Monday, March 26, 2007
Little By Little
Thanks in large part to Jesse’s full and utter reliance on Google and its multifaceted technologies, we have started to all congregate on the same page concerning the songs we’re working on for the 3DU Reunion 2.0. We’ve got all of our lyric sheets stored on Google Docs & Spreadsheets (once known as Writely, I believe), and we’re using the magic of Gmail to converse widely and freely. Jesse and I discussed the other day how proper communication was of paramount importance in a venture like this one, where five different people scattered about the countryside are all trying to practice on their own in order to come together later and all be playing the same thing the same way. It’s no small undertaking, believe us. So we’re doing our best to keep in proper communication. I suppose the best measure of how successful we are will be how closely our understandings of the songs match when we get together that fateful day in May to practice.
Like I said in the last post, the set list is a good one. As we continue to work on the little bits (transitions, variations, etc.) and simultaneously get the meaty parts down pat, it should pull together to be a pretty rock’n show. I personally would feel a heck of a lot better about my chances to sing well if I could get rid of this icky feeling in my throat and nose that has made me a growly bass for what seems like the past 6 months or so. There are situations where being a growly bass might be a good thing, but this is not one of them - I’ve been given main harmony singing detail for the ten songs I’m not singing lead on, and only one of the two I am singing lead on needs a bass voice. And that song (David Crowder’s classic I Will Not Be Silent) is only a bass voice song for about the first half. That’s the thing about David Crowder; he has a deep voice but tends to use the fullness of his vocal range quite a bit. I think of myself as a baritone, mainly because I can’t sing terribly deep bass and I have only marginal range toward tenor. I guess it’s kind of like getting a degree not in Preaching or Youth Ministry or Music Ministry or Missions but just General Ministry. I have a non-specific Male Voice. Urgh.
Nonetheless, as March draws to a close and April comes nigh, the excitement we’re all feeling is growing. Only about six weeks remain until we are all back rocking together again, and it is sure to rekindle the feelings of “dang, we should all do this full-time! Let’s quit our jobs and go on the road!” until our wives remind us that being in a band is not really all that great of a business opportunity unless you’re exceptionally good, and we would need to practice a lot more before we got to that point. Butta will also testify that life on the road ain’t no picnic. Can I get an amen?
For my part, i’ve also been doing little bits of recording here and there, and I even wrote a song last week. It’s probably the first full song i’ve written in about a year, and I like it quite well. I called it “Dearly Beloved” and it’s a neat little 6/8 number with some fun little beat swings, for lack of a better term. I’ll try and record it sometime and post it and then you will know what I mean. The lyrics came partly from a desire to use the term “dearly beloved” in reference to God and also from the oft-repeated refrain “God is my Rock and my Refuge” used by the Psalmists. I love the idea that God is the ground we stand on and also the roof over our heads. It just speaks to the all-encompassing nature of His care for us.
You may notice that the “stories” link on the sidebar has been replaced by the word “blog”. This is because it wasn’t exactly obvious what “stories” were but a “blog”, well, everyone knows what that is. So there you go!
