a different place

This was a different kind of weekend, as I had 5 different sessions with folks from Trinity Mennonite Church just south of Calgary. That's more than I often do in a congregational weekend, and I was also rather surprised that quite a number of the same people showed up to all 5 events! What a difference it makes when there's a chance to get to know people better, and to have more than one chance to connect with them through the music...

It also made me realize just how limited I've had to become in my song selection for my typical one-hour "all-ages interactive concert." By contrast, over the course of this weekend - according to some quick back-of-the-envelope math - we probably did 35 different original songs...

I know this is no big deal for people that have been doing this for a long time, but for me it was something of a revelation... not to mention lots of fun.

A particular highlight was the session that I was most hazy and uncertain (and anxious) about. Saturday night was billed as an "informal singing time with Bryan" - and I wasn't at all sure what that meant, since I'd done a "concert" the night before (which, of course, included plenty of "singing along"), and was going to be leading singing during Sunday school the next morning, as well as speaking/singing during the worship service... so I didn't want to repeat myself or "steal my own thunder"...

Anyway, I didn't really know what to expect, but people brought their instruments, and their voices - it was a much bigger group than I expected - and we had a blast singing and playing whatever the people wanted to sing, with a few of my originals thrown in here and there for some variety and to get people moving and to give them more time to come up with another favourite. Three pre-teen girls naturally took on leadership in a few of the songs, and that was great to see/hear.

And Shannon brought her flute and accompanied and played a solo on the new bossa nova (it's going on the new CD - can't wait for you to hear it!), and WOW! I was blown away.

What a treat, and a blessing.