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Troubadour for the Lord
John Michael Talbot's 'Monk Rock' pulls in influence from his earlier days
By Marylynn G. Hewitt of The Michigan Catholic
Published August 26, 2005
DETROIT There are many people who inspired John Michael Talbot to change his life from a rock and roll banjo picker to a monastic musician.
Janis Joplin is one of them. St. Francis of Assisi is another.
John Michael Talbot, who has recently released his 48th album, lives in amonastic community in Eureka Springs, Ark. | Talbot was a teen when he joined his older brother Terry's band, Mason Proffit. He watched as Joplin and others who shared the concert stage imbibed in excess backstage. It was the dawn of the 70s, a time when anti-establishment lyrics reigned. Country-infused rock served as the foundation for Mason Proffit's mantra about equality, justice and brotherly love.
"I got a chance to hang out with my rock and roll peers. A lot of them ended up committing suicide, a lot of them ended up becoming Christian, and then a lot of them just stayed very, very miserable," he says. "And I went, 'Well they have everything I think I want drugs, sex and rock and roll. I mean they have it all and they're miserable. So what's going on here?'
"I would walk out after a concert and look across an arena floor or a gymnasium floor at a college," recalls Talbot. "It would just be wine bottles, drug paraphernalia and an occasional passed-out person the police were having to wake up. I thought, 'If this is what the music we make is creating, is this what I want to do?' And the answer came back very clearly, 'No, it's not.'"
A new man
For four years he dabbled in the teachings of many forms of spirituality. He resurfaced after a personal conversion experience, became Catholic, and clipped the tail end of the Jesus movement musical scene. In 1976, he recorded his first Christian album, "Reborn" on Warner Bros. Talbot was a new man on a new path and that path led him to St. Francis. Motivated by the Franciscan saint, Talbot sold most of what he owned and became a Secular Franciscan. Then he took it a step further and crafted a habit from old army blankets and a hermitage on the grounds of a Franciscan monastery in Indianapolis. It wasn't a solitary existence as visitors often stopped and asked for prayer. That little hermitage was the genesis for what is now known as The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage. The monastic community, which has canonical status, is on the 25 acres of land in Eureka Springs, Ark.,Talbot bought while on tour with Mason Proffit. It was the only thing no one bought when he tried to sell everything.
 Concert notes
What: John Michael Talbot performs with Tom Booth and Mason Proffit with Terry Talbot
Where: Divine Child Church, Dearborn
When: 7 p.m. Sept. 6
Cost: $25 adults, $15 for 13 and younger
Tickets: (800) 965-9324 or (313) 579-2100 Ext. 137
Benefit: St. Bonaventure Secular Franciscan fraternity
Web site: johnmichaeltalbot.com
| Monastic living has enhanced Talbot's musical career. The new "Monk Rock," his 48th album, draws from the wellspring of musical sound from his pre-monk days with his passion of Jesus. The title is apt since he is often called the "rock monk" or "punk monk" anyway. But, as Talbot, 51, points out, "It's a serious record." Many of the offerings are parts of the Mass including a bluegrass-tinged "Credo," a blues-woven "Agnus Dei" and a power rock "Te Deum" complete with banjo. Long-time fans of Talbot don't have a thing to worry about since it all bears his trademark meditative styling as well.
His concert tour will feature a mix of old and new pieces and a meditative and contemplative set.
Community living
Being on tour also builds awareness for community lifestyles. His original idea was to found a community of First Order friars, Third Order Regulars and Secular Franciscans. "It got really limited response but that was 25 years ago," he says. "The whole idea of integrating community is the future of the Church. And the big thing happening in the Church right now are ecclesial movements. Out of those ecclesial movements are also being born religious communities of men and women who are taking evangelical counsels as vows. There's also men who are going forth and are hailing to the call to be priests.
"And we're kind of a precurser to it," he says. There are 35 people living at the monastery, where they have an organic farm, small store and a retreat center. He and his wife, Viola, whom he married in 1989, share "the community" as "our kids." (His daughter from his marriage at 17 and two grandchildren, live in Buffalo.)
Those living at Little Portion Hermitage have made vows of Gospel poverty, chastity and obedience. All are relevant in today's world, Talbot insists. "Poverty is relevant because we live in a world of consumerism. Our society in the United States the envy of the world and so the rest of the world hates us and part of it is jealousy and part of it is that we get our wealth in ways that are not helpful to other parts of the world.
Poverty is relevant over rampant western consumerism.
"Chastity is relevant whether as marital chastity or celibate chastity over and against the rampant western promiscuity.
Can monks rock?
Absolutely. John Michael Talbot recalls meeting the Abbot Primate Notker Wolf, the main Benedictine leader in the world, last year.
The abbot primate is known as an avid flutist, calssically trained, and an electric guitarist who plays everything from Bach to Jethro Tull,
Talbot says Abbot Wolf "whispered to me, 'You know, I'm in a band.' And I said, 'Excuse me?' And he said, 'a rock and roll band.' I was trying my best to not crack up."
Abbot Wolf said, "If we're going to reach the youth we have to be among them."
Talbot says Abbot Wolf wears his habit when he plays, and adds, "so I figured if the abbot primate can do it, I can do it." | "Obedience is highly relevant for two reasons. One is that it emphasizes interdependence as part of the group rather than independence so it is countercultural to the rampant American and western spirit of independence and self-indulgence. But there's another aspect to it that's equally important. Obedience means to get into a place where you can really listen. I'm going to really listen, I'm not going to react. ... That's going to teach me to listen to what all my brothers and sisters are really saying in their heart of hearts. And that's counter cultural in a society where reaction and noise are the norms.
"Obedience stands in stark contrast to that attitude. It's learning how to live a life of listening of silence and solitude."
That life is vastly different from the life he lived before.
So much so, that these days at the end of a concert, as long as his voice holds up, he walks out to see a line of 200-300 people waiting for autographs. Many tell him they've listened to his music for 20 to 30 years. For that, he's still grateful for the likes of Janis Joplin and St. Francis.
Marylynn G. Hewitt, SFO, is the managing editor of The Michigan Catholic. Contact her at mgh@aod.org.
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