Death Turns to Life

Jack Johnson, Stephen Sanchez, and The Lemon Twigs

This week I’m bringing you three records that feel like fresh air. I begin with Jack Johnson’s SURFILMUSIC, a warm and charming collection of soundtrack pieces, early four-track recordings, and simple folk songs that sound made for slow summer days. Then I turn to Stephen Sanchez’s Love, Love, Love, a sweet and carefully crafted pop record full of vintage romance, big vocal moments, and genuine cheer. Finally, I spend time with The Lemon Twigs’ Look For Your Mind!, a jangly, melodic, 60s-and-70s-inspired record packed with harmonies, hooks, and little arrangement surprises. In an age of cynicism, these albums remind us that love is still worth singing about. Happy listening. Featured Artists & Albums Jack Johnson — SURFILMUSIC - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/sb/album/surfilmusic-soundtrack-4-tracks/1883172879] | Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/52esglmGvBZwt2CoLK2Fam?si=D-a_Zh2-RfaeZFr7u6nFoA] Stephen Sanchez — Love, Love, Love - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/love-love-love/1880197844] | Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/1eWcwjwfEHXp1zdBSsbnu2?si=JTycKWTwTxyAYCWPu8UmXA] The Lemon Twigs — Look For Your Mind! - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/look-for-your-mind/1876938155] | Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/2wKJGzZd7wQFRi8oK3Gatg?si=aEo29rV-Sqad48CZ6Ke60A] ------- Click HERE [https://app.audio-deacon.com/menu/checkout] and use code audiodeacon3 to get your first 3 months for FREE! Sign up at the link, download the app, login, and enjoy!

Andrew Dittman on Chant, Harmony, and Singing Churches

This week I’m joined by Andrew Dittman — baritone, choirmaster, composer, and the man behind The Kyrial Project — for a rich conversation about chant, harmony, congregational singing, and the recovery of serious sacred music for ordinary churches and families. We talk about Andrew’s musical upbringing, why children don’t need to be patronized with “children’s music,” why churches should give their people actual music to sing, and how chant can anchor us in the long memory of the church. We also spend time on The Kyrial Project, Andrew’s collection of traditional liturgical settings — especially harmonized Gregorian chant in English — designed to be beautiful, ancient, singable, and usable by Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches alike. In our conversation, Andrew explains that a kyrial is a collection of mass settings, and he describes his work as adapting older chant from Latin into English, harmonizing it, recording it, and making it scalable for choirs, congregations, and ordinary parish life.  Andrew also talks about Bach, barbershop quartets, The King’s Singers, Chanticleer, Take 6, Voces8, The Beach Boys, The Quebe Sisters, Byrd, Rossini, and why a healthy culture is a singing culture. Enjoy! ______ Andrew Dittman is a baritone, choirmaster, and composer based in the Dallas area. He holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of North Texas, where he also earned bachelor’s degrees in music and computer science. His compositional work draws from Gregorian chant, Renaissance and Baroque counterpoint, American folk music, and shape-note singing.  His central work is The Kyrial Project, a collection of sacred music based on familiar melodies from Latin chants of the Ordinary of the Mass — including the Kyrie, Agnus Dei, Pater Noster, and others — adapted into English and given four-part harmonies in the Anglican tradition.  Sheet music from The Kyrial Project is arranged for four-part choir or congregation, with SATB vocal arrangements and organ accompaniment available for many of the settings.  Click HERE [https://kyrialproject.com/purchase-sheet-music] for sheet music. https://caedmonconference.com/ [https://caedmonconference.com/] https://www.youtube.com/@aldittman [https://www.youtube.com/@aldittman] https://kyrialproject.com/ [https://kyrialproject.com/] hoytcomposer.com [http://hoytcomposer.com/]

Death Turns to Life

This week I'm bringing you into my current listening life. No final verdicts, just  first impressions worth sharing. I introduce two artists I've been loving: GLIN, a whistle-and-guitar duo from Scotland making Celtic folk music that sounds like spring arriving, and Parlor Greens, whose record Emeralds sounds like a lost session tape from the sixties. Then I survey three new releases I'm still sitting with: Culture Wars' debut Don't Speak, a rock record with real talent; M.I.A.'s new album, built around the seven churches of Revelation and ending with thirty minutes of silence; and Hayden Everett's So the Sun Can Pour, a charming folk record by a young man trying to deal honestly with the world. Happy listening. Featured Artists & Albums  GLIN — Unplugged Volumes 1–2 - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/unplugged-vol-1-ep/1682016730] | Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/artist/5qEwzYDXGh4juehLZM96un?si=AbTjsbApSTqpNHTzMscnmw] Parlor Greens — Emeralds - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/emeralds/1860106393] | Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/album/0TQ53KlvXXWgD5hv0Ul9Bo?si=iJ9vt7rARFWbSnfAoYAVhw] Culture Wars — Don't Speak  - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-speak/1880210710] | Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/album/2IZSfxU7rU61vV5UmDcYX5?si=YQAytUJjTMGLcny4ME60qQ] M.I.A. — M.I.7. - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/m-i-7/1889898922] | Spotify  [https://open.spotify.com/album/6TGoIu9hPSLt2fYgdThVKD?si=0ixCwDvsRjycdrv45siLpw] Hayden Everett — So the Sun Can Pour - Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/so-the-sun-can-pour/1871219587] | Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/2FJNdtergBuQ1q2qOo5IBe?si=u6OlTiR2Sd6U93nHz1c-nw] ------- Click HERE [https://app.audio-deacon.com/menu/checkout] and use code audiodeacon3 to get your first 3 months for FREE! Sign up at the link, download the app, login, and enjoy!

Musical Creation and a Great Rehearsal

This week, we have a talk I recently gave at The Arcadian Wild and The Corner Room show in Birmingham. It's a short piece on what music is, where it comes from, and why a room full of people gathering to listen together is never a small thing. We talk about the triune God as a musical God, the miracle of sound entering the body, and why a night of live music is, in the deepest sense, an act of resistance.  I've had several people ask for it in a more permanent form, so here it is. I hope it serves you. The Audio Deacon App! [https://app.audio-deacon.com/menu/checkout/audiodeacon3] https://app.audio-deacon.com/ [https://app.audio-deacon.com/]Use code audiodeacon3 for 3 free months! Links: The Audio Deacon Substack [https://audiodeacon.substack.com/] Twitter [https://x.com/audiodeacon] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561363286943]

Winter’s End and Lenten Listening

In today’s episode, we look at three records bound together by a shared mood of restraint, melancholy, and  beauty. With black-and-white covers and a lingering winter atmosphere, each of these projects offers music suited for reflection as we continue through the Lenten season. We begin with music from 6am String Club and Caleb Chancey, a project of meditative string pieces that are deeply present and beautifully human. With ambient room noise, subtle imperfections, and performances that seem to unfold in real time, the record carries the ache of heartbreak while still moving with steadiness, purpose, and hope. From there, we turn to Looking for a God, the latest release from Sanders Bohlke. With poetic songwriting, meticulous production, and vocals that move from near-whisper to more solid intensity, the album blends earthy emotion with synthetic textures in a way that is both intimate and expansive. Lastly, we consider Lenten Hymns by Timothy Winstead, a simple and reverent collection that makes for an ideal companion during prayer, walking, or evening meditation. With over fifteen hymns performed with care and precision, the record offers a fitting soundtrack for contemplation as Easter draws near. Though each of these albums inhabits a different musical space, all three remind us that sorrow, patience, and beauty often belong together, and that attentive listening can help train us toward the gravity and hope of the Christian life. Featured Albums 6am String Club, Caleb Chancey Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/6am-string-club-ep/1860779975] | Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/00O7a8P0ANZBy3dYu6DvOJ?si=DhWctxpOTuaTG-UeyKbSvg] Sanders Bohlke — Looking for a God Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/looking-for-a-god/1820729097] | Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/4j2CX9NuydyFduiHlTQCIq?si=SNk5oV2LTYapIafZU_DHdA] Timothy Winstead — Lenten Hymns Audio Deacon [https://app.audio-deacon.com/tabs/home/albums/62746] | Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/hymns-for-lent/1803749152]