Monday, November 23, 2009

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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Thursday, November 19, 2009

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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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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)


Click Here to Read more!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

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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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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!

Monday, November 9, 2009

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!