40 Acres (Compact Disc)

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Six years ago, several friends got together and named their band for a medieval monk who couldn't sing, and they began playing to classroom-sized audiences at Texas colleges. This modest beginning was the platform for an unexpected leap into the spotlight as Caedmon's Call hit the national Christian music scene and racked up album sales approaching 250,000 worldwide and a deal with a major label. Yet, despite their success, Caedmon's Call is narrowing its vision and coming full circle, hoping to go back and minister those college students that launched their career in the first place.

"We're getting back to what we've always wanted to do: playing on college campuses," said founding member and vocalist Danielle Young. "It's the kind of music college students want to listen to. We like to think of our music as thinking music. The music doesn't overpower the lyrics. Our songwriters challenge the listeners."

The band's blend of acoustic-folk sound intertwined with thoughtful lyrics has brought sellout crowds everywhere from Harvard to the University of Missouri to the University of Texas. Caedmon's Call is the essence of informality during concerts, where T-shirted band members banter with each other and audience members. They routinely spend hours talking with audiences after the show. While they sing from a Christian perspective, band members say that their lives, not simply their music, are their ministries. The group's relationship with audiences is a natural fit, Young said.

"It's not an us-them thing. It's a we thing." she said. "We break all the rules as far as performing. The talking that we do on stage is never planned. We talk about some experience we had that day. Somebody from the audience will yell, and the guys will say, 'What? What did you say?' and talk to them."

Caedmon's Call signed with Essential Records this year because of a shared interest in reaching college students. The label gives the band the freedom to make decisions not only about artistry, but also about business.

"Our next album is going to be a lot more raw, not as produced," Young said before the release of their newest album, Forty Acres. "We are so much stronger with our focus now. We were naive before. We didn't know we could say no. I think we're more hard-core independent even with a new, big label."

The band's independent roots go back to 1992, when guitarist and vocalist Cliff Young met songwriter Aaron Tate at Texas Christian University and the two began collaborating on songs. At the same time Cliff and Danielle, who recently married, sang in the services at their church. Soon the group had formed and began shuttling to nearby college campuses performing for a handful of students and family members. As word of their music spread, they began playing to regional colleges and universities throughout the Mid-West and Southeast. They also produced two independent CDs, which prompted Musician Magazine to name Caedmon's Call one of the best unsigned bands in America in 1996

Their self-titled album, nationally released in 1997, debuted at number one on the BillboardMagazine Heat Seekers sales charts and included four consecutive number one CBA radio singles. The video for "Hope to Carry On" a Rich Mullins cover song, garnered a nomination for a Billboard Magazine Music Video Award.

Caedmon's Call now includes vocalists and guitarists Cliff Young and Derek Webb, vocalist Danielle Young, drummer Todd Bragg, percussionist Garett Buell, bassist Aric Nitzberg, and Hammond B-3 organist Randy Holsapple. "Eighth member" Aaron Tate still remains a songwriter for the band.

Above all, Caedmon's audiences know that the band would play together regardless of their success, and after experiencing the intimacy and sincerity of their music at a concert feel as though they have spent an evening with old friends.

Sometimes I believe all the lies
So I can do the things I should despise
And everyday I am swayed
By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I'm feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they're so mysterious

And like a consumer I've been thinking
If I could just get a bit more
More than my fifteen minutes of faith
Then I'd be secure

My faith is like shifting sand
Changed my every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

I've begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leprous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I've seen so much
And I explained it away

Waters rose as my doubts reigned
My sand-castle faith it slipped away
Found myself standing on your grace
It'd been there all the time

As I survey the ground for ants
Looking for a place to sit and read
I'm reminded of the streets of my hometown
And how they're much like this concrete
That's warm beneath my feet
And how I'm all wrapped up in my mother's face
With a touch of my father just up around the eyes
And the sound of my brother's laugh
But more wrapped up in what binds our ever distant lives

But if I must go
Things I trust will be better off without me
But I don't want to know
Life is better off a mystery

So keep'em coming, these lines on the road
And keep me responsible, be it a light or heavy load
Keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise
And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes

Hometown weather is on TV
And I imagine the lives of the people living there
And I'm curious if they imagine me
They just want to leave
I wish that I could stay

But I get turned around
And I mistake my happiness for blessing
And I'm blessed as the poor
Still I judge success by how I'm dressing

So I'll sing a song of my hometown
Breathe the air and walk the streets
Maybe find a place to sit and read
But the ants are welcomed company

The grass looked greener on the other side
So I tried to snatch myself from your hand
Caught a boat to anywhere but Nineveh
And, well, you know, I got spit back on dry land

Give me purity and give me continence
But oh no, not yet
Like a coin hiding in the corner
Trying not to be swept
I was trying not to be swept

Kicking against these goads
Sure did cut up my feet
And didn't your hands get bloody
As you washed them clean
And you washed them clean

Here I am again back where I began
Try as I may I can't get away from you
And all these roads that lead me to roam
Bring me back home
Here I am again back where I began

So you have yourself your ninety nine
Isn't that enough for you
Still you followed me to the shadowed valley
Carried me on your shoulders too

I've done the work of Sisyphus
Thinking that I could get over this hill
But the one thing I can't get over now
Is the force of your will

Danny and I spent another late night over pancakes
We talked about soccer and how every man's just the same
We made speculation on the who's and the when's of our futures
And how everyone's lonely but still we just couldn't complain

And how we just hate being alone
Could I have missed my only chance
And now I'm just wasting my time
Looking around

But you know I know better, I'm not gonna worry 'bout nothing
'Cause if the birds and the flowers survive then I'll make it OK
And given a chance and a rock see which one breaks a window
And see which one keeps me up all night and into the day

Because I'm so scared of being alone
That I forget what house I live in
And that it's not my job to wait by the phone
For her to call

This day's been crazy but everything's happened on schedule
From the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt
'Cause You knew how You'd save me before I fell dead in the garden
And You knew this day long before You made me outta dirt

And You know the plans that You have for me
And You can't plan the ends and not plan the means
And so I suppose I just need some peace just to get me to sleep

Oh, my soul, sometimes we don’t know what to do
We work so hard being tough on our own
But now it's me and you
Let's give it up, sad bones
'Cause we are following hard times
But you don't have to stand up all alone
Just put your hand in mine

Climb on a back that's strong
Yeah, you can get what you want
Climb on a back that's strong

If you could save me a place in heaven
With a clean we-lighted room
I'd muscle up to Armageddon
And wave to you darling, be home soon
If you could show me the story of love
I would write it again and again
And then you could be the woman you need
If you'd just let me be the man that I am

Oh, I don't know
Sometimes we try too hard to see
But we've got one down and one more to go
That's when you say to me

This old heart’s been left
Out on my sleeve
And I have paid as it’s been rent
Into pieces

Seems everyone I’ve loved has
Taken a bit of my insides
I’m scattered as the woman whose body
Was torn for the twelve tribes

When did my heart get so petrified
When did it get so hard to feel
When did my heart get so afraid to love
When did it get so hard

And the easy-loving Gnostic proud
Use their knowledge
Like a wrecking ball to tear me down
Flooding me with their fallacies
I can’t walk on this water
I’m starting to drown

Strike this rock with your rod
I’ll take the blows
Till your living water begins to flow
As it flowed from the Man of Sorrows’ side
On that day when his body
Was torn for the twelve tribes

It’s a muggy night in Houston
And all the intersections are like full serve stations
I’m on my way to a familiar place
It’s cold in Kansas city
And you can no more hear me than I an see your face
How I wish it was just you and me

We wouldn’t have to talk above the crowd
We wouldn’t have to talk so loud

I give you my life and all I am
But what have I to give
So I hand you a candid photograph of this little boy
‘Cause I’ve nothing to my name
but I can give you that

I don’t miss the driving
Seems like forever
And I’m always driving in my mind
And wearing out the road that gets me there

And I’m driving till my eyes just can’t see straight
But I suppose that it’s getting late

I may never find the sleep
I’ve lost all feeling in my hands and
Feet may touch the ground but
My mind’s somewhere north of here

I’ve got my mind made up
I’ve got to love you or leave you fast
‘Cause I’ve been thinking clear
And I don’t know how long it’ll last
Just like Uri Geller, I’m bound to twist the facts around
I’ve got to get them straight before my baby up and leaves town

‘Cause I can’t walk on water
And if I chase you, I might drown
And I’m already up to my neck

If I may pose a question, it’ll only take a second
‘Cause I know that it’s getting late
and depending on your answer I might have to pack
and make a daring daylight escape
Because it’s either high time to make you mine

Or I swear it’s time toget outta town
So please say "yes" quick, ‘cause the sun’s going down

London’s nice but it’s the last place you wanna go
But there’s no crime and you can catch on a Broadway show
‘Cause it’s just so far and it’s bound to get a hold on you
And I’ve got front page headlines pulled right outta yesterday’s news

You can read all about it
About boy meets girl and then screws the whole thing up
Just like always

It’s no crime to love you
And my heart’s still doing time
It’s acting on its best behavior

Out on these Texas plains you can see for a million lives
And there’s a thousand exits between here and the state line
About the last time that I saw you
You said call me Pandora, call me a fool
And I’m thinking this view it could do you some good
So drop these scales and take a look

There’s forty acres and redemption to be found
Just along down the way
There is a place where no plow blade has turned the ground
And you will turn it over, ‘cause out here hope remains
‘Cause out here hope remains. . .

Out here the Texas sky is as big as the sea
And you’re alone in your room like an island floating free
Your spirit’s hanging in a bottle out on a tree
You say that you’re the black sheep, I say you’re still family
So throw that bottle to the waves
They’ll bring you in to me and from the shore you will see

The members of Caedmon's Call have learned a thing or two about patience. In fact, it goes to the very roots of the band--which, like many others, was formed because a boy wanted to impress a girl.

"Danielle and I started the band in our church in Houston about seven years ago," singer Cliff Young explains. "She's my wife now; we've been married over a year. Danielle and I first played a Rich Mullins song in church. After that we played around, doing Bible studies, stuff like that."

Sure enough, he admits, it was part of his plan to get a date--they just took their time getting serious. "Actually, you're the first person to ever figure that out," he says, laughing. "The thing is, she was 15 when we started touring, and we were really committed to the band. It wasn't the time. At least I've got my priorities right."

Ever since, "patience" has been part of the Caedmon's Call experience. It seems they've always taken the long road--whether you're discussing their nonstop touring, the way they take the time to connect with their fans, or the fact that their latest album, 40 Acres, has been a long time coming.

While the album is a record of how the sound of the seven-piece band has matured and evolved, 40 Acres also represents the sound Caedmon's Call has always had: The acoustic guitars are up front, the vocals are strong, and the rhythm section of organ, bass, drums and world percussion adds its signature eclectic elements.

"I feel like we've finally settled into the sound that is us," says vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Derek Webb. "The new record is much more organic. The first [Caedmon's Call, Warner Alliance] was a big hodgepodge of experimentation with a bit of our style mixed in. I think the band's identity is much more apparent on this record, even though we did use a lot of extra stuff. The way it was mixed, I think you can tell what's really important for us. And, we've gotten back to our folk roots a little bit."

The process differed greatly from past Caedmon's Call projects, which often had to be thrown together piece by piece in the studio. This time, the band spent all of June 1998 in the hills of central Texas recording demos at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio. Without the outside influence of producers, record execs or management, they were able to develop the songs as they wished.

With their own vision so defined, the band made the trip to Nashville to work with producer Glenn Rosenstein (U2, Ziggy Marley, Plumb), whose precision and work ethic drew from the band their finest performances to date.

"Working with Glenn was really good for the band because he's so meticulous," bassist Aric Nitzberg says.

The immediacy on 40 Acres, Cliff says, was captured the old fashioned way: "We recorded it live, except for the vocals and a very few overdubs. The record before, we'd tracked everything. One of the first things our producer said was, Everyone says it's your live show that makes you, so we're going to record this whole thing live."

"All the acoustic and some of the electric parts were recorded live," Derek says. "Some of the songs have two acoustics so we played through it acoustic, me and Cliff, and then went back in and layered in some electric. But we did record two guitars live on every song; that's how many hands we have."

While everyone admits that Caedmon's Call was a successful debut outing (selling a cool quarter million copies), there are suggestions that expectations ran higher. Hampered by the fact the Warner Alliance label lost 85 percent of its staff within weeks of the release and later folded suggests untapped potential.

Though the band picked up four No. 1 Christian radio singles and won the Dove Award for "Modern Rock/Alternative Album of the Year," they are recognizably disappointed they've only worked primarily in the Christian subculture since the 1997 release. After all, their following is rooted almost entirely on mainstream college campuses.

"We're definitely all Christians," Cliff says, "but I honestly don't believe that you can define our music as 'Christian' or 'secular,' or whatever. We'd be kidding ourselves to say the majority of the people at our shows aren't Christians--of course they are; at least 90 percent of our audience, even at the colleges, find out about it through FCA [Fellowship of Christian Athletes] and other campus organizations.

"But we do get that overlap. The last time we played Duke [University] we had three or four hundred drunk fraternity guys/sorority girls. So, we've had that connection."

But Cliff's not as impressed with a person's call to a "music ministry" as he is a musician's commitment to make real, honest art. "As Christians we're all called to be in a ministry of some sort," he explains. "Whether you're a doctor or a lawyer or whatever your profession, God wants to use you. But the Bible says to play skillfully. If you are not called to be a musician, then why music ministry? Your gifts and talents need to lie in the field of music."

They express those gifts and talents throughout 40 Acres with songs that explore spiritual and human themes of love and relationships. "40 Acres paints a picture of redemption," drummer Todd Bragg explains. "God is a very big God, and His redemption is very big."

Many of the songs find fresh approaches to familiar spiritual terrain: "Where I Began" touches on the inability of God's family to escape His household; "There You Go" pulls references from throughout the Bible to show how Christ redeems even the most unlikely things; and "Table for Two" finds the writer seeking to understand God's sovereignty.

Other songs show the band stretching into new lyrical territory, such as "Somewhere North," which Derek originally wrote for the girl he thought would be his wife. "She lived north of me, in Missouri," he says. "When those plans ended up falling apart before my eyes, the words I'd written began to take on a new meaning. I realized that I'm only stable when I fix my eyes on Christ. Anyone else would surely let me down. The ironic thing was that the metaphor still applied. I would simply have to direct my eyes a little farther north to find the love I was looking for."

But even with a popular new record in stores, Caedmon's Call remains firmly committed to their indie roots--and to the fans who've been with them from the beginning (without a major label, the group managed to move 60,000 copies of their independent debut, My Calm // Your Storm). Helping them in this is Kirby Trapalino, who has managed the group in the past and now runs Grassroots Promotions. He's seen the band use the power of its music, along with promotional guerrilla tactics, to break down barriers, getting themselves heard in places where Christian bands are often unwelcome.

With a schedule of more than 100 dates a year, from Harvard University to L.A.'s House of Blues, Caedmon's Call's sphere of influence will only expand. They press on with purpose, as they always have. "We want to give a genuine, real-life picture of what it means to be a Christian, on and off stage," Todd says. "We have never wanted to be just entertainers."

It comes down to relationships, Trapalino points out. "What we've tried to establish since day one is we're here to connect with our fans, not just be a band onstage who plays some songs and then disappears," he says. "Back in the day when you'd only have 50 people at a show, you'd almost covet those relationships, they were so special. We wanted a way to hang onto those relationships, and we've been able to do that through our mailing list and website."

He says the band's broad appeal and strong, grassroots fan base comes from their ability to share themselves with their audience in a positive, affirming way. "I think it has a lot to do with stage presence; it's not your typical live show. They'll stop in the middle of a set, ask for requests and cover whatever people suggest. They tease each other up on stage, and I think people appreciate their realness. The music and the lyrics and the other factors all come into play at some point, but by and large it's the human connection."

It's been Trapalino's gig to mobilize fans, and his latest offering is a fan club that grew out of requests for permission to share and sell live bootleg tapes. "The Guild has been a fun deal. We decided to clean up some of the recordings and create an archive, get it mastered and put it on a CD that we could sell. We liked the idea of an official newsletter, but it's more of a low-budget literary publication. We call it Thirsty Plants, which is made up of submissions from other Guild members and contributions from the band."

He says Guild membership has more concrete benefits, as well: Membership not only includes an archive CD, but also a backstage pass, which--while it does not get you free entry into the show--grants access to a room where Guild members can gather and chat with band members before the show.

For Cliff, the Guild is an extension of what all Christians ought to be about, creating community. "As Christians, one thing we're called to be is vulnerable," he says. "If anyone should be open and honest and lay it all out there on the line for everyone to see, it should be a Christian. Jesus was very open and vulnerable. We go through certain things as Christians; God may use a hard time to teach us, so we learn more about ourselves or God, or whatever it may be. If you're a speaker you speak about these things, a teacher teaches, but if you're a songwriter or a singer you write songs and sing about them. That's what we try to do every single night when we're out there."

In a sense, Caedmon's Call is reaching out to a marginalized group of people. While the Church is excellent at addressing the needs of families and teens, it is greatly lacking in ministry to college students, singles and other young adults. It's with that audience Caedmon's Call really connects.

The group, its support staff and fans basically make one huge extended family. "You don't just have the people who play in the band," B-3 organist Randy Holsapple says. "Maybe that's just the people you see, but you've got the management, the songwriters, the fans--and we're all Caedmon's Call. It's not just seven people on stage."

It also includes other artists. On the tours following their major-label debut, Caedmon's Call rejected the industry standard of having opening acts pay the headliner for the privilege to play. They turned down appeals from several well-known artists and decided instead to bring with them independent musician friends whom they respected and enjoyed.

And now they have taken it a step further. Seeing the need to cultivate good music, Cliff recently started his own record label, Watershed Records, a subsidiary of Essential. Through Watershed, he hopes to enable some of these artists to get the national attention he believes they deserve.

"So far, we've signed Bebo Norman and Andrew Peterson," says the unlikely record exec. "Andrew's toured with us--he's an unbelievable songwriter, a lot like Rich Mullins, very much aimed at the contemporary Christian music market, but someone who's going to be right in the middle of it. He's unbelievably honest, unbelievably vulnerable. Bebo's a singer-songwriter, more of a David Wilcox, Shawn Colvin kind of a thing."

While fans are an integral part of the Caedmon's Call community, the band dislikes the term--they see their audiences not as "fans," but as fellow travelers on the road of life.

Often, the band will catch a phrase yelled from the crowd that will dovetail into a lively exchange in the middle of a set. The group also committed years ago that the Caedmon's Call experience wouldn't end until the last person left the building. That promise has resulted in the band spending hours after concerts, usually cross-legged on the corner of the stage, in discussions about life, lyrics and faith. "The fact we share ourselves brings our fans to say they've been through the exact same things," Cliff says, "or share what they're going through, or what a song has meant to them."

"After the show, the band members trickle down into the audience and just talk with people for hours," Trapalino says. "I think it's that personal availability people have connected with."

As vocalist Danielle Young explains, "These people are more than fans; they have become our friends and we've invested in each other personally. They're our community."

1999 40 Acres

1998 The Guild Colelction, Vol 2

1997 Caedmon's Call

1997 Intimate Portrait, enhanced CD

1997 The Guild Collection, Vol 1

1996 My Calm//Your Storm, remastered rerelease

1995 Just Don't Want Coffee

1994 My Calm//Your Storm