My First "Gig" (well, sort of, kind of....)
Since I got back into guitar in late 2005, I've been strictly a home/hobby player. But as it turns out, my church--a fairly conservative Lutheran congregation (LCMS, Matt!)--is in the process of implementing a new "contemporary" service to complement the traditional liturgical Sunday morning services. So a few months ago, the call went out for interested musicians in the congregation, especially guitarists, bassists and percussionists. So I threw my hat in the ring. Last night, I had my first opportunity to play, and I on my Yamaha acoustic and a young fellow on bass accompanied my daughter on two songs, "The Wonderful Cross" (a modern interpretation of the traditional Isaac Watts favorite, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross") and Chris Tomlin's "We Fall Down". These titles will likely mean nothing to many of you, but those who have played in church praise bands probably know them very well.
Anyway, nothing difficult, all strummed chord work, but it seemed to go very well. The young bassist lives nearby, so he had stopped over and rehearsed the two songs with me and my daughter (who, BTW, has a sensational soprano voice and does some professional singing--weddings, parties, funerals, and the like). He's actually been playing that $30 Fullerton Ventura bass I bought during the big Music123 closeout last year, since he doesn't have a bass of his own yet. Looking forward to learning a few more of these contemporary Christian songs and doing some more playing as the new service gets "officially" underway in September. Since we have three or four guitar players, it's pretty casual and I don't have to commit to playing every Sunday night. Low stress!
