New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture. Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community.
Free Song About The High Cost Of Gasoline, Film-scoring, Piano Teaching, And More: Kristen Miller Concludes Her Interview Of Rebecca Elliott
Yesterday we included links to several songs featuring the singing and songwriting skills of Rebecca Elliott, recorded on various Sojourn CDs as well as recorded live at The 930. We also began an interview, conducted by Kristen Miller for sojournmusic.com, with this talented young worship leader and artist. Not only does Rebecca sing and write, but she plays a variety of instruments, most notably piano (though, listen to her sing and play guitar on a song she wrote about the high cost of gasoline and everything else in the free mp3 below), gives piano lessons here in Louisville, and as you’ll read, has even gotten involved with creating music for film:
Kristen Miller: You recently recorded the soundtrack for the film Crimes of Passion by Shaughn Tillman and Phillip LeCompte. What was it like to create music for that particular medium?
Rebecca Elliott: It was a blast. Probably one of my favorite projects I’ve ever done. Once the film was edited, I watched it and played along. It was very improvisational.
KM: You enjoy improvising then?
RE: It’s a big part of songwriting, when you can improvise a melody. I like to just sit down and come up with something. Improvisation is just fun.
KM: Crimes of Passion debuted last month at the Cultivate Beauty Film Festival. When you saw the finished product, how did you feel that your music contributed to the overall film?
RE: It was a melodramatic film, and I played up the key moments on the piano. I really enjoyed creating something to come under what Shaughn and Phillip had done and give it more oomph.
visit Rebecca and hear more of her music on Myspace
KM: On a serious note, I hear you’ve written a song of great cultural relevance… called “The Gas Song”.
RE: It’s probably one of my favorite songs that I’ve written.
KM: Would you mind giving your fans at sojournmusic.com a quick performance?
RE: (Laughter. Long pause.)
Gas is three dollars a gallon;
Nothing’s a dollar at the dollar store anymore;
The price of living keeps rising;
Got too many bills to pay.
I’m already paying for water;
I hope I never have to pay for the air that I’m breathing;
If it happens, I guess I’ll just suffocate,
‘Cause I need both my arms and my legs.
KM: Wait, three dollars a gallon!
RE: Yeah this was last year. I guess I should change it to four now.
KM: A song that changes with the times.
Hear Rebecca singing “The Gas Song‿
RE: It goes on and on about “oh, woe is me, everything is so expensive”, but then the last verse is:
But You said that You’d never leave or forsake me;
I’m not abandoned, I’m not alone;
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
All of the days of my life,
And this is a gift that is priceless.
It’s a good concert ender.
KM: So when you said that your music had turned from a dark and despairing place into something joyful…
RE: That would be the perfect example.
KM: Rebecca, you’ve recorded for albums and films; you’ve performed in many different venues and circumstances…
RE: Like here!
KM: Yes -live, from the Starbucks patio! So what aspect of being a musician makes you say, “this is why I love music”?
RE: Worship leading. I like the secular coffeehouse performances with everyday-life songs, but leading worship is where I really love to be -both with a whole team of musicians, like at Sojourn, and also in smaller gatherings with just my brother and a friend. Leading worship just feels like the right thing to do with my abilities.
KM: Looking forward then, what are your future goals in music?
RE: There are so many different possibilities -writing, recording and doing shows, and also leading worship. And teaching; I still teach piano. Right now I feel I’m just waiting to see what the Lord has in store, and trying to be faithful where I’m at.
KM: Do you plan to teach your own children piano someday?
RE: Absolutely.
KM: So what do you say to them then, when they complain about practicing?
RE: I will absolutely plagiarize my mother.
KM: The marathon-runner speech?
RE: Absolutely.
Thanks to Kristen Miller for conducting this interview for sojournmusic.com, and thanks to Rebecca Elliott for sharing her thoughts and artistry with us.