My other favorite use of words with friends is songwriting. What an awesome way to watch two different brains try to work together to accomplish a goal. I’ve had some of the most frustrating and rewarding times as a songwriter when I was writing a song with a friend. It is always good to finish one on your own, but when you get to the end of that song that you and someone wrote together, you immediately have someone to share that with. And there is someone who is as passionate about that song as you. Collaborating with someone always stretches me as a person and a writer. I do things a certain way when I’m writing a song and I can’t do that when I’m writing with someone else because we have a goal in mind. I don’t have the ability to step back and do something completely unrelated to music to help my brain refocus. I have to do things to push through the fog that is clouding my creative process to the next level. I enjoy the back and forth exchange as we watch seemingly random lines evolve into a new song that finally says what we want it to say. The whole thing is quite fascinating to me.

Are there any other songwriters out there that feel the same way? Do you enjoy writing with other people? Are there songwriters out there that hate writing with other people? Anyone? Anyone?

Here’s my question for the day for any of you writers. What’s your writing process? I have tried a few different things. One of the things that I have learned is that I cannot write at home. It doesn’t matter if there are 60 people in my house or I’m the only one here. It just doesn’t work. I have learned that. Other than that, I haven’t found any other things that DON’T work. The problem is that I haven’t quite found the one thing that really does work. I’m still searching. Most of the songs I’ve written have just sort of happened. It always takes me a while to get going and so many things will run through my brain. I have to work really hard to concentrate. It happens eventually, but it takes longer than I would like. Just ask my friend, Brittany Howard.

So how do you work this? What’s your method? Do you have a certain thing that you always do? I’d love to hear from you. I’m gonna keep trying to find what works for me.

Here’s my challenge for myself and you. I know that I don’t do a good job of taking time away from the grind and enjoying this life that God has given me. My goal is to take some time in the near future and go off on my own and write some new music. Just because it has been so difficult for me to find money and opportunities to record and get that whole thing going doesn’t mean that I should sit on the gift that God has given me. My creativity has been a little stale lately and I know it’s because I haven’t sat down to write in FOREVER! What are you going to do? What type of commitment will you make to slowing down from the craziness that is life in today’s world? Share you thoughts and maybe we can pray for each other. Have a good Saturday and weekend.

So what’s coming up this week? Well, who knows. Each week holds something different for us these days. There are some things that definitely need prayer that I hope to share with you all soon. Before I forget, pray for the Cornwell family as my friend, Rob was diagnosed with colon cancer. I love this guy and I love how he is handling this. I mean, cancer is cancer, but he is ready for the fight. Pray that he can continue to fight with the Lord’s help.

I will be preparing for an upcoming church retreat I’ve been asked to lead worship for in Joliet, Il. I will be leaving Friday and coming back Sunday. Then it’s prep time for the Sunday morning concert at Waypoint Church in St. Peters.

OH! OH! OH! Before I forget, my brother in law is getting married! I alsmost forgot that. I told you, even though I didn’t go a whole bunch of places, a lot happened this weekend. Did I mention that he was getting married in a month? I gotta get busy preparing for this…

What else am I forgetting? Oh yeah!!!! Big news, but I’ll save that for later this week. You’ll just have to come back and read what I’ve got to say. This is BIIIIIIIG news…

Yesterday, I spent most of the morning at Shock City Studios in South City getting a chance to meet a producer and having them listen to my music. I was greatly surprised to hear that they really enjoyed what they were listening to and are ready to work with me. I need to find a band to play with me. As we were sitting in the control room (which is beautiful enough to make a grown man drool), the producer says to one of the other guys sitting there that we need to find a drummer who can really play one of my songs. The guy says that he knows a guy and it turns out to be the drummer from the Fundamental Elements. Now, if you read my blog about their concert, you know that I’m a huge fan and would love to have that whole band in my pocket so I can keep them with me at all times. So this was a dream that was coming true. We will see how that works out. In the mean time, I need to find some money so I can get this ball rolling. I think that we may be on the brink of some very cool things happening.

Later that day, I got to go to a rehearsal for one of the ministry groups that I will be working with during the year at Missouri Baptist University. It was great to be doing that and it was great to be working with this group. I think we are going to have a good time. I started working on a plan to help them succeed throughout the year. I am going to be sitting down with the kid who is leading this group one on one to help him develop as a leader. He’s got some raw skills that can really get refined and brought out if someone comes alongside him and draw them out. That’s going to be my goal.

I’m also announcing that there will be some dates coming up where you can come worship with me. I will be posting them in the Upcoming Dates section of the website soon. One of them I will mention right from here though. Because we are struggling so much financially right now, my wife got some people together to create a chili dinner with a concert. It’s going to be fun. You can come for all you can eat chili and hear some music from me and a couple of friends (if I can get them to play some stuff). I don’t know how much it will cost because my wife hasn’t told me yet. I do know that the date is Friday, September 18th at Redeemer Evangelical Church. There will be more details, and when I get them I’ll pass them on to you. Until then, keep praying for us that God will keep sustaining us and putting people around us that can help us keep going. I am now off to the living room to set up the Motif and get to sequencing…

I have to make some changes in my thought process. I have a strong desire to make music. I have a strong desire to create a group. This has been a strong desire for a long time and it won’t go away. Last night my wife TOLD me that I needed to just stop being a punk and do it. So I guess that’s what I’m doing. Here’s my problem…

I have a fear of rejection (which oddly enough, God has been helping me deal with lately with all these churches saying no to me…). I also have some insecurities about my own music. I like it, but I fear that others won’t. So I hesitate to share it with others because I don’t think people will think it’s worth it.

With all of that being said, my wife (again) has told me to go for it. I have a new purpose. My new purpose is to create a group from the ground up. I want to find people who have the heart and passion for this like I do. I realize that to some degree I have not because I ask not. This is something that I’ve kept to myself for a really long time. I’m done keeping it to myself. So this is my official call to any of the people out there that know me (or don’t know me yet) that love music.

That’s my new purpose. I need to help to stay the course because this is one of the few things that I can get discouraged about really quickly. So I would ask for some prayer from my friends and family. I will definitely need some prayer to pull this off.

So there you have it. Now, I’m off to mediocrity for a little while longer until my brakes get fixed. Hopefully I’ll be motivated to do some good stuff when I get home this afternoon/evening…

1. I love reading mystery novels. I love mysteries and thrillers and didn’t remember. We went to Borders a couple times this weekend (see #2) and I starting reading a book that I couldn’t put down so I ordered it at Amazon.com. I’m so excited to get this book and read. I’ll probably write about it when I’m done.

2. I love Borders. I don’t know if there’s a difference between all the bookstores in the world, but Borders has a more inviting feel to me. I love the colors on the inside and I felt compelled to stay and read. Eva and I love reading books and we love spending time together in that way.

3. There is a lot of good music in St. Louis, MO. I love this town. It’s home for me, but as I grow older I’m finding out things that I didn’t know when I was little. There is good music here that isn’t always on the radio. We went to a GREAT concert Friday night (see Concert Review) and I’m sure that I’m missing so much good music here.

4. I have amazing friends. The more time we get to spend with them the more I realize that God has really blessed us with some great people. I can’t wait to see what God does over the next few months as we get to know them better.

5. I must really be growing up. Eva and I went to a couple movies this weekend and one of the movies we saw was profanity laced. It did nothing for me and sort of took away from the story of the movie. There was a time in my life where I didn’t care and would watch anything. That’s not the case anymore.

6. Jim and Jeremiah may quite possibly be the perfect storm of public embarrassment. They may also be the perfect storm of straight fun in many forms as well. There’s not much else to say about that.

7. I will, always have, always will, love ice cream. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

8. I don’t write new music because I’m lazy and can find many things to do besides sitting and writing.
8a. I really want to start a music group. That has been my dream and it won’t go away. I’ve done all I can to turn away from this idea, but it keeps putting itself in my line of vision.

9. I adore my children. I loved having the time away where I could connect with Eva, but I was quite happy when my kids came home last night.

10. I cannot live without my wife. Period.

11. God is amazing! He continues to bless me in ways that I KNOW I don’t deserve. I’m not sure why He keeps it up, but I’m so glad He does. Thanks be to God for everything I learned this weekend. I also pray that I keep learning things. If I stop learning, I’m dead.

I decided that it would be great fun to take some time and write about my songs and tell the stories behind them. I hope that you enjoy these next few posts about some of my favorite songs that I’ve written. As always, I’d love your feedback. I decided that I would start with one of my favorite song stories for the inaugural entry…

I was sitting at home one day when I got a message from a good friend of mine, Liz Hitt. She was getting ready for the annual singing competition called iSing St. Louis that is put on by joyFM. She asked me if I could write her a song that she could sing for the competition. I looked at it as a great challenge and thought it would be fun to do. So I got to writing. I thought all about her voice as we had spent a year together in a group called SpiritWing at Missouri Baptist University. I took all these things into consideration as I started to write. One line continued to stick out in my head…’All I need from You is everything I need for me; I cannot make it on my own.” So I started working around that concept. God really brought this song together in a flash!!! I still can believe how well that worked. Anyway, when it was all said and done, Liz didn’t end up using the song after all. So what did I do? I changed the key and made it work for my voice! It has become one of my favorites and a constant prayer in my life. I actually quoted it in a prayer time with my family last night. Btw, is that conceited to quote your own songs in a prayer? Hmmm…anyway, here are the words to this one.

The Only One I Call
Verse 1
You said You’d guide me if I was faithful and
I was close enough to hear Your voice
Your word would guide me in every step I take
Every move I make

Lord I trust that Your thoughts are higher than my own
Your love is better than any I have known
I can’t believe that You would care for me
Unconditionally

So my heart cries out to You…

Chorus
I want Your Word to guide my hands and feet
Your love to shelter me
Your grace and mercy to be everything I need
Your arms to catch me when I fall
To be my all in all
Your name to be the only one I call

Verse 2
I am overwhelmed by who You are
I can feel Your presence whether near or far
My heart is Yours to model as You please
You take good care of me

My heart’s desire is to be close to You
My life, my soul I’m giving that up too
I won’t continue standing in Your way
I’ll just begin to pray

As my heart cries out to You..

Chorus
I want Your Word to guide my hands and feet
Your love to shelter me
Your grace and mercy to be everything I need
Your arms to catch me when I fall
To be my all in all
Your name to be the only one I call

Bridge
All I need from You is everything I need for me
I cannot make it on my own
All I need from You is everything I need for me
I cannot make it on my own

]]> http://worship180.org/2009/08/04/what-the-songs-mean-1/feed/ 0 http://worship180.org/2009/07/07/songwriters-block/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=songwriters-block http://worship180.org/2009/07/07/songwriters-block/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:56:32 +0000 worship180 http://worship180.wordpress.com/?p=142 Let me start by saying I do NOT like this… It seems like once I started getting into writing new music and putting together this whole concert idea there was a quick burst of creativity, and it has all left. By the way, this has happened within like 3 days!!! Oh well, I’m praying for God to give me the strength that I need to write and be creative. I hope that I can get things going soon. This is something that I love, and I have all kinds of stuff to write about with the life that I’ve lived these past few months. Maybe God has a story that he wants me to tell. I’ll be asking him. In the mean time, could I get my you, my friends and family to pray for and with me? I so want this to be good and glorifying to God. Let’s hope I don’t pressure myself too much…

Until next time…

]]> http://worship180.org/2009/07/07/songwriters-block/feed/ 0 http://worship180.org/2009/07/02/spoiler-alert-spoiler-alert/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=spoiler-alert-spoiler-alert http://worship180.org/2009/07/02/spoiler-alert-spoiler-alert/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:34:42 +0000 worship180 http://worship180.wordpress.com/?p=136 So, let me just start out by saying this is HUGE for me! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about what I’m getting ready to tell you. This is something that has been on my heart for a REALLY long time, and it’s still hard for me to believe that I’m making the necessary moves to get this going. There’s no better time for me to get this going than right now, so we’re going for it! So with no further delays, here’s the news…

I, Harry Walls, IV, is making the preparations for my first real, live, professional CD project! I am in the very beginning stages of pulling this all together, but I have some people in mind and some things already moving and ideas flowing. I’m currently working getting all the ideas in my head down on paper so I can share it with other people. If you are out there and feel like you want to help me, I’m open for suggestions and ideas. If you want to be a part of this project, let me know and we can sit down and talk.

Obviously for me, this is a BIG deal and I’m looking for serious help. God is moving my heart and I’m following His lead in my life. I have prayed much about this and feel like this is the time. I’m asking for prayer and support from all my friends. Keep checking in, for I’m sure to give more details. Be blessed and have a great 4th of July weekend!

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