Play-by-Playlist—Michelle Raybourn
by Michelle Raybourn
Welcome to my play-by-playlist, which is an accompanying piece to pair with my Musical Heroes playlist, like a glass of wine with a fancy meal. But… What is a “play-by-playlist,” you may ask?
The aim of this article is to be a mini-commentary on why a few of these songs and artists have found their way here. My intention is that my experience with these albums would be a stepping-stone as you familiarize yourself with these songwriters.
“Potter and the Clay” by J Lind
I had the privilege to hear J Lind perform this one live in November and to hear him eloquently yet casually explain where this song came from. This track explores the paradoxes of going to God with different heart postures, like with feeling stretched thin and stuck in place or with too much flexibility and endless possibilities to sift through. There’s a struggle for contentment and wondering how to show up well, whether it’s another mundane Monday or a month full of change. The song speaks to a tension of surrender, while also articulating how trusting God at work in our everyday lives can look vastly different depending on the year or day.
It explores the relationship between creation and Creator in a non-worship setting, with wisdom and elegance, and I can’t think of many songs like that.
The ending stanza of the song serves as a strong thesis statement:
I'm tempted to fall silent, to just pack my things and go
To live outside the system or to start one of my own
But I must seek the balance between sacred and profane
The player and the playwright, the potter, and the clay
“Pave Every Road” by Caroline Cobb
As a worship leader, I have a good deal of personal connection to this song. I choose it frequently as a closer to our services because, as Chazz Michael Michaels says in Blades of Glory, “It gets the people going!” Rare and precious is a song certified to make a Presbyterian congregation clap their hands (even if it’s on the one and three).
With its slide guitar sparkle and its four-on-the-floor feel, it’s an anthem about God stepping in to reverse the wrong in the world based on Isaiah 40:3-5, 61:1-4, and 9:1-2. There’s something nourishing to the soul getting to sing these words with many voices mingled together with different timbres and colors, reminding each other that restoration is coming and that there’s a promise we can all hold onto of following “Our King into glory.”
Lo, he has come to rebuild the ruins
Lo, he has come set them captives free
I know he has come
To bind up the broken
It's the year of his favor
The Year of Jubilee
There are tracks on this album of many different styles that touch on different Bible passages such as the story of Eve, Ecclesiastes, Jesus’ parables, and ending on Revelation. This record is a refreshing, different way to explore scripture.
“Hereditary (feat. Jess Ray)” by Chris Renzema
I confess that I can be a little cynical towards the sonic landscape of the faith-based music industry, feeling discouraged by its lack of diversity in topic or in production quality. Although this statement could be its own article—like this one from Kelsey Kramer McGinnis in Christianity Today—a few words must be said to understand why Renzema’s record stands out among the noise.
As someone who serves at a liturgical church with lots of standing up and sitting down and less 40-minute worship sets, I mostly stopped listening to the hits that play on Christian radio, since they primarily seem to be written by the “Big Four”: Hillsong, Bethel, Passion City, and Elevation Worship. This expression of the Christian music industry with its electronic pads and big, smokey stage with a long lineup of singers would be near impossible for me to replicate on my half of a small wooden stage with my ragtag band of volunteers.
Additionally, growing up as an observer of Instagram Christian influencers, there’s a hunger I feel among my peers to learn how to sit with the fall from grace of many mega pastors and the stark differences between the loud, polarizing voices of different denominations. Who can be trusted seems to be the question on everyone’s mind.
So, this album was such a breath of fresh air, taking many of these topics head-on. With songs like “God and Prozac” and “Holy Ghost,” Renzema takes an alternative rock approach to the subject matter, such as how mental health and Christianity interact and how God’s grace and the failure of its teachers impact the faith of others. The authenticity of his writing gives voice to the struggles of a younger generation trying to figure out what’s true and shows a way through of finding meaning with what we have been handed down. It is a starting point for deeper thought and provides different routes to continue processing these paradoxes.
Stylistically, “Hereditary” is a stand-out track with its folksy arrangement, feature from Jess Ray, and its solid hook of “the human condition is hereditary.” The second verse especially shines with its mention of a pastor and his fancy car juxtaposed with that same pastor preaching the Sermon on the Mount. *Mic drop.*
Well, I've stood by in disbelief
Watching the pastor pull up in a sports car to preach
'Bout how blessed are the poor and blessed are the meek
And I can't help but see the irony
'Cause that same impulse lives in me too
Put me in the garden, I've taken the fruit
The human condition's not just for the few
Oh, it's here in me just like it's here in you
The story of the song grabs the listener's attention by shining a light on the hypocrisy between the preaching and the actual practice of how these words are lived out. However, the song does not stop there, but moves towards a posture of humility, acknowledging the disparity in us all and the inner battle between what we say we want to do versus what we actually end up doing.
“Death in Reverse” by John Mark McMillan
John Mark McMillan has long been creating art that has affected me, way before I became conscious of where this stream of thoughtful art was coming from. If you were influenced by David Crowder Band or Bethel Music, then you most likely encountered the tracks “How He Loves” and “King of My Heart.” McMillan is the writer behind those words.
I first encountered McMillan as an artist when one of my dear friends invited me to his concert four years ago. It was a personal yet epic concert, which I feel also describes his songwriting well. It is cinematic, anthemic, and huge while at the same time sincere with its ideas and concepts.
“Death In Reverse” struck me that night, and I have continued to return to it ever since. His metaphors are poetic and profound poetry, such as describing God descending as “a black swan raging” and himself as gold being unearthed. I’ll let the pre-chorus and chorus speak for themselves:
And I built my life around
someone who I thought that I was
But it turns out, all the things I do to feel young
They only make me old
But you raise me like a baby
Like a fiery phoenix bird
Oh, and you lift me up like Lazarus
You love me like death in reverse
Furthermore, the track itself feels so singular. Wild, in the best way. With its electronic landscape, it serves the gripping and emotive nature of the song.
“Shoulders” by The Arcadian Wild
The Arcadian Wild is a force to be reckoned with and a band to watch. They have a creativity of songwriting and a musical prowess that draws comparisons to the likes of Nickel Creek, trailblazers in their genre of Bluegrass.
Specifically, I resonated with this song during my first listen to their album Welcome, with the themes of learning who and how to be by watching and loving another person.
I'm standing on your shoulders
You turn my green to golden
It still comes as a surprise
Whenever I look in your eyes
Without fail I always find the man I wanna be
I'm standing on your shoulders
This song is about a transforming love, and I find myself asking if it’s the love of an older person, like a father, or that between the Divine and His beloved being talked about here. It’s written in a curious way, starting with a specific memory of flying on a plane next to someone but then ending with broad, meaningful prose in the bridge of a voice speaking through the darkness to remind you that you are never alone.
Also, their album art for Welcome is a visual representation of their musical hospitality. It’s a table with what appears to be their family and friends and where you can also spot the band mingling throughout the room. There’s a glow of candlelight, helping you to catch the genuine smiles between the people present. It is the perfect invitation to come, sit down, and share in the conversation that this record is.
“Kindness of Strangers” by McKenzie Lockhart
This was one of my favorite records to come out in 2022 and one I have been returning to ever since, like visiting an old friend. “Easy (feat. John Paul White)”, who was previously in the The Civil Wars, is a standout moment with their well-balanced harmony, and Lockhart’s witty perspective takes a lighthearted turn in “All the Pretty Things”—wanting all the nice things but with “no responsibility.”
Sonically, her instrumentation is homey and lush with well-placed harmony, tasteful mandolin tremolos, and fiddle leading lines. Her themes of travel and experiencing humanity in surprising places as you make your way exploring are contagious. There’s a relatability to her account of wanderlust and making new friends along the way. This song makes me want to sell everything I have, buy a van, tie a bandana around my neck, and road trip my way around the Western United States. And I think that means it hits the exact mark it was meant to.
With its folksy, biblically-leaning words and opening banjo licks, it sets the tone of her record so well with sincerity and spirit.
I wanna see a brand new country
One I ain’t never seen before
Head out west toward milk and honey
Find a brother to share my load
I rely on the kindness of strangers
To keep me from wanting in the wild
Michelle Raybourn is a Texas-born, Nashville resident who currently serves as a Worship and Arts Ministry Director at a local congregation there called City Church of East Nashville. To give you a window into what her days look like, she leads a band most Sundays out of the year and spends a lot of time hanging out with the musicians, painters, and authors that are part of her congregation, specifically organizing a monthly gathering to hear artist stories of how they began their work and how their life has informed their art. And she really loves what she gets to do!
She’s also an Americana/bluegrass singer-songwriter, so if that’s your cup of tea, feel SO free to check out her Spotify page. Some of her songs have been featured on Rabbit Room playlists, and she is so thankful for the space that they create for writers, artists, and purveyors of art.
Michelle also just started up a Substack of her own called “Michenologues” (pronounced “mi-SHON-uh-log” …since that’s how she has jokingly long described her talking style to her friends). The goal is to keep those who want to stay up to date on what her musical journey is looking like in the loop and to write about other topics, such as faith, literature, family, and psychology, just a few of the things she likes talking about.
