2009 Kingdom Bound Talent competition

Here we go again. Last year we placed 2nd in the voting portion; 3rd over all. Not bad when you consider that some of the others are bands that are actually touring. Last year led to the invitation to Toronto and Nashville. Good stuff. This year? Who knows. But it’s out there. It’s available. Gotta do it.  Other opportuntities will come, as God directs. I got a call from Alpha and Omega bookstores. They do a coffeehouse, and want me to headline in July. Headline? Not sure what that means in a coffeehouse. But, if it’s a chance to play, you do it. If you’re reading this, and haven’t voted at the Kingdom Bound website, it’s likely too late. Maybe.  Winners of the voting portion are supposed to be notified by July 1st.  Same as last year, the top 5 vote getters are reviewed by a record company (this year it is Word Records). The top pick goes to the national competitition for a shot at a recording contract. last year, the Kingdom Bound winner took it all and now are “paid musicians”. Two words you don’t usually see together.  So, you do what you do, and let God make of it what he wills. I’m cool with that.

Taking first in Toronto talent competition

In early November, I was informed that my song submission for a telent competition in Toronto took first place, in the Contemporary Christian category. It was an international competition with just about every music genre you could think of. My prize? Ummm, besides being able to say “I won”?…. not a thing. But, it’s a win, and another lesson in the process

Post-talent competition update

So….I thought it was over. Then I get an email from Samme Palermo of HeirChex digital servicing. Basically, Samme is giving us a free promotion of the song we submitted. To quote Samme, “This press release will be transmitted to literally thousands of radio & music industry people around the globe.” There’s more involved, but you get the gist of it. Details are still being worked out, but this was extremely encouraging, and challenging. I especially appreciated Samme’s comment, “You have an extremely genuine sound and expressive talent!”. From someone in the “biz”, that was an uplifter. More details to come. Love to hear your thoughts. Just how much will come as a result is entirely up to you know who.

Talent competition saga concludes

Well, here we are at the end, …and perhaps, at a beginning. In the voting stage, we placed 2nd. Just 13 votes shy of 1st. Not too shabby. Votes cast spoke more of contacts and reach, more than making a statement about the music itself. But, it shows appeal, and to be in 2nd (and if you looked at the votes cast, 3rd place was a very distant 3rd), was a big accomplishment. So, for all who voted, and sent the message on to others, thank you. To those who voted more than once, because it seemed to let you. Your extra votes were not included. Nice try though   So, we were in the finals. I made calls to let the band know. And then Kevin posed the ominous question. “Um, Ken, what if we win?” Yikes, I honestly hadn’t thought about that. The winner plays at the festival, in like, 2 weeks. So, we need a PRACTICE. Like NOW. Scramble city. Schedules. Time frames. Song selection. There was missing info (like, what day would be play. We had no idea.) We could of course just wait one day (Monday), when we would be told if we won. But, planning is about excellence. And it’s about confidence. We were one of five. Three of the other five had concerts dates in other cities already. Concert dates….in other cities…..these were the guys we were up against. The finals were decided by a recording company, not votes from friends. The winner got an artist development contract with the recording company, and they I assume, being a business, would select the band that fit what they wanted. All 5 had unique sounds. One was a latin/R&B style. One was hard rock, almost scream-o. One was kind of a techno rock. One was a bit like Jars of Clay. And then there was us, the only one with a sole emphasis on worship music. If we were the flavor of the soup they wanted, we could win. Quality-wise, we had nothing to be ashamed of. The quality was there. Well, Monday came. Late Monday actually. An email from the Kingdom Bound CEO. Congratulations, it began. We placed 3rd. Okay, I thought, that changes things. I read further to see that we had “won” free passes to the festival. I called Kevin first, because I knew he was on the edge, waiting. He answered his phone not with a “hello”, but with “So..?”. Overall, I think everyone has had the same reaction. We did well. We accomplished a lot. And we really have no idea how much fruit we might see  from it. Contacts were made. A recording company actually listened to the music. Many musicians will NEVER have that opportunity. And this recording company rated us third. Better than two others. Bands with actual cities they are playing in right now. I’d say, we did very well. Now, how disappointed am I? Extremely. How discouraged am I? A little bit. But, with that, I know we accomplished a lot. I don’t know how many, if any, opportunities will come again. All I know is, if they come, I’ll take them. My music is Gods. Any talent. Any ability. Any hopes and dreams. They all belong to God. Can you say that for yourself? I hope so. It’s quite freeing to live there. A number of years ago, I took our youth group to the local cemetery. One of the stones was for a pastor’s second wife, who married this pastor when he was quite advanced in years. I would imagine in the 1800’s, this was quite a practical thing to do. Here she was, buried with him and his first wife. And the etching on her stone by her name said, quite simply, “Abigail; She did what she could”. Isn’t that really it. I have done what I could, in this pursuit, and I hope in other areas of my life. A good question for you as well. Have you done what you could? Do you realize, that God is not asking you to do what you cannot do. Only what you can. The rest. The results. Well now, those are left to God. Thanks to all who have been supportive in this adventure. Let’s continue to do what we can, with whatever we are given

Voting continues

Well, the votes are continuing for the Kingdom Bound talent search. I have to say, of the 27 “talents” that are competing, some are quite good. I especially like Laura McGreevey, and I hope she does well. There are some, I must admit, that are not my cup of tea, music-style-wise. But hey, it is for some. I like the fact that our submission is pretty unique. Most all of the others are submitting stuff that could never be used in a Sunday worship service. (at least, you could try, but I imagine it would be much more a concert than a worship service, between which is a big big difference). I have no idea how the voting is going. I have had people I hardly know come up to me and say, “Hey, I voted for you.” My reply outwardly is, “Thanks so much.” And inside, I say, “Did you listen to the song, or just vote because someone asked you to?”. It’s funny. Obviously getting to the finals at the very least would be a great accomplishment. But there is a blatant reality that in trying to break into the music arena of the professionals, it is much more about who you know, and much less about how good your music is. Even in this vote, it seems, the ones with the biggest email contact list prevails. Now I know that isn’t necessarily the way it will go, and I’m confident a lot of votes are cast for people who actually have good songs. But the opportunities that come are weighed heavily on connections. I discovered this a number of years ago when I wrote a novel. (yes, I did write one of those). I quickly realized that writing it was the easy part. Getting it published; now that was an adventure. I have basically given up. Is the novel any good? I gave it to several people to read, especially the “target” audience, which was pre-teens;young teens. It was well liked. But, publishing companies, now they are a different animal. The basic question they all ask is, “What else have you done?” In other words, show me proof that you have had success, and we will look at what you have now. So, how do you get that first one. The first book. The first song. Connections. There are exceptions. I think of Mark Schultz. It didn’t take connections for him to break in. It took an amazing song (He’s my son). It was so good, so strong, it could not be ignored. And Mark went on to prove himself a fabulous songwriter, with stuff like You are a child of mine, Remember me, and Walkin’ her home. So do we have a lesson in all of this. A few, that can also be applied to anything we are trying to reach for. Take advantage of the opportunities that come. Do the best you can. Be who you are. Make connections where you can. And then, after you have done everything you can, you say to God, “Well, my life is Yours. My talent is given by You. Any inspiration. Any perseverance. Any wise choices. They all come from You. So, as the song so eloquently says, Have Thine own way.” And if His way happens to be an open door to bust the music out, well then, I’m up for it. And if the tree bears no fruit this time, well then, I remain who I am. A willing vessel. God knows where I am. He’s got my number. If He has work for me somewhere, I’ll hear from Him.