The nfcBrass recently played for a wedding and Sherry Macy was kind enough to capture a couple of videos.

Here is some of the music we played before the service began.

Here is the recessional.

We have made it to the top 10 contestants on American Idol, and every year I try to make my picks. Last year I selected the winner at this point in the competition. So I’m hoping I can have a repeat performance this year.

I do think that this year has probably the strongest overall top ten ever. All of these contestants could have a successful run at a recording career. But in my mind, there are three standouts.

Adam Lambert is one of my top two favorites. He has a very strong artistic bent and understands the importance of entertainment as well as super strong singing skills. I like him as an overall performer and feel like he has the chops to be a good rocker, although I think he will probably take more of an artistic music theater track, much like Tony Vincent, another of my favorite artists.

Danny Gokey has been a front runner for me since the first time I saw him on the show. I really love his vocal ability and think he also has a strong command of the stage. I am also excited about his Christian music ties as a music leader in his church. Unfortunately, Danny is not a consistent performer each week, and doesn’t always WOW me. But I think he will make it to the final two for sure.

Allison Iraheta is the strongest female competitor. She has amazing vocal skills for someone so young. I prefer the rock music genre and feel like Allison has the gritty edginess of season 7’s Amanda Overmeyer without the “F you” attitude. I think Allison will easily round out the top three, and has the skills to win it all.

Time of My LifeShare
Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 9:00pm | Delete
Jen and I are fans of American Idol. I fun part of the show for me is the songwriting competition. In the two years AI has held the writing competition, it has been won by individuals I knew from the Christian Music field. Scott Krippayne won two years ago, and this year it was Regie Hamm.

I was struck with Regie’s story behind the winning song “Time of My Life.” This is a story that I think everyone should hear, and I wanted to share it with you.

I’m proud of my kids. They are turning into such amazing young people. But every once in awhile there is a week that gives me an extra reason to sing the praises of my children.

We just spent the day Monday in Seattle at the Western International Band Clinic. This is Kara’s third year as a selected participant. Picture 600 of the top high school musicians from Oregon and Washington gathered together. Then add world class conductors/composers from Belgium, Italy, and the U.S. The grand finale of this weekend event is a four hour concert where each of the four bands perform songs written by the conductors who they have worked with for approximately 10 hours. What an amazing experience.

WIBC Sunfire Band. Kara is back there somewhere.

To top it all off, Kara has been selected this year for Oregon’s All-State Band AND for All-Northwest Band!

Nope, I’m not done yet! She also received her SAT scores and we are all blown away by a score of 2180!

Sometimes it is good to be the Dad!

My first career right after college was in the music industry.  I managed, promoted, and was deeply immersed in the independent music industry.  I worked with a number of musicians, many of whom are still friends today.  One of those friends is Lavonna Zeller-Williams, whose jazz stylings have always intrigued me.

One of my current passions is social networking.  Through web sites like Facebook and MySpace, I have been able to connect and re-connect with friends from all aspects of my life.  Once such individual is Pete Peterson, who I went to high school with at Borah High in Boise.

Those two worlds collided in a fun way tonight when Jen and I went to Tony Starlight’s Supper Club in Portland.  Lavonna was the featured performer at this great little jazz club.  And who was playing saxophone?  You guessed it. Pete Peterson.

And to make this story even better, both Lavonna and Peter are really great musicians! The played for nearly 2 1/2 hours, both jazz standards and songs Lavonna had penned.  The riffed and crooned and provided a really excellent evening of entertainment.

If you get the chance, I highly recommend checking out Tony Starlight’s.  And if Lavonna or Pete are performing… you GOTTA get there!