Sparks from the Fire

For me in life there’s nothing more exciting than starting the production of a new album.  It means an immersion into Inspirational music and the ideas surrounding the project.  It is always a time of inspiration, for if I don’t get inspired, neither will you when you hear the CD.

It’s also always a time when I have a great excuse to pull away from the craziness of this world into a higher minded process of thought.  It’s a time of great creativity and consequently, a time of great satisfaction.

It is what I live for.

Now is such a time.  Why not?  It’s spring!  Time for the buds to blossom.  Time to grow.  Each experience holds within it the possibility and the opportunity to grow, to get better, to dig deeper, to flower.

And so we begin Julia Wade’s sixth CD, a departure of sorts, an expansion really.  I like the word “expansion” because it implies maintaining the old while exploring the new.  This CD will mark Julia’s foray into songs of issue, a deeper consideration of the world around her, its problems and the healing of the kinds of issues that we hear on the news every day.

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Julia Wade

Last night it was business as usual at the WFM Listening Room.  Both La Tanya Hall and Julia Wade and their Inspirational music ended our week on the perfect notes – notes that soared, notes that calmed and notes that enlivened the soul.

These Fridays are crazy busy for me.  I wake up in the morning on show day and immediately know I’m in for it.  It’s a day of go, go, go until I flop down in my chair at the end of the day.  I won’t bore you with the details, but rather assure you that that’s just what it is – a day of endless detail.  It never stops.

When I get home at night, it’s all I can do to just crawl off to bed.

I’ve been doing this all my life, but it doesn’t get any easier.  Thank God for a great staff and a most professional venue.

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Watchfire Music, a leader in Inspirational music, is proud to announce the recent acquisition of Solo Thoughts, a powerful resource for soloists, musicians and music committees in Christian Science churches.

Originally created by Louise Maynard and developed over the years by both Ms Maynard and editor, Susan Lindquist, Solo Thoughts provides solo suggestions to match Christian Science Lesson Sermons each week, with songs ranging in style from Classical and Traditional to Pop and Contemporary music — for all singers from new soloists to seasoned pros.

For the last few years Watchfire Music has been the sole distributer of this product and has taken a large part in the further development of this resource tool through the creative efforts of Julia Wade, Director of Digital Sheet Music for WFM. (more…)

This article has been reprinted from an article first appearing in the Principia Purpose, Peter’s High School and College Alumni Magazine in December of 2010.

Peter Link’s music career flowed naturally from his days at the College. After serving under Jack Eyerly as assistant choir director his sophomore year, Peter went on to be its main director until he graduated. “Jack believed in my ability, mentored me, and provided opportunities,” Peter recalls. “I really learned my craft from him!” Peter also directed a College production of Carousel. After seeing it, a parent told him, “If you directed this production, you can make it in New York.” With that encouragement, Peter packed for the Big Apple soon after graduation.

During the next two years, Peter studied acting under Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. From there, he landed a lead role in the TV soap opera As the World Turns as well as a lead role in Hair on Broadway. “Doing Hair and the soap was an incredible two-year ride as an actor, but I soon found that my real interest was composing for the musical theatre,” Peter says. During Hair he wrote the hit musical Salvation. Out of that score came a gold record that sold two million copies. “This was a whirlwind start for a young guy!” Peter notes.

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It was a very good year for Watchfire Music, your Inspirational music company and on-line music store.  We are grateful to list the year’s accomplishments and positive growth below:

The creation of the Watchfire Music Collection – thematic compilation CDs featuring the best music of Watchfire Music artists.

Send To A Friend – Send the gift of music to a friend along with a personalized seasonal gift card.  It’s easy and quick!

Catch up on Sparks From The Fire – monthly fliers featuring the best of posts from the past month.  Easy to follow and comprehensive.

Accompaniment tracks from our DSM division for vocalists everywhere.

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Rebecca Minor

I’ve been slowly becoming aware of Rebecca Minor’s talents as a songwriter for the past five years now.  Over that time she’s sent me songs occasionally asking me to review them and give her comments and I’ve gladly done so because I recognized in her a true talent.

About a year ago Rebecca presented me with a sacred song that I thought had real promise for the Digital Sheet Music division of Watchfire Music.  It needed a tweak here and there, but she seemed to eat up the information I gave her and came immediately back to me with fixes.

I took this immediacy as a very good sign – first, a desire to get it right and an egoless approach to correcting her mistakes of crafting, and second, an aggressive response to my suggestions indicating a drive to succeed that is so necessary in this business. (more…)

A series of major changes are on the horizon for the Missus and me.  They have mainly to do with our life in Inspirational music, our lifestyle, our spiritual ambitions and the way we live life daily – the way we work and the way we relax.

We’re going to go through this together.  They say that as people get older they are open to change less and less.  Well, we must be getting’ younger  because we are anticipating change daily.  We’re begging the universe, “ C’mon, bring it on!”  We’re open as never before.

Is it that we don’t like our life?  Yes, partly.  It’s also because we love certain parts of our life and simply have gotten a great taste of what it is in life that floats our boat and what doesn’t, and so want to focus down and concentrate on just the things that really work for us. (more…)

Part 2 — As a producer:

It’s a busy time.  Spent the weekend in the studio working on two projects.  Will spend today, the day after Valentines Day, celebrating 14 year anniversary with the Missus.  I’ll actually take the day off.

The rest of the winter months and spring are loaded with music projects for Watchfire Music – so many that I must get better organized and get my arms around them all.  Here’s a list: (more…)