Steps...

The more steps you take

The more that you leave behind

So who is following you now?

--"Steps" by Willet

Jeremy Willet Is A Musician With A Message

  
     Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Rachel Scott—a victim at the Columbine School Shooting—wrote, “I won’t be labeled as average.” Jeremy Willet, in a song that he has written called “Thirsty,” sings, “Change will only come when, we get up off the floor/And it’s in my blood, it’s the language that I dream in...”

     Jeremy Willet is helping to bring awareness about global poverty, as well as a message of hope, to those that he meets. Quite frankly, he is not afraid to be a part of the life-saving change that is needed to save lives around the world—in fact, he embraces it.

     This December, Jeremy and his brothers, also known as the rock band Willet which has been touring internationally since 2006, will be performing their fifth annual “Willet Snow on Christmas?” tour from Dec. 8-19 in 15 different cities on the U.S. East Coast.

     The band is composed of three brothers from Maryland, including Jeremy Willet with vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards; Justin Willet on electric guitar and Jordan Willet on bass guitar. Jeremy Willet, 25, describes their music as having “heavy guitar hooks, melodic vocals and symphonic production” and “thought-provoking lyrics inspired from scripture from the Bible and global poverty.” He says that Chevelle, Switchfoot and Blindside are some of the band’s musical influences.

   What an average tour day looks like for Jeremy:

Between 8am-10am: Wake up, read Bible, drink some coffee, and load up in van.

10am - 3pm: Drive to next city

3pm-4pm: Radio/TV/newspaper interviews

4pm-5:30pm: Set up for concert

6pm - 7pm: Prayer/Bible study before show

7pm - 8:30: Concert / autographs

9pm - 10:30pm: Tear down

10:30pm – Midnight: grab some food, drive to hotel/host home

     Willet has also played at festivals that have featured bands such as Switchfoot, Relient K, and the Newsboys, and has been on tour with Electric & Musical Industries (EMI) recording artist Sanctus Real.

     Jeremy said Christmas especially has deep meaning to him.

     “Christmas to me is a celebration of the birth of our Savior and an extension of the rest of the year that we should be living our lives for Jesus,” he said. “Christians especially get upset when people call it a ‘holiday’ instead of saying ‘Christmas’, etc., but I don't get caught up in the wording or politics of it. Call it what you want, at the end of the day, it is all about who you believe in, and how you live your life.”

     In addition to writing and playing music, Jeremy recently co-authored a book called “carried.” with friend and youth pastor Justin Hanneken.

     “We wrote ‘carried.’ after a trip to Africa together in 2009,” he said. “It brings a unique perspective from a youth pastor that ministers in one location weekly, and a Christian touring musician that is in a different city each night. The book is all about how we should lay down our ‘kingdoms’ that we have built up—consumerism, materialism, patriotism—and instead, pick up our cross.”

     Jeremy describes what happens at a Willet concert, and what he hopes people take away from the concert when they leave.

     “At a Willet concert, people experience an hour of hearing/seeing our original songs performed live, sometimes synced with videos on a backdrop,” he said.

     At every Willet concert, the band shares an update about an international community that they work in. Currently, Willet works in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Haiti and visits these countries several times each year.

     “Our hope is that people walk away from a Willet concert with a sense of urgency to sponsor a child from one of the communities that we work in,” he said. “We have seen that when one person/family takes the time and sacrifice to sponsor one child living in extreme poverty, then an entire community is transformed. Over the past five years, over 2,000 children have been sponsored through Willet concerts.”

     He says that Willet first decided to take on the endeavor of sponsoring children following their first trip to Ethiopia, Africa, in 2007. Jeremy said the songs that songs directly address child sponsorship are the entire record “Virus” that they released in 2008, as well as “Shelter” off their ‘Teeth of a Lion, Fangs of a Lioness” album.

     “I sponsored my first child after meeting Food for the Hungry at a festival and hearing about their strategy to address both physical and spiritual needs in poverty-stricken communities,” he said. “Their vision to work with pastors, community leaders and the children is fantastic! When someone sponsors a child, they also provide funding for a missionary in that community to tell the children about Jesus!”

     Jeremy says that he and his wife, Kat, have sponsored three children, and have had the chance to meet one of them.

     “In 2011, we are adopting our first child from Africa as well,” he excitedly said. “We are so excited to become parents to an orphan!”

         

     If high school students and their families would like to become involved with sponsoring a child this Christmas, Jeremy recommends either going to www.fh.org/willet or coming to one of the 15 cities on the Christmas tour listed at http://www.willetonline.com/.

         

     The last song on Willet’s latest album "Teeth of a Lion, Fangs of a Lioness" is called "Steps." The lyrics are: "The more steps you take/The more that you leave behind/So who is following you now?" With this in mind, Jeremy sums up how he hopes to impact and influence others by the way that he lives.

     “My goal is this—songs are important, music is fun, touring the world is a blast, but ultimately, all of that will pass away and be replaced by the ‘next thing,’” he said. “What really matters in this life is our relationship with Jesus, and how we love those around us. We do a lot internationally, but one of my favorite things to do in the U.S. is to go and meet homeless people under a railroad track in my hometown and take them out to dinner and talk to them. People living in poverty—domestic or international—deserve to be shown love. That is what The Bible is all about! That is what Jesus did! And...I want my life to look like Jesus.”

Greeted By Silence...

As I open the glass door and step inside, I am greeted by silence, save the light whirrring of the espresso machine, indie music playing quietly in the background, and the hushed conversations of the others who are present. I embrace the sun's warmth that is flooding through the coffee shop's windows, and breathe in the rich aroma of freshly brewed macchiatos and mochas.

I admire the regional artists' handiwork--anything from black and white photographs to humorous drawings with animated colors--that adorn the walls, which are painted in raw, earthen colors that would perhaps remind one of colors tantamount to soil. I make my way farther in, savoring every moment of being here. I walk over to the counter on the west side of the building, and start to study the menu, looking over the myriad of caffeinated choices that have been written with multi-colored chalk--the chalkboard being a masterpiece of art in itself. I decide on ordering a caramel macchiato latte and chat with the kind barista as she prepares the frothy and delicious creation.

After receiving the hot cup and thanking her, I reach for several napkins, and walk back to the front of the coffee shop toward a comfortable corner that is parallel to the entrance. I set my vividly colored Mexican-made bag, which at this point is bulging with its contents, on a small dark-wood table and seat myself on a comfy chair that is right under the window. I take out a few of the contents from my burdened bag, somewhat alleviating it from its hard load. After finding my cell phone, journal, and selection of books (at the time I was reading Chasing Tail Lights by Patrick Jones and The Wounded Spirit by Frank Peretti) and placing them out before me on the table, I take out my blue iPod, and, after untangling the falling-apart ear buds, place them into my ears. I let Willet's song "shelter" wash over me, letting the beautiful lyrics sink in.


There is shelter underneath your wing/A fortress won't be shaken/There is refuge in the tower, that is higher than I/And I try to do justice, and to love mercy/I want to walk humbly with my God/Hope will keep you warm--a little longer/Faith won't leave you cold--makes you stronger/Love will find you, love will find you/The broken road can seem so low/But there's a hand to hold that never lets go/When hope replaces tears,/In our eyes, we see God, glorified/To love Him, to know Him/Is to go where He sends us to go/Where you are, wherever you've been, wherever you're going/Love will find you.


Shelter. The word has so many meanings for me personally, and the coffee shop where I now find myself sitting in seems to be a fitting definition of one. I have jokingly told my friends before that I would like to take up residence here in this coffeehouse on Arrowhead Parkway, to which they just shake their heads and laugh.

The Dunn Bros. Coffeehouse is certainly one of my preferred places where I like to be. It is one of my definitions of "shelter," in that, while I find it a solace where I can rest, reflect, and be refreshed (in so many ways), it also provides me a chance to focus on the One Who is the ultimate definition of the word, and I'm savoring every moment of being here.