It can be hard these days to get a bunch of college students up on their feet and rocking out to Christian music, but Mark Cable will never let that get in his way.
Returning to Young Harris College for well past the tenth time, Cable came out strumming at the annual hour-long gathering dedicated to his music ministry.
After playing through an upbeat opener alone on the stage, Cable introduced himself and three other individuals who have been with him for all 25 years of his ministry: his bookkeeper, his publicist, and his manager.
"They're all me," he then quipped with good-natured sarcasm.
Cable continued with a piece titled "Ol' Gus," an addictively jazzy and awkwardly-rhymed (by Cable's own admission) lesson in humility and gratitude when faced with mercy.
As he continued, he proved he came well prepared with songs that were easy to follow, not to mention entertaining and catchy. He was quick to encourage his audience to snap their fingers along with the music.
"Just one hand for now, we'll switch later... this is a five minute song," he sung adeptly between verses, to giddy laughter from the crowd. Other songs had him eliciting claps and even vocal backup from the crowd.
However, with a wife and six children, Cable was not without more touching music to keep the mood humble.
One such offering was "Get There," for which he established a very real and understandable backdrop: he wrote it for his daughter in 2002 when she was first deeply troubled by high school peer pressure.
His experienced guitarwork and vocal prowess easily speak for his ability to express this lesson to his daughter, but still he turned on the tape, joking that it was time to get some help from the band.
"And I pray that you get there / To the place where / You will not care what they say;" as he lovingly crooned the words, it became clearer than at any previous point that Cable is a man devoted to life and love.
"All She Knows" and "September 12" also surely hit close to home for many, contemplating the pain of being rejected and alone as well as the raw emotion and fatherly love that 9/11 caused within Cable for his family.
Near the end of the set, when Cable asked the audience to stand, it was still clear that he was dealing with a college crowd. As he began explaining hand and body movements to go along with one of his songs (sticking your arms and fingers out like tree branches, for instance), some of the students remained stiff and uninterested while others nervously participated.
But never mind that, because the moment he mentioned that part of the song was clucking like a chicken, the entire room came alive with laughter, and suddenly there were a whole lot more tree branches in the room.
Concluding with the moving, crucifixion-centered "Empty Pockets" from his 2001 album of the same name, Cable brought his main message back to center stage.
He hopped down off the stage as the crowd began to stream out, having reminded Young Harris that after 25 years touring as a musical minister, you sure as heaven learn how to entertain a crowd.
Returning to Young Harris College for well past the tenth time, Cable came out strumming at the annual hour-long gathering dedicated to his music ministry.
After playing through an upbeat opener alone on the stage, Cable introduced himself and three other individuals who have been with him for all 25 years of his ministry: his bookkeeper, his publicist, and his manager.
"They're all me," he then quipped with good-natured sarcasm.
Cable continued with a piece titled "Ol' Gus," an addictively jazzy and awkwardly-rhymed (by Cable's own admission) lesson in humility and gratitude when faced with mercy.
As he continued, he proved he came well prepared with songs that were easy to follow, not to mention entertaining and catchy. He was quick to encourage his audience to snap their fingers along with the music.
"Just one hand for now, we'll switch later... this is a five minute song," he sung adeptly between verses, to giddy laughter from the crowd. Other songs had him eliciting claps and even vocal backup from the crowd.
However, with a wife and six children, Cable was not without more touching music to keep the mood humble.
One such offering was "Get There," for which he established a very real and understandable backdrop: he wrote it for his daughter in 2002 when she was first deeply troubled by high school peer pressure.
His experienced guitarwork and vocal prowess easily speak for his ability to express this lesson to his daughter, but still he turned on the tape, joking that it was time to get some help from the band.
"And I pray that you get there / To the place where / You will not care what they say;" as he lovingly crooned the words, it became clearer than at any previous point that Cable is a man devoted to life and love.
"All She Knows" and "September 12" also surely hit close to home for many, contemplating the pain of being rejected and alone as well as the raw emotion and fatherly love that 9/11 caused within Cable for his family.
Near the end of the set, when Cable asked the audience to stand, it was still clear that he was dealing with a college crowd. As he began explaining hand and body movements to go along with one of his songs (sticking your arms and fingers out like tree branches, for instance), some of the students remained stiff and uninterested while others nervously participated.
But never mind that, because the moment he mentioned that part of the song was clucking like a chicken, the entire room came alive with laughter, and suddenly there were a whole lot more tree branches in the room.
Concluding with the moving, crucifixion-centered "Empty Pockets" from his 2001 album of the same name, Cable brought his main message back to center stage.
He hopped down off the stage as the crowd began to stream out, having reminded Young Harris that after 25 years touring as a musical minister, you sure as heaven learn how to entertain a crowd.
—Miles Moffit
1 comment:
Miles, nice work setting the stage for this performance. I didn't have the faintest idea who Mark Cable was before I read your review, and now I can hear his music and his sense of humor. -Allison
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