Dan's Blog

This past weekend one of our former High Point Church praise band members went home to be with The Lord.

Dear Elie Patrick passed away on Saturday, June 20 at her home in Dallas, PA.  She will undoubtedly be missed, but we know she is in the presence of her Savior now. 

It was an absolute pleasure to worship along side her for the time she blessed us with her flute playing at High Point.  Her bright, cheerful spirit always made me smile – even when I was still half asleep at the early Sunday morning practices.  Numerous times she’d tell me how much she enjoyed watching me play….She was a VERY thoughtful woman. 

She always seemed timid about playing something when Mike requested it (like ‘chirping birds’ on “The Colors Of His Love”) – but whenever she did, she came across STRONG!

She added so much to the music and, more importantly, to our lives.  I’m sure Jesus is appreciating her gifts at this moment while I blog away.

I’ve attached a couple of “bootleg” songs from 2006 featuring Elie – I hope you can listen to them and hear the Spirit behind her wonderful playing!  (you might need to turn it up – at least I did)

Click To Play    (or, if that doesn’t work, right click on it & open in a new tab)

We miss you Elie, but we’ll see you again!

2 Corinthians 5:1-9    ¹Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ²Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  ⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

- DC

Hello there, blog reader!

Spring has sprung and summer is not too far behind and the A.W.E. Band schedule is starting to fill up with various events – which makes me very excited! 

One of those events will be at 6:30pm on Sunday, April 18th May 23rd  (TBD) at Back Mountain Harvest Assembly in Trucksville.

We’ve been given the evening service to lead worship, play some original material & tell them “the rest of the story” which began there nearly two years ago.  For it was in this church where Mike revealed his plan to rid himself of all things music – but God said “NO” and provided the “seed money” to begin the work on what became “Declarations”.  (for a detailed account check out the video under “Mission Central”)  I cannot wait to see what God has planned for that evening – I KNOW it will be something special!

On April 23rd, we’ll be at Camp Orchard Hill in Dallas (Pennsylvania) to play at the Youth For Christ “30 Hour Famine Rally”.  It’ll be our first time at C.O.H.  It’s always fun to play for youth groups…..Their energy and enthusiasm is infectious!

There are many other things in the works in A.W.E. Band-Land (sounds like an amusement park), but I’ll touch on them as they draw nearer.

Oh yeah – I finally got my drum kit set up and ready to go (at home)!  I assume I’ll get to officially debut them at the Youth For Christ rally.  But, for now, here’s a pic…

Here they are at Camp Orchard Hill…

Bye!

- DC

Well, my first studio experience vocal-wise has come and gone….I feel it went well.  I just hope Mike is happy with it.  I don’t consider myself a “singer” and when I see the caliber of the vocalists God has brought into my life (Denise, Natasha, Mike, Cathryn) I can only be grateful that Mike asked me to do the vocals for “The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)”.

Mike and I gathered ourselves at Studio4Christ around 7pm on March 18th to record the lead vocals.  Up to then, Mike had been very busy recording the “other” parts…..You know – the actual music – the drums/percussion (Tim Conrad), the flute (Anne Chairge), and  the backing “congregation” vocals (Denise, Cathryn & Mike Warner, Tim Conrad, Ben Rondina & Dina Bonomo-Hamilton) – All of which sound GREAT!

studio picture from my celly

 So, in I step to give it a shot…I had been dealing with a minor spring-time cold, so I was curious if my voice would hold out for the required amount of takes Mike needed…..Turns out, it kind-of sort-of did.  I ended up doing 10 takes or so, with additional “surgical” takes as Mike put it.  Mike is a great encourager.  He was very gracious and patient with me during our three-hour session. (just as he was while we were recording the drums tracks for “Declarations”)

Now, Mike will put on his surgical mask and begin the task of putting it all together.  Lord willing, he’ll be crusing out to Frigo Recording next week for the mixdown and everyone will be able to hear the finished product right here on AWEband.com soon after!

Good-bye and God Bless!

- DC

Well, hello there!  Haven’t been blogging much lately, so let’s catch up, shall we?

Ok…..First off, our Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Faith & Family Day/Night CD Release Party Concert at the Mohegan Sun Arena was, unfortunately, canceled due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control.  The Penguins front office claims that they’ll work on promoting this type of event better NEXT season……We shall see.

Secondly, I got my drums back from Breaker Boy on February 23rd….Scott at Breaker Boy did a great job re-wrapping them (from dark blue to silver sparkle) and shining up the hardware.  He made them look like new!  Full kit shots are on the way, but for now, here’s an ”aerial” picture of the kick…

Third – it’s almost time for the annual Passion Play at our church – High Point Baptist in Larksville, PA , and for the sixth year, I have the humbling honor of portraying our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.    We began more intense practices during February, and are now coming down the home stretch with four performances planned for April 1, 2 & 3.  If this peaks your interest, check out the drama website: www.highpointdrama.info to get all the “finer” details.

Me as Jesus - 2008

Four (or maybe 3.5) – Speaking of the play, Mike Warner was approached by the director to write a Lord’s Prayer song for the 2010 Passion Play – he obliged and has written a nice song that I have the honor of  singing in this years’ production.  The song is progressing nicely – Mike has decided to head out to Frigo Recording Studio to mix it down and release it on-line as an official song by A.W.E. band!  I’ll be going into the studio to lay down the lead vocals sometime within the next few days.

I think that’s all for now…..Bye!

- DC

Well…we’ve just started the process of “rehearsing” our songs for the February 27th W-B/S Penguins Faith & Family/CD Release Party/Outreach – Concert.  We also just welcomed Dave (last name unknown at press time) into A.W.E. Band as our new/temporary guitarist….Jason, freshly back from Kuwait, has been called to help in Haiti, and will be leaving later this month and be gone four months.  So, Dave needs to learn our songs – which is not a major issue – because we’re all basically just beginning to learn how to pull off the songs LIVE.  So, yes….God’s perfect timing is evident here.

So…Where are we in the process?  Glad you asked! 

On February 1st, we gathered together and started on “Declarations”.  It went rather well considering all that went on with this song studio-wise.  I was particularly having some fun with it – bouncing between the bongos and the kit, trying to get as much “stuff” in as possible….I was missing the six arms necessary to properly pull it off.  Thankfully (Lord willing), Tim Conrad will be adding his percussive expertise to this song, which will take a HUGE load off of my shoulders.  Dave was just observing & taking notes on what Jason plays on the songs – he’ll be stepping up to the plate at our next practice. 

On February 4th, the TIMphony orchestra showed up at rehearsals….Tim Conrad & Tim Huh.  We hopped into “In Your Presence” & “Curse Of Blood”.  Both Tims are adding so much to the overall sound – it can only get better with more practices! 

We found out more details concerning the arena…Rock Street Music out of Pittston, PA will be handling the sound & lights…We will be playing at center ice under the scoreboard facing the “club” section (116-118)…We will be doing two sets of music totaling 45 minutes with a speaker sandwiched between – so pretty much that means we’ll be doing the entire “Declarations” CD…Just an FYI – The glass WILL be up for the hockey game that evening so, the sound might not be the best in rows A through J, but if you sit above the glass you should be ok.

Bye for now!

-DC

The A.W.E. Band CD release concert is a go for the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, February 27th!  Details for the event are still coming together, but I’m getting ready – both musically & visually (drum-wise, that is).  I just received back a mock up of my bass drum head from the good folks at DrumArt.com……

I’m also sending my kit out tomorrow (January 28th) to Breaker Boy Drums in Wilkes-Barre, PA to get re-wrapped with a new look.  The midnight blue is giving way to silver sparkle!

I’ll post the finished product whenever they’re, ummmm………finished!

- DC

Back in the good ol’ days when Luzerne County was trying to decide if an arena was worth building, State Representative Kevin Blaum(D), started the Arena Yes campaign. I was totally for it, and went out and got my Arena Yes t-shirt, buttons, bumper stickers & posters. At last it was built, and I was in attendance at the first hockey game at the arena on November 13, 1999 and had to pinch myself when it only took a 15 minute drive to get to see a professional (AHL) hockey game.  I had grown accustomed to the hour-plus drive to Binghamton or the 2 hour jaunt to Philly throughout the years and this was a nice change.  Anywho…little did I realize that 10 + years after the arena opened its doors, and three name changes later (First Union/Wachovia/Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza) I would again be saying “Arena Yes”, only this time, I may not be in the seats, but on the floor.  A.W.E. band is currently working out details with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to be the musical act for their “Faith & Family” event before their game versus Providence on February 27th.  This is an AWEsome possibility God has brought our way and we are praying that it’s in His will to bring it about.  As I mentioned, the details at this moment are still being pulled together, but it’s looking good.  In the meantime, we are in the process of ”learning” our own songs that appear on the “Declarations” CD, so that we can deliver a solid 45 minute set if we are called on by the Pens.  Actually, we hadn’t played “Curse Of Blood” LIVE as a band EVER until last night!  Oh well…..I’m very excited about these recent developments…….ARENA YES?……..Lord willing!  

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.  Proverbs 3:27  (page-a-day calendar verse of the day)