REVIEW REVISITED: Aaron Keyes – “Dwell”

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By my standards, Dwell – by Atlanta area worship pastor/artist Aaron Keyes – is one of the all-around best corporate worship CDs of all-time. Serious! StuG’s production is fresh, even by todays standards, the songwriting is Grade A, & the songs are almost all corporate, & adaptable for almost any style of congregation. To top it all off, this is where Michael W. Smith‘s latest hit single, “Sovereign over Us”, originated from! If you’re looking for a great listen, but also would like to find a number of singable, new-to-you corporate songs to use for your congregation, look no further. Here’s the “revisited” review…
(stick around after the review for links to my live interviews of Aaron, as well)
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Artist: Aaron Keyes
Release: Dwell
Label: Kingsway

 

 

 

Highlights: “I am not the Same”, “Sovereign over Us”, “Song of Moses”, “Dwell”, & “Lavish Your Love”

I vividly remember when I first heard Chris Tomlin’s newly released CD “Not to Us”.  Up to that point, apart from a couple “worship hits”, Tomlin’s catalogue had been pretty pedestrian, yet out of the blue he released a CD from which I used no less than 7 songs corporately, & which was a trend-setter production-wise for the next several years. Enter “Dwell” by Aaron Keyes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Creativity, Music Review, New Music, Resource, Shannon, writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Real Reason we do not Sing

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WhyWeDoNotSingThere has been much talk across the blogosphere this week on a topic I’m thankful is being discussed: the struggle to get a church to actually participate in corporate singing.  The conversations was begun – a few months ago – by Jamie Brown in “Are we headed for a Crash?”  Good observations.  Leading to helpful responses by David Santisteven and Dan Wilt, both of whom made some very good points.  More recently, the Kenny Lamm of the North Carolina Baptist association has chimed in on the subject as well. Having led worship in a wide variety of churches – from traditional a cappella hymn singing to free-form, “Spirit-led”, 3 1/2 hour charismatic praise, and everything in between – I’m familiar with the problem.  All it takes is one Sunday morning service with the room staring back at you, uttering not-a-peep, for us to go home contemplative, asking, “What did I do WRONG?”  That said, though they make many good points, I’m not convinced any of the fore-mentioned blogs gets to the heart of the matter.  Here’s why…
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Resource, Saint Lewis, Shannon, Theology Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

CHRISTMAS SONG TUTORIAL FOR THE CHURCH: “Christ the Lord is born Today”

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One of the reasons I moved away from traditional hymnody towards theologically rich modern worship was the excellent songwriting of Sovereign Grace Music. A few years ago I was blessed to lead Mark Altrogge‘s excellent modern Christmas song, “Christ the Lord is Born Today”, as originally recorded by Sovereign Grace Music.  

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas Music, New Music, Resource, Saint Lewis, Saint Simons Community Church, Shannon, worship planning

Christmas Song Tutorials for the Church: “Mary did you Know?”

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MaryI explained a bit about what this series is about in my last post POSTED HERE, so I won’t retread new ground, however I’m sure a few of you are puzzled: “Mary did you Know?” has been floating around for just under a quarter of a century! However, it’s a classic that moves my heart, & one that has some tricky spots for inexperienced musicians/worship leaders.

This tutorial video has two parts:

  1. A short intro & song demonstration and…
  2. A short breakdown of a few specific simplification strategies.

 Watch the video for more information:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Music Review, Musicianship, Resource, Saint Lewis, Tutorial Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Christmas Song Tutorials for the Church: “Christmas Offering” by Paul Baloche

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“I’ll bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on Earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may you receive the honor that you’re due
Oh Lord, I bring an offering to You”

Are you looking for new songs to lead this Christmas? I know I always feel some trepidation approaching the holidays – expectations are high, & everyone seems to have an opinion. It often makes me cringe at the impending “celebration”, and that’s NOT right… but it’s true.

  • For one, we hear the SAME SONGS…over…and over…AND OVER
  • Secondly, the classics can be SO HARD to reproduce with a guitar-driven worship band, especially if you’re working with inexperienced musicians
  • Lastly, there’s such a flood of new songs hitting the market each year that it’s easier to just give up & return to those “same ole, same ole”, instead of seeking out a NEW “classic”.

These next few weeks I’ll be setting aside my normal serial blogs & reviews (for the most part) to share a series of tutorials. I’ll do the work of finding the songs, & teaching them, & you can grab the linked resources for the songs that will work best for your congregation, & enjoy worshiping Him this season with church family! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas Music, Music Review, Resource, Saint Lewis, Shannon, Tutorial Tagged With: , , , , , ,