I was surprised to read that CCM will be stopping the print version of its magazine. Although I have not read CCM in decades, I grew up on this magazine, and when I was a teen it played an important part in informing my faith through Christian music and artists that I enjoyed.

The April 2008 issue of the Christian music magazine CCM will be its last, Salem Communications announced late yesterday.

“CCM Magazine readers tell us they want more information and want it faster than can be delivered in a monthly printed magazine,” Jim Cumbee, Publisher and President of Non-Broadcast Media said in a press release. “Accordingly, we will discontinue the printed version of CCM Magazine to put increased energies toward the continued growth and enhancement of our comprehensive Christian music and entertainment online network.”

In the May 2007 issue of the magazine, editor Jay Swartzendruber announced that CCM no longer stood for “Contemporary Christian Music.” The acronym, he said, stood for “Christ • Community • Music,” and the magazine would shift away from covering Christian music by its label or distribution in an effort “to raise the profile of independent and general market artists of faith.”

So, do you know of other print magazines that have moved to online only? Is this the beginning of a trend for print media in general?

Four Hands – One Guitar (video length: 1:44)

Antoine Dufour and Tommy Gauthier join hands to play Jerry’s Breakdown (by Jerry Reed) on a single guitar. (Related post: Four Men and a Cello)
 

Singing Backwards (Video length: 2:28)

In the first half of this video OneManSho sings a song backwards while popping balloons and knocking over blocks to authenticate what he is doing. In the second half he plays the video back for you backwards so you can hear what he was actually singing.
 

When Robot Programmers Get Bored (video length: 1:12)

I am guessing whoever handles workman’s comp for this company was not real pleased to see this video. You had better be pretty confident in your progamming skills to try this stunt. (Don’t try this at home!)

(Note: Sam’s Christmas guitar arrangements below!)

My son, Sam, wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from him and his guitar. Sam is in the eighth grade and just started playing guitar about two years ago. He worked hard doing lawn jobs over the last two summers and was able to save up enough money to buy himself his own brand, spankin’ new Martin D-15 at the end of this summer. Here he is with his new guitar.

I have been teaching him what I know, and he also studied with acoustic guitar wizard Brooks Williams this summer. Anyways, here are three of Sam’s original fingerstyle acoustic guitar arrangements played by Sam for you on his very own Martin D-15. They are all good, but my favorite of these is definitely Feliz Navidad — a nice spunky version with a great feel. Merry Christmas all and enjoy! And remember, you heard him here first!

Click on the song title to hear the MP3:

• Go Tell It on the Mountain
• Away in a Manger
• Feliz Navidad

Related posts:
    • Fowler Family Christmas Project
    • Free Christmas Music MP3 Downloads
    • Click here for more Christmas related posts.

The Feels Like Christmas site is offering free Christmas music MP3 downloads. All of the songs were submitted by the artists and are completely legal for free downloading.

One of my great joys in life is listening to (and playing) fingerstyle acoustic guitar, so my first download was this spirited arrangement of “Deck the Halls” by guitarist John Morgan from his Capture the Night CD. I like it so much I will probably end up buying the whole CD for Christmas this year.

Happy browsing and a merry Christmas!

Related post: A Very Merry Guitar Christmas from Sam Fowler
Click here for more Christmas related posts.

If you enjoy Beatles music or the Beach Boys, you should give Rick Alitzer’s new Scripture Memory CD a listen. The CD is called “Scripture Memory – Pop Symphonies.” Rick writes:

Three years in the making, “Scripture Memory – Pop Symphonies” has been a labor of love for me. It was my desire to make a Scripture Memory record that you would actually enjoy listening to. I decided to do my best to make an excellent record in hopes that you would listen to it multiple times. After repeated listening, the scriptures would be forever lodged in your brain.

Strings, horns, pianos, walls of guitars, stacks of vocals. the kitchen sink approach (hey, it’s me), all to coerce you to listen, again and again. Think Beatles with Beach Boy harmonies and Queen/George Harrison guitar solos.

Rick is offering the CD at a great introductory price of only $10. You can listen to samples of the CD here and even download one of the full songs for free.

Here are some endorsements for the CD:

“This is the Sgt. Pepper’s of Scripture memory verse albums. Imagine Beatles and Beach Boys and Britpop styles, mega production, stacked vocals and a symphonic approach. Imagine pop melodies that stick in the brain and then marry that to words straight from Scripture. This is a great way of learning Bible verses while enjoying great music. ” Mike Rimmer – Cross Rhythms

“Rick Altizer creates a pop-rock masterpiece to memorize scriptures by!” Phantom Toolbooth – 5 Stars

“Rick Altizer has managed to make one of the best pop albums of the year. Imagine the Beatles using only scripture for lyrics and you’ve got a great idea of what Pop Symphonies is all about.” Dr. Tony Shore – Obvious Pop

“Pick of the Litter. Number 1 Pick.” Doug Van Pelt – HM Magazine

Related post: Seeds Family Worship Scripture Memory CDs

Media Access for the Next Generation:
    1. Introduction
    2. Immediate Access
    3. Localized Storage
    4. Subscription Services

This series is in response to a comment made by Kathryn on the 5/31 post Buying Music the Old Way. In that post I shared about rummaging through old record stores and even traveling into Canada to track down certain music when I was in college. Kathryn commented:

What does the next generation have that can compare to that? The only thing I really have to look for are sales. I do most of my shopping online now because it’s so much easier. I’ve never had that quest for music experience. This posting makes me question: What will my kids take for granted that takes me time now?

I have some thoughts on how things will be different for the next generation as far as media access, and I would like to spend some time this week reflecting on that. Tomorrow’s post will pick up on the one major difference that will drive the rest – immediate access to the internet at all times and in all places.

Action points:

• Do you have an idea on this topic? Share it in the comments!
• Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe to this blog by email or feed reader.

Links to other posts in the series:   Part 1,   Part 2,   Part 3,   Part 4

Larry Norman in concert; Saturday, 8/4/2007
Calvary Baptist Church; New York City

Yesterday I shared some personal notes about the events leading up to the concert. (Click here for Part 1.) Today I would like to share some more about the concert itself. Can you tell I’m a fan? 🙂

The following write-up will probably make more sense to you if you are familiar with Larry and his music, but either way it should give you a good sense of what the concert was like. Larry talks a lot between songs, so I have tried to summarize some of what he said during the night. I have also included snippets from some of the songs in case you are not familiar with them.

Larry approached the stage slowly. He had difficulty climbing the stairs and looked like he was not comfortable physically. (Larry suffered a major heart attack a number of years ago and has had health struggles ever since.) He joked about how he played a concert here 35 years ago and never got invited back – until now!

He talked briefly about Christian persecution in other lands and then began with his song “Peace Pollution Revolution.”

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Larry Norman in concert; Saturday, 8/4/2007
Calvary Baptist Church; New York City

Larry Norman is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. I first heard his music through my older sister, Sharon, back when I was a teen. If you are not familiar with Larry or his music you can read more about him at his official bio or at his Wikipedia entry. I will post some personal notes here, and then post a write-up of the concert tomorrow.

I saw Larry in concert several times in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but the last time I saw him live was in 1990. So when I heard he was coming to New York City, I was very excited. I live in Agawam, MA which is about three hours away, but certainly close enough for a Larry concert!

(more…)

Keith Green was a singer/songwriter who had a great impact on me as a young Christian. I still enjoy listening to his music today. Sadly, he was killed in a plane accident back in 1982 along with two of his children and a missionary family. However, the Christian Post reports that some new Keith Green music will be released in the coming months.

Melody [Keith’s wife] has kept every musical piece that Keith created while still alive. Because of new technologies that have come out, she felt that it was the right time to release the tunes.

EMI/Sparrow Records producers are planning to release some music that has never been heard by the public. This includes an iTunes release set to come out in August and more material in the next year, according to Bryan Ward, director of artist development with EMI Christian Music Group (CMG).

Melody hopes that the music will have a positive impact towards culture and society. She feels that there is a need for his compositions today.

Sounds great to me. I am definitely ready for some new Keith Green music! (HT: MMI)

Related post: New Keith Green Live CD/DVD

Same time next year. A teacher from Toronto flew thousands of miles across the Atlantic to Wales to attend his friend’s wedding, only to discover he had arrived one year early. He had received an email from his friend earlier in the year saying the wedding was July 6th and assumed he meant 2007. The flight cost him $1,015.

Help! Police! A 38-year-old man was arrested after he called 911 to report that he was surrounded by police officers and needed help. He was charged with misdemeanor misuse of 911.

When it’s over . . . The White Stripes played the shortest concert ever on Monday, July 16 in St. John’s, Canada. The musical duo played a single note (a C-sharp) before hundreds of adoring fans. I have always heard that the secret to a good show is leaving the audience wanting more. (HT: Challies)

Here is a photo essay from Christianity Today featuring people and hymnals from around the world. The slideshow presents a brief history of hymnals as well as giving you a glimpse into believers from other cultures worshiping the Lord through song. Here is one example:

    Photograph: Jack Popjes from All the World is Singing

The Canela people of Brazil have a 24-hour song cycle and can tell time simply by what song people are singing, says Jack Popjes, who moved there with his wife in the late 1960s. This photo of one of the Canelas’ Bible classes, one in a 70-day string of such meetings, shows the attendees learning a new song. Popjes, ethnomusicologist Tom Avery, and Canela song and dance leader Abilio Tami created a small hymnal in the Canelas’ bafflingly complex musical tradition with lyrics from Scripture.

When I was in high school, I actually considered becoming an ethnomusicologist. I wanted to combine my love of music and worship with missions. For more on worship around the world, check out the International Council of Ethnodoxologists web site. (Now there’s a mouthful!)

The vision of ICE is that Christians from every culture will have the opportunity to express their faith through their own heart music and arts.

To further this vision, we seek to promote the application of insights drawn from the fields of ethnomusicology, worship studies, and other disciplines in Christian ministries worldwide.

HT: Challies.com

Mark Roberts reflects on his blog about how easy it is today to find and purchase music from the comfort of your own home, as opposed to the “old way” of going out and buying it in a store. He has some good thoughts on the convenience of technology as well as some of the dangers of instant gratification.

His post reminded me of the Herculean lengths I used to go to find music when I was younger. I spent hours browsing the secondhand record stores, searching for out-of-print treasures like People’s “I Love You” and Larry Norman’s “So Long Ago the Garden.” When my mother went to England to visit relatives, I pleaded with her to try and find the European version of Mark Heard’s “Fingerprint.”

When I was in college, I started listening to Canadian guitarist/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. His most recent material could be tracked down in the states, but you could only find his earlier records in Canada. So, while on a family vacation in northern New Hampshire one summer, I took an all day trek into Canada, stopping at every record store I could find buying up Bruce’s back catalogue. I remember coming back to our cabin in New Hampshire with my arms full of record albums I could not play because we had no record player in the cabin. All week long I studied the album jackets, reading the lyrics and the liner notes, wondering what the music was like. When I got home and put the records on the stereo, I was not disappointed.

I still have all of these treasures on vinyl LP. I eventually ended up re-buying them on CD. The vinyl records are sitting in a cardboard box in the storage closet down in the basement, while their CD counterparts sit proudly upstairs in the living room next to the entertaiment center. And now I could find any of these items online within minutes for either purchase or download.

I like and appreciate the convenience of the internet. I wouldn’t want to go back to the old way of purchasing music anymore than I would want to listen to records on vinyl instead of CD or MP3. But, I have to admit, it was a lot of fun hunting them down the old way. Those are good memories. I wouldn’t trade the internet for the old way, but I wouldn’t trade my memories for the internet either. I just might have to break open that box of vinyl in the basement later today and browse some more liner notes.

Related post: Media Access for the Next Generation