Friday, July 26, 2013

Country, Bluegrass, and a little Guinness on the side

And now for something really different.... In between shows and mixing the Above the Snakeline CD, which is near completion and sounding great, I decided to do something way
off the beaten path... at least for me. I'm currently writing and recording a country music demo with some really old school flavors and bluegrass harmonies. It's been brewing up like a Tennessee still for the last few years and it's potency is just about right. Yeah, you heard right. Not only working on the inner goth, Christian musician, composer thing, but adding good ol boy to the list. This is not a new direction mind you, but it is a hoot writing and recording this demo. I get to use my steel guitar, mandolin, and some nice Telecaster tones on this crazy experiment. The demo will probably consist of 7 songs and I'm really looking forward to arranging and recording a song that my wife wrote about Dublin. Yep, a country song about the land of Guinness. It's a clever tune but I can't say much about it quite yet. More news to come....

Sunday, July 21, 2013

6 Flags 9 Sticks



Revival got off to a roaring start at Camp Spirit, an overnight camping and music event put on by Spirit Alive Church in Kenosha, WI. This hot and sunny July afternoon was filled with loud harmonic praise. We tore into 'Let the Praises Ring' by Lincoln Brewster, 'Search my Heart' by Hillsong United, and 'When the Stars Burn Down' by Phillips Craig & Dean. We played a new song from the soon to be released Above the Snakeline CD as well. We will be playing another new song from that album at our Six Flags show. I played these songs live a few weeks ago in more of a techno vibe but it was interesting to hear a more organic version. July 27, 2013 Revival plays Six Flags Great America.... for five hours....  

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Bloomin Bands 2013


The Bloomin Bands Festival was held on a sunny warm and stormy weekend.The rain was gone by afternoon on both days and a breeze was blowing off of Lake Michigan. Tim Korry and Co. took the stage on Friday night in perfect weather. The show went off pretty well despite the sound guy not understanding my guitar amp. The techno/dance sound mixed well with the guitar rock that I'm used to playing. We had a positive response from the crowd as we debuted the new songs from the upcoming Above the Snakeline CD. Filming the show was my good friend Steve Tomczyk of Avxtra and WAMI. Another friend, Brad Trick of Trick Photography, did a great job on the photos.
We had a cool and unusual compliment on one of the new songs. A guy walked up to the person at our merchandise table and talked about being hit by a train. He said that 'Amazing Grace' was his favorite song, or his "theme song". He said that the last song we played, 'Show me a Sign', was his second favorite. That's pretty wild and cool stuff. I plan on sending him a copy of the song before the CD is officially released. The main riff in this song was actually written when I was in Rhinocerotic back in the mid 90's. It finally made it's way to a full song this year on the upcoming 'Snakeline' CD. 'Show me a Sign' is actually one of the last songs I delivered to Dave Merrill for final mixing and production.
The Revival show on the next day went well despite the sound difficulties with amps and monitors. The overall feedback was great. Revival plays a small church camp and then off to 6 Flags Great America on July 27th!