Justin McRoberts
Genre: Pop/Rock/Folk
Official Web Site
Justin McRoberts Bibliography: (click on each album cover to view tracks and Justin McRoberts lyrics)
Justin McRoberts Biography It seems to me that much of the Christian life is about remembering. Remembering our mistakes, or joys and the ways in which God has shown Himself to us in all of it. Songwriting has served as an on-going journal for me; a way to log the miles of my life. Many of my songs serve as benchmarks so that I can keep some kind of bearing as to where I am and, perhaps more importantly, where I've been. My hope in sharing my songs with others is that my story will help to shed some light on theirs.
I have been a Christian since 1992, when the persistent, loving friendship of a Young Life leader finally caught up with my stubborn heart. For a year and a half, I served alongside that same leader learning what it meant to serve and to love "like Jesus." The following year, I went on staff with Young Life, and had the opportunity to lead a club at my former high school. I spent the next 3 and 1/2 years there, doing my best to serve God, care for teenagers and teach others to do the same. Songwriting was increasingly important to me over these few years and became a way to process and remember the multitude of things going on in, through and around me.
During the latter part of that time period I developed a friendship with of Records. Frank knew I was writing songs and thought I should share my stories with a larger audience, which is where my relationship with began. I recorded 2 albums over the following 2 years, the first, REASON FOR LIVING, being a collection of songs written about Young Life leadership and stories of teens I had the privilege of knowing. The second album, FATHER, was more personal, dealing primarily with the suicide of my father, Jon, in May of 1998 and the struggle to see God in dark times.
5 Minute Walk Records disbanded in 2001, and I have recorded 2 independent projects since then. In 2001, I released the UNTITLED EP, which is a collection of songs written in devotion to Christ. The project was recorded in 2 nights and the rough feel of the tracks is a kind of statement. Worship is intimacy with God, and music can facilitate worship, but when the emphasis is placed on performance, we can often end up inciting more emotion than devotion. TRUST, released in 2002, examines the principle of "earning the right to be heard" which is a Young Life term about earning people's trust through consistency rather than approaching people with an agenda to change them. In 2003, I will release my 5th album, entitled INTERSECTIONS.
Being an independent artist has granted me the opportunity to apply the principles of service I learned through Young Life and Records to all aspects of my music career. I believe that good business is good ministry and because my wife and I are involved with every facet of this ministry/business, we can live that principle out actively. I believe that my responsibility extends beyond "listeners" to promoters and techs; to any and all who are involved with a show, an album, a festival, etc I am beginning to recognize that, more than being a musician, I am a communicator, and even more than that, I am a minister of the Peace and Love of God. With every step, I am learning that who I am is far more important than what I do.
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