11.15.09

We didn't have much media today...not a lot to "promote" between now and the end of the year! Other than our normal announcement slides, it was pretty easy day as far as technology was concerned.

Overall, I think the band enjoyed the first service better...I thought they were both strong but probably would have to pick the 2nd service as the better overall run through.

LET THE PRAISES RING
Second week to do this one. Poor Bruce McMinn...he was our fill-in drummer and had to open the service with THAT song! Bruce did a great job. I couldn't hear much of the riffs/leads, but I think it came off okay. Bruce in particular brought a lot of energy to the chorus and Tim's organ solo over the instrumental chorus was super strong.

KING OF MERCY
I normally let one of our gals sing the lead of this song because it's a tad low for me. However, Ross was planning on promoting the fact that we're giving away free Todd Wright CDs to guests, so I figured I had better sing my own song!

BRAND NEW DAY
This has to be one of my favorite additions to the catalog. If you're church isn't doing this song, you should try it. You may think it's a country tune, but trust me, this one will rock! The groove on it today was locked in and it came off great.

OUR GOD SAVES
Maggie sang lead vocals on the verses. This is a great tune because it has such simple long melody lines in the choruses that it's easy to hear whether or not your congregation is singing along.

PREPARE THE WAY
I've loved this song ever since Ross Parsley and New Life did it a few years ago. I had forgotten about it until Jared Anderson put it on his new project "Live From My Church," so we had to do it. Elizabeth did a great job on the piano part here...we kept it pretty close to the CD version and it got huge, but I have to say my favorite part was the simple piano/vocal stuff at the very beginning. We'll bring this one back next week, so I'm interested to see how the crowd joins in.

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I am so grateful for this team of musicians - they do a great job and they work very hard to make sure the music on Sunday's is simultaneously passionate and reverent. I hope more Bethel folks will grab these musicians and thank them...they really are a great band.