by Arthur Hatton

In order to really announce the creation of Linescratchers.com, LDS musicians who don’t write LDS music, I’d probably have to move to a personal voice and explain some background about me. My name is Arthur Hatton, and I grew up mostly in a small town in Western Kentucky. The state past-times are basketball and cigarettes, I suppose, and it’s not easy to find someone who knows who Joseph Smith is. I had my own past-time, though, and that was music.

As soon as I began playing guitar, writing music, and playing shows around town, I started making observations about the music industry. I didn’t have too many role models in town besides my father, so my role models became musicians. George Harrison, Doug Pinnick, Steve Howe. It doesn’t take long to discover that these guys aren’t stellar role models, and so it was difficult for me to find guidance in what I was trying to do. To make things worse, the constant mantra I got from every person in authority I met was, “You can’t make it in the music industry and still keep your values as a Latter-day Saint.” How discouraging! I reached a point where I wondered whether I’d one day have to choose between my two loves, music and religion.

And indeed I saw it happen to some. There are musicians that I know who felt they were forced to make the choice between good art and the LDS Church and chose art. I know some who never came back, and some who came back later in life, sorrowful and full of regret, trying to make up for years of inactivity.

To me, it’s a fallacy of false dichotomy. I don’t feel like we should force our musicians to have to choose. It’s our responsibility as Latter-day Saints to recognize good art, educate ourselves, and understand it. The problem I see in the Mormon community is that we simply don’t have a high standard of excellence in our own art, and those musicians who really want to express themselves in intelligent ways have to find outlets elsewhere.

That’s the point of Linescratchers. When I created Linescratchers, the idea was to create a new musical community of LDS musicians, a community in which we can express ourselves however we need to: in rock, in metal, in rap, with an acoustic guitar. It shouldn’t have to sound like someone’s reading from a Primary sunday school manual, it can be real and visceral and beautiful. You don’t have to SAY you’re talking about Jesus for people to know you’re talking about Jesus. You don’t have to SAY you’re talking about faith to talk about faith, and it doesn’t always have to be glossy or perfect, it can be raw and powerful.

What is Linescratchers? Right now, it’s a weekly podcast. It’s a website featuring LDS musicians who express themselves through non-LDS-themed music. We have message boards, too! But hopefully, in the future, it will be more of a mindset. It’s a mindset that says, “I can be artistic and feel like I can really express myself,” coupled with a community that truly understands and appreciates it! This is one beautiful facet of the impending Mormon Rennaissance and it has the potential to blow all our expectations away.

We as a Mormon community have so much potential, and I can’t wait to see how it will grow. If you’re a musician, check out Linescratchers and send me your tunes! Send me a link to your website! I’d love to interview you and feature your music, and most of all it’s free promotion for musicians who want to be Latter-day Saints and artists, too.