Play the background like it's an instrument

So often I wrestle with myself wondering why I continue repetitive cycles of sin that leads nowhere. I suppose it does lead somewhere. Death. It frustrates me to no end, but I so often overlook what is at the heart of the matter.

I just don't want to give up control.

That's risky. To have no say in my own life? To give up so many simple, earthly pleasures and pursuits?

But it's what we've been commanded to as followers of Jesus Christ...

One of Lecrae's songs on his newest album "Rebel" is titled "Background." It paints such a clear picture of the devastating results of trying to play the lead character in this story of life. Contrasting that is the joy received when we play the background and allow God to take center stage. I could go on and try to explain what he is getting at, but please, just watch this video and listen to the words.

"Prayin' the whole world will start embracing stage fright..."



I could play the background.
I could play the background.
Cuz I know sometimes I get in the way.
So won't you take the lead, lead, lead.
So won't you take the lead, lead, lead.
And I can play the background, background.
And you can take the lead.

It's evident you run the show so let me back down.
You take the leading role, and I'll play the background.
I know I miss my cues, know I forget my lines
I'm sticking to your script, and I'm reading all your signs.
I don't need my name in lights.
I don't need a starring role.
And why gain the whole wide world, if I'm just gon' loose my soul.
And my ways ain't purified, I'll live according to your Word.
I can't endure this life without your wisdom being heard.
So word to every dancer for a pop star
Cuz we all play the background, but mine's a rock star.
Yeah. So if you need me I'll be stage right.
Prayin' the whole world will start embracing stage fright.
So let me fall back and stop giving my suggestions
Cuz when I follow my obsessions I end up confessing.
That I'm not that impressive, matter fact I'm............
A trail of star dust leading to the superstar.

I had a dream that I was captain of my soul.
I was master of my fate, lost control, and then I sank.
So I don't want to take the lead
Cuz I'm prone to make mistakes.
All these folks that follow me gon' end up in the wrong place.
So, just let me shadow you. And just let me trace your lines.
Matter fact just take my pen.
Here, you create my rhymes.
Cuz if I do this by myself I'm scared that I'll succeed.
And no longer trust in You, cuz I only trust in me.
And see, that's how you end up headed to destruction.
Paving a road to nowhere. Pour your life out for nothing.
You pulled my card, I'm bluffing
You know what's in my hand.
Me I just roll to trust you to cause the dice to land.
I'm in control of nothing. Follow you at any cost.
Some call it sovereign will, all I know is you the boss.
And man I'm so at ease. I'm so content.
I play the background like it's an instrument.

I know I'm safest when I'm in your will and trust your word.
And I know I'm dangerous when I trust myself; my vision blurred.
And I ain't got no time to play life's foolish games.
Got plenty aims but do they really glorify your name.
And its a shame the way I want to do these things for you, yeah.
Don't even cling to you. Take time to sit and glean from you.
And its seems that you are patient in my ignorance.
If ignorance is bliss, its cuz she never heard of this.

Music Makes Memories

Do you ever hear something that will bring back the same memory over and over again?

Maybe it's a song that you heard in your favorite movie, or your prom or wedding. I guess this could be a good or bad thing depending on the memory, but I love that our minds are rigged that way.

For me, it is a combination of songs. A little over a month ago, some members of our Bible study went to Philadelphia for a four-day mission trip. Upon returning, I created a video of our experience, and the hardest part about it was picking out what music to put in the background. I couldn't pick one or two, but ended up using portions of four songs:

The Time is Now - Phil Wickham
Shadows - David Crowder Band
Far Away - Lecrae
City on Our Knees - Toby Mac

And now, every time I hear one of these songs, I am reminded of what I saw in Philadelphia.

And I am so thankful for that.

I became aware of God's presence amidst pain of joys of Philadelphia and I don't want to forget what that was. God can now use these songs to convict me of my comfort and inspire me to live a life that glorifies Him.

One of God's Tiny Presents

Singing a song in choir is one thing, but singing it in front of the poet who wrote the words and the composer who put them to music is another.

On Friday, October 23, 2009, I was able to do just that. For our fall concerts, the Marietta College Concert Choir sang a piece titled “Tiny Presents” taken from a collection of pieces called “Songs from Bonnie’s Heart.” Bonnie Donnelly is a poet who also happens to be a Marietta grad and William Beulow took her words and composed several beautiful pieces. So to have them both in the audience while we sang one of the pieces was a truly special moment.

As we began singing our first line, “In the middle of the park,” I looked just to the left of our director and there sat Mr. Beulow three rows back next to the aisle singing right along with us. It warmed my heart to see him in such a relaxed mood hearing his creation brought to life.

I looked two people to his right and there sat Bonnie with a grin for the world to see. Her smile was further-complemented by the tear that rolled down her cheek.

The piece went on and never had we sang with such intent to bring meaning to the words. The song concluded and we were applauded, but no gratitude was shown like that we received from Bonnie. With hands over her lips she stood and sent kisses our way with “thank you” interspersed. I couldn’t help but smile as I saw the most genuine gratitude and appreciation expressed that I had ever seen. Her words were now a part of us all.

It makes me wonder if God doesn’t feel the same way.

When He sees His creation bringing His words to life don’t you think He’s watching, smiling and singing along with us? When we put our hearts and emotions into His service, don’t you think He stands at the end of the day or the end of our lives and says “Thank you”?

I witnessed human gratitude that spoke volumes of emotion and it makes me wonder about the magnitude of Perfect Gratitude. I can almost hear God whispering to his children “thank you” as one reaches out to feed another, as one takes time to genuinely love the unloved. A tear slides over His smile as He watches His creation bring “music” to the words he spoke.

My heart has been broken.

At the end of January, I posted about an amazing concert that is heading to Ohio.  The Rock and Road Show is featuring five great that I would love to see perform, most notably Tenth Avenue North and Jeremy Camp.  Things were looking great as far as going....

Until yesterday...

Do you ever overbook your plans?  Or just assume you have the day free?  Well, that's exactly what I did.  I have had April 16th set out for three months as the day to go see some great bands.  Intense anticipation mounted in my heart each day until it was broken yesterday.  What's the conflict, you ask?

A STINKIN' CHOIR CONCERT!!!

Yes, choir!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy choir, but this shatters my entire universe.  I was sooooo pumped to go to this concert with some great friends of mine and I just realized yesterday that we have a choir concert with a conflicting date.  The choir date has been set since the beginning of the school year.  I just never thought to look.

I don't think there's a moral to this story other than conflicts suck.

Above the Golden State, Part II

Back in November, I reviewed Above the Golden State's rookie self-titled release.  Now, 4 months later, I get to write about a live performance.  It was interesting...

Saturday, March 21, the Truth, Hope and Love tour made a stop at North Parkersburg Baptist Church in Parkersburg, WV.  Building 429 was headlining and previous acts consisted of Kimber Rising, After Edmund, and ATGS.

I was honestly there just to see ATGS.  I actually left during intermission, before Building 429's performance, in order to make it back to campus for some birthday socializing.  But anyways, the concert was interesting for more reasons than this...

I eagerly awaited ATGS as Jared, the MC for the night, walked on stage to thank Kimber Rising and announce the next act.  "So help me welcome Michael!" yelled Jared.  Wait a second.  Michael?  Just Michael?  What about the rest of the band?  I came to see Above the Golden State.  Not Michael.  Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Turns out, the rest of the band was back in Oregon doing ministry with their churches.  Okay, I guess I can excuse that.

So Michael ended up giving us a five-song acoustic performance.  I'm not gonna lie - I'm glad the rest of the band was back doing ministry.  Not just because ministry is a great thing, but because the acoustic performance was awesome.  I already know all of their songs off the album, so to hear them live and acoustic was really cool.  Now I also see how playable they are, so I have some work cut out for me.

After his set, I also got to talk to him for a bit.  For more regarding that go here.

photo courtesy of newreleasetuesday.com

Winter Jam 2009

On Saturday, Jan. 31, some friends and I headed west to Columbus for one of the best concerts I've ever attended.  The Monday prior to the concert, I had no idea the thing existed.  A simple FCA announcement turned into my weekend plans and how grateful I am that they did.

The Winter Jam, a seven or eight band extravaganza is currently on tour and for the convenient cost of free (tickets were only $10 but we got our hands on some free passes) I experienced all of these bands, concluding with a eardrum-throbbing performance from tobyMac - but I'll get to him shortly.

First, we got to Shottenstein center in Columbus around 4 p.m., an hour before the doors opened.  Lines were already backed up at each entrance to the arena and we picked the shortest line we could find.  But there was a reason it was short - it was already in the teens temperature wise and we picked the line in the shade.  Bad idea.

But after the wait, we managed to grab decent floor seats in what would eventually be a packed out Schottenstein Center, which seats over 20,000 people.  The only seats were in the nosebleeds way behind the stage.

The music got started shortly after five with a pre-concert from Stephanie Smith - an up-and-comer who didn't disappoint.  The rest of the evening went in this order:

Pure NRG - hats off to three kids at 13, 14, and 16 years old.

Francesca Batestelli

NewSong

Barlow Girl

Brandon Heath - unfortunately, he only got three songs, although he was still awesome

tobyMac

Okay, so now tobyMac.  Prior to the concert I had never really listed to Toby.  I didn't have anything against him (I know now that I would have loved his music) but I just didn't listen to it.  I knew a few of his songs but couldn't tell you more than one title.  But that all changed after Saturday night.

When tobyMac took the stage, it was obvious that my face was about to get rocked off.  His stage crew, Diverse City, was right there with him, laying down beats and lyrics that had the crowd throwing their fists and bobbing their heads.  It's had to put into words what the concert was like.  You could listen to his CD's, but they don't do a justice to a live performance.

Enhancing the already stellar lyrics and music was breakdancing, turntable solos, synchronized steps (not your typical N-Sync moves), and a finale crowsurf from Toby with confetti as icing.  The most gut-wrenching feeling was when the bass reverberated through my body.  This wasn't the typical feeling from the pounding of a bass drum.  This was some type of synthesized base that was felt for a couple seconds each beat.  I could feel several short pounds for each throbbing note.  I'll just say that it's a good thing I went to the bathroom before the concert because I didn't have any spare underwear on hand.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better performance.  Especially since I got the whole deal for free.  tobyMac - you have a new fan.

Great Lineup

Here I am, two weeks down the road from my last blog entry.  I really do want to keep this thing updated.  Procrastination is the stinkin' devil.  Anyways...

April is a good ways off, but within it is a concert that I will hopefully be attending.  On April 16, a lineup of five bands will be performing at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio as a part of the Rock and Worship Roadshow.  The performers are:

Jeremy Camp

Tenth Avenue

 North

Addison Road

Mercy Me

Hawk Nelson

I don't know who is headlining this thing.  But I don't really care.  Those are five pretty awesome bands, especially the first two I listed, and I'm seeing them for ten bucks!  Yeah, $10 at the door and that's it.  First come, first serve.  

I was just recently opened up to Tenth Avenue North and I love them.  They have great lyrics which to me is the primary thing.  I have always been a big Jeremy Camp fan, as well.  Simple yet powerful lyrics and relatively easy songs to play on the guitar.  I've actually seen Addison Road and Mercy Me before, but another performance can never be a bad thing.  And for Hawk Nelson, never really listened to them.  Nothing against them, I have one of their CDs it's just not a top priority.

Unfortunately, Thursday is my busy day as far as classes go.  So we'll see how that plays out.  But I just have to be there.

He's by our side

First off, in response to my last post, my dad did figure out the CD player. Phew - that would have been a long trip without music.

I wanted to share some lyrics from a song that has recently been playing over and over in my mind. It's "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North. I've been struggling lately just in feeling close to God. This distance is large in part due to a lack of being in the Word and in prayer. I was talking with a buddy of mine, Anthony Mossburg, a few days ago and he mentioned this song. I had heard of it before (it's quite popular on Christian radio) but I hadn't really listened to what it was saying. The song is an encouraging note from God's point of view of not turning away from Him. Please read these lyrics and let them sink in as God's Truth to us and an amazing gift that He and only He can give:

Why are you striving these days?

Why are you trying to earn grace?

Why are you crying?

Let me lift up your face

Just don't turn away.

Why are you looking for love?

Why are you searching as if I'm not enough?

To where will you go, child?

Tell me where will you run?

To where will you run?

And I'll be by your side

Wherever you fall

In the dead of night

Whenever you call

And please don't fight

These hands that are holding you

My hands are holding you.

Look at these hands and my side

They swallowed the grave on that night

When I drank the world's sin

So I could carry you in

And give you life

I want to give you life

I'll be by your side

Whenever you call

In the dead of night

Wherever you fall

And please don't fight

These hands that are holding you

My hands are holding you

'Cause I, I love you

I want you to know

That I, I love you

I'll never let you go

It kind of reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:13 - "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful."

Amen!

A trip without music?

Before I get to my main topic, I want to say that I hope I don't stop blogging on here just because the class it was for has ended.  I am still writing occasionally on trumpful-sound so I this one keeps up to.  So here we go.

I'm really good at leaving my car headlights on.  I have emptied my battery this way on many occasions.  But it's not all my fault.  Most of the time when it happens, the little trigger that makes the dinging noise gets stuck, so I don't hear anything reminding me to turn the lights off.

I went about three days without needing to drive my car, so I was fully unaware that the battery had been drained.  Fortunately, my gracious father hooked it up to a charger and in a few hours, it was ready to get back on the road.  So on the road I went and what did I find out?  My stereo system was no longer was working!

I never listen to the radio.  I don't even know how to tune it manually, I'm only capable of scanning.  So this not being able to play CD's thing was quite the dilemma.  And even if I wanted to use the radio, it wasn't working either.  I thought maybe it was because it was so cold outside, but nope.  It's been almost a week and it's still not working.  I have yet to inform my dad about this and I don't really want to.  Not that I'd be afraid of his reaction, but I just don't want to bother him about it when he's got a lot of other things to take care of.  Because God knows that I'm not going to be able to fix it.  So here's the real dilemma:

I'm currently planning on taking an eight or nine day road trip starting the day after Christmas, with a few stops for friends, a camp New Year's reunion and ending with my sister's wedding.  My first destination is Warren, PA - 6 1/2 hours away!  That's a long time, an extremely long time, to go without music.  Rarely do I go without listening to anything in my car.  I turn my car on, and the music starts playing.  It's not like I have to turn it on, so why turn it off?  On a couple occasions (such as the drive home after an amazing summer at camp) I have turned it off to take some time in prayer and to soak in all I had just been through.  But this is only for about 30 minutes.  Six and a half hours is different.

But here's the funny thing.  In the week I've been without any noise in my car, besides me talking to myself (you know you do it to), I haven't really noticed the lack of music.  I can't say that it's been a miserable experience.  I've only gone about 5 miles at a time, but when I get o where I'm going, I don't even realize that the music hasn't been playing.

This makes me realize how little time I spend in silence (I think you can say the same for yourself).  And I'm a big believer that it's important to spend some time in silence.  I like to use that silence to reflect and be in prayer.  When I think about a typical day, the only time when there is silence is probably once my roommate and I have fallen asleep - so not until about 2 a.m.  And then at 8:30 the noise starts up all over again.  I need to take some more time in silence.  I need to create it if it's not there.  If I'm just sitting in my room doing homework and I have music playing or the TV on, turn it off.  Take a few minutes to reflect and just relish the silence.  It's something we all need a little more of.

So, for this trip - Music or no music?  That is the question.

Pa rum pum pum pum

On Tuesday, November 25, 2008, The Almost released their five song EP, titled "No Gift to Bring."  Around 12:30 a.m. on the 25th, half an hour after it had been released, I had it purchased from iTunes and sitting in my music library.

I must say, I was very pleased with what I heard.  The track listing is as follows:

1. Awful Direction
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. Amazing (Because it is) Full Version
4. Your Love is Extravagant
5. Dirty and Left Out (McTague-Lectro Version)

Awful Direction is their only new song on the album.  It is entirely acoustic (a simple guitar and drum set) which sets the mood for the rest of the album.  Lines like, "I've been wrong, I've been right, but tonight, I just want to be Yours," are straight from the heart and reflect the struggles of a life faithful to God.

The Little Drummer Boy version is one of the best I've heard (I guess I really haven't heard that many versions, but you catch my drift).  It has a unique rhythm and Aaron Gillespie's voice adds a new flavor.

Tracks 3 and 5 were on the previous album, Southern Weather, but this time with a new twist.  The electric sensation of Dirty and Left Out caught me off guard but I am really warming up to it.  

Your Love is Extravagant has always been one of my favorite praise songs, so to see The Almost cover it this Christmas season is very refreshing.

Well done guys.

photo courtesy of fye.com

So, I'm giving iTunes a shot

I'm not usually a huge fan of technology.  Some of it can be pretty sweet, but for the most part, I find it unnecessary and excessive.  Everyone knows about iTunes and how it along with Mac is taking over the world, and up until now, I was successfully able to block it out of my mind.  I don't have anything against them (I own a MacBook and love it) but I just didn't have a need for iTunes so I didn't really deal with it.

Well, at camp this summer, one of my camper's mothers gave my co-counselor and me a $10 iTunes gift card.  For the longest time, it just sat in the bottom of one of my drawers.  Then, as I posted a few days ago, I won another $25 in iTunes money at the open mic.  So with $35 in iTunes money, I figured it was time I acted on it.

Well, in the last 3 hours, I have gone through this shopping list:

1. rented "Garden State" and watched it (incredible movie - the soundtrack is killer, I may have to blog on it)
2. bought The Almost's new 5-song EP (another potential blog post)
3. bought a $10 software update which allows me to download applications
4. downloaded Relevant Magazine's podcast
   
5. downloaded a couple pointless but entertained applications

I've only got $16.50 remaining.  Hopefully it's not gone by the time I go to sleep.  Perhaps I should turn off my computer and think about my purchases before I go through with them.  Because once I run out of gift card money, there's no more buying to be done.

Confirmed: Shane and Shane are the best ever!

Last Saturday, Nov. 15, I went to see Christian/acoustic duo of Shane and Shane perform at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and I don't even know where to start.

I saw them play at the youth leaders convention a few weekends ago, but this time was different - way different.  At the convention, they only had time to play four or five songs, while everyone was standing at the front of the stage. This was the opposite.  Now usually I would be all for standing at the front of the stage, but given this recent concert was in a sanctuary, there really wasn't a concert-type stage as one would imagine.

So into the church we went, (myself and nine others) and three of us ended up sitting second row, about thirty or forty feet away from the two Shanes.  It was so relaxing to just be able to sit and listen to them play.  We didn't have to worry about tired legs or seeing over anyone (being 6'3" always helps me in that respect).  And there acoustic sound doesn't really call for standing and jumping around.  It was such a great time to relax, listen to great music with even better lyrics, and be reverent to God all at the same time.

What was interesting is that I could kind of tell that the guitarist, Shane Bernard, was having an off night.  He had trouble tuning his strings to begin and there were a couple other spots where it was obvious he was just having a rough time.  But the great thing - it made no difference at all.  He was just up there having a great time, singing and praising God.

In most concerts, it is just song after song after song, but in this situation, there was time when the two Shanes were conversational with each other and with the audience which goes to show that it's not just some routine for them.  Each concert is genuine.  Shane Bernard even took several minutes to share the Biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo and the fiery furnace and how they refused to bow before the king, even knowing it would cost them their lives.  This then transitioned into their song "Burn Us Up."

I could write for days on how amazing these guys are - their voices, their harmonies, their modesty, their genuine attitudes.  I just hope this wasn't the last Shane and Shane experience I have.

Finally, another open mic

Last Thursday was the first open mic on campus in the last two semesters.  I love coming out and just playing my guitar and singing, so to be able to do that again was a lot of fun. 

 Normally, there is no prize for the winner, but this time there was, and there was a catch to it.  The event was also a food drive.  The audience voted for their favorite performer with non-perishable food or money that would go toward food.  Here is a blog that talks more about it.

The cool thing...I won.  I started off with "Beautiful," by Shawn McDonald.  Throughout the week, I had been practicing it, and when my suitemates found out I was playing it, they immediately assumed it was James Blunt's "Beautiful."  So, since I had time to play two songs, I played "Beautiful" again.  It was quite the contrast in sounds and moods.  (Disclaimer: I don't really like James Blunt, but I've been told I have a good impersonation of the British singer and it's funny to sing in falsetto.)

My prize was a $25 iTunes card.  I kinda wished it was cash.  I probably would have just given it back to them to go towards food.  I don't really use iTunes.  Maybe I can sell it to someone for 20 bucks or something.  But anyways, it was loads of fun and there had better be more in the future!

If you'll recall last Tuesday, I made a post about how musically filled my weekend was.  I mentioned how I heard Starfield perform, that they were "up-and-coming" and then had to retract my statement because that are already well-known.  Well, I have to do it again.

In the post, I didn't even mention hearing Matt Maher.  Why?  Because I thought he was just some guy that they chose to lead praise and worship.  I assume that he's a modest guy and wouldn't want me to hype him up as more than just a guy singing and playing his guitar, but I really undermined his successes.

As I browse my google reader looking for ideas, I kept seeing his name for winning awards.  The name sounded familiar so I looked at an article and realized it was the same dude.  Maher has recently won two awards for his work.  The first award received was for "Praise and Worship Album of the Year" for his album "Empty and Beautiful" at the Covenant Awards 30th Anniversary.  That's quite the prize considering other praise and worship artists such as Chris Tomlin and Charlie Hall - not that any of it is a competition for them.  The second award, received a day later, was for "Artist of the Year" at the 9th annual Unity Awards.

One of Maher's popular works, "Your Grace is Enough," was released on "Empty and Beautiful" and was also recorded by Chris Tomlin, who seems to sing just about every praise and worship song these days.

So, along with Starfield, Mercy Me, David Crowder, and Shane and Shane, I also got to enjoy Matt Maher.  Dang, that was quite the weekend.

photo courtesy of CMSpin

Above the Golden State

In July 2008, Portland Christian-rock band Above the Golden State released their debut album.  It typically takes bands a few CD's before they reach that breaking point.  I have a feeling it won't be the same for these guys.  Their self titled album has only been out for a few months and is getting great reviews.

Whenever I buy CD's, I typically like to have listened to at least a few of the band's songs prior to purchasing, or I'll take a recommendation from a very trusted ear.  But this past weekend, I heard about 45 seconds of one of their songs playing through a loudspeaker and knew it would be a great CD.  So I bought it.  And I haven't been let down.  Their west coast rock/pop sound is unique and very appealing.

Songs like "Love," which fades right into the next track, "Chapter 13," (indicating the scripture in 1 Corinthians 13) really resonate with me.  There's more to that scripture than just great lines to read at a wedding, and Above the Golden State really brings that out through their music.

Here are a couple example: "Gaze Into Your Eyes" and "The Sound of Your Name"

I look forward to wearing out this CD and sitting in waits for a new release.

Christmas With the Shanes

I don't know that I've ever listened to an entire Christmas album.  For the most part, they're all the same songs, just a different person singing them.  Well, I finally found one that does Christmas remakes justice - Shane and Shane's "Glory in the Highest."

The newly released Christmas record is the first of the kind in nearly a decade of 

playing from Shane Bernard and Shane Everett.  On the album, the acoustic duo covers several popular tunes, such as "Silent Night," "Away in a Manger," and "O' Come Let Us Adore Him."  Most people who have heard the Shane's sing would

 agree with me that they can cover just about any song and take it up an extra step.  Some of the songs are a bit unusual sounding, simply because an upbeat style is not associated with some of the hymns.

The track that stands out most to me is the opener - an upbeat, spunky version of "O, Holy Night."  When they sing "fall on your knees, O hear the angels' voices.  O night divine, O, night when Christ was born," the soaring harmonies are hard to describe.  (Please watch the video link in here.  It's incredible.)  I still don't understand how two guys can sing that high and that beautifully.

If you're looking for a Christmas record that still gives you the true message of the season, but is unique in sound and filled with great harmonies, this is a must get.

Starfield Already Stars

If you'll look just two posts ago, you'll see that I called Starfield a band that was "relatively unknown and are starting to make it big."  I just found out that I was wrong - they are already making it big.  They've been making it big for a few years now.  On October 24, the band took home six trophies at the Covenant Awards.  Here is exactly what they won.  In no way do I want to undermine how well they are doing.

It's funny that as soon as I comment about them I find that I am completely wrong.  Maybe I should pay attention a little more in the future.  It's great to see another Christian band making an impact on those around them.  Keep it up, Starfield.

It's More Than Just Music

Music can be many things to many people.  For me it's a form of entertainment, it's how I relax, it's how I express myself.  For others, it can be that and so much more.  For my world music class, I watched this film called "War Dance."  In it, a small Ugandan school is competing in a national music contest that displays music of their culture with instruments and dance. 

 What this school doesn't have in common with the other schools is their tragic story.  Most of the kids are living in small huts in a displacement camp with only one parent (if any) because their original village has been attacked by the "rebels."  Their area of Uganda is at constant war and the inhabitants have become accustomed to hearing gunshots at all times of day.  Throughout the movie, profiles of students are seen and the audience is able to get a small glimpse of the physical and emotional pain and anguish they are forced to deal with.  

For this culture, music is their source of hope for something better.  The kids practice day after day and actually do well during their judged performance, but more important than that is how detrimental music is to them.  One young man, Dominic, is seen sitting in front of a tree playing his xylophone.  He says that he wants to be the best xylophone player ever and that when they go compete he will make a name for himself and show them that his people are strong.

I guess I just find it fascinating how vastly different music is around the world.  The simple idea of music and song is anything but simple.

A Musical Weekend

This past weekend had been like no other for me when it comes to live music.  From Friday night until Sunday night, I saw four amazing bands perform.

It started Friday night with a David Crowder concert.  A group from the college along with some folks from a nearby church trekked three hours to Cedarville University to see the band perform.  I had never seen them live before, but they sound just as great live as they do on their recordings.  The dynamics of their sound is what's most astonishing.  They range from their typical upbeat rock sound to bluegrass and into praise and worship, using a variety of electronic creations along the way.  The highlight is when David grabbed a Guitar Hero guitar controller.  He wasn't just going to act like he was playing - the thing actually made guitar noises.  The sounds weren't just five notes like you'd hear on the game.  Different combos of buttons made different sounds.  It was awesome.

The next day, I was at a youth leaders convention in Pittsburgh and due to it being large-scale, it brought in a lot of good artists.  The first I heard was Starfield.  They are relatively unknown but are starting to make it big.  I don't remember much about their sound, but I did like it.

After them was Mercy Me.  I was fortunate to see Mercy Me perform their hit song "I Can Only Imagine" back in 6th or 7th grade before they were popular, so it was neat to see them again.  I didn't know much of their stuff, but it was still great to hear them play.

The next day was the highlight.  The morning started of with a short session with none other that Shane and Shane.  These two guys, both named Shane if you didn't figure that out, are absolutely incredible.  They have the best voices I have ever heard and their live sound is ridiculous.  I honestly cannot put into words how great they are.  And what makes them go above and beyond any other band is the power of their lyrics.  Many Christian artist sing about how great God is, which is not wrong at all - it's great to sing about that.  But they tend to refrain from singing about struggles and songs of lament.  Shane and Shane don't hesitate in singing about what's Biblical truth.  Their line in the song "Beg" that says "at the end of the day, my words get burned as wood."  This shows that if a Christian isn't into their faith whole heartedly, then their words mean nothing.

Capping the night and the conference off was another dose of David Crowder, this one much superior to the one on Friday.  The first reason is that I was right at the front of the stage.  When they let us in, we had to run to get good seats, but we got them.  Secondly, the audience was much more into it.  There was more energy which made it more enjoyable.  It was pretty much the same set (just a little smaller), but none of it felt repetitive.

I don't know that I'll ever have another weekend with as much stellar music in it again.  I better soak it up while it's still fresh.

The Land of the Boy Bands and the Home of the Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys were given the honor of singing America's National Anthem for Game 1 of the World Series tonight in St. Petersburg, where the Philadelphia Phillies are playing the Tampa Bay Rays.  It took them long enough to sing the anthem that I was able to get up from my futon, grab my computer, and begin this post.  Why?  Because they spent half the time elongating words and changing their intonation while adding three and four part harmonies.  This is completely unnecessary!

The Star Spangled Banner is about the power of the words - how our country prevailed through "bombs bursting in air" that we might be the "land of the free and the home of the brave."  Francis Scott Key didn't wake up that morning nearly 200 years ago, see the battered American flag and think, "Hey, I bet a boy band in a couple hundred years would make this sound great!"  To me, the quartet ruined the song.  They're fortunate it was our nation's song or I  wouldn't have even known what they said.  I was too focused on how their intent to sound sleek made them sound stupid.  I realize they are not the only people to do this, but they just happened to be the one's singing tonight.  Anyone who does it deserves the mute button.

Nice try BSB, but I'm glad you're off the field so the game can start.  And by the way, you guys were cooler in the 90s.