Red Mountain Music

A Christmas Record and Some Videos and Some Other Things

2008-08-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings! It's been quite a while since we've posted anything. I know that all 3 of you (my mom included) who anxiously check this blog daily for updates have been incredibly disapointed. But alas, I am here and I have some nerdy hymn news.

1. We are in the final stages of completing our Christmas record which is due out Octover 1. It is a beautiful record of familiar advent hymns that we've talked about doing for years. Ashley is singing the entire thing, which is something else we've wanted to experiment with before. There will probably be some more updates in the coming weeks about that.

2. We've been having some fun with video cameras built into Macintosh computers. You can visit our YouTube page and subscribe to our videos and leave comments and even make your own videos in response. Imagine that! The videos allow you to meet some of the musicians who participate on the records, take a peek into what recording is like with us, and witness rival members of the production team as they take digs at one another through the non-violent video medium.

3. We've done a podcast interview with Trevin Wax. Clint, Brian and Ashley answer questions about the music and the Broadway production of a hymn-based war epic they have written. They also tell jokes and laugh at things.

4. Our last record, This Breaks My Heart of Stone, is now on itunes with the rest of our records. However, you can purchase all of our music digitally (and without the hassle of machine number limits) at our website.

5. Three of Clint's hymns (Calmer of My Troubled Heart, Long Have I Heard, Remember Me) are on Matthew Smith's latest EP, Love Shall Never Die: The Road Sessions Volume II. Clint also jammed on some guitars on that record and maybe helped produce it a little bit. You can dlwonload the record for FREE over here.

Hope everyone is well.

CW

now available

2007-12-11T15:36:00.001-08:00

(the new record from red mountain church)

TBMHOS

2007-11-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

this breaks my heart of stone, the new record from red mountain church, is complete. the mastered and final copy is sitting on my desk right next to me, and now all we need to do is wrap up the artwork. expect ordering info, sound clips, etc., to hit our website within a few days...

why should I fear

2007-10-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

new song, one of our favorites from the new record, is up on our myspace. you can listen here. this song features ellie holcomb. ellie and her husband, drew, are excellent musicians, songwriters, etc., and it was an honor to have each of them contribute (somewhat heavily) to this new record. hope you like it. I find this song particularly hopeful.

Why Should I Fear?
text: William Williams
music: Benj Pocta and Brian T. Murphy, 2006.

My soul, thou art immerg'd in sin,
So deep that none can trace;
Look to the ransom GOD decreed
To clear the guilty race.

The atonement once made on the tree,
Can balance many more
Than all the sins of Adam's race,
If number'd o'er and o'er.

He paid the mighty sum and died
For sinners yet unborn;
From men, the works of his own hands,
He suffer'd shame and scorn.

Had I the guilt of all the world,
He's able to forgive:
Why should I fear? The debt is paid.
If only I believe.

Ellie Holcomb - vocals
Benj pocta - vocals, acoustic guitar
Brian T. Murphy - piano
Clint wells - acoustic and electric guitars
Tripp Ethridge - drums
Jeff Irwin - bass

© 2006 Benj Pocta Music and Brian T. Murphy Music. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

mix one is done

2007-10-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

after a week of editing, a final push on tracking, and basic mixing, we have our first rough mix of the pocta sessions / "this breaks my heart of stone" record. I started listening back to it at around 3am last night, and then I started falling asleep in the middle of songs.

we're taking a break. I'm headed to san francisco. Paul is headed to Nashville. Clint is getting settled in a new house.

we're going to reconvene early next week and continue on. we might have final mixes for this record as early as next week. which would of course be totally awesome.

-Brian T. Murphy

clint's guitars are done.

2007-10-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

post production is underway

2007-09-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

with the british boys

2007-09-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

from left to right, my sister katie, btm, tom slinger, dan hames, josh (sister's husband).

dan and tom were visiting from england. and this photo is from my last night with them, in atlanta, at my sister's house.

we wrote some really cool songs with dan and tom while they were in town. hopefully we'll share them soon.

meanwhile, post-production is underway, and the new recording from red mountain should be fully mixed and mastered by the end of october. updates soon...

3hree things.

2007-09-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

we've got a ton going on. life seems to be blurring by. here's 3hree things you may be interested in:

Albuquerque

First of September, we flew out to Albuquerque, New Mexico and shared our music with the wonderfully gracious people at Heritage Christian fellowship. We never know what to expect on these trips, but our experiences are consistently positive and encouraging. Special thanks to Shaan for helping set everything up. It was great to meet you, to hear your story, to share in the life of your family and your church for a few days. It’s always surprising to remember how beautiful these old songs are, and how much they bring people together. Thank you.

Pocta Sessions

We start post-production on the pocta sessions this week! Paul is driving to Birmingham in two days, and then we begin the long, exciting process of digging through mixes and edits, and exploring where the mixes on these songs need to end up. So far the response on these songs has been incredibly positive. We are very eager to get them out for everyone to hear. Also – we are working with the title “this breaks my heart of stone” for the pocta sessions record. Not settled on that for sure yet, but so far it seems to be a title we are comfortable with. Look for more updates in the coming days. We’ll be drinking a lot of coffee and working late into the night in the coming weeks…

The British

Dan Hames and Tom Slinger are in the states, on vacation, and have been staying with me the past few days, and during their time I’ve been immersing them in red mountain culture, feeding them Alabama food, taking them to spots concerts, staying up late talking, and of course, writing and recording music. so far we’ve written three songs together out of the gadsby, and I’m going to be honest – they’re pretty good. Dan and Tom sat in with us at red mountain last night and shared one of the songs during communion. tonight is their final night in Birmingham, and we’ve got a lot of work to do finishing up some of the songs we’ve been working on, and seeing what else we can come up with. it’s been a great visit, and it’s been wonderful to bring dan and tom into the fold here at red mountain. Be on the lookout for some great new hymn arrangements from dan and tom…

-Brian T. Murphy

we're still here

2007-08-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

I hate when blogs start with "...so I know I haven't been good at updating this thing..." but the thing is, the new blogger format kept us from updating. finally got around to getting up-to-date with blogger. and now it is time for an update. there is so much going on right now...

1. moved into a new studio - red mountain church moved into a new building a few months ago, a building which was formerly a sound stage and film / television production house. So...I begged and pleaded with them to save me a room, and they generously did. the result is that we now have some AMAZING space to record in. uneven walls, great acoustics, an isolation booth, uneven floors, a good mix of carpet, hardwood floors, and exposed brick. believe me - after 4 years of working and recording in very makeshift space (read: janitorial closet), we are truly thankful to have comfortable, inspiring, efficient recording space. we spend so much time in the studio, and we really are thankful. (in these photos, frank is helping me install acoustic panels, which were given to me by creative wall solutions, in the iso booth) (thanks frank you are awesome).

2. progress on the new record is amazing - we have been working like crazy on the new record - what we're calling "the pocta sessions". we've got at least 11 songs that we feel really good about - and just last week spent two very late nights working on bass and drums with our friends jeff irwin and tripp etheridge. matthew smith was in town as well, and he spent some time hanging out with us in the studio as well. in this photo, we're packing out, finishing up two nights of very encouraging tracking. clint is the one in focus, talking to matthew. clint and I plan to be hitting the studio very hard in the coming weeks finishing out guitar and piano parts, as well as getting together with vocalists and other musicians for final tracks. our plan is to begin post-production by late-september, and have the record out by early december. things are looking good, and so far we are on schedule. maybe soon I'll post some demos / rough mixes. these songs are really exciting.

3. new spots material - I go back and forth on whether or not we should mention the spots when it comes to red mountain - but the truth is - the spots is a band that formed very much out of the music at red mountain. especially our instrumental music, which is found on all of our records, as well as every night at our church, during communion. this band grew out of some requests from friends to play instrumental music at parties and private events, and has grown to be a pretty cool band, getting regular play in birmingham. we've been getting great press, radio interviews, and have a monthly gig at a downtown bar where we routinely pack it out with 150 - 200 people. I'm always surprised when people show up because, well, we just play. no specific songs. just music. but to be honest - it's the most creatively satisfying band I've ever been in, and for some mysterious reason, people really connect with the music. it's been a great outlet, and the band is mostly made up of red mountain musicians, and carries a strong red mountain vibe, so the world should definitely know about it.

oh, and at our last gig, we made a live recording (over 2.5 hours of incredible live music that I'm still sorting through, when I'm not working on pocta...), and paul scodova (our mix guy for the red mountain stuff) came down to record everything for us. and as is paul's custom when visiting birmingham, he changed a flat tire. last time - clint's flat on the interstate in sub-zero weather. this time - my flat in my driveway in 110 degree alabama heat. thanks paul!

- Brian T. Murphy

Update

2007-03-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Events
We've had quite a bit of activity lately, and have a good bit coming up. we traveled to ridgehaven a couple of weeks ago to play music for a conference of high schoolers. it was interesting being back in youth group land (a scary place for many reasons) but overall it was a really great trip. we met some amazing people, particularly enjoyed meeting some high-schoolers, and the kids seemed to resonate with our music, which was really, really cool.

I always feel a certain degree of tension when we play places because we don't talk much. like, we really don't talk much. I think I'm over-sensitive about the musician who talks way more than he sings songs (it seems like only christian musicians do that...), so I think we compensate by seriously saying nothing when we play places. the one bit of negative feedback we got from ridgehaven was that we could have perhaps talked a little bit. so I get that. but at the same time I look at the hymn text and I think, what do you want me to say?

Looking forward to traveling to huntsville, senoia, augusta, albuquerque, and possibly raleigh and ontario, canada in the coming months. thanks to everyone who has had us out, is having us out, and has come out to support us and listen to our songs. it truly is an honor to share these songs with you.

Pocta Sessions
Underway and making progress. we've got rough mixes of 8 songs, which means that we have 8 songs that still seem to need a lot of work, but we're plugging away as best we can. still deciding what this record will look like. we're thinking about going more digital (it's all digital these days) and maybe pressing less cds, and pushing people towards itunes, or downloads off our site, rather than mailing out so many cds. who knows.

Overall, I think the songs are coming together really well, and we're branching out of gadsby (gasp!) with two hymns by william williams (thanks phil, thanks rhys, for introducing us to the world of pantycelyn).

And perhaps the best part of working on the pocta sessions has been getting to work with and know benj pocta, our favorite texan. this is our first record where all the songs are based around one person's writing (all the songs on this record have either been written or co-written by benj) and it's been a good exercise in songwriting, gotten us out of our mold a little bit, and created some really great songs that would have never existed otherwise.

I guess that's it for now.

Brian T. Murphy

the texan is coming

2007-01-16T12:12:00.000-08:00

this friday, benj is returning to our fair city to help us continue on with our next project, currently being called "the pocta sessions".

benj is also the person on the far right in this photograph. this photograph is also quite blurry. I did not take this photograph.

progress is already underway on several songs. I'll update after the weekend.

I look forward to another productive weekend with benj. plus, he said he has a new tattoo of the word "texas" across the front of his neck, in cursive, and that's neat.

Brian T. Murphy

A Recycled Holiday Gift and Some Bulleted Statements That Don't Wound

2006-12-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Greetings from us here in Birmingham, AL. Just some quick updates from the Red Mountain Music front in the ever popular bullet statement format (I love bullet statements. Seriously, you should all capitalize on any opportunities you have to use them. Like grocery lists or holiday gift wishes or how many times you've floated in space).

As Brian pointed out before we have some of our B-Sides on the website now. Among those B-sides is a Christmas hymn we recorded last year (i think?) called "The Sweet Well of Bethleham." It was written by Matt Welch and it might be the prettiest song we've ever recorded. So check that out.
We're still (slowly) fleshing out the Pocta Sessions stuff. Trying to find some direction for it.
There's a band called The Spots comprised of Red Mountain musicians that we're trying to put some more energy into. Look for a record around summer of 2007. If you like the instrumental tracks on the Red Mountain records then you would probably like the Spots.
I'll be leading worship Red Mountain style (I don't even know what that means really) at Ridgehaven in North Carolina next week. That should be interesting. We'll also have the full band out there next Feb.
There's also a sale on all of our records at the site so check that out too and point your friends towards it. Thanks for the support.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Red Mountain Music.

Clint

november

2006-11-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

November / Recording Update

it's november. it's the weekend after thanksgiving. it's nice to have a little break. we've been busy working on a number of different projects. clint and I produced a 5 song EP for Jeremy Meyer, and that wrapped up a month or so ago. I'm currently juggling several non-red mountain recording projects, and clint's been super busy working and playing live shows (he actually just got home from a 2-week tour with IG). it would be so nice if we didn't have to have day jobs! we'd have so much more time to record...

that said, things are moving forward. we've tracked a couple of basic recordings and are waiting to get together with ashley for her to lay down some vocals. I'm planning to go to nashville in january to meet with drew holcomb and his wife ellie to work on a couple of tracks, job black has been working working with me on one track, and I've been poorly and indirectly communicating with benj about getting him out to birmingham ASAP. the songs are good, so it won't take much time to pull them together. it's just a matter of coordinating schedules. I'm getting older. life just keeps getting busier I think.

Website Update

our website has gotten some pretty big additions. we've got a new section of b-sides, available for free download. these are pretty cool. basically tracks that didn't make our records but we think are still worth letting people listen too. we've also added scored sheet music for all of our songs, and re-organized our resource page so you can easily access song clips along with song sheets. we hope these new features are helpful.

Brian T. Murphy

october update

2006-10-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

it’s been quiet here. we know. we’re buried in songs and digging our way out, trying to figure out what to do. two things on the horizon for red mountain music:

1. website update – we are currently working on a small overhaul for our website. we are re-organizing it to make it easier to access resources like song clips and music sheets / chord charts. also, over the years we have collected a number of recordings that haven’t made it to any of our records, but we still feel like are pretty good songs, so we are going to be posting a section of red mountain “b-sides” for free download off of our website.

2. pocta sessions – last night clint and I got together with ashley spurling via cell phone conferene call (the best way to communicate, ever). we got keys for several songs that we want her to sing, and then began laying down basic tracks for 967 and 1022 out of the gadsby hymnal (shocker, we know, red mountain people working on more songs out of gadsby). 967 is my personal favorite out of this new batch of songs. it is upbeat, very singable, one of the most exciting songs we’ve written in awhile.

I have no idea what our timeline is for anything right now, but hopefully we can plug away and start knocking out some of these pocta songs. I think we should be able to wrap up tracking within a few months. benj, we need to get together again so that you can be on this record which bears your name.

Brian T. Murphy

the pocta demos

2006-09-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

tonight clint and I met down at the studio to look over the pocta session demos and start thinking about the next record. we narrowed it down to about 10 songs that we think are pretty strong, and we made notes about who would be best to sing, what kind of instrumentation we want in the production, etc. we plan to begin tracking as soon as ashley has her baby and as soon as some ladies get back from recording in L.A., and as soon as benj invites us out to texas.

brian T. murphy

The Pocta Sessions (An Uncanny and Uncharted Speed In Hymn Rewriting)

2006-09-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Brian and I invited our friend Benj Pocta to come visit us from his native land of Dallas, Texas. We first met Benj (that's him to your right by the way lounging in a cornfield) over a year ago through the interweb and our shared interest in Gadsby's Hymns. We figured there can't be too many nerds like us who love that hymnal so we better become friends. Well, we did. And it turns out Benj is a fantastic writer. He contributed three songs on Help My Unbelief (The Christian's Hope Can Never Fail, The Gospel Is Good News Indeed, and Draw My Soul).

So we invited him back to do some writing. By the end of the weekend we had written 15 new hymns and recorded 3 new ones written alone before the sessions. So, with a total of 18 hymns ready to be recorded, we're a little stuck on how to proceed. We just released our last record, Help My Unbelief, a few months ago.

A proposed idea for The Pocta Sessions is to record two EP's and distribute the songs exclusively as mp3's on our website. We've never really done anything like that before so it's an exciting option. Or we could just record stripped down versions of the songs and put out another record before the year is over. You see, we don't want you guys to get tired of us and hate us. But at the same time we can't quit writing these songs and, because we think they belong to the church, we are quite anxious to get them recorded and in your hands. We're open to suggestions, so throw us some feedback.

We don't update this often (hey in the time it took me to write this we could have written 37 more hymns!!) so we just wanted you all to know that we're still working and staying busy with the music. Brian and I have been recently pursuing producing other projects for people, but I think we're ready to start getting these new songs out. Thanks for reading.

Clint

cd release

2006-07-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

had a lot of fun at workplay. thanks to everybody who was able to make it out and be there with us.

for photos click here.

Now Shipping

2006-07-05T12:08:00.001-07:00

order

listen

myspace

rehearsing

2006-06-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a rehearsal at red mountain. It was nice, and it was also very unusual for us, since we really don’t ever rehearse. Whenever we go and play somewhere we usually run through chord charts ahead of time and then just pretty much wing it and look at eachother and feel the songs out as we go. Works well for us. But for this thing at workplay next week, we went ahead and decided to have a rehearsal to try and make things sound as solid as possible.

Everyone showed up who was going to play in the band – clint, shane, brian b., connie, ashley, me. It was fun to sit in a circle and play through these songs. Is it weird that I like these songs so much? Is it weird that all of us like these songs so much? It sounded nice, and refreshing, even through a half-way setup PA, and we joked about making a live recording of some of these songs.

Clint and I decided that that is exactly what we need, more records from red mountain. 4 records in three years is not nearly enough.

And speaking of records, help my unbelief, as I understand it, is on the way to birmingham right now. We should have it by the end of the week.

Brian T. Murphy

Workplay, July 6

2006-06-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the record may actually arrive as early as next week, which means that we will almost definitely have the new cd available for our concert / cd release party at Workplay on July 6.

Mark your calendars, and buy your tickets in advance. This event will most likely sell out. We’ve got our most exciting musical lineup ever, with Drew Holcomb opening the night, and joining us to play a couple of songs off the gadsby project. Connie Skellie will be joining us on violin, and of course, Ashley Spurling and her perfect voice.

Should be an enjoyable, encouraging evening. I look forward to it, and more than that I really look forward to people getting our new record.

See you soon.

Brian T. Murphy

help my unbelief

2006-05-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

I was at my parents house earlier this week, visiting with some of my family for memorial day. I have 12 nieces and nephews, and 4 of them were there, and between eating a warm meal, laughing with my family, wresting with children on the floor, holding a baby in my arms, helping my mom clear the table, and holding a child's tiny hands as she practiced walking, we talked about what is going on in each of our lives.

At one point, I was asked about this new record, and I gave brief, quick details, because in a large family you can't talk for long before people start to get bored and stop paying attention. Dad asked me what this new record was going to be called and I told him "help my unbelief", and the table got really quiet, I guess because everybody sort of resonated with that record title, especially considering what these old hymns are about, and especially considering how my little shred of belief that I have in Jesus needs all the help it can get.

What a beautiful idea. I have this image I can't get out of my head. this image of me in the ocean, swimming. but I'm not swimming, I'm trying to stay alive, and I'm doing it by swimming down into the water to my death. but I can't go very far at all before Jesus drags me back to the surface for air. this process goes on and on I think for my entire life. It's like everything that I do is death, and everything that is life is because of Jesus.

I don't know if any of that makes any sense, and I don't know or particularly care about how theologically accurate any of that is. It's just what I think about when I think about unbelief.

The cd mixes are done, and mastering is taking a little longer than expected. artwork is coming together nicely due to the wonderful and diligent work of our patient and talented friend justin pocta. Everything is in order for us to have the cd available by the middle of July. Thanks for being patient with us as we try and finish this one up. I am very eager for everyone to hear these songs.

We are so close.

Brian T. Murphy

"help my unbelief" progress, and trip to NC

2006-05-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

well things are busy right now for us. currently there are 7 people in my house, we're tracking one last bass track tonight, and literally putting some of the finishing touches on this record. We're getting really close. Paul is down here at my house, as has become our custom, spending a little over a week with us as we round out all the songs before they go off to get mastered. we are on schedule to have a final mastered cd in less than 2 weeks. Then all we'll be waiting on is artwork and getting the cds back from the duplication house. it's nice to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

this past weekend we traveled up to north carolina to visit two churches to share some of our songs, see some old friends, meet some new friends, and generally have a wonderful time with beautiful people. Saturday night we were in Mebane, North Carolina, at Grace Reformed Baptist Church. We played there about a year ago, and it was great to visit with them again. We drove to Cary and played for Peace Pres on sunday morning and then again sunday evening. I'll never forget the afternoon at the Hawke's house in Cary, where shane spent the afternoon running around with about a dozen children, and the rest of us stayed inside and talked, played music, and slept. It was one of the loveliest, most relaxing sunday afternoons I've had in a long time. sundays are always so busy for me. Thanks everybody for making our trip so enjoyable.

I wish I had more time to write, but even if I did, it would probably be boring. these songs are way more exciting than anything I have to say. Here are some photos.

song selection, G2 (help my unbelief) update

2006-04-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

well, it's been awhile since we posted here. A good question came up in the last post, which is "how do you select songs for these records?" a great question. and for anyone interested, here's sort of the way we go about it here at red mountain.

we have these gadsby hymnals and we can't stop reading through them. I keep one by my piano, and I'll sit down to play and flip through it and either a song happens or it doesn't. It always starts with text that we like, and then we'll start applying music to it, and, well for me and clint at least, a song either comes together in about 5 minutes or it doesn't come together at all. So the result is a lot of songs, almost a hundred between the 5 or 6 main people who contribute songs for these projects. So we record just about all of them and live with them and wait to see which ones we like the most.

For this record we initially started tracking over 20 songs, and then that has been whittled down, added to, subtracted from, and now we are right at 15 songs. it's been a long process for us, but ultimately, we choose songs based on the poignancy of the text and on the quality of the music we've applied to it. There have been great texts that haven't made the cut because we weren't able to deliver music we are satisfied with, and in the same way we have had to let go of some incredible musical moments because for one reason or another, the song wasn't working out.

It's kind of an involved process, and I feel like I'm doing a bad job of answering the question.

For anyone interested, the songs that look like they will be on this next gadsby cd are: 93, 238, 245, 278, 281, 386, 389, 524, 528, 550, 705, 1091, and 1117.

But, things are moving along well, and we look good to have a final cd in hand by mid-may, which means it could be available to the public by very early summer. Thanks for hanging in there with us, we really think the wait is proving worthwhile...

Brian T. Murphy

Record Pro(de)gress

2006-04-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well, the good news is that we are about 95% done recording. We've selected the best songs, started the process of artwork, and gotten the record into some hands to be mixed. the bad news is that the mixing process this time is going to take a little longer. So what we have is a near completed record that we're sort of just sitting on. It's weird for us. We're used to putting out 3 records in this time...but we're more excited about this one, I think, than any previous project.

Stay patient. These songs are really beautiful and have given us a lot to hope for. We'l keep you posted.

Clint Wells