Podcast Episode 88: Interview w/ Dustin Smith, Part 2
For episode 88, we welcome back our friend and Kansas City native Dustin Smith for part two of his interview with Wisdom Moon. Dustin explains how the act of worship is not limited to singing with hands raised but can be experienced by anyone, and we find out what Dustin means when he says that Satan pays us to worship. Wisdom and Dustin also discuss his forthcoming album, his new song “Chaotic Love” written with Jennie Lee Riddle, and why he doesn’t like to hang out with dead people.
What Else?
- Ben Abu Saada will astound you with both his mandolin skills and his extemporaneous theme song composition abilities.
- Wisdom reveals a shocking lack of familiarity with the catalog of Michael Jackson hit songs.
- Two words: Melba Toast
- Keep your fingers crossed that WorshipPlanning.com stays on as a sponsor after hearing the new theme song composed for them by Ben…
Quick Links:
dustinsmith.com
twitter.com/dustinwrc
facebook.com/pages/Dustin-Smith/131149483536
Stay connected with us:
twitter.com/allaboutworship
facebook.com/allaboutworship
comment line: 913.735.4229
allaboutworship[at]gmail[dot]com
A special thanks to WorshipPlanning.com for sponsoring this episode! Visit them today and start your 30 day free trial!
Video Interview w/ Dustin Smith, Part 1
Here’s part 1 of a recent interview we did with worship leader/songwriter, Dustin Smith. We’ll be featuring the interview on our podcast this month!
Interview w/ Mike Kim About the Outloud Conference
Recently, Wisdom Moon had a chance to interview worship leader/songwriter, Mike Kim, about an exciting worship conference coming up, that he is coordinating…
How did Outloud Conference get started?
Outloud was a natural progression from several regional worship nights we hosted. I felt we could culminate these nights with a conference and launched Outloud in 2011 with a desire to impact and equip churches in deep worship. By deep worship, I don’t mean a particular style or sound but moving from running a service to hosting God’s presence.
When we host someone either at our house, restaurant, event etc. everything is about that person. Further, we wanted to make an impact in churches across the Northeast U.S. Church can be a different animal in this part of the country, and we wanted Outloud to be a place where we can all learn more about stewarding a move of God in our respective ministries. There are 3 tenets the Outloud Conference is based on:
1. LOCAL CHURCH
We’ve enlisted the help of some people that will lend their expertise to particular ministry needs. Jesus Culture’s Bryan & Katie Torwalt, New Life Worship/Desperation Band’s Glenn Packiam, Joel Klampert, The Father’s House (church of 5,000+) in Rochester, NY…these folks all have proven track records both in their local churches and itinerant ministry. They are truly from the church and for the church.
2. PRIORITIZING THE PRESENCE OF GOD
We could all use “more God” in our worship gatherings. None of us are against programs, so you won’t hear any baby-out-with-the-bathwater rhetoric at Outloud Conference. But what we are after is a shift from running a church service to hosting God’s presence. We’ll talk about this during our teaching sessions, but most importantly we’ll do it together when we worship.
3. IMPARTATION
Conferences are often heavy on information but light on impartation. Outloud Conference is a time where God’s people can receive more than great teaching. We want to pray for new strength, anointing, and vision to come upon your life and ministry. And we’re all going to ask our good heavenly Father to make His church glorious through each of us.
What was the response your first year of doing the conference?
Tremendous. Our first night the sanctuary was so packed we had to seat people in the lobby. The response wasn’t just in the numbers, it was also in the quality of ministry that took place. Things went well enough that a day and a half felt short, so we extended the conference by one full day without a big price markup. In fact, Outloud Conference is one of the most inexpensive worship events out there, especially for length of the event and the caliber of guests we have coming to minister.
When and where will it be held this year?
May 10-12, 2012 hosted by Church of the Living God, 199 Deming St., Manchester, CT 06042. The site is just 10 minutes outside of Hartford, CT. You can find out more and register at www.outloudconference.com.
What can people expect from this year’s conference?
What makes Outloud Conference different is that we don’t offer things you can find on an instructional DVD or YouTube. We wanted to hit even closer to real life and ministry issues, like what to do when you’re trying to implement some order to a worship ministry in a small church, or how to balance ministry and family. Most of the challenges that arise in worship ministry aren’t on the platform, and those are the things we want to hit.
Our lineup of speakers was brought in with that in mind…Bryan & Katie Torwalt bring a prophetic edge in their worship leading. Glenn Packiam brings a tremendous theological bent as a teaching pastor and proven worship songwriter. The Father’s House team that has flourished (and survived!) their church growing from 500 people to 5,000 in about six years. Their church is incredibly diverse, so they’ve got tremendous cross-cultural and cross-generational experience. On top of that we’re going to have incredible worship, too!
How can our readers be praying for you and the conference?
That Outloud Conference would ultimately be a tool to initiate change and growth in the people that attend. I’ve never wanted to hold an event for the sake of holding an event, and even if this year’s conference is a blast, I wouldn’t be opposed to shutting it down if it became just another thing to do. We want to truly help impact churches in our area, so please pray the ministry would be rich, the worship refreshing, and that people and churches would be able to connect with each other well after the event is over!
AAW Podcast Episode 85 – Interview w/ All Sons & Daughters
Our specials guests for episode 85 are Integrity artists Leslie Jordan and David Leonard of the band All Sons and Daughters. Wisdom interviews the duo, touching on the group’s formation, their songwriting process, and how they keep their individual marriages healthy (FYI: they aren’t married to each other).
What Else?
-We hear how AAW team member Barry Westman attempts to reinforce the new Twitter hashtag #IE
-Wisdom and Ben discuss Easter services and the Lent
-Ben struggles to remember who the podcast guests are
Quick Links
allsonsanddaughters.com
www.facebook.com/allsonsanddaughters
twitter.com/allsanddmusic
Stay connected with us:
twitter.com/allaboutworship
facebook.com/allaboutworship
comment line: 913.735.4229
allaboutworship[at]gmail[dot]com
A special thanks to Christian Copyright Solutions for sponsoring this podcast. Be sure to use promo code, AAWPODCAST, on CopyrightSolver.com to receive a special 10% off the PERFORMmusic and WORSHIPcast licenses and the PERMISSIONSplus service.
Interview with Kari Jobe About Her New Album
Our team members, Chris Olson and Julie Terwilliger, recently had the chance to interview worship artist/songwriter, Kari Jobe, about her new album – Where I Find You.
In listening to the new record, we noticed an almost indescribable difference in the “feel” of the album as compared to your debut. Do you feel this album has a different feel (sonically speaking), and if so, what do you attribute that to?
I wanted this new album to have a really big sound. Mainly because of the season I was in when I wrote it…I needed music that was really moving and that I could turn up really loud and pray at the top of my lungs. I felt like my new album needed a stronger sound and more of a drive for people to get up, pace the floor and declare the Goodness of God.
When choosing a cover song to record, out of the many songs out there, how do you arrive on your final selection? (PS, LOVE “Love Came Down” on this album…)
I don’t ever go out looking for cover songs. I worship to lots of different songs all the time and “Love Came Down” just really really really blessed me in a major season of my life and I just LOVED how beautiful it is…and wanted to record it so more people in my circle would hear it!
When you write a song, do you intentionally write it as a congregational song, or do you write simply as an outpouring from yourself to God and see what comes out?
I think it’s a mixture of both. I have it in the back of my mind that I want people to be able to sing along so I’ll be mindful of that, but I don’t let it hold me back from pouring out what I really feel or sense. Sometimes it turns into a ministry type song that I can sing over people…and other times the songs are more congregational.
You are on tour a lot, but you also have a close connection to your home church in Texas. How do you balance being involved at the local church vs. touring and all that goes with being a performing worship artist?
I love what I do! It definitely never gets boring. I think it’s super important for worship leaders to stay connected to their local church. It gives such a covering and such a sense of reality. Going home and just serving your church and seeing people that you’ve known and worshipped with for years and years…it’s so good for your soul. I also have such an incredible church that helped me find the right balance of being home and being gone. Each scenario for an artist or worship leader is different, but you have to remember to serve your Pastor and really try to serve him as much as you can. He will usually give a good bit of wisdom to how much he’d like you to be home vs. being gone. It takes a lot of prayer though!
How has writing & recording this album changed you? Musically? Spiritually?
The season I was going through as I wrote this album was one the hardest seasons of my life. One of those kinds of seasons where you find yourself saying to God, “Really? Now? You know this isn’t the best timing for me to find out this information or to be in this hard place.” But as always, God knows everything and it served to be such a precious time of me crying out to God for my own life…and it turn out you can really hear it in the lyrics and vocals on the CD. I’m thankful that God uses our pain to help others…that makes hard things that we walk through in life worth it if it means other people’s lives will be impacted and helped along the way too.
Musically, I really feel like I have grown vocally since my last album…probably because I sing almost every day now, which is so fun. It’s made my voice stronger. But I believe that you can hear the “cry” in my voice in a lot of my new songs where I was really crying out to God for my own heart and life too. It makes me think of intercession as I was singing these songs over people…praying that they would help people. I was needing that for myself as well.
In talking about this album, you have said that we need to “learn to fall more in love with the Lord and trust Him in the middle of every storm.” What is the main thing you want listeners to get out of this album, and how do you see that played out in the album?
Life isn’t easy and sometimes the road God gives us to walk down is really rough and bumpy. But He never leaves us nor forsakes us, so we know that He will be in the middle of our season. Instead of getting jaded or getting angry at God, use the pain you are walking through to draw you closer to the Lord. He cares for us and will give us the strength and grace to walk through it all. You’ll be stronger on the other side.
Okay, this one is for the ladies; your style is so eclectic & fun, where do you get all your cute stuff?
Ha! Love this question! I really get a lot of my ideas from my sister! She is amazing! But also from People Style magazine, Free People, Anthropologie! You can get ideas and then always find stuff that looks the same at Target, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21! Just be creative!
Kari, thanks so much for taking the time to share with our readers!
TSC Podcast Featuring an Interview w/ Kutless – Show Notes
This episode we feature an exclusive interview with Kutless guitarist and songwriter Nick DePartee. Nick shares the journey that took him from guitar tech to band member, his thoughts on the benefits of co-writing, and the songwriting journey behind their current single, “Carry Me To the Cross”.
We also…
- Share the theme of our February song challenge
- Discuss the role of your pastor in the songwriting process
- Drop hints about the forthcoming songwriting retreat, Hymnish (perhaps we will explain the name in a future podcast…)
Quick Links
- nickdepartee.com
- facebook.com/nickdepartee
- twitter.com/nickysixx
- kutless.com
- Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes
- Subscribe to the podcast via RSS Feed
- TSC on Twitter
- TSC on Facebook
- TSC on google+
- Host Dan Thomson’s blog
- Dan on Twitter, google+
- Joe on Twitter, google+
As always, we would greatly appreciate you taking a moment and leaving a review of our podcast on iTunes.
AAW Podcast Episode 82, featuring an Exclusive Interview w/ Brothers McClurg
For our 82nd episode, we feature an interview with Anthony and Chris Hoisington, the brothers behind the worship band Brothers McClurg. They discuss their recent EP on Integrity (Alive), their first co-write (with Paul Baloche no less!), and their heart for their hometown, Buffalo, NY.
What Else?
-Wisdom and Ben are once again joined by All About Worship team members Chris Olson and Mathew Reames.
-Mat tries out for the open(?) co-host position.
-Wisdom invites Susan Foutaine Godwin, founder of Christian Copyright Solutions back for another discussion on copyright compliance.
-We learn more about Chris…maybe more than we really wanted to know…
Quick Links
Stay connected with us:
comment line: 913.735.4229
allaboutworship[at]gmail[dot]com
A special thanks to Christian Copyright Solutions for sponsoring this podcast. Be sure to use promo code, AAWPODCAST, on CopyrightSolver.com to receive a special 10% off the PERFORMmusic and WORSHIPcast licenses and the PERMISSIONSplus service.
Interview with Canadian Worship Leader: Chris Bray
Dan Thomson, of the All About Worship Team, recently had the opportunity to interview Canadian worship leader and songwriter, Chris Bray:
For those who may not know you, can you share a bit about yourself and where you’re from?
I’ve been married for four and a half years. My wife Katie and I have two little girls, Molly, who is two and a half years old, and Norah, who just turned one. I originally grew up in farm country in south-western Ontario. When we got married, we decided to settle in a small town close Katie’s roots.
What motivated you to become a songwriter?
Peer pressure. I just wanted to play electric guitar in a rock band. I had no aspirations to sing or write music, but it was something that was encouraged, and eventually led me to grow in that. The more I started song writing, the more passion I realized I had for it. In the last 8-10 years, I’ve really felt a calling to writing songs that people can relate to and use as a tool to aid them in their spiritual journey closer to Christ.
I understand you’ve had the opportunity recently to co-write with other professional songwriters in Nashville. Who were they and how did that experience help you as a songwriter?
This spring when I was in Nashville I had some writing sessions with a couple of guys from the Word/Warner music group. The first was Michael Farren from Pocket Full of Rocks and the second was Paul Alan who has a song on Point of Grace’s latest album. Both guys are very talented song writers, and it was exciting and humbling working with them.
I could relate well with Michael because of his heart for worship and sharing his experiences ministering to people on the road for so many years. I also appreciated Paul’s discipline in business and his commitment as a husband and father, taking care of his family, while still being open God’s plan for his life with respect to music.
I felt like I had developed my song writing skills on my own as much as I could and that I had plateaued. So many songwriters stay in that rut, and write the same kinds of songs over and over again. Forcing myself to write with others (especially more talented writers) was like flexing my writing muscles, introducing new ideas that challenged me, allowing me to get stronger and nurture the gifts God had given me. I personally think it’s something that needs to be done continually.
You are an independent artist and songwriter. How do you manage to get your music into the marketplace and have the opportunities that you’ve had to open for major artists such as Matt Maher and Point of Grace?
I’ve realized along the way that nurturing relationships for both business and ministry is extremely important. When you look at most circumstances in life, the choices you make are usually based on the recommendation of someone you trust. If you need a plumber, you go ask your neighbour who they use. If you need a dentist, you ask a friend. As a musician, a recommendation from someone who can influence the decision makers can go a long way. Even more especially in Church and ministry. A pastor doesn’t want just anyone coming in front of their congregation introducing concepts that may not align with the churches beliefs, etc.
I’ve been blessed to have a wonderful management team to help me develop as an artist, take some of the burden off of me so I can focus more on ministry, and to facilitate the relationships I wouldn’t normally be able to on my own.
Being based in Canada, with a lot of the gospel music industry being based out of the United States, how do you go about releasing your music and how has the Canadian marketplace embraced your music?
Christian radio in Canada has been so welcoming, and I’ve been blessed to have the opportunities that I have. Stations have fewer and fewer spots for “new” music and the few spots available are extremely competitive to get, just because there’s so much great music out there. Promoting a new record and a new single is a lot of work, but it’s worth it. I know so many artists that spend the money to make a great record, and then don’t remember to budget for promotional efforts. Then I start to think, what was the point of spending all that money if no one knows about your music and you have 950 of the 1000 copies you got pressed sitting in your closet still?
Christian radio and retail distribution have taken my music from “the local worship leader” to a more national level. Even today, beyond my belief, my music is reaching and ministering to people across the continent, and that’s an amazing opportunity I feel honoured to have.
What would you say to encourage other songwriters or worship leaders who may want to get their music heard?
I think it’s important to recognize that there are various methods to distribute your music and by not getting radio play or retail distribution, doesn’t make an artist’s song less effective. A recent example I have with my own music is a slow melodic ballad I wrote with another local artist called, “Pursue Me”. I never intended it to be a “radio” song; it was more of a prayer to God. But a friend of mine led it in worship during a youth pilgrimage to Medjugorje . He said it turned into their theme song by the end of their mission trip because it spoke to them and allowed them to worship God effectively.
First off, I was honoured that a song I had a hand in writing was able to be used for that purpose. Secondly, I don’t feel that song is any less effective because it didn’t chart on radio. It served a great purpose and additionally, that song was nominated for “Inspirational Song of the Year” for this October’s Canadian Gospel Music Association Covenant Awards.
Artists—share your music every way you can (YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, worship events, radio, television, retail, iTunes, etc.). But personally, the songs I’ve been most touched by aren’t the ones I’ve heard on the radio. It’s the ones I’ve seen live, where the artist shares the story about the circumstance in their life that inspired the song, being able to relate to it myself and leave feeling touched. It’s the songs I’ve had an “encounter” with.
Something that I’ve had to learn along the way is to forget about the accolades, the awards, and the charts—because there is always going to be someone better. Work towards creating opportunities for people to encounter your songs. Keep focused on Christ and His plan for you.
When you travel and lead worship, you also speak for Compassion Canada. How has being an advocate enhanced your ministry?
My wife and I always “talked” about how it would be a good idea to get involved, but it took us a long time to put those words into action. When we finally did, our eyes were opened. We realized how good we really have it here in North America. How many people around the world suffer and go without. We realized that in our cushy lives, some days our biggest burden was getting our pizza delivered and they forgot the extra sauce, or ordering an ice cream cone, and they ran out of sprinkles. We didn’t know what it meant to go without like so many in our world do today.
We sponsored Marianna from Columbia and we instantly saw a change in our family. We started to see interest from our girls to write letters and draw pictures for her, to pray for her, and we were excited that we had the opportunity to bestow those values in our children at such a young age.
We really felt called to share that with others, which is why we have partnered with Compassion—to free more children from poverty, give them the opportunity to learn about Christ and to help folks that have been blessed, experience the graces received from giving and sacrifice (even though it is a relatively small sacrifice).
A question that we ask at the end of all All About Worship interviews: if you weren’t able to be involved in music, what would you be doing?
God only knows. If you would have asked me that question in my pre-teens, I would have said an action hero—most likely Superman, but I would settle for Batman.
Interview with Jonny Hale of The Desperate
We recently had the opportunity to interview Jonny Hale (The Desperate) about their ministry and music. Check it out below and be sure to watch their EPK at the end of the interview.
Wisdom: What is The Desperate?
Jonny: Real Raw Revolution Ministries created The Desperate as a movement of people who are desperate for more of God and desperate to see God revealed in the lives of their friends, family, and everybody they come in contact with. We also created thedesperate.com as a social app to gather a generation of believers together around that idea.
W: Could you share with us what the process was like working on Songs For The Desperate?
J: In the natural and logistically working on this first Songs for the Desperate project was… really exciting and very difficult all at the same time. Noe Chapparo and I started the project when we were both living in Tampa, FL and that worked great. It got really difficult when I felt called back to Georgia and Noe moved to the Faroe Islands off the coast of Denmark.
From that point on we wrote, recorded, and engineered over Skype, ichat, screen share, iDisk, Dropbox, and whatever other technology we thought might help get the job done. We were able to fly Noe over for a week of recording in Florida as well as mixing and mastering in TN and GA so that helped a lot.
God really gave us a grace for the interesting circumstances we were recording in. I would stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning and Noe would get up at the crack of dawn or vice versa so we could record together and God would always show up and really connect and inspire the ideas we were bringing to the table. It was amazing to be thousands of miles apart and still have a great creative flow and an extremely worshipful atmosphere in everything that we did.
W: What is the main thing you hope the listener takes away from this project?
J: We want people who hear this album to be challenged to a deeper level of intimacy with their Father. We want people to hear these songs and say, “You helped me say what I couldn’t put in words.”
We are always more focused on declaring the creative Word of God than with being musically creative. I hope what people take away from this project is not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Cor. 2:5).
W: What’s the one song on the album that’s been getting the most response from churches? What’s the story behind that song?
J: The song that is getting the most response when we play it live right now is “I Surrender”. It’s a song that was written very quickly during my own personal worship time. The song simply tries to express our need for surrender and submission to the Holy Spirit. Because of that it has become an anthem in the altars almost everywhere that we go.
We’ve seen hundreds of people at the altars over the last year crying out, “I SURRENDER! COME AND CHANGE ME! HOLY SPIRIT HAVE YOUR WAY!”. There have been times we’ve played that song for over an hour as people are just saturated in His presence because of being yielded and surrendered to God.
W: What role does scripture play in your songwriting?
J: Scripture is the foundation, beginning and end of everything that we write. We don’t write songs inspired by anything but the word of God. Nothing else is living and powerful and able to divide spirit and soul, joint and marrow and discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12). Nothing else can sanctify, set apart for God’s purpose, like the truth of the Word (John 17:17). Nothing else is held higher in heaven than the Word of God.
God regards His words higher than His own name (Ps 138:2). Psalm 119:11 says that we hide His words in our heart to keep us far from sin. If you want to write songs about Jesus you can’t get away from the word because John 1 declares that Jesus IS the Word!
Sorry, to go on about that. You got me on my favorite subject. I think it’s very interesting that all the melodies and musical arrangements for the psalms got lost but it’s those words inspired by God that endure. That’s why we hold His word and truth in such high regard in our writing.
W: What’s next for The Desperate?
J: We are currently working on 4 new projects. Our label Real.Raw.Revolution Records recently signed a band called Lady at The Well and we just finished up all the tracking for that album which will be out soon. We are also working on the second Songs for the Desperate album, Noe’s solo project, and my solo project.
The thing we’re most excited about coming up is traveling and ministering in 2012. We’re currently booking for a tour all over the country and would love to hear from anyone reading this that has an event coming up they feel like we would be a good fit for.
A special thanks to Jonny Hale of The Desperate for taking the time to share with us. Be sure to connect with them online:
facebook.com/songsforthedesperate
twitter.com/thedesperate
twitter.com/jonnyhale
twitter.com/noahchaparro
realrawrevolution.com
Episode 80: Interview with Mike Weaver of Big Daddy Weave
On this Christmas edition of the podcast we interview Mike Weaver, lead singer of Big Daddy Weave. We discuss ministry, worship, touring, and Mike’s dream of becoming a Walmart greeter.
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