Musician as Marketer...

One of the challenges about being an indie-musician is also being a part-time marketer.

I created these posters and order forms last week to help people preorder our CDs. At times like this, I'm really glad I have a MacBook. Nothing replaces a real graphics person, but for simple stuff like this, it's nice to be able to create at home.

I've created a few mini-posters for the CD table we put up at concerts, and some orders forms to keep track of everything.

If you're interested in our preorders, you can find us in person, or you can visit www.InfinitelyMore.ca/Store. 

Hair Cut for Cancer - Over 2000 YouTube Views!

Our video of my recent 10-inch hair donation has received over 

2000 views on YouTube! Whoo-hoo!

If you haven't seen it yet, here 'tis:

You can see photos & info on how you can donate at 

www.InfinitelyMore.ca/CutForCancer 

CD Preorders have begun!!!!

It's official! You can now preorder your copies of our 2 new CDs!

Preordering guarantees you'll be among the first to receive your CDs. 

As soon as the first batch is printed in late July, all preorders will be placed in the mail. 

Oh, and did we mention we're offering FREE SHIPPING on all preorders?

Infinitely More features 9 original songs of praise and reflection, and our signature arrangements of "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)."

Every Church is a Small Town is Gerald's first solo CD! 

His soulful vocals will shine on 10 of his original Inspirational and Country songs.

Both CDs are backed by an incredible band of Nashville musicians!

Each CD is only $15.00 CAN, and let me say again - FREE SHIPPING!!!! 

To place your preorder, 

please visit www.InfinitelyMore.ca/Store

New Video for The Gathering at SJYM!

Every Sunday night, Gerald and I lead the worship band for 

a contemporary worship service called The Gathering.

We've just completed a teaser video to give a sense of what we do there. 

It features our song, You Take Me Higher.

The Gathering runs every Sunday night, 5:00-6:00pm

St. John's York Mills Church, 

19 Don Ridge Dr., North York, ON 

www.sjym.ca

Come join us!

We're on Twitter!

We've finally joined the world of Twitter!

You can find us at www.Twitter.com/Infinitely_More

New "Hair Cut for Cancer" Video!

I've finally put together a video from my recent 10 inch hair donation!

We've also created a new page on our website to share the video, photos, and info on how you can donate your hair.

For years, I had long hair and never even knew I could donate it. The only reason I started donating was when I heard someone else sharing their story.

Please feel free to share this link & video with your friends!

Our new Cut for Cancer page: 

www.InfinitelyMore.ca/CutforCancer

Here's the video - enjoy!

The Beads Songwriter Night

Tonight felt so Nashville!

Our friend, Susan Hookong-Taylor invited us to be part of her songwriting series, The Beads. We performed in the event room of the charming Family Tree House Cafe. 

Gerald and I took the opportunity to sing a lot of songs from our upcoming CDs, such as You Take Me Higher, Real Big Fan, and You Are. It was great to play them for a new audience and get such positive feedback. We also had the chance to jam out a few worship songs with Susan - so great to play with such a talented lady!

With Susan Hookong-Taylor.

After the show, we spent a long time chatting, sharing stories, and eating late night ice-cream. 

We'll definitely be back... and yes we'll have more ice-cream, please!

Ascension Sunday at St. John's York Mills

Today, we doubled up at St. John's York Mills as we helped lead both the morning service and the evening Gathering in a celebration of the Ascension.

Okay, a week ago, I don't know if I was that excited about celebrating the Ascension. In theory, I would have defined it as a good thing - Jesus going up to Heaven can't be all that bad. But in reality, I really had never given it a second thought.

As I planned our Gathering music, I looked to songs that had themes of praise and exultation - "God on high" and that kind of thing - and I think that was on the mark.

But as I dug deeper, I began to see the beauty of the Ascension, 

 the reminder that Jesus didn't die a second time. 

He's still living, 

still able to hear our prayers, 

still waiting for us on the other side.

That changed everything.

At tonight's Gathering, a woman shared the story of her near-death experience. I've known this woman for a while. She's smart and sensible. She's not one for exaggeration. But she told this phenomenal, beautiful story about coming close to death, and feeling surrounded by the full and all-encompassing love of God. I could retell all her words, and I could never come close to truly capturing the feeling of love, acceptance, and grace that was shining in her eyes as she told her story.

That's the Ascension.

... God living ...

... loving us now ...

.... waiting to receive us home ...

So that's what we celebrated tonight...

The Ascension stained glass window at St. John's York Mills.

The Vocal Sessions Begin...

Since we recorded the instrumental tracks for our new CD in March, we've been searching for the right place to record our vocal tracks. We wanted a studio with great vocal mics, a strong knowledge of Christian music, a great ear for harmony, and in an ideal world, somewhere close to our house.

And we found it! So tonight, we went to Emmanuel Recording Studios for our first vocal session.

Gerald and I have a really tight musical synergy when we perform live. Our voices blend seamlessly, and we can follow each other's every move. The challenge is capturing that in the studio.

Between the Infinitely More CD and Gerald's songwriting project, we're going to have lots of sessions over the next few months, so we decided to treat tonight as a playground session. We experimented with different mics, played with the song, tried different ways of recording our sound, and just got used to the whole set up.

Gerald and Carmon trying out different mics.

I'll be taking a photo or two at every session, and you can visit our photo album to see the whole set.

My 3rd Cut for Cancer

As we speak, 10 inches of my hair is in the hands of Canada Post.

My family and I gathered today for my 3rd Cut for Cancer. The first happened when we were living in Nashville and the second in Toronto.

Donating your hair is a fascinating process. During my first growing period, I was washing my hair one night, and I realized, "This isn't my hair!" The hair at the top of my head was mine, but the long strands in my hands actually belonged to someone else. Like a surrogate, I was caring for this hair until it was ready to be delivered to someone else.

At that point, I began praying for the woman who would get my hair. I imagined all the different things she could be - a mother, a grandmother, a teenager, an artist, a business woman, a woman of faith, an atheist. I wondered how far along she was in her disease. Maybe she didn't even know she was going to get sick. I prayed for healing, for all those who would handle getting my hair to her, and no matter what her faith walk, I prayed she would feel God's peace in her life.

The process has been no less profound this third time around.

At today's cut, Mom, Dad, Gerald, and I discussed the unique consequences of hair donations. With surrogacy, you know who owns the baby and where it's going next. With organ donations, you either know your recipient, or you've died and the whole process is anonymous. I think the closest similarity is blood donors - it's anonymous, and we're all walking around the next day. Who knows? I could ride the bus some day with the woman who's wearing my hair, and neither of us would be the wiser.

So my hair has been snipped and shipped, and I feel fantastic. Physically, I really do feel lighter! And I feel thankful that I have the hair to donate.

All this week, I've been reminded of these words from the Book of Common Prayer:

And here we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, 

our selves, our souls and bodies, 

to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto Thee…

The cut is done! Me and my 10-inch ponytails!

I'll be posting photos and a video of the day on our site soon, but in the meantime, you can view photos on our Infinitely More Facebook page.

Book Review: A Year With Jesus, by R.P. Nettelhorst

It's been ages since I've reviewed a book! Not that I haven't read a slew of them, but it's just been a while since my last review.

Here we go:

"A Year With Jesus" is a devotional based on the words of Christ. Devotionals can be a real mixed bag for me. I find it so inconvenient when only the scripture reference is given, so you need to pull out a second book to look it up. And combine that with a flippant little interpretation about the passage, well, sometimes it just seems like a wasted death of a tree.

Happily, this book is something different. Each page contains a passage of scripture that includes the words of Jesus, and a meaningful piece of application. The scripture is long enough to actually give you a sense of context and story. The year is divided into themes of contrast and struggle: Love and Hate, Truths and Lies, Arrogance and Humility, Friends and Enemies, Deserved and Undeserved, and so on.

I really appreciate the style of this book. The entries are numbered but not dated, so you can pick it up anytime and start reading from any spot. It's the perfect length for a daily devotional, or it could also be used to read and reflect on a particular theme. Overall, I've really enjoyed this book, and it's earned a place in my daily reading book pile.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Cause one CD is never enough...

This spring, we took on the long-awaited challenge of recording our first Infinitely More CD. We visited Nashville to record the instrumental tracks, and after much searching, we've found an awesome studio in Toronto to capture our vocals. This Saturday, we'll lay down our first vocal session!

Making a CD is always a challenge, and things are moving smoothly.

But then....

We got to thinking (always a dangerous notion for the Creative Brain) - Gerald recorded demos of his country songs a few years ago.

What if we removed the demo singer's vocals, had Gerald record his own vocals, and then released a solo CD for Gerald?

So that's what we're doing!

After going through the demos, we chose 5 tracks that we thought would fit well on a country, inspirational, songwriter type of CD.

As we speak, Gerald is upstairs on Skype, working with our producer and the session players, recording 5 more tracks to fill out the CD.

If you've been to any of our concerts in the past year, you'll recognize many of the songs on this project, including one of my favourites, "Every Church is a Small Town."

Arg!! Two CDs!!! My practical mind is thinking: twice the finances, twice the work, twice the stress.

But my Creative Brain is thinking: 

10 times the creativity, 

100 times the adventure, 

1000 more ways to put some good out into the world.

I think I'll let my Creative Brain take control...

New looks!

Over the next few days, I'm doing some experimenting with the template and format for my blog! It'll be like the weather in Newfoundland - changing every 5 minutes! (I can make that joke, being a Newfoundlander and all...)

I'd love your feedback on colours, format, and things you'd like to see on the new and improved Adventures of a Starving Artist blog!

New Video - Nearer My God to Thee

Last Sunday, we had a special night at The Gathering. Drew decided to preach Karl Barth's famous sermon on the sinking of the Titanic. The original sermon was preached just a week after the sinking, but the messages are still relevant 100 years later.

To highlight the story of those lost, especially the musicians, we ended the service with the classic hymn, Nearer My God To Thee.

You can see the video of Nearer My God To Thee HERE.

New Video - In Flanders Fields

Last November, Gerald wrote a new musical setting for the classic WWI poem, "In Flanders Fields."

This week, we remembered the anniversary of Vimy Ridge by creating a little home video of the song.

You can find it HERE.

The Vimy Ridge memorial.

The designer, Walter Seymour Allward, is buried in the churchyard at

St. John's York Mills - our home church for The Gathering.

Happy Easter - FREE PRESENTS!!

To celebrate Easter, we'd like to give you some presents for your cyber-Easter basket!

First, we'd like to give you a FREE DOWNLOAD of our recording of

"In the Garden."

We recorded this classic Easter hymn for my second Nashville CD, Hymns in the Key of Grace. Jazz pianist, Teri Reid, created a beautiful accompaniment and piano solo. And on vocals, I'm joined by my friend and mentor, Gaither Homecoming artist, Allison Durham Speer.

To receive your free download, please visit HERE.

As a second little present, I've created a video of "In the Garden"! I've used photos taken by myself and my Dad, Rev. Hollis Hiscock, that show gardens we've loved from Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and New York.

You can see the video HERE.

Please feel free to share these links and share the love!

Have a blessed and joyful Easter season!!!!

Good Friday

A day that blends tragedy, redemption, and hope.

The cross at St. John's York Mills.

We joined the congregation at St. John's York Mills this morning and sang Gerald's song, The Good Tree. This is one of my favourite Gerald-songs. It tells the "story" of the tree that became the cross that carried Christ. It was so awesome to share this song during this time of worship.

A day for silence and meditation,

but Sunday's coming...

Recording for The Gathering

We're creating a youtube commercial for The Gathering. It'll combine the talents of our band, tech team, and clergy to give people a sense of what they'll experience on a Sunday night at St. John's.

Today, we recorded a quick vocal for our song You Take Me Higher, using the track we recorded in Nashville. (We debated recording the band, but it was just easier to coordinate with the track.) Here's a photo of Gerald and Derwyn listening to the mix. I'll post the video when it's live!

Palm Sunday!

The Gathering is usually a free-flowing format of music, prayer, and message. Tonight, we shook things up to celebrate Palm Sunday and prepare people for Holy Week.

Palm branches in the lobby of the church.

After our opening songs of praise, we presented a dramatic reading from Mark's Gospel, starting with Palm Sunday, and reading through to the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. At specific points, we sang a song to emphasize that part of the story. At the Last Supper, we sang the Communion hymn, "Behold the Lamb" (Getty/Getty/Townend). At Gethsemane, I sang "Gethsemane Hymn" (Getty/Townend) as a solo. As we took people through the steps of the crucifixion, Gerald and I sang verses of "Were You There" (traditional) with Gerald's beautiful guitar arrangement.

We ended with a short reflection by Drew, and some great songs about the cross. The combination of story and song was powerful.

The feedback after the service was both overwhelming and humbling. I really feel like we set ourselves and our congregation in a great place to start our Holy Week journey.

We now start our walk towards Good Friday,

knowing the story doesn't end there...

Growing Through Lent - Help Those in Need

(This Lent, my Dad, Rev. Hollis Hiscock, and I are co-blogging! You can find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Dad’s Blog. Visit, comment, share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)

As we study the Gospels (as recommended last week),

we see countless examples of Jesus helping those around Him:

If they needed to speak, He stopped and listened.

If they were sick, He healed them.

If they needed knowledge, He taught them.

As we move into the book of Acts, we see how the newly formed ‘church’ used their time, talent, and treasures to help those in their communities who were without.

So as we start to grow in our faith, we are encouraged to follow the model of Christ and His followers in helping those around us.

We posted the question,

“How do you use your time, talents, or treasures

($$$ or resources) to help those around you?”

on several Facebook forums.

Here are some of our responses (edited for space):

H.W.

My friends and I sing at three different senior homes once a month (volunteering). When there are needs, I pray for people whom I do not know ... I teach children from low income families free piano lessons. I drive widows to grocery shopping or doctor's appointments ... I donate money to support (music) ministries.

A.S.

I work at a hospital, changing undergarments, checking vitals, making my patients happy.

H.H.

I volunteer with the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (Canada). We prepare (free) income tax returns for people with limited income. I expect to complete between 75-100 during March and April, 2012.

H.G.H.

I'm part of a team of pastoral visitors at St. Christopher's Church, and I help with our senior's luncheons.

A.K.O.

I write and create art daily for my blog that inspires others … I tithe to my church; I give to causes like the SPCA and the United Way. This evening, I spent a few hours to support and comfort friends who lost their mother.

B.S.

I teach art to adults … I welcome people to the Library and help them find what they need ... I make great signage that informs, instructs, directs to support others in finding what they are looking for! I smile a lot and spread sunshine wherever I go! :)

One person finished their response with this:

I am just sharing God's blessings and

all glory goes to our Lord Jesus Christ.

We encourage you to take a few moments today to think about your time, treasure, and talents, and how you might use them to help those in your community or abroad.

This is the final post for our Growing Through Lent co-blog.

Thank you for joining us on our Lenten journey!

CD Tracking Done!

This Nashville trip has been amazing. We spent yesterday at the studio, doing final touches on a few guitar parts, getting rough mixes of all the tracks, and just sitting in awe of what the musicians did with our songs.

Today, we enjoyed the city - eating, shopping, and time with friends.

Tomorrow, we start the drive home.

In the meantime, I've posted more photos!

You can see them on our SITE or FACEBOOK PAGE.

Not-So-Live Studio Blogging - Band Day!

(Long, amazing day that has surpassed our expectations.

It's been a long day, so grab a latte and enjoy today's journey...)

9:00am

Band day! Adding bass, keyboard, and percussion to all the guitar/vocal tracks we recorded last week. Starting with A Prayer Will Find You – the most rhythmically challenging song of the day.

9:27am

Sounding so amazing!!! Gerald and I are giggling like kids at the circus. This is gonna be a good day!

9:35am

First full take done. Doing another take with another kind of percussion.

These musicians are just amazing. They play it through so beautifully, and then they say, “Let’s do it again. I can do it better.” And it is better! How does that happen???

9:47am

The guys are joking about “Nashville pattern baldness” – a strip of bald across the top of your head from wearing headphones all day.

10:03am

First song done! Awesome! Donut break.

10:10am

Next song: Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone). The players are hearing the charts and working out their parts.

Everyone will play through the entire song. That way, in the final mix, we can pick and choose if we want, for example, drums the whole way through, or if want to pull them out for a verse.

10:33am

Just before we tracked my first CD, “Real Big Fan,” several people described a Nashville recording session this way:

A bunch of nondescript guys will enter the room. They’ll talk, crack jokes, drink coffee, eat donuts, and look totally unfocused. Then the downbeat will hit, and those nondescript guys will play your song better than you’ve ever imagined it.

So true…

10:37am

Adding the tiniest tambourine I’ve ever seen. To quote the drummer, “It adds pizzazz, yet hurts no one.”

10:46am

Moving on to You Are. To keep the percussion light and earthy, the drummer is using djembe and congos on this.

11:20am

Keyboardist adding string quartet patch to You Are.

11:35am

Living Manna is next. Probably the lightest instrumentation on the album. Denny loves this song (*blush*). Just complimented my melody and prosody.

11:39am

Musicians jamming as Denny sets levels. It’s always humbling to remember that after today, these guys will be back playing for all of Nashville’s top stars and songwriters.

11:55am

One more to hit before lunch: Wondrous Journey. Trying different sounds – drum kit and Wurlitzer electric piano.

12:20pm

Wondrous Journey done. Lunch break!

1:15pm

Starting the afternoon with I Wanna Make Some Noise, the song I wrote while stuck in QEW traffic one day. I’m singing the scratch vocal with the band.

1:44pm

Vocal done! Two takes done! This totally rocks!!! Bluesy, Black Gospel, old school R&B – whoo!! We are having some church right about now!

Doing another take with electric guitar and Hammond B3 organ. They’ll play on the track, and also on the instrumental solo verse.

2:00pm

I Wanna Make Some Noise done, and sounding awesome!! Moving on to How Great Thou Art.

We’re so excited about everything! Denny is loving it too. It’s hard to put all this into words.

2:11pm

Electric guitar sounds so amazing, Gerald and I both just had the same idea – he’s going to play the melodic ("Then sings my soul") hook just before the rhythmic intro. Nice.

2:32pm

Adding a little guitar solo after the second chorus.

2:43pm

Next song: There is a Voice.

2:56pm

Just started intro - Gerald and I are giggling like school kids.

3:20pm

Espresso break! Making espressos for the band...

3:35pm

Moving on to You Take Me Higher.

3:55pm

Awesome! We’re calling that take the Espresso Remix!

4:12pm

You Take Me Higher is sounding incredible. A flock of birds just started singing outside – even nature likes our new CD!

4:19pm

Two more to go. Listening to Infinitely More with the players now.

4:30pm

Flashing back to Cape Breton where we started writing Infinitely More. Oh the things that can come out of a smoky hotel room in Cheticamp…

4:44pm

Last song! Real Big Fan. Save the fun for last!

5:35pm

Real Big Fan done! Sounds bluesy and amazing. What an incredible day. Just took a few photos with the band.

Keyboard player staying to record a few more overdubs.

6:27pm

Keyboard player has added tweaks to Real Big Fan and fantastic B3 organ to Wondrous Journey.

Now adding more string parts to You Are. I really appreciate the detailed approach these musicians take. The whole song can sound amazing, and they’ll say, “Hey, can we go back so I can replay the 3rd bar of the 2nd chorus? I can do something better there to lift that section.”

6:43pm

Polishing the piano solo on Living Manna.

7:05pm

Done! What a day. This has gone beyond our expectations.

Returning tomorrow for a few tweaks and just to make sure we’ve got everything covered.

Growing Through Lent - Read the Bible

(This Lent, my Dad, Rev. Hollis Hiscock, and I are co-blogging! You can find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Dad’s Blog. Visit, comment, share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)

“Don’t get hung up on the actual words in the Bible;

get hung up on the messages conveyed

by the words of the Bible.”

“Treat the Bible like any other book,

and you will discover it’s not like any other book.”

The church encourages us to read the Bible daily, and extra during Lent.

The Book of Alternative Services (BAS) - the contemporary prayer book of the Anglican Church of Canada - invites us to have a holy Lent “by reading and meditating on the word of God.”

This means more than just speed reading the text. It entails thinking about the passage, searching for its message, and then applying it to our daily living. Some may recall having to memorize the Sunday prayer or collect (BAS page 391) which assured us that the Bible was “written for our learning,” and we need to “hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” Holy Scriptures.

For Christians, the four Gospels are the foundation of faith. It describes the life of Jesus Christ - his birth, youth and adult years, culminating in his death, resurrection and ascension. It also contains the teachings of Jesus – describing what God is like, and providing principles upon which people should model their lives mirroring the Master’s example.

The other New Testament writings, mostly letters, attempt to clarify the teachings of Jesus and answer practical questions posed by adherents of the newly found faith. The writers, recognizing the persecution being unleashed towards the Christians, encouraged them to remain faithful and stay the course. God has not abandoned them and in the final analysis, they will receive their eternal reward.

The Old Testament rounds out the triad or trinity of scriptures. It gives an account of our human development and illustrates how religion, culture, politics and history are often interwoven in the lives of people – sometimes too much. Yet to understand where we are now, we need to delve into the past to decipher how God acts and reacts with humans.

We are suggesting that you read John’s Gospel during Lent - maybe reading the last chapters first in order to better understand what Jesus did, and how his life and teaching reflected why he did what he did.

As always, we encourage your thoughts

in the comment space below.

Recording Photos!!

I've posted photos from our Nashville recording sessions!

You can find them on our SITE or FACEBOOK PAGE.

We'll post more next week after the band sessions.

Not-So-Live Studio Blogging - Day 3!

12:30pm

Back for one more guitar track before Monday. Recording Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone.) Singing it live for Denny while he charts it.

This morning, a guy was playing bagpipes outside Tara and Kyle’s apartment for St. Paddy’s Day. Wishing we had him here right about now…

12:56pm

Denny is setting Gerald up in the booth to record the guitar track. Using the Bourgeois, but tuned down half a step. Going to sound really warm.

1:11pm

Choosing the exact tempo using the metronome. This is one of those things you do instinctively live, but you need to nail down precisely for recording.

1:34pm

Guitar track done and gorgeous! Going to record scratch vocal now.

1:43pm

Vocal done. Love singing this song together! I’m so glad we decided to include it on the CD.

Done!

Ready for the band on Monday morning!

Eep!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I found a 4 leaf clover on

St. Patrick's Day!!

Talk about luck o' the Irish!

(I'll post our next studio update tonight.)

Not-So-Live Studio Blogging - Day 2!

10:30am

The rain is still coming down! We’re back at the studio for another day of guitar tracks and scratch vocals. Charting all the songs for the day. Denny is loving Gerald’s chord choices on the originals and the covers.

All the band charts will be written in the Nashville Number System. I’ve written about that before, but the quick review: NNS uses numbers to signify the chord changes. It's used extensively in Nashville studios, and allows the band to learn songs quickly and change keys easily. Instead of pages of sheet music, each player has only one piece of paper covered in numbers, lines, and diamond shapes to signify the shape of the song. Their own creativity fills in all the musicality of the piece.

11:13am

“Great songs are a combination of the surprising and the familiar.”

11:48am

Starting with the guitar track for Infinitely More, recorded on the Bourgeois (steel stringed acoustic guitar). We’ve tweaked a few little things in the guitar arrangement – going to give it some great energy!

Using mics on this guitar, so Denny is in the futzing stage again, trying to glean the best possible sound for the guitar.

12:45pm

So, we did the guitar track, started to sing along and realized, “This is way too fast!” Just sat with the metronome for a bit, and we’ve taken it back 6 beats per minute. Much better! Feels like a groove song now. Gerald is back in the booth to record the guitar again. Better to find out now and redo it than get to the vocal recording sessions and find it’s too fast.

1:01pm

Track done and the groove is perfect! Time to record a scratch vocal. Gerald and I will do this in the booth together.

1:15pm

Vocal done! Love recording the parts in the same booth, sharing one mic. It feels more like singing live. Might do some of this when we're doing the final vocal tracks.

1:18pm

Lunch break!

2:05pm

Afternoon session! Starting with How Great Thou Art. Double checking notes and chords on the chart. We want to do our own arrangement while honouring the original.

2:43pm

Just laid down a guide vocal for Gerald as he does a few takes of the guitar for How Great Thou Art. We do this song a lot live, so it’s interesting making the small tweaks to make it sound great in a recording.

2:52pm

Gerald and I going in the booth to record scratch vocal for How Great Thou Art.

3:11pm

Moving on to Real Big Fan. Yes, that’s the title song of my first CD. When Gerald wrote it, I heard it as a jazz song, which is how we recorded it first. Now, we’ll record Gerald’s bluesy, old school R&B version.

3:24pm

Taking a while to work out the chart on Real Big Fan – no simple chord progressions in this one!

3:55pm

Ready to record Real Big Fan now. It’ll be as close as we can get to live-off-the-floor. Gerald will record the guitar without a click, and record the vocal at the same time. I’ll jump in the booth to do my harmonies at the same time. Just choosing the right guitar patch for the electric guitar. Getting wild in here!

4:21pm

Well after all that, we’ve decided to ditch the track and actually do it live off the floor on Monday! It’ll give it a real jam band feel.

Denny’s making the chart now for I Wanna Make Some Noise. This will also be done live off the floor with the band on Monday.

4:52pm

I Wanna Make Some Noise is gonna rock! Just reworked it Black Gospel style. So excited to hear the band work this up!

4:59pm

Two songs to go! Moving on to Wondrous Journey. Gerald is sharing the story behind the song while Denny works up the chart.

5:30pm

Chart ready to go. Locking down the guitar vibe. Ready to go in the booth to do the scratch vocal.

6:30pm

After working on Wondrous Journey, we're rethinking how we're going to record it. Originally, I was going to sing the verses. But we've changed the vibe, so maybe Gerald would be a better fit? How does this affect the vocal balance of the CD? We need to take a second look at things....

Heading off for dinner to discuss. Coming back to the studio tomorrow to finish up the final guitar tracks in prep for Monday.

A great day's work!

Really looking forward to hearing how this all sounds with the band.

Not-So-Live Studio Blogging!

I’m writing today from the studio of Denny Martin Music, for the first day of recording our Infinitely More CD! This is the studio we visited to record Gerald’s songwriting demos, so we know we’re in good hands.

My plan was to do some live blogging these days with lots of Facebook updates, but Denny’s wifi is being fussy.

Plan B: Not-So-Live Blogging!

I’ll be writing all day. You won’t be able to follow live, but if you keep reading, you’ll be able to enjoy a play-by-play of today’s recording experience!

So, here we go!

10:25am

After catching up with Denny, we’re starting the day with A Prayer Will Find You. Denny is checking the chart he’s created from Gerald’s guitar/vocal demo. They’re running the song, confirming the chords and timing on the chart match what Gerald is playing.

10:55am

Chart done – time to record the guitar track. Today, our goal is to record 6 guitar tracks and their corresponding scratch vocals. The ‘scratch vocal’ is a one-take vocal that will serve to guide the band when they come in to record their parts on Monday. We’ll ‘scratch’ that later and record the final vocals in Toronto.

Gerald is setting up in the booth. He’ll play this song on his new nylon stringed Taylor. Denny is using mics on the guitar.

Side note: Stunning day here in Nashville! Sunny, blue sky, green grass, daffodils blooming, and leaves starting to emerge. Spring seems like the perfect time to record a new project – creativity is in the air.

11:13am

First take done. Gerald’s playing sounds great. Readjusting headphones and mic to get a better guitar sound overall. Getting set for a second take.

Micing a guitar is so tricky – you want to hear the live sound of the guitar, without hearing breathing, finger noise, the arm draped over the guitar, toes tapping, or the chair squeaking.

11:36am

Still futzing with mics. This is fussy work, but once this is taken care of, the rest of the nylon string songs will be a breeze. This is the tortoise part of the day…

12:01pm

Sounding really good. Going to try one more take using the pick up. This means no mics – just plugging in and recording.

12:12pm

A Prayer Will Find You – done! Now that we’re set up, things will move much more quickly.

Moving on to Living Manna. Adding an instrumental solo verse between verses two and three – probably for the pianist on Monday. Also recording this on the nylon strings.

12:27pm

Going in the booth for my scratch vocal…

12:51pm

Scratch vocal done. Gerald is doing a second take, using my first vocal. This is sounding so pretty!

1:01pm

Lunch break!

2:01pm

Back at it! Setting up for There is a Voice. This is one of three super-new songs on the album. Using nylon string Taylor again, but going through a pedal to create a different sound than the first two songs.

2:22pm

Gerald is playing these songs to a ‘click track.’ This is a metrical beat that keeps the tempo steady throughout the song. The click is used in recording to make sure all the players are keeping the same pulse – very useful since players can rarely see each other in the studio. It gives the engineer a clean grid upon which to layer parts. It also makes it easier for musicians to add new parts later in the process. Instead of listening to the push and pull of the original musicians, they only need to follow the steady click of the track.

Not all recordings use a click (we didn’t for “Hymns in the Key of Grace” because we wanted a live, spontaneous feel), but since we’re adding more musicians next week, the click will be really helpful in making everyone sound like a cohesive band.

2:35pm

There is a Voice done! Moving on to You Are – the new song Gerald wrote for me to sing. Denny is building the chart based on Gerald’s demo.

Debating about whether or not to use the click on this one.

Denny is talking in numbers – nice 1 over 3… so you go to the 5 there… you’re playing 1-4-1 there, right?

Jumping back in the booth to record my scratch.

3:19pm

Trying a take now with the click. I was booted from the booth, so Gerald and I will record the duo part of our scratch together.

3:23pm

Trying another guitar take where Gerald will play along with himself. May use one, may use both – just experimenting.

3:45pm

Espresso and ping-pong break! Yes, we did bring our espresso maker with us – wanna make something of it?

3:55pm

Back at it with scratch vocals for You Are, A Prayer Will Find You, and There is a Voice.

4:32pm

We’ve made a decision to record I Wanna Make Some Noise with the band. Instead of recording the guitar part in advance, it’ll all be handled live on Monday. We may do the same with Real Big Fan. Takes a bit of pressure off today and tomorrow, but adds a bit of pressure for Monday.

Final song of the day: You Take Me Higher. Recording on the Taylor T5 (acoustic/electric blend guitar) with pedal.

Weather update: Instead of chirping birds, we’re hearing rain and thunder. Welcome to Nashville...

5:01pm

Debating the tempo of You Take Me Higher. Fine line between great energy and manic worship. Think we found it at 144 beats per minute.

5:16pm

Gerald and I going in the booth together to do the scratch for You Take Me Higher.

5:34pm

Good day’s work! Now to brave the rain, prep for tomorrow, and get a good night’s sleep.

Check back tomorrow evening for

Not-So-Live Blogging on Day 2 in the studio!

In Nashville!!

Perfect drive through Ohio, Kentucky, and into Tennessee....

Arrived in sunny, spring-filled Nashville...

Hugged our friends...

Stuffed ourselves with BBQ...

Ran our songs for tomorrow...

11 hours til we're in the studio...

Prayers appreciated!

On Our Way to Nashville!

I’m writing tonight from our cozy hotel room in Troy, Ohio - about halfway between Toronto and Nashville.

Today was a perfect day for driving - clear weather, little traffic, short wait at the border, and scenery that got greener by the mile. (You can tell I’m in the States cause I said ‘mile’!)

Tomorrow, the beautiful part of the drive - Kentucky into Tennessee, and straight into Nashville.

In 36 hours, we’ll be in the studio,

starting work on our new Infinitely More CD!

Unbelievable.

But first, a good night’s sleep awaits...

Growing Through Lent - Pray

(This Lent, my Dad, Rev. Hollis Hiscock, and I are co-blogging! You can find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Dad’s Blog. Visit, comment, share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)

Rarely does a daily paper mention the word “prayer” or its effect in people’s lives. However, when praying gets mentioned twice on the same day, we must take notice.

The two stories were featured in the INSIGHT section of the Toronto Star on Sunday, March 4, 2012.

The first related to eco-warrior Wiebo Ludwig in Alberta, who was talking about his approaching death. He said, “I’m not a person who has had small prayers. I’ve asked for major things to change my life and the lives of those I’m with. I’m not disappointed.”

The other story - 10 Lessons From a Near-Death Experience – tells what happened to reporter Kathleen Kenna. She was covering the war in Afghanistan for the Toronto Star when a bomb was thrown at her car. She received extensive injuries, and has gone through “dozens of surgeries on three continents.” She said, being “near-death taught me a few things,” such as love heals all, faith transcends the darkness, hope is essential, and life should be celebrated.

She told God that she was not ready to die and maintains that her “strong faith in God has kept me optimistic.” Forcing herself to concentrate on “ONE. SMALL.THING.” that made life worth living was the simple daily prayer she offered as she was going through months of pain and disability.

Both stories speak of the power of prayer in living life on this Earth.

Since the Church calls us to improve our praying during Lent, here is a “Prayer Exercise” that may help you achieve that goal.

GROWING YOUR PRAYERS:

Firstly, don’t look for the ideal place or time to pray - do it anywhere safe.

Secondly, imagine you are alone with God – spend a short time enjoying the relationship.

Thirdly, pray the five aspects of prayer, naming situations and people from your own life:

1. PRAISE – say wonderful things to God;
2. THANKSGIVING – thank God for who you are and what you have;
3. FORGIVENESS – recall when you have fallen short of God’s expectation for you, allow yourself to feel sorry for your actions, and ask for God’s forgiveness;
4. PRAYING FOR OTHERS – name people and situations for whom you want God’s help;
5. PRAYING FOR YOURSELF – ask God to help you as you travel through life.

Fourthly, pray at least once per day.

Fifthly, please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

New Taylor Guitar!!!

Gerald is in bliss!

We've just purchased a brand new guitar!

It's a gorgeous nylon stringed Taylor - the NS34ce.

Click HERE for a little iPhone video of Gerald and the new "baby"

Growing Through Lent - Examine Your Life

(This Lent, my Dad, Rev. Hollis Hiscock, and I are co-blogging! You can find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Dad’s Blog. Visit, comment, share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)

Part of what defines our humanity is

our desire to examine and understand our life.

It separates us from other forms of creation.

In the 3rd century BC, the philosopher Socrates stated

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

In the Bible, the writer of Lamentations proposed

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”

(Lamentations 3:40 NIV)

After Jesus lived, died, and rose again, St. Paul advocated

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.”

(2 Corinthians 13:5a NIV)

What better time than Lent - a season of fasting and spiritual exploration - to look at our lives and examine how we’re moving through this experience called Life.

One of the most important tools for examining your life is to find silence. In the Gospels, there are several stories of Jesus seeking silence when things got too busy. He would often rise early and find a quiet place to pray and think.

Spending time in silence can be intimidating for many of us. For others, it’s just hard to find any quiet in our loud, highly stimulating culture.

Here are a few ideas for finding silence in a busy world:

• Rise earlier than usual and spend a few minutes alone in a quiet space in your house. If the weather cooperates, go for a walk or sit outside. Think on the challenges you may face today, and how you may best respond to them.

• Most churches are open during the weekdays. Visit a sanctuary and soak in the silence.

• Spending time by the water is always calming and inspiring to the mind and soul. There’s nothing like sitting beside the ocean to feel the unique tension between power and frailty. If your environment allows, find some quiet time to sit by a lake, pond, river, or other body of water. If not, sit and visualize a scene of yourself sitting by the water.

• At the end of your day, turn off the TV thirty minutes earlier than usual. Sitting on the comfort of your couch, reflect on your day. Where did you experience God today?

• Art galleries, museums, and even some libraries provide a glorious combination of silence and beauty. Allow yourself to breathe in this rich atmosphere and see what thoughts are inspired.

• Labyrinths are an ancient practice of walking and meditation. Use an internet search to find one in your area, and explore this unique spiritual experience.

As you begin to find and create pockets of silence in your day, your thoughts will drift over your family, your occupation, your choices, your friends, your faith, your blessings, your passions, your losses, and every other part of your life. Be sure to carry a journal, notepad, cell phone, or tablet to capture your thoughts and prayers during this exploration. Review your notes every few weeks to reveal connections, changes, growths, and gratitude.

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

New Photos!

I've just posted photos from our Fireside Concert!

You can find them on our site or our Facebook page.

Growing Through Lent - Fasting

(This Lent, my Dad, Rev. Hollis Hiscock, and I are co-blogging! You can find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Dad’s Blog. Visit, comment, share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)

“What are you GIVING UP for Lent?”

and

“What are you TAKING UP for Lent?”

When it comes to FASTING, these two questions

“go together like a horse and carriage.”

Fasting can last for a short or long time, and should be directed to improve your relationship with yourself, other people, or God. Most people think of fasting from food, but your fast could be from anything that might be a distraction for you, such as alcohol, television, negative thoughts, unwanted behaviours, smoking, arguing, swearing, or even gossip.

Jesus also offered this advice when fasting – “Put on a happy face” – OK, that's not his exact words, but he did say,

“When you fast, don’t make yourselves look sad like the hypocrites. They put a look of suffering on their faces so that people will see they are fasting. The truth is, that’s all the reward they will get. So when you fast, wash your face and make yourself look nice. Then no one will know you are fasting, except God, who is with you even in private. God can see what is done in private, and will reward you.”

(Matthew 6:16-19)

But to “give up” without “taking up”

could put you in a worse state than when you started.

Jesus warned his followers about the dangers of giving up something without replacing it with something positive. He relates this little known incident called “The Danger of Emptiness” --

“When an evil spirit comes out of someone, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest. But it finds no place to rest. So it says, ‘I will go back to the home I left.’ When it comes back, it finds that home all neat and clean. Then the evil spirit goes out and brings back seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before.”

(Luke 11:24-26)

So, this means when one gives up something like junk food, the time, energy and money freed up should be replaced doing something else, such as volunteering at a shelter or a community meal, or contributing money to a needy cause. Or if one decides to give up thinking evil thoughts, then these should be replaced by better, more positive thoughts and so on. Get the idea?

This Lenten season, we encourage you to both

give up and take up something.

Feel free to leave your experience in the comments section.

Growing Through Lent

(This Lent, my Dad, Rev. Hollis Hiscock, and I are co-blogging! You can find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Dad’s Blog. Visit, comment, share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)

We find ourselves in the Christian season of Lent – 40 days of preparation and anticipation, beginning on Ash Wednesday and culminating with Easter Sunday.

This week, Lent began on February 22, exactly one month before the beginning of spring. If spring heralds thoughts of growth and new horizons, then so too does Lent.

Lent is an opportunity to do some “spring cleaning” of our souls, minds, emotions and bodies.

Listed below are suggestions of “what the Church asks” of us and “what we can do” to respond to these five recommendations.

On each Monday in Lent, we will post a more detailed exploration of the five suggestions on Hollis’ blog and Allison’s blog.

Meanwhile, you can begin by mapping your plan for each of the five areas listed below.

May God guide each of us as we journey through the wilderness of Lent to the mountain top of Easter.

GROWING THROUGH LENT:

What the Church asks - What you can do

FASTING - Give up a favourite food or change a behaviour.

EXAMINE YOUR LIFE & PRACTICE - Spend 3-5 minutes alone daily reflecting on your quality of life.

PRAY - Pray for people you see in the news, read about in print, network with online and encounter in daily living.

READ THE BIBLE - Let’s all read the Gospel of John. Share your thoughts.

HELP THOSE IN NEED - Support with your time, talent and finances an international or local church or charity.

Please bookmark this blog,

leave your thoughts in the comments section,

and feel free to share this Lenten journey with your friends!

2 Big Announcements from Infinitely More!

If we've met in person lately, you may have heard the rumours, but today, we're announcing our 2 big projects for 2012:

A new CD and a Maritime Tour!

In January, we sat and reviewed where we are and where we'd like to be, and these 2 projects came quickly to the surface.

I'm blessed to have 2 solo CDs, but neither encompasses all that we are as Infinitely More. We've been craving some studio time for a while, and we're so excited about making that happen this spring! We'll travel to Nashville this March to record the instrumental tracks, and then continue to work on the project over the next few months.

We'll release the CD in Toronto, and it will be ready to take on tour with us!

One of the highlights of 2011 was our fun and fantastic East Coast Tour. This summer, we'll spend August singing our way through the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI. We're just starting to put together our schedule, so if you'd like more information on booking a church or house concert, please Contact me!

We're so excited about both these projects!

Check back often, or *like* us on Facebook to keep up with all the news!

And So It Begins...

And so it begins ... this season we call Lent.

A time of fasting...

A time of repentance...

A time of silence and prayer and just ...

.... listening .....

A time of steadiness, and a time of transformation

A time of death, and a time of life

A time of introspection, and a time of reaching out

A time of giving up, and a time of taking on

A time of patience, and a time of fierce anticipation

A time of self, and a time of God ...

This time...

This season we call Lent...

And so it begins...

Sunday goodness

As I write this, I'm amazed at the numbers of the past week:

• 2 Sunday services at 2 churches
• 2 Valentine concerts
• 1 new song
• 1 Fireside Concert
• 10 baby music classes
• 2 new bookings
• countless hours of rehearsal!

Is it any surprise we order Chinese food on Sunday nights?

But before I shut down completely, let me share 2 cool things from today:

#1. This morning at Church of the Messiah, we visited the children in church school and taught them "Angels Watching Over Me." We learned the chorus, some call & response verses, and played rhythm instruments so we could be a 'band.' It all clicked in place beautifully, and we're going to try it again in a few weeks and even have them sing with us on the postlude.

So many of us have powerful memories of music and Sunday school, and I'm really glad we could use our gifts in this way.

#2. Tonight's Gathering band was awesome!! We had a 9-piece group, which always feels full and lush. But tonight, we did a hymn set to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun," featuring sax and pipe organ! It sounded amazing! I'm so thankful for this group of awesome volunteers.

Great musicians + great people = pure joy!

Fireside Concert!

By 2:05, our house was filled with chatty, cider-sipping friends, all settled in around the fire in the living room. Through our picture window, the snow fell in big, lush flakes.

At the start of the concert, Gerald set the tone by sharing his favourite part of doing a house concert - performing in his slippers!

Over the next two hours, we sang some of our favourite songs and told the story behind their creation. We took a generous break so people could refill their glasses, grab homemade cookies, and make new friends. We even debuted a new song Gerald had written just this week - "You Take Me Higher."

All in all, a fantastic afternoon! As I sit here tonight, looking at the folding chairs stacked in the corner and all our furniture back in its place, the whole concert feels a little surreal, like a wonderful memory...

Thank goodness Dad took all those photos. I'll let you know when I get them online.

For tonight, we're resting. After all, Sunday's coming...

Fireside Concert Tomorrow!!!!!

Just a reminder that our Fireside Concert is tomorrow!
We've got a great afternoon of music, cookies & apple cider all prepared.

We even have a NEW SONG to debut!!

We still have a few tickets left - hope to see you there!

INFINITELY MORE FIRESIDE CONCERT
Saturday, February 18
2:00pm

Comer House
11 Don Ridge Dr.
North York, ON
Near Yonge & 401, and York Mills subway.
Lots of FREE parking

TICKETS: $15
Includes cider, sweets, and other treats!

Contact me for more details or to reserve your tickets.

Tin Whistle Debut!

Today, I debuted my Irish tin whistle!

My tin whistle, also called a penny whistle.

I've been wanting to learn for a while, so I bought one at O'Brien's in St. John's on last year's East Coast Tour. I looked at it nervously for a few months. I'd studied recorder as a kid (who didn't?), but this was different. People play this thing for real.

So I finally searched out some youtube videos, learned the fingering, and started to play a few songs - privately, in a the sanctity of my music room.

This week, we were rehearsing "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" and I realized it was in G, a key that fits my D whistle (tin whistles are each tuned to a particular key). We decided to work up a little intro for me, and this morning, I made my tin whistle debut. Now, at just a few bars, this wasn't a momentous occasion for anyone other than me, but here's my point:

Gerald often talks to his songwriting students about

"getting back to primary learning."

He teaches adults who are often lifelong singers or instrumentalists, who must now revert back to the beginning when it comes to learning songwriting. I feel that way about learning the tin whistle.

All the things I know how to do as a singer

- breath control, phrasing, dynamics, song interpretation, memorization -

must be relearned in terms of the whistle.

It's challenging and humbling, but I think as an artist, it's critical. It's not only important that we keep pushing ourselves creatively, but it's a great reminder that there is so much diversity and wonder in the world of music. A thousand lifetimes would never be enough to learn and master it all, and isn't that part of why we love it so much?

New photos!

I've just posted our photos from Break Forth!

You can see them here.