New CD!!!

Here’s the news, my brother and I have started work on another CD. The first disk “Lightning Strikes” was produced with truly minimal cost. Artistically, it makes some of the statements I’d hoped it would, but the production was by far the weakest part of the project.

Bill Heeter (my brother) had given guitar lessons in and around Blue Springs, Mo for years, in addition to being a respected player who is able to just jump into anything you might be playing. A couple of years ago, one of his former students (making us feel old now, ya know LOL) opened a recording studio in Blue Springs. Recently, Bill has been invited to work at the studio, doing production and engineering as well as playing on customer’s projects. I’m really excited to say that he’s decided we should do another CD! And this one will be produced in the professional studio, rather than Bill’s living room!

So we’re in the planning stages here. I’ve always said I prefer artists who do “albums” rather than just a number of songs on the same disk. Examples would be Collective Soul’s “Disciplined Breakdown” and Janis Ian’s “Between the Lines”. Those songs, while they don’t all sound the same; all seem to fit as pieces of a whole. That’s what I prefer to listen to. That being said…at this point I doubt I’ll be able to put together an actual “album” this time. There are too many songs I want to do and too many styles I want to explore!

The first CD included a Santana-esque original song “Warriors” (which, for a limited time, you can download for free if you sign up for my mailing list at http://jenniferphillips.yolasite.com/music.php ), an original blues number “The Lonely Road” which is my personal testimony, and “Isaiah” which in my mind is reminiscent of the romantic era of classical music. We also did original arrangements of 9 old public domain hymns. Some are well known – “Amazing Grace”, “When We All Get To Heaven”, “Revive Us Again”, “To God Be The Glory” and “Blessed Assurance”. Additionally, we included “A Charge to Keep, I Have” which is an old Methodist hymn (the only one on the CD that doesn’t appear in my old Baptist Hymnal!) and “Steal Away to Jesus” which would best be described as a spiritual.

For the new CD, I’m completely out of original lyrics (unless the Lord gives me some, that is), so looking for more obscure hymns. Looking to see if some of the lesser-known songs by Fanny Crosby (she wrote over 8000 hymns in her lifetime – with probably 400 that are extremely well known) might be worth revisiting. I’ve already presented two well-known songs to Bill with arrangement ideas “Near the Cross” and “Nothing But the Blood”. Now, if he is able to grab hold of what I am hearing in my head, “Nothing But the Blood” will be quite an attention grabber! But I’m not going to share the details just yet!!

I’ve also asked the praise team from Cross Creek Baptist Mission to sing with me on some songs for the new CD. Every week I listen to our music and feel so very blessed to be able to sing with such gifted musicians! Pastor Ray Gurney is one of the best singers I know (and that’s saying something!) and his daughter; Chrissy Gurney-Long is a truly gifted worship leader. Kathy Ricker-Paine has a lovely voice, though she’s not comfortable yet doing any solos (maybe someday!). All in all, I feel that for the small church we are, we have a fantastic praise team. And the praise team would be worthless without our wonderfully talented sound director, Annie Lang.

If you’re in or near Kansas City on a Sunday morning, please feel free to drop in at Cross Creek! We love to have visitors and we love to serve the Lord!

Ok, going to wrap this up, as I’m afraid I’m starting to ramble (I don’t want to be THAT kind of blogger LOL). Thank you for taking the time to read my blog…please check back often for more updates.

Have a great day and Be Blessed!

Jennifer Phillips

http://jenniferphillips.yolasite.com/music.php

My Own "Disciplined Breakdown"

Mid-July, 1997, Collective Soul was to play a show in Kansas City. I was so very excited about it…I LOVED their first two CDs and got tickets for the concert. Since they were scheduled to play one of the worst possible venues in KC (in my opinion), I wasn’t sure what to expect…but was hopeful. When the night came, I was truly blown away!

The band took the stage and Ed was having trouble with his earpiece (monitor) and they had to re-start a song, but the sound crew still couldn’t get it to work right. After a minute or so trying, Ed just tossed it and said the show was going on anyway. Now, I’m a singer, and I KNOW how hard it is to sing without a monitor (not to mention in a venue with HORRIBLE acoustics anyway!). So the fact that he not only attempted it, but also got the job done with NO sour notes at all (again, if there had been mistakes, I would have heard them, cause I have a pretty precisely trained ear)! In addition to Ed’s amazing vocal performance, I was impressed with the band’s overall musicianship! It was one of the best concerts I had ever attended (and yes, I’ve attended quite a few!).

The morning after the concert, I left KC at 6 am to see my (then) hubby in Kentucky. I actually stopped at a Kmart in St Louis to buy “Disciplined Breakdown” on the way!!! My kids and I were singing along with the tape before we reached our destination!

Sadly, shortly after, my cousin committed suicide. The entire family was devastated. So many questions about “what could I have done?” and all that. What a difficult time for us all! I was especially bothered by this loss, as I didn’t know for sure if he had made peace with God, though I had tried on several occasions to lead him to the cross.

Over the next year or so, I went through a deep depression. The only comfort I could find was “Disciplined Breakdown” and specifically the song “Maybe”. That tape was in the player in my van almost constantly for a year. I can’t begin to tell you what that album meant to me…and it’s still my favorite Collective Soul CD (and one of my all time favorite albums period!).

I could have written about other stories that have involved CS music, but this one really means a lot to me…and I just want the band to know that their work made a difference in my life!

If anyone reading this isn’t familiar with Collective Soul, I urge you to check them out on Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/collective_soul

Or the official band website:

http://www.collectivesoul.com/news/

And if you are within 500 miles of someplace they’re playing this summer, you GOTTA check out CS in concert! If you enjoy great music performed live, these guys will not disappoint you!

http://www.collectivesoul.com/live/

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

Have a great day and Be Blessed!

Jennifer Phillips

phillipsjennie@hotmail.com