PDF Here

"...I was inspired this past week to do something in worship and it included your music. There was a UCC church in Maine that encouraged churches to pray daily beginning on Mother's Day until these girls are returned to their families. I accepted that challenge and made a presentation during worship sharing information about what had happened helping to frame it as modern day slavery and sharing a Biblical response of Jubilee as the song "There's a Better Day" from the Abolitionist Hymnal reminds us. We then prayed for these girls by first name, from a list that has been circulated on the internet. Then we reflected during our offering time as we listened to "There's a Better Day."

I wanted to share with you that the songs that you recoded on that album have facilitated my prayers and have been a source of my inspiration. Today I am sharing a link to the album with my congregation along with the encouragement to continue praying."

- Scott R.

Conspiritors are those artists and friends who want their work to make goodness, truth, and beauty real for the world. Folks who are intrigued by the teachings of and community surrounding a first Century Jew from Nazareth. Folks who have a vision of a new Earth, and some thoughts on how to get there.

So, join in and let us know how these projects can transform your world.

Making music, making goodness.
Carl

What a great night.  On Saturday, November 2, I had the chance to gather with a bunch of friends, singers, and players to record the third Wesley Advent collection at Groovebox Studios in Detroit, MI.  From nephew Theo to Jeff, Elise and Shawn of GBS we were all there ringing in the impending Advent season and bringing the first choral rock-out to the Russell Industrial Center! 

This project was only possible because of the backing of so many fans and listeners on Kickstarter.  I cannot thank you all enough.  Soon the record will be out and I hope that will make your Christmas season richer and much more Wesleyan.  Wow, that was immensley nerdy.  - Carl

Had a great meet and greet with the guys over at Groovebox Studios (Detroit) and they'll be doing the mixing and mastering for the Matchstick EP.  I know so many of you have been patient backers, thanks for your grace.  The songs came together nicely and I'm looking forward to getting some professional polish on them as we move into final product.

One of the best memories I have of my mom is waking up after naps as a kid to her playing the piano and singing downstairs, or in the front room of the cottage.  Whether a hymn or some Christmas piece we were all practicing, it made those early moments of coming back into the world after dreaming all the more special.  I hope with projects like this and others that that'll be a reality for little nephew Theo and my own kids someday too.​

Now I just have to find that reel to reel of Terry singing "No More Night," and put it on a timer to wake me up one of these afternoons.​

- Carl

Friends, please enjoy these Wesley Christmas hymns set to new tunes.  The download comes with chord charts for any who'd like to start using these with your churches or holiday hootenannies. 

Sincereley,
Carl

​From time to time I have the opportunity to return to Nashville - the scene that inspired a song called Twisterflies on Tales Scratched Out.  Back when I wrote that song I was asking questions about the structures around us and how they affect us, chaotically or inspirationally.

Now I find myself wondering different things.  Like how we can turn the tables and with a million little actions affect the structures around us, either tear them down or build them up.​

Like the songwriters in this city do so well, that kind of power comes in attaching great possibility to the everyday stories of our friends, families, churches, communities.  And it comes from watching out for the winds that blow and pull power right out of the sky.​

Take a walk in Nashville sometime and listen for those kinds of lyrics.​

Just sharing a couple more anniversary hymns from Brother Charles that I'll be working on shortly.  Didn't know the guy had it in him!​ What a softy.

Lift Our Hearts

Within The Arms Divine

So, just when you think Charles Wesley might have been a monarchical apologist (probably was), he goes and writes something like this.  And on a 5th year anniversary weekend, I just have to give him some credit for a nice hymn for married couples.  We'll see about giving it some new life in the next few weeks amid working on the Matchstick EP.​

Two Forever One (pdf)

An EP in Memory of Terry N. Gladstone

Pre-Order on Bandcamp

"She was matchstick / sent here to burn, to blaze, to heat things up / to keep us warm" - Jeff Nelson

My mom Terry Gladstone touched the lives of many. This is the collection of songs I wish I'd had time to write and sing for her before she died on November 6, 2011. It's also a collection inspired by her, her work, her love of those around her, and her passion for the church. In the priceless words of my friend and poet Jeff Nelson, these are also the songs that ask us "is there anybody left who might burn this whole place down" like she would?

Each $10 donation to this campaign is a pre-sale and you'll receive the CD upon it's completion. $500 donors get 50 CDs and a free solo acoustic show of these songs for 50 friends, maybe 50 folks who loved Terry like I do, maybe 50 friends who'd be inspired by her life like I am.

All proceeds beyond the cost of production will be donated to ministries in the Detroit Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church that Terry loved and worked on in her decades long career as a Deacon and leader among us.

Let's burn this place down for my Mom. Thanks.

Pre-Order on Bandcamp

Get The Abolitionist Hymnal PDFs here.

And listen to the demos or pick up the cd here.  

Thanks to all my fellow abolitionists!

Sometimes as an artist you realize that your craft depends on the relationships you keep.  The other artists with which you surround yourself inform, stretch, and sharpen your skills.  Plus, together, a group of artists can be more than their disparate voices - and can become the voice of an era, a movement, a city. 

So we are taking steps to gather the musicians, the poets, the authors, all storytellers.  We are collecting up those from around Detroit who speak, spit, and spin about the thin places in the world.  The folks who've been to the edge, have seen goodness and evil and beauty and need to help us all see those things too.  We are gathering together a collective of artists from the prophetic edge.

If there is an artist in your life looking to connect - please send them to be a part of this conversation.  We'll gather here and there looking for the next steps, and making record of our shared vision.

But on and on these two have produced music that has continued to inspire me and ask great questions about faith, mission and art.  And, Derek's work with Noisetrade has provided a platform for helping artists explore a post-big-record-label way of making music for yourself and for fans.

Last week Derek gave another moment of thoughtful consideration to a conversation with me about the central focus of Noisetrade.  He didn't need to do it, but used the opportunity to help define the way thoughful Christians should communicate.

So thanks Sandra and Derek for the work you do, the way you communicate with us who love your work, and for the infrastructure you are building that will help all of us succeed in making beauty and truth come alive in this world.

Carl

Really excited that retreat co-host, artist and friend Kate Monaghan was featured yesterday on Ann Delisi's Essential Music on WDET, 101.9 FM in Detroit.  Her song "Tip of My Tongue" is part of a new EP that you should download and enjoy.  

Listen to the archive of the show here, and thanks Ann for sharing Kate's music with Detroit!

(And as always - MORE RETREAT INFO HERE)

For the Beauty...on Amazon

Enjoy, and please invite your artist friends to join us up north, for the beauty...

Click above to visit Earphoria!

Earphoria.fm is a an awesome community of artists, interviewers, and lovers of music and the stories behind the musician's creations.  With a great website and musicians retreats of their own - Earphoria know that a part of making great music is the opportunity to revel in the craft and rely on friends in the process.  Earphoria will be helping spread the word about #lakelouisesongwriting, and we wanted to take this moment to spread the word about them!

Click above to visit Detroit Villages online!Also, the Detroit Villages will be participating in this retreat as a part of their work stitching together intentional Christian communities around the City of Detroit, MI.  The Heart/Soul House and others are artists living in the Motor City and seeking to be a local community of artists exploring the "prophetic edge."  This weekend will be a great opportunity to get away, meet other artists and introduce others to the intentional life that these ordinary radicals live in the city.

Get Lyrics Here.

A Letter To Christian Artists:

Dear Artists

I am a follower of Jesus and I am an artist. I am mostly a painter although I write a bit and work with video from time to time. I have been creating my whole life and truly believe it’s my calling in the world. I have no big fancy degrees that validate my expertise… just years of being an artist and working intensely at that craft...

...Jesus-following artists are given a vision of something that should be created. It doesn’t come through a board or a committee (not saying it can never come that way), it comes out of their walk with God. At this point, nobody is throwing money at them to bring this idea into reality. It’s just up to them if they want to put in the hard work to make this vision into reality. Perhaps along the way that journey includes other people to work with, but I would propose that this community is based less on a specific organization and more about spiritually connected community one has fostered in ones life.

Join us for a weekend of living out this vision.  March 2-4, 2012 at Lake Louise Camp in Boyne Falls, MI.  Register here.

Halsted Lodge will house one of the pop-up studios for the weekend.

Friends, I am very excited to announce the first Prophetic Edge Collective Songwriters Retreat at Lake Louise Camp in Boyne Falls, MI - March 2-4, 2012.

Join songwriters from around Detroit, Michigan, and beyond in a weekend of lyrical and musical co-creation.  Pop-up studios in Lake Louise' new lodges, open mics and camp fires, songwriting challenges with new friends will all be par for the course.

This will be a weekend for musicians who explore the connections between the sacred and the profane, so devotions in the Christian tradition will be offered each evening.

Join us in creating this new space for artists.

REGISTER HERE

Sincerely.
Carl