After over a decade of critical acclaim, relentless touring, and a deal at a major Christian label, Caedmon's Call decided it was time for a change. You could say the group found itself a new wardrobe: They stopped the heavy traveling, they let their record contract expire, and they shifted their focus to family life. As a result, the members are loving this new period in their career, which they consider "below an occupation, but not quite a hobby." All married with children now, the slower pace and added creative freedom is exactly what they needed to release Overdressed (INO), a return to form for the band that also marks the return of original member Derek Webb. Lead singer Cliff Young and guitarist/vocalist Andrew Osenga give us the scoop on where Caedmon's Call stands today.

Fact or rumor: Did you have a tour last year called The Emancipation Tour?

Cliff Young: Yes. It was partially because we were free and clear again as a band [from contractual obligations]. We loved those guys [at Essential Records] when we first started, but the thing is, it wasn't the original label we signed with ten years ago. The other company got bought out, everything changed … it was just different.

So you left a big company and now you signed with INO Records, another big company. Isn't that like going back to square one?

Andrew Osenga: The cool thing with INO is that they're sort of an independent label that just has a really big roster. They have the ability to do everything large-scale, yet we still produced the record ourselves. We recorded things in my basement. We put whatever songs we wanted to on the record. We did it the way we wanted. That was the most important thing for us. We like the infrastructure of having sellers, radio people, and a marketing department, while we still just make the record that we wanted to make.

So you didn't have anyone breathing down your neck checking up on you as you created this new music.

Young: We definitely didn't have anything even close to that. That's the great thing about INO. They pride themselves in not doing that.

The other big news with this album is that Derek Webb is back with the band after five years. How did that come about?

Young: We kinda just started talking about it with Jeff Moseley, president of INO, [which is also the record label Derek is signed to as a solo artist]. Derek didn't leave Caedmon's because of a big fight or anything like that. So we talked as a band and we said, "Yeah, let him in again!" That's how it kinda started. Then Derek and I started talking about the record and the different ideas and that's how it happened. The rest is history.

What's the dynamic within the band like now?

Young: First of all, we wouldn't have even known Andy if it wasn't for Derek [leaving], which is kinda funny. If anything, we thought, "This is great." You can see that for sure in everything—the versatility of the band, each person, and the record as a whole. It all works together. The band has always worked with people coming in and out—it's never been a normal kind of a band in that way.

Do these changes mean the band is back to doing some of those old songs, those that people recognized to be "Derek's hits," so to speak?

Young: There's one old Derek song that we've been playing, but mainly it's been songs that Derek and I used to sing together that we've been doing again. Danielle is also now back in the group for the tour, so she's also singing songs that she used to sing with him. [One of the hallmarks] of the Caedmon's Call sound has always been known for Derek sharing vocals with someone else. That's definitely come back to our sound.

What is it like for you, Cliff, to relive some of these old duets with Derek?

Young: We did it for so long and so much it's just funny. The first time we sang together again was recently for our official [album] release show. It was fun—I kept looking at Derek and laughing. It was like same old, same old.

With Derek back, Andy, does it feel like he's invading your turf?

Osenga: [Laughs] No, not at all! What's kind of fun is that most of the record has more than two guitar parts. I'm more of an electric player than an acoustic player, but this is an acoustic band. So it's freed me up to do more interesting things, which I actually love. It's just fun, and I love Derek's songs too. We've been talking about bringing the band back together for years and we finally did!

So from The Emancipation Tour you're going to The Reunion Tour!

Young: [Laughs] I think we're a little too young for a reunion tour. Plus, there are so many people that aren't with the band anymore that if we were to have a reunion tour, there wouldn't be a stage big enough!

So is this new lineup with Derek a permanent thing, or a one-time deal?

Young: Honestly, we don't even really know. We know there's going to be a tour. I'm sure after it's done we'll see what happens. Caedmon's has always been like that. It's never really been like, "This is what we're doing and this is what we're not."

Let's go back to artistic freedom: Who came up with the idea for that cheeky but subtle album cover?

Young: The idea comes from a line in one of Derek's songs: "When I'm with you I feel so overdressed." It was one of those things where we were in the studio and our manager came in to talk about possible names for the record. So we started listening through the songs and I said, "Overdressed … Adam and Eve overdressed … fig leaves." So that's where the idea came from. I think it's my favorite cover.

Osenga: I think it's mine as well.

Caedmon's Call has been making music for over a decade. How have things changed in that span?

Young: We used to tour a lot more. We were all single—that's the biggest thing. Now we're home more and we have more responsibilities. But as far as logistics go, nothing's really different.

Because you're family men, do you travel with the wife and the kids?

Young: It depends if we're really "touring touring," which we don't do very much any more, or if we're doing several shows straight. But for the most part we do one-offs or play three or four shows in a row and then go home.

Does that mean Caedmon's isn't necessarily your day job anymore?

Young: If it were our day job, we would never see our families. We would not be able to be regular people at all. I work at my church here in Houston when I'm home. Andy produces and engineers and plays on people's records—he has his own solo deal. Derek does, too. For the most part, everyone is doing something in the music field and contributing to Caedmon's indirectly.

Does that explain why you're not as connected to the college crowd anymore? Have you lost touch with that segment of your fan base?

Osenga: Caedmon's was always about being single and being in college. But then people got married, got real jobs, got kids, and all of a sudden the perspective changed.

Young: There are people who have told us, "I haven't heard you guys in five years and this new record has hit me right where I am." One of my favorite negative things people say is, "This is not same old Caedmon's. Whatever happened to staying up until three in the morning and talking about being single?" And I'm like, "We're all married!"

Osenga: Thank goodness we don't talk about the same things.

Since you're all married with children, I find it fascinating that you haven't quite succumbed to the soccer mom mentality, because some bands tend to cater to those sensibilities through their music as they get older.

Young: The previous label definitely tried to make us that. Just because someone can put a sermon to music, does that make them a songwriter? Does it make them an artist? Andy is a songwriter—he's one of the best at it. He sees things from a different perspective. He looks at things differently. He questions things. That's kind of the way art is. I think the positive-hits-for-soccer-moms crowd, lyrically, aren't really artists. They're buying songs from people who are just finding another way of writing "Jesus rules" and "God is good" on paper.

Osenga: We don't really listen to Christian radio. We're all believers, but I don't know whether it's the things we've seen or the songs we've heard, but we don't want to do this band if it's just going to be like any other band. We're going to do this band because we love each other and we believe in what this band can say. We're really thrilled to have a chance to do this.

Your new album posted strong first-week sales—your best numbers in quite a while. It must be validating for you to see those results while remaining artistically pure.

Young: It's great how things are going.

Osenga: The last record we did [In the Company of Angels 2: The World Will Sing] was kind of imposed on us by our former label. It was an attempt to be successful on Christian radio and in Christian sales, but it bombed! And then when we do an album like this, sort of not caring about the [marketing] stuff, it does well. It's not as much validating as, "Thank God there are other people like me. I'm not crazy!"

Young: At the same time, a lot of the people who bought the record hadn't heard it. What would be validating is when we start our tour in February, for people to keep buying it. That would be saying, "Hey, this is a great record. We like it."

If there's one takeaway you want people to have from Overdressed, what would it be?

Osenga: The idea that we're going through this thing [life] together. A song that Derek and Danielle sing, "Share the Blame," is pretty exceptional in nailing that. A bunch of songs are about identifying that there are a lot of us that deal with the same doubts and fears and hopes and joys. When I listen to this record, that's what I get: "I'm not the only person who feels this way." It's encouraging and exciting.

Young: I agree with that. Life is hard. God is good. Life is rough. God is sovereign. Like they say, we're a community and we all go through this together. Nothing about the Christian life is fake. It's about suffering, about going to extremes. If we try to separate ourselves from things, we're never going to be effective.

Do you see yourselves doing Caedmon's Call for the rest of your lives?

Young: There's no way to know that. 15 years ago, we didn't think past the first song we were going to sing.

Osenga: I'm just filling in for Derek [laughs].

For more about Caedmon's Call, visit our site's artist page for the band. You can read our review of their album Overdressed by clicking here. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to song clips and buy the music.

© Andree Farias, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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