Category Archives: music

Audio Record

posted on by in music | tagged

Audio RecordIntroducing a new music idea: Audio Record. A record of what you might ask? A record of an idea, an emotion, or simply how we decide to pass through time. It’s the audio version of taking a field notebook into the wilderness and cataloging what you find interesting (hence the album art).

They will mostly be improvised on the spot, mostly lo-fi using my iPhone, mostly one track and one take. I will be adding to this “album” weekly, so it’s ever-expanding. You can listen to them all here (only two right now) and it’s linked up in the music page. I will also post new findings individually as we go.

Speaking of new findings, the newest one is below. Single take, single track, iPhone recording.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/134587295″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Cacophony and Symphony

posted on by in music, writing | tagged , , ,

Arts and TheologyThe previous posts were about a metaphor of jazz standards and the task of Christians in the church. Towards its end I was calling on the church to create compelling “standards”, creating a culture that is both new and familiar, enabling humanity to be all that it was created to be. This task is for those in and outside the church. There is somewhat of a problem here, however.

These standards will sometimes be played with wrong notes and will be out of time. Sometimes these notes will clash with each other in the worst ways. Sometimes it will sound like my first attempt to play the saxophone in the 4th grade: garish, fumbling, and squeaky. Hopefully we will ask forgiveness for these errors.

Continue reading →

Copy and Paste: the work of fear

posted on by in music, writing | tagged , , ,

Arts and TheologyOften the church tries to copy and paste from previous performances (unimaginatively reflecting their favorite decade/century), even trying its best to remove individuality all together. Our created uniqueness is not some enemy of truth, it is just another part of the truth we believe and hold to.

My previous post was a call to re-imagine the familiar. Specifically, for the church to continually mine out the new realities of ancient truths. If something is truly universal, it will always have an aspect of the new in it. Universal truth will always be able to be contextualized into the present time.

But this can be risky. We can (and will) easily mess up and make mistakes. In the church this is really frowned upon. Sometimes the unwritten rule of being a member of a church is just that: don’t mess up. But that’s not what we’re really called to.

Continue reading →

Old & New: Remember Me

posted on by in music

I have been in the process of writing and recording a set of albums, Old & New, setting new music to older hymns and texts. I recently released my second of three and wanted to write a little about why I spent so much time devoted to old stuff (see other posts: I, II, III, IV, V, VI). You can get download both of the albums for free here: gregwillson.bandcamp.com. This post is on the last track, Remember Me.




Continue reading →

Old & New: Condescension

posted on by in music

I have been in the process of writing and recording a set of albums, Old & New, setting new music to older hymns and texts. I recently released my second of three and wanted to write a little about why I spent so much time devoted to old stuff (see other posts: I, II, III, IV, V). You can get download both of the albums for free here: gregwillson.bandcamp.com. This post is on the fifth track, Condescension.




Continue reading →

Old & New: Salvation for Wretched Dying Men

posted on by in music

I have been in the process of writing and recording a set of albums, Old & New, setting new music to older hymns and texts. I recently released my second of three and wanted to write a little about why I spent so much time devoted to old stuff (see other posts: I, II, III, IV). You can get download both of the albums for free here: gregwillson.bandcamp.com. This post is on the fourth track, Salvation for Wretched Dying Men.




Continue reading →

Old & New: Lord, I Lift My Soul To Thee

posted on by in music

I have been in the process of writing and recording a set of albums, Old & New, setting new music to older hymns and texts. I recently released my second of three and wanted to write a little about why I spent so much time devoted to old stuff (see other posts: I, II, III). You can get download both of the albums for free here: gregwillson.bandcamp.com. This post is on the third track, Lord, I Lift My Soul To Thee.




Continue reading →

Old & New: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord

posted on by in music

I have been in the process of writing and recording a set of albums, Old & New, setting new music to older hymns and texts. I recently released my second of three and wanted to write a little about why I spent so much time devoted to old stuff (see other posts: I, II). You can get download both of the albums for free here: gregwillson.bandcamp.com. This post is on the second track, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord.




Continue reading →