Trains, The Net and Rock & Roll

It’s a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon here in northern NY and I just felt like taking a break from some of the heavier issues I’ve been discussing. Well, almost.

First off, here’s a video clip a friend of mine sent me. I love traveling the world and seeing new sites. It’s always amazing to see what is “normal” to some people and not to others. Clearly, the following is far from “normal” as my closest neighbor is 300 yards away, the next is half a mile. Just watch the ending. Fascinating.

One of my faithful readers and comment-leavers, Justin B., brought out a very interesting point on yesterday’s piece about our culture’s addiction to TV, and that was: he’s not. But he is to the internet. It reminded me of a trend I’m hearing about in the media where corporations are putting more TV online because the major networks are loosing viewers to the “personally tailored and controlled” medium of the internet.

Lesson? I’m already being dated in my own generation. Talk about the speed of development!

Lastly, and on a completely positive note, I just had a musical epiphany, an electric-guitar-high of the grandest sort. Let me set this up…

I grew up in my father’s studio listening to rock, hearing bands the world will never know, and collecting CDs from other “musician bands” like Dream Theatre, The Dixie Dregs and Steve Morse, stuff the radio doesn’t understand. Most of my life, however, I’ve played worship music on an acoustic guitar in churches and conference settings. If you’re unfamiliar with these sort of venues, they are traditionally not the best suited for overdriven rectifiers and drop-D chord structures. Sure, sure–I’ve seen Pillar and P.O.D. and the like in concerts hosted by large churches. And yes, I do tour with an electric guitar. But neither are the overwhelming norm.

Yet all the while I’ve been wanting to, as they say, rock out. And I don’t mean play with a distortion patch for the chorus of Open The Eyes of My Heart, I mean go back to my roots and create the next rock sound, direct from the Holy Spirit.

For the past two years I’ve been dreaming–dreaming of jamming with a bassist and a drummer who eat, sleep and breath rock, and who love Jesus 1st and foremost. In no way am I saying Ron and Teaspoon of my touring band aren’t up to the challenge. But self-admittedly they are not rock musicians (thought they happen to playing everything else!). With that in mind, I’ve been writing some very unusual songs, all worship, but written in the context of some very virile chords structures. My youth group has heard most of them, but not “the way” they should be played; there’s only so much you can do on an electric drum kit (all right New Life!).

After over six months of promising to take them up on their offer to jam, today I drove down to Brent & Jake Desormo’s house and turned up the guitar amp past “3.” Brent stuck in his ear plugs behind the kit, Jake flicked on the head atop the 2×8(!) bass cabinet, and their dad, Scott, even plugged in an acoustic for the mellow parts. Then I said, “OK guys, here’s a few new songs…”

Now, I’m fairly used to feeling the anointing of the Holy Spirit in a corporate worship setting when we’re all just “in the zone.” But today was something completely new. It was an eighteen-year-old dream of ripping on my axe before God come true. Songs that I’ve heard played in my head finally came to life–finally manifest into something real, something tangible. They were played the way I wrote them, they way they are supposed to be played. It was a new sound. And I felt God smile.

Needless to say I brought my electric rig home and I’m going to write my next album, a rock album for The Rock of Ages. I’ll post some of my scraps for you in the near future.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. (And rock on!).

CH