Last Chance to Influence the picks for Best Of CD

Here are the suggestions so far for what to include on the JRL Best Of . The rules: songs have to be from: (1) The 5 Song Demo, Seconds to Sunrise, JRL10, Caught In the Paydirt, Now, or Balloon (unreleased), OR (2) if they are unreleased, they have to be a bonus track. Remember -- this may be the only piece of JRL some people ever get, so these are grave decisions with long term consequences! Make your voice heard. Speak now (or in next couple days) and I'll take your ideas into account. You may leave your suggestions as comments.

JOEL (TX)
We've all got this, Holy 3x (disqualified)

SHAWN (NC)
Play, Past Yourself, Anywhere My Love, Better Days, Sunfire Faces

BRYN (NC)
29 years, Circle, Conversation, Despite Hell, Inside, , Sunfire Faces, Waterfallonme (disqualified)

AMBER (IN)
29 Years, Anywhere My Love, Better, Counting Road Signs, Get In Get Over It, Inside (turned out nicely on the recording), Just to Be Loved, Like You Do, Sunfire Faces, Possession or Conversation, When I Leave

NATE (IN)
29 years (shortened), Anywhere my love, better days, the landline version of better, christmas card, Get in get over it, Inside, just to be loved, this could be the day(remixed with new bass), when I leave,when she smiles, Like you do, Sunslide, Times squared, you could break my heart,

Megan (VA)
Camellia Drive Lullaby, You Could Break My Heart

The final projects

So I finished up in the studio after a year and a half. I'm really happy about this last JRL record. Nate Butler is at some of his best (he's drummed on every JRL studio album that had drums), there's a couple of great bass players on it (Allen from the old bands Willoughby-Wilson and the Walter Eugenes -- great bass player). Also a smattering of other stuff - Rhodes, accordian, etc.

I'm working on the cover design and hope to have the thing out in about two weeks. The plan is to do a couple cd release/final JRL shows, hopefully one in VA, OH and IN at least. I'm really excited about the recording and feel that it is a great way to end the JRL period of my music.

I'm also thinking about doing a best of cd for new listeners who aren't ready to wade through 5 1/2 recordings but want to hear the stuff. I'm taking suggestions for what should be on that compilation...

Thanks for the interaction on the recent posts, by the way. It's great to hear other people's thoughts on the creative process and the battles that go along with artmaking.

The Resurrection of Something

The end of JRL was, I think, the beginning of my sabbatical from the Arts Mountain (that part of culture that really is, primarily about making something creative, powerful, beautiful, different, relevant, inexplicable (and only secondarily about other things -- making money, religion, education, values, protest, etc)). I've remained active on other "mountains" -- business, education, church. I've even done some creative things there, but I've been away from the Arts Mountain and the music world.

And all sorts of stuff has come out of me while I've traveled: Frustration, disappointment, weaknesses, patterns that need changing, needs that have been ignored, etc.

I've been questioning. Am I really called to the arts mountain? Do I have what it takes? Am I deluded? Why haven't I gotten farther than I have? Is the call real? What is that call exactly?

Somewhere during all this I've begun to listen to music again and explore new stuff. I haven't done that for a long, long time. Yellowman. The Black Keys. The White Stripes. Stars, Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Band of Horses, Bon Iver, TV on the Radio.

What do I write if I have no parameters? (One of my highlights during the Greenhouse Project arts internship was to see what came out when people wrote with very few parameters).

I think I may be coming past the heart of the desert now. It feels like there may be life on the other side. I may be called to climb the arts mountain. My dreams may be a gift, seeds from God's garden. I may have something to give that's needed in the music world, on the arts mountain. It may matter if I quit this part of the race. I may make it over this plateau where I've been stuck. I may flourish. I may live and not die. Who knows?

Good and Bad News from the artist formerly known as JRL

Good and Bad News from the artist formerly known as JRL

So I'm listening to the rough versions of the new record and I'm in that phase where it sounds bad to me. Yes, it's not finally mixed or mastered yet. But it's my own weaknesses I hear -- vocal tuning issues, etc. This happens every time in the process -- I haven't found any way around it, just through. I guess that's not really bad news, but it's a hard part of the art-making process (or the process of doing anything really worthwhile -- read more about it in "The War of Art").

Good news, however, is here as well. Any of you remember the post I did in February about Community Supported Music? Well it's finally up and running and there are actual members from all over (Anchorage, Toronto, Dallas, DuPont -- of course that's all 4 of the current members).

All kidding aside, I think the first batch of songs is great. Some simpler folky stuff, some more experimental, some worship. If you're interested, sign up at www.communitysupportedart.com Click on Jonathan and then Sign Up. Annual donation amounts range from $30 to $500. If you do the patron membership ($500) I write an original song based on your ideas (an original song written for someone makes a pretty unique gift).

It feels good to be doing this -- there's a lot of freedom to try new things and just see what comes out (and it's interesting what's emerging).

PS: I was asked to sit in on electric guitar for a great "rock en espanol" band. What an honor.

PPS: Feel free to leave questions or comments about the CSM.

After the Beginning of the End

So this end is really happening. It's sad and it's good. I just finished laying down the last of the tracks for the last JRL record. (Well, I may have to tweak a couple vocals in mixdown). This leaves mixing the record, designing the cover, and (possibly) a farewell concert. If we do the concert it will most likely be in Goshen and incorporate as many of the amazing musicians as possible who have been part of JRL over the years. That will be incredible if it happens. The record is coming along nicely -- it feels like in many ways it brings together things that emerged from each album before it and mixes it into a diverse but consistent whole (gang vocals-- S2S, a lyrical focus -- JRL10, unique instrumentation and good production -- CITP, and maturing songwriting -- Now).

Thanks again for your comments and encouragement. And thanks to you who continue the journey with me on the CSM.

Jonathan

Audio for "They Can't Tell You"

Audio! as promised. :)

The End of JRL

I've got a confession to make. For months now I've been wrestling with a big change in my life and and what it means for JRL. No, I'm not dying and we're not having a baby. On a metaphorical level I've run into sandwich board signs with "the end is near" written on them. On a practical level I can't keep doing everything I've been doing. And JRL has started to feel cramped.

Since 2004 JRL has been a big part of my life and identity. I even have nice business cards and look professional.

I've started a lot of bands and gone by a lot of names since I started writing music in the late 80s. JRL is the closest I've ever come to using my own name. Even though it isn't the name I was born with.

Closure is important. Part of me wants to keep every band I ever started as a possibility in my head, but life gets cluttered when you don't let go. You've got to let go of a million possibilities so that a few of them can become actualities. Getting married was hard because it meant narrowing infinite possibilities to one. The result of that narrowing has been a deepening and growth that I could never achieve while keeping my options open.

To put it another way, I've got commitment issues. Where I've overcome them amazing things happen. Where I don't, I'm always starting over.

So is this the end of JRL? If so why?

Not quite. I've got one more record to finish. I think it may end up being my favorite JRL record. I'm also dreaming about doing a "final concert" and trying to get a bunch of the great players together who have been part of JRL over the years. I'm not sure if this will happen or not. If you like the idea let me know.

And after that?

I'll quit booking JRL shows and stop promoting JRL.

I'll write songs, all kinds of songs, without giving a lot of thought to where they will fit or who will listen to them. Some people who have been listening will keep listening. Others won't. New people may tune in. Musicians may discover the songs and want to cover them. I am moving into a season of creativity and freedom.

It's sad though, to be moving on. The songs may be reborn, but JRL is drawing to a close. I think this song, which I wrote recently remembering my high school years (where in many ways music and love began), fits where I am as I contemplate the end of JRL... I hope you like it and can feel a little of what I feel, perhaps thinking about that time of your life and/or an ending or beginning that means something to you right now.

They Can't Tell You
City Song: Kidron (Millsbg) OH, high school
Copyright 5-7-08 Jonathan Reuel

Those days when music ignited
Every cell and muscle
Those nights when truth was a puzzle
Not everybody wrestled

They can't tell you how to find yourself
They can't force you into inspiration
They can't give you anybody else besides
Besides who you wrestle to believe in

Those hours under glaring lights
In the van holding hands in silence
That moment when I realized
I was still an island

Those days when I first hear God
Like the prophets promised
I never suspected what I didn't know but
Everybody's like that because

Those days when I turned away and set out on this journey
But I am who I am today because of what they gave me

(Audio for this song will be posted soon.)