The Word // El Verbo

Since I didn’t post last week, this week you get a double-feature!

As part of the second LifeEast worship CD, About You, we recorded this song called, The Word both in English and in Spanish (El Verbo). Since our drummer for the album was more of a “rock guy” and didn’t want to learn to play the Latin groove for this song, I had a lot of fun playing drums on it! I also got to co-sing the lead vocals on the English version, which made for a nifty duet. Since I don’t really habla and Gabriel did, he sang on the Spanish version, but we asked a friend of mine, Irvin, to sing the other lead part for El Verbo.

We recorded the album in Blacksburg at Rick Kraniack’s Reel To Real Studio which was a great experience both because the environment was fantastic for recording, and also because the location was only 20 minutes from campus, we could come and go as needed while not having to pull our students out of classes as much when recording.

I hope you enjoy both renditions of this song. Have a happy week!

Song Credits:
Words by Ernesto Loera; Music by Luigi Peñaranda
Lead Vocals: Gabriel Rodriguez, and Fritz Schindler (English) Irvin Johns (Spanish)
Electric Guitar: Brandon Lucas
Classical Guitar: Luke Eichelberger
Piano: Irvin Johns
Bass: Dan Lee
Drums: Fritz Schindler
Percussion: Gabriel Rodriguez, Sarah Ruggerio, and Crystal Neubauer
Backing Vocals: Lorraine Brown, and Heather Broughman

Scotland - by the Free Range ‘Possums

Yes, I have been in two, count ‘em, two bands with ‘Possum in the name so far. (It’s ok if you’re impressed.)

This video was taken in February 2009 at the Appalachian Awareness Day celebration at Radford University. We were asked to kick off the event and particularly to play songs about mountaintop removal, which was that year’s theme. We played Black Waters, Paradise, and the Old Homeplace to fit that request, plus some other favorites of ours like Alabama Jubilee, Old Joe Clark, and Devil’s Dream. The sound quality of the video isn’t quite what we wanted, but it gives you an idea anyway.

The video clip begins with us ending the song, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, but the tune I’m featuring this week is called Scotland. It’s a great, traditional fiddle tune and was the last one of our set that day. I hope you enjoy it!

This fine group of folks (sans me) still plays some great bluegrass and old-time tunes here in the New River Valley and now also have an alter ego Dixieland / Jazz band known as the Amore ‘Dillos. (You can when they’re being the ‘Dillos because they all put on bowties. They’re real classy like that.) You can find out more about them by visiting their Facebook page. There are some more recent videos and photos of the group, plus the usual fun silliness that comes from these great folks. Check ‘em out!

Song Credits:
Bud Bennett: banjo
Tom Steele: guitar
Bailey Steele: fiddle
Harper Steele: bass
Fritz Schindler: mandolin
(Julie Steele has since joined the group and does some mighty fine singing!)

Yesterday, Today & Forever

This is one of five songs our band Waiting For Daylight recorded live at New Horizons Church one evening in October of 2007 (thus the album name, Fall ‘07: Live!). There are some great moments, a few flubs, and a lot of fun. The audio was recorded through the church sound board and into GarageBand via four subgroups: vocals, bass & drums, other instruments, and audience. I was able to go in and adjust some volume levels afterward, but that was it, so this is truly a live album!

Yesterday, Today & Forever is a favorite of mine to sing on my own when worshiping or when leading a group. It’s a song of declaration that God is who He said He is, and that He is always the same. I find that both comforting and invigorating at the same time. The echo part is something I came up with to use instead of the original bridge because it better fit the way we play the song—more upbeat and punchy—and gets the audience-worshipers more involved in a call and response, which I also think is funner.

Waiting For Daylight was a band I enjoyed being a part of from 2006 - 2008. We got the opportunity to play for folks regularly at a local Mexican restaurant, often for youth rallies, and also opened for the rock group, Nevertheless at Radford University at a student-run event called Amplified Bandfest.

I miss getting to play regularly with my ol’ WFD bandmates, but am thankful to still get the chance to play with some of them on occasion, which is always super. Especially since we’re not together as a group anymore, I’m so glad we have these five songs recorded to help us remember the fun times we had makin music together as a group!

Song credits:
Yesterday, Today & Forever - by Vicky Beeching
Amanda Dillard - drumsset
Matt Hall - bass
Adam Hall - saxophones, vocals
Fritz Schindler - vocals, acoustic guitar
Jonathan Mayer - keys, electric guitar, vocals

Mercy Is Falling…

…Like a Sweet Spring Rain
Well, sort of. This last week while I was sick we got bucket loads of rain here in the New River Valley. I’m posting this particular song in honor of last week because the irony of it all makes me grin. The rains we had (and the nearby tornadoes) were not so sweet…but the sun’s back out again now so that makes smiling about it all that much easier—and sweeter.

The band was called Free Stuff (we hoped it would look inciting on concert flyers and draw a crowd); the venue was the small chapel connected to a large church; the event was a weekly, free-flowing worship gathering called Ignite the Light; the college was Berea; the town was of the same name, located smack-dab in the middle of the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky.

The song was Mercy Is Falling, one with which we often started our gatherings. It was sort of a call to worship. A reminder that God is ever-present in the midst of our troubles and triumphs, and that we can come to Him in this very moment—every moment—and receive His gentle cleansing or even a good hard scrubbing if we need it. We’d often go from this mid-tempo, gentle / upbeat song into one of our more rockin’ tunes and from there, to who-knows-where each week, but somehow this tune struck a chord with many of us and resonated as a good way to begin. A way to say, “We are here. Together. And we want to worship God freely with our songs and fully-abandoned expression. We receive Your grace.” Hey-oh!

Ignite the Light was a unique worship experience at the time in Berea, KY during the three years it existed (1997 - 2000). Fully student-initiated and led, we were a group of guys and gals who loved God and wanted more of Him (what that exactly meant we weren’t quite sure sometimes) but we did know we weren’t fully satisfied with what we were experiencing in the traditional worship methods found in the churches we grew up in and that were available to us in the area around the college we were attending. It was in a way, our own little Jesus Movement. Somewhat of a rebellion from the ways of the older folks (our parents, folks over 35, etc.) and also an exploration of what it meant to follow after God on our own when out from under Mommy & Daddy’s wings. It was an exploration. A journey. We came with anticipation (most weeks), eagerly desiring an encounter with God and to come away changed, not quite the same as when we walked in.

This song, to me, represents a glimpse into that era of my life. I’m sure I’ll write more about those times later. I wrote a couple of paragraphs just now but got off into wandering thoughts about the past and the present which made things rather jumbly. I decided I probably need some clearer thinking first to make it a better read so I’m saving that for another time.

The recording was made on cassette tape using my trusty, hand-held tape recorder, found in its usual place most weeks on the front row pew of the chapel. I was really into the British worship band, delirious? at the time and hoped to catch some wonderful live bit from the goings-on and make a record with it like they had. I’ve learned a lot about sound since then and realized that really wasn’t a likely happening. Oh well. Our “sound system” was an amalgam of guitar amps, several of which had two input channels so we’d run a guitar in one and a mic a voice through the other. The sound wasn’t great, but we got it out there the best we could.

For now, I’ll finish off by adding in the band info below and of course, the recording itself, above. As always, thanks for listening and reading!

— Fritz

Free Stuff was:

Shawn Ide - lead & harmony vocals, djembe, various percussion
Fritz Schindler - lead & harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, and occasionally swapping with someone else to play bass or drums
Mike “Chappy” Chappelear - bass, and usually the one who did the speaking / preaching / teaching part each week at ItL
Chris Mapes - electric guitar, and skateboarding
Lance Galloway - drumset

(I didn’t post an ORW last week because I was sick. This is the make-up post from the following Monday.)

Hello world!

This is my first Old Release Wednesdays post. (It’s not actually a Wednesday, but I had to start somewhere!)

Outro Idea

The Song: “Outro Idea” recorded in my home on August 4, 2008

I think this lil’ number is appropriate to kick off the blog for several reasons:

1. It’s an unfinished song. I don’t know quite where it will end up, much like this blog.

2. It’s intended as the “outro” to a song, which is exactly the opposite of what this post is to my blog, an intro.

3. It’s short. (Don’t want anybody to nod off during my first post!)

4. It’s just me on the guitar (three times). I like overdubbing parts a lot and instrumental music is really where I got started. Singing first became a big part of my musical life in college so this is, in one way, a tribute to my musical beginnings.

So here it is, this first, lil’ musical slice from my life. I hope there’s many more to come! If you like, take a sec and write back what you think. I love good conversations about music.

Thanks for listening.

- Fritz