Music In Worship

On the verge: Brantley Gilbert goes 'Country Wide'

Not even Nashville — the beckoning mecca of country music — could pull him away permanently. "I've had several people in management and different labels asking me to move up there, and I just can't do it," he says. "This is where my mama is, this is where my dog is, I'm happy here. I just bought a piece of property in (neighboring) Maysville, and that's probably where I'll settle down."

Country all across the USA: But Gilbert, after years of touring, has had considerable success with his single Country Must Be Country Wide , a rock-infused track that takes him far outside Jefferson. The song — which has sold more than 160,000 downloads, despite nearly no exposure on country radio — celebrates the fact that there are country fans all over the nation, not just in particular regions.

"I wrote it with (fellow country artists) Colt Ford and Mike Dekle, and we had just got done touring. We had gone a little more north and northwest than we'd ever gone before, and we just started to notice that even people up North were a lot like us — that there were some country people up North, too, and they needed a little bit of country credit."

After completing a run as an opener for Willie Nelson 's summer Country Throwdown tour, Gilbert's own trek took him to Minneapolis — one of those northern stops — for a recent headlining date that he recalls as one of his most memorable. "We got a hell of a response from (the crowd). Being that far away from home and getting that kind of response put it over the top."

'Halfway to Heaven': Gilbert, a high school graduate ("with honors, believe it or not") was pulling double duty touring regionally and studying at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, where he was studying to become a relationship counselor, when his life abruptly changed. A nearly fatal car accident in 2004 left Gilbert with a newfound clarity that he wanted to pursue music full-time.

The one-car accident would become the inspiration for the title track of his 2010 sophomore album, Halfway to Heaven , in which he sings, "They say I took a swing at my best friend/For tryin' to take my keys/Next thing I knew I was upside down/Thinkin' this is it for me."

Gilbert, who was in the car by himself, recalls how his attitude changed after that night. "I was just always one of those kids who thought it can't happen to me, and it did," he says. "And I thought, well, maybe that was something that could apply to music, too. I never thought we'd be standing where we (he and his band) are today, but here we are. Just realizing that anything can happen, and you can't control what does, you might as well do what you love.

What Seeing U2 In Concert Taught Me About Worship Leading - David ...

I saw U2 twice in the last two months. Twice. Are we good? Awesome.

While I really liked the show, it was not the show itself that fascinated me most.

Yes, the screen rotary expansion was amazing. The light show was second to none. I bet the scenery even gave George Lucas' ideas.

The songs, sounds, delivery - the best I've ever seen.

I'm not here to draw parallels between the music of U2 and worship music. We already know that. Well, they basically invented the music worship. (Can you hear the delay guitar and vocal sounding tenor epic?)

I'm not here to say U2 is the greatest band in the world. We know that too.

I'm not here to say you need to build a tribe as big as U2 with your group worship. I do not think that's possible.

But what struck me most? Supporters. It was really scary reminiscent of a worship service.

Hands in the air.

Tears.

Dance.

Scream.

Even scary charismatic movements of the hand were present.

In light of my people watching, I was able to glean some ideas as a worship leader.

I understand that a U2 concert is all about ... U2. But Bono did an amazing job of attracting the attention of some global initiatives and social justice causes around the world.

As a worship leader / artist / composer myself, I need to be constantly reminded that my role has nothing to do with me. I simply draw attention to a larger one.

He probably has to do with 40 + these guys have been playing music together, but the musical chemistry was amazing. Each band member knows his place in the context of the whole.

Larry Mullen doesn’t even hit his drums that hard. Adam Clayton plays simple, yet incredible precise patters on his bass. The Edge, well, doesn’t need an explanation.

Worship teams need to focus more on what they don’t play than what they actually play. In our quest for deeper creativity, we can’t lose sight of what “works” for the congregation. Always serve the song. Serve the lead vocal. Submit to what a song needs and don’t clutter it up.

While the two concerts I attended had many similarities, there were 4-5 songs that were different. At this last show, Bono was also related to Pittsburgh in a unique way. I did not know this, but the closing song "Bad" was written about someone in Pittsburgh. Epic.

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