{"id":257,"date":"2009-09-17T07:56:21","date_gmt":"2009-09-17T07:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theduanewells.com\/?p=257"},"modified":"2018-07-29T01:48:04","modified_gmt":"2018-07-29T01:48:04","slug":"257","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/257\/","title":{"rendered":"Levi Kreis: Finds Where He Belongs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Levi Kreis isn\u2019t merely a run-of-the-mill hit-chasing troubadour — he’s s a pop-soul evangelist whose pulpit is the stage and whose songs are his sermons. Whether he\u2019s crooning about the end of a love affair, lamenting a sexy backroom encounter, or lifting his voice in praise to the high heavens, Levi Kreis doesn\u2019t just sing a song… he embodies it.<\/p>\n

It stands to reason then that Levi\u2019s junior album,\u00a0Where I Belong,<\/em>\u00a0is as much a joyously, soulful collection of contemporary standards that traverse the musical spectrum as it is the heartfelt testimony of a boy from a small town in Tennessee who grew up preaching the gospel in fundamentalist Baptist churches across the South and then spent years in “reparative” therapy attempting to pray away the fact that he’s gay. Ultimately, he found himself abandoned, denied, and betrayed by elements of the very Christian community he had once so desperately fought to be accepted by.<\/p>\n

As it was with his previous albums,\u00a0One of the Ones<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Gospel According to Levi<\/em>, each of the tracks on Kreis\u2019s latest release help to bring more vividly into focus the autobiographical portrait of a singer who refused to be “repaired” by the Christian community that raised him to think he was broken or bullied into playing it \u201cstraight\u201d by the mainstream community of major music labels that courted him along the way. Just like the words of his new single from\u00a0Where I Belong<\/em>\u00a0suggest, Levi Kreis clearly wants \u201ceverything or nothing at all.\u201d And with a busy career that currently combines touring with a new album and a critically acclaimed starring turn as Jerry Lee Lewis in the hit musical\u00a0Million Dollar Quartet<\/em>, it seems as though Levi is getting exactly what he asked for.<\/p>\n

As he celebrates the exclusive debut of the video for his new single \u201cNothing at All\u201d here at Advocate.com, I sat down with Levi for a conversation about the very personal spiritual journey that inspired his new album, what it means to reconcile faith with sexuality, and how the last few years have brought little change for gay and lesbian Americans from less urbanized parts of the country who still struggle to simply be accepted as the \u201cGod-created\u201d human beings they know themselves to be.<\/p>\n

Advocate.com:<\/em>\u00a0With your third album,\u00a0Where I Belong<\/em>, it genuinely seems that you\u2019ve finally found your voice and that you\u2019re actually presenting Levi Kreis\u2019s naked, unbridled truth in song. Would you say that\u2019s an accurate assessment?<\/strong>
\nLevi Kreis:\u00a0<\/em>I\u2019m glad you feel that way, Duane, because I absolutely feel that. I feel like it took me being on the road for over 300 dates and doing two studio albums to sort of be able to very specifically define the truest representation of who I am musically. And it\u2019s no surprise that brought me back to the church and my gospel roots with a little bit of a Southern flair [added] to it.<\/p>\n

[This album] just feels more accurate and honest from a musical standpoint. I\u2019ve always been pretty open and willing to be vulnerable… but it feels nice to have both the musical aspect and the lyrical aspect come together in a way that I feel is really a true reflection of who I am.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting that you describe this new album as a more honest\u00a0example of who you are, because I get the sense that you\u2019re having much
\nmore fun with this record than you did on your debut album,\u00a0One of the Ones,<\/em>\u00a0which was, dare I say, a much more somber, heart-wrenching affair.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Laugh<\/em>s<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Yeah, [One of the Ones<\/em>] was not necessarily what you\u2019d play on a hot\u00a0summer day if you wanted to feel good about life.<\/p>\n

[Laughs<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Writing\u00a0is my therapy. It\u2019s how I deal with wherever I am in life. At the\u00a0period of time in my life [when I was recording]\u00a0The Gospel According\u00a0to Levi<\/em>, I was dealing with wanting to articulate what my past was\u2026 come\u00a0to terms with it and let it go. And [the album] accomplished that for\u00a0me. I have been able to let that go and it feels really freeing.<\/p>\n

Now\u00a0Where I Belong\u00a0<\/em>represents yet another new direction for you in much\u00a0the same way that your sophomore effort,\u00a0The Gospel According to Levi,
\n<\/em>represented a significant departure from\u00a0One of the Ones.<\/em>\u00a0But would it\u00a0be fair to say that this new album symbolizes not a compromise but a
\nmeeting point for you between the two musical extremes you previously\u00a0explored?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like the way you put that because if it feels like\u00a0Where I Belong\u00a0<\/em>strikes a balance it\u2019s because I finally feel balanced.\u00a0I never want to take away that old desire I had as a kid to be a music\u00a0minister and I\u2019m always going \u00a0to want to make music that is positive,\u00a0inspirational, and healing. But there\u2019s just no brooding in my life
\nright now.<\/p>\n

I think that acceptance and coming to terms with what\u00a0my past has been has put me in a place of such gratitude for all the\u00a0stuff that you and I both know that we\u2019ve gone through — for my roots and\u00a0[for] that installation of faith — that is still instilled in us and a\u00a0part of who we are.<\/p>\n

[It\u2019s about] putting all of the\u00a0misconceptions aside and saying that I\u2019m really OK to sit here in\u00a0balance and harmony with the absolute protection of the whole journey.<\/p>\n

Did\u00a0something specific happen to bring about your newfound balance? In\u00a0other words, was there a catalyst for this change in your life and your
\noutlook, or has it just come as a result of surviving the journey?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wow,\u00a0that\u2019s a really good question. First of all, I think that there was a\u00a0bounce-back effect that happened with me internally after doing a year\u00a0of press for\u00a0The Gospel According to Levi<\/em>. Laying my story out\u00a0over and over and over — and having a passion about pushing diversity and\u00a0seeing the commonalities between all of us — the bounce-back effect of\u00a0all of that was that I didn\u2019t realize that for years I needed to get\u00a0that off my chest. I really did need to surrender myself to a very\u00a0specific message like that album. [On\u00a0The Gospel According to Levi<\/em>] I\u00a0said my peace\u2026and that message was out there. With\u00a0Where I Belong<\/em>\u2026 it\u00a0was an expression of a weight that had been lifted off my shoulders.<\/p>\n

Another\u00a0answer to that question is that I have, after becoming more regular inmy church in Los Angeles, begun to put a lot of emphasis on\u00a0forgiveness. I actually put a journal together where I [acknowledge]\u00a0that we all do what we know based on our limited knowledge and\u00a0experience — that no one has per se done this to me — that we are all a\u00a0complicated mess and [that] our history makes us all who we are [in a\u00a0given] moment.<\/p>\n

Therefore I can visualize that person in my\u00a0past and say, “I realize that you do what you do based on your limited\u00a0knowledge and experience, that it\u2019s not about me and I understand that\u00a0we are on a journey and I choose to see the God expressing himself\u00a0through you, [so] I choose to forgive and let go.”<\/p>\n

I filled\u00a0that journal up with probably 200\u2013300 pages because when you really\u00a0start to do that homework, you begin to realize all these little things\u00a0that have been picking at the back of your brain that you probably\u00a0haven\u2019t even thought of before. It is the most releasing experience. So\u00a0I think that probably correlated with the experience of\u00a0The Gospel\u00a0According to Levi<\/em>\u00a0to maximize this whole freedom that I felt by the end\u00a0of that campaign.<\/p>\n

You know, Levi, I hear a joy in your voice now that wasn\u2019t there when we last spoke and it really shines through in the music.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Laughs<\/em>] Absolutely\u2026absolutely. That\u2019s good. I feel it.<\/p>\n

You\u00a0know, whereas I might have felt before that the purpose of my voice was\u00a0to confront, now I feel that there is a broader, more all encompassing\u00a0purpose that I have adopted for my voice. Acceptance is a huge part of\u00a0why my voice\u2026does sound different. It feels different for me completely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On\u00a0the subject of acceptance, you have finally recorded \u201cStained Glass\u00a0Window,\u201d which you origina<\/strong><\/p>\n

lly wrote for the Del Shores play\u00a0Southern
\nBaptist Sissies.<\/em>\u00a0That song and that play were both very personal for\u00a0<\/strong>you, weren\u2019t they?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. Del Shores put [Southern Baptist\u00a0Sissies<\/em>] up in 2001 in Los Angeles\u2026 and it kind of developed its own life.<\/p>\n

\u201cStained Glass Window\u201d was a song I wrote based on the play because\u00a0that play happened to be a very defiant moment for me in that I was
\nable to put aside my internal conflicts.<\/p>\n

I had just showed up\u00a0in L.A. fresh off the bus [when] someone dragged me into this play\u00a0called\u00a0Southern Baptist Sissies,\u00a0<\/em>and by halftime — I like to call\u00a0intermission halftime — I was in my chair in the fetal position bawling\u00a0my eyes out. I had no idea that so many other people had gone through\u00a0what I had gone through. I didn\u2019t re<\/p>\n

alize that my story was the story\u00a0of other people. I was floored.<\/p>\n

Del Shores happened to have been\u00a0sitting behind me at the time and he leaned over and asked me if I was\u00a0going to be OK. I said, “I don\u2019t know who wrote this play, but it\u2019s
\njust tearing me apart!” [Laughs<\/em>] And then he said, “I wrote\u00a0it. Hi. I\u2019m Del Shores.” We got to talking about my six years of\u00a0“reparative” therapy and growing up in the church and [Del] extended his\u00a0hand and said, “You can come back and see this play as many times as it\u00a0takes you to put your past behind you.” So I think I went to see the play 36 times. [Laughs<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Somewhere\u00a0along the way, one of the monologues from the play called \u201cAll the\u00a0Colors\u201d is what inspired the writing of [\u201cStained Glass Window\u201d]. A lot
\nof Del Shores fans and some fans of my own have wanted that song to be\u00a0recorded for a very long time, so it brings me much joy to finally have
\na copy of that song on an album.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That song is a testimony, so\u00a0I\u2019m sure your fans appreciate the fact that you\u2019ve recorded it.\u00a0Speaking of which, you once told me that fans often come up to you\u00a0after your shows to share their personal stories and how much they\u00a0relate to your own personal odyssey. Is that still the case?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

And I am still amazed at the amount of [stories]. I never fail to be\u00a0amazed at the [gay] youth who are still struggling, because it is a\u00a0reflection of the communities that they are from and how [those\u00a0communities] have not advanced in their thinking.<\/p>\n

Now that\u00a0I\u2019ve been sort of urbanized, I sort of don\u2019t realize as much as I used\u00a0to that there are areas of the country that are still very much thesame as they were when we were growing up. It\u2019s always a little bit of\u00a0a shock when a 16-year-old comes up to me after a show and says, “My\u00a0dad just kicked me out and I don\u2019t know what to do” or “I don\u2019t know\u00a0how to come out to my mom or to my friends” — just to hear that they\u2019re\u00a0still dealing with very personal conflicts, with their religion and who\u00a0they are as God-created human beings, still amazes me.<\/p>\n

I keep\u00a0thinking that our consciousness in this country is a little bit further\u00a0along than sometimes I find that it is when I hear some of these\u00a0stories.<\/p>\n

Listening to you talk about your spirituality and your\u00a0beliefs, it\u2019s clear that you\u2019ve genuinely struck a balance between your\u00a0faith and your sexuality for yourself. But for many in the gay and\u00a0lesbian community what you believe is quite simply not their reality\u00a0because organized religion has put them down and served as their\u00a0primary foe for so long. What do you say to those folks about God?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would say that if you have known love that is true, then you have known God because God is love.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0don\u2019t have to beat ourselves into believing any sort of doctrine\u2026and we\u00a0don\u2019t have to try to wrap our brains around any concept that may be\u00a0highbrow, high-minded, or might be coming from elders that we grew up\u00a0with\u2026or even our moms and dads, which is the common place that sort of\u00a0thinking comes from.<\/p>\n

The fact of the matter is that all we\u00a0have to do is to choose to see and we will see God. Look for that\u00a0divine intelligence that is in back of all that is brilliantly alive
\nand you will see it.<\/p>\n

Originally published at <\/span>Advocate.com<\/span><\/a>. To read this post and more by Duane Wells at the Advocate, <\/span>click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Levi Kreis isn\u2019t merely a run-of-the-mill hit-chasing troubadour — he’s s a pop-soul evangelist whose pulpit is the stage and whose songs are his sermons. Whether he\u2019s crooning about the end of a love affair, lamenting a sexy backroom encounter, or lifting his voice in praise to the high heavens, Levi Kreis doesn\u2019t just sing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1590,1588],"tags":[1133,1143,1147,1200],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-interview","tag-music","tag-glbt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5566,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions\/5566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}