Sojourn Fare Interview
ST. LOUIS, MO - Successful Grammy nominated group True Vibe parted ways about a year ago. The members of True Vibe remain supportive of each other. In fact, former members Nathan Gaddis and Jordan Roe have formed their own group. After much thought, the name they came up with for their new band is Sojourn Fare, meaning strangers in a foreign land, seeking a true "home" with the provision and sustenance given by our King.
Sojourn Fare is dedicated to spreading God’s message though their music with a new, more mature sound. Their new sound will make an impact on critics who in the past may had ruled them out due to the fact they were part of a group that was perceived as a “boy band.” A “boy band” no longer! Gaddis’ and Roe’s new song, entitled “Fire from the Rain” (which some national radio stations are already playing) was written and produced by the team. So far all of their success has come to them without the aid of a record label. The two got the chance to take creative charge and played their own instruments on the record, which was a welcomed change from their past recording experiences. We can be sure to expect great things from the two, “boy band” past aside.
I had the opportunity to speak with Jordan and Nathan recently about their new group, what they have been up to this past year, and what future plans they have. To find out more about Sojourn Fare please read the interview below and check out their website: http://www.sojournfare.com
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Erin: Can you tell me about the formation of Sojourn Fare?
Jordan: After True Vibe, originally it was Nathan, Jason, and I and we were doing some stuff together. Then we were just praying to see where God had us. It came down to Nathan and I were led to keep on going with us two and just get back to more of where our heart was. We both led worship and are worship leaders so we were just getting back in that mindset. First we just got together and wrote a song and saw if God would give us enough grace to kind of step in and the song turned out really well. We started going after it just to see if it was something we were able to do, and it was. We both felt very strong about it, saying this is something we both need to chase after. It’s not some monstrous, huge story. It was just us two kind of really pressing in and saying, “Lord, if it is Your will to intertwine Nathan and I on this journey to minister more effectively- then that's awesome and we're ready!” That’s basically how it started. That’s how Nathan and I started doing stuff.
Nathan: We left True Vibe a year ago. We left that group and kind of just basically hung out a few months just wondering what was going to happen. We didn’t know where we were going or really what we wanted to do. We had an idea of what we wanted to do. The more we waited the more God just showed us what he wanted to do instead of what we wanted to do. Because, his plan ended up a lot different than what we thought it was going to be.
Erin: How did you guys come up with the name for the group and what is the meaning behind it?
Jordan: How we came up with it, I was actually sitting at work during the day job. Because obviously when your not doing stuff you have to survive and be able to provide for your family. So, I was sitting at work and thinking about some stuff and the term sojourn just came into my head. The first thing that came to me was that in the Old Testament when Abraham was going down to Egypt to sojourn there and he was going be a stranger in a foreign land, he was going there for a short while. That started coming to me and I was like, I love that word. That is just so cool because it is the idea of us longing for a place God has prepared for us. So I kept thinking about what other word we could use. We had been searching for a name for forever! Sometimes you throw out so many names and it’s just not right. You get frustrated. We just kind of backed off. Then I came across the word fare. I was like what does that mean? Fare as in taxi cab? So, I looked up the definition and the actual old English definition was that in times of old, troubadours and minstrels would travel from state to state and region to region, what the king would give them would be their fare. That is how they would survive. I was like wow, that’s really cool. Sojourn Fare. We are strangers in a foreign land longing for a country of our own, the city that God has prepared for us. I was sitting at home one night, probably about three weeks ago or so and I came across the passage Hebrews 11:13-16. That is where it shows our forefathers realized that they were strangers and exiles on this earth. "Desiring a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, and He has prepared a city for them.” Sojourn Fare is basically that we are strangers in a foreign land, seeking our true "home" with the provision and sustenance given to us by our King.
Erin: What can people expect from the new group and from your music?
Nathan: I think what people can expect is a lot more depth. Lyrically we are trying to go to a place that we never really got to go to while we were in True Vibe, a place where lyrically it’s a lot more deep. I guess musically it’s going to be totally different, probably for obvious reasons. We loved being in True Vibe and we had a great time doing it, but at the same time it got to a point where that style of music really just wasn’t our passion. Right now we get to create music that comes solely from our hearts and souls and that makes the biggest difference; even when you hear it, for me anyway, I just hear our hearts more and I hear more of what has always longed to come out. It has just been kept up inside for a really long time. Musically it’s going to different. It’s going to be more acoustic. I hesitate to say rock because it’s kind of an acoustic rock but it’s not like “in your face, slam rock.” It’s more of just a pop/rock, that is what it would be considered as, but more on a worship level.
Jordan: We both come from worship backgrounds and leading in worship. Nathan led worships for camps and I’m on youth staff as a youth and worship leader here in Nashville, so that’s where our heart kind of comes through. We’ve done the pop thing for a good while and it was fun. God definitely blessed that but it’s kind of time to get back to what we know and kind of do the music that we love. Nathan: I think what we are excited about is that we actually get to play the instruments. On the first song we did we got to literally start from scratch, whereas with True Vibe we gave the songs to producers who made a track for it and then we came in and sang for it. On this we get to go in the studio and start from nothing and birth this song into the production that we feel it needs and we get to play on it. It’s a cool experience because we have never really done it like that. It’s really wild, I like it.
Erin: How have you both changed musically and spiritually over the past year?
Jordan: Musically we definitely have grown. Personally for me I have grown musically because when you get to accompany three other fantastic musicians that you respect, from a musical standpoint, that definitely sharpens you and strengthens you musically. In regards to True Vibe, it was a rollercoaster ride. There were a lot of ups and downs. It was fun but there was a lot of hard stuff too, just as any group goes through. Something I kind of learned was God’s goodness and God’s faithfulness. That it’s always consistent. With people, we are too quick to say God is so good, I mean God is good but we say it without fully realizing it. When push comes to shove and you get in a situation where you are struggling to make ends meet and the money is running low, you really have to rely on God's faithfulness and not just speak about it anymore. You have to fully rely on it. He has so proved faithful to me personally. That’s where I have been brought to another level of faith. I have had to just rely upon him. Watching him create something and knowing that this isn’t of me anymore. It has nothing to do with us anymore. We pretty much live to make God famous and to make Christ famous, that’s why I live and that’s why I am here. Sometimes we focus too much on ourselves. We get so used to everything, but it has nothing to do with us. It’s the same thing in worship, worship is not about us, it’s about God. That’s something that has taken me a long time. We were with True Vibe for about two and a half years. Over that time slowly God has been molding me and preparing me for something that he has and I couldn’t see that. Spiritually it was God’s faithfulness that rang true in my life.
Nathan: For me, I don’t mean to sound corny but this first song that we did called “Fire from the Rain” totally sums up the last year and a half of my life. First of all, the song talks about us as Christians who go through times in our lives where there are storms in the way of getting things accomplished. Not just getting things accomplished but hindering what you really are called to do. Things that get in the way, it could be everyday things, like Jordan was talking about. Such as trying to survive, providing for your family, spiritual battles I guess you could call them as well. The cool thing about it is that I truly believe that God takes those storms and that rain in your life so to speak, and He can take that and totally transform that into this raging fire inside of us. This raging fire of passion for God and the pursuit of God and the pursuit of faithfulness and everything holy that God calls us to be. I think that is one of the coolest blessings that God can give us is the trials that we go though because he takes those and just switches them when we least expect it into these enormous blessings. The times you feel like you have absolutely no hope, God is ready to take those storms away and to get rid of those. That for me has been a revelation in my life in the past year and a half, two years. My life has radically changed in the past two years. I got married in February and it has been an enormous change in my life and it has been the biggest blessing that I could ever ask for. God just totally brought me the love of my life. God had just been teaching me a lot about faithfulness and a lot about humility. Such as, where my place is that God wants me to be and how I strive to go there with every fiber of my being. I want to be there no matter what it costs me and no matter what it takes.
Jordan: I guess you could say it’s been a huge spiritual journey for us. The music has been inside of us the whole time. We just haven’t had the opportunity to really express it.
Erin: What aspirations do you have for the future of the group?
Jordan: Honestly, wherever God has us. We have been given some blessings and some talent, and I’m extremely thankful for that. But, we need to be diligent with that. Wherever God has us and wherever he wants to use us, that’s fine. If a record deal comes from this and monstrous new things start to happen then that would be awesome. But if we need to continue on going to different youth groups and stuff and ministering that way, we know what we’re called to do. We need to prepare with what we’ve been given now. Such as the opportunities, places, and the doors that God opens up for us, we’ll walk through those doors. It’s pretty much in God’s hands. It’s kind of a humbling experience for us. We are just sitting back. It’s not so much about us anymore. It’s about the gift we’ve been given and we recognize who gave it to us. We just want to be obedient.
Nathan: I think what it comes down to also is that everyone comes to a point in their life where they are searching for something, they are searching for the road that they feel God has led them to, and what the will of God is. I think the main goal for us is to be that a person that dives into their faith in Jesus and who searches for that and longs after that which is the will of God. Everything they do from that point on and every decision they make, if they are really grounded in Jesus, is the will of God. That is what we want to be. We want to be that person who is so focused on the Lord that whatever we do and whatever decisions we have to make aren’t our decisions anymore, they become the will of God.
Erin: Is there anything you would like to relay to the fans that continue to support you?
Jordan: Thank you so much for supporting us. I am so grateful because they are the ones we go out there to speak to. They are the ones we are so grateful for. They help us so much. I don’t know what to tell them.
Nathan: We have had some of the most faithful fans with True Vibe. We have seen fans go on this journey with us for two and a half years. We pray that all of you continue this journey with us. Thank you so much for your support and prayers and we will definitely being seeing you soon!!
*Erin Coleman is a writer for Christian Activities.
