04.22.07
Posted in Janet's Posts at 1:41 pm by Janet
Hey Everybody,
It’s early Sunday morning and I’m on a plane heading east. The last few days have had moments of wonder and dread – extremes that parallelled each other. I find myself thinking of Ecclesiastes….
Last weekend I shared ‘Friends Day’ with a wonderfully warm congregation in Bucyrus, Ohio. This is my third year to share their annual event. They were, as always, gracious and hospitable, and the staff just the best – and I always say the congregation reflects the pastor. As always, at the end of the weekend they presented to me a gift – this year it was a Vera Bradley bag. (Men, you may just skip to the next paragraph.) It is my first. I wonder if they make shoes….
I spent Monday shopping (well, I’m touring again and I must have some clothes and my dad was keeping Max and John was out of town and I had the day free) and John called to tell me about the Virginia Tech event. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around that for a while. I felt a heaviness I couldn’t shake. I couldn’t imagine the depth of loss and grief forced upon the families. I couldn’t imagine the void that has found permanency in their hearts. I couldn’t imagine a mindset that would render such darkness or reconcile that degree of retribution.
Ecclesiastes is right – there is nothing new under the sun. Mankind has destroyed himself and each other since the beginning. There’s no sense to be made of what transpires in the human heart, for it is “…Deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer. 17:9) Solomon said, “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men†(Ecc. 6:1). Thank goodness for chapter 9: “For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God.†(Ecc. 9:1)
On Friday, I joined the Homecoming Tour in Minneapolis and last night in Moline, Illinois. On Saturday morning I met a family in the hotel lobby who’d attended the concert and their young son had one question for me which he had posed to Guy Penrod, as well. He wanted to know, “Do you have to give the microphone back or do you keep it?†Isn’t that great? He could have asked ANYTHING, and that was his query. That’s what I love about children. They won’t be put in a box.
I’m off to Nashville for GMA on Tuesday. Hope to see some of you there.
Love,
Janet
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04.13.07
Posted in Janet's Posts at 10:22 am by John
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04.11.07
Posted in Janet's Posts at 7:34 am by Janet
Hey Everybody,
It’s a rainy Wednesday morning in North Carolina; the greens are getting bolder and the colors more vibrant. What a great place to live – what great neighbors the residents are – how great to be close to my parents – how exciting to be closing in on the new ‘Sounds Like Sunday’ project. Ahhhh… one of those days you just sit back and think, “Life is good.” I hope you’re having the same kind of Wednesday.
Wayne recorded some of the choir stuff on Monday night and we’ve settled on a cover. Would you like a preview? Just post a comment to the blog – we’ll get it posted.
Off to the hair salon (remember when it was called a ‘Beauty Shop’?), shopping and the tax professional. Good thing the morning started off right!
Have a great one!
Janet
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04.04.07
Posted in Janet's Posts at 4:08 pm by Janet
Hey Everybody,
It’s Wednesday morning – my fingers are intact – and I’m more excited about the new record than ever. Last night six singers sang background vocals on two of the uptempo songs and they were AWESOME! I’d have paid money to hear them (guess I did, now that I think of it….)
We put the night session on ‘pause’ so that we could hear Melinda Doolittle perform on ‘American Idol’. Melinda has worked with Wayne a lot, and she’s friends with some of the background singers, too. Everyone took time out to text a vote for her – and they say she really is as nice as she seems.
So…. we’re doing more vocals today and we’ve another session tonight. Stay tuned…
Janet
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04.03.07
Posted in Janet's Posts at 10:15 am by Janet
Hey Everybody,
It’s Tuesday morning, I’m in Nashville for more work on the new hymns project, and I wanted to shoot you an update.
We’ve finally settled on a title, ‘Sounds Like Sunday’, and it is scheduled for release in June. As we’re continuing to work on it, it’s sounding even better than I had hoped for – and I was expecting a lot!!
Yesterday we recorded some vocals as well as a pipe organ track. We went to a church in Nashville that boasts a huge, resonant pipe organ setup. Like my dad, I don’t know how to play a pipe organ, but I know when it sounds right. Yesterday it was right. Wayne (producer, arranger, all around nice person) decided to use the original arrangement and it was as though hearing it on the big pipe organ transported you to a different time. It made the words sink deeper, knowing the musical swells and chords and rests were just where the originator intended.
That’s what we’re hoping for from this project. We’re hoping it will spur all of us to listen to the hymns again – to really listen – and to give the theology entry into our everyday thinking. If we can recapture the awe that inspired the writers to pen these ageless lyrics, then I’m certain that the songs will speak to us, and grant us a new perspective on why we’re here at all. Can you tell I’m expecting a lot???
Wayne just finished the strings and brass in Budapest. He worked with a 70-piece orchestra – the largest we’ve ever used – and they sounded unbelievable. Wayne has raised the bar on this one. I told him yesterday that every church in the country will want to use his arrangements on these songs. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.
Okay – today we are recording some more of my vocals as well as some of the background vocals. This is my favorite time in the studio – when I get to say to other singers, “Ah, let’s do that line again…. Can you brighten the tone a little bit?… A little more energy, please.†I don’t really know what I’m talking about but it sure is fun to tell someone ELSE how to sing now and then!!
I’ll let you know how it goes. If you don’t hear from me, you’ll know the backup singers broke my fingers or something.
Have a great day!
Janet
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