Start Your Engines

Nascar?  Awesome.  Pocono Raceway?  Also awesome.  Playing the pre race concert at Victory Lane before the Go Bowling 400 at which my friend and frontman Eric Beddingfield sang the national anthem?  More towards the upper end of the awesome scale as compared to the previous two subjects.     

Is there anything that stands atop the awesome scale, a full spot above playing in front of the grandstands at a 100,000 seat raceway?  Yes.  Here is a picture.

That is, in fact, the real Chuck Jones in the background.  What is that we're sitting upon?  Oh yes, you guessed right.  It's the pit box of the Burger King car.  That's how we roll.  Pun intended.  I shall leave you with one last picture....my view from the stage during sound check, if you care to take a gander...

On The Road Again

Hello reader.  I decided to start writing on this again because my life is getting interesting to the outside world.  While I find grilling every night and teaching every day to be quite interesting, it probably isn't to you.  So here goes....

I've spent the past few months away from stages and roads.  Most of my time has been spent teaching guitar lessons or producing songwriters' demos.  I absolutely LOVE both of the aforementioned activities.  The next few months, though, will be quite different.  August 1st will bring with it a very big change of scenery: a 5 week tour.  Here is a picture of what you can expect that to look like:

Pretty crazy, I know.  Try to contain your jealousy.  The road will take us up through the Northeast for some NASCAR races, into Canada for some festivals, back down south for more NASCAR, and back up to Canada for more festivals. 

I hope to keep you updated as this tour unfolds.  Until next time....here's another picture from a previous ELB gig.

Worship With Some Music

If you are a Christian musician, I want you to try something.  I want you to sit down with your instrument and worship with it.  Forget about art.  Forget about vocation.  Remember that you have been blessed with a talent.  So "play skillfully on your instrument and sing with joy", for the Lord delights in you and your praise.  If at all possible, get some other people to join you.  There should be no lights, PA systems, or teleprompters.  Only instruments and voices in unison.

We were created to worship.  Don't let it be misguided.

The Competition of Music

When did music become so competitive?  How can art be competitive? 

Two days have passed since the Grammy awards and I can't stop asking these questions.  I live in Nashville.  Music City.  Most of the country's most popular music is recorded here.  Underneath the artistic surface, though, is an extreme sense of competition.  Everyone is always looking for the next best gig.  Everyone goes to shows and stands in the back with their arms crossed saying "I can do that better."  I'm guilty of it.  I used to play music for free in church bands and local rock clubs because I loved it.  It was so fun.  But since I've entered into a professional music realm, I've noticed the competitive nature in me slowly creep up and begin to snuff out some of that raw energy and passion that consumed me early on in my musical life.  Does it come with age?  Does it come with money?    

I haven't been able to stop asking myself...why do we make music so competitive?

A Business Endeavor

I like playing guitars.  They're fun.  But while traveling around on a bus with a bunch of dudes that play notes is fun, it was always a means to an end for me.  My ultimate goal has always been to be a music producer.  So I basically wanted to go on the road so I could get off the road.  And then I wanted to be a session player so that I could quit to be a producer.  In all of my planning it never dawned on me to just skip ahead to what I want to do....

So here I am.  Music producer.  Awesome.  What does that mean?  I don't know.  Ask 100 producers what they do and you'll get 100 different answers.  Here's my best answer.  I work closely with an artist to create a product that fully retains his or her musical and artistic vision.  Whoa.  How'd that sound?  Hopefully good.  I spend at least 7 minutes thinking it up.

Here are the facts.  I work from home.  I am not rich and, therefore,  I don't have a $50,000 gear collection.  So it is pointless for me to say I can create a product that is sonically comparable to records on the radio.  But what I do have is musical talent and vision.  My focus is ALWAYS on helping an artist develop the songs.  I spend lots of time arranging and writing parts that enhance the message or story of the song.  That way, when they decide it's time to drop the bucks on a "pro" studio or pitch their songs to publishers, nothing will be lost in translation.

Listen to this...

Creation

When's the last time you listened to a song because of how much money it made?  When's the last time you listened to a song because of how you felt other people would react to it?  When's the last time you liked a movie because of how much it grossed on opening weekend?  What's that?  These have never happened to you?

That's because you're human.

I live in Nashville.  Music City.  There is music everywhere and most of it is less than awesome.  There is SO MUCH talent here, yet the music that Nashville produces leaves a lot to be desired.  Why, you ask?  It's created for you, the listener.  It's created as the product of a business.  From the moment a popular Country or CCM song is conceived, there begins the question process: "how will this be received by the public?"  "Is this radio friendly?"  "Should we add a keytar?"  (Answer to the last one = ALWAYS add a keytar)

What would happen if songwriters and artists created music for the sake of creating music?  What if people made music for themselves and just shared it with people for the sake of sharing it with people?  I'll tell you what would happen.  We would get timeless music that could impact people for generations. 

200 years ago, Beethoven wrote his fifth symphony.  Still awesome.  40 years ago Led Zeppelin released their 4th album.  Still awesome.  In 30 years, people will hear about big trucks, loose women, and beer.  Not awesome. 

If you are a musician, create music for the sake of creation and just go where your art takes you. 

Word To Yo Moms

Hello person.  I have been away from music...well, lucrative music...for a short while but a project recently fell into my lap.  A cool project with fresh hip to the hopness.  A Christian Rap project.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I first learned that those files would be sent my way but... I was amazed.  There is an AWESOME movement in the Christian Rap industry right now and I HIGHLY encourage you to check it out.  Some of the most passionate delivery of the truth of the gospel that I have heard in a VERY long time.