We are simultaneously shaped by absence and presence. People, memories, experiences all are molded by items both here and not. Bands are the same way. Lyrics form via the things that happen and the people that depart, for one reason or another. Melodies emerge from everything heard before and the desire to create something never heard before. And even a band's name can come from leaving out a single character and leaving in the inspiration it brings. Absence and presence have aligned to bring us Samestate. 

 

"Within the five guys in the band, there's such a wide range of life experiences," says Samestate guitarist Darren Harms. "We've all grown up in such different environments; it's crazy to see how vast a life space five guys can cover." 

 

Yet, from a musical standpoint, the five guys that make up Samestate--Darren Harms, vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Dalton Diehl, bassist Ryan Lytle, guitarist/keyboardist Raymond Wyatt and drummer Blake Leoni--certainly make it work. The sonics found on the band's Sparrow Records debut The Alignment mesh seamlessly, taking each member's disparate musical influences – be it a whole bunch of rock and pop, a touch of Americana, a smidge of country – and merging them into a sound that's infectious and approachable.

 

It is absence and presence that inform a good deal of the lyrical content of Samestate's songs, notably some of the people missing from principal songwriter Dalton Diehl's life. Dalton used both the losses of close family members and the gains of his creative pursuits coming together to shape The Alignment's messages. 

 

I had the chance to speak with Samestate lead singer Dalton Diehl about the band's current single, "Shadows."

 

 

This was the last song we wrote for our album. We had played a show with NEEDTOBREATHE last year and I spoke with Bear Rinehart and he gave me his e-mail address and said if I ever had some ideas for a song that I wanted to run past him, that would be great. I was thinking yeah, this is a fake e-mail address, whatever. So I had an idea for this song "Shadows" and I went ahead and sent Bear a message and he got back to me that afternoon. We started working on the chorus together, and he had a totally different idea for the song which became the chorus of "Shadows." It was one of those things where when you hear it for the first time, you know you've landed on a pot of gold. I heard Bear's idea, and then I wrote both verses and the bridge. Bear was heading out on his band's tour with Taylor Swift so I sent him my ideas as an iPhone memo, and he said he loved it. The next day we went into the studio and started to record it. The message of the song totally matches up to some circumstances we've encountered as a band. As a growing band, with the Lord's blessing, you'll start to see exciting things happen. That can be great, but can also take you away from the Lord's plans for you. We had many things in our personal lives distracting us, and the world as well.

 

 

1 John 1:7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

 

My life passage is Daniel 3:16-18: "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.'"

 

 

As I sing in the chorus, "There is a shadow dark enough to hide ya, There is a lime light bright enough to blind ya," even the things that can seem great can take you away from the Lord. The great thing is that there's no where we can go that we're out of God's reach. When we feel we're too far away or that we're blocked from the Lord's vision, this song is a great reminder that's we're never too far away for God. 

 

The Lord has given us this song as a testimony to what we're about as a band. It's the worship song we needed to cap off our album. Spending time worshipping God is what this song is about. I've loved the song since the first time we sang it. 

 

I lost three family members to cancer in the span of two years, right as the band was starting. So, on the back side of that emotion and the healing, and realizing that if I'm going to make it back to being able to talk about hope and what we stand for, I'm going to have to start putting more of my trust back into God. 

 

Due to the loss of my family members, the Lord has put these words on my heart, especially the image of seeing my loved ones again in Heaven. The pain I've gone through will pass, and this song is about seeing life and eternity for what they are. They are opportunities to look forward and not allow the shadows of this world to bring eternal darkness, but just shadows.

 

 

Matthew Henry's commentary: "It were well if this honor had all the saints. No, there are many whom it would not be good for; the saints' honor is reserved for another world. But here we have those same three men as much under the king's displeasure as when they were in his favor, and yet more truly, more highly, honored by their God than there they were honored by their prince, both by the grace wherewith he enabled them rather to suffer than to sin and by the miraculous and glorious deliverance which he wrought for them out of their sufferings. It is a very memorable story, a glorious instance of the power and goodness of God, and a great encouragement to the constancy of his people in trying times." 

 

God tells us in the Bible that we are all sinners and we've all fallen short. We need to serve God because of who He is, not what He does for us. God doesn't promise to spare us from pain, but we need to trust Him. You have to trust Him and wait on Him and wait for Him to orchestrate the plans for your life. That story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel is totally inspiring and is a great reminder to have that type of faith and to allow God to use you.

 

"Shadows" has quickly become one of my most played and favorite songs of the year. I really love the second verse: "Sit down at the table with all the saints who came, If you can see the fire, just enough flame, To you there is healing, For you there is joy in pain." 

 

We'll be singing to God in Heaven for eternity. At times this song gives me a glimpse of that unashamed proclaiming of God's majesty. I love the imagery of sitting at the table with all the saints. This life is a vapor, or a "shadow" and this song is all about the choices we make daily to decide to either live in the darkness of "shadows" or to live in the light of Jesus. Amen!

 

(Watch a video of this song here.)