January 17, 2008

What a great day—really enjoyed sharing some songs in the performances this morning. It's been a while since I've done "This Is Not It" live, and two other tunes I've mentioned in here recently, "girls" and "Speak Up (Stand Up)," got their very first live performances.

And what a great week. I've had several alums from my Choirs reappear in rehearsals this week, and have gotten to be in touch with several other alums in the last few days (what with their covetably long Christmas vacations). While it's hard to keep up with email, it has meant so much to me when I've had the chance to catch up here and there with some of you. If I owe you an email, please forgive me—I'm trying to get caught up with all the messages waiting in my inbox….

January 10, 2008

Matt left today after a very short overnight visit. I have enjoyed recording background vocals for Time To Run (his new CD-in-progress), and it's been fun to hear how his work as a writer and producer is evolving throughout the project. Rebecca came out for the evening as well—we enjoyed catching up a bit, and between the two of us spent well into the wee hours recording in the studio.

January 8, 2008

I finally saw Chris Higgins today (see entry from December 24, 2007 for the prologue to this entry), and I have more news about his experiences in Africa and how he has responded. During his recent world travels, he spent eight weeks visiting and volunteering at New Hope orphanage in Busia, Uganda, and he was powerfully moved by the role they are playing in the lives of some of the children who have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic there. Almost immediately after he returned to the States, he began collaborating with David Moore (a filmmaker whose name will ring bells for my regular guests here) on a website for New Hope, including a video intro about the orphanage made from video footage Chris shot while there in Uganda. Powerful stuff. Hope you'll take the time to have a look at it.

December 31, 2007

Tonight we (my extended family, gathered together for the holidays) watched the relatively recent movie release "The Ultimate Gift." I found the film—and the experience—meaningful and valuable, challenging and encouraging. I'll not spoil the movie for you, but it's enough to say that it is one of those movies that makes you think about what's important, about how you are investing your life, about what life might ideally look like—and it left me wanting to be that better man that I sometimes want to be. There's so much good to be done out there, even though the world is so thoroughly not all-as-it-should-be. Perhaps even moreso because it is as it is. This life is short, and I want so very much to do what I can to make the world and this life more as-it-should-be, rather than spend my time bemoaning all the things that ought to be otherwise and subscribing to this world's definition of what's important. I hope I'm not alone in that, and I treasure the idea of what this world might look like if there were some others of you out there who felt the same way. I don't know if this is the start of a meaningful dialogue, or perhaps something else; I suppose that remains to be seen. But it rings harmoniously with a lot of what I've been writing about (in my songs, I mean) during this last year-and-a-half or so. I hope to have occasion to share some of it with you at some point. I have a handful of songs that are quite kindred to all this, some of which have resisted easy completion, for one reason or another. I am hoping that those songs will begin to click in the days ahead, and I look forward to our ongoing conversation about all this.

You might have a look at the lyrics for Speak Up (Stand Up), one of the songs that came out of my writing this fall.

December 24, 2007

I got to spend some time with my good friend David Moore, a gifted filmmaker and recent graduate of The Stony Brook School who lived with us in Hegeman. (If you were at the big CD concert back in 2006, that was David who was manning "Camera 1" and coordinating creative efforts for a possible—we'll keep you posted—"7: The Live DVD.") It was so good to reconnect and get caught up. It was also exciting to hear some from David about a project he is working on with fellow SBS alum Chris Higgins. I don't know many details yet, but Chris spent some time during the past year at an orphanage in Africa, and he has apparently been powerfully moved by the experience. For some reason, though I know very little, I am terribly curious about and moved by this project and wonder what God may be up to. I am looking forward to hearing more from Chris. Stay tuned, perhaps there will be more to share about all this at some point.

PS - Merry Christmas!

December 20, 2007

The last two days have been a whirlwind. I've barely slept for a couple weeks, between the end of the school semester, the release of the CD, and some live performing and preparations for the same. Yesterday I wrote a song while shaving—that was a new thing for me, I should probably note. I have been working on some Christmas tunes this fall, partly for performing for the School's Faculty/Staff Christmas party. Earlier this fall I wrote new musical settings of Away In A Manger and What Child Is This (new music with essentially the original texts), and had wanted to finish a third number for the set. Sure enough, God Rest You Merry came together while, of all things, clearing facial foliage. And I really like it, too. I really like all three of the new Christmas tunes, in fact. It's been fun to do a little writing without the pressure of being lyricist as well. It's a totally different experience. Hopefully you'll get to hear these tunes sometime soon, if you haven't already, although I suppose they will get seasonally untrendy in a few days. I had a lot of fun performing What Child Is This with my own Choir at our school's Service of Lessons and Carols back on December 9th. Also, I'll be sharing one of them for special music at Northport Baptist Church on Sunday, January 6. Complete details about that appearance are already up in the hall.

December 19, 2007

December 17, 2007