Around the fire with Aaron of By the Tree
11-08-2006
by Brenten Gilbert

While not perhaps the most popular band out there, By the Tree has been quietly making a name for themselves over the past five years touring faithfully and releasing five albums. Their latest endeavor is titled World on Fire and encourages listeners to ignite the world with a passion for God.

CMCentral's Sr. Editor, brenten gilbert caught up with Aaron Blanton via a telephone call recently and was able to talk about the album, the band's experiences on the Shout Fest tour, World War 3 and much more. Below is the entire (largely tongue-in-cheek) conversation for your enjoyment.

Aaron Blanton: Hey, my name is Aaron with By The Tree, how are you?

brenten gilbert: Okay. How are you?

I'm good.

Things going well for you today, then?

Things are going awesome. Very, very well. How about you?

Not too bad, nice weather.

Yeah, nice here in Tennessee, too.

How has Shout Fest been treating you?

Oh, it's been awesome. We've been having a great time with all of the other bands and all the kids that come out and stuff. For us, we've been enjoying all the time with the other bands and our friends that we haven't gotten to see much of. We see a bunch of them on these Shout Fest dates. Twenty bands have created a real strong comradery.

That's nice. How did you get involved with Shout Fest?

They actually approached our record label about maybe having us be a part of the festival and come out and do some of the shows. It ended up that we were able to do all but two of them, which has really been neat thing. We thought that we were only going to be able to like half of it, but it worked out in our favor to be able to do almost all of them. So it's really just the relationship with the president of our label and the manager - one of the owners of Shout Fest - who is actually now our manager. So we've actually gotten a lot of cool relationships out of Shout Fest.

Cool, and they're okay with the fact that you don't shout much in your music?

(laughs) So far. I think so.

You've been touring a lot over the last few years, besides Shout Fest. Do you like being on the road so much?

Well you know, By the Tree, we've always been a road band. It's been one of the things that we kind of love to do the most. So traveling for us is just part of what we do, it's just like breathing at this point. It's just so normal for us and being on the road is just part of it. We've basically come to love being on the road. It's a great way to see the country and the world and also to spread what we are doing. For us, to share the love of Christ - the message behind our music - and that's the way to get it out there the most. You are also promoting what you are doing. You want people to buy your music, but to make that connection, person to person, to actually shake a hand and meet someone you've never met. It's a really neat thing and one of those things that keeps us going every night.

Cool. And you started performing some of the new songs a while ago?

Probably a couple of months. We started doing a few of them into our set before Shout Fest started, and then we started doing a lot of new ones once Shout Fest began.

Are they well received?

Seems to be. People are loving it, especially the title track. We've been getting a lot of good feedback on that. The crowd has been responsive to "World On Fire," which is pretty neat. We were hoping that that song would be able to connect. It's more of a ballad and the Shout Fest crowd - they are more the rocker kind of kid. But it is seemingly connecting in a really, really good positive way. It's been neat to see.

Alright. So let's talk a bit about the new album. With a title like World on Fire, I guess that that album has something to do with World War III. Maybe a nuclear fallout, Armageddon and the surviving remnant. . .

(laughs) Of course.

Did you consult with Tim LaHaye about that?

(laughs) We might see some opposition on that one. World On Fire is more of a. . . well, so to speak. . . a kind of a phrase. We want to get people thinking about what it would be like if everyone that calls themselves a Christian were actually on fire for God with the passion that the disciples had when Jesus was on the earth. What would it be like? What would it look like if everyone were that intense about their faith? I think we would see this world would ignite with a passion. We would see cities changed and government changed. Famine end and disease stopped. I think we would see a lot more effect by the Christians in this world if everyone had a passion. So it's just a song to get you to remind you about what Jesus did. The kind of passion He had for us and what that could learn like if we all had that in return.

Oh. Well, that's a little less heavy, but . . .

(laughs) A little less abrasive . . .

Naaa. . .

Inciting us to rise up and change the government and all of that. . .

Naaa. . . It's not so bold as to say it like that. I want to make sure that people know our hearts. We are really just changed guys and we can't help but spread that. There has been something that has happened inside of us and we just want to talk about it. It's just trying to get people to be uncomfortable with where they are. If you really want to grow and change and be something else rather than just be stagnant and stale.

So it's not so much a fire that burns stuff up and leaves destruction behind, but more like the burning bush and Moses type of fire?

Yes. Obviously every analogy breaks down and that is one thing that we get asked sometimes. "You aren't talking about the fire that consumes?" We are talking more about a fire that is spreading. An analogy I like to use is if you consider us as a match. One Christian is one match, and you strike that match and it burns for the life of that match. And you know, in the length of eternity, that is how long our life is - about the length of time a match burns, if you think about it. If we were all matches. . . if we saw ourselves as matches and actually became the spark that lights the flame. [If we could] light another match and light another match and light another match, you'd start to see a fire grow. So that is kind of one of the things that we are experiencing. We're trying to share that analogy with people and show them how that would look if we all kind of saw ourselves as matches.

It'd probably get pretty hot. . .

(laughs) I would say so.

. . . and speaking of being hot, what do you think about the whole global warming thing?

(laughs) Global warming. . . I don't know. It's kind of hard to believe all of that stuff. There is proof, so to speak, about all of that stuff. . . I try not to get too consumed with all of that stuff like that. You can worry yourself to death if you start to focus on all of that stuff. I just trust that God is going to take care of us, you know?

So is Al Gore crazy or do you think he's on to something?

I don't know that he's crazy. (laughs) He's got some weird views. . . He does have his own movie though, so that is pretty cool.

Well I figured you'd have something to say about it since you guys are big on the whole "tree hugger" thing.

(laughs) We aren't exactly talking about tree huggers like that. We are talking about "tree huggers" as in fans. It's our fan club type of thing. We get asked about the tree hugger thing sometimes and we are definitely not trying to strike any kind of a head on anyone.

Don't you think that Christians should play a role in protecting the environment?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I think we are called to take care of God's creation - take care of your body, take care of the place that you live in. I think that is just your duty as a human as well. But I think that Christians should be above and beyond [that] and go beyond the call of duty. Whatever you can do to not waste or cause more damage to the earth. Because it is God's creation, we [should] show respect.

Now, your bio says that you guys have an agenda with your music. What exactly is that agenda?

The agenda they are talking about is basically that we are trying to make sure people are aware that we are not just a band out there playing a bunch of songs with no message and no meaning. [There is a] reason behind what we do. We want to be effective to people around us - people we have influence over - and we want to hopefully show someone Christ in a new way that they've never seen. Maybe just to show Jesus to people. To be that way in everything we do. We are not just a band that is full of new music - good or whatever. We want to actually have a purpose and a reason behind what we do. So that is the agenda. It's to be effective to the world around us.

How do you see that playing out in the new album?

Absolutely. The new album is an exact representation of where we are spiritually. The things that we wanted to say and the kind of band that we want to be. From the lyrics to the music, it's exactly where we know we are supposed to be. What we are wanting to say and play like and sound like and everything. It's exactly the representation that we felt that we needed. The statement we needed to make.

What new songs are you most excited about sharing with the world?

I'm excited about a song called "I Will Follow" and then there is another song called "How Beautiful You Are." "I Will Follow You" is a song about the dedication it takes to follow God through whatever comes at your life. That song is meant to get people to think and to challenge themselves about where they are and how their life looks. What it looks like to be in their shoes and to ask yourself, am I really following Christ? "How Beautiful You Are" is just a very simple song, but it is about basically saying, "God all I want to tell you is how beautiful you are." That is just a really nice moment of worship and I love the production on that song as well. That song turned out way better than I thought it was going to.

Do you miss being behind the drums?

Sometimes. I played a lot of drums for a long time and I'm actually enjoying being out in front of the crowd and being up there in the front of the stage and being a part of what is going on rather than sitting in the back. It's actually a really cool change.

Neat. Is there anything else you wanted to share with the readers about the album, the band or anything else on your heart right now?

No, I think you covered it. You asked all of the questions that I would want you to ask, for sure. I just want people to know that we are a band with a message. It's not just music for us. We don't do it just because it's fun we do it because we know we are supposed to and we are called to do it.

Very cool. World On Fire released on September 26th . . .

September 26th.

. . . it's not about global warming or WW3 or anything like that. . .

(laughs) Nope. (laughs) That is so funny

. . . but it's still a message worth listening to. Thanks a lot for taking the time for this.

I appreciate it. Thanks for the opportunity.

For a sneak peak of the album, listen to the streaming version of it on the front page of CMCentral.com. Find out more about the tour, the album and By the Tree at ByTheTreeOnline.com or MySpace.com/ByTheTree