Doug Van Pelt

My life doesn't suck

"It's cool," he said. "People realize we go through seasons," he explained. I had asked my friend, "How bad am I blowing it by not blogging consistently?" I was worried, because what used to be my get-started and even devotional ritual was now getting shoved aside by new paradigms (like not reading email at the start of my day, which was a 2-hour time suck) and a focus on getting the most important things done first (like taking a project that needed to get done and starting with that.

Here are some of my (blogging) goals:

Post "The homosexual debate" blog, where I'll solve the debate once and for all with a no-prejudice look at the issue and an attempt at a true biblical application on the topic. The first item, of course, will be admitting that there's no way I'll resolve the issue with one blog.

Post "Saving a Magazine" or "How not to kill a magazine" series of posts, where I share the realities of what's going on with today's economy (where magazine ad sales and music industry sales are both taking dives) and how to adapt and push on.

Finish "The Love Dare" blog series, which I stopped for a SXSW experience and then deadline and then GMA trip and then surgery recovery and then another deadline. I'm glad I finished my novel in there, somewhere.

Accomplish all of these before July 1, where we unveil our new website re-design. Whoo-hoo! I can't wait.

Worship "in a perfect world"

Hello, blog. It's been awhile. Blame twitter and my busy schedule. I hope to get back on track this week. Maybe I can dare to finish the Love Dare. I just got a new CD I probably wouldn't have listened to for awhile ... unless I'd read the bio. Native Window is the members of Kansas (drummer Phil Ehart, guitarist Rich Williams, along with later additions from the last decade -- violinist David Ragsdale and bassist Billy Greer), sans vocalist Steve Walsh and founding guitarist Kerry Livgren. They set out trying not to sound like Kansas, but with a violinist and these guy's personality, they can't help but sound a little like the band.

Anyway...
This Sunday our worship leader at church and I were talking. I tried to help him get some attention while at GMA, agreeing to take a dozen CDs with me and hand out to various industry people I knew that could maybe make a difference. One radio guy refers to his services as being like the Geico company, saving people thousands of dollars by not servicing their music to radio. I got the impression that, while this guy was impressed with Toby's song ("Loved Ones"), that it was so brutally competitive out there with Christian radio that it was best not to try at this point in time. I affirmed my friends attitude (of being satisfied where he's at now, leading worship at Calvary Austin every week, making a living making music) as being a good one.

He asked me a question: In a perfect world, who would you have lead worship at Calvary Austin? Of course, that was a loaded question and of course it was one that is hard to answer on the spot. I said, "Toby Walters."

It's a question worth considering. Not for real vocational placement, necessarily, but just to get one thinking about worship. If I could have any worship leader at my church every weekend, who would it be?

My first criteria would be: "someone who leads worship." They don't just play songs. They don't just sound good. They engage the congregation. They encourage them to worship. In fact, they don't let the congregation get away with sitting still and not worshipping. He or she leads them in prayer, calls them to worship, models engaging God with one's emotions, soul, body and endeavoring to engage God with our spirit.

A guy named Maury Millican would probably be on my fictitious "list." He was really good about leading and calling to worship. He was very practical and very relaxed about calling God's people to humble themselves as well as rejoice before their King.

As I pondered the question, I wasn't too attracted by having any of Christian music's "heavyweights" in the worship category. While it would be great and fun to have people like Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Matt Redmond and folks like that leading worship, the whole "celebrity" factor might get in the way or get old.

What if Michael the archangel led worship at our church? What could he tell us about worship that pleases the Father and honors the Son? That's an interesting question. My mind, when asked to answer that question, will easily gravitate towards, "What moved me the most in past worship experiences?" I might judge those experiences by the amount of tears, goosebumps, tingling sensations, or quiet awe. Maybe by the amount of dancing or people on the floor weeping before their God, crying out "Holy, holy, holy!"

But that direction would be fed by my experience. What worship pleases the Father most? What could an archangel, who had been in heaven while worship on earth (as well as heaven) took place ... what could he tell us that would reveal and motivate us to worship that way?

I can only imagine. I would think that honesty would be key. Speaking forth praise, or complimenting God on His attributes and His deeds, would be high on the list. Whether there was emotions or not would not be the key here. It would be that honesty.

Passion and purpose of heart would be likened unto honesty, but slightly different. Not only would the stoic man from European descent be honest in speaking truths to God about Himself; but the young person next to Him telling Jesus how much he appreciated being forgiven, how humbled he was to see God move on his behalf that week.

I think of the person that had a bad week. The person who is suffering. When that person commands their heart to simply give thanks and praise God for Who He is, that probably pleases the Father a great deal.

What do you think?

Internal Intern

We have a new intern at the HM Ranch. I'm not sure if he's impressed with the farm animals roaming around (or the horses rearing and clobbering each other with their hooves), but it's not boring around here. Starting in the thick of deadline cannot be fun. Or maybe it is...

He's got his diary going now (I think) at...

Getting the calf back inside

Today was an unusual day, which was nice -- since we had a friend over at the HM Ranch helping out with the magazine (Brian Behm). This way Brian got to see something out of the ordinary. Instead of a CD throwing contest, which we all know I would have destroyed him at, I noticed some drama outside my window. It appears all of the cows and horses (and even Douglass the donkey) were looking over the fence at something that interested them. Turns out the young calf of the bunch had walked through or jumped over the barbed wire fence and was walking the road.

I told Brian there was some drama I'd have to address and he followed me outside with my trusted dog, Biscuit Buddy McGillicutti. We went up to the intersection of CR 424 and CR 423 and slowly approached the startled calf. I planned on us corralling the young guy back through our gate, driveway and yard, but when we slowly got past him I told Biscuit to guide him back to the fence, which he obliged with vigor and barking. I searched for and found an area of the fence he must've gotten through and I held the top wire up and pushed the lower wires down with my foot, giving him a gap to get through, which he did without scratching the blood out of himself. I repaired that part of the fence, called the owner of the cattle to share the excitement, and that was it. Back to deadline, and the laying out of album reviews, news, and figuring out which stories go where.




Here's a heading I'm planning on using for future HM enewsletters.





And here's a twitter feed.

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GMA on the ground

When we last left off on the exciting adventures of editor Doug Van Pelt in Nashville, Tennessee, he was "hoping to catch Tonex" at the Dog & Pony Show at B.B. King's Blues Club on 2nd Street downtown. I was dependent upon the lovely Erin Lee for transportation, so after we watched Exit The Ordinary bring the rock at the Rock For Life showcase, we ducked into another showcase a friend was hosting, and then I talked her into checking out this guy named "Tonex" at B.B. King's. I knew she and our other friend (Travis Waugh) were probably exhausted, so this performer better bring his A-game. Oh my! Did he ever! This guy is like the best of Little Richard, Prince, James Brown and Michael Jackson rolled into one. Oh my gosh! The dude just does not fail to impress each time. I leaned over to my friend, Dr. Tony Shore and asked him, "How many people are born, live and die, and never see a talent like that?" Wow! When I heard him repeat the statement to a lady standing next to him, I knew we were all in the same blown-away category as an audience. Besides hitting high notes that should've caused ceiling tiles to come crumbling down, the dude had a band behind him that could stop on a dime. They were rocking it one minute and grooving down slowly the next. In one impromptu-looking moment, Tonex took a t-shirt he was using to wipe sweat off with and covered his hands as he expertly played a trumpet solo -- with no instrument but his voice, of course! It wasn't just a few notes to show off and that was it. The band played a series of measures that just let him cook and fry that lip machine trumpet until he was through with his moment. It must've been a good 4-5 minutes long. Just amazing. He welcomed a guest singer up on stage with him, who wailed like he did, making the duet a beautiful and soul-stirring event. This stuff is like big, heavy metal riffs and grooves -- only with voices. I turned to my friends and I could tell by the look on their face that they weren't mad at me for demanding that we catch this little set before we all went to our various homes.





On Tuesday morning I had a chance to interview two really cool girls from Boston (accents and all) -- Tal and Acacia. I also chatted with Rob Buckley from Pillar, who has a new album coming out in September. Also enjoyed getting the last info on the all-girl band ilia (it's easier to spell with a lower-case "i," as the capital "I" looks so much like a lower-case "l."). I participated in a cool seminar thing called "The Objective," which the Extreme Tour puts on to equip artists with knowledge and vision. Performance consultant Tom Jackson did his spectacular thing there, where he shows how important it is to work on your live show. I helped moderate a huge panel of industry types, who talked about marketing, radio airplay, management, and promotion. I had a great dinner with the kind of youth pastor every church should have -- this talented guy that knows radio, video, and the value of relationships. It was cool to meet and hang with someone that had so much talent and love for people.





John Thompson and his son Wesley with one of the actors from Jesus People Movie.




I heard about a new indie movie that was premiering on Tuesday at a hip theater in the West end of town -- the Belcourt. It was a "mock-umentary called Jesus People Movie. I did something I rarely do to make the movie. I took a taxicab. I made it to the show on time and sat down next to Jay Swartzendruber. Here was the editor of HM and the last editor of CCM sitting down to watch a spoof of the industry we've been a part of. The movie starts off with a pastor going to visit a doctor, and he is told that his kidney is failing. All he hears from the conversation is that he's going to die. His wife later asks how the meeting went and he hides the medical details from her and announces that God has called him to start a Christian band. I almost busted my stomach laughing so hard. At other times I was laughing to myself as Jay groaned. I don't think he appreciated it much when the movie makers crossed the lines of tasteful-ness, like when the band films a video and they get an actor to play Jesus, who holds up scaled models of the Twin Towers (which He would have saved if His people had prayed); or when this Jesus is holding a small black child that is supposed to represent an "AIDS baby," whom they drop flies on from a ladder above during the video. Yeah, some of the movie is pretty over-the-top in the taste category. But the idea of seeing the ridiculous in some of the "crossover" and "mainstream acceptance of Christian music" philosophies was priceless. There was a real heart-warming scene where the pastor realizes he's got a group of friends that care about him. It's quite a fun movie, which started out as a web series.





Sam Hancock of Luminate.




After the funny movie I went over to Rocketown to see a couple more bands perform. Luminate was rocking through a version of "Shine." This band has really honed its sound well. The Shiny Darks put on a rabble-rousing set of snotty punk rock.





The Shiny Darks.




They've got a great look and attitude. Afterwards I conned Erin to taking us back to B.B. King's before the night was over. Just like she did two years ago when Bloodgood played Rocketown, she rang in her birthday around midnight by listening to the melodic metal of the 80s. Before Stryper came on for its acoustic set, I noticed the guys in Manic Drive were sporting some cool suits and putting on quite a visible show.





Manic Drive's Michael Cavallo.




I went up to the front to take pictures and I was blown away by their professional performance. They were entertaining to the max, shoving their guitars around and moving in syncopated motions to the tunes of their smart and quirky alternative pop rock. They get my vote for most-improved act of the year (both in songwriting and performing), though they've been working hard at this for a good decade or more.





Michael Sweet and Oz Fox going after it.




Stryper's acoustic set with Michael Sweet and Oz Fox was above and beyond what I think anyone expected. Instead of a couple of bar stools and a lot of syruppy balads, they were rocking through brilliant acoustic versions of fast, double-lead metal tunes, like "Calling On You" and "Soldiers Under Command." They were bending strings and hitting high notes (both of them) with harmonies of the vocal and guitar variety. It was quite impressive.





Prior to playing, Michael told a few stories.




THE GALLERY
[shots of my friends that can send payment via paypal to have these removed...]





I predict this man will make Toby Walter's song, "Loved Ones" a #1 song on Christian AC and CHR radio...









Maybe now you know why we went with a Retro '93 cover for the latest issue of Heaven's Metal...









Seth Holloway with his all-girl metal band, ilia.









One of my fav HM writers, Matt Conner.









Their parents were wise in not letting these kids out of the house much...









This guys is probably on the phone booking As I Lay Dying for the Rev Gen Fest.









You'd never guess this guy (Manager Travis Waugh) was in a metal band once (The Divine Romance).

What if the next album sucks?

What will you do if the new album from a band you like sucks?
For example: What if the next album by Mute Math sucks? What will you do? What will you say when a friend asks, "How does it sound?" If you hate it after one listen... how many listens (or chances) will you give it?

Discuss...

(I'm working on a blog, but it's taking me longer than I anticipated, so I figured I'd throw this question out there...)

Zao album released today

The new Zao album, Awake?, came out today. Whattya think of it?

Check it out.

Designs of the times

I've got an idea. It might be crazy. In fact, if it's crazy enough, I might delete it later! Anyway, my mind was exploring the possibility of streamlining my workload. One of the last things I do when preparing the magazine for print (and frankly, one of my favorite parts) is the layout.

Does anyone out there have the Adobe InDesign program? Also into layout and design? If so, maybe we could work together on a feature article by feature article basis.

In HM we have a template of sorts for all our departments (like the one-page featurettes, album reviews, the Hard News, etc); but all the "rules" are tossed out in our two-page, three-page or four-page features.

Interested? Let me know.