Sunday, September 23, 2007

Gerald and his busy guitar...

I got a panicked call from Tara a few days ago asking if I played piano. Had to give a big "No" on that one. She explained that her accompanist had cancelled for a gig on Saturday, so I recommended my personal accompanist: Gerald!

Tara had been asked to lead the morning worship session for a prayer conference. She sent Gerald the charts for the singalong portion, and since Tara and I sing in the same key, it was easy to rehearse at home. We arrived at the church 7:30 AM (yes, as in Arg, Morning!) for a last minute run through.

It was a great time. Tara and Gerald sounded great together, and as the half hour progressed, the crowd rubbed the sleep out of their eyes and joined in the singing. Gerald also underscored the woman leading the prayers. She was a passionate speaker, and the whole thing was very powerful.

I often worry that churches down here will do things differently than I'm used to: people won't know the hymns I know, they'll pray differently, I'll be asked to speak in tongues, etc. But watching Tara today reminded me: This is something I know how to do. Okay, I've never spoken in tongues. But I can choose songs and lead worship. I know how to teach an 'unknown' song. And praying is just praying, even if we each use different words.

When we got home, we opened the mail box to see our Bluebird results letters! (We knew they were our results letters because I recognized my writing on the SASEs!) I didn't get in, but I'm okay with that. They're looking for 'songwriters', and I'm much more a performer. Also, I've heard they're not keen on Christian music. Don't know if that's true or not, but truth be told, Christian music is all I've got!

But Gerald got in! Whoo-hoo! I totally knew he would! He'll play 3 songs at their Sunday Songwriter Night. And here's the kicker: He's booked for June, 2008! Knowing Gerald, he'll have another 40 new songs by then. 2008! Mark it on your calendars!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yay, Gerald!!!!.....Desi says Yay, too!