The left has long understood the power of the arts in furthering radical ideas, in a way conservatives have largely failed to grasp in defending theirs. Conservatives with the financial means must increase their support of conservative artists for the sake of a culture in immediate need of the wisdom that a long intellectual, cultural, educational, and political conservative tradition has produced.
I am an artistic professional—a singer-songwriter—who is also a political and cultural conservative. Needless to say, it has been a lonely road.
For those unaware, artistic circles—musicians, poets, writers, filmmakers—tend to be of the most liberal-leaning sort in comparison to the general populace. This is not universally bad, by any stretch, at most points in history. They are often the dreamers, the innovators, the explorers, in and out of the artistic realm. They thrive on creatively challenging the status quo, and status quos often require such challenge.
But, particularly in recent years, this strong tendency toward radically leftist politics has become more extreme and more dogmatic among many of the strongest voices—so much so that conservative artists, in even the broadest sense, prescinding from partisan concerns, seem to the outside observer not to exist at all. And in a real way, that seeming is truth, at least in terms of successful professionals in their respective sectors, particularly in the younger generation. The more that extreme left dogmatism becomes normative in the art world, the harder it is for conservative-leaning artists to get past various gatekeepers as well as work with their colleagues on projects, particularly as those projects lift off increasingly more from authentic artistic expression into committed ideological agenda (the former being generally unifying, the latter generally divisive). The conservative artist is either explicitly starved out of her industry, or she is forced to work on projects antithetical to her convictions, stifling her authentic perception and raison d’etre as artist. Taking also into account the influence of the near-universal peer ideology, few survive in this climate with their convictions and artistry intact.
There remain nonpartisan, authentic, worthy projects, but these are diminishing, even within the last few years, as the lethal mix of socialist propaganda and unbridled market concerns takes deeper root in the cultural landscape at the expense of honest art. There is simply not much good work for the principled, conservative artist. There are limited niche conservative projects, but while these don’t violate the conservative element of the artist’s convictions, they do, unfortunately, often violate his artistic ones—an unfortunate “other side” to the unique challenges of the conservative artist. Propaganda remains propaganda even if it is essentially true; it is a controversial, oversimplified means of communication, and one that is certainly outside of the voice of any valuable artist (just as it is arguably below the intelligence and dignity of any human person). The conservative projects that are able to raise necessary capital are often those that tend toward thin moralism and this feeling of propaganda, as they easily draw out a predictable, niche audience, securing investment return. The riskier ones—the ones that our best and most talented artists conceive of and incubate—can therefore rarely plug into the systems necessary for success, on either side of the political spectrum, although for different reasons.
Mediocrity and ideology thus regularly triumph.
The Conservative Artist in Hiding and Plain Sight
So where then is the conservative artist? Outside of perhaps the niche evangelical film and music market, and perhaps areas of the country music genre, the conservative artist is either floundering or hiding in plain sight, never to come clean, increasingly also even in Christian circles—either as artist or as conservative, and perhaps sometimes as both.
If he succeeds in his industry, he walks a constant tight rope; he shows up and must do the most excellent work; he can never speak of politics or religion; he subtly weaves his voice in with the strong liberal one around him, and accepts the small addition or move in direction he is able to offer—a little more redemption, a little more sense, a little more of a well-rounded character in the script with neutrality rather than hostility toward the values he holds dear; he goes to secret meetings at unreleased locations with others from the industry in hiding;[1] he fights the incredible loneliness that comes with forced, constant inauthenticity, and seeks desperate nourishment through a few trusted friendships. It is a life of worthy sacrifice, but a painful one.
Or, he languishes outside of success, unable to continue in his craft in a professional way if he hopes to pay his rent.
The conservative artist is not a mythical creature; he is a silenced voice.
But before we rage against the “liberal Hollywood machine,” as is a habit of besieged conservatives, there needs to be a reckoning within our owns ranks—for this silencing has both an active agent as well as a passive one, and the passive one is perhaps the more destructive.
Although the cultural shouting down of the conservative voice is not to be dismissed as inconsequential, the silence of the conservative artist is principally a lack of magnification rather than a strict tightening of the lips. The artist is not silent, but the voice remains largely inaudible due to lack of amplification by those who could provide it. Again, the radical left has long seen fit to fund and support its artists with a view to long-term influence on the culture and without primary concern of financial return. Conservatives as a whole have largely missed the opportunity to, at the very least, respond to such an onslaught. Conservative artists, understanding this principle, find themselves suffering from a feeling of homelessness and abandonment, confused by the lack of support.
It is simply fact that without conservatives as a large subset of the population demanding quality art, such art cannot be shared in any meaningful, culturally-affecting way. Art depends, as it always has, on devoted patrons as its lifeblood—moviegoers, book-buyers, concert attendees, and, perhaps most principally, various investors.
A Cultural Challenge for the Conservative Sector
Many things must happen for this demand for, and crucial patronage of, conservative artists to occur.
First, many more conservatives, particularly fiscal and political conservatives, must concern themselves with art, especially the humbler “folk” art, the language of the people, which they are often notably reticent to do—often except, as mentioned above, in the case of safe investment returns. The tendency toward a utilitarian concern with mammon rather than sacrificial and generous commitment to ideals is, arguably, the conservative Achilles’ heel. Investment in the arts must be seen as cultural, educational, political, and even spiritual investment, alongside the potential financial—while always resisting the slide into propagandic forms.
Second, conservatives have to be willing to be educated in quality in all artistic media, from the highest forms down, rather than look for cheap, ingratiating affirmation of their political or religious leanings. True art is the deeper heart that assumes rather than always proclaims the artist’s convictions. Philosophical underpinnings necessarily bleed through and stain the artist’s production. We have to be trained to see these bleed-throughs, rather than applaud and reward only the neon signs, thus magnifying the tacky and ineffective. Whether or not his subject matter is more forthrightly conservative, the artist—if he is good—speaks a subtle, worthy, intimate language; we must be attuned to the whispers.
Third, conservatives must understand the ramifications of supporting or not supporting their brothers in the arts, and allow this to directly affect their monetary decisions. Ultimately—for the pragmatist, if he does not live in any meaningful way for ideals—it is bad for business. Culture convinces and changes; stories and narratives—the artist’s terrain—shape the collective consciousness of a nation and civilization, and thus also the market. The incoming socialism of our age, particularly in younger generations, should be sufficient threat to motivate action, but even the increasing rejection and attack on conservative businesses in all sectors should be enough to sound the alarm. To reject support of the best conservative artists, many who make great personal sacrifices to produce culture-shifting quality work, is to fundamentally reject one’s own existence in the broader culture, in spite of being a sizable subset of that culture. It is only a matter of time before this complete rejection becomes apparent; perhaps we are nearly there.
Put positively, supporting conservative excellence in the arts, in all of its forms, will produce a substantive movement that fosters thoughtful, responsible, and virtuous citizens. It will do this simply because the conservative voice, if authentic, is a voice of common sense, strength, goodness, magnanimity, integrity, stability, and hope. Edifying work affects people in a real and lasting way. Narratives that affirm conservative values—again, organically rather than in a propagandizing way—from hard work and meaningful leisure, to familial loyalty, to compassionate, connected responsibility, effectively change the cultural conversation over time.
The influence of the artist extends far beyond a spread sheet and cannot be directly quantified; books, poems, songs, and films stay with a person indefinitely. Who doesn’t find a song lyric or scene from a movie or book coming into the imagination after years of forgetfulness? The psyche holds on strongly to art, largely because the arts pair with the electricity of emotion in a human person, carving a strong neural pathway for memory. These memories persist long after conscious interaction with the art. To dismiss this power as unimportant or quaint is marked foolishness.
The radical political left, we can say, has had the benefit of the mainstream media, Hollywood, the humanities, and the music industry. It may be so, but it is so largely because conservatives have not taken sufficient interest in and ownership of these sectors of society, and this neglect has had deleterious effects. The radical left has for decades taken the longview, of which we are now seeing the dramatic fruit in its more extreme manifestations; it has long understood the power of the arts in furthering radical ideas, in a way conservatives have largely failed to grasp in defending theirs. Funding for the arts in a radically left direction, particularly through private means in mass media and popular culture, has therefore been ample; conservatives must at least begin to try to compete.
Millennials and Gen Z are receiving most reports of national and international events through the lens of a celebrity social media post and their most recent Spotify playlist. They are not, as a whole, reading the paper or books, nor anything that even electronically resembles these. They are often not even on Facebook anymore—the meatiest of our social media offerings—where they may on the off-chance come across an Imaginative Conservative essay to skim.
The ramifications of this reality can be hard for the sage and virtuous conservative thinker to fully grasp. Our political fight has now shifted almost entirely to the cultural arena, and our lone artistic soldiers have little armour.
Signs of Hope
There are strong signs of hope burgeoning in the more traditionally intellectual, “high” artistic fields, often Catholic—The Colosseum, Wiseblood Books, Dappled Things.[2] While not politically focused, these are broadly conservative in the sense of simply not engendering the extreme leftist politics that is dominant in most artistic circles. But one searches in vain for an equivalent conservative music producer, or film company, or record label, largely because these things require substantive financial support. Those who are such often have their cards impeccably close to their chests to maintain their livelihood through their liberal clientele, to the point that they are not recognizable; but nearly all are simply not conservative. We do not currently have a significant stake in that part of the game.
(Perhaps one new exception is the series on the Gospels directed by Dallas Jenkins, The Chosen, which has creatively sourced funding from its audience to produce quality film storytelling around the Christian narrative. While evidently explicitly religious in theme, it is unique in its ability to capture the Gospel characters in an authentic and new way without veering into sentimentality—admirable and rare.)
There remain many little individual engines that could, however. They remain largely isolated, but fighting. They are generally both strong and talented if they have survived this far.
The conservative artist exists. I am one of them, and recently stepped out clearly as such, tired of the hiding and hungry to be free artistically to tackle the issues I care about, such as socialism and the shallowness of our times. I am also privy to a quiet network of others like me in the behemoth artistic liberal metropolis of Los Angeles and beyond. It is difficult to mobilize without resources—financial, business, and otherwise; self-funding is ideal, but difficult, as most artists scramble simply to survive. Savvy business mentorship (an area where artists do not generally shine) is much needed, although always without disproportionate concern for the market.
Religious connections are unfortunately not, as a rule, tangibly meaningful here, particularly if one does not deal directly in religious content. Being a Catholic is only small help, surprisingly; many robust Catholic artists and art-lovers who reject sentimentality and poor quality increasingly lean heavily liberal also, driven perhaps by their generally sensitive and compassionate temperament, a desire for worldly sophistication, and the real effect of the views of their professional artistic peers. I imagine it is similar in other religious groups. Thus, the authentic conservative voice is a voice often related to but ultimately distinct from a simply religious one, and is thus in great need of collaborative support from those with similar convictions.
Much needs building, and the solutions are not simple. But the voice itself exists. It is time for this quiet, nuanced conservative voice to be heard in the arts, in a way only the arts can be heard. It is time for these quiet voices to courageously sing and speak with gusto and fearlessness, and for conservatives with financial and entrepreneurial means to intentionally amplify their words, songs, stories, and brushstrokes. This must be done for the sake of a culture in immediate need of the wisdom that a long intellectual, cultural, educational, and political conservative tradition has produced—a tradition that will often only come to the people through art.
It is time for conservatism to shed its often-reduced version of itself, concerned primarily with finances and the immediate political landscape, in favour of a much richer and long-lasting focus. It is time to fight squarely for conservatism’s rightful cultural place.
This essay first appeared here in April 2020.
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
Notes:
[1] For example, see Friends of Abe.
[2] The Colosseum, Wiseblood Books, Dappled Things.
The featured image is “Artist Painting a Portrait of a Musician” (c. 1803) by Marguerite Gérard (1761-1837) and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Great thoughts!
Thanks for your wonderfully thoughtful article. Ideally, great art and music should transcend political ideology. This is why I approve wholeheartedly with the kind words I see on this site for the music of Bruce Springsteen despite his leftward leanings. Music and art should unite us rather than divide us. I remember a few years ago attending a concert with Bob Dylan and Merle Haggard on the same bill. (They did not perform together.) It was wonderful seeing 60’s counterculture people and folks wearing “America, if you don’t love it leave it” T-shirts in the same auditorium getting along and not fighting each other. You could easily see that many of Dylan’s and Haggard’s songs shared similar themes. In reality, neither Dylan’s nor Haggard’s personal views fall neatly into liberal or conservative categories. That being said, the left does dominate most of today’s art and popular culture. Perhaps this reflects the increasingly partisan and intolerant nature of the left today. Therefore, I am happy to see a person with conservative views such as yourself making a go of it as a singer/songwriter. By the way, I listened to some of your YouTube videos and think your music is fabulous. As with all great art and music, it does not wear ideology on its sleeve.
Thank you, Kay! In the context of your appeal for conservatives to fund conservative arts projects, I hope it is not inappropriate to suggest an actual, current, real-world opportunity to do so. I am a conservative classical composer who has written for this site and has authored a book on goodness, truth, and beauty in music (The Sound of Beauty, Ignatius Press). I am known for championing a return from the avant-garde in classical music to the kind of traditional quality and beauty of the early 20th century tonal symphonists. My last CD/ album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. My record company will be recording my new symphony in 2021, and the London Symphony Orchestra has agree to record it. However, the fee to pay their musicians is not inexpensive. If you would like to donate and/or to fund-raise, and perhaps have this CD be dedicated as a memorial to a loved one, please let me know. http://www.Michaelkurek.com. Thanks, and God bless.
Excellent article. You summed up the situation perfectly. I’m a conservative, a Catholic, and a classical oil painter. Though my work has never really contained political messages one way or the other, the vast majority of my clients have been on the political left. Conservatives, it seems, don’t tend to buy art in my price range. I hope your message reaches people of means, conservatives who care about the deeper aspects of our culture and politics. Your song “Sometimes” is beautiful.
Why are most arts people liberal? Could it simply be because most don’t think deeply about philosophical questions or study the history of thought? Are they simply following the herd? It’s hard to understand, because it seems to me that the act of studying and performing classical music, for example, is inherently conservative.
I read and subscribe to the main writer’s magazines, for the nuggets I get from them, but have to wade through the blantant symbolism that marks the left, as well as the overt messages against conservatives. I have thought for many years about how conservative poets are not well known. Wonderful article.
Great article. Are you aware of the Benedict XVI Institute founded by Archbishop Cordileone? It is trying to address some of the challenges Katy Clarity speaks of
I think it is important for all artists to express themselves and their own personal beliefs, however, It is terribly detrimental to ALL artists liberal/conservative/whatever if LABELS are placed on artists for their OWN PERSONAL beliefs. The art world is forever changing, things are NOT left behind, classical art/literature/music is not ‘forgotten’ but EMBRACED and modified by MANY artists no matter their beliefs or values as the world progresses. No one should be villainized for not supporting your or anyone else’s beliefs. Why create an even larger divide? Why not embrace change/differences between the growing and IMPROVING art world?
Thank you for this! I am culturally and fiscally conservative, although not affiliated with any political party. I ran a large, diverse dance program at a performing arts high school for 17 years. Have you seen the “art” in that genre lately? Both commercial and concert dance have become hyper-sexualized to a point of alarm to myself and even my more liberal colleagues. I was blessed to be able to mostly freely create works that promoted my values. I was especially supported by my POC students, who were considerably more conservative than the few white students in the program. I appreciate this article so much!
Andrea, thanks for your comment! Yes, I have been deeply disturbed by what I’ve seen in the dances of especially young teens and young–even very young–girls. Alarming is the right word.
Thank you for this article! I don’t know what possessed me to even look up the topic today… I guess its just the political climate. I am 41 but currently getting my BFA. I’m a photographer by trade and I am as conservative and red as I could possibly be. I am christian first above all else and an Army veteran. The semester just started at my school and I am already dreading it considering everything happening. There is nothing worse than having to sit there listening to my instructors and kids old enough to be my own children be so full of hate when speaking about politics that I can say nothing to rebut. Don’t get me started on religion… anyways I guess what I am saying is thank you for letting me know that although few… I am not alone.
I was reading an article today in a supplement to the Wall Street Journal that prompted me to wonder who are the significant contemporary politically conservative artists that are making an impact on social thinking. I could not think of any, so I Googled it.
I still don’t know, but that is how I found your article. Because of how artist can capture the human condition so well and translate compassion and empathy into their art, I have always assumed artist are more liberal mined than not, so I never gave the contrary much thought.
So, unless an artist expresses a political thought in or outside of his/her art, why would anyone put a political label on them?
Frankly, I am amazed there is a website devoted to the conservative artist. How do you define a conservative artist?
What subject matters would be considered liberal or conservative art?
I am not an artist but, I did have a liberal arts Catholic education. The basis of that education was to promote critical thinking, to be curious, and open to and respectful of diverse ideas and philosophies.
I have always thought the arts opened the doors to empathy and compassion. Has that changed in the conservative art world?
If so, with what attributes would you label conservative art?
The music industry makes most of its money from children, teenagers, and college students. It is at that age range that music most impacts and forms a person. The music industry knows this, and these are the ages that the profiteers target.
As the old saying goes, attributed to John Adams: “If a person is not a liberal when he is twenty, he has no heart; if he is not a conservative when he is forty, he has no head.’ The music industry knows this too and will sell more if it connects with those idealistic young people.
I have so many songs from the 70’s and 80’s in my head that I can recall with facility. The publishers of those songs continue to make licensing royalties from those songs because Gen-X’ers like me still connect with them, as do all people connect with the music from their teenage years.
The music produced today is mostly disposable, like Bic pens. This is because there is always a new group of 13 year-olds every year. It would not be good business to make new music that did not need to be replaced the following year.
There is more to it than this, but the key is not going to be to start marketing “conservative” music. Somehow there has to be a movement in music education (and lots of marketing dollars for it) that makes the appreciation of non-disposable music much more pleasurable to children.
Kay,
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for articulating so clearly the struggles that those of us who are conservative artists are facing. Truly excellent.
I am a pop surrealism artist that happens to be conservative. My art is not political, but maybe it should be to get the conservative message across. Thank you for challenging me with your article. I am proudly pro life and I feel that art should celebrate life. I am also terrified of criticism or upsetting people being labeled a racist etc etc. Maybe that is why I never let anyone know through my art my real beliefs. It is so important to get the pro life and pro hope message that conservatism represents across to others. Thank you and what a beautiful song.
What a bolt of lightning! Thank you for this article. Compared to the nation as a whole, I’m quite liberal; but compared to most of my actor/writer friends, I’m Ronald Reagan. I’ve been feeling very homeless and abandoned lately as I watch things shift radically, and I worry about giving scandal to my Catholic faith every other time I’m offered a project. I doubt we’d agree on everything, but you’ve given me much to think about.
Thank you so much for your article Kay. I was searching the web for places to exhibit my Christian conservative art and found your article. I recently have experienced the shunning of doing moral and political based artwork by my peers. It is a difficult place to be. It really takes a lot of courage to show my pieces and have them criticized not for my skill but for the content. After reading your article, I am encouraged to know there are others like me. I am ready to stand up and show the other side of the spectrum in the art realm. I want to be bold and the desire burns within me to take the chance. I encourage all to step out. I believe it is our current calling as creatives and worth the risk.
Wonderful! Time indeed for a “much richer and long-lasting focus.” Thank you Kay. Thank you Imaginative Conservative. tipping.
As I’ve aged into my 50’s, it has become easier to look back over the decades and track the ” long-game” that “progressives” have been playing in influencing culture through art, media, and education. It is maddening to me that conservative voices are looked down on and have been pushed to the fringes of cultural influence, even as increasingly radical left-wing views are being normalized in society. I have chafed at the seeming short-sightedness of religious and cultural conservative leaders in the areas of the arts, media, and education. They need to lead and build, to get ahead of the curve, and not just react to the latest attack on our values. Artists of like minds need to be supported by all of us. I hope this begins to happen…..
I respectfully disagree. We should support artists for the quality of their work, not for the beliefs or political bent of the artist. Nor should “support” focus on the financial aspect.
“Art” has become a political statement and a means for feeding tax dollars into more and more propaganda. Let’s return to art being about inspiring the human spirit, and bury the nihilism and narcissism that motivates the current excuse of what is produced today.
Kay, thank you so much for your thoughtful article, and also to the commenters for sharing their experiences and views. Most of us ideally would agree with CT who says “support artists for the quality of their work, not for the beliefs or political bent of the artist.” But when the left makes adherence to leftwing views a criterion for the artist who simply wants to make a living from their artistic endeavors, then the right or the “ars gratia artis” (art for art’s sake) crowd needs to consider consciously supporting those who are being sidelined for their refusal to comply and salute.
I published a decidedly un-PC novel in December, and an industry acquaintance said I did the right thing by self-publishing because he said, none of his colleagues would ever take this on, no matter how well done. All the books I see being reviewed favorably or heavily marketed are infused with left wing didacticism, and it’s even worse among children’s and YA books. Awful, wooden, preachy content. While leafing through a major women’s magazine yesterday at the gym, I noticed that every novel recommended by these New York editors was heavy on the leftist moralizing, while light on substance. That’s how you infiltrate into the minds of Middle Americans who think they are readers. Then, having been morally softened, they vote their new convictions. To the left, all the arts are conduits for winning ideological converts.
How do we fight this except by being willing to promote our own? Kay is right in arguing that by focusing only on Mammon, or profitability, the right is complicit in sidelining known conservatives. What good does it do to claim “we” don’t pay attention to an artist’s political orientation if we won’t hire/book/read them anyway? In the end, the conservative creator is shut out. Thanks for raising the issue.
Excellent article and very thought provoking. I intend to follow up on many of the issues raised.
Thankyou
Ian Palmer
UK
This is a great article. Thank you for thus, it helps my soul. I am a walk away musician who moved to the right 12 years ago. I have lost most of my friends and family over this rejection of leftist extremism. I have recently unretired from music to push back against the madness. I retired 8 years ago as the most censored artist on FB. They wiped me out with their shadobanning beta tests. It ended up wiping out 10k+ fans. I have answered the conservative call for artists to begin creating parallel structures in art and culture. I have wrapped up 11 new songs but only 3 have been released. I have never made $ on my music but maybe one day I will. I feel like my music is not stereotypical conservative art. What I was looking for when I found your writing was if there were any conservative foumdations putting their money where their mouth is and offering funding opportunities. All My music can be found on reverbnation under The Shapes of sound but the new stuff is also posted as Critical Bass Theory. I am taking on the most powerful group of evil we have ever seen and doing it alone is kinda horrifying. Getting noticed = protection.
I loved this piece, Kay!
I am working on a major project to assist conservative and heterodox artists in their plight. Just know that you aren’t alone!
P.S. That is a GORGEOUS song! Your voice is hauntingly beautiful.
I know what you mean! I wrote and produced a song regarding socialist indoctrination in higher education based on my three sons’ collective experiences. Very difficult to find an agent or promoter with conservative contacts. If you want to check it out, I think you’ll get a kick out of it. I have it on all of the music platforms, as well as YouTube. In a year, I’ve only gotten about 60K views, far short of what I’d hoped. Here’s the video link if you’re curious: https://youtu.be/wVjiZlDW-1w
Best of luck to you, and keep up the good fight!
Sincerely,
Kevin Buchan
Kay, this is such a thoughtful article! I might drop a book on your comments. I apologize; it just feels like a good time to spill it.
I am one of those closeted conservative artists. So much so that my first instinct was not to use my real name or website to comment.
Your article put words to many of the struggles I have faced—and still do—and more so than ever.
The line, “few survive in this climate with their convictions and artistry intact,” almost brought me to tears.
With my own Faustian-like tale, I did not survive with my convictions intact. I wish I had; it would have saved my family and me a lot of pain.
I’ve retained my artistic instinct and eventually recovered my values, but at the cost of living as a type of nomad with no home in the music world.
These days I’m often alienated from my own fans, who have bitten my head off a few times for going outside the cultural lines of thought.
I’m a Christian, and I have tried several times to dip my toes in that side of the industry. But I felt so suffocated by the narrow limitations of my musical prospects in that realm. In short, the ‘topics and agendas’ are pre-decided for every art piece. And also at the possibility of having to hide away my life’s (my heart’s) work.
A few details from my professional history in the music industry will confirm this lonely balancing act conservative artist face.
I come from a gospel music family, but I started a ‘secular’ band as a teenager. The band was quickly signed to a substantial LA development deal.
At the time, I would not have known the word ‘conservative,’ but I firmly held religious beliefs. And I did not keep them quiet. I had yet to learn that I was supposed to be quiet.
I found out in LA, in a palace of a house I was staying in. A photography team that my label had hired was conducting an all-day shoot with me. It was a mother-and-daughter team.
At one point, they pulled me aside to a corner when the other people had left the room and whispered, “You’re a Christian, aren’t you?” It was a strange situation. I said, “yes, I am.”
I didn’t know I had said anything overt in the shoot. They laughed and said, “We knew it! Here in LA, we whisper about such things, or else we won’t have a job. You’ll learn.”
I was young, and I had never thought of this. I had told the record label and everyone involved of my religious beliefs. I was not preachy, but I had no reason to hide thoughts in conversations about my lyrics.
After openly talking about being a Christian with the record label, the first gig they booked for us was The Playboy channel. I refused.
Next came various forms of masterful manipulation to replace lyrics in my songs. For one lyric that suggested a dismal look on abortion, I was subjected to what felt like a good-cop bad-cop interrogation all night in the penthouse of a swanky hotel.
In the same era, my album was banned at the biggest church in my hometown. If any kid was caught with it, they were expelled from their private school. One kid was expelled that I know of. And that was not the only church to ban me, though they were, admittedly, over-the-top churches.
The irony of that time is that I was facing intense pressure to retain my so-called ‘religious’ lyrics (or anything conservative) while being rejected by the religious.
I was dropped by that deal, and though I’m not 100% sure why, ‘the call’ followed a weekend of one of these lyric interrogations.
I became a truly independent musician and found success now and then, such as a Japan publishing deal, TV spots, SXSW, and many popular awards and festival shows.
However, my true potential has a closed door that I choose not to—or don’t know how to—push through again.
That door is either to the uber-liberal industry OR the Christian music/propaganda genres. Both for different reasons, as you said.
Though I’m no big fish, I’ve turned down more deals than most musicians see.
In recent years, I was approached and courted for a contract in yet another substantial industry opportunity. It was a no-brainer opportunity for a musician of my age. I thought I’m a grown-up; I can handle this and retain my soul this time. But, after a year, the same thing started happening. Intense pressures to fundamentally change the way I think and write.
So, I bailed on the deal, and here I am again.
But, in a different place altogether. I’m too old for industry considerations. But My daughter though has joined me.
She is 15, and we tour together and picked up a few significant accolades. I can smell the dilemma coming around the corner. She, too, is in the trap, a conservative mind, a Christian heart, and great musical potential—so in-between these two worlds.
Thinking of her is how I found this article.
We were recently approached by a very accomplished producer in the industry proper. I should be happy! But, no, I went home in worried.
I started trying to think of ways out of this trap you’re speaking of.
It seems there is nowhere else to go (if you want some measure of success). Only two options: lay down your artistic sensibilities and join in some Christian-based (or) propagandized topical genre, or jump into the uber-liberal gauntlet.
I started thinking I needed to create our own industry, something beyond this. That is what the internet is good for. Still, as you also allude to, as it is, it is a daunting and almost impossible task just to get the records, videos, shows booked, etc. Let alone start a new movement .
But lastly, there is another third option, and it is to ‘go it alone’. Which I can’t say I regret doing. I have a good life. I have music that I am proud of and fans that are like family. And most importantly, I have convictions an values that enrich my life.
Your article gave me some good things to think about tonight. Thank you for sharing it. And a beautiful song, by the way!
Thank you for this article. I’m a far-right Catholic writer (poetry and short stories), and it’s hard to find places to publish my work that won’t reject me because I openly write against the liberal party line. Liberals troll me in comments sections all the time over my counter cultural ideas. My alma mater wants nothing to do with me now because of my published work. My friends, also right-wing writers, are accepted in fewer places than before they started writing openly against liberal views. Thank God I have a career in statistics and write as a ministry instead of writing as a career!
For any conservative poets reading this, I’m published (or will be soon) in The Society of Classical Poets, Sparks of Calliope, Atop the Cliffs, Snakeskin, and Verse Virtual. Please spread the word about these magazines to other conservative poets. Also, I’m self-publishing a pro-life chapbook for pregnancy centers.
I had been accepted into a juried art show three years in a row. However, the minute I dared to speak about my conservative viewpoints on things suddenly my work was deemed “not good enough” for this particular show. One of the organizers continues to find ways to be passively aggressive and hateful towards me and in ways I cannot prove. My town in general is very liberal, and I have to go elsewhere to show my work simply because I’ve committed the “offense” of being politically conservative, which has nothing to do with the kind of art I make, but the “gatekeepers” have made it a criteria when it comes to who gets to be in the art show or not. Frankly, my religious and political views are not worth sacrificing just to be in their show, and lucky for me I am accepted in shows elsewhere.