VISUAL I've said this for years. When I am trying to learn something, I immediately go to YouTube to see if someone has made a video of how to do it (and someone usually has). I can try and read a manual, but if there aren't pretty pictures (diagrams), it's like pulling teeth to me. It is always easier when I can see it happen. And there is that inevitable 'aha' moment [...]
Back in high school (mid/late 80s), our assistant band director wrote an arrangement of Bruce Broughton's iconic score to 'Silverado' for the marching band. It was one of 'those' moments for me...a shaping moment. I loved the music and how it worked with the film. That was a pivotal moment for me in my love for film music. Fast forward to Monday, March 23rd this year. I scored (composed the music to) [...]
I wrote a horn arrangement for one of Jeff Slaughter's songs from a VBS collection he did with Brentwood-Benson Publishing. The next Christmas, he had this idea for a children's Christmas musical based around a penguin polar pet park. My friend, Jonathan Crumpton, VP of Brentwood-Benson, called and said, "We're doing this new musical with Jeff Slaughter and it needs to be big band and recorded live. You want to do it?" [...]
Most of my collaborations begin with, 'this friend of mine called'. A buddy of mine up in New York, Duke Guillaume created The Metropolitan Gospel Big Band that plays all around New York City. Over the years, Duke has had me arrange quite a number of songs for his big band. He called me in January of 2014 and told me he was recording his big band up in New York. We [...]
I have just finished up composing the score to a brand new feature movie that releases in the theaters March 23rd, 2015 called 'Four Blood Moons'. Based on the book by New York Times best-selling author, Pastor John Hagee, this movie was produced by Rick Eldridge (Bobby Jones:Stroke of Genius, The Ultimate Gift and The Ultimate Life). It was directed by Academy Award winning director, Kieth Merrill. It weaves gracefully between science, [...]
Relationships. Friendships. It always seems to begin there for me. By nature, I am a people person. I like hanging out and talking with folks. It's just in my nature. I worked on a couple 48 Hour Film Projects here in Nashville and met some great folks (truly talented teams). One of the folks on the team, Gloria Ballard, talked to me afterwards and said she was doing a promotional video for [...]
