GLENN'S PODCASTS!

Feb. 26, '09 UPDATE

**Toronto Show**
Tomorrow Wendi and I fly to Toronto for a show on Saturday with Daniel Band. You can find the info. here in the Shows section if you're interested. I'll do acoustic blues, Wendi will join me for a couple REZ unplugged songs, DB will do a rockin' set, I'll speak. Home Sun. night.

**Webwork**
I'm sllllowly working on doing another website but it's totally going slow!! I have a lot of other things going in life (marriage, family, pastoral work, music and so on) but little-by-little! Ditto on pod/vidcasts. Whew, the complexities of life :)

**Cornerstone Festival 2009**
This may change but re. Cornerstone Festival 2009 it seems GKB will do a full set leaning though not only focused on songs from our Octane Tues. night at The Gallery Stage. I'll do a separate set (Glenn Kaiser & Friends) Thurs. night at the Project 12/Grrr Records Stage. Further, there is at least talk about a leadership panel discussion and if that happens I'll post info. on that as well. What I know for sure is that I'll do a one-session informal leadership gathering (much like in former years) at one of the smaller teaching tents Friday at 5 pm. We'll encourage leaders, there spouses and kids to bring supper over (which tent exactly will be announced soon as it's solid) and we'll just chat together on all things pertaining to leadership in the local fellowship regardless of "form", "government" or the lack of either :)

Thanks for your prayers and for stopping by! -Glenn

MIND THE ECHO

Three short stories and a point:

When I was young my guitar-slinger cousin and I were in and out of bands together. It's been a long time so I can't remember if he was offered an endorsement deal or had just bought a huge guitar amplifier, but in any case,he had a monster of an amp and wanted me to help him try it out.

He lived in the country and had almost no neighbors. Across the road was a small woodlot. It was a warm and sunny summer day, so we hauled the beast and one of his Gibson Les Pauls outside with a long extension cord, plugged it in and hit the switch.

I'll never forget the incredible sound of that amp cranked up and echoing off the stand of pine trees. We felt like guitar gods hammering away out there with nobody but the birds hearing the echo.

About a year later I heard and eventually owned a record (those old round vinyl things) from my main electric-style guitarist inspiration, Rory Gallagher. It was actually of his early three-piece blues/rock band, Taste. The album: Live at the Isle of Wight.

One of several things I love about that performance is the echo of his cranked Fender Stratocaster amped by his favorite Vox AC 30. The drummer and bassist took breaks here and there on the day while Rory squeezed and coaxed what to my ears were astoundingly cool sounds including a really sweet echo coming back off the gentle hillside (and perhaps in part due a bit of electronic reverb).

In season I hunt at Cornerstone Farm where we put on our annual Cornerstone Festival. On occasion I shoot in places where I'm on one side of the wooded slopes near the lake and the report comes off the higher tree line from across the water. I know when I pull the trigger near the lake that it's going to happen but I'm still always surprised when it does.

Think of the echo as a metaphor for each of our lives.

You may think either nobody or very few people will ever hear or care but you have no way of knowing the impact your "music" makes.

God knows. Those people you influence may not know though they sometimes do.

In the London subway (known as "The Tube") are signs that read "Mind The Gap", warning people to pay attention, to take care when stepping across that space between the platform and the train.

In one way or another all of us play, sing, shout and shoot. I suggest we mind the echo... pay attention to the response we may be hearing from the noises we emit. We're responsible. Further, others will likely echo -us-. Chilling thought... and it should be.

GLENN'S FEB. 18, '09 RADIO INTERVIEW AVAILABLE
(Mike Rimmer, Tony Cummings at Cross Rhythms Radio, U.K.)

Available as per the message below if you missed it live. I just received this info. from the kind CR crew:

" Great interview Glenn. It will be on www.crossrhythms.co.uk/listenagain from tomorrow (February 20) Just select 'Rimmerama' for the 18th of February and highlights of the interview will be on the 'Rimmerama Podcast'

Next week it will be available via Itunes or www.crossrhythms.co.uk/podcasts "

And to this I say- Thanks for your prayers and for stopping by glennkaiser.com

Hope to see more of you on Facebook and Twitter :) -Glenn

U.K./International Radio Interview Today

Mike Rimmer and Tony Cummings will be interviewing Glenn about REZ, etc., today at 13:15 (that's 1:15pm Chicago time) on Cross Rhythms Radio. Here's the link if you're interested-

http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/radio/

Blessings, -Glenn

MISC. STUFF

Been thinking & praying about a number of things of late.

CORNERSTONE FESTIVAL- Re. my teaching there this coming summer. I've a few changes/ideas I'm working through and chatting with some folks I trust to help me hear the Lord. I'll post on this soon as we get clarity.

Re. music at the Fest, at present it looks like GKB will do set focusing largely on our latest Octane cd, and myself and a group of friends will do a separate set mixing my solo projects, a mixture of acoustic and electric blues. Again, I'll post when all details are decided.

BOOKING- We're still on the road to booking tours with GKB and myself, and it looks very much like a REZ reunion tour in Germany and Switzerland will shift to autumn which means GKB -may- focus on a Spring tour in the U.S.. Check the "shows" section from time to time, as dates solidify we'll post 'em.

POD/VODCASTS- I'm nearly daily doing Twitter and Facebook these days. When I begin more travel this will fall off of course, but I'm enjoying both and the interaction of both and will continue when I'm able to log on. In fact I've even considered rolling all key articles, etc. on this site (glennkaiser.com) into Facebook and may do so rather than continuing glennkaiser.com as it's been- be assured if I do something that drastic I'll post it wide and far on all my and GKB-related sites, but it's huge for me to be able to add all sorts of fresh content quickly and though I love glennkaiser.com, it's not an easy site to change, update or admin..

Meanwhile I've done a number of vodcasts that I -can- upload as simple podcasts, but I'm working on learning video and posting, likely on Youtube when I better understand how to use the edited vids. I've done. But essentially, they're 3 minute video blogs on a vast array of subjects. Please be patient, I'll get there but as usual it's taking a bit of time to get it "right" from the ground up. Sorry, but little-by-little, it'll happen :)

GUITARS AND GEAR- At some future point I'll load pics and simple description of the huge array of gear I"ve amassed. A -lot- of gifted people have kindly created some very fine instruments for me, mostly as gifts... I just want to share what I'm using, the varied applications and hopefully bring some business to these folks if possible.

And that's all for now :) Thanks for stopping by! -Glenn

COOL NEW MUSIC BLEND

Sometimes you just gotta groove... loving my friend Brian Grover's meld of blues with central Asian music, live show from Jan. '09 at JPUSA's Garden Room Coffeehouse. Hope you enjoy cuz I sure am!

http://www.uskhoomeizhi.org/khoomei/Khadag-Blue/

EV. COVENANT MIDWINTER MEETING THOUGHTS

This week several of our pastors at JPUSA (myself included) are attending Midwinter meetings that happen annually for our denomination, The Evangelical Covenant Church. It's always a blast to see old friends and make news ones, the teaching and ministry times are often quite deep and challenging, but one of the best parts for me is the continual openness of the vast variety of people throughout the Cov..

Folks are serious about Jesus, His Word, about praying for one another, about really gaining insights on how to be servant-leaders, use new technology and really, about what it means to be a maturing disciple and servant of Jesus for the sake of God, family, parish and world.

I've been consistently blessed at every gathering I've attended through the years and again, the openness and willingness to grow, change, adapt and yet be truly faithful to the reading and application of the whole Word of God (Bible) in all matters rings loud and very clear.

One of my concerns about the larger church in all it's forms world-wide is that people often worry so much about being "right" that they become entrenched in dogma and not the living Word.

Who among us cannot benefit from an -ongoing- passion for seeking God, spiritual growth and continued learning about what the Bible really says and how to apply it in daily life and ministry? I don't mean "new for new's sake" nor do I mean "let's get spiritually liberal and flaky"! But I also think living in the past, entrenched and provincial, clinging to what's familiar can bring one to a hardness, a cold and brittle sort of walk that really is no longer a walk so much as a dead stop and a sort of cemented halt. Jesus brings us living water, not stagnant mud puddles.

So it's always great to fellowship with like-minded people who don't always agree but seek to continually grow, love and serve together. Sort of like Psalm 133... "THERE the Lord commands the blessing"... where brothers and sisters unify around Him and His Word and the overall call to mission rather than fussing and dying on little hills not worth defending.

It's been a great week and I'm truly thankful!