Wrestling the Stranger

Produced by Scott Tyring and Troye Kinnett

Engineered by Corey Miller
Recorded at The Lodge Recording Studios,
Indianapolis, Indiana thelodgestudios.com
Additional Engineering on Sabbatarian Nate Sparks
Mixed and Mastered by Corey Miller at The Lodge Recording Studios

Troye Kinnett Keyboards, Accordion and Backing Vocals
Doug Henthorn Guitars

Randy Melson Bassist and Backing Vocals
Dane Clark Drums and Backing Vocals
Chris Stone Additional Vocals on Chip Away and You Gotta Help Me,Lord
Jessica Benge Additional Vocals on Different Drummer
Nate Sparks Bass on Sabbatarian
Anthoney Scroggins Guitar on Sabbatarian
Scott Tyring Lead Guitar on Sabbatarian
Brian Dove Drums on Sabbatarian

Stefan Delgado Cover Illustration
P. J. Yinger Layout/Design

Chip Away

This song was written with Eric Clapton in mind for its style. A powerful blues rock number, this song was chosen for the opening track. The lyrics express a desire to be shaped or sculpted, spiritually speaking, by the hand of God. Biblical verses open the song from Psalm 139.

You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psa 139:1-2, 23-24)

Chris Stone sings backing vocals. One endearing quirk to the song is the stop at the end of the third verse, followed by three tinks, which insinuated the sound of a chisel striking stone. It s actually Doug Henthorn, plucking his guitar strings at the very bottom below the pick ups.

Strip Me (Itinerant Preacher Blues)

I m an itinerant preacher with the United Methodist Church. That means that when the bishop says I am appointed to a new church, I pick up and go. It can be very painful when you haven t asked for a move. We were serving a church and community with whom we were quite in love. My children were just at the age of getting quite social. Suddenly we were moved to another church with about a month to get ourselves in order. It was a very difficult time for all of us. I had several wrestling matches with God. It made no sense to me. You can hear the pain in the song and the eventual surrender.

You Gotta Help Me, Lord

We went for a Santana feel on this track. I love the triangle Dane Clark added as a nice touch to the percussion. I always get a smile when I hear it. The song was written at a time I felt like I couldn t do anything right. I just seemed to be making a mess of things, especially in terms of relationships. No matter what I did, I couldn t seem to get any traction. Nothing was moving in a right direction for me. I asked God to help me to see "what I do to make a mess of me" and to "heal my weary heart."

Chris Stone sings back up on this track. Randy Melson s bouncing bass line is a real treat, too.

Only The Shadow Knows

I remember preproduction on this track with my producer, Troye Kinnett. It was over 5 minutes long in the demo version. Troye and I did some surgery on it, with his experienced hand, and created a fun and vibrant modern rocker. Audio Adrenaline is a favorite band of mine. Their music is definitely an influence in the composition. The drum loop and a few edits give the song a bit of fun. It's about getting free of personal demons. Mine was one that kept me isolated. I had an inner voice that told me, "They don t care." "They don t understand you." "You don t need them." I realized this shadowy friend, which had been my companion since my childhood, was no friend at all. I needed to get out from under this kind of thinking. We all got to grow up some time.

Sabbatarian

When studying in seminary I ran across this term of derision. Sabatarian is a name, used by 19th century journalists, decrying those Sabbath keepers who voted in the Sunday blue laws. To keep the Christian Sabbath holy, bars and liquor stores were closed on Sunday by state law as voted in by a Christian majority. I loved the way the name sounded malicious, like saboteur. Punk Rock seemed like the perfect genre to use the word Sabatarian. I used some vocal styling from punks like the Sex Pistols and stuttering like The Who. The choral arrangement was produced by digital samples of actual male and female choirs. It was played through a keyboard.

This is the only composition not produced by Troye Kinnett. It was an early effort in 2009 as a graduation gift for my daughter, Erika, who loves the song. Nate Sparks engineered the track and played bass from behind the mixing board. His band mate from Hey Hey Melodica, Anthoney Scroggins, played a Fender Jaguar. Brian Dove delivered explosive drumming just right for the punk sound we were going for. I laid down the punk lead on Anthoney s Fender Jaguar. I had started with my Fender Stratocaster, but broke a string during recording.

In post-production, we decided to remaster the song to make it fit with the rest of the album. The Nate Sparks mix and master is still my favorite because of its raw and in your face energy. Look for it in the deluxe version. (Hey, it could happen!)

Stranger

Troye and I probably had the most fun working up the pre-production demo of this song than any other. We decided on a sci-fi approach, kind of a new wave thing from the early '80's. We had Gary Numan and Rick James in mind with keyboard sounds. The guitar groove keeps the song rooted in blues rock, but the crazy sound effects and adlibs make it a stand out track. Note the homage to Curtis Mayfield s People Get Ready.

The song is about going with an ambassador of heaven to join his kingdom, instead of the one you might be living in. Scriptures that inspired the song were:

1 Peter 2:11 (NIV84)

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV84)

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (NIV84)

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV84)

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

You're Right

This is the first of two songs co-written with Jay Rickard. Jay and I were in ministry together at his home church, when I was suddenly called to another church. The shock and painful wrestling that came from that experience birthed these lyrics. Jay brought his poem to me, and I edited the lyrics and composed the music with assistance from my guitar teacher, Jim Brunner. The track has a jazzy feel to it. Doug Henthorn uses a slide on the opening and a Steely Dan sound to his lead track. Troye's organ sound fills the track and gives it a wonderful smoke-filled bar room vibe.

Shining and Shimmering

The second song co-written with Jay Rickard is about fear of falling back into the grip of old habits and familiar spirits. Jay's original poem said things like, "The spirits are moving, clawing and shredding, hating this Holy One impending." What seemed most attractive to Troye was the image of being isolated in a corner by these spirits, which became a recurring line, building to the hook. Other lines that were cut from the original were, "I need Your arms wrapped tight around me. Embrace, protect me. Take me unto Thee." "People are running in and out of my life, day after day. Let me love them, touch them and send them Your way." The original was close to five minutes. The final version is a tight little pop rock number that gets the main message across in 2 minutes and 41 seconds. A scripture reference is in the bridge.

Philippians 2:14-16

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

Different Drummer

This song was the first to be recorded by the musicians who performed on 10 of the 11 tracks. It was a college graduation gift to my daughter, Amanda.

Troye Kinnett Keyboards
Doug Henthorn Guitars
Randy Melson Bass
Dane Clark Drums
Jessica Benge Backing Vocals

The song style is sort of Joe Jackson (Is She Really Going Out With Him?) meets Tom Petty, with a tip of the hat to Buddy Holly. I originally had in mind a big 70's style jam in the bridge with Dane playing a wide variety of rhythmic styles like Bossa Nova and Polka and other noticeable rhythms in order to communicate the idea that we have a variety of drummers to move by. Dane turned in a terrific performance and had great fun doing it. The power chords and his drum fills kept the song from derailing into something that might only have worked in a live concert performance, if that. The drummer metaphor is that I walk to a different drummer than others may. I used to do the dance to the world s beats, but no more. The rhythm of God s love in my heart, moves me now.

Rock 'N' Roll For You, Lord

John Cooper, of Skillet, once said, "Every album needs a good power ballad." Here's my '80's power ballad! This song is also my heart. I thank Corey Miller for the long hours of trying to make all the parts of this complex track work well together. Doug Hentorn used a Marshall amp and his Gibson Les Paul to give a monster sound. It was so loud in the studio, he had to protect himself from the decibels by performing the track behind a partition. Troye added additional keyboards to fill to the track. There s even an E.L.O. sort of cello riff in there. Fire up your butane lighters and sway!

On This Road

It was an Easter Sunday. I invited over a friend who had just lost custody to his son in a divorce battle. He was looking at zero contact for the next 2 years. He was devastated. He had no family to visit on the holiday, so he was our guest that day. After dinner we sat in my family room. I plucked out on the guitar a pretty chord progression I was working on, but didn t have any lyrics. Scott Canatsey, my friend, just started singing words. The melody was beautiful. I quickly ran and got a tablet of paper and together we composed this song in less than an hour. While recording the track, all the guys in the band had something going on, in their personal lives, that was making things difficult for them. We sensed something important was happening as we laid down the tracks. A "vibe" touched us all. It could be simply the power of the music. It could be a connection to the words. It s probably that and more, but I like to think God showed up in the studio that day and touched our wounded hearts. I already know the song is touching hearts out there and encouraging the tired and weary to stay faithful.