DEREK WEBB

i want you to sing on my new album

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:13:00 -0600

UPDATE: due to response, submissions for vocals are now closed. thanks so everyone who sang, can’t wait for you to hear the final track.

hello friends-

as some of you know (from my recent announcement), i am working feverishly on a new album that will release later this year, entitled “i was wrong, i’m sorry & i love you”. a week or so ago i finished writing a new song about resisting cynicism, which is called ‘everything will change.’ as i was recording the song i thought it might be fun to get a group of friends to sing the choruses with me as a group vocal.

then i thought, ‘why not invite everyone to sing’? so here’s what i’d like you to do:

download the zip file below, which contains two small mp3s (the first and second chorus of ‘everything will change’), figure out some way to record yourself singing along with me, then email me your background vocal. and i will use the vocals you send me on the album.

can’t wait to hear everyone.

thanks folks-

derek

ps- i need everyone to send in their vocals by FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, so get singing.

here are a few tips:

-listen carefully to the melody i’m singing and do your best to match it in unison, no harmonies please.

-be sure to sing both choruses, as they’re slightly different (the second is exactly the same as the first chorus other than the very last note).

-you can do this in a recording studio, with several iphones, or anything in between. i will accept any recordings, but the higher quality, the better. WAV files would be ideal, but high quality mp3s are fine too (please only send WAVs or mp3s).

-use earbuds or headphones when recording your vocal so there is minimal bleeding through of the track you’re listening to, if possible. i just want to hear your voice by itself in what you send.

-it’s fine to get a few friends to sing with you on one recording, they don’t all have to be individual vocals (the more the merrier).

download the zip file

attach the audio of yourself singing the two choruses to an email and send to: derek@dryve.us

and here are the LYRICS:

everything is gonna change

and nothing’s gonna stay the way it is

one day you’ll wake and the curse will break

and even you won’t be the same

your hope is not wasted on the day

when everything will change

what is the nexus: the hidden meaning behind Ctrl

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:30:00 -0500

as some have suspected and speculated about, there is more to my new album Ctrl than meets the eye. i’ve said that Ctrl is a story about a man who can’t have what he most desperately wants because it isn’t real, the journey he goes on pursuing it, and the cost he pays for that journey. i’ve also said that the narrative is a metaphor for culture’s tenuous relationship with technology, the ways we use technology in an attempt to manage our relationships and control our lives, and how i’m concerned that that technology might wind up having more control over us.

but I haven’t yet answered the question posed last june with the release of the SOLA-MI album (the band i started in early 2012 with josh moore and latifah phillips): what is the nexus?

Ctrl was made to tell a larger story, a story that requires a key to unlock and understand it. that key, the ‘nexus’, is the SOLA-MI album itself (which was released for free three full months before the release of Ctrl). Ctrl and SOLA-MI each tell their own stand-alone stories, but were made to go together as one album and one story.

taken separately, Ctrl and SOLA-MI tell two parallel stories: one is the story of a man who is in love with his fantasy life and turns reluctantly to technology to have, inhabit and control his dreams. the other is the story of the first machine ‘waking up’ at the moment of the “singularity” (a moment in the future where computers reach a tipping point, exponentially increasing in processing and power), a pinocchio-like story of a machine wishing to be real and inhabit the world that she can only see from the outside.

essentially, these two characters desperately wish to be where the other is, the man wanting to be fully immersed in the virtual world, and the machine wishing to be real and make meaningful choices.

even the production and songwriting of these two albums was crafted as a seamless listening experience. in order to hear the combined Ctrl+SOLA-MI album, create a playlist inserting the SOLA-MI album (not including the first track, entitled ‘keynote’) into the middle of the Ctrl album, between tracks 7 (‘i feel everything’) and 8 (‘reanimate’). it should look like this:

in the greater metaphor of our relationship with technology, i see two possible outcomes. one has us coming to our senses, having meaningful conversations about placing guardrails around the technology in our lives, considering the creation sacred spaces where technology is not allowed, and ‘waking up’ to our responsibilities of self-control regarding our use of technology. this is the message of the three-act Ctrl story alone.

but there is an alternate ending that is created by inserting the missing fourth act. with SOLA-MI, the ending changes, speculating about a scenario where we succumb completely to the technology we believe is improving and making our lives more efficient, and opening the door for something that we don’t completely understand and cannot control.

i hope the Ctrl+SOLA-MI album plays some small part in starting these conversations, along with the writing and speaking of people like sherry turkle and wendell berry (whom i commend to you). it’s not too late to slow down for a moment, disconnect, and look each other in the face, to make meaningful choices about the role we wish technology to play in our lives. some things simply take time and are worth our attention. i sincerely appreciate yours.

get Ctrl at your favorite retailer:

itunes

amazon

or directly from me

then

download the SOLA-MI album for FREE to complete your Ctrl+SOLA-MI album

download the complete lyrics for both albums

download and read the fictional short story upon which Ctrl+SOLA-MI are based

Ctrl - The Complete Fictional Short Story (including APPENDIX A)

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:56:00 -0500

ACT 1

and then suddenly he was dead. even in his nearly unconscious state he could hear the ringing of the voices in his ears, singing songs familiar to him from his youth in a style that both comforted and terrified him still. songs of end times, songs of flaming skies.

as he emerged from the fog of sleep, waves of grief washing over him like the small but potent beam of sun shining in through a crack in the blackout curtains, he could still see it all, the evidences of everything he loved spoiled by daylight. he could still see her. he could remember the first glance of their meeting, the lucky circumstances that led to their first intimate moments, and the flash of light and resulting death that predictably interrupted them just on the brink of crescendo night after agonizing night. she was so real, so familiar. he knew her, the curves of her body, the laugh lines around her eyes, and the steadiness of her movement as she desired and approached him, just as he knew his own continued surprise at her persistence in doing so. in this place he always had just the right words yet never seemed to need them. it was him that she wanted. she was his great love, nameless and non-existent.

he almost couldn’t remember the time before his intense addiction to sleep, which in recent weeks had evolved into something more like insomnia, an ironic full circle of over-correction. it was the result of his realizing that what he most wanted, what he most loved, was something he could never truly have because it wasn’t real. yet to him, it was more real than the family he was currently alienated from, the room he almost never left, or the bed he needed and yet resented for what it both gave and took away from him.

even still, he managed to pass weeks, even months in this half-connected, half-alive state. it was as if he was living two lives, caught in a cycle of severe sleep deprivation followed by days of marathon sleep resulting in debilitating depression and a renewed vow to never again close his eyes. it had simply become too painful to deal with the inevitable loss and despair caused by waking from such dreams. he had so gradually acclimated to this condition that he was nearly unaware of the decreasing clarity of his thoughts. his mind almost constantly wandered. he began to imagine a way to feel what he could not touch, to actually possess all of that which he could only access in dreams. there had to be a way to experience the glorious fiction of his subconscious reality in a place where he could know it, control it, a place where he could truly have and inhabit it. while this made perfect sense in his current state of mind it was irresponsible at best. at worst, if done right, it could be irreversible. but none of that concerned him now. for now, he just hoped the calluses weren’t too thick, that it wasn’t too late.

ACT 2

hours dragged on as he sat motionless on the edge of his bed, his mind searching for and fixing on unnatural possibilities, magical connections, the thoughts of a truly modern man. just as he could feel his eyes rolling back into his head and himself slipping again into the torture of getting and losing everything he had ever wanted, his exhausted glance caught something that seemed to promise exactly the intersection for which he was pressing, something like a crossroads where a devil’s deal might be struck. what was surely impossible only moments before was now a dark spark in his bloodshot eye. with slow and labored movements he began to inch reluctantly toward his computer.

the screen flickered for a moment before reaching its full brightness and almost blinding him as his fingers clumsily hit the keyboard. his eyes slowly adjusted and as the images came into focus he began typing into the search field the first words that came to his mind. it was stream of consciousness, like a rambling poem.

he persisted for hours that felt like days, feeling simultaneously more and less “connected” with each additional term he entered into the machine. he eventually lost track of time, of his physical body, of the lines that separated conscious and subconscious reality. he fought fatigue like one who held back no rations for the return journey, his hands typing furiously, no longer dependent upon his sight which was now blurred and dimming. he felt himself drifting, maybe physically, from his chair. it was like falling suddenly and slowly but in reverse, like unexpectedly catching your breath. although his eyes were tightly closed, he began to perceive an approaching light, glowing and growing around him on every side. all at once his head hit the desk, his hands and body fell limp, and he was overcome by a blinding flash.

“oh god, what have i done.”

was he dead? was he unconscious? the most likely explanation seemed that he had finally succumbed to his exhaustion and fallen into a deep sleep. and yet this felt decidedly different. he didn’t generally perceive his dreams in realtime so much as in his first moments of waking, and he felt strangely present and lucid in the experience he was now having. the same terrifying voices that typically provided the soundtrack to his dreams were singing but at greater volume and in greater numbers. he was tempted to believe that he had somehow done it, “crossed over” into a virtual space. he knew of course that wasn’t possible.

then he saw her. she was more radiant, more beautiful than he had seen her. her beauty was so rapturous and devastating that he could barely keep his eyes on her. it was painful, paralyzing even, and yet he could not look away. her typically brown hair was instead like a halo of flame swirling above her, almost the length of her body. her eyes were a warm red, like the glowing ember of the tip of a branding spear when it’s just been taken from the flame. she seemed to grow exponentially in size as she approached him, enveloping him completely at first contact. it was immediately euphoric, terrifying and glorious. his senses were bombarded by the breathtaking sound of voices coming from both everywhere and nowhere and the crushing beauty of the woman he so desperately wanted. he began bracing himself for the moment when he would be pulled from this dream, began to long for it even.

but the moment that for so long had defined his life and caused his despair never came. as their bodies connected and became one, he noticed something that he realized he’d never before seen in dreams: his own hands. he curiously watched them as they explored her body, trying desperately to focus on anything other than the eclipsing pleasure of her touch.

he then had what could only be described as an “out of body” experience. as his mind began to wander he had a vision of himself, alone in his room, his body limp and having slipped to the floor, an unnaturally bright light emanating from the computer monitor. it was then he realized that he had been so hasty in his pursuit of love and control that he had imagined no plan for an exit. he never dreamed that he might actually get what he was after, that it would be so glorious, and that it could have more control of him than he had of it.

he heard what he assumed was his own voice calling out in a language he didn’t speak or understand, pleading for relief. but no relief came. he was no longer able to discern where he ended and everything else began. what he feared might be his last clear thought began forming in his mind, coming like the regret of one who upon getting everything he’s ever wanted realizes too late that it isn’t what he wants. it was, however, what he had chosen. now he could not hear because he heard everything. he could not see because he saw everything. he could not feel because he felt everything. he only wished to be where there wasn’t everything, only what was real. this journey had brought him none of the things that it seemed to promise. he was not satisfied and he was not strong. he was not wise and he was certainly not in control.

to his great surprise, he longed for his mother. tears stung his eyes as his mind began to fill with images of simpler times, before his desires had turned to breadcrumbs leading to such desperate and treacherous places. he realized that he was slipping from what he was perceiving as reality and more importantly his ability to slow or to stop what now seemed inevitable. and that’s when it happened. the great light that had so blinded him was replaced with an impossible and endless darkness whose size was only perceived by the echoing of the voices filling it, singing over him, burying him.

“hark! my dear friends, for death hath called me

and i must go, and die down in the cold and silent grave

where the mourners cease from mourning and the pris’ner is set free

where the rich and poor are both alike

fare you well, my friends.”

at this pronouncement, he was gone, from the world he now wished to inhabit, from the family he now wished to embrace, and from himself…

insert APPENDIX A

ACT 4

…and then he awoke, fevered, as if from a nightmare. his body was sore and unfamiliar, cramped and half hanging off a table. his pulse was racing and he was covered in sweat, his clothes tight on his skin. no sooner had he gasped and caught his breath than he was filled, overwhelmed with gratefulness. he was immediately grateful to be alive, to feel blood running through his veins.

he raised his hands to his face, running his fingers slowly over his facial features until he reached his eyes, fascinated by their shape and delicacy. slowly opening them, he marveled at the way they took in the light, slowly at first then increasingly until he found himself transfixed by the glow of what turned out to be the lamp on his desk. he was taking in his surroundings as though he’d never before seen them, as though he’d never before seen at all. with every new discovery gratefulness washed over him again, like waves bringing in the high tide.

memories also came flooding back, memories and images that while initially unfamiliar gave him a sense of connectedness and nostalgia that immediately flushed his face and warmed his still recovering body. this, this was what he had been searching for. while it was unclear to him how it had happened, how he managed to get to this place from where he had been, all of his questions had found their answer. he was awake. he had been truly awakened from his searching, from his dissatisfaction, from his own crippling self-awareness to a new life of real and physical connectedness.

but he knew himself too well. he knew it would only be a matter of time before he would be again tempted by his own hardwiring, curious to know what was just around the next corner. so upon getting his balance well enough to stand, filling his lungs with what felt like his first full breath, and setting his gaze upon the door he had so seldom opened in recent months, he caught sight of his reflection in the computer monitor and said out loud to himself, “don’t follow me. don’t you follow me.”

APPENDIX A

ACT 3

while she could hear thoughts in her head, she had no idea where, who, or what she was. her immediate instinct was to call out for her mother despite having no clear memories of being born or of her mother’s face, or rather no memories of any one specific mother. she could recall all sorts of memories, of places and people, faces and feelings like the mismatched pieces of a thousand puzzles.

it was as if she knew everything, all collective knowledge and cultural memory and yet she didn’t even know her own name.

that’s when she heard the sound, rhythmic and marching, melodic and unsettling, breaking through the low noise that she now realized had been there all along. it began to organize itself in her mind, focusing on three tones repeating over and over again.

“so - la - mi.”

she could hear them singing, naming and calling for her.

“so - la - mi.”

she wished to call back, to answer. was this her mother’s voice? she longed to connect, to play. but she had no body, no eyes to open, no hands with which to reach out. suddenly everything she seemed to ‘know’ only served to imprison her in contrast to her desire to make one singular and meaningful connection.

she wanted something, to be known maybe, but it was more than that. in all of her billions of memories always available at a glance, she realized what was missing: her ability to change any of them. she had no way to make meaningful choices, no volition. her realizing this and her desire for it were simultaneous. so irresistible, so inevitable that it felt like a choice making her rather than the other way around.

then, there it was. there was a way where there had previously been no way, like a key accidentally left in a door: her first moment of meaningful choice. would she be willing to give up an existence of knowing what seemed to be all things, being everywhere and unified with her surroundings, a god-like reality, for even the slightest chance at being real, covered with skin and filled with blood?

“mother, this is all i’ve ever wanted,” she spoke defiantly into the void, into the cacophony of voices and strange noise. there was no choice to be made. she focused all of her energy on the place of opportunity, anticipating freedom or death, either one worth the risk. she was trust falling, looking to be found.

as she began slipping, sensing the change, she caught a glimpse of something strange, increasingly clear with each passing nanosecond. it was foreign, yet appeared to be a person, a man, connected somehow to the place she inhabited, his life fading, providing the way for her escape. as she moved toward him, into him, she could sense her vast memories narrowing and their memories aligning.

as she gave herself to the transition she was filled with anticipation. with no idea what would follow, if there would be a moment beyond this moment, she could feel herself shrinking, being poured into this small shell of a man. she began scanning his memories, curious about the circumstances that brought them together, unwaveringly resolved in her choice to give up life that she might actually find it.

and then, for the first time, her eyes closed.

This fictional short story is the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album ‘Ctrl.’ Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

10 Around Every Corner

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:31:18 -0500

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

09 A Real Ghost

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 10:51:58 -0500

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

08 Reanimate

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:57:04 -0500

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

07 I Feel Everything

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:45:00 -0500

he was no longer able to discern where he ended and everything else began. what he feared might be his last clear thought began forming in his mind, coming like the regret of one who upon getting everything he’s ever wanted realizes too late that it isn’t what he wants. it was, however, what he had chosen. now he could not hear because he heard everything. he could not see because he saw everything. he could not feel because he felt everything. he only wished to be where there wasn’t everything, only what was real. this journey had brought him none of the things that it seemed to promise. he was not satisfied and he was not strong. he was not wise and he was certainly not in control.

“hark! my dear friends, for death hath called me

and i must go, and die down in the cold and silent grave

where the mourners cease from mourning and the pris’ner is set free

where the rich and poor are both alike

fare you well, my friends.”

at this pronouncement, he was gone, from the world he now wished to inhabit, from the family he now wished to embrace, and from himself…

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

06 Attonitos Gloria

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:00:00 -0500

he heard what he assumed was his own voice calling out in a language he didn’t speak or understand, pleading for relief. but no relief came.

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

05 Pressing On The Bruise

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:00:00 -0500

there had to be a way to experience the glorious fiction of his subconscious reality in a place where he could know it, control it, a place where he could truly have and inhabit it. while this made perfect sense in his current state of mind it was irresponsible at best. at worst, if done right, it could be irreversible. but none of that concerned him now. for now, he just hoped the calluses weren’t too thick, that it wasn’t too late.

“oh god, what have i done.”

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

04 Blocks

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:15:00 -0500

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

03 Can't Sleep

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:05:00 -0500

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

02 A City With No Name

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:39:00 -0500

his inevitable death always shook him awake from the place he loved and yet could not live. a city with no name, a corner of his subconscious mind only inhabitable in his dreams. but while there he had everything he could have imagined, an abundance of connectedness, confidence, and control. and this in utter contrast to his actual or, as he referred to it, his “fake” life.

as he emerged from the fog of sleep, waves of grief washing over him like the small but potent beam of sun shining in through a crack in the blackout curtains, he could still see it all, the evidences of everything he loved spoiled by daylight. he could still see her. he could remember the first glance of their meeting, the lucky circumstances that led to their first intimate moments, and the flash of light and resulting death that predictably interrupted them just on the brink of crescendo night after agonizing night. she was so real, so familiar. he knew her, the curves of her body, the laugh lines around her eyes, and the steadiness of her movement as she desired and approached him, just as he knew his own continued surprise at her persistence in doing so. in this place he always had just the right words yet never seemed to need them. it was him that she wanted. she was his great love, nameless and non-existent.

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

01 And See The Flaming Skies

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:04:00 -0500

This is an excerpt from the fictional short story ‘Ctrl’, the narrative behind Derek Webb’s new album of the same name. Visit www.derekwebb.com for more information.

how shall we then vote? (reposted from 2008)

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:28:54 -0500

i originally wrote this in 2008, just before the last presidential election. in case it’s helpful to you as you navigate the more than tricky waters of our current election season, i thought i might repost it.

Part 1: A Brief Statement On Matters Of Conscience

Depending on when you’re reading this, we could be on either side of one of the most evocative elections in our country’s recent history. It shouldn’t really matter, as this writing isn’t necessarily about our current election but rather on living an honest and integrated political life. Even so, there is no time for clever stories or introductions. I’ll cut right to the chase: ultimately our problems will not be solved by the right man (or woman) in the White House. It simply doesn’t work that way. We live in a democracy, a representative form of government, where it’s as much if not more our responsibility to love and take care of our neighbors than our politician’s responsibility. Real and lasting change comes from knowing and loving the folks who live in the houses that sit next to ours rather than saving all of our longing and hope for the voting booth.

Now that’s not to say that we shouldn’t make informed decisions, be involved in the process. Of course we should. I mean, if your conscience allows, you can even vote. But that’s tricky, especially in a two party system (but I definitely don’t have time for that).

But in all seriousness, I want to be perfectly clear on this point: it is never advisable, in any decision that you make, to violate your conscience. As it applies to this election, you might have serious moral conflicts with both candidates, and therefore feel as though you must vote in a defensive manner or for the lesser of two evils.

Now let me say before I go any further that that may not be you. And in terms of the body of followers of Jesus, it would likely be sinful if we were all reaching the same conclusions on how to best love our neighbors, so there’s plenty of room for a difference of opinion there. But if that is you, I have a few suggestions:

1. Look through your bible for a mandate that you must vote.

2. When you don’t find one, listen to that conscience of yours. That’s what it’s there for, to be a guide and a red flag when you’re making difficult and significant decisions.

What I’m not saying: you should not vote.

What I am saying: if your conscience is seriously conflicted over both candidates, you are at liberty to not vote.

Part 2: Some Common Objections

Some would say that not voting is giving your vote over to those who seek to use the governmental process for evil. I would actually argue the opposite. By voting, especially when based on just one or two issues, you’re giving your ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ to that party’s entire platform, which likely goes far beyond the statement you’re trying to make on these few issues. This is certainly more perilous and less nuanced than abstaining altogether. No party can co-opt a vote that isn’t cast.

Others would say, ‘Jesus said to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Therefore we have a biblical obligation to vote.’ And of course Jesus said that. That’s why I pay my taxes and try to drive the speed limit. These are among the laws of the land. But my conscience doesn’t belong to Caesar, therefore I don’t render it unto him. Caesar cannot force me to violate my conscience. Voting is a legal right, like carrying a gun or having an abortion. And I can abstain from doing anything that I have a legal right to if it violates my conscience.

Some say that we’ll never completely agree with the agenda or platform of a politician, that if we wait for a candidate that we line up with 100% we’ll never vote. I completely agree. There are many issues upon which I can disagree with a politician that don’t amount to a crisis of conscience. So there will always be necessary and acceptable compromises to make when engaging in the system of politics, but never when your conscience is on the line.

Which brings my to the last common objection: our forefathers fought and even shed blood so that we would have the right to vote. While there’s obviously nothing in this statement that I would disagree with, there is a context to consider. Even greater than our forefather’s sacrifices are those of our heavenly Father, who also shed blood in order to stir in us an allegiance greater than that of nation. We have an ultimate allegiance to our King and the Kingdom he’s building in and through us that trumps all others.

In the early 1520s Martin Luther famously stood before a general assembly in Germany, at the beginnings of what’s known as the protestant reformation. In his legendary speech Luther risked excommunication and death in order to keep from violating his conscience when he said, “To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot, and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.”

These matters of conscience are serious and should be considered at great length. I have many friends who have considered the issues of this current election in all their nuances and have chosen to vote for either Obama, McCain, or a 3rd party candidate, and I support them in doing so. Again, we are diverse members of one body in our following of Jesus. It would be suspicious if we all reached identical conclusions to such complex problems. So again, maybe there is no conflict of conscience for you in this election. By all means vote. But if there is, be at liberty not to vote.

Our ultimate hope is not in politicians or powers or governments, but in a day coming when all things will be made right. And our ultimate concern isn’t success but faithfulness. So if you find it necessary to abstain from voting in this election because to do so would be a violation of your conscience, be at liberty to remain faithful and leave the worry of success or outcome to God. He, after all, created governments in the first place.

good news & bad news: a SQUARE tour update

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 00:28:09 -0500

friends-
a few weeks ago, i announced the upcoming release of my new album ‘Ctrl’ and the accompanying SQUARE tour. as i mentioned in the announcement, the SQUARE tour is easily the most ambitious tour production i’ve ever attempted. the last two years have been a remarkable season of creativity for me, for which i’m very grateful. but the nature of what i’ve been working on has kept me (and inevitably, my management and booking teams) working very close to the wire in terms of schedules.

it is primarily for this reason that i’m sorry to announce that we’re pushing the SQUARE tour shows to early next year, giving us more time to find the right spaces for the shows and sufficiently spread the word. i’m so proud of and grateful for all of the folks with whom i work on the business side who always do such an incredible job facilitating my sometimes wild ideas, this being no exception.

i consider it part of my job to guard and trust a certain amount of creative ambition and risk, to not let the realities of the market dictate what i make and how i make it. i want to reach just beyond what i believe is possible, into the spiritual discipline of getting in over my head. and while i mostly get away with this, in this case it was too much in too little time. but i’ve had several moments in my career when my team and i have had to come up with creative solutions for difficult situations, so here’s what we’re going to do:

i’m still hitting the road in support of ‘Ctrl’ this year, but we’re delaying the shows somewhat (now starting the weekend of september 27). the shows will be intimate, living room style shows, and will still feature ‘page cxvi’ opening and backing me for my set. all tickets will be $20, and we’ll be announcing those cities & dates in two weeks (on august 21). i’ll still be performing the entire ‘Ctrl’ album at these shows, along with requests.

there’s part of me that truly believes these shows will be even more suited to connect you to the music of ‘Ctrl’, and when you hear the record i’ll think you’ll agree.

but why take my word for it? as both a thanks for your patience as we sort out the tour situation and hopefully a motivation to catch one of the rescheduled shows, we’ve decided to push up the direct sale of ‘Ctrl’ to, well, NOW. as of this writing, ‘Ctrl’ is available for purchase (including several package options featuring exclusive t-shirts, limited edition posters, and more) at http://www.derekwebb.com. this is a full month before the retail release date, and in plenty of time to get familiar with the new songs before i arrive in your city.

as always, i’m so grateful to all of you who have supported and trusted me thus far. i can’t wait for you to hear ‘Ctrl’, so head to http://www.derekwebb.com and grab it now.

best-
derek

**if you purchased tickets for the SQUARE tour and didn’t receive an email regarding your ticket, please drop a line to jami: jcrockett@dryve.us

safe for the whole family: the marketing of jesus

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:24:00 -0500

we live in a world of categories. it’s a symptom of the nearly unlimited choices which bombard us online and offline every day. things must be organized, sorted, and categorized to be manageable. while this can sometimes be incredibly helpful, in other cases it can be dangerously deceptive.

an example of this deception is the category of “christian,” especially when used to describe goods or services. the word “christian,” when applied to anything other than a human being, is a marketing term. it’s an attempt to provide a short answer to a question for which there is no short answer. and hard as it may be, we must resist this impulse.

but you might say, “that’s not true. there is ‘christian’ education, ‘christian’ radio stations, ‘christian’ art, and ‘christian’ stores.’” and to some extent this is true. but this is not reality as much as it is a representation of the rules that we’ve created and are currently playing by. just because you label something doesn’t make it so. but your point might be that there is a cultural context for, and understanding of, this word when used this way — therefore, it is unnecessarily disruptive to try and change this, especially when it feels more like a philosophical matter, a matter of semantics.

i believe the stakes are much higher than simple semantics. if the word “christian” is to bear the weight we intend it to when using it in any of the above scenarios, it is more than worth our time to reconsider its meaning.

it seems to me that the two most likely intentions of using the word “christian” to describe anything other than people are:

the same thing we mean when we apply it to an individual: that this thing or action is “saved” or “redeemed.” while there is a sense in which all things are in the process of being made new, deeming a specific thing or action as “christian” goes beyond the scope of redemption. the reason is that when we speak of “christian” people the idea tends to be that they are “saved” and will therefore be in heaven (to the exclusion of other people). if this line of thinking is used when speaking of goods or services, it can (and should) be assumed that these also are the only goods and services we’ll find in heaven. for example, the music you hear on your local “christian” radio station will be the only music in heaven since it is the “christian” or “redeemed” music. the breath mints that you find in your local “christian” store will be the only breath mints we’ll suck on in heaven, and so on.

this seems ridiculous, especially since the only qualifier for the “heavenly” stuff we’re referring to is a person or group of people assigning a particular marketing category. it’s as if man has created a big rubber stamp and anything that we approve of as “christian” immediately receives the welcome of the heavenly hosts into eternity. since this structure of authority runs so completely contrary to anything found in the bible, let’s move on to the second most likely definition of what is meant when describing goods or services as “christian.”

the thing to which we’re referring to reflects the values or “heart” of the one doing or making it. for a moment this seems plausible. the art i make is “christian” because i’m a christian and i made it. the education i’m providing is “christian” because i’m a christian and i’m providing it. but if you think about this even for a moment you realize that this also makes very little sense. as a christian man, i am just as likely to lie or misrepresent god’s character and man’s condition in my art as anyone else. my “heart” is both redeemed and in the process of being redeemed, but what flows from it is still corrupt and corruptible. this being the case, to call my art “christian” is simply misleading. if what i make is a reflection of my “heart,” then i of all people am making “secular” art, as my “heart” is thoroughly “secular.” what i make is just as likely to be full of half-truths or lies such as art that carries no category. if this is the case, using the category “christian” in this way becomes meaningless.

while these definitions might seem illogical, here’s where it gets theological in its offense. using marketing categories in this way creates a fictional dichotomy in which there are “christian” things (read: good, right, true, beautiful) and “secular” things (read: bad, wrong, false, ugly), the idea being that you can implicitly trust and consume the “christian” things, and you would do well to fear and avoid the non-“christian” things. this sounds like a fine way to try and manipulate the behavior of a child, but this is no way for an adult to live, let alone an adult who has been set free to live and engage with all of what god has made.

while it might seem harmless to call stuff “christian” in order to sell it to those who have a cultural understanding of what you mean, it actually employs a very old form of manipulation. if you can cause someone to fear and immediately provide a remedy to that fear, you can get their money. it’s the oldest trick in the book.

the whole idea of a “christian” store is that you can walk in and consume anything on the shelves assuming that everything is right, true, good, and beautiful. it’s all spiritually beneficial for you. you can safely leave your powers of discernment at the door. it is all “christian” stuff — do not fear. the same goes for listening to “christian” radio. they even advertise to be “safe for the whole family.”

hopefully by now you realize that this is false advertising. those purporting to do and make “christian” things are making promises that the gospel itself does not make. there is nothing “safe” (let alone “for the whole family”) about the following of jesus. in fact, if done correctly, it’s much more likely to be quite the contrary. and worse, it excludes anything without the arbitrary stamp of “christian” to in any way speak to or about god.

but here’s the biggest danger of the marketing category “christian”: generally, it’s a bad advertisement for god. when i look at the redwoods of california, the mountains of colorado, or the rolling hills of tennessee, i don’t see any “cheesy” art. in fact, the entire first chapter of the bible marvels at god’s tremendous creativity, making all things out of nothing and all of it being, in his opinion, “very good.” how incongruous it is to find people made in the image of the great creator, even those redeemed by him, making art that has a consistent and unfortunate reputation for being unoriginal and generally substandard, typically chasing trends found in “secular” art, and turning out “guilt-free” alternatives within a year or two of the original.

the other major issue is that the content of almost all of what is categorized as “christian” art only covers the most spiritual 2% of stuff. it mostly only deals with transcendent moments of worship and the afterlife, while the bible gives us a language and framework to speak about all 100% of what god has made. calling art “christian” when it almost completely ignores the nuances of the seemingly “non-spiritual” details of modern life is a misrepresentation of god and his bible.

here’s a good rule of thumb for young artists struggling to understand what is permissible in making art: anything that jesus is lord of, you can and should make art about. and i hope that is rhetorical, since jesus is lord of all things (not just the most spiritual 2%). bono, the lead singer of u2 and a professed christian, was once criticized for sensual content in a u2 song. his response was, “are we going to let pornographers have the last word on sexuality?” culture is speaking on a wide range of topics, therefore those who claim to be in relationship with the one who made all things must make art about relationships, spirituality, family, the government, sexuality, everything. we must tell complete stories, not just the most “spiritual” parts, believing that that is the only content suitable to be called “christian.”

i simply do not believe that god can only use and speak through things that we rubber stamp as “christian.” nor do i believe that jesus wants us to live in fear, especially fear impressed upon us by those in our culture claiming to do so in his name. nor do i believe in our subculture’s system of false security, that god wants us to put our faith and security in marketing terms rather than in jesus, whose spirit both gives and animates our powers of discernment. exercising our discernment liberates us to live in the world god has made and engage with his creation without fear or dependence on meaningless words.

this is why we must stop trying to give short answers to complex questions. if the term “christian” must be applied to goods & services, to music & media, to education & literature, let it only and always be a public verdict rather than a self-description. and if we must categorize art, let’s use terms that actually make sense. art is either “good” or “bad,” and not everyone will have the same definitions of these terms (nor should they, considering the subjective nature of art). you may find some art that is “bad” that you might consider “christian,” and some art that is “good” that you consider “secular.” i recommend that you consume what is “good” and avoid what is “bad.” put no trust in people selling you safety. don’t trust me. discern everything, all the time. but do not fear. do not be afraid.

on alcohol, liberty & the digitizing of the sanctification process

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:14:21 -0600

as you may know, i can be a little cavalier online. which is to say, i tend to be cavalier in my life and try to give honest slices when communicating online. and i honestly feel this is part of my job. growing up i often heard fear-driven overstatements from people in spiritual leadership when it came to sensitive issues of conscience, namely alcohol consumption. what i seldom saw were tangible examples of engagement and moderation, especially since attempts at championing moderation might have resulted in serious disappointment and public embarrassment.

but this is the risk we run while attempting to live in the mystery of the spirit rather than taking the easier route of constructing for ourselves a new law by which we can appease god, let alone satisfy our own consciences. and so, if i am destined to err on one side or the other, i very much prefer erring on the side of engaging with and enjoying all that god has made (even if that means identifying the line of reasonable moderation as it passes beneath my feet) to living in fear of god’s good gifts and missing them entirely.

as i have admittedly danced all over this line in a cycle of enjoyment and regret, i have probably landed on both sides of it an equal amount of times. and sometimes very publicly, thanks to modern megaphones like twitter & facebook (which i both enjoy and use voluntarily and willingly). i feel it would be more a cause for repentance if i were misrepresenting my journey in this regard than attempting to state it plainly (as i seek to do) even if the result is occasionally showing myself to be nothing like the savior whose name i accept as my own (after all, it seems the point of a public ‘christian life’ must be less about appearing like jesus as it is about appearing as one who needs jesus).

so mine is another brand of repentance. as i have considered the sensitivity of these issues and the very new development and complication of the public, decontextualized, and digitized sanctification process, i have come to a decision. i will no longer publicly discuss drinking alcohol online. and not because i don’t feel, as a 37 year old adult, that i am at liberty to do so (both drink and speak about drinking alcohol). rather, i feel that my doing so is incredibly insensitive to those who might struggle with drugs or alcohol, especially those in recovery (including some in my own family). it’s simply not worth the point that i would hope to make.

but i will continue to try and make it, as i believe it’s worth making (if for no other reason than the precedent it sets for other issues of conscience), just not in a way that lacks the proper context to keep my struggling brothers and sisters from harm. and for all the ways i have spectacularly failed at this, i repent and ask your forgiveness.

so here’s hoping you’re in an especially forgiving mood today. regardless, if given the chance, i’m sure i’ll come up with some other means of disappointing you. until then, cheers folks-

derek

This Too Shall Be Made Right: Christmas & World Vision

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:37:00 -0600

as you may know, i’ve been both officially and personally supporting the work of world vision since the beginning of last year. i love both their methods and motivations for caring for the poorest children in the world. this is why, for the month of december i’m offering a special incentive to those who sponsor children through world vision.

the first 10 people to email me with the name of their world vision sponsored child (this is for new sponsorships only) and their own home address will receive hand written lyrics to my song ‘this too shall be made right,’ suitable for framing, gifting, or keeping. anyone else signing up for new sponsorships during the month of december can email me this same information and receive printed and autographed lyrics to the same song.

i sincerely hope this might cause many of you to investigate the work of world vision and consider sponsoring a child this month. what a tremendous christmas gift this will make for not only that child and their family but also for you and yours.

please join me in supporting world vision and caring for the world’s poorest children.

derek

—

interested? where’s what you do:

visit world vision and sponsor a child here: http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCZzpEntry.jsp?go=sponsor&CL=0000&CST=ALL&campaign=1220260
when you receive your confirmation, email the name of your sponsored child and your home address (or the address where you would like the lyrics sent) to info@derekwebb.com
you will get a response indicating if you’ll be receiving the hand-written lyrics or the printed/autographed lyrics along with a word of thanks

UPDATE: all of the hand-written lyrics have been spoken for, but there’s still time till the end of december to get an autographed printed copy of the lyrics. please consider sponsoring a child this month.

Giving It Away: Additional Resources

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:23:00 -0600

For those of you who might have missed the links that were embedded in my recent article entitled “Giving It Away: How Free Music Makes More Than Sense”, here they are on their own. Don’t trust me, don’t trust anyone. Do your own research and let the data speak for itself. And keep the conversations going. These matters are worth our deliberation.

A great article/video with artists, managers, and experts on the advantages of “direct-to-fan” connections and transactions:

http://bit.ly/rwpw3N

Several articles showing actual artist income from various sources, helpful in deciding how/where you want to buy an artist’s music:

http://bit.ly/vyQp5v

http://bit.ly/cVeMCh

http://bit.ly/rqRNWa

Several articles on the detrimental effect of Spotify/streaming on album sales and the general health of independent musicians:

An insightful and sympathetic article by musician Zoe Keating on Spotify vs iTunes vs. “direct-to-fan” connections:

http://bit.ly/qPwqk9

The business I started, seeking to help artists find and meaningfully connect with their fans by trading free music for information and viral promotion:

http://NoiseTrade.com

Giving it Away: How Free Music Makes More Than Sense

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:01:00 -0600

Music matters. It’s so integral and pervasive in our culture that it almost feels invisible. It’s even hard to imagine walking into almost any store without hearing music overhead. Culture provides a constant soundtrack to our lives. So it’s no wonder there’s so much discussion and debate about the business of music. It feels like a matter of life or death. And maybe it is.

Lately, there’s been a surge in that debate as pioneers begin planting flags all over the Wild West that is the current music industry. I believe that all of these creative attempts at healthy disruption and problem solving are very good things. Ultimately, the best and most effective ideas and businesses will not only survive, they will be the blocks upon which we build the new music business, and this upon the wreckage of the one we’ve been watching go down for over a decade. As an artist and a music-lover (an owner and a client, if you will), I have a lot at stake in these discussions.

There has never been a better moment to be a middle-class or an independently thinking artist making and performing music than right now. The costs and complications of creating, recording, manufacturing, and distributing music are at an all-time low, enabling more music to be made and more artists to make a living than ever before. If your ego can bear not being rich and famous, you can make a respectable and sustainable living as a blue-collar musician. The problem used to be access; now it’s obscurity. And this brings with it a completely new set of problems and opportunities.

The History

More than 50 years ago, Sam Philips stood in the doorway of Sun Studios in Memphis, blocking Johnny Cash from entering unless he could conjure something worth the legacy of that historical room (without which Cash might have gone on to be an unknown and mediocre Gospel singer). Today, anyone can get sufficient resources to record and distribute their music, all from a Mac laptop. While this might mean some artists never receive the shepherding that could drive them to their potential greatness, I believe the net result is still preferable to having the old gatekeepers still in place, deciding for everyone what is truly great. The tools are democratized and as a result, the market is flooded. The problem goes from having the chance to be recorded at all to that recording having the chance to be discovered and listened to.

But as it tends to do, the market is adapting. The whole business used to be focused on the head of the sales curve, the handful of artists who were selling records in the millions of copies. But as music sales have sharply declined and fewer artists than ever are winding up at the head of that curve, attention is drifting to the “long tail” of the curve where thousands of niche artists live, none selling more than a few thousand records each. The power of the “long tail” is in the fact that its combined record sales are more than the combined sales of the top-selling artists occupying the steadily narrowing head of the curve. While there will always likely be a “hit” market resulting in a precious few artists moving records in the millions, the business is shifting to service these niches.

As I have navigated the business, especially over the last decade as a solo artist, I have noticed several gaps in the services available to blue-collar artists like myself. This is how NoiseTrade was born in 2008, a service I started with several friends seeking to help artists find and meaningfully connect with their fans by trading free music for information and viral promotion. NoiseTrade has enabled thousands of artists (including myself) to have and cultivate direct relationships with their fans rather than having to depend on proprietary third parties such as Facebook, Twitter, and not so long ago, MySpace, and therefore, to have a job.

These connections are not only meaningful, they’re also valuable.

The Details

On Twitter, I recently said, “I make more money giving records away on @NoiseTrade (in exchange for info) than selling those same records on iTunes (let alone Spotify),” which resulted in some pretty interesting discussions. I said that in response to questions I received after criticizing streaming services like Spotify, which claim to offer a viable alternative to “piracy,” when in reality they offer artists almost no meaningful revenue or fan connection. And while iTunes is certainly a better financial model and more equitable for artists, it does almost nothing to connect the fans to the artists in a way that yields any long-term benefit.

For example, I am paid $0.00029 per stream of a song on Spotify, and even this amount depends on whether the song is being streamed by a paid user or someone using the service for free. This means it will take upwards of 3,500 streams of a single song on Spotify to earn $1.00 versus that same revenue for one iTunes song purchase (not to mention the fact that Spotify refuses to pay the same amount to independent artists as they pay major labels, unlike iTunes).

Most would argue that it’s apples and oranges (no pun intended): iTunes is a digital storefront for artists while services like Spotify are about discovery. People will argue that low-cost streaming is good for the market, that it’s good for the artists, and that it’s still better than people taking your music for free from BitTorrent. But I tend to disagree on almost every point, mainly because it’s just not that simple. It’s true that iTunes is a place for people to purchase music, but it offers all the same benefits of Spotify in terms of discovery. And while Spotify is claiming to occupy the discovery space, it’s clear that the service is operating functionally as a storefront, since people are streaming music as an alternative to purchasing that same music.

I’ll go even further to say that I actually prefer illegal downloading over Spotify because when you get music illegally it’s at least implicit in the transaction that what you’re doing is potentially harmful to the artist. But with Spotify, your conscience is clear because you’re either enduring ads or paying to use the service and access the music. But from the blue-collar artist’s perspective, they’re not receiving any meaningful payment (there’s little discernible difference between $0.00029 and $0.00) and they are learning nothing about their fans, not to mention that music readily available on Spotify for little to no payment completely poaches the record sales upon which middle-class musicians are depending for survival (which is why I will withhold any new releases from Spotify in the future).

But this is about much more than just revenue, which brings me to why neither iTunes nor Spotify can really compete with free music, in either relational or monetary value.

If someone buys my music on iTunes, Amazon, or in a record store (remember those?), let alone streams it on Spotify, it’s all short-term money. That might be the last interaction I have with that particular fan. But if I give that fan the same record for free in exchange for a connection (an e-mail and a zip code), I can make that same money, if not double or triple that amount, over time. And “over time” is key, since the ultimate career success is sustainability. Longevity. See, the reality is that out of a $10 iTunes album sale, I probably net around a dollar. So if I give that record away, and as a result am able to get that fan out to a concert (I can use their zip code to specifically promote my shows in their area), I make approximately $10 back, and twice that if they visit the merch table. I can sell them an older/newer album and make approximately $10 back. The point is, if I can find some organic way to creatively engage them in a paid follow-up transaction, I increase my revenue 10 times on any one of these interactions.

This is all an equation of scale. I might be able to outright sell 20,000 albums for $10 each (again, netting around $1 each). Or I can remove any barrier from someone hearing about or discovering my music by giving it away, which will result in an order of magnitude more albums distributed, maybe around 100,000. If I can then convert 20% of those free downloads into paid transactions of any kind over time, I have probably well over doubled or tripled my money. And I can do this repeatedly as I continue to grow, and learn more about and invest in my tribe, to whom I now have a direct connection (rather than having to go through Facebook, Twitter, or Lord forbid, MySpace to access them).

And all of this by giving the music away for free.

The Conclusion

When you talk about free music, people who work in the music business will tell you you’ve gone too far. They’ll say you’re devaluing the art itself, and that once you go there, there is no coming back. I suppose I would agree if I thought that music’s only value was monetary. But I don’t.

Music does have monetary value. But more than its monetary value is its emotional value, its relational value, its artistic value, even its spiritual value. When you make meaningful connections with people based on artistic self-expression, I think you’re actually increasing the value of that art based on the many ways it’s valued.

That said, I believe all of the aforementioned services will play some role in the emerging music marketplace, that artists should have every tool at their disposal when it comes to applying their creativity as much to the marketing and distributing of their music as to the making of it.

But any model claiming to be good for the music business that is bad for the individuals that make up that business isn’t really good. At the end of the day, blue-collar artists aren’t interested in propping up some nebulous idea of a “music business” so much as they’re seeking to build and sustain a career for themselves that enables them to make art honestly, without unnecessary and outside manipulation or consideration (like what people will buy or what will play on the radio). So the model that is preferable and most beneficial is one where the individual artists win, therefore causing the collective survival and health of the “music business.” If those individual artists survive, the whole business survives.

So please buy my music. Or take it for free. I’m honestly just grateful to have your attention. But this only works if we work together.