Still getting over the DRIVE 09 hangover. We’re all spent – especially the Browns Bridge Service Programming folks who had to host a funeral early this morning. Ugghhh.
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Meanwhile, I gave into the Dark Side of The Force:
I joined Twitter.
or
@reidgreven
or however this sickness works…. 
I said I’d never do it.
I was wrong.
I really just did it to follow @jayandjack – their LOST Podcast is awesome, and an integral part of my week…
For Session #1 we had 16 Atlanta Symphony strings.
I wrote parts for them for the 9 worship songs we did, and even conducted them for “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber.
A ton of work. Many late nights arranging strings.
All worth it.
Hey Fun Seekers – sorry it’s been quiet around here. That simply means that my life has been, well, the exact opposite… !!
DRIVE starts on Monday, and between rehearsals and all the extra stuff that needed to be done for it – plus all the regular stuff a week brings – it’s been nothing short of exhausting.
Over the last 3 weeks I’ve put in at least an extra 35 – 40 hours above and beyond the call of duty. I won’t give away why just yet, but after Thursday’s Session #1 rehearsal, it was evident that it was well worth the effort.
So hopefully you’re coming – and if not, then you can at least have a look around the Web site.
So hold on tight. The recaps for next week should be fun!!
Whew – kids, I am busy! There are 10 songs that string parts scored for our DRIVE Conference, and beaucoup of stuff to do in the yard before it gets too hot (or my allergies take over!).
So sorry for the posting delay….
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This past Sunday was lots of fun. Eddie had a great line:
“I thought it was going to be a strong single-base hit, maybe even a ground rule double, but it turned out to be a good stand-up triple!”
(Now if only the Braves could rally some of that action…)
Andy started a new 2-part series called “God and Country”, talking about our national conscience, and how God is viewed in America. The first message was really good – certainly worth a listen!
We opened with our good buddy James David Carter singing the Rodney Atkins tune “It’s America”.
It turned out to be a lot of fun, and we even had Jeremy Moyers move over from Rhythm Guitar to Pedal Steel for the tune. (He toured playing Pedal Steel with Lonestar for years!). And kind Matt Melton came over from West to play Rhythm on that tune.
So it was something different, something fun, and it was a great setup for the series.
With the opener, plus baptism, we only had time for 2 worship tunes, so we chose something old and something new.
The oldie was Tomlin’s “Your Grace Is Enough”, which was well received by many, but I wasn’t real crazy about. Oh well..
The newbie was the Tim Hughes tune “Everything”, which we’ve done a couple times, and is one of my new favorite tunes. I absolutely love it , and really, really love playing it.
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East Band – Mike Gleason, James David Carter, Rachael Gillis, Danny Grady, Jeremy Moyers, Joe Thibodeau, Pat Malone, Me
West Band – Chrystina Fincher, Ryan Stuart, Matt Melton, Ben Snider, Brad Gage, Wayne Viar, Keith Thomas
First, a big shout out to our Long Island guests! (You know who you are… )
Sunday was a fun day. Sometimes the mood on stage and off is just a little brighter and perkier than others – this was one of those days.
No real reason why, other than the fact that everyone was glad that 5 straight days of rain was over.
That, and the fact that we did some fun tunes…
Sunday was our “Strategic Service” day – the day we honor our existing volunteers, and push for new ones.
So we opened with a highlight video – a montage of photos from every area that volunteers serve, underscored by each side’s live band doing Jack Johnson’s “Better Together“.
It’s a happy little tune, just like most of Jack’s repertoire. Danny Dukes sang it on East and Eddie Kirkland did it on West.
And I got to use a vibraphone patch, so that alone made my day… 
.
Worship was, at least for me, more fun than usual. I played on East with Chrystina Fincher leading. If you don’t know Chrys, she’s a firecracker rock-chick. I mean, this is the mother of 3 that sang Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” at DRIVE and Catalyst conferences!
So a win for Chrys is a set of “up” tunes that have a lot of energy and really allow her to show off her dynamic personalty and lead a crowd in worship.
Plus, Eddie was leading on the West, and he can sing the phone book, so no worries!
We started with Chris Tomlin’s “Let God Arise“. Now if you don’t dig this tune for worship, chances are you’ve not heard the right person lead it.
Tomlin’s recorded version lacks something, and you don’t realize what that is until you hear someone with a stronger, more aggressive voice sing it. It’s a great tune, but a smooth, tender voice like Tomlin’s doesn’t do the song justice. But when you put someone on it that has some grit, the song takes on a whole new persona!
Next was Marvelous Light, a fave by Charlie Hall, but one that is nearing it’s last days and will soon be put out to pasture. So enjoy it while it’s still around!
We concluded worship with a new song by Todd Fields that he co-wrote with Eddie called “Jesus Reigns“. It’s got a great mid-tempo groove ad is a blast to play. The verse is a little wordy and with some odd syncopation, but it certainly learnable over time. The chorus, however, is fantastic – a great hook that’s super easy to pick up and repeats a bunch.
We’ll be singing this one for a while! It’ll be on Todd’s new project due in May.
There you go!
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East Band – Chrystina Fincher, Danny Dukes, Ryan Stuart, Steve Thomason, Ben Snider, Ashley Appling, Richard Meeder, Me
West Band – Eddie Kirkland, Danny Grady, Brad Avery, Jennifer Young, Mike Bielenberg, Pat Malone, Wayne Viar
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