Greg Adkins

Sunday setlist - June 21st

OPENER "Respect" - Aretha Franklin "Real Men of Jesus" WORSHIP SET "All because of Jesus" - Steve Fee "Revelation Song" - Kari Jobe "Cannons" - Phil Wickham CLOSER "Overflow" - Chris Tomlin

Sunday Setlist - May 17th, 2009

OPENER
"Your Love Never Fails" - Chris Quilala

WORSHIP SET
"Cannons" - Phil Wickham
"On Our Side" - Chris Tomlin
"Pass me Not oh Gentle Savior" - Lyle Lovett arrangement
"All the Earth will sing Your Praises" - Paul Baloche

CLOSER
"Amazed" - Lincoln Brewster

Random Church Mind Dump

Tons and tons of stuff going on at church lately... some of it really great and some of it driving me nuts... here's a little of what's going on.  

• We've been working on a new children's facility since the fall.   It's a Sprung Structure which is basically a really cool bubble type thing.   It's going to be awesome for our kids when it's finished.   We were supposed to already be in it but we've hit more than a few really annoying little delays.  I've been having fits with some of the stuff I've been involved with regarding the theatrical lighting system that's going in there for the stage.  I won't bore you with the details but man, I sure will be glad when this thing is done... mainly because of how great it's going to be for our kids.   They're going to have a really great place to worship and they deserve it.   They've been in a makeshift old sanctuary for a long time now... it will be nice to see them in a truly kid friendly environment. 
• The bubble being finished will create a lot of other changes at Powell Church.   As soon as the kids can move in there, that means they can move OUT of our old sanctuary which means our Traditional Worship service can move back in.   I think the folks who attend our traditional service are excited about the move.  It's a great room for traditional worship with beautiful stained glass on both sides of the room.   We've been working really hard to put in a brand new sound system and I just found a great deal on a baby grand piano for the room this morning.   I'm excited to see how the service grows now that it will be back in a room designed for the traditional style of worship.  
• With the traditional service moving out of our Worship Center at 11:00 and into the old sanctuary, that now frees us up to add a 2nd contemporary service at 11:00.   Our 9:30 has been completely full to capacity for some time now and that's really what has motivated all of this change... we needed more space.   With all of the other changes that will allow us a 2nd service, we'll be able to add about 650 more seats for people to come.   That's exciting.    
• It looks like our first day for all of these changes to happen will be either February 1st (hopefully) or February 8th.    
• We went ahead and redesigned the stage in the main Worship Center this week because the next few weeks are going to be crazy trying to get sound and lights installed in the bubble.   We finally were able to move our drums to center stage and we also added some instrument risers.   This allows the band to be closer together when we play (which really helps a lot if you've never played in a band) and also will hopefully create a closer, more intimate feel in the room.   Our stage is MASSIVE (almost 5000 square feet) and when we moved out the choir risers, it just felt ridiculously large... the risers and bringing the band forward helps to negate some of that space.  We practiced with the new look last night and I'm excited about it.   I think it's going to be really nice.  
• We also added some LED light boxes under the drum risers.   Muchos Gracias to Dave Cole who built the frames for us.   Screwed into the bottom of the risers are 4 ColorBlast 6 LED light fixtures.   They can produce any color with zero heat... they look great.   I'll try to post a picture sometime soon.  
• Last thing before I have to run... I'm having a blast playing with and working with our awesome band and singers right now.   One member of the team sent me an email this morning just telling me how much fun he had at practice last night and how cool it was that when it was over everyone stayed and hung out for awhile.   I agree... it's so nice to be able to work with and worship with such a great group of people.   Those of you reading this from Powell, I know you can see and hear their talent and I'm sure that it impresses you, but I hope you get a chance to know their hearts because that will impress you even more.   I'm hoping that when we go to 2 services we'll have more time to mingle with everyone.   I think we will because in between services we won't be having to pack up and change the stage for traditional worship.. we'll be able to just relax and take a break.  I think it will be really nice!  
• One last thing... I wanted to thank everyone for your support of our 2 Powell Church Live CD Volumes.  Through sales and donations of those CDs, we have been able to sponsor one local child to have free music lessons for a year and also a free instrument to use for the year.  We also were able to purchase and donate 4 brand new acoustic guitars to give to the Joy of Music School here in town.   Jesse and I have been down to visit with them and we just love what they're doing.    Any student in Knox County Schools who qualifies for free and reduced lunch can have a free weekly music lesson (piano, drums, bass, guitar, violin, percussion, brass, woodwinds) and also gets to keep an instrument for as long as they take lessons.   It's all volunteer... they have over 50 teachers who teach an average of 1 hour a week.   They currently have 50 students on the waiting list... all they need is more teachers.   If you're interested in meeting that need, go to their website and email Francis Graffeo... they'll take it from there.   So anyway... thank for your support!   All proceeds from those CDs are going to support the Joy of Music School and as a team, we're really excited about that!  

God of this City

I wanted to share a video we put together a couple of months ago for the song "God of this City".   We totally ripped off the idea to sync this with local pictures and footage from about 5 other churches but I really think the combination of this song with pictures of our community (including footage shot within a couple of miles of the church) really helped to make a powerful song even more meaningful.   

Anyway, here's the video.   The audio track is the finished mix of this song from our Powell Church Live Volume 2 CD.   When we do this song live, we play to a click track I created in Reason.   I'm controlling the click track and the video track from my laptop in Ableton Live... Ableton is great in that it allows you to include video so I can run video out from my laptop into our switcher and keep that synced with the clicktrack we use.  

Okay, nerd-speak over... enjoy the video.

 

Powell Church Live Volume 2

Yeah, I know... we just released Volume 1.   At the same time we were working on getting volume 1 ready, we were also hard at work on Volume 2... we plan on doing a couple of these a year and we wanted to establish that pattern early on... plus, we're doing a lot of new material and a lot of it is on Volume 2 so we wanted to get it out as quickly as possible. 

Anyway, where Volume 1 featured Allison and the band from back in February, Volume 2 features the current band and was recorded on various Sunday mornings between July and September, 2008.   I'm really proud of every player and singer on this thing... they do an amazing job week in and week out.   They work hard to prepare, they show up on time, they come with servant hearts, and they realize that it isn't about us at all.   They set a great example for me and I am so lucky to get to work with them... these folks love the Lord and hopefully that comes through in these songs.

You can listen to and download Powell Church Live Volume 2 for free right here.

The Band in Action

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: 

Adam Adkins - drums

Greg Adkins - acoustic guitar, piano

Adam Whipple - keyboards and organ

Rose Williams - violin

Rob Mason - bass

Jasmine Hoisington - acoustic guitar

Jim Walker - electric guitar

Dave Locke - percussion and vocals

Sarah McAffry - vocals

Michelle Kollenberg - vocals

Kim Mason - vocals

Sunday Setlist - May 4th, 2008

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)

My New Job

So I've kind of hinted around that my job has changed a little bit... I've obviously been leading worship a lot lately which has been a change from what I've been doing for the past couple of years. This week, that new part of my job became official.

For the time being, I am going to be supervising and leading the worship in our contemporary service at Powell while I continue to lead all of the technical ministries I was doing before. If that sounds like I'm now doing two jobs... well, kind of. Yes, I have more to do but our tech and worship teams have been nothing short of amazing. We've got a lot of people with a "I'll serve wherever you need me" attitude which has really made the transition pretty great. I've already trained a handful of new tech volunteers to cover some of the things I was doing and that has allowed me to move to being on stage every week without anything we were doing falling through the cracks. They have stepped up huge and kept the workload manageable for me. It's been fun.

However, part of my new job is that I've been given the directive to find some help. Our leadership recognizes that I'm no good if I'm burned out and my family is mad at me because I'm gone all the time. Praise God for wise leaders! So... I'm looking for someone. I don't know who and I'm not totally sure what it is they will do, I just know that I'm looking for the right person to come join the team. I've been given a lot of freedom in seeking this person out. Here is what I'm looking for in the ideal person:

They would be able to help lead worship (especially when we launch our Wednesday night service probably sometime in 2009).
They are comfortable behind a sound board.
They know a little bit about stage lighting and can run a lighting console.
They are proficient with computers and web savvy.
They can edit video and are familiar with Final Cut Pro / Motion.
They have graphic design skills.
They are highly passionate and creative.
They love Jesus.

Now, I realize something... that person might not exist! That's a pretty broad set of skills... still, I thought I'd put that out there. Obviously a person need not have every skill listed but the more the better! So... if you know a passionate, Jesus loving, video editing, sound mixing, light board running, Mac using, worship leading, unemployed person, send them my way! We're hiring for real and I hope to start interviewing people within the next few weeks.

Sunday Setlist - 4/27/08

So here is how I began this morning's worship... "Let's all rise to our feets and worship. Wait, did I just say feets?"

You know, I'm a fairly articulate guy... college educated and all that. I can string a sentence or two together when I need to. And yet, I thought it wise to ask the congregation to rise to their FEETS. Brilliant.

Anyway, other than that, it was a really fun week and the band did a really great job. We were back to our normal instrumentation this week although I did play piano on 4 of the 6 songs... I've been doing guitar only so that was a welcome change. Even though i've played mostly guitar for the better part of 5 years, I'm still a lot more comfortable behind the keys.

The congregation was absolutely with us this morning which was really nice. I don't know if they always sing loudly and I just can't hear it but for whatever reason, I could hear them really clearly today. It's so much easier to lead when you hear people singing along. Okay, here's the setlist:

WALK IN / OPENING
God of this City (can't remember who wrote it but Chris Tomlin recorded it on the newest Passion CD)

WORSHIP SET
All to You (Lincoln Brewster)
Salt and Light (Jami Smith)
Fire Fall Down (Hillsong United)
Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall)

ALTAR / CLOSING
Overflow (Chris Tomlin)

And that my non-worship leader friends, is a little trick those of us in the biz like to call a Tomlin Sandwich.

Sunday Setlist - 4/20/08

Opener:
Meant to Live - Switchfoot

Worship Set
Awesome is the Lord Most High - Chris Tomlin
God of Wonders - Third Day / Caedmon's Call
Mighty to Save - Hillsongs
Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus - traditional
Set me Free - Big Daddy Weave

Altar / Closing
You are So Good to Me - Waterdeep

Sunday was loads of fun! We stripped it all down and went all acoustic and were able to get together a really neat mix of instruments. My brother Adam played a small drum kit and also a djembe and a cajon (one of those wooden boxes you sit on). Adam Whipple came and played piano and some accordion. Tim Harbin broke out his mandolin and our new friend Rose came and played some really lovely violin. Sarah, Michelle, and Andrea did a great job with the harmonies, Jasmine filled in some nice acoustic guitar work, Rob layed down that sweet, funky, phat low end we love so well and I... well, I just tried not to mess all that good stuff up too badly.

Powell Church folks, I hope you enjoyed it... I know we enjoyed putting it together. We wanted to leave some empty space in the sound so that you could hear yourselves sing... We could hear you up front and it was really great to hear that!

If you didn't enjoy it so much... fear not, next week we'll be back with electric guitars blazing, ready to bring the rawk. Or something like that.

Insane Week

Twice every year I run sound for the Christian Academy of Knoxville's musical theater department. This week it's the high school musical and I've had to be out there for about 4 hours every night this week and that will continue until Saturday night. It's exhausting working all day and then going to do that until 10:00 every night but it pays well enough that I can't really turn it down. They have a pretty amazing musical theater department as far as high schools go... great bunch of kids.

Last night we had worship band rehearsal at 9:00 which is 2 hours later than usual. We're doing an all acoustic setup this week and I can't tell you how edgy I was all day yesterday wondering if it was going to come together or sound like junk. I need to learn to chill out... the rehearsal went great and I think it's going to be a really great Sunday. The instrumentation will be me on acoustic, Rob on bass, Tim on mandolin and acoustic guitar, my brother Adam on cajon, djembe, congas, trap kit, shakers, and tamborine, Adam Whipple on piano and accordion, my new friend Rose on violin, and Sarah, Andrea, and Michelle on vocals. Should be a lot of fun.

I didn't get home though until midnight. I'm completely wiped out today so I guess it's a good thing I get Thursdays off. I'm going to relax and spend the day with my little man... at least until I have to go run sound tonight.

Services I watch

Each week I try to set aside some time to watch the services from Granger Community Church and also from Newspring Church. Both of these churches are massively huge. I get different things from both of them... Granger often gives me good ideas for visuals (they do a lot with projection and whoever produces their original video content is really good) and Newspring has a really great worship leader named Lee McDerment. I've picked up a few good arrangement ideas and also learned some new songs from watching them. There are things about both of these churches that I don't really care for too but the good thing about watching online is I can just skip around.

Are there any other churches that broadcast full service videos out there? I know a lot of places do just the sermon but I really like seeing the whole thing. It's interesting to me to study how other churches handle their service order, announcements, closing songs, and other things like that. I know 7:22 in Atlanta broadcasts... any others you guys watch?

What's Going On

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.

Planning Center Online

I've been playing this week with a really cool new website called Planning Center Online. It's web based software that allows you to put together a schedule for your worship services and also to schedule your volunteers. Each person who is serving on any given day can access the schedule before they come, they can download MP3s of the music, download chord charts, and see everything that's going on. It does a lot more than that but that's a basic overview.

If you're in ministry and are over any kind of team, this site could save you a whole lot of time... it's already done that for me. Organization isn't always my strongest suit so this has been a great find.

If you are going to look at it, find the tutorial videos on their website and watch the overviews... that's the quickest way to see most of the features available.