-Last Wednesday I met with Bernie Dake, the producer for The Red Book Sessions. He’s a great guy: very creative, smart and funny. He’s going to make the album sound so much better than it would if we did it on our own. And he puts the whole project into perspective by constantly reminding, “It’s all about winning souls for the Kingdom.”
-Jon Bukiewicz, Nate Hood and I worked all day (12 hours!) on some more demos for the recording sessions. It was a great time. We’re figuring out how we will record these songs. We ironed out some difficult parts, brainstormed some new ideas, etc.
-Nate Irvine is back from Costa Rica. We finally have our drummer back! Well kind of, he’s in Michigan…
-I’m going to the National Composers Forum the third week of January. Each division sends some of its composers to meet with the Territorial Music Directors and other experts in their fields. I’m going to work with Phil Laeger, who will be my instructor at the conference.
-We are going into the studio in February and hope to have a finished product by the end of March. CD’s will be sold at Youth Councils and Congress for around $7.
Historical Note:
Jon Bukiewicz and I first started this project—putting new melodies to Salvation Army Song Book songs—when we were like 15. If I remember correctly our first arrangement was of “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” SASB 954. Unfortunately, Johnny 5 Alive! (our Christian swing band) only lasted two practices.
Keeping you in the loop.
Youth Department