Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Stinging Rain Wins Third Place with The Dream

Thanks to everyone who helped us win third place in the Top Ten Holy Spirit Songs contest sponsored by the Top Catholic Songs website. We received 11 votes altogether, and I counted 9 from the 25 people whom I emailed. That means we received 2 votes from new fans! So welcome and thanks for your vote. Here are the full results:


Basically I just submitted two links to the song, CD Baby and iTunes, then I wrote the following short reminiscence of when Nathan first brought the song to the band.

Dove born from the sky — I hope someday I can see You.

I remember the first rehearsal of this song. I was on the phone in the room adjacent to the practice area when it was introduced and guys start playing it. Jon was laying out a sparse beat with his snares off and Nate was playing slide on his acoustic. I knew what kind of bass line I would play, a very simple one to complement the understated beat.

Nate began singing dreamily, "Spirit, exalt yourself...." I knew at that moment that this song would become a favorite. His wife, Julie, played the violin on the recording. She also joined in with Nate, Brett and I in the whistling of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" at the end. Dave [Brown] might have been whistling, too — it was a long time ago.

Writing that short paragraph was illuminating to me since I barely remember details of working out any other tune. I guess it was just one of those illuminated memories, a definitive moment of sorts in my musical consciousness. That may sound deep, but it really feels natural and did so at the time. Like coming up out of the water and seeing the world glitter with the breath of wind and the light of sun.

1 comment:

JLogue said...

Thanks so much for your site. I stumbled upon Stinging Rain when I was in college in the early 90s. I believe I only had the one album, Dream, but I remember thinking, this is what Christian music needs. We had pop music on one side and hard rock or metal on the other side. We needed bands like Toad the Wet Sprocket, or something that mellow. I recently downloaded and purchased a premium subscription to Spotif, and lo and behold I found the entire catalog of music! And then I found this blog soon after. Thanks so much for your music...a total blessing.