So I've got my songs picked out. I've got arrangements figured out. I have a road map created. It gets really, really fun at this point. If you read this blog much, you'll see that I reference Lari Goss quite a bunch. I've said it before a bunch, but if you're new here...I moved to Nashville in January 1996 to intern with Lari Goss. I spent many, many days in the studio [...]
Clinton Roemer, Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser, Judy Green Sheet Music That's my 'upbringing'. For a pretty large collection of folks, those words probably don't mean anything. But, for a good number of folks (maybe age 40 and older), this is how you began. A yellow legal pad. This idea represents so many things to me musically. For many of my friends here in Nashville, this represents my hero, my mentor [...]
I love watching 'behind the scenes' videos for movies. If there are 'DVD Extras', I am watching them. And as a composer and arranger, WHENEVER there is a behind the scenes on the making of movie music, I WILL WATCH IT! (Here's John Williams recording Star Wars - Episode 1 behind the scenes) While I was tracking the rhythm and then recording horns, I did some live video streams on Facebook and [...]
I sat down in a church orchestra for the first time when I was in 8th grade (about 32 years ago). I had just started playing trumpet the year before that in 7th grade. I sat down next to some college trumpet players and some guys that were out of college. In the orchestra were kids my age all the way up in to their 70s. There is something in those [...]
There is an amazingly powerful choral anthem called 'Psalm 24' arranged by a friend of mine, Bradley Knight, for Prism Music. I remember the first time I looked at it with my choir. They're looking at the sheet music and we're listening to the demo recording. There's an epic intro, a great groove gets going and then...well..it could best be described as a sort of fugue with all four sections of [...]
That sounds really cool! I love that record! I love those arrangements! And then sometimes I hear..."I don't know if my folks can play that." I believe in elephants. But I don't believe they should sit on the sofa in the living room without someone at least saying "Hi. How are you doing? Can I get you some peanuts?" It's rude otherwise. So... "Can I get you some peanuts?" [...]
One of the most difficult drives to make late at night is not winding curves or steep mountain grades. But rather, an 8 hour drive on flat terrain on the interstate where you set the cruise on 70 and just go. There is a huge potential of 'zoning out' once you get used to the terrain. Stuck in a rut. We've heard that phrase before. One of the challenges worship [...]
Well known actors are cast in movies. Well known personalities are in commercials. How many times have you heard, "From the creators of..." or "From the people who brought you..."? Why does Hollywood do that? Familiarity Hollywood knows that by utilizing actors you have seen before, you could be more comfortable watching the movie and/or more likely to connect with the story than with someone you've never seen before.* [...]
After <many> months of planning, writing, recording, mixing, editing and uploading, I am thrilled to announce that Retro Hymns 2 is now HERE! The last 6 months have been a fun journey of me playing my horn (trumpet) a whole lot. What began as me doing an arrangement of God Bless the USA for Lee Greenwood to sing with RamCorps morphed into me going on the K-Love Cruise in January and playing [...]
According to Scholastic (www.scholastic.com), here are a couple of benefits to Summer Reading: • Children who read 4 or more books over the summer fare better on reading-comprehension tests in the fall • Teachers typically spend 4-6 weeks re-teaching material students have forgotten over the summer • Reading as a leisure activity is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary and reading speed (these statistics taken from the 'Scholastic Summer Challenge') [...]
