In a week or two, I should be able to reveal my very first music video on this site. It's "This Time of Forty Days", my loving comic ode to the season of Lent. (Based on the minor hit "King of Pain" from The Police's Synchronicity album (1983)).
The process of shooting has been all around hectic and crazy, but now we are in the editing process, and it's "hurry-up-and-wait" mode. I've already seen two drafts. We're going to keep tweaking it until it comes out just right--it's a very delicate process, trying to provide the best balance between serious introspection and comic hilarity.
When it's done, I will upload it to YouTube, and subsequently this site. I would try to link it up to a few other sites. My biggest desire is for this video to be passed on via word-of-mouth, from those of you who like what you see, and want to see more videos like this. This video will have all the elements that will make it imminently watchable (from an entertainment perspective) while providing enough meat and inspiration (from an inspirational perspective). It will also be timely, since it will be released just before the Lenten season.
If you are a youth leader, or a catechist, or a blogger, or a faithful Catholic (or other religious denomination that celebrates Lent), I invite you to embed this video into your own blog, to help spread the word. If you like it, if you can also leave a positive comment, that would be great.
Help make "This Time of Forty Days" a YouTube sensation! Thanks!
Blog
Making a Music Video
Internet Radio Interview
I've been terribly busy in the last year, so I apologize for not keeping this up to date.
If you want to hear an interview I gave for an Internet radio station, I invite you to check out www.catholicmedia.fm this coming Thursday at 8:30pm. I will also be on their chat, where you can ask me any question.
Thanks again!
Nick
If you want to hear an interview I gave for an Internet radio station, I invite you to check out www.catholicmedia.fm this coming Thursday at 8:30pm. I will also be on their chat, where you can ask me any question.
Thanks again!
Nick
Great Christmas Music and New Booking Agency
This past weekend I was able to get TopCatholicSongs listing of the top Catholic Christmas/Advent albums out there. Susan Bailey of Grapevine Magazine took this information and publicized it on her newssite, as well as countless blogs, groups, and the Music section of Catholic.net. What can I say? I'm very happy for the artists represented on this list. If you are in the market to discover new Christmas music, this is an excellent place to discover some faith-filled Catholics who are working hard to create lasting music for the holidays.
In other news, as of today, I have been formally included in the roster for CMG Booking. The growing list of Catholic speakers and musicians there are unprecedented and impressive. I am very thrilled to be included in such company.
Nick-A-Thons?
I just got this email from an old friend from college:
I noticed in your entire repertoire there was no mention of the Nick-a-thons. That's what I remember you most for. If I were to hire you it would have to include a nick-a-thon. ...
The Nick-a-thon as I remember it was after the official worship was over, when your fingers had every right to be dead tired, folks would be talking and doing there thing, and a smaller group of us would sit around with you and keep praising the Lord. It was like you could play all night.
Its a good memory.
If there's one thing I was known for in my college music days, it wasn't for my technical prowess over the guitar fretboard, or for my skilled improvisational techniques, or for my cherub-like voice. Nope. It was my utter tenacity. I really could play for hours, and did, often. When others had collapsed under the duress over playing merely ninety minutes, some hours later I would still be going strong.
It should be noted that for many of my gigs this tenacity had served me well. World Youth Day, for example, was nine specific gigs over a period of five days. There were times over overnight retreats, where I bonded strongly with the night-owls. And then there were the couple of instances where I played for a healing mass (after which, for those unfamiliar with this terrain, there is an extended continuous medley of praise songs, hymns, and--in my case--Gregorian chants, which fosters a spirit of openness to God's touch upon that room. I remember one time where I did this for three hours straight.
Where do I get the energy? I honestly don't know. Some may point to caffeine. Others believe that when you really, truly love something, the hours simply fly by. For myself, I think the key to my tenacity stems from my hours of playing video games as a child. There was this one evening where I actually played Activision's Laser Blast for four-hours straight, breaking the million-plus score. I'm not saying that's why... I'm just saying.
Major shout-out to Eugene L. for the question. Thanks!
Up-GRADE!
Hi everybody...
Today embarks a new chapter of my ministry. After many months of planning and creating, we have finally updated my website.
I hope you stick around and enjoy this incredible effort. We (John Flynn, Laura Harris and Lori Zabrocki) have worked super hard to make this website attractive and fun.
Feel free to stick around, and comment on what you think!
Later...
