After the concert Sunday night we drove around Southaven, Mississippi looking for a place to eat and watch some football. I find the best way to soak up after-performance adrenaline and settle my nerves before bed is to inhale a large serving of chips and queso – so the search… Read More
Archive Tag: songwriting
How Long (First Draft)
Maybe it’s because I’m reading Grapes Of Wrath. Maybe it’s because I now travel with a banjo player. For whatever reason I woke up early this morning with a rootsy decisively Southern song in my head…a Christmas song of sorts. It’s an advent song, written from the vantage point of… Read More
A Lesson On Boredom & Writing From Amy Grant
I’m in Oregon this weekend with Amy Grant – which sounds like we’re on vacation together or something when, in actuality, I’m just out here speaking on behalf of Compassion at a few of her concerts. (Details here.) I sat side-stage through her whole set last night, like a wide-eyed… Read More
Modern Worship: Good Hockey Or Bad Painting?
Songwriting is a craft. As in any craft – ice skating, painting, public speaking, cooking – there are best practices that border on being rules. These standards sometimes define the craft. For instance, if an ice skater glides into the spotlight carrying a stick and hitting a puck she’s no… Read More
Re:Write On-line Songwriting Workshop
My mom was right. I should have gotten a teaching certificate along with my music degree. Thankfully though, anybody can teach anything on-line these days. I’m teaching a three-hour on-line songwriting workshop called Re:Write the morning of June 14th. Wanna learn? Those who purchase the workshop will receive a link… Read More
Down Here: Hope In Death. Help In Life.
This new album of mine is an attempt to connect. To connect the first world to the wisdom and beauty of the third world – for the benefit of both. But also to connect two opposing theologies. Two rival gospels. One side pitches God’s salvation as hope for the soul,… Read More