Why NOMAD?

Today is June 1, 2018. It is the legitimate beginning of everything we’ve worked so hard for. Today, my first music video and my new album, NOMAD are both available. ‘Forevermore’, the instant gratification track, the opening track, and the third single from the new album debuts as well.

Okay, now that the shameless plug portion of this blog has ended, I wanted to talk about something very important to me. It’s along the same lines as the plug, so I wasn’t just plugging for plugging’s sake… Anyway, I thought I’d mention this important date to recognize another.

People have been asking the question, what does NOMAD mean? To help answer the question, we have to backtrack to another important date and place in my life. The date was September 10, 2016. The place was the parsonage where we lived while in Decatur, Illinois. The Great Unknown was released one day prior (my birthday), and I knew that it was time to leave Decatur, and head back to Southern Illinois, where Mallory and I grew up.

I’m sitting in what was left of my studio (everything else was packed up), and I wrote a song in about 30 minutes which would end up on my 2017 release of Is Anybody Listening? After I finished the song, I cried over it, because I knew that many changes and hardships were coming, and the pain was real. The seasons in my life were changing, Mallory and I had quit our jobs within days of each other, and we didn’t know what was next.

With the hardships came a lot of good though. I began writing more frequently, losing weight, changing my attitude toward life in general, and most of all, I was thinking more about my legacy than ever before.

So, what does this have to do with NOMAD? Well, the song I wrote that day was called ‘Home’, and after I wrote it, I began telling my story, and understanding why this time in my life was so important. The song actually birthed an entire album, what you know as NOMAD, and what I know as the life Mallory, Slater, and I live.

no·mad

ˈnōˌmad/

noun

a member of a people having no permanent abode, and who travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock.

Synonyms: itinerant, traveler, migrant, wanderer, roamer, rover

a person who does not stay long in the same place; a wanderer.

Obviously, the bulleted definition is more our speed, but this is what we are doing and how we are living. Each song on the 14-track album, mentions the absence of a permanent residence, and overtly speaks on matters of the heart involving responsibly, God’s will, and mainly the desire for stability.

With all of that being said, I feel I have to mention that we are happy being in God’s will but miss the aspects of comfort like any human would. We also miss things we wouldn’t think about otherwise, like community in church (we travel every weekend to a different gig), small groups, and things most Christians take for granted. We would not have recognized the importance of these things if we didn’t lack them currently as a result of following God’s will and sacrificing certain comforts.

I feel the best example of our lives right now is the title track from the new album. ‘Nomad’ is a song that puts perspective on our status and states the truths behind our persistence to our destiny.

“Evoke these truths I’ve known

This world is not my home

We’re just sojourners left to roam

I’m not on my own

One day I’ll see his face

He has prepared a place

Done with all pain no longer sad

All Heaven’s hope had

No more a nomad”

Pre-Order NOMAD on iTunes by searching “Jermaine Bollinger NOMAD” in the search bar, or download the new music video, ‘Forevermore’ by visiting my website at: www.jermainebollinger.com/store