Good, short video interview featuring Berklee Music’s Mike King entitled Is Giving Music Away For Free A Good Idea?
See a list of other My Song In The Night articles on the music business here, and our article on “free” music services like Spotify and Noisetrade here.
Am I sitting on high and you below, or are we all below and God's on high?
I am a failure. I don’t do everything I should do. And I do plenty of things I shouldn’t. I need a perfect Savior.
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! He has saved me and made me righteous through His blood shed for all of my sins. He has loved me in spite of my hatred of Him when I was dead in my sins. He has forgiven all of my sins and made me alive in Christ. He has endured with me, remaining faithful to His promises even when I have faithlessly turned from Him. He has not let me go or allowed anyone to snatch me from His hand.
What have I done to deserve any of this? Nothing. What have I earned by my own deeds? Death. Judgment. Hell. But that’s not what God gives to me. No, He’s given me life in Christ because of His graciousness and lovingkindness poured out upon my life. Not because I’ve done enough to merit it.
When I forget the grace by which I am saved, I get into trouble and am again in need of rescue. This is where I found myself this week, after a year-long battle to forgive a debt.
For the past year I’ve been keeping score of the faults of someone I deal directly with every day, because their actions and words were offensive and disagreeable to me. Continue reading
If you’re much like me (human), and you ever find yourself forgetting God’s benefits and neglecting to praise and worship Him, then I encourage you to memorize at least the first six verses of Psalm 103:
I wrote a worship song for kids (but anyone can sing it!) based on this psalm, which I titled “Look What He’s Done.” It has tremendously helped me to remember the benefits of the Lord, and it has inspired my soul to praise the Lord at all times. Download our “Look What He’s Done” (Psalm 103) chord sheet here, and listen below:
A good songwriting (and scripture memorization) exercise is to Continue reading
Palm Sunday occurs one week before Easter. It commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, while crowds shouted
“Hosannah to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” – Matthew 21:9
Bible commentators often note that some of the people in this great throng would have undoubtedly been among the crowd screaming “Crucify Him!” just days later, and demanding that Pilate free the notorious criminal Barrabas instead of the one who came in the name of the Lord.
How? Why? It’s enough to cause a child to scratch her chin and a skeptic to shake his head. But we must reflect on the events of Christ’s Passion during Holy Week. We all know it doesn’t make sense to go straight from celebrating with “Hosannas” to singing
“Come and mourn with me awhile/ Jesus our Lord is crucified.”
Read the Passion narratives in the Gospels (Matthew 21-27, Mark 11-15, Luke 19-23, John 12-19). Taken together, these Gospel narratives show a number of ways in which Jesus confounded and disappointed Jerusalem. Let’s look briefly at what the people wanted, and then highlight just three of the things Jesus said and did. You’ll see why and how “Hosanna” became “Crucify him.”
What The People Wanted
In calling Jesus the “Son of David” and He who “comes in the name of the Lord,” Jerusalem was saying “We believe this is our deliverer — He will lead us into a great military victory over Rome and reestablish a legitimate crown in Jerusalem.”
After all, Jesus had used Kingdom language throughout His ministry. Now he would join a line of deliverers that included Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David and other men who threw off the shackles of oppressive governments or foreign invaders. Now Jesus would conquer.
Incident #1: Jesus Goes Crazy In The Temple (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46)
The people of Jerusalem want Jesus to conquer Caesar. Instead, he strides into the temple and starts overturning tables. Then he throws a bunch of people out of the temple — notice “those who bought and those who sold.”
Some suggest that Jesus merely didn’t want people to pay exorbitant prices. He was against the “money changers” who were making money dishonestly. But Jesus also threw out “those who bought.” He wouldn’t even “allow anyone to carry anything through the temple” (Mark 11:16).
Christ disrupted a way of life. He didn’t just want people to get better deals, he wanted them to stop giving in to the consumer culture that made the house of God into a den of thieves. All these people — buyers and sellers — were robbing God of worship.
So picture this: You just gave a rousing welcome to someone, and the next thing you know he is throwing you out of church.
Incident #2: Jesus Fails To Stand Up To Caesar (Matthew 22:15-21; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-26) Continue reading
In 2007 a new kind of online experience for worship leaders launched, a truly grassroots initiative called The Worship Community (TWC). Founder Fred McKinnon already had a lot of experience as a worship leader and resource-provider for other leaders, through his HighestPraise.com, widely read personal blog, and position as Worship Director at St Simons Community Church.
The Worship Community has since connected many worship pastors, leaders and ministers-of-music across denominational, geographical, generational and cultural lines. City churches, country churches. Contemporary churches, traditional churches. Big churches, small churches. Members of TWC come from all these places, and interact daily on issues ranging from theology to media and tech, songwriting, leadership and everything else that comes with being a worship leader.
Many of these leaders have never met in person. Many others have eventually met after first being connected in The Worship Community. Just last year at RefugeSSI, a retreat promoted by TWC, Kristen and I met Fred for the first time. We also met several other internet friends who have participated in TWC over the years, and Russ Hutto, the Managing Editor of TWC.
Join me now for this My Song In The Night interview with Fred and Russ. If you’re a worship leader of any kind, you’ll benefit from this look into the creation and growth of TWC, and the insights into how to connect, serve and equip leaders in God’s Church.
Fred McKinnon (center) leading worship w/ fellow TWC members Trent Smith (left) & Shannon Lewis at RefugeSSI
Bobby Gilles: Why did you decide to form TWC and launch TheWorshipCommunity.com? What kind of thought processes led to the formation of the various forums and columns you offer?
Fred McKinnon: Before social media really took off I was a member of a few email-based listservers for worship leaders and teams. I found the community and advice helpful, but overwhelming since you were forced to receive every email sent to the system. I’d participated on message boards before and thought it would be a great way to network with other worship leaders where you could control what content you wanted.
I wanted to create a space where someone in worship ministry could ask a question and get quick help from other leaders around the world. I kicked the idea around with some of the guys in our production team (Travis Paulding, Chris Moncus) and a few online friends like Joel Klampert and we all decided it would be a great idea. So — TheWorshipCommunity.Com was born!
Russ Hutto: I joined TWC as just another member on the forums early on. I helped moderate and eventually became the editor for the site.
Bobby Gilles: How is The Worship Community different than other websites for worship leaders?
Fred McKinnon: Ideally, the main difference is that the content is driven by everyday worship leaders, techs, and volunteers who are in the trenches. Most of those who are writing are not professional writers, touring artists, labels, or high profile speakers. Members range from being on staff in well-known mega churches to volunteers in small, rural communities.
Russ Hutto: Personally, I feel like because the emphasis is on “discussing all things worship” in a forum format we have really created a good community. We are not just a “news” or “review” site. There are other great sites out there that are doing things that we’re not doing and we feel like there’s a place for all of us in this big space. Even though our name is The Worship Community we believe that our site itself is actually just one of many great voices in the worship community at large.
Bobby Gilles: You originally launched with public forums. Then about a year later you relaunched, keeping the forums but featuring a news magazine format with articles, reviews and videos. Was this intentional? Why did you begin with public forums? Continue reading
“Why do so many worship songs sound the same?”
You don’t have to be in the church long to hear that question. A lot of it has to do with sameness of musical style, but it also pertains to lyrical themes. If you’re a worship pastor who wants to give your congregation a well-balanced diet of gospel-centric songs, or a songwriter who keeps writing about the same aspects of God’s character and actions, here is one way to broaden your repertoire:
Follow a simple liturgical template, the kind used by churches for centuries. If the word liturgy scares you, then “gird up thy loins.” This post will give you simple definitions for nine basic parts of a standard Christian liturgy, with examples of ancient and modern worship songs that fit each category. Write at least one song based on each liturgical movement — that’s a whole album’s worth of songs, each with a different subject but yet cohesive and able to help us meditate on the heart of gospel: God is holy. I am sinful. Jesus is my savior. Now I will go forth to proclaim it.
Let’s go:
Call to worship – Church services begin by focusing on God, remembering that He has revealed himself to us and called us to be his family. We then respond by praising Him for His attributes and work in history. “All Creatures Of Our God and King” is a classic Call to Worship hymn, and Matt Redman’s “Gifted Response” is a good contemporary Call to Worship song. Also check out “Come and Sing” by our church Sojourn, written by our friend Jeremy Quillo.
Confessions of sorrow and repentance – When God reveals his perfect, holy self to us, it makes us realize our own wretchedness. We admit that nothing we could do would make us “good enough” for God. Songs of confession and repentance give voice to our sinfulness and need for a savior. I’ve written before about the modern confession hymn I wrote with Brooks Ritter, “Lead Us Back.” Charlie Hall’s “Give Us Clean Hands” is a good contemporary repentance song.
This is also a time to include laments — confessions of our sorrow, lack of faith or confusion. Laments can focus on all the suffering in the world or the heartache in individual hearts. Here’s “How Long”, which our friend Rebecca Dennison adapted from Isaac Watts own adaptation of Psalm 13:
Once upon a time, in a land I call home, hundreds of thousands of commuters traversed three bridges every day. Then suddenly, one early September Friday, the bridge in the west end of the city was routinely inspected and deemed impassable for an indefinite period of time until necessary repairs could be completed.
That was a very difficult day for everyone living on either side of the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky. The bridge was closed at 5:15 p.m., during evening rush hour. Those who didn’t make it across before the bridge closure were stuck circumnavigating the city for the next three hours, trying to get home across the two remaining functional bridges. And that was just the beginning of an indefinite period of testing for all of us who would be enduring the traffic nightmare each morning and evening.
Approximately 89,000 drivers traverse the west end bridge (the Sherman Minton Bridge) every day. Bobby and I are two of them. We live in the west end of Kentuckiana (the area of Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky bordering the Ohio River at the junction of Louisville) on the Indiana side. We work in downtown Louisville, just 5 miles away from home. A quick jaunt across the river.
Not so quick after that infamous Friday. Every day thereafter required more time in our cars, more mental energy (read: STRESS) figuring out how to get around town, more gasoline, and much more grace to endure patiently as we waited. Everyone in the area, including us, had to adjust their sleep and work schedules to navigate the traffic situation. On the best of the worst traffic days, we all crawled along the roadways until we reached our destinations. On the worst of the worst traffic days, we all parked on the roadways waiting for a long time to move an inch toward our destinations.
Every day of this traffic trial afforded me many new opportunities to sin and to repent and experience God’s grace. Continue reading
Tree Hill Collective: worship leaders, songwriters, musicians for the church
Not long ago Mark Snyder and I became acquainted (through the internet, as so often is the case these days). Mark has a lot of experience writing songs for worship in various churches, and he’s put that experience to use by forming Tree Hill Collective, in collaboration with other worship leaders, songwriters and musicians. They’ve just release a new EP called One Redemption. You can hear all five songs in full at treehillcollective.com, and you can purchase One Redemption on iTunes or Amazon.
Join me for this latest discussion in our My Song In The Night interview series:
Bobby Gilles: What is Tree Hill Collective? What differentiates this from either a typical record label or a singular church’s music ministry?
Mark Snyder: Originally called ‘Weekend Warrior Worship’, Tree Hill Collective is a loosely organized group of songwriters, music producers, performing artists, and a supporting volunteer community that exists to resource the church with God-honoring worship resources in innovative ways with excellence. It was birthed from the concept that each aspect of our product should reflect creative excellence – the songs, the productions, the resources, and live performance.
We are indie in nature and empower songwriters to maintain rights in their works, and we try to keep financial considerations and undue motivations out of the way of our ministry. Being essentially collaborative across church lines, we are able to draw alongside different ministries to resource them as we are led.
Bobby Gilles: How have you prepared yourself to write worship songs for the church?
Mark Snyder: As a kids worship leader I began writing songs years ago for the children’s ministry at Calvary Chapels, a charge I took very seriously, and I learned to make clear messages in simple words. and memorable melodies. Calvary Chapel churches (as well as my current church home Palmcroft Baptist) stress verse-by-verse bible teaching, and I have adopted the habit of reading through the bible once every 18 months or so. Chronological bibles, archaeological bibles, bibles with commentaries, etc.
When you do that enough (I am on maybe the 10th repetition) you tend to imbibe the doctrines and message from all parts of Scripture. I couple this with a study of songwriting and worship from folks like Bob Kauflin, Sovereign Grace, Paul Baloche’s ‘God Songs,’ Gary Ewers, blogs, and many other sources, to craft an approach that works and delivers what I feel are worthy songs I would put forth for the church to sing.
Bobby Gilles: Tell me about your partnership with Jeff McCullough, and about his work on the indie music scene in Southern California.
Mark Snyder: Jeff became Tree Hill Collective’s main producer after we were connected by Holland Davis (writer of Let It Rise) through a song-sharing site. Hearing excellence in the songs (though not the production!) Holland encouraged me to work with others to give the songs their best voice. Jeff and Holland had worked for years providing worship resources at Maranatha! Music. Jeff’s interest in Tree Hill Collective stems from his deep faith, and the unique focus on great songs coming from a rich pipeline and drawing from multiple songwriter’s catalogs, as we have expanded our songwriter pool.
Jeff has a top-notch multi-pod recording studio in Escondido, California, and regularly works with independent Christian artists (as well as secular artists), including some who regularly chart in their genre. Jeff is a voting member of the Grammy award committee and has significant industry credits. The San Diego indie Christian artist scene has spawned such cutting edge bands as Future of Forestry, and Moi, and some of these folks have worked on Tree Hill Collective projects, as well as aspiring new artists. All of us work from a heart to resource the church.
Bobby Gilles: Not only was Tree Hill Collective birthed in a spirit of collaboration, but you’ve already partnered with All About Worship and the Scripture To Music Collective. Many people view artists and musicians as loners, but it seems like collaboration is a core value of Tree Hill Collective. Why is that? And how do you encourage collaboration?
Mark Snyder: Most of the Tree Hill Collective collaborators have not met in person. The value in collaboration to our project is huge – we get great songs, great musicians, and people that are drawn to work as part of a larger team to make something amazing happen. Since our original concept required collaboration to succeed, this core value was birthed at the start, and we have embraced it in many ways as we add songwriters, artists, and other volunteers, and find ministries such as those you mentioned and others to draw alongside.
We have had volunteers do things like album art, song translations to Mandarin and Spanish, vocal performances, and even songwriting. People want to be involved in something excellent, something bigger than themselves. We try to put our mission and ministry above egos and individual agendas, and this value shows through as we grow.
Bobby Gilles: Tree Hill Collective has just released an EP, One Redemption. You’ve got an adaptation of Wesley’s classic “O For A Thousand Tongues” as well as four new songs for the church. Stylistically it’s very modern, yet the songs range from guitar-driven rockers to softer, keyboard-driven arrangements. How much does the singer of each song determine the arrangement?
Mark Snyder: The arrangements of our songs come from several factors. Since our mission is to resource the church, we choose instrumentation and arrangements that do not get in the way of this, and that worship bands can easily pick up. Sometimes a production arrangement will suit a particular vocal style – we have one vocalist best described as “Miranda Lambert meets Taylor Swift,” so we give her arrangements a modern country vibe.
Sometimes an arrangement will be what the songwriter laid down, or a reference the songwriter or producer hears for what a song should be, such as the “Maroon 5” inspired arrangement for “He Has Engraved You.” We definitely draw on the best from many eras of rock/pop/country music in designing the productions, and we are especially interested in what makes a great song tick and stick. When we discover those songs we learn from them and allow them to influence the creative vision we want to bring to the church for a project or song. This is how we become ready for production. A song may sit in the pipeline for a while while we allow this creative process to work.
Bobby Gilles: One of the cuts on One Redemption is a great Easter song, “Death Could Not Hold You.” This is one you wrote with Jeff McCullough. What did that collaboration look like? Did one of you write the music and the other the lyrics?
Mark Snyder: I wrote this song many years ago for children’s worship. For songs I co-write with Jeff I typically write the lyrics, and compose most of the original melody ideas. Many times Jeff will completely rearrange the song or add melody parts, which is why we share writing credits. Its really based on what we hear in the song, and this collaboration works very well.
In one case a song was rewritten, over the phone, as the singer was waiting in the studio to record. We trade ideas using my basic DAW setup when I need to record. At times Jeff may record a track and send it back for me to write a new melody part or new lyrics. Sometimes he will say ‘I need another verse” and we will do it.
In ‘Death Could Not Hold You’ , we added the verse
But morning came, the stone was rolled away
A Holy God will never see decay’
after Jeff observed that our original song left Jesus in the grave, so to speak, To all songwriters I stress – let your producer speak into a song – he or she is a professional. We want professional results so we let professionals assert their strong influence.
Bobby Gilles: I like the repetition of the line “Death could not hold you Lord” in the second and fourth lines of each verse, and final line of the chorus. Even with the repetition of this hook, you’ve still got a lot of “gospel meat” in this song. Do you think intentionally about how to use catchy hooks, repetition and other simple devices while at the same time creating a hymn-like weight in your songs?
Mark Snyder: Absolutely. We try to be students of great songs from many eras. Repetition is not only a device of great songs, but it can give a worship song a familiar liturgical feel, almost like a responsive reading. We are also big fans of strong rhyme schemes, syllable counting, etc – things that make a song memorable and sticky, and serve to implant its lyrical payload in the brain, if you will.
We stress great melodies and hooks also, for this same purpose. Similarly, we design instrumental parts, guitar riffs, etc, to complement the song and make it more singable, without drawing too much attention to the instruments themselves. Great songs do this. We try to add enough lyrical weight to the songs that they will be considered for use across ‘worship war’ lines, while at the same time making them accessible to youth. We have fans from 15 to 85, so we are succeeding at some level!
Bobby Gilles: You’ve written before about how crucial it is to write strong lyrics in our worship songs. Tell me about the “God Quotient,” your system for evaluating worship lyrics?
Mark Snyder: God Quotient is a simple term I coined to be able to look at a song and see where it is really focused. A high GQ means a song points us outward, toward God. This is a way to stress who God is rather than who we are (as our Facebook fueled culture is very adept at stressing).
While creative art is not a process, we can adopt some processes to understand what art is saying and how people might respond to it. To measure GQ, we can look at a song’s ‘creative energy’ to see where that points. Using scales like ‘feeling versus fealty’ or ‘problem versus provision’ we try to measure what a song is saying, and try to achieve at least balance if not high GQ in every song. In doing so we hope to deliver resources to the church that will not divide people and will result in all generations glorifying God together. The full blog for this concept is found here.
Bobby Gilles: Following One Redemption, you plan to release two other EPs in 2012: One Purpose and One Faith. What is the purpose of this cycle? Is there a reason one follows the other? Why not wait and release one LP?
Mark Snyder: Great question, and there are multiple reasons for our approach. Most of the material for all three EPs is already finished. On the creative level, we looked at our songs and realized that they fell thematically into ‘what Christ did’, ‘what we are to be doing’, and ‘what we hope for and what we are certain of’’. We also had a key lyric in our call to worship ‘I Stand’ that went “I stand as one with His redeemed, one in purpose, one in faith”, so this seemed natural for the EP titles.
So, the singular finished work of redemption is the focus of One Redemption, while the worshiping and serving church is the theme for One Purpose, and our faith for the present and the future is the topic for the One Faith EP. Our timing, also, coincides with Lent and Easter for the first EP. We were blessed to have indie artist Matt Billingsley do graphic design for our covers to knit the series together.
We try to offer only strong songs in our discography, so releasing smaller quantities of high quality songs over time seemed to make sense. This also gives the performing band a focus it can stress as it works in venues over a period of time. A few bands such as ‘Future of Forestry’ with their Traveller series have shown that EPs released in a series like this can work.
Bobby Gilles: What has been your biggest joy and your biggest challenge in launching Tree Hill Collective?
Mark Snyder: Our biggest joy has been in watching as God opens doors in the provision of people, resources, and platforms for what we are doing. We realize that, for a project that is barely a year old, our platform is something we never should have expected in this time frame. Our motto is to watch for the doors opening, but not to be pushy, for God’s timing is the timing we want to be in sync with, not our own. We also at times have found ministries that have adopted our music through online searches. This is always gratifying.
Our greatest challenge is in figuring out ways to get onto worship set-lists. Since we are not a church band (though we do serve our local churches), we don’t have a ‘captive set list’ we can feed with our songs, even if that were to be something we were led to do. And finding a place in other churches set lists is very difficult, due to the way that worship music proliferates from so many sources, both from labels and great indies.
Creatively we believe in the strong, biblically focused worship that also happens to be great songs and productions that we deliver, but getting worship leaders to take a look and use the songs without being too pushy or self-promoting is a real challenge. This is one reason we are so appreciate of platforms such as yours to share our heart and our mission.
Bobby Gilles: What are your long-term goals for Tree Hill Collective?
Mark Snyder of Tree Hill Collective
Mark Snyder: I would like Tree Hill Collective to become a known and trusted resource for top quality, biblically strong worship music resources that come directly from songwriters to the church and church ministries. I would like to see Tree Hill Collective draw alongside ministries and churches of all kinds, as we and our resources are found fit for service in the church. I would like for us to be considered a pilot project of sorts, showing how collaborators can band together to provide these kinds of resources through modern technology, church-centered ministry focus, and a focus on excellence. We would like to lead by example in showing that songwriters, musicians, and other volunteers can provide what the “music industry” does in the collaborative and unselfish spirit we value and demonstrate.
This antique Underwood typewriter in my office reminds me of the ambience of journalism's Golden Years
I love journalism. Visit me in my Sojourn Church staff office where I work as Director of Communications, and you’ll find biographies on my shelf of both Pulitzers, Henry Luce, the Bingham family, Edward R. Murrow, and books like Morning Miracle: Inside the Washington Post and Bob Greene’s ode to the newspaper industry Late Edition: A Love Story.
Which is why, even as a Director of Communications, I have too much respect for journalists to waste their time with press releases that wouldn’t legitimately make for a good story. And even if you don’t love the press, I hope to instill that respect in you. It’s to your church’s advantage.
When Should You Send A Press Release?
When you have something interesting to report. Think of yourself as a journalist’s partner, not as an (m)ad man. If you want to buy an ad, buy an ad. But if you want a reporter to do a story on something going on in the life of your church, then put yourself in the reporter’s shoes, and his or her reader’s shoes.
Don’t Waste The Reporter’s Time
Journalists have a tough job with tight deadlines. Part of their success will be determined by their nose for a good story. They’re constantly sifting through leads, tips and press releases, looking for stories they feel will be helpful, relevant and interesting to their readers. If they can’t find news that fits these categories, they won’t last long in their field.
What Criteria Will Help Determine This?
It depends on factors like the size of your church, the size of your city and the situations your city finds itself in. If you’re Continue reading
Looking for songs for Resurrection Sunday and the entire season of Easter? Then listen for free to the My Song In The Night Easter Worship Songs Playlist on Spotify. Whether you’re a worship pastor looking for song ideas for Easter worship service planning or a Christian who wants 2 hours of songs for personal devotions during the liturgical season of Easter, Kristen and I think you’ll find the songs on our Easter playlist helpful.
We’ve chosen hymns and worship songs from a wide variety of worship soloists, bands and ministries, as well as from many genres and styles of music. We encourage you to to consider purchasing and/or using the songs you enjoy in your worship settings.
Easter is a season of joy and triumph, for celebrating the Savior who conquered death and proved His power to save and resurrect His people. These songs will help you celebrate, alone and with others.
Listen Here On Spotify: 39 Hymns & Worship Songs for Easter
1. See What A Morning — Keith & Kristyn Getty
2. Oh What A Day — Sovereign Grace
3. Risen Today — Aaron Shust
4. Glorious — Paul Baloche
5. Death In His Grave — John Mark McMillan
6. He’s Alive — Dolly Parton
7. Warrior — Sojourn
8. God Undefeatable — Todd Agnew
9. I Will Rise — Chris Tomlin
10. Christ Is Risen — Jeremy Riddle
11. Jesus Is Alive — Shai Linne Continue reading
Kristen And Bobby Gilles 