Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Jonny Green Jimmy Needham, Class of 2007, and his band sing an a capella version of "Stand By Me" during a release party for his album, Not Without Love. Jimmy performed in Rudder Theater for hundreds of students after the opening act of fellow Aggie Colin Bates. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jonny Green The release party Wednesday followed two in Houston and one in Nashville, Tenn. [Click to enlarge]

Hours before his CD release concert in Rudder Theatre, Jimmy Needham leaned over his tea at Sweet Eugene's, stirring carefully and sipping slowly. His Aggie ring clinked softly against the cup when he placed it down to speak.

"The crowd has always been great in College Station," Needham said. "This is definitely one of my favorite places to play. I connect so well [with] the audience. I guess because I'm one of them."

Needham graduated from Texas A&M in 2007 with a degree in history and a minor in philosophy.

"I had a sports pass," he said, laughing. "Maybe I was like a five percenter. Yeah, I was that guy."

The 23-year-old's music career was launched on a stage from College Station's Coffee Station, where Needham's acoustic tunes caught the ears of Aggie audiences and a major recording label.

"When people would tell me, 'Man, you should think about a career,' I was like, 'I can't.' I just know that the tendency of my heart is to be prideful," Needham said. "And what is more pride-bringing than being on stage in front of people with the spotlight on you?"

However, Needham said that God helped him change his mind. In 2006, Needham signed with Inpop Records, alongside labelmates and former Aggieland musicians Shane and Shane.

His Inpop debut, Speak, blended jazzy pop with lyrics that tackled issues like hypocrisy in the Christian church. Two years and an album later, Needham said he hopes to build a message of camaraderie and forgiveness.

"In my personal life, I really overcorrected," Needham said. "I became very legalistic and very religious, and God began to show me otherwise. He said, 'Jimmy, you have a lot of zeal and a lot of passion for me, but the one thing you're lacking is love.'

"I literally wanted Not Without Love to finish the last record," he added. "So it should read, 'Speak But Not Without Love.'"

On Rudder Theatre's stage, Needham bounced behind his microphone, continually encouraging audience participation. The left-handed guitarist earnestly performed his songs, sometimes seemingly increasing the speed of his vocals with each line and other times displaying hip-hop influences by rapping.

"There's something really appealing about authenticity," he said. "We just want people to be real, so my goal is to never be artificial."

Needham's songs are catchy, and by the second song, the room was filled with nodding heads and clapping hands.

"Before a show, we pray that God be the one to get the glory," he said. "The second thing we pray is that we have fun."

Halfway through the concert, band members joined Needham at center stage, lining up in a tribute to Needham's musical influences. Swaying behind their microphones and snapping a steady beat, the quartet performed an a capella rendition of "Stand By Me."

"As Christians, sometimes we like to divorce having fun with doing spiritual things, so we like to have a good time on stage," he said, smiling.

In the song "Come Around," Needham sang, "We pass out paper facts all week, but they won't come around. We can debate theology, but they won't come around. Apologetic reasoning, but they won't come around. There's only one way they'll come, and it's love."

In addition to songs of faith, Needham also included a few tracks inspired by his wife, Kelly, who Needham said was instrumental in the record's making.

"We decided together that we're not going to be that artist family where I leave her at home for three months and then come home," he said. "She's just taught me so many of the themes of this record."

Needham lives in Katy, Texas, and while he spends half the year trekking the country performing his jazz-infused songs, he said he is looking forward to his upcoming Million Voices Tour alongside Barlow Girl.

"As long as God keeps giving me songs, I'll keep doing this," Needham said. "The mentality I try to have is that my first job is to be an ambassador for Christ. If I stop being a songwriter, I still have that first job to do. We'll just see what God does next."

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