Monthly Archives: June 2011

“Real Artists Ship”

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You know that song you’ve been working on?

That blank canvas in your closet?

That brand new recording software you bought a month ago but still haven’t played around with yet? (I’m pointing the finger at myself here)

That design you have in your head but have yet to act on?

You need to do something about it.  If we’re not creating then we’ll soon find that other areas of our lives start to slow down.  We’ll become less productive, less engaged in what we’re doing, less focused.  I’m starting to feel it right now and so I’m committing to do something about it.  I’m committing to create something.  I love this quote from Steve Jobs.  This is from a book called “The Leader’s Edge” which I just finished reading for a leadership class but it’s a great reminder for creatives.

“In January 1983, when the Macintosh project was months overdue, Jobs scrawled three words on an easel: “REAL ARTISTS SHIP.”  Successful art doesn’t exist until it leaves the artist’s hands.“

I’ve also heard it said that it’s not art until somebody hears it or sees it.

Let’s make our art come alive.

What creative project have you been putting off that you need to get to work on?

My Worship Leader Peeps

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I moved to Victoria from Calgary 2 years ago to come work at Saanich Baptist Church.

When I got here I didn’t know anybody outside my new church.

I didn’t have a network of other worship leaders to interact with.

And then I met these 3 guys.

Fraser Campbell, Luke Stones, and Simon Prittie.  They reached out to the new guy in town and invited me to hang out with them.  Their friendship has become invaluable to me.  We have breakfast together about once every month or two.  We chat about ministry triumphs and struggles.  We fill in at each other’s churches when needed.  We bounce song writing ideas off each other.  And we encourage each other.  We’re even planning to hit the studio together this summer to work on a collaborative recording project (more to come on that soon).

This job can be hard at times.  I’ve learned that having friends who understand your situation and who are there for you make it a lot easier to push through the hard times.

Don’t do ministry alone.

Who’s there to encourage you?  To help you out?  To bounce ideas off of?  To laugh with when you need to forget about the stress?

I’d love to hear about your ministry peeps.

Honouring Volunteers

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We’re blessed to have amazing volunteers at Saanich Baptist Church. They give so much of their time and are dedicated to the vision of SBC. Every year we take some time to say thanks, and this year we’re adding a little something extra to the event.

What do you do to honour and celebrate your volunteers?

you can check out Bill Message’s scrap metal artwork here

Update from the night. Here’s a snapshot of the SBC Worship Arts Awards.

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U2 In Seattle (rapture may commence now)

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(first published as a facebook note, June 5th, 2011)

U2 in Seattle

I achieved one of my life goals this weekend. I attended a U2 concert. The rapture can happen now and I’d be fine with it.

U2 is my favourite band. It’s interesting that I say that because I don’t really like all of their music, whereas I legitimately like all of Coldplay’s music (my #2). But U2 is the biggest band in the world for a reason. And I was sucked into their giant fan base more than a decade ago when I started seriously listening to music.

These guys are still at the top of the world. You just have to watch a Beyonce, Coldplay, or Muse live show to see how U2′s live show has influenced all of them. Argue that if you like but U2 are the band to use all of that technology first, and no one does it better, they just do it different.

U2 has brought social consciousness to the masses. Seriously millions of people who likely don’t give a crap about world hunger and human rights the other 364 days a year come to realize that they just paid $150 to listen to a 2.5 hour sermon on justice and loving the poor. I pray it changes many of them, including myself.

The Edge. Oh The Edge. That man is at the top of the family tree for modern guitar playing along with maybe only a handful of others. Reverb, Delay, Octave, Whammy, Fuzz, Grit. That beautiful pristine Vox sound that everyone in my line of work pursues, but never quite achieves. He is the pioneer and we owe so much to his ingenuity. Thank you, The Edge.

And lastly. You know that we all love singing “WHOOOOOOAAAAAA” at the top of our lungs with a bunch of other people at Pop-Punk, Folk-Rock, Americana, and Worship Concerts. Bono taught us to love that.

Every member of U2 played with flawless precision. Bono can still sing as well as ever. Amazing. I’m so grateful that I could take in that experience and I hope it makes me a better, more thoughtful, musician.

Thank you U2

Caleb

Lenny Makes Me Feel Normal

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(First published as a facebook note.  June 5, 2011)

Lenny Kravitz helped me feel better about myself last night. He started “American Woman” in the wrong key – been there. He had monitor issues and couldn’t find his note for melody – been there. He had a hard time getting the crowd into it at points – been there. He also gave the crowd some unclear instruction for how we were supposed to participate – been there.

I make those mistakes from time to time in my job. Glad to see he does too.

Still, he was phenomenal.  A true showman, obviously enjoyed making music with his band, and the man can strut!