Just a heads up to all the Powell folks reading this. I don't usually give a heads up on what the band is going to do each week (for a couple of reasons... either I don't know yet or I don't want to ruin the element of surprise) but a number of folks have asked me to let them know in advance when we are going to do...
Bluegrass Sunday. July 6th. Both services. Yee-haw.
You guys hear me say all the time how great I think our worship team is at church... I thought it would be cool to show you a clip of the band in action. This is a clip I put together featuring most of 3 songs we did this past Sunday morning. Not everyone plays every week so my apologies to those who aren't in this but included in this video are:
When I found out I was going to be moving back into the realms of worship leading, one of the first things I wanted to do was to expand the band a little bit. One of the things I have learned about myself over the years is that I get bored easily and need variety if I really want to thrive creatively. It's hard for me to do week after week after week of nearly the same thing. Problem is, I've been a bit out of the musical loop for awhile here in Knoxville so I wasn't sure where to find some new musicians. Craigslist to the rescue.
I put an ad on Craigslist basically inviting musicians to contact me about the possibility of joining us at Powell. I didn't really know what to expect but I'll tell you what I didn't expect... I didn't expect over 40 emails from folks expressing interest. I've had to kind of sort through that... interview folks a little bit via email, make sure people weren't going to show up and try to sacrifice a weasel during a service or anything, but wow... so far the results have been pretty fantastic.
Our first new musician was a wonderful violinist who sat in with us in an acoustic set we did a few weeks ago. She's just a really cool gal with a great ear and a really nice style on the violin. Then last week we had a drummer sit in with us who was just solid as a rock and much needed since we didn't have any backups for my brother when he's gone. Then tonight, we rehearsed for our mother's day service and I don't want to give away what we're going to do but the guy we have sitting in with us is just a ridiculously good player... I don't want to give away the instrument but when you hear him Sunday, you'll be blown away.
Speaking of Mother's Day... Powell Church folks, you don't want to miss this one... it's going to be a really great Sunday. Of course, hopefully they're all really great, but we've got some nice extra things planned this week that we think you're really going to enjoy.
Opener
Back to You (Bryan Adams from his Unplugged album. Yes, that Bryan Adams.)
Worship Set
Beautiful One (Tim Hughes)
How Great is our God (Tomlin)
God of this City (Bluefield / Tomlin)
Let it Rise (Holland Davis)
Closing Song
Amazed (Lincoln Brewster)
For all of you Knoxville peeps out there, the great David Wilcox is playing on the WDVX Blue Plate special at noon. It's a twin bill with some band i've never heard of which means Dave will be playing about a 30 minute set... and seriously, it's absolutely free. Showtime is 12:00 noon at One Century Plaza on the corner of Gay Street and Summit Hill Drive. Visit WDVX for more information.
I'm going early to save a couple of seats. If anybody wants me to grab one for them, let me know. They only have about 50 chairs and the rest is standing room only. Should be fun!
I led worship this morning for the first time in a couple of months. It was a lot of fun for the most part, although I am definitely out of the habit of leading every week. My voice didn't do real well going through a Thursday rehearsal, early Sunday AM run-through, and then the service. I was fried by the time it was over. I also forgot my capo on one song and forgot to un-mute my tuner pedal on another. Rookie mistakes I shouldn't be making but what can I say. I went from doing this 3 times a week for 8 years to doing it maybe 4 times a year over the past couple of years.
As many of you might already know, Allison Randolph who has been the worship pastor at Powell for about the last year resigned this past week. I'm really sad to see Allison go... she has a great heart for the Lord and just ridiculous amounts of talent. I can't wait to see where God is going to use her next.
Anyway, with Allison no longer with us, it looks like I'm going to be leading worship for at least the next little bit until we figure out what comes next. You'll probably see me blog a bit about that in the coming weeks. I'll try to post each week's setlist. I've read a few worship leader blogs lately where they do that and I've enjoyed reading what other folks are doing. Here are the songs we did this week:
Wasted (Carrie Underwood) - this was our opener / walk-in music
All Because of Jesus (Steve Fee)
I am Free (not sure who wrote this one... lots of people have recorded it)
Fire Fall Down (Hillsong United)
Happy Day (Tim Hughes)
You Never Let Go (Matt Redman)
Notice the absence of Chris Tomlin songs... didn't think I could do it did ya? Well, wait until next week... I'm sure we'll do a couple then.
Don't say I didn't ever hook you folks up. Arthur Alligood has just released a brand new EP and it is available 100% free on his website. It's really great... Arthur is an amazing songwriter and these are some really wonderful songs. The record was mixed by Andrew Osenga and hey, enough reading, go download it right now! I'm lucky to call Arthur a friend and if you dig this free EP, you should pick up his full length album "Under the Grey". It is stellar.
Steven Delopoulos used to be in a band called Burlap To Cashmere. You might remember them... they were on Squint records back in the day and had a hit single called "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth" and I think another one that was pretty good called "Anybody Out There". They had a really interesting world music sound with a lot of heavy percussion and REALLY fast guitar strumming. They were alright but not one of my very favorites.
Anyway... Steven has since started doing his own thing and I recently picked up his new record called "Straightjacket" and wow. Double wow. I have a LOT of music and have listened to a lot of music and I really don't know how to describe this record. It's just ridiculously creative and the production and arrangements are among the best I've ever heard. At its core are just these really beautiful and powerful songs... just Steven and his guitar. He reminds me a bit of Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin, and maybe some Paul Simon. The production though.. that's what puts it over the top... monks chant, squeaky door hinges are morphed into percussion tracks, string quartets weave in and out, hands clap, feet stomp, muted trumpets wail in the distance, the sound of the choir rises and falls, and the sinners all come to Jesus. It's just flat out awesome.
It probably won't be for everyone... it could almost be described as weird but I think if you give it a chance, you just might like it. You can find Stephen online right over here.
I haven't really officially announced this and I'm not really sure that it needs a formal announcement but I have for the most part ended my career as a traveling singer-songwriter. The word career there is supposed to be funny. Perhaps a better way to say it is that this will now be a hobby that I spend less time on.
I had a great go at it really... I started working hard on it in the summer of 2005 when I recorded "Lower than the Angels". Between October of 2005 and now I have played over 100 concerts, put out 3 more CDs (The Bluegrass Service, Chase the Western Sky, and Thirty-Three), had a lot of fun, made a lot of friends, and come out just a little bit ahead financially. Fame and fortune never happened much to the chagrin of my wife and parents but honestly, that was never the point. I was just trying to be faithful with the gifts God gave me and I know that sounds trite but it's pretty much exactly how I felt and still feel.
I'm not hanging it up entirely... I'll still play shows if I'm invited. I'm just done inviting myself. Booking your own shows is really hard work, mostly consisting of calling up strangers or people you barely know and asking if you can come play at their church. Sometimes they are gracious and say yes... sometimes they are gracious and say no... sometimes they are... well, sometimes they just say no. Self-promotion is really, really hard for me and I was never any good at it at all. So, I'm letting that go. I'll still play a little bit from time to time I'm sure but my days of playing 3 or 4 shows a month are over.
With that said, I still have a garage full of CDs! I'd love to get rid of some of them so if you haven't picked up any of my Cds yet, now's a great time. I've cut the prices on my music website to only $8.00 per CD or all 4 for $25.00. You can also get both "Chase the Western Sky" and "Thirty-Three" for only $12.00 with an immediate download of 'Chase the Western Sky".
Here's a free MP3 of my favorite track from "Chase the Western Sky" for you. It's called "Further Up and Further In" and was inspired by the C.S. Lewis book "The Last Battle".
Diane MacEachern: Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World
Shane Claiborne: Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals
J. Matthew, M.D. Sleeth: Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action
Alan Hirsch: The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church
Mark Driscoll: Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions
Recent Comments