pondering theology and existence 'neath the Golden Arches

Here's a picture of me taken at Lifest a couple weeks ago...I swiped it from this webpage...thanks Ken! Thought I'd post it for the heck of it.

Maybe it was the oppressive heat and humidity, or perhaps two 12-hour-solo-parenting days have messed with my mind, but today was day a contemplation.

Here's a picture of my reality: Svea and I dropped off Paavo at his Summer "Book Buddies" class at 12:30PM, leaving us 3 hours to hang as a duo. After buying 50 bubble-filled CD mailing envelopes at Office Max, we crossed the parking lot so I could eat lunch at McDonalds. It was the France Ave McDonalds in Edina, and I must say it was exquisite, relaxing, and immaculate (unlike so many of its franchise brethren). My #2 Value Meal (super sized) was PERFECT. My iced tea was the ideal ratio of water to ice to tea. So I sat in air conditioned comfort surrounded by well-dressed business lunch patrons, gazing out the huge sparking glass windows watching a parade of sport utility vehicles cruise on by. In my left hand, I fed Svea some Cheerios and puffs as she sat in her stroller, and in my right hand I enjoyed my A+ lunch. Now I know this whole paragraph is totally profane in light of the situation in Darfur (let alone 100 blocks North in my previous neighborhood in North Minneapolis), but this lunch-time moment felt to me like a little window of relaxation and civility in a day filled with relentless parenting.

So, there in McDonalds, my mind wandered to questions of faith, society, God, and mortality. Earlier this Summer I was required to read Richard Rohr's book "Everything Belongs" to prepare for an event where I was to play music. The book was very powerful, and as I read it and struggled with it, Rohr anticipated every whine, criticism, and critique I could come up with, and addressed it specifically on the following page. It was like he knew what I was thinking as I read. Ultimately, I ended up siding with the author, and I think the entire experience with the book moved me into an even more open, accepting, monk-ey, and "zen" (whatever that means) place in my life and faith.

Simultaneously, I've been struggling more and more with the problem of alcohol abuse in society. As most folks who know me personally already know, I've been a lifelong teetotaller (or as the kids like to say, "straight-edge, dude"), although I've never been public about it. So lately I've been wondering, what would happen if I talked about my personal choice in this matter in my daily life, or even in my songs? Hmmm...could be good, could be a disaster. Wikipedia tells me that my approach to it is called "abstentionism." I had no idea that anybody had ever categorized such things! So, I'm getting more squishy and liberal in some ways, and more hard-core and conservative in others.

Also, I'm more and more weary of the paranoia running rampant in American Christendom. What do people think of me/us?!? Who should/shouldn't we be seen with?!? Somebody is trying to destroy us/me!!! What are we supposed to do?!? Aaauuuugh!

For example: yesterday I did a Google Blog Search on the just-completed LCMS National Lutheran Youth Gathering 'cause some of my musical friends were down there playing, and I wanted to read the word on the street/web. The search hits revealed to me that there's a war going on (and I wasn't aware of how widespread the struggle had become!) between "confessional" Lutherans and every other kind of person (I guess). Sigh. Here's a classic post from a guy who's glad his congregation skipped the LCMS National event so they could attend a MORE conservative youth event instead! Brother, it's a good thing you weren't in San Antonio last Summer with me and my denominational tribe at the ELCA Youth Gathering...you would've keeled over.

And here's another great blog courtesy of indie CCM-songwriter Shaun Groves about faith and fame. I think he's handling his situation with grace and class, but read some of those links, and a few of those comments...man, people sure do get their panties in a bundle.

Holy crap, America, can't we just relax?! This stuff is so silly compared to the life and death struggles all around us, in Iraq, in Africa, in North Minneapolis. I don't give a crap if you're a "confessional" anything or not...I'll push you out of ditch, give you my extra clothing, be sure you're fed, pull you drowning and drunk out of a lake (right Will?), play with your kids, sing you a song, give you a cup of cold water, change your diaper, sign my autograph, and share my cheeseburger, okay?

Dear Lord help us all. Like we say in church, "Come Lord Jesus," just to finally put an end to all this stupid crap.

Have you heard the newest Damone album? It's rocking my universe.

strep throat, a week of normalcy, and 3 gigs in 2 days

Whew! Exactly one week ago my family returned home to Minneapolis after a great vacation, and these past seven days have been a rather jarring transition back to my life of stay-home-Dadding: 10-hour days of solo parenting, brain-boiling heat forcing me and the kiddos to huddle in the air-conditioning, the daily management of groceries, laundry, etc. All this, plus my never-ending bout with strep throat (which I've been fighting since July 12th)...I'm out of penicillin, and I think I'll need to get more. Hack hack hack. In September these tonsils will get ripped out once and for all, and I'll be a happy non-toxic man (albeit with a completely new voice...that could be good or bad, depending...). This weekend was a welcome return to my musician lifestyle: three gigs in two days.

GIG ONE: On Saturday afternoon I played in South Minneapolis at the Hosmer Public Library World Music Concert Series. It was a solo acoustic performance, and probably one of the toughest, least-magical gigs I've played in recent months (and of course, it was the rare gig that folks were taping and videoing). It's the nature of being a human being and a performer...for some gigs, you're just not gonna catch the wave. I don't say this to whine or complain, or for you to feel bad for me...I'd just like to communicate the reality of playing shows. Here were some of my struggles:

+ I forgot the chords to my opening song "Falling Down"
+ I forgot the words to "Armyman" and had to switch around the verses to get everything in (for some reason, the audience loved this song, despite the botching)
+ my strep throat caused great hacking in the middle of "Librarian" (I had to turn away from the mic and cough my brains out as I kept on strumming through the song)...and I ended up skipping a chorus
+ I started "the Sound of the Cicadas" only to disintegrate in a huge fit of coughing after the first few lyrics....I stopped and started the song over at the top
+ I sang the lyrics of "Bright Funeral" in the wrong order
+ my key of A harmonica blew out a reed, preventing my from playing big hits in the key of A like "Tape"
+ general lame-i-tude on songs like "747s," "Nothing Old Nothing New," and "Snare"
Despite my numerous troubles, the audience seemed to enjoy themselves, and I soldiered on. There were some nice moments, such as:
+ the re-started version of "The Sound of the Cicadas"
+ "Every Town's The Same," which I could play at every show and never get sick of it
+ "Ashes"
+ "Minneapolis"
+ my closing song, a cover of Peter Case's brilliant tune "I shook his hand"
(speaking of Peter Case, check out his new blog entry remembering a hitchhiking experience he had in 1974 when he got picked up on the highway in California by the founder of the Church of Satan!)

GIG TWO: This morning I was the guest musician at Spirit Garage in Minneapolis. The folks at SG have always been huge supporters of my music, and it was nice to be back with them again...it's been a couple years since I'd been there. My friend Joel Setterholm joined me on keyboards, and I enjoyed hearing his harmony vocals and great piano playing on songs from the Heartland Liturgy, as well as a furious version of "Meeting Nixon" as the sermon illustration!

GIG THREE: this evening I played a full band show at the Patio Concert Series hosted by a suburban Salvation Army Corps. It was a stunningly beautiful evening, there were about 60 people in attendance (pictured to the left), and they were very friendly and responsive. 'Twas a blast having the entire band along for this show...we were loud and rocking, we made up the set list as we went, and everybody was nailing it. It felt really good to have a locked-in and confident musical experience after my rather scattered library gig yesterday.
Highlights of the show included:
+ "Narthex" as always!
+ a blazing version of "Workin' my Committee" with a perfect band ending!
+ our closer "No More Walls" with triple harmony vocals!
+ a Calexico-worthy version of "I Want Jesus to walk with Me"
+ our Buddy Miller inspired opener of "Gospel Verses"
+ a perfectly nuanced "The Serious Kind"
The band was (l-r) Joel Setterholm :keyboard and vocals; John Kerns: bass and vocals; Troy Alexander: drums; and me. Check out the suburban expanse unfolding behind us! I love playing with these fine musicians, and it felt good to be loud, grooving, and precise!

Time for bed...tomorrow I plunge yet again into a full week of serious parenting. No more gigs until two weeks from now out in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I'll let you know if I conquer the strep throat by then!

Some records I've been spinning lately:
RAY PRICE: The Essential Ray Price
THE RAINMAKERS: The Good News and The Bad News
ROONEY: Calling the World
THE CARS: Complete Greatest Hits
HONEYMOON SUITE

Lifest and Cornerzone shows

Greetings from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where my family is spending a much-enjoyed vacation this week. Had a couple cool shows in recent days, and here are the details:

LIFEST in OshKosh, WI, last week Thursday and Friday

I returned to LiFest this Summer after a two-year absence. The festival seems to have streamlined and refocused a bit since my last gigs here in 2004. There were less stages/venues, less artists on the schedule, a toned-down glamour factor, and a ramped up focus on music for teenagers. I was certainly representing the Dad-rock genre on the bill this year (which, funnily enough, is just fine with me).

My main performance took place in the air-conditioned comfort of the pavilion, which is my favorite LiFest location (I hate playing outside!). Had about 100 folks in the audience, and about 1/3rd of them had seen me play in the past. Played a short and basic little set, with few surprises. I did take audience requests, which is kinda rare for me...they wanted to hear “Librarian” and “Smart Girls” and I was happy to oblige. My favorite part of the set was a set-closing duet with Audrey Hatcher Woodhams, the performer who was on stage before me. She was an incredible vocalist, and was sitting at her sales table during my set talking to fans. I called to her from the stage and invited her up to sing a duet, even though we’d never even met before. She was cool, and jumped right up. We had a brief conference, deciding on “Amazing Grace.” Audrey sang lead, I played guitar and sang harmony, and it was awesome. Rarely do performers guest on one another’s stages at LiFest, so I was glad to create a loose, collaborative vibe. Audrey is the real deal, and I hope to see her perform again sometime!

CORNERZONE CAFÉ in Marquette, MI on Saturday night

On Saturday I drove up to my hometown of Ishpeming, MI. My cousin Bruce Rundman lives in the U.P. (by the way, here’s Bruce’s brand new MySpace page....be his friend!) and plays his own gigs in the area. We hadn’t played together since my Fall Tour of 2004, so I was really looking forward to a chance to perform again with my earliest musical collaborator. We met at my parents’ house, talked through a set list idea, and drove to Marquette for load in and soundcheck. Our venue was the Cornerzone Youth Center, which hosts benefit gigs each week in their Concerts for a Cause series. We were designating the proceeds of the show to the local branch of Habitat for Humanity.

It’s always fun to gig with Bruce, and although it took us a few songs to shake off the musical cobwebs, we eventually got in the zone. Highlights included a set using the mandolin on songs like “The Princess Wants to Spend Her Time With Me” and a sizzling take on “The Sound of the Cicadas.” We also banged through some cool cover tunes like “All You Zombies” by The Hooters and “Hey Geronimo” by Vinnie James....how’s that for obscure! For our final songs, we invited our opening act Odon Soterias to join us on stage and play some hand drums, and they put an amazing world-beat hippie spin on “No More Walls” and “Canticle for Departure.” Not unlike the impromptu duet with Audrey at LiFest, there was an undeniable electricity on stage during this all-band jam session....something happens between musicians (especially, when you don’t even know each other personally) who perform together, and everybody catches the wave, finds the groove, and that spiritually-connected community bond of joy and energy is created. Music is a powerful thing.

I’ve got a couple weeks now with no shows on the calendar, so hopefully my singing voice will have time to recover. I totally blew it out these past few days....man, I can’t wait for that tonsillectomy I’ve got scheduled in September. Rip those babies out of there and give me my voice back!

My celebrity lookalikes, as I near 36 years of age.

I just can't stop blogging! I must post again!

Next week's birthday celebration (age 36....whoo hooo...lots of factors!) is a big one, so it seemed like an appropriate time to check my celebrity look alikes. Here are the results:



Last time I did this cool face-recognition thing, I got some different matches. Donald Sutherland, Mia Farrow, etc. But there are some cool folks in this batch, too. I've got Hilary Duff's nose. Or she has mine. Or whatever.

off to LiFest, and then the Upper Peninsula

Hey y'all. It's tough to get out of town, especially with two little kids. Dawn and I have been packing, doing dishes, folding laundry, and assembling a diaper bag all day. Tomorrow afternoon we embark on a road trip: part music tour, part family vacation. Here's a pic from about 20 minutes ago of my girl hauling a metric ton of clean laundry up the steps. I'm helping out by documenting the event with the digital camera. Big help, eh?

Let's see, what else as been going on lately? Hmmm...

Well, I jumped off the wagon. I gave up the drinking of soda pop back on New Years Eve of 2002. It's been over 4 years since I've had Coca-Cola. But today I had a Coke. There was Coke in our fridge, left over from a party we had last Thursday, and it was just sitting there doing nothing in that 2 liter bottle. So I had a glass of it. With ice. Ehh...it was okay. Kinda fun to drink Coke again, but it was enough. I'm going back to soda abstinence.

What else? Oh yeah...I'm using MSN/Qwest as my email/internet provider. A couple weeks ago my email program Entourage just stopped working. I no longer could pull my email off the MSN/Qwest server. Now the only way I can check email is via web-based email, by using a web browser. LAME. So these past few days I've spent a grand total of about FOUR HOURS on the phone (mostly on hold) with the MSN, Qwest, and Microsoft Entourage support folks (all who seem to be people at some giant phone bank in India, pretending to have American accents). After all this dinking around, I'm back to where I started...unable to use my email program. To summarize their advice to me: "Uhhh...well, we don't know what happened, but I guess you're out of luck. Sorry. I guess you'll just be a web-mail email guy from now on." How's that for customer service!
For Independence Day last week we enjoyed the Edina parade. Paavo got to meet Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batgirl. He was impressed, as was I. Later in the evening we sat down at the table with our guests for the traditional meal of cheeseburgers and corn on the cob. Dawn's work as a faith-development expert and developmental psychologist affects much of our daily life, and here's a good example: Before the meal, Dawn instituted a Fourth of July ritual, where she read the beginning of the Declaration of Independence. Here's a pic of Svea (in pigtails for the first time! cute!) learning about the founding of this great nation.

Why on earth am I blogging at 1:36AM when I should be packing, taking a shower, etc? Oh well. I've gotta grab this introvert time whenever I can get it. In a few hours we'll roll on down the highway to Wisconsin, so I can perform at LiFest, a big "Christian Rock" festival in OshKosh. I haven't been there in a couple years...last time I was there I mentioned on stage that I intended to vote for John Kerry in the upcoming election, and after my set I got lambasted by a senior citizen veteran of WWII. I only mentioned my voting plans as an attempt to provide a weak balance to the giant "George W Bush for president" banners hanging in the festival parking lot. Oh well. They're having me back, so I guess they don't really mind my non-Pat-Robertson worldview. We'll see what kind of Christian-Right subculture I observe this time, as I schmooze at the veggie tray backstage with the dudes from Jars of Clay.

And one week from now we'll be back in our homeland of Michigan's Upper Peninsula: relaxing, swimming, saunaing, hitting the beach, catching a movie or two, celebrating our wedding anniversary and my birthday. Don't know if I'll have time to blog...but we're bringing the laptop, so maybe I'll post some stuff as we go.

"Prince showww..." in Minneapolis 7-7-07

It's been quite a week since Independence day, but certainly a highlight for me was the Prince concert last Saturday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis on lucky 7-7-07. I'd never seen the Tiny Purple One in person before, so when my pal Will invited me and scored some sweet seats only 4 rows from the side of the stage (this pic from the show taken by some random blogger was pretty much the view we had!) I was thrilled to attend.

There's a ton I could say about the show, but I'll focus on the strangest part of it:
He played a ton of hits, but about 70% of those songs were NOT played in their entirety. It was truly weird, and these little song snippets gave the show the feel of a "Prince-medley-revue" or something. Here are some examples:
"Little Red Corvette:" only the first two verses were played...he quit before the bridge
"Raspberry Beret:" same as above
"Let's Go Crazy:" NO verses were played...just the riff and the "we're not gonna let the elevator break us down" lyric...that's IT!
"U Got the Look:" maybe the first half, that's it
"Nothing Compares 2 U:" again, maybe just the first half
"Do Me Baby:" one verse and chorus?
"Seven:" one verse and chorus (heck, this should've been the THEME of the night!)
That's just a few examples, but he was doing it all night. Weird.

Thankfully, he played my favorite Prince songs in their entirety ("Cream," "Take Me With U") as well as other huge hits like "Purple Rain" and "Kiss." Other favorite musical moments included:
+ covers of "Play that funky music, white boy," "What a Wonderful World," "Come Together," and a killer version of The Cars' "Let's Go"
+ Sheila E guest appearance featuring her huge Prince hits "Love Bizarre" and "The Glamorous Life" (with rocking timbale solo!)
+ Wendy Melvoin on guitar!

All this musical fun, plus a water rescue. Yup, after the show me and Will were driving home when my car got flagged down by a random stranger, alerting us to an emergency situation at Lake Calhoun. We ended up preventing an inebriated woman from drowning in the lake until the EMTs showed up, when we were able to fish her out of the water. She was hammered, and weighed about 250lbs, and she totally would've sunk out there...we were laying at the end of the T-shaped pier hanging on to her wrists, keeping her from sinking. 'Twas a bizarre scene, and even now it seems like a dream. She seemed fine once we got her out, thank goodness, but they loaded her up in the ambulance anyway. It was exactly one week after this occurred, so, needless to say, I'm preoccupied with the dangers of water these days. And, wow, thank the Lord for EMTs and paramedics and ambulance drivers.

The Police reunion concert in St. Paul last night

Two negative reviews in both our local papers, the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press, for last night's reunion performance by The Police! Snippy snippy snippy! Now, I know from reading 20 years worth of rock journalism that music writers love to rip on Sting, and the criticisms are always the same (boring, aloof, slow, jazzy, arrogant, detached, tantric-whatever), but I was there last night in St. Paul, and I thought it was the most joyous and fun arena rock show I'd ever seen (and I've seen U2, REM, Beck, Neil Young, Styx, Journey, and Springsteen in similar venues).

Allow me to say what you won't read in the music press:
STING: vocally, he was out-of-this-world. Pitch perfect, and nailing essential stratospheric high notes, while occasionally singing tasty alternate melodies here and there to save his voice (a perfectly respectable thing to do if you're the only singer in a band requiring you to wail every night for two hours at age 55). And yes, Bono still sounds great vocally, but Sting is even better. His bass playing rocked, and I loved watching him use his instrument and bass foot-pedals to mimic the album-version keyboard parts on songs like "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

STEWART: I've wanted to see this master drummer in person since my childhood, and he did not disappoint. 'Twas extra fun to see him jumping around playing orchestral percussion on a special riser behind the drum kit!

ANDY: Like Sting cutely sings on "So Lonely": "Welcome to the Andy Summers show!" Indeed, Andy is the sonic glue that makes this band so amazing in concert. It takes a brilliant guitarist to play an arena gig with only a trio(!!!) and Summers' playing and mastery of effects filled every sonic space needed. I felt the same way about The Edge on the most recent U2 show...these guitarists-in-a-trio have a huge responsibility, and Summers was on fire last night. On the Police recordings he's so often providing atmosphere and rhythm that the listener can't appreciate his skill as a lead player...but last night he got to step into the spotlight and prove himself as a 65-year-old guitar hero. Amazing. His mannerisms were serious and understated, but his fingers provided the fireworks.

My only criticisms might be that on the biggest hits ("Roxanne," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Every Breath You Take," "Message in a Bottle") that Sting engages in the same stretched out audience sing-alongs that he's been doing for 30 years (including the three times I've seen him solo). But for me, the reason to see this show was to hear other Police tunes, slightly reworked...I was in awe of "Synchronicity II," "Invisible Sun," "Walking on the Moon," "De Doo Doo Doo," "Wrapped Around Your Finger," "Don't Stand So Close To Me" (more relaxed, in a lower key, but lovely), and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" (where only three guys can effectively re-interpret the big-production album version.

One of the negative reviews called the show "sloppy," but for me it was those human musical inconsistencies that proved that the concerts was performed by three real people, with no hidden back-up instrumentalists (like U2 reportedly use). There were moments (during "Every Breath" specifically) where the band members got a bit lost and had to watch each other to get the train back on track, but they handled it expertly, and were obviously enjoying themselves so much that it hardly mattered. And of course, if they were technically flawless, the press would have called them "slick," "lifeless," and "mechanical." I thought the show was full of heart, energy, fun, and freakin' awesome songs, singing, and playing.

One more thing...we sat in the balcony, BEHIND the stage, on the Sting side, and it was probably the best seating (in the cheapest seats!) I've ever had at an area show. It was a music-nerd paradise, with a prime aerial view of Stewart's drum kit, and a behind-the-scenes view of Sting's set-list tele-prompter and bass-pedal-board. The band members were very good about spinning around to address the fans behind them, spittin'-distance away, and the huge video monitor gave us clear shots of their faces and the view from the front of the stage.

Sting left the stage with a hopeful farewell message of "We'll see you again!" and if they hit the road again in the future, I shall go to the show. Yay-hooo!

From Texas to Ishpeming to Minneapolis in a week

What a sad and serious yet joyous seven days it has been since my last post. One week ago I joined with 200 other participants on the campus of Texas Lutheran University for The Disciple Project, a in-depth training session for young Lutheran leaders. My job was to play songs and help facilitate a music class for instrumentalists, vocalists, and band leaders. Above is a clip of our performance this past Wednesday (ahh...the wonders of YouTube...an audience member posted a video already!) of my song "Texas Kyrie." Seemed fitting to play this song that I wrote in Austin, TX, back in 1999...it had returned to its home state. The folks in the music class were quite talented and they all had a blast rocking out on the Em|Em|Am|C progression. I was happy to sing and play tambourine!

Another highlight of the week was a Tuesday night show at Jackson Auditorium with techno-folk duo Tangled Blue, and organic alterna-emo songwriter Aaron Strumpel. After we all played our own sets we closed with a all-star super-jam, everyone playing and singing together. I kicked off the encore with a cover of the Stones' "Gimme Shelter," Tangled Blue played Cyndi Lauper's masterpiece "Time After Time" (and I got to sing the Rob Hyman harmony vocal!), and everybody wrapped it up with a massive version of Aaron's lovely song "Centuries."

The sad news of the week was the sudden and unexpected death of my uncle, Rev. Lance Roberts. I got the phone call and was able to make plans to return home, thanks to good customer service by Northwest Airlines. Flew back home on Wednesday afternoon, hit the road with the family on Thursday, and arrived in my hometown of Ishpeming for the Friday funeral and visitation. Our entire family was shocked and grieved by Lance's untimely death, but the funeral and surrounding family events were a powerful celebration of his life and and faith. On Saturday our family gathered deep in the woods on Lance's property where we scattered his ashes and planted dozens of trees in his memory. 'Twas one of the most profound funeral moments I'd ever witnessed. Then the family enjoyed a day at my Grandpa's cabin, where I took my son Paavo on his first-ever boat ride. Lance certainly would've approved!

So after a whirlwind road trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, we're home in Minneapolis, and it's July 1st. If you were my iPod sitting on my desk, this is the Jonathan you would see, blogging in the glow of the laptop. Our family members are dealing with some even more recent health concerns, and of course still in sorrow and disbelief over the loss of Uncle Lance, but more and more positive news keeps rolling in from the home front. Please keep the Roberts family in your prayers, if you do such a thing. Dawn, Paavo, and baby Svea are doing well, and I'm ready for a week of reunions with old friends, the reconstruction of a piano bench (you have to sit on something to play piano), and the reunion of The Police, who I shall be hearing/seeing two nights from now. Like Sting said, "Love can mend your life, and love can break your heart." Well, there's been heartbreak this week for sure, but God be with us and help us with the mending of our lives. And thanks for the obvious and powerful love.