Malachi Jaggers
Rumble In My Soul
© 2008 Malachi Jaggers (700261246420)
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“It’s not about me; it’s all about God.” This philosophy is what defines Malachi Jaggers’ music; this philosophy is what defines Malachi Jaggers’ life. As a young worship leader, his personal priorities, his career goals, his family, and his body of work all revolve around the desire to do God’s work and share His love with others. Jaggers’ latest studio album, Rumble In My Soul, does both.
“This album is about letting go. Letting go of our sin, our frustrations, our worldliness – letting go of the things that get in the way of our relationship with God – that is what allows God to bring about change in our lives.” With a potent mixture of unblinking honestly and raw grit, Malachi Jaggers speaks to the spiritual struggles of regular people with understanding and insight.
Vocally, Malachi has a folksy Rick Elias quality; however, he also dips into a reservoir of rough emotionality evoking Paul McCartney in songs like “Rumble in My Soul” and “Holding On To Fall.” Malachi’s baritone to tenor range is clear and controlled, always solid and ever versatile. This flexibility of voice serves him well in this album’s demanding array of vocal style, from rock to folk, from lullaby to waltz, from energetic to introspective. One of the most poignant and intimate moments on the album is “Trust”:
When we trust in Jesus, we are no longer of this earth. Pain and frustration lose their power, for His sacrifice proved my worth. And I will give Him my life, all the heartaches that come. All of my strife, I will trust in Christ.
“I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.” Trusting in Jesus is the cornerstone of Malachi’s personal belief system. “I want to make the most of the time I have left on this earth by serving God and His interests, not my own.” Malachi’s childhood was interrupted when his parents separated, and so his formative years were wrought with emotional and physical instability. In his family, brokenness was the norm. As an adult, Malachi points to his rough childhood as extremely influential in bringing him to the perfect and healing love of Christ, and in forming Godly priorities in his own life. “Because of that time, I learned the importance of a fused family and a unified marriage. I love my wife Leah like Christ loves the Church. I want to take care of her, sacrifice for her, do things that please her and the Lord. Nothing except God comes before her and my family.”
Because of the addictions and hurt that were present in the lives of the relatives around him, Malachi identifies strongly with the pain and emptiness so many people feel. This album’s core concept addresses that empty echo, that “rumble” that we feel when God isn’t present in our life, or when we haven’t turned over certain areas of our life to the Lord. In this way the album speaks to Christians and non-believers alike. “I want Christians to understand they still sin and fall short of God’s glory, but God is still there to pick them up. I want non-believers to come to salvation through Jesus. Everyone has something in their life they want to change---that’s your rumble. You can keep that rumble, and it’ll eat you up inside. If you use that rumble to turn you toward God, then it can be a change agent.”
Malachi’s collaborative songwriting style embodies Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Malachi states: “When I write with other people, it focuses the message of the album as a whole.” On this album, Malachi collaborates with singer/songwriter/musician Scott Greeson and Dan Gottschalk, his father-in-law, who pastors in the United Methodist church.
Because of that intense partnership, each song on Rumble In My Soul echoes the album’s theme: letting go emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Songs are spiced with an international or world music flavor. The Spanish guitar and background vocals of “In My Place” and the Celtic feel of “When You Follow A Star” both exemplify Malachi’s dedication to exploring a variety of musical genres in search of the perfect sound for each song. As a result, diverse instrumentation richly embroiders the album, and guest appearances are made by timpani, flugelhorn, violin, and a trombone-trumpet duo.
In addition to using a broad array of instrumentation, Malachi uses varied sounds and genres to evoke different times, places, and musical movements. “Free” recalls a Bob Dylan-pop feel as it introduces the album; it stirs up images of the jailed, the addicted, the mentally and physically bound, coming to their feet and jumping around in a joyful celebration of the true independence found in Jesus.
Free, I am free to declare the name of Jesus. From cathedral halls to prison walls
I have heard the Savior call, “Get the word out.” So I leave my home and hit the street, tellin’ everyone I meet, what grace is about.
“Trust” is a gentle waltz, destined to become a favorite at weddings. “I Will Praise Him” is at home next to Darlene Zschech’s “Shout to the Lord” and Matt Redman’s church praise music. “Just the Way You Are” is a lullaby, while “Holding On To Fall” suggests the rock of John Mayer and the band Weezer but with a country twist. The vocals on "Rumble In My Soul" bring to mind the harmonies of contemporary Christian artist Mark Schultz. With its clipping pace, “What’s Over Your Head is Under His Feet” has a fun, informal, almost cartoonish feel with its use of a brass duet interlude, á là the geek-rock duo They Might be Giants.
Rumble In My Soul was recorded and produced at Hoosier Surf Studio in Lafayette, IN, Airtime Studios in Bloomington, IN and mixed at Closer Look Studios in Cleveland, OH. Rumble In my Soul was mastered at the world-class mastering facility The Mastering Lab in Ojai, CA by the Grammy award winning mastering engineer Robert Hadley, who has mastered such artists as Ray Charles, Alison Krauss, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Keith Urban, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, Electric Light Orchestra, Carly Simon, Diana Krall and Bette Midler.
The audience can expect more of Malachi's distinctive mix of folk, rock, pop, acoustic guitar and world music influences as he continues to create new material. While touring for Rumble In My Soul, Malachi is in the writing phase of his next project. He hopes to apply a bigger, deeper rock sound to a praise and worship style album. “I want to work with an even wider array of instrumentation. As for the message, it will stay biblical.”
Rumble In My Soul is a concept album, a multi-faceted gem that shows off Malachi Jaggers’ talent as a guitarist, composer, lyricist, and vocalist. Such superior execution and skill is not what makes Rumble In My Soul so powerful, however; its true power comes from the message. The message is that we need to continually return to God’s presence by kneeling at the feet of Jesus.