I thought I would participate in the community effort to share influences.

Before I dole out my 5, I think it is important to note (pun intended) that I didn’t grow up “radically saved”.

In high school (My BC days) my influences were as follows:

1. Primus
2. Mr. Bungle
3. Faith No More
4. Anything by Danny Elfman
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers

So my influences after being “born again” would be as follows:

1. Paul Baloche
2. Hillsong United
3. David Chapin – super encouraging brother who went on to be with the Lord in 2006
4. Matt Redman
5. David Crowder Band

Who has influenced you? Participate in the discussion on Joel’s site here

Right now you can get Presonus StudioOne artist for $20.11 during the NAMM show (1/16).

I purchased StudioOne Pro last summer, but this deal is great if you are looking for a DAW.

Here’s an overview video of StudioOne Artist from last year’s Namm show.

I don’t get any kickbacks or anything. Just wanted to help promote a great product!

I’ve really been impressed in prayer that for our local congregation to try and embody verse 4 of Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

I’d love to get some fresh ideas for songs to open service with. Some I’ve been thinking of using are:

1. Because of Your Love (Brenton Brown / Paul Baloche)
2. Lift Your Praises to the Lord (Re-Writing the chord structure)
3. My Savior Lives – ( New Life Worship )

I also have an original work or two I’ve been slow cooking. One is called “You Unending Love” it is a song about not forgetting that everything good we have in our lives comes from God alone.

What songs do you open service with? Have there been any songs that you have done that were particularly effective to get the congregation singing? Leave the song title, writer(s) and key in the comment section below.

Thanks!

Psalm 146:2 “I want to praise the LORD throughout my life. I want to make music to praise my God as long as I live.”

This has now become my summarized life-mission statement.

What is your life-mission statement? What has God called you to be?

- Amen.

We’ve recently been singing a song from Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown entitled ‘Glorious’. When I first heard it, I didn’t really grasp the depth of the song. The more I heart it and/or sing it the more the message begins to communicate to my soul.

One of my favorite lyric in the song goes:

Look beyond the tombstone
See the living God
See the resurrected
Ruler of my heart

No one else above Him,
None to match His worth
The hope of His returning
Fills the universe

Our God is a God of hope. Since through His sacrifice on the cross and death was defeated we have a LIVING hope in Jesus Christ for this life, and our eternal life to come!

If you haven’t given it a listen, I’d highly recommend it.  Let me know your thoughts about the song in the comments below.

If you are interested in learning to play it yourself, I just (as in 10 seconds ago) found this video on how to play it by Mr… Baloche himself. A PDF of the Lead sheet if you would like it.

If you haven’t heard their Church Music album, it’s worth picking up.

On Amazon here.

Enjoy!

I traded in a Franken-Fender for a acoustic-only Cort Dreadnaught guitar. It has a nice tone. I am now using Elixir Polyweb Medium gague and really like the sound of the strings. http://www.elixirstrings.com/products/product_acoustic.html

I also recently took advantage of some awesome upgrade promotions from Cakewalk (which was recently purchased by Roland who makes my Juno-Stage – That I love) to upgrade from Home Studio 7 XL to Sonar Studio 8.5.2. There are some great tools (such as the SessionDrummer2, some great soft synths, etc.). My sales rep at Sweetwater recommended I stay with Sonar as opposed to trying to get into ProTools M-Powered for the value I was receiving.

Hopefully once I am a little more familiar with things, I will be able to share with you some of my progress.

I had never been to the TUC, but I was impressed with the friendliness of the staff and the overall size of the venue.

This will be a remarkable time as it will be our second large scale performance (Last year’s Americade in Lake George being our first). We will be playing the first 45 minutes as people arrive and between the second and third periods.

Come join us on 4/11/2009 at 51 South Pearl St in Albany New York. You can call the Albany River Rats for tickets or more information (518) 487-2213.  Their website is http://www.albanyriverrats.com/