It was a lot of fun once I learned how they did their songs. Most of the songs I knew, but not exactly in the style or form (or key) they did them in. It was a lot of fun!
One thing I was not mentally prepared for was playing three services. In "the old days" in Akron, we used to play four morning services. That made for a long morning and I learned how to pace myself mentally and emotionally. For the last couple years in Green, however, we have only needed to lead two services. Coming from that mentality, I kind of "burned up" in the first two services and didn't budget my concentration very well for the third (and fullest) service. There were not train wrecks, it was just an adjustment for which I was ill-prepared.
Mike, who led the group, plays great acoustic guitar and sings. (He also is a great drummer). Shelly and Eric led vocally, and Eric improvised some on the violin. Jeff played a mandolin, and Chris played bass and Jason suffered through the acoustic drum/IEM issues (yes, we have those issues here at Providence too!)
It was a nice acoustic band, a little folky in style and a lot of fun to play. The congregation seemed to enjoy it too, engaging pretty well and responding to the understated styling of the morning in a real healthy way.
This week, I'll play all three again, but completely different arrangements than what I'm used to, and songs I'm less familiar with. Patty has kept me up to speed nicely though, and supplied me with everything I need in order to prepare.
This Sunday, they happened to schedule "O God of Mine," which I charted for Maureen and Emily just a few weeks ago! It was nice to pull out my rhythm chart and use that one for this week. I haven't met the person singing it yet, but I know for me it won't be the same as "Mo" and "Em..." Miss you guys!
