Adam Lockwood's Music Blog

I know what you are thinking--what happened to song #2, right?  Well fear not my friends, it is on the way.  I had a couple technical problems in recording process, but everything is going swimmingly now.  With that said, let's have a listen...  This one is downloadable too, so feel free to do so!

Radiance by AdamLockwood

One of the things I do to make ends meet as a musician is leading the music team at our local church.  It has been a great blessing for me and my family.  While it brings me a great deal of joy and satisfaction, this type of music isn't necessarily my main outlet for writing.  In fact, I'm not that into Christian music in general, but that is a subject for another blog.  I'll stay off of the soapbox for now.  But all in all, my belief is a big part of who I am, so it is no surprise that it sometimes comes out in my music.  So, just as a warning, this could get a bit churchy.  If that's not your bag, you can skip to the last paragraph.

This past month I had the opportunity to go to the annual Continuous Worship Conference in Nebraska.  I had never been to that type of thing before and it proved to be a wonderful experience.  It was a great time to learn from and play with some really talented musicians.  I also learned a lot of practical ideas to aid in leading congregational music, and heard some teachings that were really good for my soul.  If that is your thing, I would highly recommend it.

During the first night of the conference, Paul Braddy, a musician that I greatly respect and admire shared from Psalm 34.  In all respects, it was a great message, but one word really leapt off that page at me: radiant.  I loved the idea of seeing the joy of God on people's faces.  I'm often just as inspired seeing God work in others as I am seeing His work from my own perspective.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
                     -Psalm 34:4-5 ESV [emphasis mine]

So there you have it--that was my inspiration for the song.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  The recording is a little rough (sorry for those out-of-tune guitars at the beginning, yikes!), but I think it captured the idea and the emotion pretty well.  So far I've learned a few things:  First, I really like to over-produce these songs.  I'm committing to recording the next five songs with only guitar and voice; aside from Song #2, which is already in the works.  Second, I really like playing my electric guitar.  And third, I really want a guitar amp :)

Thanks for listening!  I hope you enjoyed it.

-Adam