Andy O

There are certain songwriters that I love and seem to rediscover every so often. I don't really forget about them, but they do sometimes leave regular rotation on my ipod. The albums sit there waiting to be found again, and I always make it back. More so than just great music, great lyrics draw me back in and remind me of how much the writer's words have impacted me at different points in my life. The songwriter that I rediscovered today was Andrew Osenga.

I discovered his old band The Normals early on in college. A buddy recommended Better Than This to me, so I ordered it through the BMG club I was a member of back then. I loved the songs and gave the disc a lot of listens. I picked up Coming to Life not too long after it came out and gave it a couple of listens. It spent about 6 months on my shelf after that gathering dust. Somewhere along the way I dusted it off and started listening to it again. I had no idea how much that cd would be used in my life sophomore year of college. I was beginning to really know what God's grace meant. The songs put into words a lot of what I was feeling and trying so desperately to really understand. I can still listen to that album and have it touch me in new ways.

I got to see them perform three or four times after that album came out before the next one came out. The spring of my junior year, I had some cash to spend for a concert at the student ministry I was involved in. A handful of other devoted Normals fans and I were able to make it it happen. We promoted the heck out of the show and were so excited. The night finally came and they lived up to the expectations. Aside from an extremely short conversation about the Vigilantes of Love shirt I was wearing, I didn't talk to him much at all. I didn't want to babble to this guy whose words had meant so much to me. In the promotional items we were sent, we received some copies of A Place Where You Belong. Quickly another album of Normals songs was a part of my soundtrack. Those last two Normals albums were easily the best "Christian" music to come out of that time. Sadly, it wasn't much longer until the Normals were done. Much like that concert of ours, not enough people gave the Normals a chance.

The next memory I have of Andrew Osenga, and the last time I saw him perform, was a last minute trip to Austin with a buddy to see him play. It was a long trip for a tall guy in a small truck. That show at an Asian student ministry, and a couple of white guys wearing A&M gear stuck out in the room of Asian Longhorn fans. We may have seemed a bit out of place, but it was definitely worth it. The songs were still there. There were a bunch of new ones that I didn't know too well, but we enjoyed every minute of them.

I've kept up with his solo work over the years. I never make it through an album without having to go back to listen to a song again because it has hit me differently than it ever has. Even this evening while thinking about writing this, I was floored by House of Mirrors and When Will I Run. Again, they put into words things that I could not define.

Today I downloaded his latest solo ep. He has it available for download at his site here. I'm already loving these songs. I really needed them today. It is a great story behind the ep too that you can read on the site. Go download it and give it a listen. Send him a few bucks to help him keep making such great music.

"one day I believe
I will open up my eyes
to see the good work that was begun
I'll be the only things I've ever wanted
to be
and I'll know I belong"
Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates - Andrew Osenga