Country music fans and Jews across the Santa Clarita Valley can get the best of both worlds at Temple Beth Ami’s Shabbat service on March 8.
Rabbi Mark Blazer is set to host that Friday’s Shabbat service along with Houston native Joe Buchanan, a country music artist who infuses stories and teachings from the Torah and the Bible into his songs.
Blazer said this is a friendship that started a few years ago, and initially the two wanted to do this four years ago, but things didn’t work out. The plans have been finalized this time, though, and Blazer is excited to introduce his congregation to Buchanan’s work.
“Joe is one of the kind of rising stars of Jewish music in America,” Blazer said in a phone interview. “We started corresponding, kind of became friends about four years ago, five years ago, just before the pandemic, and I realized what he was doing was really some beautiful music, but also very important music, a very important message.”
Buchanan calls his Shabbat performances “Friday Night Lights,” an homage to his Texas roots and the sanctity of the Shabbat candles being lit.
“This has kind of been in the works for a little while,” Buchanan said in a phone interview. “I’m just looking forward to seeing it happen, looking forward to meeting the community. One of the greatest things about doing this is that even though I’m not there for a long period of time, it’s a very intense period of time. I get to pray with folks, I get to hear their stories and spend time with them. It’s amazing.”
Not born Jewish, Buchanan was married to his wife, April, for 13 years without knowing she was Jewish. It wasn’t until the two of them were standing outside the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and April told her husband, “I want to get in touch with my people’s faith,” that Buchanan came to learn of his wife’s connection to Judaism and how he can fit into the faith.
Buchanan said he grew up interested in God, but struggled with some of the things he was being told in the Christian community.
“I kind of gave up on that and figured me and God would settle up at some point in the future,” Buchanan said.
After that, music, which had been a hobby before, became a lifestyle for Buchanan. Using Judaism as the theme and country music as the genre, Buchanan has now recorded two studio albums, both in San Francisco. He also tours the country, playing what he describes as laid-back shows that are the same at both synagogues and secular venues.
“I’ve always loved country music,” Buchanan said. “It’s always been about people and their stories and very real stuff, and struggle and victory and celebration. All of that is in the Torah, in our story, and it was in my story as well.”
One of Buchannan’s songs focuses on the Biblical story of Isaac begging his father, Abraham, not to sacrifice him, and another is a love song for Eve. Other tunes are more Southern rock-style.
As Santa Clarita is a city with a rich history of Western traditions, Blazer is excited to bring a country music artist such as Buchanan to the city.
“His music, which fuses country western sounds and blues with Jewish music, I felt it was especially appropriate for our community,” Blazer said. “We want to let people know in the community, even people that aren’t Jewish or have never been to synagogue before, to be able to come out and be with Joe for this for the Shabbat.”
But above all, Blazer wants people to meet Buchanan and see what a “mensch” he is.
“He’s just a great person. He’s what we call a mensch,” Blazer said. “This is something that is going to be a real treat.”
Shabbat services at Temple Beth Ami on March 8 are set to begin at 7 p.m. Temple Beth Ami is located at 23023 Hilse Lane.
To learn more about Joe Buchanan, visit joebuchananmusic.com.
