at COTA would send me an email every couple of months asking for the chord charts to a certain song. COTA was actually using songs from "Sobering" (2004) which, as an album, lands way outside the radar of industry standards. I was flattered and encouraged that the songs I shared so passionately were indeed resonating with communities, and also impressed that the group would take the time to learn some more complex songs.

In 2006 I release "Worship," which actually is not that much different lyrically and structurally then my other work. It is still very people focused and poetry driven. The difference was my perspective while writing. I had been through a pretty intense restoration process of my own, and some of the unexpected fruit was coming into a much deeper understanding and theology of worship. I did create that project wanting it to be a resource and offering to the communities I worked with, but knew it would be challenging lyrically. I mentioned recently at Princeton that though many worship industry standards are based in scripture, which is awesome. However, I have observed that some scripture seems to be a little more marketable than others. And just as the Psalms speak always of specific events and people groups and historical happenings, I think at least SOME of the music we sing should include those things. So I put the words "AIDS" into a couple of songs as it is a pressing crises of our day and I also based most of the songs in scripture as well. Songs like "Run to the Mountan" and "The Kingdom" were also shared at the 2006 MSA gathering and I have since learned that songs from that project have been sung by small groups around the country and even translated and sung in parts of Africa and South America.

Song For a Revolution of Hope, however, was a collaboration with Brian McLaren. Brian actually wrote most of the lyrics. I co-wrote and co-produced and did a lot of arranging. While we were recording the project, it was primary in Brian's heart that the songs be singable. He wanted to resource the Church with new kinds of songs. So, we did work extra hard, despite some pretty complex lyrics, to make it singable. Our success is debatable, however I have since led every single song on the album in the context of live worship, and even songs like "Atheist" have worked really well in the right situations. The two spoken word pieces, "Let's Confess" and "11-57" still have incredibly singable choruses and work really well in a liturgical call and response method.

My latest electronica EP...well...maybe not that singable if you download them and try to learn them...I describe it as contemplative electronica. But, I am a story teller and a journey facilitator in worship. So if you invited me to lead the songs in your living room, and I told you the stories of Rwanda that led to me writing "Come Out," you might find yourself singing along in the chorus anyway.

So, here's an unverified list of the most singable songs by album if you're interested. Chord Charts are posted in the download section.

Sobering:
-Arise
-Work it Out

Worship:
-Bring Me Some Peace
-Run to the Mountain
-All the Way
-I Am in Love
-The Kingdom

And all songs from "Songs For a Revolution of Hope."

An Essay Response

You might not be able to make me out in the picture, but I'm the one right between John Perkins and Jim Wallis. Yeah. Fun times. Anyway, after the Envision gathering ended, a group of Theologians stayed at Princeton to work through all of the dialogue and panels and make a declaration. I said Amen to it. It was actually a very diverse group of speakers and leaders. If you want to see it, here is the LINK. You sign it by posting a comment.

As I alluded to in the previous post, I did write an essay, a loose response on the panel about post-colonialism. I call it "Post-Colonialism and Songwriting." I'm actually starting to contribute to "The Other Journal," a publication of Mars Hill Graduate School. I'm considering submitting a better version of this, so you could help me out by giving me some feedback...mainly, did you reap anything from it at all? Thanks friends! Here's the essay:

It is good to be a songwriter. I just returned from Envision, a gathering at Princeton University where theologians, activists and leaders of all kinds gathered and dialogued with the goal of uniting the church and moving more deeply into the public square. Some of my own living heroes were in attendance like John Perkins, and some friends I have not been able to connect with in quite sometime like Shane Claiborne. There were also a slew of people who had influenced me greatly through their own journeys and books, people like Ruth Padilla DeBorst and Ron Sider. I, along with about 500 others, listened to them speak. We listened to panel discussions and response panels to speakers, and I got to share songs. I play a lot of house concerts...DOWNLOAD THE REST

Envision Reports

Hey all,  I just returned to Colorado after about a week in Princeton preparing for and participating in the gathering, "Envision 08."  I am in the midst of a deeper response to the panel on post-colonialism and will post it in the next couple of days, but here's a little video someone put together of the first afternoon.  More to come!

Real Blogging

Look at me doing real time blogging...

Today I packed up my car and dog and drove up to Boulder where I got a hair cut and checked out a cool new coffee shop on Pearl Street. I fixed some broken links in the online store and did some last minute correspondence, then went to my chiropractor, Dr. Zach, who I miss now that I live two hours south of Boulder. Then I had a great house concert with my friends Chris and Esther Cummings...super fun. Esther made chocolate covered strawberries, hummus, and spice cake among other yummy things. People from the neighborhood made up the majority of the group. I left Neve (my great dane) with the Cummings, and am crashing at my dad's house. Tomorrow morning I fly out of Denver and will spend the day getting to Princeton where I'll work with some other artist before the start of Envision!

Life is good...for those of you who knew I was having some health problems a month ago, I am doing really well. I did a yoga intensive/nutrition program post-tour, and learned a ton. Now I just have to figure out how to maintain everything while I travel. I did learn I have quite a few food allergies. Oh well...step by step...and I found really yummy gluten-free cookies at Whole Foods that I am packing on this trip.

Store Updated!

Good news friends! We have redesigned the store...or rather, we have received some incredible help from a friend. So, the store now utilizes a shopping cart, allowing you to combine multiple CD's, or digital AND physical in a single purchase. AND, you can use Google, Paypal, or credit cards to pay! I hope this makes it easier for everyone to purchase here (we do get a much larger percentage when you buy at restorationvillage.com) and please refer your friends!

Tracy Invited to Present at Envision 08!

As I mentioned before, I definitely want to unpack the fullness of the Spring tour a little bit more before plowing into the next thing, but this is really exciting. Envision is a gathering at Princeton of some amazing people, some I have met, some I have not. I met a woman named Lisa Harper at one of the last EMC gathering, hosted by the Latino Leadership Circle in the Bronx. Lisa heads up New York Faith and Justice and also is facilitating the creative teams at Envision. So, I was thrilled she invited me to be part and share some songs in the plenary sessions. If you're curious, check out the website. If you are a college student, you can apply to receive credit for attending! More to come...

The End of Tour

Well, we made it through. Actually, we not only made it, but we grew and saw hope. It was incredible. And as we parted ways after our last event together in Goshen, there was a bit of celebration, a bit of sadness, and lot’s of hugs. Of course I realize this doesn’t bookmark the end of some big event, but maybe it is an exhale. I (Tracy) practice Bikram yoga. It is a series of postures with rest in between each posture. Some of the postures are quite challenging and get the muscles twitching. However, exercise scientist have studied the body and found it is actually working the hardest and gaining the most benefit from the practice during the resting periods of the last two postures. In other words, if you don’t rest, you don’t get all of the benefits!

Brian, Linnea, Eric and I were talking about this over milkshakes in Goshen. We all want to reap the benefits, and hope others do as well. For those of you who caught one of the gatherings, do not forget to go to everythingmustchange.org and start adding content. For those of you who don’t know about the site, it won’t be officially launched until the fall, but it is just some of the fruit that has come from the relationships and connections during this tour.

There is rumor we might be doing a few Everything Must Change events in 2009…If you think your community might want to host, please contact Linnea Nilsen-Capshaw at info@deepshift.org. Thank you all who participated! I will be posting some deeper and much more detailed reports and thoughts on the tour, but wanted to at least start here. Brian posted some thoughts as well on his website, brianmclaren.net.