Sara and I discuss how easy it is to point the finger at "the industry" when both of us have worked with countless creative people-makeup artists, stylists, art directors -- all full of integrity and committed to honoring God with their gifts. We, the artists, can't possibly pass the buck quite that easily. She quotes John Fischer. "If Moses came down the mountain and found a statue of himself, would he have been so quick to burn it?"
Stained-Glass Masquerade
When I first felt compelled to write this story, my intention was to focus primarily on female artists. But if you've ever wandered around Nashville during GMA Week, you'll find that pound for pound in hair product, the guys give us a good run for our money. They are not immune to image issues.
I had a long chat with Bebo Norman who, before he married a few years ago, was known as Christian music's most eligible bachelor. Awkward, I've always thought, to be the focus of so much attention from so many overly enthusiastic, squealing college girls. I mean, the "Bebo fan" is kind of legendary. And while most guys have trouble conjuring up sympathy for that particular dilemma, I suspect that to be known for your 'adorableness' might be slightly frustrating when you happen to be an incredibly gifted writer and artist.
Did he ever feel like his credibility as a musician suffered? Bebo explains he feels partly responsible for drawing attention to his 'singleness' and partly manipulated by it. "I didn't expect every story and every interview I did for a number of years in my life...to be about being single. My goal, honestly, was to say, 'I'm a single man at this point and it is real life and I'm feeling lonely on the road.' But the weird thing is the loneliness became the story."
The artistic world can be uncomfortable for him. "I'm sort of an artist by mistake. I mean, I love to write songs, but I didn't naturally have an affinity for performing for people. Even the word 'artist' is such a lofty word. Most people with creativity have an extreme form of insecurity. I don't know any that I can think of off the top of my head that don't struggle with a pretty dramatic level of [it]."
Our conversation takes an unexpected turn and Bebo confesses that a couple years ago he almost walked away from it all. He grappled with some serious questions, " ... is it even Christ-like in any way? I know it's Christ-like in the moment when someone's hearing a song ... and God is using that without question, but there is this system in place. Am I completely wrong to even be a part of the system?" He recalls a gig one night in Portland, Ore., "I was completely miserable on stage, and I sort of stepped back and called my manager and said, 'I just want to go home for a few months, and I may be done.' I realized that I had become a sort of caricature of myself. I had inflated all of the things I thought people liked to see, and I had deflated all of the things I didn't like about myself." Even his humility on stage (born out of genuine insecurity early on) became a "trained response." He explains, "I knew subconsciously that people would respond to that, and that's what I became."