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Each Tuesday morning, it’s guaranteed that I will begin the day by looking on I-Tunes to check the new releases. Normally I scroll through the main page first, then click through the folk and Christian pages. I don’t typically keep up with upcoming albums unless it’s somebody I really love, but even then, I tend to be behind on those types of things.
This morning I noticed that Jars of Clay has a new 5-song EP out. It’s called “Closer - EP.” I rarely buy anything off I-Tunes that I haven’t been planning in advance to buy, but this little album was definitely an exception to that rule. I previewed every song and within 2 minutes had the whole thing downloaded.
This is the first stuff that they have put out since becoming independent of their music label. It seems to have an experimental/electronic type feel to certain parts of the short EP. It still has a “band” feel to it, but with some neat instrumentation/electronic stuff thrown underneath it all.
Jars of Clay
You’ll recognize 2 songs from their very first album - Love Song for a Savior and Flood. Both have been re-done in a way that stays true to the original, but doesn’t sound 13 years old. I love the new version of Love Song for a Savior, but Flood on the other hand is not very well-done in my opinion.
When I was in middle school learning to play guitar, Jars of Clay’s first album had to be one of my favorites ever. I listened to it over and over, but never tired of hearing those songs. I didn’t like most of their material that came after that until the album Who We Are Instead. Good Monsters is the only other album that I really like. But nothing will ever touch the greatness of that first album.
With this new EP, there are basically only 3 new songs (1 of which isn’t completely new, it apparently was played at the end of some documentary called Sons of Lwala), but each one is a great addition to the Jars of Clay library. If it’s any indication of the future direction that they are headed as an independent band, I would say that the future looks bright.
John Mayer Charlotte
Setlist:
Bigger Than My Body
Belief
I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Crossroads
Wheel
Free Falling
Good Love is On the Way
Mercy
Vultures
Find Another You -> Stitched Up
No Such Thing -> Why Georgia
Waiting on the World to Change
Gravity
-encore-
Who Did You Think I Was
Boy In The Bubble
Say
So Ashley and I went to see old Johnny Boy last night in Charlotte. I’ve spent the day so far trying to rate the concert experience. We had great seats, so nothing to complain about there.
On the way home from the concert, I thought, man that was great, but the more I think about it I feel like it wasn’t as great as I hoped it would be.
First of all, I didn’t think that the sound mix was that great. From where we sat the bass was very muddy. Of course the kick was dominating the mix. I don’t have a huge problem with that, but I seldom heard what the bass player was doing. And you know that Johnny Boy’s guitar sounded great. At times it was a little ear-piercing, but that doesn’t bother me. His tone is something amazing though. There aren’t many pickers out there with a better tone than what he’s working with. I don’t think it the sound was a problem because of where we were sitting, I walked around some and it seemed the same way across the board.
The set list was very intersting. He did 4 covers. 2 which I didn’t know (one Paul Simon, one slow blues jam that I didn’t know). 1 which I kind of knew (Crossroads). And 1 that I knew (Free Fallin’), but I really don’t like his version of it at all. The set consisted of 16 songs total (4 of which were covers). The ones that were missing were Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, I Don’t Need No Doctor, The Heart of Life, and Stop This Train. He started the show with Bigger Than My Body which was surprising. Gravity, Belief, I Don’t Trust Myself With Loving You, and Vultures, which are probably my favorites off of the newest album, all sounded great. One of my older favorite songs from John Mayer is Wheel. This was probably my favorite song of the night, and one that I didn’t expect to hear. But it really was beautifully done. Fortunately he played 2 songs from the John Mayer Trio - Good Love Is On The Way and Who Did You Think I Was. The 2 songs couldn’t have been farther apart from each other. Good Love Is On The Way was awesome with the full band. Who Did You Think I Was completley sucked. He did the song with just his electric by himself as the first song of the encore. It just didn’t work at all in my opinion. The encore as a whole was a major let down - Who Did You Think I Was, Paul Simon cover, and Say.
Am I glad I went? heck yeah.
Would I go see him again? only if it was in columbia.
I’m glad that I had the chance to see him, but I don’t think it lived up to my expectations. Watching the new DVD on a huge flat screen with a great sound system would have been just as good. Maybe he was just having a hard night from his recent break up with Jennifer Anniston - who knows.
Here’s my grade for the concert:
Sound: C
Lights/Production: B+
Set List: B-
Overall: B
1000 Kisses
I’ve fallen behind on keeping up with my “Melodies” page, but mainly because I can never decide what to add because there literally is SO much music that I love and listen to regularly. What I’m about to write deserves its own post without a doubt though.
I met my wife Ashley in the summer of 2004 at White Oak Conference Center while I was leading worship for Summersalt. We learned quick that we had a lot of similar musical interests and I haven’t found many people that have almost the exact taste for music that I do. However, there was one artist that she loved that I had never listened to. I had heard of Patty Griffin but I had never listened to her.
The week after Ashley and I met, she went and bought the Patty Griffin “1000 Kisses” CD and gave it to my mom to give to me. When my mom gave me the CD the following week, I was like, “Dang, this girl’s got it bad for me if she’s getting me gifts already!” Ashley says that there was no ulterior motive - she just wanted me to listen to good music. Well, whatever the case may be, it has to be some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever listened to in my life from the first track to the last.
I won’t go into the details of every song, but my favorites are Rain, Long Road (featured in Elizabethtown Soundtrack), and Nobody’s Crying. Seriously please go do yourself a favor and go download these songs. The guitar work is simple, but beautiful and her voice is even more beautiful (almost as good as Ashley’s) and she is a great lyricist. Maybe I just love the CD because of the story behind it and the great memories that it brings, but you should check it out.
Why do I lead worship? That’s a good question, and one that I ask myself from time to time. I think it’s good to always evaluate why we do the things we do in life. I’ve been reading around some blogs from other worship leaders, or other people hating on worship leaders, and some other random things and it’s really had me thinking the past couple of weeks.
First of all, the main reason I lead worship is because I feel that it is an area that God has called me to serve, and it’s an area where he’s gifted me. I’ve been leading worship since high school, and I ‘ve really learned a lot since those early days. I also feel that it’s a priviledge to do what I do each week. I get to use music to facilitate a time of corporate worship, and that’s pretty neat.
Why do I lead worship at Midtown? That’s an easy question with a quick answer. I TRUST THE LEADERSHIP. I will never work for a pastor that I don’t trust or admire. I want to enjoy serving under a pastor and learn from him. I want to be challenged by him. There have to be open lines of communication as well. I trust the leadership at Midtown. I trust the deciscions that are made by Dustin. He’s not in it for himself. He’s not trying to be the coolest church planter and grow an enormous church at record speed. If the church grows, he’s not going to take credit, and if he gets a big head about it, there will be 10 guys there to humble him really quick.
Why do I lead the way that I do? I lead in a way that reflects my personality. Most importantly, I don’t want to do anything that is distracting, although I’m sure at times I do. I am not a preacher, so you will not hear any mini-sermons. If Dustin starts singing, we’ve got a problem (although he can play some drums-well, somewhat), and if I start preaching, we’ve got another problem. There is nothing worse than a pastor leading up to some type of an inviation or quiet reflection, and the worship leader comes right up and gives ANOTHER 5 minute sermon before even playing a song. It’s awful - just shut up. I understand God may have laid something on your heart, but find a better time to say it, and do it in 1 minute and not waste 5.
Being prepared
One phrase that I hate to hear is, I’m not a musician, I’m a worship leader. Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but you are playing music right? So that makes you a musician. Saying, “I’m not a musician” is not an excuse for poor musical preparation. I’d much rather play with a well prepared average musician, than an unprepared fabulous musician who has a lazy approach to the whole thing. Of course I’d like to have the best of both worlds: a well prepared good musician. I only say this becuase I think that preparation is incredibly important for a succesful set on Sundays with minimal distractions. A band or worship team that is not tight will provide one of the greatest distractions. Of course we have our hiccups on Sunday nights - we’re not perfect, but we give our best.
Life Applications
I think that some of this can apply to all types of things in life.
1. Find a job/hobby/place to serve that allows you to be who you are. Let your personality come through in what you do. Enjoy what it is that you are doing.
2. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Can’t put it any clearer than that. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves. I see it all the time - in the banking world and beyond. Midtown puts a lot of emphasis on preparation and it shows. Being unprepared comes down to pure laziness in my opinion. For a few months, I nearly killed myself working 40 hours a week at a bank, doing 5 church services on Sundays (total of 15 hours at church on Sunday), plus spending at least 1 or 2 nights a week working on church stuff. And I was still able to be prepared almost all of the time. So the excuse, “I’ve just been too busy” doesn’t go very far.
3. Work with people you trust and admire. Work with someone who communicates well with you and that you in turn can communicate with without having to climb a mountian. Lack of communication can create a lot of holes in the relationship and it will eventually crack.
So, this is the end of this post. Yes, I know it jumped around all over the place, and I probably should have taken my own advice and taken more time to prepare to write this post, but I’ve never called myself a good writer or even half decent writer, and if you got bored, confused, or lost at any time, you could just move on to a better blog.
First of all, I just have to say that John Mayer is amazing. His new live album is out of this world. If you appreciate good music from an extraordinary musician, you need to get this, or at least watch the DVD with someone. I think his music will be around for a long, long time.
I imagine that by now, most people have the new Coldplay CD. I’ve been listening to it off and on for awhile, and I do like it. Some songs I don’t like much at all, but some I love. Strawberry Swing, Violet Hill, and Death and All His Friends are by far my favorites. I honestly didn’t listen to Coldplay much until I met my wife. I didn’t dislike them, just never really got into it. We went to go see them in concert after we got married, and it was incredible. Probably one of the best shows I will ever see. The X&Y album is what really got me into Coldplay the most.
After listening to the new album for awhile, Ashley was playing some music from Pandora and one of the songs from Rush of Blood to the Head Came on. I really think I liked Coldplay’s songs from their whole career better than I do Viva La Vida and Death and All His Friends. I know it’s different, and I do think it’s great and I like that it’s different, but I have to say, I like the old Coldplay better. I’ve talked with a few people about this and it seems that I’m in the minority.
So, I wanted to ask everyone, which Coldplay do you like better? Viva La Vida or everything else? Let the arguments begin!
**for more music related discussions and recommendations, head over to the Melodies page**
Hey everyone, I’ve added a new page today called Melodies. Go on over and take a look. It’s a page where I will be letting you know what music I’ve been listening to and what you should check it out. Who knows how often it will be updated, but it will at least be fun for me to write about!
When I was in college, I played at this little coffee shop called Moose Mountain on Market Street in downtown Charleston. I would play about 2-3 times a month on Friday or Saturday nights. I played for at least a full semester if not longer. I really can’t remember. This was my main source of income during college as I didn’t have a true job. Not to sound cliche, but I really viewed college as my job and spent hours in the library studying so that I could make the best grades possible. My goal was a 4.0 for every semester, so I spent most of my time studying.
Each time I played, I was paid $50 plus tips. Sometimes tips would be $100, and sometimes they would be $15. More than anything, it was a lot of fun for me, and I was able to pick up some extra change. After I came back from Christmas break my sophomore year, I called to set up more dates. I’ll never forget what the owner told me. She said, “We have received some complaints and our main customer base does not like the music you play.” I still have no idea what their main customer base was and I still don’t understand how they didn’t like the music. It still gets me fired up just thinking about it.
This was about the biggest hit I have ever taken. Nobody wants to be told that they aren’t good. I remember being on the verge of tears and also angry when I called my mom. I’ll never forget what she said to me. She said that God always opens new doors when He closes another one. I was like, yeah whatever, blah blah blah blah blah.
It was less than a week later when I got a call from FBC in Moncks Corner SC and within a month I started as a worship leader for their brand new contemporary service.
I was blown away. I was about as down as I could have been when I couldn’t get any more dates at a small little coffee shop in Charleston. But sure enough, just like mom said, God will open more doors. I will never forget this lesson I learned. I am sure that God will be closing more doors in the future, but I have learned that He will always open new ones. And He normally opens them in places where you least expect it.
My experience at Moncks Corner for my last 2 1/2 years at college was incredible. There were tons of nice folks there and I was able to serve on a church staff full of seasoned leaders and I really learned a lot from them. I was able to grow as a worship leader and gain tons of experience in different areas.
In the future, I hope that when God closes one door, I really trust that He will open one more. Too many times I doubt God’s provision, but whenever I look back on my life, I see that he has always provided above and beyond what I need.
Thank God for music.
I don’t know where I’d be without it. In the 7th grade, I got my first guitar - a little 6 string yamaha. It actually was a great starter guitar and I still have it today, although I haven’t touched it in years. I used to spend hours in my room in middle school and high school learning songs and techniques. 90% of the time I was learning James Taylor ( who sang the national anthem at Game 1 of NBA finals last night - it was an awesome version - much better than the normal national anthem trash). His style of playing has always been one that I wanted to imitate. Leading worship doesn’t provide many opportunities to implement his techniques and I think that I’ve gotten a little sloppy on it lately, but everytime I listen to JT, I get inspired. He really knows how to make a guitar sing like no other - pull offs, hammer on’s, and sweet fingerpicking. I vividly remember sitting in my room around the 9th or 10th grade listening to “Shower the People” and learning it note for note from start to finish. I never thought I’d be able to do it, but it finally came together.
Anyway, I’ve had some fun musical adventures lately and some coming up that I’ve got to share with you.
Wednesday my old roommate Dave called and said Sims was having a Martin guitar clinic. Basically 2 guys who work for Martin were there to take a look at your guitar and answer questions about any problems. This was great for me because my Martin D-42 has been sick lately. The “B” string just refuses to stay in tune which led to tuning in the middle of songs or in between songs as discreetly as possible. This old man took a look and seemed to really know Martin guitars inside and out. He did a little work and it sure feels nice (and he put on some new strings for free - not elixirs, but I’ll take it!). I’ve yet to see how it will stay in tune, but I have high hopes.
While I was in Sims, I made a few other purchases with a nice big gift card I’ve been holding on to for about a month. I was able to cash in with a Fender Blues Jr. Amp, and a very nice vintage Tubescreamer pedal. A volume pedal and blues drive pedal were added as well. All in all this should round out my electric set up pretty well as I already have the DL-4 for some sweet delay. I don’t play all that much electric, but this seems to be exactly what I need. It’s amazing how much sound comes out of the little amp.
Playing electric really is not my strength at all, but I’ve enjoyed growing and learning how to do different things. It’s so different from what I’m used to doing, and it’s been nice to strech myself to go beyond my comfort zone. This weekend I’ll be up at White Oak practicing and helping a group from Summersalt (a camp for SC baptist youth). We’ll be recording on Monday and I’m responsible for the electric work. I’m excited to be able to contribute to the project, but more importantly, it’s given me an avenue to perfect and strengthen my skills in the electric world.
Thank God for music.
