Two New Albums of My Music Are Available to Stream Today

i am erth (that’s me), has two full length albums of music being made available today. Courtesy of the democratic nature of our digital society, go on, little pilgrim, and The Crystal Witness of Ancient Fire may be found and enjoyed (ultimately if not immediately) on all the music streaming platforms out there.

go on, little pilgrim, (here is a link to the record on Spotify)(Apple Music) is a collection of new recordings of songs written around 25 years ago when I was a young man attempting the hermit’s life in the hills of South Eastern Kansas. I like these old songs and I had a pretty good time making the recordings. My friend, Sam Kee wrote some liner notes for this record for me. You can read them below.

The Crystal Witness of Ancient Fire

The Crystal Witness of Ancient Fire, (Spotify) (Apple Music) the songs here are more recent than little pilgrim, emerging slowly over the past 12 years. These songs take some time to unfold, are a little more visionary and also more grounded. In fact that might be a theme in this album: grounded vision. But please judge for yourself.

Go On, Little Pilgrim Liner Notes

What do you do when you unearth an old, coffee-stained book of songs you wrote a quarter of a century ago, but never brought to life? You might be tempted to dismiss them as childish, naive, or unimportant, but if you’re Jack Baumgartner, you breathe onto the embers, for there is still fire in old books and old songs.

The ten songs in Go On, Little Pilgrim are not just about a pilgrim, but they are themselves the pilgrim, setting out at last to make their own journey from the quiet heart of a Kansas sheep farmer to the golden paddock of heaven. They contain all the idealism of someone just getting started, but at the skillful hands of someone who’s farther along and knows that the road ahead will not always be easy.

Jack has a unique ability to write stirring melodies that will have you stomping your feet and clapping your hands, as you mull over relationships, calling, breakdowns, and eternity.

With memory, there is no time. What’s old is new, and what’s new is old. i am earth joins them hand in hand and teaches them to dance around the fire. “Toil on, little pilgrim, find out where the truth rides.” The little pilgrim must begin his journey, and we must celebrate the journey that he has begun, even if we don’t know where he’s going to end up. There will be rare moments when you catch a glimpse of him along the way “on a silver whispering lion brilliantly flying through the recesses of our physical realm.” To me, this album is one of those rare moments. It is a brilliant glimpse.

I think that most of us are tempted to disparage or shame our younger selves for the things we believed or the choices we made, but this album inspires us and challenges us to do differently: we are to gaze lovingly into the heart of our own younger self and cry “Go on, Little Pilgrim! I will help you sing your songs.” 

–-SJK