Last December, Over the Rhine played my town. Twice. First I enjoyed them with friends at The Troubadour and the next day they played a rare private concert for my seminary. On that day, Karin and Linford gave us a full hour’s time to ask them big Questions about life, music, and God. 20 years of Karin and Linford making music together and we got to draw from their wells of wisdom.
I remember when they answered this question [gently quoted from my journal-notes]:
How do you see your songs as being connected to the Psalms?
Karin: I love David’s manic-ness. I can relate.
Linford:
The Psalms are a really good starting point. Juicy (the sound guy) reads aloud from the Catholic prayer brook while we’re driving in the van. It really means something to us when we hear “Sing a new song…Make some noise, get caught up in it!”
There’s also the messiness of the Psalms. There are the cursing Psalms, and the incredible beauty when God breaks through the veil. We want to take a risk in our songs sometimes, like the Psalms, and ask, “What in the world are we signed up for here?”
Karin:
We’ve had to learn how not to squander our afflictions.
Sometimes it comes in the pain of playing for audiences that don’t want to listen to you. But you have to be resilient. You’ve got to use it, and keep using it [the pain].
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbZVzultvFs]