Nate Houge

3December2006

December 3, 2006

Posted by nate under: song.

Happy New Year All,

As many of you are aware, today is the first day of advent.  My pastoral wife had sermon duty today and did an amazing job of declaring the counter cultural nature of advent and framing the coming of the Christ child as a revolution – enough of the shmaltz for sale at walmart and christian bookstores – this is the time for the world to turn – for the poor to be lifted up and the rich to be brought down.  Although she was more tasteful and appropriate then what I just wrote, she did have a killer ending. “It’s advent, let the revolution begin”  Yeah!  It was great, I got home and put on Steve Earle’s ‘the revolution starts now’ and then I remembered a song from Jason Moran and I’s first CD called Emmanuel, so here it is for you to download, and here are the lyrics.  It was written in Northern Ghana while visiting my parents in 1999.

 MP3: Emmanuel

The air is full of restlesness, the people here are full

Oh God come here and be with us

Emmanuel

I need a light to see my way, I need a hope eternal

Oh God could you come back today

Emmanuel

The sky has been dry for nine months, coming, still we, dance for the rain to the drone of the drumming, the kicking up of dust sends a signal to the wind, a cue to the clouds that it’s time to begin

the voice of the people is a stranger to my ear, silent as if covored by a blanket of fear, crammed between the gears of a system that has failed in a storm of injustice compassion hits like hail

All you beggars like prophets proclaim the need for redemption in this burning age, with the money at the top and a blind eye looking down, it’s no wonder that my soul is as parched as the ground

 So there you have it, advent, viva la revolution, nate

1December2006

December 1, 2006

Posted by nate under: Uncategorized.

A couple months ago I was asked to make a commercial for the folks at Mercy Seat in NE Mpls.  It’s 30 seconds in black and white and was filmed at the Amor Park down the street from us.  My daughter Lydia offered technical assistance, narration, and the soundtrack.  It turned out pretty cool and Mercy Seat was Jazzed about it – as they are the Jazzy type – so for Twin Cities folks, you should check this out, and do visit their website at www.nemercy.org   

Mercy Seat (Very Short) Digital Film Festival Eight very short (30 second) digital films on the subject of “Incongruity.” The films will be aired during Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” the weeks of December 4 and December 11. Premier of all 8 films to be held on Sunday, December 10, 6:30 pm, at Mercy Seat Lutheran Church.

 In other news I’ve been discovering my inner Ninja-Clause lately and have found myself to be dangerously kind.  Other than that life is still life, you know like a bowl of fruit or something,

all the love these bones can muster,

nate.

28November2006

November 28, 2006

Posted by nate under: Uncategorized.

3 months later and I’m finally getting back to the blog.  Our family moved which is part of the reason it’s taken awhile, but moving back to full time Dad status has also taken some adjusting to.  A quick update on my musical world – I recorded a rachel kurtz christmas e.p. last month which is available from her (rachelkurtz.com), I’m working on an advent e.p. which should be available as a download from this site in the next two weeks, and micah taylor is releasing his new c.d. which i played lap steel and banjo on december 15th.  check out his site micahtaylor.com for details.