Fiction Family

This past Wednesday, January 14, I attended the Fiction Family concert and following discussion at the Ladies Literary Club.  Fiction Family is a band composed of Jon Foreman from Switchfoot and Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek.  The band was formed quite recently and is more of a side project for both members than a central platform.  In fact, Wednesday was only the band’s second show ever and their first album has yet to be released.

 

Although Fiction Family is not on a Christian record label and do not openly identify themselves as a Christian band, themes of the Kingdom of God can be seen in both their music and actions.  Jon Foreman is widely known to be a strong Christian, as can be seen in some of his solo songs and songs from Switchfoot.  During the segment of the show when Jon Foreman played some of his own songs by himself, it was not hard to pick out the things that glorified the Kingdom of God.  The song “Your Love is Strong” was essentially a musical rendition of the Lord’s Prayer, and the song “Somebody’s Baby” echoed with themes of brokenness and a need for love, whether divine or human.  Sean Watkins’ songs were not as explicitly Christian, although they too had many anti-Empire characteristics.  Many of his personal songs spoke of brokenness and hurt over a lost loved one, emotions that only entered our world through the fall.  In addition, the overall view of love that was put out from his music seemed to be a refreshing change from much of the music we hear today that often speaks of the opposite gender as a prize to be won or a token to grasp.

 

In my opinion, Fiction Family rejects the Empire and glorifies the Kingdom just as well as any artist that may be on a Christian label, however, they do it far more subliminally than these artists.  In the songs that Fiction Family sang together, I don’t think that the word “God” or “Jesus” was ever used.  Nevertheless, underlying messages of hope were evident in each song.  The lyrics often spoke of a sense of optimism about the future, or even just the love of a woman that brought happiness to the singer.  The band also seemed to be more focused on other people than just themselves, a concept that is very foreign in much of the popular music today. 

 

The primary way that Fiction Family differed from many of their peers, however, was by enjoying what they did.  Too often do we see musicians that do what they do with very materialistic incentives in mind.  When Ken Hefner spoke to our class, he explained that he believed that the Empire had reduced music to being just a consumable.  Fiction Family is a great example of a band that counteracts this problem.  The band members seemed to thoroughly enjoy what they were doing.  They smiled and laughed frequently, had plenty of energy, interacted with the crowd, and more.  In addition, by listening to the conversation with the group after the concert, I could tell that they just loved playing their music.  I don’t think they would have cared if nobody ever heard what they wrote, they just wanted to put it out there.  After all, there is probably a good chance that their tour is not going to make them a whole lot of money from playing at venues as small as they are.  They seemed to be free from the capitalistic mentality of some many musicians today and were solely playing because they loved to play.  In my opinion, this enjoyment of music is also a great example of the redemption of man.  I don’t know that there are much better ways of glorifying God than by taking the gifts that he has given to you, using them as well as possible, and enjoying life in the process.

 

Fiction Family is a brand new band with much promise.  The depth and subject matter of their songs is a refreshing contrast to much of the mainstream music that exists today.  I look forward to seeing what they do in the future.