Sunday Summary – Music: November 30, 2008

Okie Dokie… Thanksgiving’s over… Back to the regular grind…

Or so I thought.

Today (Monday) we spent 4.5 hours talking about what we want to do in the first 6 minutes of our Christmas Service on December 21st.

Ahhh, the joy of working in a church music department in December. Kinda like a Certified Public Accountant in March and early April…

(I’m just teasing – I love it!!)

Anyhoo, yesterday…

Last week Andy started a new series called “Listen and Learn”, based primarily on the premise that who and what you listen to will determine your actions and ultimate outcome. Yeah, it’s a pretty elementary concept, but a great reminder to all of us as we’re bombarded with media, advertising, and the people we choose to surround ourselves with.

And as a side note, there’s also a quirky title package with the series that the media guys asked me to write a theme for, as well as all the quirky, 80′s synthesizer sound effects.

Check it out HERE. Click on the blue “Listen and Learn” icon, and then click the red “F” to watch via Flash Player

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As far as worship goes, we had some fun this week!

OK, it didn’t all start out as fun – especially in East….

Chrystina Fincher lead worship in East, which is great because she’s great – but she is, well, a she!

Yep, that means GIRL KEYS!

It’s no problem in the long run, but at mid-week rehearsal, playing those familiar tunes 4 or 5 keys away plays some serious tricks with your brain. Guitar voicings change, my keyboard licks fall differently under the fingers, and all that muscle memory goes kaput! And forget alphabetical chord progressions – number progressions need to take over or you’ll have your nose stuck in the chart all night long.

But something cool can end up happening, as it did to us at rehearsal. You get your BUTT KICKED!

Yeah, you heard me right – you walk away beat up, mentally and musically.

And there’s no greater motivator!!!

Personally speaking, I know I can get apathetic, simply because I’m surrounded by these songs all the time, and could play them in my sleep. But when you have to RE-learn a tune, it can sometimes be even more of a challenge than learning a new song from scratch. And that went for the whole band at rehearsal. We fumbled through rehearsal, each one of us being more embarrassed than the next.

And THAT’S when you hit the crossroads that separates the men from the boys. The fork in the road that asks:

“Will you woodshed it on your own time this week to get it right, or will you cross your fingers and hope for the best? Will you spend the needed mental and musical energy needed, or will your apathy get the best of you? Or are you simply not good enough – and if so, what are you going to do about that?”

Gladly, I was on stage with a group of men that knew that the music had gotten the better of them at rehearsal, and they were going to make darn sure that there was no chance of that same thing happening on Sunday.

And that’s exactly what happened. It ended up being a really, really great musical and worship experience on Sunday morning, with a new life and kick to some great worship tunes.

WORSHIP:

Salvation Is Here

Let Me Sing

Lead Me To The Cross

Good times…

(And now a shot of a headless Lanny Donoho during the welcome…)

East Band: Chrystina Fincher, Danny Howes, Danny Grady, Jayce Fincher, Ashley Appling, Jordan Watts, Me

West Band: Eddie Kirkland, Mike Hines, Daryl Lecroy, Richard Meeder, Scott Meeder, Trammell Starks, Karen Bitzer

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What has kicked YOUR butt lately?

Sunday Summary – Music: September 28, 2008

Middle of the Road.

Certainly not bad in any way. Yet not really anything to write home about.

That was yesterday – at least for me.

Yeah, I was playing – which is usually a real charge – but I think I know why I was kinda ho-hum about it:

First of all, we didn’t do any specials (opener or closer), which can make a Sunday a lot more interesting.

But the biggest culprit, for me, at least, was PARTS.

Some songs lend themselves to great, naturally flowing parts – meaning what you play and when. They fall under the fingers with ease, and quickly become second nature. And that allows your conscious mind to focus more on worshipping God than worrying about what to play.

Unfortunately, not all songs are like that – and it differs from instrument to instrument! What is great and natural for, say, the rhythm guitarist might be a nightmare for the bassist. Again, each song is different.

So yesterday, while the rest of the band chugged merrily along, I was in “parts stress land”. Songs that other people love were causing me frustration. Again, not because I couldn’t play them, but that they just didn’t, how should I put it – “flow” from the subconscious.

I know that sound weird, especially if you’re not a musician. But trust me – think of something that’s part of your job that is easy and comes natural, then think of something that isn’t natural and that you really have to spend energy and brainpower on. Yeah, that was me for 2 of yesterday’s 3 songs.

Don’t get me wrong – they’re not hard tunes. It’s just the subtle things that no one else would notice – but we as players do…

BUT…. Todd and Kristian did do a great job leading the people, so kudos to them!

WORSHIP:

Beautiful One (culprit #1)

Let Me Sing (NOT a culprit – one of my faves!)

Son of God (culprit #2)

East Band – Todd Fields, Danny Grady, Karyn List, Pat Malone, Ashley Appling, Me

West Band – Kristian Stanfill, Alex Nifong, Matt Melton, Joe Thibodeau, Brad Gage, Jared Hamilton, Chrystina Fincher

And now, everyone’s favorite segment: Candid shots from stage during the Welcome (being fed from the other auditorium)

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What causes YOU to use too much brainpower on stage?

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Sunday Summary – Music: June 29, 2008

Man, what a fun weekend. Jennie and I love it when Michael and Ashley come and stay with us for a few days. Although I think Ella loves it the most! She can’t get enough of those two. We’re certainly gonna have a good time when we all get together with Mom and Dad next week on vacation in Florida. Can’t wait!

So this was a no-frills Sunday. No opener. No closer. No worries, man.

Instead, we got lots of extra time for worship, and we were able to take the crowds to some great, deep places of worship that we don’t often get a chance to do. There can be a lot of power in just an extra, freeing minute or two at the end of a set to say a few words about worship, and follow it up with a few tags of intimate, personal worship. I know that’s a bit of the old Charismatic in me poking through, but it sure beats being song-regurgitating robots…

We also had double Michaels, and both were great.

East – Michael Olson

West – Mike Gleason

BUT!!!!! The week was not without controversy!!!

We started Andy’s series “Letters to the Next President” this past Sunday, and had penciled in Chris Tomlin’s “God of This City” as a closer. However, Andy indicated that the song wasn’t related to where he was ending the message, Eddie and I opted to stick it into the worship set as the 3rd and final tune.

But, we honestly didn’t think it through. Taking it from a worshippy-performancey closer to a full blown worship tune – never having done the song here at all before – was not the right call.

On Tuesday, when I was really listening and learning the song, it felt weird to me for us to be doing it as a worship tune, especially in the 3rd slot. It was lacking that personal, vertical conversation between us as worshippers and our Savior. Normally that doesn’t bug me – we do lots of songs about God. It just felt awkward, especially since we had never done it before. (We like to put new “slow” songs in the #2 slot, so that folks can still worship with a familiar tune in the #3 slot.)

Then on Wednesday, Todd and I got to talking about it, and he had been feeling the same way. Then when Michael Olson arrived, and we got talking about it, he had the same issues. We called Eddie, who was away, and he shared that he’d been feeling the same things.

And so, on Wednesday, just a couple hours before everyone was slated to arrive for rehearsal, we called an audible.

It was a bit of a pain, and a few guys had to shelve what they had been learning and do some last minute woodshedding, but in the end it was very much worth it.

We replaced it with the Starfield tune “Son of God” which Todd covered on our Louder Than Creation CD. It seemed to be a tune that got lost in the sea of tunes that have come out of that project, but it’s a really great song – and a VERY powerful and personal “vertical” song of worship to our God.

Great, great tune. And a real chance to sing personally to our Savior, especially if you freely tag the Bridge and Chorus at the end…

So you can imagine how elated I was when our big boss Julie came up and told Todd, Michael and I that she was glad we switched tunes.

Sometimes you’ve just got to follow your gut.

WORSHIP:

God Is With Us by Michael Olson

Let Me Sing by Todd Fields

Son Of God by Starfield

It was fun doing these 3 together, since Todd, Michael and I all played on these songs on Louder Than Creation .

And now, everyone’s favorite feature: Candid Stage Shots (during the Welcome from the West Auditorium)…

Danny Grady

Michael Olson tuning…

(or staring at his shoes. I don’t know…)

Todd Fields on Rhythm electric/BGV, Wayne Viar on drums, Richard Meeder on bass, Andy on the screen…

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East Band – Michael Olson, Todd Fields, Danny Grady, Wayne Viar, Richard Meeder, Me

West Band – Mike Gleason, Danny Howes, Daryl Lecroy, Chris Arias, Guy Strauss, Earl South, Rachael Gillis

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POD X3 Live count: 4

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Did you personally worship YOUR God this week?

I did, and that makes a world of difference…

Sunday Summary – Music: April 13, 2008

WOW! Apparently lots of folks found yesterday’s post helpful. Or at least thought provoking

So let’s keep this train runnin’…

Jeff Henderson – the lead pastor of our Buckhead Church campus – began his 2-part series called “What Went Wrong”, a study on the life of Soloman, and how the wisest man in history still made choices that left him a shell of a man by the end of his life – and how we can use his example to help our lives.

So we opened with a tune Jeff brought to the table that set up his series, and also set up an illustration in his sermon.

“Letter To Me” by Brad Paisley.

(Did you know that Brad Paisley and I were both at Belmont University at the same time? Yeah, I know: big whoopty doo!)

I know what you’re thinking: What? Not a big, fast, high energy tune? Nope.

Instead, a great song with a great story sung by a great singer with great instrumentalists doing a great job. And THAT is engaging – and THAT is the point of the opener.

Our good buddy Todd Fields sang the tune, Bethany Dick-Olds added some great country fiddle and Mike Hines came over from the West and played some sweet mandolin. Mike, along with Rachel Gillis , added some great harmonies.

This was one of those times when I’m so proud of the incredible musicians that are part of our church. Their musicianship and versatility continue to amaze me. And I’m hard to impress, trust me!

It’s really amazing when you think that these boys and girls turn around and play killer worship!

WORSHIP:

Salvation’s Chorus

Let Me Sing

These are two incredible tunes by one of my music heros, Todd Fields. I know I brag on Toddy a bunch on my blog, but it’s all deserved. His song writing inspires me, he’s got a great voice that I’ve never heard out of tune, he’s one of the greatest all-round guitarists I’ve ever worked with, and his passion for Christ and worship is contagious. No – I do not have a man-crush. I’m just glad he’s a great friend.

Todd and Danny Dukes (West) both lead worship with humor and passion, and talk to the crowd as though they’re hanging out having coffee with each and every person in the audience. That transparency is incredible and invaluable.

A great worship experience doesn’t happen every service, or even every week, but something just clicked for me during the second service (11 am) this past week. Being on stage playing and singing songs I love, with people that I respect and love working with, worshipping my Creator and Savior – wow. Incredible.

Maybe sometimes it just starts with CHOOSING to worship. The sounds and tones are dialed in, the notes and chords are deep in muscle memory, and you just focus your attention on God.

Well that’s something to chew on.

And while you’re chewing, here are some candid on-stage photos for you to enjoy. I took them during the welcome which was fed from the West Auditorium (after the opener, before the worship).

East Band – Todd Fields, Danny Grady, Ashley Appling, Earl South, Rachel Gillis, and me – along with Bethany and Mike on the opener.

West Band – Danny Dukes, Mike Hines, Daryl Lecroy, Scott Meeder, Brad Gage, Mike Bielenberg and Dee Dee Maillian

What helped YOU worship this week?

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Sunday Summary Special: Buckhead Church 03.16

I had another treat this week – though it was a loooooong day….

Todd Fields and some of us “north” boys went down to play at Buckhead Church today, our “downtown” campus.

Most of us are normally at North Point (where I work – so I’m always there) in Alpharetta or Browns Bridge Community Church up north in Cumming. So the day at Buckhead was quite out of the norm, especially for me. I hadn’t played a Sunday service at Buckhead in over 2 years, and haven’t played at all in their new AMAZING building.

The crazy length comes via Buckhead’s service schedule – 9 AM, 11 AM and 6 PM. Yepper, that’s 6:00 PM! It’s to reach the younger crowd that populates the hip Buckhead area. And folks, mostly without kids, that normally would not be drawn to a morning service.

The bummer is that you do a full AM rehearsal, run-through and services, and then come back at 3:30 and do a full PM tech rehearsal, run-through and service. So you play through each song at least 7 times minimum. Multiply that by a 3 song set, and it’s a vocalist’s worst nightmare…

The big treat was playing with the “boys” – great friends and incredible musicians, and worshipping with great songs, including one of the greatest songs ever written.

WORSHIP:

“Marvelous Light ” – Charlie Hall tune. Good, familiar tune with Charlie’s new bridge.

“Let Me Sing” – Todd Fields. Fantastic tune. Check out what this guy has to say. Interesting…

“Breathe On Me ” – Todd Fields, Christy Nockles, Nathan Nockles

My favorite worship song right now – maybe ever. Quite possibly one of the most incredible ever written and recorded. This song is a shining example of how impeccable musicianship and parts with detailed and inspired production can turn a wonderful song into something very, very incredible.

Playing that song all day with these guys was no task. It was an absolute pleasure.

And now, some candid shots…

That’s Amber Blossom doing announcements.

In the band were Todd Fields, Pat Malone, Ashley Appling, Steve Thomason, Ryan Stuart and me.

Thanks for the fun day, Buckhead! (And I was home just in time to help put the kiddos to bed. Sweet!)

What did YOU get to do today?

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