Used in worship for the first time...

Tonight I used BIAB to make soundtracks for three hymns for our Wednesday night Bible study. The hymns were "Hallelujah Side", "Because He Lives", and "How Great Thou Art". The first two were straight bluegrass and the last one was straight country. I put them on a cd and used the cd to lead worship. This was my first attempt at using BIAB to lead worship.

It went................ok.

I got distracted half way through the first song and got lost in it and ended it early. Everyone laughed it off with me, thankfully. The last two went much better. Worship wise it was difficult simply because I had never led worship using a cd before or using straight bluegrass. It felt a little bit awkward and it's hard to lead true worship when you feel self conscious.

Though one of my main goals is to incorporate modern lyrics into a bluegrass and country hybrid, I didn't use such lyrics this time because of logistics. We have our Bible study in the fellowship hall where we don't have a computer or projector. Therefore we use hymnals.

Despite the awkwardness mentioned above, I'm pretty happy with the way it went and plan on doing it again next Wednesday. I also hope to incorporate a BIAB generated song with modern lyrics into one of our Sunday morning worship sets in the near future.

I love this journey.

The Jeremiah Train

Tonight I uploaded a song I wrote about our son Jeremiah, called "The Jeremiah Train". You can listen to it in the Bluegrass Emitter to the right.

Jeremiah is not only the subject of the song, but the star. One of the prominent instruments, in addition to the standard bluegrass instruments that I usually use, is an actual recording of him yelling "CHU CHU!!!".For those of you who don't know, Jeremiah is three and a half years old. He isn't talking like he should. He has emotional problems. He has unusual trouble adapting to situations. We don't have a specific diagnosis yet. It could be part of the autism spectrum.

One thing we recently found out was that he has a duplicate chromosome 15, which is represented by passenger 15 in the song. This isn't a worship song per say. It is a song of faith and declaration that he will overcome the slow start he has experienced and will not only live a normal life, but an exceptional one. "This train was built for mountains".

We refuse to let him be put into a societal box that says he can't live a full and normal life because he has challenges. We expect excellence from him and intend to raise him that way.

We thank God that, since he entered preschool, we have seen tangible progress in his learning ability and demeanor. Once he reaches full speed, no one will be able to stop him.

I Can Only Imagine

After a few weeks of not uploading music, it feels good to get something done again. Once again I remind you I am not a professional singer or musician, so don't expect that.

The latest song is "I Can Only Imagine", which was made famous by Mercy Me. I chose a straight bluegrass style for this one. Check it out in the Bluegrass Emitter to the right.

This is a great song. Imagination is powerful.

Gonna post two or three songs this weekend...

This weekend my intention is to post a rendition of "I can only imagine" for my friend Devan.

I also expect to post a new song that I wrote this week that I am very proud of and that I think will be a very important song in my family. I feel very special about this one.

The instrument tracks are done for both of these, leaving the vocals to be recorded. I may try to do a third song as well.

Progress...

I think I got my microphone working again, so I hope to be recording vocals just as soon as I can get my kids to bed at a time when I'm not too tired to work on it. Don't really have an insulated studio. My studio is my living room.

My goal tonight is to make three sound tracks to lead worship with before our Bible study tomorrow night. This will be my first test of using this music in actual live worship.

The History of Bluegrass...

Bluegrass has a rich and fascinating history. As I attempt to incorporate this style into a hybrid form of worship music, it is ironic to find out that bluegrass itself is a hybrid form of music, having roots in the music of Scotland, Ireland, England, blues, and Jazz on instruments that have origins in Spain, Italy, and Africa.

http://www.ibma.org/about.bluegrass/history/index.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluegrass_music

Getting off the back burner

I haven't posted here in a while. Getting busy with other things. Not feeling well. Etc.

This project is still heavy on my heart. I have music that I will be working on soon. I have one that my friend Devon requested where the music is done, but I can't finish because my microphone quit working. I hope to resolve that soon so that I can get this thing rolling again. The one Dev requested is "I can only imagine". I really like the way it is shaping up. As soon as I can get vocals done I will post it here.

A song that I wrote - Ascribe to the Lord

About four years ago I wrote a song that we used to sing during worship at New Hope Chapel. It is from the New American Standard translation of the 29th Psalm. I suppose you could say that King David actually wrote it, but he already gets credit for so many songs that I'm just not gonna do it this time. :)

You can listen to it in the Bluegrass Emitter to the side.

For this one I chose a straight speedy bluegrass template and didn't really adjust it much. Not many bluegrass songs are dominated by E minor like this one is, but I like how it turned out. I originally wrote it with a rock style in mind, but with the musical journey I'm on I just couldn't resist grassing it up. For the record, I like it both ways.

It is a song designed to remind us of just who this God of ours is. He is, in my total belief, the only God. He is all powerful and nothing can stand that He doesn't allow to stand. I'm glad He is on my side.

What others are doing...

Songs 4 Worship is doing some good stuff with country style...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw19TCz1dS0

More about the purpose of this blog...

The purpose isn't to present professional recordings to you. I am under no delusions about that. I am not a professional singer, musician, or audio technician. The purpose is to finally express what has been in my head and on my heart musically. This is amateur. This is not finished product. This is me trying to develop something.

New submission - Healer

I love this song, which was written by a gentleman named Mike Guglielmucci. It made me weep like a baby in church yesterday. It is now in the Bluegrass Emitter to the side. Check it out.

For this one I chose not to go with straight bluegrass. I took a modern country ballad template that was preloaded in BIAB and adjusted the instruments to the levels I liked. I think the steel sound works good here. To give it a bluegrass flavor (because I have to have a bluegrass flavor, right???) I added a banjo and turned it down lower than I normally would.

You also may notice that I played with the reverb and chorus settings for my vocal track. I think it sounds better this way, but I'm not completely satisfied with it. Someone needs to teach me about audio settings like these. I now have many tools at my disposal, but I don't yet understand how to use them.

What I'm working on today...

Had worship practice this morning. Am also working on bluegrass/country versions of Revelation Song and Healer. I hope to have something to upload in the next day or so. Also my friend John, who helped me acquire BIAB, is coming over for dinner tonight. When our bellies are full, if that's possible, we will begin to work on some country gospel sound tracks for his ministry. I LOVE THIS!!!

Other weirdos like me...

http://www.myspace.com/bluegrassworship
Believe it or not there are others, which is actually very comforting. I've been looking for this for years. Here is a link to some like minded, yet much more talented, people.

My first attempt!!!!

With Band In A Box I did a bluegrass recording of One Way. This was written by Joel Houston and Jonathon Douglass.

I love how it turned out with the instruments. The vocal could have been better, but who likes listening to their own voice in a recording any way? You can listen in my Bluegrass Emitter to the side.

The music that has been in my head...

I have tried to explain to people the music that has been rattling around in my head for the last few years. I tried a rough cut of One Way last year with me on guitar, me on mandolin (which was awful), and me on vocals. It worked kind of. But now finally I have my Band In A Box and will be able to put the music in my head in recorded form.