I am excited to be in the running to perform at the Marana Christmas tree lighting celebration and I am teaming up with the singing phenom Mariel Ramos to play about 20 minutes....our performance name is Ascent. I will be releasing an arrangement of What Child Is This? and posting it here to share. Peace to all:)
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Just for the record, I am a musician who is a Christian who is a father, who is a husband who is blessed to be surrounded by a huge family of believers.
I am exhausted, mentally, and physically.... As everyone close to us knows our house in October was flooded totally... We just got back in about 3 weeks ago... I'm finishing writing wedding music and had not recorded it yet, at the same time my band is getting ready to reveal the new music written and 4 day before the "reveal gig" me and my son Joshua take ill with strep.. Yaay. Well we star medication immediately then in the same night Joshua has breathing problems, asthma.. Go to emergency room, admitted to hospital ICU same night.. 4 days later in hospital he develops pneumonia and deteriorates quickly and within a few days has to be intubated, chemical coma, many friends and family praying... Actually heard from hundreds... 10 days later, a lot of balloons/gift baskets/cards/stuffed animals/ warm meals home cooked/ great docs and nurses/respiratory therapists/holding hands and little fingers/prayer circles, good friends who don't quit/ a wife who doesn't quit/ inlaws who are Amazing/tears.... Joshua smiled at us today and wanted to see a Mickey Mouse video! Our house is in various stages of move in boxes everywhere, studio half put together ..... But all of that doesn't matter when your staring down death with all your faith and knowing its out of my hands, really... And I have my son back, still a road to recovery, but he's here, and he's 3 years old and he's mine. He's alive and I'm gratful to a living God that Joshua's still with us.... Maybe now I'll let him play his electric keyboard as loud as he wants... And I'll hear him sing as loud as he desires to.
Reply
Ahhhhhh!!!! That's my first reaction when told a bathroom waterline had busted and nothing was untouched.... I was out of town at a men's retreat with my buddies, had just returned home from Mexico(where I love to write) and as I returned from Mexico and unloaded all our stuff, I pick up a three day bag and turned right back and out the door to do the "Man Camp" thing.... So I didn't do anything in the studio except grab the folder full of completed songs and baby Taylor guitar and headed out. Next day.... The office there took a msg... and says my wife wants me to call home when I'm able, no emergency... Long story short. Busted water line running for hours.. Wife and kids in a hotel... She begged me to not come home because she'd already called the disaster clean up people and if I arrived, I'd just be in the way......
Okay, I'm thinking... Our stuffs floating around and I'm supposed to now go enjoy myself?? God had put it on my heart to attend this place with 2 of my friends and be ministered to... A month before, it was pressing me to be there even after a week in Mexico. So I went with an open mind and I thought an open heart.. So as I was walking zombie like with legs that felt like they were filled with lead looking for my buds The Lord impressed on my heart these thoughts.... That I would be Very Careful of the things I fall in love with, it's really just stuff that can be taken from me in an instant and in the end, I really don't have total control..... Over anything, anyone, any circumstance... And, the Lord pressed another thought to the front of my mind, that, that is not my true home, my home is in Heaven really, we are like nomads feeling out of place wherever we go because the importance of stuff and possessions changed when we accepted Christ.... And our eternal address changed as well, and somewhere in the flesh, in the midst of life wife and kids and church and stuff we can seem to get over our selves and lose a little focus. On eternity. That was October 10th weekend...
Fast forward past people saying "where this music filled CD release your supposed to do?!?" All the different hotels and rentals, past the empathetic words of encouragement and hot meals prepared by others kindness.... Today is December 7th.. People have noted from contractors to insurance professionals as to our disposition compared to most people with disaster loss. Our shared faith in God is what tells us what's important, that's what we share, and how we react to news as things seemed to go from bad to worse in the recovery of what we call our "badly timed holiday remodel" it's not that we didn't cry and felt the loss, we didn't stand stoic with hands on our hips Superman style as if "real" christians didn't feel pain or upset and our feelings are totally cutoff from reality, no, we feel like anyone else does at loss except that we have a living Savior in which we can go to for comfort and we continually place our burdens there and from that place of comfort and safety I, we, can see things from an eternal perspective and not the happy go lucky stereotype people who aren't Christians think we are. An eternal perspective is so far deeper and beyond that. It can't be found in religion, or self help gurus or well meaning friends.. It's in an eternal relationship with our Creator saying that even if our bodies die... It's not over, but just beginning. I am looking forward to finishing the music and stepping into the studio at DJ Sanctified , Lund studio and making the trip to Tate as well. I have a lot of great tracks to choose from, the paint, tile and carpet has already been decided, demolition should start shortly.... yay demo...we are spending Christmas in a rental, I have a very fine family, I have a great church extended family and we are still hosting Christmas Eve dinner.... I am truly blessed:)
Sky Archer
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Let me know, theres nothing too hard or for from the reach of God. It can be anything, I just want people to know the amazing power of God and His grace and mercy. Thanks,
Scott
Reply
I wrote about 16 songs a couple of years ago, because I felt pressure to write them... I put that pressure on myself and as a result I had songs that didn't really reflect what was going on inside...fast forward to this year. I kept 2 or 3 songs that I really like and shelved the rest... For the music I have posted here, a couple is from jamming with a friend that lives within 5 minuts (DJ Sanctified) and one is a keyboard song that I wrote(which is rare) and is somewhat of an experiment in exactly how many tracks can I write in a song before you can't distinguish anything ......There are no sampled parts in "My Spirit Groans for You" because...i was avoiding sampling just out of laziness in trying to figure it out and I wanted to get the idea of the song out there.... Its a praise song and I hadn't at that point written very much in that form, sad to me that was because in my heart I know is a real need to not so much focus only on "real life" in the context of my faith, but the center of my faith God, in the songs Ive written should be more up front..
Mediterranean Thing is also just me messing around with an acoustic and recorded on 2 iPods ...I like different forms of music to a fault.
.......Onto New Music......
I wrote new songs that were easier to sing along with and that didn't require advanced vocal training to sing along with... and that involves a lower range in my voice which makes the music more enjoyable to sing and play should even my voice act up on occasion...
So, with that, Ive written a lot of music in the last year or so, and on the release coming up Im involving different singers and musicians and various other talents to be a part of this. I have to whittle the song list down to 8 songs and not the 11 that I really want, so 2 may become a special release..Aaaand I wrote a number of Christmas songs last Christmas that I can incorporate with some revamped traditional songs and release that as well... Someone has asked me to do a 3 song release in time for the holidays... but this stuff takes time ....and money. Where God guides, He provides, so I'm not gonna sweat it. The musics already written, I just have to make the demos into as close to a vision as I can get. that to takes time.
So, I need prayer, in the song selection, musicians, the audience , The time I need to go to the studio, the production, a violinist with a heart for the Lord...
With that, Im back to work
Scott.
Reply
The new songs are coming in waves...Ive finished a number of new tunes and written more in this month alone... I'm excited because I got to test drive the songs in a 30 minute set last saturday night opening for the White Flags...a lot of response from people who ask about certain songs and the subjects they're about. Very encouraging because this different feedback is not from my friends or family but complete strangers who actually listen and react. Thank you to those who came out....... and all who want guitar lessons now LOL!!!
Reply
I work on music, even when its not visibly productive. Every day, going through files and files of ideas new and old. Testing to see if they are hot with opportunity, or cold... I ponder and "try" to see where I'm at in life, love,.. friendships. God.
I pick up the guitar or bass cello or piano anything i play, and see if something is lurking there like a dark shadowy figure in the night and by playing, may bring it into the light and see if Its anything I'm intrigued by. If it is, I record it on my iPhone or iPod and then I stop.... and go get a glass of water and come back and listen to it and see if its trying to tell me something...I may 'scat' something over the top and see if the words start to pop out at me and if they do, I write it down....It may all come at once and then it may not..I dwell for just a little while and then I ask the song to come back to me "if it has anything more to say"...go ahead and laugh . I don't mind. I've been doing it since childhood and though high school and today.
I do something. I feel sometimes I need to work on a piece that hasn't done anything i'll listen to it in the morning and keep it in my head aaaallllll day. and by evening when all is asleep but me. i'll go to the music room and ask the lyrics to come back and pray to God for clarity and so I start to write and a lot of it is rambling sometimes but then there will be a sentence or a phrase that jumps up off the page HERE I AM!!!! and then I have a verse or chorus and so forth...but I work.
Do something everyday that rattles your imagination and takes you out of your comfort zone. I thank God for allowing me to do this....
Reply
Recorded on my IPhone, I thought I would share this as we're working on the demo for this song..Its amazing how we as christians hold on to our own mistakes/sin when our Lord has tossed them into the deepest of the ocean never to revisit it again, but we dont sometimes, and should. I hope this song speaks to you.
Scott
Reply
I recorded these songs on the IPhone, 4 track and garage band so the guys can learn them...I know the production is "lacking" but there it is...pre production and finally copyrighted! You have to be wearing earphones to actually hear the bass lines iv'e been told.
I hope to be traveling soon out of state to record this stuff at a place that has a real engineer and producer but more on that later...
Reply
Whilst we work on a few things in preparing to record... someone in the industry advised me to get a few things in order ( ducks in a row) before showing more music.. which is a good thing if you know what I mean...wink wink.
I do want to post a LOT of new stuff but it may take a while ..... so as soon as a few more ducks are lined up I will post new songs as I am able too:)
Reply
Sky Archer / Blog
Christmas lighting ceremony at town hall
I am excited to be in the running to perform at the Marana Christmas tree lighting celebration and I am teaming up with the singing phenom Mariel Ramos to play about 20 minutes....our performance name is Ascent. I will be releasing an arrangement of What Child Is This? and posting it here to share. Peace to all:)
Reply
This Is Real Life
Just for the record, I am a musician who is a Christian who is a father, who is a husband who is blessed to be surrounded by a huge family of believers. I am exhausted, mentally, and physically.... As everyone close to us knows our house in October was flooded totally... We just got back in about 3 weeks ago... I'm finishing writing wedding music and had not recorded it yet, at the same time my band is getting ready to reveal the new music written and 4 day before the "reveal gig" me and my son Joshua take ill with strep.. Yaay. Well we star medication immediately then in the same night Joshua has breathing problems, asthma.. Go to emergency room, admitted to hospital ICU same night.. 4 days later in hospital he develops pneumonia and deteriorates quickly and within a few days has to be intubated, chemical coma, many friends and family praying... Actually heard from hundreds... 10 days later, a lot of balloons/gift baskets/cards/stuffed animals/ warm meals home cooked/ great docs and nurses/respiratory therapists/holding hands and little fingers/prayer circles, good friends who don't quit/ a wife who doesn't quit/ inlaws who are Amazing/tears.... Joshua smiled at us today and wanted to see a Mickey Mouse video! Our house is in various stages of move in boxes everywhere, studio half put together ..... But all of that doesn't matter when your staring down death with all your faith and knowing its out of my hands, really... And I have my son back, still a road to recovery, but he's here, and he's 3 years old and he's mine. He's alive and I'm gratful to a living God that Joshua's still with us.... Maybe now I'll let him play his electric keyboard as loud as he wants... And I'll hear him sing as loud as he desires to.
Reply
Sky Archer Sound destroyed by water
Ahhhhhh!!!! That's my first reaction when told a bathroom waterline had busted and nothing was untouched.... I was out of town at a men's retreat with my buddies, had just returned home from Mexico(where I love to write) and as I returned from Mexico and unloaded all our stuff, I pick up a three day bag and turned right back and out the door to do the "Man Camp" thing.... So I didn't do anything in the studio except grab the folder full of completed songs and baby Taylor guitar and headed out. Next day.... The office there took a msg... and says my wife wants me to call home when I'm able, no emergency... Long story short. Busted water line running for hours.. Wife and kids in a hotel... She begged me to not come home because she'd already called the disaster clean up people and if I arrived, I'd just be in the way...... Okay, I'm thinking... Our stuffs floating around and I'm supposed to now go enjoy myself?? God had put it on my heart to attend this place with 2 of my friends and be ministered to... A month before, it was pressing me to be there even after a week in Mexico. So I went with an open mind and I thought an open heart.. So as I was walking zombie like with legs that felt like they were filled with lead looking for my buds The Lord impressed on my heart these thoughts.... That I would be Very Careful of the things I fall in love with, it's really just stuff that can be taken from me in an instant and in the end, I really don't have total control..... Over anything, anyone, any circumstance... And, the Lord pressed another thought to the front of my mind, that, that is not my true home, my home is in Heaven really, we are like nomads feeling out of place wherever we go because the importance of stuff and possessions changed when we accepted Christ.... And our eternal address changed as well, and somewhere in the flesh, in the midst of life wife and kids and church and stuff we can seem to get over our selves and lose a little focus. On eternity. That was October 10th weekend... Fast forward past people saying "where this music filled CD release your supposed to do?!?" All the different hotels and rentals, past the empathetic words of encouragement and hot meals prepared by others kindness.... Today is December 7th.. People have noted from contractors to insurance professionals as to our disposition compared to most people with disaster loss. Our shared faith in God is what tells us what's important, that's what we share, and how we react to news as things seemed to go from bad to worse in the recovery of what we call our "badly timed holiday remodel" it's not that we didn't cry and felt the loss, we didn't stand stoic with hands on our hips Superman style as if "real" christians didn't feel pain or upset and our feelings are totally cutoff from reality, no, we feel like anyone else does at loss except that we have a living Savior in which we can go to for comfort and we continually place our burdens there and from that place of comfort and safety I, we, can see things from an eternal perspective and not the happy go lucky stereotype people who aren't Christians think we are. An eternal perspective is so far deeper and beyond that. It can't be found in religion, or self help gurus or well meaning friends.. It's in an eternal relationship with our Creator saying that even if our bodies die... It's not over, but just beginning. I am looking forward to finishing the music and stepping into the studio at DJ Sanctified , Lund studio and making the trip to Tate as well. I have a lot of great tracks to choose from, the paint, tile and carpet has already been decided, demolition should start shortly.... yay demo...we are spending Christmas in a rental, I have a very fine family, I have a great church extended family and we are still hosting Christmas Eve dinner.... I am truly blessed:) Sky Archer
Reply
IF YOU NEED PRAYER
Let me know, theres nothing too hard or for from the reach of God. It can be anything, I just want people to know the amazing power of God and His grace and mercy. Thanks, Scott
Reply
Don't throw the cat out with the bathwater!!!
I wrote about 16 songs a couple of years ago, because I felt pressure to write them... I put that pressure on myself and as a result I had songs that didn't really reflect what was going on inside...fast forward to this year. I kept 2 or 3 songs that I really like and shelved the rest... For the music I have posted here, a couple is from jamming with a friend that lives within 5 minuts (DJ Sanctified) and one is a keyboard song that I wrote(which is rare) and is somewhat of an experiment in exactly how many tracks can I write in a song before you can't distinguish anything ......There are no sampled parts in "My Spirit Groans for You" because...i was avoiding sampling just out of laziness in trying to figure it out and I wanted to get the idea of the song out there.... Its a praise song and I hadn't at that point written very much in that form, sad to me that was because in my heart I know is a real need to not so much focus only on "real life" in the context of my faith, but the center of my faith God, in the songs Ive written should be more up front.. Mediterranean Thing is also just me messing around with an acoustic and recorded on 2 iPods ...I like different forms of music to a fault. .......Onto New Music...... I wrote new songs that were easier to sing along with and that didn't require advanced vocal training to sing along with... and that involves a lower range in my voice which makes the music more enjoyable to sing and play should even my voice act up on occasion... So, with that, Ive written a lot of music in the last year or so, and on the release coming up Im involving different singers and musicians and various other talents to be a part of this. I have to whittle the song list down to 8 songs and not the 11 that I really want, so 2 may become a special release..Aaaand I wrote a number of Christmas songs last Christmas that I can incorporate with some revamped traditional songs and release that as well... Someone has asked me to do a 3 song release in time for the holidays... but this stuff takes time ....and money. Where God guides, He provides, so I'm not gonna sweat it. The musics already written, I just have to make the demos into as close to a vision as I can get. that to takes time. So, I need prayer, in the song selection, musicians, the audience , The time I need to go to the studio, the production, a violinist with a heart for the Lord... With that, Im back to work Scott.
Reply
In waves
The new songs are coming in waves...Ive finished a number of new tunes and written more in this month alone... I'm excited because I got to test drive the songs in a 30 minute set last saturday night opening for the White Flags...a lot of response from people who ask about certain songs and the subjects they're about. Very encouraging because this different feedback is not from my friends or family but complete strangers who actually listen and react. Thank you to those who came out....... and all who want guitar lessons now LOL!!!
Reply
Working is working is working...
I work on music, even when its not visibly productive. Every day, going through files and files of ideas new and old. Testing to see if they are hot with opportunity, or cold... I ponder and "try" to see where I'm at in life, love,.. friendships. God. I pick up the guitar or bass cello or piano anything i play, and see if something is lurking there like a dark shadowy figure in the night and by playing, may bring it into the light and see if Its anything I'm intrigued by. If it is, I record it on my iPhone or iPod and then I stop.... and go get a glass of water and come back and listen to it and see if its trying to tell me something...I may 'scat' something over the top and see if the words start to pop out at me and if they do, I write it down....It may all come at once and then it may not..I dwell for just a little while and then I ask the song to come back to me "if it has anything more to say"...go ahead and laugh . I don't mind. I've been doing it since childhood and though high school and today. I do something. I feel sometimes I need to work on a piece that hasn't done anything i'll listen to it in the morning and keep it in my head aaaallllll day. and by evening when all is asleep but me. i'll go to the music room and ask the lyrics to come back and pray to God for clarity and so I start to write and a lot of it is rambling sometimes but then there will be a sentence or a phrase that jumps up off the page HERE I AM!!!! and then I have a verse or chorus and so forth...but I work. Do something everyday that rattles your imagination and takes you out of your comfort zone. I thank God for allowing me to do this....
Reply
New song "Innocent"
Recorded on my IPhone, I thought I would share this as we're working on the demo for this song..Its amazing how we as christians hold on to our own mistakes/sin when our Lord has tossed them into the deepest of the ocean never to revisit it again, but we dont sometimes, and should. I hope this song speaks to you. Scott
Reply
New Music
I recorded these songs on the IPhone, 4 track and garage band so the guys can learn them...I know the production is "lacking" but there it is...pre production and finally copyrighted! You have to be wearing earphones to actually hear the bass lines iv'e been told. I hope to be traveling soon out of state to record this stuff at a place that has a real engineer and producer but more on that later...
Reply
Music Taken Off!!!
Whilst we work on a few things in preparing to record... someone in the industry advised me to get a few things in order ( ducks in a row) before showing more music.. which is a good thing if you know what I mean...wink wink. I do want to post a LOT of new stuff but it may take a while ..... so as soon as a few more ducks are lined up I will post new songs as I am able too:)
Reply