a rotating cast of characters that includes danny debelius (electric guitar), sean jenneiahn (drums), chris coleman (bass), travis kaker (electric guitar), brad mcmahan (bass), not to mention the amazing rotation of volunteer musicians at flatirons community church
Influences
the album leaf, ben folds, charlie hall, chris tomlin, coldplay, counting crows, damien rice, darrell evans, david crowder* band, death cab for cutie, delirious?, derek webb, foo fighters, gigolo aunts, hillsong united, james taylor, jars of clay, jimmy eat world, justin timberlake, katie herzig, leeland, moby, modest mouse, mute math, nin, meese, patty griffin, robbie seay band, sigur ros, snow patrol, spin doctors, stars, steve fee, sufjan stevens, thinker, tifah, todd ballard, tripmaster monkey, weezer
is there more to following Jesus or less? is grace really enough, or do we really make God happy by getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning to read our bibles? is our devotion measured by the amount of devotionals we do or by the number of times we come crawling back to God, longing one more time to be drenched in the overflow of His grace? these are the questions that run through my head. hopefully they run through my music, too.
that’s probably why you’re here, isn’t it? the music. there is something about music that unifies us. even the things about music that we don’t agree on can lead us down a path that will eventually bring us together. music is history. music is family. i believe music has the power to bring us all to the table to feast, to dialogue, to reconcile, to celebrate, to mourn. these are the kinds of songs i hope to create. songs that move us toward journeying together. songs that unite. songs that motivate. songs that awaken a desperation inside of us. songs that whet our appetites songs that question. songs that move us closer to God.
the songs I write are born out of a personal journey. i like to say that i was born and raised in the middle - i was the middle child in a middle-class family in the middle of nowhere. there are no particular parts of my story that stand out. even when i made “mistakes” i tended toward the shallow end of the pool. i graduated around the middle of my class with average grades. my musical skill was enough to get me in to college, though not quite enough to maintain scholarships.
but the seeming blandness of my story is given flavor by this thing called grace. you see, i’m finding that grace doesn’t see our stories on a spectrum that ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. it doesn’t discern between who is more or less lost. we never “sort of” sin. grace levels the playing field - grace is the plot of all of our stories. grace found me in the middle; maybe it found you off to the left or right. it doesn’t matter where - we simply must acknowledge that grace found us and moved us. that’s why i write songs. that why i sing and why i love to sing with you.
the rest is just details. i have a beautiful wife named buffy, an amazing daughter we call seraphim, and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of another daughter in july. i am the worship pastor at flatirons community church in lafayette, co, a church that has helped me and thousands of people like me understand what it means to live and walk and breathe grace. i enjoy reading books and watching TV, and i like to pretend that i’m actually a football coach when I play college football on my XBOX. i have some of the most amazing friends on the planet, a handful of which i have had the pleasure of making music with over the years.
thanks for taking the time to read this. i hope we get to sing together very soon...
Hey just wanted to tell you that you ROCKED at HeavenFest. Your worship prepared my heart for the day and I was able to really enjoy Heavenfest to the fullest. Also thanks for all that you do with Flatirons. Your worship the first day that I was there was so electrifying and real and I have gone there ever since. GOD Bless You, thanks again
Happy birthday brother, it was good to hang out with you and friends. Thanks for having us. Wish we could stay longer. Hope to see you soon. let's go hiking...or rafting...or something.
Wow Brian! I came here to check things out and I see you are on Itunes!!! (I went and downloaded them all...) To think I took pictures for one of your albums! When you're absolutely huge, I'll be able to say I knew you way back when. :) Your music is so amazing- you've been blessed with an amazing talent and you're doing wonderful things. God bless you! Hope you and your family are doing well!
I just wanted to say thank you for the add. I love hearing your music whenever I get the chance to go to church. Too bad I can't go every weekend due to my parent's divorice. But I still get excited whenever I walk through those front doors. Your voice speaks through me & when I leave that night, I feel like a new person. Thanks again.
whelp....that was fun - maybe we should do that again soon, any camps coming up? maybe I can damage your rep by making inappropriate comments towards a camp director......or something......
Do you have anything going on tonight? I haven't heard a thing, but I feel like there's something you're doing tonight...I'll think of it eventually, or maybe you should post one more bulletin about it to remind me...
Did you notice how everyone around the table was frozen in wide-eyed shock and disturbed disbelief, with their food-loaded forks paused halfway to their mouths (which were agape), while you noisily muscled down the last sinewy piece of nearly un-edible animal tendon, then victoriously chucked yet another sucked-dry bone onto the unnervingly large (and clean) osseous pile?
Hey Brian, I enjoy your music just about every week at Flatirons. You are great! I was wondering if we could ever request music and how to do that if we can?
Hey Brian, you have no idea who I am but I go to Flatirons. There is a couple people that want to come watch you on Tuesday and was just making sure you are still performing... Cant wait!
This was an IM coversation with a buddy that made me laugh.... "Can you play flag football the weekend of the 18th?" Mike- "No sorry, I am playing bass at church that weekend." - "why, did you get a DUI or something?" : )
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