2020 has been hard for most of us. It's been especially hard on me and my family.  We've had to prioritize how we're going to get through the last few months, and a lot had to go.  That includes a lot of the things that I love and enjoy.  Unfortunately, the work that I do on this website was one of those things.

I have a few other hobbies, but nothing I enjoyed more than the relationships I built working on Tentmaker Music.  Man, I thought we were done for.  I thought this was the absolute end of our vision to build Christian community.  But then I realized, there's always something I can do.  There's always an adjustment that can be made.  I don't have to throw in the towel... just yet.

So, we decided to go back to our roots.  Tentmaker Music was never meant to just be a rehashing of press releases and YouTube videos.  It was supposed to be something deeper.   Something more than that.  So I went all the way back to when I was a new artist; trying to find a place to meet people as an independent artist... trying to find other artists like myself... looking for a place that I can get my feet wet and start competing with other musicians.

That's how I came up with Tentmaker Music: CLUB!

Almost three years ago I started to get the vision that big tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, and other places would either out right stifle our voices, or fall themselves.  We've already seen it happen with Myspace, and a bunch of other platforms.  The problem I've always had with these platforms is that no matter how zealous you are for Christ, there's always a mob who's ready to tear you to pieces.  There's always something to steal our values and tell us that were wrong for what we believe and how we practice our faith.  On the other hand, there's always another website who's excited to show us how someone else is doing the same thing we've already seen.  More and more of the same.  I want something more.  Don't you want something more?

I don't know what your hometown is like, but my hometown stop having hall shows and open mics a long time ago.  The churches don't really open their doors to newcomers to perform their newly written worship music, and we're still singing songs from 5 years ago that were hits on Christian radio.  I don't think there's any incentive to become a new musician anymore.  New music gets swept under the rug, or tagged with an expiration date (depending on the genre).

Today a lot of Christian artists feel like they need to compromise on their beliefs, or they just never developed a deep enough foundation to question whether or not they're even compromised.  In this time of uncertainty, I'm not real sure that we have strong enough Christians to endure the coming storm.  For the most part, that's my fault, and the fault of people my age.  We're the social media generation.  We've been so obsessed with gaining followers that we've left our disciples behind. 

Some of us have never taken on disciples.

I want to help ReDiscover what's been lost. I want to help reconnect the parts of the body of Christ better forgotten each other.  I want to help raise the next generation of worship leaders.  I want to introduce this generations great songwriters to this generations great musicians (not everyone can be all things). I want to challenge you all with contests and writing activities that will help you become greater musicians. I want to pass on what I've learned from my years on the stage.  I want to have deep conversations and our discussion forums, and learn about the stories behind your music. 

These are all things meant for a specific people.  They're not meant for the Twitter crowd, or the Facebook crowd.  They were meant for the church.
Let's ReDiscover. 
Let's reconnect.
Let's create something awesome together!

​~X

​I had a convo this week with a young american artist in which he assured me
he wasn’t a christian rapper, instead he was just a believer and a rapper… he felt
that by saying he was a christian rapper it made a divide and that as ‘believers’ we
need to be more open and not cause divides.
This isn’t a new thing of course, as much as this young artist would like to think that
he’s making a statement with this, he’s not, as many a christian artist goes through
the same thought pattern. Its a long running conversation amongst the die-hard
artists, the ones who have been in the game long enough to know the importance
of being relevant amongst their cultural peers.
​
In another convo with a UK grime rapper it was said “there has been a lot of hurt in
the underground christian scene”, what was being referred to is the artists out there
who gave up their rights as a christian and turned away from their faith due to them
having countless years fighting for a place in mainstream music, trying to be heard.
That being a christian and a musician doesn’t or shouldn’t mean that you’re
categorized or put in a box much like any major award ceremony where there is a
‘gospel section’.
Its great that the gospel scene has its own scene and can be allowed alongside the
mainstream awards but at the same time its a double edged sword because as
we’re placed in the gospel category we are almost certain to never come out of that
box. And why is that an issue you may ask (before believers start saying ‘well thats
being unashamed of the gospel isn’t it…), it’s an issue because as a music artist
you should be given the same respect as any other no matter what belief system
you have and a wider point of view would be to say that you can reach far greater
people inside the secular scene.
You still might be saying ‘Well that’s great though because I’m unashamed of the
gospel so I don’t mind being subjected to cultural categorizing’.
However, most artists who represent Jesus realize they need to hit the mainstream
in order to make the biggest impact and to follow Jesus’ calling ‘Go into all the
world and preach the gospel’ Mark 16:15.
It was Andy Mineo who said it best when he said “you wouldn’t say that’s a christian
police man and that’s a regular policeman or that’s a plumber and that other one is
a christian plumber’. So why do it with musicians?

​DJ 70x7 supports artists by bringing awareness to their talent and creativity. The HopeJamz Radio Show plays upbeat music from worldwide artists with New releases, Artist Introductions and Exclusive content!!
Listen to The HopeJamz radio show: https://www.mixcloud.com/70x7Music/
70x7 Music channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/70x7MusicHopeJamzradio
70x7 Music - http://www.70x7music.com/
HopeJamz Radio is also a part of the Tentmaker Music Podcast network. You can subscribe and download shows here - https://linktr.ee/tentmakermusic

We’re in the age of self-promotion and self-management with most musicians learning how to handle their own business, from do it yourself learning videos on Youtube to advice guides and gurus adding their knowledge.

The days when many artists were just dreaming of signing that mega deal with a record company seem to be ageing out as most musicians prefer to go the indie way.
Kings Dream Entertainment artist Ruslan is someone who has been posting videos on artist awareness, promotion and the teaching of business skills, along with there being other music moguls and aged veterans sharing their top tips too.
Personally I think it’s great that independent artists are realizing they can sell records and even make a living from their craft.
​
Look at the likes of Zuby (UK based emcee) managing to sell over 22,000 albums whilst never signing a record deal, on top of that he has managed to find other ways to sell and promote his craft by having one of the first popup shops across the UK with his Blue & Purple store.
The awareness for artists to be able to manage themselves is a great thing, especially for new artists coming up, but where does this leave personal managers and record labels, 
is their assistance no longer needed? 

Here’s the thing, whilst it’s great for musicians to learn how to do things themselves, it is also great to have management that can be your representation in the business side of music, because as you get more well known in the industry and your work load becomes bigger you’re going to need a hand. 
You’ll need someone on team who can point you in the right direction, plan your next move, push your promotion into the right lanes.
You will want a person or a team which is there for your every need so you can just focus on doing what you love… making music.

So if you’re just starting out in the music industry in whichever genre, I would urge you to learn the basics yourself, there’s some good self management do-it-yourself videos online.
When you do start growing you may need to find some good management to help pave your way, look for management companies which have a few artists on their books already and offer short contractual time periods so if you don’t partner well with them you’re not locked in and can easily exit!

Don’t give up! 

The indie road can be a tough one but at the same time very rewarding not just because of the amount of knowledge you gain but also because it gives you the freedom to create and showcase your art the way you want it whilst being able to pursue whatever you want.

DJ 70x7 supports artists by bringing awareness to their talent and creativity. The HopeJamz Radio Show plays upbeat music from worldwide artists with New releases, Artist Introductions and Exclusive content!!
Listen to The HopeJamz radio show: https://www.mixcloud.com/70x7Music/
70x7 Music channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/70x7MusicHopeJamzradio
70x7 Music - http://www.70x7music.com/
HopeJamz Radio is also a part of the Tentmaker Music Podcast network. You can subscribe and download shows here - https://linktr.ee/tentmakermusic

A Blog By Josh Trombley

There has been a lot of doubt and skepticism from “high profile” Christians. Many have felt that there hasn’t been a place for this line of thinking in the Christian movement. While there are circles where this is not encouraged, there are also a ton of circles that are exploring.

I have seen a few rebuttals by bloggers and musicians that have some excellent points. Some have pointed out the holes in the arguments; others are urging us to follow God and not celebrity.

As much as these points are valid what needs not to get lost in the conversation and what I want to say to those who identify with the struggle of faith that has invaded so many Christian leaders is, It is ok to struggle with God and your faith. I believe it is un-Christian to not.

To not struggle in some capacity or another is to say that you have a full understanding of not just what the Scriptures say, but of God. If you believe in the God of the Scriptures, then both of those premises are absurd! Us understanding God is like a chair trying to understand it’s maker. The maker of the chair is so far beyond what the chair could ever comprehend.

Luckily we have Scripture and can experience God in beautiful and rich ways. To say that Scripture should be the thing that pulls us through and anchors us into the world of certainty is to claim that we have a perfect understanding of what the Scriptures say, which we don’t. Not even close. We rely on wisdom, experience, and tradition, and we do the best we can.
Often not recognizing this, we fix our faith to unhealthy paradigms.

When doubts and questions appear to unfurl our sails of faith, we become crippled. Instead of pushing forward to discovering brave oceans of new realities in God, we can either give up and lose hope or bunker down in safe coves.
I see neither of the later as viable options.

I believe it is good to doubt and question. When I look at the Scriptures, I can’t help but see a God who wants us to wrestle with the big issues, always realizing that there is more to learn.

There is a story at the beginning of Scripture that articulates this. There is a story about a man named Jacob. Jacob, like us all, has some serious baggage, much of which is self-inflicted.

As Jacob begins to travel to create a new life for himself and his family, he begins to wrestle with his ideas of what his life is and who God is. The book of Genesis records the Jacob has an encounter with an angel where they wrestled, and Jacob left with a limp and a new name. In the words of Switchfoot, however, “[he] wrestled an angel for more than a name.”

The Scriptures record,

“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” 
Genesis 32:28

While the name change is important, we must not lose sight of how the ancient rabbis interpreted this verse. They believed that this set the premise for our approach to the Scriptures and a relationship with God. (more in this in Chapter 2 of my book Hidden faces).

There should never be a point when we stop wrestling with God, Scripture, or hard questions. It doesn’t mean a patchwork of ideas that we throw together as though we’re filling a pothole, but there are times when we need a fresh coat of pavement.
It is not that Scripture, tradition and experience don’t matter. That somehow our wrestling with the big and small questions undermine everything. It just means that sometimes we need a tweak and other times we need a new street.
For me, because I have experienced God, it demands me to push to understand this life deeper. There have been times when my tradition has let me down, majorly. There have been times when no matter how much I trusted and looked at Scripture, it left me frustrated, confused, disillusioned. I had an experience that I could not deny. I knew and still know that there has to be something beyond myself and that faith isn’t built upon the straw of others nor upon the weak foundation of my limited understanding of an ancient text.

My faith is built upon the fact that I have had experiences with something beyond myself. It now demands of me to wrestle.

Saying this, if my faith stopped at the experience and didn’t have the structure of tradition (tried and true practices, rituals, and paradigms) and the Scriptures (God’s word that tells of the Word, Jesus) then my faith becomes a kite flying in the wind with no string.

Finish reading at www.joshtrombley.com & also check out more excellent blogs from Josh.