The Christian Music Blog Podcast: Christian Music | Songwriting | Worship | Creative Productivity | Music Business

As we wrap up 2013, I want to get highly practical and provide you with some ideas, tips, and tactics that you can take into your new year, to see immediate results. Taking action and putting one foot in front of the other, is the only way to grow in anything. Even in our walk with Christ, we aren’t merely hearers of the word, but doers. It's in our doing that we learn and grow the most. Action is a huge part of anything in life. No one sits around on their hands to watch things magically happen. I want to give you a few ways to quickly be on the path towards a GREAT new year. These are 4 things every musician should do in 2014... CMB 039 : 20 Mile March (daily activity) CMB 040 : Upgrade Your Tools (become an engineer) CMB 041 : Connect With Your Listeners (master the internet) CMB 042 : Harness Inspiration (decode the mystery of creativity) Harness Inspiration In this last podcast of 2013, we wrap up the year with an overview of how inspiration works with perspiration. We also look at an overview of how I use Evernote to practically bring inspiration and perspiration together in a system that works like a songwriting factory. However, at the heart of success in 2014 you won't find a technique or pragmatic tip to make into a New Year's resolution. Instead, you'll find that a simple, yet deep delight in Jesus will fuel you and keep you going throughout the year. To avoid burnout in your hard work, you need the energy and activity of the Holy Spirit. If He is your source of inspiration, you'll succeed. 1% Inspiration, 99% Perspiration MYTH Evernote Songwriting Method Evernote Jeff Goins on writing Handheld digital recorder What System Do You Use To Harness Inspiration? Let us know in the comments!

As we wrap up 2013, I want to get highly practical and provide you with some ideas, tips, and tactics that you can take into your new year, to see immediate results. Taking action and putting one foot in front of the other, is the only way to grow in anything. Even in our walk with Christ, we aren’t merely hearers of the word, but doers. It's in our doing that we learn and grow the most. Action is a huge part of anything in life. No one sits around on their hands to watch things magically happen. I want to give you a few ways to quickly be on the path towards a GREAT new year. These are 4 things every musician should do in 2014... CMB 039 : 20 Mile March (daily activity) CMB 040 : Upgrade Your Tools (become an engineer) CMB 041 : Connect With Your Listeners (master the internet) CMB 042 : Harness Inspiration (decode the mystery of creativity) Connect With Your Listeners In today's podcast episode, I give you 6 must-haves for connecting with people online. I believe you'll see big results in 2014 if you stick to it. It's exactly what has happened to CMB this year, and I know it can happen for you and your music. Keep in mind, that the things I mention below are merely scratching the surface when it comes to internet marketing and platform building. This takes a lot of time, hard work, and educating yourself if you want to succeed. Never forget the "20 Mile March" principle when it comes to this stuff. You'll get there. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.... Here are six priorities when it comes to building an online platform for your music.... 1) Get Online Seems obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many musicians only have their personal facebook profiles promoting their stuff. Or maybe you have an older GeoCities website (remember those?) that was designed back at the dawn of the internet, screaming for help. No matter where you are, make sure that you have at least the following four things: Your official website Facebook Page Twitter YouTube Channel 2) Know Your Listener This should probably the first thing you spend time doing. Knowing who your audience is will help you connect better than any tool, website, or latest tech fad. Think about more than just the styles of music they may like. Think about what they like to read, how old they are, what they love to eat, their hobbies, interests, political perspectives, and on, and on we could go. The more you seek to understand and serve your audience, the more they'll connect with you, your message, and your music. 3) Go To Them Get off your website! This one is kind of counter intuitive, but when you think about it, it's a no-brainer. Find out where these people hang out! Do the following things: Google other blogs in your niche Search for forums to join and contribute value Look for local off-line opportunities to connect with people Join a membership site Invest in online training programs where people with your interest are developing themselves. 4) Search Engine Optimization People who resonate with your message and music, are probably looking for it. Are you hard to find or easy to find? Search Engine Optimization is the process of making your website's content search engine friendly. This can be quite an animal in many people's minds, but it doesn't have to be. Check out this link to get an awesome education on the basics of SEO. 5) Audio and Video (YouTube and Podcasting) Understand YouTube (with James Wedmore) Podcast Answer Man (weekly show on podcasting) Pat Flynn's free podcasting tutorial (6 videos) 6) Start a mailing list Mailchimp LeadPages (really helpful opt-in forms and pages) Why you should build your e-mail list Great article from Wired on why e-newsletters kill twitter

As we wrap up 2013, I want to get highly practical and provide you with some ideas, tips, and tactics that you can take into your new year, to see immediate results. For the next four weeks, each episode will have something that you can take and apply right away. I’m learning that taking action and putting one foot in front of the other, is the only way to grow in anything. Even in our walk with Christ, we aren’t merely hearers of the word, but doers. It's in our doing that we learn and grow the most. Action is a huge part of anything in life. No one sits around on their hands to watch things magically happen. I want to give you a few ways to quickly be on the path towards a GREAT new year. These are 4 things every musician should do in 2014... CMB 039 : 20 Mile March (daily activity) CMB 040 : Upgrade Your Tools (become an engineer) CMB 041 : Connect With Your Listeners (master the internet) CMB 042 : Harness Inspiration (decode the mystery of creativity) Upgrade Your Tools Here's my story... When I first got my hands on Garageband in 2004, I fell in love with the creative process of recording. I was forever ruined. It wasn't engineering in itself that I came to love, but the artistic process of capturing sound and making it musical. Engineering, mixing, and audio production, were just as much a part of the art as the music itself! I also loved that I had more control over the end product. Often in recording projects prior to that, there would always be some issue in the production or final mix that I wished were different. I later came across Propellerhead Reason, which gave me more options for different sounds and samples and was more powerful and flexible than Garageband. After that I also came across a great Pro Tools course at Berklee Music Online, and I began to learn professional-level engineering methods. Your Story But what should you do? Your path will be different than mine, and it's important for you to be very aware of what your needs are. Your musical direction will dictate specific types of software, plugins, and other tools, but here are some basic tools you should definitely consider if you're just getting started.... Computer Choices Apple Get a used Mac Mac Mini Acer Laptop (Windows) Software and DAWs Garageband (comes with a Mac) Reason Pro Tools Logic Pro Cue Base Reaper Hardware Focusrite (interface) Yamaha MG102 (mixer) Zoom H4N (digital recorder) SM-57 (microphone) Rode NTK (microphone) Education Home Studio Handbook (by Discmakers) Berklee College of Music (Online) Coming Soon... What are you currently using? If you're currently a DIY engineer for your own music, why not leave your tips and ideas in the comments below? Let us know what you're using.

As we wrap up 2013, I want to get highly practical and provide you with some ideas, tips, and tactics that you can take into your new year, to see immediate results. For the next four weeks, each episode will have something that you can take and apply right away. I’m learning that taking action and putting one foot in front of the other, is the only way to grow in anything. Even in our walk with Christ, we aren’t merely hearers of the word, but doers. It's in our doing that we learn and grow the most. Action is a huge part of anything in life. No one sits around on their hands to watch things magically happen. So… here’s where we’re going the next four weeks. I want to give you a few ways to quickly be on the path towards a GREAT new year. These are 4 things every musician should do in 2014... CMB 039 : 20 Mile March (daily activity) CMB 040 : Upgrade Your Tools (become an engineer) CMB 041 : Connect With Your Listeners (master the internet) CMB 042 : Harness Inspiration (decode the mystery of creativity) The 20 Mile March In today's episode, I share with you an insightful principle for daily discipline, taken from the book Great By Choice, by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen. It's called "The 20 Mile March". Here's an excerpt from an interview they did about it (read the full interview at the link below)... In the book, we talk about the 20-mile march. The idea is that … you have a lower threshold and then you have an upper limit. You must hit the targets you set for yourself no matter what. You don’t go too far on any day, month or quarter. When we looked at Amundsen, the fascinating part is that he had, literally, a 15-mile march target. He was going to go 15 miles every day toward the South Pole… .He built a system around that. On the good days, he held back; he didn’t go the distance he could have gone. He just stopped in the early afternoon and rested. On the very difficult days, he made maybe five, six, seven miles, but nevertheless, he traveled on those days where Scott and the other team would sit in their tents. Both of them had a very interesting approach. Underlying that is what can only be described as fanatic discipline. Amundsen was extraordinary in his discipline, preparing his whole life for this particular moment. That really stands out among the leaders that we have studied. -Morten Hansen A little bit every day, regardless of conditions, does far more than one off chunks of hard work here or there. In the life of an artist, you must be thinking marathon and not sprint. So, for 2014 think about what you're "20 Mile March" will be, and let us know in the comments below. Helpful Links CMB 036 : Tim Timmons Interview with the Jim Collins and Morten Hansen Their book Great By Choice Jim's book Good to Great So What's Your 20 Mile March? Let us know below......

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! If you're like my family, you'll be breaking out the Christmas decorations this weekend, and gearing up for the holiday season. With all the festive frenzy, there's bound to be some Christmas music in the mix right? For the Fancher family, a frequently played record will be Paul Baloche's Christmas Worship. It was a privilege to get a little time with Paul on today's podcast. We talked about a handful of things. One, in particular, is a Christmas songwriting challenge for worship leaders during December. Some other highlights Paul's first worship song Don't TRY to write Songwriting tips for worship songs Biblically informed lyrics Songs on the new album Christmas Worship Live/Studio hybrid Production O Come Emmanuel Musical influences from culture The story of Your Name (Christmas version) Paul's homework assignment for worship leaders this December Nashville numbering system International ministry Links Christmas Worship (thew new album) leadworship.com singfrench.com Music Theory Made Easy God Songs (Book) The Worship Series DVDs Paul on Twitter Paul on Facebook

Being an indie artist is serious stuff. Add to that the realities of a full time job and a family, and you have quite the adventure before you. There's never a dull moment in the life of a DIY music maker. So how does a full-time mom, a volunteer leader with Young Life, and a creative indie artist pull everything off? How does someone with such a full plate find time to write songs, administrate their website, book shows, and pull off the other details that an indie has to figure out? Just thinking about it makes my head spin, and makes me so thankful for the grace of God. Recently on the podcast we've talked a lot about identity, stewardship and dying to self-kingdom-building. When I hear the story of Caroline Cobb, I see a living example of these things. It was a privilege to sit down and talk with her. We talked about the following things Caroline's story of faith From a serious hobby to a serious indie artist rhythm Coffee with Jill Phillips Caroline's weekly routine Her songwriting process 66 songs in a year The Blood and The Breath How she crushed it on Kickstarter, nearly doubling her campaign goal The tensions that Christian artist face with self promotion The difference between "singer/songwriter" and "worship leader" Writing songs from scripture Links Caroline's new record The Blood and The Breath Caroline's official site Get three free songs from her new album at Noisetrade here. Caroline's devotional eBook Caroline on Twitter Scripture to music collective Kickstarter Sean Carter Jill Phillips Andrew Peterson

Tim Timmons got a wake up call when his doctor told him that he had an incurable cancer with 5 years to live. 12 years later, Tim has been used by God all over the country to see the church embrace the message of God's Kingdom, and what it means to radically follow Jesus. Tim is exemplary in his approach to being joyful and Christ-centered in the midst of suffering. Tim's current album Cast My Cares was released on Reunion Records last June with the singles "Cast My Cares" and "Starts With Me". His music can pretty much be heard on just about any Christian radio station out there. But even in the midst of his current success, Tim would rather keep it simple and talk about the wonderful adventure of following Jesus. The recurring theme all over today's podcast is dying to the building of our own kingdoms, and actually believing the things Jesus has said to us in His word about His kingdom. Here's Some of What We Discussed Tim's Story Letting your kingdom die John 15 and being pruned Actually living as though the Bible was true The children's record, Songs and Daughters Being aware of God's Kingdom How Tim balances touring What Tim would say to his younger self How is resting not burying your talent? Tim's Links Tim's official site Tim on Facebook Tim on Twitter Tim's Upcoming Christmas Tour http://vimeo.com/75031905

How does business and ministry work well together? Is it possible? Today on the podcast, I was joined by my good friend Jimmy Lakey. Jimmy is a renaissance man and entrepreneur who has started several businesses, from concert promotion, artist management, and even pursuits in public service and politics. Here's some of what we talked about... Jimmy's start Concert promotion defined How concert promotion have changed the last ten years Is business bad? Advice for indie artists Build the following Growing in your craft Jimmy's current view of CCM The story of adopting their son River How River's adoption tied to starting a non-profit for orphans Rwanda and rebuilding Sponsorship Jimmy's Sites Rivers' Promise Lakey Cigars Jimmy's weekly radio show River's Promise on Twitter Lakey Presents on Twitter Jimmy on Facebook Other things mentioned Wayne Grudem's book - Business For The Glory of God CMB 031 : John Mays, Artist Development, and the Future of Music CMB 029 : Stephen Miller And An Appeal To Worship Leaders Leverage Your Life (VIDEO with Robbie Seay) For Fun Here's Daniel Bashta and David Crowder singing Daniel's song, Like A Lion.

This week on the CMB podcast I share with you my conversation with author and blogger, Tim Challies. We talked about a handful of things, but primarily discussed the effects of technology and the digital explosion in the life of the believer. Specifically Christian musicians. It was both an encouraging and a challenging conversation that I’m sure will get you thinking. Here are the highlights Tim's story of faith How he got started blogging and writing Writing daily Why daily habits helps you grow Balancing family, writing, and ministry Tim's recent book The Next Story How technology affects everyone A Christian worldview of technology Social media and privacy Twitter and retweeting Concerns and excitement about popular Christian music How should we define "congregational"? What makes a song easy to sing? Here are Tim's links challies.com Tim's book, The Next Story Tim's book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment Tim on Twitter Tim on Facebook Other items mentioned Upcoming book, Does God Listen To Rap? by Curtis Allen The Bono Effect (post by Mike Cosper) What do you think makes a song easy to sing? Let us know in the comments!

Here recently at the blog, the parable of the talents has come up a few times (CMB 029 with Stephen Miller, and this guest post by Kristen Gilles). I had to originally reschedule my chat with Bob Kauflin, and before that, I had not heard his talk from the Worship God East conference. Thanks to Bobby and Kristen Gilles, I was turned on to it after she did her guest post here at the blog. Suffice it to say, I was glad we rescheduled our Skype call. It seemed God wanted us to continue looking at the words of Jesus in Matthew 25. The Parable of The Talents has been a challenging and inspirational parable for many Christian artists. We long to see that our talents not be buried and unfruitful. But here's the problem.... I have looked at this parable the wrong way for a long time. So many times I've used it to justify my selfish ambition, all in the name of stewarding "my gift". The Call of The Christian Musician We need to pay closer attention to Jesus' words in this very important parable. A few years ago, I was in Gaithersburg, Maryland, attending a class for the Sovereign Grace Pastors' College. While I was there, I spent a little time with some of the local musicians and songwriters in the worship internship that Bob was doing. One day, while in the SGM studio, I saw a large plaque on the wall that said the following words.... The call of the Christian musician is to faithfully make music, in any context, that reflects a grateful servant's heart to the gospel. That's what the Parable of The Talents is all about, and every one of us should ask for God's help to daily apply these words of Jesus. When we do this, the master is glorified in and through our lives as people of faith who make music. Here's the breakdown of our conversation Bob's story of faith Bob's story of musicianship The call of the "Christian musician" A closer look at the parable of the talents How to discover your talents The value of getting feedback 1 Peter 4 Serve people and watch what bears fruit The truth about self promotion How to reach out to someone about your music Looking for opportunities to grow and serve God promotes Sovereign Grace Music Why the gospel matters Bob's upcoming book, True Worshipers Important Links Bob's talk at Worship God East- Faithful to Grow Bob's blog - worshipmatters.com Grace Has Come: Songs From the Book of Romans Bob on Twitter Other Things Mentioned Three Key Ways To Grow As A Worship Leader Caroline Cobb Dustin Kensrue's new album, The Water and The Blood Matt Redman's Your Grace Finds Me

From professional baseball to full time music making, Brady Toops, is an example of hard work, honest artistry, and what it looks like to live in community. His sound is a convergence of his influences from gospel music, traditional folk, and rock and roll. In our conversation we talked about his new self titled album released in August, produced by David Leonard of All Sons and Daughters, as well as what life looks like as an unsigned musicpreneur. Here are some highlights Brady's story growing up Writing songs and playing pro baseball Moving to Nashville Artist development The new album "Brady Toops" Working with David Leonard of All Sons and Daughters Self management and being a one man team Starting a small business from scratch Keeping costs minimal Understanding all aspects of the business Wise decisions Labels and momentum 95% hard work and no glamor Creating moments for people Shifting to doing the things that only you can do Community and travel Many fathers and mothers all over The song Lord Have Mercy Brady's influences Brady's Links The new album - Brady Toops Official website Twitter Facebook Awesome Brady Baseball Moment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzy75Jkoq_g

On this week's episode of the Christian Music Blog Podcast, I had the privilege of sitting down with A&R executive, John Mays. Having worked at Word, Sparrow, and Star Song Records before serving as president of Benson Records, John has seen many artists come and go for more than 35 years. He previously signed artists such as Point Of Grace, Cindy Morgan, Matt Redman, Nichole Nordeman, Warren Barfield, Jason Gray, and the original Passion worship records. John helped start Centricity Music in 2005, where he currently works with Aaron Shust, Andrew Peterson, Downhere, and more. If you're an artist, this conversation is for you. Should you even think about things like record deals or publishing contracts? If so, what should you do? Any artist looking to pursue a career in music needs to hear today's episode.... Here are some of things we discussed John's story getting in to the music business The core functions of a record label The difference between a movement artist and a radio artist Christian radio and why it matters How artists should be thinking about labels The misunderstandings artists have about labels The messy three piece pie of Christian music ministry The ups and downs of a full time artist Vincent van Gogh quote The four things labels are really looking for Why talent matters the least The things that make for longevity in an artist's career Putting in the hard work, and letting God bring the fruit The future of streaming music The future of radio 4 Things Labels Look For Taken from the Centricity website: Work Ethic We once heard Margaret Becker tell some indie artists that before she was signed, she felt like she was digging a trench with her bare hands. When she signed, the label gave her a shovel, but she still had to do the digging! That image is important because it helps artists to understand how much patience and persistence is required, and the reality that no one will ever work as hard to get their music exposed as themselves. We can’t work with people who don’t understand this. Songs Fortunately, writing and recording great songs continues to play a significant role in the marketability of an artist. Through all the changes in the music biz, this seems to remain the one, consistent factor in building and sustaining a successful music career. If you are consistently writing great songs, either by yourself or with others, we’re interested Qualified Uniqueness We use the word “qualified” because simply saying we’re looking for “unique” artists isn’t totally accurate. We want artists who are unique enough to not sound like everything else out there; but also sound enough like everything else out there that it still can have mass appeal for it’s time. Tricky stuff. If you’re making commercial music, AND that music has an identifiable distinction to it, we’re interested. Talent We’ll never sign anyone who’s not talented on some level, but we’ll probably never again be able to sign someone on talent alone. There’s simply too much noise out there, good and bad, to rely on talent only to cut through. Without a good showing in the first three categories (listed above), it’s almost impossible to gain visibility for an artist or band, regardless of the level of talent. Important Links Centricity Music Centricity Links Indie resource documents Centricity A&R on Twitter Other Things Mentioned gospelmusic.org Podcast episode with Susan Fontaine Godwin on IndieAdmin IndieAdmin by CCS Podcast episode with Dave Kraft on leadership Stephen Miller's book....    

This may be one of my favorite podcast episodes so far. Lately I've been thinking a lot about how worship pastors should be developing the artistic side of what they do, simply as people of faith who make music. In last week's podcast, I interviewed Stephen Miller about his new book, Worship Leaders: We Are Not Rock Stars. It's a great book. One that all worship leaders should read. One of the chapters that really stood out to me was chapter 8 entitled, We Are Artists. Claybrook is one of those artists. He's a worship leader at his church, and he's an artist in his city. In session 30 of the podcast, I had him come in to the studio to talk about his new release On The Inside. Under the title of his last name, Stephen Claybrook has released the most authentic EP I've heard in a long time. Download it at iTunes here. We talked about several different things surrounding the process of how the EP was recorded, including the subject of worship pastors being artists outside the church building, as they create and share their art in the cities they live in. Here are a few of the other items we touched on: Stephen's story of faith and music His time growing up in Nashville Working in the CCM industry His 12 years at Crosspointe Church His time writing in the cabin The story behind the song Fear What is a legit recording? Connecting and making friends right where you are The story behind the song Accuser Is there any value in ambiguity? Being musical in your community Awesome tuning - CGDGBD Important Links The EP - On The Inside Official website and blog of Claybrook Claybrook on Twitter Asylum Arts (coming soon)    

This week, I have a very encouraging conversation to share with you. Stephen Miller, worship leader and author of the new book Worship Leaders We Are Not Rock Stars, is bringing a much needed reminder to worship leaders and artists. It's a reminder about how our identity isn't in our songs, our ministries, our art, or the praise or rejection of people. Our identity is in the true rock star Himself: Jesus our sovereign savior. This is a huge issue. We live in a time of big stages, and bright lights. Smoke machines and large video screens mark the weekly life of our worship in many of the local churches across the country. Not that these are innately wrong. It's just that it's more important than ever to guard our hearts and remind ourselves daily of what really matters. Rather than throwing stones at the "worship industry", Stephen, pastorally reminds us of a better way. A higher and more satisfying call on the life of every worship leader - being accepted in Christ. Being a Christian. Here are the highlights of our conversation Stephen's story of faith How he became a worship leader Itinerant ministry to local church ministry Biblical worship leading The heart behind the new book The changing landscape of worship music A practical book for worship teams and leaders How writing the book challenged Stephen How to work hard as unto the Lord What are you laboring for? The priesthood of believers What is "liturgy" anyway? How Stephen's team prepares every week Isaiah 6 and planning a worship service The new album All Hail The King Stephen's Links The book: Worship Leaders We Are Not Rock Stars The new album: All Hail The King Stephen's blog Stephen on Twitter I also mentioned a great guest post here at CMB by Kristen Gilles. It ties in to one of the things Stephen and I talked about regarding Matthew 25 and the parable of the talents. Check it out here.    

On session 28 of the podcast, I had fellow worship pastor, songwriter, blogger, and podcaster, David Santistevan. We have a couple things in common, and wanted to get the word out on our end about what he’s up to. One of the many things that I love about this guy is his passion for vision. Vision is a word that you hear a lot these days - especially in leadership circles. Having vision and a clear picture of what your purpose is, leads to more focus, productivity, and having more to leverage in your life for the glory of God. I’ve talked about vision before on the podcast, but I’d like to highlight the unique way that David says it. Simply put: Thinking beyond Sunday. Three words that pastors, and church leaders, (including worship leaders and musicians in the church) immediately resonate with. Leaders long for being more on top of it, more organized, more planned ahead. David’s e-book and podcast with the same title, Beyond Sunday, is all about this. And in our conversation, it's what we hone in on the most. If you're not a "worship leader", don't tune out. There are still principles that you can apply. Here's what we discussed: David's story growing up in music His first encounter with God in worship Vision restored Leadership and discipleship Beyond Sunday (e-book) Working with folks who are better than you A Kingdom focus Creating the plan Does the vision line up with the mission Weekly, monthly, annually Knowing your church well The Worship Songwriter (e-book) The steps of writing a singable worship song Thoughts on co-writing sessions Churches releasing music Worship songs that serve David's blog and podcast David's future membership site, Worship Leader Mentor David's Links Beyond Sunday Podcast (iTunes link) The Worship Songwriter (e-book link) davidsantistevan.com David's workshops and seminars for worship teams David on Twitter David on Facebook Win! If you're on our e-mail list, look up the e-mail I sent, where I talked about how you can win a copy of Undying Love - The live album from David's church Allison Park Church. Once you're ready, leave your comment below!