What one band’s final tour taught me about endings
L-R: Jacob Sharp, Wood Robinson, Joseph Terrell, and Libby Rodenbough of the band Mipso. Photograph by Kent Henry via Flickr. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.
Rev. Dr. Robert W. Lee
As a graduate of Duke University’s Divinity School, I can say with certainty that few rivalries are as great as that of the one between Duke’s basketball team and the basketball team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Many Duke alumni and fans join Nathanael, but instead of asking “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) we ask, “Can anything good come from Chapel Hill?” In fairness, credit should be given where credit is due and that means highlighting my favorite band of all time, the Chapel Hill-born folk band called Mipso. The band was formed in 2012, and as the story goes, was a way to play music between classes at the university. Joseph Terrell, Jacob Sharp, and Wood Robinson quickly became sensations in the venues in their area. They would quickly add Libby Rodenbough on the fiddle and vocals as well. Their first album, titled “Dark Holler Pop” made the Billboard Bluegrass top 10 for a time. Their second album, “Old Time Reverie” debuted at number 1 on the same chart. They played at festivals (including MerleFest where I first heard them) and quickly worked their way into other spaces as well. In 2015 their band rolled down New York’s famed Fifth Avenue on a float for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. All the while their music grew and changed, shifted and morphed from bluegrass to electric to indie-Americana. They were the band of my coming of age in North Carolina. They quickly became more than just my favorite band, though.
When the events in Charlottesville in 2017 catapulted me to the stage of the MTV Video Music Awards to denounce the legacy of my collateral namesake ancestor, Robert E. Lee, Mipso not only showed me support; they highlighted my work and befriended me. At a time where I felt incredibly lonely, they would comp tickets to their shows and always be kind enough to offer me a “hello” and conversation. Joseph Terrell sang at my daughters’ baptism in 2021, Libby, Jacob, and Wood have all shown remarkable friendship in beautiful ways. So, when they announced this month that this fall would be their final tour as Mipso, I was grieved by the loss I felt surrounding my favorite band. In their wisdom of how they chose to end their run as a band, they taught me so much about how we talk about endings.
In our world we don’t know how to do endings well. We don’t know how to relish that which we created when it is time to put it away. In our desire for more, in our greed for maximum effect, in our lust for all things to continue, we forget that endings can be a beautiful and holy thing.
They spoke of their fond memories of the times on the road, the band’s triumphs and tribulations, along with their hopes that their fans might come out one last time to celebrate the ways that Mipso had impacted the music scene, along with the very lives of those who enjoyed their music. They are performing some 18 shows across multiple venues, specifically in spots that are their favorites so they might revel one more in time in the beauty of what they created. In our world we don’t know how to do endings well. We don’t know how to relish that which we created when it is time to put it away. In our desire for more, in our greed for maximum effect, in our lust for all things to continue, we forget that endings can be a beautiful and holy thing. We can end well. I want to live life like Mipso is doing, enjoying every last drop as if it is something to be savored. This is so that when my time comes, I will have left it all out on the field, no regrets, no substitutions.
As a pastor, I have sat with people in their final moments, as every pastor does. I can’t recall a time hearing someone regret not attending more meetings or answering more emails. I don’t remember a moment where people wished they had more time to be on their phones or post the last great soliloquy on Facebook. Instead, what I have heard is that if there are regrets, they are regrets of proximity. They weren’t near someone, they weren’t in right relationship with the people who mattered most, they didn’t find the time to savor the moments that counted most. May it be said of us that it was said of Mipso, they are playing to the end. And when the time comes for them to hang their guitars, banjos, bass guitars, and fiddles up in this iteration of their lives, it will be said that they did so enjoying it to the very end. That’s what I’d like for me too.
The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Lee is an American Baptist minister and author of six books. He has preached across the world, written for all kinds of media outlets, and appeared on television on CNN, MTV, and ABC’s The View. Visit his website at www.roblee4.com to connect with him.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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