Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Bearded guitarist Crowder brings story of rebellion and redemption to Cape

David Crowder -- once lead singer of the David Crowder Band -- now goes by "Crowder." He hasn't been clean-shaven since 2000, he said, and is currently traveling the country with his guitar singing hits from his latest album "American Prodigal."

"I just had the word prodigal in my head going into it," Crowder said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

He didn't know exactly how he was going to modify "prodigal," for an album, he said, until one Sunday church service.

His pastor was talking about the story in the Bible describing a son who acquires an inheritance, runs off to spend the money frivolously and ends up living in a pig sty. The son then returns home in regret and meets his open-armed father running down the road, celebrating his return.

Crowder said after growing up in the church, he heard the story over and over, but after the pastor's explanation it finally sank in -- it always was a story of rebellion and redemption, that also leads to one of inheritance.

Crowder performs at the 2017 SEMO District Fair in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

The question is, according to Crowder: What do you do with what has been given to you?

"It made a lot of sense to modify the word prodigal with American, because that's what I am."

Crowder said since going solo he has been able to explore and collaborate with other artists.

He said it's been fun to play with different musicians and write with different people. He's enjoyed pursuing "production folks that I've admired from a distance," which he said has been inspiring.

"The more you're exposed to it, the more you learn," Crowder said. "I'm having more fun making music now than I ever have. So if that means anything, I guess I've had the right people in the room to keep me inspired and going."

Crowder said he is open to collaborating with different artists and not just Christian performers.

He feels as if music genres are getting blurry, while acknowledging one of his latest tracks, "Prove It," features Christian hip-hop artist KB.

"Speaking of country and hip-hop, who can tell the difference hardly in a track nowadays? I love it," Crowder said. "It's a really great time to be making music, just because anything and everything makes sense because we're exposed to so much."

He enjoys the creativity he's able to express through his music, especially during a time where "people driving tractors in the middle of Nebraska are listening to Drake."

"I just think anything's a go now, which is awesome," Crowder said.

One of his latest singles, "Run Devil Run" just hit No. 1, which he said is "cool."

Before the "American Prodigal" album dropped, Crowder said the music video of "Run Devil Run" was released to give people a "taste" of the music.

"The whole record has been received really well," Crowder said.

He also loves the songs from the album "are resonating, the music is resonating and people are attaching to the stuff."

He said, "I'm fired up about it. It sure does make it a lot of fun."

While touring, Crowder said he and the rest of the crew have the opportunity to eat "a lot of strange things."

"We were just overseas and for folks that live in a particular culture, it's like every day food," he said, "but for people who don't, it's like why would you eat that?"

Crowder compares his palette to that of a 4-year-old, with his favorite food being Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

"Some Kraft mac and cheese and some fish sticks, and I am the happiest kid ever," he said. "I think I got stuck in elementary school. The public school food is my favorite food. I don't mean that to be a reflection on my mom's cooking, but it was the best we had growing up. You give me a rectangle pizza, and I am thrilled."

Crowder performed in Cape Girardeau last year at the SEMO District Fair, and reminisced on being presented with corn dogs on stage.

"I was eating a corn dog, and I had our guitar tech playing a song which was like the saddest song I had ever heard in my life," he said. "So I'm over there eating a corn dog almost in tears."

He did keep asking for corn dogs, "so that was partly my fault," Crowder said.

"But yes, it's a rule. If you're at a fair, you got to have a corn dog," Crowder said.

Crowder said he doesn't get corn dogs everywhere he goes and described the Southeast Missouri fans as a "fairly robust crowd that's going to go get you corn dogs while you're playing."

His next performance is at 7 p.m. Sunday at the A.C. Brase Arena Building in Cape Girardeau with special guest "JJ Weeks Band." He will perform a few previous songs, but said the lineup would be mostly tracks from "American Prodigal" and "some of the deeper tracks."

Crowder said, "The top of the set is pretty energetic, and we've got 'All Your Burdens' which we typically wouldn't do at a festival-type setting. But we're just going for it."

The concert will start with "some of the rowdy stuff," he said, in addition to "a new song or two."

He is working on a new album and plans to incorporate some of those tracks as well to "see how it sticks and how they move," Crowder said.

"I can't wait to be there," he said. "And I'll eat beforehand."

Tickets to Sunday's concert are limited and can be purchased at itickets.com.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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