The last 2 weeks of music at the Ballard campus have been unusual.

Two weeks ago Pastor Mark was preaching on Worship as part of our Doctrine
series. We decided that it would be a good opportunity to emphasize the
larger context of worship by stripping things down musically.  I stripped it
waaaaay down to just me with an acoustic guitar.  We haven’t done something
that sparse in a long time.  It was a very interesting experience.  I
actually really wrestled with having a band or not.  I realized just how
dependent I had become on the experience of having a band. (more…)

So the MP3 / song sheet page is finally done. Many thanks to our good buddy Brian Ward for helping with the template and for providing a shoulder to cry on when things went terribly wrong with the formatting as the page was being built. Gotta love WordPress!  Anyway, look to your right just under the Doxologist radio thingy you’ll see a page titled…ta-da…”Song Repository”. A one stop shop for all your Mars Hill Music needs. This is a work in progress so if anyone comes across dead links or screw ups leave a comment and we’ll do our best to whip this thing into shape. Enjoy! 

A couple years ago I was at a party milling around and overhead someone talking about a 100 guitar symphony. I was intrigued. Personally, I can’t think of anything more exuberant sounding than 100 electric guitars playing at the same place at the same time. The artist that conducted the event’s name was Glenn Branca.

Branca is one of the forerunners of the short lived NYC No Wave scene from the late 70s and early 80s. No Wave was basically an arty / extreme response to the “commercialization” of punk. Basically, No Wave is pretty much unlistenable music wise. But it’s interesting. Check out the documentary Kill Your Idols for more info.

Branca is conducting his 100 guitar symphony Hallucination City this friday night (hosted by the Seattle Art Museum) starting at 7pm down at the outdoor Olympic Sculpture Park. I was hoping the event would be free since it’s outdoors. Unfortunately, admission is $175. Apparently you have to be rich to experience anti-art these days.

In other news myself and a couple faithful Doxologist volunteers are busy building an extensive MP3 | song sheet repository. Basically we will have a page dedicated to providing this content together in one place so that you don’t have to go hunting for it anymore. Oh, and my beautiful first born baby girl came into the world a month ago so blogging hasn’t been too much of a priority these days. Stay tuned on the songs page.

By guest blogger Brian “E-pop” Eichelberger

This last year, my band E-pop had the opportunity to record one of the strongest songs in our repertoire “I’ll Fly Away” for the Rain City Hymnal compilation record. Over the three years we’ve played the song, it has become a signature piece for us. At it’s inception, I awkwardly strummed an acoustic guitar in triplet rhythm against a robotic drum beat. As we developed the song, our friend and ex-multi-instrumentalist Zach Hodges threw down an unbelievably catchy piano line (to which we jokingly sing the lyric “this is a hook, an obvious hook, this is a hook…” during rehearsal) and Jordan and Thadd tightened down the groove to produce a really polished pop song.

A problem for me arose last summer as I was doing some rough mixes of the song for the record, and I began to listen to the lyrics in a new light. I was floored when recognizing that several aspects of the song explicitly promoted idolatry in place of right worship of God. I had to face the fact that I could never use the song in the setting of corporate worship again! (more…)

Corey Smith, one of our up and coming music leaders, is in need of a bass player. Below is Corey’s “want ad” and contact info for anyone who is interested.

“What we need: bass player. What we are: western rock band; roots oriented but with sonic depth; think Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, The Band, Superdrag, Fog, Human Beast, Hood, Palace, etc.”

cell (206) 406-1361
Email: corey@liftdesign.org

Looking for something to do in April? Check out the mid-century themed Haven gallery show at The Wonderful Union Gallery in Ballard.

Unbeknownst to many a MH congregant, we have a thrice Grammy nominated design firm in our midst. Brothers Don and Ryan Clark are regular MH attendees who co-found a really successful design firm called Invisible Creature. They have a client list that includes the Foo Fighter, Chris Cornell, Korn and the list goes on and on. Check out the Invisible Creature blog here.

The Clarks have blessed MH with their talents by recently designing the newly released Rain City Hymnal and Pastor Mark’s latest book Vintage Jesus. And if their firm wasn’t enough to keep them busy they also front the hugely successful metal band, Demon Hunter.

I have been acquainted with the Clark bros for over ten years. My old band, Roadside Monument frequently shared the same stage with their band, Training for Utopia (thanks guys, my hearing has never been the same) and back when they lived in Sacramento, Cali they used to help my band set up shows when we were coming through town.I was privileged to write their gallery show bio and I’m really excited to see their new art. Make sure to support the Clarks by checking out their show!

Don’t forget to come to the MH Downtown campus tonight for the free show!

For anyone that has received a defective RCH CD, please read below…. (more…)

Larry Norman, the singer/songwriter often referred to as “the father of Christian rock,” died Sunday at age 60 after years of declining health. 

How to sleeveface