FredMcKinnon.Com

Dear Family, Friends, and Visitors:

It’s with great pleasure that I announce that after more than 12 years of leading worship and producing records for other artists, I’ve finally released my first, live album –
Worship Under The Stars” 2005. I’m very critical of my own music, but I can honestly say that I am very pleased with the outcome of this record.

The album was recorded “live” on Sept 10, 2005 on Jekyll Island GA. It has a companion DVD that was also made (should be shipping in 2-3 weeks, althouth the CD’s are shipping now). I produced and led this evening of worship which included a world-class band and more than 2,500 excited, passionate worshipers from all across the Southeastern United States. There are 12 songs including 4 originals! (The DVD includes a 5th piano solo as well).

You can listen to samples at HighestPraise.Com.

To purchase, use these links:
CD ($12.95) – shipping immediately
DVD ($17.95) – shipping in 2-3 weeks
CD/DVD Combo ($24.95) – CD ships immediately, DVD ships in 2-3 weeks

DOWNLOAD VERSION OF CD – get it instantly!
The download version of the CD is $10.95 and has all (12) songs encoded as high resolution, 192kbs MP3 files. To purchase the download version, it’s recommended that you have broadband as the file size is over 100MB.

I appreciate your support!
For the Kingdom,
Fred F. McKinnon

I’d be blessed if you’d consider purchasing a copy today!

Hey Ya’ll -

Merry Christmas Eve, Eve, Eve – as we say in our household! Can you believe it’s almost here!?

This Christmas season has been far to crazy for me, and I sure hope I can learn from this year, and plan accordingly for next year. Too many projects were all coming together at the same time. Of course, none of the projects were SUPPOSED to still be on the “burner” this late into the year, but it always seems that things drag on and on and before you know it – it’s supposed to be time to relax and enjoy the holidays, and you’re overwhelmed with STUFF.

I’d hoped “Worship Under The Stars” would be completed and “for sale” by now … but instead, we’re not even in replication. I’m supposed to get the final Audio Master CD tomorrow, and my cousin, John McKinnon, is about 1/2 way finished with all the video post-production. I’m having to wrestle around with getting the graphic design finished – at this point, I’ve had it in the hands of 3 different designers, but have yet to go to press with anything. Today I had to write out all the credits, copyrights, and all the “copy” that goes in the CD cover.

One thing I did get done today was a new “Highest Praise Podcast” for Christmas – check it out!

I suppose the thing that has kept me the busiest is the Christmas buying rush – not for my music CD’s … but for all sorts of games and toys that I started selling last year. I’m just a entrepreneur at heart, and even though I know I should be spending more time doing music/ministry – the practical need to pay the bills and attempt to put a little cash in savings now and then seems to popup and grab my attention. Last year, just prior to Christmas I launched into “e-tailing and dropshipping” – where I have products for sale on two of my own retail sites, and then Amazon.Com (hppenterprises) and Ebay (hppenterprises). The two retail sites are www.discountkidsgames.com and www.thekidmall.com.

Last year, I sold a few things but this year, with 200+ positive feedbacks from previous buyers, folks seemed confident to buy from “HPP” and each day I’d have to process tons of orders. Most everything is “dropshipped” — meaning I get the order and then have a wholesale distributor ship it to the end-user/customer on my behalf – complete w/ my return address and everything. It’s been a blessing to make the extra income, etc.

Speaking of extra income – I’ve also found another “venture” that is quite crazy – yet profitable – for now … it’s called “auto-surfing”, and although there are tons of scam sites that offer “commissions for surfing web sites”, this particular one has been true blue and has been paying out for months. I have devoted a “business blog” to journal my experiences with this, and you can read more about it at “The Entrepreneurs’ Blog“. If you’d like to get involved, all I can say is to “READ MY RULES OF ENGAGEMENT” before doing so. Nevertheless, it’s been another source of provision that has been helpful in helping us “make ends meet” around here.

One of major studio hard drives crashed this week – I prayed for a miracle and received one – the drive itself still had the data on it, and I was able to crack open the firewire drive enclosure, remove the drive, and get all the contents off the drive before sending it back to the manufacturer to be repaired (and formatted/wiped clean) under warranty. All of the “Worship Under The Stars” video footage was on this drive, along with my audio edits and 4-days worth of recording a local praise band from Brunswick in the studio.

So, getting that record mixed, some websites updated (I’m grateful for a few specific clients of HPP Web Hosting who have been more than patient in waiting for their sites to be updated), and some administrative business work finished – maybe I’ll be able to catch Santa in his sleigh and go for a ride. I know Jon Michael, Will, Rebekah, and “?” will think that was cool … and yeah – even though I posted it before on this blog … I’ve been surprised how many folks didn’t know there was a Baby McKinnon #4 on the way – due May 10.

That’s all for now – much to do … we’re having a Christmas Party tonight with our homegroup from church.

God bless, Merry Christmas!
For the Kingdom,
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.

***PUSH YOUR PIN ***

God bless ya!
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

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