New Albums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W51IrxP-_bM

I've been in the throes of paper-writing for two of my classes, and the papers are due next Friday, December 10th. However, I did want to give an update on the extra-curricular activities I've been involved in, most notably recording songs for another album or two. You can watch the video above for a preview.

My main project is a new solo album of 12 songs which will tentatively be titled 'Home' as many of the songs deal with this theme. I've had some really crazy experiences over the last year and a half (some of which are on this blog) with touring to promote my first album, trying to figure out direction, experiencing intimacy and loss, and traveling half-way around the world, which have really made me ponder the meaning of home. What is it and how do I get there? In this album I suppose I continue one of the themes from the first album, 'Breathe Deep'.

The second set of songs are more worship-oriented prayers and psalms that I've written mostly over the course of the last year as I've struggled with the theme of 'home'. They're directly or indirectly influenced by the time I've spent alone with God, fellowship with friends, and particularly encouraged by the album of sacred songs, '12 Gates', that I worked on with Matthew Monticchio and others. There's two kinds of these tunes - new hymns (some of which we've done in church) and general worship songs (some of which could be congregational). So I'm not sure if that'll turn into two EPs or if I'll just release a full-length album. I welcome your feedback!

It's been really great to record guitar and vocals with the guys at SoundFarm here in Singapore, and later this week I'll be doing another session to get vocals. I'll be taking the tracks back with me to the US for Christmas, where I'm hoping my friend Ross can lay down some drums while I'm there, and maybe I can get some other musicians to contribute as well. I'll try to upload some samples as the arrangements get finalized.

A Couple Shows Coming Up

I feel like sometimes I only surface long enough to post something on my blog, make a halfhearted effort to let people know I'm playing nearby, and then submerge once again into work and the other details of life that continue to gather around me. It's become such a common thing that I feel like I live a double life to some extent. Music vs. work/family/friends. It's then that I realize my focus needs to be something else.

I'm setting my alarm clock half an hour earlier every day and trying to get to bed by 11pm this week. I've realized that my most fulfilling moments in life were three months in 2006 when I was doing language survey in Central Asia. I would go to bed by 10pm and be up with the sun around 6am. Since there was nothing else to do, I would read scripture, memorize, pray, and commune with God until 8am or so, when I ate breakfast with the friends I was staying with.

"since there was nothing else to do" - that statement makes me realize how little I value scripture. And yet, THAT was what changed me. It was the WORD of GOD that renewed me, bathed me in cleansing water. And I am so thirsty.

Will you drink deep with me from the river of life this week? I'll be sharing some stories and new songs this wednesday with my friend Phil on WJTL at 9pm EST - if I can encourage you, please tune in to 90.3 FM in Lancaster, PA or listen online: WJTL.com/listen

But most of all, listen to the WORD of GOD. Read it, digest it, let it speak to you. Let it renew and transform you. Memorize it and sink your teeth into it. Spend time with the one who gives it and let him teach you and fill you with his life-changing power.

Fig Central

On the last First Friday of 2009 (if you don't know about these monthly art and cultural evenings in Lancaster, you are sorely missing out) I had the pleasure of performing at a once-in-a-lifetime event... The opening of Fig Central! Their one-stop shop for information and events in Lancaster's downtown area is located in the shops on King Street next to Central Market and across the street from the newspaper's offices. I provided the background ambience for an evening of holiday cheer and excited gathering as most of the city passed through. Watch the clip below to catch some of the excitement!

Brother James

The week of Thanksgiving my friend James from England was visiting. We visited the sites around Lancaster, including the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. Watch as we ride the trains - James is a fun guy!

We also took a trip to the Constitution Center in Philadelphia - it was well worth the trip to see the exhibits and the theater presentation. Great reminder of the unique nature of our country. In the video below we're having fun with the metal dudes in the signer's hall.

4 on Tour Day 7 - Lancaster

We drove from Pittsburgh to Lancaster, where my parents live and where we would spend the next couple nights. I called a number of people on the drive - several of whom didn't even know there was a concert, though they attend my church, Wheatland Presbyterian, where the concert was being held. Not only that, but two radio stations (WJTL and WXPN) were promoting the concert. I guess the people I called don't look at the church bulletin board or listen to those radio stations.
Despite those people not knowing about the concert, we set up at the church and had a really good turnout. Here are some clips of the evening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZuq3bLXp9o

New Recording Project

The other day Matthew Monticchio and I went out to our friend George Yellack's house to record some drums for songs we are working on for a new collection of sacred songs. We wrote some of the songs and re-worked old hymns for this project, much like our last two Christmas album projects. This album will be released again under Pageant Music, and features a bunch of local musicians (Cliff Lewis, Katie Becker, Claire Battle, myself, Matt, others to be named) in a folk/pop/indie vein. You can download a rough demo of one of our original tunes, 'Communion Hymn' HERE. I'll try to keep you updated on our progress - here's a short video of our journey to George's and what we did when we got there.

Lancaster City

It's really good to be home. Last weekend was Music Friday in Lancaster, and my friends Katie Becker and Cliff Lewis each played a set of music with their bands at Building Character, a neat grass-roots venue with a really cool vibe that started up just at the beginning of the new year. It was tons of fun to simply hang out with people and not have to play music - just enjoy it.
After the concert a bunch of us went across the street to The Belvedere, where our friend Matthew Monticchio was playing jazz with a bassist and drummer up in the martini lounge. I brought my video camera along and managed to get some footage of them playing (and riffing off of) Duke Ellington's tune 'In a Sentimental Mood'. It was a great night and it's good to be back in community again.

Vlog Day 68 - Home

I drove from Grove City to State College, where I spent the afternoon with my friends Paul and Katrina and their daughter Anna. We went to the book sale (which I forgot to take video of, unfortunately - tons of books in a big agricultural arena) and then had lunch and I hit the road again for Lancaster.
On the way home my 1985 Toyota Tercel hit 100,000 miles! Pretty cool - it is now officially broken in to life on the road. I must say it is really good to be home, and I made it in time for Mother's Day!

Video Blog Installment 7 (pre-tour)

In this installment, I discover myself snowed in on Monday, sleep in, cook pancakes (you don't see me cook the pancakes, just mention having done so), visit the Post Office, and sing a song that I wrote a LOOOOng time ago. I head out tomorrow on tour... officially, for real.

Video Blog Installment 6 (pre-tour)

Today I helped lead worship at Wheatland PCA here in Lancaster, where I'm a member. It was pretty rockin' the second service if I do say so myself. As a musician of course I'm always picky, but second service was pretty tight. I only got 5 hours of sleep last night (packing for the trip), so I have to admit that first service was a bit rough (one of the tunes I couldn't remember how it went, so getting started was difficult - luckily other people remembered). Such is life, I guess. But here's some video from the second service, leading the congregation in "Come Thou Fount".

I was planning on taking off for the first leg of my tour today at 2pm, but around 1pm I got a call from Trip Beans at Severna Park EPC in MD, where I was going to play tonight, letting me know that the weather down there is pretty rough and so they canceled the event. He made some calls though, and we rescheduled for Wednesday night, which I think is going to work out better all around - God is really good!  

Video Blog Installment 5 (pre-tour)

Today I went to my friends Rebecca and Steve's wedding - congrats to them! It was a fun time with friends, a good service and plenty of birdseed thrown at the couple. =) I caught the garter, though it's a practice I despise... who thought that one up, again? Met some cool folks that I hope to reconnect with on tour (Annie, if you're reading this, you and Paul can catch up on what you missed at the show tonight by watching the video below). The video today is of the Bill Mallonee show that I went to with some other friends - it was a happening place! As you can tell by the 4-year-old on ukelele. Uh-huh, NOW you're watching. Also a guest appearance by Cliff Lewis (Trash&Glory) at the end of the video...

Video Blog Installment 3 (pre-tour)

Here's a couple videos I shot Thursday. The first one I shot Thursday morning on my way to work, traveling south through Lancaster, Willow Street, and finally arriving at Peach Bottom and Math-U-See headquarters, the "Math Barn". Math U See is a great place to work, and the curriculum really does benefit people, focusing on getting kids to master concepts before moving on. It should really be taught this way in most schools, but because teachers are all on schedules it seems to work best in homeschool situations.



The second video I shot Thursday night, but my brain was so addled I didn't realize what day it was. Thus the incorrect statement that this is my second Vlog - it is actually my third, if we count Wednesday's snippets. The song is by Matthew Monticchio, who I've worked with on the past two Christmas albums and various other projects that are not yet complete. He is the music director at Wheatland Presbyterian Church (where I'm a member) and is really gifted. Writing deep worship music is one of his many talents, and it's great to be able to spend time to learn from him. I really love this community.

CD Release and Radio

Tomorrow is the big day. February 7th, the day my first full-length album becomes available physically. We're having a sweet party at Building Character to kick it off - indie rockers 'Trash and Glory' opening the show @ 7pm... =) looking forward to it.
You can read a review of the new album, 'Breathe Deep', on my friend Ken Mueller's blog, and tonight at 9pm I'll be on FM 90.3 WJTL with my friend Phil Smith to talk about the album and play some songs. Listen HERE.

One Girl for Me music video!

You can now view the new music video for 'One Girl for Me' online! 'One Girl for Me' is a song on my new album, 'Breathe Deep', which comes out February 7th.
My friend Claire plays the girl - does that mean we share the lead? One of the things I really like about this video is that it shares the familiar sights of Lancaster, PA, where I live. My friend Ryan Mast at Unitheo helped shoot and edit it, and we worked together on the storyline and direction. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work, but now you can enjoy!
We're working on a promo vid for the music video, but it hasn't happened quite yet - you all get the scoop, and the promo vid will be out pretty soon (after the release - good idea, eh?). =) Leave comments, feedback, I'd love to hear what you think!
On Youtube
On Vimeo
On Facebook
On MySpace

Better Late than Never?

Our latest Christmas album, 'Love - Begotten' is finally on iTunes. A day late and a dollar short, as they say. Only, in this case it's more like '3 months late'! Not that I'm bitter, it just kind of stinks that we couldn't say 'you can get it on iTunes' like we were able to say last year. But at least we're ahead of the game for next year.
If you have iTunes, would like to check out the album and write a review (which would be greatly appreciated), check it out HERE.

The Reese Project @ the Hannah Garman Benefit

Saturday night I played at the Hannah Garman Benefit in Mounty Joy - it was a great time, and hopefully raised a decent amount of money. My friend Phil came along for the ride - we had a great conversation on the way there (and back, incidentally) about spiritual maturity and music. We had some time before my set, so took a tour of Bube's Brewery where the event was held. Pretty cool stuff - some great ghost stories and history of the place.
A few people performed and then I got up and played a few songs. Phil said that by the second song people were locked in to what I was doing, which was pretty cool. It's interesting how you know whether your music is connecting by how much people pay attention - another topic I could probably post on at another date. Got to meet @shanellelee, @kriscantshutup, and @jbairy - @kmueller62 was there too.
After me, The Reese Project got up - a jazz quartet that really blew me away. My friend Aaron Walker plays drums for them (and also for me on occasion) so I knew about them, but had never heard them live. It was slammin'. Tom Reese on flute, his wife Laurie on cello, Bobby Brewer on guitar and Aaron on drums. All really skilled players who make room for each other - you can check out their website for more info. The energy was palpable and they were all synced in to what was going on musically. It was pretty sweet. The songs on the site don't do justice to their playing though - the only way to really hear what they do is to go see them live. You won't regret it.

Hannah Garman Benefit Concert Tonight

I'm playing at a benefit concert tonight @ Bube's Brewery in Mount Joy. Since friends of mine have done so better than I could, please check out their Blogs about the event. Jess and Daniel and Ken have great things to say.

Syncing Cell Phones: the beauty of Technology

I just got a new cell-phone today, and experienced one of the great joys of working technology. My old cell phone was a Motorola Razr V3T. A great little piece of hardware - it came with an MP3 player, expandable memory, cool vibes, and both a bluetooth and a usb connection. I've had it for about two years (I got a case for it and tried not to drop it), and just in the last couple months the screen started going bad. Apparently there is a flex cable that gets worn out over time in these flip phones. I could send and receive calls fine, but half the time I couldn't see who I was calling or read any texts. Finally the screen died altogether last week. So I figured it's time to sign up for another 2-year contract and get a new phone with it.
But Here's the beauty: with my Mac, I was able to use Bluetooth to sync my contacts with my address book - a little mac program called iSync. Just beautiful. It took me a while to figure out how to access the contacts via USB, since I couldn't see the screen on my old one to know what I was doing and get into my tools to turn on Bluetooth on my phone for my computer to see it. I had to delete the old bluetooth Razr connection and re-discover the phone while it was connected via USB. I also had to remove the memory card, otherwise it would show the memory card as a USB drive.
So I got a new phone that also has Bluetooth and USB - the trusty Razr. Unfortunately they don't make the ones with expandable memory and MP3 player anymore, but that doesn't worry me. I hear all sorts of stories from my friends about losing or breaking their cell phone and all their contacts are gone. With iSync everything is now backed up - minimal loss of contacts, if any! I just put my old case on the new phone, linked up the Bluetooth, and now my computer is putting all my contact phone numbers on the new Razr with the visible screen.
I love technology... when it works!

Check out: Katie Becker - Firstborn

We just finished working on Katie Becker's EP Firstborn. For those of you who don't know, an EP is a collection of songs in which the total playing time of all the tracks is less than 45 minutes. Anything longer than 45 minutes is a full-length LP (long-play). Katie's EP has already received a great review from Ken Mueller, an avid music listener who works for WXPN. It has been really exciting to work on these songs. Katie is a gifted songwriter, arranger, musician and... singer. She has a unique approach to singing, emphasizing particular nuances of the text with movement and poise. Almost Bjork-like in her stylings. She is also a very grounded person. We got to know each other at church through working with the youth group and helping out with music, and I have spent many a meal and evening at her family's house. As one keenly interested in life and what is going on around her, Katie is a songwriter for a new era of concerned individuals trying to make their way in the world even while they lend a hand to those around them. Find Katie online at www.katiebeckermusic.com, visit her myspace site, befriend her, and try to make it to a show near you to pick up a physical copy of this disc. Better yet, set a show up for her near you. You can also find her 5-song EP on iTunes:

Life Comes at You Fast...

It's a cliche, especially now that it has been used in a TV commercial, but it does serve a purpose, as all cliches can. My brother reminded me the other day that I needed to update the news page on my website, and I figure I'd better do the same with my blog.
Suffice it to say that life has been pretty busy, with work and finishing up mastering a couple projects and trying to finish mixing the Christmas album. We spent a good chunk of time yesterday on one song, and got it pretty much mixed. We have three more sessions like that and then we can listen back to all 14 tracks and make final adjustments. It is amazing what hard, focused mixing can do to transform a song from 'okay' to 'great'. And I think we've been able to do that for a lot of these tracks.
The busy spell is beginning to slow down, and I feel like it goes in waves. Next week will probably be packed, or if not next week then the following week. I'm starting to book some more solo shows, and pretty soon I'll be working on finishing up the cover design for my album. It's exciting to have projects to work on, but when busy-ness goes in waves it's often hard to know what to do with my time when it's free.
In my free time there's a lot I could probably do (practice, write songs, record new tunes, etc..), and I do a fair amount of music-related things, but sometimes I'm just burnt out on music and I'd rather do other things. Today, for example, I had a big lunch and watched Seinfeld episodes. Last night I watched the vice-presidential debates. But that's another story.