Valley Songs: Reverend Vince Anderson

Every so often I make the mistake of thinking that my Valley Songs collection is a closed cannon. Then right under my nose I discovered the Reverend Vince Anderson. I say right under my nose because I've been listening to the Revolution sermon podcasts for the last year or so and Vince is the co-pastor and occasional sermon giver there. He's quite talented at the sermon thing so my assumption was his music wouldn't be all that great. I was wrong. Watch this...

Pretty friggin awesome right? and his sermons are great too. Listen to this Sermon by Vince about Exorcism.

Although I decided to start The Filthy Jesus Experiment before discovering Vince I am now even more inspired. He describes his music as "dirty gospel".

My other favourite YouTube video of his is a cover of Johnny Cash's "Water in to Wine" I love Johnny Cash but was never a fan of this song. Now, thanks to Vince, I am.

You can hear Vince talk about his music here an interview on Heritage Radio.

If you search through the Valley Songs Pages on the side bar of this blog you will find the lyrics and chords for these two songs.

The Filthy Jesus Experiment

I'm starting a band. A gospel band. A singing, hollering, foot stomping mess of a band that is taking the back-door to heaven through the drinking holes of hell. To raucous for the church we've been thrown out on the street to preach the lost gospel of down and out, love and laughter and a beer for everyone.

The band will be called "The Filthy Jesus Experiment" It will be gospel music like it was being played to a bar room of prostitutes, drunks and con-artists.

At the moment all I have is the seed of an idea but I'm excited I think it might have legs.

It was twenty years ago today...

20 years ago my musical world went from this...

to this...

Kurt, Chris and Dave. Thank you.

To be completely truthful I spent most of my high school years listening to sixties and seventies rock, but that Kylie and Jason kind of music was always there in the background.

Honest Worship Music

The YouTube title is wrong worship. Maybe it's just honest worship. I can remember seeing a church service where the band was at the back if the congregation, something about it felt very right. More like the congregation was worshiping God and not watching a concert. As I always say to fellow nervous church musicians. "Don't worry were only the backing band, the congregation is the lead singer."

The influence of U2's The Unforgettable Fire

I was in one of Perth's mega churches day dreaming whilst everyone was singing some contemporary worship songs. As I listened to the bass playing the root note of the chord on every quarter note, the drums rhythmical pounding with a fair amount floor tom and a slightly over driven guitar repeatedly playing three notes of the chord with a long delay. I couldn't help but think U2 and in particular the album the unforgettable fire. It got me thinking does 80's Christian chorus's + U2's Unforgettable fire = contemporary worship music?

David Bazan

I finally got around to discovering David Bazan after being recommended by a few US and UK readers. After a few in the listens as background music I couldn't work out what the fuss was about. Then one night I had a bath and listened to the Control album. I was hooked. The lyrics to the song Options just blew me away. His lyrics are consistently great. One of my favourite lines is from the song Forgone Conclusions is...

you were to busy steering the conversation toward the lord
to hear the voice of the spirit begging you to shut the f*** up

It's hard to get hold of his music in Australia I was told by a major CD store that "it could take up to 3 months and we can't guarantee getting it in". If you want an introduction to David Bazan that doesn't involve ordering from Amazon check out this live solo performance. To get a feel for the man behind the music check out this Nick and Josh podcast interview.

Best Wedding Entrance I've Ever Seen (Apart From My Wife's)

Last weekend I got to watch my wife's cousin get married. She walked into the Obadiah Parker version of Hey Ya (originally by Outkast). At first I thought it was a cool song to play before the wedding but then about half way through the song the bridesmaids started walking in which meant the bride got to half walk half dance into the "shake it, shake it, shake it like a polarioid picture" verse. Very very cool. A great start because you knew the service was going to be a wonderful celebration.

My wife walked into Cat Power's version of The Sea of Love. Two of my grooms men played guitar and one of her bridesmaids (once she'd walked down the isle) did the singing. Magic.

I'm Back

After a break, I'm back to blogging. Whilst spending less time blogging I did a bit more music. In the last month I got play my first ever solo gig at the WA TEAR camp. I recorded the gig on my super cheap iPod microphone ($1) and whilst the performance was not the devastating embarrassment I first thought it was I'm still wondering should I bother trying to reach the dizzy heights of mediocre musicianship?

Critical Child Rearing Mistake No. 12 - Dancing

Both my beautiful children love music. The other day I caught my son inside rocking out to Rage Against The Machine (unfortunately it took me a while to get the camera out and I only got the tail end of his dancing). But I loved it so much I had to post it.

While this was going on my daughter was outside with the chickens listening to the music on the outside speakers. You have no idea how difficult it is to discipline your daughter saying "No dancing with the chickens!" without smiling. So later that day before bed time we all got together for a dance inside without the chickens. Me on guitar, Scarlett on lead dancing and vocals and Elijah on bemusement.

We Gotta Get Out Of This Place: A Theology Of Spirituals

I remember a friend of mine playing “Do Lord” at a churchy conference and apologising for the incorrect theology in the song. Like many old spirituals it looks forward to being whisked away. Tom Wright devotees will say that the song should be about resurrection and “Kingdom on earth as it is in heavan” minded people will argue that we need to start bringing the Kingdom of God to earth now. This particular had mostly people who would agree with both these tings, me included. I still sing these spirituals and in fact more so as my personal thrology has moved away from a “let’s all get a ticket to heaven” orientation. Not only because they are great tunes but because I appreciate the theology.

It’s easy to talk to a middle class western person, like me, about resurrection and re-creation. I can look around at my beautiful (slightly flawed) surroundings and imagine how this could be made perfect. For the poor of the spirituals living in terrible conditions this is much harder. Given the conditions they were in a recreated earth would be so different from what they knew that they might as well call it heaven.

Similarly, the thing that stops me being a part of some kind of kingdom of God change in the world is most usually my own apathy. For the poor of the spirituals they were powerless, the best they could hope for is that one day God would step in rescue them and take them to a better place. Which I might say is a recreated earth but I’m sure they would stand aghast at call heaven.

So I will continue to enjoy singing my “theologically incorrect” spirituals because I want to remember not only the tunes of these people but the conditions that they lived through that produced this wonderful music. For me it is a way for a brief musical moment of joining in solidarity with the poor.

One Take Tuesdays - Amazing Grace

This is undoubtedly one of those songs that sounds way better in my head than it does once it's recorded. It's "Amazing Grace" sung to Led Zeppelin's "Babe I'm Gonna Leave you". I haven't posted for a few weeks and haven't really practised for that time either. None the less listening to this has certainly encouraged me to practice more.

Amazing Grace

One Take Tuesdays - God's Gonna Cut You Down

It's a little late, in fact this is actually a One Take Friday track to be exact. None the less here it is. A traditional song Moby made famous (I think). I stole the idea of making a proper song from the great Johnny Cash. Again it's all a bit sloppy but we're only two weeks in so hopefully I'll be getting better soon. You can download the song from the link below.

God's Gonna Cut You Down

One Take Tuesdays - Jesus Gonna Be Here

I've always wanted to record an album but never really had the time to get around and do it. I've also always wanted to "get it just right". So, rather than wait till I'm 80 and have the time and equipment etc... I've decided to record one song in one take every Tuesday night. To start the ball rolling I've recorded "Jesus Gonna Be Here" by Tom Waits. It's by no means perfect and I suspect that many of the songs I'll re-record and re-record until I get the "one take" I like, the guitar solo in this song is particularly sloppy, and some of the singing... anyway, hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a dozen songs or so that I like. So think of it as kind of like eavsdropping on a band rehersal. You can download the song from the link below if you like.

Jesus Gonna Be Here

What have I been doing - not blogging

There hasn't been a blog post for a while and I thought I'd explain why. I've been using my spare time to play with guitar electronics. Specifically I've moded my amp (Peavey 50 watt classic) a little and built a all in one guitar pedal. The guitar pedal (pictures below) contains a tremolo, booster, fuzz face, tuner, mic preamp (for the mic in my resonator guitar) and a D.I. Well it's all finished now. So I'll be blogging a little more regularly I hope. Below is what the pedal looks like.

the outside of my box

the inside of my box

Psalters

Having been an avid music buff for a long time it's rare that I come across any music that sounds truly new and exciting. A month or so ago I discovered The Plasters, a musical breath of fresh air. They sound like a cross between Tom Waits, a world music festival and Shane Claiborne all infused in hypnotic religious fervour. I just love their powerful energy and all without single electric guitar. A good place to start is a free download of We are all Lepers Here and Turn me Round from there website. If you like what you hear you can download the last two albums from Potter Street Records for free. Don't forget to donate if you like what you hear.

Shardenfreude

It's rare that I post youtube videos on my blog but this one I just couldn't resist. It's a cover of Europe's big 80s hit "The Final Countdown".

Valley Songs, Arizona Dranes & Sister Rosetta Tharpe

I've stuck my hand up to do music at church every couple of months. I've never been a fan of most church music. Most hymns 1600 - 1900 I’ve found hard to connect with and pretty much all modern worship 1970 - now feels sappy at best and bland at worst. It's like I'm being asked to choose between classical music and middle of the road adult contemporary rock. For someone brought up a diet of classic and alternate rock (see list below**). It's not much of a choice.

As I started looking for songs it struck me that churches tend skip the era between 1900 and 1970. This period saw the birth of rock and roll born out of African American Spirituals and Church Gospel music. Surely Xn music’s most influential and finest hour in the last two hundred years. Two of it's greatest proponents are Arizona Dranes and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I introduced Arizona Dranes' song "It's All Right Now" recently (I had to write my own verses because her lyrics were too difficult to decipher, damn 1920s recording technology). Sister Rosetta Tharpe is equally amazing (influenced by Arizona Dranes). As you can see from the three clips below she could challenge Angus Young (ACDC) or Toni Iommi (Black Sabbath) to an Gibson SG Guitar duel any day.

And here is some Arizona Dranes, Unfortunately no one has uploaded "It's All Right Now" to Youtube yet

Regular readers will know a while ago I asked if anyone had any “Valley Song” suggestions. This is my current "Valley Songs” hymnal

• 40 – U2*
• Ain’t no Grave - as sung by Fret Not
• Amazing Grace (sung to house of the rising sun) - as sung by Blind Boys of Alabama
• Back to the Cross- Traditional
• Be Thou My Vision - The Hymn
• By the Rivers of Babylon – Sinead Occonor*
• Come Lord Jesus – Author Unknown ( I grew up thinking this was a song every church knew but I think it may have been unique to my little Anglican church in Sydney)
• Do Lord - as sung by Johnny Cash
• Down by the Riverside - as sung by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
• Down to the River to Pray - as sung by Alison Krauss
• Everything – Tim Hughes
• Everywhere I go - as sung by Fret Not
• Face Of The Humbled Poor – Paul Gioia
• God of Justice – Tim Hughes
• Gods Love is Good – Dave Andrews
• Gospel Ship - Traditional
• Hallelujah I'm Ready - Traditional
• Have Mercy – Paul Gioia
• Hey Hey you say – Dave Andrews
• I am a Pilgrim - as sung by Johnny Cash
• I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole - Blind Willie Johnson
• I Saw the Light - as sung by Fret Not
• I Shall not be moved - as sung by Johnny Cash
• I Still Pray – Kasey Chambers / Paul Kelly
• I Want Jesus to Walk with Me - Traditional
• I will be your Friend - Guy Davis*
• I’ll Fly Away - as sung by Fret Not
• I’m bound for the promised land - as sung by Johnny Cash
• In My Time of Dying / Jesus Gonna make up my dying bed - Blind Willie Johnson
• It's All Right Now - Arizona Dranes
• Jesus And Me – Paul Gioia
• Jesus On The Mainline - Traditional
• Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning - Blind Willie Johnson
• Let Justice Roll – Dave Andrews
• Long May He Reign – Paul Gioia
• Long Way From Home – Glenn Kaiser*
• My Hope is built on nothing less (melody by Nicki Chiswell)
• No Turning Back - Traditional
• Nobody's Fault But Mine - Blind Willie Johnson
• Oh Happy Day - Traditional
• One Day – Dave Andrews
• Our Great God - Some modernish worship singer type people
• People Get Ready – Curtis Mayfield*
• Picture of Jesus – Ben Harper*
• Prince of Peace – Paul Gioia
• Ps 99 – Glenn Kaiser*
• River of Life - Traditional
• Shower Of Grace – Paul Gioia
• Some Great Day – Paul Gioia
• Still Small Voice – Paul Gioia
• Swing Low Sweet Chariot- as sung by Johnny Cash
• The Way of Chris – Dave Andrews
• This little light of mine - Traditional
• This Train - as sung by Glenn Kaiser
• Toublesome Waters – as sung by Johnny Cash
• Were you there when they Crucified my Lord – as sung by Johnny Cash
• What a Friend we have in Jesus (sung to melody of the rose)
• When the Tears Fall – Tim Hughes
• Why Do You Love Me? – Paul Gioia
• You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond - Blind Willie Johnson
• You Got To Move - Traditional

A lot of the traditional songs you can find versions on Youtube as you can for Tim Hughes' songs and Johnny Cash's songs, Dave Andrews gives his songs away (music and MP3s) and Paul Gioia has some song samples on his website.

*denotes songs with church copyright issues, that is they don't appear on the CCLI database.

**My Rock Diet List: Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Beastie Boys, Beatles, Bjork, Black Keys, Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave, John Coltrane, The Dirty Three, The Donnas, Bob Dylan, Ben Folds Five, Aretha Franklin, PJ Harvey, Jimi Hendrix, Hole, Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Johnson, Jeff Lang, Led Zeppelin, Morphine, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Placebo, The Police, Public Enemy, Queen, Radiohead, Rage Agaiunst The Machine, The Rolling Stones, Elliot Smith, Sonic Youth, Tom Waits, Chris Whitley, The Who.

Johnny Cash Discovered

I've discovered Johnny Cash, particularly his live a San Quentin recording. Made after the death of his guitarist and a tour of the holy land Cash manages to beautifully mix jokes about concealed pot and stories and songs about run ins with the law with spirituals and gospel songs.

Cash has this earthy spunk and energy that the prisoners just find infectious, this compared a much more reserved demeanor in his more famous live at Folsom Prison record. I can't imagine any current artists who could combine jokes about pot and attacks againts at the legal system the police with spirituals and gospel songs.

These are clips of  “A Boy Named Sue”

and “Daddy Sang Bass”. They give you a glimpse of these two sides of Cash but buying the album is best (oh and I think it needs to be the reissue as the original release cuts out a lot of the between song banter).

Cool Uncles Play Bajo-Mandolins

Everybody wishes they had a cool uncle and there is but a small window of time when my nephew thinks that my banjo-mandloin makes me a super cool uncle.

I fear my cool status won't last into his teenage years.

But, I'm loving it while it lasts.

Valley Songs Ahoy!

Last week I had the pleasure of inflicting some Valley Songs on the church I hang out with. As well as some foot stomping Johnny Cash we decided to finish with this song, my wife's idea.

I’m sure somewhere there are two worship song rules that say you should never have overly long notes that or really quick phrases that are difficult to say. It was fun breaking both these rules.