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10 Questions with ... FFH
November 2, 2009
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
LINE-UP:
- Jeromy Deibler
- Jennifer Deibler
LABEL:
Independent
DISCOGRAPHY:
Wide Open Spaces (2009)
1) Catch us up real quickly on where you have been the last couple of years.
Since the fall of 2006, Jennifer and I have moved to Africa, moved home, welcomed our second baby, lost both of Jennifer's only grandparents, and I was diagnosed with MS.
2) That was quick! And now you have a new record releasing. Tell us about the story behind the first single "What It Feels Like."
It's a song about walking in the desert of uncertainty with God. Much like we have recently. It's a hard place but somehow God shows us something different and special about himself in that time. The way he has done for Jennifer and I over the past couple of years. Amazingly, that special side of God is "enough" to live on during those times, even when it seems impossible from the outside looking in.
3) What message do you hope to convey through the new album "Wide Open Spaces"?
I'm not sure it has one specific message. Unlike our past records, these songs were written over a long period of time during a myriad of life circumstances, both pleasant and unpleasant. Through this uncertain season, one that we are still in, Jennifer and I have felt an unexpected openness in our lives. We've had more space, physical and spiritual and emotional. These songs were born in that space and, as weird as it may sound, we've come to love this "Wide Open Place" of uncertainty.
4) What's new lyrically or musically on the record that you think might surprise people about FFH?
I think Jennifer and I are very different people because of all we've been through over the past three years. I think that made for a very different album. We couldn't help it really. It's just what came out.
5) Is there one aspect of South Africa that you wish you could transport to Franklin, TN?
The simple life, for sure. In South Africa we lived in a tiny cottage with no heat, no AC, no TV, no landline phone, and no hi-speed Internet. After a few weeks we didn't miss any of it. In fact, we liked our lives a lot more.
6) Is there any song in the FFH repertoire that you enjoying performing more than another? Is there a favorite song to perform live?
"One of These Days" might always be my favorite. However, "What It Feels Like" is becoming special, too. It's amazing how many people can relate to our wilderness experience but don't quite know how to explain it. "What it Feels Like" seems to really connect with them and help them to express their feelings.
7) Take a second to brag on your two kids. What kind of joy do they bring you?
My kids are exceptional in every way. They already seem wiser than me. Unfortunately, they seem to know it as well.
8) How is life on the road different for FFH now?
Since our return to FFH in February, Jennifer and I have been traveling with the kids separate from the rest of the band. It's something that we decided our family needed if we were to ever go back to FFH. We now have our own private space and the rest of the guys and the small crew come separately and meet us where play. As a result of this change, I now driving our bus, which is actually a huge diesel motorhome that we pull my Jeep behind. We look like an old retired couple going down the road. I have to learn things that I never expected or hoped to learn. Like how to dump toilet tanks and how far 100 gallons of diesel will take us. In August we ran out of fuel in front of a gas station. We had to be towed 50 feet to the pump. Then had to hire a mechanic to come out and get us going.
9) What's ahead on the schedule for the remainder of 2009?
We're finally getting back out West in November then coming home for one show in Georgia before Thanksgiving. In December we are in Florida and Delaware. Hopefully we'll get to see some of my family in Pennsylvania while we are up there.
10) Do you guys have time to listen to much music? What other artists are you listening to right now?
I've got the Gabe Dixon Band in my Jeep. Jennifer and I both end up listening to talk radio when we are driving by ourselves. When the kids are with us, they want to hear Rush of Fools or something fun on the radio.
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