I listen to a lot of podcasts about a wide range of subjects from college basketball to technology to theology to art, etc. One of my new favorites is Nothing to Write Home About with Mat Pryor. Its a music podcast where Mat Pryor (The Get Up Kids, & The New Amsterdams) interviews other independent musicians about their stories and experiences dealing with the lifestyle of being a touring musician. Mat's a a super good interviewer with a knack for bringing out some rad insights from the people he has on, and he has interviewed some of my favorite dudes in the world, like Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra; Right Away Great Captain; Bad Books), Kevin Devine (Kevin Devine and the GD Band; Bad books), John Nolan (Taking Back Sunday; Straylight Run), Max Bemis (Say Anything; Two Tongues) and tons more. He's a really smart dude and he makes really good music. I'm a fan.
Recently Mat interviewed one of my all time favorite people, Dustin Kensrue, who most people know from Thrice. While Thrice is a pretty hardcore band from Orange County with an incredibly loyal following and an established presence in their scene, Dustin has always been clear about the fact that his role as a Christian is his most important one. Pretty remarkable when you take into account the pressures of being a touring hard core punk rock frontman. This is why I hold Dustin in such a High Regard. By all accounts that I have come across, Dustin has never forsaken his faith for his fame.
Thrice has always been pretty boldly declarative of the bands faith in Jesus throughout all of their releases, and the last full length studio release Major/Minor is one of the best worship albums I have ever heard. Which brings us to the reason for this post...
Dustin is now serving as a pastor/elder at Mars Hill Church in Bellview, WA (Seattle) and is overseeing all of the STELLAR music coming out of Mars Hill. If you aren't familiar with Marc Hill Church (which is highly unlikely) its one of the largest and fastest growing Church networks in America and is based out of Seattle. While I don't always agree with everything that comes from lead pastor Mark Driscoll, and while I don't often defend him against accusations of being kind of a dbag at times, I do do believe he is anointed by God to lead people to Jesus, and he is doing it on a large scale. I'm sure that lots of people have thought lots of majorly important church leaders have been total buttheads throughout history, and Mark has helped me a great deal with some of my own personal struggles.
Back to Dustin. Being that he has a very large network of non-Christian fans and friends, his recent transition from rock idol to worship pastor has brought a lot of questions to the table about the very nature of worship, and music, and worship music.
This interview is fascinating. I think I might like it more than most people because of my biases toward Dustin, Thrice, and Mars Hill Music, but also because it reminds me of conversations I have had with some of my closest friends late night at a bar trying to explain Christianity. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment