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<\/a><\/em>Exactly ten years ago, singer\/songwriter Derek Webb looked at the state of the Church and declared that \u201cshe must and shall go free.\u201d This year, he\u2019s telling us all that he was wrong, he\u2019s sorry, and he loves us.<\/p>\nBut contradicting himself, he is not.<\/p>\n
In the decade since his departure from Caedmon\u2019s Call<\/a>, Webb has released eight solo studio albums. However you want to slice it, that\u2019s a lot of music in a short amount of time. It also means Webb has had a lot to share with us as he\u2019s matured and grown as follower of Jesus, a husband, a father, an observer, a consumer, and an Earthling just trying to process and figure stuff out. During that time, he\u2019s crafted songs about the Church, modern day Pharisees, sexuality, race, social justice, and those who\u2019d never think of setting foot in a place of worship. Never one to be confined to one musical style, his albums have ranged from folk and bluegrass to pop-rock to electronica to soft acoustic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been twenty years since I rose and cleared my throat,\u201d Webb sings in the opening line of the new album, a nod to his two decades in the professional music scene. \u201cAnd over all these years, just three things I\u2019ve tried to say,\u201d he pleads before belting into the title track\u2019s confessional.<\/p>\n \u201cI am the man from which I am running, so even if I wanted to, I can\u2019t escape,\u201d Webb soon thereafter blares out in the hooky, up tempo \u201cEye of the Hurricane,\u201d a song he describes as the most personal song he\u2019s ever written.<\/p>\n I Was Wrong, I\u2019m Sorry & I Love You<\/em> is a shedding of layers; a strip-down to the essence of what Webb has been trying to get at since he first picked up a guitar or sang a note. Webb describes the album as \u201ca reckoning with the guy I am as opposed to the guy I wished to be at different seasons of my career.\u201d Most tracks fittingly include little more than a guitar and some light percussion or piano thrown into the mix. As an added bonus, a few even include background vocals by Sandra McCracken<\/a>, Webb\u2019s wife and an accomplished singer\/songwriter in her own right.<\/p>\n McCracken\u2019s contributions to the new album can be heard most clearly on \u201cI Measure the Days,\u201d an Anglican chant inspired by the style of worship at their church. \u201cI think life is liturgical in many ways,\u201d Webb says. \u201cMy very first week at my church, when we chanted one of the Psalms in that way, I was just so drawn to it. And then Sandra wrote this poetry that we sang to that melody. It\u2019s a beautiful piece of music.\u201d<\/p>\n A delicate string arrangement accompanies Webb\u2019s acoustic guitar work in \u201cEverything Will Change\u201d like two lovers entwined in a tender melodic dance. The lyrics, which could easily be considered a follow up to those of \u201cThis Too Shall Be Made Right\u201d from 2007\u2019s The Ringing Bell<\/em>, remind us that \u201cone day you\u2019ll wake and the curse will break and even you won\u2019t be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of follow ups, I Was Wrong<\/em> contains the third song Webb\u2019s written over the past decade titled \u201cLover.\u201d Part one, off his first album, describes the attributes of Jesus. Part two, he claims, was \u201cvery abstract and mysterious, heavier on the poetic side.\u201d It wasn\u2019t until the third installment about the Father that Webb says he noticed \u201cthe heavy connection of \u2018Lover, part two\u2019 to the Spirit\u201d and realized for the first time that each song represented a different member of the Trinity.<\/p>\n Given the controversial nature of some of his past work, Webb also sees I Was Wrong<\/em> as an opportunity to reconnect with those he may have unintentionally alienated or offended over the years. \u201cI would hope people would see what I\u2019m ever saying over the last ten years as building upon the story we\u2019ve written together in these songs,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I felt it was time to restate some things just so we\u2019re resonating with one another. This record is me thinking about the questions I was asking that led to my first record.\u201d<\/p>\n Webb, who openly disavows placing his music into any finite consumer category<\/a>, states that \u201cthe word \u2018Christian,\u2019 when applied to anything other than a person, is a marketing term<\/a>.\u201d His honest and refreshing tell-it-like-it-is approach to songwriting sets him apart, allowing, and I daresay, freeing<\/em> him up to instead simply function as a \u201cmusician who happens to be a Christian,\u201d rather than a generic \u201cChristian musician,\u201d a title slapped like an assembly line factory tag on so many of his contemporaries.<\/p>\n Webb is also the co-founder of NoiseTrade<\/a>, an online platform where artists can share their music through embeddable widgets in order to gain new listeners and build a community of fans. Listeners can share the widgets of their favorite artists via social media and don\u2019t have to pay a penny (though online donations to the artists are gladly accepted).<\/p>\n I Was Wrong, I\u2019m Sorry & I Love You<\/em> will be released on September 3rd. Pre-orders and music videos from the new album are now available at DerekWebb.com<\/a>. The aptly-named \u201cApology Tour<\/a>\u201d kicks off on September 26th in Philadelphia, PA.<\/p>\n Alan Atchison<\/a> is <\/em>a Contributing Writer to The Rogue. He is a Senior Publications Editor at the Center for the Advanced Study of India (University of Pennsylvania), where he also earned a Masters of Liberal Arts in Creative Writing. He lives in Philadelphia, PA with his wife and two daughters. Follow him on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exactly ten years ago, singer\/songwriter Derek Webb looked at the state of the Church and declared that \u201cshe must and shall go free.\u201d This year, he\u2019s telling us all that he was wrong, he\u2019s sorry, and he loves us. But contradicting himself, he is not. In the decade since his departure from Caedmon\u2019s Call, Webb […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1635,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[244,241,102,239,245,100,252,240],"class_list":["post-1620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-caedmons-call","tag-christian-music","tag-derek-webb","tag-geek-music","tag-i-was-wrong-im-sorry-i-love-you","tag-music-2","tag-noisetrade","tag-sandra-mccracken"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>Throughout his career, Webb has shown a unique lyrical penchant for asking tough questions, issuing harsh challenges to the Church, and at times, using taboo language to illustrate his points. In \u201cWedding Dress,\u201d a song from 2003\u2019s She Must and Shall Go Free<\/em>, Webb refers to himself as a \u201cwhore,\u201d a word the Bible itself uses dozens of times to describe the rebellious and adulterous nature of the Church. \u201cWhat Matters More,\u201d from 2009\u2019s Stockholm Syndrome<\/em>, generated so much controversy over Webb\u2019s use of the word \u201cshit\u201d that many retailers of Christian-based products refused to carry the album.<\/p>\n