Ep. 92: Rick Lee James on "As I Walk These Halls" and being a hospital chaplain

Songwriter Rick Lee James is on the podcast again to disucss his new single "As I Walk These Halls," a meditation on his experience of training to be a hospital chaplain. You can find out where to stream or download the song here. You can learn more about Rick and his music at his website and purchase his albums at his online store.

You can listen to Rick's Between the Songs Podcast interview here, and his previous PostConsumer interview here.

Related Podcast Episodes:

Ep 90: Brian Doerksen on his song "215"

Ep 85: Singer-songwriter Rick Lee James

Ep 88: Rachel Wilhelm on Composing a Modern Requiem

Ep 87: Harmony Smith—Vineyard Worship Leader, Songwriter, and Pastor

Ep 68: E. Byron Anderson on his book Common Worship

Ep 62: Stephen Backhouse on the Life of Kierkegaard

Ep 50: Stu G on the Beatitudes Project

Ep 26: Zac Hicks author of The Worship Pastor

Ep 47: Dr. Lest Ruth on the History of Contemporary Worship

Ep 81: Rain For Roots 

Ep 67: Singer-songwriter John Van Deusen

Ep 52: Fernando Ortega's The Crucifixion of Jesus

What I Learned Listening to New Worship Music For An Entire Year Part 2: (no) clapping!, over-the-top bridges, worshipping in the round, less music please, tricked by slick production, Hillsong is meh, and none of us are missing out

This is part 2 of my reflections on listening to new worship music for an entire year.
You can read part 1 here.
You can read my Best New Worship Music list here.

What I Learned Listening to New Worship Music For An Entire Year Part 1: no melodies, beards, cuss words and Mumford and Sons ripoffs

Let's play spot the differences: One of these images is of Mumford and Sons, one is a worship band, and one
is of Civil War soldiers. Can you tell which is which? It might be harder than you think.

I have intentionally listened to new "praise and worship" music over the course of the last year. Here is my initial listening list: The Great Worship Music Binge of 2015. And here are the songs that made my final list of songs I plan/hope to sing in my church: The Best New Worship Music.

I had hoped my experiment would only take a couple of months, but I felt compelled to keep listening and listening in the hopes of being fair to all the potential "new" music in existence. The process soon became overwhelming and my ears grew weary and tired. I decided to have short but concentrated listening sessions: an evening here and there, a few afternoons right in a row.

Eventually, I came to a consensus of songs I liked, though I still feel like I have done a gross disservice to the numerous songs I have failed to even get to. Oh well...

Throughout this process I began to make a number of observations and reflections on what I was listening to. Here now are my thoughts.

The Best New Worship Music (According to PostConsumer Reports)

Off and on for the past year I have spent concentrated times listening to "new" worship music for my church to sing. I am listening to "new" music even now as I type this, feeling like I am cramming for a final! This process has been intense people!

There is so much worship music and hymnody out there it is impossible to even attempt to get to it all. To illustrate I will tell a parable.

The Moment I Began to Lose Faith in Contemporary Worship Music

It was strange how it happened, the time I began to lose faith in contemporary worship music. 

The Great Worship Music Binge of 2015

2015 will be the year I look back on as the time I consumed more worship music than could ever be deemed healthy or even sane.

You see, I have a lot of catching up to do.

Ever since graduating seminary in 2010 I have hardly listened to any new worship music or even taken the time to learn "new" old hymns. 
(UPDATE: If you are curious what songs made my final list, you can find them here:
The Best New Worship Music (according to PostConsumer Reports) )

Taking Time To Listen: New Music (for me)--Summer 2013

Admission: this picture is misleading.  None of the new music I purchased
was actually vinyl--this is just my wishful-thinking. Maybe someday...
(although my in-laws just bought me some Simon & Garfunkel on used vinyl. Nice!)

Towards the end of this past school year to my surprise I started receiving gifts everyday from the students, teachers, and parents of my school.  Apparently, someone decided it was "Headmaster Appreciation Week" and I was in no position to start objecting.  I received coffee beans, Beatles guitar picks, some CD's and a book, a slew of giftcards to restaurants, an itunes giftcard, and some good old archaic cash.  So with the itunes giftcard and about half of the money I purchased myself some music.  It has been a while since I have really bought music, so I went a bit crazy.  Only a few of my selections could be considered new, but they are new to me and I suspect will be new to a lot of other people as well, which is why I thought I would share.

 I have only just begun listening to this music myself, as there is really too much here to have fully ingested in such a short amount of time. My hope is that you will take some time to listen. You might find something you really like.

(And a big thanks to all the families at Aletheia School--hopefully you will see your gifts have been put to good use)