Album Status Update

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for your continued interest and support for the upcoming album and tour One Life. I wanted to share some updates on the project with you so that you can keep praying for it - because without God this project would seem impossible..

The One Life kickoff concert took place on Sunday, November 15th at Riverside Community Church's Oakmont worship venue. There were almost 200 in attendance that evening and the atmosphere was electric! It was so encouraging to have that much support and to hear the whole room filled with singing and support.

There was a love offering taken at the concert through the suggestion of Pastor Bill Ellis, our lead pastor here at Riverside. Nearly $3,000 was given through that offering!! I was blown away and I still am! It is so humbling to be supported in such a generous way! And that money will go a long way to helping this project be the success that we are anticipating.

Pastor Bill also announced that future donations towards the project could be made to Riverside Community Church marked "One Life CD." Since then another $850 has come in and a few others have pledged to send in. The support is much needed and appreciated!

To date the project goal is estimated at $9-13k depending on the number of CDs we are going to produce..

Also, the album cover is now finished thanks to Christie Pink for cover design and artwork and Abie Livesay for photography. I can't wait to release the album cover but for now it's under wraps :)

Details are coming together and things are progressing along as anticipated and God is already opening doors for this project and I haven't even started recording yet! I am taking some vacation time in December to work on the album, songs, arrangements, loops, etc. January begins the recording process with a release still schedule in mid-April right after Easter. Keep it prayer please!

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement! It is such a blessing!!!

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Dan Shields - Lead Guitar

Dan Shields is an accomplished guitarist on full time staff at Orchard Hill Church in the Pittsburgh area. He has played lead guitar on many studio projects connected with Furball studios and George Furlow. It will be great to have a musician with this style and taste to be a part of this project. This is his bio taken from Orchard Hill Church website (I've revised it slightly).

Dan began as part of the Music Team at Orchard Hill Church in 1995 and in 1998 became a full time member of staff. He is known for his skills on lead guitar and for leading worship. Dan leads the band by recruiting musicians and creating the musical excellence that is a cornerstone for Orchard Hill. He has a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA from Duquesne University in Music Performance-Jazz. Dan, his wife, Lidija, and their three children live in Wexford.

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BIO

A huge thank you to Laurel Houck who crafted an awesome bio for the upcoming album and for the websites (facebook, myspace, blog and music site). Thank you so much! Here it is...

Dave Longstreth | One Life (BIO)

Breathing hurts, eyes fill with tears, heart explodes and soars… all because of a song. That is the power of music, the language of melody, the substance of lyrics and the product of worship.

For over a decade, Dave Longstreth has been writing songs of praise and worship, leading others into life-altering encounters with God. His creative gifts were nurtured through life experience, relationships, and faith in a gracious and loving God. In 1999 this culminated in his first public worship songs, I Worship You Lord and You’re All I Need.

Dave prepared for ministry at Valley Forge Christian College. He toured with college worship teams, including Chosen 99, and participated in choirs and worship bands as a leader, soloist and speaker.

In 2001, Dave and his wife Carrie settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; they have two children, Kylie and Braden. He serves as Creative Arts and Missions Pastor at Riverside Community Church, and leads worship throughout the U.S. and South East Asia.

Dave’s inspiration springs from different sources: his grandmother’s love of poetry, music, and Jesus; his pastoral role; and the ups and downs of living a Christian life. His songs will take you on a journey of discovery in a way that words alone cannot accomplish.

In 2005, following the birth of his daughter and the death of his dad, Dave reflected on the value of an individual life. This blossomed into a passion for missions, the driving force and message for One Life, Dave’s first solo album.

“We have all been given one life, and one chance to use our gifts to make a difference for others, one life at a time. The goal of One Life is to motivate the listener to significant and purposeful action—action that will positively impact people world-wide.”

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New Song - "I Will Run"

I wrote a big part of this last summer but rewrote today and made additions as well.. It is probably going to be called "I Will Run"

Verse 1
I see you across the way
You’re standing there
Staring right at me

I take a breath
And I begin to breathe
I start to move
Move across the way

Chorus 1
I will run to you, yes I will
I will run, I will run
I will run to you, yes I will
I will run

When I've fallen down
When I've hit the ground
I will run, I will run
When I'm broken down
And feeling down
I will run

Verse 2
You've seen me on better days
Yet you moved to me
While I was unaware

And you called my name
Sorry I did not hear
And I've acted like
Like I was not afraid

Chorus 1
I will run to you, yes I will
I will run, I will run
I will run to you, yes I will
I will run

When I've fallen down
When I've hit the ground
I will run, I will run

When I'm broken down
And feeling down
I will run

Bridge
Your arms wide open
Your heart I can trust
I don't know how
And I don't know much

But this I know
And I know for sure
The time is now
I'll run through that door
Running, I am running

Verse 3
I'm tired and I cannot see
That the distance between us
Seems so very far

But in my weaknesses
You have made me strong
And you've closed the gap
You're standing in front of me

Chorus 2
You ran to me, yes you did
You ran, you ran
You ran to me, yes you did
You ran

When I fell down
When I hit the ground
You ran, you ran

I was broken down
I was feeling down
You ran (repeat)

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The iPhone Helped Me Write A Song Today!!

I am thankful for my iPhone.. The apps that I downloaded for songwriting (all free) are such great tools to assist me in my creative and finishing processes.. These apps are...

iTick (metronome)
Shaker (different handheld percussion just for kicks)
SSW LE (song writing software)
SutdioAppLite (haven't used yet but is a 4 track recorder)
DigiLite (drum machine)
NLogFree (synthesizer)
GuitarChords (shows chord graph for any chord)
TouchChords (teaching app for learning guitar chords/scales/etc)
Beatbox Free (just for kicks)
TrueDrumsLite (just for kicks)
Guitar Tuner (tunes my guitar)
Dictionary/Thesarus (helps me in my lyric creation)
RhymeZone.com (helps me rhyme words when I am in a crunch)
iTalkLite (records my song from internal mic and then sync with my PC to edit/save)

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Carl Albrecht - Drums & Percussion

I was at a concert last week with Paul Baloche, Brian Doerksen and Kathryn Scott - an Integrity Music worship event. Paul's drummer, Carl Albrecht' shared with the congregation a prophetic word that evening and the thought occurred to me that it would be great to have that caliber of a veteran drummer and worshiper featured on this project. I have heard Carl's talents throughout the years on several Integrity Music albums and in person at concerts. It just happened that the producer of my album (George) is great friends with Carl and his wife Leann - so I took a step out in faith and after the concert asked Carl if he would be interested in helping me out with the project if we flew him up from Nashville to the burgh for a few days in January when we start tracking in the studio.

Long story short - he is going to be doing all the drums and percussion for the project and helping me out with some loops. This adds a lot of excitement for me and the team to record this album because of the creativity and experience that Carl brings with him. Here is his bio adapted from his website at www.carlalbrecht.com. He and his wife have also co-written a very popular missions themed worship song that we do at our church "You Are" and have been awesome worship leaders for many years.

Carl has been a professional drummer & percussionist for over 30 years. He has a Bachelors of Music Degree in Composition and Arranging with an emphasis in percussion studies from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. He has played on over 80 Integrity Music projects; Maranatha Praise Band recordings 7 thru 10, & numerous other Christian, Pop, Country, Jazz, & Commercial projects.

Carl has worked with such artist as Ron Kenoly, Don Moen, Paul Baloche, Lenny LeBlanc, Bob Fitts, Paul Wilbur, Alvin Slaughter, Darrell Evans, Phil Driscoll, Koinonia, Abe Laboriel & Friends, Kim Hill, Paul Overstreet, LeAnn Rimes, Connie Smith, Don Potter, Jason Upton, Travis Cottrell, the smooth jazz group - Quad Venti, and many others.

He currently lives in Nashville doing recording sessions, producing, and writing, as well as continuing to do various tours & seminar events.

**Carl officially endorses & "uses" YAMAHA Drums; SHURE microphones, PRESONUS pre-amps, and CUBASE recording software.. He also "unofficially" endorses VATER drumsticks, MEINL cymbals & percussion instruments, & REMO drum heads.**




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George Furlow - Album Producer

I am recording the album One Life at Furball Studios in Wilkins Township in the Pittsburgh area beginning in January. We have our first round of tracking scheduled for the third weekend in January which will include drums, bass, keys, guitar and my scratch vocal as well as loops which I will have mostly finished from now until then.

I chose George Furlow to be the recording producer of this album because of his veteran experience with praise and worship music and recording. George is also located just ten minutes down the road from my house in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh so that makes hitting the studio very simple. George's bio follows (adapted from his website at www.georgefurlow.com):

George was born in the town of Grafton, WV. He moved from Grafton to Washington DC and on to Cumberland, MD and then on to Baltimore, MD. His family finally settled in Pittsburgh, PA where he has lived for the past thirty five years. George attended Duquesne University and got a B.S.M.E of Music and a Master of Music in Saxophone. Since graduation of college, George has been a band director, teacher and Music Director/Associate Pastor at Covenant Church of Pittsburgh. In 1995, he felt God's call to move in the area of full-time music ministry to share with the Body Of Christ in a broader way. Having been a music director and raised in a church that was full of worship, it was God's plan to take those kinds of talents and experience into "All Nations".

In 2001 he returned to Covenant Church Of Pittsburgh where he is once again the Music Director/ Worship Pastor serving with Bishop Garlington, Denise Graves, Clarence Grant, Alton Merrel and Toni Turner.

Musical Experience

Pittsburgh Symphony
Benedum Theatre
Integrity Music: Ron Kenoly, Paul Wilbur, Don Moen, Marty Nystrom, Bob Fitts
Maranatha! Music
Promise Keepers
Bishop Joseph L. Garlington
Israel Houghton
Eagles Wings with Rob Stearns
Three Rivers Saxophone Quartet

Equipment & Studio List:

Soprano is a Yamaha YAS 62 with a Ralph Morgan *8 Jazz and Winslow Ligature
Alto is a Selmer Mark VI (1970 Vintage) with a New York Meyer #6 M
Tenor is a Selmer Mark VI 1958 Vintage Guardala King R&B mouthpiece
Flute is a Muramatsu GX
Yamaha WX-5 Windcontroller with a Yamaha VL-70 Module
Finale software for Music Notation.
Vandoren Java #3 on Tenor and Alto. Vandoren #3 on Soprano
Sure LX Wireless system with Clip-on 98 Microphone
Sennheiser 421 for flute and sax

Furball Music Recording Studio:

Nuendo 3.0 on Mac OSX
Hammerfall Digiface
Mackie Controller
Roland M 1000 Digital Line Mixer
Mackie HR 824 Monitors
Roland Professional V-Drums® set with expandable TD-10 sound module and full-size V-Pads™.
Avalon 747 Mic Pre
Roland 5080
Yamaha EX-5
Yamaha Motif (Rack)
Yamaha P100 Keyboard


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Album Updates

Well I am going to blog the bio's for the musicians that we have put together for the One Life album. We will be recording beginning in January. I am excited to have this team of musicians and the producer to help with this project!

Also, the photoshoot went well yesterday with Abie Livesay! Thanks Abbie for your awesomeness!

One other note is that the One Life Concert will take place this coming Sunday evening from 6-730 at Riverside Community Church in Oakmont. For address or directions check out RCC website at www.riversideconnect.org.

Hope to see you there!

-Dave Click Here to Read more!

Photo Shoot Tuesday

I will be having my photo shoot this Tuesday afternoon in Lawrenceville. This will be the photos for the One Life album and various promotional materials for the whole process. Please pray that I will look "good" that day :)

Seriously, please pray for creativity and a great outcome. Pictures are worth a thousand words! I am happy to say that Abie Livesay will be doing the shooting and I love the work that she has done with other clients in her portfolio.

Stay tuned for more updates it has been a busy couple of weeks and there is much to write. I will write a little each day to keep you up to speed with some of it.

Hope to see you Sunday night at my concert. Thanks!

- Dave Click Here to Read more!

One Life Concert at RCC

One Life Concert
A Night of Worship, Original Songs and Missions
Featuring Dave Longstreth and members of his band from Riverside Community Church

Press Release:

The One Life Concert will feature a night of praise and worship, original songs and missions from Dave Longstreth, Riverside Community Church's Creative Arts and Missions Pastor.

The concert will promote his upcoming album recording titled One Life and Dave will be joined by some of his Riverside worship band members. Admission is free and anyone is invited. An offering will be taken to raise funds for the One Life album and mission and a fund will be started in case those who want to give toward the project cannot give that evening.

For more information on the concert, the album, the ministry or the mission - please visit Dave's blog at www.DaveLongstreth.blogspot.com or his music site at www.DaveLongstrethMusic.com. Click Here to Read more!

New Song - "Song of Freedom"

I was inspired by a conversation that I had this morning with the wife of a dear friend from our church who had a massive heart attack this weekend. By the loving mercy of Jesus Christ and a true miracle this man gets to live with great hope for tomorrow. This couple has been coming to RCC for years and have been very encouraging to me throughout the years. Almost every Sunday Frank will come up to me after worship and encourage me with words of affirmation and love for the music that our team has put forth that week. I don't say this to brag but only to let you know how special they are to me and how much they have encouraged and supported my ministry here at RCC through the years. I was devastated on Sunday morning when I received the news that Frank had a heart attack and that the outlook was not good. I've seen and heard enough of these predicaments to know that his chances were slim at best. But then a miracle occurred - he came through and with great brain function after a longer than usual time without oxygen. Today was his first full day since the trauma and I went first thing this morning to visit with him.

When I was speaking with his wife Lynn, she encouraged me out of her own life about the freedom that we have in Jesus' name. I was blessed and knew that I had to write a song about this today while it was still so fresh on my heart. I offer this song of freedom to all who like me and like my dear friends - need the freedom that can only be found through the loving mercy and blood of Jesus Christ. This is a song of freedom, which I think will be a part of my upcoming album, "One Life" which you can read more about on my blog at www.davelongstreth.blogspot.com. Thank you!

Song of Freedom

This is our song of freedom
This is our song of joy
This is our song of freedom
This is our song of joy

No more let sin or sorrow
No more the enemy prevail
Christ has redeemed us forever
By His own blood we are free

We have been called to worship
To love, honor and obey
We have been called to go out
Releasing the prisoners today

One life to live, one life to give
One life, one chance to make a difference
One God, one Christ, one blood
One call, one church, one life

This is our song of freedom
This is our song of joy
This is our song of freedom
This is our song of joy Click Here to Read more!

Donations through ChipIn

If you are interested in donating to the album One Life please follow the link in the widget below - for more information please read my previous post here. You can also visit my chipin page at http://davelongstrethmusic.chipin.com.

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Time to Begin Raising Funds

Well I have a final price for the album that I hope to have released in Spring 2010! The album will be recorded locally at Furball Studio with an executive producer that has been featured on over 10 Hosanna/Integrity worship albums. He is an accomplished musician and worship leader and knows the music business especially in the genres of Christian music and Praise and Worship.

I will be recording with hired studio musicians so that I save time & money in the studio and have a full quality project that can be used to promote this ministry and message of The One Life Project - changing the world one life at a time! The project will be a full length album with full band instrumentation and multiple vocal tracks. It will be mastered at a studio in Nashville, TN and packaged in earth-friendly ecowallets.

A portion of the proceeds from this album will go directly to The One Life Project for the purposes of child sponsorship in South East Asia and life-saving heart surgeries in Tibet for children suffering from congenital heart disease. These projects are through the non-profit Christian organization South East Asia Prayer Center www.seapc.us.

I hope to raise a total of $8,000 in donations and album support to pay for the project and then additionally raise tour support for a South East Asia tour in the summer of 2010. On this tour I will be giving away the CDs to people in some of the poorer countries (i.e., Cambodia, parts of Thailand, etc.) and selling the album elsewhere. I have set the $8,000 goal to include the following support - $4,000 in donations and $4,000 in no-interest loans to be paid back to the investors from the sales of the first 400 CDs.

Please join me in prayer because this goal is huge to a person like me. I make an honest living but I am not well-to-do and have a young family to support in the early years of my career. But I have a dream and have waited for ten years to begin this album. I believe now more than ever that this is the time to realize this dream and make it happen. At the same time I have a call on my life to make a difference in our world through this one life that has been given to me - I want to use it to change another life and another and another...

The message of this album is all about using the gift of life that we've been given to change another life significantly. It is about both being and doing. It is about worship - a true and full definition of worship - to give glory to our Creator through the words, actions and thoughts of our lives.

Details on the fund-raising will be forthcoming. I will be collecting the funds through a PayPal account and paying the costs of the CD production directly from that account. I am sorry that I cannot offer tax-deductible donations but I am not a non-profit organization. I will be using an online fund-raising website called www.chipin.com.

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Current Chart Scores for My Music on Reverb Nation

My website, www.DaveLongstrethMusic.com, is hosted at Reverb Nation, which is a website started in 2006 that focuses on the independent music industry. If you have not had a chance to check out my website, please take some time to do so...

Everytime someone visits my website, plays my songs, signs up to be a fan or puts a banner/player widget on their site - I get a higher band equity score. Now this can be to/from my website, facebook, myspace or blog! The higher my band equity score rises the higher I go on the Reverb Nation charts.

Currently I was surprised to see these chart scores for my genre of music (Christian/Gospel):

National Christian/Gospel Charts #69
Regional Christian/Gospel Charts #2
Regional Charts (all genres combined) #52

Wow and thank you!! Please keep checking in with me on the blog, leave some feedback and comments because I need your prayers and encouragement these next few months as I take on the huge undertaking of recording my first solo album with all originals. And thank you so much for your support!!

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Songs for One Life - The Album

Here are the songs that we have selected (and by we I mean my wife Carrie and I) for the upcoming One Life album (in no particular order):

One Life (Unify)
The Perfect Place
Let Your Kingdom Come
Till One Day
Lead Me On
One Life (Give)
For All You Have Done
I Lift Up Your Name
Under A Bridge
*Untitled (still working on this one)

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Song Arrangements - First Meeting

This morning I had the opportunity to meet with the executive producer again and I found out that I am producing the project and he will be the exec producer and project engineer. All that rhetoric aside, we looked at each song (style, tempo, arrangement) and mapped out some beginning direction in order to put together a thorough price quote. I should have my quote at next Monday morning's meeting with him.

We are looking at a total of 10 songs (all original) which include fast, moderate and slow tempo in differing keys. All are rock style and categorized as praise and worship minus one which will be a ballad.

I also received some of his base pricing quotes to get me started and like I mentioned before - this will be quite an undertaking both financially and energy required. But I am excited to see where God leads and how this will all unfold. Please keep the project in your prayers!

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Meeting the Executive Producer

This week I had the chance to revisit with the executive producer and project engineer and his assistant that I've selected to record my album. Nothing is set in stone yet. Next week (Monday morning) I will meet with him and we will go over the album song by song and talk about arrangements so that he can provide me with a quote for studio musicians, studio recording time, post production and mastering.

After I receive this quote I will have a lot of prayer going on because it will be a big decision to sign the contract and start the process. I will definitely need to raise funds through donations and investors. I could do the album much cheaper somewhere else but the quality would not compare, and the experience and credentials that this particular executive producer has will be hard to find elsewhere.

Please keep my upcoming meeting in your prayers as I prepare my songs and talk about money.

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One Life - The Album

Well I have had a dream in my heart for about ten years now and that is to make a very high quality full length solo album. This will be my first solo album of all original songs that I have written over the years. The theme and title of the album will be "One Life" and will be about loving God and loving others. The heartbeat of this album will be about God's church being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the least, the last and the lost in our world and in our generation.

I have gone from writing songs, planning the theme, putting together the mission that some proceeds will benefit and am now heading towards the exciting part - signing on with a producer, recording the music, publishing the album and touring to both get the message of my music out to the world as well as raising awareness and support for the selected mission project that this album will be dedicated to.

So please keep me in prayer - it is quite an undertaking and I hope to have a finished project in all of your hands by Christmas! Keep in touch via the blog, facebook and my music site for more info, demos and updates.

Links are:
www.DaveLongstreth.blogspot.com (blog)
www.facebook.com/dmlongstreth (facebook)
www.DaveLongstrethMusic.com (my music site)

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