I first met California singer-songwriters, Jean and Jim Strathdee, at the Naramata Centre, near Penticton, B.C., when I was writing for the church curriculum The Whole People of God. To diffuse the tension and energy of brainstorming for days on end, a few of us had formed a band and were jamming late in the evening. We attracted quite a crowd: two, I think, or maybe three.
One of them was Jim. Jim and Jean have had a long-standing connection with the Naramata Centre, giving concerts and holding workshops at the conference centre in the Okanagan Valley. He and Jean gave a concert for all the Whole People writers one evening. They left percussion instruments out for us so we could play along. It was a courageous (some would say dangerous) move, and it was a blast. I mostly behaved myself with the tambourine, which is more than I can say for Mr., Junior-Writer-Turned-Djembe-Player.
Oh … that was me, too. Can we move on?
I was struck by their musicianship, their love of songs of faith and their sheer craft as writers and performers. Even more, I was struck by their courage. Over the years, they have taken their knocks from all ends of various religious and political spectrum—for their stands on issues including sexual orientation, and (if I remember correctly; this was 1999) the American military in Iraq. All along, they have kept writing, publishing, performing and being faithful to their calling.
And it’s been a long career. You’ll remember that it was Jim Strathdee who wrote I Am the Light of the World back in the 70’s. I first thought of them as folk singers, (not a perjorative term in my lexicon), but they draw from many wells. A fine example of Jim and Jean’s craft can be found in the song Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord Our Song (#412 in The Book of Praise). This paraphrase, with its walking bass line and rising melody is as perfect a marriage of popular tune and elegant, simple harmony as you’re likely to find. Another stunning song is included in More Voices, from the United Church of Canada, God Weeps, which I cited in an earlier In Song post. A setting of words by New Zealand’s Shirley Erena Murray, this song strikes a balance between pop culture and Serious Christian Songwriting.
The Strathdees are two songwriters whose music is far from being middle-of-the-road, yet finds that elusive way between the Church of the Holy Trendy and the Museum of Jesus Christ.
If you have a chance to see and hear them, go. For those who live in the Greater Toronto Area, they will be performing at Leaside United Church on Tuesday, June 1, 2010.
