Fall Q&A. Effects Pedals. Acoustic Worship, and Three Headed Delays.

Once a season I look over the Google searches (and the 1 Bing search too) and see what brings people to this blog. I then take the themes or direct questions from those searches and form a sort of Q&A. While the Fall 2014 edition will be a little effects pedal heavy, I think there’s some take aways that non-pedal using worship leaders will find helpful.

A Kinda Sorta Review of the New U2 Record

THE RECORD

Almost every review of the newest U2 record Songs of Innocence has told me more about the the reviewer and their issues than the record itself. When a reviewer starts admitting that they “don’t really like U2 that much” or by saying that they haven’t liked a U2 record since Actung Baby, why should we care what they say? When a reviewer spends (as many of them did) the opening half of the review critiquing and complaining about the way or method the band released the record, what does that actually tell us about the music itself? The answer is of course: nothing.

I actually like the new U2 record. It’s not their best record, but it’s certainly not their worst. The songs themselves are far better than most of the critics have given credit for. The final result of Dangermouse’s production work is a debatable point but again, it’s an interesting take on the music of the most iconic band since the Beatles. So now that we’ve had a few weeks to come to terms with the music and implication of the records surprise marketing/distribution method maybe we can look for some takeaways?

Instead of debating the finer points of U2’s latest offering, I would like to look at the response it has drawn. I feel like looking at Songs Of Innocence’s reception will shed light on issues that affect us as worship leaders and church musicians.

The Electric: Does Tone Matter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On forums, on blogs, on Facebook, on Instagram. Worship guitarist posts pic after pic of their pedalboards, or their amps, or their guitars. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. Then every so often a “really spiritual” person writes a blog post or a thread forum on how we need to remember that none of it matters… and then we go on posting our pics.

How much does “good tone” really matter? Does it make a difference to the bar band but not the worship band? Am I less Spiritual if I care about how my guitar sounds? Am I more spiritual if I don’t?

Let’s talk about it.

How do you solve a problem like Mars Hill Music?

Recently, you might’ve have seen, or heard or read about the troubles at Mars Hill Church and with their Pastor, Mark Driscoll.

The question was put to me in regards to all of this: what do we do with the songs? What about the Mars Hill Music bands like Citizens and Saints or Kings K who’ve become popular with many worship leaders in recent years?

While I hope to address these questions, I think it kind of misses the point. Do you know where the songs you sing come from? Do you know what the implications of singing a song is? Or what the implications of promoting a worship leader are? Is Mars Hill Church the only church I need to be concerned about?