the power of a story...

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

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It's march. we're 10 months into this whole parenting thing and i just want to say that i am finding some much joy in my son. he's been lighting kristi and i up. the laughing, the moving, the smiles, the reponses... def enjoying this time with him.

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DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

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watching a video training series on leading worship in-between the songs. this is definitely not one of my strengths. I have always felt weird talking in-between songs and adding another layer of thinking when the preacher is going to bring or has already brought several layers of thinking to the congregation to chew on. not to down play the strength of another perspective or my ability to give insight into where we're going in the service, but i sometimes just don't see the need. doesn't mean the need isn't there, it just means i don't always see it. Instead of driving people toward new ways of expressing their worship, I just end up perpetuating the traditional routine of typical church worship.

where is the place for "leading in-between the song" and how can i see those places on a somewhat regular basis?

Interesting question poised by the video:

Are you just a top 40 Contemporary Christian Juke Box? If it's just going to be one song into another without any interruption why don't we just use a cd player?

Invitation, exhortation, participation - these things can be emphasized in-between songs to strengthen what happens during the songs.

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I'm about to embark on a new recording project with a friend and we're just starting to gather where we're coming from and where we'd like to go with the album. This has spurred some thinking on songwriting by both he and i. Thoughts these thoughts we worth sharing:

His thoughts:

"So what I'm going to do is tell you a bit about the different elements of my music that I've discovered as major influence categories and then give you the CDs (sorry, man ... I always go way beyond what I need to ;-)

Good Songwriting

That may seem like a bit of an obvious one, but I mean in the sense of people who can put really good lyrics with really good music, not needing to be very complicated, and it just touches you deep down in your soul. This is what I strive for above all else because without a good song, most everything else doesn't matter. This would also be artists that don't settle for the easy answers and really wrestle through the tough questions of life in a way that you can join them there. A lot of my influences here are on the more acoustic end of things because that's all they really need to be great.

Dramatic Epicness

I don't accomplish this as much as I would like in my music, but there is a certain dramatic feel to a lot of what I write. This kind of goes on the opposite end of simple songwriting where I'm constantly writing songs with a big, dramatic intention behind them. I haven't had much of a chance to explore this in my solo stuff, but I'm hoping to be able to bring some of this into the recording. Whether or not I accomplish it, a lot of music that influences me and that I love has this element to it.

Musical Artistry and Exploration into new sounds e.g. electronic

This has been one of the new things that has been a huge influence on where my music has started heading and what I'm hoping to bring into this recording. I've been fascinated by many artists that are really taking what they've been doing into a totally new realm with all the of the variety of sonic options out there now. I don't want to settle for just the drums, bass, guitar, piano sound. I want to explore, think outside the box and really let ourselves get creative with how we come at my songs. This has also been an influence in thinking outside the box of a normal 4 chord pop song and I've really strived to write some songs that are harmonically different than what you hear every day.

Good Modern Powerful Rock

This falls on the opposite end of the simple song writing continuum and ties in with the whole Dramatic Epic feel of stuff. There's a large part of me that's always been drawn to a good rock song that's going to allow you to sing loud what you've been holding inside. Coldplay and U2 would encapsulate the marrige of this with the epicness but there's a bunch of bands that have really influenced me in this area. Since I don't play electric guitar all that well, most of what I've written in this realm is much more piano driven rock but I would love to realize my acoustic rocks songs more like this."

My response:

I think whenever you approach something, there has to be a solid base. An underlying strength that’s not necessarily on the surface. Good… Solid… Universal yet Personal songwriting needs to be the base for an album. It doesn't need to be the only trait or even the thing most people see but it needs to be there. The dramatic, the exploratory, and the powerful have their place but without solid songwriting underneath, their just flare. It’s the difference between an album you listen to once (if you even get through the whole thing) and an album you can’t stop listening to. I also think the dramatic, the exploratory and the powerful are the application or the playing out of the songwriting.

not saying i'm any where close to being right. i just think it's nice to be thinking about songwriting again.

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team. what does is take to develop "team" among a group of volunteers? trust. commitment. the drawing out of each person's passion and desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves. but how do you do that in a sustainable way with volunteers that are already busy and overworked?

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the massive snow storm that is passing through town has left emery and i a bit trapped at home. been getting a few projects that had been on hold done. i need more days where im almost forced not to escape the house.