Last night, I did something beneath me…
I watched a music awards show on TV.
My Rantings About the American Music Awards
Categories: music, Rantings, whine-and-opine
Categotry Archives: music
Soundtrack of Life
Sometimes I don’t think we even realize how much music is in the background.
Today as I sit in this coffee shop, they are playing Christmas music. Like they have for days.
Walmart has been playing Christmas music since the day after Halloween. (Don’t they know Thanksgiving comes first? But then again, does anyone know any “Thanksgiving Carols?”)
Christmas is my favorite time of year; I just don’t want to be tired of it by the time it gets here.
Anywho….
This got me thinking about how much music punctuates our lives, whether or not we are paying attention.
How My Picture of Ministry Is Changing
Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, music
(You might want to read these two posts first, if you’re just joining us, so you have a grid for this one.)
In my last post, I shared how in a conversation with my family about our creative gifts, we realized that we had been trying to fit our gifts into a traditional ministry paradigm, instead of letting those gifts BE the ministry. I shared what an “a-ha” moment this was for me.
When a truth like that confronts you, it creates a paradigm shift. In other words, when you build a whole mindset around some assumed beliefs or facts, and a new truth is entered into the picture, you have to re-think your assumptions to accommodate that truth.
Retooling our Gifts for a New Season
Categories: changing mindsets, church, food for thought, music
My mind has been drifting back to some previous posts (see here and here) where we were discussing individuals who function in various ministry positions (like pastors and worship leaders), who find themselves displaced when they no longer feel they belong within institutional Christianity. Their gifts don’t go away, but they no longer know what to do with them. My blogger friend Glenn has talked about it; I can certainly relate; and I know there are others.
A Conversation I Had Yesterday With a Nashville Producer, the Two Reasons I Think Indie Music Is Exploding, and Why I Am Telling You About It
Categories: food for thought, music, Rantings
As a musician and songwriter, one thing I’ve been doing lately is to take steps to make my music more visible and accessible. One way I’ve done this is to create a MySpace Music page and use it for networking.
The other day I got a very complimentary message from a producer/songwriter in Nashville regarding my songs, telling me that he felt the recordings were rough (which I knew) but that the songs themselves had potential to reach a wide audience if they were re-cut.
Blogging to the Fusion
Categories: music, What the heck was THAT?
So I’m sitting here at 9:45PM in this coffee place, NOT drinking coffee (’cause I don’t like it), drinking a frozen pineapple/coconut kind of thing, blogging away on my laptop as I listen to these guys play some eclectic jazz fusion sounds.
I feel so postmodern.
I Just Can’t Help It…
Categories: fun, music, Things that are too good to keep, What the heck was THAT?
Understanding the intricacies of playing live…this video from Ragamuffin Soul is just too fun not to share…. just too funny!
If I Could Have a Talk with Bono
Categories: fun, music, What the heck was THAT?
(This is a sequel to the post “People Who Want to Talk to Bono“.)
HOW I’D LIKE THE CONVERSATION TO GO:
Me: Hey, Bono, howzitgoing?
Bono: Great, Jeff, how are you?
Me: Awesome. Say, I’ve got some great new ideas on eliminating third-world debt. What say we get together sometime soon and talk them over?
Bono: That would be amazing. By the way, I’m having trouble with a lyric to a song I’m writing. I wanted to run it by you and see what you think.
Me: Sure, Bono. Let’s take a look. (I pull out my guitar as Bono fumbles for the lead sheet.)
(And so the conversation goes….)
HOW THE CONVERSATION WOULD PROBABLY GO:
Me: So…you’re a rock star in a band.
Bono: Yeah, guess so.
(awkward silence)
Me: Get a lot of people at your concerts?
Bono: Pretty much.
(awkward silence)
Me: Nice weather we’re having.
Bono: Yep.
(awkward silence)
Me: So…you guys need a keyboard player?
People Who Want to Talk to Bono
Categories: fun, music, What the heck was THAT?
I have a friend I meet with regularly at Starbucks–a musician friend. A couple of times he’s talked about how he’d like to sit down with Bono of U2 and ask him a few questions sometime. I chuckle inside when he tells me this because he sounds so matter-of-fact about it–like the biggest rockstar on the planet is going to sit down with him and have lunch or something.
But the other reason I’m chuckling…is that I feel exactly the same way. I would absolutely love to have lunch with Bono and pick his brain sometime. When I make it big in the music biz, he’ll probably come knock on my dressing room door after a concert sometime, and he and I can go get some coffee, and…
More Thoughts on Music and Worship…
Categories: Meanderings (look it up), music
So I’ve continued to ponder some of the things discussed on this blog last week, particularly about music and worship. I shared how I’m bored with Christian music in general, and how even “secular” music has been speaking to me…and I use the word “secular” loosely since I’m really getting rid of the whole sacred/secular hangup, and I only use the word now so you’ll know what I mean. Knowhutimean?