My start into the music world came as a teenager playing campfire songs for my friends in the church youth group. Soon that turned to playing in a garage band with some friends. We played a pretty eclectic catalog of Skynyrd, Nirvana, Police, Sublime, Tom Petty… My brother joined a music ministry group and that is when I started really paying attention to Christian music like Jars of Clay, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, and Third Day.

Of course at that time, late 90 and early 2000’s, worship music was very different than it is now. Most of the music at that time was chasing the sounds of popular music out in the secular world. The more Christian music evolved and was played on the radio, the more churches began welcoming it into their worship centers and sanctuaries to use in service. This caused a need for contemporary styled musicians and fortunately for the churches there were many musicians looking for a place to play.

But is there a worship music sound? Is there certain gear or tones associated with it? What stereotypes are there? How different is playing worship music than secular music? Is there a difference between being the worship leader and the worship director? And how do you prepare yourself for leading worship?

Well we will discuss this, and more on this group therapy session with Barber, on the Tweed Couch.