The Indie Kid Find His Soul

Erykah Badu

I feel like I’m skirting close to becoming a parody of the younger evangelical set.

Mainline denomination? Check.

Reads theology? Check.

Interested in learning from traditions outside the Reformed set? Check.

Thick glasses? Check.

Listens to NPR? Check.

Blogs? Check.

Uses terms like “parish”, “sustainability”, and “grassroots” without a sense of irony? Check.

Listens to an insane amount of indie rock? Check.

I once tried on skinny jeans and felt like the biggest loser in the world. I don’t have an iphone. I don’t instragram so I can’t take any sepia tone photos of my coffee (Black. No cream. No sugar.). I don’t own any cardigans, although I’m open to them. I do wear scarfs. I ride a bike, but it’s not a fixed gear bike. I’m too nervous to take this quiz. I’m not sure I want to know the results.

Why this navel gazing? Besides reminding myself that I’m not a delicate snowflake, it’s a roundabout way of coming to the fact that for the last month I’ve pretty lived off a steady diet of jazz, neo-soul, hip-hop, bluegrass, and even jug bands. This is a big deal for me. Since about 1995 when I was forced to sell most of my hip-hop albums (we’ll save that for another day), I’ve listened almost exclusively to indie rock. It’s been good to me. It’s also been sort of an identity maker for me. I’ve got a fairly decent reputation of having both a deep and wide knowledge of independent* music released over the last 30 years. To be honest, I like being the guy who can talk about almost any artist with an arm or foot in the nebulous indie cloud. This isn’t to say I haven’t stepped out of the safe and loving arms of this scene from time to time, but it’s been only flings here and there.

*Yes, mister or miss know it all. “Independent” is a meaningless term since most of them aren’t actually independent. Yes, I know “indie” is a catch-all for so many different types of music that it’s essentially useless as a genre. Seriously, tell me again what LCD Soundsystem and Bon Iver have in common?

But this shift seems a bit more serious.

It started a year or so ago while watching the first season of Treme. Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, it’s about a city trying to live again. It’s also about music. The sounds of New Orleans permeate every nook and cranny of the show. It’s a crash course into the vastness of the New Orleans music scene. For me, it was like a door was opened and clean fresh air swooped in.

Last year was also the release of undun, the brilliant new album by the Roots. Sounding almost as if it were meant to be The Wire: The Musicial, the Roots once again reminded me of the vibrancy, power, potency, and social consciousness of hip-hop. I also spent a great deal of time listening to the neo-soul sounds of Raphael Saadiq, a man intent on reviving our collective love of James Brown.

Most recently, the bluegrass/roots/jug band Carolina Chocolate Drops dropped their magnificent Leaving Eden—an archaic sounding album that somehow manages to combine the rhythm and aesthetic of the hip-hop sound with music ridiculously unfashionable and it works with flair to spare.

This combination sent me into a bender of recent discoveries. My day is spent pouring through new and older records by Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Trombone Shorty, and the like. For the first time in a long time I feel like a newbie. I’m being led into to this new world that sounds so vibrant and fresh to my fresh ears. There’s so much to learn and discover. (Please, send me your recommendations.) It’s also a reminder of grace. I have no expertise to fall back on. I’m totally dependent on the recommendations of others. I’m a learner once again and it feels good.

It could be that this is a phase. After all, it represents about 1/384^th of my life which isn’t exactly a hill I’m about to die on. But it is a phase I’m really enjoying.

Now, about the question of becoming a parody: I’m pretty sure a guy who listens to NPR and jazz just fell headfirst into the parody well. I guess I’m fine with that. The water’s fine.