‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.’ Deut 6:5. So says the verse that Jesus says is the most important commandment in the whole Bible. But what actually *is* the heart? And come to think of it, in these days of skepticism … More 3 ways to love God (Behind the song ‘With All My Heart’)
My friends at Resound Worship have just released a new book. Joel Payne and Sam Hargreaves host the wonderful Resound Worship Songwriting Podcast which every month offers thoughts on the songwriting process, interviews and other content including my favourite segment, ‘dissect a classic’ – which is pretty much what it says on the tin. There’s … More New Book for Worship Songwriters
“I like lists”, one prominent worship songwriter once told me in passing after glancing over my shoulder during a songwriting conference. (I’ll leave you to guess who.) Lists are great. Lists are options. Lists are brain dumps. Lists are low investment, high return. You can have a list for everything. I don’t just mean your … More Songwriting: The secret power of lists
Behind the scenes It might be erroneous to advertise that I can give a full behind-the-scenes tour of the writing of this song, as frankly it has been a couple of years since its genesis, and I can’t remember much of how it started. I don’t know which part was the first idea to come. … More Behind the songwriting process for ‘Spring Rain’ (with lyric video)
I’m excited to be able to share another song video to showcase some of what’s coming on the album I’m currently working on. This one’s called ‘Rejoice My Soul’ and is taken straight from Philippians 4. As I say in the video below, I love writing songs straight from Scripture as it makes for good … More New Song taster – ‘Rejoice My Soul’
Here’s a little taster of what’s coming up on the new album I’m making (which you can support right now through Kickstarter – until 21 September 2018). I enjoyed writing this song and filming the video – I hope you enjoy watching it!
Some friends of mine just did a thing. I was pleased to be one of the Kickstarter backers for Songs for Sundays, a new project from Resound Worship, and it arrived in the post today! Headed up by Joel Payne – who I’ve known since my days as a student in York (he led the worship … More Songs for Sundays – new album from Resound Worship
I’ve just finished Writing Better Lyrics. Let me try that again: I’ve just finished reading the book entitled Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison. This book has already cropped up once or twice on the blog. It was recommended to me (and a room full of other starry-eyed songwriters) by Graham Kendrick – the father of modern worship … More Writing Better Lyrics, by Pat Pattison – book review
Poetry has always been the means by which human beings have creatively expressed that which is outside ordinary everyday speech. ‘Poetry’ in this sense encompasses poetry as we know it, but also plays, songs, and even some forms of prose; anything which seeks to use metaphors and similes, symbolism and imagery, hyperbole, creative contrast, rhyme, … More Theology and Poetry
I’m reading Pat Pattison’s wonderful book, Writing Better Lyrics. One of the many, many great things about this book is its inclusion of useful exercises to do as you go along. I have devotedly set aside a notebook for the purpose; it lives with this book, getting pig-eared and dog-chewed as I read and re-read … More Lyric writing: A window on a coffee shop
Ben David Trigg 