Amazing Vocal Master

It gets funnier with each note

... so intense.

I'm sure many of you have seen this already, but if you haven't... you need to see the video from Double Rainbow guy. He is more happy about seeing a double rainbow than you are about anything in your life. (warning: it's full of OMG's)



This viral video is only made even more awesome by this AutoTune parody. (warning: they do add a bleeped f-bomb)




Here's the weird thing about these videos: the first dozen times you see it you can't help wondering what's wrong with this crazy guy, but then a funny thing happens when you see it some more... you start to wish YOU got that excited about double rainbows and the other amazing things we're surrounded by in life. How cool would it be to have a guy that positive around you?

I can't wait until I see a rainbow.

Aaron's Amazing Song

Last week we spent a family vacation at the Wisconsin Dells. It was a great week and I'll take some time to share those experiences over the next couple of days. One of my top memories of the trip was from the car ride back to Indiana.

Aaron started singing this verse over and over and over. At first it seemed like nonsense, but then I figured out that he was singing the "bridge" of Fee's Glory to God Forever. But as kids do, he was singing with his own interpretation of lyrics.

Original Lyrics:
Take my life and let it be
All for you and for your Glory

... and Aaron's version. Listen to the whole thing, he changes up the song like a pro:



Aaron's Lyrics:
Take my life and Kevin me
All for you and glore your baby

He sang it for at least 10 minutes straight. I've been singing it ever since.

Rock you like a hurricane

I've been listening to David Crowder's Church Music a lot recently. I think it's a great album, but I am particularly moved by How He Loves. Here's the music video, but I actually prefer the album cut (it's slightly different), they are both great.

I love the opening lyrics:

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

I love the imagery of God's love as an overwhelming force. It reminds me of another powerful Crowder song, Here is our King. You can listen to him tell the story behind the music here, but the song is an allusion to God returning as a tsunami to sweep us back to him. I think that both of these are amazing and moving thoughts about the power of God completely changing the landscape of our hearts and lives. After all, when a hurricane or tsunami passes, everything left behind is totally transformed; there is no mistaking that an unstoppable, unwavering force has been there.

We often use themes from nature to talk about God, but I think most of the time it tends to be a soft, whispering wind or the brightness of the sun. We rarely talk about God in terms of the terrible forces that we fear (hurricanes, forest fires), probably because of the devastation and loss associated with them. However, I appreciate and am awed by this lyrical re-interpretation of those incredible events.

I hope you are touched by it too.

Rise and Sing

I have purchased a slew of new music recently and now I'm trying to catch up on listening to all of it. One of the CDz I bought was the new release by Fee called "hope rising". Yes, I actually buy the physical disc. I know it's not as cool as downloading it, but i just prefer to have something I can touch and see.

Anyways, I haven't listened to every song yet, because I keep replaying the first 3 over and over. The first song is a rock anthem called "rise and sing". It's reminiscent of the breakout hit "we shine" from their last CD, yet fresh and new a the same time. Watch the youtube clip (not the greatest audio, but you get the idea)...

... then buy the album. Any recommendations from you?

10 Year Anniversary

I can't believe that 10 years has past so quickly. It was just a short decade ago that one of the most influential musical acts in human history dropped their debut album on a world totally unprepared for the melodic sonic-boom that was about to overtake them. I am speaking, of course, about "Where No Cheese Has Gone Before" by Smooth Smoothie Smooth and the Smoothed Out Smooth Ones.


Recorded and released in the fall of 1999, the Compact Disc (or "C.D.") was greeted with mixed reviews. Some called it "the most amazing album ever produced" while others said it was "the most incredible album ever produced". 500 CD's were produced and over 400 of the CD's were sold to a ravenous and dedicated fan-base. The few remaining unsold copies are a highly sought after collector's item with unopened editions selling for tens of dollars.

Before the break-up of the band in the winter of 2000, the 6 remaining band members sat down and recorded a small collection of songs that were never released. This uncompleted EP has been worked on in several stages and will perhaps be released to the public at some point in the future. There have been rumors circulating around the internet community of a reunion concert, but the band has never spoken of reuniting.

But seriously folks (or based on my readership, folk), it was such a great experience to be a part of The Smoothies. If you ever have a chance to be a part of a band, do it. Even decades later you'll look back on those times with a smile.


(actual photo's from the final Smooth Smoothie Smooth and the Smoothed Out Smooth Ones concert)

Sing It With Me!

Watch it once; you'll be singing it all day...

Melodious Melodies

This evening I was privileged to attend a concert by the davidcrowder*band at Spring Arbor University. It was a really great concert. It sounded just like their recordings, which is a compliment to both the engineering quality of their albums and the live gifts and abilities of the band members. If you ever have a chance to see them live... GO!

I can't wait for the next album to drop (which according to david's blog is currently in production)

Wait a minute!

I just got back from our Sr. High winter retreat at SpringHill camp in Evart, MI. It was a great weekend with Terry Prisk and Andy Rocker. But i've only got one thing on my mind right now. "love addict" by family force 5. They used the song as part of their countdown for the main sessions and it was crayzay!



I hope you get it stuck in your head too

The weekend

I just got back from a middle school retreat at somerset beach camp. [shout out to phil and sara for a great weekend]. I took 9 of our students there and had a great time. It was cold, but there was enough snow to give us plenty of sledding and snowboarding opportunities. However... there is always a price to pay for going to somerset. Each lodge has a piano in the common room.

I'm sure some well intended geezer made a donation specifically for piano's thinking how nice it would be to be able to sing hymns together 'round the fire (not realizing that today we have electronic pianos called keyboards which are portable and have volume control). I don't have an issue with piano's per sey, but rather an issue with the rotation of kids who relentlessly pound the keys during every waking hour. There are 4 basic types of piano players found on a retreat weekend:

1) THE NOODLER- this kid has never taken any piano lessons, but has some musical ability. He never performs an actual song but just plays random keys and chords trying to figure something out. He never gets there and infuriates everyone in the process.

2) THE REPEATER- this student knows how to play one song. Only one song. It could be a classical masterpiece or the thing you play with your knuckles. But it doesn't matter which one it is because any song played 93 times in a row is unbearable.

3) THE POUNDER- this one's pretty self explanitory. Most of us see a piano as doorway to heartwarming harmonies and rising melodies , but he sees it as an invitation to shatter ivory and eardrums.

4) THE SCAMMER- this guy is similar to the repeater because he probably only knows one or two songs. The difference is that the song that he knows is a ballad he learned to play for the sole purpose of impressing girls. It makes him seem sensitive and mysterious (bonus points if he has hair that hangs down in front of his eyes), but he's out of place during the winter retreats since the girls aren't allowed in the building. So he just practices playing that emo song and looking angsty.

Are there any ones I'm leaving out?

Great Song

I'm looking to upgrade my guitar this holiday season and I'd like to benefit from the knowledge and experience of those of you readers who are guitar playing types. I know you mostly get what you pay for concerning musical instruments, but I don't have much available for my budget ($300-$400ish). Any recommendations for an acoustic-electric guitar?

Pre - Teen Spirit

Not quite as angsty as the original, but very cool none the less

new music

I seem to follow a pattern of feast and famine with music. I won't listen to much outside of worship team for a month or so and then I'll flood my senses with new music. I am fortunate that my renewed musical thirst has coincided with the release of new music by Chris Tomlin and Hillsong.

I really like both of these cd's [yes, i still buy cd's. i download some music, but i prefer having a physical copy with the artwork and lyrics]. Hello Love is a bit more accessible, but the production of This is Our God is sooo good.

What else should I be listening to right now?

Dancing Christians

another classic

my new fav worship song!

jammin' tunes

I just purchased the new Passion CD and just like MickyDeez "i'm lovin' it" (i should apologize for the poor quality of that joke, but it's too late... it's already on the internet).

Anyway, the songs that immediately stand out to me are "God of this City", "Sing, Sing, Sing", and "We Shine". I really recommend this CD to any fan of the Passion worship movement.



What music are you listening to?

are you ready to rock? [or rawk]?

many of you are aware that i am the proud owner of a nintendo wii (thanks a&j!). For the past week i have been playing guitar hero III and I cannot get it out of my head!

I purchased the game about a month ago when it was first released. I was planning on getting it as a Christmas gift for myself with my Christmas money, but we were in Target and I saw it and i knew that it was going to be hard to find later in the season. I walked up and picked up the last one just as another couple came after me trying to get their greedy hands all over it. Since it was purchased as a Christmas present, Becky and I agreed that wii would wait until thanksgiving to open it with our Teal family Christmas (held now since mom and dad are moving).

I've had tons of fun with it and i must admit that Jared is better than I am (at least until i can practice more). One of the songs that we unlocked is DragonForce's "through the fire and flames". this song is unbelievable. i literally cannot believe it. watch it for yourself.

then shred some metal. and pick your face up off the floor.