(FEATURING: 100 PORTRAITS AND FRIENDS)
Released: 2008
The fourth album in the Enter The Worship Circle series. This recording builds on its predecessors, but takes the series to a whole new level. Featuring Ben and Robin Pasley, Tim and Laurie Thornton, Karla Adolphe, and Caleb Friesen the sounds range from roadhouse rock to crazy gypsy drum circles. We have a prepared a Flickr photo album for your enjoyment from the recording retreat!
Every time we get a new group of worshipers together for a "Circle" album we are both afraid and excited in equal parts. Afraid because anytime you get super talented people, plus their instruments and egos in a room their is massive potential for implosion. Excited because the pontential for great works of art that are full of rich conversation with God is even greater. In this case we found out that our fears were totally unjustified. It was more like a family reinion than a recording project. We think Tim referred to the week as having tickets to a spiritual Disneyland! Here's a special word of loving thanks to all those who participated in whether front of microphones, in prayer, in offering up their home (thanks Rick and Debbie!) or in holding a knife for the peanut butter sandwich-making. Thanks, thanks, thanks. Ben and Robin Pasley, to speak in the third person, are two of the luckiest people alive to share so much wonderful space with so many fantastic people!
We would like to recognize our creative partners/sponsors for their help not only on this album, but over many years of creative work: Presonus Audio for excellent mic preamps used all over this album, PSP Audioware whose software plugins were all I used in mixing this album!, LR Baggs which has amplified my acoustic on stage for years, SIT Strings which we play exclusively, Larrivee Guitars that I play on this album, and Macaluso Guitars who just recently developed a custom guitar that I use on tour and just love it.
Recording this project made us fall in love with live recording. It was so good to be engaged in singing and playing the songs, interacting with our friends and the music they made in real time. Being in those moments and focused as a group on Jesus was a totally different experience than any recording we'd done before. It was one of the simplest and most moving experiences of making music we've known. You should try it sometime with your community. We're grateful to have been a part of this project and to be a part of the lives of all of the wonderful people you hear on it. We are so grateful for the help and encouragement of our good friend Glad and the sacrifice that her husband Scott made in sending her our way to help with our little girl during the recording. We are registered songwriters with ASCAP as Timothy Floyd Thornton and Laura Elizabeth Thornton. Our music publishing entity is called Bricklayer Music Publishing. We like the idea of building the kingdom and restoring broken things. Also on our list of favorite things is to serve our friends hot chocolate with extra marshmallows (Aaron Strumpel particularly enjoys this) at our house and play games as often as possible.
A word about the Blackthorn Project:
We have a thing called The Blackthorn Project . It's usually either a duo (us as singer/songwriters switching off between playing guitar and mandolin instruments and violin and viola) or a trio with an upright bassist. We also love to collaborate musically with our friends, many of whom are on Fourth Circle too. A lot of what we do is more than just music though. We travel in and out of the US, teaching people about Jesus and helping them. The passion of our hearts is to love the church and to help hurting people find healing in the love of Jesus. To find out more, visit http://www.theblackthornproject.com where you'll find video, our blog and email list, our free podcast, calendar, photos, some merchandise, and...well, it's the hub of all things Blackthorn Project. Oh, and don't forget: almost anyone can host a house concert...so contact us and find out how! theblackthornproject @ gmail.com
A word about gear we love:
Thanks to Bruce Weber and all at Sound to Earth for their amazing mandolin family acoustic instruments. We're proud to recommend them to you. We utilized an original Bitterroot mandolin and a Bridger octave mandolin (in GDAD bouzouki tuning sometimes) on this recording. We love long life and good tone so we use Elixir strings for guitar and mandolin in recording and live settings. We also like our acoustic instruments not to sound ridiculous and half-electrified when we have to plug them in, so we use LR Baggs pickups and DIs which sound rich and beautiful.
Caleb: It was so wonderful to collaborate on such an original project, but by far the greater gift was to engage the wonderful family that happened to be involved with this recording. Thank you to Ben and Robin for your perspective, foresight, and for always creating an atmosphere to just be. I'm excited to see who this is for. A special thank you to Michael Kotzen for your beautiful instruments"
Gary and Karla Adolphe: Thank the beautiful team that compromised Fourth Circle! Ben + Robin Pasley, Tim + Laurie Thornton, Aaron Strumpel, Dave + Ally Wilton, Caleb Friesen, Tony Vilgiate, Glad and the Christian’s--what a great house!! Thank you for inviting us to create and experiment in a safe and beautiful worship environment. It is wonderful to hang out with The Father and with all of you. We are so honored to have been a part of this adventure! Thanks to the families that supported the process and project. Thank you for calling us family and loving us deeply, we love you! Thank you to the US Border Guards in Pembina, ND who keep allowing us to exist in the “grey areas”. We hope this album opens the doors of hearts we wish to know, welcome!!
Karla is married to Gary Adolphe and live, along with their dog, Sampson, in Winnipeg, Canada, but tour much of the year in a 36' long Bounder RV with Caleb Friesen and appear as renowned folk act: Jacob and Lily. Karla does appear as a soloist and will, even more, with the release of this album find her niche among Worship Circle fans and the uninitiated who simply love great music! Enjoy Chair and Microphone, Vol. 3 as well!
Excerpted from Jacob and Lily's bio: With their unique and organic sound; Jacob and Lily are the freshest act to emerge from Winnipeg’s rich music community. Complex fusion-style rhythms and innovative, spontaneous songs create an electric atmosphere that captivates their audiences. Incorporating the cajon beat box, world percussion instruments and a partial drum kit, Caleb Friesen is the perfect compliment to Karla Adolphe’s soaring vocals. Jacob and Lily have had a busy freshman year performing at an official showcases at the 2007 NXNE festival, 2007 & 2006 MARIA Manitoba Music Showcase at OCFF, Creston Valley Music Fest, Gateway Festival, Great Woods Music Festival, Harvest Sun Music Festival, Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Fallout Artfest in Minneapolis, The Harvest Moon Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival Lunchour Series, SNACC Music in the Ruins Series, Winnipeg Folk Festival Young Performers Showcase, and the Winnipeg Folk Exchange Grand Opening. Jacob and Lily have also enjoyed sharing the stage with Elliot Brood, Alana Levendoski, The Arrogant Worms, Craig Cardiff, Twilight Hotel, Cara Luft, The Doug and Jess Band, The Cracker Cats, 100 Portraits, Trace Bundy, Holly O’Reilly, Nathan Rogers, Little Miss Higgins, Matt York, MB Hal, Lindsay Jane, Dan Frechette, Jaylene Johnson and Rik Leaf.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Smallgate Music
Gary Adolphe
Tel: 503.867.2627
Email: info @ smallgate.ca
Personal Notes:
When I heard the First Circle, I had been personally caught in a post-ligurgical expression of worship and really had no clue what I was doing. And then in marched the hand drums, simplicity, and spontaneity of EWC and I was intoxicated. Why not, really? It was the driving, primal deal that got me, as a new song of mine says, "Heavy knocks upon my doorway, there's no way the deadbolts can stay!" There was nothing to decipher, just these crazy heavy knocks on my heart from the Lord.
So it was a joy for me to record the Chair and Microphone, Vol. 2 album, and then an unexpected and wonderful moment in my life to collaborate for the Fourth Circle. I remember sitting in Tim and Laurie's living room writing "Too Proud" and "Sweep Me Away" and wondering at how these songs came to be in just a few minutes between a couple of long-loved friends...I remember having a terrible night and morning and then Tim coming over and praying with me and we just asked the Lord for a song that would bless His Family and "Trouble Won't Go" came out and the day just turned on its side. I remember a moment during the recording when Caleb got a Matrix-style download from the Lord to play a new kind of drum. I remember the last day of the recording when Karla's song "Nothing Can Stop You" broke my heart and freed a river of tears...and the sun was streaming in the windows making all the ornaments on the Christmas tree stand out and I put thoughts of holiday commercialism and cynicism behind me and remembered how perfect and beautiful the Lord was and is and continues to be. And I remember the last song of the recording that night when Ben sat alone and sang "Quiet Now" as I was laying on the wooden floor relishing the time with everyone. It was a joy to give this season of my life to this project.
Artistry and Life
I'm not as slick as your average rock star (yes they're average) and I don't have an army of people booking shows, printing posters, or photoshopping my face for public consumption, but I do love to travel and lead worship and equip the Family and those who are wanting to be adopted. So much so that I've had a couple of 200-show-years, four-international-trip-years, and a couple of quiet creative seasons that have continued to unearth me as a person and son. I love to play big venues, I love to play in living rooms, I love to lead song-writing workshops with big groups of people, I love to sit with just one other person and share and learn what we know of the Lord and how He loves it when we express His heart for people. Pretty much if I can plug in somewhere, I do. If you love some of these same things and want to spend time doing them with me or booking me to come to your community/home/staDiUM, email me at aaron @ aaronstrumpel.com and check out my contact info below. Oh and a new project is in the works that's guaranteed to make you want to jump on some sort of worship train. Some heavy knocks ya'll. :)
A WORD ABOUT GEAR
I buy and sell it like hot cakes. Ask my friends. If you think you have an amp or a guitar that I could use, I'll do it justice and feature you on my website and in after-show conversations. Beware tho, I may just sell it to go on a ministry trip to Africa! :) I have been sponsored by THD hand-wired amplifiers. And then I went worship. Acoustic I mean. It's the season for experimenting tho, so help me make noise.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Aaron Strumpel
tele: 303.819.3493
email: aaron @ aaronstrumpel.com
web: www.aaronstrumpel.com
Go here to read a more traditional bio/about page.
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