I don’t have a band. The tracks were cut in Nashville by some of the finest in the music industry. Don’t believe me?…just listen closely to the tracks and you will hear some super tasty stuff.
So who were these amazing players:
Bradley Knight; all keys, b3 organ, producer, genius, child prodigy, respected by everyone that I know.
Christopher Knight; drums and programming – I promise you this, we will be hearing his name a lot. He is so scary good and groovy, he’s going to be a very busy man in Nashville. He already tours with Carolyn Dawn Johnson and I predict he’ll get snatched up by a biggie very soon…it’s just a matter of time.
Joeie Canaday; Bass – tours with Leanne Rhimes. Though completely crazy, one of the coolest dudes and a phenomenal player.
Mark Baldwin and Tom Hemby; all guitars – oh my gosh…these guys made me cry they were so good. It was so cool to see their brains kick into overdrive with creativity and professionalism. They are truly great.
I had about 10 singers on this project…all friends of mine from the local church…and they are all a blessing. Listen and you’ll see.
Influences
I started listening to music intuitively in the early 70’s. The first album I purchased was Three Dog Night “Suitable for Framing” and from then on, leaned more towards hard rock. My favorites from the early days of my listening include: Bad Company, Kansas, Frampton, BOC, Zeppelin, Heart…..i could go on for days.
In the early 80’s, I made a pretty firm commitment to shift my musical listening focus to exclusively Christian music. It was pretty tough, though. The Contemporary Christian music industry was very immature…literally in its infancy. There were still tons of southern gospel artists, but that held no interest for me. I quickly found ‘underground’ artists like Larry Norman, Phil Keaggy, Randy Stonehill, Barry McGuire. That opened the door for newer Christian rock artists like Whiteheart, Stryper, Petra, and Steve Taylor.
My first real “idol worship” came in the form of Russ Taff when he joined the Imperials. He had that gritty, soulful voice that moved me. He took an astronomic leap when he left the Imperials and went solo. His third album, the self-titled “Russ Taff”, is still one of my all time favorite albums. I like to think I sound a little like Russ and have some of his soulful vocal expressions. One can hope and dream big, right?
Today, I listen almost exclusively to Contemporary Praise and Worship music. I am totally into Hillsong London, right now. Gateway Worship from Southlake Texas is doing some great music, as is New Life Worship from Colorado Springs. They’re all in my favorite list on my iPod.
Worship is a lifestyle. I choose to Worship God, the Creator of the Universe. We were created to be Worshippers. He gifted all of us with something to use for His good purposes. Our lives and actions and hobbies and thoughts and pursuits should all be in response to our desire to bring Him glory and honor. Is your life honoring to God? This is just me…but I think it should be. Hopefully, my music will be honoring to God. One day I’ll clearly know if I was on the right track…chen
Sounds Like
Not sure I could categorize who I sound like. But my style of music is birthed from a love of: Passion Worship Band, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, Hillsong Australia, Pocket Full of Rocks, Telecast. I’ve been compared to: Russ Taff, Tears for Fears lead singer Roland Orzabal, and Boz Scaggs.
We are well integrated back into our Dallas home and life at Prestonwood. It's been wild and wooly since June. I am finishing up a Worship CD project..."Worship2"...which indicates I'm not much in the way of creativity and i need a lot of marketing help. Who cares about CD titles anyway? It is my second project and I hope there are more to come. The new project is still straight forward, vertical worship. Vertical worship is praise with lyrical content that is directed towards God and the throneroom of our Creator. The sole purpose of the project is to help others in their recognition of God's love towards us and provide a guide to offer praise to Him. It is a little different from the last project, but I know you'll like it. Again, Bradley crafted a group of the greatest musicians in Nashville and the tracks are unbelievable. We anticipate a release date in late January or February of 2009...what? 2009? Crazy!!!
Don't forget to offer your own praise to your King, every day. He is worthy of our praise! He is delighted with our praise! He promises to be with us when we praise! Isn't that cool? All we have to do is cry out to Him with our love, adoration, thanks and request for His best and He shows up. The new CD will help you with this...I am certain.
Blessings,
Love, Michael, Licia, and the girls.
In January, i traveled to Nashville to record my second album. I know that the Lord has His hand in this endeavor and I am excited about the prospects of offering this worship to new congregations and people wherever the Lord allows and leads. I will be soliciting for support to complete the project, so if you are in a position to support this effort, your help would be so appreciated.
If you haven't gotten a copy of "Worship", just email me and ask for a copy. and don't forget...I'm a wuss and I'll probably send it for free: michael@praiseprojects.org, or:
download the whole album or individual tracks from this site. goto the player above on the right side and download any or all the songs for $ .99 per track
If you so desire, please continue to support me as I seek to produce God honoring worship. PraiseProjects is a non-profit organization, so your donation is tax-deductible. Thank you for prayerfully considering how you could help us to produce more "Worship" projects. Praise God!
If you can help:
You can send your tax deductible donation to:
PraiseProjects, Inc.
3341 Nutmeg Circle, Frisco Texas 75034
Thank you for your support and encouragement. I look forward to sharing the project with all of you.
I would love to see Closer on here! I absolutely love that song and I'm sure I'm not the only one! You have an amazing voice! I love coming to Prestonwood and hearing you! We are blessed to have you at our church!
Hello dear, old friend! I can't begin to tell you how many times I've thought of you and Licia!!! I can't believe it's been 13 years since I left Dallas. Looks like you've been incredibly busy and God has truly blessed you and your gift. I couldn't be more happy for you and Licia. Much love to all of you and hope we stay connected.
thank you, michael. i can't believe i'm saying this...but that's so kind of you to say :) the BEST part about this journey is that God has revealed Himself in so many ways and shown me things I never would have seen if I would have quit along the way. He is good...and His timing perfect. i'll get a copy of the tunes to you. it's in the process of being posted on itunes and being duplicated, but i'll send you the tracks. thanks again, friend.
Finally, my prayer answered...You're Leaving....Just kidding....It was a pleasure getting to know you and singing with you at the Easter Production. Blessings.
that song is so amazing.. speaks to my heart every time i hear it! thanks again to u and licia for everything.. all the late night chats! give the girls my love!
So how are things? Fill me in. Are you getting settled in your new place? Miss you guys. Hugs and big love. Tori is definitely your child! Let Licia off the hook about the milk man, would ya?
Hey! Thank you so much for the response! I am so happy that you and the girls enjoyed it! I will definitely just continue to follow Him on this wonderful journey! How is the new home treating you? Prestonwood will never be the same! Good talking to you!!!
yo! sorry we missed your party!!! we weren't here. i'm sure you cried....um, yeah, well NOT. hope to see ya when you're back in town.....give love to licia and the girls!
i was just saying yoooouuuuu.... like "here's lookin at you kid".... just a pointless drawn out version of the one word: you. I wish you had time to bring your clubs when you come down for Nashvegas. That would be fun. I know, golf is just about all I think about.
I am looking forward to the New Year! Alot of good things are happening and I am excited. I am truely blessed and everytime I think God reminds me he takes care of me and all that I need. NOT so much want,but need and I am blessed to see that I can recondise his love.
So, anyway...I've been on myspace longer than you, so...I actually invented myspace, so...I have like a million friends, so... Love, Competitive Penelope
Your site looks great and music is amazing. I'm so proud of u. Hope we do get to see all u guys the fouth. Do u know what days u would actually be going? We have some stuff going on here and definitely don't want to miss everyone. Tell the girls we love em and sorry I didn't get to say good bye. Love u! Julz
