May 25, 2008
Song Video: Thorn In My Side
I shared the lyrics to this song this fall I think. We had a really rough fall with Sarah's pregnancy and I wrote a couple of songs about going through hard times. This one came to me in one evening. I think I might have written the bridge later that week, but other than that it was one of those quick songs that writes itself.
Click the extended entry to see the lyrics.
Continue reading "Song Video: Thorn In My Side"
Posted by Kirk Ward at 8:11 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 8, 2008
New Song: New Creation
I have tamed the Cakewalk beast and finally completed my first ever demo. It's pretty rough, but it gives a decent idea of how the tune goes.
The song was written as an obvious nod to the African gospel music that I have spent the past 3+ years trying to understand. It is intended for corporate worship and so it has pretty simple form, but I think it would be great with horns and full percussion and 3 guitars. Yes, Paul Simon did it first, but Africa is the wave of the future as far as the Christian church goes, so we should get used to it, right?
The message of "New Creation" is that faith in Jesus comes with a promise: the old is gone and the new has come. So it's a promise that can encourage us when we feel defeated, but it can also be a warning for us to examine our hearts. The ending vamp goes through a long list of old/new characteristics. It will play a lot better live as it builds and builds to a climax.
You can check out the demo on my myspace page.
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March 7, 2008
Great Worship Resources
I was sick last week. That is pretty typical for me after a big weekend like the Black History Program. So, I was basically in survival mode for a while. As a result I feel behind in blog stuff because I actually have a lot to write about. I'll give you a summary of what I might write about as I have time.
The Art Of Worship by Greg Sheer
This was a really excellent book. It's incredibly practical. It basically teaches everything you would have to do to set up and maintain a modern worship band ministry. I've read a couple of other books similar to this one, but I must say The Art of Worship is my new favorite. I would not recommend it as a devotional or theological text on worship; it's not written for those purposes.
www.planningcenteronline.com
This is a new website that my dad told me about that I am little obsessed with right now. Basically, it has taken all of my Excel, Access, and web resources and combined them into one easy and customizable service. I hope it will open up my schedule to do more flesh and blood ministry and less logistical busy-work.
South City Delegation
I'm currently in the process of working with our South City team to get them into a self-sustaining system. Delegation! Empowerment! Freedom!
By the way, my wife is 2.5 cm dilated. The baby is full-term, and we have about 2 weeks till the predicted due date.
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February 15, 2008
A Real MySpace Page
Ok, I promise that I really do have a myspace page now where hopefully you can listen to some of my songs.
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February 11, 2008
Amy Winehouse? I Don't Get It.
I've listened to the samples on iTunes and Amazon of Amy Winehouse's stuff and I just can't get the point. Ok, I relate to the vintage sound and she definitely nails the sound and vibe. But, there's a fine line between a vintage nod and a regurgitation. To me it seems like she is not really adding anything new to the sound. I don't fault her for doing it, I just don't get the hype and the awards. I mean take the whole Rockabilly culture. They are basically doing the same thing: let's take an old style of music, faithfully recreate it for our enjoyment, and live a fun fantasy life as if we really are these characters from the past. Like a Renaissance festival or Talk-like-a-Pirate day. But people aren't giving Rockabilly artist's major hype and handing out Grammys.
As I write about this, I am reminded of a similar issue in jazz. There are a lot of jazz players whose only goal is to sound exactly like 'Trane, Miles, or whoever. You go to a club and it's one more Bird disciple blowing bebop. If I buy a CD by a current jazz artist it should have something fresh and original to make it a 2008 recording.
Anyway, maybe there's a Winehouse fan reading this who can help me get the reason why she should get a ton of Grammy's for being just barely a cover band.
While were on the subject of music I don't get...hmmm...maybe I'll save that one for later...
I apologize for writing such a whinny post. I will lay off of criticism for a while.
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February 6, 2008
How To Wrap Cables
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February 1, 2008
What Full-time Church Music Directors Do With Their Time...
People are always asking me this and this interview really nails it on the head.
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January 30, 2008
New City Fellowship Music Team Ministry Report for 2007
New City Fellowship Choirs
2007 was the year that we saw the dream of a choir program realized. In the spring, the choirs were organized around the Black History Program and Resurrection Sunday. When the fall came around, there were enough singers to make the choir a more established team including a group of committed leaders.
Black History Program
In February, we had an amazing experience when we came together to worship Jesus through the voice and experience of African-Americans. This was a challenge to organize, but it was incredibly encouraging to all who came as well as a wonderful offering of worship.
Growth in South City
God answered many of my prayers when the South City service was blessed with two committed and visionary pastors and with being able to meet in a better facility. The musicians in South City are very thankful to be done with all of the frustrating circumstances surrounding our former location. We are also thankful for how the passionate and focused leadership of Kevin VandenBrink and Macklann Basse has given the entire worship service a boost.
London
I had the pleasure of taking a team of Music Team members to the London Evangelism and Prayer Conference in July. We were given the responsibility of leading the other conferees in worship sessions, and in addition to what we learned and experienced in evangelism, we all came back with a more confident approach to worship leading and greater appreciation for the fellowship of musicians who lead worship together.
Music Team Leadership
This year, I was finally able to get a better taste for team ministry by forming the Music Team Leadership. The Music Team is made up of over 50 volunteers including worship leaders, singers, instrumentalists, sound techs, and text operators. The Music Team Leadership is a small group of people from the Music Team who feel a more committed calling to serve the whole Music Team through leadership.
What to expect in 2008
• South City will develop a more localized music administration and worship planning.
• The choirs will continue to cast a vision for how they can be used for the Kingdom.
• More intentional and relational development of musically gifted leadership.
• Encouraging songwriters, artists, and musicians in our congregation to develop unique expressions of worship that reflect the kaleidoscope of sounds and images that represent New City Fellowship.
• Ward baby #2!
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January 27, 2008
2 New Songs on One Sunday!
I went with a risky decision to introduce 2 new songs on one Sunday. Actually, one of the two is the Chris Tomlin version of "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" which is not really new. It just adds a new refrain that's really easy to pick up. Plus anyone under 40 in the church will probably know it already (at least the white folks).
The other new song is one I wrote back in 2003 that has been on the back burner until now. It is one from my post college period that was an extremely creative time for me because I was living on an extremely small income thanks to having connections in Chattanooga, and so most of my days were spent reading stimulating books, playing guitar, and writing songs. Having just completed my jazz studies, I wrote several songs that were more complex than the average worship tune including "Before I Knew", "Search Me", "Greater Is He Who Is In Us", and this morning's song "Rejoice In The Lord" which is based on Philippians 4:4,8,9. Here's the lyrics:
Whatever is true
Whatever is noble
Whatever is right
Whatever is pure
Whatever is lovely
Whatever is admirable
If anything is excellent
Or praiseworthy
Think about such things
Put 'em in to practice
And the God of peace
The God of peace
Will be with you.
Rejoice in the Lord always 4X
The groove is a kind of Steely Dan thing. If only St. Louis' own Michael McDonald could be here to sing back up!
Update: I just got back from church. The 2 songs went great! Sometimes I begrudge Tomlin for his success, but the refrain he wrote is really good. And my song went over pretty well despite not having Michael McDonald. That song might take a few more performances to really hit the congregation.
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September 6, 2007
Get to work, songs!
My dad was in town a few weekends ago and he planted an idea in my brain that has been cooking for a while: My songs are financial assets. Making music is a wonderful thing that is about more than money, but it is also a craft for which I can make a living. I am already making a living through music ministry and music instruction. I shared with my dad that I really want to record another CD. The problem is that making a recording is so expensive. You can do it for cheap, but I think my songs are better than that. I want to do justice to the songs. My dad told me to think more broadly than just pressing 300 copies and selling them to my friends. He suggested to make a recording that would be marketable to performing artists who are looking for material to record. For example, why wouldn't Chris Tomlin want to record my song "Search Me" on his next CD (besides the fact that he's never heard of me)? I need to make my recording with the expectation that it will be a demo of my music.
So now my mind is cooking about my songs getting out in the world to make me some money. Like my little army of flying monkeys.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 9:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 7, 2007
Bedrock Amps
I am in the market to buy a new amplifier. I have a really nice one already, but I would like to get another one so that I don't have to haul my one amp back and forth all the time.
My current amp is called a Bedrock. When I was in 10th grade I was in a band called "Celiac Spru" and I needed to get an amp that rocked. Our primary influences included Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine, Primus, Dinosaur Jr, and Sonic Youth (although I was the only one interested in Sonic Youth). So my parents surprised me and bought me my first guitar amp, the Bedrock, with the understanding that I had to paint my dad's studio by the end of the summer. My parents picked the Bedrock because it was only $300 marked down from $900. Today I learned why it was marked down so much...
I was totally thrilled about the amp. It wasn't a Marshal Stack, which would have been more appropriate to the style of Celiac Spru. But I was still glad for it. The Bedrock can be extremely loud when it wants to be and I definitely had the power to blow away the amp stack that our other guitarist was using. Later when I moved on to being interested in jazz, the Bedrock came right along with me. I started out playing my Fender Strat, but the Strat is very uncool in the world of traditional jazz. You have to get something more resonant to play traditional jazz. So, I ended up buying a friend's Gibson Howard Roberts. Ever since, the combination has been my tonal canvas on which to create. Now, guitar players are often commenting on the quality of my tone, and it all happened by accident.
So today I was looking on the internet to find out more about my little friend the Bedrock. I found out that Bedrock went out of business a few years back, which explains the price reduction. They began as a source for quality tube amps when Fender and Marshal started only making solid state amps. When Fender and Marshal repented of their past sins and went back to tubes, Bedrock went under.
Here's the Bedrock newsletter from better times: (you can see my good ol' Lead 50C in the bottom left hand corner. Mine looks a little more "loved.")
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March 28, 2007
Cool
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February 22, 2007
All By Myself
When I was young
I never needed anyone
and making love was just for fun
those days are gone
Living alone,
I think of all the friends I've known
but when I dial the telephone
nobody's home...
All by myself
don't wanna be
All by myself
anymore.
All by myself
don't wanna live
All by myself
anymore.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 4:56 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 19, 2007
Jazz is my favorite style of music.
Jazz is my favorite style of music. My CD collection and my listening habits reflect a wide range of styles from various genres and stages of my life, but when I want to relax and listen to music that soothes my soul, I most often go to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock or Wes Montgomery. I spent 4 years of college studying jazz performance. During that time, I shunned my old rock CDs and I immersed myself in a steady diet of Bebop, Modal, Swing, and Contemporary jazz.
This Sunday, I got an opportunity to share a little bit of my passion for jazz by playing a little intro to “Amazing Grace” with some sweet alternate changes. My father’s leadership at my old church (as well as the ever-present, Jim Crumble who is probably the finest jazz drummer in Chattanooga) gives their services a distinct jazz flavor. As jazz musicians, we relished those little moments (preludes, offertories, solo sections) when we could improvise together. It is something I have deeply missed about my old church.
I even got my wife hooked on jazz. I guess that happens with some things when you get married; you absorb some of your spouse’s tastes. Sarah started her jazz odyssey* by listening to my recital recordings from college. Later, I began to introduce her to artists who I knew she would enjoy like Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Nora Jones, and Billie Holiday. Then she surprised me last Valentines Day by picking a CD to give me off of my Amazon wish list that was by a somewhat obscure (to non-jazz aficionados) jazz guitar player: Kenny Burrell’s “Midnight Blue.” Sarah has actually declared this recording to be one of her favorites despite the fact that it is completely instrumental jazz music. This is quite amazing to me considering the fact that once while we were dating Sarah almost killed the relationship by confessing that she secretly fantasized about being a famous country music singer. Fortunately, God had graciously brought me to a point in my sanctification where I would not have ended the relationship for something so insignificant.
This morning, I read an article on byFaith by William Edgar that got me all nostalgic about my college days and my old church’s jazz flavor. Check out the article if you get a chance.
* Gratuitous “Spinal Tap” reference.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 12:06 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 21, 2006
How to Practice Before a Worship Rehearsal (Part 2)
Vocalists,
Even if you don’t read music, you can print off the music before the rehearsal to get the lyrics and the form.
1. Review the form.
“Form” describes the various sections (verse, chorus, bridge, tag, etc.) that make-up the song. A song’s form can be very flexible or it can be very specific. Listen to the recording for the form or use the chart to see how it all fits together. Most of the charts have the sections of a song labeled, but if they don’t then use your brain to figure out what the sections are and in what order those sections come.
2. Use a guitar or piano to find the key.
If you have access to any kind of instrument that can give you a starting pitch then always use it when you are practicing a song. You may not think that you have perfect pitch, but I think most singers have something like it in a subconscious form. So, if you practice the song in the key of C then the next time you sing it, you will probably sing it in C again. This can create a problem if the band plays it in the key of D. If you don’t have access to these tools its ok; it’s worth it to practice even if you don’t have a starting pitch. Also, at any music store you can buy a “pitch pipe.” This is like a little harmonica that can play all 12 notes of the chromatic scale; you’ve probably seen people using them and you might feel a little cheesy playing one. But, there’s nothing un-cool about pitch pipes and if you are really embarrassed about it then just lock yourself in a closet to practice.
3. Spend a few minutes reviewing special languages pronunciation.
Just a little bit of pronunciation work can go a long way. African tribal languages are actually the easiest to pronounce because they are spelled phonetically. Swahili and Lingala, which are the most common in our church, have only long vowel sounds (like Spanish). For example: Swahili is pronounced Swah-Hee-Lee not Sway-hill-leh. French is by far the most difficult that we use in our church (haven’t sung in Mandarin in a while). Do your best to figure it out and then ask a French-speaking friend to help you later. You could probably do some kind of Google search to find free info on French pronunciation (Normally, I would do all that work for you and then just give you a link, but I’m feeling lazy today.)
4. Spend time mediating on the lyrics and what they mean.
There’s a funny scene in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” where Ron’s competitive co-anchor changes the words on the teleprompter that he is reading to include insults and profanity about their viewers. Ron mindlessly reads the words on the teleprompter and is completely unaware of what he is saying. We can sometimes be just like that as worship leaders, singing words with no thought about their meaning. I’ve even sung lyrics that included non-sense typos and only realized it when it was too late. The point is, read the lyrics and review what they mean so that you sing them from your heart with sincerity.
5. Sing the melody through at least once.
Before you dive into figuring out your harmony part, start with the melody. Work on singing it clearly and confidently. The congregation you are leading will be singing the melody and sometimes you might serve them better by not harmonizing.
6. Determine your harmony part, and sing through it at least once.
Unless you are a descent sight singer, you might need a piano or guitar for this. If you can, try singing your part and playing the melody with it. It really helps you to remember your part, if you can hear how it relates to the melody.
7. Sing every verse (especially, if you have to sing a hymn with six stanzas that’s full of King James English).
Don’t assume that if you can sing verse 1 then you can sing all the other verses. Practice all of them and look for trouble spots or spots of confusion. Being ready with questions is always helpful in rehearsals.
8. Practice vocal fills and cues.
Vocal fills are those little things that lead singers add into a song that give it a little spice. They always seem so casual and spontaneous, but they are usually planned out in advance. Seasoned singers improvise those fills by using their bag of tricks and clichés, but the origin of those fills was in practicing them.
Cues: As a song leader, it is your responsibility to serve the congregation by being their tour guide through the song. The congregation wants to have clear signals about when to stop and when to start. No one likes to have a surprise solo. Don’t assume that they will have no difficulty following an old classic. They still need help, and besides, visitors need you help on those classics just as much as the new stuff. Just like vocal fills these are not spontaneously improvised at first. As you get more comfortable with giving the congregation cues, you can do it more freely in the moment, but if you have never done it before, you need to plan these in advance.
9. Be prepared to ask questions.
Your preparation before the rehearsal might leave you feeling more confused than when you started. However, if you come to rehearsal ready to ask specific questions and aware of the spots where you need help, you will be prepared to hit the ground running.
10. Save your charts and take notes.
Take time in rehearsal to take notes on a song and then save those notes for the next time we sing it. I rotate songs about every three months. That might seem like a long time, but if you plan to be in the same church for more than a year then you will probably be singing some songs quite a lot.
Be active in the role you play on the music team; you are a part of the team to serve, not to be served. Practicing is a way to serve your teammates and the congregation.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 3:41 PM | TrackBack
August 16, 2006
How to Practice Before a Worship Rehearsal (Part 1)
woodshed-verb, to abandon all other responsibilities and personal pursuits in order to practice one's instrument.
On our music team, we have the luxury of providing downloadable sheet music for the members in advance of their weekly rehearsal. This gives them the opportunity to practice their part before the rehearsal. If you have never practiced before (I hadn’t really ever practiced until I became a music major in college) then you might need some direction about what to do to prepare for a rehearsal.
I will start with the Instrumentalists:
1. Review the form.
How does it start/end? Where are the repeats, DS, Coda? What is the chorus/verse/bridge/vamp?
2. Review the chord vocabulary.
Are there any chords that you have never or rarely played? Circle the difficult chords to reference later.
3. If it is available, listen to the recording.
This can be helpful most of the time. First listen for the big picture: the feel, tempo, mood, texture, etc. Then listen to the details: what is my specific instrument doing on this recording? But don’t beat yourself up for not being as good as the recording; most people who are listening to the worship have never even heard the recording.
4. Play every song in the set to a metronome.
Slow tempos and fast tempos are very difficult to master even for experienced professionals. If a song is really slow, set the metronome to click 8th notes or twice as fast. It is temping to practice a slow song faster than it is performed in order to save time, but you will always gravitate toward the tempo that you practiced it. It’s ok to practice a fast song slowly at first to learn the chords; however, make sure that you can play it at the correct tempo, too.
5. Determine what special needs or settings are required for the song.
What guitar effects? What keyboard sounds? Brushes or mallets?
6. Focus on the trouble spots.
After you have played through the whole set, go back and hit the trouble spots. Get repetitive! If there is one measure that you always mess up, then just practice that one measure. Set the metronome at the performance tempo and then play the phrase and rest, play the phrase, rest, play the phrase, rest, etc. If you can’t play it at the performance tempo, set the metronome at the speed at which you can play it flawlessly and then slowly increase the tempo until you reach the goal. Another technique to getting a fast phrase is to set the tempo at the performance tempo and then play just the first note of the phrase until you play that perfectly. Once you have mastered that one note, add the second, and then the third until you can play the whole phrase. Some say this is actually better than the previous technique because you are more likely to create bad habits when practicing at a slower tempo.
7. Overall, prepare to play simple.
Pianists and guitarists will often practice songs in such a way that when they get to the rehearsal, they can’t play with anyone else. While they are practicing, they want to hear the whole groove fleshed out, and so they end up playing too much and step all over everyone else. So, when you practice, try to imagine how you will fit into a band sound. This takes a lot of intuitive thought, and will take a long time to cultivate. But even if you can’t hear it all in your head, just focusing on simplicity will go a long way.
I think that I will save the vocal practicing for next week, stay tuned…
Posted by Kirk Ward at 3:39 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 8, 2006
Drum Circles
I am not a fan of the “drum circle” phenomenon. I have bad cultural associations with it (hippy lifestyle, smoking grass, and bad musicianship). But, cultural associations are not always the truth and this website is a good example of Christians who are redeeming this culture for the service of the kingdom:
Posted by Kirk Ward at 9:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 27, 2006
Music is...
Music is math. All music is sound and all sounds are controlled by predictable and measurable physical properties. The physics of music makes it a type of mathematical system that transcends culture and can unify any musical expression. Excellent musicians understand this underlying mathematical matrix in a way that allows them to transcend genre distinctions and to engage with other musicians in a variety of contexts.
Music is language. Music (with or without sung lyrics) is a form of communication and is designed to share the emotions, ideas, and soul of the performer with anyone who will listen. Ever since the Tower of Babel, language has been shattered and fragmented into thousands of tribal tongues, and in the same way, music is fragmented into thousands of genres and styles. The object (the musical sound) must combine with the subject (the listener) to be given meaning. In the same way that a language is gibberish unless there is someone else who can interpret it’s meaning, your music is gibberish if your listeners lack the experience to interpret it. Excellent musicians understand the fundamental linguistic qualities of music and approach new styles with the humility of a translator listening for the unique qualities of that particular style that communicate with its listeners.
Music is art. Art is an intuitional process of understanding and expressing ideas and emotions in a way that cannot be measured or defined, and attempting to define art is the surest way to kill it. As the famous quote goes, “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” There is something fundamentally mysterious about making music; that’s why they call it “Music Theory” and not “Music Facts.” Excellent musicians know when to shut up and play!
Posted by Kirk Ward at 2:22 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
April 28, 2006
Play Better NOW!
What are two ways to instantly improve your playing? Just buy two simple devices: A tuner and a metronome.
Tuners:
If you are out of tune, you will sound bad. If you are in tune, you are one step closer to sounding good. These are super cheap, and yet people act like they are a luxury. Why not pass on eating out this week, or pass on buying the new Flaming Lips CD, and pick up a tuner!
$14.99 on musiciansfriend.com
Metronome:
What a tuner can do for your intonation, a metronome can do for you internal sense of time. If you practice without a metronome to keep you honest, then you will develop bad habits of time. Playing with bad time is almost as bad as playing out of tune. A good metronome is a little more expensive, especially if you get one that has a cool “wood block” kind of sound and not an “annoying electronic beeping” noise. You can get one’s that can accent downbeats or imply different meters, but if you get a simple one then you have to develop the skill of hearing the meter and accents on your own. As you first start to work with a metronome, you should set the beat to equal quarter notes in 4/4, or eighths in 6/8, but as you get comfortable with that, you should set the metronome to play the backbeat, 2 and 4, which will give you the feeling of playing with a drummer.
$25.99 on musiciansfriend.com
Posted by Kirk Ward at 2:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 5, 2006
Bela Fleck and the Flecktons
I have a few observations from my experience on Saturday night seeing Bela Fleck and the Flecktons live in concert at the Pageant.
1. Virtuosity is nothing without musicality. These four musicians are virtuosos at their particular instrument, but their blindingly fast chops would be completely boring without their impeccable musicianship. Especially Bela Fleck and Victor Wooten have an amazing ability to make complicated music sound as simple and as sing-able as a 3 min pop song.
2. Music is always conversation. All the guys in this band were clearly listening closely to each other. They were each responding and reacting to the statements that were being said by the other players. Listening is the primary function of a musician.
3. The more a musician masters and understands their instrument and the inner game of music the easier it is to cross genres. Bela Fleck has mastered his banjo and has come to understand music to the point that he is able to play folk, bluegrass, blues, jazz, fusion, Baroque, Classical, etc. with the same level of virtuosity.
4. Improvisation and Composition are first cousins. The lics, themes, and devices that I heard Bela play in his solos are the same building blocks that appear in his compositions.
Thank you, D, for dragging me out this weekend to see them. Thank you Bella and Flecktons for an excellent musical experience!
Posted by Kirk Ward at 11:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 31, 2006
Soulful Productions
I have often dreamed of creating educational resources for church musicians to learn how to play in gospel, funk, jazz, R&B, or Latin styles. I was not aware that resources like this already exist. I stumbled on this website this week. These musicians are really impressive, and after watching some of the demos, I even began to get a little discontent with not having brilliant musicians like this to play with (no offence NCF folks; they are just that good!) The DVD’s are a little too expensive for me to justify purchasing them for our church. Besides, they are also a little too advanced to be of much use for the average volunteer musicians. But maybe some of you out there would like to commit to taking your playing to another level and would benefit from dropping $30 to have one of these DVD’s at home.
Also, check out the samples of Phil Lassiter’s CD’s which are available on the website as well. As Kool and the Gang so eloquently put it, “Can’t get enough of that funky stuff.”
Posted by Kirk Ward at 10:05 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
January 10, 2006
Aradhna
In my line of work, I am constantly being given CD’s to listen to. Honestly, 90% of these recordings are either really bad or just plain boring. I know that these folks mean well, and I appreciate their desire to help me. It is particularly helpful when the recording is from a style that I need to learn more about like Congolese or Latino worship. In these areas, I am always grateful for more resources. However, it takes a lot for me to get impressed by yet another guitar strummin’ white-boy whose primary influences include Pearl Jam and Wilco. (I am in fact a guitar strummin’ white-boy who has been influenced by Pearl Jam and Wilco at points in my life.) My point is that I don’t often put on one of these loaner CD’s from an arm-chair talent scout and experience a totally new music that makes me sit up and say, “Huh, that’s something completely unique!”
I had that experience this morning with a band called Aradhna. 
Posted by Kirk Ward at 1:57 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
November 15, 2005
Heypenny
Heypenny is a band that is fronted by a buddy of mine, Ben Elkins. I played bass with Ben back in Chattanooga. In fact, playing with Ben I had my first live radio show experience on the local NPR station. Check it out!
Posted by Kirk Ward at 3:56 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 25, 2005
Tom Jones Syndrome
"Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home.'"
"That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome."
"Is it common?"
"Well, "It's Not Unusual."
Posted by Kirk Ward at 12:37 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 22, 2005
Why I Hate Guitar Center
For those of you who are uninitiated, Guitar Center is the one-stop shopping music mega-store. It is a subsidiary of Musician’s Friend whose website I patronize frequently. However, all the things I like about online shopping with Musician’s Friend are the source of frustration I have with guitar center.
I visited my local Guitar Center for the first time today, and I was reminded why I hated going there when I lived in Knoxville. Guitar Center is like the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey. You are called there by sales and discounts for the walls and walls of Les Pauls, Strats, Marshall stacks, Fender Twins, etc. However, when you begin to walk around the store, you are dashed on the rocks of pushy, inexperienced salesmen; useless, eye-candy merchandise; and (the identifying mark of one-stop-shopping) absolutely no selection!
Continue reading "Why I Hate Guitar Center"
Posted by Kirk Ward at 3:42 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
September 2, 2005
The Blues and The Abstract Truth
An excellent but obscure jazz recording that I highly recommend is the 1961 classic, The Blues and the Abstract Truth which is a recording made up of different compositional variations on the blues and rhythm changes forms by the St. Louis born sax player, Oliver Nelson. If you have never heard of Oliver Nelson, you might have heard of the side men on this CD: Bill Evans, Roy Haynes, Eric Dolphy, Paul Chambers, and Freddie Hubbard. If you haven’t heard of any one of those guys, it’s ok, but you have a lot to learn about the history of jazz.
I obtained this gem, thanks to my sister-in-law, Rinnie, who gave it to me for my birthday. Rinnie, I’m sure you have several copies of this one lying around at home, and you just knew that the obvious gift for a church musician’s 26th birthday would be anything by Oliver Nelson. Seriously, Rinnie, thanks for the CD!
Anyway, I was reading the linear notes that came with the CD which were penned by Nelson for the original release, and he says some really cool stuff about his influences that goes along with some stuff I’ve been thinking about lately. (See previous posts, “Interview” and “Letter”)
Describing his frame of mind while he was preparing for this recording, Nelson says that at that time John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins had been a big influence on his playing. But, then He goes on to say this:
It was not until this LP was recorded … that I finally had broken through and realized that I would have to be true to myself, to play and write what I think is vital and, most of all, to find my own personality and identity. This does not mean that a musician should reject and shut things out. It means that he should learn, listen, absorb, and grow but retain all things that comprise the identity of the individual himself.
Posted by Kirk Ward at 3:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack