Hey Ya’ll,
One of my favorite worship ballads EVER is “Though I Can’t See You”, written by a dear friend and mentor, Mack Tucker. I had the honor of leading and recording this song in Sept 2005 at our first “Worship Under the Stars” event. It’s one of those worship ballads that everyone sings, even if they’ve never heard it before. I still remember the night we did this on Jekyll Island - although it was an original composition by Mack, and probably 99% of those in attendance had never heard it, I could HEAR all those people singing it back, as if it were already a “standard” in their congregation. That’s one of the marks of a great song - singable, simple, heartfelt.
I’ve uploaded the entire video of this song to YouTube, posted below. I hope you’ll watch it and share it with your friends. Mack, by the way, is the acoustic guitar player who plays the gorgeous solo in this video.
The audio version is also posted on my IndieHeaven.Com Artist site now.
Please consider leaving a comment if you like it - and I’ll be sure to let Mack know. Mack, if you’re reading … I still say this is one of the best songs you’ve EVER written!
For the Kingdom,
Fred
Hey Ya’ll,
One of my college buddies, Brian Daniel, from Atlanta is featured in this video. It’s very cool - Brian is a great guy. He was the one who created the album covers for my original “QuietTimes” Volume 1 and “QuietTimes” Volume 2 albums. So, this is the guy who photoshopped me playing the piano on the beach!
Enjoy the video, and leave a comment to let Brian know whatcha think!
Hey Everyone,
This could make me cry just typing it. I’d take a picture, but it probably woudn’t show up very well. Joy had “parent-teacher” conference this AM with Jon Michael’s Kingergarter teacher. Looks like ole’ sporty will be graduating to 1st Grade. As we suspected, he got glowing reviews. Mrs. King sent Joy home with his “writing” work from 4/25. It has 3 pictures at the top - all ’stick figures’ - one is doing .. well, I dunno. The middle one looks like he’s directing a band, and there is music notes over his head. The third is a stick person playing a piano. Then, the good part. I’ll type it exactly as he wrote it and put in [brackets] where you may need some help understanding Kindergarten 101:
Wen I grow up I wot to be a ofice wrcre [worker] and a pastor and a wrshep leadr. Wen I am a wrshep Ledr I wel pactic [practice] for a bennd. [band] Wen I am a … [worship leader] I am going to pras the lord ech day. Wen I am a office wrcr I wel mac [make, unless maybe he's thinking Apple Mac!] manney [money] for my famlle.
Jon Michael
Somebody pass me a Kleenex.
Hey Ya’ll,
In celebration of my father-in-law’s 80th birthday, we joined with family yesterday at the Wilshire Park in Gainesville, GA - a few blocks away from Joy’s parents home. It was a great time of family, food, celebration, and playing with the kids.
What I love about kids is how they love to just “go all out”.
For example, checkout the awesome playground they had at Wilshire Park:
No kids?
Where were all the kids? They could care less about the playground. The kids found something better, and it only took them about 1 minute:
Needless to say, they had fun, and of course, each of them got soaking wet and dirty .. and they loved it!
(more pics here)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDAD!
(as sent to the mailing list for Highest Praise Productions, HighestPraise.Com)Â
Hey Everyone!
Hope and pray that you’ve had an awesome week. I wanted to send a quick email update to all those on the “Highest Praise” mailing list about a few things, so … check it out!
#1: Worship Artist of the Year, 2007 - THANKS!
First, I’d like to express my gratitude to those of you who graciously gave your support to me in voting for my songs and music at IndieHeaven.Com. Because of your support, I was honored with the “2007 Worship Artist of the Year” Momentum Award a few weeks ago in Nashville, TN at the Christian Indie Alliance Summit. It was a huge honor and I am forever grateful, and give God all the glory for it.
As you have been reading, I’ve been using IndieHeaven.Com as my “home base” to make my personal worship and instrumental music available. They have now launched a brand new, redesigned site. One of the coolest features is that you can now play ALL of my music on my page by pressing ONE SIMPLE PLAY BUTTON. The first songs on my page are the newer piano/instrumental compositions, followed by some worship music. I hope you’ll consider bookmarking the site, and listening to the music each day while you are at work. To make it simple, here’s how it’s done:
* go to my IndieHeaven Artist Page
* click the “play” button on the top left to begin playing all songs.
* leave this window open in the background or minimize, and open a new browser window to do your work!
Also …. my version of the very popular praise song, “You, You Are God” as recorded on Worship Under the Stars is currently on IH’s “Fan Faves” chart. Today it was at #8. Would you consider going to Fan Faves and rating it? Thanks a ton! You can rate it once per day from each computer you have.
#2: The Worship Community
In our last newsletter, I mentioned a new forums site that we’ve launched called “The Worship Community”. It’s located at:
www.theworshipcommunity.com
This place has been amazing, and it’s still in pre-launch. Already we’ve got great relationships being forged great discussions and networking. We’re discussing everything from favorite worship songs, albums, worship leading, in-ear monitors versus headphones, how to best mic or shield real drums, band rotations, etc. Will you come check it out and join our community!?
Currently, the Featured “Sticky” Thread is:
“Why Men Hate Going to Church” - it came from some discussion some people were having about some of the more “sappy, passionate/loving” lyrics found in today’s contemporary worship music. We’d love your input. All you have to do is:
* Register as a New User at www.theworshipcommunity.com
* Post your responses, or create a new discussion yourself!
#3: Worship Interludes
I recorded a new worship interludes podcast last week. If you’d like about 20 minutes of quiet, spontaneous worship, ministry, prayer, and meditation, I hope you’ll check it out. You can listen on the web at www.worshipinterludes.com or the best way is to subscribe through iTunes.
#4: Personal News
I’ve really fallen off the wagon in blogging. I love it. For those of you who have enjoyed emailing back and forth and following the more “personal side” of HPP, my own life as a Music Minister, Father, Husband, etc … I’d encourage you to check out my personal blog at:
If you’re familiar with subscribing to blogs or “RSS” feeds, you can do so from my “feeds” page. You can also add my blog posts to your Google Home Start Page, your Yahoo Home Start page, your AOL Home Start Page, etc … all from the “feeds” page. Below is a little “ticker” of recent posts that you can click on as well:
↑ Grab this Headline Animator
Until the next update - may God bless you incredibly!
For the Kingdom,
Fred F. McKinnon, Founder/President
Highest Praise Productions, Inc.
Worship International, Inc.
