J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here.
There are lots of great things going on here at ApologetiX Central. As you can see from the headline this week, our 79th CD, Louder Than Plaid, is now in stock. I took it for a test drive (literally) yesterday on my car CD player (yeah, 2015 Honda Odyssey minivans still had CD players) and was really happy with the way it sounded.
Meanwhile, work on the follow-up CD, You’re in the Eighties Now, is well underway. Tomorrow, we plan to release the third and fourth songs from that project on our next single. Everything is already mixed and approved. Believe it or not, the vocals and instrumentation are finished for the fifth and sixth songs, too (although they still need mixed).
I have the lyrics done for the seventh, which I’m scheduled to sing this coming Tuesday. Tom Tincha, Rich Mannion, and Keith Haynie are working on the guitars, keyboards, and bass, respectively, this weekend. Meanwhile, Jimmy “Vegas” Tanner has the drum parts done for 10 of the 12 tracks! He wanted to stockpile studio stuff, so he could get his drums ready to play live again.
ApologetiX actually has three active guitarists, but we generally play concerts with only two of them at a time. The other guys, Wayne Bartley and Tom Milnes, have been busy preparing for our big appearance at Immortal Fest at the end of this month. Tom M. played last year along with Tinch. Wayne was on hand, but didn’t play.
Tinch’s wife, Deborah, has been dealing with some health issues, and he’s also been required to work a lot of overtime at his regular job. Meanwhile, they've been working on a lot of home renovations in their rare spare time, so he won’t be at Immortal Fest this year. He’s still very much in the band, though, and graciously volunteered to record a new song for us every week to free up Wayne and Tom M.
We’ll miss Tinch on stage, but don’t worry; Wayne’s a virtuoso, as people who saw us play at our concerts in 2016 and 2017 (the last ones before Immortal Fest ’24) can attest. Like last year, our team will also include veteran ApX stage manager Micah Clausen and ApX studio mixer David Michael for tech support. Moreover, we've added a new face, Steve Bertles, who'll be operating our lyric slides.
In addition, my two oldest daughters, Janna and Heather, will be making a guest appearance this year. It’s hard to believe the concert is only three weeks from today! Whoa! I’ve been thrilled to hear from those of you who plan to attend and also from those who are doing the pay-per-view live-streaming event. For more info on that, see the article later in this issue.
I have something else important to share: One of the songs on our next single deals with the topic of divorce. It’s a vertical song (addressed to God) and written from the perspective of a man whose wife has left him for another man and wants a divorce. Lest you worry, none of us are in that situation, praise God!
However, I was in that situation 26 years ago (before I met Lisa), and other alumni band members have been, too. Over the years, I have spoken to many Christians who were put in that predicament by a spouse who wouldn’t reconcile. It’s a terrible thing to go through, and I never had the desire to sing about it, but I felt God leading in that direction with the song we were spoofing. I hope it helps others.
