(This is cross posted from Kirk's blog - Worship in the CIty. )

I had web master Rob Hatch in Chattanooga add a few more of my original tunes to the New City Music website. We offer songs on ncfmusic.com for the benefit of the church to share what we’ve learned or created in the pursuit of cross-cultural worship. Go check it out and make yourself at home.

Year of Jubilee

It’s a Charles Wesley hymn that I gave a new melody and added a chorus; you might know it as “Blow Ye the Trumpet Blow”. I was thinking that the song would work well in a more 1960′s style, civil rights era gospel-rock. I was thinking Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings or Aloe Blacc but the over-driven guitar sounds and my white boy vocals push it more toward something like Neil Young. Maybe one day, I’ll record it with horns and and soul-power guitar riffs to get the sound I heard in my head.  Regardless of the groove, my main goal was to get everyone shouting “FREEDOM!” at the top of their range.

The Lord’s Family

There’s not many songs out there about reconciliation and the ones that are out there can be so cheesy that they are barely palatable. I was aiming for a song about reconciliation that appeals to the gospel and the grand scheme of redemption instead of a touchy-feely, “can’t we all just get along” sentiment. We are an adopted family in Christ, and therefore, we are reconciled even if we are not living it out quite fully. The demo is an attempt at using garage band; it’s not my forte.