Category: Music

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Music

I have been playing and creating music for over 20 years. I studied trumpet in school, and even went to college to study jazz and contemorary music at the University of Maine, Augusta. Unfortunately, I ran out of money and my car ran out of gas. So I gave up chasing my dream of fame and fortune and settled into life. (That means I got married, found a job, had a couple of kids, got divorced, got a better job, drank too much, got married again, went back to school, found my life’s calling, and had another kid.)

But along the way, I have kept playing trumpet. I even picked up a nice set of keyboards and have done some writing. Check out the lyrics on this page. Those are the songs that I have completed. I have a few more songs that I have co-written with a good friend, Jim Braley. We used to be in a little group together called Witness.

Nowadays, I don’t do much playing or writing. But music continues to be a good escape for me. I have picked up a few more instruments (french horn, accordian, penny whistle) and have tried a couple of others (guitar), but trumpet and keyboards are still my main interests.

As for influences, I have far too many to name. But here are a few:

Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Arturo Sanduval, Dave Matthews, U2, Keith Green, Michael W. Smith, Elton John, the Eagles, George Jones, Alanis Morissette, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Andrew Peterson, Tom Waits, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Trent Reznor, Styx, Led Zepplin, Ben Folds, Billy Joel, Bob Marley, ELO, Queen, Eminem, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash…

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Music in Worship

I am always looking for new music for worship, but it has to be something that connects with unchurched people. I like to find popular music that can be considered Christian or spiritual when set in the context of worship.

For instance, my organist and I will be switching positions for a day in a few weeks. I will be doing the music for the service and he will be preaching. I did this so that I could try some music that he wouldn’t normally use. I will be using three songs from the Beatles (“Here Comes the S(o)n”, “All You Need is Love”, and “Let it Be”). I was also thinking about using “Revolution”. Several people have suggested using “Imagine”, but that seems a little too controversial. I say that as if using Beatles music at all isn’t controversial.

The church has always used popular music and put new words to it, but I was interested in using popular music without making changes to the words at all. I got the idea from a group of UCC pastors that designed an entire Communion Service using music by U2. They call it the U2-charist.

Are there other songs out there that people have used? I think of “Christmas Song” by Dave Matthews or “Jesus is Just All Right” by the Doobie Brothers. There have to be many more.