Song of the week 03.12.09

Song of the week 03.12.09 from Casey Hurt on Vimeo.

ALCHY AWARD WINNER: BEST ACOUSTIC PERFORMER

Hey Ladies and Gentleman, I just wanted to share with you the article that was written about me in the Corvallis Alchemist this week...

ALCHY AWARD WINNER: BEST ACOUSTIC PERFORMER
CASEY HURT
Local performer Casey Hurt is many things to many people. He is an artist of music, a pastor, and a tattooed scotch enthusiast who will be twenty-five in March. He was also voted winner of the 2008 Alchy Award for best acoustic performer. Talking with him is like speaking to a regular guy; minus the quick-scribbling on a notepad, the interview was more an enjoyable conversation.
“Words are pretty powerful,” he commented early on, emphasizing that “Words have different meanings to different people.”
As a writer of music on several levels, Hurt can be taken for an authority on this. For his own acoustic performances he writes both music and words, spending one part of his time on the music for every two parts to his lyrics, following the lead of his musical wordsmith influences like the Beatles, Tracy Chapman, and the Violent Femmes.
“I usually write the music first,” he explained, “I’m kind of anal about the lyrics. I don’t want to say what I don’t mean.”
For a person like Casey, such devotion can lead to great music, but also eat up a lot of time, especially for someone leading a local four hundred person fellowship like Doxology. Luckily, Hurt has much the same goals as his own church’s mission: glory to God and joy to the city.
“My actual calling as a pastor was to free me up to do what I was already doing as an artist,” he said.
Hurt has a lot of faith in Corvallis, and not just in the religious sense. He has been in town for the last six years and has watched to many other musicians making the move up to Portland, thinking it is the only way to proceed professionally. In turn, Hurt works with, preaches to, and records many locals, all while extolling the rich diversity in Corvallis.
“I don’t want to fake anyone out. I want to be honest about the writing – to display something truthful about myself.”
Writing an recording have taken up much of Hurt’s schedule lately as he’s kept to a lesser amount of live performances. He still spends a good amount of time on writing pastoral music, but also works on finishing his first album in over two years, and creating hip-hop beats on his computer for friends in LA to rap over. He couldn’t totally stay away from performing though, and put in regular appearances at the Saturday Market and in cafes in the area.
Throughout it all, Hurt is sure to not lose his focus. He writes songs about ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and keeps it all within bounds that people can connect to. He even keeps a regularly updated blog about his music-writing, so people can have an up-close look and a greater understanding.
“Rawness is the thing people appreciate the most,” Hurt explained, and he’s good at it. Maybe that’s why he won his Alchy.
With so many things calling on his time, it is amazing that Casey Hurt can stay as happy and as dedicated as he is. This reporter thinks it is because Hurt is happy to take time out of his day to sit and talk about life, and that is something that everyone can relate to. You can judge for yourself when you attend his show, March 20th at WineStyles up at Timber Hill.
“I’m not trying to throw my religion in people’s faces,” Hurt said, “The gospel is there and it is part of it, but my music is about life.”
~Robin Canfield

The Creative Mind...

Hey Everyone, I just wanted to share this video with you. It was incredibly inspiring and insightful for me as an artist and it's totally worth watching. You wont regret it.

Love ya,

Casey

What kind of man would I be...

I'm not sure how to explain this song yet. I might need a few days to process it.

What kind of man would I be?

there's not a price that I wont pay
to hold a thing that will fade away
I will sell myself for an object on a shelf
just to have something to tell me what to say

There's not a song that I wont sing
if it will get me that diamond ring
I will wear it proud, until it's luster's all worn out
and I've forgotten what my words used to mean

to think these things could really make me free

There's not a price that I wont pay
to worship what my hands create
I love what I should not because it makes me feel alright
and it's easier then having to change

to think these things could really make me free

what would I think about
if I no longer had all my doubt
what kind of man would i be
without all these thing defining me

There's not a price I could pay
for someone to love me this way
while I serve the things I buy God decided he would die
so that I no longer have to be a slave

to think these things could really make me free
to think my things could really make me free

I love you guys,

Casey

Catching Up...

First off, I really need to apologize to you all for not updating for the last month. I know it deserves some explanation and I'm fully prepared to answer.

My main excuse is that I go through these phases as an artist where my inspiration is running a little thin. The right thing to do would be to work hard, push through it and diversify my expression. The wrong thing to do would be to get another job so that I feel really busy and can make an excuse for why I'm not doing my art.

Anyone want to take a guess as to which one I did?

Anyway, my last day of work was last wednesday. I realized my sin and I'm in the process of repenting.

A few other things I've been busy with...

My dear friends Jon, Ian and Hanna were up to visit for awhile. We worked hard on putting out a little Hip Hop E.P. together which I'm very proud of.
Also, I just Got finished leading worship for this big youth confrence in Portland Called Winter Youth. I had an incredible time and realized a lot about myself and the calling God has on my life.

With All that Said, I'm very sorry and I will try and be a better blog friend.

Here's one of the songs that we finished for the hip hop project. I hope you like it.

Love you guys,
We'll talk soon,

Casey

Song of The Week 11.2.08

I apologize for the long delay. Things have been a little bit crazy lately so I haven't got as much posting done as I would have liked.

Anyway, The Song this week is called "I'll Be Near". Honestly I don't have a ton to say about this song just yet because I only finished it about an hour ago. It's still has some maturing to do but all in all I really like it. The song was inspired by a new album I bought recently by Ray LaMontagne titled Gossip In the Grain. It's incredible and if you don't have it you should stop reading and go buy it right now. One of the Main themes of the album seems to be friendship and I guess that's what inspired me. I'm learning more and more these days to write about things that are good. It's really freeing. I'm finding these really complex inspirational joys in the midst of happiness and I love it. It's not to say that things aren't still hard at times, I guess I'm just learning how to see the gospel in those times.
I love you guys a lot and I will try to be better at posting.

Peace,

Casey

Delay of Game...

We just switched to a new computer and I'm having some technical difficulties with protools right now. I am unable to record at this moment but I will post this weeks song soon. I love you guys. Thanks for understanding.

Casey