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Christian music news: Catching up with ... David Crowder
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Church Music is full of contemporary expressions. Is the title a tongue-in-cheek remark on the old-school organ hymn renditions many of us grew up hearing?
David Crowder: The music of the church is broad and diverse. All we're doing is stating the obvious—we make church music. It is not a critique of more traditional expressions of music in the church, but rather how the creation of expectation by language can be limiting in ways that divide and confuse, rather than unite and clarify. The fact that those who come from a traditional setting hear this music and think, "this is not church music," and others coming from more progressive settings think, "this is not church music," causes me to think that both expectations should be reevaluated.
How would you define "church music?"
Crowder: Church music is music of the Christian church used for congregational singing. Pliny the Younger, a Roman statesman in the first and second centuries, wrote emperor Trajan asking for advice in how to deal with Christians, of which he'd had little experience with. One thing he uses to define them is, "They sing songs as if to a God." To me, that defines the purpose of Church music.
Church Music encompasses rock, pop, electronic, dance music—a melting pot of genres. What did you grow up listening to?
Crowder: My formative years were spent in the backseat of my dad's Ford Thunderbird playing five tapes in an endless cycle: two Elvis tapes, a Willie Nelson tape, an Olivia Newton John tape, and thankfully, a Bill Gaither tape. When secular music was banned from the house, I circumvented this by listening to Kiss really, really loud at my friend's house, and by explaining to my parents that Queen was in fact a Christian band.
Are you the epicenter of the band's creative process, or is it a collective effort?
Crowder: I make up rules for a particular project and then give assignments based on these rules. The music of the church has been most effective at articulating faith for groups of people when it has embraced the language and art of that particular group of people. So we had to embrace what is going on within pop music. Pop music has moved more urban in the last decade and yet most progressive church settings are still trying to capture U2 and Coldplay. Not that they aren't relevant, but when you have hip-hop producers like Timbaland producing rock bands, the trend should be considered.
One of the rules this time was that all of the music must first be composed in a computer. Then the rules stated that we must destroy what we made and recreate it with organic instrumentation. I felt like this would keep us from straying too far from where we've been and also allow for some of our rock and indie rock influences to be audible.
A couple of other rules were that songs had to lead into each other. Also, each must contain a nod to a formative moment within the history of music in the church, and these moments must appear on the album in historical order. It's a musical puzzle.
Do you have an intended audience for your music?
Crowder: This question causes me to think of what we are doing in consumptive terms. God is our intended audience, and those who find their sensibilities similar to ours will be able to use what we're doing to express themselves to God in a meaningful way. Music is a powerful thing that allows us to dig out places inside of ourselves that are uniquely human and offer them to God. For those who do not share our sensibilities, our music will be of little help in doing this.
Quick takes:
Where are you from originally?
Texarkana, Texas.
Favorite place you've traveled to?
My home. It is never a letdown.
Pet peeve?
When people don't clear the microwave numbers.Or wearing a hat so long you don't know it's there, and then you take it off and it feels like it's still there. That freaks me out.
Your most annoying habit?
Balancing plates of food on small outcroppings of furniture.
What makes you laugh?
Getting reprimanded for my wizard-like balancing abilities.
Favorite sports team?
Dallas Cowboys
Last good book you read?
Jim the Boy and The Blue Star by Tony Earley. I know that's two, but they go together.
Last good movie you saw?
Rocky IV
What record is currently in your CD player?
Owl City, Ocean Eyes
Favorite Bible verse?
Psalm 98:4
Last lesson God taught you?
The idea of Sabbath is not antiquated and irrelevant
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Christian music news: A conversation with David Crowder
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David Crowder and his band of merry men released their latest project, Church Music, on Tuesday. Crowder took time to talk about his new CD, the tour and Twitter.
Q: Where you calling from?
A: I'm home in Waco at my church.
Q: Are you stilling living in the Dr Pepper house?
A: Oh, yes! We are doing it large, sitting on that front porch drinking that Dr Pepper nectar. It's good!
Q: In the past you have had trouble with a renegade band of squirrels who throw nuts at you. Have you made peace with them yet?
A: No, they just don't realize that this is about private property rights. The house is mine, and they have all of nature to frolic about in. If we could just agree on that it, would be fine, but they want indoors. We just can't seem to reach a peaceful resolution. There is nothing but evil intent in the squirrels.
Q: You guys are very active on YouTube. What inspired to you to post your Twitter Will Kill You video?
A: We are trying to educate the public. It's like a public service announcement from the Crowder Band to help people understand the dangers of electronic media and the way we connect socially. Safety first, kids!
Q: Whose idea was that?
A: We aren't sure who's to blame. The recording process can be a little tedious and boring. This was one of those distracted ideas that erupted during that process. Before we knew it we were rolling tape and saying a lot of nonsense directed at the camera.
Q: Can you see next year's Video Music Awards? Kanye West will storm the stage and say: “David Crowder made the best YouTube video of all time!”
A: I'll be tuned in waiting for that moment.
Q: Did you use a stunt double for your role?
A: No, I told them I wanted to do all my own stunts. I'm in great shape, I'm agile, and I'm athletic. It hurt a lot more than I thought it would. You can see the hood got crushed a little bit if you watch it real slow.
Q: A real car hit you?
A: It's got to be real; you just take one for the team. I watched it back, and I know I was there, and I don't remember getting hit.
Q: Because of stereotypes of what “church” music sounds like, do you think the title of the new project might alienate your audience?
A: We are just calling it what it is. What the DCB does is write songs for the church to sing. I think if you made a record 20 years ago and called it church music, it would guarantee your downfall. I think there is enough about what we are putting in front of people that spurs conversation, and we think that is exciting.
Q: When did you feel called to do music?
A: I always loved it but didn't figure this would be something I would do every day. I came to school at Baylor with the intent to move back home to Texarkana to work for my dad and eventually take over the family practice. I got to school and studied music. Then a church start happened, and it fell on me to pull together the musical portion. I started writing songs, and the whole thing just took off. I think that is what is fun about our journey with God is we rarely ever see what is around the bend. My prayer has always been just to have enough light to see the next step and the courage enough to take it.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Christian music news: David Crowder Band Releasing Church Music
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BRENTWOOD, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Sparrow Records) - As their new album hits stores today, electronic rock group the David Crowder Band are storming the internet and making their mark early on the charts.
The 17 tracks on Church Music may not be what you expect sonically when you think of one of Christian music's leading bands.
The album even includes a unique cover of hard rock act Flyleaf's hit "All Around Me," and features Flyleaf lead singer Lacey Mosely and the Dupree sisters from Eisley singing background vocals on various tracks.
The six-piece, known for their mix of ambient and infectious electro-rock, kicked off their nationwide tour with a sold-out show last night in their hometown of Waco, TX.
On Thursday, September 24 they'll hit the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles for a sold-out show before jumping back on the road in October for intimate shows across the U.S. On November 13, they'll headline Terminal 5 in New York City. Learn more at davidcrowderband.com.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Christian music news: David Crowder Band, coming to Modesto, takes different approach with latest music
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Whether you call his songs "Christian rock" or "alternative worship music," David Crowder is certainly unique. All you have to do is look at his latest band photograph to know that.
Crowder, 37, and his wife, Toni, 35, live in a Waco, Texas, home built in 1886 by Wade Morrison, who invented
Dr Pepper. The Victorian home was in bad shape when the Crowders purchased it a few years ago. During their renovation, they bought a large painting of a woman from the 1880s, dubbed her "Elizabeth" and hung her in the guest bedroom, where the group photo was taken.
"We've been in this old house remodeling slowly," Crowder said in his down-home accent in an interview from his home. "At one point, we were staying in that guest room and that painting turned up. I said, 'I don't think I can stay here, sleeping with that.' My wife said, 'Sure you can.' Then little (antique) perfume bottles started turning up on the mantel. I asked my wife what those were about. She said, 'Elizabeth needs her things.' That was it; I was out of there."
Crowder joked that the painting has at least one redeeming quality: Elizabeth's stern countenance keeps guests from overstaying their welcome.
The David Crowder Band will be in Modesto next month for a concert at Calvary Temple Worship Center. The group will perform several selections from its newest CD, "Church Music," which was released Tuesday, as well as earlier hits, such as "Here is My King," "Something Glorious" and "O Praise Him."
"Church Music," like Crowder and his home, also is unique. There are no breaks between the 17 songs; one selection simply blends into another for 73 minutes. Making sure that the ending and beginning chords went together was "a lot of work, harder than I thought it would be," Crowder said. Some songs are harder rocking than the band's usual fare, heavier than most songs you'll hear in church, but they are also thought-provoking, such as "Eastern Hymn," which incorporates the translation of an ancient Chinese prayer book. It's an intentional mix and focus, Crowder said.
"The title makes me grin from ear to ear," he said. "We wanted to throw our arms around what's happening in culture as diligently as we could, so we definitely
approached this record differently than in the past."
He said he hopes the album will remind people that church music is continually evolving.
"The story of God can be inserted in a lot of places," he said. "We're trying to have it as compelling and grand as it is. We're constantly trying to retell and repackage the story in new ways, not only for us, but for people attached to our music."
An ear for music
Crowder started plinking on the family piano "when I was tall enough to reach those piano keys. I was making noise, and then my mom recognized some melodies and signed me up for lessons."
He didn't hear classical music, though, until he went to college.
"My dad had a constant rotation of Willie Nelson, Elvis, Olivia Newton John and Bill Gaither," Crowder said. "That probably explains a lot, psychologically and musically. We were East Texans. The plan was for me to graduate from college and move back home and take over for Daddy. He had an insurance agency in town.
"I don't know if you could imagine me on your front porch, asking if your child needed insurance. I would have to have had a haircut, that's for sure."
Instead of those plans, Crowder and another Baylor University student began talking about the need for a church that would attract and be relevant to college students. A study by the university at the time showed that most students on that Christian college campus never attended church.
The two began University Baptist Church in a building neighboring the campus, with Crowder leading music, often playing his own compositions. The David Crowder Band was born from that ministry about a decade ago, touring as an opening act with Michael W. Smith, Third Day and MercyMe and returning home to lead music on Sundays.
The band and church have both thrived.
Music 'leaked out,' spread
Crowder, who writes most of his own music with the other band members, reflected on how quickly their music spread across the country.
"The songs leaked out, so to speak, headed back to students' locales," he said. "We found we were following the music around. It's pretty wild. It's definitely humbling, but also exciting, and we're enjoying what we're doing. It's really encouraging."
The band won six Dove Awards and won in 2006 and 2008, including the rock/contemporary album of the year and rock/contemporary song of the year both times.
Crowder said the most important thing he's learned about God in the past 10 years is his grace.
"The grace part of our experience of faith is the hardest to grasp, but the most beautiful to put our arms around," he said. "I seem to find that redemptive moment over and over. There's a lot in us that seems like it's not quite right; look at nature and know, surely this is not what was intended. It looks quite chaotic and violent.
"The story of God is that what's broken will be put back together. That's what grace is; it's the thing that puts us back together."
He said he hopes the audience will grasp that during the Modesto concert.
"We're hoping that they leave with a sense that they've been in the presence of God," he said, that it "reshapes the awareness of that reality."
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Christian music news: David Crowder Band to release Church Music September 22; David Crowder book, David Crowder Band tour
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David Crowder Band Church Music
The David Crowder Band is getting ready to release Church Music on September 22. The follow-up to the 2007 release of Remedy, Church Music will be the David Crowder Band’s fifth album. The 17 songs on the unique album play continuously from beginning to end with one song blending seamlessly into the next. The result is 73 full minutes of music with 17 back-to-back tracks joined together. While the album plays like one continuous song, each individual song can also stand on its own.
David Crowder Band Countdown to Church Music
To prove that point and to give fans a taste of Church Music, every Tuesday in September until the album streets, iTunes will release a new single from the record wing listeners to complete their own album. Three singles have been released so far including "How He Loves," "Alleluia, Sing" and "We Are Loved," and a fourth song will be releasing next Tuesday, September 15. The singles are part of the "David Crowder Band Countdown to Church Music" which topped the iTunes Video Podcast charts last week.
“I hope this album serves as a reminder of music within the Church, of its richness and its broadness, and the tension that exists in using elements of cultural language to express our collective experience and also still remain a transformative presence that is set apart,” says band front man David Crowder.
David Crowder Band and University Baptist Church
David Crowder Band is part of University Baptist Church, a church they founded in 1995 near the campus of Baylor University in Waco, TX, while David Crowder was still a Baylor student. It was there Crowder became the worship leader and started writing music to incorporate into the worship times at the church, which led to the band's first CD in 1999.
David Crowder Band Awards & Honors
Since then the David Crowder Band has captured 6 GMA Dove Awards out of 17 Dove nominations, toured with Michael W. Smith, Third Day and MercyMe, and headlined a tour with Mute Math. The band was the first Christian artist to be named MSN.com’s Artist of the Year in 2006.
Church Music Tour and New Book
The Church Music Tour with David Crowder Band and opening acts Danyew and Seabird will visit 32 cities and churches across the country starting on October 1. In addition to launching Church Music, David Crowder and violinist Mike Hogan will lrelease their book Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven, But Nobody Wants To Die with Zondervan on November 9. For Church Music tour dates check the Christian Concert Calendar.
Who Is the David Crowder Band?
David Crowder is David Crowder (lead vocals), Jack Parker (electric guitar), Mike Dodson (bass guitar), Mike Hogan (violins), Jeremy Bush (drums), and Mark Waldrop (electric guitar).For more info see David Crowder Band Prepares for Release of Church Music.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
DAVID CROWDER*BAND'S OFFICIAL CHURCH MUSIC ANNOUNCEMENT
BRENTWOOD, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Sparrow Records) - In addition to the new hit single on iTunes and absolute must-see rockumentary clips, a formal press release was recently issued announcing the September 22 release of CHURCH MUSIC, the much-anticipated fifth studio album by David Crowder*Band.
'I hope this album serves as a reminder of music within the Church, of its richness and its broadness, and the tension that exists in using elements of cultural language to express our collective experience and also still remain a transformative presence that is set apart,' says band front man David Crowder.
CHURCH MUSIC-all 17 tracks and 73 minutes of it-will also be available on vinyl at the group's fall concerts.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Christian music news: David Crowder Band - Oh Praise Him - Frenzy 2009
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David Crowder Band playing Oh Praise Him (All This For A King) at Frenzy 2009 in Edinburgh.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Christian music news: David Crowder Band *He Is The One* (11.06.2009 Heilbronn)
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Live in Heilbronn - David Crowder Band, zum ersten Mal in Deutschland, kleiner Ausschnitt aus "He Is The One"
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Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
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David Crowder Band "Foreverandever Etc..." Cornerstone 2008 Main Stage
David Crowder Band performs "Foreverandever Etc..." on the Main Stage at Cornerstone Music Festival on July 4, 2008
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
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David Crowder "Neverending..."
David Crowder playing ..."neverending..." at National Youth Workers Convention
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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David Crowder Band - Never Ending (Guitar Hero Style)
David Crowder plays one of his songs - 'Never Ending' on a Guitar Hero Guitar at Parachute 2009
Christian Music News Source
Christian Music News Source
sixstepsrecords CELEBRATES 15 GMA DOVE AWARD NOMINATIONS
CHRIS TOMLIN LEADS WITH SEVEN NOMINATIONS
DAVID CROWDER* BAND RECEIVES THREE NODS
PASSION GARNERS A NOMINATION FOR PASSION: GOD OF THIS CITY
Nashville, TN….Feb. 23, 2009…sixstepsrecords is celebrating a total of 15 GMA Dove Award nominations with Chris Tomlin leading with seven nominations alongside rock/worship band, David Crowder* Band who received three nods, while six-time nominee, Passion garners one for Passion: God Of This City. The 40th Annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards ceremony will take place April 23, 2009 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN and will be broadcast LIVE on Gospel Music Channel at 8PM (EST).
Winner of 14 Dove Awards, including Male Vocalist of the Year in 2008, Tomlin is nominated this year in the following categories: “Artist of the Year,” “Song of the Year,” “Male Vocalist,” “Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song,” “Worship Song,” “Praise & Worship Album” and “Special Event Album.”
"I am so encouraged that our songs continue to resonate in the hearts of people and that our peers want to give recognition to the music,” says Tomlin. “I am grateful and honored."
sixstepsrecords continues to celebrate with David Crowder*Band who are up for three awards this year in the categories of: “Group of the Year,” “Special Event Album” and “Recorded Music Packaging” for their live recording, “Remedy Club Tour Edition” released in Aug. 08.
Passion also received a nomination for their compilation disc Passion: God Of This City, in the category of “Special Event Album.” The CD features sixstepsrecords' artists Chris Tomlin, David Crowder* Band, Charlie Hall, Matt Redman, Christy Nockels and Kristian Stanfill, who each receive a nomination in the category for their participation on the project.
"Our small label family continues to be humbled by the ways that God is using this music around the globe,” says Louie Giglio, Passion and sixstepsrecords founder and director. “Simply being recognized in this way is a huge honor, something for which we are grateful."
About sixstepsrecords:
Founded in 2000 by Louie Giglio, sixstepsrecords (www.sixstepsrecords.com) is a worship label and a division of Passion Conferences. sixstepsrecords’ artists include Chris Tomlin (HELLO LOVE), David Crowder* Band (Remedy), Charlie Hall (The Bright Sadness), Matt Redman (Beautiful News), and Passion (Passion: God of This City). The label partners with Sparrow Records/EMI CMG Label Group for A&R, marketing, sales and distribution operations.
About EMI CMG Label Group:
Brentwood, Tennessee-based EMI CMG Label Group is comprised of Sparrow Records, Forefront Records, and Credential Recordings, in addition to providing A&R and marketing support for sixstepsrecords via a joint venture and licensing partnership. Balancing freedom, discipline, creativity, profitability and ministry, EMI CMG Label Group strives for excellence in artist development. The Label Group is a division of EMI
Christian Music News Source
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The Glory of It All
the band doing this David Crowder*Band song on Jan 4, 2009 www.fusionworshipband.com
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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