Wednesday, October 04, 2006

John W. Peterson


John W. Peterson passed away at the age of 84. While many of you might be saying, John who?, Peterson profoundly impacted Gospel music during his lifetime. Look through the hymnal and see how many songs were either written by Peterson or published with his company "John W. Peterson Music". He was a great man and his songs will continue his legacy. You can read his obit at: http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/base/news-38/1159546145256700.xml&storylist=mibusiness

Concert Review


I'm sitting here, softly crunching popcorn, enjoying the buttery smell of the microwave delicacy. I don't know how else to describe the sound of popcorn between the teeth. It's not like eating chunks of glass candy (especially the kind sold during the Frankfort Covenant Academy missions fund raiser), but neither is it like eating bread. So, softly crunching.

I had a worshipful evening. I was privileged to buy tickets to a Phillips, Craig, and Dean concert. Now, everyone knows that I love my SG, but there is no one that comes close to PCD when it comes to leading in worship. It was a beautiful presentation. Most of their way-too-short set featured songs from their last 4 praise and worship albums, including a couple brand new songs from "Top of My Lungs", their latest release. However, they still managed to fit in some of their older classics such as "Mercy Came Running" (what a song!) and "I Want to Be Just Like You". Weaving energetic audience singing with smooth vocal performances, PCD held the crowd in their hands for an hour. Phillips, Craig, and Dean have the unique gift of creating a family room atmosphere in their concerts. You feel like you know the guys and each audience member finds it easy to become engaged in the give and take feel of the evening.

This was my first PCD concert since before Lori and I were married. In fact, the last concert that we went to also featured Aaron Jeffrey (a poor coupling to be sure). We took in the concert with Robert and Carrie Carter (my great friend, cousin, and loyal poster). Fortunately, this evening didn't involve Arbys. That's another story altogether.

I have every PCD album released and will be sure to purchase the new one. The guys are looking older (more mature...yeah, that's it) and are even losing a little hair (thanks), but their sound is better than ever. In spite of a poor sound mix, the guys sounded incredible. By the way, Shawn is marrying a local girl from Boise, Becky Trueblood, in November. Becky used to sing with "The Heritage Singers" a fantastic group in the vein of "Truth".

Just a word of advice to the concert promoters: find an emcee that doesn't ramble on and on for over 20 minutes. That isn't an exaggeration people! The gentleman was the general manager for a local radio station and had to be the worst emcee ever. Included in his bloviating were references to every member of his family, his weight loss, an introduction of his weight trainer, remarks about employees past and present, introduction of all of their family members, and a few feeble attempts at humor. While, I realize that the station was promoting the event and they are celebrating their 16th birthday, they could have cut it short by 18 minutes. Way too much talking!

Anyway, a good evening.

If I get time tomorrow, I have to tell you about the Mitchell computer fiasco, starring Keith. Royce should get an Emmy nod with his supporting performance.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

I'm busy, that's why

No, really, I haven't died or dropped off the face of the earth. I've just been incredibly busy. I promise I'll get around to updating the site. Right now, I'm on hold. I hate being on hold. It's a lousy way to spend an afternoon.

New group to watch out for: The Ball Brothers. For those of you in the know, I admit it's taken me a while to find out who they are. They have been opening for Signature Sound during the last few months and have been getting rave reviews. I just purchased their debut CD and it is awesome. It is the best debut since Mercy's Mark. Check them out at: www.theballbrothers.com.

I just returned from an incredible weekend with Liberty. Awesome! I'm also in the middle of finishing up plans for Youth Challenge. We're going to have a great time. I'm speaking on the topic of "Surviving Media". I'll also be leading worship for the weekend. For more info, check out www.youthchallenge.net.