Saturday, April 6, 2013

The Show Must Go On



I was contacted by WAMI to play an acoustic show in Milwaukee April 13th and very happy to have been selected for Downtown Alive concert event. Ironically the album that I am working on is mostly electronic. I met with my drummer CMac and talked about throwing together a live set with bass wizard John Owens III. This is the band that played in between the Music from Earth and Between the Sun and the Moon albums. These guys are amazing bluesy, jazzy, rock, and gospel musicians with years of touring experience. We are looking to play some live dates this summer and record a music video of the performance.
The newly formed band, Revival, is showing some signs of progress and possibilities after just a month of practicing. Some great grooves and harmonies are coming together and the first live set at Spirit Alive Church went well. We are moving in the direction of heavy groove rock with country bluegrass sounding harmonies. This should be very interesting. So, at the time of this writing, it would appear that I am in 2 bands, finishing a new Christian CD, and possibly working on soundtrack music for an upcoming indie film... Things are picking up...

Adventure Pics Here


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Revival


Ever notice that things seem more stressful and frustrating when you push toward a goal and things come up everyday to block or slow the progress? Well, not to mention a day job that is draining and I’m not well suited for. I guess that’s a good time to really put faith and trust in God. Sometimes it feels like a miracle just to push through and finish an album that was initially set for release in 2012. Sometimes its hard to let go of our plan and just have faith that God will pull us through in his time. We have met and discussed the direction of Revival, the new praise rock band forming, and have planned songs for the initial set last. This again is taking time away from the release of the  Above the Snakeline CD but I do feel like I’m getting closer to figuring out which direction I should be headed musically.
I miss playing the loud uncontrolled rock shows and playing in church is no substitute. I can't jump around and be as flamboyant and funky. I'm hoping that I can get the spirit of praise as in church and the full on "close your eyes and feel it" rock as I've played in the past in this new band Revival. The name of the band was put into my heart one cold night which resulted in a conversation with my wife and a conversation with Neil and Terri Vranek. These core members had been playing at Spirit Alive church, also shows outside of church, and felt the spirit calling them to praise in a new way. That night it was very clear that I should be a part of this group and that we do something unique in the sometimes cookie cutter world of Christian music. Revival is the perfect word for this movement in our lives. Just as the church needs revival, so do our souls. We tend to get lazy in the world's culture, Christian culture, and artistic expression. It seems that the powers that be have turned the soul and artistry of the music"business" into a glamorous empty product that is frequently given away as free mp3's. These songs sound like pro wrestling music or cheesy choppy mandolin/ukulele kitchen soap commercial sounding pop. The may be nothing new under the sun but musically I think we still have options. Let the Revival begin.....?