tool name

Saturday, Sep. 19, 2009

Derek Webb's new album pushes some hot buttons

Derek Webb says it was inevitable that he'd make Stockholm Syndrome.

"I always knew I would make this record," Webb says. "I always knew there would come a point where I would no longer be able to live my life and be friends with the people I'm friends with in the community I am in and avoid certain topics. Specifically, some of the issues of sexuality that are on the record are paramount for me because there is this contradiction in my life."

Webb says his best friend is gay. But, as a Christian, he is part of a community not known for being kind to gay and lesbian people.

Webb was particularly struck by a statistic in the book UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters. The book said that in a three-year survey of non-Christian 16- to 29-year-olds by the Barna Group, 91 percent of the respondents said present-day Christians could be described as "anti- homosexual."

"I cannot tell you how much that breaks my heart," Webb said, "if for no other reason than just generally, a community of people who claim to follow Jesus should not be known primarily for what they hate and what they're against. But rather, we should be known for what we're for, which should be love and compassion, humility."

There is a diversity of opinion across Christian denominations about homosexuality. Some groups cite biblical passages in vigorously opposing things like same-sex unions and homosexuality in general. Other groups consider such Scripture to be historical, not applicable to modern life, and they ordain gay ministers and lay leaders.

Webb declines to discuss his own views on homosexuality. "There's no way to make a truly loving and truthful response in any kind of mass media," he says. "I am only interested in talking to people about this privately."

But his views on how Christians treat people who are gay are on display for all to see, particularly in two songs: What Matters More, which takes Christians to task for taking to the streets over issues of sexuality while ignoring social justice issues like world hunger, and Freddie, Please, a direct indictment of Fred Phelps, the Wichita, Kan., man who likes to protest funerals with offensive signs and chants.

But don't look for What Matters More on CDs, because it is available only on digital downloads of the album from Webb's Web site, www.derekwebb.com. The song, which contains a four-letter word for excrement, was a major sticking point between Webb and his distributor, INO Records.

Some have accused Webb of using profanity to grab attention — not unheard of in ministry. Webb defends the use of the word as an effective use of his primary tool: language. And he's willing to be at the center of controversy, something the former Caedmon's Call member is used to.

"Stockholm Syndrome is me using whatever resources I have, my art, as a barricade between my community, the church community, and the people who I love in my life who are at odds with that community," Webb says. "I am wanting to put myself on the side of my friends because I am wanting to absorb some of that hatred, some of that judgment, because they can't help but absorb it. A lot my friends don't have a nuanced view to see that there could be a difference between a person like the late Jerry Falwell or Fred Phelps," and other Christians with different, or less strident views.

The album finds Webb not terribly concerned with his place in Christian music, a genre he is less and less identified with, particularly as he primarily plays mainstream venues.

When he first stepped out from Caedmon's Call, "I was getting invited to a lot of churches because that's who knew me, at that point. But because of content on my records and things like that, I just get invited to fewer and fewer churches, which is fine by me, because I think churches make lousy concert venues, for a handful of reasons.

"I just play wherever they want me to come, and over the past few years, my music has made more sense touring to places that would be considered not-Christian venues. I don't make sense playing in churches any more than my music makes sense being played on Christian radio. That whole genre doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and I don't make a lot of sense to it, and that's fine."

But Webb's faith as a symbol of hate isn't fine, to him, and that is something he feels he has to sing about.

Questapaloozan Idol

We had a lot of fun covering Questapalooza on Sept. 6. One thing we missed was naming all four finalists in the event's American-Idol-esque The Fame competition. The finalists were Kelsey Harmon, Daniel Griffin, Aaronn Ralph and Kat Granlund. Griffin was the winner.

Coming up

Here's a quick look at some other Christian pop concerts coming up in Lexington:

■ Jeremy Camp, Natalie Grant and Bebo Norman play Quest at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $25, or $20 each for groups of 10 or more. Call 1-800-965-9324 or go to www.itickets.com.

■ Michael Card plays Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, 483 West Reynolds Road, at 7 p.m. Sept. 26. The concert is free, but donations will support world missions.

■ Casting Crowns returns to Rupp Arena with Matt Redman at 7 p.m. Oct. 8. Tickets are $17 to $76 and are available at the Lexington Center Ticket office, all Ticketmaster outlets and www.rupparena.com, or by calling (859) 233-3535.

■ Starlit Platoon, featuring Brandon Estelle of Superchick fame, and Days Divide play South Elkhorn Baptist Church, 4867 Versailles Road, at 6 p.m. Oct. 10.