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Smalltown Poets
Beyond Prophet, Priest & King
By Michael Herman
 One of the curses of having a hit debut album is that somehow you'll have to follow-up that success and keep the wave moving in the right direction. Is success about the award nominations or the sustained radio airplay? Does the surge of an artist's dive into the industry determine their arrival and permanent address for their career? Smalltown Poets' bassist Miguel DeJesus gave me his take on the concept of taking accolades in stride and what success really means in the total scope of life.
"With the first record, people liked it and we heard it from them at concerts and events," said DeJesus. "It was really something. We knew that people were actually buying itand people would tell us how much this song or that song would change their thinking or their lives in some way. That doesn't make me proud- it's the opposite. It makes me feel very humble that God would use something that we wrote to touch people's lives."
On one level of the music, the group's first effort was decorated with honors ranging from a 1997 Billboard Music Video Award, and a Grammy Nomination for "Christian Rock Album of the Year," to three Dove Award nominations. On another level of the music, e-mail messages and letters tell the story of the spirit of the music's influences in the lives of their audience.
"Three or four months ago, we got an e-mail from a girl who brought a friend to one of our concerts," explained DeJesus. "He wasn't a Christian and we haven't heard that he has received Christ yet, but the music got his attention and the CD is still speaking to him. To think that our music can minister to people puts things in perspective.
"Another great story that we recently heard is about a couple who was walking through a mall and didn't know anything about us but saw a display in the window of the Christian bookstore," described DeJesus. "It was for a contest to win tickets to one of our concerts on the Geoff Moore tour. They won the contest and heard the message of the music that night and both of them accepted Christ at the concert. That's the kind of thing that keeps us going and really humbles us."
The Poets' sophomore release, Listen Closely, just came out December 22, and it's off to a head start with magazines like Music Row Magazinenaming it one of the top ten albums of 1998. That's saying something for an album that will only live 10 days of its infancy in the year of 1998.
More Than the Music
The side of Michael, Danny, Byron, Miguel and Kevin that most people don't get the opportunity to see can be best described as "Active," with a definite capital "A."
"We've really got into golf. It's what we're currently doing any chance we get. But we're terrible at it!" explained DeJesus. "While we're touring, we try to find the driving ranges that are all but deserted so no one will see us playing, but we have a great time. We also love playing whiffleball. We challenge all of the other bands that we tour with and usually beat 'em! Beyond that, we have a Sega and a Nintendo that we bring along with us to play video games with, and we also like to slow down sometimes and do some reading.
"For every two hours of doing what we love to do, performing, there's always twenty-two hours in every day when we have to keep busy with everything that comes with being in the industry," said DeJesus. " A normal day on the tour might bring an interview at 9 a.m., another at 11, and maybe an in-store appearance around 2 in the afternoon. Then there's a sound check at 4 and a concert that night with some time after the show to meet people. It's not like a 9-5 job that you can leave at the office each night. When you do what we do, you're a part of the industry 24 hours a day in everything you do. The band feels drained at times and spiritual strength is necessary. It might sound silly, but it's really important to do little things to keep our sanity. Even going out and biking or running and really clears our minds and helps us. But don't misunderstand me, we love doing what we have been blessed with.
To get an idea of the kind of schedule that the guys keep, take a look at these numbers from their tour that just concluded in November:
224 Rock Concerts
131 Acoustic concerts
27 Festival/Fair appearances
334,000 total attendance
124,591 total miles traveled, (and you thought the drive to grandma's house was long!)
72 in-store appearance (49 with acoustic sets)
104 Radio station interviews (86 with on-air concerts)
76 Radio interviews over the phone
113 Press interviews
61 Television appearance/interviews ("Look Mom, I'm on TV … a lot!)
826 Total events participated in during 607 days since the release of their self-titled debut album
The group's last album was written by lead vocalist and guitarist, Michael Johnston, and keyboard player, Danny Stephens, but the growth of the band as true "group" has lead to this project drawing from the musical poetry of all of the band members. Even the songs, "Call Me Christian" and "Hold It Up to the Light," were pulled in externally. "Call Me Christian" was redone from its original form, which came from Michael and Danny's former band, Villanaeux. "Hold It Up to the Light" was originally written by songwriter and performer David Wilcox.
"We walk around with an entourage of personalities, but we learned early on that we all have to put our egos on the shelf in order to make this work."
The taste of Listen Closely is evidently diverse from their debut, but although more people helped develop this new project, it has retained the Smalltown Poets' established flavor. Their first single, "Gloria" is a great example of that. The vocals will tie you back to their first album, but the quality raises the bar up another notch.
Success can breed many things, and it can come in many forms. One man's success is another man's failure, but when the Lord directs our paths, many amazing things can and will happen.
Spotlight on: Miguel DeJesus
 Miguel does more than play bass for the band. He was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Atlanta, GA, where he was raised. He attended Greenville College in Illinois, where he got to know the guys from Jars of Clay. He helped to inspire their hit song, "Liquid," and studied music during his years there. He moved to Nashville after he graduated, and met the guys who would eventually become Smalltown Poets through mutual friends.
If you gave Miguel a chance to live out a fantasy of his, you'd find him standing on a pitcher's mound in the seventh game of the World Series trying to close out the game for the victory. That's a big step up from whiffleball, but after dragging that answer out of him, I could see that he would really enjoy that opportunity.
If you would ask Miguel to suggest a good movie to see, he would have two words for you, "Les Miserables."
"I had never seen the play or even knew about the story when we rented it one night," explained DeJesus. "I think every Christian should see it. The story has an excellent message that everyone should see."
Miguel is a self-proclaimed work in progress, and admits that he sees areas in his life that he'd like to work on with God's help.
"I'm working to grow in my self-control. Sometimes I get mad and I want to learn to control that," said DeJesus. "I'm not like Kevin, he's more laid back. Michael is the quieter one, and sometimes I have to ask him what he's thinking about to know what's going on with him. Danny is the band's thermostat, the passionate one. That fact that we all get along is a miracle. It's like a marriage. We walk around with an entourage of personalities, but we learned early on that we all have to put our egos on the shelf in order to make this work."
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