Positioning Yourself To Be Inspired

It’s going better for me at Rockford Res.  At least they’re not saying anything.  It might be that they’re just keeping their mouths shut, comforting each other by whispering behind their hands that I’ll be gone after Christmas.  Or I might have actually hit all the marks last week.  Whatever—I’m having fun.  I didn’t throw up in the parking lot beforehand this week, which is improvement. 

So between the second and third services we’re sitting around discussing what Steve (the leader) called ‘the devolution of modern worship music’.  To paraphrase Steve: 

“If ever there was a time to start playing guitar in a worship band, it’s now.  It’s gone from strumming full chords to playing rhythmic ‘5’ chords, to just plinking one note over and over.”  (This is not lost on me, how the guitar players are plinking too.) 

We asked Brian, young bass player (and really good, too), what he thought of the ‘older’ music, and brought out a Tommy Walker song from the 90’s as an example.  He made a face.  “Hokey”, he said. 

Still they all feel the need for a change.  The question is, where does the inspiration come from? 

My friend Randi said it pretty well yesterday, in our monthly lunch with some area church music directors.  We were sitting around my studio eating bag lunches and discussing…stuff.  Ed the Other stops in unannounced (my friend, and the guy who leads the music at my little church) and he’s just back from a pilgrimage to Memphis.  He waxes eloquent about Stax Records, Sun Records, etc. 

Randi says, “What should we listen to?  I mean to get inspired?”  Ed rattles off several suggestions (including Aretha’s first album with, I think, was on Atlantic). 

And then Randi says (and this is the money quote), “I think it’s important that we position ourselves to be inspired.”

I wish I’d said that.  She’s so, so right.  Are we listening to new, different stuff?  ‘Cause you never know where inspiration’s gonna come from. 

You may or may not be familiar with and old jazz album, Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’.  I know I wasn’t, until recently.  But it apparently influenced, of all people Duane Allman.  Here’s from the liner notes to Davis’ album:

Critic Robert Palmer…discovered that very link backstage at the Fillmore East in 1969. “Duane Allman [was] the only ‘rock’ guitarist I had heard up to that point who could solo on a one-chord vamp for as long as half an hour or more, and not only avoid boring you but keep you absolutely riveted…. ‘You know,’ he told me, ‘that kind of playing comes from Miles and Coltrane, and particularly Kind of Blue. I’ve listened to that album so many times that for the past couple of years, I haven’t hardly listened to anything else.’”

Wait a minute: Duane Allman gets his inspiration from Miles Davis?  Here’s Duane:

And here’s Miles:

What?

But the connection is there.  So, my point:  set yourself up to be inspired, by listening outside your normal sphere of influence.  If you want suggestions, I’ll throw some at you, but really, just start off in any direction, and see what you find. 

Well, okay, here’s one, because I can’t resist: 

Feelin' Alright from Sundroid on Vimeo.

I give you permission to go out and be inspired.

Comments

[Evan Carlson]

Ed, thanks so much for relating your challenges and blessings in playing away from your home church. I am increasingly convinced that it is healthy to play with a variety of worship styles, teams, and settings.

I must also agree with looking broadly for inspiration. Yes, the 'Baptist' in me is reluctant to honor the lyrics, the lifestyle, or the clothes (ouch!) of that ancient music in the 60-70s, even though my entire formation of musical perception came from then. The musical elements, dynamics, and themes are morally neutral and I believe that God seeks to redeem them for His purposes in our lives.

People respond to the intangibles of music (passion, voicings, energy) more than the mechnics or pure techniques; otherwise, we would just play highly engineered performance tracks with pretty visuals and let the band sit in the audience. The notes are merely the vehicle for your spirit to reflect God to the Church.

While you seek inspiration, please be who you are with your giftings, talents, and energy and resist looking at yourself through the lens of what you think others might think.

[Ed Schief]

Thanks, Evan. In the end, I follow the hairs on my arm. If they go up, I've found inspiration. And I'll try and follow your advice, making the music only I can make. Had breakfast with Moses the other day, and told him I'd like to play at RPCC once in a while, after the first of the year. So look for me!