Tag: hymns

SubscribeStar Saturday: Tales of a Hedge Pianist: Playing Piano at the Presbyterian Church

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

Last summer I served as the fill-in pianist for the local United Methodist Church in what became our new town. You can read about that here. Two Sundays ago I was invited to play for the local Presbyterian Church for their annual camp service.

What is a “hedge pianist”? Essentially, it’s a term I’ve coined for a freelance/unaffiliated pianist-for-hire. The “hedge” comes from the concept of a “hedge knight“; the hedge knight is a landless, traveling knight who takes work where he can, hoping his skills will land him in the retinue of some great lord, with all the benefits that come with it. With just his horse, armor, and arms, the hedge knight seeks to prove his skill in tournaments and small conflicts.

Similarly, a “hedge pianist” is a masterless pianist traveling about, taking gigs where they come, with a possible interest in gaining enough renown to land a cushy weekly church gig, or playing Friday nights at an upscale eatery. It’s also just a nerdy (or cool?) way of making playing as a fill-in pianist at local churches sound like I’m some kind of musical ronin roaming about the countryside looking for a piano to play.

Regardless, I had the opportunity to play that role two Sundays back for the local Presbyterian Church. The church has a “camp” service every year in preparation for their Vacation Bible School, and the pastor asked if I could play some hymns and all the usual pieces for High Church Protestant services, namely “Doxology” and the “Gloria Patri.” Naturally, I agreed.

The Chapel
A Gazebo with a Bent Cross
The Campground and Buildings

The service was held at a campsite owned and maintained by the Southern Baptist church that Dr. Wife and I attend. It’s a beautiful little spot about twenty minutes outside of town, tucked away among the pine trees. The grounds and buildings are very well-maintained. I had some trepidation that the service would take place outdoors, which would present two inconveniences: the intense South Carolina summer heat, and the wind blowing my music everywhere.

Fortunately, the camp has a commodious (and air-conditioned) chapel, where a responsive Yamaha digital piano waited for me. There was also a delectable fried chicken lunch on the other side of the service.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

TBT^65,536: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting

The Portly Politico4 Comments

The Christmas season is upon us again, which means it’s time for yours portly to dust off some classic posts of yesteryuletide, including this timeless classic about a timeless carol.

My students have their big Christmas concert next Friday, 12 December 2025, and while we’re not playing this carol this year, I will surely be playing it at church soon.  That said, this sweet, simple carol will always hold a special place in my heart.

With that, here is 5 December 2024’s “TBT^256: ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and the Pressures of Songwriting“:

Read More »

SubscribeStar Saturday: Tales of a Hedge Pianist: Playing Piano at the Methodist Church

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

An old United Methodist Church in a small town about fifty minutes from my home enlisted me to serve as their fill-in pianist this summer at $150 per Sunday morning service.  As I’ve had major expenses related to my car, the wedding, and income taxes, I jumped at the opportunity to play piano for this church.

Their regular guy is a child prodigy who is on a tour of Europe, playing and learning piano from the masters.  This L’il Mozart (he’s seventeen, I think) has been in Salzburg, Austria, at the birthplace of Mozart.  It sounds like something lifted right out of the nineteenth century.  Kudos to him.

His success on the piano has translated into some extra cash for yours portly.  It’s also been an excellent opportunity to hone my skills.  For the most part, the music is mostly hymns, many of which I already know, or with which I possess a passing familiarity.  The choral anthem, played during offertory, is usually something a bit more challenging, but I’ve managed to get by fine.

The title of this post suggests that I’ve had some wild adventures or encountered out-of-the-ordinary things, but it’s all been quite tame.  No choir floozies throwing themselves at me; no old codgers angrily denouncing my Pentecostal-style piano playing; no invitations to Methodist secret societies engaging in weird masquerade balls.

The life of a musician—especially one who is forty and well past his choir floozy days (thank God for that—and for Dr. Fiancée!)—is rarely as glamorous as the movies and rockumentaries and mockumentaries make them out to be.  But it is, nonetheless, filled with worthwhile and, very often, amusing experiences.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

TBT^256: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Pickup my newest release: Leftovers III!  Use promo code ziggurat to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp!  Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Tuesday, 31 December 2024.

My students’ Christmas concert is coming on Friday, 13 December 2024, and we’re playing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” this year a la Frank Sinatra.  We’re starting in what I call the “Christmas-Eve-candlelight-service-at-your-grandmother’s-unheated-church” style, then shifting to a groovy swing.

I was thinking about the harrowing, last-minute nature of this song’s genesis while wrapping up Leftovers III, which I was getting done at the wire.  Somehow, October got so busy that I let a lot of my composing fall by the wayside, but I managed to wrap up the album in time to release it on Black Friday.

The next week will be similarly busy.  Tomorrow night is the school Christmas play, for which yours portly will be running sound.  Saturday I’ll be playing Christmas music for a local festival.  Sunday I’m rehearsing with my church for our Christmas cantata on the 22nd.  Monday is Council Meeting—and on and on and on.

Let’s all take a moment to remember the subject of this beautiful carol, and to reflect on the wonder of Christ’s Birth.

With that, here is “TBT^16: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting“:

Read More »

TBT^16: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

My students have their big Christmas concert tomorrow, and while we’re not performing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on this year’s program, there’s quite a bit of pressure to get everything sounding and looking good!  Like most folks, I don’t like stress, but it’s amazing how it forces us to get stuff done—and to make it even better!

The story of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is relatable to songwriters, but I think speaks to all of us who have had to create or complete something with a ticking clock and high expectations.  “It takes pressure to create diamonds,” they say, and the frantic, last-minute composition of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is a testament to that principle.

With that, here is 15 December 2022’s “TBT^4: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting“:

Read More »

Open Mic Adventures XXV: “Venite, exultemus Domino”

The Portly Politico72 Comments

A quick blurb before today’s post:  I’ve released my second book, Arizonan Sojourn, South Carolinian Dreams: And Other Adventures.  It’s a collection of travel essays I’ve accumulated over the last four years, and it’s available now on Amazon.

Here’s where you can pick it up:

Pick up a copy today!  Even sharing the above links is a huge help.

Thank you for your support!

—TPP

***

Yours portly is going High Protestant this week.  Readers can thank Audre Myers for that one—she sent me the manuscript for her church’s new chant, “Venite, exultemus Domino,” at some point in the last few weeks, and I’ve been playing around with it on the piano.

Read More »

Open Mic Adventures XXIV: “Softly and Tenderly”

The Portly Politico16 Comments

I’m back in the hymnbook for this edition of Open Mic Adventures, which at this point is pretty much “anything I play anywhere, in any context, that I happen to record.”  But that makes for an unwieldy title.

Inaccurate labels aside, I played “Softly and Tenderly” for my church’s Sunday morning service on Sunday, 12 March 2023.  It was the invitational (the “altar call” piece, for the rest of you Pentecostals out there), but this recording was made before service.  You can hear some chit-chat in the background, but not as much as the recording in “Open Mic Adventures XXII: ‘Blessed Assurance’.”

Read More »

Open Mic Adventures XXII: “Blessed Assurance”

The Portly Politico4 Comments

One of my favorites hymns is “Blessed Assurance,” the beloved tune from blind lyricist Franny Crosby and pianist Phoebe Knapp.  They wrote the hymn in 1873.  Knapp played the melody on the piano and asked Crosby what the melody “said,” and she said, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine.”  Thus, history was born.

I love playing this hymn, and had the opportunity to play it with our congregation this past Sunday.  I decided to take a quick recording before service.

Read More »