Get the Right Person For the Job

An alternate title for this piece could be "careful casting," because it's important to employ the most suitable persons to complete any given project, including movies, music, home fix-it folks, relationships--you name it.

I've watched a boatload of blu ray special features in my time and have heard several directors say that they carefully cast their actors. This means the director and staff carefully look into hundreds of photos, audition tapes and have several meetings to fill a role with the perfect actor, who embodies the specific skills to get the job done. Chemistry is important among the actors in film, too, to project authenticity on the screen. That way when the movie hits theaters, it has the greatest chance of being financially and critically successful.

To illustrate this in my world of music production, I have been putting together some song demos for a client. I arranged one of the songs in the style of one of my favorite country artists, Emmylou Harris. I am well aware that the "Emmylou sound" is very particular in that I was going to require a very specific singer to pull off the lead vocal. I knew who to call. And when I did, she wasn't immediately available to come in and record the part. I could have found someone else, who I would have ended up frustrating and who would have ended up frustrating me. The job would have barely been completed, if even done at all. I would have wasted time, money and energy trying to cram an otherwise wonderful singer into a roll that was unsuitable for them. In this way, nobody is happy when the day is done.

Long story short...Heather came over last night to sing and knocked the ball out of the park! We even had plenty of time to do some killer background vocals.

Like I stated earlier, to get the job done, we must be very careful to use the most suitable person for the job. Sometimes we bring in the wrong person and, when the result is negative, we blame them. Well, the blame should be put on us because we tried to force a proverbial right shoe on a left foot and expected them to dance like a ballerina!

We must take the time to find the right person for the job. It really is more of a reflection on we as team leaders, producers, directors, project managers,  business owners, etc., than on those we choose. "Careful casting" is also imperative when searching for a marriage partner. Sometimes, like actors, our prospective mate may say they can ride horses and shoot guns like John Wayne, only to find that they've never even been three feet from a horse in their lives. Poor decision making creates bad movies and bad marriages. Careful choosing helps avoid painful losing.

When You Get To Your Goals--What's Next?

After tossing and turning last night, I resorted to perusing my iPad. Waiting in my email box was a weekly installment from "In the Studio with Redbeard," containing an interview with the classic rock band Kansas and their thoughts on the 35th anniversary of their mega-successful record, "Point of Know Return."

Kerry Livgren--co-founder, principle songwriter, lead guitarist and former member of Kansas--remembered the road to fame in an audio portion from the "In the Studio" website. When asked about the rise to success after the band's beginnings in Topeka, Kansas, Livgren said,

"You know, success is harder to live with than the road getting to it, I thought. We lived in some amazing poverty, and we had a really rough road--and people thought we were making all this money…All of a sudden that changed, rather abruptly and dramatically. All of a sudden we had everything we ever wanted just tossed in our lap. You know you've had this pie-in-the-sky dream for like ten years and all of a sudden here you are--you got it! What do you do next? You know, that's a hard thing to deal with in your life--it really is--'cause when you've got a direction, that's great. But when you get to the destination, you no longer have a direction, you're there--and that's real tough."

This past week I had the pleasure of attending the Global Leadership Summit at the Franklin campus of The People's Church, an annual simulcast from the Chicago-area Willow Creek Association. So many excellent speakers took the stage over the two-day conference. My favorite was Patrick Lencioni's session (apparently, he is the favorite of most everyone, according to answers to exit questionnaires). He said that every organization must ask themselves six critical questions--and I believe we as individuals must do the same,

"Why do we exist? How do we behave? What can we actually do? How do we succeed? What is most important in our organization right now? Who must do what?"

If we continually answer these questions as individuals, and live our lives in response, then our goals are always alive. I would restate these questions as a continual goal-setting activity as follows:

1. Why do I exist? (To life for and bring glory to God).
2. How do I behave? (Purpose to live out the life-principles found in the Word of God--the Bible).
3. What can I actually do? (Seek God's purposes for my life in light of my particular gifts, talents and passion).
4. How do I succeed? (Create specific, attainable and measurable goals in light of the preceding three directives).
5, What is most important in my life now? (The ever-present values of God and family first never change, but with life seasons, always adjust to the immanent priorities in life while setting boundaries to protect myself from the "tyranny of the urgent").
6. What must I do? (In the same light of directive number five, I must learn that there is only so much I myself can accomplish; there maybe others more suitable to do certain things. Understanding our limitations may dictate what the "next" will be. I must work alongside others to attain my goals).

I want to continually grow and set new, fresh goals. It's a sad day for some who feel they've already hit their glory days. Not me--I'm still rockin'!

Bacon Rules!

Did you know that there's a bacon-lovers group with a website called the "Royal Bacon Society?" On the site they talk of bacon brownies, bacon beer, bacon Elvis cookies, and a whole slew of bacon-related merchandise. They even have a Facebook page!

I totally get it because I adore bacon. Its my favorite protein for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I make excuses all the time to make breakfast for dinner, just so I can cook me up some bacon!

Last night Brenda suggested we have some BLTs for dinner. I jumped up and started breaking into a fresh package of thick bacon and promptly placed six strips on the microwave plate to start the process (I'm not a fan of frying bacon because of the mess it leaves on the stove afterward--a cover over the microwave plate cleans up nicely!).

Burger King Bacon Sundae

We had lunch yesterday at Burger King, and promptly displayed on the counter was an advertisement for their Bacon Sundae. Yep, I get it: sweet, salty and crunchy, with that smokey bacon goodness--all in one beautiful package!

I'm a sausage guy, too, but bacon takes the top-spot in my breakfast pantheon of food. There's something about the aroma that brings me back to the days when my family went camping, and the smell of frying bacon on the old green Coleman stove in the broad open spaces of the mountains around Big Bear, California, that made an indelible memory that is vivid today. For generations my family saved bacon grease (the stuff never seemed to spoil!) in a jar to later flavor cornbread and green beans.

My family is Southern all the way and bacon sits prominently in the place of honor among foods with us. That's probably because hogs were slaughtered in the fall and bacon was cured--just like all parts of a pig were back in the day--salted or smoked for later consumption. My ancestors might not have been financially rich, but we never went hungry on account of all the wonderful foods that were canned, smoked or pickled.

Bacon rocks--that's something I'm gonna be politically incorrect about, no matter what!

Faked Or For Real?

Yesterday evening I felt like one of those presenters on PBS' Antiques Roadshow. Its painful to watch their faces while awaiting the good or the bad news regarding the value of the item they brought to the show for appraisal. I always hold my breath during the awkward silence when the appraiser asks the two questions: 1) how much did you pay for it? and 2) what do you think it's worth? 

I answered the phone and my buddy John Scott from Bluesman Vintage Guitars here in Spring Hill asked if I was free to talk. It was about the Gibson Les Paul Gold Top I took to his shop earlier that day (I hoped he could fix the intonation problems I've been having). He asked me where I purchased it. I said I bought it brand-new in '05 from a reputable Gibson dealer. He paused and then said, "I've been looking at this guitar with Big Mike (Bluesman's repair guy and stellar blues picker) all afternoon and there's something weird about it." He went on to mention the quirky electronics routing, the neck binding and neck width; the color of the gold was even different than he'd ever seen before.

As John kept talking my heart began to sink. Its no secret that there are incredible Chinese fakes out there that have made it past many a discriminating eye into the the hands of unsuspecting players. John was leading me to the that very possibility: could this guitar I payed two grand for seven years ago be a fake?

John has a friend here in Nashville who works at the Gibson factory and knows all of the ins-and-outs of most every Gibson made. He also has a trained eye for fakes. John promised me he'd call his buddy and would let me know the next day what the verdict was on my prized Gold Top.

I spent the next 24 hours in suspension--at least the folks on Antiques Roadshow are only held over for a few seconds. I was afraid that my $2000 investment might turn out to be actually valued at $200...maybe. The fakes that have been floating around are said to be unbelievably well constructed, with papers, hanging tags and a real Gibson hard case! I was even contemplating casing it and shoving it way back into the corner of my studio closet where I wouldn't have to face the humility if the Les Paul was in fact a forgery.

I called John today and he played me a bit just for fun. It turns out that my Les Paul is a Gibson, confirmed by the serial number, proving that the store where I bought it was a match. His friend explained to John that the 60s-style necks are hand-sanded and that the funky differences between two necks of the same model are very possible. Different suppliers can explain the binding and the gold paint differences, too. All in all, my guitar is the real deal. Whew! That was close...I am sooo relieved!

Its easy to get duped these days. With all of the picker and pawn shows on TV, we're getting better as an audience at pointing out quirks that lead to suspicions and an item's true value. Thank God I've got great friends who stand in the gap for me when, even as a pro player, I can be so easily bamboozled.

Done!

Like I wrote a few weeks ago, its so good to be finished with a project. In my case, two projects! Gary and I are finished with our project and I'm finished with the instrumental project.

My son Josh was here overnight yesterday and expertly completed the artwork for my instrumental record. I knew the title pretty much says that its an instrumental, but I wanted to make sure that guitars were prominently displayed on the cover, too.

I'm pleased to present to you the final cover!

The record is now available on iTunes, Spotify, AmazonMp3, eMusic, etc,. Go there now and download a copy!

Gary and I have named our project "Doxology" (there's singin' on that one...guitars, too). We will have it uploaded and ready to purchase real soon.

Oh, and thanks for reading my blog. I have been distracted of late but promise to pick up my regularity soon. Its not good to be irregular...there's a medicine for that!

The Things We Leave Behind

As I write this, I have been forced into my office upstairs while carpet is being installed throughout the bottom floor of our home. Eleven years of living has made way into the fibers of those dilapidated, stained and tired fibers; It was due time to upgrade to something fresh--with greater quality than the builders originally installed.

Like with used carpet, life makes an imprint in the places we live. With so many ghost hunter-related shows filling our cable channels, we see that not only are our homes filled with our earthly stuff, but apparently our living spaces retain a bit of spiritual energy, too. I have been in places where there is a distinct vibe present--either negative or positive--rarely neutral. I must say I enjoy watching some of the ghost-oriented shows and have seen some pretty astonishing things. As a Christian, I believe in eternal life (life after death), and I believe that through our decision to acknowledge Christ as Savior here on earth, we will, therefore, find an eternal home with Him in Heaven, waiting on the other side of life.

I don't know the full explanation of why supernatural phenomena happens on earth (and I'll remain a skeptic, for the most part, as to most claims), but I have to say I believe there are evil spirits roaming the earth whose sole purpose is to lead people away from God.

For this reason, every time a family member moves into a new place, I like to bring anointing oil to dab over each doorway and accompany it with a prayer of consecration and protection for the inhabitants. To some this may seem extreme but, as a Christ-follower, I am convinced that humans are vulnerable to evil even though they may believe it doesn't exist.

As the guys haul away the old, dirty carpet to the dump, I know that love, grace and redemption remains in every fiber of our home. We made a choice eleven years ago when we bought this place that Christ would be Lord of this place. I know He makes Himself known to all who come through our door. I bet you'll feel it if you come for a visit.

Rain, Rain

It poured last night. After a couple of weeks of scorching 100 degree-plus temperatures, the sky finally broke open and soaked the dry ground--especially the lawn, flowers and garden--around our house. It reminded me of just how dependent upon God we humans are.

I am humbled by the fact that my life is unsustainable outside of the grace and provision of God. If our planet scooted closer or further away from the sun, we would all burn up or freeze. The same with the delicate balance of oxygen on earth: we would suffocate if the mix changed even a smidgeon. Here's the skinny: We are all dependent on God, whether we want to admit it, confess it, believe it or not. I choose to accept that God is involved in the tiniest details of our lives and our environment.

Thank you, God, for the rain. I pray that we get more over the next few days. Our air conditioner out back has been carrying a heavy load lately. I feel the same way at times in my life: circumstances can get tough and it's always good when God's grace rains down and brings needed relief in my heart.

I say, "Let it pour!"