Let this eclectic folk-pop take you on a journey. It is funny, deep, light, and spiritual. Feel creation's heartbeat and touch your essence with this album of nature ballads and humorous romps. Belly laugh and be moved.

10 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk Pop, POP: Folky Pop



Details:
Matthew Middendorf has released his first "CD, Chocolate--The Complete Food." It is an album that combines deep, funny and provocative lyrics, beautiful melodies, and great production.
The title song [track 1] is a fun anthem praising the sacred chocolate herb. Containing lines like âitâs not an addiction, itâs good for youâ and âI used to take Prozac, my doctor made me switch / Now he gives me chocolate for my serotonin lift,â it is adored by chocolate lovers everywhere. Western Dakota [track 2] is a ballad about the prairie and being close to the land: âI stand out on the prairie between the earth and sky / I donât feel alone--this land is alive.â Being close to the land and experiencing a connection with nature is a theme that runs throughout this album. Blessed is the Match [track 9] is a deep and moving poem written by Hannah Senesh, which Matthew put to music. Hannah was a brave Jewish woman who risked (and lost) her life to help her fellow Jews in the Holocaust. So the line âBlessed is the heart with strength to stop itâs beating for honorâs sakeâ is a wasn't just poetry for her--it was who she was. Then thereâs the outrageous environmental rag, Itâs All About Me [track 7]. In this song, âmeâ is the human race: âLove a big GNP / Love my big SUV / And I donât despair for the water and air / Itâs all about me.â Last, but not least, thereâs the rollicking religious romp Jesus Must Be In Hell [Track 3]. The Gospels say a number of times that Jesus was âa friend of sinnersâ but we hear that sinners are going to hell. If both are true, then Jesus must be in hell! With his friends! This song is inspired by Matthew's connection with Jesus and his disappointment on how that is expressed in contemporary churches.
The CD was produced by Jay Vern at Jayâs Place Recording, located on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Vern uses top Nashville session players for his projects, and they all did a fabulous job on these songs.

BIO

âMusic, nature and spirituality.â For years, when Matthew would ask himself what was really important to him, what he really cared about that was what he would hear.
Matthew grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. Because heâs from Minnesota, a recovering shy person, and his father was a Lutheran minister, he figures heâs eligible for honorary citizenship to Lake Wobegon--well heâd fit in, thatâs for sure. When he was about 13 (and let me tell you, THAT was a long time ago), Matthew got his first album--The Beatlesâ White Album. Heâd play it over and over. The Beatles were his first musical love. So it was star crossed fate that the day the Beatles broke up, April 10th, is his birthday--Jeez, you thought Romeo and Juliet had it bad?!? Thatâs when Matthew got into therapy. Itâs also when he started writing music. Heâd sit at the piano and explore. Some family members thought he was trying to stress them out. Really he was just learning how to compose.
Sometime around 1976 Bad Companyâs third album came out. Matthew noticed that the songs had the same 3 chords as all the songs on their first two albums. Do these guys only know three chords? Matthew knew a lot more than three chords, and he was just a kid. This was boring and frustrating. Pretty soon all you could hear on the radio was disco âmusic.â Now this was really boring and frustrating. Matthew would have gotten into therapy, but he was already in therapy. So he started listening to J. S. Bach--this guy knew lots and lots of chords! Then, in the mid-80âs a friend introduced him to Bruce Cockburn. Not only did this guy know more than three chords, but he also was singing beautiful lyrics about topics that mattered--nature, spirituality, human rights.
In the early 90âs while living in Houston, Matthew became involved in a spiritual group, called the Earthtribe, which practiced nature spirituality. Matthew had always been interested in spirituality and read about it a lot, but this group was able to create connections with spirit and create an experience of the sacred, instead of a cognitive belief system masquerading as spirituality. This led to an orientation in his writing that focused on nature and gave him the eyes that see nature as a vehicle to connect with spirit. It was also around this time that he developed an odd sense of humor that shows up in some of his songs. Matthew has some strong polar opposites: heâs funny and deep all in one. In 1998, Matthew got laid off and thought, âGreat, more time for songwriting!â The next year he moved to Colorado, started attending songwriting workshops and groups. He says there is nothing more satisfying than playing around with a clever idea, seeing what you can put together--it's like being a kid in a sandbox. Playing with words, chords and melody; taking a walk and having a creative idea or melody fall upon him. The result is this album. Hope you like it.