Every so often my posts on writing stretch into the realm of song writing. You’ve heard me brag a bit (here and here) about Ra McGuire and his iconic rock band, Trooper. Ra’s son, Connor McGuire, is the next generation of our McGuire family musicians, singing, writing and performing his own music. His EP Different After Dawn was released in 2007 and with his current band, The Lives of Others, he’s working on another to be released soon.
But out of my church family there’s another band emerging that deserves recognition. Ibhendi is a group of four talented teenagers who are singing, songwriting and performing out of Maple Ridge, BC and have just released their first EP, Humble Beginnings. I finally got my hands on a copy today, and I’m impressed!
All four boys –Johnathan Booy, Jonah Larmor, Regard Booy and Riley O’Connor – come from different musical backgrounds and, in their own words, “Nothing can come closer to a full description of Ibhendi’s origin than those two words, [i.e., the album title, Humble Beginnings]. Regard Booy only started playing bass because the band lacked a bass player. Riley O’Connor’s guitar had a broken head that was super glued to hold the tuning knobs. A small 10watt amp was the only amplifier in the group, and the drum kit was completed by borrowing bits and pieces from a church’s kit…. No one had any idea of where to begin looking for performance opportunities. But with perseverance, determination, and a dream, the four fought on, and slowly but surely, nothing became something.”
Now, doesn’t their journey remind you of ours as aspiring novelists… dreaming, determined, persevering and fighting to make something out of nothing? (You knew I’d find a way to apply this to our writing, didn’t you?)
Does your writing involve any poetry or songwriting (or both)?
MUSINGS 
I wish it did, but no. I have always admired songwriters. To think up the lyrics along with the words is such a wonderful gift. I’m awestruck about such a gift. I have a friend I grew up with in Maple Ridge that writes music. She never published anything. I should ask why, but I think her response would be too painful, so I won’t ask.
Thanks for the introductions, Carol. I’ll definitely check these bands out.
The new Director of Music at our church is an accomplished singer/songwriter and in occasional non-service moments when I watch her fingers ramble over the piano keys in a melody she has composed, I’m fascinated. Both tunes and lyrics have the ability to move me, sometimes separately and other times together, and I’m in awe of those who have such a wondrous creative ability.
Their journey does remind me of what we go through. I think back to the patched up story, the scraps of paper, the original version of The Preacher’s Bride, and I just have to smile at how far it’s come. With perseverance and determination, and of course God’s opening doors, our stories can move forward too!
Hope you’ve been doing well lately Carol! Have missed visiting around cyberland the past few weeks!
I gather you were away at the ACFW conference… lucky you! God has opened several wonderful doors for you. I like the thought that our writing and whatever degree of success we have is a partnership with Him.
Poetry has always been my way of expressing my feelings and dealing with life’s troubles. I think poetry has influenced my writing style. Alliteration comes natural to me as I write prose. I notice it happening. Music is another level of expression, perhaps a higher level. I enjoy music and I can see your point that musicians must climb the ladder to success with as much effort as writers. Congrats and blessings to the success of the musicians in your post.
I’ve written a little poetry, usually inspired by some difficult time or incident in my life. I’m not sure why it came easier then. Maybe intense emotions have to find release and that’s the steam valve… when sentences don’t have to be neatly composed but words can tumble out and not be criticized for being all a-jumble.
When I belonged to a prayer group back in the seventies, I did some song writing. Actually I was more a scribe of the Holy Spirit. At one Thursday evening session where I was the piano accompaniment, our worship leader announced a song. I turned to her and said “I don’t think I know that one.”
She exploded. “Of course you know it. You wrote it.”
“Actually I merely wrote it down.”
If your boys are tuned into the Holy Spirit, they will have marvelous success, no matter the humble beginnings.
And if our writing is tuned into the Holy Spirit, He will bring it to glorious fruition as well.
Thank you for this reminder and encouragement, Carol
It’s called divine inspiration, isn’t it? As the Source of our creativity God sometimes overwhelms us with words and, if we’re musically inclined, melody, too. Other times we struggle to produce them ourselves and they’re not nearly as impactful. I still believe if we honour him with obedience in using our abilities he’ll make use of whatever we produce. But those moments of divine inspiration are a blessed experience. 🙂