Sounds | Quotes | Contact

Older recording track lists and liner notes from out of print albums ... Sheet Metal Roof liner notes : 2002 1 - Revolution 2 - Flesh & Bone (Genesis 2:23) 3 - I Am Not 4 - Nothin' but Nothin' 5 - These Rags I'm Wearin' 6 - Sheet Metal Roof 7 - (Meet You) Where the Sidewalk Ends (w/Savannah Hubbard, harmony vocals) 8 - Sulphur River 9 - West Side 10 - Be Produced by Chris Lancaster, Bill Lancaster, and Allan Hubbard; recorded in the Lancaster's studio in Paris, Texas (now Treehouse Records). Roots music, especially acoustic and vocal simplicity, has always grabbed my attention. This CD was recorded in one afternoon - just me and my guitar doing these songs the way I was used to doing 'em. I spent about 18 months in the late 90's hosting an open mic night in a local saloon and interacted with several great local musicians, learned lots of songs and began to fully appreciate songwriting in a different way. You write what you know and are subjected to ... so these came along in a response to that time. There are spiritual overtones to most of the tunes. "Revolution" is most people's favorite who comment to me. "Flesh & Bone" has been sung at several weddings (wrote it for my wife of going on 15 years). I ended up re-recording the murder story "Sulphur River" for the Fear & Trembling CD, and added more instruments to that 2005 version. It's a completely fiction story that just came to me one night as a I began strumming my favorite chord - an Em7 diminished; this version has the capo at the 5th fret. You may notice the original version of the song "I Am Not" which became "Selfish" on Fear & Trembling, with more instruments. "These Rags I'm Wearin" was written while standing outside at dusk watching a northeast Texas storm brew up on the horizon after a particularly long dry spell, both moisture-wize and creatively. Humble tune. The title track "Sheet Metal Roof" is sem-based on the 1982 tornado that swept through Paris and took a few lives with it. I was 10 at the time and remember riding my bicycle through the rubble looking for a friend's house to see if it was destroyed. Recollecting on it these many years later drew paralells to holding on tight in life's turbulent times. "(Meet You) Where the Sidewalk Ends" owes its title to the poet Shel Silverstein and is an acceptance of death as an inevitability. Since my own father died when I was 4-years-old, I have been somewhat incapacitated by the fear of death through the years. Now, I'm ready to go whenever the Lord wants me ... I just don't want my sons to endure the pain of losing their father and not having him there. Finally, the song "Be" is for my sons. It's an admonishing song and one I envision them listening to long after I'm gone. Hope you like it. Gear/technical info: Fender DG-20 CE acoustic, spruce top Mac recording with ProTools at Lancaster's Studio one mic on vocal, one mic on guitar, one mic to grab room ambience; all recorded live in one take not sure the pre-amps or mics Fear & Trembling liner notes : 2005 1 -Your Fat Head (w/Greg Haislip, lead guitar) 2 -Sentiment's Growing (w/Greg Haislip, lead guitar; Zechariah 1 & 2) 3 - It's Hard 4 - Help Us Live the Truth (w/Wendy McNeal, harmony vocals) 5 - New Mercy 6 - No Place for Me Here (w/Wendy McNeal, harmony vocals) 7 - Remind Me 8 - Salty (w/Greg Haislip, lead guitar; Matthew 5:13-16) 9 - Selfish 10 - Shape Me 11 - Sulphur River 12 - Trap (Romans 2:17-3:31) This is a home studio recording that began in May 2004 and ended with final mastering November 30, 2005. I wanted to take as long as necessary to do this right - but I certainly never thought it would take 18 months. Along the way there were multiple periods of time I would call "delays" - but God's sovereignty and perfect timing are what we all operate in and I knew He was in control at every step. Equipment would break and have to be replaced; I had to learn to be a semi-decent sound engineer and run the recording software. God certainly brought me through significant focus on my need to pursue righteousness and make some changes in myself. He also orchestrated lots of life changes in the 18 months: sold one house, bought another and moved, added a fourth son to my quiver, changed jobs, and finished a masters degree. The title of the recording comes from Philippians 2:12b-13: "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." My personal journey of progressive sanctification is evidenced in this album, and most especially if you were to have followed the changes He made in me during the course of its recording. Mastering and final mixing in the limited financial confines of a home studio was quite a challenge. Ultimately, I didn't want this to sound like anything overly polished - the do-it-yourself vibe, chair squeeks, natural ambiance of rooms, mixed with a warmth of sound that I did have in my head - was what I was after. The creative independence of a musician who does not have a set of rules, time frames, or expectations from a record label is a blessing. I'm not doing this for the money. I'm doing this to honor the Lord and share it with others who will hopefully do the same, and get closer to Him in the process. I sincerely thank the very talented Wendy McNeal for adding her beautiful voice to a couple of tracks. And Greg Haislip's knack for the perfect shredding electric guitar leads are evident on two songs, as well. Thanks, also, to Greg and Rob Oatridge for the theological discussions and encouragement along the way. Cover design is by the exceptional designer: Mike Maddux. In 1998 while I was part of guitar duo Sabbatical with Greg Haislip, we were able to record a CD thanks to the generosity of Greg and Theresa Jones, who we went to church with. My 2002 solo acoustic CD "Sheet Metal Roof" was only possible thanks to the support of my father-in-law, Gary Morley. "Fear and Trembling" was made possible by the encouragement and support of my friend, Jonathan Case. Without the love of my wife and sons I could do very little in the way of working toward a goal involving my love of making music for the Lord's honor. And the people of Mt. Olive Baptist Church are a constant source of encouragement and testing of sounds and songs. All songs were written and performed by me except where noted. Gear/technical info: Dell laptop recording with Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video 3.0 USB M-Audio interface with no preamps (used a Tascam USB-122 interface until it broke about 1 year into the project) Behringer condenser mic grabs the vocals, acoustics, harmonicas and amps effects are all on-board in Vegas Washburn Augusta acoustic, cedar top Fender USA fat strat with Seymour Duncan pearly gates bridge humbucker Rogue Spider resonator guitar knock-off no-name P-bass through Hartke B90 bass amp Peavey Classic 20 amp for electric leads (except when Greg Haislip provided leads; not sure of his rig) Ludwig Accent Combo drums, Sabian B8 cymbals organ and keyboard pads with a Yamaha S03 Hohner harmonicas The Scrubbed EP liner notes : 2006 1 - Devil's Darts 2 - Luther 3 - Quiet Floor (for Jack) 4 - Regrettably 5 - Here We Stand This is the first set of songs I can actually sit back, listen to and enjoy myself. I generally hate the sound of my own voice (you may, too) and can't stand to listen to my recordings very long. But all of these songs just strike me somehow. This little EP/short disc of almost 18 minutes is mellow; all written and recorded in 2006. You'll notice a hint of drum loops (though they're all live and not looped). I like repetitiveness in fingerstyle patterns and the near trance-like meditation that comes from playing them. Dance/techno/house music has something going for it in that respect and why should the weirdos who like that style have all the fun? "Regrettably" is based on passages from 1 Peter. One of my students heard the hollow snare drum (with snares turned off) and said "Oh, ghetto sounding drums" as if that was an accident with a crappy drum sound. That was actually intentional. "Quiet Floor" has an interesting story of obedience. I got up at 6 a.m. for my daily reading of scripture and, while sitting on the couch, God told me to get on my knees before Him in the middle of the living room floor. After a minute of "why?" I obeyed. I felt the blood rush to my head as I kneeled bent over. The first line of the song instantly came to me. I had been praying for a friend from church, Jack, who was battling cancer but still showed resolve of pursuing God throughout his ordeal. This song came together in a couple of minutes and I recorded it for Jack. He got to hear it before he died. "Here We Stand" is a worship song for the church. Wrote it with a few minutes to kill waiting for an evening service at church, sitting at the piano in our sanctuary. Recorded with a Rhoads electric keyboard sound on the Yamaha S03. "Poor Luther" is a semi-true story. "Devil's Darts" should be longer. I should've recorded more repetitions, perhaps. I like to listen to that in the dark and let it soak in. Lots of reverb on this one. Gear/technical info: Takamine EAN10C, cedar top acoustic Dell laptop recording with Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video 3.0 USB M-Audio interface with no preamps Behringer condenser mic grabs the vocals, acoustics, harmonicas and bass amp effects are all on-board in Vegas cheap classical guitar (used to be the wife's, I stole it from her) knock-off no-name P-bass through Hartke B90 bass amp, mic'd Ludwig Accent Combo drums, Sabian B8 cymbals organ and keyboard pads with a Yamaha S03 Hohner harmonicas We Want to See liner notes : 2005 1 - What We Came Here For (w/Wendy McNeal, harmony vocals) 2 - We Want to See 3 - Lo He Comes (w/Greg Haislip, lead guitar; words: John Cennick, 1752) 4 - Stand Among Believers 5 - Riches of His Grace This is the second of two home studio recordings that began in May 2004 and completed November 2005. This is a set of songs written for the church to use in praise of Jesus Christ. I have been a worship leader since 1996. Along the way, God has given me songs to write and implement in worship and praise settings which congregations have used to reflect on God's love and lift up His name as a corporate body. Sometimes what I want to say in a praise song hasn't been said, so the lyric is an attempt to bring a fresh approach. Some songs are better to just listen to and sing by yourself. Others are better when done by a group of people with one intention: to praise the Lord. The songs on this recording are of the latter variety. Once again thanks to Wendy McNeal for great harmonizing and Greg Haislip for tasty lead electric guitar. All songs were written and performed by me except where noted: * "Lo He Comes" words: John Cennick, Collection of Sacred Hymns, 1752; republished and altered by Charles Wesley, 1758, and Martin Madan, 1760. Gear/technical info: Dell laptop recording with Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video 3.0 USB M-Audio interface with no preamps Behringer condenser mic grabs the vocals, acoustics, harmonicas and amps effects are all on-board in Vegas Washburn Augusta acoustic, cedar top Fender USA fat strat with Seymour Duncan pearly gates bridge humbucker Rogue Spider resonator guitar knock-off no-name P-bass through Hartke B90 bass amp Peavey Classic 20 amp for electric leads (except when Greg Haislip provided leads; not sure of his rig) Ludwig Accent Combo drums, Sabian B8 cymbals organ and keyboard pads with a Yamaha S03 piano is a Yamaha 11' baby grand at my church, horribly mic'd Hohner harmonicas