The Hurt & The Healer
Check it out. This is officially the cover of the new MercyMe record called “The Hurt & The Healer”. Thrilled to be working with the very talented Nate Farro on the packaging for this project. It’s going to be a great record and I’m honored to be a part of it.
Top 10 Christian Guitar Riffs
I tweeted about this yesterday, and I realized that 10 songs might be a little ambitious, but I wanted to give it a shot. In case you missed it, I tweeted that I wanted someone to put together a list of the top ten most recognizable guitar riffs in Christian music. We probably all have different opinions on a lot of them, but some are without a doubt going to make the list. Here goes.
DC Talk – “Jesus Freak”
Newsboys – “Shine”
Audio Adrenaline – “Big House”
Third Day – “Call My Name”
Delirious – “Deeper”
Steven Curtis Chapman – “Great Adventure”
Jars Of Clay – “Flood”
Switchfoot – “Meant To Live
Okay…. maybe I start with the top eight…. What did I miss? Any you disagree with? I know that Third Day one is pretty new, but come on, that’s a pretty recognizable riff. Let’s hear what we need to add to the list.
The Return Of Burlap To Cashmere
When Kristin and I had just started dating we went to one of those amusement park Christian days in California. We skipped most of the bands, but I remember there was one band that we absolutely had to see no matter what we did the rest of the day. Here we are 11 years later and last night we said the same thing and made the same decision to go see Burlap To Cashmere no matter what we did the rest of the day.
Now I know that there’s going to be all this new buzz about them because they just sort of hopped onto the scene, but as a fan from way back, I can say, there was not much cooler than watching them absolutely kill it last night at 3rd & Lindsley. These guys are absolutely some of the best musicians I’ve seen and I couldn’t be happier that they are officially back to business.
And if that wasn’t cool enough, being able to check out the Jars Of Clay guys in their natural habitat was nothing short of special itself. It was easily one of the best times I have heard them. The song selection was perfect. The vocals were flawless. They killed it too.
These are the days I love living in Nashville.
Death Of The Record Release?
I listen to a lot of music. I mean a lot. Like I’m rarely not listening to music unless I’m on the phone or someone has made me turn it off. Because of that I’m always looking for new music. But while I’m always looking for new music, if I find something I like, typically I will buy the whole record just for symmetry’s sake. I can’t really handle not having a whole record.
That being said, Death Cab For Cutie seems like they are giving the “one song at a time” release method. We’ve all talked about that in the past. With iTunes focussing more on singles and the mighty “release of the record’ numbers dwindling, that seems like a legitimate idea right? I’ve even said it before on here I think. Forget releasing a record and just throw out a couple songs a month or something.
Well Death Cab, is releasing the record “Codes And Keys” sort of in a slow release process where you buy the whole record up front, almost like a pre-sale and then once a week you are notified that there is a new song available for download. Today I got a song called “Underneath The Sycamore”. It’s pretty good. I listened to it once. Then I went back to listening to Brett Dennen’s “Lover Boy”. An entire record I bought a week or two ago. Now, I applaud Death Cab for trying something new and accepting the fact that most people aren’t as OCD as me and don’t necessarily need to own an entire record. What seems like the problem with this method, is that I have already forgotten about Death Cab for the day. I heard the song once, and since there’s nothing else, I’m back to a record that I can hear as a whole.
“Underneath The Sycamore” was the fourth or fifth song that I’ve gotten from the record so far and to be honest, I can’t even tell you the names of the other songs. My attention span isn’t long enough to commit to learning a record or finding my favorites until I have the whole thing and can process it as a whole. I can’t even really say it’s a good record yet. So, is this process working?
Now, again, I think it’s awesome that they are trying something new, but I think if it were up to me I’d say this process creates a more forgetful record than the release of something special. Does that make sense? When there is hype around a record release, even if most people buy just the singles, they know when it comes out. With this process, I simply don’t pay attention that much, and I don’t even know when the real record comes out. They did get my $12 though, so I guess something is working.
Anyone have any opinions about the way music is being released? Do “Release Dates” matter anymore?
My Week In Video
So a couple weeks ago, I spent the week with One Republic and made some videos and took some pictures. This is one thing that came from that week. Kinda cool to see.
I don’t feel very good right now, so you can sense my lack of enthusiasm. Broken rib and pain medication is not as awesome as it sounds.
Vinyl
When Kristin and I first got married we had a huge record player thing. It was like a piece of furniture that opened up and inside was a record player and some speakers. It was pretty awesome. Then we moved and had no place for it. I think we gave it to Kyle or something. Then we got rid of a bunch of records because we had no need for them. We did hang on to a couple just to have though.
Well this Christmas, Kristin got me this amazing record player that I can hook to my computer and not only play records but I can also import them into my iTunes. Total geeky amazing, I know. She also got me a Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” and Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” to go with it. Yep, awesome.
So now I’ve decided that 2011 will be the year of vinyl. I’ll still get ‘regular’ music on iTunes but those special records that I need to have forever will be on vinyl. I’m pretty excited to start tracking some of these down.
So let’s hear it. What should be some of my first purchases? Anything that I need to have on vinyl?
Behold The Lamb Of God
Last night, for the sixth consecutive year, Kristin and I had the opportunity to go see Andrew Peterson’s “Behold The Lamb Of God” show at the Ryman in Downtown Nashville. Obviously it’s become a yearly tradition for us and every year I am completely taken back by how amazing of a songwriter he is. I can honestly say I don’t think there are many better writers out there making music today. Anyway, I know I’ve blogged about it before, but I can’t say enough good things about this show. It’s one of the dates with Kristin I look most forward to every year.
There were a couple new faces this year involved in the tour, but for the most part it was the same folks that it is every year. I could give some eloquent ‘review’ of the show, but I don’t think it would do it justice. If the tour ever comes even remotely close to where you are, it’d be in your best interest to go. And continue to go year after year.
Here’s a song that Andrew played last night during the first half of the show that left every married couple in the room in a pile of mush.
Mumford And Sons – Sigh No More
Okay, it’s no surprise here that I’m massive fan of this style of music. Mumford & Sons is absolutely no exception. How epic is this song? Barry didn’t seem impressed, but that’s okay, he’s weird. Now, I’ll warn you, there is a song on here where he uses some…. aggressive language, but other than that, this album is absolutely epic.
For real, check out this album. I’m in Arkansas today… and listening to this all day.
Black Eyed Horrible Song
Okay, does anyone else think this song sounds like something that would be on Wayne’s World or something equally as cheesy? Now, obviously I know the Black Eyed Peas aren’t necessarily known for their prophetic poetry, but this is just embarrassing.
What’s the worst lyrical song you’ve ever heard. I’m not sure if this is my worst, but it’s pretty close.
