Writings from the Dirt Road

I’ve come to realize that a lot of my favorite bands from my college/high school years that were, sadly, confined to the CCM ghetto are quickly fading away. Many of my younger friends have no idea who these bands are or what they sound like, so I’m creating a series of posts to educate the young listener.

Who Are They?
The Choir is a rock band originally based out of California known for atmospheric sounds and quirky lyrics that plumb deeper subjects than many Christian bands wanted to touch. Many times the lyrics were also self-referential, referring back to previous albums or songs on the album. The primary members of The Choir are Derri Daugherty (vocals, guitar), Steve Hindalong (drums, percussion, vocals) and Dan Micheals (saxophone, lyricon). Tim Chandler (bass) appears on many of the albums, though he entered and exited the band several times to tour with other bands and artists and his role was sometimes filled by other bass guitarists. The band has been joined by Marc Byrd (guitars) of Common Children during recent years.

Hindalong and Daugherty collaborated on a series of albums titled “City On A Hill” that is probably their most successful music commercially. Hindalong and Byrd penned “God of Wonders” which is now a popular worship song sung in many churches.

Brief History
The Choir formed in 1983 as the result of a friendship between Hindalong and Chandler. Chandler was playing bass for the pioneering Christian rock band, Daniel Amos, and introduced Hindalong to Daugherty, who would working as a roadie for DA at the time. Originally, the band was titled Youth Choir, but changed their name to The Choir when they released Diamonds and Rain in 1986. Chandler soon left the band to tour with DA and Hindalong and Daugherty produced a couple albums together, hiring Micheals to play saxophone. Micheals also introduced the lyricon into the sound of The Choir, a signature sound of the band, particularly at live concerts.

The Choir’s early albums bear heavy influence from 80’s new wave bands, particularly bands such as The Police and Psychedelic Furs. After recording Diamonds and Rain with producer Charlie Peacock, the band subsequently recorded and produced all the rest of their albums themselves. Self-production and recording proved to be highly beneficial to Daugherty and Hindalong as they have earned a living recording and producing albums for other bands and this allowed them to truly give The Choir its own unique sound.

Chase The Kangaroo was their first self-produced album, released in 1988 and was recorded with Tim Chandler. However, Chandler left after the recording of the album, and the band hired Robin Spurs. The Choir gained some attention as “the band with the female bass player” which may have helped put them on some music magazine covers. Spurs recorded Wide Eyed Wonder and parts of Circle Slide in 1990 with the band before leaving. Circle Slide signaled a bit of a transition bringing Hindalong’s percussion and drums to the forefront and is perhaps the bands’ best album.

During 1991, Hindalong and Daugherty collaborated on a acoustic worship album titled At the Foot of the Cross The album laid the foundation for much of their later work on the City on a Hill series and while it was critically acclaimed, the worship music fad had not emerged yet and it is even today virtually unknown. In 1993, Hindalong, Daugherty, and Micheals all moved to Nashville to be closer to many of the artists they were working with. Some of the struggles with the move are recounted in their independent release Kissers and Killers, much of which was repackaged and sold on a label as Speckled Bird

In 1996, the toils of touring took their toll on Hindalong and Daugherty, both now fathers, and they announced that the tour supporting their newest album Free Flying Soul would be their last one. The band went essentially dormant until 2000 when all four members recorded Flap Your Wings together and then released a boxed set of all their albums titled Never Say Never, a play on their declarations to not tour anymore, not record anymore, etc. which have all proved false. Hindalong and Daugherty then released the City On A Hill series in the following years. In 2005, the band recorded O, How The Mighty Have Fallen with Marc Byrd as the producer and followed with a short tour, their first since 1996.

Where Are They Now?
Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty are now members of Lost Dogs with Micheal Roe and Terry Taylor. They, along with Marc Byrd, still produce and record acts in Nashville, TN. Tim Chandler works as computer consultant while Dan Micheals works in public relations for a label in Nashville. There are no current plans to record or tour again, but as they say, “Never Say Never.”

If You Bought Only One Album…
Circle Slide is the creative peak of the band, in my opinion. It is a short album and there is relatively little filler. The sound is a little dated with heavy doses of reverb, but it seems like everything produced in the late 80’s and early 90’s has a lot of reverb. “Tear For Tear” and “About Love” are a combination of songs that perfectly combine the joy and ache of love that the Choir explored so much in their music. “Restore My Soul” is a fantastic groove, featuring some of Steve Hindalong’s best drumming.

Get Thee to iTunes! Or Make Your Own Mix Tape for 10 bucks
You can buy many of the bands’ albums and songs on iTunes, however I recommend purchasing them from The Choir Downloads where the money goes directly to the band and you can download the songs in DRM-free MP3 format.

1. Consider (Chase The Kangaroo)
2. To Bid Farwell (Wide Eyed Wonder)
3. Restore My Soul (Circle Slide)
4. Yellow Skies (Speckled Bird)
5. Love Your Mind (Speckled Bird)
6. The Ocean (Free Flying Soul)
7. Tear For Tear/About Love (Let It Fly)
8. Flowing Over Me (Flap Your Wings)
9. Beautiful Scandalous Night (Flap Your Wings)
10. To Rescue Me (O How The Mighty Have Fallen)

Much like the previous concert Adriene and I went to a couple weeks ago, Andy Gullahorn and Jill Philips are a married couple that produce music individually. However, both sometimes come together in concert to combine strengths and deliver a show of enjoyable music. Their marriage is a context that permeates the show and you realize immediately these are two people who have known each other a long time and know how to draw the best out of each other.

The show was located at the wonderful Acoustic Jeremiah, a small church venue in Canton, Georgia. The intimate nature of venue and the remote location give you the feeling you are participating in something special. The welcoming attitude of the hosts gives you the feeling you are entering into a community. It really does enhance the show. I’m hoping there are many more shows to come at this location.

Philips and Gullahorn provide a perfect foil to each other. They performed “in the round” which Andrew Peterson has always said means “if you don’t like one artist, you have to endure a couple songs before you can listen to the next one.” Performing in the round means that Philips tender, sometimes heartbroken songs meshed with Gullahorn’s clever, wry, and sometimes flippant songs. Philips would silence the crowd with a reverant air with a song like “I Am” and Gullahorn would elicit guffaws with a song like “Green Hills Mall.” The two combined voices and guitars for many beautiful songs by each of the two, ending the night with acapella renditions of “All Hail The Name” and the “Doxology.”

Great shows are more that just performances, they are the gathering of a community and the Square Peg Alliance and Acoustic Jeremiah always seem to deliver in that way.

Photos of the show here!

It’s been a pretty gratifying year for me so far creatively. So far, I’ve had a couple of my photos used on various websites, I’ve been interviewed on a radio station, and now I’ve had two articles and a photo published in a book about the band Over the Rhine. The first article is about the connection between Over the Rhine and Cornerstone Festival and the second article is about my first Over the Rhine concert experience. It’s always exciting to see your work in print and alongside other writers and I have a nice sense of accomplishment for myself and the editors that worked hard on this project.

Unfortunately, the printing was a limited run, so you won’t be able to pick up the book up at a store or order it on amazon.com, but I’ll be glad to pridefully show the book to anyone who asks.

I’ve admitted before that I’m a sucker for songs about marital bliss. So when Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken, two accomplished singer-songwriters each on their own, announced they would be releasing an EP of duets together on Valentine’s Day of 2008 I was already sold. The CD is a delightful little reprieve for each of their individual works that incorporate a little bit of smooth production and a lot of harmonies.

Adriene and I went to the second show last night which was a whole lot of fun. We met up with two new friends who are new to Atlanta and did the required 30 minute stand in line at Taqueria del Sol for delicious tacos. Afterwards, we headed over to Eddie’s Attic for the show. When I reserved the table, I didn’t know how early I was in ordering the tickets. Our table was front and center. We were literally sitting next to the stage.

Derek and Sandra played about half the show together, playing some of the songs from the new Ampersand ep, and then Derek played the rest of the show by himself. He said that only the night before he was very sick and by the end of the night last night his voice was pretty ragged. Sandra came up on stage and bailed him out by singing most of “Faith My Eyes” at the end of the song.

During Derek’s part of the show, he broke a string and while he was restringing the guitar, he had an amusing question and answer session where:

• Someone asked the meaning behing his son’s name, Rhodes. He was named after his grandfather, not the Fender Rhodes.
• Someone asked who he voted for in the primary. He confessed to voting for Ron Paul. I guess he’s been talking to Andy O. a lot.
• Derek also gave his “love language” speech about beer. He admitted to not drinking that night because he was still sick and dehydrated. When he reminded us of this at the end of the night, he said “what am I saying? Get one for the road?” The cold medication was clearly kicking in.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I am always refreshed to hear songs about love from a perspective of marriage. It’s one of the reasons I love artists like Over the Rhine and Derek and Sandra. I like artists that stretch themselves and challenge themselves to explore what its like to love someone that you’ve known for years and want to know for years to come. It’s a nice change from the one-night stand music I hear all the time on the radio.

Photos of the show on my Flickr site!

I wrote an entry about missing Easter Church service this year because of baby/family commitments, but about halfway through I re-read it and realized it was really depressing and not going anywhere, so it’s been thrown in the digital trash can. So, instead, I will make myself feel better with some retail therapy and materialistically brag about my new purchases.

The Asus Eee PC Microlaptop
I loved the concept new Apple MacBook Air. (Solid-state memory hard drives make me swoon.) However, the cost of the laptop made it simply unrealistic for me. However, I discovered this little guy via a friend of mine and I was immediately drawn to it because of it’s durability, light weight, and most of all, dirt cheap price. The Eee PC is tiny, but powerful enough to work as a travel laptop. It’s got 4 GB of memory as a hard drive, but I added an 8 GB SD card to it to give it a little more space and since it has USB ports galore, I can always plug in my external hard drive to view photos or listen to music. The Celeron processor isn’t a screamer, but the Linux OS is so lightweight that it is still very capable of streaming online video and such. The only downside I’ve experienced so far is the tiny keyboard which can sometimes be difficult to use, but I’ve picked up a wireless USB keyboard for work and it works perfectly with the laptop. So far, I’m very pleased with the laptop

Tokina 12-24mm wide angle lens
This photo was taken with my new wide-angle lens. I rented a fisheye lens a couple weeks ago and had a ton of fun with it. However I wanted to own something that would give me a similar wide angle, but decided on something a little more practical. This lens should give me the opportunity to take some good landscape panoramas and I’m eager to try it out this football season (though I will probably rent a fisheye during the season for stadium shots anyways.) The only downside I’ve experienced so far with this lens is the suprisingly small aperture, it’s pretty slow when I shoot indoors without a flash.