Blessed is the Man

Hi <<First Name>>,

From #MeToo to ongoing culture wars, many expressions of masculinity have come under fire. Women and nonbinary folx are speaking up about the pain present in many interactions with the masculine; many men, for their parts, have responded with defensiveness, or despair. And of course, plenty of men have suffered under expectations of heavy-handed gender norms.

In a world of stereotype, repression, and outright abuse, what's a good man to do?

Enter Blessed is the Man. Pastor and spoken-word artist Dale Fredrickson has crafted a full-length audio album telling the story of how men can grow their capacity for mutual love and become openhearted, emotionally expressive, and relationally connected without compromising genuine manhood. 

This album challenges toxic expressions of masculinity that has caused women, nonbinary people, other men and children harm through unchecked anger, emotional repression, and self-reliant pride. This album uses poetry and the sounds of banjos, mandolins, saxophones, violins, and guitars to inspire men (and those who care about men) to let love shape their lives and write their stories.

This is a unique album, inspired in part by Mike Morrell's viral blog post, An Open Letter to my Brothers in light of #MeToo. If you want to review something evocative, provocative, and special, Blessed Is the Man is for you.

A bonus gift: Everyone who completes their album review will receive a free copy of Dale's Chapbook On Wounds & Wonder as well as a Blessed is the Man 'Zine that includes poems, artwork, and a questions for reflections.

Link-Love for Your Review

Blessed is the Man Website
Dale Fredrickson’s Website
Dale Fredrickson on Facebook

Please tag your posts for this album as #BlessedIsTheMan

Praise for Blessed is the Man

“It is difficult it to confront the darker parts of our nature. Many get off the planet without having ever attempted it. It's so much easier to make a home of our bruises. Those wounds are, after all, someone else’s fault. Oh but the healing ... healing is our responsibility. It takes courage and empathy. Dale has knuckled around that work, fought ego and the strange inheritance of patriarchy-gone-wrong to choose love. He is in fact a storm chaser. With this album Dale affirms for us that with faith and hard work we get to be the beneficiaries of our own hard-won wisdom. ‘Blessed is the man ...’ indeed.”
—Dominique Christina, Women of the World Slam Champion 2012/2014, Author of The Bones The Breaking The Balm, They Are All Me, This is Woman’s Work, and Anarcha Speaks

“There is something vital in Dale Fredrickson’s work: an architecture, a bidding—a disarming and disorienting language play by which we become more human.”
—Josh James Riebock, Best Selling Author of Heroes and Monsters

The final movement of the poem ’on this night I wonder’ shows Joseph’s hardened masculinity being undone into vulnerable love and wonder as he considers the miracle of his firstborn. This serves as a thematic keystone for the whole album as Fredrickson traces the masculine journey through hardened toughness into a more gracious vulnerability that is the beginning of real strength. The earnest and moving vocal delivery throughout the album drives home just how real and desperate is the yearning to be made new and gentler. Fredrickson delivers his best work thus far as he hones was the closeness he feels to his own vulnerability and strength. Each is felt so thoroughly as he powerfully portrays the nakedness of this paradox at the heart of the modern man.
—David Burchfield, Singer/Songwriter

“Blessed is the Man is an absolute gift! It is like healing balm to my soul every time I listen to it. It slows me down, creates space in my inner being, and helps me to become attentive to the voice of the Spirit within me. Even though the album helps me to view masculinity differently, it is equally impactful to my feminine identity in a significantly deep way. For anyone who is serious about his or her heart, Blessed is the Man is a must-listen. For anyone who is serious about deeper thinking, Blessed is the Man is a must-listen. For those who are interested in a conversation about masculinity, no matter what your gender, Blessed is the Man is a must-listen. For those who desire to feed their soul with beauty, Blessed is the Man is a must-listen. In short, I think this is a very important album for everyone who has ears to hear!”
—Kelly Archer, Founding Artistic Director at Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement

“Dale’s poetry sets a table and places chairs for all kinds of stories. He looks around and brings many to the table: those who are bleeding and those who are blessed; those wounded with wonder and wondering at their wounds; those who are appalled by faith and those to whom faith appeals. These poems open up a door, they light a candle, they say you’re welcome, they say I need to learn from you.”
—Pádraig Ó Tuama, Irish Poet & Leader of the Corrymeela Community

“The poem ‘My Beautiful Boy’ gives me hope that I can raise my boys to be men, but without toxic masculinity, aware of their gentle side, as a part of the foundation for how they understand what it is to be male.
—Javier D. Arvizo, Father and Husband

“Honestly wading into disappointment, sorrow, pain and confusion is not for the faint of heart. But there are moments when we find a direction in the midst of and hear a voice that offers guidance. These are the moments we are invited into our pain in a way that is filled with hope and promises beauty. This is what Dale accomplishes in his latest work, Blessed is the Man. His prose and lyric are far more than words that compose a smooth rhyme. His words possess power that reflect the courageous paths he has walked in his own life and reflect his keen insight into the beauty and power found in the Ancient Text. This album promises more than just strong poetry and powerful lyric; it promises first steps into healing and promises to be a companion on our journey toward wholeness.”
—Michael Hidalgo, Lead Pastor Denver Community Church, author of Changing Faith: Questions, Doubts and Choices About the Unchanging God

About the Author

Dale Fredrickson is a pastor and poet from Denver, Colorado. He’d like to inspire the entire world but finds that inspiring himself and his family and friends is work enough. He writes and speaks about beauty and misery and his favorite story is the one about how love surprises us in the end. He serves as a Teacher in Bible & Theology to amazing middle-school students at Cherry Hills Christian School where he fails a lot. On his best days, he lives by Samuel Beckett’s motto, “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”