Vineyard National worship Conference in Lithuania

March 24, 2009

It’s a huge honour to be going back to Lithuania this weekend to lead and speak at the Vineyard National worship Conference in Vilnius.

Vilnius is European city of culture this year and having been to this country twice in the past couple of years I’m really looking forward to seeing the capital for the first time.

My intrepid band will include Mark Rainey on drums, Ian (Eddie) Smyth on bass and me on acoustic with Adrian Logan joining the crew for the ride too.

The opportunity to both export something of what God is doing in our community and import something of what He’s doing in Lithuania is always an adventure.

I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime I’d welcome your prayers.

Cheers – Andy

Tags: Vineyard, worship Conference, Lithuania

Posted by Andy | Filed Under General Musings | Leave a Comment

House Concerts – Am I Coming To A Living Room Near You?

March 6, 2009

How do you fancy hosting a live concert in your home? I’m planning House Concert tour with a bit of a twist.

Firstly What is a House Concert and how does it work?

A house concert is quite simply a live music performance in someone’s home. You invite your friends and acquaintances over to watch a live show. Each of your friends donates a few bucks/pounds/euros (depends where you are) for the privilege. You then get live music in your home. Your friends get a personalized, relaxed environment to experience great music.

It’s a rapidly growing phenomenon. In a New York Times front page article a number of years ago Dave Nachmanoff, a singer-songwriter from Southern California, said “Part of the reason for the boom of house concerts right now is people are so hungry for community but lacking in ways they can get together with other people in an intimate or friendly way that isn’t commercialized,”

Why Do A House Concert Tour?

A few weeks ago after a brief conversation with a friend in church all of a sudden it made sense to do a house concert tour.

In all the years I have been doing this (over 20 now – yikes!) I have led worship, sang, performed at local churches, big events with thousands attending, conferences both big and small, yet week-in-week-out most of what I do happens in small intimate settings. Small group in our home, sessions at C-HOP (local intercessory worship gathering) – it’s in these more intimate settings that the Lord’s presence seems more tangible, peoples lives are transformed as a result of God doing something in the room, in the intimacy of a few dozen folk gathered.

Don’t get me wrong I’m open to doing bigger events but I’m excited by the prospect of recapturing something of the early church model of house to house worship gatherings.

Where Will I Be Playing?

This is the exciting bit – it literally could be a world tour because you get to decide where I play, it could even be in your living room!

I’m asking you, my newsletter subscribers, MySpace & FaceBook friends to consider hosting or help organize a local house concert where you live. If you’re interested in that let me know where you are and based on where the interest comes from I’ll try to join-the-dots on the map and see if I can make it work. You could be in USA, Australia, Europe, UK, Ireland or somewhere else.

Seriously, nowhere is off limits to be considered.

What Can You Expect At One Of These House Concert Sessions?

You can expect passionate ‘Ethno-Celt‘ flavoured music and songs that have worship at the heart but can also be accessible to folks who are not yet followers of Jesus.

Here’s the twist. Each gig will be recorded, for a live album of the best bits and all the hosts and helpers will get a credit on the recording. Sometimes spontaneity is the highlight of these sessions and hopefully the recording will capture these unique moments.

I’d Love to Hear From You

Would you consider hosting or helping organize a house concert in your neighbourhood?

If so I’d love to hear from you, wherever you are on the planet – ask me for my ‘Hosting A house Concert Kit’.