Last Friday night was amazing. Originally the idea was to just use Gen's, my sister in law's, Belkin tunetalk mic that fits on an ipod, and have everyone record using a cheap quick mic, or even using my crummy laptop mic, which my friend Joel says is pretty lame for recording, since any mic you can buy at radio shack would be better than that one. Miraculously, two different people provided ridiculously expensive track recording equipment and studio quality mics. We had the event at the Doornenkamp's house in Westport. Apparently, Jacob Moon has played there before. We had a great time eating some chili that Steph's mom made, and fellowshipping. It took us awhile to set up, us meaning mainly Joel and Amy, but once everything was set to go, we prayed, and led a few worship songs to start the evening. After that, Steph and her mom jumped up and did a great song called "Shadowlands" that her mom wrote the words to, and Stephanie composed the music for. It's got a killer hook, and is very inspiring. Steph also played a couple of new songs she's written like "He longs for you" which is really really good. Next on the list was Amy D. who has so much creativity it's not even funny. Part of the purpose of having a "Songwriter's Ball" is to encourage each other in the gift on songwriting, and this was a perfect opportunity. Amy has some great melodies, and unbelievably awesome lyrics, but a few of her songs aren't quite finished yet, and are open for some collaboration. After Amy's last song, two guys who are exceptionally talented ,Josh and Mark. Mark was able to do some incredible beat-boxing, and Josh keeps it real wish some fresh freestyle. Apparently, it's been almost two years since they did any recording, so they had to practice their rap a few times, but they made us all laugh, and we were glad that they decided to jump out there without being asked ahead of time. Number four on the list was Art, who decided to sing "Lord, I lift your name on high". I played guitar for him, and the girls decided to do back up vocals for him as well. It was very genuine worship. Fifth, on the lineup, is a young guy named Joel Williams, who has a great somber voice that reminds me of a blend of Jack Johnson meets Brian Doerksen, or something. Anyway, he has his own unique style, and some great songs about Jesus. He did one of my favorite songs that he does called "Wildflower" which is really about being content with God...I think, I'm not sure. Anyway, it's got a great line at the end that says "Wildflower, I know that you were wild all along." Good stuff. The last songwriter for the evening was myself. I've just written a new song called, "Christ will Shine" that I did, followed by an older one called "True Love." The evening was not complete however until Amy, Stephanie, and myself sung together on the song we all collaborated on "Psalm 133/Running Down". Three part harmony sounds really nice on that chorus. It's mainly about unity found in Jesus, and His overflowing life continually running down on us.
It was very good. All the music from that evening was acoustic with some vocals. We're recording for the purpose of encouraging the Body of Christ, not necessarily making money, we sing for Jesus only. So were hoping to get all these great tracks mixed down this week, and then start making copies to hand out to friends and family. If you want a copy, let me know and I'll get you one. It's just like God's grace, it's free, and full of love.
One more thing, one of the girls from discipleship helped put together a poster for the evening. I had this idea of a visual representation for Psalms 23:6-7. I saw a picture of someone crying right next to a cup that's spilling over. I firmly believe that when we cry it's a sign that we are filled over the top with the Spirit of God. He loves us so tenderly, and knows all that we've gone through. It's time to let it out and let grace come rushing in, over, and down the sides. It was great to finally see something that I had envisioned two years prior come to pass.
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