Mumford and Sons & Worship

I LOVE music. I LOVE worship. So the logical conclusion would be that I LOVE worship music. Well....yes and no. I love to worship God in song and listen to artists who do.......BUT modern music that is blatantly "classified" as worship is not very appealing to me on an artistic level as a whole! Much of it sounds "plastic" for lack of better terms, as if it was mass produced in the "worship music factory". It is formulaic. There are certain melodies and chord progressions that must be used. There are buzzy, Christianese words that MUST be included. So when you throw this all together, it really turns some music snobs such as myself off! :)
(I don't throw it ALL out, I have my fair share of Newsboys, Third Day faves etc)

But, often I find DEEP themes of spirtuality in "secular music". Many of the jams in my Itunes library resonate with God, but never use His name. For me, some of the best "worship" songs will sadly never be sang in a church! Some songs that deeply move my soul are not on what many Christ followers would consider "christian music" albums. Some examples are Son Volt's "Windfall", John Lennons "Gimme Some Truth", Sam Phillips "One Day Late", Coldplays' "Fix You", Neutral Milk Hotel's "The King of Carrot Flowers", Juliana Hatfield's "For the Birds" and many many more......

So recently when I was introduced to the music of Mumford & Sons, I was BLOWN AWAY with child-like giddiness. Deep within many of the tunes on their amazing record SIGH NO MORE, are lyrics and sounds that scream out to my soul! It is worship stuff man! So I was ecstatic to read this story, and wanted to share it with you:

READ ME!

I'd love to hear your favorite songs of inspiration! Please share!

Freaky Freakin' Freak Show

Man...the weirdos come out of the woods when Primus comes to town......and I LOVE it! Bass maestro Les Claypool has reunited his old band PRIMUS, and he brought them and their Oddity Faire 2010 to little ol' Medford, OR this week. Of course, those freaks are my peeps, and I HAD to go. MAN IT WAS INSANELY cool and awesome. The weirdos were out in full force. Amongst the crowd of black t-shirts, dirty dread locks, and dickies pants were acrobats and stilt walkers. The first band was called SPLITLIP RAYFIELD. They were great. It was a rugged cow-punk,rockabilly 3-piece (complete with a one-stringed stand up bass made from the fuel tank of an old Ford!) and they were great. Next up was a band called Portugal.The Man. They too were quite stellar. I LOVED their falsetto, "Mars Volta meets Carney" Alaskan sound!
Then...the triumvarite came out and blew us all away! Through the fog of that strange smelling smoke everyone around us was blowing, the Spaceman Themed Stage lit up, and out came Les, Larry and Jay! It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to describe the next 2hours. It was INSANELY wonderful. The musicianship was out of this universe. The song selection was great. It was an otherworldy experience, complete with costume masks, George W Bush montages (during "My Name is Mud") and "Whamola" solos! It was incredible...and I am SO glad I got to experience it. Any fan of music should see them once. Here is their setlist from the night:
1.Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers
2.Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread
3.Tommy The Cat
4.American Life
5.Sgt. Baker
6.Over The Falls
7.Coattails of a Dead Man
8.My Name Is Mud
9.Drum and Whamola Jam
10.Eleven
11.Frizzle Fry
12.Here Come The Bastards
13.Harold Of The Rocks
Encore:
14.Behind My Camel (The Police cover)
15.Groundhog's Day
16.Pudding Time

Thank you Mr. Claypool for dazzling us with your freakiness!

Enjoy some video from the gig:

Straight to a Parent's Heart

As a youth minister, this is powerful to me. As a parent, it is even more so! It may offend you...but if so, maybe it's because you feel guilty (like me)? It makes some solid arguments. Give it a read and pray about it :). I'd love to know what you think. Leave a comment. I know that my son LOVES sports, and these fights for our family are just around the corner. I am praying for the right choices now!

HERE

Free Music Friday

it's time to bring back the old tradition. these guys are back together! Amazing musicians! If only there was a place to see them live...............

ITUNES SHUFFLE

It has been awhile since I shared with any of you guys some tunes from my shuffle. Many of you say you enjoy these, so here are the last 20 songs I was offered:
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses- U2
The Turnpike Down- The Lemonheads
Melt My Heart to Stone- Adele
Where the Sun Never Dies- Blindside
Fame- Citizen Cope
Turn Smile Shift Repeat- Phantom Planet
A-Punk- Vampire Weekend
Undercover- Pete Yorn
Like the 309- Johnny Cash
Ocean Breathes Salty- Modest Mouse
Learn to Fly- Foo Fighters
Down in a Hole- Alice in Chains
Girly- The refreshments
On the Radio- Regina Spektor
Where Eagles Have been- Wolfmother
Sparks- Coldplay
Sometimes (Lester Piggot)- James
Resurrect Me- Jon Foreman
Far Behind- Eddie Vedder

Kindergarten!

Well, today was the big day. Merrick woke up MUCH MUCH better (Praise God) and was ready to begin her exciting adventures in the Medford School District. After a good breakfast we got dressed and took off. If she was nervous, she sure did not show it! She confidently marched into Oak Grove as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She snuck up behind her beloved teacher and tapped his back. He was happy to see her since she missed yesterday and welcomed her with a big loving hug (which makes us parents feel good). She waved goodbye, got in line and that was it.........her precious little life was changed forever. It's hard to believe our sweetheart is in school. I am having trouble with this one. She is my precious, little sweet thing. She is my love bug. She is my schoolgirl????? I pray she will be ok. I pray she will be happy. I pray, pray, pray...... What we did NOT prepare for was her baby sister's reaction. Haddie is SOOOO sad to be alone at home. It is hard. It feels a little empty. She is moping around saying "I want sissy...". Thank you God for my perfect family!

No go for Kindergarden

Today was SUPPOSED to be my precious Merr Bear's 1st day of school. Today she was to embark into the world of kindergarden. But...alas, it is a no go :(

She woke up REALLY sick last night, having a serious struggle to breathe, and quite frankly scared the crap out of us! She seems a little better today. She is praying to get better and into her classroom! She is so excited to start. last week she went to an assement they have for all incoming students. When the teacher brought her out she told me "We decided that she is the ONE student we are ALL fighting for this year. Everyone wants her in our class. That smile and energy just lit up the whole room!".....boy was I a proud daddy, and I have to say I totally agree :)

Here she is on her 1st sick day:

Jude's First Day

Time is flying by way too quick. I remember like yesterday Jude and Jessie walking from the van for his first day of Kindergarden. Somehow, I have blinked my eyes and he is in 2nd grade. He has proven to be an excellent student excelling at reading and overall politeness. He is a teacher's dream. After a rough 1st grade teacher I am proud to announce that he LOVES his teacher this year. Jessie walked him to school on day one and was VERY thrilled that he even held her hand the whole way!
What a sweet boy. here he is:

Just a small town girl......

Merrick and Leela break some Journey off, GLEE style:

Pannell Camping Trip 2010

It was the 1st ever time for our whole family to hit the great Oregon outdoors to camp in the brisk mountain air. Check it out:

Vacation 2010-------REST OF THE STORY

sorry this is SOOO late..been crazy busy, but with school back in I should be able to start blogging a little more regularly. I'll let the pics tell the rest of our trip:


























Twas SURELY an awesome time! Really want to go back!