Supporting Friends Friday: New Works from Robert Mason Sandifer

Two years ago I wrote “Supporting Friends Friday: The Cinematic Compositions of Mason Sandifer” about the composing work of one of my student, Robert Mason Sandifer.  Mason (as I call him) started distributing his music to all the major platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, etc.) earlier this month, and he is directly responsible for inspiring me to put my old instrumental music on the same platforms.

Mason is currently undertaking an ambitious project to compose instrumental music that tells the story of the Bible, from Genesis through Revelations (or, as my friend Steve O would say, “from Genesis through Maps”).  It’s an amazing concept, and he has executed it beautifully so far.

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Supporting Friends Friday: Andrea the Illustrator’s Children’s Book

I should probably not trumpet so triumphantly and assuredly the death or hiatus of any given thing, especially as it pertains to this blog.  I’d decided to give Support Friends Friday a rest for a bit—and I did, for two weeks!—because I was running out of friends to support.  At least, I was running low on new friend-generated content to champion.

Then good old Andrea the Illustrator went and published a book with a bunch of contributors.  It’s called Creative Gems, Volume I, and it’s out in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle editions now.

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Lazy Sunday CLII: Frederick Ingram, Part II

We’re back for another Sunday of Ingramania, the musical sensation that is sweeping the nation (or, at least, the half-dozen people that read this blog on Sundays).  Here are the next three juicy posts about the incomparable Frederick Ingram:

Thus ends our two-part retrospective on all things Frederick Ingram.  Here’s hoping we hear more from him soon!

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CLI: Frederick Ingram, Part I

As I’m considering retiring Supporting Friends Friday—at least for a short while—I realized I’ve dedicated quite a few posts to my good buddy Frederick Ingram—six, to be exact!

That’s the perfect number to eat up a couple of Lazy Sundays honoring my musical homeboy:

That’s it for this first installment of Ingramania.  Stay tuned next Sunday for Part II!

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Supporting Friends Friday: Frederick Ingram’s “Ephemery”

My phone has twelve tracks downloaded to it, which auto-play in alphabetic order every time I get into the car.  Six of them are the tracks from my album, Contest Winner EP; four are from Frederick Ingram’s Elements; one is Frederick’s single “Fish Bowl“; and one—oddly—is Ozzy’s “Shot in the Dark” from The Ultimate Sin album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crltUo_ZFbU

This Friday, I’m diving back into Frederick’s exquisite EP Elements, one of my favorite indie releases of the past decade.  Because I listen to this EP multiple times each week, I’ve gotten to know these tunes very well.  Indeed, I wrote about another song from the EP, “Yesterday’s Weather,” back in January.

Today, I’d like to examine the other standout track from Elements, the shimmering “Ephemery.”

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Supporting Friends Friday: Bette Cox on Heavenly Music

“God loves music. He invented it.”  Thus begins Bette Cox‘s wonderful piece—aptly titled “God loves music“—about music and its divine origins.

As a lover of music myself, I’ve long believed that the existence of music—that certain frequencies together create consonant harmonies and beautiful textures, that the mere manipulation of sound waves can become a transcendent whole greater than the sum of its physical parts—is proof positive that God Exists.  How could something so precise and so beautiful emerge from a chaotic Nothing?  Unless we’re including twentieth-century German Expressionism, it couldn’t.

Bette’s piece went up earlier this week on her blog Esther’s Petition, and it is a must-read.  She points out the ultimate purpose of music:  to glorify God, to worship Christ.  She also dives into the endless variety of music, and how a single song could keep a composer occupied for eternity.

The most poignant part of her piece, however, is a “mini-vision,” in which a throng of singers and instrumentalists of every stripe arrive to sing for an “audience of one: Jesus.”

Go read her post—and go make a joyful noise!

Lazy Sunday CXLVII: Friends, Part X

It’s the tenth edition of Lazy Sunday posts dedicated to looking back at Supporting Friends Friday features.  I think after this Sunday I’m going to give the SFF retrospectives a break for a bit, as I’ve nearly caught up to the present day with them.

This weekend’s mix is of a more literary and theological bent:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXLV: Friends, Part VIII

The cavalcade of friendship continues this Sunday with three more posts.  Apparently, I’ve given musician, actor, and international playboy Frederick Ingram a lot of screen time in Supporting Friends Friday, but all of this weekend’s friends have enjoyed two or more Friday shout-outs:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Supporting Friends Friday: More Mermaids from Mariella

I’ve been beating the drum in support of Mariella Hunt‘s fantasy, Regency-era novella The Sea Rose lately.  That’s because it’s a good story, and one that my readers—especially those ladies interested in historical romance and fantasy—would surely enjoy.

It’s also because Mariella really cranks out the goods.  Not only is The Sea Rose still unfolding; she’s already written a companion work, Mermaid: A Novel.  It’s the story of Meredith Bannister, who comes off as an oppressive nag in the early chapters of The Sea Rose, before readers see her in a more sympathetic light.

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