Acclaimed American singer-songwriter Bill Mallonee performed at St. Margaret's Anglican Church in May as part of the church's "In Conversation" series. Courtesy Bill Mallonee.
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Singer-songwriter Bill Mallonee didn't start playing the guitar until he was 31 years old, but in the 26 years since, he's released more than 40 albums and writes 50 to 60 songs every year."I don't have a career so much as it's a neurosis," Mallonee said during a concert at Winnipeg's St. Margaret's Anglican Church on May 24.
The critically-acclaimed musician, whose sound and style are reminiscent of songwriting storytellers like Steve Earle, Neil Young and Bruce Cockburn, shared about his Christian faith and how it influences his work as a musician during a question-and-answer period that followed the hour-long performance. |
Dressed in faded blue jeans and brown cowboy boots, with his greying black hair tied back in a ponytail, the tattooed musician said when he listens to most Contemporary Christian Music, it sounds like propaganda to him.
"Songs of somebody struggling just to believe for another ... that's the kind of song that I think registers and resonates with people in a post-modern or post-post modern world," Mallonee said, pointing to the popularity of acclaimed young musician Bon Iver as an example.
"Those are faith-oriented songs and he's got a 'secular' crowd listening to him. Why is that? Because he singing about something that's true and he doesn't have to pretend to be something that he's not."
Born in Virginia, Mallonee got his first record deal at the age of 38 when he was a member of the underground Athens, Georgia band Vigilantes of Love. In a poll conducted by the music magazine Paste in 2006, Mallonee was listed at #65 in their list of "100 Best Living Songwriters."
Mallonee said the key to being a songwriter is finding your voice.
"You have to find your own voice, and then the songs will show up," he said. "That means not being afraid of making mistakes."
He added that he draws inspiration from a variety of sources, but his favourite writer is Presbyterian minister and theologian Frederick Buechner.
"His writing is very much about finding God in God's seeming absence," Mallonee said, adding later, "As an artist, I think we probably want to dwell on the dark side first, the dark stuff within ourselves. Why? Shouldn't we be talking about victory in Christ and the resurrection? Thing is, the good news doesn't really make any sense until we know what the bad news is. And the bad news is very, very existential and it's very, very ingrained in [us]."
Toward the end of the evening, Mallonee revealed that he grew up in an unstable home marred by alcoholism and emotional abuse. He eventually began writing songs as a coping mechanism.
"A lot of these songs have the feeling of trying to find something solid," he said. "I wrote the songs to stay sane. I wrote 100 songs the first year I ever picked up a guitar. They were all probably terrible, but to me they started to make sense of my life, and that's why I stayed with it."
"Songs of somebody struggling just to believe for another ... that's the kind of song that I think registers and resonates with people in a post-modern or post-post modern world," Mallonee said, pointing to the popularity of acclaimed young musician Bon Iver as an example.
"Those are faith-oriented songs and he's got a 'secular' crowd listening to him. Why is that? Because he singing about something that's true and he doesn't have to pretend to be something that he's not."
Born in Virginia, Mallonee got his first record deal at the age of 38 when he was a member of the underground Athens, Georgia band Vigilantes of Love. In a poll conducted by the music magazine Paste in 2006, Mallonee was listed at #65 in their list of "100 Best Living Songwriters."
Mallonee said the key to being a songwriter is finding your voice.
"You have to find your own voice, and then the songs will show up," he said. "That means not being afraid of making mistakes."
He added that he draws inspiration from a variety of sources, but his favourite writer is Presbyterian minister and theologian Frederick Buechner.
"His writing is very much about finding God in God's seeming absence," Mallonee said, adding later, "As an artist, I think we probably want to dwell on the dark side first, the dark stuff within ourselves. Why? Shouldn't we be talking about victory in Christ and the resurrection? Thing is, the good news doesn't really make any sense until we know what the bad news is. And the bad news is very, very existential and it's very, very ingrained in [us]."
Toward the end of the evening, Mallonee revealed that he grew up in an unstable home marred by alcoholism and emotional abuse. He eventually began writing songs as a coping mechanism.
"A lot of these songs have the feeling of trying to find something solid," he said. "I wrote the songs to stay sane. I wrote 100 songs the first year I ever picked up a guitar. They were all probably terrible, but to me they started to make sense of my life, and that's why I stayed with it."
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