Happy Thanksgiving … a little late!

Posted on November 28th, 2005 in Family, Ministry Trips, Music, Podcasts & Updates, Worship Under The Stars by Fred

Hey Everybody -

Happy Thanksgiving … a little late. I hope that you had a great time of thanksgiving. We certainly have much to be grateful for. We traveled to McRae, GA for some time with my family and had a great time. I was able to go deer hunting 3 times, and got 2 deer … so I was thrilled - time for some venison stew, chili, and burgers!

Lots is going on … and I just wanted to take a brief moment to say “hello” to everyone. The trip to Dallas was great - it was a massive learning experience. When all was said and done, we did not finish mixing “Worship Under The Stars“, but we should have the final two songs mixed this week. Hopefully, the same progress is moving forward on the video editing and DVD authoring up in Atlanta.

On the agenda this week:

    Staff meeting at my church, Christian Renewal Church, SSI
    Trip to Dublin, GA to discuss “Worship Under The Stars” in Middle Georgia.
    Finish approval of “Worship Under the Stars” mixes.
    Coordinate graphics/menus with DVD authoring team.
    Complete 3rd Quarter Royalty and Consignment Sale Payouts from HPP
    Staff Christmas Party Friday Night

And that’s only the beginning - so like all of us, the world can get pretty crazy and busy. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, Amen!

Speaking of “Fixing Your Eyes” - consider subscribing to the Highest Praise Worship Podcast - that song (from the Worship Under The Stars event) will be featured in this week’s podcast, hopefully to be released today or tomorrow.

Finally - do me a big favor - someone showed me a really cool site called “Frappr.Com” which lets you create a map for people to “push pins” and show where they are located. Would you take a moment and “push a pin” to show me where you are!

Below is the current map (I’m the only pin pusher right now!) … this should automatically display with the most recent updates, even after this blog entry has been posted.
Check out our Frappr!

***PUSH YOUR PIN ***



God bless ya!
FRED

Off to Dallas, TX - Worship Under The Stars Mix

Posted on November 15th, 2005 in Ministry Trips, Worship Under The Stars by Fred

Hey Ya’ll -
I’m about to leave for Dallas, TX where I’ll be spending the rest of the mix doing the final “mixes” for the Worship Under The Stars recording. I’m still a bit overwhelmed, and feel like I’m not prepared to do the “finals” yet, but hopefully I’ll like the sound of things when I get out there.

I’ll be staying on campus at Christ for the Nations and working with Randy Adams. Please pray for safe travel and for super-productive times in the studio this week. Hopefully, I’ll come home with the “master” on Saturday evening which will be used for mass replication.

If you’ve not yet pre-ordered a CD, DVD, or CD/DVD package, please consider doing so at http://www.worshipunderthestars.com/products.php

Pre-Order income will help offset the cost (about $10K +) of the studio time this week, mastering, royalties, and replication.

Also, pray for Joy and the kids while I’m gone. Her mom and dad have come down from Gainesville and will be here for a few days!

God bless ya!
FRED

Christmas Deer

Posted on November 14th, 2005 in General by Fred

Ahh … Christmas - it’ll be here before we know it - and it’s not even Thanksgiving.

In honor of my good, South Georgia redneck heritage, I just couldn’t help but to share this great picture …. hope you laugh as hard as I did.

Redneck Deer Decoration

Working in the studio …

Posted on November 11th, 2005 in General, Music, Worship Under The Stars by Fred

Hey Ya’ll -

Man .. is it beautiful outside today, or what!? It’s been so hot (which isn’t unusual for where we live) … but today is a cool 65 degrees with a light breeze and a high, clear blue sky. I only wish I weren’t trapped in the “studio”.

I’m hard at work finishing the final overdubs for the “Worship Under The Stars” recording. This morning was very productive, as I replaced all my vocals on “Restore My Heart”, “How Great Is Our God”, and “Though I Can’t See You” … just finished a salad on the back porch enjoying the beautiful weather, and now getting ready to finish the rest of the songs. I know … I know … you’re thinking “hey - wasn’t that a LIVE recording?” … Ha, yeah, well of course it was. But that doesn’t mean we won’t recut some of those tracks again in the studio - although some of it sounded pretty good “live” - when you isolate those tracks in the studio - sometimes they can sound pretty rough. It’s a common practice, believe me. The good news is … we’ll be keeping live tracks, too - and those will also be used when applicable. The drummer, sax, flute, percussion, etc., are all 100% live and don’t have ANY overdubs at all … and of course … the audience mics … all SIX of them have all the live sound on them as well.

All the other vocalists have finished overdubbing their parts - Shannon Lewis has about 5 spots to fix tonight, and Mack Tucker (his father-in-law) the acoustic guitarist has a few punches, and I’ll be “all done”. I’ve been FedExing audio files to Randy Adams all week as he’s already working on the tracks prior to my arrival next week.

Yep - next week I head back out to Dallas for the final mix - I’m really looking forward to it.

By the way - did I mention … I have a beard now? Crazy - I just didn’t shave for a few days, and since I had last Sunday “off” at church (we had some guest worship leaders in town, so I just sat back and ran the sound!) … I didn’t have to shave - and now it’s quite full. Haven’t decided if I’ll keep it or not … but it’s been fun seeing everyone’s shocked expressions when I show up somewhere.

Oh well - this was a nice break, but time to start singing again …

For the Kingdom,
Fred