Tag: music

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WAKE UP & Speak, Brother

Wake Up and Speak, Brother

Since moving to Rugby, one of the (many) things that has struck me is just how there seems to be a huge hub of creativity in the town and the surrounding areas. There are artists, writers aplenty and an absolute orchestral overload of talented musicians, songwriters, singers and more. You can’t turn around without discovering more new music, or hearing a new song or few.

What’s even more surprising is the QUALITY of the material – we’re not talking about stuff you listen to, politely nod and then issue that “well, that was…nice” comment. I’m talking about genuinely great music. Lyrics that have depth and meaning. Singers who are passionate about the music and the art, not compromising to become “The Next <insert name here>”

And that leads me onto two connected, but very different, artists. The first one is a worship leader at our church and a genuinely great guy (no, I’m not creeping!) – Jonny Shepherd. I came across Jonnys music a few years ago, before we’d ever even contemplated moving to Rugby, through somewhere like the NoiseTrade website. I picked up a free copy of his “New Day” album and really liked what I heard, so signed up for the mailing list and kept a distant eye on the music he was producing.

When we started to look at Rugby as our new home I got one of his email newsletters through and, much to my utter disbelief, saw that he was not only based in Rugby but also at the very church we were looking into.

Jump forward to now and I’ve gotten to know Jonny a bit and we’ve started to build up a cracking friendship.

Well, that’s all “nice” but what about the music. Well, those on facebook will have seen me push his last EP (Crown of Praise) rather a bit, and that contained some really good music on there – including an instrumental piece that is so good to lean back with eyes closed and listen to. And he has a new EP coming out at the end of this month!

It’s a simple task to nip on over to bandcamp and pre-order the EP, for which you get the title track “Wake Up” as an immediate download and WOW – this is such a different track. Electronic beats and pumping bass coupled with some really strong lyrics. I’m a little biased as it is clearly influenced by Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones that is in the old testament – and that is one of my favourite passages!

Watch the teaser video for the EP below, and then pop to bandcamp and place a pre-order to make sure you get hold of, what promises to be, a great set of new songs!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/1jBZoFekXf8[/youtube]

And here’s the seamless segway across to the second part of this post. When I signed up to join the worship team at New Life, Jonny and I got together at Costa Coffee in Rugby so that we could get to know each other a bit more and in the process he introduced me to a band who were, at that time, called the “James Herring Band”. With hints of Jars of Clay, Mumford & Sons etc I was immediately hooked by their music. During the performance James announced that they were renaming the band and were relaunching as “Speak, Brother”

At a local “Worship Hub” event, I went along to a guitar workshop with James and got chatting to him about music, life and various other things and found him to be such a down to earth, humble guy who is passionate about God and about crafting music that is original and personal.

On May 19th the band launch their debut single, “Dry Bones” – hmmm, ring any bells?, and on the 18th their is a launch gig at a local pub which the Mrs and I will be attending. Keep an eye on their website, follow them on facebook, and take a look at the below video recorded at one of their performances. Then, on the 19th, pick up a copy of “Dry Bones” – it’ll get your feet stomping, your head bobbing and you’ll be singing the chorus for days!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMNCGBXfEk0[/youtube]

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Three words that shook the universe

 The End

There are three words that are amongst the most powerful ever spoken. Whilst there are other candidates for the top spot, these three words shook the universe to the heart. 12 letters that broke the grasp of hell and rewrote our future and destiny.

It is finished.

So simple, but with them being uttered as Christ hung on the cross they would signal a complete change to mans relationship to God.

No longer would satan have a claim to our souls.
No longer would we need to live in fear or regret.
No longer would our past dictate our future.

The book was rewritten and those three words, which contain within them the heart of Gods plan, brought an end to our seperation from our Father.

Do you grasp the earth-shaking power of those words? I think the answer to that, if we’re honest with ourselves, would be “sometimes”

It’s easy for us to grasp the eternal outcomes, maybe because we can’t fully envision what that enternity is, but the immediate outcome is so easy for us to lose.

“It is finished” means that the sins I committed yesterday are dealt with. It means that the stain of my past is removed. It means that, through grace, I don’t need to be afraid of letting God down by sinning in the future.

Now I’m not saying that it’s a carte blanche to descend into hedonism and debauchery, it’s not, but what it does mean is that those oh-so-human slip ups are dealt with. They are done. The slate has been wiped clean of all that we have done, and all that we will do because IT IS FINISHED.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc27eMTZjMU[/youtube]

See His love nailed onto a cross
Perfect and blameless life given as sacrifice
See Him there all in the name of love
Broken yet glorious, all for the sake of us

This is Jesus in His glory
King of Heaven dying for me
It is finished, He has done it
Death is beaten, Heaven beckons me

Greater love no one could ever show
Mercy so undeserved, freedom I should not know
All my sin, all of my hidden shame
Died with Him on the cross, eternity won for us

Such love, such love
Such love is this for me

(c) Tom Lockley

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Rock & Roll with extra cheese (and some rather spicy sauce!)

When it comes to music, films, TV etc (entertainment in general I guess) I’m a rather odd specimen of a man – enjoying an eclectic mix of styles, genres, eras and volumes! I can watch everything from sci-fi blasts to detective dramas, comedies to quizzes, debates to debacles. I listen to music from so many eras covering pop, rock, dance, jazz, classical, electronic, metal, worship, atmospheric and more. In fact the only music I can’t appreciate is manufactured plastic rubbish that you know doesn’t mean anything to the person singing it.

One era and style I do particularly love is 80s Rock. I grew up listening to Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Meatloaf and more and still love ramping up the volume to scream out the lyrics to some of the classic anthems from that time.

So when we saw an interview with Justin Lee Collins and Shane Ward on BBC breakfast talking about the West End musical “Rock of Ages” I immediately knew that this was something I *have* to go and see.

We’ve not made it to London (yet – it’s planned for sometime in the future though!) but when a film version was released my curiosity was definitely piqued.

Last weekend my wonderful wife, who has impeccable taste it must be said, chose for us to see the film when we had a chance to escape the kids for a day and grab a couple of hours in the midst of all the house hassles.

All I can say is WHAT A BLAST!

Now I’ll get the potentially offensive stuff out of the way first – although everything in this film is done to maximise the cheese factor and it’s all done in a humorous manner. The film definitely isn’t one for the kids, despite the 12A rating. There is a bit of bad language but there is a lot of suggestive and sexual innuendo in the film. Part of it is set in a “Gentlemans” club and features pole-dancers, there is a scene that involves strongly implied sex and there are other bits. BUT – none of it made me feel uncomfortable and it is all played for laughs.

That aside (and, as I say, it didn’t bother me at all) the film is a great romp from beginning to end. The storyline is a cheesy cliche wrapped up in a fairytale sugary syrup – girl meets boy and all the typical journey that tends to follow in those storylines. Think Grease or Dirty Dancing, set in the 80s scene with blue denim or black leather trousers and black T-shirts. You’re not getting a story that will change your life forever and that will bring about world peace to sound of whale song. You are getting a joy-filled, hugely funny, musically superb couple of hours that entertain and leave you with a huge smile on your face for days to come.

The music in the film, as with the storyline, differs slightly (and also significantly in parts) to the stage show but contains so many classics from that time including everything from Journey to Poison, Def Leppard to Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar to Styx and so many others and some of the mash-ups in the film are pure genius! By the end of the film there wasn’t a foot that wasn’t tapping, a head that wasn’t nodding and there weren’t many people who weren’t singing along.

The casting was probably the biggest surprise. Tom Cruises involvement had me a bit concerned, and the Mrs and I both raised eyebrows when the opening credits rolled and we saw Russell Brands name (not the biggest fans, but his involvement was a no-brainer really), however the whole cast are brilliant totally embracing the ham-it-up nature of the film and throwing themselves into their roles completely. The two stars of the show are newcomers and manage to stand their own ground surrounded by Cruise, Brand, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones and others. What has been a huge surprise is the discovery that the actors all sing their own parts (they obviously did this seperate to the filming as you can tell they are miming at points, but they did record the vocals they are miming to!) and that includes Tom Cruise who manages to do a great version of “Paradise City” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”.

The film has so many highlights in it that I can’t do it justice to just pick a few. The funniest moment of all though has to be the scene between Brand and Baldwin – I am never going to be able to listen to the song they sing again without thinking of the film (I’ll say no more as I really do not want to spoil it for anyone!)

If you have a decent sense of humour, and don’t get easily offended, and you love the 80s then you really have GOT to see this film. It’s only made me even more desperate to see the stage show, and we’ve already said that we’ll be getting the Blu-Ray when it comes out!

And if you want to enjoy the original versions of the songs used in the film and the stage versions you can subscribe to my Spotify playlist – to which I may well add a few additional Eighties classics that didn’t quite make it into the show but definitely deserve a place there. Saying that, if all the classics were to be included in the film and the stage show you would be there for days!

The Spotify playlist can be found here: http://open.spotify.com/user/geekyone/playlist/0aAPSQsTp3jDpWt3iwYedo

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Legends, Lessons and a Lyrical Life

It was sad to hear the news that Robin Gibb had passed away at the weekend, succumbing to the cancer and related illnesses that had affected him recently. As part of the Bee Gees, his influence on music in the latter quarter of the 20th century cannot be underestimated or dismissed with several commentators and contemporaries saying they are second only to The Beatles.

Last night we sat and watched the excellent “One Night Only” on the Bio channel, a recording of a ’97 Vegas concert featuring most of their big hits. I was pleased to see that my 15-year old daughter was aware of some of their music and actually knew some of the tunes.

But that just made me think… if kids are taught art, English literature and similar at school then shouldn’t there also be space somewhere for learning to appreciate music and to at least give them a bit of an appetite for the legacy of music instead of the plastic pop and manufactured “celebrities” that they idolise.

Why not teach some of the main classical pieces? Introduce them to blues and jazz, take them through the history of Rock’n’Roll and pop music. Teach them to understand the cultural significances, the lyrical and music complexities and beauty, the lives that led to the great songs and symphonies.

Why not have lessons listening to Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Abba, Nirvana, the Specials, Dylan and more. Put the music into context within history and help them to learn history in that way, by associating music to events. Let the music tell the story.

And, you never know, it may just be that legends will live on and that a new generation of musicians will rise up and compose the next great songs to inspire a generation whilst having a greater understanding of world history and social changes.

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One to watch: The Digital Age

Band: The Digital Age
Website: http://thedigitalagemusic.com
Twitter: Mark / Mike D / Jack / Bwack
YouTube: http://youtube.com/thedigitalagemusic
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thedigitalage

It’s been a while since I’ve done a music review (sorry!) and then two come along in one evening! This is slightly different but I thought that these boys from Waco, Texas, deserve a bit of a Preview and are definitely worth having on your radar, twitter feed and youtube subscription list – not forgetting your list of favourite websites of course.

When the David Crowder*Band ended in January there were plenty of us who mourned the loss of a group who pushed the boundaries in terms of sound, technology, musical complexity (and simplicity) and also managing to fuse classic songs with new material and some real quirkiness thrown in for good measure.

It seemed to be a recipe that no other group could duplicate, and anyone who tried would surely be a pale imitation.

Then along came the announcement of a new band called “The Digital Age” – made up of the *Band part of the David Crowder*Band 😀

Continuing the “rockumentary” series of video blogs they launched the new band, deciding that they were “better together” and over recent months they’ve been working together on a new studio and posting some tasty rehearsal videos that really look good enough to drop the rehearsal tag.

Of the first two to be posted one was the great classic hymn “How Great Thou Art”, and it gave me chills to hear – resonating oh so well with my heart for a mix of the best of church history and modern worship (read my blog here for more.) The sound was that warming familiar sound we’ve come to know and love from such a talented bunch of musicians who have such worship-filled hearts, but it is also different. With the distinctive vocals of David Crowder taken away it has allowed for a surprisingly rich and diverse lyrical performances and the overall sound is recognisable but with enough of a difference to make you second guess yourself.

There are now 4 rehearsal videos out, “All The Poor And Powerless” being the other classic from the first pairing and then “After All (Holy)” and “Oh My God/I Am A Seed” taken from the last DC*B album. They are all worth viewing, over and over again. Repeatedly. Seriously!

With the promise of more videos and some released music coming you definitely want to get on board and join The Digital Age! Trust me, you won’t regret it.

P.S. Enjoy the 4 Rehearsal Videos below 🙂

[youtube]http://youtu.be/0S9_POAQCIQ?hd=1[/youtube][youtube]http://youtu.be/-iG2wUL1vTY?hd=1[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/lqgJ9OCy3Kg?hd=1[/youtube][youtube]http://youtu.be/ES70naqpE-A?hd=1[/youtube]