\n1. Can you take genuine feedback easily and are you willing to hear
\nways you could improve without becoming defensive (i.e. are you
\ncommitted to continual improvement)?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been a pastor for many years. It\u2019s like having hundreds of
\nbosses, as any member can feel free to give you feedback at any time.
\nYou learn to handle such feed back without getting defensive. If it is
\nfeedback that is not constructive or consistent with what I believe with my role
\nas a pastor should be, or my vision for the church, I hear them out, thank them
\nfor their feedback, then honestly tell them that is not where I am at. This can be
\nsaid in different ways depending on context. This has become a habitual way
\nto handle feedback, and I am sure would extend to any feedback on my music.
\nI would certainly welcome, though, any feedback that might improve my music
\nas-long-as it didn\u2019t compromise my integrity as a Christian artist.<\/p>\n
2. Are you willing to push beyond your limitations even when it\u2019s hard
\nand very uncomfortable?
\nAbsolutely, growth in life is not only a challenge it can be one of the great
\npleasures in life as you begin to realize potential<\/p>\n
3. Do you talk about how awesome it is when other bands reach a level
\nof success you haven\u2019t yet reached (does it inspire you and stoke you up
\nto do better)?<\/p>\n
Again absolutely. I am always listening to a variety of music from well
\nknown artists, but also enjoy listening to independent artists on sites
\nlike Reverbnation. I am particularly uplifted when an independent artist with
\na unique sound receives recognition. <\/p>\n
4. Do you (or your band) regularly write songs that people (beyond your
\nfriends and family) are hungry to buy (in whatever format you have them
\nin)?
\nSome of my songs have been shared, via Facebook, and downloaded a lot.
\nSince as a pastor I have been more interested in using my songs as an extension of my
\nministry I have most often offered them for free. Still given the number of downloads
\nand shares of some the songs, there must be some greater appreciation of the pastoral
\nintent of these songs. <\/p>\n
5. Do you practice at least 3 times a week (for periods of 3 hours or
\nlonger)? And yes, gigs can count as practice. So if you\u2019re out gigging
\nmultiple times a week and are constantly improving by doing so, great!
\nJust make sure you are also spending the time outside the gigs to
\nimprove your performances where needed.<\/p>\n
The word practice for me connotates work and discipline whereas when I pick up the guitar,
\nwhich is almost every day, I experience this as a pleasurable
\noutlet and way to relax. If I, however, were part of a larger group, or performing more outside
\nthe church I could see where practice would be necessary.<\/p>\n
6. Do you regularly rehearse your established sets as if you were doing
\na live show in order to perfect your entire performance (and get it
\nembodied at the cellular level so you have the freedom to effectively
\nimprovise)?<\/p>\n
Since I perform my songs mainly in a worship context I have not had
\nto practice sets. Still I do stories, based on humorous or dramatic life experiences,
\nthat accompany most of these song, and it would not be hard to work this story\/song
\nformat into a set of sorts.<\/p>\n
7. Are you fully committed to blowing your audience away every time you
\nperform regardless of where you are and how many people are there (i.e.
\ndo you perform full out 10 times out of 10)?
\nAs a pastor ministering, in a broad Christians spiritual way, to others is
\nthe passion that fuels my performances. The size of the crowd makes no
\ndifference.<\/p>\n
8. Do you regularly make wise, well thought-out decisions in life (do
\nyou seek advice from people who are more experienced than you)?
\nWhile in humility and prayerfulness I try make good decisions part of
\nwisdom can be seeking out advice, at times, from those with rich and
\nmature life experience.<\/p>\n
9. Do you have a strong, viable, grassroots fan base that promotes you
\nand serves as your Street Team and your die-hard advocates?
\nI have not been using tech. to develop much of a fan base, but the high number of people on
\nReverbnation who listen to my songs suggests that
\nthere might be a much bigger base to tap into.<\/p>\n
10. Are you accumulating a fan info data base that\u2019s in a useable
\nformat (including email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, whatever
\nyou can accumulate from mailing lists, fan clubs, social networks,
\netc.)?
\nAs stated above this is a option I have not taken full advantage of yet.<\/p>\n
11. Do you create opportunities to interact with and associate with
\nyour fans in ways that also allow you to celebrate who they are and what
\nthey\u2019re passionate about while still leaving them wanting more?<\/p>\n
Mostly I do this by rotating the songs, and stories, I perform in worship
\nSettings, while interspersing new songs regularly. This seems to leave
\ncongregations looking forward to hearing me again. One refrain I hear
\nquite often is we wish you would play more often in church. The quick follow
\nup I often hear is that either the song, story, or both spoke to that person in
\nspecial way so. This makes me feel appropriately like a vehicle for ministry and is
\nboth flattering and humbling.<\/p>\n
12. Do you have a website, Facebook site, MySpace site, and a Twitter
\nfollowing that you regularly update and utilize to build fan loyalty and
\ninteraction (a key ingredient of successful communities)?
\nI do but is from a book I had published some years back. The title
\nOf the book is also the name of the website: \u201cSpiritual Journeys in
\nPrayer and Song\u201d. <\/p>\n
13. Is destiny calling you so strongly that you are convinced an
\nessential part of your nature has to do with bringing your music to as
\nmany people as you can reach?
\nI feel a very strong calling to write andperform my songs, and tell my stories.
\nAs this pertains to a sense of destiny I must say again that it has less to do
\nwith commercial success than to speak in a new\/old way to people who feel
\nadrift in the current culture.<\/p>\n
14. Is your musical career at the top of your priority list (right
\nafter your ethics and your key relationships)?
\nAt this point in my life it is a top priority as I feel I can better
\nminister to more people this way than in more traditional forms
\nof ministry.<\/p>\n
15. Are your ethics aligned with and key relationships enthusiastically
\nand unrelentingly supportive of your dream and goals about a career in
\nmusic?<\/p>\n
Friends and family have long recognized and been supportive of this area of my
\nministry. My ethics, Christian values, are an integral part of what informs my music.
\nIf this were not the case I doubt that I feel motivated or be able to write the songs I do,<\/p>\n
16. Do you regularly get into the studio (how ever large or small) and
\nrecord your music, work out arrangements, master the art of studio
\nperformance (vs. live performance) so that your recorded music captures
\nthe verve, vitality, and vibe of your live performances?
\nI know someone, now a friend, with a studio that I get together with semi
\nregularly. Mainly after I have written a new song. He is a wonderful support,
\nand without his help my songs would sound half as good as they do.<\/p>\n
17. Is your passion for music and success greater than your ego (i.e.
\ncan you drop your sense of self-importance or your story and become
\nresults driven vs. ego driven)?
\nAs a Christian I can\u2019t deny but must admit my humanness and surrender these to God\u2019s Grace.
\nThis of course would include ego driven times. It is only by not denying but surrendering such
\nhuman foibles, that I have found the Holy Spirit is able to work in and through me.<\/p>\n
18. Are you comfortable not being home and being on the road in far
\nless than elegant circumstances?
\nI love to travel. Having family and friends in Europe and across the US has made this
\neasier to do. In the context of your question, though, I have mostly performed my songs
\nwithin the congregations I have served, and so have not had to travel because of my music.<\/p>\n
19. Do you have a job(s) and\/or the lifestyle that enables you to take
\ntime off and hit the road?
\nIn the near future I plan, for a period of time, to just teach part time which will leave
\nwith a much more flexible schedule.<\/p>\n
20. Are you an incredibly dedicated, tenacious, hard working person (or
\ngroup) who never gives up?
\nI tend to be a driven person when it comes to those things I feel passionate about.
\nI have been passionate about my music for a long time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1. Can you take genuine feedback easily and are you willing to hear ways you could improve without becoming defensive (i.e. are you committed to continual improvement)? I\u2019ve been a pastor for many years. It\u2019s like having hundreds of bosses, as any member can feel free to give you feedback at any time. You learn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nws"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8064,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8063\/revisions\/8064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}