Perth priest Fr Mark Baumgarten has returned to the piano to record his second album of original songs. Source: The eRecord.
Having returned to songwriting during the lockdown of 2020, Fr Baumgarten subsequently received encouragement from Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe to keep making music.
The Little Ones, the Armadale parish priest explained, is in many ways a continuation of his first album, Now and Not Yet, which was released in 2022.
“It had been several years since I’d written anything prior to the lockdown of 2020, but once the creative tap was opened on that first album, the songs just kept coming,” Fr Baumgarten said.
Several of the album’s songs touch on the themes of humility, acknowledgment of brokenness and the continual need for God.
“There’s so much trashiness and ugliness in our culture. I’m certainly no Beethoven or Palestrina, but I suppose this album is a humble attempt at offering folks something a bit more edifying to listen to.
“While there are faith-related themes in many of the songs, I keep it reasonably subtle, so it’s possible that they might have some evangelical potential among those who are put off by more overt expressions of faith,” he said.
He added that some people assume that being a priest, his songs must either be liturgical music or “praise and worship”.
“They’re neither of those things. They’re just songs – that happen to have been written by a priest – and they cover a variety of genres, including blues, ballads, gospel, rock, and pop.
“I try to write the kind of thing that I like to listen to: well-crafted songs, with lyrics that go a bit deeper,” he said.
Listen to the album at: https://pianopriest.com/thelittleones
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Perth’s ‘Piano Priest’ releases new album (By Joshua Low, Perth Archdiocese)
