Ten Shekel Shirt official website
“FAQ’s about Ten Shekel Shirt.”

To submit a question CLICK HERE. Your question and the answer may be posted here after review by band management. Thanks for taking part.

Q. What is the significance of the album title and song Jubilee?
A. The origin of the word Jubilee has nothing to do with a wedding anniversary or a schmaltzy Las
Vegas show. It has everything to do with the emancipation of slaves and the celebration of freedom
and justice. When I wrote the title track, Jubilee, I combined that ancient meaning of the word with
the true story of a young girl rescued from slavery and her first moments in a safehome.

Q. Does the artwork on the cover of Jubilee have any significance?
A. According to oral tradition, secret codes (like those used in the album artwork) were used on
quilts to help slaves in America find their way to freedom in the mid 1800’s. Although the “secret code
theory” is in question by some historians, it is well documented that abolitionists during that same
time period used symbolic art on quilts as a way to raise awareness and funds for the abolitionist
cause. Today artists of all kinds have an opportunity and an obligation to carry on this great tradition
by joining in the fight against modern-day slavery.  

Q. Where has Ten Shekel Shirt been the last 5 years?
A. When I (Lamont) co-founded Love146 I put the band on pause for a while. Now that the charity is well established and has amazing staff in the US and SE Asia I have been able to push things forward with the band again.  

Q. What is Love146?
A. Love146 works towards the abolition of child sex trafficking and exploitation through effective prevention and aftercare programs. Go to www.love146.org to learn about the issue and how you can join the cause. (Love146 was formerly called Justice for Children International.)

Q. Is it true the other band members have solo projects?
A. Yes. Jonny Rodgers (lead guitarist) has a great new album out called Aviary. It’s gourmet food for the ears (finger picked guitar, eerily pure vocals, wine glasses, tasty strings and gentle horns.) You can find his music on CD Baby, iTunes and on MySpace under these links -

CdBaby - CLICK HERE    I-Tunes - CLICK HERE    Amazon.com  - CLICK HERE


Colin Meyer (new drummer) goes under the moniker The Soldier Story for his moody indie rock gem. He plays most of the instruments on his debut album. He’s so freaking good.

Q. What does the name of the band mean?
A. We get this question a lot. And we’ve heard some good guesses. I think my favorite was about a guy skinny dipping in Israel who had all of his belongings stolen except for a cheap, ten shekel shirt (10 shekels = $3 USD .) Although this is not what the band was originally named after it does make for a funny mental picture if you can imagine a guy trying to cover himself up with only a small shirt as he runs frantically throughout the Holy Land.

The real deal goes like this. It’s kind of long and heady so bear with me. We named the band in part after a sermon I heard in the 90’s called “Ten Shekels and a Shirt” and in part because the combined words were quirky and original. For those of you wanting to know what the sermon was about I’ll summarize it and give you my updated perspective. The famous sermon was preached in the 50’s and passionately suggested that missionaries would get off track if they allowed anything other than God to take the central place in their work. He used the biblical example of a Levite in Judges 17 and 18 who sold-out for ten shekels and a shirt. I still agree with the general concept here. It doesn’t take a rocket theologian to see that the church has oft been corrupted by the love of money and selfish ambition. But then the preacher makes the tragic mistake, along with much of the 20th century evangelical church, as he attempts to separate two things that are inextricably linked – love for God and love for oppressed neighbors. Jesus never divorced those two concepts. In fact he said things like, “whatever you’ve done for the least of these (poor, homeless, hungry...) you’ve done for me.” And the bible as a whole could not link those actions more intimately. In the original Hebrew and Greek languages the words used for righteousness (which is about a right relationship with God) are the exact same words used for justice (right relationship with oppressed people.)

In the sermon the pastor talks about misguided humanists trying to “improve on the justice of God” by helping suffering people. That’s an extremely dangerous and silly notion. I’m not sure how I missed that during my first listen. I don’t think God rebukes anyone for loving others. He works through many different kinds of people...surprisingly even me on rare occasions. Any time there is a true act of love, compassion, mercy or justice, God is present. He is right there, actively working through the mess of flesh and bones and emotions that we are, no matter our dogma or creed. I get a kick out of Jesus' story of the “Good Samaritan.” The good guy in the story isn’t one of the “chosen people.” In fact he is some foreigner with a different religion.

Good Sam didn’t proclaim that he was only doing this for “God’s glory” as the sermon suggests we do, he simply saw someone in need and helped him. Thankfully the church and humanitarians are beginning to respect each other again and make some significant progress together. I could go on and on but I’m sure some of you are waiting for the exciting punch line, like the sharks in “Finding Nemo” waited for Marlin the clown fish to complete his joke.
 
So there you have it, that’s where the name originally comes from. Now I expect all of you to remember my theological dissertation when thinking about our band name, or if you prefer you can choose to think about the poor chap still running around Israel wearing only a ten shekel shirt.

Lamont
 

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