c a r l t h o m a s g l a d s t o n e

With the release of oft broke echo (2006), Carl Thomas Gladstone continues on his path connecting the spiritual and artistic with the world of confusion, pain, and sometimes hope and joy. A seminary-trained writer, Carl seeks to tell and retell the story of redemption he knows is meant for all the world. Unlike "christian musicians," however, his are not lyrics necessarily of worship or conversion. Rather they explore the deepest human experiences, they expose moments when the divine seems distant, and ultimately they revel in the moments when hope and love seem close at hand.

Carl began his musical career as a part of Still Listening, a band made up of 5 friends from a Detroit church and a northern Michigan school. Near the end of high school Carl, Jason Hill, Greg Ryckman, and Mike Mayo all began to write music and play guitars. They started playing small gigs for youth groups, retreats, and camps, including their memorable debut performance for an all-girls retreat that went over “very well,” hooking the guys on “this band thing.” After their first years in college they met drummer Brad Stott and Still Listening, the band, was born. The five guys enjoyed driving the ten hours between their two schools to play gigs at local bars, churches, and coffee houses while recording their first album (self titled Still Listening) in 1998.

It was always an intentional move on the part of Still Listening to push the boundaries of their music which strove to connect life and faith. Early on they recognized the limitations of writing music inspired by their collective Christian journeys if that music could only be sung in sanctuaries. Instead, Carl and the guys of Still Listening tried to write music that would encourage and challenge every listener to think critically about how faith, hope, love, and a prophetic voice could change the world.

In 2001, while Still Listening was still performing, Carl wrote and produced tales scratched out, a solo project that continued to open up his own Christian experience for his listeners. Two of the songs on Carl’s debut solo CD (Echoes in Dreams and Girl) were written by Still Listening and members of the band provided backup instrumentation for the CD.

Throughout his career with Still Listening and on his own, Carl has opened for such acts as The Waiting, Smalltown Poets, Clear, and Shane Barnard (w/ Katie Monaghan). These gigs and other feature performance have taken Carl to stages at such venues as Albion College, Albion, MI; The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI; Trinity House, Farmington, MI; Northwestern University, Evanston, IL; Common Grounds, Waco, TX; The Door, Dallas, TX; and 313.Jac, Detroit, MI. Carl has recieved radio airplay on the “Local Music Corner” segment of Chicago Public Radio’s [WBEZ, 91.5 FM] Eight Forty-Eight program, and on WNUR FM, Evanston-Chicago’s Folk Show. Carl has also provided worship leadership for Albion College's Wednesday Night Chapel, the United Methodist Youth Organization’s Convocation, and a young adult summit for the UMC's board of Discipleship..

Carl says, “If I were to be remembered as anything I'd hope it would be a poet. Whenever I put a song together I want the lyrics to be as subtly complex as any of the poems or scripture passages that inspired it. At the same time, it’s the music that finally energizes those same words beyond what they could do alone. I want to be Otis Redding singing Seamus Heaney or Steve Earle singing Maya Angelou. Beyond this, I hope that every finite thing I create contains some marker, some image, some reconfiguration of words that points listeners toward the infinite and amazing nature of God and the new community of Jesus.”

Carl listens to and is inspired by the guitar skills of Shane Barnard, the passion of Patti Griffin, the smart rock of Toad the Wet Sprocket, the funk of Stevie Wonder, the emotion of Chris Whitley, the word/melody of Lyle Lovett, the sincerity of David Crowder, the drive of Pedro the Lion, the brashness of Steve Earle, the intentionality of Sufjan Stevens, the wildness of the Avett Brothers, and the sound of Wilco.

Carl will continue to write and perform his original acoustic music on the prophetic edge for the faithful and faith-frustrated people of the Detroit area and beyond. With three tours a year (spring, summer, and fall) Carl travels around the midwest and others areas of the country to share his music, meet listeners, and gather experiences for future writing. It is Carl's great hope that his songs could gather together people from all walks of life, present them with questions and pondering thoughts, and leave them inspired to go find answers to their own and the worlds most challenging situations, all in the name of peace, justice, mercy, and above all, love.

Discography:

* Still Listening, w/Still Listening, Redhouse Recording, 1998
* Chapel 2000: Albion College (independent worship album), 2000
* Live from the Attic, w/Katie Monaghan (independent) 2000
* Tales Scratched Out, solo, Miscellaneous Records, 2001
* Long Road to Go, Still Listening (independent), 2001
* Oft Broke Echo, solo, Miscellaneous Records, 2006