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"I want
to skillfully, imaginatively, beautifully proclaim everything that is
not a lie – in music and in movement, in communion and in
commentary, in devotion and in deed."
Wherever
the singer/songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist Jon Simpson has been – and
he’s beenaround the world – he has been an artist
who gets to the emotional core of his subject matter.
Simpson’s music possesses a poignant resonance that befits
his thoughtfulness. On his new album, Dark Gives Way, he delivers a
luminous collection of songs that is part plea for a better world, and
part determined declaration to do something about it.
Dark Gives Way soars with a melodic grace, reflecting the 36-year-old
Simpson’s skill as a multi-instrumentalist, which he has been
refining since his discovery of music as a junior high student living
in the Bay Area. For Simpson, music soon transcended hobby, and went
quickly to obsession. He recalls, “In high school I started
devouring everything I could get my hands on. I went from classical to
jazz to folk to rock.” Picking up drums on what he calls a
whim, he soon switched to bass. But a
hunger to create his own music had him pick up the guitar and keyboard,
which enabled him to begin to write songs. His wide array of musical
talent had him fill varied roles – Jon played in numerous
rock bands, acoustic Americana outfits, and in the church, as well as
self-releasing two albums and an
EP.
Until about five years ago, music for Jon was, in his words,
“a side thing” to his job in a physics lab at
Stanford University. It was then that a musician friend invited Jon to
tour Turkey for a couple of weeks – and Jon was hooked.
“When I first started touring,” Jon remembers,
“I quickly realized that I needed to go for this.”
Marrying his faith to his passion by becoming a full-time musician and
working alongside an international missions organization, Jon soon was
touring all over the world, not only in the States but in countries
such as South Africa, Lebanon, Canada and more.
Touring has had an enormous impact on Jon. As he shares,
“What I’ve seen in other places in the world has
made me rethink and reconsider many of the things I hold dear in my
life. It’s strengthened some of my convictions and caused me
to jettison others.” The exposure also affected
Jon’s songwriting and has led in part to the songs on Dark
Gives Way.
Self-produced and self-mixed, Dark Gives Way is a culmination of a year
of recording and the last five years of Jon’s life. Sonically
influenced by Jon’s affinity for acts like Foo Fighters, Toad
The Wet Sprocket and Switchfoot, the music is soaring, like in
“Olivia,” where layers of guitar and liquid bass
provide the musical support for Jon’s tale of human
trafficking, where a young girl faces life after rescue. “I
was shocked when I learned that Atlanta, Georgia – right in
my own backyard – is among the top 3 cities in the U.S. for
child prostitution,” Jon says. “What would I want
to say to someone who is coming out of that?”
“Kingdom Come” begins with a gentle acoustic guitar
strum that opens into a mid-tempo guitar reverie in which Simpson, in
his earthy plaintive vocal, questions the beliefs he’s built
his life upon. He elaborates, “Over the years, I’ve
realized that there are a lot of ideas that I’ve held onto
and bought into – that I need to give up.” He adds
with a laugh, “I’ve heard it said that minds are
like diapers – they need to be changed every once in a while
or they start to stink.” And “Antidote”
creates a realm of possibility in which Jon wonders what it would
actually be like if humankind realized what he believes to be its
original potential. The song works as both hymn and rocker, as the song
blooms idyllically, a hope envisioned in the midst of a very different
reality.
Jon is clear about his upcoming goals. “I’m not
looking to be a superstar,” he says. “I just want
to continue sharing my music, encountering people in the hopes that we
can inspire and challenge each other. I want to skillfully,
imaginatively, beautifully proclaim everything that is not a lie
– in music and in movement, in communion and in commentary, in
devotion and in deed.” And with Dark Gives Way, Jon
Simpson has announced himself to be a musician of great skill and
immense sensitivity, asking the question in song that is so rarely
asked – what will it take to fulfill the promise of this
world?
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