Song Writing

Well, it's been a pretty great week with a couple bumps along the way.
I met a guy.. there were fireworks. Well not really, but he was full of good advice, and I love meeting people that can insert some wisdom into my life. His name is Joshua Seller, a worship leader from Harvest Bible Chapel in Oakville and a singer, songwriter. Find him on facebook and pick up his cd.
Well he put this little idea in my head, and I thought it would be selfish not to share it. After talking about some strategies and theology on leading a church into worship (Which many of you will find less than interesting..) he gave me some advice for musicianship (which a quarter of you will find interesting) (I recognize that three quarters of you wont be interested and I'm not even remorseful..)
The advice was this. Jon Foreman is the lead singer and writer for the band Switchfoot. You may or may not have heard of them. They're a relatively recognized band that's stumbled onto quite a bit of success. Jon makes it a discipline to write one song a day! A day! And that is one, finished, entirely written, bridge included, pre-chorus-figured-out song. I have the hardest time finishing a song, because once you label it finished, you leave it alone and you can't bring new stuff in. The mind-set behind the one a day song plan is this.. Every new song is better than the last, so keep pushing them out so you can keep improving. And at the end of the year you've got 365 songs to cycle through to look for that pearl.
Joshua has incorporated this into his ministry and he requires every one of his interns to write and record one song a week which they will show to him. It seems small, but if we want to grow as writers and we want to stretch our music than it makes perfect sense to force ourselves into a discipline that will stretch us. I wish I could show you some of my early songs.. no I don't.. they were terrible.. But I had to get that junk out to figure out what works. A friend of mine Scott Jackson from Life 100.3 has told me that his pet peeve is artists who rhyme, "Love with Dove". It's been done. It's what we all resort to when we're struggling with lyrics.
I know this is long.. I'm sitting in a class right now that's not even mine and I can only focus on homework for so long. Moral of the story. Discipline leads to greatness. Stretch yourself, be it songwriting, musicianship or your spiritual life. Hard workers take the lead when talent stops working hard.. or something like that.
The Raptors start their season this Wednesday night and I'm going to be sitting at home watching the game with my dad and a doctor pepper. Does life get any better?
Check out our little song on the facebook page. And hey, go write a song

Levi

"Christian Music" & Jonny Lang

Hi, it’s Drew.

So, the other day I was killing time, and I happened to catch a performance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno that would really spark my interest. I usually just turn on Leno, watch the monologue, and stop paying attention or fall asleep. Luckily this time I stayed awake and saw the musical guest.

On this particular night the musical guest was Cyndi Lauper, y’know that “girls just want to have fun“ lady. I generally wouldn’t have been interested, but as I was watching I noticed she had an amazing band behind her, in particular the guitar player she was singing a duet with caught my attention. His name was Jonny Lang, and though he has been around for a while, (He put out his first album when he was 14) I had never heard him before. I ended up enjoying their performance quite a bit, (click HERE to see it) and immediately googled Jonny Lang.

I started listening to some of his stuff on youtube, and a day later bought his “Live at the Ryman” album off itunes. As I listened to the album I couldn’t help but notice the inspirational lyrics, and Christian messages embedded into his music. After doing a bit more research I found out that Jonny is a born again Christian, and has played on some Steven Curtis Chapmen and Israel Houston records... but I really wasn’t surprised after listening to his music.

Jonny is an AMAZING guitar player, and has played with some blues legends like Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, Herbie Hancock, Eric Johnson, as well as playing with Carlos Santana. Even though he is so young... he’s really been around the block.

What I found really interesting about him was how he incorporates his faith into his music, even though he is not tagged as a Christian artist. We have all heard of these types of musicians before in the industry. Christians who are playing music, but not labeling their music as “Christian”. I’m not going to name any names, but what set Jonny apart from these artists was how his faith actually shines through his songwriting. You can really hear the influence all over his album. Not just in a generic, positive message kind of way, but in a blatant, unapologetic statement of his lifestyle. Just listen to the ‘live at the ryman’ CD and you’ll know what I mean...

It really got me thinking about what it means to be a Christian and a musician, and all those bands I’m not quite sure what to think of regarding their faith. Sure there are a million artists who label themselves as “Christian”, thank God during awards, and come from a religious background. But how can I tell who really lives it? I think Jonny is the best example of a Christ follower, playing music in the secular music scene.

His love for God, and inner passion can’t help but burst through his songwriting even though the genre he plays doesn't call for it.. And doesn’t that make sense for all of us... that the thing which is most important to us, and the most influential part of our lives, shines through our art form even if we aren't applying a certain label on ourselves.

I dunno, the whole thing just really made me think and it's hard for me to put on paper. But I guess that's why I write guitar parts and not lyrics.

Here’s some of his lyrics that really spoke to me, as we are getting ready to release the CD, and launch a new season in our musical journey with The Levi denBok Band.

“This one might not ever be a single
Just something on my heart I hadda’ sing ya.
I hope they play this on the radio,
Gimme a chance to let somebody know,
That we can change the world one boy, one girl, one person at a time”

“Sure be nice to go triple platinum,
but there’s no guarantee it’s ever gunna happen.
And if I can only reach one set of ears
I know that I’ve fulfilled my purpose here.”

One Person At A Time - Jonny Lang.

Can't believe I didn't hear about him, until after he was in Kitchener this August. Wish somebody would have told me about how amazing this guy is earlier.

Anyway, hope you're all well, and hope that I'll see you in November at the CD release. Come talk to me, I may seem tired at first, but I really love talking to people after we play.

- drew