As a friend of mine said recently with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, "this internet thing is pretty cool."
I was reading a friend's blog last evening when he mentioned an artist who performed at his retreat. The artist's name was/is BRENT LAMB. Well, that name represents a blast from the past for a significant portion of my life.
In September of 1980, Karla and I moved here for me to take a job as a publisher for WORD Music. There was only one other Christian Music Publisher (or as we were called back then - tune plugger) in Nashville at the time. This particular job description consisted of encouraging songwriters to write songs "on demand" for particular artists who were looking for specific kinds of songs. Your songwriters would work hard writing a song "just for that particular need", and then we would record a "demo" of the song doing our best to tailor-make the song for that artist, then pitch the song to that artist or their producer or anyone else who had influence with the artist in getting someone to decide to record your song..... what a racket!
and oh, the stories.....(and BTW, in the "country music world", this is very much alive and well to this day!)
Well, as I realized that I had been hired to find songwriters, songs, and make somethnig happen, I discovered this kid in my church who had written some songs. His name was Brent Lamb, and I loved this kid. As I began to learn more about how to do the job I had been hired to do, I came upon yet another talented individual who only wanted to collaborate (write with another writer).
So, one day, I had the two of them meet in my office for an appointment to write a song - any song - it did not matter - just get together and see what would happen.
Well, Brent was about to get married, so why not write a song for his wedding - which they did. I loved the outcome, and I called the most talented male studio singer at that time (Steve Green) to come sing the demo, and the result was one of the most well-known contemporary wedding songs ever written - Household of Faith.
Fast forward to today - I had not had any contact with Brent since probably mid-to-late 80's....until I read about him last night on my friend's blog.....
I e-mailed him last night, and he responded. What a very, very pleasant surprise to see how God is using him today!
I so love this re-connecting thing........
Read more about my friend by going here
