trentsmithmusic.com

I wrote a duet a couple of weeks ago called “Emmanuel (Jesus, Morning Star)” and I’m going to head down the road to thestickhouse on the 27th of July to record it. A&R at Worship Leader Magazine liked the demo so there’s a chance it could be included on an upcoming SongDISCovery cd if the listening panel votes it in… I have asked indie songwriter and artist Chaya to lend her lovely voice to the project and she has agreed. Can’t wait to start! Here’s a rough demo of the song. http://soundcloud.com/trentsmithmusic/emmanuel-jesus-morning-star-version2

June 20, Bethel E. Free Church–Fargo, ND
June 22, Christ Community Church–Omaha NE

June 23, Country Meadows Baptist Church–Kansas City, MO
June 25, Restoring Hope International Benefit Concert, Point of Grace Church–Waukee, IA
June 26, Backyard BBQ, Saylorville Baptist Church–Des Moines, IA
June 27 a.m., Point of Grace Church–Waukee, IA
June 27 p.m., Saylorville Baptist Church–Des Moines, IA
June 30, River of Life Church–Hastings, MN
July 3, Living Waters Fellowship–Easter Lake, IA
July 4, Willow Creek Church–South Des Moines, IA

About 18 months ago I joined a wonderful network of worship leaders and enthusiasts from around the globe called www.theworshipcommunity.com
Little did I know at the time that that contact would turn into a partnership with the founders and parent company Highest Praise Productions. This unique web resource is a grassroots movement that utilizes current networking strategies to equip worship leaders all over the country and world. A few months after I released “A Fool’s Hope,” the website’s founder contacted me to start conversation about a publishing agreement and I’m happy to say that as of early 2010 I am officially part of this rapidly growing phenomenon. Highest Praise has recently put their energy into promoting my single “Hallelujah! I Am Free” to other worship leaders and the response even in the first week has been pretty amazing. I’m excited to be part of a this unique family and looking forward to what God will do through the partnership. Please check out www.theworshipcommunity.com

The follow up to Smith’s debut worship release, “Honest to God”, A Fool’s Hope exceeds its predecessor in most every imaginable area. Smith’s songwriting is simply superb. Each song is strongly crafted—surprisingly little filler—and is crafted as much for accessibility as for congregational performance considerations. Indeed, it would not be odd to hear some cuts, “Shine for You” and “You Were, You Are”, for example, on mainstream radio, if it weren’t for the overt worship lyrics, of course. Speaking of lyrics, Smith is well acquainted with grief, it seems, if we are to take the first half of the record as a personal journal. Following the path of ecclesiastical worship that is so seldom traveled in CCM circles, Smith writes poetically about the whole of a believer’s experience; trial, temptation and struggle in equal measure with redemption, grace and renewal. “It’s You” features a stunning example of Smith’s prose as he describes God’s omnipresence as beautifully as I have ever heard:

There’s a face in the shimmering mist
And a whispered name where the grass is swaying,
There’s a rhythm and rhyme wherever I go.
There’s a pulse in the pattering rain
And a deeper roar in the ocean’s waving
And it’s a voice that I know.

“Savior” speaks in more direct terms, like the psalmist who realizes his own spiritual bankruptcy without Christ:

Would you believe I’m barely breathing
Since you disappeared?
My soul is far too cold to feel you
Even if you’re here.
I stretch my hands out like a desert
Thirsty for the rain.
I’m cracked and broken, still
You’ve spoken silence to my pain.

Smith manages to speak doctrinal truth with the last few cuts, all married to 6/8 time signatures, and featuring Smith’s own, accomplished violin playing. In fact, the cut “You Were You Are” with its Feist-like gait, features a strummed violin as it’s main rhythm instrument, sounding a bit like a mandolin or gut-stringed guitar. These types of musical flourishes are all over the record (Hymn for the Morning includes a mandolin tuned to an E chord and struck with a Phillips screwdriver) and are a large part of why A Fool’s Hope has such character. A lot of credit goes to producer, Brandon Mains, who allows Smith the latitude to try things that may not be conventional, but add tons of depth and texture to his tunes. Smith is the real engine behind the project, however, and with the lyrical depth and musical breadth shown on A Fool’s Hope, it should be just a matter of time before a ton of large labels sit up and take notice. Shawn McLaughlin, WMM reviewer

Good News! One of the songs from “A Fool’s Hope ” will be featured on an upcoming issue of Worship Leader Magazine’s SongDISCovery compilation and will go out to about 20,000 people. “Hallelujah! I Am Free” has served very well for me as a worship song and hopefully a lot of other churches will pick it up. If you subscribe to Worship Leader Magazine and SongDISCovery, look for it in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue!

Spent several very pleasant days at Mt. Hermon Camp making new friends and re-connecting with old. I’m getting great feedback on the new album and trying to decide which is the best route for promotion…
One day I took the Martin down by a beautiful creek to spend some time alone with God. On the way I passed between two close branches and felt the unmistakable sensation of spiderwebs across my face. I was further disconcerted to see in my peripheral vision an enormous spider hanging from the side of my head and trying to gain a foothold (if spiders have feet) on my ear. I must have looked hilarious with hands flailing at the side of my head. The hapless arachnid hit the dirt and made a run for it. Normally I don’t kill spiders outside the house or yard, but I wasn’t rational enough to think through the ethics of it at the time. The spider spread it’s net in the wrong path and caught an untimely end. I walked around with shivers for ten minutes.

YIKES! I haven’t updated my blog all summer! Gosh–I stink at keeping up with these things.

Well, obviously I got really busy with the new record project. It’s done and at replication right now. I teamed up with my friend Brandon Mains to co-produce this album–he is a fantastic musician and song-writer. I also enlisted a great drummer, Trey Sabatelli, to help out and Brian Steckler on the mixing/mastering end. All of the vocals were recorded in an upper room of my house, where the heat gets almost unbearable in the summer. It was downright miserable most of the time, in fact–but it’s finally done. Oye! The album is called “A Fool’s Hope, ” as the themes of hope and brokeness can be found in most of the songs. I am hoping that the melodies and lyrics touch a lot of hurting people.

…was smaller than I thought it would be. Everything was well-marked (I get lost easily). The Embassy Music Event was fun–I scored the highest in the auditions and was one of the top two finalists. Made some new friends. Yep…good times. Still waiting on my tax refund so I can hit production of the worship album full-steam. I’d like to write a couple more songs for it too…

Turns out that I’ve landed in the semi-final round of Embassy Music’s “Ultimate Talent Search.” That means I’ll go to Nashville in two weeks to compete with about 20 others for the chance to do an industry showcase in a nice venue there. Cool…hopefully I can overcome the jet-lag and have a great audition!

The Paradise Post’s “Paradise Idol” competition review came out today. Dissappointingly, the reviewing journalist didn’t even attend the first half of the program… WOW. Of course they were obligated to give me at least a generic nod due to my second place finish, all the other artists in the first half were completely ignored! What a bummer…