Sean Michel – 15 in 2015

// Musician // 21 years in Saline County

What is your “why?”

It’s a question many of us may ask at different points in our lives, but to meet musician Sean Michel, you learn he’s been centered in his “why” for quite some time.

“Christ and God’s love is absolutely what’s inside me,” he said. “Loving the outcast.  Sending redemption. Bringing dead things to life. That’s what’s important to Christ’s love for all humanity.”

Michel has channeled that foundation through his musical talents and his band that carries his name. He’s also coined a unique term for his ministry: Musicianary.

“All artists are missionaries, if they know it or not,” he said. “And the artist must remain true to who they are. You never see an apple tree produce oranges or vice versa.”

Michel’s musical path has taken him on a wild journey that almost landed him on American Idol in 2007.

“(The tryout) was spur of the moment on no sleep,” he said. “We were in Memphis hanging out with friends. Two months later, I was in Hollywood. I got cut just before the live show. I think God might have been looking our for me.”

Not “making it” hasn’t affected Michel in the least. In fact, he doesn’t give it a second thought. He’s too busy touring the world, spreading his message through music.

“In 2005, I played Ramadan to about 4,000 Muslims,” he said. “I’ve played a prison in Senegal, West Africa. Their prisons aren’t like ours. They’re horribly rough.”

Michel and his band have also toured India, Nepal, Chile and several European countries. It’s an opportunity, he says, that allows that him to reach others in the best way he knows. “You can only accomplish this if you’re truly authentic. To be someone else will never work.”

Among his more memorable adventures, Michel recalled a festival he recently played in Germany. His session, which was scheduled to last just one hour, lasted two.

However, it was one person he saw in the crowd that he says helped him realize why he was really there.

“There was a young Middle Eastern guy dancing his guts out. When I was done, he jumped on stage and gave me a hug. He grabbed the microphone and said, ‘I’m not a Christian. I’m Muslim, but I love Jesus, and I love you people.’

“It was a reminder that when I do what God has designed, I’ll see there are always bigger things going on.”

While Michel says he gets his foundation from God, he admits part of his musical mission is also courtesy of “The Boss.”

“I think about what Bruce Springsteen said,” he recalled. “If I look in the crowd and see myself, and the crowd can see themselves in me or my band, that’s the ministry of Rock n’ Roll.”

Pretty sound philosophies on both ends toward understanding your “why,” don’t you think?