Quick note here. Need your help!
My friend Austin Adams has released a Christmas EP that has two songs that we wrote together on it. One of them, "The Holidays Are Here Again." has drawn some attention from the FISH FM. They have it on their website right now for "pre-spin." They measure the popularity of the song by how many "points" are merited from it.
If a song get enough points on the site, they will start spinning it on the radio! So this is where you come in!
1. Go to www.94fmthefish.net and click on "fish family rewards" (its the big blue box on the right side)
2. Sign up for "fish family rewards" or login with your Facebook Account!
3. Once you've signed up, click on or mouse over on "Get Points" and look for the section "Music and More"
4. Then click on the song and listen to a clip of "The Holidays Are Here Again"---Rate it (high, preferably)---- Then click:"Submit"
I hate to sign up for things, so I get it, trust me! But it really would help us out if you could!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Ferris Wheel
Hello,
For the curious and esteemed... I wanted to give you a description, however brief, of what I intended for this album. My last (and first) EP, Sunday Afternoon, was my first real effort at putting some of my music out into the world. I enjoyed making that record, and am still proud of how it turned out. However, as I think is a necessary part of growth as an artist, I tried to re-assess my approach on that album as I prepared to make this one and what I thought was the best approach and the best way to convey my songwriting.
So, I decided to make a trio record (with a few exceptions). There is one acoustic guitar part in one bridge of this record. The rest of the album is bass, drums, piano and other keys instruments. It's not an "acoustic" album per se, just an album where I wanted the melodies and the stories in the songs to shine, as opposed to being overwhelmed by layers and layers of sound. I love that approach as well, don't get me wrong. I can dig a track with 15 guitar parts just as much as a track that has 1. I just felt like I wanted the songwriting to shine, and the piano parts as well. So... that was my intention with it. It may not follow the lead of some of the pop stars of our current age, but I like the live, roomy feel in this album. It's warm to me, yet also melancholy. It's reflective. These are real stories inspired by things that have affected me in the past couple of years. More importantly, I hope you find something in them that speaks to you. I am glad that it is being released near the dawn of winter, it has a wintry feel to me at times, if that makes sense. It seems seasonally appropriate.
So, enough now... Thanks family, friends, colleagues for all your support in this. This is a cool, cool moment for me and I am deeply grateful for your part in it.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Invent a religion!
... It is the best way to make a million bucks, so I have heard.
I was reading a passage out of Deuteronomy this morning and began to think about the truth of God's word. Every religion, other than Christianity, has been started more or less by a person who claims they had some vision, some enlightenment, where they feel they have connected... had nirvana, etc.. with some supreme being or beings. I compared that notion to Moses and his writings.
Deuteronomy is essentially a recap of the exodus from Egypt and Israel's time spent wandering through the wilderness. As I read about the ten commandments and Moses' interaction with God, I began to think, "is it odd that a man writes his own story like this?" "why is he the author?" "what sets him apart?" Then I realized that nothing really does. His story ends with him dying... yes. dead. Moses dies at the end of this book (though I am not there yet), and never enters the land promised him and his descendants. Only Joshua and Caleb enter the promised land, due to their consistent faith in God, when others fell short.
How is this significant? Well, I zoomed out a bit and thought about the characters of the old testament. I am fairly familiar with it, certainly all the key stories. Up to this point in the Torah, we see again and again stories of men who failed. Godly men who still fall short at times. Men who make mistakes, men who deceive, men who are afraid to do God's will... So, not only are the stories about a collection of men, rather than one man's idea of religion, but the stories generally reflect poorly on the protagonist. All the way back to Adam. Love ya buddy but ya blew it. All the stories and adventures point to one thing, faith and reliance on God! We are sinners. These men were acting just like you and I do today. Messed up, screwed up, and yet God intervenes in their lives and the lives of Israel because He is completing a story that points to Christ, our savior. That's what strikes me and really gives me peace about my faith. No one is flattering themselves in this sacred book. They are telling a story, as best as they can, about their interaction with a holy God. A God who foreknew the path to redemption with his creation. Jacob deceives his father to receive a blessing. David commits adultery and has the husband killed. Rahab is a whore who's offspring, ultimately, is JESUS! To me that is exciting! Forget your flaws, forget your depravity, fall down at the cross of Jesus and know that his grace and mercy are everlasting. No author in the bible, new testament or old, claims to have it all together. They all express full awareness that they are completely reliant on God, even through their moments of being out of fellowship with Him. In every other religion, it's about self-centered striving to achieve some sense of holy living. The product of those religions is not necessarily morally corrupt, often times they, in some sense, are good to the world and the people in it. But every single one falls short by centering around people reaching up to God, to try to connect with him by personal achievement, which since we are all sinners, is an impossibility. We are all going to fall short. We are born selfish and prideful.... Only the one true God reaches down to us to have a relationship with him through his son Jesus. I don't need to invent a religion; I know my savior.
I was reading a passage out of Deuteronomy this morning and began to think about the truth of God's word. Every religion, other than Christianity, has been started more or less by a person who claims they had some vision, some enlightenment, where they feel they have connected... had nirvana, etc.. with some supreme being or beings. I compared that notion to Moses and his writings.
Deuteronomy is essentially a recap of the exodus from Egypt and Israel's time spent wandering through the wilderness. As I read about the ten commandments and Moses' interaction with God, I began to think, "is it odd that a man writes his own story like this?" "why is he the author?" "what sets him apart?" Then I realized that nothing really does. His story ends with him dying... yes. dead. Moses dies at the end of this book (though I am not there yet), and never enters the land promised him and his descendants. Only Joshua and Caleb enter the promised land, due to their consistent faith in God, when others fell short.
How is this significant? Well, I zoomed out a bit and thought about the characters of the old testament. I am fairly familiar with it, certainly all the key stories. Up to this point in the Torah, we see again and again stories of men who failed. Godly men who still fall short at times. Men who make mistakes, men who deceive, men who are afraid to do God's will... So, not only are the stories about a collection of men, rather than one man's idea of religion, but the stories generally reflect poorly on the protagonist. All the way back to Adam. Love ya buddy but ya blew it. All the stories and adventures point to one thing, faith and reliance on God! We are sinners. These men were acting just like you and I do today. Messed up, screwed up, and yet God intervenes in their lives and the lives of Israel because He is completing a story that points to Christ, our savior. That's what strikes me and really gives me peace about my faith. No one is flattering themselves in this sacred book. They are telling a story, as best as they can, about their interaction with a holy God. A God who foreknew the path to redemption with his creation. Jacob deceives his father to receive a blessing. David commits adultery and has the husband killed. Rahab is a whore who's offspring, ultimately, is JESUS! To me that is exciting! Forget your flaws, forget your depravity, fall down at the cross of Jesus and know that his grace and mercy are everlasting. No author in the bible, new testament or old, claims to have it all together. They all express full awareness that they are completely reliant on God, even through their moments of being out of fellowship with Him. In every other religion, it's about self-centered striving to achieve some sense of holy living. The product of those religions is not necessarily morally corrupt, often times they, in some sense, are good to the world and the people in it. But every single one falls short by centering around people reaching up to God, to try to connect with him by personal achievement, which since we are all sinners, is an impossibility. We are all going to fall short. We are born selfish and prideful.... Only the one true God reaches down to us to have a relationship with him through his son Jesus. I don't need to invent a religion; I know my savior.
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