I’ve gotten tons of emails and text messages with well wishes since my -er retirement and I wanted to say thank you for caring and being so supportive.  I’ve also received a lot of questions that could all be boiled down to one consistent thought:  So now what are you gonna do?  Hopefully, this will answer those questions definitively.

So what am I gonna do?  In a nutshell?  Im gonna work my tail off to make a difference.  For starters, Im gonna pour as much as I can into the worship ministry at Summit Church because we were all created to worship the Almighty God who loved us to the point of punishing his Son for our willful disobedience.  Im grateful that Ive been chosen to lead a congregation in worship each Sunday and I will continue to do so until they drag me out kicking and screaming.

On a related note, I firmly believe that my creativity came from the ultimate Creator.  Take a minute to go for a walk outside and you cant go two steps without seeing something so intricately designed that it can never be duplicated.   I want to support those artists who want to create music that not only represents that standard but is true in message as well.  Seriously, who among us thinks that Lady Gaga should be leading the creativity conversation?  Im doing this for the next Gungor, John Mark McMillan and Switchfoot.  Look for the debut album from Hadwynn, the first band signed to my label Lucas Gambit Records (in stores December 6, 2011) and the follow up from Aftermath (January 10, 2012).  I’ve also signed talented singer songwriter Jason Rumbough who will be creating some amazing stuff for release in Fall 2012.

I will also be devoting time to help the tons of talented independent artist and bands out there.  The world needs another advocate for independent music more than it needs me out there selling my music.  Besides, Id much rather fight for the “many” than fight for myself any day.  All of my mistakes, missteps and small successes have given me a wealth of information that I can pass on to the new guard coming along.  My new music and entertainment company, Lucas Gambit, will go a long way in helping me in my goal to see a new golden age in original music creation and performance.  Great music is starving itself to death through free downloads, selfish 3rd party services (yes you Tunecore) and now streaming radio services.  Folks dont pay for music like they used to but consume more music than they ever have.  I want to help these artists get heard above the “white noise” while maximizing their revenue potential so they’ll be able to continue to create the music we all love.  Just think— if John Mayer’s “Room For Squares” was released in 2008 instead of 2001, we would’ve never gotten “Contiuum” (his best album and a great record all around) because he wouldnt have the money to keep going.  My friend Mindi is glad things worked out for John the way they did because she LOVES his music and supports him through concert tickets, merchandise and BUYING his music.  I’ll be working hard for music lovers like Mindi.  And remember Adele?  Yeah her.  She’s been the number one artist on EVERYTHING since ’21′ hit stores.  Adele is signed to a small indie label in UK and built her following through carefully orchestrated promotion and GREAT songs.  I want to see more Adeles in the mix please.

I dont know if my efforts will make a difference but when its all said and done, I want to know that I gave everything I had.  I hope you’ll join me in my quest.  I hope you’ll click “buy” instead of “play” when you dig an artist.  I hope that one day there will be just as many God professing musicians in Billboard’s Top 200 as those singing about partying, hooking up, and getting drunk.

I may be retired, but Im just getting started.

That’s why I can say with complete certainty and peace…that effective immediately I am retiring.   There.  I said it.  I’ve actually been hinting at it for a while now.   When I told my wife about two weeks ago, she promptly dismissed it until I started trying to figure out how to give away every last one of the cds Im still storing in my garage.  I told a few of my closest friends who chuckled (probably thinking that it was about time) but supported the decision nonetheless.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell everyone else but I just didnt know how to do it.  Honestly, its not like Im world famous.  I could simply fade to black and never say a word.  But honestly, there are some of you who have supported me since that first performance at Firehouse Tavern in Greenville NC 20 years ago.  Some of you have everything I’ve ever released (with the exception of the forgettable “Now or Never”) and still check in to find out when I’ll be making my way on stage again.  This is for you.  You deserve more than a inactive facebook page and outdated website.  You deserve my undying gratitude for the years of encouragement and for shelling out your hard earned cash to buy my music even when folks were downloading songs by the gigabyte.  Because of you, my music will live on long after I try explain to my daughters that “Daddy used to be a pretty cool dude”.  Because of you, I actually have a career after music as a label owner, mentor and advocate for young artists crazy enough to venture into this unpredictable industry.   So from the bottom of my heart I want to say “thank you”.

Im sure you’ve got some questions like: “what took you so long Sam?” or “what about Summit Church?” or “will there be one last show”.  I plan to answer any and all questions in the next couple of weeks.

No way I can say “goodbye” without having a little fun on the way out…

Sam

(the artist formerly known as “the lead singer of Curious Goods/Weekend Excursion/Mercury Blue/Caruso”)

The words stung me a little bit.  And I’d be lying if I say that everything in me didn’t want to let him have it.  What do you mean you don’t listen to “Jesus” music?!  First of all, the astute will notice that I don’t include quotations around both words because I have a bone to pick with those who categorize music in such a way, but honestly that’s an argument for another day.   I bit my tongue and simply smiled and said “its cool dawg, I appreciate the feedback”, and changed the subject.  Later that day, I started to think about the exchange and asked myself what my ultimate goal was with the music that I write, release and perform.  In the past, it was simple–make a living making music.  I didn’t even care about fame (those who know me well know that I HATE large crowds and tend to have tiny panic attacks when surrounded by lotsa folks) I just wanted to feed myself, pay the bills and make music.  Later, it became feed my family, pay the mortgage and make music.   So here’s the rub…

…just because I’m a devoted follower of Christ doesn’t mean I make “Jesus” music.  I make MUSIC plain and simple.  If you want to label it, fine.  Be my guest.  Call it Pop Rock or the more “grown up” sounding term Melodic Rock.  Call it Adult Contemporary.  I get that.  But I draw the line at using my lyrics to define my music.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, just because Dr. Dre writes about chronic doesn’t mean he writes “weed” rap.  Kanye West doesn’t write “narcissist” rap.  John Mayer doesn’t write “girl” music.  Okay, maybe he does, but I digress.  I am a Christian.  I am an artist.  I’m a songwriter.  I write about the world and my life and how God’s influence is over all of it.  I write about my salvation and how the words “take up your cross and follow me” burned a brand on my heart that will never be rubbed out.  I don’t write “Jesus” music.  I write music about Jesus.  HUGE difference.  Music is God’s creation.  Jesus is God incarnate.  So its redundant to call it “Jesus” music.  That’s like calling it “music” music.  Which reminds me…

What is my ambition now?

I want to make music that puts the redemption of my soul on display.  I want to glorify God and the sacrifice he made when Jesus, his Son died an ugly demeaning death so that I wouldn’t have to pay for my sins.   I also want to encourage other Christians who deal with the same struggles every other human on the planet deals with.  Most importantly, I want to show those who don’t know the redeeming, unconditional love of the King of kings and Lord of lords the Way, the Truth and the Life.  When we sat down to write songs that would ultimately make up “From Age to Age”, I prayed daily that God would bless the record to do three things (give Christians another batch of truth to sing, encourage the Church, and open the door for the salvation of others).  We tried with everything in us to make sure that the only words that I sang were words that came out of scripture in some form.  We hired Dan Hannon a world class producer with christian AND mainstream top 10 hits to his credit to helm the project because we wanted the record to sound like MUSIC not like “christian” music.   Did we succeed?  I’ll probably never know definitively.  But we tried.

Those of you who bought “From Age to Age“, I hope you really like the songs.  I hope that they make you want to sing at the top of your lungs “He is alive!  Now I have new life and hope that never dies!”  What I hope the most though is that it becomes a tool for you to share the gospel of Christ with those who don’t know Jesus as Savior and Redeemer.  When they hear it and ask, “is this ‘Jesus’ music”, explain to them that the dude who wrote the songs used to be a lost soul.  Tell them that at one point he completely ignored God while traveling all over the world living to please himself and still God protected him.  Tell them that while that same dude was completely dead in sin, Christ died for him so that he would have everlasting life.  Tell them that just as he used to write songs about all of the failures and pain in his life and all of the excesses of sin that he lived for, he now writes about hope and peace, love and redemption, faith and conviction.  Tell them that he now chooses to glorify God and not himself.  Then tell them that in the midst of all the pain, fear, doubt, insecurity and failure in their life there is hope in Christ.  There is life everlasting.  There is salvation.  Then give them the CD.  Dont worry, I’ll replace it free of charge so long as you give me the first name of the person you gave it to and their story and why you thought they should have the songs.  I’ll reply to your email with a fresh batch of .mp3s to replace your cd.  If you want the physical copy, I’ll send that if you cover the shipping and handling. ($3)  That way I can pray for you both as questions come up and opportunities to talk about the things of God arise.  If I end up giving away hundreds of these discs or thousands of .mp3s and one person confesses his sin and accepts Christ as Lord of his life then it will be worth it.

This is my prayer and my ambition.

Peace and one,

Sam

See you on the flip side.

Faithfully serving the ultimate Creator,

Sam

Available everywhere 11.9.10

Abandonment.  Its not the best feeling in the world.  And its not something you’d wish on anyone.  Truth is it happens.  A lot.  What Im vibing to today is just as much about WHAT is being said as it is HOW it is said.  ”The Aftertaste of Abandonment” the debut release from Aftermath is an eight song set of well-crafted alternative acoustic rock tunes that open the window to lead singer and principal songwriter Jonathan Edwards’ soul.

At first listen, I was extremely impressed with the quality of the songcraft.  Producer/engineer/mixer Eric McCoy of Archer Avenue Studio put together an impressive set of tunes.  Most debuts miss the mark in some way musically because usually debut artists are still finding their voice.  For Aftertaste, Edwards, McCoy and good friend Josh Dry spent the better part of the last year developing the songs into a cohesive unit.  Young artists take note, you only get one chance to make a good first impression and Edwards impresses with his debut.

What I was most struck by was the tone of the album.  Dealing with such a heavy subject can be a dangerous proposition especially if there is no context.  You have to walk that fine line of empathy without depressing the listener.  Edwards paints a vivid picture of loss and abandonment but as he explains in the liner notes, “when we hit the bottom of our pit our only hope is to look up.”  Edwards goes on to explain that when we look up we see the “ever-so-satisfying and perfect love of our Pursuer.  Jesus.

Ive got to be honest, I love this record. (my favorite tune this week: “Waters Rise”)  Musically it stands up against its contemporaries.  Lyrically, its as honest and poetic a record you’ll find on the shelf.  On November 9, 2010 “The Aftertaste of Abandonment” will go on sale but today you can download a free song from the album at http://www.WeAretheAftermath.com.  The Official CD release Show will take place November 19th, 2010 at 7PM taking place at 2335 Presidential Drive, Durham, NC 27703 featuring Jess Ray & The Rag Tag Army, Jordan Sasser, and Daniel Renstrom

Head on over and tell Aftermath Sam Fisher sent ya.  And buy the record 11.9.2010.  Dont make me tell you I told you so.

Peace and one.

Fish

“For free,  you ask. “Whats the catch?”  Its simple:  starting today we are launching a twitter hashtag contest.  For those of you who are tweet challenged, a hashtag is the ‘#’ placed conspicuously in front of a word or phrase without spaces.  (for example:  #FromAgetoAge)

All you have to do is include the hashtag phrase #FromAgetoAge in your outgoing tweets.  We’ll take care of the rest.  Two winners will be announced on stage during the cd release event September 17th.  The grand prize will have a little something extra added in for good measure.

Still need a little help?  Here’s a sample tweet:  @RJDoherty and I had a great time today discussing the possibilities of SummitRDU’s worship ministry.  #FromAgetoAge

And dont worry, my tweets dont count since I’m already holding thousands of these babies.  I’ll still play though just cause I dig a fun time.

See you on the 17th!!

Sam

It has been four years since the release of Sam Fisher’s debut solo LP People Living.

After a self-described “semi-retirement”, Sam just released his sophomore solo effort – From Age to Age, a collection of tunes that explores the relationship between God and creation.

The album, released on the new SummitRDU Worship label, weaves revelation, response and declaration into a tapestry of tunes that doesn’t forego message for the sake of creativity.

Fans of pop-rock will enjoy these carefully crafted rock-tinged pop gems. And like his previous work, Sam delivers each lyric with soul baring passion and emotion.

Taking Up My Cross

Beyond The Ordinary