Mike Morrell/Derek Webb Interview for Wild Goose Festival!

I’ve enjoyed Derek Webb‘s music for years. It’s weird. While I’d never consider myself a die-hard fan, I tallied it up the other day and I’ve been to more Derek Webb concerts – by a large margin – than any other musician. When it comes to the repeats, I tally at Anathallo – 2 shows. Sigur Ros – 2 shows. Waterdeep – 2 shows. Better Than Ezra (yep) – 2 shows. Derek Webb – 20+.  How did this even happen? Well, the man makes consistently good music. And while I enjoy concerts, I mostly go to ’em when others ask me to come along. I have lots of friends who ask me to come along with them to Derek’s shows. I always say yes.

(Ah, the memories: A Caedmon’s show in the late ’90s and a DW solo show in the early 2000s, both at my alma mater Berry. The road trip with my buddy Johnny to Jacksonville. A gazillion shows at Eddie’s Attic. One in Stone Mountain. One at the Lincoln Theater here in Raleigh, when DW & I were both new daddies, in June 2007…)

So it was fun, a few weeks ago, when I got to make the trek to Haw River, North Carolina, and sit down with Derek while he was on tour with Jars of Clay. Derek is a huge supporter of this little (!) gig I’m working called the Wild Goose Festival, and (as usual – lol) he had plenty to say. The result is this video, below, where he shares his passion for all things Goose. Please watch it and pass it along to your music-loving friends!

Join Derek at the Goose where he’ll sing and play and initiate some blessedly uncomfortable conversations. Oh – and this is the final week when Advance Tickets to the Goose can be had – go ahead and order them here if you haven’t already. See a more ‘official’ bio of Derek over at the Wild Goose Festival blog today.

Finally, I leave you with some Feedback, which we played during communion at Trinity’s Place yesterday.

Wanna Become A Mind-Controlling Cult Leader?

Who doesn’t? Ten years ago – in 1999 – I thought that civilization was going to collapse on January 1, 2000. Not for any divinely-mandated apocalyptic reasons, mind you; it was all about the ‘computer bug.’ Computers would think it was 1900 due to only having two digit-spaces for the year, and all heckfire would break loose. It was a great time in those days; folks from my church were stockpiling food & weapons. At school, my friend nicknamed me ‘Y2K’ and filmed a mock video of me recruiting for an apocalyptic Y2K cult on campus – that is, before I took a year off following the Fall 1998 semester to prepare for The Collapse. The name ‘Y2K’ stuck…I wonder why? I need to digitize that video sometime. Anyway, among this particular cadre of friends the reputation of “Mike the Cult Leader” has playfully stuck around (or maybe not-so-playfully in the case of my dear old friend Billy, who’s convinced that I’m spiritually & politically off the rails, and bound for cultic greatness), and so I tend to notice it when videos like this make the rounds (thanks, Brittian!)

“Don’t you want devoted followers who’ll leave their families for you, give their money, their body, and their mind to you, consider you God and kill for you? If yes…watch this preparatory video.”

Ahh…gotta love it. Say, I wonder if Pastor Mark or Pastor Perry have seen this?