I was really excited to get a new Carrie Newcomer CD in the mail a few weeks ago. About two years ago, I had the chance to interview Carrie and also got a chance to see her perform in a small venue in Philadelphia. The show was really great and definitely got me hooked on Carrie’s singer-songwriter music. She has songs that are deeply theological, some that just make you laugh and others that have some really thought-provoking and well-crafted lyrics. Her songs are stories of faith, spirituality, social justice and of a life well-lived in pursuit of truth and deep meaning.
Her new album Before and After is no different than the others – it was a joy to get a chance to listen through it, especially to the title track, “Before and After” which you can listen to below (it features a guest appearance from Mary Chapin Carpenter).
[audio:http://pomomusings.com/wp-content/mp3/Before-After.mp3]Carrie also teams up with Krista Detor in another great song on the album, “Do No Harm.” She describes this song as “a hymn for those who believe in the possibility of the peaceable kingdom here on earth, here and now.” The chorus is below:
“Do no harm shed no blood, the only law here is love.
We can call the kingdom down here on earth.
Beat your swords into plows, don’t be afraid I’ll show how.
Lift your eyes to the skies. All is holy here.”
You really can’t go wrong with a Quaker singer-songwriter who has such a beautiful voice and says her songs are inspired by her progressive faith and spirituality, the Tao Te Ching, personal conversations with Parker Palmer and the works of Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Scott Russell Sanders and Barbara Kingsolver.
If you haven’t listened to Carrie Newcomer’s music before – I’d really suggest you give it a shot. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. If you want to get to know Carrie Newcomer a little better, check out some of these links:
- CarrieNewcomer.com
- Twitter: @CarrieNewcomer
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarrieNewcomer
Carrie Newcomer will be performing in Berkeley at Freight & Salvage on March 11 at 8pm. I’ll unfortunately be out of town for that show – but if you’re local, you should definitely check her out. More details can be found here.
