I went to a show last week featuring 5 young songwriters. After the first round, I quit listening and started writing this blog post. Over the last 16 years as a professional songwriter I’ve played and attended countless writers’ rounds with Hall of Fame songwriters and new writers alike. Since I started teaching songwriting and […]
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Writing Songs for the church is a unique and even dangerous task. I can help you navigate that process. I’ve made an introductory lesson from the Kingdom Songs University course “Kingdom Songcraft” available for free at kingdomsongsuniversity.com. The full 10 lesson course is $199 and includes a companion e-book full of helpful songwriting prompts. The
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Over the last 5 years, I’ve frequently used a practice of “sacred singing” that I’ve called Cantatio Divina with various groups of worship-focussed songwriters. Below is an explanation of the idea, its historical and biblical foundations and some tips for leading this practice in your own context. “Do we read the Bible for information about
5 Questions…to ask about that Worship Song You’re Writing The number of new worship songs being released these days is staggering. As songwriters, we all long to write songs that are noticed, used, and enjoyed by a wider audience but how can you ever hope your song will stand out in such a crowded market?
After a study of common song forms in one of my Commerical Songwriting 1 classes at Belmont University, I realized I had never written an AABA song and decided to give it a shot. A prevalent song-form from the 30’s to the 60’s, AABA is rarely employed now that the extended pop form (verse, chorus,
Over the next few weeks, the church I lead in worship will celebrate the release of our first collection of indigenously written songs. The album is called “Songs of Redemption City.” We are a thirteen-month-old church plant on the rural edges of suburban Nashville, TN with a unique mix of farmers, artists, business leaders, young families, religious leaders, educators, retired couples, and music industry types. We have spent our first year as a growing faith-family both recognizing and defining our ethos. Along our journey of writing, recording, and releasing this small batch of songs, we have encountered (and will continue to encounter) a variety of
START AN INDIGENOUS SONGWRITING MOVEMENT III Read More »
Phil was sitting at the piano with his back to the sparsely filled room. It was a Wednesday night prayer meeting in a traditional church. The crowd had quietly mumbled through a hymn or two and quickly transitioned into sharing prayer requests. Phil began to quietly play as the church members behind him shared the
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For a few years now, I’ve been working to foster an indigenous songwriting movement among the churches I visit. I long to see more churches both writing and using original content in their corporate worship gatherings. I have seen new songs for the church created in over 15 languages around the globe as believers work
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For the last 10 years I’ve been chasing a unicorn. I’ve seen it. I know it’s real. You can’t tell me it’s just a crazy dream because I am one of the privileged few people in the world who know the truth; it’s rare but it’s real. Parents tell their children, “chase something certain.” Guidance
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Sparrow (Capitol) recording artist Josh Wilson has released a song I co-wrote to Christian radio this week. “Pushing Back the Dark” has had a long and winding path onto your radio. The first record I have of the title in a notebook of song ideas is from 5 years ago. I wrote a chorus around
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