Baptism Parade

At our 9:30 service we had no baptisms.

At 11:00 we had 12!! In fact, there were 5 originally scheduled. 2 were spontaneous before they actually started at the end of the service. 5 were literally spontaneous! It was really quite amazing. The planning beforehand was quite nuts. There was some mis-communication regarding when baptisms happen and when the choir sings. It ended up we had both. It was quite crazy in setting up the stage; planning and rearranging the service flow; convincing Dave to trim his speaking time by at least 5 minutes; moving a heavy drum platform off the stage then back on; and then having the baptisms at the end. It was crazy! After the 7 happened, more kept coming up. I was sub-producing for Dennis (because he was up there) and couldn't instruct the band on what to do. They were playing during this time (as was the choir!). I finally told them in their headsets that I give up, it's up to God now! I couldn't convince Bryan (on guitar) to jump in nor Craig (on keys) to do some headstands. I was about to take lunch orders for them - ok, maybe not! At one point (or 2, I don't exactly remember) the band did stop and the crowd (few left - we were already 15 minutes over in time - so what), was yelling one more! And it happened. The whole thing was quite surreal. You could feel the energy in the house. I think all except 1 were students coming fresh from a great BLAST weekend a week ago. Alec was there too. He was hanging around all the kids up on stage. The change in him, at least for the past week, has been nothing short of awesome. He is still Alec doing some silly things but for the better. He was actually there the entire morning with me helping out. Here are a few more pictures (all coutesy of John Randall):

A Randall Picture

I really don't like posting pictures of myself. However, I got this from John Randall who took it at the service last Sunday (I was worship leading with the new geetar). He did a great job in the artwork. Man does he have a gift! It is truly a gift from God when you can even make a picture of me look good! Thanks John!

Nothing Back with Every Breath You Take*

We had a great service last Sunday. Pete Alvarez is back! Great news there! One funny thing that I noticed. We did a song, Nothing Back, during communion. If you know it, pick the beat up just a little and sing the Police's Every Breath You Take (* title as corrected by "Mr. Stickler" Eric Bramlett). It's the same chords. During rehearsal I kept wanting to sing it (or at least play the guitar riff!).

Just thought I would share that with you.

Return to your regularly scheduled surfing...

The New Geetar - The final choice

Here is geetar number 4. Yep, 4. I went through 3 PRS CE-24's before this - all with some kind of defect. Unbelievable. PRS is known for well made guitars. Y'all never saw #3 because I only had it a couple days. It was the only non-red one (gold) but had a loose neck (2nd of the 3 to have that). Well, this one is not a bolt on neck but a glued on one - MUCH better construction. A Custom 24 (not the CE like I was trying) 10 top with a black cherry finish. The only problem is it cost a few extra bucks than what I planned (like several hundred). But this was my train of thought: I think that in the long run it will actually cost less if you spend a bit more for something that is of quality that will last a long, long time. Plus, as any musician should relate to, when you pick up a particular instrument and just know it is the right one, you have to consider it. So I now have to come up with the extra $ on the side to make up the difference (with my promise to the family, who did support this purchase by the way, that nothing comes out of our income nor affects our giving). I think the best, quickest, and easiest way for me to do that would be to see if I can pick up a few gigs here and there. I have 12 months. Yes, become one of those musician "jobbers"! It really isn't that bad. I was kind of thinking of doing it before all this. So if 'ya know if anyone is looking or hiring for a gig...

Plus, I am selling my white Charvel (I think I have a buyer) and my Carvin 4x12 speaker cabinet.

This is one cool instrument!

New Giver's song

It's not on You Tube yet (soon, I'm sure), but here is the link to CCC's website with the latest Generosity Conference's 'New Giver's song'. Total insanity while playing a parody of the Police's "Synchronicity":

http://www.communitychristian.org/video/video/1-adults/359-generosity-conference-new-givers-song

BTW, that guitar I'm using has already been exchanged for a third one. Checking it out.

Grammy Gripe

I heard the Grammys were on last night. Oh boy, another over-blown, pompous, lets all be ridiculous awards show. I remember one maybe 12-13 years ago, one I actually watched, when grunge was big. They had this ridiculous number with the Smashing Pumpkins playing and goofy dancers going all around them. Who makes this stuff up? No, I didn't watch last night. I hate awards shows (except maybe the Oscars) - maybe a more correct statement would be 'music award shows'. Ugh! Let's just go to a concert (or see a concert on TV) and see how they really are rather than how some overpaid producer of a TV show wants them to be.

Of course, one could watch award shows to laugh at many of them.

I heard Jennifer Hudson's moment was awesome. Ok, I would have seen that. I'm guessing that was 'real'.

Last night, I read a book.

And played my guitar.

Whoop...eee

I hear American Idol has been back.


Yawn...

This Keeps Getting Better

If you go back to my post on December 17th, I showed a video posted of Redd Barron from 1991. That was the now long defunct hair band that Greg Eichelberger and Pete Alvarez were in. Greg just gave us this link on Facebook to prove that you can't believe everything you read on the internet. What is funnier is that there is a growing underground murmur about their band having a huge following! People are eagerly awaiting their next album! Go ahead and just google 'Redd Barron' and read some blogs from a variety of people. They have even been identified as a band from Japan and Germany. I love it! Stay tuned! I still think that Greg and Pete need to record a song (with the guys from that band) and post it - just for laughs. Watch and see what happens! Why, they could become famous!

Here is the link that Greg sent, then Google the name and read some of the talk about their band. It is hilarious!

http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=40936&comments=1

Ah New Red Geetar

A couple weeks ago I finally, after about 12 years or so, picked up a PRS Custom 24 electric guitar. It is the first one I purchased in about 20 years. The funny part about this story is that Mary nearly had to kick me out the door to go get it! The opportunity presented itself and I took it (with some persuasion!). The guitar in this picture is actually the second one. I did pick up the first one at the Guitar Center in Joliet. After making a few adjustments to it I got it to really scream! However, I still had a nagging buzz in the neck that wouldn't go away. After taking it to a guitar tech at West Side Music in Joliet, we discovered that it had some uneven frets as well as a loose bolt-on neck. It could have been repaired but I only had it for little over a week! Since I actually bought it from Billy Terrill (the manager at the store at 72nd and cicero), I drove back up there where he had another one (almost identical). That is the one you see here. But, sad to say, I think I have to exchange this one too. Not because of bad construction (although there is a little buzz on the 13th fret of the low E string), but rather because I am just not "feeling it" with this one. Don't get me wrong, it plays great! Sounds great! However, and I think many guitar players (and musicians in general) would relate to this, I'm just not comfortable with it. I can't really explain it. The first guitar, I was 100% comfortable with it. It was just a shame that it had those technical problems. Billy over at Guitar Center has been way awesome with me on this! He has a couple more at his store. I have like 30-45 days to test drive these (CCC does give him business and will continue to do so as long as he is there). So on Monday I am going to try another one. He said it is kind of a cool looking black/gray color. Hopefully third time is a charm! Meanwhile, I do plan on playing this one at the Generosity Conference tomorrow. Should be lots of fun!

So yeah, I am a bit picky with this stuff. It's funny how it goes with instruments. It doesn't matter if it is PRS, Fender Strats, Gibson Les Pauls, or you name it: you could like 20 of them up with all the exact same specifications and I swear, they will each feel different somehow. It was that way when I picked out my Taylor acoustic. The one I have was 'it'. There were others that were of the same model that didn't feel the same. Fortunately at that time the first one home ended up being the keeper. I doesn't matter how much you play it at the store, the real test comes when you bring it home to your setup, playing in real-stage conditions. I'll let you know how it goes on Monday!