Now that we're a bit settled in on this site, I want to take some time to talk a little bit about our philosophy on worship, rock and roll, and anything and everything else that comes to mind.
Let me introduce myself. I am a musician who is disappointed in what the word "worship" has come to mean. It means a group of people lifting their hands singing along with the guy up front strumming an open G major chord on his acoustic guitar. *yawn* Looks like the drummer fell asleep there in the back. That's okay, the band is probably better off without his unrelenting fortissimo rock beat on every song. Here, use these brushes, never mind that you don't have the first clue how to use them. . .
Are you familiar with the picture I'm painting? So are we, and that's why we started this ministry. Let's get one thing straight: Between the Lines is not your typical worship band. We strive to be professionals. We are all three classically trained musicians with a heart for the lost, and we strive to make the music we play the best we can possibly make it. We play many worship standards whenever we get booked for a worship gig. There's just one catch. We don't play them like everyone else does. Ever heard Blessed be Your Name? Ever heard it swung? It's pretty groovy, if I do say so myself. (Not to mention an absolute blast to play!)
Now I'm not trying to dis anybody's worship band out there, okay? It's not about talent, its about effort. We simply don't subscribe to the idea that just because you are in a worship service means you have to make the music boring. Let me give an example. Say you have a worship band, and you are playing for a worship service next week. What are you going to to? If you just said, "Work my tail off to make it the best I possibly can because this is my way of expressing the way I feel about my God and He deserves the absolute best I have to offer," then I applaud you, and would love to get to know you; you sound pretty cool. Come on over to my place, we'll have a cup of coffee and I'll show you the Between the Lines studio. However, If you said "Pick 3 songs that I can play for 10 minutes each and run over them the night before" then you are exactly why we started our band. These guys who are perfectly capable of making beautiful, expressive music for our God, but instead choose to sing the same chorus 18 times to fill time are the reason Between the Lines exists in the first place.
I know some people argue that if you play music that is too complex and expressive, (in other words, "good") then it distracts from the lyrics. We at Between the Lines vehemently disagree. We use our musical training to make appropriate musical choices that make sense with the lyrics and, instead of distracting, we believe the occasional syncopated guitar riff or even a drum solo can add to the worship experience. (Don't read too much into that. We're not going to let Justin break out into a ridiculous drum solo in the middle of a reverent invitational ballad about God's love.)
"Awe. Why not?"
Besides, let's approach it from a ministry perspective. Think of the lost people in your audience. What do the lyrics really mean to them? Not much. 1st Corinthians 1:18 says "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." If the message of the cross is foolishness to the lost, the words we are singing are nonsense. So basically, from the world's perspective, we are singing nonsense to boring music. Why not at least make the music good? Maybe that will make them more receptive to the lyrics.
Well guys, I got to go. It's been real. Hope you've learned a little something about us, and I hope I didn't make us sound too much like elitist jerks. We just love God and good music, and we don't see why they have to be mutually exclusive.
