Small Voice - Back Issue #2

It's better to have a little and be content, than to have amassed stock piles of ill gotten gain, this is what wise king Solomon once said. Yes, we're the small ones, and we're moving somewhere beneath the radar of the worlds power and influence. Relatively undetected. Within random rooms and forgettable cities we work quietly, using what resources are within reason, pushing and exploring the parameters of our less than perfect instruments and surroundings...and thoughts. We're hoping to handcraft something, anything, that has integrity and purpose, even if it's made from another mans trash. "Those who are full loath the taste of honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet." We're living within a gridlocked structure, a system that is loathsome and full, that refuses to feed its inhabitants with anything of substance. And now, we little ones are hungry, and we're digging through the trash heaps and roaming the forgotten woods; searching, stalking, and slowly banding together to survive on the bitter roots and bread crusts we happen to find and share. We are joyful and content with what we've been given, as we sit around the fire sharing our stories, pictures, and songs that bare a reflection of the lives we've chosen to live. With love, and respect for one another we'll find the meaning and purpose embedded in life once again. For the answers the psycho-systematic spokesmen have sung to us have been as empty as our stomachs, and we're tired of chewing on that meatless bone. The devil cannot feed us true food because he is the little god of emptiness, the the god of what is not. But there's manna from heaven, free and fullfilling, for all who have been led out of slavery.

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Small Voice. A homespun record label, created to house and nurture musicians and artists who are willing to walk the path of a slow and steady growth. A growth in art, faith, and character that only comes from continually living out personal conviction, belief, and purpose. I believe that meaningful art is a byproduct of the process of real life, real sorrow, and real hope. When these foundational building blocks of true experience are bypassed and replaced by quick gain, words and story become an irrelevant soundbyte that are then exploited unto the masses. History shows us that the masses then begin to believe what the loudspeaker of mass-media is telling them. Compromise, falseness, and vanity become the norm and are even embraced by those who have been seduced by the false promise of reaching a glorious end without ever knowing or embracing the means to this end. To make the leap straight from "A" to "Z" without learning all the letters in between those two endpoints would mean that you have no ability, authority, or message to convey to us. My hope and vision for myself and for all who are to join this community that is Small Voice, is that we would remain true to that small voice that has been placed within us. Oh, that we would live, and produce art honestly with the utmost care, and do so despite any current media trends or flawed industry standards that scream for our attention, and threaten to engulf us. We will feel inadequate and humble in the presence of these powerful giants, but that does not make our stance wrong. This label will grow as we grow, and as we build this house, slowly, with our own hands we'll add on when there's need. Eventually, others will come from near and far, and take part in this work with us. Our front porch will be the make-shift platform as we stomp our feet and sing stories of the beauty and truth we've found together. The wind will carry the echoes of these homespun hymns wherever it pleases, and perhaps in a quiet moment there will be some who will pause, and listen...and be pleased.