Thanks to Tony for catching this interview and transcribing it.

Mitch: Good to be talking to you, thank you for taking time.

Michael: It’s good to have you on the air with us. Mitch, I know you’ve had a busy morning and I know you’ve probably got more calls to make and so forth, so we don’t want to take all day with you here but we’re just glad to have you on the air. I know we’ve had a lot of listeners praying for you and the accident that obviously took place last fall and a lot of listeners have really kept close tabs on you.

Mitch: I want to thank you out there for your prayers. And Waterloo is one of my favorite places, and I appreciate the support there. And I want to say "Hi!" especially to the Molnicks (sp?) family 'cause they’ve been real supportive.

Michael: And you were in concert, you and Rich and the gang were in concert in Waterloo just a few weeks before the accident.

Mitch: Right.

Michael: Well, let's talk about you for a minute, Mitch, where are you from? And we’ll need you to speak up a little bit, our line is a little weak. But, where are you from, and tell us a little bit about the life of Mitch McVicker.

Mitch: Ok, well, actually I lived my first 6 years of my life in Iowa, in the southwest corner of Iowa. And then I moved to Kansas, and I basically grew up, I mean, that’s where I’m at now, I basically grew up here. And I went to college in Wichita, Kansas, which is where I met Rich. I was going to school there and he had come back to school after a number of years. And we met in a class and we became friends and started hanging out. And then we happened to graduate at the same time, and he was planning on moving out to New Mexico. And I didn’t have a whole lot going on, so he asked me to come along with him, and to live and work. And I didn’t know what I would be doing, but it just so worked out that I got to do music, and do concerts with him, and write, and so on and so forth.

Michael: What’s in the future now for Mitch McVicker?

Mitch: Well, I would love to continue to do concerts, and continue to do albums. We actually got done with my first album on the day of the wreck. We had been working on it for some time and we had just finished it up, and we were driving to a concert that night when the wreck happened. And so that will be coming out soon. And you know, it’s kinda weird, because it’s been done for so long but it’s not out yet, and it will be coming out soon. So that’s in my immediate future, and then I would just love to continue to do music, and hopefully continue to point people to Jesus through that, and glorify God in doing so.

Michael: How about any more shows with the Ragamuffins?

Mitch: Well, I don’t know (laugh). Don’t know for sure. But, you know, I think they’re…they did Rich’s latest album, called the Jesus Album (sic). And they went ahead and recorded it because it was the next album that Rich was gonna do, and they went ahead and recorded it even though he wasn’t there. And they’ll be doing a tour in the fall with that album and kind of a tribute/memorial tour to Rich. And I’m not sure that I’ll be playing with them in the future, you know, I’m very close with them but I don’t know exactly what the future holds for that.

Michael: One of our listeners emailed us and wondered if you would be visiting Cornerstone this year, Mitch.

Mitch: Yes, I will be playing there.

Michael: Ok, I think they also wondered if they could just hang out with you the whole time (Mitch laughs). They say they’re the biggest Mitch McVicker fan in this part of the state, so…

Mitch: Really!

Michael: Yeah, so you got some fans out there. And again, Mitch, I know we had a lot of people praying for you, and calling in, and asking if we had any updates and so forth. Can you reflect for a moment in regards with the accident because I know a lot of our listeners are going to be wondering what really happened?

Mitch: Right. Well, I actually don’t have a memory of the day of the wreck or the two weeks afterward, so I’m not sure really what happened. But I know that we were driving from Chicago, Illinois, to Wichita, Kansas, and somewhere in Illinois, I think at about 10 o’clock, the Jeep overturned and Rich was killed and I was pretty messed up. The weird thing is I do have one memory from the day of the wreck. Actually we stopped to get gas, on the drive, I think probably about an hour and a half before, I’m told, before the accident, and it’s funny because this was my last memory of Rich. But we stopped to get coffee, and we stopped to get gas, and we got coffee, and it was one of these coffee machines where you push the button, and coffee comes out until the cup is full, and it stops. Well, Rich got his cup of coffee, and he pushed the button and he walked away, and the coffee machine kept running (laughter), there was coffee all over the floor. And I was just laughing and laughing and laughing and laughing, and he walked up to pay for it, and the guy behind the counter, he goes, "Are you Rich Mullins?" (laughs) So he knew who he was, and he goes "Oh well, ummm, you’ve made a mess of my floor." (laughs)

Michael: (laughs) He’ll never wipe up that floor again, Rich Mullins spilled coffee on it! So there really wasn’t anything conclusive about what caused the vehicle to overturn or anything…

Mitch: Yeah, you know it’s all just speculation, no one knows. I would be the one who knows, and I don’t really remember. I’ve heard what might have happened, but that’s what’s out there, just a bunch of opinions.

Michael: Well, you’ve been going through quite a recovery. How are you doing now?

Mitch: Well, I’m doing ok. Parts of it have progressed a lot quicker than I or anyone else thought, and parts of it are going a lot slower than I would have hoped they would.

Michael: What are the good and the bad things that are taking place?

Mitch: Ok, I had lots of internal injuries, of course, and a lot of broken bones, and probably the most serious injury I had was a closed head injury. And that’s what had me in a coma for a number of days, and that’s what I’m still suffering the effects from. To date, eight months later, I still see with double vision, and I still am waiting on my singing voice to return. And those have been the real frustrating parts, especially the voice part. It seems kind of trivial to worry about that when you’ve come through something like this, but to me it’s kind of important and it’s been a real trying thing on my patience. You know, when I’ve been frustrated, I’ve just tried to tell God about it. And when I’ve been happy and joyous, for which I have a lot of cause to be, because I need not be in the situation that I am, there’s lots of reasons why I need to praise Him for my recovery.

Michael: Let's take a moment here, Mitch, and, a lot of folks go through tough times, probably most of them not as tough as what you’ve had to go through, but sometimes they ask God, "Why?" Have you been through some of that? And how are you dealing with that, and feel free to minister to anyone else who may be going through some of those sorts of things.

Mitch: I have asked the question, "Why am I here?" 'cause for all intents and purposes, I need not be. It’s not like I’ve gotten any big, thunderous answers, but as far as I can tell, I’m here to love. You know, I have all these hopes, and dreams, and plans to do with music, and they all just kind of pale to me really having an opportunity to love. To love people, to love God with all I’ve got, you know, that is the thing that I’m called to do, and the thing that I’m set up to do, and the thing that I’m supposed to do. And so, you know, to love is really a, it’s a simple little word, but it’s a terribly profound thing, it’s more than just a little word we read in Hallmark cards. It basically sums up everything that we’re called to do, and so I think I’m trying to focus on that more than on all these things which we get tricked into thinking are so important, and all these achievements we try to make. You know, because nice cars and nice houses, they’re just nice, and they don’t last. There is something that lasts, and that’s faith, hope, and love, and the things of God. And so I’m trying to be a little more focused on the Kingdom of God, than on the other things. And what I would tell someone who’s coming through a hard time is, just go ahead and keep the faith and keep trusting in God even when it makes sense not to. Because just because things are hard doesn’t mean that He’s not working. I’ve often said, "God heal me." And I think He is, I just think the healing process takes time. And just because something takes a long time, doesn’t mean that God isn’t working. When it doesn’t make sense to believe, that’s all the reason for us to believe, because that’s what we’re still called to do. And He is still there if we look.

Michael: If I had said something like that, I don’t know that it would have held as much water, but coming from you, I’m sure that’s going to mean a lot to some folks who may be going through some things. It’s easier said than done, but what are the alternatives, you know.

Mitch: Right!

Michael: Hey Mitch, what is the one thing that you feel you learned the most from Rich Mullins?

Mitch: I think, probably, there’s a couple things that I’m trying to take with me, one is a deep passion for life. He was a man of extremes; in a matter of seconds he could go from being really mad to really joyous. And he would go ahead when he was mad, he would tell God about it, and when he was joyous, he’d tell God about it. His passion came through in everything he did. That’s why his music was so beautiful, and so touching and moving, and so haunting, was because his passion was so strong. He was a man of emotions. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, and I think that was because he was just honest. Which is the other thing that really impacted me, the first time I met him. Within a few minutes, he was sitting down and telling me something that I probably wouldn’t tell someone after I’d known them for fifty years. To him that was just the way to do things. He was terribly honest and terribly open because he was trying to be as human as he could be, because I think that was something that was terribly holy to him. God created us to be human. That meant a lot to him. He was more concerned with trying to be as human as he could be, than being this flawless, kind of flipped up mannequin that a lot of us try to present ourselves to people as. He was more concerned with being as human as he could be than with what other people thought about him. And that’s a couple of things that really impacted me.

Michael: That is pretty refreshing, you know, to have that kind of honesty, isn’t it?

Mitch: Yeah…yeah…that impacted me right from the start.

Michael: If you’ve just tuned in, we’re talking with Mitch McVicker, a close friend of Rich Mullins, and was in the accident that took Rich away to be with the Lord. Before we let you go, Mitch, talk about the Canticle of the Plains project.

Mitch: Ok, the Canticle of the Plains was actually something we started writing three years ago, and we recorded it two years ago. And it’s just out and being heard and new to people. "Heaven Is Waiting," which is a song off the Canticle, was the first thing we ever wrote. And when we were done writing the song we just went "Well, I think there’s more of a story here than just this song," so that’s what gave us the idea to write this whole musical. And it is actually the sound track to a musical based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Rich had wanted to write a musical about Francis for years, and this was his opportunity to do it, and so it was really important for him while we were working on it. Then we got to record it a while later, and we got to work with some really quality people. Michael Tate and Kevin Smith of 'DC Talk,' and Leigh Nash of 'Sixpence None The Richer' each sing two of the songs, and then I sing four of the songs. And the reason for the different singers is because it is the soundtrack to a musical, and so different characters sing different songs. And so that’s a little bit about the Canticle.

Michael: Well, hey, Mitch, thanks for taking the time to give us a call and let us talk with you, and to share with us, and to cue our listeners in as to what’s going on with your life.

Mitch: Sure!

Michael: We appreciate it, and hope to see you back in Iowa some day performing. Get that voice back!

Mitch: Wow, I would LOVE to be there, really, really!

Michael: (laughs)

Mitch: And I thank you very much for having me!

-end-