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We spent a lot of time with the family this week. We played a new DVD-based Trivial Pursuit edition and frankly, I scared myself a little. I need to get out of the house more. There is too much useless info in my head and I have forgotten all the good stuff like differential equations and the like. It’s a wonder I ever get home.

I have been sort of half-heartedly watching FOX Television’s Next Great American Band. While it is way too early to predict a winner, I can tell you one thing for sure, the only bands that interest me musically right now are dot dot dot and Tres Bien! Why? Because they sound fresh. Come on folks, are you really thinking you are going to be the next big thing sounding like someone who was only marginally interesting two decades ago? I would pay to see the two of them tour together. Now all that said, I think the Clark Brothers are very interesting. I also really liked The Likes of You but…they are gone.

Who am I musically speaking? I am the sum of all that I have done in the past, maybe even everything I have heard. Some of that playing was rewarding, some just plain excruciating (for me and probably the audience). Anybody playing rock and roll these days who does not say they were influenced by The Beatles is lying. But Bob Dylan taught me that music can say something. The Clash and The Ramones showed me how to ROCK. Tom Petty (and especially those Heartbreakers) and Bruce Springsteen (WITH the E Street Band)…’nuff said! All the pre-”alt-country” bands of the 80s taught me to embrace my inner Johnny Cash. Finally U2 showed me that it is the sum of the parts, not the individuals that make the band. Four guys who don’t know the meaning of can’t, CAN be the best band in the world.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s. The music of those decades is at the core of who I am. I grew up in the suburbs in a totally stable family so I have little or no “teen angst” to deal with but for the life of me, I cannot shake my connection to punk rock. Why? I suspect it is because it is music that speaks to the core of me, reaches me at the primal level much like bluegrass or the blues does. There is an underlying virtuosity in punk rock that cannot be measured in the 4/4 rhythms and 3 chords. Learn to play tightly with others at that speed and you will be a champ.

One of the sessions (Ross Parsley) mentioned to not implement any changes immediately upon returning from a conference. So….what stuck around 90 days later?

• Excellence is important. Never at the expense of the message. All things for the Glory of God.
• I gained a huge respect for Mark Roach’s writing and have started doing a few of his songs. Can’t wait to report them out to CCLI
• Still need to spend some time making loops and try playing along with the band if for nothing other than improving timing
• The most powerful moments were generated be people who were very in tune with what God wanted them to do. They knew what we needed and led us in a way that they were created to do.

One of our vocalists had been waiting for the congregation to respond before showing what she was feeling on stage. The conference helped her realize that she should act on what she is feeling and that really, we help give “permission” to the congregation. We are to model the worship experience.

Thanks to Marcos Witt, I have been using the word “worship pusher” lots. Thanks for that Marcos!