Kevin and I have been friends for many years and share a lot of similar passions for Christ and His community. As many of you know Kevin is one of the leading worship leaders in the Body of Christ and has been a mentor to many young bands including Delirious. Kevin is starting a new venture by launching the Music Coope. Rather than me taking the time to explain it I asked Kevin to do it in his own words. I encourage you check out his website and keep up with the new music that will be launched from the Music Coope.
What is the Music Coope?
Musicians have always been a cagy crew. Typically narcissistic and brooding, they are relentlessly in pursuit of euphoric inspiration that conjures heroic sensations usually reserved for superheroes and floating spacemen. Biblical accounts paint their origins in a rather suspect shade. Lucifer, the original angel of music who’s very being was interwoven with pipes and strings, was so intoxicated with ambition that he was cast down from the heavens. Jubal is the name of the first recorded musician passed down from the Hebrew oral tradition. No surprise that he is descendent from the infamous Cain who slew his brother Abel in a fit of jealous rage. When questioned by God about the whereabouts of Abel, Cain’s calloused response went something like this: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Music Coope is a family of musicians dedicated to being their brother’s (or sister’s) keeper. “Survival of the fittest” loses its’ intellectual glory when applied to human relationships. The Coope is about cooperation, believing artists will render their purest and best work in the context of community.
Founder and leading visionary of The Music Coope, Kevin Prosch, has a vision that harkens back to the Great Depression era. Prosch says: “Many farmers fell on desperate times in those days and for most the only means for survival was to form cooperatives, or Co-ops.” Farmers found strength and stability in pooling their financial and intellectual resources and many families and farms were rescued from abject poverty. Music Coope artists are using these same principles to create, promote and release their music while intentionally breaking down communication barriers between artists and their fans. Rather than selling out to an industry that has little regard for the artist apart from bottom-line production, Music Coope members are sowing into integrity based relationships with each other and fans of their work while creating a market place that is less “hustle” with more “flow”. Prosch says: “At the end of the day these artists are real people with families that have tangible needs just like every other human being. The Music Coope allows them to make an honest living in their craft while fans find themselves privy to an insiders look at the creative process of music making and intimate portraits of the artists themselves.” The first annual Music Coope Festival will be held June 9-11 in Amarillo, Texas. Registration information (registration discounts) and Festival details can be found at www.themusiccoopefestival.com.
The Music Coope website will launch shortly and will offer fans an opportunity of membership at a very low monthly cost. Benefits will include free monthly downloads; free annual compilation CD featuring Coope artists, video diaries and interviews with Coope artists and monthly newsletters.
