Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Of Art and Mercy...A Free Concert

Friday night, October 19th at 6:30 PM there is a free local concert featuring Alex Walker.  The concert takes place in Hydesville, which may be perceived as an out of the way venue, yet this sanctuary draws hundreds on a weekly basis from Fortuna, a short six miles away.  Humboldt County’s cultural dimensions have been gifted another rich layer with the introduction of Alex Walker into the region’s art scene.   Alex’s appeal is drawn not only from his musical expertise, touring days with the band Five O’Clock People, obvious talent and multi-quilted history of varied vocal and instrumental experience.  Alex connects with the audience with a casual warmth and quick wit that it makes the concert goer feel like you are welcomed into a harmonious conversation in an overly large turn of the century living room.  He’s talented and he is real.
Of Alex’s approach, reviewer David Martin compared Walker’s former band, the Five O’Clock People’s style, to Caedmon’s Call and Jars of Clay.   Citing the use of “acoustic instruments and writing deep, soul searching lyrics” Martin expresses this regarding the song “Same Old Line.”  “The mandolin and accordion…give this song the feel of being in a medieval fantasy world, which I guess is quite fitting, given how we pretend we're living happily everafter because we're afraid people won't love the truly messed up, hurting person inside.”  Alex’s songs address “broken and troubled relationships with an almost brutal honesty, while (other) songs… tackle matters of faith and redemption in stark, confessional terms.  Alex feels there's room for both kinds of tracks on their album. "There's something legitimate about not every song being a composite of all you are, all that you hope for, all you dream of being. It's OK to write songs that precede as a series of snapshots and maybe by the end of an album or even a body of work, you're getting the whole picture of who this person is."
Alex’s appeal is multi-generational.  He is as much at home performing to his thirty-something generation as he is leading a group of energetic children or conducting a sing along for seniors at Hydesville Church where Alex is the worship director. 
The concert on October 19th is to raise awareness for something called Celebrate Recovery.  Appropriate since Alex’s songs speak of honesty, struggle and faith, Celebrate Recovery is about dealing with life’s hurts, habits and hang ups from a spiritual perspective.  Everyone struggles with something.  Celebrate Recovery is an honest place where confidentiality is highly valued and where one can be real about addressing the things in life that trip us up.  Hope is for real.”  This concert is an opportunity for the public to check out Celebrate Recovery.  The concert is at the Hydesville Community Church located at the corner of Highway 36 and Rohnerville Road in Hydesville.  For more information contact the church at 768-3767.
 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Coach, Mentor, Sponsor, Friend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDSLx-14aDg
In Celebrate Recovery there is something called a sponsor.  A sponsor could be otherwise described as a coach, mentor, and friend.  The most important aspect of the relationship is encouragement.  Truly we were not meant to walk this journey alone.