 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   Do you remember the days when we used to sit in front of the radio waiting for our favorite songs to come on so that we can add them to a custom mixtape that we were making for our friends? Maybe I'm dating myself with this one but that's some of the best years of my life. I really miss those days. It was something communal about music and the way that we shared it with each other. there was something special in personal about creating a mixtape for a friend or having a friend make a mixtape for you.
The reason I'm going down memory lane is because I'm trying to figure out where I got mixed up. I feel like somewhere in this custom playlist digital streaming world that we live in, things have gotten sterile. When I really think about it, I think I can trace it back to the iPod. At that point it all became about me and what I was listening to. I was able to block out the rest of the world. I no longer shared music I enjoyed with other people, but I used it as a way to block them out. I want to get back to those days where we used to share. the good old days where we all gathered around the radio to wait for our favorite songs, while sitting in chat rooms meeting new people on the internet. Back when the internet was fun and young, and before social media. Am I the only one that remembers these days? The reason I'm bringing all this up is because a few weeks ago I tried to do a live stream. My goal was to review some new music that was coming out, and to give my thoughts in real time. Just as a few friends started to gather into the chat room oh, and I was giving my thoughts, one of my buddies alerted me that Facebook have muted all of the music I was playing. Suddenly I realized I was talking to myself because no one knew what I was talking about. They couldn't HEAR the music. That community experience was gone. They were left out of the bubble and I was the only one listening to the songs. I told you guys that night that I would figure something out because I wasn't going to let this bad experience stop me. But to tell you the truth, this is the new standard on social media. You're not allowed to post other people's songs or to have them in your live stream anymore. In some cases you can't even share videos. It seems like every week we get an email with updated terms of service, lining out the new restrictions. Closing the doors on what we want to do and how we interact with each other is not my idea of a good time. I think we've given a little too much access to people we don't know.if given all the power to companies and organizations who don't have our best interests in mind, and that's okay as long as we get some free software to work with. But that experience come with limitations and it's not working out very well is it? I've got a lot of successful friends and music who can feel this restricting pressure coming down on musicians. It's like we're not even allowed to be musicians anymore. We have to be marketers and promoters and models for Instagram. I don't know about you but I never signed up for that crap. About a month ago I decided that I was going to take action into my own hands and try to figure out a way to do live broadcasts and to share music with people outside of social media and I decided that it was probably a good time to turn back the clock and look at some older technologies in order to do so. so what we ended up doing was investing in an internet radio station. I know that there's a million other stations out there, but there's also a million other websites, and a million other albums, and a million other songwriters. Just because there's a million others doesn't mean that ours can't be different. We want to make this our own and we want you to be a part of it. In the next few weeks I'm going to be rolling out different playlists and shows two are on our new internet radio station: ”Tentmaker Music: LIVE”! TENTMAKER MUSIC: LIVE IS ALREADY UP AND STREAMING. In its current form, it's a lot like other stations accept it has music that has been featured on our website. We also have HopeJamz Radio with DJ 70x7 from the UK, and The Xero Hour (my culture wars talkshow). I'm hoping to make our radio station into something worth experiencing. I want you to be able to get up in the morning and hear some interesting ideas on your way to work.I want you to hear some great music while you're on lunch. I want you to be able to chill before you go to bed. I want you to be able to look forward to hearing your favorite songs and playlists, and to anticipate the times that they're going to arrive. I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me but I think it's going to be worth it if I have you guys to back me up. Right now you can go to tentmakermusic.com/live and listen to music right now. You can also jump into the chat room and leave a goofy message for me. It'll definitely brighten up my day and it will be a welcome change from all of this coronavirus panic. I hope that we can find community doing the things that we love and I think that Tentmaker Music: LIVE can be a great vehicle for that. If you want to get more information on this project you can always contact me via email or social media. And I'll be looking forward to doing my next live stream show this Wednesday at 7 (just like I was going to do originally). I hope you'll join me.  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 
I need to start by saying this album has me excited. I am a huge fan of underground Christian music and this album reflects exactly why. Jordan has accomplished something here that I think most set out to do but not all achieve, The Ripple Effect is super creative, dynamic and refreshing. Each song is well written and handled with care, this is evident as you go from song to song as nothing is out of place. The Ripple Effect is a journey that will no doubt have an effect on you from a lyrical perspective as well as what is possible in the realm of underground music. One of the overarching themes the album presents, is to run from apathy. The whole album is a call to action, and one we would be wise to heed. It is so easy for us to get stuck in the same routine, to have the same junk different day mentality, it's time to wake up. Jordan put together an album of catchy melodies that are backed by poignant lyrics, and one of my favorite parts, he deals with himself in and through all of it. Jordan has managed to catch all the great parts of Owl City and merges them with pop punk, rock and even a bit of a nu metal edge at times. The Ripple Effect stands on it's own as a new brand of pop that is sure to please any music fan.
The more I listen the more I enjoy it, and that is the mark of a fantastic album. Each song on The Ripple Effect flows beautifully into the next, there is no need to skip around but if you must, there a few songs I find myself coming back to; "Time is of the Essence", "Louder Voice" and "Starlight Symphony", these 3 songs encompass the albums message and would be a good starting point if you wanted to give Jordan's album a chance, but it's my encouragement you just dive in, and enjoy! As always I encourage you to support those Christian artists that are not only grinding but are putting out quality music! You can pick up Jordan Sovis' album The Ripple Effect on all major digital outlets including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Spotify. If you would like to purchase the album for digital download you can do so here: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/jordansovis2. God Bless! |