David Crowder Band: Finding rest in the happiest of places

David Crowder* Band: Finding rest in the happiest of places

Caroline Lusk

Goodbyes are rarely easy…much less entertaining.

So, trust David Crowder and Co. to defy the norm once again.

As with most things they’ve endeavored over the last eleven years, the David Crowder* Band is saying goodbye as only they can.

On January kajdfdasil, their last album as a band will hit the streets. It’s a monumental 34-track, 2-disc Requiem Mass.

“It’s definitely the most eclectic thing we’ve done so far,” says David. “We’re leaving people with more than they could ask for.”

Barring them changing their mind about breaking up the band, he’s absolutely right. Following the traditional form that’s been in the church for years, the band put their trademark spin on a masterpiece that historically has represented death.

“This last record is about death of sorts,” says David. “And with the end of the band, it was almost too close to home. But for us it was more about what was coming…this new thing that’s ahead of us. God is already there. What we’ve experienced is just a glimpse of what’s ahead. It should have been heavy, but it’s one of the lightest feeling records we’ve done.”

And with a title like The Requiem Mass in C, the Happiest of all Keys, one would expect nothing other than a bright outlook when it comes to saying farewell. It’s inline with Crowder’s own perspective on this life and death journey we all walk.

“We don’t talk about death a lot, which is really bizarre,” says Crowder. “We just don’t like to think about it. But it’s one of the more important portions of what we believe. It shapes our hope. Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

And victoriously is just how Crowder and his fans can look back at the past 11 years. Intent on a mission from day one, the band has followed through and delivered more than anyone could have asked for…and the church is nothing but stronger for it.

“What I’ve loved about what’s happened in the church over the 11 years we’ve been a band is this recovery,” says David. “We started back in the day at our church and it was so difficult to walk in the Christian bookstore. It was so hard to find something that would fit within a collegiate, contemporary setting. In a short amount of time, it really feels like the church embraced popular art in almost a frantic way. It went from praise choruses that were so simple and repetitive to random, meandering ideas that sound as current as anything you’d hear on pop radio. What a beautiful moment this church…to have a colloquial expression.

“What we’ve wanted to do the whole time is to look at music in a utilitarian way,” David continues. “We’re not just here to express art, but to give this specific group of people—the church—a way to sing to God. We needed to figure out what moves them and how they would respond to music in a very authentic way. That’s what always kept us going to places we hadn’t been before. We were following the ear of our friends.”

With one ear tuned into the people around them, the other was tuned into each other—the band members, that is.

“The conversations about what we’re going to do are equally inspiring as the music,” David says.

Inspiration, conversation, family…that’s the legacy that the band leaves…and is the hardest part of all from which to walk away.

“The amount of time spent with these guys…that will be the most drastic change for me,” says David. “Music is a part of me and it will be fun to find other people to make it with, but you’ve spent pretty much 24/7 with these guys,” says David with a catch in his voice. “That will be pretty startling, I think.”

Startling…but with the bitter comes the sweet.

“The way we’ve handled conflict has taught us a lot,” he continues. “We love each other like crazy and anytime we have an opportunity to go through something that’s difficult is an opportunity to become more like Christ and lay down self for the other. I think that’s a rare thing. It’s hard to be authentic and open and speak what’s inside of you. You become better.”

And there it is again—that thread of authenticity woven through every aspect of the group and shared with those who love them.

“For fans, I hope that we’ve allowed them to sing to God authentically,” David says. “That people were able to let music pull out what it does and direct it to God has been a great privilege.”

Those fans would probably echo the sentiment—that being on the receiving end of their music has been the privilege, evidenced by the increasing success and notoriety of the group, which has never been higher than it is right now.

“It’s been slow group for 11 years and the curve is going up,” he shares. “It doesn’t look right on paper. As a band, you try to build momentum and here we are at the close of the best year on paper that we’ve ever had.

“But to have these guys and myself know that we’re supposed to put a period at the end of this sentence and walk away, even if we can’s see what’s on the other side, is a lesson I feel like you should hang on to.”

Lessons learned, lives changed…and a culture of worship forever influenced…that’s the legacy the David Crowder* Band leaves behind.

Hope increased, faith enacted…that’s the future, however uncertain, they are creating.

“Knowing that God is already there where we’re headed enables us to see this comfort and peace.”

And so, as good-byes go, theirs isn’t any easier than another…but it is being said in their signature style. With contemplation, intentionality and, of course, as the title of the album suggests, happiness.