I sort of have this thing for bald, bearded, bespectacled folk musicians. Seriously, when you really think about it and start naming names… Michael Card, Jeff Taylor, Ron Block, Buddy Greene… you start to wonder if it’s the lack of hair, the beard, the glasses, or perhaps all of the above. (Of course there’s just an outside chance that it’s a coincidence.) Anyway, it was a great thrill to me that I got to meet three of said musicians all... Read more
I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but I thought I’d give it a go this year. So here goes. I do hereby resolve… 1. To read the entire Bible in a year, per the plan I linked to in Saturday’s post. (Two days in, and I’m already ahead, having read eight chapters of Genesis instead of four on the first day. So far so good. That is, until I skip an entire week, thereby forcing myself to blitz through... Read more
Kevin Williams is back with another instrumental album! It has apparently been in the works for quite a while. A year ago, Kevin told me he’d been hoping to get it out then, but things had fallen through. Now it’s available for our enjoyment. Unlike Kevin’s last project, Acoustic Sunday, the style on this project is orchestral and nostalgic. Kevin’s guitar weaves in and out of thick orchestrations, with some background singers sprinkled in too. Personally, I find BGVs on... Read more
I’m going to put up some New Year’s resolutions soon, but first, here are some things I learned last year. I mean, this year. (I guess it’s not 2012 yet.) As my readers know, I love to make random lists, and this is no exception: 1. I learned that there are some great people in the Church. Seriously, this is the number one thing I learned. I met some amazing people this year. Some truly amazing, humble, godly people who... Read more
How many songs or sermons have you heard implying that Mary (or Joseph) knew the true purpose of Jesus’ birth? There’s a whole song built around the phrase “Mary Knew” — implying she knew that Jesus was God, that he died to redeem all humanity from their sins, and so forth. In the song “Then Came the Morning,” it says Mary knew Jesus would rise again. There’s a song called “Strange Way to Save the World,” written from the perspective... Read more
Did my sister get a baby doll? Did my brother get his bike? Did I get that red wagon The kind that makes you fly? Oh I hope there’ll be peace on earth I know there’s good will toward men On account of that baby born in Bethlehem… [gigya src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8377432&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”400″ height=”265″></embed>] Merry Christmas yous guys! Read more
On December 9th, I attended my first Homecoming. It was a memorable experience. Sadly, I was unable to take that many good photos of the actual stage, so I reverted to taking pictures of the screen, which yielded better results. There are a few “stage shots” in here (I particularly liked one or two of David Phelps, probably because of the high contrast lighting they did for his numbers), but most turned out blurry. I ended up scrapping half the... Read more
Well, it’s looking like there will be no snow for me this Christmas. There’s been a little snow this season, but it melted away and we’ve had weeks of cold, rainy weather without another flake. You see, I live in the Midwest, and in this part of the country, a green Christmas and a white Easter is no joke. It’s actually happened. Spring and fall are practically non-existent. The cold season lasts forever, then pretty much melts into summer, which... Read more
Today I’m featuring Signature Sound’s first (and best) Christmas recording, with the lineup of Ryan, Doug and Tim. If I’m not mistaken, it came out in 2004. This caught the group between their “Stand By Me” and “Get Away Jordan” eras. It is one of my favorite Christmas albums. Even though it’s definitely southern gospel, it also has a somewhat contemporary flavor. It blends the group’s traditional and progressive leanings together quite nicely. The Star On Top: “Come Make a... Read more
On today’s topic, I would appreciate it if some SG fans could weigh in who have been “around the block” and seen more artists than I. Because of the nature of the topic, I’m going to lay out my thoughts on it as broadly as possible without naming specific names. It seems to me that there are three rough “types” of personalities that an SG fan can observe in personal interactions with artists. First, there are the artists who are... Read more
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