On Monday, I returned from a weekend sojourn to Parkview Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was there at the invitation of my friend and co-writer, John Parker, who serves as the music minister and worship leader. I spent Saturday morning with his choir, rehearsing for an informal composer concert on Sunday evening. Saturday afternoon, [...]
An amazing thing has been developing around here for the past few months. I’ve waited to write about it until it was “real.” (A lot of things in the music business appear real, and then fizzle out before ever happening.) But now, it is real. So, let me tell you about it. Some of this [...]
Over the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of writing music for First Baptist Church Dallas – first the broadcast themes for their radio and TV programs, then the score for two fundraising films, the scores for two short in-service films, and, most recently, the music for their new fountain. My last post was [...]
I’ve long held that the more things you can capably do in the world of music the better your chances of survival. A lot of the musical survivors I’ve known over the years years sustained their careers by wearing multiple hats. Here are some of the hats I’ve worn: drummer, keyboardist, music copyist, arranger, jingle [...]
I’ve just returned from a four-day trip to Toccoa, Georgia (Yes – THAT Toccoa, for all you “Band of Brothers” fans out there), where I have been working to record the Sons of Jubal. The Sons of Jubal is a group of 200+ Baptist church music men from all across Georgia, under the direction of [...]
Earlier last week, I ran down to Athens, GA, to see the Cornerstone Productions version of “The Christmas Post.” I wrote about that adventure in Part 1. This past weekend, my wife and I flew up to Novi, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit), to see Brightmoor Christian Church’s version of the show. Brightmoor is the church [...]
This past Wednesday, I made a quick trip to Athens, Georgia – home of the University of Georgia, legendary rock band REM, and Cornerstone Productions. Who, or what is Cornerstone Productions, you ask? Cornerstone Productions is an independent faith-based community theater company, founded by the husband & wife team of Justin and Sharon Carter. [...]
Some days I enjoy writing. Other days, I enjoy having written. There is a very real distinction between the two. Some days, writing is an absolute joy. Time rockets past, with me completely lost in the creative moment. I’ve been known to laugh aloud or begin to weep at whatever notes or words have found [...]
You know that little warning that’s under your passenger-side mirror on your car: “Objects are larger than they appear in mirror”? That’s how I felt last weekend when I visited the construction site at First Baptist Church, Dallas. Objects were definitely larger than they appeared in the pre-construction film I scored for the church last [...]