Unfailing Love CD Available
Mar 30, 2009 Uncategorized
Last summer I kept talking about this CD that I had recorded. The problem was that although it was recorded it was not available yet. Well now it is. At the beginning of fall I received 1000 copies of the 4 song EP “Unfailing Love” and it was posted up on Itunes and Amazon.com.
So I would appreciate it if you would give it a listen and download a copy. It only costs $4.
If you’d like to get a full copy it can be purchased from CD Baby. For more those links visit my website at russellmartinmusic.com
Tags: Appreciate, CD, summer, Unfailing Love
Free Background- Palm Trees
Mar 29, 2009 Free Stuff, Photos and Backgrounds
Took this photo on Galveston Island last year. Feel free to use it for your worship slides, announcements or other publications. Enjoy.
Tags: Background, Free, Palm, Tree
Sunday Setlist 3/29/09
Mar 29, 2009 Worship Planning
Our worship service went great this week. I tweeted at the beginning that I could feel the excitment and engergy in the crowd even as they were entering in the doors. We had a good crowd, full stage and great songlist. Really had no hitches with A/V or anything else. We missed having Kerri but loved having our new vocalist with us. It was just a good Sunday. My prayer is that it was good for other people because they learned something new, or drew closer go God in some way. Those things I really cannot tell from the stage but continue to pray is happening each week.
Here is our list (Links go to Itunes)
Open The Eyes of My Heart- Sonic Flood
Everlasting God- Lincoln Brewster
You Never Let Go- Matt Redman
My Savior Lives- New Life Worship
My Hope is You- Third Day
So that’s what happened with us. What happened in your worship service? Read others and share yours at Sunday Setlists on Fred Mckinnon’s Blog.
Have a song you’ve written and would like feedback or input? Share it on the Online Songwriter’s Showcase. Last week we had 4 entries.. check them out and leave your own.
Tags: Fred McKinnon, songlists, Songwriting, Sunday Setlist, Worship Planning
Working With Youth Bands: Point and Play
Mar 27, 2009 Youth Worship
Here is a little exercise we use with our youth band to work on playing together, keeping rhythm, following a leader and learning to listen to other parts. We took a repetitive section of a song, in our case we used the first part of “Undiginified” and we made sure everyone knew it. Then I told them that I had an on off switch. When I pointed to them they should play if they weren’t playing or stop playing if they were. I started off pointing to the drums and bass, then added guitar, keyboard etc. Then I switched off the drums to see how the rest of the group would keep beat. We played for about 10 minutes with this and I let my vocalists take a turn at telling members when to play or not.
It was something simple to do, but they really had fun.
What fun exercises do you use with your youth praise team?
Tags: band, drums, guitar, Team, work, youth, Youth Band, Youth Worship
Contemporary vs Traditional? Enough Already!
Mar 24, 2009 Worship Planning
Part of me wonders why we are even still discussing this. The other part knows It will never go away. As long as we have churches we will be fighting the same battle and asking the same questions. So instead of giving my argument on the side of why we should worship one way or another I thought I would give a few suggestions on how to help bridge the gap.
1. Realize God doesn’t care. No there were no guitars or keyboards in the bible. But the fact is that there were no organs either. We need to realize that the instruments we use and types of songs are our preference, not God’s.
2. Understand we are all different. Different types of services meet different needs. Do you have one Sunday school class for everyone? Probably not. We need to understand that just as we learn in different ways, we worship differently.
3. Acknowledge others worship style is just as valid as yours. Just because someone else worships different than you, doesn’t make them wrong, and doesn’t make you right.
4. Worship together. We have two styles of worship but one of the best things we do is to worship together on occasion. We have done this two ways. First we have done some services that utilize elements from both the traditional and contemporary service. Second we have combined services but left the basic elements the same, dependent on the location. This has helped to introduce members to the other style of worship.
5. What’s contemporary now is traditional tomorrow. I have already seen that what we used to call contemporary has become the tradition in many churches. What used to be innovative is now predictable. In fact I could argue in some churches the “Contemporary Service” is more traditional than the “Traditional Service”. And now we even have “Emerging?”
So those are some of my suggestions. What ways does your church help bridge the divide between contemporary, traditional and other worship styles?
My Five -Posts Since August
Mar 22, 2009 Uncategorized
I’ve been writing posts for this blog since August of 2008. So after 9 months I wondered what my most popular posts are… well I wonder no longer cause here they are. Apparently so far a lot of people are looking for free backgrounds. Tune in later for my 5 favorite posts.
Past Year (Since August)
Free Stuff:Angel Background
Youth Worship: Worshipping Without a Band
Free Backgrounds
Cardboard Testimonies
How to Make Your Own Worship Background
Tags: angel, Background, band, blogs, Free, Free Stuff, How To, Worship, youth, Youth Worship
Sunday Setlist 3/22/09
Mar 22, 2009 Worship Planning
This was my first attemt at a video worship confessional. Check it out and let me know what you think.
To see what other worship services did this week make sure and check out Sunday Setlists on Fred McKinnon’s blog.
Tags: application, CD, Fred McKinnon, Setlist, Sunday, Sunday Setlist, video, Worship
Sunday Setlist- 3/15/09
Mar 21, 2009 Worship Planning
Yes I know I am almost a week late in posting this. Oh well.. maybe since I can’t be first, I’ll be last.
Last week we had special guests leading worship. It was our youth band. I am so honored to have the priviledge of working with this group of talented young musicians. They have worked hard all year to lead music during our youth program and for youth worship services. So when the opportunity arose for them to lead we let them have an opportunity to lead in our morning contemporary worship service. As I expected they did an awesome job.
Here were our songs:
One Way
Today is The Day
Counting on God
How Great is Our God
Blessed Be Your Name
You Never Let Go
We also took communion and had a new family join.
That’s what we sang. Check out what other churches did for their Sunday Setlists.
Tags: band, Church, Setlist, Songs, Sunday, Sunday Setlist, work, Worship, youth, Youth Band, Youth Worship
Appreciating Your Worship Team: Social Media
Mar 15, 2009 How To, Youth Worship
There are many ways to let your worship team know you appreciate them. Some of these include sharing a meal together, or even giving a CD as a gift. One more I way I thought of today is to use social media.
The beauty, and sometimes curse, of social media is that whatever you put up, most anyone can see. Services like twitter and facebook are a great way to get a message out to alot of people at one time. Why not use this means to show your appreciation to your worship team. This morning our youth band led worship and did a great job. As I was getting in my car I just posted a short twitter that said “Couldn’t be more proud of the youth band, they did a great job.” My goal was that when this posted to my facebook account that some of the youth band members would see it. What happened was that other church members who were there also chimed in and left comments like “Yeah they were great.” So my simple twitter/facebook update actually prompted others to show their appreciation too.
Is this the only way to show appreciation… no. But here are some of the benifits I have seen:
1. It is immediate- A handwritten card may be more personal, but by the time you write it, mail it, and they receive it, 3 days could pass by. I was able to send out this message immediately.
2. It is global- Write a note to one person showing your appreciation and that one person will see it. Write it on something public like twitter or facebook and many people can see it, and chime in too.
3. It encourages others- When you share your appreciation on a public site like facebook then it prompts others to share their appreciation too.
4. It’s easy- No pens, envelopes, stationary, or desk was involved.
5. It gets to the point- When I write a letter alot of times I end up rambling not knowing what to say. Using a text or twitter makes me say what I want to quickly and concisely.
If you like this article then consider subscribing to Fork In the Road music by email or using your rss reader. Visit my contact page for more ways to stay in touch. Follow me on twitter.
Tags: Appreciate, band, CD, Church, facebook, fork In the Road, Team, twitter, Worship, youth, Youth Band
Recording Equipment: What Do You Suggest?
Mar 9, 2009 Uncategorized
I have been thinking lately that I would like to set up a small studio at the church. I am not looking for something too complicated but would like to be able to record our instruments into separate channels on Sunday mornings so they could be mixed to create a balanced recording.
I know there are many of you out there with alot of experience in this area so I would love for you to answer some of these questions. I am sure others reading would benefit from your years of experience too.
So here are your questions.
If you were going to set up a small studio how would you do it?
What equipment would you include? Computer software?
Interfaces?
What are some things to watch out for?
Finally what other questions would you ask?
Leave your answers in the comments, or if it is easier write your own blog post and leave the link in the comments.
