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!

The Sequence

When I say musical adventures.. I'm saying that things don't always go as planned. We have gone through 3 bass players and one drummer as the show nears. Tim Korry & Co. will be going techno/rock for this show. Sequences have been finalized and we are sorting out minor bits with the stage manager. I believe that there are some big changes in the set and the sound coming after this appearance. It's time to reenvision the vision. I know that the Lord has a plan but I don't know what it is. It seems that everything changes so often that it gets hard to focus. I can say this... the Above the Snakeline album will be released in late July or early August and I think that people will be suprised with the new sound. Definitely looking forward to this one!

Boss Drum

And the adventure continues...  You've heard of Drum & Bass music right? Well take the bass out and insert a guitar... I decided to run with a drummer, sequencer, and guitar lineup after a series of bass players failed to commit to the Bloomin bands Festival gig. I have contemplated this setup for many years but feel that this is the right time to just go for it. I'm definitely looking forward to techno dance sound mixing with guitar rock. Mixing is moving along for the Above the Snakeline album and the majority of the songs played at the festival gig will be au courant, state-of-the-art, and unusual.
Revival practices are going well. The last performance at Spirit Alive Church seemed to gel more than in the past and did receive some great reviews. I think the band is finally starting to break free on the sound and go with the spirit.... the Holy Spirit that is. There is a strong country/bluegrass harmony type of sound creeping into the rock and I'm taking a fancy to it. I'm looking forward to our next outdoor show to see what happens in full rock mode outside of the church walls.

Live Music and Audio Recording Update

I'm meeting up with bass player extraordinaire Dave Merrill of the Blacktop Kings to start mixing the new CD. He mixed the first single First Heartbeat last year and did a great job. I haven't played a show with Dave since the old DFlowers days but he has helped me out with a few projects and I'm very thankful. He was in my first melodic metal band, True Logic, back when I was 19. Dave is a super talented blast from the past.
My  funky solid drummer CMac will join me this week to practice for a small festival in Kenosha, WI. I'm definitely looking forward to the rock/dance/live/sequenced combination that is planned for this supersonic event. CMac is leading the way into the future with his experience playing with DJ's and sequencing.
Practice with Revival continues and there have been some decent musical vibes floating through the practice. We should be ready to bring it with a heavy electric bluegrass bluesy country groove rock sound. Thats the best I can do for explaining it. June will be full of showsand we are thankful to be playing some great benefits and festivals right out of the gate. Stay tuned for more....

Alive and Pickin

The WAMI Downtown Alive concert event went well. The acts in the singer songwriter venue were all really talented and musically diverse. It was great to be a part of such an event. It was a challenge to present my songs in an acoustic format but it worked out quite well... with some reverse delay and other unconventional sounds jammin through an acoustic guitar. I'll be getting back to the rock band format for the next show with the band Revival. Two new songs were played  that night from the upcoming Above the Snakeline album and they seemed to go over pretty well. Yep, first time playing a Christian song in a bar... Thats a first for me. More news on the way!

The Show Must Go On

http://www.timkorry.com

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

Related articles

• 35th Annual ASCAP Christian Music Awards
• Christian & Gospel Music: Let The Future Begin!

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.....?

Related articles

• Revival? Who Are We Kidding?