Mic check 1-2, 1-2

Sunday's praise and worship set was brought to you by epic fail.

For the second Sunday in a row my mics were crappy. And not just mediocre crappy, like might as well not have mics crappy.

The first crappy mic Sunday was because we had a rehearsal earlier in the week with a different set of people and did not readjust the settings. This Sunday's crappy mic was because the DJ and my dad decided to start twisting knobs all willey-nilley during the actual praise set without waiting to hear what it sounded like. Had they waited, they would've known that I had already adjusted them to my liking before church started. Or had they been in the sanctuary prior to church starting they would've seen me do the mic check. ijs

If you really want to ensure your P&W set starts off on the right foot, you gotta make sure you're doing everything within your power to have everything in place: team members there on time, mics checked, songs selected/rehearsed. The less you leave to chance, the better.

If I come back next week saying this happened 3 Sundays in a row, it's gone be some problems.

Stay tuned.

Insecurity issues

I must admit I have issues as a lead worshiper.

I am an average singer. Don't have a great vibrato. Have average range. Don't always sing from my diaphram. I also don't think quick on my feet and my voice sometimes goes out when its hot in my church and the fans are on full throttle. But the average singer thing is my main issue.

It is extremely easy to be intimidated as a lead worshiper when you can't blow. I wish I could rip and run across the scale, but that isn't my strong suit. I love singers who run effortlessly, but that's often the measure we hold everyone by. At least in black church culture. Why is that?

As I've grown in my Christian journey, one of the things I'm more cognizant of is not being wooed by rhymes, runs, and physical attractiveness of something or even an edifice. This goes for a sermon, as well as the music. We (including myself) have got to move past some of the superficial stuff and get to the heart of worship. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to go in when things are pitchy, but it shouldn't be easy to go in just because of someone's ability to sound like Beyonce. (No shade... I love Halo! :)

I may not be able to do the Jason Nelson warm up challenge, but dang it, do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do ain't never hurt nobody. That, I can do all day, every day.

Blessings

P.S. Go on Instagram and check out Jason Nelson's warm up challenges. Some of these people are dope and some are just flat out funny.

What I know for sure

 

Skip Oprah (even though I kind of like her); here's what I know about God for sure...

If God said it, He will bring it to pass!

Many years ago, an evangelist prophetized (is that a real word?) to me that God was going to bless me in my studies and grant me favor. She told this to me right before I was going to undergrad. While I already was awarded an academic and music scholarship, I also applied for another scholarship and received it. I also eventually got other small scholarships and graduated with honors and thought "Ok, God. Thank you for blessing me." However, when I went to school for my cytotechnology certificate at Johns Hopkins, that's when I really saw God open doors for me. The program was very selective (only 5 students per year) and God blessed me to get it. Then I was featured on the front page of the hospital newspaper for the outreach activities I was doing in some of Baltimore's public schools. It ended up being a wonderful experience. I thought "Ok, God. Thank you for blessing me again!" Then I went to graduate school to work on my masters in public health. I received a big scholarship in year 2, and ended up with a job that paid for my last year of school. And then when I got my PhD - just kidding. I stopped at my masters. But anyway, I know that when God says something, you can bank on it. It doesn't mean that I didn't have any challenges, cuz trust and believe my student loans total more than some peoples' homes, but God is faithful! (Put a praise on it right there!)

God will make a way...
When I was preparing to go to Hopkins, I had no money for the program. I mean $0. Not even a student loan. We were coming up to the week I was supposed to be leaving for school with no money. We applied for a private loan with bank even though we had been turned down for others. A few days before I left, that loan came through. Look at God!

And a way.
I suffered a huge accident a few years ago rollerblading. I fractured my left elbow and ended up needing 5 surgeries, a cast, and year of occupational therapy to correct it - only it never was really corrected. At the time, it was my final year in grad school and my capstone project (similar to a thesis) was due. Unlike all of my friends who waited until the last minute to start their papers, I had begun months in advance and had been diligently working on it. When the accident happened, I had already had a solid first draft of about 17 pages. God put it in me to work on that paper early because after the accident, I could no longer type proficiently. Sometimes he makes a way before we even know the way was already made!

God is no respecter of person.
I know that God is able to do anything for anyone. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer by far, typically a B student, but God has done great things for me in the area of academics.

The blessings of the Lord maketh rich...
Moving past my academic life, I picked up a job that seemed to be pretty good, but I just didn't like the job as much as I wanted to. I applied for a different position in the company for something more related to my studies. I felt really good about the interviews and was very hopeful, but ultimately did not get it. I stayed at the company and about year later, that position opened up again so I applied again. This time I got it and now I have a job that I absolutely love.

And He addeth no sorrow with it.
About a year into the new job, I got a big raise. I'm not going to get into the mechanics of why/how I got it. Just trust me when I say that I didn't ask for it and when they gave it to me all I said was "Thank you God!" I could care less the rationale. It was a huge blessing!

So there you have it. In the words of J. Moss, I'm not telling you what I read. I'm telling you what I know.

God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think! (Eph. 3:20) There, I finally quoted a scripture :)

What I know for sure makes me more than willing to sing praises unto God. Most of the songs that I write are simply songs of praise. I always thought I'd have something deep and pivotal to share with the world, but my testimony is simply God is good and faithful. I am content praising God for all that he's done in my life and I hope that's whats reflected when I lead P&W.

Blessings

Kim Stratton - I Will Praise Thee O' Lord

This song is the real real!

Music, singers, and magic

I just posted a YouTube clip of a great worship song by Martha Munizzi and wanted to share a few thoughts about music, singers and magic. Here's a conversation I recently had with my mom (the pastor).

Me: I really like Martha Munizzi!
Mom: The first album had so many good songs, but she hasn't had anything since then.
Me: This "Make it Loud" cd has a good 4 songs on it.
Mom: I tried to listen to it, but she just can't sing!
Me: Well, I like her songs... And that's exactly how I feel about Mary J. Blige!

First of all, I think an artist's first album is usually the best album. When an artist first starts out, they have lots of songs at his/her disposal to choose from. They can select what resonates most and what sounds the best. There are no expectations from the fan base because the artist typically hasn't settled on an artistic style or target audience. Then for some reason the second album takes a while to release and the artists starts to incorporate a "newer" sound. (You know, they get fancy, try to sound funkier, fresher, and slightly different.)  The fans are expecting more songs like the first album or songs like what they currently hear on  radio/tv/pandora and it's hard to recreate that magic. These types of demands are exactly why I have no desire to be a recording artist. It's a cold, cruel world!

Now let's move on to the actual ability of the singer. In this case, let's talk about Martha Munizzi. Can she sing? That's a matter of personal preference. I think she sounds good enough to be an artist. Have you heard some of these pop artists sing live? They can't sing that great either! (See conversation above.) Do I think Martha Munizzi can blow? No. To be perfectly honest, that's not exactly what I'm looking for in P&W music. I'm looking for sincerity in lyrics and what I like to call singability (easy to sing, easy to understand and memorize the lyrics). That's what's important to me.


Similarly, I don't think Mary J. Blige can blow, but when she first came out, I identified with the songs. You have to admit, she has a knack for singing songs about love lost and hard times. In terms of vocal acuity, she sounds comparable to Martha Munizzi. Now consider Beyonce. While I think Beyonce can blow, I typically don't like what she's singing about in most of her songs. Therefore, I'm not a huge Beyonce fan. But the lady can sing!

Then there's the feeling you get from certain songs/singers. I think of it as magic. I personally love songs from the crooning era and songs from the 60's because the content of the songs are about things that resonate with me. I also appreciate that you can guess the last few words in a phrase because the songs make sense. You instantly feel connected to song. It's like magic. So in essence, I feel that magic from Martha Munizzi.

I think sometimes we need to move past whether or not an artist can blow. If we don't, there will be no Mary J. Blige's or Martha Munizzi's; both of whom have songs that thousands/millions of people enjoy.

It's a big world. There's room for singers of all abilities as long as the music brings something to the table.

P.S. Pastors are the harshest music critics!

So excited

In continuing with our goal of adding 12 songs to our repitoire, we had rehearsal this past Sunday. It was going ok, but after about 30 minutes, my sister was about done. (Just like me, she doesn't like wasting her precious time on the weekends.)

She was done, that is, until we went over my original song. I'm so excited that someone other than me is feeling the enthusiasm for new music!

This was also the first time the pastor heard it. She didn't say it was bad so that means it was good. (You know, pastors can be tough.) And as soon as I get registered on ASCAP, maybe I'll post it. (I totally plan to share at some point, but ain't nobody gonna be running off with my good music.)

In closing, let me just say that having a concrete goal for our P&W team was the best thing I've ever done as a leader. We are all working in the same direction and so far, we're still on track.

Anita Wilson in concert

What better way to spend Valentine's Day than listening to the talented Anita Wilson?
She'll be in Waco, TX this Saturday. Get the deets here. (And check out her t-shirts. They're dope.)

Enjoy!

#Demonstrate

Pastor William Murphy is hosting a conference to show folks (i.e., demonstrate) how to be effective in their lines of ministry. Classes for the worship leader, musicians, sound engineers and more. If you're in ATL or wish to attend, check out the Demonstrate Webpage for more info.