Makers & Mystics

This episode is Part 2 of the Re-Creation of Meaning Roundtable (The Fire Dragon Edition) featuring John Mark McMillan, Stephen Roach, Vesper Stamper and Brandon Willett. In this part of the discussion, we talk through: - self absorption vs. self awareness - the role of the audience in the artist's creative process. - meekness and confidence - Fire Dragons and Jackalopes - How the intimate reflects the infinite This Roundtable is the world's first podcast ever to discuss Taylor Swift, Radiohead, Beck, Nick Cave, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Vernon, Jay Z, Kanye, Rick Rubin, Adele, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Johnny Cash, Slayer, James Taylor, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Fire Dragons, Comic Books, David Brooks... All in one episode. Enjoy.

What does Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Radiohead, Beck, Nick Cave, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko have to do with singer/songwriter, John Mark McMillan, art-instigator, Stephen Roach, author/illustrator, Vesper Stamper & visual artist/designer, Brandon Willett? You’ll find out in this Artist’s Round Table.

Josh Nadeau is a print maker, writer and clothing designer living in Western Canada. His Instagram account, Sword and Pencil, features a library of images and musings about goodness, truth and beauty. His work, both in word and in image, aims to offer solutions to disenchantment and acts as an antidote to Christian culture’s rampant mediocrity. In this episode, Stephen talks with Josh about the role of suffering in spiritual and creative development, the winding path to meaning and the need to cultivate virtue in our everyday lives.

Canadian-born Erika Lemay has become a beautifully disruptive icon in the world of live performance, using her body in ways that defy both gravity and human possibilities. Her journey has taken her from her first ballet class at the age of four to worldwide success and accolades. As the creator of Physical Poetry, Erika believes that ‘Poetry doesn’t have to be expressed with words’. Her TV performances have been seen by more than 400 million viewers worldwide, and her talent has been featured in international media, including Vanity Fair, Glamour Magazine, Hello Magazine, Le Figaro and La Repubblica. She has performed extensively as a soloist guest star with Cirque du Soleil whilst developing the unique artistic language for which she is famous today. In this episode, Stephen talks with Erika about the importance of discipline, developing a moral compass, dealing with the imposter syndrome and stories from her book Almost Perfect: The Life Guide To Creating Your Success Story Through Passion and Fearlessness.   

Bette Dickinson is a visual artist, writer, and speaker who invites audiences to connect with God through visual parables of the spiritual journey. Through creative communication, she helps her audience awaken to the beauty of God and His Kingdom and see more clearly the eternal realm in the heart and in the world. Through her work, Dickinson helps her audience connect the inner life of spiritual formation with the outer life of mission. Bette earned her Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Pastoral Studies, is ordained in the Reformed Church in America, and serves with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Spiritual Formation. In this special bonus episode, Bette shares about her new book, Making Rood in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder (IVP, 2022). Bette will be hosting an online “Visio Divina” with the Makers & Mystics collective on Sunday, November 27th at 8 pm EST. Register to attend here. Music in this episode is provided by: Caroline Cobb.

YOUNG OCEANS is a neo-alternative worship project that evolved from a gathering of musicians, re-imagining hymns in a New York City apartment. Untethered from the expectations of a traditional congregational format, these artful re-renderings gave birth to a sound that is at once familiar and refreshingly innovative. The musical ethos of Young Oceans emerged as more a companion to reflective prayer and meditation than to a typical church experience. In this episode, Stephen Roach talks with Young Oceans founder and songwriter, Eric Marshall about his latest project, Subjects In Motion. This full-length album features an all-star line up of artists such as Amanda Cook, Josh Garrels, Molly Pardon, Liz Vice, John Mark Pantana and many others, each singing new versions of previously released Young Ocean Songs. Patrons of the podcast can enjoy further discussions with Young Oceans on motivations in art making, radical individualism and collaboration.

The Welcome Wagon is a musical duo comprised of married couple, Vito and Monique Aiuto. heir musical style is steeped in sacred song traditions presented with minimalist Alt-Folk sensibilities. Their musical journey began with Asthmatic Kitty Records in 2008 with the debut album, Welcome To The Welcome Wagon produced by Sufjan Stevens. In this bonus, album drop episode, Vito and Monique share with me about the creative process behind the making of their latest release, Esther. *Patrons of the podcast can enjoy an additional interview segment with The Welcome Wagon on balancing art and family.

Blaine hogan is a writer, film and creative director and actor. He is the former creative director for Willow Creek Community Church and is currently a full-time filmmaker living in Atlanta, Georgia. His recent memoir titled Exit The Cave: Embracing A Life of Courage, Creativity and Radical Imagination is a brutally honest recounting of his struggle with addiction and the unexpected gift of hitting rock bottom. In this episode, Blaine and I talk about his background as an actor, the relationship between creativity and his journey of recovery and the ongoing process of finding wholeness. Patrons of the podcast can enjoy additional interview segments at http://www.patreon.com/makersandmystics

Michael Hayes is the founder and director of Umoja Health, Wellness, and Justice Collective. He is a visionary agent of change who has found powerful ways to infuse the art of storytelling and the science of resilience into opportunities for healing and recovery. He is the author of the HOPE module (Healing Our Past/Personal Experiences,) a Certified Peer Support Specialist, a Wellness Recovery Action Plan facilitator and a Reconnect for Resilience Skills Educator. Michael is also the founder of the Urban Arts Institute and continues to provide opportunities for healing and growth in the arts. In this episode Michael and I discuss resiliency and the role of the arts in healing from past traumas as well as our collaborative work with the Institution of Regenerative Design and Innovation’s Seed Project.

Malcolm Guite is an English poet, academic and priest in the Church of England. He is a fellow of Girton College in the University of Cambridge and has published widely in the field of theology and literature. His research interests include the intersection of religion and the arts and the examination of the works of J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In this episode Malcolm and I discuss what I’ve termed as the poetics of restoration and how poetry and literature hold keys to understanding and even bridging the gaps between tradition and originality. Patrons of the podcast can enjoy three additional interview segments with Malcolm, one on the moral imagination (which members of our creative collective will recall from discussions in our last book club.) also Malcolm’s thoughts on imagination as empathy, and practices to can we establish to achieve longevity for the artist and writer.

Rachel Marie Kang is a New York native, born and raised just outside New York City. She is an author, poet and founder of The Fallow House online creative community. Her writing has been featured in Christianity Today, Proverbs 31 Ministries, and (in)courage. A mixed woman of African American, Native American (Ramapough Lenape Nation), Irish, and Dutch descent, she is a graduate of Alliance College with a Bachelor of Arts in English with Creative Writing and a minor in Bible. In this episode, Rachel and I discuss her book, Let There Be Art: The Pleasure and Purpose of Unleashing the Creativity Within You. In keeping our season ten theme of Restoration for the heart of the artist, Rachel and I discuss what it is like to create in the space between life and death, joy and grief and how creativity can serve as a bridge between the two poles.

Strahan is a writer, award-winning folk musician and spiritual director from Aotearoa, New Zealand. He founded Commoners Communion in 2017 to explore what it means to become a deeply prayerful people in our times. Since then, he has written three prayer books offering poetic prayers, contemplations and reflections to help readers deepen their communion with God.Today, Strahan runs spiritual retreats, Online Prayer Schools and is currently working on his first non-fiction book titled, 'Beholding: Deepening Our Experience in God' which invites the reader to give up consumer Christianity for a more beautiful life of seeing and being seen by God. (‘Beholding’ releases early 2023 with David C Cook publishing.) In this episode, Stephen talks with Strahan about contemplative practice, abiding in the space between polarities and finding opportunities for beauty throughout prolonged seasons of suffering. *Patrons of the podcast can enjoy an additional conversation with Strahan on the relationship between the contemplative and the charismatic.

Jess Ray is a singer-songwriter-and music producer from Raleigh, North Carolina. Her particular musical brand, has been  affectionately dubbed “friendly folk,” and is an enchanting blend of indie pop vibes and lyric-driven sensibility.  Jess’ decade-long musical journey has weaved in and out of Christian spaces, mainstream circles, from house concerts to historic venues like the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN and from solo shows to sharing the stage with her heroes.  Her music, much like herself, occupies two worlds effortlessly. Intensely spiritual yet deeply real, her songs soar with joy and hope without ignoring the reality of our human struggle. In this episode I talk with Jess about her new album born again and the creative process behind the songs. In keeping with season ten’s theme of restoration for the heart of the artist, Jess and I discuss also how her experience with deconstruction and the prospect of reconstruction impacted her songwriting and how she found “a place to land” even amidst the tensions of unresolve. 

Lore Ferguson Wilbert is a writer, thinker, learner, and author of the book, A Curious Faith, She writes for She Reads Truth, Christianity Today, and more, as well as her own site, Sayable.net. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @lorewilbert. She lives in New York and has a husband named Nate, a puppy named Harper Nelle, and too many books to read in one lifetime. In this episode, I talk with Lore about the importance of asking the hard questions and the necessity of cultivating a curious heart in both the creative space and in the spiritual. Support The Podcast (We can’t do this without you!) Join our creative collective and gain access to tons of extra content and other inspiring curiosities. Listen to our Artist Profile on Rilke (We mention this episode in our discussion.)

Cathy Loerzel is the Co-Founder of The Allender Center at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and co-author of Redeeming Heartache: How Past Suffering Reveals Your True Calling with Dan Allender. She has spent the last 15 years developing a popular new coaching and therapeutic approach called Story Work that moves people through their past stories of heartache to heal and discover healthier ways of being in the world.  In this season opening episode, Stephen talks with Cathy about what it means to listen to your story and how artists and creatives can move toward a much healthier mode of living and creating in the world.