adamsfishyodor coming out of retirement!

The rumors are true!  It has now been officially confirmed, from sources close to the group, adamsfishyodor, that famed trio from the Jesus House is going to appear on Sunday, September 29th at Loveland United Methodist Church, Loveland, Ohio in the Greater Cincinnati area.  The group will lead worship and perform during both services; 9:00 am & 1030 am.  Don't miss this unique opportunity to listen to, sing and laugh with adamsfishyodor!
Invite everyone you've ever met to join you.

Jesus House Harmonies

Recently heard from an old friend, Ron Houtz, who was part of a band called The Wild Olive Branch Band. They played often at the Jesus House. Being reminded of them, I began to think of the groups who played the JH who had incredible vocal harmony. I’m a horrible harmony singer, but I love it. This can be explained by growing up on The Beatles, loving the Birds, Crosby, Stills & Nash, but also the Doo Wop groups of the late 50’s early 60’s. Many groups, like Prodigal, Willoughby-Wilson and Rising Hope had good harmonies but the harmonies were not the driving force of their sound. So, my personal favorite harmony groups, in alphabetical order: Odor, Clark & Burns: Not together very long, but these three could fill a room with more harmony than any three voices should be able to produce. I was especially pleased because it gave my long time friend and musical partner, Kent Odor, the opportunity to get out of his system all the harmony that he heard in his brain that adamsfishyodor was not able to produce. Rough Draft: a.k.a. Forerunner. The only Jesus House Band I ever re-named! These guys, sometimes three, sometimes four, had some of the most interesting and unique harmonies. Not all of them had strong solo voices, but their blend was always incredible. Stephens-Brigance: Steve & Barb Stephens with Deny Brigance not only presented great vocal arrangements but interesting acoustic guitar work. Three voices, three guitars with the songs mostly written by Barb or Deny and the occasional secular song thrown in. One year they came at Christmas time and led us in a variety of Christmas carols made even more beautiful by their harmonies. At the infamous concert in Williamsburg, Ohio, where the number of musicians equaled or perhaps eclipsed the audience attendance, Rich Mullins and I sat beside the stage and listened to Stephens-Brigance’s set. When they finished Rich turned to me and said, “They are my favorite group.” Wild Olive Branch Band: a.k.a. Latter Reign. These three had simple, three-part harmony. Each were able to sing lead on songs with the other two singing harmonies. One of the few groups that had three lead singers & three song writers. Zion: It would be easy to assume that Zion was simply a back-up band for Rich Mullins. Even though Rich wrote the bulk of the songs, listening to their one album or live performances found online, quickly dispels one of this notion. They had strong, four-part harmonies that drove their sound. Vocally, Beth, Jen, & Tom were equal partners with Rich. Of course, when you have a voice in your group as rich and strong as Beth’s you’d better do something with it! In this article, I’ve identified two groups who changed their names during their Jesus House career. What other prominent group, also mentioned in this article, changed their name?

CD Listening Party!

"Coming Home: A Jesus House Christmas" is the title of the new CD of original Christmas music by Jesus House artists. The listening party will be Saturday, December 15th, 2:00 - 5:00 pm at Pleasant Run Church of Christ, 2720 W. Kemper Road at the intersection of Kemper & Pippin. Suggested voluntary donation is $5.00 per CD to cover production costs. Artists you'll hear on the CD include but are not limited to Rick Mapes, Geoff Thurman, Randy Moody, Rick Roberts, Susan Rice, Marc O'Hara, Jennie Pitney, adamsfishyodor, Terry Fisher, Rick Marksberry, Barb & Steve Steffens, Michael Goldberg, Rick Nohle, plus a large cast of musicians, vocalists, and sound effects people who assisted in recording. Many of these songs were written specifically for this recording. Special thanks to Rick Marksberry for recording/engineering/playing on this project and Deny Brigance for producing, writing new music, arranging, and playing lots of different instruments. Come to listen. Come to hang out with friends. Come to buy a CD. In fact, buy a whole bag full! Spread the word!

I've been listening to the Jesus House Christmas CD. I like what I'm hearing. It contains some really good songs. Interesting arrangements and performances. I think you'll like it. Do I have a favorite? Yes, several. Am I going to tell you? No. I'll let you choose your own favorites. No details yet on where the listening party will be. We're looking for a location. Any suggestions? Still aiming for the first weekend of December. More details later. I'll include them on this blog as well as Facebook. Might even send out a few old fashioned emails.

Jesus House Christmas CD

Keep the first weekend of December, 2012 open for the release of the long-awaited (?) Jesus House Christmas CD titled
“Coming Home: A Jesus House Christmas”
It is a compilation of original songs by artists who used to perform at the Jesus House.
Quite an assortment of musicians, styles, etc. We’ll have some sort of listening party or perhaps even another reunion concert.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Chronicles of Narnia were books read and re-read during the Jesus House years.
The following review of the latest installment of the movie franchise is added here to reach as many people as possible. Yes, it's the same on I put on my Facebook page.
Hope you are planning to see the movie on December 10.
Blessings
Terry


The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The following is a brief summary of some reactions and reflections on the movie. I viewed the film November 18 with a theater full of pastors, pastor’s spouses, and employees of Zondervan. A few children were present but not many. I’m leaving out a lot of details because I do not want to spoil it for others. There are no spoilers.

I urge you to plan to see the movie December 10 or at least opening weekend. As with all long-term franchises, the next movie gets the green light based on the revenue of the most recent. A strong opening weekend will probably result in immediate filming of The Silver Chair, which really needs to be made if for no other reason than the one I provide below.

My opinion of the film in one sentence: Not as good as The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe but better than Prince Caspian.

Strength: It’s a better children’s movie than Prince Caspian. I still do not like the casting of an older actor, Ben Barnes, to play Prince Caspian. It seemed the producers were trying to produce a teen movie and attract the Twilight crowd.

Strength: Will Poulter, the actor playing Eustace. He is fabulous. He doesn’t look like I imagined Eustace during 36 years of reading these books. but I’m not disappointed. He is the right blend of comic relief, narcissism, and serious reflection. The quality of his performance is enough to green light The Silver Chair. His presence also gives me hope that The Silver Chair will be another children’s movie.

Strength: The relationship between Eustace & Reepicheep.

Strength: Ramandu’s daughter. Wish she had more screen time.

Disappointment: The magical, beautiful moments. There were a few, but they were too short. One of the best was the arrival of Ramandu’s daughter but even this one was too short. Another was the first glimpse of Aslan, but it too was brief. There was nothing to rival the best magical moments in LWW; Lucy’s first entrance into Narnia or the first look we have of Aslan. These books need magical moments.

Disappointment: The battle scenes were difficult to follow. This might be corrected by release date because it was explained that post-production work is still being done.

Changes from the book: A plot devise is added to provide a quest to the story in addition to that of finding the seven lords. It’s an okay change.

Nice surprise: Yes, Peter & Susan make cameo appearances as does the White Witch.

A change I wish they had made: I was hoping they would bring Trumpkin the Dwarf along so Peter Dinklage would be back. He is a great actor who was not given enough in Prince Caspian. If you question my assessment of his ability as a actor watch The Station Agent then compare it with the character he portrayed in Elf.

To all my friends who are hard-core Chronicles fans/geeks: I believe you’ll like the movie. You want to see it on the biggest screen in your area.

Name the JH Christmas CD

The release date of the Jesus House Christmas CD has been delayed due to the time it takes to get everything recorded, mixed, duplicated, packaged, etc. So it will be released sometime before Christmas, 2011. But for now we need your creative help! The previous CD, the one distributed at the last reunion, was given a name that came through the minds of Terry Fisher and Deny Brigance. For this one we would like to tap into your mind. Yes, YOURS! We are announcing the official Name-the-Jesus-House-Christmas-C-D Contest and you get to be part of it. Submit your name either by responding to this note or emailing Deny or me. For me use: revfisher@earthlink.net

Contest ends on Christmas Day, 2010.

So...you are wondering...what do you win? Good question.
At the very least, you'll get a free CD. Of course, lots of other people will get free CD's too, although there might be a small charge to cover materials, but we won't charge you.
Maybe we can get a bunch of the artists to sign yours. How's that for incentive?
We'll acknowledge you somewhere on the cover.
I'll publish your name on the Jesus House Blog.
Maybe I'll put your name on my Facebook page.
Maybe you'll get a free meal out of it, but no promises there.
Mostly you'll have the fun of naming the next CD!

Start submitting those titles. Look forward to reading your ideas.
Blessings
Terry