Who is Common Hymnal?
It’s more like, what is Common Hymnal?
Left to Right: Brittney Spencer, Andrew Huang, JonCarlos Velez, Gabriella Velez (who will not be at Soulfest, but instead Jenny Wahlstrom will), Connor Wheaton (who also will not be at SoulFest, but rather Kevin Dailey, will be) and Dee Wilson.
This collective of “misfits”, of songwriters that don’t exactly fit within the established platforms and institutions that currently exist, gather and collaborate around a shared goal: worship with a social conscience.
You can look forward to Common Hymnal’s debut SoulFest performance this August, however, our experience will be just a fraction of the collective that gathers, a “pop up band” if you will. To give us a glimpse of what they’re doing, we have the pleasure of introducing a small portion of the collective to our SoulFest family each day of the festival. Joining the SoulFest 2020 lineup on behalf of Common Hymnal is: Brittney Spencer, Andrew Huang, JonCarlos Velez, Jenny Wahlstrom, Kevin Dailey, and Dee Wilson.
Even the picture we share is two thirds of the actual group that is coming to SoulFest on behalf of Common Hymnal. They’re not a traditional band, so tracing down a “promo photo” isn’t the easiest either.
Thursday, 8/6, Common Hymnal will have a one-song highlight on the main stage, a.k.a. the “Revival Stage”. Friday, 8/7, they’ll move past introductions and play a full set on the main stage as well as during the afterglow on the Inside Out Stage. Saturday, 8/8, for any who have missed all of their performances or for those who just can’t get enough of this eclectic and soulful worship, they’ll play the Mercy St. Café stage before closing out their SoulFest experience leading a candlelit hill-full of people in worship and unity. This is really exciting for the SoulFest community, because it’s very unique to have 3 days with a band, to learn from, worship with and grow together, to then lead the festival gathering in worship in this deep and formative way.
You can listen to them now in preparation for SoulFest via their website / youtube, spotify etc.
“Recently, [they] invited a group of songwriters for a House Show Recording so that [they] could give a little extra attention to songs in the hymnal that were gaining traction. [They] 'produced' some in the living room with a full band, and captured others, 'unproduced', in the kitchen, on the porch and around the property. This debut collection will be trickling out until April 2020.”
Malcolm Du Plessis
Also as part of Common Hymnal’s presence onsite, we’ll have the pleasure of hearing from Malcolm Du Plessis. Malcolm has straddled the worlds of prophetic Christianity and showbiz for over thirty years – ranging from church planter to record company exec; from songwriter to song publisher; from instigator of multicultural, multilingual worship that fused praise and protest in the apartheid era of his native South Africa to artist manager in that same context; from consulting ministries, movements, artists, songwriters, record labels and publishing companies in the Christian arena to helping nurture top 40 songwriters in the mainstream. He continues to consult for a range of organizations, yet identifies primarily as an undergroundactivist and as a father figure to a growing number of young leaders. One of his priorities is his relentless call for the decolonization of the worship movement and for doors of dignity to be unlocked for more communities and ethnicities to contribute toward the “common” hymnal.
SoulFest co-founder and festival producer, Dan Russell will interview Malcolm, as part of the Heart of the Artist interview series new to SoulFest, look for this on Friday in the Mercy St. Café. We look forward to sharing more of their music with you as it trickles in and prayerfully anticipate a beautiful time together this summer.