From the Mind of MandoRon

Since I wasn’t in town this Sunday, my buddy Rod is filling in with the lowdown on the GP setlist.  Be sure to check out more setlists over at Fred’s Sunday Setlist Blog Carnival.

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Hello everyone in blogville. I’m Rod, AKA Buck, keyboard player in the Edge of Grace band at GracePoint. I have been asked by Mando himself to sit in on this jam session. I will try and put a keyboard players spin on it, but don’t worry, Mando will be back, he is just taking a much deserved break.

Today was another fantastic Sunday at GracePoint. With it also being Memorial Day weekend, we recognized the Veterans and Bryson also rem

inded the congregation of the upcoming “Elevate” event in which the announcement will be made about the permanent location for the home of GracePoint.

Ok, enough talk, time to rock with the setlist.

• We Shine by Fee 
• All Because of Jesus by Fee
• Hosanna by Brooke Frasier/Hillsong
• Word of God Speak as performed by Kutless
• Show Me What I’m Looking For by Carolina Liar

We Shine - Fee. We have been doing this song a couple of years and this one is still one of my fav’s. Nine-Finger, AKA Gil, was on bass today and I love the stuff he does even with his disability, but that’s another blog for another time. Mike was singing lead busting out the vocals and he always get the people up on there feet to get the worship started. Keyboard wise this song doesn’t have any on the recording, so I toss in the B-3 and some piano and put the OLD Journey sound to it. Let’s give it up for Gregg Rolie!

All Because of Jesus - Fee. Seems to be a pattern going on here, but maybe it’s just coincidence. Another great song by Fee. Mike threw down some sweet vocals. Our Drummer Deric, (no nickname yet) lays down a very sweet grove on this song which enables me, as the keyboard player, to use an arpeggiator sound which is heavily used in this song. I start the song and Deric matches that speed and he very rarely moves from that tempo, which is a true gift and a blessing for all of us musicians. It also keeps me from having to change the tempo on the ol’ arpeggiator. Good Job Deric!

Hosanna - Brooke Fraiser. This is a fantastic song that our singer Amy does an AWESOME job on. Follow this link to see it. http://www.vimeo.com/3916352 We tone it down a bit and Amy grabs the congregation by the heart with this one. It is amazing to hear her go from her regualar singing voice into the falsetto range. This song has it all going for it in the keys section. Sweet pads, Piano and organ which makes for a very fun song to play. It’s got a sweet lead guitar solo going in it, well played by our own Kevin Herrington. Today was also special for the fact the we had a father and son team on stage. Kevin (the father) and Nash Herrington (the son) both play guitar for us and it was great having them on stage together.

Word of God Speak - Kutless. Mike took the lead vocal duties back on this one as we used this song for a prayer time. While this is one of the easier songs, it’s one of those that says a lot even though there are not a lot of words to it. My favorite line in the song is, “The last thing I need is to be heard but to hear, what you would say”. It plays off the old saying less is best. When we think that we need to be heard, maybe what we really need to do is just listen.

Show Me What I’m Looking For - Carolina Liar. This is a new song to us. Carmen took the lead on this one and as always, blows us away with her vocals. I am usually unable to really watch the vocalist very closely, but Carmen should be on Idol. She brings the audience into her world when she is singing. A true gift that is amazing. Pretty basic piano part on this but it does take off on a synth solo, which was fun.

Once again, another life changing experience at GracePoint. What really amazes me is that this church is so young and yet it reaches so many. The people of GracePoint, the volunteers and the staff all are working together for one goal, to bring the love of Jesus to those who do not know him. Rock on GracePoint, See you in Church!! Buck

I’m in Tulsa this weekend visiting Andrea’s brother and sister, and their families.  So this isn’t my normal GracePoint Sunday Setlist.

We attended Christ United Methodist Church in Tulsa, OK this morning with my sister-in-law.  It’s been quite a while since we’ve visted there.  We attended the 9:15 service, which is the first of their two contemporary services.

Christ UMC’s Setlist:

• Let Creation Sing by Hillsong
• Evermore by Hillsong
• Cover the Earth by Israel Houghton/Lakewood Church
• Sing to the Lord by Hillsong
• You Are My Strength by Hillsong
• Remember Me by Mark Shultz (special music)

We don’t use any of these songs at GP.  In fact, I’ve never heard most of them before.  It was kind of nice to hear something different.  Evermore is one I’d like to get in the rotation someday. 

The band: worship leader, seven voice ensemble, two(?) electric guitars, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboard, and drums.  (And one little sitting next to the bass player.  Very well behaved, I might add…) 

For more Sunday Setlists, check out Fred McKinnon’s Sunday Setlist extravaganza.  You can now check out the GracePoint setlist here courtesty of guest blogger Rod.

I picked up two CDs and a few stickers tonight for next week’s giveaway of Ferocious Mary’s new CD, “Here. Me. Now.”

Tune in Monday(ish) for the contest rules. 

In the meantime, check out their myspace page to listen to a few songs.  Or you can check them out at The Groove tonight, or Club Liquid Saturday night.

I figured we should kick the weekend off with free music.  Lots of free music!

First off, you can download Lanae Hale’s new album for free. @ MusicChristian.com, @ NewReleaseTuesday.com, and several others.

Speaking of NewReleaseTuesday.com, they have new free downloads every week.  Follow them on twitter to keep in the loop.

Second, Josh over at The Free Christian Music Blog has links to three sampler albums you download from Amazon.  These include songs from Sarah Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Danyew, Philmont, Future of Forestry, Building 429, etc…

• -Now Hear This: Discover New Music - Pop on Amazon.com-
• -Now Hear This: Discover New Music - Rock on Amazon.com-
• -6 Picks: Essential Radio Hits Sampler on Amazon.com-

The Free Christian Music Blog is an awesome resource for finding free music.  There are new links every few days.

What other resources do you use to get free music (legitimately)?  Leave a comment and share with the rest of us.

Last night was Gas-Powered Lawn Tool Repair Night at my house.  My weed whacker hasn’t been running very well the last few years, and I couldn’t get it to run at all this weekend. 

The culprit?

I’m sure that I’m the culprit.  In 9 years, I’ve never changed the spark plug or cleaned the air filter.  Plus, I think the gas I’m using is 3 or 4 years old.  So… I cleaned the air filter, purchased a new spark plug, and I got some more oil to mix in with new gas.  The spark plus was pretty gunked up, as you might imagine.

Does it work?  Don’t know yet…  I forgot to take the gas can with me and didn’t get any gas.

I figured I should also get a new spark plug and air filter for the mower.  They were probably only two years old… 

Also bought a new blade.  Although I didn’t realize it was the wrong size until after I shredded the packaging!  Someone had put a 21″ blade in a 20″ box…  My own stupid fault for not looking at the package…

So it’s back to Lowe’s after work today to attempt an exchange.