The Sunday Summary: – A weekly post summarizing the music and worship for North Point Community Church‘s main services, and some thoughts and analysis from a Music Department staffer (me). You might find it helpful for you and your church, or just plain entertaining😉
First, a big shout out to my Mom, Gayle, tuning in from the Great White North. Love you!
Alrighty…
Well, we had a good morning. Not great, because Murphy’s Law showed up in some technical and personnel issues, but hey – that’s life. I actually think we hit our stride in the 2nd service (11:00). By then some of the voices had cleared up from the morning grog, and some of the cobwebs had cleared, specifically from some of our musicians that were just coming off a heavy week of touring (the globe and elsewhere…) That’s not often the case. Usually the first service (9:00) has the most energy, because the “butterflies” and adrenaline are running, and everyone still has lots of energy left. Not so today. Not necessarily bad – just different.
Leading this week:
Steve Fee and his band in East (Matt Adkins, Alex Nifong, Heath Baltzglier, Brandon Coker). That whole band is amazing. They are a worship machine – and I mean that in the best, most complimentary way. It’s obvious they’ve spent a great deal of time playing together and becoming a great “band”, not just a collection of players hacking away. It’s always a treat to have them “home”.
Casey Darnell and great collection of some of our best, regular guys were in West. Casey’s still pretty new around here, and has spent most of his time playing with other guys his age (early 20’s). Needless to say he was pretty blown away by the incredible musicianship some of the more experienced guys brought to the table (Steve Thomason, Scott Meeder, Earl South, Trammell Starks, Danny Howes). I think Steve’s the only one of those guys under 40 (and just barely…).
I think that’s so important – to set a newer, younger Worship Leader up for success by surrounding him/her with musicians that are experienced and extremely skilled at their craft.
OPENER:
“Neverending” by David Crowder Band
– We did this live on both sides. That’s a rarity for an opener or closer, but it has more of a worship tune feel, so we went with the Worship Leaders on each side singing the tune. A fun song with lots of energy, but the jury’s still out as to whether I “loved” it or not. It did, however, set up a fun, rock atmosphere, which helped lead into worship. All thoses “La La’s” though – they get old. But hey, the bands and singers executed very well.
WORSHIP:
“Faithful” by Alex Nifong (as heard on Fee’s album “We Shine” and “North Point Live: Louder Than Creation“)
– Fee and the boys brought a new twist to this song our buddy Alex wrote last year. The original tempo was around 113, but has gone through some metamorphosis. Kristian Stanfill recorded it on our Louder Than Creation record (and it was great), but I think Fee’s version this morning put some fresh legs onto it. We opted to do it at 119, and Brandon (on East) started it with a borrowed aggressive drum groove from the song “Move Along” – sounded great, and turned what used to be a mid-tempo tune into a good opener. I think we’ll see this song make a resurgence thanks to Brandon’s creativity.
“All Because Of Jesus” by Steve Fee (as heard on Fee’s album “We Shine” and “North Point Live: Louder Than Creation“)
– yep, good favorite. Great verse, great chorus, musically interesting parts (drums, lead lines). Steve mentioned this morning that it’s also getting a bunch of airplay on different stations around the country. Way to go, boys!
“Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)”
– old school hymn, Chris Tomlin – This is such a great tune to start down, without a lot of instrumentation. Just hearing the room sing this old, familiar hymn was an amazing worship experience! And then really ramping up the “my chains are gone” part of this tune, especially the end choruses, was fantastic.
The lesson I learned this week was from Steve on Amazing Grace. It was to not worry about telling guys to fill in the sonic space during the verses. Sure, it sounds empty in the rehearsals, but when the room starts singing that familiar melody, it’s really special. Thanks Steve!
What moved YOU to worship this week?
The Ballad of Mr. Fun 