For Poorer

As one starving artist who married another starving artist, I knew full well what I was getting myself into when I said those words.  Still, I can't help but giggle...

Anne Taintor

Heavenly Peace

For those wondering what I do with all the time I'm not blogging (which, as you know, is quite a lot of time, indeed), the last few weeks have involved two primary things: a few more-important-than-usual gigs to prepare for, and a really annoying cold that has gotten in the way of much of the necessary prep time.  I'm finally feeling myself again, which is good since this coming weekend will involve 2+ hours of wedding and dance music for the marriage of some good friends from Holy Trinity Church.  Between crooning some jazzy slow songs and belting out classics like the Hokey Pokey, my weekend is certainly going to be one for the books.  (Which books are yet to be determined, but I'm guessing either a sappy romance or a love-gone-wrong horror novel.)  It's sure to be a fun time, either way.  

In addition to that, given it's Christmastime and all that, there are of course Christmas concerts.  Last Friday our church hosted our annual holiday event, Christmas on the Town.  Though I was still somewhat in the throes of a sinus infection, I still somehow managed to do this:

The song, composed by our friend and church music colleague Ben Lynerd (who is also at the piano in this video), is called "Heavenly Peace: A Blues Ballad," and it's based off of poet William Cullen Bryant's piece, "A Rain-Dream."  Here are the words straight from the poem:

These strifes, these tumults of the noisy world, 

Where Fraud, the coward, tracks his prey by stealth, 

And Strength, the ruffian, glories in his guilt, 

Oppress the heart with sadness. Oh, my friend, 

In what serener mood we look upon 

The gloomiest aspects of the elements 

Among the woods and fields! Let us awhile, 

As the slow wind is rolling up the storm, 

In fancy leave this maze of dusty streets, 

Forever shaken by the importunate jar 

Of commerce, and upon the darkening air 

Look from the shelter of our rural home.

You might notice that some of the words were changed a bit to fit the song, and particularly Ben's arrangement of it with "Silent Night."  For instance, in the song the excerpt ends with, "Upon the darkening air, let us gaze from the mountain on a silent night."  While these words always have something to say to a busy city-dweller like myself, forever ready to hear, "Let us in fancy leave this maze of dusty streets" (a truer image of the city ne'er was uttered), the poem was particularly meaningful last week.  My cold kept me up most nights with wearying congestion and perpetual coughing, and oh -- how often I thought to myself, "oh, to have a moment's peace... oh, to sleep again!!," I could not possibly recount.

Sick or not, this concept of peace is tonic for the weary soul.  This city, not to mention the world in general, is full of strife, fraud, abuse and oppression, and its inhabitants are not only shaken but imprisoned by "that importunate jar of commerce."  And while here in Chicago I often believe a rural home to be the far-off image of peace, even that is not the source or epitome of it.  No, true peace is only found in this: a wee baby, a paradoxically tiny God in flesh, come to bring peace with God to all mankind the only way it was possible, by becoming like us.  With us.  


God with us.  


Finally, not just a moment's peace, but an eternity's.  

And not simply "peace on earth" but heavenly peace on earth.


Thank you, Father, and oh, how we long for peace on earth as it is in heaven, through your Son...

*****

Special shout-outs to my dearest friends: Jenna who captured this video, and Graham Nelson, who plays that mouth harp like nobody's business!  Also much thanks to Roy Patterson from Moody Radio, who graciously stepped in to lead the congregation in "Silent Night."

*****

EDIT:  I can't believe I forgot to mention this, but one of Eric's beautiful compositions was also a highlight of the evening!!  Click here to hear it on his own blog!

C'est la vie d'artiste

Hello my friends!

It's been a while since I gave an update on the musical endeavors of my life.  Since they pretty much rule me right now, it seems an appropriate time to let everyone else in on the craziness that is being a working (which does not always -- and in fact most often does not -- mean paid, by the way, but I digress) musician.  Truth be told, sometimes it doesn't look like being a musician at all.  For instance, last night I picked up my guitar for the first time in almost two weeks and realized that -- although these two weeks have consisted almost entirely of planning and organizing some very musical events in which I play a large musical role -- often the administrative side of being a musician takes over much of the time and energy I would otherwise put into actually playing and creating music.  And I have to admit, it's frustrating.  I also find it ironic that being a "productive" artist usually consists of such overwhelmingly unartistic endeavors.

C'est la vie d'artiste, I suppose.  But must it be?

Well, that was about to become an entirely other post.  But the intent of this one is to tell yous guys what's up in our music world.  So here it is:

Saturday, October 1st: For One Chicago

     I'll be leading the worship times of this event with a lovely, lovely group of friends and musicians.  The event itself is for a fantastic cause -- serving with our hands and feet the beautiful people of this magnificent city.  It's not just going to consist of coming to a big auditorium and praising God with our lips and asking Him to make us better servants at some undefined time of our lives.  It's going to involve both worship and response.  Now, I know worship is a response... to God.  We're also going to worship Him, though, by responding to Chicago, by serving the way Jesus served.  Check out the link above if you're interested in getting in on this very exciting city-wide project.  

Friday, October 14th: Acoustic Blend

     Now, this little fella has been a long time in the making.  It's the folk arm of the Fusion Concert Series that my body-of-Jesus home -- Holy Trinity Church -- puts on annually, including concerts of jazz, blues, classical and other awesome genres of music.  I coordinated the first Acoustic Blend in the Spring of 2010, and -- as it's already Fall (today!) of 2011, we thought it was about time to get around to it again.  This concert will be held at The Tapestry, a great little venue for these sorts of concerts in Chicago, and coffee will be provided gratis by CityGrounds coffee bar of Lincoln Park.  Thornfield (including yours truly) will be playing, as well as some other fantastically folksy folks.  So, if you're at all interested in folk music, great coffee, or just like to hang out with people who are, this is the place for you.  There is a "Suggested Donation" of $5 to help cover costs, but don't let that stop you from coming if you really can't afford it!

Friday - Sunday, October 28-30th: Women's Weekend Away

     This is specifically for the women of Holy Trinity (though if you don't attend HTC, you're still more than welcome... er... if you're a woman).  I'm organizing the music and worship for this weekend, which has been super easy thanks to my friend Shandra and some other awesome organized women.  (What would we creative types do without organized people?!?)  

So.  October. Is. Crazy.  But as all of these projects seem to be coming together -- not effortlessly or seamlessly, but together nonetheless -- it's sure to be an exciting month for us.  And the craziness has definitely taught me a lesson or twenty on depending not on my own strength but on the Spirit's.  What He gives us to do, He will enable us to do.  ::sigh of relief::  Thornfield will not be doing our monthly gig at CityGrounds for obvious reasons, but we'll be back there on Saturday, November 12th.  Please check out our website (www.thornfieldmusic.com) for more up-to-date events, interviews, recordings and more.  

Aaaaaaand... Since I'm writing about music, I think there should be some inspiring picture to go with it all in your mind.  So here it is:

Have a great weekend!

Thornfield

Yes, City Songbird has been m.i.a. lately... at least in the blogosphere.  I've been pretty active elsewhere, believe it or not.  For one thing, I've got this band, see... and we've been writing some music, see... and performing regularly in Chicago, see... so much so that (yes, I'm going to say it again) we've finally gone and made a name for ourselves, see...  No really, see.  Right here: 

Oops!  Wrong picture!  er... sorry! ... er, where did I put that file...?  Oh yes, here we go:

Much better.  Or at least more informative.  

That's right, folks, we're officially a band!  With a real, cool band website, to boot!  (Please check it out and let us know what you think!)  We've each and all been working on some new material (rather faithfully, if I may say so, for working-class people with day jobs) and have been able to debut, on average, about three new songs every month.  June is no exception, so we'll be bringing some fresh tunes to CityGrounds coffee bar in Lincoln Park this Saturday (June 11), from 7 to 9pm.  So, if you like folk, jazz, singer/songwriter, or blues, please do come out and hear our fusion of all these styles and more.

In addition to playing at our favorite coffee spot, we're on the prowl for some new venues to visit this Summer.  If you have any suggestions, please do let me know.  I'll do my best to update you on our schedule, but of course the best way to keep track of all-things-Thornfield is to check regularly thornfieldmusic.com, where you'll find all you need to know about us, and a few extra things thrown in for good measure.  And if you're all about the social media connections out there, you can also find and become fans of Thornfield on facebook, follow us on twitter, and listen to us on ReverbNation or myspace.

Well, time for me to be about practicing... or convincing Jenna to get that awesome tattoo...

Reader's Poll: Should we encourage Eric to let that facial hair grow?  I'm kinda drawn to it, myself...

Music Poureth Forth!

Hello my friends,

I've been doing some extra work lately on my music site (including some new videos!) , so I'd be thrilled if you'd stop by carriepaz.com.

In other musical news, my lovely musical companions Eric and Jenna will be joining me once more at CityGrounds Coffee Bar in Lincoln Park (507 W. Dickens, to be precise) this Saturday (yes, tomorrow!) night at 7pm.  We're adding three new songs to the mix in addition to the three new songs we brought last time, so if you haven't been to see us in a while ... or ever, for that matter ... I think you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised. 

Lastly, I'm so happy to announce that after months and months of soul- and word-searching, we've finally chosen a band name!  Let there be much rejoicing!!!  However, before we make the big announcement, we really need to get our new website up to a reasonable standard of beauty and maneuverability.  So... while I pine away in Wordpress for Dummies, I hope you'll listen to one of our newest additions to the setlist, a beautiful lullaby composed by the lovely Jenna Satterthwaite (who is also singing that beautiful harmony!), which we debuted at CityGrounds in April and got this live recording of:

Giggity Gig

If you're in Chicago or within reasonable driving distance, I hope you'll maybe stop by... pleeeease?  :) 

P.S. Excellent lattes will be had. 

Finding the Spiritual in the Musical: White Winter Hymnal

As I was sipping the good stuff and puttering about the blogosphere this morning, generally minding my own business, my quiet thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of an echo-like stutter, an "I was followin' the I was followin' the I was followin' the...", and my heart leapt.  I'm not typically enraptured when I come upon blogs with music playlists.  Not that I'm annoyed by it by any means; it's a great way to get to know someone, really, hearing what they like to listen to.  But most times I just politely turn down my laptop's volume and keep reading.  It's not a music elitist thing, truly (though I have been known to keep U2 up for reasons unknown to myself); more like an I-only-have-so-much-ability-to-concentrate-and-music-always-demands-more-than-background-status-so-I-have-to-keep-it-to-one-thing-at-a-time thing.  When I heard the above words, the same principle stood, but I couldn't turn it down.  Instead, I listened and forgot to read the blog (till after the song was over, at which point I turned down the volume and thoroughly enjoyed the reading)!  The song I was listening to was the Fleet Foxes' enigmatic "White Winter Hymnal," which I'd heard many times before, every time proving as wonderful (in the word's truest sense) and mysterious as the first.  Listen and watch, and see what I mean...

What do you think?  Do you have any idea what it could mean?  Who was the pack, and why was he following them?  Why were they wearing "scarves of red tied 'round their throats to keep their little heads from falling in the snow"?  What does that mean, anyway?  Who's Michael and how did he fall?  Did the snow turn "red as strawberries" because his fall caused him to bleed?  If that's the case, do the red scarves represent blood as well?

Is this just a sweet memory of boyhood pleasures, simple as the words used to describe it, or is there something deeper in these lyrics?  How does the video relate to the song, or does it at all?

Some friends and I did an analysis of this song for a class last year, and listening to it again this morning brought back all the memories and all the emotions this song stirred within me when I first heard its beautiful harmonies and enchanting lyrics.  It hauntingly evokes in my mind the passage of time, the loss of innocence, and the coming of death.  Maybe that's not what it means at all.  Robin Pecknold, Fleet Foxes' lead singer and songwriter, doesn't believe that giving away an absolute meaning behind the song is imperative, but rather understands that a certain enigmatic element is desirable.  It's a perspective I admire in a songwriter, even if I don't - and sometimes can't - adhere to it myself.

When doing research on the Fleet Foxes, I found this review, (from the UK's newsreel, The Independent) which is very telling of the band's style and history.  As a believer in the sacred, I'm always interested in the spiritual side of things, so my interest was piqued with these words:

There's a churchy quality to the rich, rousing vocal-round that begins "White Winter Hymnal", and some critics have picked up on the devotional sound that informs parts of Fleet Foxes' debut. It's easy to imagine the group bringing in the sheaves, but Pecknold is not a believer. 

"My dad was quite critical of organised religion, so we kids were never scuttled out to church. I don't know if there is a Judeo-Christian God, but if there is, I wouldn't blame Him for everything that's wrong in the world. I suppose music is a devotional vocation for me, and even if you're not religious that thing of aspiring to some kind of greatness can be a very useful tool. When you hear pure devotion, though – like Brian Wilson aiming to honour God on Pet Sounds – it's a lot more powerful than the average love song."

Rather than honouring God, Pecknold's songs seem designed to honour those closest to him. He describes his compositions as "happy accidents" and says that he is not particularly attached to them, something that surprises me, given their quality and intensely personal nature. 

Although he is not a Christian, Pecknold's perspective on God is so fresh, so humble.  And his words on the "devotional vocation" of music truly inspire me to be a better songwriter, both for those who simply hear the power in music directed to honor God, and for those who with me desire to honor God.  Despite his calling them "happy accidents," I'm a great believer in absolute meaning in music, whether or not the composer intends it.  I'm quite compelled by a lot of what the Fleet Foxes have said in their music so far, looking forward to what they will say in the future, even if I don't always ever understand it...

What have you been listening to lately?  Do you think all/much of music ultimately has something spiritual to say, or can it sometimes just be enjoyed at face value?

Oh, how I need...

Last Friday night, backed by four of Chicago's finest jazz musicians, I had the privilege of performing a classic at HTC's annual "Jazz and Java" concert.  Thanks, fellas, for making me sound like I actually knew what I was doing.  And thank you, Gershwin brothers, for being both untouchable and totally accessible at the same time.  
Jazz love abounds.

Piano: Ben Lynerd, Bass: Jonathan Gilley, Drums: Erik Montzka, Vibes: Stephen Lynerd
Man Behind the Camera: Someone to Watch Over Me (a.k.a. Eric)

Recurring "Dream"

For those who were unable to hear us at Uncommon Ground a few Sunday's ago, here's a video of "Dream," graciously captured by my father-in-law.  Thanks, Patrick!

You may recognize this song, if you've been following this blog for a while.  Another friend got it on video previously, which I then posted here, but I've made a few slight changes to the song since then and am happy to share our newest version.  Can you spot the difference?  ;)

As always, my heartiest thanks and love go to Eric (on piano), Jenna (on harmony vocals) and Petras (on percussion).  These folks make me so proud and giddy over what we're able to produce together.  Also, I must highlight our venue - Uncommon Ground (on Clark).  The food is excellent and the cozy atmosphere is perfect for acoustic music.  Check it out if ever on Chicago's north side!  I hope we'll get to play there again soon.

(If you have any trouble viewing it here, check out the original on Youtube.)

Christianity and the Arts and... Homemaking???

Nearly four years ago, for my first Christmas as a Pazdziora, my gentle and sweet new mother-in-law gave me this book ------->

Honestly, I was intimidated.  If I’d known much about the Schaeffers at that point, I’d have been even more so.  But what caught my heart in my throat – which you may foresee if you’ve ever been a trembling new daughter-in-law – was this word: Homemaking.  Of course, I’ve long since realized that my husband’s dear mum wasn’t trying to give me any clues about the disorderliness of my home.  (Please take a moment to quell any mental images of the meddling Marie Barone and, once successful, proceed.)  In fact, she’s always been graciously complimentary regarding my interior décor and use of space (which I’ve not yet had much of to use).  Thankfully, though, she’s never seen the cleanliness level in its normal state!

Anyway, once I finally stopped hyperventilating over this title a few years months later, I lifted the cover and was introduced to a beautiful, brand new world of home life at its fullest and – to my surprise – a delightful book joyfully in keeping with its title.  Rather than pointers on keeping the dust-bunnies out from under your bed (those little rascals!) or the kitchen floor woefully shiny, it is full of gloriously practical and practically glorious ideas you can use to bring art – all forms of it! – into your home, whether you are a full-time or only part-time homemaker.  Everything from painting to music-making to gardening to dramatizing to sculpting to designing to nature-walking to sewing to writing to dancing to cooking to … well, you get the point.  I haven’t yet implemented many of these ideas, but I’ve recently come to value them even more as I dream of the peaceful but lively home I hope to make of my own dwelling, especially when I have young’uns running around in need of energy outlets. 

But even without a house overflowing with children, I’ve loved this book so much simply for Edith Schaeffer’s perspective on Christianity and the arts.  She insists that Christians should not only appreciate the arts (which, sadly, some communities of believers reject) but should be active artists ourselves.  She writes:

“A Christian, above all people, should live artistically, aesthetically, and creatively.  We are supposed to be representing the Creator who is there, and whom we acknowledge to be there.  It is true that all men are created in the image of God, but Christians are supposed to be conscious of that fact, and being conscious of it should recognize the importance of living artistically, aesthetically, and creatively, as creative creatures of the Creator.  If we have been created in the image of an Artist, then we should look for expressions of artistry, and be sensitive to beauty, responsive to what has been created for our appreciation.”1

I love these words.  Having been made in God’s creative image, we are inherently creative.  This doesn’t of course mean that I am destined to, with a little practice, become the next Michelangelo or that I should praise myself as being a better tap-dancer than I actually am.  What it does mean is that I should recognize the creativity I have been endowed with and tap into art that I may have distanced myself from out of fear.  I think it also means that every Christian dwelling, whether a single-family home, a newlywed apartment or a bachelor pad, should be a place where art is appreciated, discussed and fostered. 

So, next time you’re looking for something to read that will encourage the artist within and will help you reflect on the role of art in your home and faith, pick up this book!

As a former student majoring in “Religion and the Arts” at Belmont University (where I began my collegiate endeavors), this topic holds a lot of interest for me, so I hope to explore and discuss it further in the future… maybe even in regular installments (like that tour of Ireland I started… yeah, I kept that up pretty well, didn't I…).  First, though, I’d love to hear feedback about what part the arts have played in your faith – whether Christian or not – and if / how has it shown up in your home life.

----------

Schaeffer, Edith.  The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Page 32.