“Joy in the Morning” / “Morning will Come”

by

Screen Shot 2020-03-16 at 1.08.57 PMI remember the first time Psalm 30:5 spoke to me so deeply; “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” It was 2008 & were walking through a very deep valley & needed encouragement – those words became something firm for us to stand on, so we wrote them into a song that we demoed with the band for the SONGS FROM THE HOPE FARM release, but it just didn’t feel finished, & the message was so dear to my heart that I wanted to make sure it was truly finished before I recorded & released it.

So, I rewrote it. I rewrote “Joy in the Morning” so many times that it became a joke among my band members. I’d say, “Guys, should we play ‘Joy’?“, & they’d respond – “I don’t know – which one?“, & we’d all have a good laugh. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Creativity, New Music, Saint Lewis, Shannon Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Morning will Come: when nothing is going right

by

Have you ever had a day when it just seemed like nothing went right? Then that day’s hardships slipped over into the next, and then the next, until your bad day feels like a bad week? How do you maintain your sanity, & keep moving forward? It’s not like you can retire from waking, bathing, feeding your children, or working. Where do you find the resolve to get out of bed & take the next step.

Back in ’10 I had one such year. A year so fraught with hardships that some of my most spiritual friends even asked, “What did you do to make God angry?” Sever illnesses, job loss, injury, catastrophic vehicle break downs – I began to slip into depression because life was becoming overwhelming. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Music Review, New Music, Saint Lewis, Shannon

COMING SOON: Morning will Come

by

It’s finally finished. 7 years in the making. Songs representing all 10 years of the past decade. 7 producers, in 5 different studios, with dozens of guest musicians & other friends taking part. Let me introduce you to… Morning will Come. Coming May 17th!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: New Music, Saint Lewis, Shannon Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: Ian Zumback – THE TABLE

by

Screen Shot 2018-04-07 at 4.55.21 PM

I remember the first time I heard Andrew Peterson‘s “Dancing on the Landmines“ on the radio – it was powerful, & like nothing else I’ve heard. It wasn’t weird at all but simply unique, standing out like a bright spot among the dull sameness of CCM radio at that time. This is that sort of album.

Though not a “worship record” in the usual sense – only a handful of these songs would likely work corporately – lyrically, it’s obvious that The Table is a Christ-centric worship project, even if the songwriting isn’t targeted at Sunday morning singing. Though there’s not a dud among the bunch, a few tracks do stand out. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Music Review, New Music Tagged With: , , ,

A Fresh Christmas Playlist

by

On occasion I enjoy the classics, but I find that I grow tired of Holiday music fairly quickly in this otherwise wonderful season. What do I do to make it through? I make my own “best of Christmas” playlist, digging up some deep gems for a refreshing listen! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas Music, Music Review, New Music Tagged With: