We The Common People Camp

After each session, please upload your demo, lyric/chord sheet and any social media videos here
Please title the demo cleanly - title style - all caps - eg Let It Be
Please create a title for the social media content that describes what it is for easy recall
Please format the lyric/chord sheets identical to how we do on our site … (you will obviously not have the CCLI Number).

Airbnb

House Stuff
The Patio Chais have all been put under covering to prevent them from getting drenched in the rain - please put them back if you use them
The pool is leaking - if the level drops below the line, we are being asked to fill it up with the hose

Nearby Places

Rapid Pak / Shell - 200 yards (5am - 10pm)
4810 Murfreesboro Rd, Arrington TN 37014

Arrington Vineyard - 2 miles (11am - 6pm)
6211 Patton Rd, Arrington TN 37014

Delvin Farms - 2 miles (10am - 5pm)
6361 Cox Rd, Arrington TN 37014

Kroger - 5 miles (6am - 10pm)
1203 Murfreesboro Road, Franklin TN 37064

Honest Coffee @ Berry Farms - 8 miles (6.30am - 6pm)
6010 Berry Farms Crossing, Franklin TN 37064

Starbucks - 8 miles (6am - 7pm)
1115 Murfreesboro Rd, Franklin TN 37064

Chick Fill-A - 8 miles (6.30am - 10pm)
1115 Murfreesboro Rd, Franklin TN 37064

Aldi’s - 10 miles (9am - 8pm)
209 S Royal Oaks Blvd, Franklin TN 37064

Waffle House - 10 miles (24 hours)
1312 Murfreesboro Road, Franklin TN 37064

Costco - 13 miles (10am - 8.30pm)
98 Seaboard Ln, #386b, Brentwood TN 37027

Common Hymnal’s Gear

Song Ideas

More storytelling, less messaging/propaganda …
Bear in mind, the target time period for us touring this record is 2028, our next Presidential election year

Be great to have story songs set against these backdrops …
Celebrating little and big advances made along the way in the quest for a just society
Celebrating a multicultural society - free of colonialism, racism, tokenism, willful ignorance, authoritarianism, etc
Eradicating poverty rather than investing in militarization
Finding our way out of a culture that has been distorted by Christian Nationalism - the crisis within Christianity
God as the anti-colonial (maybe God Of Color has taken care of this, but the issue is so pervasive we could never have enough)
Inevitability of sowing and reaping
Lamenting 'cruelty' culture - Ice, capital punishment, mass incarceration, vengeance, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, classism, gun violence, etc - and the dignity of human life
Living in a dystopian society characterized by totalitarianism, surveillance and propaganda
Mourning the current egregious disparities caused by capitalism - and the pain that excessive capitalism has caused in our world
Navigating our personal struggles with hypocrisy and prejudice
Peace vs war - Palestine - the reality of genocide still happening in the world today
Rebuilding trust - healing after this season of destruction a song for 2028
Risk taking and love - caring for misfits, strangers
Self care and mental wellness
Stolen land, genocide and amnesia - the ugliness of colonization, the daunting-ness of its undoing
What if Jesus attended a Christian Nationalist gathering - as a brown immigrant?

Groups

Putting together groups is like working a Rubik’s Cube. I usually spend a couple of weeks on it — turning it, re-turning it, stepping back, trying again. I never ever get it perfect. But I try my damndest.

It’s a delicate balancing act. In every group I’m weighing the need for:
• ideas people
• lyric people
• melody people
• a tracking person per group
• male and female presence
• ethnic diversity
• balance between varying skill levels
• historically built chemistry
• new combinations that deserve a chance
• everyone walking away feeling seen and energized

Because of the importance of this record, I’m feeling a particular pull to lean into historically built chemistry. There’s something about trust — about shared language — that matters when the stakes are high. I hope you can hear and embrace this instinct. I don’t want anyone to have an “OK” experience. I want everyone to have the time of their lives.

That said — some of our very best songs were written in the cracks. Over meal times. In spontaneous side sessions. In the unplanned spaces. So PLEASE, please, please — don’t look at your assigned writing group through the lens of expectation.

In the spirit of egalitarianism, let’s treat the scheduled groups as ignition points — not limits. You all know my mantra: Initiate. Communicate. Follow through. Come with a plan. Come with names in your heart. If your group finishes early, if there’s an open pocket in the afternoon, if inspiration strikes after the song shares — assemble the group you’ve been hoping to write with. Build it in the cracks.

If you can hear my heart in this, we are going to tap into something special.

Prep

Please prep a minimum of 2 strong but incomplete song ideas that you are happy for others to massage, meaning you are throwing them into the communal pot
A priority is going to be finding a song or two that sit in the space of our current immigration reality - would love for these to be kickstarted before the camp so we arrive with a direction on a couple of these
It would be smart to do a quick read of our songwriting blogs
https://commonhymnal.com/blog/prepping-for-a-co-write
https://commonhymnal.com/blog/lyrical-integrity
https://commonhymnal.com/blog/co-writing-business-realities

Philosophy

This project is our first step in branding Common People - hence the title
Common Hymnal will remain the banner under which we continue to produce alternative Christian music
Common People becomes the banner under which we make music for the world at large
In this regard, we are not looking for songs that presume a Christian audience not default toward Christian language
We are not asking anyone to turn off their faith
We are just not doing an alternate worship record this time around

Immediately following the camp

We will finalize the repertoire for the record shortly after the camp
And start producing the studio album
We might film a live recording of the record at Glide Memorial in SFO later in the year
Hoping for the first single comes out before Christmas drowns everything out - no guarantee

The rest of the year

4/20-23 Nabil and Phillip at a networking camp for social media influencers with Erica Williams (wearesoulstory.com) in Savannah GA
6/1-2 Nabil, Jalen, Ben and James participate in a writing camp we are co hosting with Glide Memorial in SFO
6/3-5 Jalen leads worship at a PAX Camp in Carmel
6/12 release date for “Thula Sizwe/ I Shall Be Released”
6/18 we might be performing at a Juneteenth event with EJI in Montgomery (TBC)
6/19 performing at the Nashville Juneteenth Celebration
6/20 we might be performing at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville (TBC)
6/29 - 7/3 this year’s CSA writing camp in Nashville
7/20-21 we have a team at a Brethren youth camp in the Rockies
7/27 - 8/1 we may be represented at the International Black Theatre Festival (TBC)
8/17-21 CSA Recording Camp (TBC)
8/27-30 leading worship at the annual PAX camp in Phoenix
9/24 performing at PowerInterfaith's 15 year anniversary in Philadelphia
10/7-10 not sure that we will be able to do CCDA this year due to their limited budget

Production camp

Somehow we are going to need to set up a production camp for We The Common People
It is going to be tricky cause of how busy everyone is

Schedule

We have scheduled writes each day but have learned that some of the best songs happen outside of scheduled writes - for example, God Will Prevail was written spontaneously over dinner
So if your groups do not tap into something special, or if you do not end up with writers that you would prefer to write with, FEAR NOT - a little initiative could lead to a creative breakthrough
Let’s honor the plan, but please come with a pro-active spirit so we can tap into some surprise creative currents
Each of the scheduled groups will have a team leader so we have a tie breaker when needed so we do not get bogged down