Ghost Program

I’m working on music about Jesus making space for us to rest and to trust Him, even amidst addiction. In my story, this addiction is pornography. A lot of people have written about this, but it doesn’t seem like there’s music about it. So, my hope is that others might find something useful in these songs—whether they have been in trouble with porn or a different drug, know someone in a situation of addiction, or have simply cried out to God for help with something desperate. I also hope the music itself is an adventure and a joy.

As a follower of Jesus, I’ve cried out again and again for “help” in this matter, meaning “take this away before it costs me everything.” Although I have not seen Jesus simply take it away, I’ve seen Him change who I am in Him. Slowly, I’m less of somebody who’s like this willpower warrior and more of someone humbled into a little kid before Him, trusting Him.

Communicating and commemorating this ongoing story has taken shape as three musical movements:

One

Prayers from a place of confusion and grief, where pain shrouds the truth, and things get dark. This is part of the human experience, and I can be present to it before God like some small Psalm 22 or 88 or something.

  1. Only Looking at You
    > September 2026
  2. Only Looking at You (II)
  3. Even Now/Consumer
  4. Featherweight
  5. Baby Don’t Worry (Magnanimous II)

Two

Conversational moments where the reality of Jesus’ own work and strength breaks through as a place to exhale and rest in His work (which doesn’t seem fair).

  1. Nobody Asked You to Be So Strong
    > August 28, 2026
  2. Have You Met My Boy?
  3. For You, For You
  4. Hide and Seek
  5. You Snakes!

Three

Songs of a kind of baffled, fumbling worship. Whether or not things are any “better” for us, the truth is good medicine. Also, you can’t simply stop doing something bad; it has to be replaced with something you were really meant to enjoy, so I’ll ruminate well.

  1. Magnanimous
    > October, 2026
  2. Indiscriminate
  3. Great Was the Weight
  4. I Love the Lord, He Hears my Cry
  5. Fearful, Wonderful

(Songs are subject to title change/never being made at alllll:)

Upcoming Shows

Friday, September 18 • Support for Andy Squyres

Andy Squyres in Denver • Park Church (3025 W 37th Ave, Denver) • 7pm • $23

Tickets

Saturday, October 24 • Support for Ian Mahan

Ian Mahan Vinyl Release • The Outpost on Platte (1635 Platte St, Denver) • 7pm • $25

Tikets (Sold Out)

Fun technical Ghost Program deets:

  • Engineered, mixed, and co-produced by Corban Roberts
  • Mastered by Brian Lucey
  • Written, performed, and co-produced by JD Raab
  • Synth bass on Only Looking at You and additional synth and percussion on Magnanimous by Corban Roberts
  • Artwork by Seth Coulter
  • Thank you to Phil Waggoner for the 60s Univox, to Zach Sanderson for the ADS-7 Drum Machine, to Sean Brage for the G2D Cream-Tone, to Keith Dickey for the Dr. Z, for Jon Johnson for the Walrus Audio Luminary with the cool graphics, and to the countless others who have shaped what I think music should sound like. Thank you to Corban for getting me to play these things using adjectives like “sauce” and “swagger” and “juice” (I think he said juice?).

(Here are some cute process photos from the time with Corban Roberts—engineer, co-producer, friend, and patchbay wizard.)

What is a “Ghost Program?”

Although this project probably started in the summer of 2001, it’ll be available on streaming platforms in fall 2026. As a nod to that length of time, a “ghost program” is a bit of abandoned code or software that continues to run forever on a forgotten system. Someone wrote the program, and maybe the project was canceled, or the company was decommissioned, but a process runs continually on an old network like a memory to nowhere.