Tracks 6-9

and now…

10. Little Drummer Boy
My first year at Highpoint Church the pastor Chris Conlee gave me a CD with this song on it. It was from North Point Church in Atlanta. My first thought was…”Yeah, cool song. It’ll be fun.” But the reaction from the congregation was crazy. I did it every year I was at Highpoint and they loved it every time. Then I held on to it when I went to Orlando and got the same reaction there. ?So for this project I wrote some fun string parts to go along with the simple acoustic thing. Carolyn Long, a worship leader at Highpoint Church lent me her voice. Her scat singing in the middle totally makes it her own. I’m a big fan of that! Hope you are too.

Carolyn Long and Me

11. Silent Night
My friend and co-producer for this project is Brandon Goff. He let me hear this version he did of Silent Night. It was dark and haunting and raw. Exactly what I was going for on this CD. He let me add some string lines to it and agreed to sing it with me on the CD. This is one of my favorite tracks. I’ve never heard this song quite like this. Again…it helps me really hear the lyrics.

12. Emmanuel
I was trying to write a bridge for “Joy To The World”. I came up with “There is hope. There is joy. There is peace on the earth. And His name is Emmanuel.” I loved the imagery, but it didn’t really work with “Joy…” I took it in to the Thursday morning writing group I’m a part of and we spent an hour and a half turning the short verse and piece of the chorus into a full fledge worship song. I’m very proud of this tune and glad to have written it with my brothers Socrates Perez and George Livings.

The Choir for "The Christ"

13. The Christ
After I failed at writing a bridge for “Joy to The World” (see #11 above) I just stumbled on this melody while singing the lyrics to “Joy…” The lyrics to this hymn are so exciting to me. ”Let every heart prepare Him room. And heaven and nature sing.” So well written! I added a simple little chorus at the end? something for a choir to sing and it turned out nicely. I can’t wait to do this song live and agree with other believers that Jesus is The Christ.

14. Broken Bells
I found some music on iTunes that was a simple, sparse guitar some wind and lots of thick reverb. It moved me. The space and the single notes that seemed to never end. I’ve been looking for a place to use the same kinds of tones. So as an introduction to “Carol of the Bell” I wrote this piece. ?The title, again, comes from a lost line from “This time of Year”.

15. Carol of the Bells
I’ll always think of my 11th grade year in choir when I hear this song. As a baritone/Tenor/bad bass I had to help the bass guys sing the last “bom” of the song… way too low for me. Ended up sounding like a belch. So to try to help me get past that memory I thought I’d do this song with a groove.

Then at a rehearsal one night James McKey (drummer) and David Nowak (Bassist) were talking to each other about how this song needed a swing part. They didn?t realize it but there was a cameraman recording their conversation. When I was watching the raw footage the next day I heard what they said. Then I went out and wrote a swing part. I think it was longer than what they were thinking but it was nice.

David Shotsberger & Brandon Goff

Then in the studio one day my friend, David Shotsberger, was hanging out. I insisted that he lay down a guitar solo on top of the swing stuff. The rest is history. It was so perfect! This is another one of my favorites.

16. So this is…A Merry Little Christmas
This is a medley of The Beatles’ “So This is Christmas” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
I love the opening line, ?So, this is Christmas. What have you done??

To me, as a believer, it?s a challenging question. The end of the year is upon me. What have I done? Have I followed closely enough, have I led well enough, have I loved deeply, have I given myself away, have I risked enough, have I embraced all of life that I can?.

And this is a medley, so after I?ve evaluated my life. I rest in the fact that God?s grace is sufficient and that he is carrying all my cares. ?Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light?.

Lindsey Marks sang, ?Have yourself?? and no one could have done a better job.
I wanted to end the project with a string piece that signaled the end and yet hinted at hope. I think it?s a perfect ending to this CD.

I hope your Christmas season is full of hope and love.

Doug

THIS TIME OF YEAR will be available Dec. 2nd. To reserve your copy or to have a chance to get an early download visit….

www.dougpierce.tv/store

Tracks 1 through 5

and now…

Abby Jane and her studio debut

6. Jingle Bells
Years ago I had a stupid thought. Jingle Bells isn’t a “Christmas” song. It’s a song about snow. Which I love. So why can’t I sing it all year round. So if you’re around me much you’ll probably hear me from time to time throughout the year whistle or sing “Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way”. ?The funny thing is that when I asked my daughter what she’d like to sing on this project she said “Jingle Bells”. I was kind of hoping it was something about Jesus. I AM a pastor and all. When I pressed her to sing “Happy Birthday, Jesus” she wasn’t thrilled. And if I’m honest it was a little trite. ”What about ‘Away in A Manger’ or ‘Silent Night’”…. her response… “I don’t know them”. HAVE I FAILED AS A PARENT!!?? But I quickly figured out that was her way of saying she REALLY wanted to sing “Jingle Bells”. And after several tries, (she couldn’t keep herself from singing “ha ha ha” after “laughing all the way”) she nailed it.

Phillip Sweet

7. This Time of Year
This is the song I sweated over. I don’t think I’ve ever poured so much into another song. It started out with a simple thought…. “What if we loved each other ALL year long the same way we do during Christmastime”. From there it took on several faces. The first of which was kind of a downer/preachy…”you should do it this way” type thing. Didn’t keep that.? I wanted to be positive and embrace that charity that we all feel. So I decide to just point out what I loved so much about Christmas. ”It’s the way that we hold each other dear this time of year.” That was it. Hoping that each listener can take away from it what he/she will. For me…I want to live each day with love and grace for my neighbors so that they’ll see and feel the God who has changed me.

Another cool aspect of this song is that I wrote it with Jonesboro, Arkansas in mind. I just pictured a Jonesboro Christmas and tried to paint a picture. The line “here on the south side” comes from the fact that I lived on the south side of Jonesboro.

What made this perfect was that I was able to get one of my best friends, Phillip Sweet to sing with me on it. Phil was raised just north of Jonesboro in Cherokee Village and I’m sure we had some of the same Christmas’s growing up.

8. Angels, Hark
This medley of “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” came from doodling on

Doug Pierce & Jarian Felton

my guitar early one morning in the studio. I’ve always thought of these songs as related and have even put modern rock beats with them in worship services. This chill version came from me wanting to do something just different enough so that we would hear the words. Sometimes slowing a song down or speeding it up from it’s usual pace helps us do that.
Jarian Felton, a worship leader friend from Orlando did an incredible job. This is the closest I came on the project to sounding like something Nat King Cole would do.

9. Go Tell it On the Mountain
Another favorite Christmas carol, I naturally wanted to turn this into a country song. But my problem is that it?s been done that way too many times. So how do you do this song in a fresh and yet nostalgic and appropriate way? Do it in 6/8. If you?re not a musician look it up. You?ll enjoy the new knowledge and get a behind the scenes look at musician-speak.
My good friend, Kyle Thomas came to the studio to sing a choir piece (See #12) and I had him jump in and quickly lay down some parts of the verse. It was great.

to be continued…

I hope your Christmas season is full of hope and love.

Doug

THIS TIME OF YEAR will be available Dec. 2nd. To reserve your copy or to have a chance to get an early download visit….

www.dougpierce.tv/store

1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
This is one of the first songs for which I ever wrote strings. I just felt the swing thing happen?and the rest fell into place.

Socrates Perez, Jr. sings the second verse. I really wanted him to sing lead on something and was trying hard to find something for him to do. I didn?t realize how perfect this song was for him until he started singing it in the studio. It was spot on!

My brother-n-law, Mike Martin, came in and added the trumpet line. It was just what it needed.

Doug Mathews on the upright bass

2. Winter Wind
The title of this string composition came from a throw away line of “This Time Of Year”. I slaved over that song and had to let some lines go. But when I started writing this transitional piece I actually wrote a lyric that’s not in the piece. Can’t remember it now but it had to do with longing to hear and feel the winter wind brining in the season. Very haunting and takes me to a place in my childhood that I love.

3. Silver Bells
My wife asked me recently, “Do you LIKE Silver Bells?” I was surprised a little. I recorded it for my CD didn’t I? I guess she found it a little odd to include on this project. So I had to explain that one of my favorite memories of child hood is singing this song around a Christmas tree. Actually my sisters sang it and it is the quintessential Christmas song to me. It doesn’t necessarily have the message of Christ in it but I think it captures the feeling of love and compassion that comes along with the celebration of Christ’s birth.

4. Whispers of Nostalgia

James on the concert bass drum

I actually wrote this last year (2009) when I started dreaming about this kind of project. It was a transition from “Silver Bells” to “O Come O come…” (Which it still is).

When it came time to name it I went back to my notes from the song “This Time of Year” and the line “It’s the whisper of how we should love” just jumped out to me. So I gave this piece its name.

5. O Come O Come Emmanuel
This is my favorite Christmas song of all time. It’s a dark song that speaks of longing and hopefulness. To me it’s a beautiful worship song. ”Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee…” What a great message of hope. My spirit stirs just thinking about it!

to be continued…

I hope your Christmas season is full of hope and love.

Doug

THIS TIME OF YEAR will be available Dec. 2nd. To reserve your copy or to have a chance to get an early download visit….

www.dougpierce.tv/store

I?m trying to reflect on everything so I don?t forget. If you were with us you?d know what I mean. The schedule from the 20^th to today (the 25^th) was absolutely crazy. 16?.Sixteen? S-I-X-T-E-E-N shows in 5 days. And each of them was at least 45 minutes long. Some were worship services and some were rock shows on base where we couldn?t play ?Christian? songs. Three of the days found us waking up at 5:30 so we could be ready to be on post in time to play. The next several weeks I plan on highlighting some very cool things that God did in and through us. For this post I?d like to talk about our recap meeting.

On Friday night half of our team was preparing to return to Orlando. The band and tech guys were staying 2 more days. We gathered in the children?s area to debrief. I asked the team to talk about what they learned, what they heard from God and describe the needs they saw. My most emotional moment of the trip ensued. They began to talk about the sacrifices of our troops, the unique challenges they saw in military marriages, the privilege of serving mothers and they recounted one on one discussions they had with various soldiers. There were many tears that night and the ones I shed were ones of gratitude. It had been my hope and prayer that this team would catch the vision and share the burden I have. And it seemed in that moment that God had answered that prayer. Each team member told me they wanted to come back.

So my heart is full right now. I had the chance to work with an amazing group of people, I?ve built some great relationships and God graciously chose to accomplish more than we had planned for or could have imagined. One major development is a door that was opened through the efforts of my friend Sgt. Major Tim Carentz. It has to do with the USO and you?ll never believe this story?.tune in next week.

- Doug

FYI – Set list of cover songs we performed on base:

Summer of 69 ? Bryan Adams

Can?t Buy Me Love – Beatles

Somebody Like You ? Keith Urban

Boodocks ? Little Big Town

Jailhouse Rock – Elvis

Wanted Dead or Alive ? Bon Jovi

You Found Me ? The Fray

Superstition – Stevie Wonder

Sweet Home Alabama ? Lynyrd Skynyrd

Beat It ? Michael Jackson

Desire ? U2

Life is a Highway ? Tom Cochran

I Don?t Want to Be ? Gavin DeGraw

I?m Yours ? Jason Mraz

Desperado ? Eagles

BlackBird – Beatles

Peaceful Easy Feeling ? Eagles

She Talks to Angels ? Black Crowes

Blower?s Daughter ? Damien Rice

Bad Day ? Daniel Powter

Why Georgia ? John Mayer

No Such Thing ? John Mayer

Stop This Train ? John Mayer

Sitting Waiting Wishing ? Jack Johnson

Stay With You ? John Legend

Of course in January of this year I didn’t realize all that 2009 would be one of the most challenging years of my life… cancer, surgery, treatment and even more difficult has been walking with friends who’ve been diagnosed with cancer, lost loved ones, lost jobs, endured major financial issues and others who have gone through miscarriages.

It hasn’t been easy, but what a year of growth through embracing life!

Now it’s time to find my word for 2010….

“Our Great God”

“How Great is our God” (Chris Tomlin)

Welcome/Offering

“From the Inside Out” (Hillsong United)

Message pt 1

“Tear down the walls” (D. Pierce/S. Perez)

Message pt 2

“Surrender” (Lincoln Brewster)
“I Surrender All” (The hymn)

Baptisms

“Rise Up” – (D. Pierce)

Baptistms/Welcome/Offering

“Jesus Messiah” (Chris Tomlin)
Scripture Reading (Rom. 12:1-2) – read by Joshua Robinson
“Take My Life” (Chris Tomlin)

Acts of Love Offering

“You Are” (Clint Brown)

Message

“Revelation Song” (Jennie Lee Riddle)

Welcome

“Let God Arise” – Chris Tomlin
“Tear Down the Walls” – Doug P/Socs P
“City on out knees” – tobyMac

Message

“Rise Up” – Doug P

Welcome

Mighty to Save – Hillsong United
Shout Unto God – Hillsong United
Alive – Doug P

Message

Worship Leaders:
Doug Pierce
Socrates Perez
Jarian Felton

__________________________

Video Intro
Welcome – Mickey
Man-conomics – John Helton
“Things you don’t say to your wife” – John Helton

“Victory in Jesus” (Grand Funk Railroad Style)
“Rise Up” – Doug Pierce

Scripture Reading

“City on our Knees” – tobyMac

Panel Questions

Message – David Uth

Response
“Somebody’s Praying” – Ricky Skaggs
“How He Loves” – John Mark McMillan

Closing – David Uth