Patriotic Sunday

Last week I got propaganda a flier in the mail from a local church that advertised a “Patriotic Sunday,” full of children parading flags, patriotic singing, and soldier stories. This church has had about a quarter-mile stretch of their front yard lined with American flags for well over a week now.

Yes, I am a Christian.

Before I get any further in this post, I want everyone to know that I was once a regular attendee of a church that had this similar service once a year. We pledged allegiance to the Stars and Bars with hands over hearts, saw pictures of our American soldiers on the big screens, and heard orchestral performances of God Bless America. The pastor asked Veterans present in the congregation to stand when “our song played.” Each branch was represented, all the way to Coast Guard. When a soldier was introduced and spoke of his first tour in the Middle East, everyone erupted in applause of support. He talked about his upcoming deployment for a second tour. I got chills down my spine and all down my limbs.

That was two years ago, I believe. I never really noticed it until several years before this that “Patriotic Sunday’s” even existed. My chills this time were in extreme discomfort with the situation, not in support. You see, I’m not that comfortable with the church putting the Flag at the center of attention and pledging allegiance to it. I’m not comfortable with marketing our churches to “patriots” (or “seekers”) to get them to come hear a “sermon” about living in the land of the free.

No doubt there will be dozens of churches in every town across these amber waves of grain that will be doing the very same routine this Sunday.

Does feeling this way make me un-American? Un-Patriotic? Well, if it does I’m not too concerned. The last time I checked, our allegiance is not to a country and its Flag… it is to a Savior and His Kingdom. The Gospel should be proclaimed often and truthfully. A “Patriotic Sunday” seems to be nothing more than a substitution of the Gospel for a Sunday, and an indoctrination of un-Truth.

Thoughts? Please chime in on all counts.

Wrapping up the tunes

Eric’s project is finally in it’s last few days of tracking. We’ve finished everything but final vocals, then it’s off to be mixed at Derri Daugherty’s (The Lost Dogs/The Choir) Neverland Studios. The whole process has been really fun, but the guitar sessions (which lasted all day each time) were exhausting. I came home mentally beat-up. Drained.

It was such a great learning experience for us. We set out to make it as raw and simple as possible, trying to make each track mean something. That means not putting three acoustic tracks and two electrics all on top of each other just because we could. It just creates a mess when you do that to Americana songs. We also tried to keep full passes on each instrument. If an acoustic is playing the entire song, then we wanted to keep a track that was good from start to finish and not have to edit. I’m pretty sure we accomplished this.

Now, the final mixes shouldn’t turn out too much different than what we’ve got down. Just some tweaking from fresh ears other than ours. We’re really excited to get to share this work with everyone. It’s a pretty cool accomplishment. The musicians (read: friends) that came and put down the goodness are the best. So, not to let any of them fly under the radar, I’ll mention them now.

Jimmie Ingram - acoustic & electric guitars

Derek Williams - acoustic & electric guitars

Greg Wood - electric guitars

Aaron Ivey - keys

Matt Wilder - bass

Thanks everyone for your help and hard work. Your willingness to contribute to this record is greatly appreciated and we’re really excited about how it’s turning out in the final days!

Someone you should know…

Alright guys, this is long overdue. A friend of mine at work is quite a talented singer/songwriter/artist/lyricist/pianist and he just finished up a full-length record. His name is Benton Stokes, or Kevin. Whatever you prefer to call him. He’s been gracious enough to invite me to play with him this summer to promote the record a bit. He just handed me an advance copy the other day and I must say that it’s a pretty phenomenal record. Great writing, great arrangements, great playing all around. It’s solid piano pop rock that is quick to have you hooked. I’m really looking forward to getting to chase it down with him soon.

So do yourselves a favor and get to know Kev and his music. Be a friend on MySpace if you’re the MySpace type. The image above will take you for a listen.

Funeral in the Wood’s backyard.

Today is probably the warmest day so far this year. Sun is bright, air is still. The grass cracks under my shoes thirsting for an inch of rain. The birds are chirping squawking on my fence, and for good reason.

When I come home from work, the first thing I do is let our Springer outside to relieve herself. Normally things go off without a hitch and she comes back in to fill her stomach with cold, filtered water from our refrigerator (yes, we know she’s spoiled). Well bird dogs enjoy chasing down birds– it’s true. Today was no different for her. As soon as her feet hit the back deck, I hear birds crying out in terror that this black and white beast was coming straight for them. Typically they take off vertically so as to avoid her clamping jaws. Lucy rounded the corner of our house out of my sight and birds are going nuts… absolutely crazy. And I noticed she was a bit more intense on her charge at them. Turns out a young bird was still on the ground and Lucy went straight for it because it couldn’t take off fast enough. Bingo. Yahtzee. Poor bird had a short young life and I was unfortunate enough to watch it take its last breaths as I tore after Lucy, grabbed her by the collar and made her drop it. The only damage to the bird that I saw was a small puncture around the neck (no blood), so she must have broken its neck. Mom and Dad bird were not happy, and neither was I. And she could tell… She released the bird in a broken spirit and I guided her back inside by the collar so she wouldn’t be tempted to go for it again. (Oh, and so you know… the bird wasn’t too young, just didn’t look fully mature.)

I must say that I’ve enjoyed watching her chase the birds out of our backyard over the last few years, but things will not be the same. She has tarnished the fun. I will now do my best to warn the birds first, especially if any look young. I hate seeing an animal get hurt or die unnecessarily.

Now it’s time for the Target bag burial.

What a Rock song.

Off to Alabama

This weekend I’m playing with Matt, Josh, and Heath in Scottsboro(!), Alabama. Really looking forward to hanging and playing with them. It’s always a good time. I’ll be back in town Sunday afternoon in time to take the Mrs. to see the reunion show of Sixpence None the Richer along with Trent Dabbs, one of her new favorites. And one of mine.

Mr. Jimmie Ingram, everyone.

Here’s a shot of Jimmie working on some guitar tracks with us a week ago. He came with me expecting to “hang out” and listen, but after hearing complaints from “diva producer” Eric about my awful playing, he ripped the guitar from my hands and showed me how it’s done. Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but we did encourage him to take over for me since he’s much better. Even on my guitar.

This project is so much fun to work on because of the total freedom we have with it. The songs have seen many changes made over the last 6 months, but the way they’re taking shape right now is almost a tear-jerker. Jimmie breathed life back into a ballad with an awesome acoustic hook. I’m not kidding about the tear-jerking… Eric and I looked at each other during playback and got misty in the eyes. We’re softies.

Jimmie was leased by permission from Spur58. And his wife, Laura.

Cymbal makeover

I’m a true convert. I once was lost, but now I’m found — by hand hammered cymbals from Turkey. My new cymbals of choice? Istanbul Agop. I want to get to the why in a minute, but let me first give you some background on my gear history and evolution of taste.

I started playing drums in 1992 after I brought my uncle’s old Japanese-made silver sparkle Maxitone kit home from my grandparents’ basement. It originally came with the 20″ kick, 14″ snare, 12″ rack tom, and he (or his parents) added a Slingerland 14″ floor tom to match. Not too long after I got it, my parents bought a gorgeous 10″ A Zildjian splash — my first pro cymbal. The tone I got from that cymbal as a young player stuck with me, so I naturally became fond of the bright, defined, cutting, machine-lathed sound.

Around 1996, I got my first Sabian AAX cymbals: a 14″ Studio crash and 13″ Studio hats. These were beautiful. During most of this time, I was listening to G’nR, Collective Soul, Van Halen, Dream Theater, and even Zeppelin and Hendrix. I eventually rounded out a full assortment of Sabians by 2001. Here’s what my usual kit included: 13″ AAX Studio hats, 6″ AA splash, 10″ AA splash, 14″ AAX Studio crash, 16″ AA Med-Thin crash, 17″ AA Med-Thin crash, 18″ AA Fast Chinese, and 20″ AA Rock ride. All of which were machine-lathed during production and produced focused, clear, defined sounds which were perfect for hard rock, progressive, and pop music. This setup worked well for me until 2006 when my ears began to evolve.

Moving to the Nashville area changed me. I began listening to more singer-songwriter folk music. I started playing more groove-oriented music rather than complex chops. Feeling the music became more important than showing how amazing I could play. Thanks, Garett. The tones I heard and felt when playing on some of his hand hammered beauties was so inspiring! I heard music differently, and after playing drums for 15 years, I began to hear the drums differently. So my quest began…

I did feel somewhat loyal to Sabian, so I decided to try out some 15″ HHX Groove hats. Found them for a bargain and really liked them. Hand hammered and projecting, but still… not just right. Worked well in some situations and not so well in others. Then comes last summer’s show with Lutito on drums. Blew my mind! I had to know about those cymbals. Istanbul Agops. I listened to just about everything he has recorded and other artists who use these gorgeous cymbals and totally fell in love with their sound. Dark, vibrant, complex, and vintage.

And legitimately so. Agops are made in Turkey, the birthplace of cymbals and the mega-successful Avedis Zildjian & Co cymbal makers. All the big guns on the modern drumset from 1920-1960 seemed to choose Zildians for their kits. Jazz greats and rockers alike picked Zildian K’s to complement their Rogers, Gretsch, Ludwig, and Slingerland sets. The K’s were hand created right there in the former Constantinople. The drum sounds from the 60’s has become the “sought-after” sound for many of today’s most tasteful groove drummers. Yes, please!

The rawness, complexity, and character of an Istanbul Agop is intriguing. After all, they are made by cymbalsmiths descended from K workers in the old K factory. Vintage sound in the new age. Hand created and hammered with love.

So, what have I done to rectify my lack of “vibey” cymbals? Sell the old faithful Sabians and get a new assortment of Agops. I spent many hours listening to online samples, asking Lutito and other players, and talking with the US Agop distributor in California. I needed versatile cymbals with character that could handle modern worship sets as well as an Indie Rock or Americana gig. The Traditionals seemed to be the best fit of all the different lines of cymbals Agop offers. I found a 17″ Med Thin crash, 18″ Dark crash, and 22″ Dark ride. I’ve recorded with them and used them live. Unbelievable! These are exactly what I’ve been looking for. Next up? 14″ Medium hats. Then maybe I’ll venture into the Turks and Signatures…

Thanks for hanging in here for a long rant about stuff you’re probably not interested in. But I had to at least write about it. I’m passionate about these now, can you tell? You’ll be able to hear them on this project with Eric.

That’s all for now on this Good Friday. Hope you all have a great Easter weekend!

World, meet my lovely wife.

Yes, the rumors are true! Believe it or not, she started a blog. Now do yo’self a favor and head over to check it out.

Show some love and leave a comment for her.

These are pictures. Look at them.

This is the setup I’ve been using this week. We’re really, really pleased with the sounds we’re getting with the treatment to the room. My kit has never sounded better! Saturday we’ll track the last song, then it’s time to move on to Bass and Rhythm. Won’t be long! Have a look:

Eric built these two panels early in the week. We draped another quilt between them and left a little tunnel at the bottom for the kick. Perfect for the room.

More on the way!