2nd song of the 20/20 project…

Well, here I am in week 2 of the project and I haven’t completely dried up on the creativity front! Having said that, this weeks song has been in my ‘to finish’ pile for a while and, although I’ve done some work on it for you, frankly it’s still unfinished in the sense that some of the lyrics need a re-write.

This week I’ve dabbled with sticking some drums and bass on the track. When I say drums it’s just a 2 bar loop copied and pasted!

Nonetheless here it is for your critique!

Where You Lead (Like a Shepherd) 

Click the link to play or right click and ’save as’ to download.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Let me have your thoughts and comments.

Cheers – Andy

First song of the 20/20 project

Now that I have ventured into the ‘glamorous’ life of a musician/worship leader after 20 years of doing it part-time I have stumbled upon an idea to force my song writing creativity – I’m going to write a song a week for 20 weeks (hence the 20/20 project). And, in order to make myself accountable I’m going to publish the mp3 of my efforts here each week.

The mp3 is going to be a humble affair, just me and my guitar, but I’d love your feedback on the ideas that bubble up.

The first song can be played or downloaded below.

Thank You For Your Faithfulness (to download: right click and ’save as’)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

2 weeks into ‘the rest of my life’

I’m currently 2 weeks into uncharted territory. Y’see on the 31st April I finished my ‘day job’ and embarked on the life of a musician/songwriter/worship leader (partly supported by Deep End Ministries Trust and some freelance consultancy work on my part).

There’s a bit of a story behind the timing of it, which I’ll explain in more detail to you if you’re a subscriber to my email list at www.andyrogersmusic.com, but it’s based on how Ezra left the security of his role with King Artaxerxes on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month of the seventh year to re-establish the temple worship etc (Ezra 7:7-9)

Now I know the original Hebrew calender is different to ours but for me it was a confirmation of time scales. I’ve been leading worship for 20 years this year and for about the same amount of time I’ve been a financial adviser and it just seems that this is the time for these paths to diverge. Exciting and scary at the same time!

Anyways, here I am raring to go with lots of ideas to implement which I’ll document both here and in my email newsletter. There are 3 specific things I’m working towards:

1. Getting ‘out there’ and doing more live events, worship, intercessory worship stuff and some mainstream events with my band ‘A Perfect Stone’ - (If you know of anyone who might consider booking me for events, church services or even tour dates send them to http://www.andyrogersmusic.com/bookings.htm for details)
2. Doing more song writing and collaborating – In fact, I’ve got a project that I’d like you to keep me accountable on, details coming soon.
3. Mentoring, passing on the baton to the next generation – It’s not a case that I have all the answers but I already have the privilege of working with a bunch of musicians and creative folks who are half my age!

So there you go – that’s a broad outline of the ‘rest of my life’ as it looks at this point!

Speak soon.

Did you send a CD buyer to my website recently?

I’ve seen a recent increase in people buying the Engage24 worship album from my website, in fact you may be someone who has sent people to check out the album.

The fact is a lot of our album sales come through word of mouth and I’ve just figured out a way of rewarding anyone who wants the spread the word, so to speak.

You can become an affiliate and earn a portion of every album sale that you refer. Simply go to www.engage24.com and get your own affiliate link at the very bottom of the page.

I’d love to reward you for something you may already be doing.

Cheers – Andy
www.engage24.com
P.S. Any questions just drop me a line

Worship in Dromore High School

Had a great worship time in Dromore High School last night.

It was a fund raising event for a hardcore missions trip to Mozambique. Grace and Kevin, the 2 kids who are going there for a few months very shortly, and their friends had pulled out all the stops to put toghether a multi media event highlighting the circumstances into which they are voluntarily going.

They’re going to work with Rolland and Heidi Baker of Iris Ministries working with the most deprived people of that area. It’s dangerous work on a number of levels – disease, extreme poverty and personally dodgy for outsiders by all accounts. 

I must confess I came away challenged and inspired by a bunch of kids less than half my age who are gladly pursuing the call on their lives whilst fully understanding the risks of laying down it all for a bigger purpose. What struck me was that it wasn’t fueled by blind, idealistic optimism – it was a response based on “here’s what could really happen, but it’s worth the risk” attitude.

What a privilege to lead this generation in worship!

What is Ethno-Celt Worship music?

Over the past few years I have been intrigued by the worship described in heaven (Revelation 7:9-10). It appears that in the midst of all the expressions of praise going on that the worshippers were still identifiable by their God-given ethnic identities (‘every tribe and tongue and nation…’).

I figured that if Jesus encouraged us to pray ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ then I’d like to explore a diverse array of musical influences in worship leading.

All this musing has led to…’A Perfect Stone’. A concept that I have been developing in my ’secret lab’ for a few years and is now fit for public consumption!

It’s a band that creates Ethno-Celt Worship music.

What on earth is that I hear you ask?

It’s worship music flavoured with an eclectic fusion of various indigineous, Celtic and contemporary sounds. Most of us are from Ireland or Scotland hence the tinge of Celtic influence and energy.

Our line up varies depending on gig or session but commonly includes: Djembe, Bodhran, Cello, Violin, Guitars and Vox. It’s not uncommon to also hear Didgeridoo, Keyboards and lots of percussion stuff that shakes, rattles, tinkles, scratches and more.

‘A Perfect Stone’ is a pool of talented musicians who are passionate about the music they have been gifted with. Some are full-time professionals some are ‘musos’ with day jobs, but the important thing is we want to take you to the ’secret place of praise’ with our music.

If you’d like to journey with me on this adventure – sign up to my mailing list above and I’ll keep you posted. I’ll also send you a link to download 2 of my songs for FREE .

These download tracks are taken from an album called ‘The New Celts’ on the EMI/Kingsway label. It featured 4 Northern Irish artists; Robin Mark, Brian Houston, Joanne Hogg (from the band Iona) and myself.

Cheers – Andy