And Derek’s other child came into being this week—NoiseTrade finally launched. [You will be forgiven if you were wondering if it would ever happen.] We’ve all been playing with it for a while, and I think it’s safe to say that it’s pretty cool. And hey, if that doesn’t get you to try it, maybe getting The Ringing Bell for free will…

You should enjoy it.

For Performing Songwriter’s 15th Anniversary Collectors’ Edition they have published, with Derek’s inclusion in the special feature, the Top 100 Indie Artists of the last 15 years. A highly respected industry magazine, Performing Songwriter caters to the true music fan, featuring the stories, artists, instrumentation and craft behind those who both write and perform their music.

Their quoted as saying:
“Performing Songwriter is just a humble and heartfelt attempt at creating a place for songwriters to come together in a safe community where they’re understood and supported and heard by those who love music.”

As you can imagine, this is a huge honor and we wanted to share this information with you. Please check out the site and more importantly please support Performing Songwriter in this issue and in the future.

He made it into the “visionaries” category with none other than Radiohead. Check out the issue to see what that have to say about Derek. Congrats DW!

On her own, Sandra McCracken is a quirky pop songstress with tons of personality. On his own, Derek Webb looks like a refugee from “Prison Break” without the charisma or reasonable sense of outrage. Together, they’re a lovely folk duo with one strong voice and another that’s nicely muted. Webb might also be distracted from his usual bizarre Christian content, where the Bible is a mere sliding scale with less historical weight than yesterday’s horoscope. Judge for yourself if the moments of beauty and weirdness are worth the duo’s slumming in Americana territory.

I’ve read that four or five times now, and I still have no words.

Additionally: A friend from the area wrote in to let me know the reviewer’s name [which I'll decline to mention] and to correct me on the name of the paper. Apparently, writing interviews like this is the reviewer’s schtick, to get notice.

Jesus-Following vs. Social Activism (by Derek Webb)
Thursday, May 15, 2008

Claiming to follow Jesus is a ridiculous thing to try and do. He’s a really hard guy to follow, especially when he talks about loving the poor, loving our neighbors, and loving those who hate and oppose us. Loving people who love us is sometimes hard enough, but loving our enemies is just counterintuitive. It goes against every instinct in my body. When someone does or seeks to do harm to me or my family, it’s my knee-jerk reaction, my default, to return violence with violence. I am violent to the core. To confess anything less would be a dangerous land mine to sneak over.

This is why it’s so important to know who Jesus is and what he’s asking us to do. And luckily, for our benefit, we have his answer recorded in a historical document. When asked point-blank, “What are the most important things we’re commanded to do?” it’s curious what Jesus says. And what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t mention all of the overwhelming issues of morality that we seem to obsess over in the Christian ghetto. He doesn’t mention any of the countless issues that are dividing our churches left and right. He says, “Love God and love your neighbors,” that, in fact, all of the law and prophets hang on these two commands, and that these are literally the context for all other commands we keep.

This is the work of following Jesus — to love and care especially for those whom it is difficult. It is therefore never a political position to be on the side of the poor. Working for justice in all areas of society is not peripheral to the proclamation of the good news of Jesus; it is central. His message was not that of the individual salvation of men and women, but of the “being made right of all things.” While this certainly includes the stories of men and women, that is such a small part of the whole. It’s a story about our families, our environment, our governments, our neighbors, about the whole of what God has made. And proclaiming half the truth as the whole truth is no truth at all.

How do we tell the whole story of the coming reign of God, a new way of being human and relating to God and God’s creation? We put our hands to it. We proclaim a day coming when there will be no more thirst by giving water to the thirsty. We proclaim a day coming where there will be no more disease and death by caring for the lives of those whose bodies are broken. We proclaim a day coming where there will be no more war by preemptively sowing the seeds of peace.

It’s true: The Bible does say that there is a time to build up and a time to tear down, a time to rejoice and a time to weep, a time for peace and a time for war. But we live in anticipation of the day coming when there will be no more time to tear down. There will be no more time for weeping. There will simply be no more time for war. Soon we’re going to run out of time for these things. This is the day we work for. This is the day we pray into today.

• Akron, Ohio on April 23rd
• Cincinnati, Ohio on April 24th
• Gahanna, Ohio on April 25th
• Huntington, West Virginia on April 27th
• Vienna, Virginia on May 1st [a makeup date for the February show where they both ended up sick]
• Nashville, Tennessee on May 3rd
• Birmingham, Alabama on May 4th
• Memphis, Tennessee on May 6th

And before anyone asks: yes, my recording gear and I will be at that Birmingham show. [You wanna drive me back from Birmingham that night? Cool!]

“When the Summer’s Gone, Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken: If the couple in Sixpence None the Richer’s Kiss Me were celebrating their 10-year anniversary now, they might be singing this song.”

Kudos to Derek and Sandra! We here at dw.net hope the good press continues.

Here’s the Info:

April 12th, 2008 - 8:00pm

Cordova, TN - Hope Presbyterian Church

Tickets are $20 and $25 at the door and group tickets are available at $17 for 15 more.

Tickets are available for sale at Family Christian Stores and Lifeway Stores and online through www.thinkhope.org

They are looking for local churches and groups to help promote the event and get word out there. They have 11×17 posters and 5.5” cards that are available to hand out. Any help in plugging this event it would be greatly appreciated. They can deliver the posters and post cards to you to hand out, if you are interested.

They are also on FACEBOOK…so you can invite all our Memphis area Friends via the Facebook event page

For more info on Habitat for Hope, the cause that this event is supporting, click here.