Christian Musician Magazine - Mar/Apr 2015 by Worship Musician & Christian Musician Magazine

Improving Musicianship | Inspiring Talent

Artist Interview

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Tedd T. Nashville-based Tedd T. (Mutemath, Newsboys, David Crowder Band) is not the type of producer who’s content to sit behind the console all day. He prefers collaborating with and inspiring artists with new approaches and fresh perspectives to music making. Tedd tells us about his process and what it’s like working on the road with For King & Country:

What is it like to record, literally, on the road? The great thing about recording on the bus is that every day you wake up in a different city. Plus, you also have access to whatever rooms and venues you find. On the bus, I record with an Apollo DUO and a laptop with a solid-state drive. Mainly, what you’re trying to do is to capture inspiration. The DUO is so compact and does such a great job; it’s fantastic. We’d sit out there on the bus and use a little Akai controller keyboard. And, even confined to two octaves on the keyboard, it’s actually cool because it makes you work really hard on what it is that you’re playing. Plus, when you’re on the road, you’re more in the mindset of creating something great, with less of the pressure you might feel when you go to a big, fancy studio and you know you have to “nail it.” Today, we’re setting up in a church to record. They have a fantastic old upright and an old M3/Leslie. I wondered if it would work, and sure enough, we got it fired up. Even with a broken key, it sounded great. The church has a soundproofed room for newborns, so we’re setting up in there. That’s a nice surprise. We moved the upright and the M3 in there, and the church has some nice mics they’ve been gracious enough to let us use. So much of the adventure happens when you walk into a new scenario where there are things that inspire art. Do you have a “go-to” mic you’re currently using? The main one is the SM7B. It’s very focused. We also used a Peluso tube mic. Tell us about the software you use. I record everything in Logic. I use a lot of soft synths in Logic. I start with the presets and do a lot of modifying to get the sounds we’re looking for. I’ve got a lot of Logic-based sounds that we used for the record. I use Absynth a lot; I think it sounds really interesting. It’s great for creating textures and backgrounds. I also use Native Instruments Ultimate, and I love the iZotope stuff. And I think Auto-Tune 7 is fantastic.

for

KING

H o n e s t y, F a i t h , a n d F a m i l y The name is also the mission statement: “It’s an old English battle cry, as they went to fight for what they believed and to stand for something greater than themselves,” says For King & Country’s Joel Smallbone. “For us, doing music for people and for God is one of the main underlying themes of the band.” And the Nashville-based group, fronted by Joel and his brother Luke, takes their mission statement seriously. By turns exultant, introspective, atmospheric, and immediate, For King & Country’s uplifting music is also incredibly honest and authentic. The brothers spent their youth in Australia and cut their musical teeth in the U.S., eventually backing up their sister, Rebecca St. James, on tour. By 2007, they were making musical waves of their own, and by 2013, they had released two well-received albums and received a Dove Award. The band has played hundreds of shows since then — and they’re not slowing down. Their latest, Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong., features their strongest material yet. During a stop on the band’s fall 2014 tour, Joel spoke with us about the importance of family, respect in relationships, recording on the bus, and the always-present role of faith in the band’s music. How did you and Luke get interested in music? Music chose us, I think, more than we chose music. We grew up in a very musical family. Our dad, who is our manager now, was a concert promoter in Australia. He brought over a lot of artists in the ’80s, including Amy Grant. One of my earliest memories in Sydney was looking at vinyl records by my favorite bands or going to shows and plugging my ears. I was a t-shirt model at four years old, standing onstage with the shirt draping all the way to the floor. I remember there were always bands and musicians coming through the house. It was also on one of those tours that things didn’t go as well as projected, and my dad lost a quarter of a million dollars — which ultimately led to us having to sell the house to pay the debt. For years, he’d felt a prompting to move to the U.S., and he found some work over here in the music industry in Nashville. Your move to the States was tumultuous. It was after we got there that he actually lost his job. So, it was to that point about a month in, and we were

stuck living in a furniture-less house without a car. And he was just trying to find any kind of semblance of work he could. We really knit together during that time. As a family, we raked leaves, we mowed lawns, cleaned houses along with our oldest sister, Rebecca. We really worked as a team. I remember well: we’d sit in a circle in the living room, and we would just pray. We had nowhere to turn other than upward. We saw pretty miraculous things happen. The first Thanksgiving we were here, we found out about a family who invited pretty much anyone who wanted to join to Thanksgiving dinner. At the end of the night, the father of the house walked up to my mum and said, “I feel like God is prompting me to give you the keys to our minivan.” Also, someone anonymously paid for our little sister to be born in a hospital. The list goes on — just amazing examples of people giving and serving. Do you recall particular musical influences? For Luke, growing up, bands like Switchfoot were very influential. Classic U2 was a big influence on me. I went to a few U2 shows during their 360 tour, and they segued from “Amazing Grace” into “Where the Streets Have No Name.” I was just sitting there flabbergasted at how much of a worship service it felt like, you know? There are other layers of influences too; Luke is a pretty avid reader, and we’ve both been major C. S. Lewis fans since we were kids, so hopefully some of that has rubbed off lyrically. I also love theatrical and cinematic scores. When did you and Luke begin playing live? Our oldest sister began traveling as a musician. Dad needed cheap labor, so he put us brothers to work as the crew: lighting, sound, background vocals. That was when Luke and I really began to see the impact of music. It was toward the end of Rebecca’s career that we started kind of leaning in on our own. We ended up writing over a hundred songs and began doing showcases for labels — and got shut down more times than I want to count. Then, fast-forward to 2009, a gentleman by the name of Mark Bright, who’s primarily a country producer and runs a publishing company, took over our label.

COUNTRY Mark produced Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire and a lot of country icons. He was a real champion for us and signed us, and we recorded some material under his leadership. How do you approach instrumentation? Neither of us is classically trained. Luke grew up very rhythmic, and I’d say I grew up more melodic. I’d have a laptop and a little keyboard for the demos we’d cook up. I’d like to say I could “play” everything without playing anything. And now, live, Luke and I don’t do any of the heavy lifting, instrumentally. Luke may play some percussion, and I might play a bit on the harmonium or on a few various drums or tubular bells onstage. But it’s all a very ancillary thing that lets us focus on the vocals and the melodies and the message.

a good human being and contributing to society society, but above all of those things, we want to fix our eyes on Heaven and maintain that focus. Because keeping that focus holds us in good stead — in not making it about ourselves. Familyy is such a strong element of the band. I honestly feel that, without my wife and Luke’s wife, Courtney and their son [and they veryy recently had a second son], the strength of the group would be dramatically decreased. YYou get a balance and a purpose.

Tell us about your recording process. We actually have a producer [Tedd T.] out on the road with us right now. We worked with him very closely on several songs on our last album. It’s very collaborative — in sort of a “cyber” way. He and I have a studio setup in the back of the tour bus, with a laptop MIDI controller and a microphone. We’ll build a very rough skeleton of the song and send an MP3 out to the band. Then, they will, respectively, set up their own laptops and will kind of layer in other sounds. Sometimes, we’ll even go into the venue prior to the show and mic up an instrument to get a track. So, you’re assembling both demos and the final product at the same time? Yes. In our opinion, your ears don’t lie. Technical perfection does not match the beauty of a really heartfelt piece. I think basically all the vocals on “Run Wild” were sung on the bus. It’s not a pristine, clean kind of thing, but what we went for was “heart over art.” If it feels right, go. Being so busy and being on tour allowed us to discover this recording process. What about the centrality of faith in your songwriting? I find that it’s hard to separate the song — regardless of its theme — from our faith. We might be writing about someone who is going through a hard time. In fact, Luke was very ill last year. We wrote a couple of songs walking through, almost in journal form, his illness. Inside the song, you can see the spiritual ramifications. And on a song like “Shoulders” from the new album, it’s almost a prayer. Almost a psalm, if you will. Or on “Fix My Eyes,” the lead single, that song was very much built around wanting to be

For King & Country’s latest album, Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong., is available now. To find out more, go to forKingandCountry.com!

family. I’ve mentioned that The heartbeat of For King & Countryy is family brother, does a lot of the our dad manages us. Daniel, my oldest brother lighting and design. Brother Ben does any video work that we do. Mom is out on the road with us right now as well. But even beyond the blood family, the guys onstage with us and the label... there’s a big sense of family. espect and honor in You’ve mentioned the importance of respect relationships. Our parents have been married for almost 40 years, and we’re a really strongly knit family. And borne out of that was the idea of saying to young ladies — and also to men, but especially to girls — don’tt let anyone disrespect you in a relationship. Don’t re worth; know that you ever settle for second best. Know what you’re matter. We say to guys that, hey, it’ss time to step up. Chivalry is alive and well. You might think that we’dd get people who scoff, but the whelming positivity positivity. response has been one of overwhelming Your producers (Tedd T., Seth Mosley, and Matt Hales) ar are ecording ecor ding process. very collaborative with you in the recording I can’t speak more highly of them. One of the things in the creative process that I find most stifling is a “we can’t” attitude — versus a “we can” or a “let’s try.” And these guys are so willing to think outside the box... I hesitate to say even that, because I almost think they don’t acknowledge the box. Their approach is music is music; let’s have fun and be creative. What is next for you and the band? After this tour, we’llll do something we’ve never done as a band, which is to take off about a month. Then, we’ll be on an arena tour early in 2015. Wee will be contributing a song to an upcoming television series, and there’ss talk about working on music for a film re also thinking about a Christmas EP that’s shooting this year. We’re EP, and there will be another tour in the fall of 2015.

Given this approach to recording, how do you manage to get such a cohesive sound? I attribute a lot of that to the guys knowing what they want the music to become. They have a lot of musical input on the parts, and they know what they like. They’re very aware of what’s “them,” and they’re mindful of what’s going on track-wise and arrangement-wise.

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CONTENTS Do YOU Ever Wonder If? My thought for this week has been do you ever wonder if the Lord has a sense of humor? We all know that in Proverbs it says that laughter is the best medicine but does that mean for us only as humans or for God himself too? Well, that might be too deep of theological waters for me to swim in right now but here is how my question about this subject came to be in my life this week. I started this magazine when I was 38 years old and now 20 years later I have to act like the grown-up that I am supposed to be. Part of that responsibility was to go and get a colonoscopy to make sure all of the plumbing in this aging tent of mine was up to speed. I really should’ve gone when I turned 50 but I have been pretty busy for the last 10 years or so. Ha! If you have ever had this procedure done then you know that three days out or so you have to start watching your diet and then you fast for a whole day and drink a few different things that helps purge your body of any and all foods. I get a daily scripture emailed to me (Daily Manna From the Net) and three days out I get an email that reads… “The Lord knows your innermost parts… you are fearfully and wonderfully made”. Well, I kind of smile and thought to myself, “Lord, are you trying to comfort me because you know I am anxious about this procedure where they send a camera where no camera has ever gone before in my body or is this a bit of humor from your side of things? Or both? Are you smiling about it and laughing with me to help me relax about it?” I proceeded on for the next two days of prep and then the morning of the colonoscopy my Daily Manna reads Jesus’ words about (I am paraphrasing here), “It is not what enters a man’s body that defiles him but what comes out of a mans heart”. Now I know that this scripture is about food entering a man through his mouth but I couldn’t help but think that the Lord might have had a twinkle in his eye when He knew I was going to read this that morning. What are the odds of me getting that scripture that particular morning? I laughed out loud about it and shock my head as I thought about what was ahead of me that day.

Features 41 Guitar From A 2 Z 8 Product Review by Roger Zimish by Doug Doppler String Skipping Keeley Engineering GC-2 Limiting Amplifier 42 Good For the Soul by Bryan Duncan 10 Bassic Communication Best Note Forward by Norm Stockton Fun Bass Grooves (Part 2) 43 The Musician’s Doc by Tim Jameson, D.C., M.Div 13 Guitar Workshop I Think I’m Going to Be Sick: by John Standefer Stage Fright in the Christian Melodic Soloing (Vol 2) Musiciant 14 Drumming Dynamics 44 CODA by David Owens by Bob Bennett What Inspires You? O Me Of Little Faith 16 Vocal Coach’s Corner by Roger Beale Don’t Be a Singing Head! 18 The Groove of Grace by Rick Cua God Wears A Hoodie 25 Selective Hearing by Shawn McLaughlin Jill Phillips Greg Adkins Davia Jonathan Rundman Sweet & Lynch 32 Taking the Stage by Tom Jackson Thou Shalt Not Think Onstage 34 Product Review by Michael Hodge Rev: Playing in Reverse

InterviewS

20 The Collaborative Rocker Speaks an interview with Michael Sweet by Alison Richter

28 Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil Strike Aluminum! an interview with Steve Taylor, Peter Furler, Jimmy Abegg & 38 5 Cool Things I Saw at NAMM John Mark Painter Highlights from Winter NAMM by Shawn McLaughlin 2015 36 The Indie Mechanics by Keith Mohr & Sue Ross-Mohr Share and Share Alike

Cover story photos: Alex Solca

So Judy drives me to the appointment and I get checked in. I wanted to go into entertainment mode and hopefully win over the nurses and the doctor to help ease my fears. I wasn’t looking forward to this and I also don’t like needles. They have to put an IV in your arm to give you the meds to knock you out. So my defense mechanism was to tell them two things… one a bit of humor to break the ice some and two, another piece of humor but something that also had some merit to it about the Lord… something they might think about that wasn’t so upfront that it might not be received but something that had some salt and light in it from a guy in this very awkward and vulnerable situation. Three nurses were prepping me as I lay there in one of Continued on page 46.

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MAR/APR 2015

PRODUCT REVIEW

by doug doppler

Keeley Engineering GC-2 Limiting Amplifier Effect Type: Compressor/Limiter Controls: Compression, Threshold, Gain Power: 9v DC

off the high end, the GC-2 retains the harmonic integrity of your guitar, which with a Gretsch hollowbody is particularly important. Massaging the Threshold and Ratio levels allowed me to easily control the signal without ever losing the character along the way.

Although the esteemed Keeley Four Knob Compressor remains very much in production, Robert Keeley designed the GC-2 to deliver studio quality compression in a pedal board friendly format. The end result is a brilliant pedal that delivers organic compression and limiting when and where you need it. What most guitarists think of as compressor pedals actually tend to function more like compressor and sustainers. In layman’s terms these devices tend to make the loudest signals quieter, and the quietest signals louder by increasing sustain. While there is a lot to love about the sound and feel of this style of pedal, the accompanying noise – especially during quieter musical passages can be a drawback. Where traditional stomp box compressors are OTA (operational transconductance amplfier) based, the GC-2 is VCA (voltage controlled amplifier) based, utilizing an RMS detector which allows the pedal to respond in a very musical fashion. The GC-2 also incorporates the THAT Corp 4320 IC, which was developed by former DBX employees. This chip allowed Keeley to capture the mojo of the DBX 160s series compressors in a pedal board friendly enclosure that conveniently runs at 9v DC power. In the same fashion that the DBX 160 was once the definitive studio bass compressor, the 160x became the go to compressor for guitarists in the mega-racks of days past. The VCA compression was key to why these units were so musical. And speaking of music, the proof is really in the pudding. The Threshold control allows you to choose the dB level at which point the pedal starts to limit the signal. Signals that are below the set point are com8

MAR/APR 2015

Unlike a traditional stompbox compressor, you can also use the GC-2 at the very end of your signal chain to limit the maximum amount of signal. This is particularly valuable if you have some pedals that just seem to sound best when set loud. It is also a great stopgap to insure you don’t hit the front end of your amp too hard–unless you want to, in which case you can also leverage the Output Voltage Gain of 30dB to beat your amp into submission.

pletely unaffected, key to why the GC-2 is both wonderfully musical yet incredibly quiet. The Ratio control determines the intensity of compression. Lower Ratio settings combined with medium to high Threshold settings deliver subtle compression that allows you to constrain the loudest notes without losing the natural sound and feel of your instrument. The Gain control allows you to compensate for the loss in volume you get when you compress your signal. It also has the added benefit of allowing you to use the GC-2 as an extremely clean boost pedal. As tested with a Gretsch G5420T and Vox AC30, setting everything around high noon allowed all the sweetness of the guitar to come through, while constraining the girth of the signal in a really musical fashion, and herein lies the magic of this pedal. Where your average compressor pedal tends to lop

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True to plan, the GC-2 behaves–and sounds like a studio compressor. While it responds to the loudest peaks in volume and frequency, it does not do so by lopping off the top end in the process. Where it can use compression like a low pass filter, the GC-2 responds to the dynamic range of your performance rather than just the transients in your pick attack. If you’re looking for studio quality compression in a pedal board friendly format, you’ll definitely want to check out the Keeley GC-2 Limiting Amplifier. $259.00 List $199.00 Street RobertKeeley.com

Doug Doppler is passionate about God, worship, and worship musicians. In addition to his work coaching individuals and teams, Doug is also the author of “The Worship Guitar Book” which will be available in May 2013 via Hal Leonard.

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BASSIC COMMUNICATION

by norm stockton

Fun Bass Grooves (Part 2) ing and minimize excessive ledger lines.

Welcome back to our series unpacking some of the bass lines that I enjoyed playing from my years recording and touring with Lincoln Brewster. As I mentioned last time, the bass parts and grooves I’ll be covering each incorporate a musical concept or element of interest that can be readily assimilated and repurposed for your own musical bag of tricks.

If you’ve not already, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the song and listen through this section. There are several things I’d like to point out: Dynamic contrast in a song can be accomplished in a variety of ways (loudness, layering, register, etc.). In this example, the bass line in the upper register isn’t significantly quieter than in the other sections, but it sounds more delicate being played up an octave (be sure to play it above the 12th fret on the bigger strings for thickness of tone). Dropping down to the lower register in bar 8 signals the coming dynamic build.

In the first installment, I shared with you the verse bass groove that Lincoln himself played on “God You Reign” from the Today Is The Day project (Integrity). Today’s example is taken from the bass line I played in the first 8 bars of the bridge from that same track.

The chord progression in the first 8 bars of the bridge is actually a variation on the proceeding 8 bars (the chords straighten out a bit as they descend more linearly in the second half of the bridge). If done with

The “8va” over the first 7 measures indicates that the line should be played an octave higher than written—it’s a common convention used when transcribing to simplify read-

subtlety, these sorts of variations can inject some freshness while not derailing the tune or distracting the listener/worshiper. The fills in bars 4, 6 and 8 occur in breaks between the vocal phrases. That is a critical factor; always be mindful to not step on the vocal or melody when playing fills or variations! :^) Note the slurs incorporated in bars 4 and 6. Employing subtle phrasing elements can help with the overall lyricism and musicality of your bass line. Experiment with subtlety! Simplicity and serving the song can still include interesting and fun bass playing if done with taste and musical sensitivity. Have fun & see you next time! Blessings- Norm

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Norm Stockton is a bassist/ clinician/solo artist based in Orange County, CA. Following his long tenure as bassist with Lincoln Brewster, Norm has been focused on equipping bassists around the world through his instructional site (www.ArtOfGroove.com), as well as freelancing (including tour dates with Bobby Kimball, original lead singer of Toto, and Bill Champlin from Chicago). Look for his book, The Worship Bass Book, published by Hal Leonard. Also visit Norm at www.normstockton. com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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GUITAR WORKSHOP

by john standefer

Melodic Soloing (Vol 2) In last month’s CM we worked on playing a few melodies by ear using the C Major scale as our guideline. Learning to hear the intervals between notes is the important issue so that, as a melody progresses, you can figure out each note as it comes around by asking two questions: (1) Is this note higher or lower than the last note? - and (2) How much higher or lower is it (how many scale degrees)? You should spend a lot of time at this process using every song you can think of as an example (simple songs first). But... as fulfilling as it is to be able to copy melodies, you’ll eventually want to make up some of your own – or at least play a few bars of an ad-lib solo on occasion. The basic rules are that the melody needs to (at least mostly) be made from the scale degrees in that scale.

quite a while before the trial and error process produces a really good line. When you think you have it, record yourself singing it on another device while the chord track is playing in the background. Now you’ve created something musical - totally in your head - and you’ve captured the idea electronically.

Here’s where a lot of musicians go wrong. They simply start playing scale patterns and pat licks before running the idea past the creative part of their brains first. Before you play a note, you need to first ‘hear’ or imagine a good musical line in your head, a melodic phrase that sounds good to the ear. Then you need to be able to get that idea into your hands. This is really a three stage process, so let’s figure out how to actually go about it.

Now, let’s say you know you’re going to be playing a certain set of choruses and hymns in church next Sunday - and one of the tunes has a spot for a solo. You could record the chord progression of that section, sing through some ideas, learn to play the ideas on your guitar, and be all prepped with a very good stable solo by the time Sunday rolls around. As I said before, this process gets quicker and quicker with time so that you can eventually hear an idea in your head and find the notes on your guitar in real time. Don’t be in a hurry

Start with a chord progression, either just one you like or one from an actual song. Find a recording device (tape recorder, digital message machine, phone or computer) and record yourself playing this chord progression (do it 3 or 4 times through). Now you have a ‘rhythm bed’ of chords played to some sort of groove. This is the time to put your guitar in its case (important). What you want to do next is to play the recording of the chordal accompaniment and either sing, hum or whistle a melody to go with it. By singing, you’re not tied to any physical limitations of being able to play the notes (or even know where they are) on the guitar. You’re simply floating around in space trying to create something that sounds good. You might have to sing along for

- JS

Check out John’s 5-DVD set ‘Praise Guitar Lessons’ at the ‘store’ page at www.johnstandefer.com. You get 52 video lessons similar to these CM articles, but you can see and hear the lessons! Includes charts. Also consider private lessons with John via Skype!

Photo by: The Joelsons

At this point, pull your guitar back out and, one note at a time, figure out what you sang on the guitar fretboard. Feel free to TAB out this new melody a few notes at a time as you find them. With a little practice you’ll be able to play the new melody. What you’ve done is sort of halfway between writing a new song and developing an ad-lib solo. The great thing is that you’ve done it in a creative musical way and haven’t relied on patterns and licks!

though. You won’t likely get graded on how fast you can integrate your ideas onto the fretboard. And the lines you come up with over time will be a lot more musical than if you’d just fallen into playing patterns. : )

Play it. Love it.

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MAR/APR 2015

DRUMMING DYNAMICS

by david owens

What Inspires You? There have been times in my life where I have heard music that stops me in my tracks and demands my attention. The first time I heard “Penny Lane” by the Beatles on the radio made me want to buy my first album. The time my brother took me to see a heavy metal band and we heard Yes for the first time (they were the opening act) changed the way I listened to music. It started me on a life long discovery of musical styles that has included jazz, jazz fusion, Brazilian, AfroCuban, West African and countless other genres of music.

ming. In my opinion he is the best drummer at playing both straight ahead jazz and AfroCuban styles. He combines them in ways that are very unique.

A few years ago I was helping a student learn the classic Dizzy Gillespie composition “A Night In Tunisia” when I stumbled across a Jon Faddis version (you can find it on YouTube) with some drumming that really turned my head. After some research I discovered the drummer was Cuban born Ignacio Berroa. I have since had the opportunity to see him play a couple times and I also attended a fantastic clinic where he talked about the history of Afro-Cuban drum-

I have shared a bit of what inspires, motivates and challenges me to sit down on my instrument and work. What inspires you? Maybe it is the latest Hillsong worship music. Maybe it is hearing a classic rock tune and wanting to nail the drum part. Whatever it happens to be, learning what other drummers play is one of the best ways to improve your abilities on your instrument.

Both of these versions of “A Night In Tunisia” and “Matrix” (written by Chick Corea on Ignacio Berroa’s Codes CD) have the same 3/2 rumba clave pattern played on a cowbell. It is the one thing that really grounds these grooves. This stuff is very complex and it took me a long time just to figure out what he was doing let alone trying to play it and make it feel good.

A great tool to figure out complex drum

parts is to slow them down using Audacity. I would have had trouble transcribing these drum parts at full speed. Always start by practicing parts slowly and gradually speeding them up. And don’t forget to use that metronome! So get out there and find music that inspires you. The Lord gives us gifts and it is our job to find ways to improve those gifts and use them for His glory. Blessings, David David freelances in and around Los Angeles and is currently playing for Franklin Graham events worldwide. He has played with Fernando Ortega, Sara Groves, Bebo Norman, Tommy Walker, Lincoln Brewster, Thomas Dolby, The Righteous Brothers and Peter White as well as spending 2 plus years playing The Lion King at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. He is also an adjunct professor at Biola and Hope International Universities. His home church is Plymouth Congregational in Whittier, CA. Feel free to contact him at DavidOwensDrums.com.

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VOCAL COACH’S CORNER

by roger beale

DON’T BE A SINGING HEAD! Within todays contemporary worship styles, the objective is to express your faith through song. The vocal tone, stage movement and worship attitude all point toward that end result. The absolute beauty of the human voice is not the goal. But the communication of your faith through your spiritual mood and spiritual emotion through the words is the goal. This musical approach of expression through word content and a singer’s spiritual maturity has been seriously misunderstood by many traditional voice teachers. In other words, it isn’t about the voice; it is about the expression of worship. The basic requirements of a contemporary worship singer might include an ability to project the voice while addressing the vocal needs of a broad range of styles and song. The singer also must not look stiff on the worship platform or, as I like to say, “a singing head”. One must be able to completely express the emotions of the songs. Today’s worship singer must be able to survive long rehearsals and a busy worship service schedule. Your health is very important to vocal survival. With these items as a backdrop let’s look at some common inadequacies of worship singers. Sounding stiff: Not singing with the correct word rhythms and/or lack of intelligent pronunciation. Sounding too trained: A perfected vocal quality, an attention to legato and sostenuto, and a classical vibrato style do not translate well, if at all, to contemporary worship styles. The American speech style is very much clipped and has a distinctive start and stop to it… sometimes in the same word. If we are going to sing in a conversational manner, this approach to speech and singing must be addressed. As an aside here, I work with a Barbershop singer who tells me that the old timers involved with this style are fussing about the lack of legato singing in today’s

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Barbershop choruses. Evidence of this halting American English is everywhere! Contemporary Commercial Singing (CCS) can be described as the type of singing you would hear in the world of music other than Western European Classical music or what exists in most middle school and high school choruses in this country. Contemporary Commercial Singing has been heavily influenced by the creation of electronic instruments as well as blues and jazz styles. These two styles are rhythmically aggressive and contain much less legato, sometimes none at all. But the biggest influence has to be conversational speech patterns with a very hard approach to articulation. With the introduction of microphones the crooners showed up on the musical scene. This was then followed by the use of electronic instruments (guitar and electric bass). The result is today singers find themselves having to sing over this electronic maze which now includes microphones on the drum kit. Yipes! What is the number of the ENT? If we are talking about music in the church, another popular music style and its influences that needs to be mentioned is country. This is essentially Appalachian folk music. The vocal tones used were primitive and had the essential gospel and blues elements. The singing style included local speech patterns, yodeling, multiple registers changes, and vocal wailing. Many of these singing and styles elements show up in today’s contemporary worship services. You need to listen closely to hear them because the guitars are turned up real loud. Contemporary Commercial Singing is used by those in the world of popular music. Keep in mind that this term covers multiple and varied styles. And as the classical singers developed a technique that works in their world of performance, singers in the

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popular music styles have developed their own techniques and skills. Remember that contemporary singers are dealing with a different world than classical singers. They deal with electronic instruments, varied musical technologies, and multiple music styles within the large world of popular music. Also, in the world of popular music the recording artist that is the most popular or most marketed gets to influence the vocal sounds of the day. This phenomenon also exists in the church music industry and I see it almost every day with my students. Let us keep in mind that if our worship singing styles continue to reflect popular singing, we may have to keep re-describing the vocal sound we are using. This is always in a changing pattern because the record companies keep introducing the latest greatest singers and these singers may be as different sounding as night and day. If you want your praise team members to sound a certain way, just wait, in about ten months you may have to redo the vocal tone because a new singer is on the market. Now go sing well! Roger Beale has been writing the Vocal Coach’s Corner for over fifteen years. He is one of the nation’s foremost vocal coaches. He presently works with professional singers in all areas of musical performance. His teaching and coaching facility, The Voice House, is involved in the management and care of the professional voice. Many of his students have won prestigious vocal competitions and scholarships. In addition, he has worked with Grammy and Dove award winners and nominees. He also offers vocal clinics and seminars, as well as assistance in recording sessions. Roger is an adjunct professor in the Fine Arts department at Point University (formerly Atlanta Christian College), website: www.point.edu. Roger can be contacted at: The Voice House, 1029 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 276, Peachtree City, GA 30269, (404) 822-5097, e-mail: voicehouse@mindspring.com.

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THE GROOVE OF GRACE

by rick cua

God Wears a Hoodie Some of the greatest joys in life come from our Grandkids. Those sweet little voices that call us Nonna and Poppy, Grama and Grampa, Memaw and Pepaw or whatever your term of endearment is. In some ways they’re our kids all over again and in some ways they are totally unique, one of a kind. And the things they say... some things that make us belly laugh and some things that speak a truth way beyond their years and make us ponder their thought like philosophers hot on the trail of the meaning of life. One evening at dinner, our grandchildren, Luke and Eva, were eating Daddy’s smoked ribs like it was their last meal. At seven and four years old, no vegan menu for them. Somehow during the dinner time conversation the topic of Adam and Eve came up so our daughter Nina began to unpack the story. When she got to the part about Eve eating the apple she explained to Luke that Adam and Eve for the first time realized they were naked. “Naked!” said Luke....”how about God, was He naked too?” We all froze for a moment thinking about the question when Luke said, “No, no, no, He wasn’t naked, God wears a hoodie!” Obviously he was referring to Jesus because we all know it was Jesus who wears the hoodie. We gave it to him though since Jesus is, in fact, God. I spent days thinking about Luke’s comment knowing that there was something deeper to discover other than the laughter we all enjoyed at dinner that night. The word that kept coming back to me was relevance, something we should all strive for. Being connected to the world around us, being in life, making a difference. Having a voice because people will relate to us when they know we relate to them. But God doesn’t need to be relevant. He’s everything! The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. All of life comes from Him. He’s the author, the designer, He’s time, He’s timeless. He has nothing to prove, He’s God after all! He embodies history and

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history exists because of Him. God meets each of us exactly where we are. He cares about what we care about. We don’t need to put on a special suit to meet with Him we just need to bring ourselves and open our hearts to the one who made us. The thing to focus on here is our relevance to others. Everyone should wear a hoodie at least figuratively. It is that mindset that makes us want to connect with others; makes us want to be looked at like we are actually interested in the people and world around us. How can we have influence if we don’t look like we are interested or really care to join in, engage, grow, keep up. When I’m in a conversation with someone, usually in the 50 plus range, and I hear them say things like, “I don’t use a computer, don’t want a tablet and certainly don’t need a smart phone... I’m just not interested”. The first thing I say is, “Go out and get all three! Figure it out... engage yourself with the things this culture engages in. Relate to others, learn new things, stretch yourself...don’t check out!” In a manner of speaking, you won’t have to fight to lose the belly if you don’t get one in the first place. This is not judgement, its experience! Be the best that you can be no matter where you are in life. Usually the folks that say those things to me got a whole list of people and things they are disappointed with. They don’t want to grow yet they are hurt, masked by contempt, that the world has passed them by. We are an interesting bunch. In 1 Corinthians 9:22 the Apostle Paul says that he became all things to all men so as to save a few. He did this by being there, being relevant in the situation. In Acts 10:34 we are reminded that God is no respecter of persons, He doesn’t show partiality, He loves us and is actually interested in the things we are interested in. So, how will others relate to us and Christ in us if we live in a cave? Jump in the water, join the party, keep your

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values and share them but show up from time to time. Your only common ground may be your iPhone or tablet but relevance needs to start somewhere and usually leads to relationship. What did Jesus have in common with the woman at the well? Probably nothing other than thirst but the impact He had on her by showing up was life changing and a lesson that has never stopped teaching. Relevant: Closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand. That could be for anything but what greater matter at hand than people? That’s really it isn’t it? Relevance for the purpose of connecting with people relationally and seeing what that relationship can bring. Walking through that eventual open door gives access to you and the message of love you are carrying. And how great is the risk? It’s nothing at all compared to the lost opportunity of seeing someone say yes to the greatest gift of all. Does God wear a hoodie? Like no one else! And there’s one in your size and favorite color hanging in your closet waiting for you to put it on. You only have to put it on once, because when you do, you will realize the God ordained joy of connecting with others for the sake of the call. Not just a musical artist, Rick knows the business of music as well. Besides being a music publisher, artist manager and booking agent, he founded and ran his own record label, UCA Records, in the 1990s which led to a position for five and 1⁄2 years as Vice President, Creative/ Copyright Development at EMI CMG in Nashville. There he managed a large songwriter roster and exponentially grew revenue through film and TV licensing, song promotion and print music development. He is currently on staff as the minister of Pastoral Care and Visitation at Grace Chapel in Franklin, TN.

Michael Sweet...

the Collaborative Rocker Speaks by Alison Richter

MAR/APR 2015

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For the past eleven days, Michael Sweet has been “eating, sleeping, and living” inside of Spirithouse, the Massachusetts studio where he and the other members of Stryper — drummer Robert Sweet, guitarist Oz Fox, and bassist Timothy Gaines — are recording a new album. One more day of tracking, and Sweet, the band’s lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter, will take the files to his home studio, where he will spend two to three weeks recording vocals. “We’ll go back to Spirithouse for mixing,” he says, “and April into May, the album will be done.” Sweet is a workaholic and perfectionist. He knows little about down time, as he is always writing, recording, producing, and touring. With over 30 years of experience with Stryper, and as a family man, he has learned to prioritize, but there is always a song in progress, whether in his head or on his hard drive. His recent project is Sweet & Lynch, a collaboration with guitarist George Lynch, bassist James Lomenzo, and drummer Brian Tichy. Their debut album, Only To Rise, was released in January. It features 12 songs that are strong on melodies, as is Sweet’s forte, sonically reminiscent of the ’80s rock that brought the band members to fame, and lyrically spiritual without being overt. Only To Rise explores love, hope, redemption, and faith, but delivers the messages with subtlety. As he discusses in this interview, Michael Sweet isn’t one to force-feed audiences. He prefers to walk the gentle path of a benevolent messenger, hence his ability to partner with secular musicians like George Lynch. While their beliefs may differ, their creativity brings them together, allowing Sweet to outreach through the music.

it. It’s part of who I am, and sometimes it’s a blessing and sometimes it’s a curse. The blessing is that I get to do it and there’s always a song coming out of me. The curse is that there’s always a song coming out of me! When my daughter or my wife is trying to talk to me about something and I’m thinking about a song, that’s not always a good situation. Somebody is trying to have a conversation with me, my OCD/ADHD kicks in, and I have a song in my head while listening, so that doesn’t always work. Has that always been the case with writing and producing, or did your interests shift at some point? It’s always been the case. When I was a toddler, I used to rock back and forth in every chair I was sitting in. My parents termed it “bopping.” When I was bopping, I was humming a melody and making up lyrics. It was a natural thing that was put in me since the moment I was born, and I’m going to be 52 and it’s still here. It’s a distraction many times and I don’t mind it being so. My wife sends me to the supermarket with a list of ten things, and I come back with eight because I forgot two of them. I started working on a song, a melody, I recorded it on my phone, and I got excited and forgot what I was supposed to get. It happens to me all the time. I make many people around me very crazy. I put myself in their shoes and I think, That would aggravate me as all get-out. I was out with the guys not long ago and we had four or five things to do for the band. We were talking about music and I forgot three of the

things. It’s a daily routine for me, and I’m sure part of that is the other things I have going on. I joke about ADHD — I was officially diagnosed not long ago and never really thought about it, but I definitely tend to hyper-focus. My attention goes to one thing and one thing only. How do those three areas of music — writing, singing, and production — satisfy you creatively? I enjoy them all in different ways, on different levels, at different times. I really enjoy singing when I’m on, when I’m not having vocal issues, when my voice feels well. I enjoy it as much as anything else, if not more so. But when I’m not on … for example, we went to South America, I got sick, and there was one show where I could not sing at all. Oz sang what he could, and I ran around with a guitar in my hands. Those are the times that I don’t enjoy it. It’s a tremendous amount of stress, and I feel like I let everybody down. The thing about songwriting is your physical state doesn’t affect it. If I have a cold or the flu, I can still write, and I have many times. I love production. I love the whole process from start to finish. I get into tracking drums, bass, and guitar, hearing the instruments being recorded, taking part in the direction, getting the sounds and the tones, EQing, adding proper effects, and doing what you need to do with compression or limiting to make it stand out and fit into the track. That’s an art in and of itself, and I love it. I could sit for hours at the console and tweak sounds. There are four guys in the

You stated in a recent interview that your passion is in songwriting and production more than in singing. The reason I said that is because singing is just a part my life. I go out and tour for a week or a month, and then I come home. While I’m home, I’m writing all the time, or certainly thinking about writing. I’m constantly thinking about the song. There’s more of a passion in my heart and mind and soul toward writing music. I feel that God put the gift of music in my heart in terms of writing, arranging, and producing CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

MAR/APR 2015

bum. Could you select a track and give readers a walk-through as to how it was written and recorded?

room to start, then one leaves, and another leaves, and I’m always the last guy standing. I’m there until the very end. What type of home studio do you have? I have a small studio at my house, a little rig where we’re able to swap Pro Tools session files back and forth, and I go to my house strictly for vocals. I have a small room. I wouldn’t attempt to record any large, loud instruments that require multiple miking techniques. I don’t have a room that’s been tuned for that. I do vocals there on every album — the Sweet & Lynch album, the Stryper albums, and the solo albums. I have nice chain. I have a Telefunken mic into an Avalon producer box with compression, EQ, and a mic pre. I get a great sound and I’m able to save a little money. There’s pressure to deliver in the studio because time is money, and if you’re not feeling so good, oh well. Take five and try again. If I’m home and not feeling well, I can take a day or two. That extra pressure and stress is relieved. You produced the Sweet & Lynch al22

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One of my favorites is “Like A Dying Rose.” George was in L.A. and I was on the East Coast. George went into the studio to do some demos. He called me and said, “What are you thinking? What do you want to do?” I said, “Why don’t you put something together that has that Dokken flair to it, but isn’t a blatant rip-off of a Dokken song.” He sent me the guitar riff idea for “Like A Dying Rose.” It was maybe a minuteand-a-half-long MP3. It had an intro, verse, and chorus, and it just shut off. It was him playing to a drum loop. I had to create the sections that weren’t there — solo sections, outros, and bridges — and complete it as a song. Once I did that, I wrote the lyrics and melody, and I went into the studio, Spirithouse in Northampton [Massachusetts], and mapped everything out. I printed a guitar along with George’s guitar; I took George’s guitar and we copied and pasted what we had of his parts. For the sections we didn’t have, I plugged into a Mesa Boogie Mark V, copied George’s tone, and played what wasn’t there. I did that for a number of songs. When George heard it, he was amazed. Once they were songs, we flew Brian and James out here, they laid their parts down, and then they went home. Once we had the parts to all twelve songs, I went home, sang, and sent everything to George. He added more guitars and guitar solos, sent it to us, and we mixed it. Are there certain studio techniques that you always rely on? The most important thing is the engineer. We always work with the same engineer, Danny Bernini, at Spirithouse. We record at the same studio every time. We developed a certain formula on the album Murder By Pride

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[2009]. That’s when we first started working with Danny. We worked with Kenny Lewis many times in the past. He’s a great engineer, and he has a great studio in Middleton, but Spirithouse has a bigger room, and a bigger room for the drums, so it fits our needs a little bit better. Once we had that formula, we stuck with it. I think that’s the most important part. There are certain things we do, miking techniques that we do on every album. For example, with the guitar, the Shure 57 on a 4x12 cab with Vintage 30 speakers. That’s the tone that always works for us. We tried 25-watt Greenback Celestions, we tried 75 watts, the Electro-Voice, we tried a lot of different speakers, and we always go back to the Vintage 30 with the Shure 57 mic directly on the speaker itself. We’re not into putting the mic back 5 feet, then putting another mic in the back of the room. A lot of guys do that. I can’t stand it. I like very direct guitar tones that are right in your face. With bass, we go direct. Aside from an amp, we usually favor the direct, in-your-face tone. Drums are pretty simple. The most important part isn’t the miking technique. That’s important, but if you have great miking technique on a bad-sounding drum set, it’s just going to sound bad. It’s really important to have a great-sounding drum set, great cymbals. We always use Paiste 2000s. This time we used DWs. There are certain things we always go back to that we know are going to sound great. When did you learn your way around the studio and the board? I remember playing on my dad’s sessions when I was 10 years old. He was a songwriter and performer and he was always doing country sessions. He began bringing my brother and myself in to play on his sessions. If we weren’t playing, we were hanging out in the studio with him, so I grew up in the studio. I started experimenting with guitar tones and different amps. I would go to the music store and take a Lab Series head and come out of that, the preamp, out of that into another head, and everyone in the store would say, “What are you doing? You shouldn’t do that.” I would say, “Listen to it.” And they would say, “That sounds amazing!” I would say, “Exactly, so why can’t I do it?” I always did things that were out of the norm. I’m a perfectionist, and I’m always driven to try new and different things. That transferred over when Stryper started recording, wanting to try new techniques. Instead of multi-tracking the guitar and having two tracks, we would multi-track four tracks. It was a wall of guitars, like on To Hell With

The Devil. It’s massive. Other bands, successful bands, wanted to know how we got the guitar sounds and the drum sounds. We did something really different on that album, and we had a very unique kick drum sound that not many ’80s albums had. We always tried to go the extra mile to make our albums unique. You mentioned replicating George’s tone when you were adding parts. How are the two of you similar and different in your styles? “Love Stays” is an example. We had his verse and chorus guitars, but we didn’t have the bridge that has that real Beatle-esque sound to it. Although I dialed in the same kind of tone, distortion-wise and EQ-wise, it was a whole different-sounding section. The guitar has a flanger on it, or a phaser, and it goes to a different place, so it’s pretty easy to do. I didn’t try to play or sound like George. I think our styles are somewhat similar. George is a big influence of mine. I’m nowhere near the guitar player he is, but he’s a big influence. I think we have a similar vibrato at times. It was a real easy task to add my guitars to his and make it all work. There’s a language that takes place between guitarists when they work together. For Sweet & Lynch, you sent files back and forth. Was it difficult to work that way, especially lead guitarist to lead guitarist, versus creating together in the moment? For some strange reason it’s always seemed to work. It’s never been a problem or difficult to figure out. It’s always felt natural. That’s concerning Oz and I, and now George and I, and other albums I’ve worked on. I think certain songs dictate who is going to do what. In Stryper, it’s a given that Oz will play that song or section, or there’s a part that sounds like one that I should solo in. We have two different styles, and although we can lock in together and play similar, when we harmonize we have two different styles. I think it just drives itself. We learn what to do from the songs. Which guitars did you use on this album? I used PRS, ESP, and one of my Carvin guitars that I use in Stryper, and a Mesa Boogie Mark V. I’m not a huge pedal guy. I used a wah, a phaser, and a few delays. There’s another box that I use a lot, the Tech 21 Para Driver. They make a rack mount version of it and a floor pedal version. I used that ever so slightly, a little less on the Sweet & Lynch

album than on the Stryper album. That’s really the signature Stryper tone. That’s what gives us that notched-out, kind of a halfcocked, wah, Michael-Schenker-on-steroids kind of tone. That was about it. George, I’m sure, used many guitars and amps. I used one cabinet, a 4x12 with Celestions and a 57 on it, and there’s the tone. You should be able to plug in, put the mic up, throw the fader up, and it sounds great. Maybe add a little EQ, but you shouldn’t be fighting to get the tone. It should be coming out of your hands and out of the amp first. If it’s not, you need to start over and make it happen. I have a black PRS Custom 24 that I use a lot, and I have a translucent gray/black Custom 22. I don’t play that one as much because the neck is much fatter and it’s only 22 frets. I’m so used to the 24-fret scale. It’s my goto guitar. I recently purchased, for $180, a Chinese Charvel, a Les Paul style with single cutaway. It’s got the pickups I use a lot in it, the Seymour Duncan Original Blackouts. I reverse the neck with the bridge pickup, because they have the same output, but the neck pickup is a little sweeter-sounding. It doesn’t have the spike in the high end. So I reverse them and that’s my tone. It’s a smoother, nicerto-the-ears sound. I used this little Charvel for most of the new Stryper album that we’re recording. I’m impressed. Twenty-four frets and it sounds amazing. I’m using D’Addario coated hybrid strings, 9-48. They sound great, and they keep their brilliance and tone for the duration. I’m really happy with that guitar. My ESPs are grey and black teardrop Les Paul styles with 24 frets, and then I have a gold top. They both have Duncans in them and they’re great guitars. I use the PRS’s a lot. I have two Miras that I use for Boston and I just love those. They’re so light-

weight, they sound great, they play great, they’re awesome guitars. What do you look for in gear? I just want it to feel right and sound right. It doesn’t always mean having a really expensive piece of gear. It is rare, but sometimes the inexpensive pieces are the ones to go with because they sound the best, like this new Charvel. I have pedals that are real cheap that sound great. That doesn’t always apply to amps. I have some cheap amps, versus my Boogies and Splawns and my Fractal, and typically in those situations the more expensive amps sound better because they are built to sound better. But every now and then I use very inexpensive stuff as well. I tend to stick with one guitar. If I walk in to make an album and I bring five or six guitars, I’ll pick the best out of the lot and use that for the whole album. I don’t like running into intonation and tuning problems, and a lot of times, even though they’re intonated, when you use five or six guitars, much sooner than later you can run into problems.

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When you barre an F# minor chord and you triple or quadruple it with different guitars, you can hear it get real wide in an out-of-tune way. When you use one guitar, it’s in tune with itself and you have less of those problems.

the ministry and message of Stryper they committed their lives to God. That says to me that the way we’ve chosen to do it, the way we’ve been called to do it, absolutely works in a powerful way, and many times much more powerful than had we pulled out a Bible onstage and preached for an hour. Everyone is different, and everyone is called to do it in a different way. We have no regrets. When we look back on the last 30-plus years, we are very pleased to see the results. It’s been an incredibly powerful ministry.

During the ’80s, the so-called hair band era, Stryper was often considered a novelty. Now we have RED, Skillet, Since October, and so many others. The Christian Music genre has expanded into an umbrella for every style. Was Stryper the groundbreaker for this? It feels a little odd to be asked that question, because when I answer it truthfully, it feels like I’m being egotistical or prideful, but I would say yeah, we were around on the frontlines before anyone else. There was Petra, of course, and Rez Band [Resurrection Band], and as much respect as I have for both of them, which is a lot because they’re groundbreakers, I never really put Stryper in the same category. A lot of people do, but Rez Band was more of a bluesy rock band and Petra was a straight-ahead rock band. Stryper wasn’t. We were a metal band. We had pop songs, but we always had that metal influence, that metal edge, and obviously a really different look and sound, so I wouldn’t compare us. That being said, I think for our style of music and our genre, we were the first band to break out doing it, and I think we did help pave the way and set the tone for what followed. Eighties bands caught their share of ridicule. The fact that so many of you are still here while many of those critics and naysayers are long gone must be a nice taste of … is revenge the right word? I think it is. Not so much revenge, but … we’ve always been a band to stick to our roots, stay on our path, stay true to who we are and what we’re all about, and not focus so much on what everyone else is saying is going to happen, or laughing at us, or “You guys are a joke,” or this or that. We’re still here. Like you said, many of the people that used to point a finger at us, they’re not. So that kind of says it all. Some Christian bands use their music and their stage as a ministry. Stryper lets the songs speak for themselves. Was that a conscious decision from the beginning? Yeah, because I knew what it felt like to be preached to as a kid. I hated it. I used to have Arthur Blessitt and his group of people 24

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You admit to having struggled in your faith journey. What brought you back?

come up to me on Sunset Boulevard when I was standing in front of Gazzarri’s, smoking a cigarette, having a beer, and we just played a set. They’d be preaching to me and, good or bad, eventually it took root and I wound up devoting my life to God, but at the time, I hated it. I said to them, “This isn’t the way you’re going to reach me.” A lot of Christian artists are so determined to preach the Gospel that they lose sight of how to preach it. You have to be very cautious. You can reach people, but nine times out of ten they’re not going to want you to come out and perform and then pull out a Bible and talk about God for an hour onstage. You’re going to lose 90 percent of the crowd. In a Christian situation, when they’re performing to Christians, that’s different. I’m talking about performing at the Sweden Rock Festival with a bunch of secular rock bands, and you pull out a Bible and people start booing you and they all walk out. What’s the point of that? There’s a time and a place and a way to do it. With Stryper, the way we’ve done it over the years, we’ve been ridiculed for that because people say, “They’re not real Christians. They don’t preach, they don’t do this, they don’t do that.” No, we don’t, but “you will know them by their fruit,” and Stryper has many fruit. There are a lot of people that we hear from on a daily basis that are now Christians who were once drug addicts, prostitutes, alcoholics, they were in prison, they were this, they were that, and now they’ve devoted their lives to Christ, and some of them are pastors of mega-churches. We’ve met them. Through

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I think God’s grace and His mercy, and seeing that in other people, in my family, in my past. I always come back to God because I always realize that God is the reason for my existence, and how can I deny that? Even if I do for a moment, the reality check is, “How can I?” I’m shaken to wake up and realize, “No. What am I thinking?” We all have thoughts of … not just toward God or our faith, but in life we have those moments of weakness when we think about other things. Then we snap to and say, “What am I doing?” It happens to all of us. But I always come back. I’ve never wandered or strayed for long periods of time, thank God, and here I am, still going. It’s pretty amazing. How does your faith keep you positive and moving forward during stressful times? Staying on the straight and narrow, looking ahead, keeping that focus, and the four of us constantly encouraging one another to do the same. We all inspire each another to stay on the beaten path, and we have for a long time. Is there a passage of Scripture that you turn to most often, or that you feel best defines who you are and who you aspire to be? Call it a cliché or the easy way out, but it’s the truth, and that is the Scripture that Stryper pins to every album, poster, cover, and sticker that we have. Right under our name is Isaiah 53:5. In most translations it says, “By His stripes we are healed.” To me, that sums it all up. By what Christ went through on the cross, He took all, He healed all, if we accept that and believe that. I stick to that Scripture and I cling to it daily. I think it’s one of the most powerful, simple scriptures in the Word of God.

SELECTIVE HEARING

by shawn mclaughlin

Mortar and Stone Jill Phillips St. Jerome Music. www.jillphillips.com

right here if we build our house with mortar and stone. We’re not going down when the wolf comes to blow if we build our house with mortar and stone”

“Mortar & Stone all around us, the ground is opening up with a terrible thirst. And it’s swallowing down all the hope in this town of the way that we were. There’s a smoldering pile where there once was a life, where there once was a home. Now the only safe place takes a village of strength, we can’t do it alone. We’re not going down when the wolf comes to blow if we build our house with mortar and stone. Stones are the ones that we love and they’re gathering up, forming a wall and the mortar within is the time that we’ve spent to set it in strong and it’s a daily build, always some cracks to fill, always some hole in the roof, letting the rain get through. And when it just won’t stop the creek is rising up, running over the banks, can’t keep the flood away but when the water recedes, we’re still standing

The title cut of Jill Phillips typically beautiful new album, MORTAR AND STONE encapsulates the idea of the importance of community. Born out of a particularly difficult time in the lives of her community, Phillips songs are often about the blessings that come out of things believers really don’t care to experience; the brokenness of a hurting world where fear and anxiety are the reality, yet gently expositing that this is exactly where the gospel achieves its greatest relevancy. Produced by Phillip’s husband, Andy Gullahorn, Mortar and Stone is a stripped down affair for the songwriter, and, actually is a piece with Gullahorn’s own recent solo work, BEYOND THE FRAME, as both records detail the idea of bearing one another’s burdens and how God’s grace and mercy are often accomplished through our relationships with each other. It is obvious

when putting the couples’ songs side by side that they come from intertwined lives, reflecting similar themes that are drawn from their life together and what they are learning through shared circumstance. The increased use of piano is another similarity in the two records and nowhere is this better illustrated on MORTAR AND STONE than in the aforementioned title cut and the subsequent track, “It Will Pass” which embellishes a strong, traditional gospel feel (terrific vocal call and response section) with a compelling string arrangement that buoys the emotional content of the song. The project is filled with the stuff of real life, inspired by walking through some pretty tough situations with friends from their close-knit neighborhood. Ultimately, Phillips music will ring true to anyone who finds themselves in a place of fear, pain or anxiety and lead them to acknowledging such, realizing that, by doing so, they are bringing the gospel to bear on their circumstance, which is a very different thing than wallowing in it.

Fighting a War Greg Adkins Self Released iTunes, Amazon.com, CDBaby

ply. He tends to fill his tales with the stuff of everyday life that many of today’s more vertical oriented songwriters purposely avoid. You know, things like doubt, love of family, and the importance of transcending feelings of human inadequacy to be an effective parent/role model. The songs on FIGHTING A WAR fit into a few sub categories. There are cuts focusing on societal ills such as letting the difficulties of this life affect the way we go about the day to day (“Fighting a War”), how the distractions of modern culture/technology affect personal interaction (“Look Up”), and the tendency people have of putting on facades in lieu of authentic living (“Highlight Reel”). There are Adkin’s reflections on his kids – “Pink Room” the beautiful tome on the innocence and wonder that the arrival of his adopted daughter brought to the family and the poignant “Pluto” a song rejoicing in the humility and perspective that raising his son has engendered.

The terrific “Light In the Dark” is a mission statement of sorts that examines what drives Adkins to pursue a music career, as well as the artists that have influenced his artistry. While there is a rather depressing ballad about unrequited love (“Barrel of Rain) it is quickly followed by the album ending song of encouragement, “Better Days”. Musically, Adkins is best described as “Americana” with strong country and folk influences. The characteristic of his music that has remained consistent over the course of his career is a truly admirable ability to write melodic lines that are eminently musical while retaining a very universal appeal. He is, simply a marvelous tunesmith. Honestly, there are very few artists, Christian or otherwise, that have impacted me intellectually and emotionally in the way that Greg Adkins has and FIGHTING A WAR beautifully illustrates his strength and beauty as an artist. Please pick up his music!

Greg Adkins is likely my very favorite artist that virtually no one has heard of. He has been making absolutely stellar music, sporadically since 2005. We have reviewed all of his proper releases as I feel there are few finer songwriters in the country and I view it as my personal mission to make sure as many people as possible hear his music. His newest release, FIGHTING A WAR comes seven years since CHASE THE WESTERN SKY and is informed by the many changes Adkins and family have gone through in the subsequent years. Adkins is very much a writer whose songs and stories are informed by his Christian worldview but his music’s appeal is much broader than that would im-

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Hush Davia Self released. Itunes, Amazon.com Davia is an uber talented and very young

Look Up Jonathan Rundman SaltLady Records www.jonathanrundman.com LOOK UP is the anticipated new release from Minneapolis-based singer/songwriter Jonathan Rundman, his first album of all new songs since 2004. His ten year hiatus was spent caring for his newborn children and exploring his Finnish heritage by playing Nordic folk music. With the guidance of ace producer Matt Patrick, Rundman turns in a hi-fi power-pop tour de force, backed by a crew of young Minnesota rock virtuosos and a surprising cast of ‘80s-era cult-favorite guest

(16) young lady who has a very advanced feel for poetic lyrics married with sparse, but creative instrumental arrangements featuring guitars, strings and layered harmonies all sung in a very likeable, yet idiosyncratic manner. The 6 songs on this EP all belie their simplicity with surprisingly sophisticat-

ed melodies and chord structures. The lyrics are both confessional and narrative, often portraying situations not uncommon for a teenager to experience. If you are looking for something a little bit off the beaten path, yet still very arresting, HUSH might be the project for you.

stars. Included in that list are Brent Bourgeois, Parthenon Huxley (The Eels and ELO) Walter Salas-Humara (The Silos) and former Audio Adrenaline (and current Leagues) guitarist Tyler Burkum. Along with Rundman’s familiar midwestern rock, power pop amalgam is a bit of the cur-

rent synthesizer pop that populates Taylor Swift’s 1989 album. Rundman is a practicing Lutheran who writes songs about his family and everyday life as seen through the lens of faith. Any fans of great 80’s college artists like The Replacements, The Shoes, Marshall Crenshaw or Elvis Costello will love the compact, tuneful pop rock on LOOK UP.

SHUBB CAPOS

Only To Rise Sweet & Lynch Frontiers Music At 50 years old, Michael Sweet is in the middle of one of the most prolific periods of his storied music career. As if a new solo album, a long awaited autobiography and quite possibly the best album of Stryper’s 30 year career weren’t enough, Sweet has assembled a supergroup of sorts for his latest project, Sweet & Lynch. The Lynch of course refers to legendary guitarist, George Lynch, best known for his pioneering work with 80’s metal icons, Dokken, and his own well received, Lynch Mob. Rounding out the band are one of the hardest working (and most talented) drummers in the business, Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner) and the criminally underrated bassist behind such notables as White Lion, Megadeth and Black Label Society, James Lomenzo. It’s a formidable group, and Only to Rise delivers on all of it’s promise. I have to say it’s really refreshing to hear Sweet unencumbered by the weight of 26

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After

years

still the best! info@shubb.com • www.shubb.com 707-843-4068

secular lyrics. Don’t get me wrong, you’re certainly not going to mistake this album for a new King Diamond record, but I’ve always wondered what Michael would sound like in a straight forward rock band setting. Sonically it falls somewhere between a Michael Sweet solo album and a Stryper album - not quite as ballad heavy as the former, but not full on metal like the latter. The opening track, “The Wish”, is probably the most reminiscent of Sweet’s solo work. It’s a track that could’ve easily found a home on Truth or I’m Not Your Suicide. With a catchy hook and a Dokkenesque solo, it’s a nice way to kick off the album. If “The Wish” is a pretty straightforward Sweet tune, Lynch puts his stamp on “Dying Rose”. You’ll find all of the cool, little embellishments over the verse and throughout the chorus that Lynch is known for. The band slows things down a bit with a patented Sweet ballad, “Love Stays”, before breaking into the cool, mid tempo rocker, “Time Will Tell”, underscored by a great, galloping Lomenzo bass line. Tichy goes John Bonham for the fifth track, “Rescue Me”, which leads into the most hauntingly beautiful guitar in-

tro (and my current favorite track) on “Me Without You”. Sweet delivers some of his best vocals here, and although it’s a ballad the song also features one of best guitar solos of the album. “Recover” finds Michael stretching his pipes to hit those Stryper high notes. It’s also notable for George’s rare use of Wah Pedal. There’s a cool dichotomy between the sludgy riff and the melodic chorus of the album’s eighth track, “Divine”, which is followed up by the poignant rocker, “September”. WTC themed songs are a tricky proposition, and many bands have tried and failed over the last decade to record a meaningful one. Sweet nails it here with a lyric that’s inspiring without being too schmaltzy - it’s one of the highlights of the album. “Strength in Numbers” is a solid rallying cry that finds the band joining in on the uplifting chorus. There’s not a clunker to be found on ONLY TO RISE, but truth be told if there’s one song that underwhelms me a bit it’s track eleven, “Hero-Zero”. Lyrically it’s a little cheesy (sorry Michael), but the whole thing is saved by Tichy and Lomenzo’s Queensryche inspired groove. The Van Halen inspired closer (and title track),

“Only to Rise,” is also the heaviest track on the album, and leaves you wanting more all the way to Tichy’s Nick Menza/Paranoid moment. Sweet & Lynch is legit, and ONLY TO RISE was well worth waiting for. My only beef with the album is that there simply isn’t enough of Sweet’s guitar playing. I don’t think people understand what a great player he is, and I would’ve loved to have heard him go toe to toe with George in some dual leads. At the end of the day however, I understand that ONLY TO RISE is a song based, rock album and not necessarily geared toward guitar nerds. In that regard it absolutely succeeds. Hopefully there will be an eventual follow up, and we’ll be treated to even more.

Shawn McLaughlin is a hard-working, dedicated, tireless worshipper of Christ.

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MAR/APR 2015

Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil Strike Aluminum!

by Shawn McLaughlin

Steve Taylor. The last time Christian music fans heard any new music from this fellow was in 1993, back in the glory days of the Christian alternative scene… which, ironically, no longer exists, now that our hero has awakened from his long musical slumber to entreat us with a brilliant new record that, typically, is impossible to categorize. In the time since we last heard from Mr. Taylor, he has been involved in virtually all other aspects of the media: He started the quite successful Squint record label which was home to such critical darlings as Burlap to Cashmere, Chevelle and Waterdeep, as well as Sixpence None the Richer, whom Taylor and Co directed to unprecedented levels of mainstream success with their self titled 1997 album and the ever present “Kiss Me” single. He also fulfilled his dream of becoming a filmmaker by directing and co-writing the movie “The Second Chance” and went 28

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about the long, frustrating process of writing, directing and raising funds for his own film adaptation of the Donald Miller bestseller, “Blue Like Jazz” which occupied many years of Taylor’s professional life before finally coming to fruition. During one of the many “waiting” periods during which funding for the film looked like it would never happen, Taylor decided to start making music again. He gave his friend and longtime collaborator, former Newsboys drummer and frontman, Peter Furler a call and began talking about musicians they would both like to work with. Before long, they had completed a foursome made up of some of the best, most celebrated - while simultaneously being among the least known – musicians in the business. Rounding out the quartet of Taylor on lead vocals and Furler on drums, were studio musician/producer/ engineer extraordinaire, John Mark Painter

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on bass (how many of you remember the brilliant Fleming and John?) and former Vector, Charlie Peacock Trio and Ragamuffin Band guitarist, Jimmy Abegg, who also recorded a couple of terrific solo records as Jimmy A. They began recording close to 5 years ago and, on November 18th 2014 unveiled the long awaited fruit of their storied collaboration. Here, in the pages of this very magazine, is the story of how the making of Goliath came to pass: CM: After such a long break from focusing much time on your music, what was the impetus for jumping back into the fray? Steve Taylor: My recollection is that it originated out of the frustration I was feeling from 3+ years of failure trying to get the “Blue Like Jazz” movie funded. Peter and I discussed forming some sort of band, as the

thought of making music sounded infinitely more enjoyable than going through another season of failed fundraising. CM: I assume that you all were pretty familiar with each other from years in the business and, especially, living in Nashville. Was the collaborative effort pretty much what you expected? Was there anything about working with the other members that particularly surprised you? Peter Furler: The biggest surprise for me was the group cohesiveness. Not that I didn’t think there would be a great deal of respect and consideration toward each other’s creative offerings, there certainly was and is. To form a band with four diverse artists… heck, to have two artists in a room can oftentimes be… two too many! ST&TPF was not the case; quite the opposite. Jimmy’s guitar ideas were another ‘’over the top’’ experience for me. I always knew he was great, but if the rest of the world knew how epic he is, then we could not afford him. John plays pretty much everything exceptionally well, no surprise for those who know him. This record was a great reminder of that for me, along with a new revelation of his engineering/ mixing skills (up to par with his musical!). I really enjoyed having a front row seat while he dialed in many a colorful guitar tone palate for Jimmy to paint with. John Mark Painter: I used to sit in my room back in the day and practice bass to some of Steve’s old records as well as Jimmy’s (Vector). Plus, I played on several Newsboys records so we have lots of history. We all pretty much knew what we were getting into I think. The roles we play have been particularly interesting. Steve is a ‘planner’. Peter comes in and creates some chaos. Jimmy comes in and creates crazy spontaneous/abstract parts and noises. I try to create order. Fun stuff. CM: What is the story behind how you assembled this particular group of musicians? Aside from Mr. Furler, who is quite well known, it seems that this band is made up of people who are musician’s musicians... that while achieving high regard among their peers, have been a bit anonymous to the record buying public at large. Did this fact play into your desire to work with them? Steve Taylor: I’d worked with John off and on over the last few decades, he’s simply the best musician I’ve ever worked with. And Jimmy and I have been friends since

he came to Nashville about six months after we arrived from California. It turns out we went to the same high school in Denver and even played in the same high school jazz band, although he graduated the year before I started. Peter has known John and Jimmy for almost as long, and we all get along really well, so it never really feels like work. (Until we have to do a photo shoot.) Jimmy Abegg: Yeah. First of all, Peter still lived in Nashville when we first got together (he lives in Florida now). During that time, I always thought the world of him. We’d been great friends for about as long as we’ve both been in Nashville, since 1992 or ‘93. The Newsboys were trying to recruit me for their band and unfortunately, we were never able to achieve that but we took the opportunity to work together if we could, whenever we could. I did a few things on Newsboys projects over the years, so we developed a good friendship. The big surprise for me was when Peter and I were working together, maybe 5 years ago, writing songs with the idea of maybe doing an ambient Hymns record. He invited me to join the band he had cooked up with Steve Taylor. Of course I was flabbergasted and said yes immediately. Much to my excitement and surprise, they had also talked to John Painter about joining... I had met John in about 1989. Anyway, just the fact we all got together in the first place was a great big surprise and a welcome invitation to do something different. CM: Did you feel that you needed the collaborative process with these very fine musicians to help you get adjusted to the thought of making music again after such a long absence? Steve: Definitely. I wouldn’t have made another album working strictly on my own. The appeal for me was in collaborating with friends. CM: Increasingly, more subtle, artistic and layered art is becoming more and more marginalized in the industry (especially the faith based construct). Is this, perhaps, one of the reasons that it took so long for you to release new music? Steve: I was originally planning on recording a new album while I had the Squint label, but I was too distracted. I could never finish the songs, and I didn’t want to put anything out that I felt was inferior to my prior album. The long gap was nobody’s fault but mine. CM: What would you say is a prominent message you are trying to impart with Goliath?

Steve, do you feel there is an overarching concept/message to your work (in both film and music) as a whole? Steve: I’m not sure there’s any one theme uniting the album, but I was recently on a panel of filmmakers and got asked that same question. I haven’t thought about it much, but the movies I’ve done tend to feature selfconfident protagonists who find themselves in an alien environment. And, even though they’re a little slow on the uptake, they eventually get schooled. Which is how I feel most of the time. The song “In Layers” speaks to that: ‘Now you’re the last to learn they aren’t what they appear.’ I think it was the novelist Jim Thompson who said, “There is only one plot — things are not what they seem.” CM: How do you feel Goliath is being received by your longtime fans? Do you sense that you have picked up many new listeners? Steve: In the Kickstarter campaign, we suggested that even though most artists get worse as they get older, isn’t it at least statistically possible to get better? I think longtime fans have been surprised at how much they like the album. One of the reasons it took so long to finish is that I really wanted it to be the best album I’ve ever worked on. CM: Steve, I think your vocal performance on Goliath is the most impressive of your career. Is their any specific thing to which you would attribute this growth? Steve: I’m a very slow learner. CM: John, you played bass in The Perfect Foil but also contributed on many other instruments as well. How is it that you developed such versatility? John Mark Painter: I studied a lot of different instruments and music theory when I was pretty young. So I’m just basically still doing ‘playtime’ when I am in the studio. Thankfully, the other guys don’t mind. CM: As someone who has been somewhat successful on a label, what do you see as plusses and minuses with becoming more self reliant in the creating, recording and marketing of your music? Steve: I don’t think the album would exist without Kickstarter. I didn’t have the money to fund it myself, and I can’t imagine ever again recording for a traditional record label. If Squint existed today, we’d probably be happy to sign with them. It’s nice having a dedicated team supporting your efforts

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projects I’ve been associated with in the past... that is, always having a band member, or producer, or sideman whose intent was making something successful. That wasn’t the focus of this project. We certainly wouldn’t reject success but the truth is, the making of the music was success enough. The sheer pleasure of getting to play together, enjoying each other’s company was something that, at least in my experience, hadn’t really happened before.... and I’ve been in a lot of bands with a lot of different guys over the years but this just had a very different approach because we didn’t have a record label trying to tell us what to do. We didn’t have radio hoping for a certain kind of song. We really were left to our own devices to come up with a thing that was strong, innovative and expressive in ways that we all felt in common. Peter: Hmm… collectively we have a clearer awareness now of what sucks? Not to forget of course through the years we have gained loving wives and honest friends who help us to avoid that. as opposed to dictating what’s commercially acceptable but there’s not a situation I’m aware of like that in existence today. I suppose “Splint” is a play on the idea that the music business is completely broken. CM: Obviously, each of you have logged many years in the music industry, Christian and otherwise. Considering that this band is considered a “new” act, in what ways do you think your collective “experience” has benefited the work you have done together? Jimmy: That’s a good question. The truth of the matter is, at the time, we spent 35 years of collective work, both together and apart, achieving many diverse things. Peter in the Newsboys, Steve… a host of things, me, lots of different stuff, John... well, all over 30

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the place. The idea was that we could do something that was the outcome of our different collective experiences. We knew what we didn’t want to do... let’s put it that way. We didn’t want to create a record that presented us as just trying to get attention or trying to write the next hit song. We felt that the best approach for us was to get in a room together and goof off… with ideas that originated either with Peter or with one of us and bring something to the music that was not necessarily commercially driven. That created an environment where we had a whole lot of fun making songs as we went along to the point where we collected so many ideas that we finally had to resolve to finish, at least, ten of them so that we could share with the rest of the world the fun we were having. That’s quite a bit different than most of the

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CM: Conversely, has the perception of you as an “older” band affected the way you have gone about marketing the music? Peter: I’m just the drummer, Mate. CM: Peter, I’m on record as stating that I was thoroughly surprised with how much your drumming chops stood out on Goliath in relation to past work. Is this something you noticed also and, if so, to what do you attribute the peak performance? Maybe the excitement of fresh collaboration perhaps? Peter: I’m sure you’ve heard the saying ‘If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room”. I was in the right room, with the right people. I felt inspired each time we got together. I did feel I was

entering into a new chapter as a drummer and as an artist. A type of independence I had not had since my late teens, combined now with experience, plus a confidence I didn’t have in those early years. I think the personality of most musicians influence their playing. As a drummer, I am a minimalist, bordering on an awkward silence. Though every now and then my inner teen overplays to the edge of frightful. Yet always hoping the end result was best for the song. We never over planned or rehearsed much; we would just work on a song we wanted to work on that particular day. I would play what I felt like playing at that moment for that tune. We would pick the best take out of two or three and be done with it. On to the next; don’t over think it. We trusted each other. I liked that.

Jimmy: I think the biggest surprise for me was just the band and the thrill of playing interesting rock and roll as it relates to all my years with the Ragamuffin band (which was a lot more folk rock or Americana) or my years with Vector (which was kind of a New Wave approach) and my years with Charlie Peacock (which was definitely more of an R&B/ pop and even jazz approach). This is the first time that I’ve really ever been able to be a regular, rock and roll guitar player. It’s been a thrill to play straight up rock and roll. I think that’s what we were trying to tap into because I have a unique approach to guitar playing and we wanted some of that raw, unabashed abandon of the early punk/ new wave days. That was a key to making a perfect, Perfect Foil record. CM: If you do another musical project in the near future, do you plan to continue working as The Perfect Foil or do you feel that the pursuit of artistic growth entails changing things up? Steve: When it comes to promising new

photos: Frank Ockenfels

CM: Jimmy, what did this collaboration bring out in your playing that, maybe, hadn’t been there before in some of your previous work.

music, why would anyone ever believe anything I say? CM: I know that The Clash had a big influence on your music from a creative standpoint. Do you have any musical influences that might surprise our readers? Steve: Funny, I’m actually watching a recent Clash documentary on VH1 while I write this, which is once again serving to remind my why I love that band. I’m not particularly nostalgic when it comes to music. There’s never been a time when I couldn’t find plenty of new bands to admire. It’s a pretty great time to be making music, especially in Nashville. There’s no wave to ride, so just about anything goes if it’s good. One

of the albums that has given me the most joy in the last year is Half-Handed Cloud’s “Flying Scroll Flight Control.” (Writer’s note: Steve Taylor and the Perfect Foil are currently on tour with Half-Handed Cloud’s label heads/mates, The Danielson Family) CM: What song that you did not write, do you wish you had? (not counting Happy Birthday!) Steve: Like the rest of the planet, I think Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is pretty close to a perfect song… although it may not need all 80 verses.

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MAR/APR 2015

TAKING THE STAGE

by tom jackson

Thou Shalt Not Think Onstage Stop thinking when you’re on the stage! I mean it. If you’re standing onstage and thinking about what you’re going to say, where you’re going to move, what notes you’re trying to sing, what the lyrics are, how you look… then you’ve got a problem (even if you don’t realize it). Or maybe it’s another singer or player in the audience you’re thinking about. Someone you really admire, or an important music industry professional… so you’re thinking about how they like what you’re doing. Well, if you’re thinking onstage, then you’ve already lost. The problem with “thinking” onstage: you’re thinking about the wrong thing. The Opposite of Love Ultimately, when you are thinking about yourself, or you’re thinking about whether that important person in the audience likes what you are doing, that means you are selfconscious. Almost every time I go to a concert and I’m backstage before the show begins. Inevitably the artist sees me and says “any last words?” And all I can say to them is, “love your audience.” I can’t tell them to move over here, create a moment there, do this song a certain way… there’s no time for anything more than the best quick advice I can give them. “Love your audience.” So what does that mean? Well, it means you’re not thinking onstage. If you are loving your audience perfectly, you’re thinking about them. In fact, you’re not even thinking about them, you’re just giving yourself to them. It means you’ve left yourself behind. Are You Running Around Naked? You know the story — the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, created, in the garden, running around naked. Do you know why

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they didn’t even know they were naked? Because they were perfect, loving each other, loving God, not being self-conscious. It changed when they disobeyed and ate the fruit. They became self-conscious. Instead of thinking about each other, they started thinking about themselves, and they realized, “oh my goodness, I’m naked!” Most of us have the tendency to do the same thing onstage.

Once you have learned the fundamentals, done some planning (gotten a vision for your show), and practiced the music with the band, that’s when you start really rehearsing. (But that’s a “whole-nother article” for a different time!) And that’s when you begin to feel comfortable with yourself onstage. You’ve gotten the important stuff into your head, and you’ve gone over and over it until it feels good. And after you really start to “feel it” instead of “think it,” then you begin to own what you’re doing.

Now I doubt you’re running around naked onstage. But you do the same thing when you think, “Oh no, that person’s looking at me funny,” “How do I sound?” “How do I smell,” “How do I look,” “The guitar player’s looking at me weird.” You’re thinking… about yourself.

Now you’re no longer thinking about it, trying to find it – you’re completely owning it. And that’s where spontaneity is able to come in; that’s when you can go to the next place.

The other thing that will happen when you’re “thinking” onstage is that much of what you do can look a little too canned. Maybe even downright hokey. If you are thinking about what you’re doing and where you’re moving, then it will be uncomfortable for you and will look stilted to your audience.

All of this is part of a good, solid foundation, which does more to prepare you for success than anything else. You need to understand and develop the mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual parts of you and what you understand about your audience in order to have a successful career.

You can tell when you’ve gotten to the place where you are past the problem of thinking onstage. Because all of a sudden you’ll realize it’s much easier to be spontaneous!

Most artists have an unsteady foundation because they have failed to deal with what is going on at a personal level inside of themselves and their audience.

How to Get to That Spontaneous Place

By understanding these concepts and by working on the fundamentals until you don’t feel self-conscious, you can begin to give your audience what they want and what they deserve.

First, you need to do a lot of woodshedding. You know about woodshedding your instrument or your voice… you practice and practice and practice, before you get into the rehearsal room with the rest of the players. You work on technique and fundamentals until you feel so comfortable playing the songs you don’t have to think about them. Well, the same woodshedding is necessary for your onstage skills as well. You need to learn the five places onstage, the four ways to move, angles, the technique for using a mic stand, putting pressure on the audience, etc., etc. You need to woodshed those skills until you don’t need to think about them.

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Tom Jackson, world renowned Live Music Producer, author of the book Tom Jackson’s Live Music Method and the All Roads Lead to the Stage DVD series, is a master at transforming an artist’s live show into a life-changing experience for the audience! Tom has worked with 100’s of artists in every genre, including major artists like Taylor Swift, Francesca Battistelli, LeCrae, Jars of Clay, The Band Perry, and more. He also shares his expertise as a highly demanded speaker at colleges, conferences & events worldwide.

The Capo Company

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PRODUCT REVIEW REV: Playing in Reverse New sounds are always inspiring to me. This month I’m pumped to review a new Virtual instrument called REV for the KONTAKT platform.

Dark Grungy loops, Acoustic pianos, guitars, even glass and twisted Percussion instrument loops. I absolutely love this engine. You can mangle these sounds even further with the built in effects. The loops can be played half time, double time, and up or down an octave as well. I spent a lot of time auditioning the loops and am really impressed with the scope of this particular engine.

REV is an exciting new virtual instrument containing a collection of four engines and over 1000 sounds that all play in reverse, and in real time. Over two years in development, REV is the first product from the young Los Angeles based company Output. The company was started by three friends all having backgrounds in software development and film, as writers, producers and musicians. OUT OF THE BOX: Well actually a download. Pretty painless, there is a little program called Connect that handles the download and shows you the status of the download content in a little Dialog box and yes it does take a while. There is a whopping 14GB of content compressed into the Kontakt nkx Format making it about 6.9 GB of data. REV runs as an instrument inside the Kontakt5 platform. I didn’t have Kontakt and went to the Native Instrument site to download the free Kontakt5 Player version. I had an initial issue with PT11 crashing but after a reinstall of Kontakt Player everything was good. It’s important to install according to the specific instructions on the website. After getting Kontakt happy in Pro Tools, I added the Rev instrument and it showed up just like it’s supposed to. The interface is well thought out and beautiful to look at. UNDER THE HOOD: Rev consists of four individual engines with over 1000 preset sounds. My hat’s off to the guys at Output. This must have taken a ton of time to put together. Each engine has a well thought out keyboard layout of amazing samples all played in reverse. The four engines are Instruments, Timed Instruments, Loops and Rises. Each one has it’s own color and personality. Each one also comes with it’s own specific preset library. All four engines have similar features so once you get one figured out they all make sense. They each have several filter options, both amplifier and filter envelopes, along with a Stutter gate that can play in sync controlling volume and pitch. There’s also a row of effects that you can dive into that are very good and user friendly. The effects can be automated and also triggered by an external key input. They in-

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by michael hodge

clude Distortion, Delay, Reverbs, Filters, Lo-Fi, Chorus and a Speaker Emulator that’s great on the guitar patches. Engaging the effects allows for an amazing number of possibilities. Each of the four REV engines are color-coded. The “Orange” INSTRUMENTS engine has a collection thirteen Preset folders that contain up to 60 individual presets inside. The presets consist of two separate layered samples that work together and can be customized, synced, edited or played individually. They also have global FX that affect the sum of the two. The 450 basic sounds give you a great starting point. Each sound can be played in one of four ways, One Shot Dry, One Shot Wet, Looped Pad or Forward playback (that plays the sound in original pre-reversed form). The “Yellow” TIMED INSTRUMENTS engine is similar to Instruments. The difference is that it has it’s own banks of Tempo locked sounds. This allows each sample set to play in locked tempo as a Whole note, Half note or Quarter note form. This is super convenient and allows you to choose how long it takes for the notes to loop depending on your tempo and how rhythmic your keyboard part is. There are a ton of cool reversed Pulsing samples that all sync to your DAW. The luscious tempo locked pads will inspire you to the coolest sound scapes ever. The “Blue ”LOOPS engine is full of hundreds of live recorded loops. You will find 15 presets, and each one has 24 different loops mapped out on the keyboard at the bottom of the instrument. More than one loop can be played at a time. There are loads to choose from, including

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Lastly, the “green” RISES engines are just what you would expect. (A RISE is a term describing a whoosh or some sound that transitions you into a new part of the song.) For music production they are amazing, and perfect for transitions. These aren’t just typical reverse Piano or Cymbal rises, this engine gives tons of creative possibilities. The RISES are also arranged in convenient lengths, from 1-quarter note up to 4 bars long. I found them very useful to add either subtle or dramatic sounds to signal a change is coming. Adding effects like delays or modulation takes them to another level. Also because of the way the split keyboards are laid out you can play multiple rises at the same time if you like. MY CONCLUSION: REV is a deep synth that will definitely pull you in. It’s one of the most original products I’ve seen in a long time. I got that “I wish I would of thought of that” feeling because it’s so dang cool! It’s extremely well laid out. The way the interface is set up is very simple and intuitive. Note to self: there isn’t an owner’s manual. There are a number of videos though, and a handy pop up help feature. I have had fun showing REV to my friends, and seeing their initial reactions. If you are doing any kind of film composing or music for video it will become a good friend. If you do any EDM stuff it’s a must have. Looking for some fresh tonal inspiration? REV will open up a whole world of creativity and tonal complexities that will blow your socks off. I give it a 10 out of 10 for both sound and originality. At $199.00 the price is right too. For more info and a fourteen day money back guarantee visit here. http://outputsounds.com

Michael Hodge is the music director and guitarist for Lakewood Church in Houston, TX

A True Custom Shop Santa Cruz Guitar Company

INDIE MECHANICS

by keith mohr & sue ross-mohr

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE There are blogs written for everything under the sun. The Internet has provided a platform to those who have something to teach, to share and to say. If you want to know ‘how’ to do something, all you need to do is ‘google’ it and in a millisecond you can pick from a smorgasboard of instructional videos and blogs. There are a vast array of teachers available, on so many levels, providing you with information on different subjects from all around the world. Some ask for a fee, many have sponsors and still others just want to share what they know with an audience at large. Not everyone has an agenda. People just want to take advantage of a platform that allows them to contribute their experience and/or expertise. What an exciting time it is for you as a Christian musician. You have the ability to be a teacher who teaches teachers to teach. What an awesome way to share your music with others, with a twist. You can always knowledge choose from knowledge that you have gleaned from someone else or personal experience. I’ve always found that when I’m in the teacher’s seat, it is then that I truly learn. Reiterating what I have learned, tends to always take me back to the time when that information was gathered. In this stage of processing information, I recollect valuable pieces that may have been laid to the side for future reference. It never fails. These nuggets seem to appear out of nowhere coming back to the frontal lobe at lightning speed. Isn’t that how it always is when we share? We get blessed in the midst of our giving. You may be saying, “How can I teach, when I’m in the learning seat?” Have you ever gone to a movie and were so impacted by the production, the writing or the characters that you couldn’t wait to tell someone else

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about it? The same is true with your craft. Sharing what you learn helps you to not only retain more of what you have learned, but also spurs you to deeper thought. While you are in the realm of teaching, you are also letting individuals know that you are out there with your talent. It goes back to that profound statement, “If you don’t tell them you are out there, how will they know that you are out there?” A win-win situation. Here are just a few ways how you can implement this idea. Put together a YouTube video of a new riff or lick that you just learned and show how you incorporated it in a new song that you wrote. Our friend, Brandon Bagby, who has landed the lead guitar position in “Audio Adrenaline 3.0”, shared his knowledge and skills via videos he posted on You Tube. Write an instructional blog about how you successfully sold merchandise at your last event, along with shooting a video of your merchandise table and share how you assembled your display. Grab that smart phone and put together a visual of your new stage setup and show how you plan on presenting your set to your next audience. Create a special section on your website and then spread the link around. This way, you cannot only see stats on how people are engaging your content, but you will build your audience in a unique way. Provide a blog with the stages of your songwriting that led up to a great new offering. Take photos of how the writing progressed. Each sheet that was written and scratched out, and rewritten. People will find it interesting. The visual has emotion attached to it. The manuscript of Don McLean’s song “Bye, Bye Miss American Pie” is expected

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to fetch over 1.5 millions dollars at auction! If you have a creative process that is different from the norm, prepare that in an array of visual photos. Step by step. Put together an interview with a group of songwriters, ask them questions about their creative process and then share the answers with your audience. These are just a few ideas, but you get the picture. Share what you do and then what you do will become public. These days, people are drawn more to the artist than their art. Popular artists do newsworthy activities to insure publicity. What are you doing in your community that is newsworthy? Think about what you can do to create something newsworthy. Always make sure that you provide a way for people to comment, share, view your website and to engage you. So many great things can happen when you share for sharing sake. Creatively His, Keith and Sue Mohr MOHR CREATIVE GROUP www.mohrcreativegroup.com Keith Mohr and Sue Ross-Mohr of “The Mohr Creative Group” have years of experience serving independent Christian artists, musicians and songwriters. Keith founded www.indieheaven.com in 2002, the leading portal for Christian independent music. Sue RossMohr founded www.theinnervizion.com in 2003, a creative promotions /marketing/ consulting service to individuals and companies worldwide. Also check out www.indiemechanics.com for more helpful info!

5 Cool Things I Saw at NAMM… with Bruce Adolph & Guest Reporters This NAMM Show was one of the best yet (and I have 34 or so of them under my belt now from the annual migration to the Anaheim Convention Center). I have been giving the NAMM Show Report in Christian Musician for as long as I can remember and this year I had several good reporters roaming the 1,500 plus exhibit booths (amongst 90,000 attendees) to find you some interesting new gear to consider for your musical instrument needs. Those are included here in our annual “5 Cool Things…” report. For my own “5” I am going to take a different tact. These are the 5 cool moments I experienced on the convention floor or during the off hours at NAMM. 5 things that impressed me… 1). In four full days though literally dozens of meetings I did not hear the words “bad economy” even once. For the past six or seven years that was not the case. The attendance at the show and the positive vibe on the floor was robust. 2). In my meeting with Sweetwater (they help distribute our Collectible Guitar – Then & Now magazine in their guitar product related orders) I was told that they sold 71,500 guitars last year. This is remarkable as this company started out many years ago driving from church to church selling Tapco mixing boards out of the owners VW van. They are a Christian based company that is kicking bottom in the retail sector by providing great customer service. Go baby go! 3). At our Night of Worship concert (which was amazing – you can read more about it in our other pub Worship Musician!) a brave 38

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man walks forward in front of 1,500 folks and answers the pastors altar call. That was a moment!

sequencing, vocoding, and rapid loop development. $499.00 2). Roli Seaboard

4). The Sunday morning Musician’s Chapel we hold was another victorious time of fellowship amongst believers finding refuge in worship music led by Bob Bennett and a uplifting word delivered by David Ellefson (yes, the bass player for Megadeth was our guest pastor – how cool is that?). 5). I ran into a friend who owns a gear company who had just lost his wife one month earlier to cancer. I threw all business talk out the window and spent some deep moments with him “mourning with those who mourn” and tried my best to encourage him during this season of his life. I have walked down that same road before and the Lord knew that we should connect. So there is my side of things at NAMM… let’s see what our reporters came up with gear wise (and yes, why are three of the four reporters names all Michael?).

Michael Daleo

1). Roland JDXi The JDXi is a powerful, compact synth utilizing a wide range of Roland’s high-quality SuperNATURAL synth tones. This model stands apart from the pack with intuitive controls for

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A unique expressive keyboard instrument that offers a soft touch and continuous control of synth software. Changes in dynamic expression, pitch control, vibrato and more can be made through the soft keys or the glissando ribbons. $1,999.00 3). Roland Blues Cube Roland’s new Blues Cube is one of the new breeds of amps offering vintage amp tone and response with modern t e c h n o l o g y. Versatile, lightweight and most importantly… beautiful sounding. Unique to this model is the Tone Capsule technology, currently being endorsed by guitar legend Eric Johnson. $699.00 4). Nord Electro 5d The Nord electro has long been known as having some of the most stellar Piano/

Rhodes/Organ samples on the market. The 5d has several new enhancements, most notably the ability to split and layer... traditionally reserved for Nord flagship models. $2,500 5). Line 6 G70 Relay This innovative wireless receiver package from Line 6 breaks new ground by letting guitarists route up to three different transmitters into one base unit. Imagine having one wireless receiver for three instruments. Plus the receiver is programmable and built like a tank! $499

Michael Hodge 1). Boss ES-8 Boss came to the show with several cool things. The ES-8 Effects Switching System is an 8 channel programmable loop pedal switcher with Midi and more. This looks amazing. MSRP $975.00 Street $699.00 2). Boss BB1-X A new Bass pedal from Boss, the BB1-X. Endorsed by guys like Will Lee, this is one sweet

Bass pedal. MSRP #258.00 Street $159.00

Jeffrey B. Scott

3). Fender Hot Rod DeVille ML 212 A new amp - the Hot Rod DeVille ML 212. It’s 60 Watts w/ 2 Celestions. This amp was designed with session ace Michael Landau. MSRP is $1099.99 4). ProTools 12 & PT First Avid has come up with a subscription based plan for ProTools 12. It is largely based on the ability to easily collaborate in real time on line via the Cloud. The upgrade runs $199.00 a year. Also new is ProTools First which is free. If you need extra plug ins etc. you can rent them. MSRP $199.00 upgrade from PT11

1). Doppler Labs DUBS Acoustic Filters DUBS are highly engineered acoustic filters, designed to give you a great sonic experience, only with a lower dB level that seriously curtails hearing damage. Way beyond the old, low-tech dense foam earplugs, these are engineered to provide protection in high-volume situations but still retaining sonic clarity and fidelity. $25 2). PRS Guitars

5). Spectrasonics Omnisphere

2.0 is coming out April 30th. Brand new interface, 10,000 new sounds, and a ton more stuff. Stay tuned for a review. MSRP $499.00 upgrade $250.00

SE Angelus A10E - priced to move ($599!), built to play great, this guitar from PRS answered the question of which acoustic I’m buying next! Designed in Maryland, PRS has taken great pains to make this a quality instrument, but still keep it at a great price. 3). 1964ears Read up on their ADEL technology, it’s fascinating science! A new development in In-Ear Monitoring that

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really sets 1964 apart. An in-ear company concerned about your hearing!

Michael Elsner

4). Presonus Ace Baker s h o w e d Capture software at its finest, recording 48 tracks of audio through cascading StudioLive consoles at a recent Sammy Hagar/Chickenfoot live show. While that might not be something you have to do on a regular basis, the thought of being able to plug in one cable and multitrack an event is pretty appealing, even if you just want to capture your set at the local coffee shop. And everything they recorded live sounded great, which tells you it can be done!

collaborate on sessions with other ProTools users anywhere in the world… (release date and price has not been announced yet)

1). Kemper Profiler Remote

4). Rockett Pedals Archer An authentic clone of the iconic Klon in a compact and affordable pedal. ($179)

The Profiler Remote is the perfect companion for the Kemper Profiler for live and studio use. (Roughly $600) 2). Keeley Compressor Pro

5). Tronical Tune An amazingly accurate automatic tuning system. It can tune your guitar to over 18 pre-programmed tunings. ($329)

5). Kyser Musical Products Kyser brought out a new line of straps with some nifty design elements… a place for your capo besides your pocket or a mic stand, and a very easy adjustment strap. And supercomfortable too! I used one for the first time to play a set at their booth and the capokeeper was really intuitive.

The Compressor Pro offers studio quality compression in a pedal housing. $299 3). ProTools 12 Among the many new features ProTools 12 offers, one of particular interest is Avid Cloud Collaboration which allows you to

Michael Daleo, Paul Maina, Bruce Adolph and Brian Felix in the booth at NAMM 40

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GUITAR: A2Z

by roger zimish

STRING SKIPPING String skipping is used in a variety of styles and techniques, Classical to Flamenco, Flat Picking to Finger Style, and Jazz to Rock etc. So what does a “Skip” mean? It’s a “Melodic progression by an interval wider then

a second”. By skipping the notes in chords and scales you’re playing can sound more interesting and challenging, adding a new dimension to you’re playing style. In fact you’re probably already doing it whether

you’re aware of it or not. For this part of the “String Skipping” series I have put together some examples that will help get your right and left hand wrapped around this technique.

Coda: As you progress with these patterns play them in other positions and keys up and down the neck, work on making them musical by adding dynamics and vibrato. Create a new voice for yourself.

Roger Zimish is a freelance guitarist / indie artist and clinician based in Hendersonville Tn. Contact Roger: Email rogerzimish@yahoo. com, like Roger Zimish Guitarist on facebook

Example #1 Here you will be skipping the “B String”, your first finger (index) will be moving between the G and E strings at the 3rd fret, the picking patten you should flow is up – down – up – down etc. Take one measure at a time and repeat it, then play all four together evenly.

Example #2 This sequence runs up the “F Major scale” starting on the 1st fret on the E string, skipping the A and D string and then playing the 3rd of the scale on the G string, follow the scale moving up the neck, use a down – up – down – up picking pattern.

Example #3 This is a string skipping run across the “G minor” pentatonic scale then back. The first two measures skip every other string playing the octaves up the pattern then skipping back down in fourths. Use a metronome or tape your foot to keep tempo.

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GOOD FOR THE SOUL After a lifetime in Christian music, I’m still learning three basic keys to communication. Actually I write songs because I don’t communicate very well. I have these seriously wonderful thoughts but when I start to speak it comes out upside down and backwards. Something happens when I get in front of people, my head swells. It cuts off circulation to my brain. My eyes glaze over from the inside and I can’t see anyone. Suddenly my mind races ahead of my tongue. And in my effort to make people comfortable with me I’ve been known to blurt out those unplanned reactions to what is only happening to me. When I was younger I assumed that skill and talent would float to the top. It would overcome all obstacles. After all, it is said that talent is the primary language of the masses. You are recognized according to your particular skill set. The more outstanding you are the better off you will be. It seemed simple to me in the beginning because I was a lot smarter when I was younger. But these notions are more shallow than simple. With my first record contract came my first confusion. I was asked by the record company to explain the songs I had just written. To me,

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Best Note Forward it was the most annoying part of my career. “If the song doesn’t say it, what good is the song?”, I would ask. Lesson number one in communication. Tell people what you plan to tell them. Some would call this the real presentation. People want to know where you are coming from before they will trust your song regardless of how good it might be. It is assumed that hit songs just happen. But we don’t see the conversations that go on behind the scenes to get the song placed in the first place. This is especially true in Christian circles. Before your song, comes your character, your convictions, and your competence. It’s the equivalent of building the stage before you set up your gear. People who invest in you, first, have to know what your agenda is and where you are planning to go with your passion. And of course somewhere there has to be an understanding of how they will benefit from their investment of time in you. No one succeeds alone. Lesson number two. Tell people what you tell them. That seems rather obvious doesn’t it. But you are wrong if you think you can just start spouting off with your opinions. What is most often missing in telling people anything, whether musically or verbally, is an awareness of who and where they are and what they are doing. Maya Angelo writes, “People will forget what you said, they will forget what you did… but they will never forget how you made them feel”. Acknowledging someone else, hearing them, seeing them, is crucial. The lack of hearing is the primary reason for much of the rage in the world. We all have a determination to be heard and understood. So Wisdom is clothed in awareness. Especially when applying the truth as I understand it. It doesn’t mean what you have to say will be received well, but without respect for others first, you will be banished before beginning. Lesson number three. Tell people what you told them. It’s amazing to me what people hear me say that I never said. And of course there are those moments when I said what I never meant to say. Clarification might be the longest part of a conversation. And you know what they say in marketing, “You have to tell people at least three times before they hear

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by bryan duncan you once”. Yes these lessons have been borrowed from the outline for a speech. And applying them to your music career is a matter of two steps forward and one step back. Musicians aren’t always known for their prolific sense of communication. It’s why we have managers and marketing help if we’re lucky. But in this age of social interaction with everyone, we all find out that our communication skills have to be improved. Every concert promoter, pastor, player or project comes with several applications at once in exercising these three lessons. Tell them what you’re going to say, say it and tell them what you told them. Letting people know who you are might be the best note for your opening song! You already know what kind of walls are up when you walk out on stage. I’m learning that my actions before I speak go a long way to having someone’s ear before I play a note or sing. My manager was surprised to hear from a production company recently. “Bryan was great to work with”, they said. “I don’t usually hear that in unsolicited comments”, he told me over the phone. I’m smiling now but I’ll just tell you, in my early days, we had a pretexted apology letter with fill in the blanks to send out to many of my concert promoters after a gig. I wasn’t trying to be abrasive but I was surely unaware of the situations I was walking into. Before you reach an audience you must reach those who reach them. I’m talking about the people back stage, and at the console out front and the true servants of God that bring you in. I’ve always enjoyed my musical nonconformity, but in the end it is just a thorn in the flesh of communication. I learned in marriage counseling something that has application in my music career too. No matter how much someone loves you, they still can’t read your mind. Sure it’s a romantic notion that someone who knows you will interpret you correctly, eventually. But not before you’ve exercised these three lessons extensively. Now go out and express yourself!

Bryan Duncan/ Singer / Songwriter/ author / Publisher. Radio Show host for RadioRehab.com Inducted into the Christian music Hall of Fame in 2007. 40 years, 22 albums, Dove and Grammy awarded. www.bryanduncan.com

MUSICIAN’S DOC

by timothy jameson, d.c., m.div.

I Think I’m Going to Be Sick: Stage Fright in the Christian Musician It was fifth grade. I began taking piano lessons at age nine in fourth grade, and around a year or so into the lessons the inevitable happened; my teacher mentioned the “recital” word. There was an immediate reaction; fear, increased heart rate, trepidation, anxiety – although I was too young to put a name on all those feelings. I had rarely performed any music in front of anyone besides my piano teacher and my family. The negative tapes in my mind started running before the event ever happened. When recital day arrived I was a nervous wreck. I was nauseous hours ahead of the recital. My hands were shaking at the piano, it seemed like even my vision was affected – it seemed harder to read the sheet music in front of me. But I pushed through. I can still remember the elation afterwards that I did it! Yet this was my first of many run-ins with stage fright that I would eventually overcome. The Problem What creates stage fright? There are many factors involved, and they are all due to our mental processing of the upcoming event. As I write these factors below, I have a feeling that for some of you these words may go right to the core of your being. We are broken individuals trying to exist in a broken world the best we can through the grace of Jesus Christ. But sometimes that brokenness rears its ugly head when we are walk onto a stage, whether it is public speaking, performing on a worship team, or saying a prayer in front of the church. A big factor in stage fright are the tapes that run through our mind about our perceived abilities or inabilities. What we tell ourselves in our mind is true – no matter if it really is or isn’t. What I mean by that is if we tell ourselves we are forgetful, poor musicians, and not confident in front of people then that is exactly what your mind believes. As a result, your body will create the appropriate physiological response to your mental imaging. Many people who suffer from stage fright start playing the anxiety tapes, the

poor self-image tapes, the need for approval tapes, the perfectionist tapes days or weeks before the event. Many begin experiencing physiological effects of stage fright days in advance, including sweating, diarrhea, vomiting, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, and especially in vocalists, sore and dry throats. Your thoughts can be destructive in nature and will undoubtedly impact your ability to perform in front of a crowd. Of course the opposite is true. By controlling your thoughts you can create positive effects… more on that later. The one personality type I see affected by stage fright is the perfectionist. The perfectionist must be in control, must provide the best performance, and must be honored for their performance. Now without saying, this way of thinking doesn’t bode well for a worship musician, but it’s more prevalent in the church that you may think. The perfectionist develops stage fright because of the “what ifs…?” What if I don’t remember the chord pattern? What if I play a wrong note during the solo? What if I sing that note flat? What if I forget the second verse to everyone’s favorite hymn? Let’s remember who we’re doing this for: the Lord. It’s all His, our gifts, our desires, our abilities. Give it to Him when performing. If you struggle with perfectionism then it’s time to relax a bit and give this ministry to Christ. Rejoice in His perfection.

Then there’s the worry-wart. If there’s something to worry about, you will. It’s your lifestyle. It gives you a warped sense of control. You will worry about every aspect of our performance, from the warm-up to the tear-down. The worry-wart needs to realize the peace of Christ that goes beyond understanding. God is sovereign and in control. Let it go. Let it go. (Oh sorry, just broke into a Disney song there.) The actual physiology of stage fright stems Continued on page 46.

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Another type of personality impacted by stage fright is the person who simply needs to be liked by others – and performing is their way to obtain that perceived love. This person’s need for love is dependent upon performing well on stage. And the opposite of that love is the outright fear that if you don’t perform well, you will be disliked. If you feel yourself falling in this category, I would recommend some pastoral counseling to help you realize that you are indescribably loved already by the Lord. His love should completely fill you. Please don’t make the stage your place to obtain love. It’s just not going to work. People see right through it. CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

MAR/APR 2015

by bob bennett

O Me of Little Faith Go and do thou likewise . . . NOT

As I write this sentence, it’s just shy of 17 hours since playing at the Annual Night of Worship at NAMM. (In case you’ve been living in a musical cave, NAMM is the acronym for the National Association of Music Merchants. This particular event was cosponsored by CMS, its affiliated publications like this one, and the good folks at Yamaha.) They say confession is good for the soul. In this case, I’m also hoping it makes for a decent magazine article. To make a long story slightly longer, my friend (and Christian Musician Head Honcho) Bruce Adolph asked me to play a brief set right before the official start of the evening concert. That meant, among other things, I was not an “official part of the bill”, no one would be expecting me (other than a few organizing personnel), this would still be during the “getting a seat” influx into the ballroom, etc. Apparently Dave Cleveland, who preceded me last year, played instrumental music and it worked out splendidly. But what I also “knew” (and I’ll explain the quotation marks there in a minute) is that the audience would not be focused on the music, by definition it would be background music, and there’d be no compelling reason for folks to not visit or be otherwise engaged. After all, this was not the concert, it was the equivalent of in-person pre-recorded music before the concert. I felt pretty certain that I “knew” all of this. So, you may rightfully ask, “Hey, Mr. ThinSkin-Ego-Boy, why did you say ‘yes’ then if you’re so smart and clairvoyant?” Part of the answer was a string of unglamorous, selfserving practicalities: It’s only twenty minutes, it can’t hurt, it could help, I don’t want to be a jerk, I want to take the high road in spite of myself, maybe someone will listen, I might be able to network with someone or see a friend, etc. The other big thing that made me throw into this is that I love Bruce (and Matt) and the whole CMS operation so 44

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much that if they asked me to dive head first into a swimming pool of Jello for the sake of the Kingdom and the encouragement of fellow musicians, I’d probably do it.

sadly they’re not. Then again, we live in age where we now have to flash “please be quiet” messages in movie theaters. Years ago, folks somehow knew to be quiet.

Let me pause in the narrative here to take a side-track that will also give a little context to my state-of-mind. Almost any musician reading this will have direct experience with or will know someone who has been taken down a few notches by a similar situation. My joke for years has been that I will play anywhere as long as there is not illegal activity going on or the need for protective chicken wire. But, I’m also both stubborn and fraidy-cat-careful about what I call “food gigs”. I’m pretty sure you know what I mean. Whether it’s some sort of celebratory, holiday, or award banquet, it’s a “food gig”. And even in a Christian context, you’re still often referred to as “the entertainment”. Whenever you’re “the entertainment”, generally you’re doomed. But I work for a living and sometimes it’s not about me feeling good, it’s about showing up and being a professional. I certainly do these gigs, and my skittishness notwithstanding, I appreciate it anytime someone asks me to sing.

So, back to NAMM night. I have a couple dear pals who have language for this kind of gig. One calls this a “hard hat gig” which conjures up a workmanlike approach with the proper safety precautions in place to prevent or minimize injury to the worker. The other phrase that you’ll recognize even if you’ve never heard it before: “Sacrificing a few songs to the room gods”. An almost pagan ritual to somehow assuage the massive force that is an indifferent audience by leaping to your own artistic death.

But Usually-Mister-Flexible does have a series of things that must be agreed to. Things like: Not singing while food is served (usually dessert), audience members at round tables being asked to face chairs toward the platform, an actual intro as opposed to a just get up there and start singing deal, and the set, however short or long, must stand as its own program segment. It’s not “competing” with anything else. You wouldn’t ask a speaker to present during dessert, so the same with music. You simply can’t ask or expect people to stop visiting in situations that are, by definition, more social than “concert audience” and you can’t fight a room set-up where half your audience is facing the other way. You would think these sorts of things would be self-evident to most people, but

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So, all of this is roiling inside me. But I’d like to think I’m astute enough to recognize that my outsized reaction to and concern for all this is exactly what the Doctor ordered for the Patient-in-Need. (Uh, that’d be the Holy Spirit and me, your Humble Acoustic Servant, respectively.) I know the Lord has business to do with me here. So, I pray as hard as I can. I tell my wife, “I’m going to treat this as if it were Carnegie Hall.” I will not phone it in, I will not take a mind vacation while I’m singing and playing these songs. (Come on, we all know how to do this.) But I may have to employ survival skills and call upon whatever professionalism I can muster to hunker down and simply do the job. As wonderfully transcendent as the gig can sometimes be, there are other times when you have to be a plumber and fix the leak even though you’re likely to get wet and dirty. So, my task is to go out there and play for 20 minutes under what are, essentially, combat conditions for a solo acoustic singer-songwriter. Remember, I’m a nogroove-whatsover kind of guy. It’s folksong-lamb-to-the-slaughter time for your pal Bob. Again, in my mind, I “know” all this

stuff. Bruce generously said, “Bring some CDs to sell. I hope you sell a ton of ‘em.” But Mr. Know-It-All leaves ‘em at home. Not to send a message to anybody, I’m just embarrassed. I don’t want to stand next to a table full of CDs at the end of the night if my songs went mostly unheard. And why would anyone want to buy anything? It’s NAMM. It’s all about the free swag, not I-want-topay-fifteen-bucks-for-your-CD. My woe-is-me complex is now at semi-fever pitch. I feel like I’m about to step before a firing squad, but I want to die honorably if that’s possible. The clock strikes 6:40 p.m. We, who are about to die, salute you. I step out, I introduce myself as Amy Grant and announce that I’m the pre-game show. A few folks laugh. I say, “It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.” And then I begin playing my intro for “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name”. It’s a very quiet song. Part of me wants to go quiet at first just to see what will happen. And, Lord forgive me, there’s probably a little bit of a dare in the song choice. But the better part of me thinks, “I will simply stand here and worship God with this song even if He’s the only one Who listens.” This is all I can do. In terms of my attitude, I’m kind of an idiot. I don’t even have a few loaves and fishes to offer in terms of my faithfulness. But I’m there because (list not in strict order) I love Bruce Adolph, I love to sing and play, I wanted to try to do the right thing against every instinct and fear bedeviling me, and I really do want to serve my Savior, His beloved Church, and anyone else of any description within earshot. You know where this is going, right? It’s going to sound like one of those feel-good, Disney scripts where the misfit baseball team takes the pennant. But still, the truth is, the impossible happens. Almost immediately I can sense the room locking in. When you’re a solo acoustic guy, it’s easy to “listen around” your own performance to figure out by sight and sound whether or not you’ve got a real audience or just a group of

people waiting to become an audience when the “real acts” finally get up there. In this case, though, we reach “you could hear a pin drop” pretty doggone fast. In truth, I was so surprised by this that it was distracting. I had to really concentrate to sing and play right. I actually gave brief spoken intros to the remaining three songs even though I’d planned to plow straight through for safety’s sake. Finally after song three, I couldn’t contain myself. “I can’t wait to get home and tell my wife that you didn’t kill me!” The lesson here is obvious. We still have to vet the gigs. If someone wants me to sing for a Polka Enthusiasts Convention, I really do have to say “no”. But sometimes what seems obvious on paper, what we full well “know” is simply flat-out wrong. In this case, God was gracious to me … and He expressed that graciousness through the guy who invited me, the people who helped me when I got there (Mike Overlin, the sound folks, the stage staff, the encouragement of Tim Timmons, greetings from Doyle Dukes and Israel Houghton), and most of all, through

an audience that should’ve and could’ve rightfully visited, milled about, and stayed glued to their smartphones until the concert officially started. But they didn’t. I’m walking off the stage and they’re applauding and then standing. If there was a way for me to give a standing ovation to that audience, I would surely do it. Being heard and appreciated is a lovely gift. And I give my thanks to God: the Almighty Father who sends His Only Beloved Son and His Holy Spirit who proceeds from them… for gently teaching me an important and effective lesson that I surely did not deserve. O Me of Little Faith. Bob Bennett lives behind the Orange Curtain in Costa Mesa, CA. He is a singer-songwriter with a dozen or so albums released since 1979. He attends St. Matthew’s Church in Newport Beach. His whining to the contrary, he is grateful for and loves his job. And he occasionally writes his own bio blurbs in a very-thinly-disguised third person form such as this. (bob@ bob-bennett.com / www.bob-bennett.com)

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“Musician’s Doc” Continued from page 43

tive.

from a perceived threat to our survival. Yes, survival. Our brain literally goes into a death threat mode – stimulating the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline causing our heart rates to increase, our blood pressure to increase, our digestion to decrease, and enhances blood flow to the muscle systems to run away from the danger. Yes, it also produces that quite undesirable effect of our bowels emptying and our dinner coming up. The brain is bathed in epinephrine and norepinephrine and we are acting just like we are just about to be hit by a train speeding along a track at 70 mph.

Next, a very practical step that has done wonders for me in controlling performance anxiety is praying alone or with a group for a minimum of 30 minutes prior to the performance. 30 minutes of prayer and meditation calms your physiology. It focuses you on your purpose in service to the Lord. It keeps you in fellowship with others who support you and may even perform alongside you. Begin making this a habit with your team. You will be amazed at how centered, focused, and relaxed everyone becomes. And you will be further amazed at how good your team begins to sound together. If this is a solo performance, then find a quiet place to focus on the Lord. If you have practiced well and are prepared, then let the music rest and think only of giving back to Jesus what He has first given to you.

The Answer So what if we began looking at performing for the Lord (and that doesn’t mean just in church) being a positive, life enhancing, rich experience that brings reward, gratitude, increased depth of life experience, and ultimately is an act of love and worship to our Creator? It’s all how you perceive it, correct? Let’s begin with the first step in overcoming stage fright, and that is visualization. If you can visualize a negative world, you can also visualize a positive one. This takes work, and it takes repetition, sometimes every hour of your waking day. You have to BELIEVE your positive statements are true. Begin saying to yourself things like “The Lord is honored by my skillful playing of the __________ today.” (Fill in the blank). “I see myself playing calmly, precisely, and with passion.” “My nerves are surprisingly in check as I perform.” You see the trend. Start THINKING DIFFERENTLY about your performance. See it positively. Write down a list of 20 positive statements and read them daily. See yourself playing with excellence (which is different than perfection). See yourself giving God the glory. Eventually the goal is to no longer see yourself – you only see Christ smiling as you play for him. You will need to learn to breathe diaphragmatically. That means slow, relaxed breaths where your belly pushes out when you breathe. The diaphragm is the muscle at the bottom of your lungs. It contracts when you breathe in, and relaxes as you breathe out. Most people suffering from performance anxiety have little knowledge of their breathing and hold substantial tension in the diaphragm. They take quick, shallow breaths that only involves their neck and upper back. When you know the performance is coming, take slow, deeper breaths, focusing on your relaxation, your faith in God, and your expectation for excellence. Focus on the posi46

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The simple fact that repeated performance creates increased confidence can’t be overlooked. I was much more nervous in my early days of performing on stage than I am now. That’s because I’ve played hundreds of times over many years in front of both small and large groups of people. The more you adapt to being on stage, the more opportunities you have to play or speak in front of others, the less likely you will develop those nasty symptoms of stage fright. So if you’re getting started the best way to overcome stage fright is simply to perform anywhere and everywhere you are given the opportunity. Last but not least, optimal preparation erases many anxieties. You need to perform the music and have most if not all of your parts memorized in advance of your performance. It’s ok to have sheet music or chord charts present (except for those situations where this is taboo), but not depending upon them makes you a better musician, and less fearful when performing. With these strategies, you may not completely clear the butterflies before performing, but you certainly will gain control of your body, your mind, and your performance. Give God the glory. It’s all for Him. Dr. Tim Jameson’s chiropractic office is in Castro Valley, CA. He is a worship pastor at Christ’s Community Church in Hayward, CA. He is the author of Repetitive Strain Injuries and Reach for the Top: The Musician’s Guide to Health, Wealth, and Success. Visit his website www.jamesonchiro.com © 2014, Timothy Jameson, D.C., M.Div.

CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

“Sound Check” Continued from page 7

those very poorly designed hospital gowns and I skillfully delivered my first of the two planned statements… I said, “Be sure and give me enough anesthesia to erase the memory of the Seahawks terrible loss in the Super Bowl this past Sunday!” They all laughed and stated how bad that was to end the game the way it did; they all wanted to erase that memory as well. OK, statement number one was delivered. Then the doctor came in and I was alone with him. I told him about the meds and the Super Bowl as he walked out of the room and he thought that was funny too. The plan was working. Then they wheeled me into the procedure room and the nurse told me this silly joke (I am sure she tells it to everyone trying to calm them down as the medication starts to hit). I didn’t get a chance to tell the doctor my thoughts on why I think the Lord has a sense of humor with that “what enters a man” scripture I got in an email that morning before the meds knocked me out. Rats, I wanted to, it was on my mind but the nurse’s joke had taken up my window of opportunity (and coherency). The next thing I know I wake up in the recovery room and Judy is there. She told me later that I said, “I loved you” right when I awoke but I couldn’t remember that conversation at all. Then comes in the doctor with the welcomed report that all was well and that he didn’t need to see me for another ten years. Whew, that was a huge relief. Thank you Lord for that! As the doctor went to walk away he turned to me and said, “When you were under the anesthesia, you know, you must of told me about me about that scripture you read ten times!” He smiled and walked out of the room. Ha! That caught me off guard and I couldn’t help but think that the Lord does have a sense of humor. I was also relieved that what came out of me was something good and not something unsavory or off color. So the moral of this story is to read the word every day and for sure think about it right before they put you under so good things will come out of you as well. Ha! In His Grace… Bruce & Judy P.S. Friends, it is not as bad as you might think. If it is time for you to get checked out, be responsible like the adult you are and book it now. You will be glad you did… honest.

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Magazine for the last 20 years, we are giving away something really cool for all 6 issues of 2015... next up... 

20th

ANNIVERSARY GIVE-AWAY

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 Visual Sound pedals (and Pedaltrain pedalboard), Valued over $1,500!

Winston isn’t so sure he wants you too win this... he would like to keep it for himself!

Sign up on the Christian Musician Summit App for your chance to win! The app is a great training portal for your entire worship team... workshop videos, magazines, conference info, new songs, and a lot more... Download the Free App... smarturl.it/christianmusician

Chris Tomlin and Collings Guitars

Chris Tomlin and his 1999 Collings OM 42 SB

Serious Guitars | www.CollingsGuitars.com | (1) -