Oct. 20, 2008 issue
Musical gifts that serve all
By Celeste Kennel-Shank Mennonite Weekly ReviewCHICAGO — The club in a hip city neighborhood low-lit like its name — Subterranean — was a long way away from the farms, small towns and Mennonite churches of the band members’ childhoods.
Steve Yutzy-Burkey on guitar, Scott French on drums and Rick Sieber on bass of the Swimmers perform at Subterranean, a club in Chicago. — Photo by Celeste Kennel-Shank
In some ways, though, playing for audiences at large Christian gatherings is just as different from the intimacy of a church.
Musicians connected to Mennonite circles are marked by their experiences with church, community and God even as they record albums and play in secular venues. Two such bands are No Little Kindness from Pasadena, Calif., and the Swimmers from Philadelphia.
No Little Kindness played two smaller shows at the 2007 Mennonite Church USA convention in San Jose, Calif., and at the 2006 Politics and Spirituality conference in Pasadena sponsored by ecumenical Christian organization Sojourners. They also play in the Taizé and Advent services at their congregation, Pasadena Mennonite Church.
The band plays from the same repertoire in nightclubs and bars.
“We’ve never talked about whether we should do some song or not because it’s about Jesus,” said band member Jeremy Seifert, who grew up in Colorado.
Audience members at their shows at clubs will “say it was a worshipful experience,” he said.
In turn, they play their original songs in church.
“For one of the Advent songs, we played ‘Rejoice,’ which we play in clubs, and people loved it,” Seifert said in a phone interview.
They know there are differences, though, and not everyone listening will hear the same thing.
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