Well... I am going to be teaching high school.  I got a call the other day from one of the high schools where I had substitute taught and they were really happy with the job I had done (yes as a sub - believe it or not).  They hired me to teach general music full time.  I am really excited.  Music history is my favorite subject to teach (well... I love teaching the Gospel too).  and it will be interesting to see how different teaching high school will be from teaching elementary.  Guess I'll see soon...

In other news, the studio is still coming along.  All the hardwood floors have been laid and the doors go up next.  I would like to think that I am only a month or so away from finishing, but it is hard to tell.

Love you guys... chow

This week, I will be at Light House Camp for a few days and working at home for a few.  Earl and I started back to work on the studio a few weeks ago and we'll be working on that this week too.  We installed the hardwood floors last week with the help of Earl's ex-wife, Mary; their son, Luke; and my friend Tim from church.  I generally design a rough plan, explain to Earl what I want, and then Earl tells me what we need to do to actually get it done.  Earl's Motto is, "If you can draw it, I can build it."  I need to show him an Escher sketch* and see what he says...  He could probably could do it.  I would love it if we could finish before the start of school, but that seems a bit optimistic.  Still, I feel like I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

* not Etch-A-Sketch
 

For several years, I have wanted to teach through the whole of the four Gospels. I plan to start in two weeks. Here are a few of the goals for this study...
 
 
 - We will probably meet once a week and the study will likely last several months. The emphasis will be on understanding, not speed.
 
 - The study will be held in my home. If you're interested in learning about Jesus and his teachings, but not in going to a church, this may be for you.
 
 - Both "believers" and interested "non-believers" are welcome. The study will not be a religious ceremony.
 
 - The study will presuppose that the Gospel accounts are true.
 
 - We will attempt to place all the events of Messiah's life in order so we can see how they all fit together.
 
 - A emphasis will be placed on the 1st century Jewish context.
 
 
 If you are interested, let me know.  I would love to have you join us.
 
 Rock

My favorite country star, Buck Owens died yesterday morning (AP Article).  His clear seemingly simple lyrics and melodies had a way of carving themselves into the memory.  His slow sad songs were tear jerkers, but all the rest were unashamedly fun and they have been covered by artist as diverse as Ray Charles and the Beatles.  

Not only did I have fond memories of watching Buck Owens on Hee Haw as a child with my parents and grandparents, but later in life I found myself obsessively fixated on a few of his songs, listening to them over and over again for hours.  I had tried to get in touch with Mr. Owens a couple of years ago for an interview (back when my website had content), but his staff informed me that his health had forced him to retire from public life and doing interviews.

Because he was my favorite and also because so few of my favorites are still alive, I was quite sorry to hear the news of his passing.  I hope he now finds himself in a better place and experiencing the reunion he wrote of in "Dust On Mother's Bible."


There's dust on mother's bible
Its cover's worn with age
And though it's old and wrinkled
Mama's there on every page

The night the angels called her
Mama called me to her side
And handed me her bible
Said "Son, let God be your guide."

There's dust on mother's bible
Its cover's worn with age
And though it's old and wrinkled
Mama's there on every page

I picked up mother's old bible
To my heart I pressed it tight
And I heard her softly whisper
"Son, I'll meet you on the other side."

I kissed my mother's old bible
And I wiped away the dust.
Oh, you never know until she's gone
How you'll miss your mother's love

There's dust on mother's bible
Its cover's worn with age
And though it's old and wrinkled
Mama's there on every page...

About two years ago I started pulling my songs off the net.  I had 1000's of downloads and over 500,000 hits on my website.  Why did I take them off?

- Most of my songs on the web were older and I felt like I had grown as a writer.
- My publisher warned me that my hooks were the strongest part of my writing and that they would likely be stolen.
- The recordings of my tunes weren't up to par with the writing.

Sometimes I still post an odd song here or there, but none that I am actually trying to plug or sell.  Some things I do for fun are so non-commercial that I post them for the heck of it.  Perhaps, I shouldn't even waste time writing music that I know has no potential to get cut or sell, but I consider it a form of brain storming to follow even wild or flawed ideas to their conclusion.  I wrote two songs last week.  One was a very retro country tune about myspace, it was odd and awkward from start to finnish.  However there was still something I liked about it despite the fact that I knew it would never sell.  NEVER...  The second was catchy and with some work (I'm about p done with it) I think it is at least publishable.  Guess which one I'll be posting here on Myspace.

I'm not sure you could really call this an art work, but anyway... I did this Japanese product mockup as a joke for some friends over at The Tracktion Forum.



I applogize to any Japanese marketing groups that might take offence... :)

I'm thinking about starting an online photo editing biz here are some of the practice edits I did last week.  (yeah, I know like when, between painting, teaching, building and songwriting I need to try some other stuff out).

I wrote a song Saturday; it's definately not my typical style, but do I even have a typical style?  I wonder why I'm not working on my real website. 

Anyway, here it is...

Rondo for Piano and Coleco