The Genuine Art Tickle (for Christian Musician magazine)

mrnifty | January 31, 2012 - 12:32 am

The Genuine Art Tickle

Learning to ask for help by Bryan Duncan

Of all the things I’ve hated in life, being needy is at the top of my list. I’m discovering that asking for help is a necessity. No one in life is successful all by themselves. But the art of asking for help is rarely worked on at the level of all things career driven. Like music, it takes more than one “Rehearsal”.

I even have to ask people to help me ask people for help. Yes, it’s called promotion and marketing in some circles. Those are really glorified labels for a sometimes humbling position of facing true neediness. Granted, Rock Stars in the past seemed incredibly oblivious to the facts of what other people were doing to help them.

In our case however, Thank God for Christ! He has no problem speaking to us about our problem. But neediness is not weakness! In fact, that subtlety in our mis-definition can corrupt all of our best intentions. We all know that an image of success actually perpetuates it. Nobody wants to be a part of a giant failure. Here again, you might have “Image of success” poorly defined as pretentious. For our sakes let’s call it “projecting our faith”.

Faith is acting on things unseen as of yet, is it not?  But it doesn’t negate the one true place we must all acknowledge first. We won’t make it without a lot of help. In order for that to happen, you must prove yourself to be reliable and downright determined to follow through on your plans, even if no one were to join you except God almighty. Showing up on time is a simple start; by the way, of proving you are committed to your passion. Honoring your word is also preparation for asking others to trust you and your work.

Don’t kid yourself into believing that what you do every day isn’t being noticed by the very people who will be first to contribute to your efforts. The one thing that got my first recording contract with a major record label was simply the number of concerts I was already doing. You have to show reasonable potential for benefit. “Win/Win” is the moniker tagged to this concept these days. It was always presented to others for me in my early career.

In this new world, I’ve had to learn the art of explanation of the “Art Form” in order to perform at all. The first time I ever said “I need your money to help me” was on camera and I nearly choked on it. I had visions of devious T.V. preachers in my head. Now I’m learning to know who you are, what you believe, and why you think you are worth the “investment”. And be aware of what others are working at accomplishing. Know how they might benefit from your assistance in a similar direction. It’s called synergy!

By this writing I will have finished a month long campaign to raise an album budget on www.kickstarter.com it’s one of several facilitators of the Arts and Ideas funding now in place that you should look into. I’m learning to set deadlines. My campaign will be successful, even if the money goal were not to be reached, because it comes with a deadline to work towards. It lights a fire in me to do work in the same direction every day. I’m seeing that because I am already moving, there is a willingness in others to engage in the same vision.

I’m learning to understand that “downtime” is really time for preparation.  Before my campaign started over a month ago, came an everyday commitment I made to create dialog in social media, making contacts with people who resonated with my music and convictions. The last four years have been the development of communicating my desires, helping me learn to speak of my convictions in ways others understand.

Looking back, I can see where I would take off on a dream to the exclusion of everyone. I hadn’t communicated about the reason I was writing this particular music and these particular lyrics. It was irritating to this impatient soul to take the time to give reasons for my pursuits. I had that “you should know already” and “if I have to explain it, you wouldn’t get it anyway” kind of mentality. Bottom line: that attitude can be filed under “Self Involved”.

After many bewildering endings to my pursuits, I’m learning to see people above an objective. I see my efforts in ministry now as a way of engaging life generally with many of my friends. The relationships we’ve built together are richer than any single goal we’ve ever attempted. Seeing real people is a key to asking for real help. And having a genuine desire to help others will go a long way in understanding why any of us would be willing to give.

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Make An Audience Alliance

mrnifty | September 27, 2011 - 10:41 pm

Make An Audience Alliance
Bryan Duncan

In my heyday I used to pay the sound man more than the musicians. Because if he isn’t good, it won’t matter how good the band is. If you are still reading this now, I know you have stories of nightmares where the engineer pushes the fader up on the kick drum instead of the guitar solo. If you are a seasoned player you know to make friends quickly with your sound professional. There’s a fine line between an ally and an enemy.

That said, let’s  leave the perfect world and revisit where most of us are. I walked into a church last week just thirty minutes before downbeat. Only to find an antiquated soundboard where most of the knobs haven’t been turned since the turn of the century.

I would be presenting with one blown speaker on a mono system and a guy running it who confessed to some high end hearing loss. My first clue was when he said huh? To my first question. Not a good sign. He also didn’t know what a DI was.

I refer to these moments as changing the play at the line of scrimmage. Im gonna have to rethink the set list, track loops aren’t gonna work today. Even unplugged material will be suspect singing into a microphone that sounds like you have your hand over your mouth.

There’s a point where content will have to overcome catastrophe in the presentation. Here’s where your faith really has to shine. Two choices come up everyday. Act like a diva or find a way around mix.

Before any music comes from you there has to be heart. Here’s where Christian musicians have an edge. I’ve learned that no matter how sweet a melody of notes can be, never underestimate the power of a silent pause. That rest notation usually comes at a point of panic in real life situations. Communication needs more than a key signature.

I was forced away from my own talents and strengths once again. Drawing upon a source that I don’t rehearse often enough. It’s the synergy of Christ before the song was born.

I have never stopped marveling at the miracle worker in the God I know. He would rather show his strength than to let us show our own. That’s not an excuse to do shoddy work but too often we cant even control the parameters we think we can.

Even when all else doesn’t fail, make the audience your ally. See them! No one wants to hear you complain about the inhibitors to a quality you’d prefer. It’s amazing how much an audience wants to connect with you beyond your talent.

I can still recall a major festival I played in Europe where the highlight of the day was an impromptu moment where the drummer in the band before mine came out front and did a rythmn solo on his bare belly. Everyone was imitating him for the rest of the day, doing their own “tummy solos”.

Never forget that the audience wants to play a part in the event. If only to sing along somewhere and identify with what you are experiencing. So if you are fighting distractions, remember one thing everyone can relate to, is struggling with adversity! So maybe your next performance is an example of faith and trust speaking louder than the impression you leave on strings and keys.

I opened this presentation fixing the screw driver that was holding up the piano stool. It gave me the opportunity to drop  all pretense with the people in attendance and share a heartfelt appreciation for their presence.

I ended my set with the audience whistling the solo section while I backed them up on guitar. And in the end we were laughing together instead of thanking God that the suffering was over.

“Be the screw driver” I told em. “Be someone others will miss when yer not there.” Even as musicians we may find ourselves holding up parts we were not made for. Bottom line, I was euphoric, surprised (and relieved) to have been a part of something unique to another moment again.

Let the crowd collaborate. It’s like I’ve learned in songwriting, when the song is great everyone benefits. And they seldom ask who wrote it. It’s usually the song the audience is singing after you drop out by the way.

Sent from my iPad

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Rethinking In A Relative Minor Key

mrnifty | August 11, 2011 - 3:53 am

Rethinking In A Relative Minor Key (article for Christian Musician Magazine)

By Bryan Duncan

 In case you haven’t noticed, it’s not just trombone players who can’t beat a frog to a gig these days. What with the music business starting to take on the look of a lemon aid stand, we who have not traded our music credentials in for a day job as a paper cup dispenser have been in search of advice. How do we produce quality material with a weavers loom and a pile of straw? Where do we get distribution help that doesn’t look like a kid on a bike with a paper route?

 Should you even get that far, you’ve got sixty seconds before this tape will self-destruct and the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. “Out Of Print” is the new title of the last CD you forgot to buy before the expiration date came up on the product. Which now has the shelf life of a loaf of bread. You’d think with You Tube, Facebook, Twitter and easier access to recording technology, we could now create at least a ripple on the pond the frogs all have gigs in. All we’ve done is level the playing field for the nominal talent pool of people in the stands to join us on the field before half time. looks like the starting lineup for the historic land rushes of the pioneer days.

 Record companies are back to releasing singles the way Elvis started. And even then a talking dog on you tube will get more attention. I heard a discussion yesterday about whether radio airplay was even a worthwhile investment. The expert pointed out that Cracker Barrel is now the number 1 place to sell CD’s. I laughed so hard at the irony, I blew old fashioned corn bread out of my nose. But he was serious! So I guess Starbucks too is selling Grande’s in smaller cups.

 “So what’s it like to be rich and famous?” someone asked me the other day. They were on Twitter, that key hole of drive by curiosity into what someone else’s life looks like. Rich N Famous? Right now those are great names for the goldfish that I’m selling on E Bay. Cause who knows where music will flounder next. It’s time to clean out the filter on our guppy casket. The waters getting a little murky. That said, I still believe yer only one diligent piece of work away from a whole new aquarium.

 This week I was singing like a fifteen year old skateboarder would. Music for a program on the Fox network, it was three hours of screaming for a thirty second show opener. I can remember when the hook of a song didn’t have to come in for thirty seconds. Now the whole piece of music is shorter than the text message I send my kids when they’re asking for money. Yea I never read the fine print in God’s contract with me. But even his answers are coming back in a nutshell: “I asked for your praise not your appraisal”.

 “ I want music that takes me to a place I can’t go on my own” I heard on the phone with Tim Stromer, Director of Kids Against Hunger. “That is always the challenge!” I said “Music should always be for the “hungry”. It’s usually written by them too!  I’ve learned the sometimes painful art of “Rewording” by placing yourself in the shoes of another in order to find the most honest feeling. But lately as a writer I’ve had the opportunity to apply that skill in editing my own job description. I can see that the music business is still working out the chord structure on a serious key change. And the Stage choreography is gonna look awkward for some time to come.

 Add to that the effectiveness of downloading a single song for pennies, in totally removing the concept of an “album cut”, you can rule out the chances of sayin anything deeper than what you’d hear at a Chucky Cheese birthday party. Yes, the industry as we know it, has been “burn” copied and plundered. Now it’s a casting call for the starring role in a new version of “Survivor”.

 So maybe that means you, it’s time to start practicing second fiddle. I got a guy friend, had hair to his waist. He’s been a metal head for a million years, he’s in Nashville sporting his new cue ball look, singing lead vocals and playin guitar in an all-girl back up country band. “it’s all in the redefinition” he said “I’m a musician cause my day job wasn’t paying the bills!

 As musicians we have to think in terms of playing in a relative minor key for this bridge. It doesn’t mean there’s no crescendo coming on the reprise. Music isn’t going away. But it’s been a tough year for sound farmers. Still It’s the gift that keeps on giving. In this particular unfinished concerto we’re gonna have to keep trusting in God’ sheet music. Play the notes on the page we’re on. It’s up to Him to add the resolve to the suspended notes.

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Surfing The Absurdities (article for Christian Musician)

mrnifty | June 10, 2011 - 8:34 pm

Surfing The Absurdities

By Bryan Duncan

One of my band members, years ago, noted how nobody says they went to “hear” their favorite band. What we say is, “I went to see” them. In all the practice to present an impressive performance it’s almost depressing to discover that what makes a memorable presentation is not always in what you have rehearsed.

 I learned this early on in my own concerts. It was the “train wrecks” the audience perked up on. That one moment where it was clear that what was happening was not planned! P.A. disasters were most often the beginning of a derailment! I used to get angry about those annoyances that hindered my presentation. But over the years I’ve learned how to “Surf the absurdities”. It’s God’s little way of keeping you real!

 The first time I realized I was never gonna get a presentation exactly as I liked it was an early concert playing a Yamaha CP 70 on stage, the sustain pedal kept sliding under the keyboard where I could not reach it. One particular night I found myself with the microphone in one hand, playin the keyboard with the other and on one knee tryin to retrieve the sustain pedal. I ended up laying on the stage, under the piano to finish the song. Laughing With the audience about how ridiculous I must look. For years after that I would hear from those who would recall the one concert where I “performed under the piano”.

 Now I only know of one story about noted composer and violinist Niccolo Paganini. It’s the story of the night he broke all but one string on his violin during the performance .. but finished the piece on that one string! We resonate more with what we must overcome to finish well. Never forget that! Sometimes the most inspiring part of a presentation is what people see in your personal reaction to disruption. Now, there are whole theory’s about playing on one string.

 Jam sessions aside, I’ve forgotten words to songs in a set and replaced them with spontaneous thoughts come to mind, some so good that I left em in later! I recall a song I perform regularly, “I probably love you Delilah”. There’s a line in that song that says “I don’t remember what I’m sayin right here… cause you look so good that I don’t really care”.. it was a mistake I made on stage. I kept it!  And recently I too broke a guitar string right on that line! (it’s on Youtube btw) and I sang “you look so good that I…. broke a string”. I could have stopped right there all frustrated, but, why not relax and improvise to overcome.

 I believe God loves those “in the moment” opportunities to trust him the most. Funny now, that what I recall most in my story telling of my career are the absurd moments where I was no longer in control. They become the high water marks that define one presentation from another. Same songs, different outcome. Isn’t that what created our desire to follow Christ in the first place? It’s the absurdities in life, spiritually, faith is about trusting God with answers we don’t have and things we cannot control.

 Even this week, I found myself in the great state of “Ill annoyed”. I contracted a throat infection. Couldn’t sing! The one thing I do best. They asked me if I wanted to cancel. Not a chance, let’s  go out and see what happens I told em.

I would say its finding the “Serenity” to accept what I cannot change and to courage to change the things I can”. That’s a little line borrowed from “recovery” principles. You will find an opportunity in every performance to acknowledge what you have no control over.

 The truth is, almost anyone can rehearse a piece and regurgitate it. That’s why we have “cover bands”. Do you wanna be a jukebox where people drop a quarter in and get the song they wanna hear? Or do you wanna be “in concert” with God almighty? What people really come to see is Passion and Heart. This weekend no one left disappointed that I didn’t deliver what I’m known for, they got to hear the new songs I’m working on, how God affects my life, why I wrote the songs. It became a presentation of what goes on behind the scenes. And what inspires me to write and sing in the first place.

 Let’s call it a “Reality” show. Frankly God loves the moments where we are not in control. He has the opportunity to “Solo”. I guess the point is for Christian Musicians, learn to fade! Do you know how to back up the soloist? You hold down the “Structure” and stand back to make room for the improvisation!

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Rehearsal, God Help Us!

mrnifty | March 31, 2011 - 12:55 pm

article for Christian Musician

Rehearsal, God Help Us!

By Bryan Duncan

I follow Jesus because I’ve been to the rehearsal! Personally I’d rather chew tin foil and shave my head with a cheese grater than to rehearse songs. Just the writing process gives me more time with a song than I spend with my entire family. With enough repetition any tune can start to sound as irritating as the “Candy Man”, “who can make a sunrise?”.. sung through clenched teeth.

 These days I’ll change the writing of songs to accommodate a quicker rehearsal. You start putting complicated riffs at the end of a turnaround and you’ll be rehearsing a train wreck in the making. Simple is better they say, and it takes a genius to come up with a three chord melody that has substance.

 Rehearsal is how you discover the defects of musicians generally, the first of which is a punctuality factor! Let’s admit it, we’ve earned our reputations. And let us not forget to factor in the “dilly dally” time it’s gonna take to set up the equipment while the singers go to Starbucks.

 Every musician has that riff they just gotta play to sound impressive. You know the ones, it’s what you play when yer in the music store and you kinda want someone to be impressed by what you know. So checking levels becomes a mini concert, that sounds like an orchestra tuning up. And let’s not forget the part where a line in a song yer rehearsing sounds like another hit song, the band suddenly feels obligated to run through a Def Leopard remake.

 I’m amazed at how many times we get lost in the number of measures, even before I come in singing. “when I start singing, you’ll know where I am” I said the other day. Why? Because we’re repeating three chords in this and we’re depending on the drummer to make the groove interesting. (He’s not here yet by the way)

 I’m playin with a number of thrown together bands these days. Flying a whole band into a city is a deal breaker in concerts that don’t come with a coffee shop attached. Now I know why “worship” songs are so popular. The band can only get together for an hour before the church service most places.

 Count yourself lucky if you have the luxury of payin for a sound stage in a downtown industrial park, where the DB level is not a problem. I have my own rehearsal studio and I still get warning notices from the city! So now we’re huddled in a circle like Indians over a campfire, tryin to put energy into a rockin’ tune at “retirement volume”. And singing the high notes comes with a governor.

 Let me just say here that the quality of a rehearsal is directly affected by the distance between now and the performance. I rehearse songs that we want to record eventually, tryin to work out arrangements is not something that goes well when everyone’s waiting for their cue. Thank God for Protools. There’s a real lack of focus unless there’s a red “Recording” sign on over the door! You might wanna put one of those up in the rehearsal studio just for fun in the future. It helps musicians “dial down”. In layman’s terms we like to call it “stupifying the articulates”.

 I get nervous at a rehearsal, cause it’s a run through at half speed that you hope is gonna change when you go “live”. Right now it sounds like dinner theater music, cause the drummers using brushes on a tambourine for a snare, and kickin a Cajon. Mostly so you can hear the tinny acoustic guitar parts in the intro.

I got a local bass player with the face of a curmudgeon, you can’t tell when he’s happy. And he never wants to play the same thing twice. “That’s why we call it pop music” I told him. Get acquainted with whole lotta whole notes!  

 Finally the big crescendo comes when its sounding pretty good, which means you’ve at least reached the end of the song at the same time. And then someone brings up the fact that I’m paying the sound man more than all the musicians! “I do that cause I’ve heard you play” I laugh. But seriously, if the engineer doesn’t work some miracles, nobody’s gonna hear the guitar solo where, finally theres  a break free run to originality. A sound man knows who to turn down in that part where he gets confused. That’s usually me! I can’t sing AND play at the same time, I’m just not that good of a multitasker, and on stage I’m mostly trying to have a conversation with the audience.

 It’s a magic show really, mastering the art of distraction to create the illusion that mistakes disappear just because we rehearsed it. Honestly I’m convinced that “Improvisational Jazz” was born out of a lack of time to rehearse! Thank God for Christian musicians! We can at least pray before the gig. Prayer changes things, but can we all start in the same key this time!

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Interview with Messenger Magazine (Europe)

mrnifty | February 11, 2011 - 2:08 pm

Songwriting questions for Bryan Duncan

Messenger: You’ve been writing songs for most of your life. How have you evolved as a songwriter during your professional career?

Bryan:  I STOPPED TRYIN TO EMPRESS OTHER WRITERS AND MUSICIANS. I RETURNED TO SIMPLICITY

Messenger: Could you describe what the process of writing a song looks like for you, from start to finish?

Bryan: USUALLY STARTS WITH A GROOVE OR BASS LINE OR “HOOK LICK”. CHORDS ARE FILLED IN. MUSIC IS NEARLY COMPLETE, LYRICS FOLLOW THE EMPATHY OF THE MUSIC. STAND BACK AND SEE WHAT YER FEELING!

Messenger: Do you actively think about what you want the song to say before writing it?

Bryan: ALMOST NEVER. MUSIC PULLS FEELINGS OUT OF ME I DIDN’T KNOW I HAD.

Messenger: Thoreau once said: “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” Do you agree – is it necessary to live it in order to write about it?

Bryan: I AGREE! BUT THEN I ALSO WRITE ABOUT DESIRES! THAT ARE UNFULFILLED, THINGS I’VE NOT EXPERIENCED. THAT’S PROBABLY CLOSER TO WHAT MOST OF US RELATE TO. BUT THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT IF NOT FROM YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE?

Messenger: There are many approaches to songwriting. Some people rely on discipline, others on inspiration. For you, would you say that songwriting is a job in which hard work always equals achievement?

Bryan: IT’S A TWO EDED SWORD. YOU HAVE TO BE THE BIGGEST CRITTIC OF YOUR WORK. BUT EVEN IN THE OBSESSION, SOMETIMES STUFF JUST FALLS OUT OF YOUR HEAD BETTER LEFT ALONE.

Messenger: Do you block out specific times to devote to your songwriting? If so/if no, why?

Bryan: NO, CAUSE I’M NOT THAT DISCIPLINED.. I WHINE A LOT AND IT IS BEST RELIEVED WHEN I PUT IT TO MUSIC.

Messenger: I read in an interview with Don Henley, that the songs often come to him when he’s loading the dishwasher or gardening or riding the horses. When do songs come to Bryan Duncan?

Bryan:  DON HENLEY IS NOT TO BE CHALLENGED! YES, CREATIVITY IS USUALLY A JUXTAPOSITION TO OTHER ENDEAVORS. WE DON’T CREATE FROM A VOID. ONLY GOD DOES THAT.

Messenger: What’s your opinion on rewriting? Is there a danger of becoming overly analytical?

Bryan: THE DANGER IS NEVER IN BEING OVER ANALYTICAL.. BUT YOU GOTTA “DUMB DOWN” THE LYRICS.. THEY SHOULD BE A SIMPLER CONCLUSION TO DEEPER THOUGHTS.

Messenger: Do you have any bad habits as a songwriter?

Bryan: YES, “OVERWORDING!” USING WORDS PEOPLE WOULDN’T USE IN THEIR EVERYDAY LANGUAGE.

Messenger: In retrospect, are there songs that you wish you’d written differently (i.e, “the song is perfect if it wasn’t for THAT”)?

Bryan:  NO SONG IS EVER PERFECT AS I SEE IT. BUT YOU GOTTA HAVE A POINT OF NO RETURN OR YOU’D NEVER FINISH ANYTHING. IT’S LIKE PAINTING, YOU CAN DO A WATER COLOR OR AN OIL, BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME. WHAT BUGS ME MOST ABOUT MY OLD SONGS IS HAVING CHOSEN A SOUND THAT IS HIP FOR THE TIMES BUT THEN SOUNDS DATED IN A FEW YEARS. “ITS SOUNDS SO ‘EIGHTIES’” I’VE HEARD MORE THAN ONCE. “TIMELESS” IS WHAT I WOULD RATHER HEAR..LIKE THE SONG “AT LAST…MY LOVE HAS COME ALONG”… WHO CARES WHEN THAT WAS WRITTEN.

Messenger: What makes a good collaborator?

Bryan: NO EGO! SOMEONE GOOD WHERE I AM NOT. WHO MIGHT THINK COMPLETELY BACKWARDS FROM THE WAY I DO.

Messenger: Do you need to be receptive of criticism as a songwriter?

Bryan: EVERYBODY’S A CRITIC. DO WHAT YOU LOVE, AND LOVE WHAT YOU GET.

Messenger: How important is originality in songwriting?

Bryan: YOU HAVE TO HAVE A “SIGNATURE” OR YOU BLEND INTO THE BACKGROUND. BUT THEN A GREAT SONG GOES ON WITHOUT YOU TOO.

Messenger: In what way(s) does Christian songwriting differ from secular?

Bryan: OUR DEVOTION IS PLACED DIFFERENTLY. AWAY FROM SELF MAYBE

Messenger: As a songwriter, could you name a few songwriters or authors that have inspired you?

Bryan: LOTS..OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, AUTHORS? OSWALD CHAMBERS, BOB GASS, C.S. LEWIS, GEORGE MCDONALD, PAUL YOUNG.. ETC.

SONGWRITERS? DONALD FAGEN, DIANE WARREN, MICHAEL MCDONALD, DON HENLEY, JAMES TAYLOR, CAROL KING, JOHN MAYER, SARA MCGLAGHLIN, JASON MRAZ..ETC.

Messenger: How does one become a better songwriter?

Bryan:  LISTEN TO GREAT SONGS.. STUDY THEM!

THANKS FOR THESE QUESTIONS YER RIGHT ON TIME!

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A Christian Musician's Legacy

mrnifty | February 7, 2011 - 10:58 am

 A Christian Musician before the phrase was coined, my dad, Reverend Daniel R. Duncan passed away at 78. I’m thinking “rpm’s” on an LP. I’m his first born and I had the privilege of sitting at his right hand as he struggled to finish his life. Seven years after the onslaught of Alzheimer’s, and two years spent recovering from a stroke. “Nobody should have to live like this” he said just two months ago.

I had my questions about the final years of a Godly Musician, “rewarded” by some sort of banishment, relegated to near helplessness and dependency on others for the smallest details of life. Wondering about the frightening experience of slowly losing the things you are good at, in his case, assembling words and insights. But then I trust God, and follow Jesus Christ because my dad did!

 Alzheimer’s scrambles your thought process, keeps you from communicating to anyone but God himself in most cases. I found it interesting though that the music side of my dad’s brain was intact till the day he died. Just a few months ago he sat at the piano and played and sang “Heaven, I’m Going There”. He loved Western style swing. The kind Roy Rogers might have sung. He liked inside chord movement too with that Jazz flavor.

 Never said much about the changes in popular music, he watched my style preferences replace his own in church. He saw them fade too. He stopped playing music in church because his style of music was no longer the hip way to “worship”.

 So what do we pass on with regard to our passions? When the dross is burned away, what still stands? Hopefully not just some label of what we were into. Some brand name like “Pentecostal Polka”. In some circles “Christian” in front of “Musician” tends to banish you from a list of the best even without a stroke. Suspicions are that perhaps your popularity is merely a plank in the party platform of another agenda.  Because downloads aren’t available, I’m not even sure King David would be a big draw these days as a harpist, except maybe in the Portland area!

 Music is a wonderful thing that God hands out to anyone who receives. And He has the gall to give it to people who don’t even acknowledge him in the slightest. Does our legacy come down to our expertise? Is it in our ability to impress the masses, or to fit in with the giant “cover tune”  that is blanketing the mainstream?

 I found myself a little miffed that after 50 years of “service” to God, my dad had little in the way of acknowledgement. Until God spoke to me and said, the reward is that I gave your dad a passion that took him through his whole life! It was specific and came out in his interpretation of music. I put a melody in his heart that never ceased to sustain through the worst of hardships. He worshipped me with his life! It’s the most original concerto anyone can ever write!

 If you have moved beyond the same four chords and seven words we use in church, don’t be disgruntled with the “newbies” because they don’t hear a “demolished thirteen” in the chord structure. Thank God, you can feel His foot on the sustain pedal of your own instrument. We don’t get to choose who will resonate with what we play or how it will affect them. But what a gift to communicate to ourselves the love we feel from the master musician.

 I don’t play anything like my dad would have played it. I can however feel his influence. It’s that classic musician’s sense of non conformity to all that is unoriginal. And I know that God smiles at even the most dissonant of chords in my efforts when I’m focused on resonating with the gift I have found from him. God knows the music that is my life. And I follow Jesus because he will resolve and sustain that music.

 I heard a wonderful sermon once about trying to identify a song when you can only hear the harmony part. It’s almost impossible to tell without the melody line. In fact, a harmony might not even sound cohesive to itself. Heaven will hold a symphony of stacked harmony parts like that. Harmony’s to God’s melody. And we will upon hearing it, understand the part God has asked us to play in it.

 So I say here’s the legacy: Keep yourself in tune, and play the grace notes God has written out and placed in front of you, trusting where God has placed you in the Orchestra. It’s probably off to the left in the reed section. Your part might not even make sense to you but Man listen to that tone! We are Christian musicians because we have a music director, booking agent, and road manager all wrapped up in one. Keep playin, one gig at a time until God finishes the packaging and adds the shrink wrap.

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My Dad Was That Man

mrnifty | December 27, 2010 - 2:37 pm

 At 78, my Dad, Reverend Daniel R. Duncan passed away. It was Tuesday, 3:40 in the afternoon December 14, 2010. Fourteen members of his family were in the room with him, including his three sons and his only daughter. I’m his first born and I had the privilege of sitting at his right hand as he struggled to finish his life. Seven years after the onslaught of Alzheimer’s, and two years spent recovering from a stroke. “Nobody should have to live like this” he said just two months ago.

 I too, had my questions about the final years of a Godly man, “rewarded” by some sort of banishment, relegated to near helplessness and dependency on others for the smallest details of life. Wondering about the frightening experience of losing the things you are good at, in his case, assembling words and insights. But then I trust God, and follow Jesus Christ, because my dad did! He always spoke of spending eternity with God. It was a weekly mantra in his ministry. “do you know where you will spend eternity?” he would say at the close of every sermon.

 For me, it was not what he said on the platform that caused my determinations in life; it was the way that he lived! He was a genuine man. My earliest recollections of envy came at the kitchen table, hearing my dad recite humorous limericks. “there was a young man from Saint Paul, who fell in the spring in the fall, t’would have been a bad thing if he died in the spring, but he didn’t he died in the fall”.

 All of his children can sit for hours reciting his sayings, and his quotes from his own enthusiastic pursuit of the Joy in words. His Humor could be seen even in the seriousness of circumstances. He was required to send a note of acknowledgement to my teacher one year, to affirm that he knew I was being “disruptive” in class. His note read: “I understand that a general cessation in superfluous vocables is considered necessary for an atmosphere conducive to satisfactory learning conditions” He was a hit with my English teacher after that. She read the note to the class and posted it on the bulletin board for the other teachers to smile at.

 In his prime, he was a lean five foot eight with wavy black hair and a pencil thin mustache. He looked more Puerto Rican in early pictures than a man of Scot’s-Irish decent. He knew how to dress the part of the fiery evangelist he set his sights on from an early age. In a suit and tie he was all business. But he always looked more like himself to me in pictures of his brash and confident youth.  A Pencil on his ear, in a plain white t shirt and hand cuffed blue Levis. He was the country product of a Pentecostal upbringing born of Old fashioned camp meetings.

 Raised on the Western Slope of the Colorado Rockies, he had a fondness for all things outdoors. And it showed in his oil paintings of his favorite panoramas. All with the broad sweeping views of mountains, lakes and evergreens. Trees spreading branches to a bigger sky, was the way he saw “worship” of the creator that he knew. The details around them filled in with the signs of his early farm boy childhood: barbed wire fences and weather beaten fence posts, barns and bridges and discarded farm equipment.

 He sang often, out loud and without provocation. He accompanied himself on guitar mostly, sometimes piano, but always in sweet western music style and in his high tenor voice. Reminiscent of Son’s of the Pioneers or Roy Rogers singing “happy trails”. “Home on the Range” could have been his theme song, happy, upbeat with just a touch of transience.

 He was drawn to people and they to him, class clown and class president too of course at Delta High. He was creative and his flare for non conformity shined through in his choice over the usual daily dress of his peers, to rather wear button down white shirts with a different colored bow tie every day. “I only had seven or eight, but rumor had it that I had one for every day of the year” he mentioned.

 His body language was dramatic and demonstrative and his laughter was quick and loud. He wielded quips and quotes like an expert swordsman, balancing witticisms and a smile with his awareness of the hardships in daily life. He always led with humor and a handshake. And it served him well throughout his life. “I’m Dan and you probably know who you are” he was known to say even in his later years.

 He married his childhood sweet heart, Barbara Forney from the neighboring town of Grand Junction, Colorado. He rolled her down Main Street in a wheel barrow after the ceremony. They met at a church camp when she was 11 and he 13. A preacher’s kid friend introduced him to her, “this is Danny” he said “and he already knows who you are!” They both worked summer vacations through their teen years; “picking and packing peaches in the Palisades” he would love to have said just for the alliteration. They would later sing duets in his beginning ministry.

 After Bible College in Waxahachie, Texas, he began in earnest to pursue his primary passion and propensity for preaching. But only a personal relationship to God could have propelled him through fifty years of faithful service to God’s people. It is an often thankless job, not for a man given to a need to be personally validated frequently. Frankly I think he simply kept himself entertained within his own pursuit of insight. Something I recognize as part of my own inheritance.

 His best sermons were off the platform, in his daily interactions with those he loved. He was king of church socials, his easy laughter and good humor were attractive to the often downtrodden who could not miss the unmistakable mark of his pure passion for living and sharing the experience. He was a preacher, and though he loved expounding on the truth in scripture he was not a “bible thumper”. In the face of the failures of others he was surprisingly silent. He knew how to be stern without condemnation. Perhaps he understood all too well how we manage to punish ourselves sufficiently for our own mistakes.

 He pioneered churches and led congregations from Colorado to Utah, Washington State and finally several cities in North Carolina. He went from evangelist to pastor, teacher to counselor as needed. He delivered his official roles as church business administrator, sermon preparer, visitation to hospitals and house calls, funerals, weddings and baby dedications without the slightest fanfare.

 He never stopped being a father even as his own children left the nest. He joined my mom in foster parenting many boys, mostly those least likely to be adopted by a family. Already familiar, I imagine, with raising three non conformist boys and one girl cut from that same cloth. He was a patient man! Even the adopted children noted his dedication to ministry, up at six a.m. every morning to pray, read the Bible, followed by daily “field work” outside the house and church.

 I lived on the opposite coast from him over most of my adult life, but I remember him calling just to tell me a joke.. an Indian child asking his father “how do we get our names?” ,with a detailed and longer description of an Indian mother, after the birth, seeing the first thing outside the tee pee as a sign from the Great Spirit of what to name her child.. such as “running deer”, or “howling wolf”, or “soaring eagle”… followed by the punch line “why do you ask pooping dog?”  And I’ve laughed at that joke for many years after that call.

Even more remarkable is that all of his children  recall, upon discovering the humor in circumstance, a profound compelling to share it with their father knowing how he would resonate. And when I laugh, I often think of my dad.

After the funeral, many friends said “I’m sorry for your loss”. But I inherited more than I could ever lose. I can say as Jesus did in John 14:9 “anyone who has seen me has seen my father”. And later on in John 10:30 “I and my father are one”.  And when I look at my own sons I can still see my father. He shines through them in every nuance of their beings. I see in them his mannerisms.

 But the real strength of my father was that my father knew his heavenly father and lived as a sanctified and righteous man. It would shine greatest in how he handled the difficulties of his own failing health. I remember Second Corinthians 12:9 “my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness”.  Suffering a stroke and many years of the steadily declining mind, that Alzheimer’s brings, he would often say, in moments of clarity, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be like this”. And “I didn’t mean to have a stroke”.

 His grandson shared with the family that on a particularly hard day, in a belligerent and uncooperative disposition as a result of this disease, this man who’d given his life serving others looked at him with no sense of entitlement and said “I know what you are doing for me”. It was as if God had spoken through him directly, the words God himself would say to us when we are selfless and unnoticed in our service and kindness to others. My Dad was that man!

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DO YOU KNOW WHAT”S WRONG WITH YOUR SONG? (article for CM magazine)

mrnifty | December 1, 2010 - 6:22 pm

If anyone offers a criticism of your song that you have not already considered you haven’t put your time in for success. Granted, some of the most wonderful songs were written without the slightest effort. Indeed some of my biggest tunes have been afterthoughts. But I think that only comes when a writer is so familiar with the process that it happens without thinking.

 Now I know most of you have either handed someone a demo tape or received a few. And, if you are willing to listen, you know what I’m going to talk about here. Most of the time there are so many variables to discuss about what’s not working that you don’t know where to start talking’ about it. I’m exhausted sometimes thinking about what needs to be fixed even with my own material.

I was backing up some files of old songs I wrote twenty years ago when “Glad Morning” came up. Wow, what a great chord progression! It was like I’d never heard it before. But then I came in singing and I thought, No, that’s not it! Where is this going? The melody was memorable, but the lyrics so vague I was embarrassed. And then when I thought there could be no more criticism about the song, it hit the “hook” and I’m thinking: this isn’t much of a conclusion and it doesn’t sound believable. It’s emotionally detached. And I wondered, why could I have not seen that when I was writing it? Then I remembered, I liked the sound of the Title and tried to fit my feelings to it. Well I never got there.

 For a career of more than a one hit wonder you better come up with more than “you are my sunshine”. There are so many elements to a well crafted song that, should I think too much about it, I would never write again. If you are going to be good at it, you will have to start that first rewrite with this consideration:  “What’s wrong with this”. I probably sing the lyrics over music three thousand times before I’m convinced that it’s right. But there is always one more thing that you could consider. Like visualizing talking to a therapist at a hundred and twenty bucks an hour!

 If you compare any great song to another great song… one will always lose strength, some of that can’t be helped because songs call to different empathy’s in the listener. Be true to yourself and honest to your feelings. No one has experienced anything in this life that has never been experienced before, but the way that you communicate it can be completely original, The attack, the structure, and the way you say it.” Sometimes it’s good to imagine a character saying the words if you can’t find it yourself, “is this true to the character?’” would he say it like this?”

 Originality must still resonate with more than just you if you want to be heard. There’s a thousand ways to mess up a song. Sometimes you can’t get out of your own way. It’s why co writing has always been stronger most of the time in this kind of work.  I’ll give you my biggest weakness as an example. Over wording! Using big long statements that tend to deflect the emotions because you are too busy trying to figure out what I just said. At least three of my writer friends have commented on my tendency. The best comment was from a close writer friend who tells me all the time, “you gotta dumb this down”.. and another who added.. “Think hallmark cards here”. And I’ll never forget one writer asking, ” Bryan, why do you feel like you have to explain everything in the first verse?”.

 Keep in mind the style of music you are approaching of course. Now I think you can get away with verbosity in some styles, maybe the idea is to deliberately confuse the listener, or force them to listen hard but even there you have to have reasoned out an interesting collection of words or phrases that keep the passionate from playing with their cell phone. If done well, it’s entertaining to see how the words create a mosaic of a larger picture. When it’s done right it’s Def Poetry!

But In looking at Christian songwriting as a whole I think one of the biggest mistakes is that of leaving your true self at the door because you might not be “Spiritually acceptable”. The agenda to get the doctrine right and communicate something approved of on the larger Christian platform, at least for me, turns songs one person might sing from the heart into a recitation of some sort of by laws!

But then what do I know?, thank God we get to write more than one song right? Or should it be: “write more than one song right!

 Dr.Theodore Rubin says “The problem is not that there are problems, it’s expecting otherwise; it’s thinking that having problems is the problem!”

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The Famine of Encouragement *article for Christian Musician

mrnifty | March 23, 2010 - 10:59 am

After all these years of reading old testament stories of famines and pestilence, I only now get a small hint about what might have been going on in biblical Egypt. We don’t like to talk about the down side of anything in Christian Music in a post new testament America now. Except to point out what we’ve been delivered from. But sometimes that “Valley of the shadow of death” drags right along. All the while we’re circling the desert as believers thinking maybe the pillar of cloud by day is only an apparition. Or possibly the vapor left over from a career that’s gone up in smoke.

 To say there’s a down turn in the economy is an understatement, mumbled in low voice by some, because maybe, it’ll send a wave of panic through the stock market. Or in a smaller world, you’re afraid you might “confess” something and give it more power! Personally I think you can’t address a problem if you’re not talking about it.

I’m not gonna launch into some diatribe about what the President ought to being doing, or the government. And I’m not gonna start pointing fingers at the selfishness of corporate CEO’s. We are where we are. And I’m sure for more reasons than we can ‘appoint’.

 Bottom line is, most likely, your seeing a smaller bottom line this year. Or maybe you’ve stopped reaching a bottom line all together except that one at the unemployment office. But in the case of at least one “Self Employed” singer songwriter, honestly, I’ve never experienced anything like this. My mom says she survived the Great Depression. “I only have weekly ones so far, that I go through weakly” I told her.

 What I do know is that there are some great things about lean times. Number one, it sharpens your focus. It also has an incredible impact upon your motivations. Humility too becomes more necessary. I find myself looking for ways to get things done by offering more services! I’m now willing to do a concert AND pass out flyers at the door! I’ll even clean up the sanctuary when we’re done and lock up.

 You have to be aware that your promoter friends and outreach ministry personnel are experiencing a backlog of undone work. They’re probably doing the jobs of people they had to let go to stay afloat themselves. Sometimes what they need most is some outside encouragement even on the phone when they’re telling you “Maybe next year”. Don’t get too near sighted in all this. Pursue whatever you might contribute with encouragement and conviction.

 Here’s a chance to see God work a miracle. The one where your prayer life gets really sincere! In the last two years I’ve learned the first and last names of everyone I work with across the Globe. My conversations with “co laborers” are longer than they’ve ever been. I’m seeing a true relationship where you actually know what a ministry is doing and how much that is costing. You might even know who the volunteers are. In fact YOU may have to be one.

”A famine in the land” can also produce a famine of encouragement. The one thing that has to happen before changes come is to see the goal beyond the obstacles. Attitude may be the only thing to keep your circumstances from overwhelming you. The best way to maintain a good attitude is to apply encouragement to others even in your own dilemmas. Kind of like sharing the gospel with a tooth ache!  Here’s where you find out for real if your faith is real! Can you believe that God has your back? Can you believe that his process for all of us is exactly on schedule, that there are no coincidences? Easy sometimes to sing about Trusting God, but God forbid we should actually have to do it.

 In hardship we get to strengthen our song material before it’s written. “if I didn’t have a problem, I wouldn’t know that God could solve them” sings Andre Crouch. I personally don’t think that was his last problem he was singing about either. Success is mostly guided by a supply and demand mentality. Maybe we could apply that now to “encouragement” as a real product. It might be in shorter supply than quality musicianship at this point. An attitude of encouragement is like singing or writing music. You don’t need a budget to do that part!

 Here’s what else you can do with absolutely no money: make your prayers real. Look to encourage others before the contract is signed. Make relationships that are based on common ground. Find people you “resonate” with. Look for ways to be authentic! And lead by example. And trust others with your life! It’s not just God that will get you through. He uses relationships!  You can’t turn the sail boat if it’s dead in the water. And without God’s unseen power, like the wind, we will reach no destination worth arriving at.

 Purification is not a fun process. But the end result is more valuable. Gold and Silver is what we use to purchase what we really want. But it’s not the prize itself! You have the prize when you find your focus in pursuit of your passion. Christ will redeem your hardships! See that! Believe that. And watch it come true.

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