The Main Idea

As you may have noticed from the change of the URL, we believe we've come up with a title for our book. It is, "Don't Freak Out!" We thought this to be a wonderfully simple, encompassing phrase for the point we, and all the artists we interviewed, are trying to make with this book. We'd like to thank Josh Pearson, former lead singer of the former band Nevertheless, for this title- it's a quote from their interview.
That said, this post is dedicated to Nevertheless. They just recently decided to part ways, amicably, to pursue other interests and God's will. We wish each member the best in their future endeavors.
Oh man, I loved these guys! Everyone we interviewed was great, and I truly mean that, we have been amazingly blessed, but these guys definitely stood out to us. Half of that was that they were SO funny. I wish I could share every little funny moment in that interview on this blog, but that would probably be spoiling things to come in the book.
"Don't freak out." Hearing these guys' stories, it's obvious they took this advice. They had total confidence in God, or at the very least they were totally apathetic- Guitarist A.J. Cheek said "Looking back, I probably should've been MORE nervous about my future!" They didn't worry about conventions, or societal pressure. Some of them went to college for awhile, and they all emphasized school as being a valuable experience. However, they did eventually trade school for a full-time music ministry. Their hearts are so passionate about helping hurting people.
These guys want you to know you don't have to have it all figured out, especially not at 17 years old. Despite what some school officials and others may tell you, you have time, and you don't want to waste money and resources and be stuck somewhere God doesn't intend for you to be. When it feels like everyone else around you knows exactly what to do with themselves (psst... they don't), it's perfectly okay if you don't. The main idea- "Don't freak out, and rely on God."
Thank you, Josh Pearson, A.J. Cheek, Adam Rowe, and Adam Wann. We know we don't have to worry about you and, whether it be writing scores, working for the Travel Network, or anything else, God will lead you all to great things!

The Path

We got a Christmas card from these guys yesterday, so I thought this an appropriate time to say some really nice things about them!
Philmont's an up-and-coming band with great hearts and ceaseless energy. The energy explodes from both their music and their personalities. Have a conversation with them, or even just follow them on Twitter, and I promise you'll walk away with a smile on your face.
They certainly kept us on our toes in our interview with them, with suggestions to make it a pop-up book with pictures of them, making fun of each other's answers, and all kinds of other clever remarks. With such big personalities, they exude confidence. But even the most confident of people can struggle with anxiety like the rest of us.
The guys in Philmont had some great things to say on the topic of uncertainty about the future. They all had periods of time where they had no idea what they were going to do with their lives, and it was really stressful. In college, one member was basically only after money, another didn't know what to major in, and in the end, only one graduated- the others "postponed their enrollment" to play in the band full time. Money, as always, was a huge stressor, too. Thankfully, they all have been blessed with great parents who are incredibly supportive, even financially.
A cool thing they learned from the path God has taken them on is that there are all kinds of people in all different stages of life who don't know what to do with themselves. Theoretically, you never really know. God can sweep you up at a moment's notice and take you to another corner of the world. So Philmont is just doing what God's leading them in now. Their hearts are open to wherever He may take them. That's an awesome place to be- the place we all should be, and the only place that casts out worry.
Thanks for the cheer, Philmont- both summer and Christmas!

The Dream

We were blessed with backstage passes at SonShine Fest in July, because we were interviewing some of the main stage bands. We took advantage of this by meandering around backstage a few times, in hopes of scoring a few other bigger bands.
"Uh... Mom... That's the lead singer of Hawk Nelson right over there."
"Well... Are you going to be brave?"
Pause.
"Hey Jason! I'm Kelsey and this is my mom Lisa..."
When Jason Dunn tells the story of his life thus far, it seems as if he has lived out a fairy tale in terms of becoming a rock star. Hawk Nelson began when he was in high school, and, if he couldn't play professional hockey, being in a band was his career plan. Half your high school has/had the same dream. And a lot of them have no plan but that. For Jason, it worked out.
Our interview with Jason was definitely unique among all of our interviews. He was all about giving your all to your dream, whatever it may be. He had no plans other than music, and he is now a successful musican. This advice may be controversial- especially among parents- but there's something to it. If he'd had inhibitions, would he have made it as far as he has? It's certainly food for thought.
Hand-in-hand with his jump for the dream is gratefulness. This was awesome to see in Jason, as success is easy to take for granted. He was practically gushing about the wonder of how his life has unfolded. There are so many wonderful aspects of his life that he never would have dreamed of. As he said, "If I got to pick my plan, I would not have picked this one. It's a good thing I don't pick my plan..." That is one of the coolest things about the future that looms ahead. With God, there is no reason for a fear of the unknown. Usually things turn out best for us when we have no idea what's going on!
Thanks for the awesome opportunity, Jason!

Side note: 3 prayer requests- We are working on creating the perfect title for the book. Titles are neither my nor my mom's forte. Please say a prayer for us! We also absolutely love getting suggestions on this, so bring them on!
Also, we are trying to get some female voices into the book. We only have one so far; all the other bigger Christian female musicians' agents have shot us down. So please pray for open doors, and let us know if you have connections!
Last but not least, SPREAD THE WORD!!!
Thank you so much for your support, you have no idea how much it means to us!

The Chance

I met Dango in January '09 at a youth conference in Green Bay, WI where he was a special speaker for the weekend. It was my 5th year at that conference and I love it, but nothing there has impacted me like Dango's ministry. He talks about the Gospel with Christians and non-Christians as the Christian drummer of a non-Christian band. His mainstream band, Amber Pacific, has a positive message and thus doesn't go out of line with Dango's beliefs, but he is the only follower of Christ in the band. The incredible stories he told that weekend of the trials and triumphs for the Kingdom he has had as the drummer of Amber Pacific will forever remain a great inspiration to me as Christ's disciple. As difficult as it may seem at times to talk to people about Jesus, Dango is living proof that it's never impossible.
Dango's ministry (Dango Empire) revolves around taking chances and relying on God's strength. It pays off. In his interview, he said "I've seen countless people give their lives to the Lord, which is one of the most rewarding things ever." And Christ is truly his strength as he encounters temptation after temptation in the mainstream music world.
He is no stranger to putting his trust solely in God, as when he was in high school, his dreams centered on sports. Those dreams were forced away by a knee disease. Dango bounced right back with feeling a strong call to music ministry. This was not his first encounter with health problems, either. He has experienced several serious health scares throughout his life; some that looked like they would end his drumming, too. But God has always come through and continues to provide amazing opportunities for Dango to minister.
Dango emphasized in the interview that it is always possible for you, whoever you may be, to make a difference in the world, when you let Christ work through you. "Dream big because nothing is too hard for God."
Thanks for the inspiration, Dango!

Next- Hawk Nelson!

The Beautiful Unknown

I first met Heath McNease in the spring of 2008 at my home church. He was on a tour with a few other bands and we were privileged enough to have the tour play at our church on a Wednesday night. The youth loved it- including me, a high school junior at the time. To go off on a slight tangent here, I never thought until recently that God would actually use my penchant for meeting and conversing with artists/bands for His kingdom. That said, after the show, I meandered off to meet and chat with the artists that played that night. Heath and I ended up talking for somewhere around 20 minutes. Most artists I get 2 minutes with, if I'm lucky. For an official interview, if their manager's really nice, 15. I know in general we talked about music and God (obviously), but the only thing that really stuck with me about that conversation is talking about Jon Foreman's solo career. If you are not familiar with Jon Foreman (songwriter and frontman of Switchfoot), you are truly missing out on so many things- so work on that please. And anyone who is a Jon Foreman fan is quite alright in my book (no pun intended), so I've always thought Heath was pretty cool.
When considering artists to interview for this book, I thought of Heath because he has a real heart for God, is knowledgeable about the music industry, and has a very unique musical style. His music is different from any of the other artists we've interviewed- or maybe it's just a little of all of them rolled into one. Check him out if you haven't already.
Heath really hit on some topics I wanted to be addressed in this book. I, personally, have always been very anxious about my future and how to handle it. Heath went through an extreme shift of focus at the end of his high school/beginning of college years. He'd been intensely focused on acting and ended up feeling called to music. It was difficult for him to give up the acting, but as he said, following God's path is the most important thing. He talked about his very humble beginnings with his music, which was a way of God wonderfully breaking him, but it also caused some anxiety about the future. He also had experienced intense apprehension his high school junior and senior years, when he was approaching that ominous crossroads this book discusses. Thankfully, he has terrific family and friends who helped him through that, as well as keeping his faith strong in God and keeping a tight relationship with Him.
In the end, Heath wanted to remind us, "There's nothing wrong with being at a crossroads. It's healthy. If you had it all figured out at 16 or 18 or 35, what use would God be to you?" He mentioned Jeremiah 29:11- "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" When we think the ongoings in our lives are harming us, they may yet be the most beautiful gifts from God. We just don't know it yet.
Thanks for your time, Heath!

The Servant's Heart

The first evening of SonShine Fest in July (where we got a large portion of our interviews), while mi madre rested in her luxurious hotel room (yeah, I camped), I did a solo interview. It was with Tobin Bawinkel, frontman of the Celtic punk rock band (oh yes) Flatfoot 56. I had a quick phone chat with Tobin and we agreed on a meeting place. I went to meet him and had no trouble finding him in the crowd. My immediate internal reaction was simply, "Whoa." The man stands at roughly six and a half feet tall. You have no idea how awkward it is to take a stroll to a quiet place to have an interview with someone who is actually about a foot taller than you, attempting to make small talk all the way. Try it sometime.
Fortunately, Tobin was not an awkward person with whom to talk. As with many physically intimidating people one might meet, he is personally the exact opposite of intimidating. Kindness illuminates him. His main focus in the interview was on being a servant of Christ. He talked about showing the love of Christ to those we may not normally be inclined to reach out to, like social outcasts or people who do tend to intimidate us. After all, that's what Jesus did.
He was also all about God's will. In talking of the anxiety one experiences when thinking of the future, he emphasized the fact that we are taken care of in God's hands, as long as we are following His plan for us. We may know a major component in following God's path for us is being in constant communication with Him through prayer and reading the Bible, but Tobin also mentioned the need for good spiritual leaders, such as pastors and parents. He advised us not to become prideful when we are young and being filled with knowledge, because our elders' experience trumps what we think we know from books. And again he mentioned servitude as a way to follow God's will. Even if you're not sure what specifically you're supposed to do with your life, Tobin said, "You’ll never go wrong with pouring into people’s lives around you. That’s a calling of all of us, whether we know what our big goal is or not."
It's a great reminder that I think we could all use. Jesus had a servant's heart and commanded us to do the same. In serving our Lord's creations, we serve our Lord.
It is also wonderful to see a popular rock band have the opposite of the "typical" attitude of "rock stars." Thanks for blessing our lives, Flatfoot 56, and thanks for your time and inspiring words, Tobin!

The Leap

Our next interview was with Ben Olin, Brandon Paxton, and Jeremy Kunkle of the band This Beautiful Republic. These guys are currently on the Creation Fest Tour all over the country, so try to catch them!
Oh, of course, as I'm writing this, one of their songs starts playing on my iTunes, which I have on shuffle with 951 songs! Awesome.
The guys from TBR, just like Jon from Hyland, talked about the band being a business, and how the work is never done. Money is a huge risk they took and are taking. But they shared that they have learned that money is definitely something God takes care of if they are following His will. As Ben said, "The body of Christ will support the body of Christ."
In the same way, they spoke about the real ministry being in fellowship. Personal relationships are where real influence happens, not necessarily from a big stage. In personal relationships there are deep conversations and modeling of a Christ-filled life. Even as a popular Christian band, they find that when they go home and talk to old friends, they are able to encourage more and be more encouraged than from the "pedestal" that is being in a rock band.
Ben, Brandon, and Jeremy revealed the risks they took in creating and continuing the band. They talked about the fear and doubt they had in making these life choices, but even more so about the ever-imperative trust in God. They stressed the need for a continuous, 2-way relationship with God in order to know His plan. Their career defines the phrase, “making a leap of faith.” Their story taught me that it’s not just about the initial jump. It’s the entire freefall, with no personal control; just knowing that God is not just the parachute and not only the final ground, but the air that surrounds us. We have to remind ourselves that when the wind carries us away (or what we think is “away”), it is God’s command and plan.
On another note, some of my funniest interview moments came from this interview. From poking fun at the way I worded a question to funny stories about the years of TBR to making fun of themselves for something they said, we shared a lot of laughs. We learned that Ben will continue singing in This Beautiful Republic even if he has his larynx removed, radio stations have his mom on Caller ID because she requests TBR so much, and we should all buy band t-shirts even if we can't afford them, because This Beautiful Republic has a credit card machine!
Thanks, guys, for the time, the wise insight, and the humor.
On deck, Flatfoot 56!
P.S. Make sure to tell all your friends, and random people on the street, to follow this blog! You can also follow me, to keep updated on the blog, on twitter.com/KelseyNBolton

The Cast List

Hi guys. Sorry it's been a million years. I promise it won't happen again.
It occurred to me that I may have more than 6 followers on this blog if I make it, oh I don't know... actually interesting.
Although, of course, everyone should have been absolutely riveted to hear about Hyland, because they really do rock, in more than one sense of the word.
But Hyland isn't the only one of your favorite bands that's been interviewed for this book. Here's all of them, so far:

Children 18:3
Decyfer Down
Eleventyseven
Family Force 5
Flatfoot 56
Hawk Nelson
Heath McNease
Hyland
Nevertheless
Philmont
Red
Remedy Drive
Silverline
The Afters
The Glorious Unseen
The Wedding
This Beautiful Republic
Thousand Foot Krutch
Willet

We are currently in contact with several other incredible bands, as well as one other awesome non-musical group (it's a secret!), with whom we are hoping to get interviews. I'll keep you updated on here... no, really, I will.
By the way, if you've got the hook-ups, we'd greatly appreciate any great interviews you can score us! :)
Also, there is currently talk of a band or two writing a song or two for the book, that could be marketed with the book. I'll let you know if/when that becomes official, too.
Still transcribing! The TBR blog should be up any day now.
In the meantime, just pray. There are so many aspects for which this project needs prayer.
And make sure to tell all your friends to follow this blog! Also follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/KelseyNBolton
I'd love to hear from you!
Thanks so much dahhhlings!

The Start

Hello everyone (anyone?)! I'm Kelsey and this is my blog about the process of writing a very exciting book (title pending).

My mom and I are freelance writers working on a book that compiles advice from Christian music artists for high school graduates, or young people at a crossroads in life. We've interviewed several awesome bands/artists and are extremely excited to find how it all will come together. We are hoping to have it finished around Christmas, and hope to hook a publisher before then. :)

As for now, I am currently working on typing all of our audio interviews into Word documents. Tedious though the task may be, it's great to review the awesome conversations we had. In the following weeks, each of my blogs will discuss one interview with one of the bands/artists we have interviewed. After that, I get to start blogging about the process of my mom and I actually putting the book together!

Our first interview was with Jon Lewis, lead singer of the rock band Hyland. It was literally my first interview. A bit nerve racking at first, but Jon was great. He blew us away. At one point he stepped away from us for a minute to talk to the guy from Skillet who produced their new EP. On the recording, a conversation between my mom and I about how he just has it all figured out can be heard. He really is unbelievably prepared to work in the music industry. So much can be learned from a twenty minute conversation with this guy. He emphasized the business side of being in a band, and how much work it really is. He's an artist at heart, but he certainly knows the logistics, too. It's especially amazing how he's figured it out, considering he's been basically on his own since he was 18. At 18 myself, and the child of four extremely supportive parents, I couldn't imagine his situation. What a lesson that was in following God's calling no matter the circumstances.
I am very excited to share Jon's thoughts with the world. I have so many musical friends I thought of during his interview. They all need to know the things he learned the difficult way. The music industry is hard to navigate and succeed in, so those aspiring to be part of it need all the help they can get.
Major kudos to Jon for giving us some of his time and a lot of his valuable knowledge!

Next up, This Beautiful Republic!