TOKENS PODCAST: S5E12
What is the role of a musician in the public discourse on political, social, and religious issues? Being in a popular band certainly entails numerous cultural expectations: what to look like, what to sing about, what to say publicly. But The New Respects carry their calling with joy and humility, contributing a great deal of beauty and goodness to the world, singing and talking about all manner of things that matter. They discuss racism, religion, and what it’s like to be musicians who don’t quite fit the music industry mold: a predominantly female, all-black, genre-bending family band. Taped at Nashville’s Sound Emporium, with live performances of five of their songs.
ABOUT THE GUEST
The New Respects creates danceable fusions of pop, soul and rock & roll. The band is turning heads with their bright, feel-good tracks stacked with propulsive beats and lush harmonies. Hailing from Nashville, Zandy Mowry lays down the group’s funk-inspired grooves on guitar, her brother Darius Fitzgerald drives the beat with his retro rhythms and their cousin Jasmine Mullen brings it all together with soaring lead vocals. Having performed together since their youth, the 20-something trio uplifts audiences with their playful, energetic and familiar vibe. Filled with catchy hooks and fresh throwback sounds, the group’s debut 5-song EP Here Comes Trouble (2017) launched them into the national spotlight as Rolling Stone named them one of “10 New Artists You Need to Know.” Quickly gaining traction with fans and critics alike, the EP’s standout single, “Trouble” garnered over 2M streams and received sync placements with Fox Sports, ESPN and TNT. On the heels of their success, The New Respects embraced an aggressive touring schedule, opening for Switchfoot, Robert Randolph, O.A.R., and NEEDTOBREATHE, and making appearances at key festivals such as Hangout, Bumbershoot and Rock the Ranch. The group’s star continued to rise after releasing their 2018 album Before the Sun Goes Down to critical acclaim. With touring halted during the pandemic, The New Respects worked on new music and recently released their first acoustic EP, Don’t Panic (2022) featuring spiritual inspirations to hold onto hope and love during times of uncertainty. For more information about The New Respects, visit their website, www.thenewrespects.com. Follow @TheNewRespects on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT TOKENS SHOW & LEE C. CAMP
Tokens began in 2008. Our philosophical and theological variety shows and events hosted throughout the Nashville area imagine a world governed by hospitality, graciousness and joy; life marked by beauty, wonder and truthfulness; and social conditions ordered by justice, mercy and peace-making. We exhibit tokens of such a world in music-making, song-singing, and conversations about things that matter. We have fun, and we make fun: of religion, politics, and marketing. And ourselves. You might think of us as something like musicians without borders; or as poets, philosophers, theologians and humorists transgressing borders.
Lee is an Alabamian by birth, a Tennessean by choice, and has sojourned joyfully in Indiana, Texas, and Nairobi. He likes to think of himself as a radical conservative, or an orthodox liberal; loves teaching college and seminary students at Lipscomb University; delights in flying sailplanes; finds dark chocolate covered almonds with turbinado sea salt to be one of the finest confections of the human species; and gives great thanks for his lovely wife Laura, his three sons, and an abundance of family and friends, here in Music City and beyond. Besides teaching full-time, he hosts Nashville’s Tokens Show, and has authored three books. Lee has an Undergrad Degree in computer science (Lipscomb University, 1989); M.A. in theology and M.Div. (Abilene Christian University, 1993); M.A. and Ph.D. both in Christian Ethics (University of Notre Dame, 1999).
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