The wounded singer on his way

I remember back in 1998 when I was working at a Christian bookstore in FL, that my assistant manager & I were going back & forth about good music. He told me of a new band that he saw at a recent Christian booksellers conference that completely blew him away. "Just you wait 'til their CD comes out. You're gonna love it," he said. When their debut album Anybody Out There? finally came out, I had to acknowledge he was right. Burlap to Cashmere was a great band and was making some of the freshest music around.

Sadly, B2C wasn't around for long. The band broke up and their record label went under. Rumors soon abounded within the Christian music industry of the real reasons for the band's demise, from drug problems and prison to the record label's problem with how some of the band members conducted themselves while on tour; all of which lead singer/songwriter Steven Delopoulos acknowledged were false in a recent interview.

It wasn't until 2003, when Delopoulos came out with his 1st solo album Me Died Blue that he really started opening up about some of his disappointments/disillusionment with the Christian music industry and with much of American Evangelicalism itself. I remember reading a Grassroots music interview that year in which Steven recounted some of his negative experiences from his early "evangelical" days, how cult-like and controlling that particular denomination was, and how he was still healing from it all. The song "Rocky Boat" from Me Died Blue summed up his healing process and newfound freedom in Christ: "So my friends say that I've strayed / Say I lost my destined way...But I am free, I am free / Ain't nobody gonna lie to me...Living waters inside me / I am free, I am free, I am free.

Me Died Blue has been one of my favorite albums for years now, and I was excited when its followup Straightjacket came out a couple weeks ago. This album continues Steven's themes of grappling faith and finding healing, accompanied of course by the sound we fans have come to love: his incredible acoustic guitar playing and unique folksy vocals. Like the depth of songwriting on his last record, there's plenty of obscure lyrics in Straightjacket that will take a lot of pondering. But the songs are great.

Throughout the album, Delopoulos, "the wounded singer on his way" reminisces about his faith in the past, tries to balance a life of stardom & following Christ, longs for love & stability, and vows to be about God's work; "bowing our heads to the mission story" as he calls it. There's plenty of new experimentation musically, particularly on "May I Always Keep My Feet Upon the Ground" and "Halt." My favorite songs so far are "Wallfly" and "Open Your Eyes."

Steven Delopoulos is one of the best songwriters/storytellers of our time. I think his music would really take off if he got some good exposure. (My personal wish is for him to open for Dave Matthews oneday). I think there's a good chance of that happening if Burlap to Cashmere gets back together, which Steven has been hinting at on Myspace for months now. But even if that never happens, Steven has demonstrated that he can make excellent music; music we can all relate to.

our new place & SNOW

So after 6 months of being in Rochester, we've finally got our own place. We moved this weekend into a duplex in the city. We're really happy with it. It's in a good location, near Sarah's work, my school and our church. We're still going through boxes, so we'll be happy when all that is over. But each day it feels more and more like home. Aidan finally has his own room too.

It's been snowing like crazy the past few days. Thankfully it really started coming down once we had already moved all our stuff inside. Rochester's gotten twice the average amount of snow for this time of year. So I've been out there shoveling pretty regularly. At least the plows keep the roads in pretty good shape. Even with all the shoveling, I love this time of year. It's beautiful watching the snow fall outside. And though it's really cold outside, the fun part is keeping warm and cozy inside, cuddled up with a blanket, sipping coffee, reading a good book.

Aidan's been sick the past week for so. At first the doctor thought it was just a bad cold, but it turned out to be RSV . So we've got him on breathing treatments, and he's taking medicine for his aching ears. He seems to be getting better, but please keep him in your prayers. The cool thing is that he's been saying "da da da" the past few days.