Paul the music lover's blog

Sunday evening I tuned to KXL as usual, but instead of the usual politics, I heard something unusual. It was “The Jesus Christ Show” with your “Holy Host”, Jesus Christ. The website (http://www.thejesuschristshow.com/) says: “The Jesus Christ show is interactive radio theater designed to teach people about themselves and the historical person of Jesus.” The website asks: “WHAT IF, today you could talk with Him, laugh with Him, cry with Him, not only through prayer but through the radio…” The FAQ page has only one question: “Does the ‘Holy Host’ really think he is Jesus?” The answer is no, stating again the program is radio theater.

I heard Jesus invite people to call with their theology and life-situation questions. One question was on the “once saved always saved” question. He said that was sound teaching because salvation is not about what we do, but what He did. “My blood is bigger than any sin you can commit”, he assured the caller. Another question was about the dead contacting the living. Her estranged father’s memorial service was the day after she went on the Internet to find information about him. She wanted to know from Jesus if she was lead to that information by her father or by God. Now the actual Jesus would know that answer, but the radio show actor could only speculate based on biblical principles.

Jesus did mention that his program has taken some flack from people. I can believe that. I have very mixed feelings about it myself. If you know me, you know few people on this planet enjoy radio theater more than me. Would I be uncomfortable going to my community theatre and seeing Jesus on the stage? No. How about if the fourth wall came down and people from the audience were permitted to ask him questions? Now I’m starting to feel uneasy.

I understand why the producer decided to present the program this way. It adds an interesting dimension to the conversations. I’m sure they achieve greater depth in this format. Anyone over the age of ten would understand this isn’t really Jesus, so that isn’t my concern. I think it comes down to this: With any theological teaching, it is important that you know who is doing the teaching and what their motivations are. This format does not allow for that. Even though they call it theater, they are dealing eternal life-and-death matters. I’m teetering, but learning toward thinking this is not a good idea.

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

With a couple of new musicians and several new songs, Alderframe took the Insomnia stage Friday, January 29, 2010 and played to a packed house. They’ve got a new CD in the oven and I sure plan on getting my hands on one! Visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thealderframe – If you didn’t know, the two performers in the middle are Amy and Evan who (along with their friend Tyler) own the place.

Alderframe

She’s a little bit jazzy and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. She’s Muriel Stanton who played The Grand Lodge last night with her band. She is a Portland native, and her bio says she started singing in the Portland Opera at the age of six. I believe that as her voice is big, and accurate. For the last three years she has been working on her own music project. Last night she did mostly originals and some covers of Patsy Cline and Dusty Springfield. She will be working on doing some recording this summer and I’m looking forward to adding her to the radio playlist.

Muriel Stanton Band

It was just a year ago I heard Lauren Sheehan and her friend Elizabeth Nicholson play Christmas music at The Grand Lodge and totally enjoyed myself. When I saw that Lauren was returning, this time with her daughter Zoe Carpenter, I was happy to get back. They played traditional and contemporary music, most in the Christmas theme. It was a mix of Gospel to Country to Blues to Appalachian music to whatever else they could toss in there. The place was packed like I’ve never seen it before. I grabbed a chair from the other room and found my place in the corner for the evening. http://laurensheehanmusic.com/

Lauren Sheehan and Zoe Carpenter

It has been a while since I’ve had any live music to write about. I’m not getting out as much because of the 6,000 other things going on this time of year. A couple of times I was driven away by overpowering bass lines rattling my ear drums. I must be getting old.

Larry Wilder and the Stumptown Stars was at Grand Lodge’s Garage Door last night playing a wide variety of music from bluegrass to rock, Roy Acuff to Allman Bros. I haven’t heard Sons Of The Pioneer music in a long, long time. They also busted out some old-time gospel greats like “Turn The Radio On” and “I’ll Fly Away”. Even the bluegrass numbers they played I enjoyed, which is amazing since I am not a big fan of that genre. If you get a chance to hear these guys, do it. You won’t be disappointed.

Who doesn’t love the Cinderella story? Theatre In The Grove at Forest Grove is presenting the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical version through December 20, 2009. I caught the opening night performance last night and LOVED it. The acting, music and special effects (the transformation of the pumpkin into a carriage) were excellent! Take the whole family. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8PM and Sundays at 2:30. http://theatreinthegrove.org/

Ashley Moore and William Dober as Cincerella and the Prince

It was my first time to hear Sig Paulson (http://sigpaulson.com/) as he played the Grand Lodge, Friday, October 2nd. His bio puts it very well:

“Raised on a diet of old time honky-tonk and outlaw country (Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens) and inspired by country-rockers of the early 70’s like The Flying Burrito Brothers, John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker, Paulson writes and performs an original form of Americana he has dubbed ‘Hippiebilly’.”

I heard a lot of Bob Dylan spiced with a tad of Jimmy Buffett in his music. He brought three guitars with him. His standard 6-string and the larger 12-string. The third one he never picked up. He said it was tuned to an open G, a configuration he uses for a couple of songs. I guess he prefers to lug around an extra guitar to tuning up during a show. Sig puts on a good show and even did an encore. I hope to hear Sig perform again soon.

On Facebook I saw an announcement that Nathan Botsford was playing Java Nation Coffee Saturday night. Since I was not familiar with either the artist or the venue, I had to check them out. What I like about Nathan, beyond his being talented and sings well, is he can play both the guitar and keyboards, giving him the ability to deliver more variety in his shows. The majority of his show was doing covers (not my favorite thing) but the 4 or 5 originals he did bust out were wonderful. I was most touched by the one for his grandma who had to go to her next life before he was ready. He clearly loves doing these coffee shop gigs because he started before his scheduled time, finished late, and didn’t take a break. The place was pretty quiet as he played. The only thing I didn’t like about the show (outside of the covers) was the use of the capo high on the neck, turning his rich-sounding guitar into a ukulele. I don’t expect that bothers others as much as me. All in all, it was a fine show. Nathan’s got a CD coming out in a few weeks and I’m confident I’ll be adding some tracks to my radio play list over the next couple of months.

Nathan Botsford with guitar

Nathan Botsford on keyboard

I was raised on Dixieland Jazz, Ragtime and The Blues so it was a real treat to be entertained by Mary Flower Friday evening at Grand Lodge. Find her online at http://flower.com/. Her bio says, “Flower’s career as an internationally-recognized and respected musician has spanned three decades. A prize-winning fingerstyle guitarist, she also plays lap slide guitar and sings with a focus on blues and ragtime.” Needless to say, based on that, my expectations were pretty high, and I was not disappointed. All evening long it was one vaguely familiar tune after another. A few I was able to put names to. It has been a long time since I sat and listened to this music with my mom (who left this earth 20 years ago) but at times it was like she was there. Flower not only plays the music well, she knows a good bit about the history surrounding it. Keep an eye on her calendar and get out to see her if you can.

Sunday evening, it was my honor to attend the CD release party for Chris Marshall’s “Starting Out” EP. His first CD “Oh My Soul” was country-blues with a heavy Elvis Presley/Johnny Cash influence. Two titles from that album are on my Internet radio playlist.

The evening began with singer-songwriter Isabeau Walker. She put herself out there with her voice and guitar. My favorite song was about how she and her would-be husband dated secretly for the first seven months. It talked about how they would come up with excuses to get away and sneak in some time together. Very amusing and real.

That was followed by a few old fashioned gospel songs from the No Kidding! Choir directed by Janice and Spank Hopkins. It was impossible to stay sitting let alone sit still with this group singing their hearts out. Not the best voices on the planet, but all the passion you can stick on one stage. It was infectious. Everyone was on their feet shaking their groove thing.

Then Chris took the stage with his 7-piece band? I think that’s right! Chris said that for his second CD he didn’t want to purposely recreate a vibe that had already been done but instead just let it flow and and see what would happen. I expected something more on the rock side, but he went a bit more country – which is not a bad thing! The EP explores Chris’s take on life and all it’s mysteries.

I failed my fancy camera and did not come away with very good pictures, but here they are.

Chris Marshall

Isabeau Walker

No Kidding Choir

Chris Marshall Band