New Song, Upcoming Livestreams & More
Dear friends & listeners,
I sit at my kitchen table today with sun streaming through the window. I find it impossible not to put at least some hope in the changing seasons—I can't wait for fall to arrive for good, and something tells me it's around the corner.
It's been a while since I've shared anything with you here. Like everyone else, I've mostly been trying to keep my head above water, day by day, week by week. But I have been working on a few new projects that I wanted to bring to your attention.
"Trinity Song"
When lockdowns first began in March, I sent an invitation to my church's worship team to record audio and video of themselves singing and playing along to Sandra's "Trinity Song," a beloved favorite of our community.
On one level, the goal was to provide some of the comfort of congregational singing in a time when we can't sing in one another's presence. And on another level, this particular song emphasizes the triunity—the loving, harmonious community—of God, asking God to "bind us together in holy love." I couldn't think of a better prayer for 2020.
Asher Peterson did a marvelous job of mixing together these disparate pieces of audio into a cohesive whole, and Mindy Cook added her magic touch in editing the video together.
All the players and singers in order of appearance are: myself, J Lind, Steve Guthrie, Karin Simmons, Skye Peterson, Cody Spriggs, Becca Jordan, Asha Snader, Hetty White, Helena Aman, Asher Peterson, and Colin Fagan (not seen, but heard).
The audio from this song will release on streaming platforms Friday, September 18th. You can pre-save it on Spotify with the button below.
Upcoming Livestreams: Desolation & Consolation
It's coming up on a year since I released my Desolation and Consolation EPs. As that one-year mark approaches, I'm struck more than ever at how songs truly gain meaning over time. Take "Into the Darkness" for example—when I first shared that song a year ago yesterday, I had no idea the darkness that was right around the corner.
So on Thursday the 17th and Thursday the 24th, I'll be going live on Instagram to play through these EPs, sharing stories and observations (and a couple new songs) along the way. My goal is less to perform for you than it is to offer an unhurried space in which we can feel what we haven't yet had time to feel. I've experienced a great need for catharsis myself recently; hopefully we can share some of that together.
The Molehill Podcast
I’m getting to channel my inner Ira Glass for this new Rabbit Room podcast, and it’s already been such light-hearted fun: The Molehill, an audio anthology of treasured writings read aloud by the writers themselves. I’m your host!
You’ll hear short fiction, essays, memoirs, poems, and various shenanigans, including a Balderdash-esque word game where listeners make up definitions to made-up words.
If you're anything like me, some days this year aren't so bad. Others absolutely are. And yet, there's a gratitude for being alive that runs underneath it all, where joy and sadness converge and enrich one another. My hope and prayer for you is that you would refuse cynicism, remain sensitive to all that unfolds around you, and search for hope.
Thanks for listening,
Drew