Mormon Culture: Music Festivals

When I was a junior in High School I had a friend that dad was a Baptist Preacher. Luckily the kid wasn’t all about making a Baptist or even hating on my Mormon beliefs. He kind of got me confused with Amish people and was always asking me if I had electricity in my house. One thing he convinced me to do one Saturday was go to a music festival. This music festival wasn’t a normal one though, it was Christian music festival. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to be hearing when I agreed to go. If it was anything like the religious music I had been hearing in my youth, it was going to suck. To my surprise it was nothing like bad contemporary Mormon music. They had rock bands, rap groups, singer song writers. It was really amazing. Since then I’ve always wondered why Mormons can’t make good music. Sure there are some famous rock stars that are Mormon, but are they really?

Music has always been an important part in Mormon culture. During the pioneer treks Brigham Young would have people break out their fiddles and play upbeat music to dance too. At the time this would be considered the latest music styles. Young was all about the pop music of his time. Lately it seems that the church is against rock music or just popular music, which is fine. I don’t think I would want Weezer approved by my church leaders. The thing is why aren’t Mormons making their own rock music? Why are there not Mormon music festivals? When I hear about, Mormon music it takes place in the church chapel. Why can’t there be some good punk bands that are Mormon. There are a few good Christian punk bands, MxPx, Owl City, and Reliant K. They don’t sing about Christ and how they saved them. They just sing music and are very open about their religious views. How awesome would it be if we had some Mormon bands like that? I know Aquabats might be considered our Mormon band, but the lineup has changed and I don’t know if they are Mormon anymore. I’m not saying I need big bands, but some rock bands. I remember listening to Sweet Haven, whatever happened to them. They would be the perfect band to get behind and build an awesome rock community behind.

Here’s what I want to see:
1. More Mormon rock bands
2. A Mormon Rock band festival that happens once a year
3. No more crap music by the other Michael McLean

I don’t think that is asking for too much. Okay maybe it is. I mean, Mormons hate rock music. That’s what I learned from my church leaders. Of course they’re the same people that say listening to anything other than Mormon Tabernacle Choir will send me to hell. So I never really listen to them. Yeah, I might be a little bad, or more.

songs you can listen too

Finding good music can be a hard task. I know some people don’t even try to find new music anymore. They’ll listen to the radio and that’s it. That’s not bad, but I’ve always been one to seek new music. I’ve been this way since I discovered music. I was a little older when I did. I was fifteen when I bought my first cd, Sugar Ray’s Floored. I have to say I’ve come a long way since then. One problem I know a lot of Mormons have is finding good music without curse words. I for one don’t care very much about this. I like a good curse word here and there. Okay if you ask my wife she’d say I curse worse than a sailor at times. It’s true. I’ve tried to cut it out. I did okay on my mission. I was able to cut it out in front of people.

I degrees, I do that a lot in my blogs. I was talking about music. I have many different ideas for music, but I want to talk about one person right now, Vanessa Carlton. I’m not sure if people know her. I know she has been on the radio and on MTV when they use to play music videos. I just picked up her new album from my local library and it is beautiful. Rabbits on the Run is just a wonderful album. Vanessa plays the piano and sings. She has a gift that is amazing. If you are looking for a pop star with a beautiful voice and great skills Vanessa Carlton has it all. She is an artist that I would say any Mormon could listen too. I wouldn’t even turn her music off if my parents came into my house. Trust me I have a lot of music I wouldn’t listen to with my parents, but isn’t that true about each generation? You listen to music your parents wouldn’t listen too.

Here are some of my favorite songs by Vanessa, White Houses. If you listen to the lyrics it’s not very innocent, but the piano piece is amazing. She talks about some very mature subjects in a very upbeat way.

A Thousand Miles was Vanessa first I knew by her. It’s a sweet little song. If you were listening to music in 2000 you should know this song. It was everywhere. It reminded me a lot of the Proclaimers 500 Miles. The music video on this song is very cool too. I like the idea of traveling the world on a piano keyboard. Plus she’s wearing armbands.

Vanessa’s new song Carousel is also good. It has that upbeat feeling. I hope to get to listen to this song for years to come.