Monday, July 31, 2006

Camp Voyager 2006

Hello from beautiful (but incredibly hot) Camp Voyager! The mountains of North Carolina are still gorgeous, just in case you were worried.

It's Day Two of camp and already we've had some incredible moments. We've been doing this camp for FBC Spartanburg for 4 years now, so the first day or so is filled with seeing old friends, and seeing how all these 4-6th grade students have grown!

That's one of the joys of being in a ministry like Project Onefifty; it enables me the freedom to partner with fellow ministries like that of Kevin Williams and others. The cool thing is that we are all out there doing Kingdom work, since we're all on the same team, right?

One of the other special things about this camp is the staff of Camp Blue Star, comprised mainly of international students from literally all over the world. Each night after the kids are in bed, the staff will come and hang out at the snack shack. Since they've been hearing us play each day and night, it gives us an instant 'in'. We come and hang with them and talk about all kinds of things. It's fun just to sit back and listen to people from Britain, Australia, Russia, Poland, Canada, etc. find commonality and community. Through the years we've met and shared with many of these folks. Imagine coming to North Carolina expecting one level of ministry and finding yourself on a mission field!

But that's the mindset we need daily; we're 'on mission' whether we're in Tennessee or Ponte Tresa, Italy. I'm learning that the work we do in Project Onefifty is all about helping the local church, whatever the locality.

Ok, I'll run for now. On my next post I'll try to put up some pics of our friends here, old or new, young or old!

Later!!

GV

Saturday, July 29, 2006

How many times can I use "On the road again" as a title??

Hi everyone!

I’m literally heading out on the road again in a few hours. 3am comes early (I have to be at Dawson in Birmingham by 7am). I know...why didn’t I leave sooner? Work! Thankfully, the big LifeWay projects I’ve been working on are finally done...well, all my parts at least. Now my buddy Brian Green gets to put it all together. I’ve heard a few of the mixes so far and it’s sounding great. I’ll let you know as soon as these discs ‘hit the streets’.

Speaking of hitting the streets, I need to run. After Dawson in the morning, Barry Page and I will be jumping in the vehicle with Kevin Williams for our annual NC kid’s camp for FBC Spartanburg. This is our 4th (?) year running and we always look forward to leading these kids in worship.

There’s much more beyond this camp, but I’ll save for that the next update. Please continue to pray for me and the family. Work has been steady, but cash flow is another story. At least there is flow...!
Pray that Carol and the kids are safe while I travel, and also that my travels are safe and rewarding in a Kingdom way.

I’m praying for you as well. I miss you, guys!

God bless!

GV

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Up to date with updates!

OK...trying to lose the self-imposed 'slacker' title by finally getting up to date with the road journal. It has been a busy week (like they all haven't been, thank goodness!

I've been telling you about a few of the projects I've been involved with, the most notable being with my friend of many decades (!) Glenn Garrett. He has just released a new CD project called "Mysteries and Dreams" (his site is listed in the Links area of this blog). I am so humbled to be on this record with guys like Glenn, Dave Cleveland, Tony Morra, Tom Lane, and Chester Thompson. This past Thursday evening we attended a CD release party where friends, family, and all the folks involved in the project got to listen to some selected cuts. It was a wonderful time...not your typical 'industry event'. One of the more famous guests was Glenn's long-time producer Brown Bannister. Carol and I got to chat with Brown and his wife for a bit and discovered many things in common (we've each been married 25 years, and we both have 5 kids!). Brown was very complimentary of my work on "M & D"...I'm praying that this seemingly random meeting will prove to be yet another God moment in our adventure here!

Of course, where would I be up here without my buddy Brian Green?? Not only has he gone out on a limb to give a virtual nobody like yours truly some work, but has proven to be a great friend. It's amazing how God plants people in your life where you least expected! Our two big LifeWay projects are drawing to a close and we pray these are the first of many to come.

And while I've been working like mad during the days to get my parts done so Brian can mix, I've been leaving around 3pm each day but Thursday to go play a student camp up on Signal Mountain in the Chattanooga area with my friend Greg Lowery. Yep...to say that I've been a 'road warrior' this past week would NOT be an understatement...lol. Carol and others make fun of me because I have most of the exits on I65 memorized...now I have a new interstate to work on!

Next week is pretty light, but that's good because I head back out on the road on Saturday for a session in Birmingham and to then hook up with the Kevin Williams Band for our annual North Carolina camp.

Make sure you check all the websites for the folks I've mentioned...I've added them to the Links section. Also in there is the link to the blog site for Randy Elrod, the former worship pastor at the People's Church. Randy is one of the most visionary men I know, and he recently left the staff of TPC to devote his life to helping other artists fulfill their God-given call. I know you'll find his site to a fascinating read, and also a great resource as well.

Yes!! I'm up to date...I'll not be a slacker any more!

Well...until the next time I get behind!

Love!

GV

Friday, July 21, 2006

Hello? McFly??

Ok...I'll admit it; these days, I have more in common with Marty McFly's inept dad beyond sharing first names. I've been a 'slacker' with my updates...but I have great reasons...I've been too busy to write!

I'm not even sure where to begin. Since my last post back around July 4th, me and the good old Project Onefifty Boys had finished a weekend in Birmingham. From there I headed south with my buddy Kevin Williams to play a student camp in Wetumpka, AL (and had a fabulous time with the students from a Huntsville area church).

I left Wetumpka straight away for a session at Bates Brothers Recording in Hueytown on Friday, and rehearsals on Saturday for the worship services at ClearBranch UMC in Argo on Sunday.

I got back in time on Monday to prepare for my opening slot at a People's Church event, where I opened for (and played bass with) my old friends Nori and Barbie Kelley, better known as "Wind". These guys have traveled with world playing thier music, and have been a great source of help and inspiration for P150. Check out their site at www.windmusic.us.

All through this time I've been continuing to work on a couple of big LifeWay projects with my friend Brian Green (we are almost finished...woo hoo).

OK...that was about 14 days worth, and brings me up to date for this past week. I'm about to head out the door for a camp I've been doing this week in Chattanooga, but I promise to finish up tomorrow and tell you about hanging with Brown Bannister (producer for Amy Grant and lots of other folks) and Chester Thompson (yes, THAT Chester Thompson, the drummer).

Keep praying for us! Love you!

GV

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Ahhh...Life on the road!


Whew! Thankfully yet another busy week (and then some!). Let's see...where do I begin?

June ended in a bang! I thought that was reserved for July, but I'll take this crazy schedule over the alternative ANY day! The last time I updated this blog, I was in Chattanooga at the Summit Camp with Kellee McCoy. Well, I finished there on Friday and drove to Birmingham to play a private party for my friends at O2 Ideas ad agency. The band included ad genius and friend John Zimmerman on guitar and vocals, Bob Norman on keys, and fellow P150's Tony Wachter on vocals & percussion, and Jim Pollard on drums. We played a mix of rock from various decades on their 3rd floor deck. It was great fun!

From there, it was back home for a day or so, and I managed to be able to play bass at the People's Church where we've been attending. Check it out on streaming video sometime (www.pclive.org).

Onto this past week. Monday and Tuesday found Jim Pollard and I doing a CD project at Bates Brothers Recording in Hueytown, AL (the wonderful facility where we did 'Spheres of Influence'). Eugene Bates played bass, Charles Harnach played keys, and Eric Bates masterfully engineered the tracking session for a local artist.

Bear with me...we're halfway there! Wednesday, fellow Tennessean Glenn Garrett and I played a mini-concert for a home Bible study in the Mountain Brook area of Birmingham. It was a powerful and Spirit-filled night. We made many new friends and I was able to share with these folks about P150.

Thursday I made a quick trip home to see the family and get some clean clothes (both very important items...lol). Friday I did a jingle with Tony Wachter and Steve Sample at AudioCzar (Tony's project room).

Last night (Saturday) a modified line-up of my band played a cool venue called the Coffee House of Trussville (located, oddly enough, in Trussville, AL). This place is a bit on the small side, so we stripped back to a 5 piece unit (me on electric guitars, Eugene playing bass for a vacationing Barry Page, Rick Sutton on acoustic guitar, and groovemaster Steve Sample playing drums). Helping us sound great were Jesse Reagan, his son Jonathan, and Shawn Roberts snapped some pics (including the one in this blog post).

It was a special night for me in that, with great friends backing me up, and great friends in the audience urging us on, I had the honor of playing a Beatles song with my brother Melvin. This guy is to blame for me picking up guitar in the first place. It marked the first time we've played together in about 25 years...wow! He has an amazing story that I hope to share with you in an upcoming issue of our "Spheres" newsletter.


Today we helped Rick Sutton lead worship at Genesis, a new church plant here in Birmingham. The message that pastors Dale and Amy Bowers spoke on was 'Jesus on Injustice'. We played some P150 standards (People Get Ready, When Love Comes to Town) along with a couple of worship songs. We played "I Will Trust In You" before the message, and finished the day with a rousing version of "Amazing Grace". I always get chills when I hear Tony sing such great lyrics with his powerful voice. All in all, an 'amazing' end to a great week.

Next week (tomorrow) I'll be on the road again with Kevin Williams as we play a week-long student camp down close to Montgomery, AL. Yes, that means I haven't been home in a while...sigh. But I've been praying for work, so God is faithful! Oh yeah, during all this activity I've been working on a recording project for LifeWay with my buddy Brian Green. Never a dull moment!

Ahhh...life on the road! Keep praying and I'll keep playing!

Ok, that was bad...I promise...no more puns!

God bless!

GV