RockOm

By Trevor Harden, Trevor@RockOm.net

Since forming in 1985 as a band of middle school students, the rock quartet known as Live has grown to become one of the most popular and enduring alternative rock acts of the past two decades. They gained massive mainstream success with their sophomore breakthrough album Throwing Copper in 1994 and have since gone on to sell more than 20 million CDs worldwide.

Live frontman Eddie Kowalczyk is currently on an acoustic tour called Open Wings, Broken Strings with Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer and Art Alexakis of Everclear. He is also working on a rocking new solo album to be released in spring of 2010 (details and mailing list at eddieklive.com).

Eddie sat down with RockOm's Trevor Harden to discuss his spiritual journey, rediscovering the Bible, the power of performing acoustically and more...

Trevor: Since Live's first album, Mental Jewelry, you've always allowed depth and spiritual truth into your lyrics. That album came out when you guys were very young so was there a catalyst that started you down that spiritual path? Can you speak about where that longing for something deeper came from?

Ed: Sure. I was baptized and confirmed Roman Catholic but never really got into it much beyond the routine of occasional church going and the formalities of the religion, never really digging that deeply into it as a child. Then as a teenager, I had a natural tendency to dig a little deeper than what was handed to me as a kid, in terms of spirituality and religion. When I was about 16 or 17 in high school I noticed that I was really interested in meditation and seeking Truth and a deeper meaning to my existence. I ended up wandering into a metaphysical bookstore that was near where I lived one day and saw a book by J. Krishnamurti called You Are the World; I bought it on a whim. It ended up being a book about questioning conditioning. He put everything into question in terms of what we accept as true or real and why we do so. It was maybe the first time I did that - to look at the ideas and beliefs I held about God and Truth and ask myself if they were accurate and what I was getting from it.

So that started my questioning which then led into years of meditating and reading. I've always been an avid reader of scripture and philosophy and never went to college so that was kind of my education. In the mid-1990's I met Ken Wilber and became really good friends with him and read his book called A Brief History of Everything which was a major watershed opening of my mind. Then about four or five years ago I did something called the Big Mind project with a man named Genpo Roche, a Zen master who developed a piercing kind of Zen questioning process. Since then I've come full circle by re-investigating the Bible from a metaphysical point of view - reinterpreting scripture in a way that relates to consciousness. That has been the main focus of my life for the last four years. It's definitely not a type of Christianity that people would recognize as typical or dogmatic; it's about the furthest you could be from fundamentalism but nonetheless Christian in nature. I'm really discovering the Bible for the first time in terms of unlocking its potential to teach us about reality.

Alongside all of that, it's music all the time. Music and songwriting is an extension of that search and has given me a lot to think about. It's been a fount of inspiration for me throughout the years and people seem to dig it.

Trevor: What are you finding in the life and teachings of Jesus that you weren't finding elsewhere or that you're finding unique?

Ed: It's unique in it's power, unique in it's breadth of influence. But you have to get away from looking at it as just a moral code and dig deeper into the language of the Bible and I'm interpreting it as it relates to consciousness itself or being itself. One of the simple ways that I see the power in it is every time the Bible says God or Lord or Christ is to relate that directly to consciousness itself, which is ever present and intermingling with your own being at a very deep level. So that unlocks an interest in prayer and meditation that was there but is now even more driven to a deeper place, understanding that as we touch that deep level that our life becomes the fruitage of that. We're happier, our relationships become more harmonious... "you shall know them by their fruits" stuff starts to happen. There's an extra sparkle in my eye and a smile that wasn't there for a while by ucovering that because of the depth of this prayer and practicing going to that place where we all become one. There's a very powerful silence there and it really reveals a lot.

As a musician and artist, you can't really ask for more than that. I come out of these periods with incredible inspiration and want to sing about it. Being able to go full circle and pick up the Bible again has been very powerful for me because it was a book that I really just didn't understand in a way that meant much to me for years. It's a sort of a coming home, but in my own way. It has been really, really exciting and powerful.

Trevor: You're currently offering the free download of your song "Forever" on eddieklive.com. It's a beautiful acoustic version of the song with the great line, "The darker the night, the brighter the dawn." Can you tell us a little about your inspiration for this song?

Ed: Again, coming from rediscovering the Bible and words like faith, that particular lyric is trying to express that when we see our ideal - the best case scenario, the most loving scenario, the fullest life, God or Truth - to keep our attention there in spite of what is appearing as an obstacle or limitation. As you keep the faith and keep your attention on that ideal and get more and more stronger doing that you find that the negativity leaves. You discover you've moved past the limitations and closer to the ideal in ways that are beyond imagination. Everyone has experienced that but this was just putting it into a context that is hopefully inspirational to people. It's something that has had an incredible impact on my life.

Trevor: All musicians talk about that mystical thing that happens in a live setting where there's a unity and connection you have with the audience. I'm sure it happens at both the loud rock concerts with the band as well as in the quiet, acoustic solo performances that you're currently doing. Can you talk about how the texture of that is different in both of those settings?

Ed: It's really different. Look, I love to rock. I've been in a great band for years and love to turn up the amps and have all the lights going and the big PA. But there's a part of you that sits by yourself in a room and writes a song that doesn't get to be on stage then. He has to recoil back into a little place of being there, but not really. Stripping it down and making it an acoustic, intimate setting really allows that guy to come forward. I had really kind of missed him. You obviously have that when you start out, when the crowds are smaller, but as the band gets bigger and your art succeeds, it becomes a persona that is designed to fill these big spaces. With this "Open Wings, Broken Strings" tour, the idea was to strip that down and put artists on the bill that were also ready for those types of things in their music. There's a fullness about the show that everyone is sharing in and the crowds are just loving it. A lot of them have said to me, "I never knew it could rock that much or be that compelling." That trips me out because that's where the music comes from, but I guess yeah, if you've never seen me acoustic you wouldn't know. This is just another view and it's really neat.

Trevor: In that setting you can talk about the meaning behind the songs and share the background a little bit. Are there any of your songs that you're particularly enjoying "clearing the air" about? Is there any song that you really enjoy telling the real story and meaning behind because it has maybe been misunderstood in the past or is perhaps a bit cryptic?

Ed: You know, I keep them that way a lot. I actually just did an introduction to "Lightening Crashes" the other night and said if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what this song meant, I'd have a lot more dollars. I basically stepped off it again by saying that I have a feeling about what it means but people have received such different impressions about that song in lots of good ways that I don't want to influence that. I've said it's about reincarnation for me at periods of time in my life but I still tend to back away from that because there's something about the openness of it - letting it be interpreted in the way people receive it - that is really powerful.

www.eddieklive.com

Most every Westerner has some relationship with the Christian church. He/She is usually either a part of it or alternately has some sort of aversion to it. We all understand that Christianity - maybe even moreso than other faith practices - carries with it a lot of cultural baggage here in the States. For this reason as well as personal reasons, many otherwise "spiritually open" people (the types of which might frequent this site) may tend to dismiss anything that has a Christian label on it. There is the possibility, however, that one is throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.

Take this week's two main offerings from RockOm, for instance. Top-selling musician Derek Webb [pictured] (who has seen career sales approaching one million records) has a controversial new album that lays out an alternate and more honest perspective in the Christian conversation. He shares with RockOm about this album, his role as an artist and where he believes the music industry is headed. Another follower of Jesus, singer-songwriter Josh Garrels shares our Featured Track of the Week. His song "All Creatures" (which can be streamed in the right column of the homepage all week) speaks to "a deep connection with nature in relation to God."

Give these two guys a shot. You just may be surprised what you'll glean. You may even be blessed in the process.

Trevor, President of RockOm.net

RockOm Round-up is a quick glance at what's going on around the world in the areas of music and spirituality...

• Dr. Mehmet Oz on Complimentary Medicine: 'Challenge the Status Quo' - "Music has an essential effect on how we feel. During surgery Oz listens to high-energy songs by Bruce Springsteen, but music isn't only for the doctors. During recovery patients are invited to join in music therapy. While singing 'Dream a Little Dream' with recovering patients, Oz explains that singing prompts deeper breathing and healing. " (abcnews.go.com)
• Wide Awake - You've read RockOm's interview with John Cooper of Skillet (currently on the homepage), now see a different interview, where John goes a little deeper on the theological Christian elements of their album Awake. (christianitytoday.com)
• New 'music therapy on wheels' delivers healing tunes to pediatric patients - "Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA has a new mobile tool to deliver music therapy and help pediatric patients cope with the fear, isolation and pain associated with being in the hospital. The Music Rx unit is a high-tech, interactive studio on wheels that includes everything necessary for music therapy, both in group settings and one-on-one. " (newsroom.ucla.edu)
• Why Sleep are a dream band for stoners - "Recorded by Steve Albini, the opening track 'Thebes'... is a reference to the city assailed by tragedy in Greek mythology... Is 'Thebes' an analogy for the state of the world today? I think so. If Thebes retells the story of a city destroyed by insanity, the following track 'Mediation is the Practice of Death' concerns the Buddhist belief of maransati or death awareness, the ability to fully accept death within your subconscious." (guardian.co.uk)
• 'We preach the message of love through Sufi music' - "We use the poetry of Sufi saints, mystics, and friends of God for our Qawwali performances. We also compose ourselves. As musicians, we can compose each verse according to its mood and the mood of the singing. If the mood is fast, the music is fast, if the mood is slow, the music is slow... Qawwali is a very spiritual and devotional thing. I can say this because we have been in this profession for the past 750 years." (tehrantimes.com)

RockOm Round-up is a quick glance at what's going on around the world in the areas of music and spirituality...

• KJ52 offers gospel music in a loud rap - "KJ52's music has been praised as the music Eminem would be making if he became a Christian. KJ has [even] written a letter to Eminem in song form, 'Dear Slim.'" (al.com)
• Grammy-winner Bryson to bring soulful vocals to jazz festival - "Two-time Grammy winner Peabo Bryson believes in the power of music. 'Music is spiritual... Every moment of our lives is marked to some kind of music,' Bryson said. 'There’s not a soul on this earth that’s not used music to try to make themselves feel better in some way, shape or form,' he said during a phone interview last week from his home in Atlanta. 'We use it to celebrate. We search it to find answers. It’s like, there’s the Bible, and then there’s music; it’s whatever you believe in, and then there’s music.'" (thecamarilloacorn.com)
• Bob Dylan's Christmas album to benefit charity - "Dylan's 'Christmas in the Heart' album is due out on October 13, nearly six months after the release of his last studio album, 'Together Through Life,' which topped the charts." (news.yahoo.com)
• Bulgaria's church deplores Madonna concert - "Orthodox Church officials are urging Bulgarians to keep away from a planned Madonna concert this weekend, accusing the pop singer of showing disrespect to Christianity." (news.yahoo.com)

A RockOm Interview with Rev. Justin Epstein

Justin Epstein is a dynamic inspirational speaker who has given over one hundred and thirty presentations to thousands of people in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.  He has shared the stage with such notables as Dr. Maya Angelou, Les Brown, Iyanla Vanzant and Marianne Williamson.

Justin Epstein graduated Magna Cum Laude from James Madison University, where he received a BS degree and double-majored in Communications and Religion/Philosophy.  He is a graduate of Unity School for Religious Studies Ministerial Program in Missouri and was ordained a Unity Minister in 1993.  He also resided at Ananda Village for three and a half years, a prolific school of Eastern thought.

He has produced and hosted the cable television series "Practical Spirituality" that aired in New York City. Justin served as the associate to prolific author and speaker Eric Butterworth, whose book Discover the Power within You was listed in Oprah's first edition of O Magazine as the book that changed her perspective on God and started her on her spiritual journey.

Justin is a student of the best-selling authors Dr. Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle and the personal development gurus Anthony Robbins and Brian Tracy. He is also a graduate of the American Comedy Institute and has performed stand up comedy in clubs throughout New York City including Caroline's on Broadway.  Justin is the president/CEO of Justin Epstein International, presenting seminars on Enlightened Golf: Merging Mind, Body and Spirit through the Game and also speaks to salespeople.  He is the senior minister of the Unity Church of Hilton Head Island, SC.

RockOm: How was music emphasized during your stint at Ananda Village?

Justin Epstein: After I was ordained from Unity I decided to go out to Ananda Village in Northern California and learn more about the understanding of the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, which was a wonderful balance of the teaching of yoga, based on The Bhagavad Gita. It's the science of realizing God and experiencing God, here and now. Yogananda talked about Jesus and quoted the Bible and that really appealed to me.

Part of the teaching at Ananda Village is chanting. Yogananda said that chanting is half the battle, because in chanting you're repeating positive, spiritual words over and over and that's focusing your thoughts and your heart's feelings. The whole point is to take all those feelings in the heart and channel them towards God. Ultimately, it goes beyond feeling uplifted and arousing emotion and sentiment - it helps you to get quiet and to meditate. You take the energy you're bringing inside [from the music or chanting] and you channel it from the heart to the point between the eyebrows - the spiritual eye - which helps you experience not only the subconscious feeling, but the super-conscious level of mind, that level of creativity where we experience that presence of God.

We're talking about music here today and Jesus said that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Every word that you speak has an impact in your life. When we sing, we're taking thoughts and we're crystallizing them into words, singing those words and they impact our heart and change our physiology. They can change our behavior and uplift us. If the words are negative then they can bring us down.

RO: What is it about music that connects us with God?

JE: Music helps to get your feelings and thoughts all channeled towards one focus, to have all your energy moving in the direction of super-consciousness or God. That’s the main thing it does for me. When we’re happy we use words like "up", "uplifted", and "on top of the world."  I believe when we're happy, our energy and focus flow upward. Music can help to take your energy, focus it and move it in an upward direction. You can use that energy to experience a deeper communion.

RO: What is your insights on the spiritual sounds "Om/Aum", "Amen", and "The Word"?

JE: In the teachings of Yogananda there's the transcendent presence of God who is beyond all form. That presence begins to vibrate itself as sound, as energy. It creates this word and creates you and me. It is the consciousness of God vibrating itself. The Om is that movement of sound energy and vibration that creates everything. It is the Amen in Judaism and Christianity, the Ameen of the Muslims, and the Omkar for the Zoroastrians. I believe The Word (from the Bible's Gospel of John) was the presence and activity that vibrates itself. That's the creative Word. It's creating everything. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God."  You might call it the Holy Ghost or the Comforter. In chanting, ultimately, we want to be able to listen to the Om sound, to open up to that presence and that sound that is within us and to let it vibrate throughout our whole being.

RO: Or resonate with the larger Om.

JE: Exactly, listening to that vibration of Om brings us back into union with that one, transcendent presence. We're in tune with the music of the spheres.

RO: Are there other sacred texts or scriptures that have meant something to you as far as music is concerned?

JE: The Bible verse, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord", certainly comes to mind. I don't believe the Lord needs our joyful noise, but I think we need it!

Be sure to catch the entire audio portion of our interview with Reverend Justin on Thursday's RockOm.net Podcast.

RockOm Round-up is a quick glance at what's going on around the world in the areas of music and spirituality...

• Katy Perry: Sass, spirituality and secrets - Katy Perry says, "I'll never be really blasphemous. I kind of just straddle the line between being the sex kitten and Lolita. My faith is still important to me and I guess you could say that, spiritually, I'm still a wanderer." (examiner.com)
• Al Green on fame, God and Michael Jackson - The soul legend explains why he left behind fame to find God and become a minister (guardian.co.uk)
• Showcase: Songs that deserve a listen - The Mormon Times is having a Summer Showcase contest. Here are some recommendations on a few of the standout musical artists and their faith-based songs. (mormontimes.com)
• The romance in Muslim R&B - "Muslim hip-hop has been around for awhile now and has been gaining popularity for at least the last decade, as music itself gains acceptance in mainstream Muslim American culture. However, Muslim R&B has been slow in developing, let alone gaining popularity."(altmuslimah.com)

RockOm Round-up is a quick glance at what's going on around the world in the areas of music and spirituality...

• Iran singer gets jail term for Koran disrespect - An Iranian singer and composer who has been likened to Bob Dylan has received a five-year jail sentence in absentia for disrespecting religious sanctities, according to Iranian television. (Reuters, Yahoo! News)
• All in the Family - The band Elliot: “'We’re Christians by faith, not by musical genre,' Parnell said. 'We want our music to inspire faith and spirituality in people, and moral thoughts, and we want people to do good because of it.'" (BendBulletin.com)
• Rakim Ready To Release 'The Seventh Seal' - Rapper Rakim says "I've always tried to insert consciousness and spirituality in my records, interpreting the writings of all cultures and religions and how they apply to life." (Billboard.com)
• New book explores U2’s quest for spiritual meaning - Throughout [We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel according to U2], we get a picture of the spirituality that flows from U2's music and how it has shaped our lives and our world." (7thspace.com)

Psychedelic country-rock with a Kingston-inspired Reggae groove accompanying mystic Celtic chant and flute. It's how we roll at RockOm and we're rolling at you with three new RockOm Featured interviews today. Though different cultures separate them, each of these artists are creating music with a united purpose: to spread love, peace and some "righteous" joy.

The New Riders of The Purple Sage, California's psychedelic cowboys of 70's country-rock, have released their first album in 20 years. The New Riders' Buddy Cage joined RockOm for a revealing discussion on the new CD and band, and how it makes all the difference when you "play it in your own spirit."

The Wailers, led now by Aston "Family Man" Barrett continue spreading the message that "we're all Jah people." The band's reggae groove has been the soundtrack to the lives of hundreds of millions across the planet. Family Man joined RockOm before a recent performance to talk about the soul of Rastafari, the legacy of Bob Marley and an upcoming new Wailers CD featuring surprise guest artists.

A Celtic Mass for Peace: Songs for the Earth gives voice and sound to earth's deepest yearnings for peace. These are not just religious longings or Christian longings. These are sacred longings from the heights and depths of humanity's song. In a RockOm exclusive, composers Sam Guarnaccia and J. Philip Newell reveal how music and chant bring out the natural mystic in us all.

An Interview with The Wailers’ “Family Man”
By Tom Crenshaw and Trevor Harden

Think reggae and you immediately think of Bob Marley and the Wailers. No artist since has embodied the sound, message, philosophy and lifestyle of reggae music in such a mainstream and influential way as did Bob and his band. And now, decades after Marley’s death, the Wailers continue the legacy, touring in promotion of the re-release of their classic album, Exodus.

RockOm’s Tom Crenshaw met up with original bassist, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, at a Wailers show on Hilton Head Island, SC to discuss the band’s powerful impact, the spiritual foundations of reggae and a “secret” new album.

RockOm: Do you feel that you’ve been called to spread “the Word” through music all these years?

Family Man: Ya, man. I’ve been doing that since 1969, internationally until now and still going on. I just know that Family Man and The Wailers band - Bob (Marley), Bunny (Wailer), Peter (Tosh), my brother Carlton, and Wya (Earl “Wya” Lindo) – the six of us, we set the trend. After we set the trend in ‘72 and ‘ 73 we carried on with one man short. In ‘74 we were three [men] short; no Bob, no Peter, no Wya and we decided to take it to the next level when we came with the album Natty Dread. Those first two were Catch a Fire and Burnin’ and then Rastaman Vibration after Natty Dread. Then Live, then Exodus and Kaya, followed by Survivor. Then Babylon by Bus, Uprising, Confrontation and tracks taken from that catalog to bring forward the Legend and then Exodus - which is nominated by Time Magazine and awarded the Album of the Century.

Unfortunately we still have a little negative thing going on out there with a couple guys who used to be in my band, hired hands that were in and out, in and out more than 12 times. They cannot think of anything else than what they used to do before, so they are trying to impersonate my band and cause some kind of confusion out there with the fans. We would like [the fans] to know we are the band - the Bob Marley band. Those guys are British and one American who used to do some guitar licks. They are not “foundation people,” you know – from the Jamaican scene, the ghetto thing. How can you say that out there in the public eye, in the young generation that you are what you are not? It’s too bad. Anyway, we keep the music going on, the Wailers Band. This is the band, the Bob Marley Wailers band. We are run by the Family Man and the crew.

RockOm: When you were young how did you know you were going to be doing this the rest of your life?

Family Man: Well, I was voluntarily chosen for the mission, ya know? To spread the message to the four corners of the earth and that Jah’s will must be done by our means, no matter the crisis we are facing right now. Lucifer and his disciples are trying to penetrate the righteous.

RockOm: You’re a devout Rastafarian?

Family Man: Yes, Rastafari is a positive thing. It’s just like people who go to some other church who call themselves Christian. Rastafarian is the original Christianity and it’s just one, though it has many different names. But as we know, there’s only one living and true God - the Almighty who created heaven and earth and all living substance.

RockOm: Is there room for diversity in Rastafari?

Family Man: Yes, because He created all living substance - no matter the nation, you see? All of the nations and earth sprung from after the great flood when Noah and his family were safe in the ark. Those are the people that flourished the earth. It’s one man’s son. Noah got three sons - Ham, Shem and Japheth. Ham is like the black man, Shem is the oriental man and Japheth is the white people. It’s one man’s kids, no matter what you see there. It’s the Almighty, moving in mysterious form. We’re all Jah people, all children of the Almighty God.

RockOm: Do your audience and fans receive anything of Rasta when they hear your music, even if they know nothing about Rastafari?

Family Man: Of course. I see people coming to the concert who could not come when Bob was alive. They are coming today and even young people who were born after Bob have taken to the message and the music and are coming, because what we play is for all ages and all times. It’s about past, present and future. That’s the reggae music. It’s the heartbeat of the people, the universal language that carries the message of roots, cultures, and reality.

RockOm: There’s an explosion of reggae artists and music taking place. What is it about reggae that connects people in ways that other music can’t?

Family Man: Reggae music is coming from the King David’s throne, coming from the chief musician. It’s like the talking drum, what they used to use in Africa to send messages across the valley and village and city. That kind of drumming we culminate within the trap drum. We feel it on the one-drop and play the reggae music. It’s not like any other. The island music, they’re playing war drums. But we’re playing the love/peace drum with the positive message.

RockOm: I’ve read in interviews where you’ve said the goal of the Wailers is to uplift the oppressed and help the downtrodden. In what ways do you see that happening and manifesting through your music and do you think that has something to do with, “when the music hits you, you feel no pain”?

Family Man: Well that’s one good thing about the music - when it hits you, you feel no pain, my man. You know? The music is love; it’s life, ya know? And it tells you about reality and how to move through the earth. War is not the answer. Only love can conquer. War is very ugly but love is very lovely. Yes.

RockOm: When Exodus first came out did you know it would have the influence it had?

Family Man: Of course, because even the first time it was released I said to myself, I don’t figure they get the message fully yet. Before I heard the release of Kaya (we worked on both Exodus and Kaya at the same time), the single Exodus needed some more time before Kaya was released, to work on the business strategies, the marketing strategies. It was good. It’s also much better to see that they get the message after all and re-released it. (laughs) It’s good. And here we are out there promoting it, just like what we did with all the Bob Marley and the Wailers’ catalog. Year in and year out, no one else does that. We know what we do and people know - the world knows and God knows - that we keep the spirit of Bob alive through the reggae music and we’re out there generating it too, ya know? Only the Almighty can pay us for that, really. But we hang on there still. We know that God is real and also the devil, Satan, is real too. He has a lot of big people with him.

RockOm: Is music, the fire of music, a purifier?

Family Man: The fire of the music, yes, and the burning and the force of it and the energy. You will find the good, the bad and the indifferent around it for sure. It’s so precious.

RockOm: Let me ask you about “Natural Mystic” from Exodus. It’s a mysterious song. The lyrics say, “Many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die, don’t ask me why.” What was Bob saying in this song and why will many more have to suffer and die?

Family Man: There’s a part in the Bible that says, “Many are called, but few will be chosen,” and this could be the last trumpet. Just like when Noah was preaching for so many days, weeks, months and years warning the people of this great flood, because they didn’t have the Weather Channel in those times (laughs)! He was telling them to be good, make preparation; prepare yourself and your families to be in this ark. Many didn’t take him seriously. Just a handful did. So let it be.

RockOm: We’ve heard talk about a new album.

Family Man: Yes, we are working on a collaborative album, ya know. Something like Santana’s Supernatural with [various guest artists]. We said we would not disclose the names. We’re keeping that not so much a secret but a surprise for the music lovers. We still have to write three tracks to finish up before we start the mixing. We recorded some in Jamaica and some on the road. We have unreleased drum tracks with my brother playing drums. What I did was get in all the original members of the band to contribute, trying to catch back the ‘70’s and make it even better! So, that is the spirit, man. We make a new concept of rhythm around the drum tracks - like a brand new thing, like my brother is alive in the room playing the drums. It’s fantastic.

RockOm: How long are going to tour? How long are the Wailers going to stay on the road?

Family Man: How long you think I should? (laughs)

www.wailers.com

Photography by Tom Crenshaw

Homeless Shelter Lets Singers Share Their Gifts and Gain Confidence to Confront Their Troubles
by Tom Weld, The California Chronicle

Earnest enthusiasm easily carries the voices across the span of empty pews that separate the visiting choir from those gathered for a sparsely attended Lenten service at Unity Lutheran Church.

Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name... Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name... Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name... Oh my Lord, oh my Lord, what shall I do, what shall I do?

The song grabs hold of the worshippers, even those still settled in their coats, sitting near the back. It rises to the tall, arched rafters and expands toward the glowing stained-glass windows.

It carries with it the sincerity of a choir formed largely by the homeless and formerly homeless who find help through Repairers of the Breach, a daytime shelter in Milwaukee's central city.

Their words continue:

I'm so glad, troubles don't last always

I'm so glad, troubles don't last always

I'm so glad, troubles don't last always

Oh my Lord, oh my Lord, what shall I do, what shall I do?

The joyful release in traditional gospel songs compels the congregants to stand, to clap, to stomp their feet and sing out, to spark rare enthusiasm in a traditional Lutheran Lenten service.

The response leaves the singers beaming, filled with pride and accomplishment, far removed from the difficulties that brought them to this healing choir, formed on a cold day in the city's only daytime shelter for the homeless.

Their performance at the church on E. Oklahoma Ave. in Milwaukee is another step toward a collective recovery, from abusive relationships, addictions, illnesses and struggles that often put them on the streets or in shelters.

In many ways, the tracks of their lives match the scales they sing during weekly rehearsals, ascending and descending, ascending and descending.

The rehearsals, Saturday afternoons in the Repairers of the Breach shelter on W. Vliet St., afford the members an opportunity to find their voices, to move past the feelings that often cause them to silence themselves.

"I was ashamed at first to bring my voice out, but it's starting to come," said Vickie Parker, a 40-year-old mother of seven and one of the dozen or so regular choir singers. "Now I can sing without being embarrassed or afraid."

Parker first sought help at the Repairers of the Breach shelter in winter of 2007. At the time, the native of East St. Louis, Ill., was living in a shelter and had no money to buy Christmas presents for her children.

Since then, she has relied on the Repairers for mattresses, sheets, towels and other furnishings for the cramped flat she rents off W. Center St. She's relied on the choir to fill her spirit.

When little in her life seems within ready control, joining the other voices eases the depths of her depressions.

"I believe when we're all in that group, we support each other," she said. "We help each other through weakness."

Arlene Skwierawski partners with country music singer K.C. Williams to provide the musical direction for the singers who fill the choir's ranks, both during rehearsals and in the performances at area churches. Skwierawski, 71, taught music at North Division High School for 25 years and directed the All Saints Roman Catholic Church Choir for 15.

She traces the start of the Repairers Choir to an appearance by her church choir in the shelter on a cold night around Christmastime, roughly three years ago.

The shelter kept its doors open late that night to give the homeless respite from the cold, and many of them joined the All Saints Choir in song. MacCanon Brown, who runs Repairers of the Breach, suggested Skwierawski start a choir featuring those who visit the shelter.

Skwierawski was unable to say anything but yes to the people curled up in blankets on the floor.

She thought: "How can you say no when you're looking at people who are that down and are still willing to sing?"

The singers, bolstered by members of the Milwaukee Public Schools Alumni Choir, meet in a tightly packed practice room that doubles as a storage area for the daytime shelter. A stack of crutches leans in a corner, paint peels from the ceiling, a portable heater hums against the chill, and boxes of food surround the singers in their chairs.

Skwierawski leads them with an electric piano and a pounding enthusiasm for the rhythm of southern gospel music.

Helped by her former student, Williams, she impresses a level of musical discipline on the singers, arranging them into sopranos, altos, tenors and basses and directing them to sing their parts.

Some mouth the words quietly at first, hiding their voices from themselves and the others. Eventually, their eyes brighten and their voices gain strength, melding with the others.

"We found all kinds of marvelous singers," Skwierawski said.

Support and change

One of them is Odell White, a 58-year-old who traveled to Milwaukee from Louisiana in 2006, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

White learned gospel music listening to his mother sing in the kitchen during his boyhood days. But he strayed from that music and that message for much of his adult life, time -- by his telling -- spent "rippin' and runnin', clownin' and drinkin'."

He continued with that wayward life in Milwaukee, and was living in and out of shelters when he followed directions to Repairers.

"My thinking ability, my mentality, my morals and everything seemed to go by the wayside," White said. "I knew one way, but that wasn't the right way."

White was overwhelmed by the support he received from his fellow strugglers at the shelter, and by the chance to sing.

During rehearsals, his feet are the first to stomp in time. He quickly stands, and taps into his background in gospel quartets to help direct others singers, encouraging them to give power to their voices and their feelings.

He turns his lean body to those singing near him, smiling and nodding in an angular rhythm.

"The choir is inspirational to me," White said. "It's positive. I'm doing it for a good reason, a good cause -- that's the Lord Jesus Christ."

'Make a little noise'

During rehearsals, the choir members nurture each other. During the performances, roughly one time per month, they drink in the positive response from worshippers whose lives are so far from their own.

Walking toward the exit, one of the Unity Church worshippers commented to a friend: "They woke up the congregation. We should do that more often. Make a little noise."

In the fellowship hall, Pastor Amy Becker smiled at the spark the choir brought to her church and its members.

"It was fun to see people engaged through music," Becker said. "There was definitely more movement than there usually is.

"Beyond the energy, it was experiencing how God works outside of our own system, our own lives."

Linda Orr, 52, sought help from the Repairers shelter when she became homeless, and joined the choir to be "uplifted" even when her life circumstances began to improve.

She relishes the quiet in the church settings, as the congregants take their seats, and the choir members wait before them, dressed in their best clothes. She watches for the "little old ladies" to begin clapping, to share the lift that she feels, the positiveness and hopefulness of the music and her voice.

It confirms her belief that "If you got nothing else, at least you can sing."