I’m still here!

Hey everybody…

This is just a quick post to let you know I’m still here and will be back regularly updating this site once we get on the other side of Christmas.  For the past year I’ve managed to always have 8 or 10 posts in the queue so its made it easy to keep things fresh on here.  With all of the life things happening the past few months (a trip to South Africa, lots of responsibilities at work, and two kids at home that keep getting bigger and bigger every day), I’ve not been able to find the extra time to devote to writing.

BUT…

I have lots to write about.  The trip to South Africa was life changing in lots of ways and I want to share some of what we experienced and God taught me through the trip.  We just released a DVD of Danny Cox’s CD release show from October and it turned out so great.  I can’t wait to share a few clips!  I think this disc captures the essence of what we’re trying to do musically and artistically at Kensington better than anything I’ve ever seen us release.  I’m currently in the throws of 32 Christmas at Kensington services between 6 campuses.  Last week was my campus’ heavy rehearsal week.  I’ll be mixing 10 of those 32 services at the main campus in Troy so if you’re in the area for Christmas, come check it out.  This year is very music heavy (I think there are 6 or 7 tunes in the day) so the rehearsals were extra intense.  God’s also doing some crazy stuff right now that I hope I can talk more about soon.

I’m now the dad of a 4 year old and 1 year old which is so hard to believe.  Time is REALLY flying with Maddie & Brady!  But a couple of big “landmark” dates are coming, I guess.  January 10th I’ll turn the big 3-0.  I know to most that I talk to who are older than me, 30’s not that big of a deal but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet.  I guess there’s a lot of life evaluation sort of stuff going on in my head right now, which is probably good.  But still.  Then on top of that, Mindy and I will celebrate our 6th anniversary in February.

All of this to say I will be back come January.  Lots to share and lots to catch up on.  See you then!

I’ll leave you with a clip from the concert in Cape Town with Acappella Classic.  We started the show with having the group’s founder, Keith Lancaster, come out on stage all by himself, sing a bit, and then take it from there.  This clip is from my Flip Camera sitting at FOH but I think it captures a bit of the genuine excitement and joy we experienced from the thousands of people who came to the concerts in South Africa.  You’ll see what I mean that the crowds literally knew the words and harmonies to every single song in the set list.  The experience was one I will never forget!

Update

Just a quick post today with an update on what’s going on in life…

I’m probably going to take a few weeks away from the blog while life is especially crazy. This past week, our music director, Danny Cox, released a new CD and we hosted a release concert in our main auditorium on Friday night.  It was a really special night as we also captured the show for potential DVD release.  The team on stage and behind the scenes knocked the entire night out of the park and it was such a great experience to be a part of.  Hopefully I can post some video down the road of some cool moments from the night.  Personally, as a fan of Danny’s music, I think it was one of the major highlights of my time at Kensington…let alone having the honor to mix it!

A week from Wednesday, I’m leaving on a very special music mission trip to South Africa that will take me to Johannesburg and Capetown mixing for a group of guys who were musical heros growing up.  Some of you may be familiar with the group Acappella – a contemporary all vocal christian group a.la. Rockapella or Take6 that has been singing in some form or another for over 25 years.  Growing up they were a huge influence on me and it was a great experience as I was building a professional portfolio to be able to work for the Aca Company back in 2002.  A reunion group of some of the old members has formed, called Acappella Classic, to do an extremely limited number of dates over the next few years internationally and I’ve been asked to mix their shows and road manage when I can get away from my regular gig at Kensington.  In addition to the tour in South Africa, there are plans for a central European tour next year, as well as an appearance in Nashville, TN next summer.

I’m really excited to embark on an adventure outside of the States for the first time.  The only bummer is that my wife isn’t able to join and it will be REALLY hard to be away from my family for 12 days (the longest we’ve ever been apart).  If you wouldn’t mind, I’d greatly appreciate prayers for safe travels and awesome ministry opportunities to be Jesus in a new place to new people.

Here’s a clip I found on Youtube of Acappella from back in the day…

I will return in a few weeks and we’ll be head deep into the marathon to Christmas.  Until then…

Some new diggs

If you follow this blog via RSS reader, which Google Analytics says most readers do, you might have missed a facelift that recently went live at www.cordernotes.com.  Besides an aesthetic update, there’s some new and updated page content.

My favorite addition:  thanks to a nifty feature in Google Reader where you can create public blogrolls, I’ve assembled a dynamic page of links to sites related to audio, church audio, production, industry news, etc that I follow every day in GR.  I’m interested what other great resources or reads I might be missing.  Add other sites that are must read in the comments to this post and I’ll add them to the list.

This site is still completely hosted using Wordpress.  I remain so impressed by the UI for Wordpress on my server, the solid tools for writing and posting content, and the ability to completely administer the site remotely from my iPhone.  I have recently experimented with some other options out there for a site like this and remain convinced that Wordpress is the way to go.

Check it out!  We’ll return to your regularly scheduled posts on Wednesday.

Vacation

Today is the beginning of a week away to one of my favorite places in the world (Nashville) with my wife for a little summer vacation.  We’re going to be hanging out with some good friends and I’m mixing a gig on Friday afternoon for a reunion show of guys I looked up to when I was a kid.  To be able to mix them this many years later is something I’m really looking forward to!

After 6 months of posting at least several times a week to this blog, I’m planning to take a couple weeks away for a summer sabbatical.  I’ll be back the week of July 20th.  When I get back, we’ll be in the throws of installing a new PA in the room where I mix, new wireless mic systems for campuses, our first Digidesign SC48 being commissioned, and then launching another live campus at the end of September.  There should certainly be plenty of blog topics!

See you then!