I recently finished reading a book called "The Rock That Is Higher" by author Madeleine L'Engele, the sub-title of the book is "Story As Truth". I may be repeating myself but for the past few months, perhaps even longer I am becoming or rather becoming re-aware of the concept of great storytelling as a way of communicating truth. Reading people such as George MacDonald, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Stephen Lawhead, Jeffrey Overstreet and most recently Matthew Dickerson has reinvigorated my mind as to the necessity of great storytelling. Now just what does that have to do with producing a twice a week radio show. To me it means everything. It would be oh so simple to just crank out a top twenty countdown program but them I would sound like every other countdown show on the air. My desire is not to do that, I want to create a sonic tapestry that will not only make people stop and think about what they are hearing but will also touch them at the very core of their being. Let me say that you will never ever hear an edited song on my radio program. If an artist feels that it takes twenty or twenty five minutes to tell the story that is on his or her heart, then I have an obligation to that artist to play his or her thoughts in their fullest and not rip it apart. And anyway at my age it gives me time to make a bathroom run. A few years ago the band Glass Hammer released an album entitled "Perilous". It was one sixty plus minute tune, now I didn't play it every show but when it was played it was done in whole and not ripped apart into an edited version. My new years resolution for 2016 is to play nothing but the best music I can offer to my listeners, no brag, just fact!!! Judging from the albums that I have received in the past few weeks 2016 is going to be a banner year for "Rock N Soul Gospel" Check it out!!!

It is December, it is a month of magic and miracles. It is a time when Christians all over the world celebrate the Incarnation, the idea or rather the truth that GOD became a man, the man called Jesus of Nazareth. The author and topic of the greatest story ever told. The older that I become, and by the way I turned 66 earlier this month, the more I am aware of the importance of story as a way of communicating the concepts of truth and beauty. When I sit in the studio at 88.1fm & WCWP.org it would be so very easy to crank out a countdown show and sound like every other show on the air. My desire is to produce a show every week that will touch people and inspire them to seek after great art. In the past month or so I have found out about a number of artist that I am really excited about. Groups like The Oh Hello's, The Gray Havens, artists like Jae Gin and my old friend Mara Measor all have new or current albums in rotation on my radio show. Old standby's like Glass Hammer and Over The Rhine also have new projects hitting the airwaves and are as usual creating some of the best rock n roll that this old codger has ever heard. 2016 is going to be the very best year that Rock N Soul Gospel has ever seen or rather heard.

This past weekend "Rock N Soul Gospel" celebrated 34 years on the air at 88.1fm WCWP now known as 88.1fm & WCWP.org. WCWP is the radio station found on the campus of Long Island University's Post campus in Brookville New York. The show started out as the atypical Christian rock show but in the years since its debut has developed into an program featuring independent artists who happen to hold to a biblical worldview. I am not now nor ever has been a radio preacher or evangelist, I'm just an old rock n roll DJ who wants to turn people onto what I consider to be some of the best contemporary music, for lack of a better term, that has ever been released. Yesterday I concentrated in the first 90 minutes of the show in re-playing some of the tunes from the past 34 years that have defined what I want the radio show to be all about and that is nothing short of sonic excellence. Bands like Daniel Amos, The Choir, Spinoza and Adam Again as well as solo artists like Leigh Nash, Phil Keaggy, Courtney Reid and others too many to mention have produced some of the best rock n roll ever recorded. At least in my opinion, that is. It is my commitment to be sure that I only play the very best tunes that I can find for those who choose to spend time listening to this radio show. The three videos connected to this edition of the blog are just an example of the many fine artists who are featured on the radio show on a weekly basis for your listening pleasure. Rock N Soul Gospel can be heard every Friday night from 9 till 1pm & Sunday evening from 5 till 9pm on 88.1fm & WCWP.org. Check it out!!!

As of this past weekend we are just one month away from the radio shows 34th anniversary on WCWP radio: 88.1fm & WCWP.org. As I look back on the past thirty four years I do so with a mixture of both pride and frustration. I am proud, hopefully not in a haughty sense, that the show has continued on for so many years and hopefully will do so for many more to come. The artists that I play are some of the most talented people in the world and many of them have become good friends and I treasure these relationships dearly. The folks from New York City, from Boston & Nashville as well as other parts of the globe are creating music that I am so, so very proud to present to the listeners of the radio show. The part that I find frustrating though is that people on Long Island in the Christian community seem so very content to accept sub-standard art as good just because some one has stuck the Christian label on it. I find this is a constant source of frustration because there is such an amazing wealth of great art out there being created by people of faith who desire to work outside the box. By art I mean not only music but also poetry, literature, film and all sorts of media. It is my promise that as long as I am doing the radio show called "Rock N Soul Gospel" that I will only play the very best music that I can find. Fortunately for me and my listeners that is a very easy task because there is so much amazing stuff out there these days, all you have to do is just look for it, it's not that hard to find. The two videos connected with this edition of the blog show some of the best material out there, enjoy and be sure to listen every Friday night at 9pm & Sunday evening at 5pm NY time on 88.1fm & WCWP.org!!!

The summer of 2015 has been an exciting time, it has been a season of exploration, travel and collection. As for the exploration aspect of the time, I have been studying the crossroads of where art, faith & imagination come together. It is an exciting place to visit and the wonders to be found there are so very cool. The people who tend to dwell near or hang out near this intersection are some of the most interesting folks that I have ever met. It is a place that I love spending time at, as much as possible, because it feeds not only my mind but also my spirit and soul. I am finding that the older that I get the more interesting I find it to be there and the more time I desire to be there.

The travel aspect of this summer came about with two road trips. The first was to Orcas Island off the coast of Washington State for Kindlings Fest. More a literary conference that a traditional festival, to me at least, it was four days with some of the most brilliant and artistically inclined people that I have met in recent years. Folks like Luci Shaw, her husband John Hoyte, Dick Staub, David Dark and his wife Sarah Masen fed my spirit and my imagination in a veritable feast. Getting the opportunity to hang out with others like Jeff Keuss, my old friends Jeff Johnson and Steve Taylor and new friends like Jerry Root and poet Scott Cairns was just icing on the cake. And the books that I picked up there will keep me occupied for months to come. Musically, meeting Dennis Hendricksen and getting a copy of his album called "Dreams And Visions" was just amazing as well as the two "Prayerbook" CD's by Brian Moss. By the way Orcas Island is a very cool place to hang out and "The Island Skillet" serves an outstanding breakfast selection. Very delicious chocolate chip pancakes to die for. The only down part of the whole experience was having to sleep two nights on a bench at the Seattle Airport. Not a very comfortable way to spend a long night. The web site for the "KIndlings Muse is www.thekindlings.com.

The second road trip was my annual excursion up to Gilford, New Hampshire for Soulfest. For just about the past eight years I have had the privilege of teaching a seminar on art, faith and imagination in its various aspects at this very exciting and well put together music festival held at the "Gunstock Mountain Resort". The festival grounds include five stages, including a small intimate space called "The Back Room" as well as many excellent food vendors and merchandise booths. Although the bigger bands play on the "Revival" or main stage, to me at my age,65 by the way, the magic happens on the smaller stages. Acts and artists such as Rachel Taylor, Courtney Reid, Jim Trick, Steve Taylor & the Perfect Foil, The Violet Burning, Christopher Williams and Justin McRoberts are people who keep me coming back year after year. These folks are releasing some of the best music that I have ever heard and I have been listening to rock n roll for close to 60 years and playing it on the radio for over 47 of those years. A word of total respect to festival founder Dan Russell and his crack team of experts who put this thing on year after year, a job well done. Check out the web site at www.thesoulfest.com for info as to times and acts for next August as the time draws closer.

At both of these event I gathered new music to share with the listeners to the radio show and the summer is not over just yet. By the way "Rock N Soul Gospel can be heard every Friday at 9pm and Sunday at 5pm NY time at 88.1fm & WCWP.org and if that wasn't a hint I don't know what is.

"Well my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...I'm leavin' on a jet plane. Many years ago the folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary had a big hit with this tune written by John Denver. Right now my bags are packed metaphorically speaking of course at least for the moment. In a few weeks I'll be leaving on a jet plane for the left coast. I'm headed off to Orcas Island in Washington State for Kindlings Fest. This trip will be the first time in 44 years that I have been on the West Coast, the last time that I was there was back in April of  '71 being discharged from the US Navy after 3 tours of duty in that tropical paradise know as Viet-Nam. This time it is my choice to go unlike the last time and I am so, so looking forward to this trip. Kindlings Fest is put on by a group known as The Kindlings, makes sense, and is a 4 day festival/ retreat for those who are artistically in need of a time of challenge, refreshing and encouragement. I know for sure that I fit squarely into that category. For the past 4 or 5 years I have been fed and nurtured by the group's podcasts which can be found on their web site which is www.thekindlings.com. Being now 65 years old I find in the area of the arts, at least, that I am in need of intelligence and creativity more and more from people who claim to be in a unique relationship with the Master Artist in the art that they create. I just do not have the time or patience for what my friend Mike Roe would call sub-standard material. The schedule for this years gathering includes such people as Malcolm Guite, Jeff Keuss, Jeff Johnson, Dick Staub and others. Between lectures, films and evening concerts Kindlings Fest is going to be the place to be for those who are involved in or care about art, faith & imagination. I'll be there, will you???

The past few weeks have been a flurry of good things happening in my world of art and media. In August at Soulfest in New Hampshire I will be teaching two seminars in the area called "The Back Room". The first one on Friday afternoon at 4pm is entitled "Glimpses Into Eternity: A Song Well Sung, observations and thoughts on art, faith & imagination as seen through music." The next day, Saturday morning at 10am I will be speaking on "Glimpses Into Eternity: A Tale Well Told, observations and thoughts on art, faith & imagination as seen through literature and film". Even though the day and nights at Soulfest can be rather hectic, the time I spend there is for me a time of rest and reflection. I get to sit and talk with as well as listen to artists whom I love dearly and in many cases have become good friends who I only get to see on a sporadic basis. People like Jim Trick, Rachel Taylor, Courtney Reid, Christopher Williams, Justin McRoberts and a few others feed my soul and nourish it beyond measure. I have gotten to the point where interacting with these folks has become just as important to me as sitting and listening to their music, which by the way is outstanding in every aspect.

The past few weeks I have seen two concerts that were just fabulous and reminded me in a very satisfying way just why I have chosen to take my radio show, "Rock N Soul Gospel" down the road it has gone over the past almost 34 years. First was an artist who I met a number of time at the old Cornerstone Festival whose name is Timbre. She is a classically trained singer/ songwriter who happens to play the harp as her instrument of choice. Now when I say the harp I am not talking about a blues harp or harmonica, rather think of Harpo Marx. She played at a church in Brooklyn, NY accompanied by a drummer, guitarist, cellist and a 23 member choir. It was a musical journey into another world, a world of sonic magic, of beauty and wonder. Her newest album release is called :Sun And Moon", it is a double disc of pop music as well as neo-classical tunes it should make a welcome addition to anyone's music library.  The second show I saw earlier this week at Irving Plaza in the city was the part of the East Coast leg of the "Home" tour by Josh Garrels with Zach Winter as the opening act. If you get a chance to see either of these guys in concert don't pass the opportunity by, go for it.

Reading, I just last week finished 2 books that I totally enjoyed, the first by author Matthew Dickerson is called "The Gifted" and is volume 1 in a fantasy trilogy. The second book comes out in a year followed a year later by book number 3. I also finished a book of poetry by Anne M Doe Overstreet called "Delicate Machinery Suspended" which was not only wonderful but wonder filled as well.

For those of you go live on or near Long Island, every weekend this summer I will be giving away tickets for Splish Splash Water Park on the radio show. "Rock N Soul Gospel can be heard Friday at 9pm & Sunday at 5m at WCWP.org/ 88.1fm, Check it out!!!