btw – I read the other posts at this site on Derek Webb and thought they were good. I think I’ve been writing off his new message a little too quickly. But it does kind of frustrate me sometimes… and yet, I love his voice (Ezk. 33:32).

But all you guys are NUTS. “Long Line of Leavers” is an amazing album!

I’m so excited to read this news!

I lived in Houston when Caedmon’s Call was getting their start, and used to go to a city-wide Bible study where they played every week. It was awesome!

At the time, Derek used to come into the cafe where I worked, and I used to love to hear him tell the stories behind the songs that he would write. My favorite was “I just don’t want coffee today” song….the story behind that was one I could really relate to at the time…
all about not dating a non-believer.

When I married years later, the Lord laid it on our hearts to name our son Caedmon…crazy, but true. It’s so cool because he’s just like the Caedmon of old..he too loves taking Scripture and turning it into song to glorify God.

YOOHOOO! Derek is back! Now I’ll buy another Caedmon’s Call CD!

Jason,

Would you prefer that artists leave their faith to “faithy” things and stop singing about things that aren’t directly “faithy”? By the way, for the record, Derek didn’t just sing about Christ and the Gospel in the “good ‘ol days” of Caedmon’s Old School. He sang a lot about breaking up with a girl, attending hard-to-watch funerals, etc. In fact, I remember him saying at one of his very first solo shows after breaking with Caedmon’s that he had just written his first song about Jesus. (He said with a laugh that his wife told him he was growing!)

there’s really only a lack of theologically correct music if you want to seriously rock out in the most clap on the one and the three kind of a way. There’s always…

Practically anything from Kirk Franklin or Fred Hammond (who both have VERY kickin’ Gospel Choirs, btw).

go back a few years and grab yourself some Reverend Gary Davis. Get yourself some solid churchin’ AND a history lesson at the same time.

there’s always Bob Dylan’s three Christ centered albums before Christians scared Bob out of being a Christian (sad story).

As for the politics in music thing, as a musician, I gotta say, that’s a slippery slope. Because I am certain that you’d have no problem with a song about the sanctity of life. Which has definitely become a political hot point, at this point.

And if that one’s up for musical discussion, who’s to say that feeding the poor, war or Darfur shouldn’t be on the plate? It’s not like these are new subjects in the music world.

If someone were to write a song about our trade deficits with China, I might get annoyed with that song. Because that’s politics that have nothing to do with the heart of the artist. Unless that artist is an accountant.

And as a Christian who is a lefty, yes, I do feel as if the Republicans have hi-jacked my religion. If I were more of a lyric writer, I might write about that too!