something from nothing

I ask you friends...can doing nothing be productive? I mean really, doing nothing - well almost nothing...Like sleeping, or watching tv, or just sitting in your chair thinking about something. You don't get a whole lot done, do you? I suppose there is something going on when you're doing essentially nothing - and that is my point here. Maybe those of us 'busy' types should do nothing, a whole lot more...I have noticed when I do that, I actually am a whole lot more productive when I get back down to business...Hence, I get 'something' from 'nothing'.

Gotta go - I've got a whole lot of nothing to do...(I wish)

Jon

things that make you go hmmm.

So here's a few random thoughts for today. My producer for my next CD is Roy Salmond. The approach to producing a recording with Roy is rather quite fun for many reasons one of which is that it's always about much more than the music. Before we track vocals, and often when we arrange the song structures we talk about lyrics. I am sometimes one who over-thinks lyrics when I write. But I do feel strongly as a songwriter who is a Christian, and as one who spends much of my time leading music in church, that what I write and sing should not just be clever or inspiring or emotionally moving. It needs to also be true. So for all those reasons, when recording we also spend a lot of time talking. I thought I would let you in on some of those 'things that make you go hmmm', when you talk about them. See where this takes you...

First a quick story. I wrote a song called LOVE RESCUED ME. Part of the lyric is ' Love rescued me, Love rescued me Lost and afraid still Love rescued me Love rescued me, Love rescued me I'll worship You only

That was one of the lyrics that Roy and I spent some time with. We ended up changing the last line to refer to part of a prayer / liturgy 'Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer' So now I sing Love rescued me, Love rescued me Lost and afraid still Love rescued me Love rescued me, Love rescued me Lord in Your mercy

While both were 'true', 'Lord in Your mercy' seemed to convey a deeper meaning and more fresh way of articulating what God's love would mean to someone rescued by Him. However, 'I'll worship You only' is a nice response to being rescued by God's love. Which one holds more meaning for you?

Here are a few favorite quotes that Roy shared with me, and one more piece of a song...some stuff for you to think about...

One world of truth shall outweigh the whole world - Russian proverb cited by Alexander Solzhenitsyn The trouble with normal is it always gets worse – Bruce Cockburn

We have grown so accustomed to disappointment that we would be disappointed without it – Craig Barnes

It goes against the way we think that it should be, that imperfection seems to suit Him perfectly His sacred fingerprints upon our broken beauty - Jon Buller and Bob Bennett

So there are 4 fairly weighty statements, that can take you down some very interesting paths of conversation or personal reflection.

By the way, the last one is an excerpt from a song that I wrote with accomplished writer Bob Bennett. It looks like it will be a song included on my new cd, which will hopefully be released sometime in '09. I am still enjoying my job at Vernon Alliance church, but have also enjoyed writing and touring a little bit more this past fall and winter. Starfield fans will recognize the theme / title Beauty in the Broken. I'm compelled to say that the guys are great friends of mine. However there was a good chunk of time where we didn't see or talk to each other. It was in that season of time that we both were thinking about similar themes - unbeknownst to any of us!

Until next time...and hopefully sooner than last time...

Jon Buller

from the road

I am enjoying my time on the road with Steve Bell and co. immensely but I am also missing home so I'm looking forward to this Friday when I get to be in Vernon for 1 whole day!

To give you the quick update, I had 2 travel days, and then 2 full days of rehearsal with the group. Rehearsal was fun, challenging, productive and inspiring. Though I must admit I am more used to rehearsing for 2-3 hours at a time, not 2-3 days at a time! After our travel and rehearsal days we played Thunder Bay, ON and then went on to Regina and Saskatoon, SK. I'm now writing this on the flight to Vancouver where I will spend 3 days with Roy Salmond, my producer for what I hope will be my next CD. We'll be chipping away at that a few days at a time throughout the coming year I think... On Thursday I fly home, and then we have our Vernon concert on Friday, then on to Victoria and Nanaimo.

In concert, Steve brings a sense of humor, musical excellence and spiritual passion that is really something to wonder at. Mike Janzen is a piano virtuoso and when he lets go it is truly amazing and inspiring to watch, for musicians and non musicians alike. Roy adds beautiful textures with his bass, ukulele (yes that's right! it is folk and acoustic music after all!) and Gretsch electric and of course there's me, doing my thing! Kerri Woelke is a wonderful new artist that opens the show together with Steve for 3 songs. However there's more to this concert than Steve and the group. I have genuinely felt these nights to be going beyond music, songwriting, humor and stories. It is truly a night of beautiful worship to our Creator, Healer, Savior and Coming King.

But while we have had some great musical and spiritual experiences with the concert, what has been most meaningful to me has been the comraderie and conversation between band members. Do you ever have those times where you don't want to leave a group conversation because you don't want to miss anything? (no matter how tired you are for example!) So although I am a bit road weary already, I am finding life and inspiration on many levels with the people I am spending time with.

Here's an example of what we've been talking about... The writer SCOTT CAIRNS asks the question 'what makes a poem a poem?' The presence of the 'poetic'. Which begs the question, how do you know the presence of the poetic? Maybe the presence of the poetic is the sense of chasing after something, an attempt to discover or uncover whatever it is you're chasing after. Maybe the writer is chasing after a new way to articulate some feeling or story. When you read that poem or hear those lyrics, you sense the chase and you join in somehow. As a listener you identify with the words and you attach your own meaning to them. The trick for the writer is to not end the chase, but to leave it alone - to not have to attach meaning to whatever it is they are trying to discover and share with you. The moment the writer attaches meaning to the chase, the listener can no longer attach their own meaning. Maybe, just maybe that's why there are some pop songs that are just pop songs, and others that are both pop songs and true poetry. They are commercially viable yet deeply meaningful and life changing. The interesting thing is, (in my humble opinion) even with 'Spiritual' music you can still have 'Christian' lyrics and not have a sense of the poetic, not because the lyric isn't Truth, but because the questions have all been asked and answered (for better or for worse) in 4 minutes or less and the 'chase' is over.

I'm not meaning to generalize here - just provoke some worthwhile thought. I'm in the studio right now, writing and recording - so I guess I should go enjoy the chase.

God bless,
Jon