One Year

It's hard to believe a year has passed since I began writing this blog. Brenda receives full credit for getting me into this racket! She had been writing her Smitten With Knittin' blog for years and I'd have fun seeing her write and receive such a cathartic experience each week. Brenda is a terrific writer, and with her prompting and commitment to edit my ramblings, I pushed off from the dock into the open-internet sea as a blogger on March 31, 2010.

Since I started writing, I've had to find my rhythm. Posting a blog everyday was way too daunting a task even for a guy like me who, as the 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said of William Gladstone, "is inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity." I found that Monday, Wednesday and Friday are good days to post for me, sometimes more if I feel the thought is worth the effort.

In the past year, readers from four continents, and practically every state in the U.S., have been generous with their occasional visits to my blog. I have many who tell me they read regularly. If one really wants to know me--my heart, my passions--they should read my posts. I am a pretty simple guy with very common tastes, but the thing that makes my life rich is my commitment to Christ. Other than my favorite subject, Brenda and family--worship, church, guitars, gear, music, books, TV and gadgets have made consistent entries into my blog for the past 12 months.

I will continue this pursuit even if no one reads these words because, you see, it's primarily for me. I have gained so much joy from the process that it's self-rewarding. Thanks for joining me on this journey--I've got many more miles to go before I sleep.

The Worship Leading Pedal Pusher

The question often arises about what I use for electric guitar gear while leading worship. The reality is, I find it too daunting to be an arduous pedal-stomper when I am leading, even as I carry the full brunt of electric duties in most situations. If a gig should call for me to simply play guitar and do backup vocals, and not lead worship, I am more free to tip-toe through tones and take chances with my playing. For me, leading worship takes the main focus away from pedal pushing and more toward the spiritual direction of the service. When I lead worship, however, I do like to have a light-weight, simple pedal board with all the basic tone options at my feet.

I really love a tremolo because it sounds great with both distortion and clean tones. The purple pedal in the photo is the Danelectro Cool Cat Tremolo, and it is true bypass. Best of all, I bought it for under $40! It sounds great, regardless of the price. The Cochrane Timmy is such a warm overdrive and it cleans up well when I roll back the volume on my guitar. The Memory Man with Hazarai is an easy-to-use digital delay. It has a bit of reverb in one of it's settings that helps create the atmospheric tones I strive for sometimes. The wireless system at far right on the board is a Line6 XDS Plus. Line6 has upgraded their wireless line with newer models, but I still love the tone and the price--plus it has great long-distance range for big stages. This is obviously a no-fuss combination of pedals. They are all sitting atop of a Pedaltrain Mini pedal board frame and are powered by a Visual Sound- 1 Spot power supply (wires and plugs are all George L). My studio board, and another live board I have, is much more extensive. Again, when I am free to stomp, I like more stuff!

The amps I use at church are hand made by my buddy, Kevin, at Shaw Audio (I have a Shaw Full Tilt 18 in my studio). This particular head in the photo is a Shaw Tone Rod 40. The head is riding atop what I call "The Coffin," which tremendously helps cut down the stage volume. It houses the Blackheart cab shown in the next photo. Kevin replaced the stock speaker in the Blackheart with a WGS Reaper 30. Kevin and I experimented with closed-back and open-back options for the speaker cabinet. The Shaw sounded tons fuller with an open back, even as the cab is mic'd within the closed domain of the "Coffin."

The Shaw head is not only for my use, but also for the other guitar players when it's their turn to play electric. We have another Shaw in the other sanctuary utilizing a Blackheart cab, re-loaded with a WGS Reaper 30. We run a Radial SGI™ Studio Guitar Interface system, via a mic cable, from the guitar riser onstage to the backstage coffin, 100' away.

I guess there are some who feel that more pedals are better. As a player in a multi-venue church, I hate lugging around a big pedal board from one sanctuary to the next. I am also on a quest to find the cheapest, great sounding pedals available. After having owned a ridiculous number of expensive pedals, I like to search and recommend affordable stuff to the younger guitar players. I must say that there's some great sounding stuff out there that won't break the bank.

Write me with pictures of your "worship gear." I'd love to post them at some point.

jamie@jamieharvill.com

Blessings on your tonal pursuits!

Parenthood: What Goes Around, Comes Around

I saw this headline from People Magazine a few days ago: "Billy Ray Cyrus says he could have been a better dad." Duh! Couldn't we all have been better parents?

My kids, Josh and Betsy, are learning the lessons of marriage--the same ones we all do when we choose to tie the knot. As I look back, I pray that they weren't massively maimed by my ineptitude. After all, I was learning about life as my kids were growing up. When Brenda and I made the decision to build a career in music, there were so many things we couldn't do financially at the time, like owning our own home, buying things on a whim and taking "real" vacations. What I'm saying is, we were poor. For many years we lived in less-than-stellar rental housing, hoping that our one-and-only high-mileage car wouldn't give up the ghost too soon. I know my frustration with the lack of money was palpable. Some days we had more money buried in the sofa than was in the bank. Brenda even saved soap slivers in case we ran out and didn't have the cash to by a new bar. We was poor, I'm tellin' ya! Eventually, things greatly improved as my songs were recorded and the royalties made up for the lean times.

I ran into a lady around my age at church a few weeks ago. She was heading down to the nursery to pick up one of her grand children. As she was extolling the greatness of being a grandparent, I asked her what she liked best about her new role as a grandma. She said it was wonderful having money this time around. She told our story when she explained that as her kids were small, she was so caught up in making ends meet that many precious moments were lost to daily survival. Nowadays she can take the grand kids for the afternoon, buy them clothes and toys, and then hand them back to mom to suffer the brunt of bath time and supper. AMEN!

I believe the environment we build in our homes for our kids growing up will either create problems for them in the future or will be a solid foundation that will serve them well now and for generations to come. Even as we marry, have kids, and try to figure out how to make a living, we must be aware that our children turn into us when they grow up. They make decisions (or not) based on the experiences they had in the home. If we do everything for them, and clean up after their mistakes, they will never acquire the living skills to survive in a hostile world. Thank God for His grace! Without two sets of wonderful parents teaching Brenda and I the ropes of life, along with their solid marriages, we might have inflicted more injury to our kids and each other as a young family.

I appreciate Billy Ray Cyrus' honesty. At least he is attempting to keep his family together. I am seeing in my newlywed children that, as Proverbs 22:6 states, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." I'm banking on that!

The Producer

For several years I have searched bookstores, magazine racks, the internet, TV, music reviews, album liner notes, and have listened for word-of-mouth on any information I could find on producing music. Of course my initial interest in making music involved the singer of the songs that I heard as a kid on the radio. As early as age ten, I quickly learned to see patterns with my favorite artists; there was always a common denominator between many of them. First, the names of certain musicians continually surfaced on the recordings, and I noticed that several of the same recording studios were being used. Then, I began to see certain songwriters surface who penned songs for my favorite performers. It dawned on me, sometime during my high school days, that there were particular persons at the helm of these great records, bringing consistent success to the artists I followed. These persons, I soon learned, were called producers.

Successful producers have a hand in overseeing each piece in the music production process. The producers' resultant product is many times as "signature" as the artist's voice, playing style or song. What would the Beatles be without George Martin; the Sixties' "Wall of Sound" without Phil Spector; Michael Jackson without Quincy Jones, or Jimi Hendix without Eddie Kramer? And where would the careers of many of the iconic Nashville singers from the golden era of country music be without Owen Bradley? Who would dare overlook the musicians who helped craft the sounds like the Funk Brothers of Motown, the Wrecking Crew of Los Angeles, Booker T & the MG's of Stax Records in Memphis, and the the "A-Team" of session players who helped define the "Nashville Sound?"

The process of producing involves varying degrees of knowing music, how recording equipment works and how to craft songs. Producers are also responsible for hiring certain musicians, singers and engineers that are brought into specifically chosen studios. It's also common that some producers aren't musicians at all! The best of them usually are, though, and are involved in every aspect of the process. Many play intermediary between the artist and the record company. Sometimes they even arrange and chart the songs for the session--even engineer and mix. There is a bit of psychology involved in recording as they are to bring out the best performances in the players and singers. I have never heard of a sinner shamed into heaven, and neither have I heard of a singer or musician shamed into a good performance. It takes a delicate balance of all of these skills to be a successful producer.

I have read several books on producing music that I highly recommend (some of these are memoirs, but contain wonderful golden nuggets of insight into their craft). These include: Q: Quincy Jones On Producing, co-written with Bill Gibson; Hit Man by David Foster; Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music by Phil Ramone; Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards by Al Kooper; Behind the Glass-Top Producers Tell How They Craft the Hits, Volumes 1 & 2 by Howard Massey; Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles by Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey; the hilarious, spicy and irreverent look at the making of a rock recording called, The Daily Adventures of Mixerman by (the name was changed to protect the innocent...) Mixerman; How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A.: 50 Years of Music Row by Michael Kosser, just to name a few.

I ran into a PBS special the other night featuring producer David Foster. This was a second helping of the "Hit Man" and his friends, the first installment airing a few years ago. There on the Vegas stage were performers who weren't shy about giving Foster credit for the huge part he played in the making of their recording careers. There behind him in the band were some of the legendary musicians with whom he crafted many hits: J. R. Robinson on the drums, Nathan East on bass, and Dean Parks on guitar.

Producers these days are forced to do almost every aspect of the recording process themselves, many times spending hours alone in front of a computer screen--long after the singers and musicians have gone--editing, comping, tuning, cleaning tracks and getting everything just like it needs to be. The economy has forced many of the big studios to close, and the home-based studio makes better financial sense to all involved. Even as the world of music has changed, and the economics have forced the industry to reinvent itself, the producer still plays a very important roll in the making of the music that is the soundtrack to our lives.

More Stories From the Road

After writing about my experiences on the road, and putting Wes Turner's thoughts about some of his experiences on this blog a few weeks ago, I was delighted to receive this short memoirs of the road from Road Dog, Keith Wilson. Keith traveled with a group out of Pensacola, FL which performed 350 shows a year. This group, like Truth, spent it's time in churches. These words, again, reflect so many my experiences.

Our group did the vast majority of our concerts at churches, and we stayed in people's homes 95% of the time. We came to refer to those as either a "Mansion Experience" or a "Missionary Experience." That should be self-explanatory, but I'll give a couple of quick examples:

Staying in the home that was clearly used in the filming of Gone With the Wind: Mansion Experience

Staying in a home where, before going to bed, we were given a Chamber Pot: Missionary Experience

The Road for me meant getting up at 5:00 am in order to get back to the bus, with our sack lunch in hand (provided by our host). I didn't know until we got on The Road that the only sandwiches anyone ever made were ham with mayonnaise or pimiento cheese!

The Road meant meeting with the senior pastor or music minister prior to a concert, and talking with my Assistant Road Director about using the "Skateboard Entrance" that night, and how we might handle the dove release in that auditorium. Now, we didn't do any of those things, but it helped break the monotony to joke with the ministers that way. It's amazing how few of those ministers had a sense of humor.

The Road meant "Band Up/Vocals Down" or "Band Up/Vocals Up", depending on how the church's stage was built.

The Road meant a label on an empty channel on the sound board that read "DRUMS". Anytime anyone from the church complained about the drums being too loud--just pull that fader down and everyone was happy!

The Road meant repairing mic cables on the back pew of the church while trying--sometimes unsuccessfully--not to let the soldering iron slip and burn through a pew cushion. It meant a lot of very small churches--and the same for the Love Offering. It meant great devotion times with your road-mates, and some very moving concerts where the presence of the Holy Spirit was clearly felt. It meant fantastic memories and making lifelong friends. The Road also meant having to choose between buying the new Toto cassette or new guitar strings---or have dinner that day.

But perhaps most of all, The Road meant my life would never be the same again. (I still get nostalgic whenever I smell diesel fumes!) And I will always be grateful for every moment I spent on The Road.

Get God & Go!

In our microwave world, we all tend to be in a hurry. This involves the church, too. When I was a kid, before we became Christians, my folks, probably through guilt, packed us kids in the station wagon and headed a few miles away to the Garden Grove Community Church.

Robert Schuller constructed the unconventional church building on 10 acres of land, completing it in 1961. Not only did the church have traditional sanctuary seating, there was also a large window that opened up to the parking area so Dr. Schuller could preach to both the folks in the pews and those in the drive-in. Several speaker boxes were installed in the parking area so families like as ours could drive up, listen to the sermon and leave without ever getting out of the car. As the sanctuary window dramatically opened with the start of each service (photo at right), Schuller would raise his robed arms into the air and greet everyone, including us lazy folks listening from the drive-in. Ushers were positioned in the parking area to keep an eye on us and to gather the offering--kind of like car hops with suits and no skates!

Even though drive-ins have fallen out of fashion, we professional religious types still try to make the pathway to church as easy and convenient as possible. In my house of worship, we have a second sanctuary (or venue) providing a full band and a video feed of the sermon. It has tables and a casual environment that supports drinking coffee during the service (scandalous still to many today!). We even have an indoor garage where baby strollers are stored during the service, a fully stocked bookstore, and a friendly bevy of greeters and ushers to lead you where you need to go.

We must do all we can, in and outside of the church, to reach the lost. Schuller had remarkable, innovative vision when he led the designing of the original Garden Grove Community Church back in the 60s. In today's world, we must continue to be creative but also design a pathway where people make can move into the nucleus of the church body through small groups and opportunities to serve. Otherwise, church activity will be reduced to the drive-in concept of "get God and go!"

Photos: (top left) view of the GGCC Drive-In;
(lower right) view of the sactuary and the big winow opened to the Drive-In

Creating Great Moments In Worship, Part 7: Celebrating A Win

High Five

It is so important to celebrate when our worship teams win in worship. Some weeks we seem to just get by, but others are clearly exceptional. Many times we can go back through a preceding year and point to a weekend where everything changed for the better in our performances, production quality, and maybe we made strides in our planning abilities. Sometimes we can track growth in our congregation beginning with a weekend that was filled with wonderful times of worship--success begets success. All are wins and it's important to celebrate them.

Happens Every Week

My pastor always says the problem with church is that it happens every week. Just as soon as a great weekend blows us all away, there is another weekend in a few days that gets us back to square one. So, celebrations need to happen right after the win. Praise needs to come primarily from whoever is the driving force in the production process. It's very important to make time in the agenda for people in the production team to tell of his or her favorite moments. It's also a good opportunity to talk about mistakes or overlooked things in the performance in order to make corrections.

Currency For Volunteers

It's one thing to high-five each other in the production meeting, but make sure to share the love with the rest of the volunteers at the next rehearsal. Maybe serve some Starbucks after rehearsal with a cake or some kind of desert to tell them thank you for doing a great job. It is important to thank volunteers regularly. I try to thank each member on my team, as well as the tech team, each week for their hard work. Sometimes it's appropriate to send out a thank you card every now and then. An end of the year banquet, inviting the spouses, is a good way to celebrate a great year. Take the opportunity at the banquet to replay some funny videos or show some photos from the previous year. It's also a great chance to share vision and encouragement for the coming season. I always keep in mind that the currency for volunteers is appreciation. So, celebrate those wins!

The Need To Know Why

This past week was epic. Looking like one of those 70s disaster movies, our TVs were filled with images that seemed as if the world is reaching the end of days. Dead fish, tsunamis, earthquakes, possible nuclear meltdowns--all happening while nations are at war, or are on the edge of war and, God forbid, the NFL doesn't have a season this year!

Times like these wake us from our sleep. It's almost as if we have taken a nap, then are suddenly jolted out of our cozy snooze to realize a burglar has broken into our home. As Americans, we are so accustomed to having our high-octane lives running like clockwork. When something does change our comfy existence, the first thing many of us ask is, "Why?"

I remember when I first moved to Mobile, Alabama in the summer of 1985. It was amazing how Brenda's family was ready to pull together at a moments notice when the threat of a hurricane surfaced. Since her parents lived (and still do) on the water's edge of Mobile Bay on the Gulf Coast, they all, as a family, had to board up the windows and lock-down anything that might become a deadly projectile in heavy winds. They did this quickly, then took cover to avoid the devastating, ruthless torrents of wind and rain. Sometimes, as with 2005's Hurricane Katrina, no matter what they did in preparation, it was to no avail; the tidal surge was so great, causing such flood damage, they had to rebuild their home.

The lessons I learned from observing Brenda and her family are two fold: First, it's always good to be ready to react in a moments notice, and second, we don't have to know "why" today. This doesn't mean that we must live in fear 24-hours a day. Rather, it's wise to think through an escape route in advance, just in case the need arises. Brenda shared that bit of "why" wisdom with me this weekend in light of all the turmoil in the world. She learned some stark lessons growing up through losing her home during 1979's Hurricane Fredric and rushing with her family to a hotel, only to have it's roof blown off while they were inside, essentially cheating death. Many times we get bogged down trying to figure out the reason the situation happened when the best thing to do is get through the imminent crisis.

It is wise to realize that the world is a volatile place. No matter what we do--by building walls, filling bank accounts, controlling each aspect of our lives to thwart injury, loss, or famine--things are going to happen. With faith in God, He will be our protection, source and healing in times of trouble. My hope is that in eternity, He will reveal why things happen like they do in this crazy world.

The Road

Those of us who have braved the highways and byways of America and beyond can relate to this selection from a writing by my friend, Wes Turner. He is a true "Road Dog" as his travels started in 1963 as a 16 year-old.

Life in a band is a very tough row to hoe. It's eat, sleep and breathe travel, only to arrive at the one-hour or so paradise that is the reason for our trouble: the show. Many of us, as Wes testifies, did more than one show per day. There's nothing like getting back into wet show clothes before each performance. The costumes usually remained moist until that blessed day when they were emptied, washed and folded, to find their home back in the suitcase. This was our only private space, other than a briefcase that sat permanently on our lap. I lived the life described below for 6 years. I hope you enjoy Wes' memories from the road...

Well, first let’s establish just what is the road? I believe it’s something different to every touring musician. To the Rolling Stones or Shania Twain or any major touring artist...it is a “grueling” schedule of shows and press junkets. Say…25 shows in two months. It takes you away from home and loved ones, unless you choose to take them along. On tour, they intersperse plane and limo trips with shows at fantastic venues and brief stays at the best hotels in the world.

To a bar band playing grungy clubs, it might mean sleeping in the van, selling self-produced CD’s out of a suitcase, and crawling to the next city, stinking of beer, while surrounded by fast food wrappers.

To a touring production company of a Broadway musical, it means moving mountains of props and people from place to place every few weeks.

To me it means being in groups that did shows two or three times a day for 9-11 months at a time. That’s two or three set-ups and tear downs, not by roadies, but by group members. That means two or three costume changes and traveling between shows in clothes that you had sweat in, grabbing naps in the van or bus to keep your energy up, while trying to get a meal in there somewhere, and at the same time doing public relations with school, fair, church, or hotel staff when all you really wanted to do was eat or lie down somewhere. Sure, I know it was a run on sentence but that’s how you feel 24/7. Always trying to catch up to yourself.

The road, in the context I’m using it, is not just the pavement that connects all towns and states in America like a concrete spider web. The road is the exhilarating, and at times heartbreaking, bus-and-truck side of show biz. It is staying in cheap motels, situated at the edge of Everytown, USA: the ones near the railroad tracks, just off the outer belt. Lodgings known for rooms with paper-thin walls that can’t quite be darkened because of glowing, over-the-top neon signage flooding the parking lot and creeping in through broken window blinds. Their mediocrity is measured by overworked heating/air conditioning systems, not coming close to getting the job done, and rough, postage-stamp-size towels.

The road is Mom and Pop ice cream joints named Frosty Point or Whippy Dip, with small orange and black CLOSED FOR THE SEASON signs taped to their front window in winter. It’s sitting in a fatty-food- blue-plate-special New Jersey diner or a central Iowa Union 76 truck stop restaurant booth, looking out at the bus, bathed in garish, yellow florescent light, drawing swarms of mosquitoes and moths. It is truck stops full of foul speaking, heavily muscled, tattooed, chain-from-the-belt-to-their-wallet, leather-clad people. And those are the waitresses! My road meant diesel fumes on everything I owned.

Oh, what we will do for the opportunity to play and sing for anyone who will stop and listen. It's all worth it! If you have any stories from the road you'd like to share, send them to me and I'll try to use them in blog, soon. Blessings, Road Dogs!

Write me at: jamie@jamieharvill.com

Karen Carpenter: Little Girl Blue

I was fortunate to have seen the Crocker Bank TV commercial in southern California back in 1970 that led to the Carpenter's break-out single, We've Only Just Begun. In the commercial the bank was on a mission to attract young people and staged a wedding with a shortened version of the song playing in the background. It wasn't originally intended for the Carpenters but was so powerful that writers Paul Williams and Roger Nichols built a complete song from it. With Richard Carpenter's beautiful arrangement, the song became a smash hit.

The new book, Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter by Randy L. Schmidt, captures a much deeper, complex person than what most people think of Karen: a goody-two-shoes kind of character. Along with her brother Richard, Karen's image was maintained by a strict, hovering mother who made certain that family secrets stayed just that. Mother Agnes, and all but silent father, Harold, maintained a comfortable home for the family on the East Coast, and in 1963, made a move from New Haven, Connecticut to Downey, California, just to foster Richards growing musical talents. Little did the family know, the younger sister who tagged along was to be the center of attention a few years later with the smoky, sultry voice that has endured into classic status.

It seems the troubles that led to her untimely death were a combination of deep insecurity and the claustrophobic home life that smothered her until the end. Her good pal Frenda Franklin once asked her, "You don't know, do you?" Karen was clueless. "You don't know how talented you are because, if you did, you wouldn't be intimidated by others."

Her super-stardom, marriage and eventual solo project never quite filled the deficits deep in her heart, and by April of 1982, evidence of severe anorexia was striking even after therapy. She eventually gained 30 pounds (this is disputed) and on December 17, 1982, Karen made her final public appearance in Sherman Oaks, California.

On February 4, 1983, just weeks away from her 33rd birthday, Karen succumbed to heart failure. Her funeral was on February 8th and she was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California.

The sadness of her death comes to mind each time I hear her beautiful voice flowing from the greatest hits records I have of the duo. One of my favorite CDs is Carpenter's Christmas, which is a staple for me and my family during the Holidays.

There are so many stories from families like the Jacksons and the Wilsons, of Beach Boys fame, that prove the sunny, southern California dream isn't an antidote for troubled hearts. I grew up in the midst of it and know that to be true. Sometimes the romantic images of the beach and the orange groves, Hollywood and music are only what we want them to be. I find that when people move to places where they think their lives will be improved, they only carry their troubles to a new climate.

In any case, Karen Carpenter is a classic. I wonder where she would be today if only her heart found rest while alive.

First National Band

I came of age while on the road with the First National Band (FNB). (See the blog written about Gary Henley a few months back). American Entertainment Productions (AEP) of Columbus, Ohio, developed this group for the purpose of entertaining Jr. and Sr. high school students during convocations. We mostly traveled around the U.S. but did a few USO tours which, during my tenure (1980-1982), took us to Alaska, Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey.

FNB was only fit for the young. When the grueling schedule was handed out each month, we were like naive soldiers waiting to be deployed on Omaha Beach, not knowing the fate that awaited us! I was appointed "Manager" and therefore had the dubious responsibility of keeping a van and four other guys rolling down the road toward the next gig. We stayed in some pretty shady places as our hotel budget leaned toward, or south of, the Motel 6 variety.

I can't imagine that the music was incredible, although my memories are dreamily scattered with grandiose images of rock-star moments. We had days where we never saw a motel room as we were scheduled to be in a far-away town to play the next day. Needless to say, I learned to sleep sitting up.

My professional music and ministry career was enhanced by the experiences in AEP and FNB. I learned the skill of entertaining a crowd. I also learned the responsibility of handling a schedule, managing four different band-mates and the finances, while trying to be the best guitar player, singer and performer I could be.

When I look at the faces of those early-twenty-something guys in the photo above, I see innocence. The subsequent stories of each individual in the picture vary; some are tragic. I am thankful that during my time on the road, I had the strong arm of my Lord holding on to me. There were times when I could have walked away from Him, but God was faithful. The young Jamie in the photo had no idea of the blessings that would be waiting right around the bend and for years to come. I am blessed to have been a part of all of it!

Creating Great Moments In Worship, Part 6: When Things Go Wrong

With any performance, things have the potential to go wrong: microphones can stop working, the power can fail causing silence and darkness, music cues can be missed, etc. Whether its human error or just some freak accident, problems will arise--and they take us by surprise every time!

In any event, our greatest ally is preparation. A thousand mistakes and an equal amount of equipment failure can potentially be avoided by thinking through every possible technical, musical or transitional weakness that may be lurking in our weekly worship plan. Paranoia about something going wrong during a worship service shouldn't rule our planning process, though. If we plan far enough out from the performance, with plenty of time to process the program design, while utilizing the talent and wisdom of the team around us collectively thinking through each segment of the service, we can anticipate problems and make corrections.

As I have written before, "flow" is necessary when we are taking our congregations on a weekly journey, maintaining their full and active attention while communicating the message of the Gospel. When things go wrong, their attention is deflected away from the intended focus and toward the distraction. This destroys that precious state of mind which every skilled communicator works for: the place where the audience is no longer self-aware, time flies and they are fully engaged in the moment.

There are two areas to consider when dealing with things that go wrong during a performance: the stage and the audience. Here are 10 tips that may help avoid the most serious of problems.

From The Stage
1. Don't do anything from the stage that hasn't been scrutinized and agreed upon collectively by the worship production team. Of course, there will be times when God wants to go in another direction and the pastor or leader of the service will have to make that call. Spontaneity doesn't always equate spirituality, though.

2. Make sure that the technical aspects of the service are tested and run in rehearsal; go over entrances and exits, how staging will be moved--who will do what and where, etc.--beforehand.

3. Make sure that sight lines are established between the leader, band and vocalists. If that isn't possible, create an audible means of communication if changes are needed during the performance (I wear a pair of wireless, in-ear monitors so I'm always connected to the guys at the sound console). Use hand signals or gestures as a means of communication without having to disrupt flow.

4. When a mistake is made try not to draw attention to it. It is likely that the audience won't even be aware of the mess-up. Skilled performers know that a mistake can enhance a performance when, even after a stumble, they land gracefully on their feet (this is only for the uber-skilled among us)!

5. If possible, designate a person from the tech team to help with potential stage problems. When called upon, they can inconspicuously move to the stage to fix a sound problem or make an equipment change. It's important that the performers stay focused on playing and singing. If a problem brings a performance to a screeching halt, it needs to be established who will stand in the gap and carry the program until a solution is found, or to conclude the service altogether. An audience's trust in a good leader will go a long way in helping to get through a difficult moment during a performance.

From the Audience
1. Many disruptions come from babies in the audience. Create a policy that limits certain ages to participate in services. If this is not possible, take the opportunity to promote your well equipped, secure, clean and nurturing child care facility where their age-appropriate behavior is be better suited. Supplying a private and discreet "family room" for mothers, including a video feed of the service, is a great way to help with this problem.

2. Make it a policy that if congregants choose to sit toward the front of the sanctuary, unless a pertinent personal or physical issue arises, they should remain seated during the service--otherwise, encourage them to sit farther back in the room. Sanctuary etiquette and respect need to be taught from the pulpit as well as in children's training classes. Pastors and/or worship leaders will have to make special effort to teach worshipers proper behavior in casual worship environments. This may need to be done often, especially in a growing church.

3. Train ushers and greeters to be aware of any potential interruptions in the audience and teach them to assist the pastor in a proper and discreet manor when called upon. Some congregants may need special attention, such as those with disabilities and/or those who require physical assistance.

4. Make sure that a person of authority other than the one leading from the stage is available to help contain any situation that may arise. If the pastor or leader makes a gesture from the stage, that person needs to move quickly toward the disruption or spiritual need in the audience.

5. Sometimes a medical emergency may arise in a service. If the ill person is mobile, it is best to handle the situation from the back of the auditorium until they are stabilized, or until emergency personnel can transport them. Sometimes the person cannot be moved. But if it's at all possible, respectfully allow the service to carry on. Plan in advance how to approach this situation when the need arises.

We can't prevent every disruption from raising its ugly head during our services. Problems can turn out for the better, though, if we plan for an "escape-route" before things go horribly wrong. Let's face it, to ere is human, but to walk right into a problem because of poor planning or laziness is inexcusable!

Look for Creating Great Moments in Worship, Part 7, in the coming weeks. Any comments, questions or suggestions may be directed to me at jamie@jamieharvill.com. Also, ask how I can help you and your your church attain a more effective worship experience.

What's A Wah-Wah Pedal?

Hey groovy guys and gals, I have stumbled upon a cool YouTube video about the genesis of the wah pedal, or Cry Baby, as some call it. Thanks to this video my friend Rory White sent, I now know the amazing story behind one of my favorite guitar effects of all time. Next to the tremolo effect, the wah pedal creates one of my favorite guitar sounds: a unique, frequency modulation effect added to the guitar that jumps out at the listener when used.

My first awareness of the Wah-Wah was on the record, Theme From Shaft, written and recorded by Issac Hayes in 1971. The guitar part was played by Charles Pitts (I was able to see that original "Shaft" wah pedal on display at the Stax Museum in Memphis, TN a few years ago!) I also remember Jimi Hendrix' use of it on the song Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and Clapton with Cream's White Room. As the disco period dawned, the wah was used excessively like with the theme song from Three's Company. It's one of those effects that, when used sparingly, can really be effective when you want both killer lead and rhythm tones to project through a dense mix.

Check out this great video and follow this crazy story yourself!