VOTE FOR ME IN UNITY FEST CONTEST! (Pretty Please)

Great news!!! My application is accepted and I am officially in the Unity Fest Ovation Contest!

To VOTE click here: VOTE FOR GLORY LORD
Create a login, LISTEN TO AND RATE the song with 5 stars being the best - which is how I hope you'll vote. ;-)

Feel free to PASS IT ON and THANK YOU for taking a minute of your time to do this as it will help spread the word about my music and ministry. I can't do it without you and you are all part of the reason I am doing what I do!

WHY I CHOSE GLORY LORD!:
Why would I choose to feature Glory Lord to introduce you to my music? It's not a very long song by any stretch of the imagination and lyrically, it is one of my most minimal. How could a little song like Glory Lord really say anything about who I am as an artist?

The truth is - it has everything to say. I can sing, write, and record but my greatest fulfillment comes when a song takes on a life of its own; becoming bigger than my isolated experience of it. Little as it is, this song Glory Lord did that in a big way at Unity Fest in Muskegon, Michigan a few years back.

It was the end of my set and as I strummed the last chord of the song on my mountain dulcimer, a very cool thing happened. Everyone kept singing , the refrain "Glory Lord" echoing out in time to a cadence of clapping hands. The people began to stand and walk forward together. I did the only thing I could do. I got down off the stage and joined them in a tight circle. It wasn't my song anymore. It became a personal prayer of anyone who was singing it and worshipping God at that moment.

ABOUT THE CONTEST:
Artist Ovation and the CFA are launching festival competitions all over the nation. The winner of each festival competition will win the opportunity to play live at that festival. Moreover, these winners are automatically selected as finalists in a national contest, with the grand prize winner receiving a recording deal from the premier Christian Music label in the industry - Word Label Group

MY SISTER AND LAURA BENNETT DEMYSTIFIED

I wanted to post this photo from South Carolina of my sister Donna and I. My sister is on the right... as if you need me to tell you that. LOL


As for Laura Bennett, people have wanted details. As I said, Donna was the brave soul and would know those details. You can go to her blog www.pinkdonna.blogspot.com and ask her.

For the record, my impressions were what I shared in the last blog. The point being not so much about Laura Bennett or my sister Donna - but the recognition and celebration of women with an indomitable spirit. Alas, I am too artsy for my own good and wouldn't make a great gossip columnist. ;-)

A LONG WINTER

I haven't really treated this blog as a journal... more of a place to post my writing - meaning only those writings that I am willing to share. Trust me. There is enough that I am NOT willing to share. My sister Donna has inspired me to tell a bit more of my story, a bit more frequently. You can see a link to her page in the LINK section (original - I know!). She is fighting breast cancer and tells it like it is. I've always admired her for being direct and squirm about it at the same time. Her heart baring honesty is a light on my own dishonesty and a smack upside the head to be more forthright. She has reminded me that God uses our brokenness to bring mending. Our raw, honest appraisals don't scare Him away, in fact - they are the best stuff to work with.

Donna says that I am an inspiration and like her, I find that appraisal hard to bear. As an artist who is supposedly 'out there' in front of people - it's tough to keep a reign on motives. Inspiration can quickly become a goal to pursue rather than a thing that happens because you are just being who you are created to be. Who you are created to be becomes mucked up in all the hype.

So here are some words I wrote when I was thinking about all these things.

Words
collapsing
tumble, thrumming
down the mountain
in a roar
left behind
a cloud dispersing
in its silence saying more
listen close by breathing deep
the grit that scrapes the back of throat
the mountain settles in my soul
a foothold on my every note

I hope to continue to post more in journal form on a more frequent basis!