Billy Chia

Monk & Neagle is an acoustic-rock duo that brings on catchy hooks with harmonies so tight you could bounce a quarter off ‘em. At a show last night in Evansville (also featuring Shane & Shane and Bebo Norman), I caught up with Trent Monk and Michael Neagle during intermission to do a quick [edit: impromptu] interview. Here’s how the conversation went:

Chia: The primary audience for my blog is comprised of worship leaders. What’s one of your favorite worship songs?

Monk: Well, most of the songs we sing aren’t really “worship songs,” but there is one song that we love. It’s called “Hallelujah, Jesus” by Evan Wickham. When we heard this song we just had to put it on our new album. We don’t do a lot of worship leading, but we wanted this to be a worshipful moment on the CD.

Chia: Very cool. As musicians, what advice would you offer to worship leaders?

Neagle: Be yourself. You need to live in your own skin. One of the most powerful lessons I learned was to find out who I was as a musician. It’s one thing to be inspired, it’s another thing to imitate someone else’s sound.

Chia: Finally, when you are not playing music, what do you do to serve Jesus?

Monk: It’s like our song “The Twenty-First Time.” This song is a call to action for Christians, and we are serious about being involved in those areas. As we play it we find ourselves more and more challenged.

Note: “The Twenty-First Time” is a song that speaks of ignoring the plea of the homeless and under-resourced. Some of the lyrics are:

She’s 29 but she feels 48
She can’t raise 3 kids on minimum wage
She’s crying in the back of the welfare line
But I pretend not to see her for the twenty-first time

This is a call for a change in my heart
I realize that I’ve not been doing my part
When I needed a Savior, I found it in Him
He gave to me, now I’ll give back to them

After chatting, Sarah and I pre-ordered their new CD. Monk & Neagle are an awesome group worth your listen. In fact these guys are so cool they even have a blogging resource page.

Trent, Michael, it was very cool to meet you guys. Keep the great music coming.

“Basically getting my hands dirty.” - Mike

Perhaps the most prominent shortfall in worship theology today is that most people think worship in terms of music, as though the two were synonymous, rather than worship as expressed through art. A leader in the endeavor to broaden our worship horizons is The Jesus Painter, Mike Lewis.

Continue reading ‘Interview with Jesus Painter: Mike Lewis’