Percussion Persuasion

Acoustic guitarists have it easy when it comes to setup; don’t you think so? I mean, they come in and all they have to do is plug in their guitar. (Actually, I suppose piccolo players probably have it easiest of all, because they can fit their whole instrument, in its case, in their pocket or purse).

Percussionists and keyboard players have it much tougher. Lotsa gear, lots of cases, and usually things have to be assembled and placed on stands and linked together. Keyboards are heavy, too.

The hollow-ness of drums aside (meaning they’re lighter than keyboards), Scott Matthies, the percussionist who played Worship Café last Sunday with Graham Ord, puts keyboard players everywhere to shame. He showed up early to load-in his gear and let it warm up (yep, it was a cold and snowy day. The stereo-type of Canada persists despite all our efforts otherwise). Scott lugged in his tabla case, his djambe bag, his drum kit (all in separate cases), plus a large black case with all his stands. He had a table for his tabla and various percussion accoutrements, a stand for his djambe, and all the normal snare, high-hat, cymbal, and tom-tom stands and brackets that every drummer uses.

When Graham and Scott were playing, Scott had a way of playing tabla with one hand, djambe with the other, and adding a kick every now and again to propel the beat forward. He’d finish with the djambe and then pick up a shaker of some kind to play with one hand while he switched his other hand over to playing toms and cymbals (sometimes with sticks, sometimes just with his hands directly). Scott was in such fine form that he even had one of the sound guys asking him about tabla lessons. It was very impressive and effective.

It was a great worship time. Graham shared a lot of stuff between songs, talking about things that were on his heart and giving background insights about songs he was playing.

Afterward, Graham said he’d really enjoyed the worship time. He said he’d felt the presence of God quite strongly, and found the whole afternoon refreshing. The response in the café seemed like everyone agreed with him.

The online audio only worked on one channel, for some reason. The replay is up on the site this week, and the audio is working fine for that – feel free to check it out if you missed the live event and want to enjoy a great guitar & percussion worship time.   Worship Cafe

Graham's not here today

Fraser Campbell was from out of town, so I had no idea how many people would be at Worship Café yesterday. The Streaming Café is closed on Sundays, so they only open the café doors when we show up to set up the gear for the worship time.

Funnily enough, we had people coming to the door even before the café was open this week. Not a lot of people, mind you, but people. One of the early comers was Jennifer Jade Kerr, who has lead worship at Worship Café twice now. She said she’d met Fraser at The Gospel Music Association’s music week in Calgary at the end of October, so when she saw that he’d be at Worship Café she decided to swing by and check it out. Turns out Jennifer had come in third place in the GMAC’s performance showcase event – congratulations, JJK! She also told me that Mark Tromsness (another WC alumnus) won that same event, so he’ll be off to Nashville next year as part of his prize.

Two other early-comers to the café thought it was Graham Ord leading yesterday; it wasn’t, though. Graham’s on next week. There were half-a-dozen people who knew Fraser from his time up in Vanderhoof, so they came to reconnect with him. These folks weren’t expecting to see Graham Ord, which is good, because Graham wasn’t there. He’ll be leading next week.

Usually there is some kind of connection between the folks who show up for Worship Café in person; they know each other and made plans to be there together, or they know the worship leader from somewhere, or things like that. Every once in a while there’s someone who comes to the café just because they’ve decided to, not because someone they know is going to be there. There were a couple of young ladies at WC yesterday in that latter category; they knew about Worship Café, and even though they didn’t know who was leading, or if any of their friends were going to be there, they decided to come out, grab a coffee, and just enjoy the atmosphere.

It is a good atmosphere for that, actually. As the weather grows colder and the days grow shorter, the café is a great place to stay warm, hang out, and just enjoy the company. That might sound like a plug, and it is. I’d much rather find myself at the Streaming Café (whether for Worship Café or just for coffee) than at either Starbucks or Second Cup. Coffee’s better, music’s better, and the bloggers leave you alone. It’s good all the way around.