Mary and Marha with Jesus – Uganda card from Roberta to Ken

Mustard Seed Songs concert for Roberta at Holy Rood

“Don’t Be Ashamed of Jesus” The  Mustard Seed Soul Band featuring Nicola and Fiona Poustie, Kat Hands and Katy Summer.

Tomorrow Joffy and I are off to the London School of Music in Ealing for the last day of mixing Risen!-The Musical before handing over the huge task of mastering to LCM Senior Lecturer, Andrew Bourbon.  Then one more listen from Joffy and me before 1000 are replicated by Sound Performance Ltd – all ready for release on Palm Sunday, March 29^th!

Tomorrow I also have a meeting with the London College of Music, Performing Arts Department to discuss auditioning and creating a cast for the Risen! – The Musical performance in Coventry on May 23^rd – the same cast hopefully then performing in the autumn stage production at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth. All very exciting!

I have also been responding to  all the advice given by Jonathan Brown MD of Integrity Music and Ross Gill of Global Fire and have been registering with PRS- PPL- ISRC and MCPS to ensure that Risen! is fully protected for copyright.

Found myself in the loft the other day – as one does – and there was a programme of a very early Mustard Seed Songs concert at Holy Rood church in aid of Roberta Cousins’ ministry work in Uganda.

I could not do Roberta’s  amazing story justice here but suffice to say that she overcome agoraphobia and a lack of support from the elders of her church to obey what she knew to be God’s call and to go to Uganda on her own – not knowing anyone and with no planned place to stay.  Now, after many years, some very challenging and despite continuous bouts of malaria Roberta is still in Uganda preaching, evangelising and blessing the local people of Kampala and the surrounding villages- a true “Woman of God.”

On 11^th of November 2000 Roberta gave me a book in which to write thoughts and verses – the book had a card inside from Uganda with a picture on the front  (see featured pic) of  Martha and Mary with Jesus – Mary at His feet with Martha looking on irritated as she prepares Sudza en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadza  Inside Roberta wrote “A Word from the Lord” for me – it is something that I often turn to for encouragement when things don’t seem to be going well – most especially in all that is connected with Mustard Seed Songs. Here is an extract – it’s the part that begins “You must remain in me “ that I need to  constantly remind myself.

Though you I will heal the broken hearted. I will bring hope to the desolate, I will strengthen the weak. I will comfort the lonely, giving my love to others as I give my love to you. You must remain in me for I am the vine that feeds you, without me you can bear no fruit. You did not choose me but I choose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my Name- this is my command love each other.

Lucy Stimpson- Maynard singing in Mustard Seeds’ first musical “His Story” at Kings Theatre, Southsea. James Oliver on cello

“Father Let Your Spirit Fall Upon Me” featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from CD ” I Look Up To The Heavens” produced by John Hodgkinson

So last week I said that things are hotting up re Risen! – The Musical and that continues to be the case.  Mark Priddy of Spindrift Media has updated the Mustard Seed Songs’ website ready for the Risen! double CD release on Palm Sunday, March 29^th – www.mustardseedsongs.org.uk  In addition PJ, the Risen! blog webmaster, is ensuring that by visiting www.risenthemusical.com you will also be  able to  purchase the Risen! CDs.

I was fortunate enough last Thursday to meet Jonathan Brown who is MD of Integrity Music – the largest distributor of Christian music in the UK.  He met me for over an hour in Bill’s Restaurant ,  Covent Garden in between  him having meetings with Hill Songs and Matt Redman! Ok yes I know that I am name dropping big time but it is so difficult keeping one’s feet on the ground when so many exciting things are happening. However I firmly believe that this is all part of God’s plan – I am just so thankful to be part of it.

Joffy is working all hours with final editing and mixing and next Friday we return to the London College of Music for the last mixing session before Andrew Bourbon, one of the Senior Lecturers at LCM, masters the 110 minute musical ready to deliver to Tim Courtnell of Sound Performance Ltd for a deadline of March 18^th.

Churches and individuals are contacting me with pre – release orders- you can do this yourself by visiting www.risenthemusical.com.

Yes exciting times indeed!

” A Worship Song” featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from CD “Where Would I Be Without You? produced by Ross Gill

Hope you enjoyed half term (if you had one!)

Yes things are hotting up for Risen!- The Musical!  Last week there was an article in “The News” written by Rev. Stephen Girling, Vicar of Holy Rood Church.  Dr Graham Giles, who distributed promo Risen! CDs at the 63^rd President’s Prayer Breakfast in Washington, USA (see blog February 12^th) has had a reply from someone who received a copy – Bill Hightower, the Alabama State  Senator. The Senator said “the songs and lyrics are wonderful” and even better “How is it that I may help you with your project?”  Wow!!

I have been contacting churches to see if they can help with the Palm Sunday, March 29^th launch of the double CD.  Joffy has been “burning the midnight oil” ensuring that all the editing and mixing will be ready in time for Andrew Bourbon of The London College of Music to master the 100 minute Musical  – again ready for Tim Courtnell of Sound Performance Ltd to ensure  1000 copies will be replicated in time  for the CD’s launch on Palm Sunday, March 29^th.

I also had a meeting with my old friend Mick Mellows, who is Director of the Portsmouth based charity Faith and Football. Mick confirmed that he is extremely enthusiastic about Faith and Football collaborating with Mustard Seed Songs to produce a stage production of “Risen! – The Musical in the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth as soon as its £9m refurbishment is completed.

The featured song for this week is “A Worship Song” which, believe it or not, does not feature in Risen!- The Musical. Originally the song was called “From Distant Shores” and I wrote it ages ago when visiting friends in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  It was when I was in Haslar Hospital, Gosport  (what a great hospital that was !) having a minor operation that  I changed the words.

There will be no blog this week as it is half term break but it will be back next week. If you are off yourself, I hope you have having a great time.

Ken

Official Invitation for  Dr Graham Giles MBE  to 63rd Annual President’s Prayer Breakfast

“A Worship Song” featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from album “Where Would I Be Without You?” Recorded by Ross Gill

My dear friend Dr Graham Giles returned from America earlier this week and last night I had the pleasure of listening to the wonderful stories he had of attending President Obama’s 63^rd Annual Prayer Breakfast (also known as The National Prayer Breakfast) and all the accompanying luncheons and meetings.

Graham personally handed nine Risen!- The Musical promo CDs to highly influential and powerful people including one to a personal friend of the Queen of Jordan and another to Mr Akel Biltaji, the Mayor of Jordan’s capital, Amman, who is Counsellor to King Abdullah.

Watch this space!

Edna Horsley and her family

“How Can I Love You More?” featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard- from the album “Love is the Way” recorded by John Hodgkinson and Bob Ross

First the celebration– it’s one year since the Risen! blog started! It really has been great fun reminiscing about Crofton School and sharing how the music behind Mustard Seed Songs came about.

Last week’s song “ I Miss the Magic” was an old pop song which I said had been “converted into “Oh Lord Hear My Voice” in fact that was wrong – it was converted to “How Can I Love You More?” which is this week’s song and yes it does also  feature in Risen! – The Musical. It is sung by  the disciple Peter after Jesus has asked him three times “Simon son of John do you really love me?

Today, February 5^th in Washington DC, Dr Graham Giles will be having breakfast with Mr and Mrs Barack Obama and 250 other people who have been invited from 130 different countries to make “good things happen in the world.” The last time Graham went to the President’s Prayer Breakfast he rubbed shoulders with such dignitaries as the King of Jordan, The Prince of Denmark, The Prime Minister of Kosovo , the President of Macedonia and Hilary Clinton.

On Friday afternoon at my house Graham heard, for the first time, the promo CD of Risen!- The Musical,  copies of which he is taking to distribute at the Prayer Breakfast.  Graham was very moved with what he heard – “a stunning achievement” was amongst the many superlatives he used to describe the music and I thank him most sincerely for his continued support and encouragement.

Now the Tribute

Last Thursday I attended a very beautiful Thanksgiving Service for a very old and dear friend – Edna Horsley who after a long battle with cancer finally went to heaven. Edna was a long standing and much loved member of Holy Rood Church- she had also been one of the Secretaries at Crofton School until she retired.  Edna actually typed my MA dissertation listening to tapes from the Dictaphone I had used- that gives an indication of her level of her patience! Edna was always a great organiser and worked closely with the Clergy in arranging the Holy Rood Church weekends away to places like Ashburnham Place. I will also always be indebted to her for organising a coach load of people from Holy Rood to a performance of our previous musical “His Story” at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth – she even took the scene outside the Theatre in Guildhall Walk, which was pretty wild in those days, in her stride and with a smile on her face.

I will really miss Edna and my heartfelt sympathy goes to Stan, Carolyn, Paul, Dan, Gemma and Mike.

Cover of the forthcoming CD – “Risen! – The Musical”

” I Miss The Magic” featuring Cole – recorded by John Hodgkinson – not released

I have in my hand, hot off the press, the promo CD of extracts from Risen! The Musical. 30 copies are being duplicated as I write with 12 being taken by Dr Graham Giles to USA on February 2^nd when he attends President Obama’s Annual Breakfast on February  5^th.

The mixing and mastering have not yet been completed by Joffy and his ex- Lecturer, Andrew Bourbon but we had to get a promo ready in time for Graham’s visit to America and distribute to influential people he knows there.  Even if not yet fully mixed or mastered it already sounds fantastic – all credit to the singers and musicians involved and especially to Joffy himself who has worked flat out to ensure the promo was ready in time and also that the real deal double CD will be ready for release on Palm Sunday, March 29^th. We will be having 1000 replicated and huge thanks again to ex- Crofton student Tim Courtnell of Sound Performance Ltd who has done such a fantastic job for us.

We have also had confirmed that Risen! – The Musical will be performed in concert format at the Coventry Pentecost Festival on May 23^rd – watch this space for more information on this and also the planned stage production for Autumn in Portsmouth’s  New Theatre Royal, at present undergoing a £9 million refurbishment.

Those who have kindly followed this blog since it started a year ago will know the story of how I originally made up “pop songs” which later I converted to have Christian lyrics. Recently John Hodgkinson dug out for me some of those original songs which he had recorded.  One “I Miss The Magic” is I think pretty good (he says humbly) I remember adapting it to become a Christian song – “Oh Lord Hear My Voice” which was the featured song of the blog on December 4^th. The song is sung by “Cole” who was the vocalist for the band “Yellow Cab” for whom Tudor Davies played keys. (see blog  March 20^th)

Next week this blog will have its first birthday – best I find something special to write!

“Here I Am Because I Love You” – featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album “Where Would I Be Without You? recorded by Ross Gill

As I said last week my dear friend Nikki Bovis- Coulter – www.enviro-art.co.uk has been working hard on the artwork for the Risen!- The Musical double CD and thanks so much to her for the amazing patience she showed in making change after change as proof read after proof read showed up my error after error. However we got there in the end and today’s featured pic gives a preview of the front and back of the CD booklet.

Another great friend and ex -Crofton student is Tim Courtnell who works for Sound Performance Ltd. It is his company that will be manufacturing the Risen!- The Musical double CDs. We are starting with 1000 being replicated -for those that aren’t sure, replication is the process by which a glass master is made and CDs are produced in large quantities. Duplication is the method by which shorter runs can be made by “burning” the CDs using computers; we are having 30 promo copies made using the latter method with Dr Graham Giles taking some to America.

I am in the process of speaking with a number of different agencies to ensure that distribution of Risen! is a large as possible. Of course we are also hoping that Dr Graham Giles’ invitation to President Barack Obama’s Annual Prayer Breakfast will be a “doorway” to distribution in the USA. (see blog January 15^th)

Today’s featured song is “Here I am Because I Love You” – an adapted version of the chorus is used in the Risen!  track “Jesus You are the Christ” sung by the disciple John together with the Risen! ensemble.

Mixing Risen! The Musical at the London College of Music with Joffy Girling and Andrew Bourbon

After four years of working on Risen!- The Musical we are getting very close to completing the double CD. On Thursday and Friday of last week I had the privilege of being at Vestry Hall, Ealing, the recording studio of the London College of Music, watching Joffy Girling our Musical Director, and his ex -Lecturer Andrew Bourbon start mixing the 100 minute album which is Risen! – The Musical.
The recording studio was fantastic with state of the art equipment. Andrew had been Joffy’s Lecturer in Sound Engineering and Production at Birmingham City University before moving to the London College of Music to take up a new lecturing post. Andrew has a PHD and I could understand why because he was absolutely amazing in his knowledge and application. He and Joffy spoke to each other in a totally different language than I had ever heard before – buses, plates, rooms, images, lack of depth in the midrange from the FG-N. A parallel pass through the 1176 hitting the 1073s etc.etc I just watched and listened, absorbed while they started with drums, then bass, then guitar, then strings, then vocals making everything that already sounded great from Joffy’s recordings sound absolutely awesome. There are 37 tracks and in the two days, seven were mixed so there is still much to do.
I have to say I was so very pleased when Andrew said very complimentary things about the Risen! songs – he intends speaking to his friend who is Head of Musical Theatre at London College of Music. Our hope is that students and post grads might make up the cast for the proposed autumn stage production of Risen! at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth
In the meantime my dear friend Nikki of 2 fishproductions has been working hard on the CD’s artwork. We are trying to meet a deadline as another dear friend, who I have mentioned before, Dr Graham Giles has been given the great honour of being invited to the USA President’s Annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday February 5th http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Prayer_Breakfast On this most important occasion, which is in fact a series of meetings luncheons and dinners held since 1953, Graham will be personally giving “Risen!- The Musical promo CDs to 12 of the most powerful Christian women in America. They will be promo CDs featuring extracts from the full musical as the whole double CD will not be fully mixed and mastered in time for Graham’s departure on February 2nd – but still, what an amazing opportunity!
The featured song today “Bathe me in Your light” is taken from our first CD “ I Look Up To The Heavens.” The song also features in “Risen! – The Musical.” The disciple James sings it on the mountain in Galilee just before Jesus delivers His “Great Commission.” As Matthew writes in Chapter 28 of his Gospel, Jesus says “ Go make disciples of all nations…..and surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”

“He’s Never Lied” featuring Lucy Jane Rutherford, Mike Backhouse and
Jim Rogers from CD “For Unsung Heroes”

I hope you all have had a great Christmas. I spent Christmas Day going to Holy Rood in the morning and then giving lifts to two delightful ladies to the Church Christmas dinner. Then had a fab meal with Caroline, before my sons, James and Chris came over with James’ lovely new fiancée Rosy. Boxing Day was spent at Caroline’s twin brother’s house near Malvern where all the family had gathered. We were going to continue to Nottingham to see my brother but he was unwell and there was also four inches of snow.
During the holidays quite a lot of exciting things happened relating to Mustard Seed Songs. I have heard that there may well be a production of Risen!- The Musical in Coventry on May 23rd. Joffy started to write the Risen! musical score; next week we are in London to mix the Risen! double CD and hopefully in the next few days the fund raiser I have mentioned before – Cheerful Giver will be launched.
Last night I met up with some young Christian friends, Aaron and Natalie Beale, Stephen and April Ballard, Lois Styles and Aaron Lewis. We all went to the Cuckoo Pint pub where it was great to chat to some ex Crofton students – I have to say they made me feel more like “family” than teacher so thanks so much to Matt Ancell, Jake Taylor, George Sanford, Joe Broadway, Dean Bast, Lee Farr, Rob Hay, Hannah Wise, Vicky Atkinson and Kerry McDermott.
There is also Coffee Cake and Chat at Donny’s Bistro in Stubbington which I am helping to organise (see featured pic.) It starts on January 13th and runs every two weeks until March 24th. It is aimed at giving people the opportunity to discuss, from a faith perspective, some of life’s big questions such as why is there suffering in the world ? Please email me on ken.shearsmith@ntlworld.com or ring the church office on 01329 661154 if you are interested in coming- even it is just to the first evening.
I am sure that one of the questions that will come up at the Coffee Cake and Chat evenings will be “Can we really believe what is written in the Bible?” This week’s featured song attempts to address this question.

You say you can’t trust every story that’s been written,
But this Gospel is different and I’ll tell you why,
Its writers faced death, persecution and torture,
So why did they tell it – why would they lie?

HAPPY NEW YEAR