One of the things I love about Google alerts is that they let me check out stuff I might never hear about otherwise. Being immersed in the CCM fishbowl, I get to see some of the stuff happening on the fringe, but not much.
So when I stumbled upon this story about David Eugene Edwards by Andrew Gilstrap, Associate Music Editor at PopMatters.com, I had to share it. Not only is Gilstrap a great writer, but I'd never heard of Woven Hand or David Eugene Edwards before.
From the story, it's clear that Edwards is a Christian, raised in the Christian faith, and still devout as an adult. But his music is less easily labeled.
Gilstrap says, "In a world where you can have a Christian version of pretty much any genre, Woven Hand's David Eugene Edwards is a real outlier because you wouldn't know where to put him if he were a secular artist."
I don't think the Christian industry has a pigeon hole for him, either. The band's MySpace page labels them "Visual/Experimental" and last time I checked there wasn't a category for that at the Dove Awards.
Gilstrap quotes Edwards:
As he once told an interviewer, "There's beauty in music because God is the author of music. And so with that, I try to be true to the creativity of it and to make it interesting and beautiful. Or maybe confronting, or peaceful, or angry, or whatever the mood is. I try to stay true to my own creativity as well as the message."
That an artist can connect to the Creator and put out music that not like anything else on the CCM charts is a good thing, folks. And while it might not be your cup of tea, musically (no, you can't sing along while you're driving the kids to soccer practice, Becky), that's not to say that it can't challenge you or offer a unique perspective on the human spirit and our relationship with God.
Anyway, in the spirit of my occasional "are we sick of CCM yet?" attitude and my dismay that I might be completely ruined for actual art (I've had several people ask why I haven't covered the Taylor Swift/Joe Jonas breakup and I'm seriously considering it, heaven help me), check out Woven Hand. Just as an experiment.
And read Gilstrap's article to learn more about Woven Hand.
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I agree that not being able to put a label on this music is a "good thing." It should be the Christian artists, those with insight into the highest Reality, who are hearing from God and displaying His beauty through the arts in the most creative ways. It sickens me that almost all Christian artists, especially musicians, are more often than not measured up to secular standards. The Christians should be the standard setters, the culture creators. Maybe we aren't as connected to God as we think we are. Or maybe the secular culture is able to express the beauty of God more than the Church. Imagine that. Highly possible, of course, because the medium of art itself is amoral. It is a means to conveying meaning. Wouldn't it be awesome if the best art out there was used for bringing viewers/listeners/participants into a greater understanding of and relationship with God? Some secular art already does that, simply by nature of the objective beauty within the art itself.
Good points, Ryan. I think the mainstream community has less restrictions on it, so they blast off art, commercial crap and everything in between and let the consumer decide. In the Christian community, we've strapped ourselves with this mentality of what is and isn't "godly" and what parameters have to be met to be "Christian" and whether the "Becky" demographic will listen. What would the Christian industry do with a group like Woven Hand? LOL
Joanne
host of the GS blog
I've been listening to Woven Hand for years now. They are are one of my top five bands along with Queens of the Stone Age, Mark Lanegan, The Raconteurs, and NIN. The thing that makes Woven Hand so special is that it creates a deep pulsing sound that moves even the deepest channels of one's self. There are meaningful questions of an existential variety that arise in nearly every song. What Dee does with his religious background is pull forth the grandiose language that is prevalent in old text. So putting these things together you get a new message that sounds old, which certainly sounds new to me.
Now I am not one who is involved much in the Christian faith, nor one who shuns such ideas, but I am an artist, one who is always in search of great art. What Woven Hand is, is great art, regardless of its religious affiliation. The point of labeling it Christian is an interesting one. Personally I think it hurts the music, and it doesn't allow the art to grow out beyond the strict parameters that that label places on it. It turns people away while narrowing its interpenetration. It is like calling Salvador Dali a "Christian" artist, and we all know that is not the case.
So delve into Woven Hand's music, not strictly for it's Christian elements, but to experience great art that moves the soul and makes us all feel a bit more human.
Like Woven Hand? Check out 16 Horsepower, Mark Lanegan, Murder by Death, Songs Ohia, etc.
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