Give it away now...

Sovereign Grace are selling their highly recommended CDs very cheaply during February and even halving the international shipping!

All CDs produced by Sovereign Grace Music (including Together for the Gospel Live, Psalms, Come Weary Saints, and Valley of Vision): $6 each

23 books (including Worship Matters, Worldliness, and Living the Cross Centered Life): $7 each. All books in the Pursuit of Godliness series: $4 each

Grab yourself a bargain!!

Somebody stop me!

This is why our children's ministry switched to sugar free drinks...




...and just in case you think he's having some case of seizure he's actually 'singing' 'Faith' by Vanessa Bell Armstrong.

Worship God08 Seminars - part three

Here's a list of the seminars available FREE from the Sovereign Grace website from their WorshipGod08 conference.

Tech Team

Running an Effective and Peaceful Sunday Morning Rehearsal (Dave Wilcox and Ken Boer)
"Sunday Morning Rehearsal" = 'soundcheck'. This is a great seminar not just for PA guys but worship leaders and musicians too.

A Gospel-Centered Approach to Creative Media (Don Nalle and Dave Wilcox)
Caring for Your Sound System (Darryl Wenger)
In-Ear Monitors (Doug Gould)
Leading and Caring for Your Tech Team (Dave Wilcox)
Recording Your Song from Start to Finish, Part 1& 2 (Sal Oliveri)

Misc

Worship Team Checkup (Matt Mason)
Copyright Law and Church Music: The Eight Keys (Paul Herman)
Growing Your Team for the Glory of God (Jon Payne)
Maintaining Priorities in and around the Worship Team (Julie Kauflin)
Aimed at women who are either in the worship team or married to someone who is.

Pastors and Artist Musicians Working Together (Andy Farmer)
Training the Next Generation of Musicians (Ben & Nancy Chouinard)
This seminar is really about starting up a music school, so not really relevant to most people!

Write better lyrics

Here are four tips Brenton Brown gave in a seminar for Vineyard UK in Dec 2000.


1) Take writing Biblically sound and artistically compelling lyrics seriously.


Brenton says "Having been involved in four Vineyard recording projects [and] having sat on the song panel for three of those projects and listened to over 200 song submissions by song writers from Vineyards around the country, I’ve come to the conclusion that the challenge typically is not about melody or feel ... Almost always, the panel will have to turn a song down because there are problems lyrically".



2) Write extensively and freely before you start analysing what you've written.


"It’s far harder to re-engage in the creative process after you’ve been editing the first verse and chorus for the last hour. It’s like switching brains. So, try to have as much creative raw material to begin with as possible".


3) Research your topic thoroughly.


Meaning read and meditate on what the Bible has to say about whatever you're writing about. Use commentaries, concordances, listen to mp3 sermons etc


4) "Look for phrases and images that 're-express' your main message".


For example 'Jesus, be the centre' expresses the central concept 10 different ways.


from Song writing: The Importance of Good Lyrics and Song Vision: Brenton Brown

William Chalmers Burns on worship leading

not really...but I think it applies


One would think, from the way in which God's service is undertaken and performed, that it was a thing any man could do whenever he pleased, instead of being a thing high above us, requiring the constant aid and direction of his Holy Spirit.

(Revival Sermons. p124)

Family Man

Andrew Peterson has written a beautiful song called 'Family man' accompanied by an equally wonderful video. He's thoughtful writer well worth checking out further.

To be a pilgrim saw it first.

Drummers are NOT to be trusted

An award winning Swedish film
Music for one apartment and six drummers
by
Ola Simonsson & Johannes Stjärne Nilsson

In Praise Of Train Wrecks

Train wrecks (of the musical kind) can be good for you. First, they're funny when happening to others. 

Two examples from my early years.

Rival band's drummer starts gig standing on bass drums, twirling sticks and 'making rock faces' at crowd.
RBD slips and falls through the kit bringing the whole thing crashing down on top of him.
RB plow through opening song while RBD meticulously reassembles every part of kit.
RBD finally sits down ready to play just as first song finishes. Classic.

Local metal band play opening song.
LMB's guitarist snaps top E string during widdley-tastic solo.
LMBGP walks off stage to find another string.
LMBGP walks back on stage, then off the other side.

House lights come back up.

LMBGP temporarily abandons search to pose with LMB for a photograph for local newspaper!!

LMBGP finds string.

Gig recommences with same song.

It's not just unknowns either.

King's X @ Rock City, Nottingham.

Start song.

Bass player sings verse 1 while guitar player sings verse 2.

Both start laughing.

Band stops.

Band starts again.

Van Halen @ Hallam Arena, Sheffield.
 

Sammy Hagar sings a sensitive solo acoustic number.

SH plays wrong chord.

SH swears loudly while hitting wrong chord several more times in an unsensitive manner.

SH continues song.

Being part of a church that values the role of the congregation in leading worship we have more opportunity than most for spectacular train wrecks, usually around transposition. Twice I've managed to change to a new key on my guitar while my voice went to a totally different one. Once two members of the congregation started two different songs at the same time. A keyboard player auto-transposed for the first song then forgot to change it back for the next, playing the WHOLE SONG a semitone out! The favourite though has to be starting 'The grace of God upon my life' a fourth away from the right key and being unable to get to the right one. Grinding to a halt after having sung

The grace of God upon my life

is not dependant upon me
on what I have done or deserved

was priceless!

Good for the Spirit

That's the second reason train wrecks can be good. They are powerful reminders that our worship gatherings are more than

musical skill + good planning + adequate rehearsal + good content

We're not trying to build atmosphere or even have a great meeting, but rather welcome the Spirit. And, praise God, He is not frightened by our musical disasters.

If he was he would have left Grace Church long ago.

So if you happen to be the cause of a major derailment next sunday, give thanks that,

it was only a regular sunday morning not anything like, oh I don't know, a major worship conference

No one was recording, much less filming it

Someone like Bob Kauflin wasn't around to post it on his blog for all to see

Behind The Song: Rise

Rise is a song about a person going through the miracle of new birth, as seen through the eyes of an onlooker who, though amazed & awestruck by the transformation, doesn't really understanding what is happening. It was one of the first things I'd written that wasn't intended for a congregation to sing, though I did perform it once at a baptism at Grace Church.

Rise started life as a poem written about my newborn daughter. I filed it away for a few years, then dug it out one night and started singing it. I started developing similar metaphors (plants, brides) for verses 2 & 3, and the bridge, and the song as you hear it (minor tweaks aside) was completed that very night.

That kind of speed is very rare for me.

download the free mp3
Chord Sheet (pdf)
Lyrics (pdf)


Rise

I see you rise, rise like the Sun
Drawing along the dawn.
I see you rise, a butterfly girl,
A chrysalis newly born.
Lazarus-like you rub your eyes
And stretch your wings & fly.

You rise and I stand
Feet firmly planted on the ground
I see you rise and I smile
As you soar so high you must be heaven bound.

I see you rise, a tender young plant
Reaching towards the light.
I see you rise, roots drawing life
From somewhere just out of sight.
As we sleep like seeds
Still frozen fast in winters night

You rise and we stand...

And oh, what I wouldn’t give
To feel like you feel, to know like you know.
And oh, what I wouldn’t pay
To have that river of life flood my soul.

I see you rise, rise like a bride
At the dawn of her wedding day.
I see your eyes fixed on the one
You vow you will not forsake.
Who is this prince who came
And kissed your sleeping soul awake?

You rise and I stand…

© Matt Blick. Grace Church Nottingham 2007

Related Posts: New Song: You Spoke The Stars
More free songs by Matt Blick

My top 5 weirdest gigs

In reverse order of weirdness.

5.Sam Fay's, Nottingham, England

Playing guitar with Funk/Rock band Dum Dums. The band has a glorious extended funky jam while the singer climbs over the furniture, stands on the back of people's seats whilst getting them to sing along & does impromptu break dancing on the pub floor. He also stops the gig to sing an a Capella version of Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' to a member of the audience. An almost illegal amount of fun.

4. The Old Vic, Nottingham, England

Playing Drums for Jahan, a Bandary ( Trad. Iranian Bagpipe Music) Band. Headline band ask us to play for half an hour. So we do. Non-stop. On the same beat. (The beat changes slightly when I try to surreptitiously rest one cramped-up limb after another).

3. US Navy Nuclear Submarine Base, Holy Loch, Dunoon, Scotland.

First of 2 nights there. Am kissed by a member of the audience after the solo to 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. Audience member is a very tall, sweaty, female naval officer who later threatens to literally carry me onto the dance floor so I can dance with her. I make excuses and she starts to harass the drummer instead. Very Scared.

2. Mansfield Community Opera Cast Party, Water Meadows Swimming Complex, Mansfield, England.

Foolishly go swimming first, then play bass, as enormous blisters rise on finger after finger of my right hand. Finish the gig playing with my little finger. The trumpet player plays "I'm forever blowing bubbles" with his trumpet under water.

1. Karakum Nightclub, Riga, Latvia.

Play a short Praise & Worship Set on the same bill as a Latvian Hard Rock band. Hastily scribbling the chords for them on a beer mat, they back me on a medley of 'Oh, Our Lord And King' (Alan Rose) and 'God Made Me Funky' (Def Jeff). After no rehearsal whatsoever. Everyone likes it. Especially the bass player who throws his fist in the air and shouts "Yeah" at regular intervals during the song. Totally Surreal.

Grace Church on MTV's 'Pimp My Crib'!

Grace Church Nottingham have the honour of being the first Church to appear on MTV's new show 'PIMP MY CRIB'.

Our lead elder is an ex-Paratrooper.
And they were all out of Chinook Helicopters.
And that's all you need to know.

Church Tank created by Kris Kuksi.

Who ARE these guys?

...A rhetorical question, I know. They are the John Butler Trio. According to Wikipedia "an eclectic roots/jam band from Australia". The song is 'Betterman' and I think it features Michael Barker on Drums & Shannon Birchall on Bass.

What I DO know is that Shannon's pitch & groove are great, John is a crazy 12 string-bending acoustic/wah-wah/delay monster and Michael does the fastest one handed drum rolls I've ever seen. More than that their playing is amazingly tasty. And if you like what you hear you can

Download 172 John Butler Trio gigs FOR FREE!!!

Don't you just love the 'net?

John Butler Trio-Betterman solo only (Live Harmonie Bonn)
Uploaded by Dagoba54

Gordon Wenham on Psalms

Here's two good lectures from Gordon Wenham - very informative, if you can get past the somewhat dry delivery. Click on the links and scroll down till you find  

Reading The Psalms Messianically 

and 

Praying the Psalms

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry On Songwriting

This post has moved here

This is SO wrong #2

Why should the devil have all the cheesy music?

Charismatic Catholic Ska Band 'Sonseed'.

Labour Of Love

At our recent Christmas meeting we sang a beautiful song by Andrew Peterson called Labour Of Love. A few people have asked me about it so I thought I'd post it. It's performed here by Jill Phillips & her husband Andy Gullahorn.



From the same concert (and album) Andrew Peterson performing Matthew's Begats.




Related Post: Family Man

John Bunyan on being in the worship team

Rather than being an occasion for pride, being gifted (musically, for instance) actually puts us under an obligation to serve our brothers and sisters...

"[The person with gifts] hath also cause to walk humbly with God, and be little in his own eyes and to remember... that his gifts are not his own, but the church's; and that by them he is made a servant to the church; and he must give at last an account of his stewardship unto the Lord Jesus; and to give a good account, will be a blessed thing."

- John Bunyan: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.