Part 2 ~ CCM Music Artist ~ Mitch McVicker ~ FREE CD Giveaway!
Posted by Tina Dee Books | Labels: Always Believe, Author and Musician Guests, Giveaways, Mitch McVicker | Posted On at 6:20 PM
Here we are again, and I'm excited to share with you the rest of this interview with Mitch McVicker. Best thing I can do is invite you to bring your favorite cuppa, and enjoy Mitch sharing his heart. Before we get started, I want to share one of my favorite Mitch songs (I think a lot of us love this song). I only wish the audio was a little better quality, but I'm grateful to have this to share with you. Enjoy Mitch's The Lemonade Song from his self-titled first solo album:
Don't forget to leave comment for a chance to win a giveaway CD of Mitch's latest release Always Believe. And please, if you'd love to see Mitch play in your church or at a local coffee house, have them contact Mitch. As you can see, he's a pretty great one-man band. He'll share his contact info below in just a few moments. Enjoy...
Mitch, we’re glad to have more time with you for this 2nd part of our interview.
I think everyone would love to peek into the making of an album/CD. What steps do you usually go through in writing a song? Do they usually come to you in bits and pieces and then bring it all together later, or does it usually come all at once? Lyrics first, then the music or the music first…? Can you take us through that process?the song writing process is different each time. sometimes a chord progression or melody is first, sometimes they are simultaneous. sometimes one lyric is first, sometimes a bunch of lyrics. sometimes it's just an idea at first. sometimes everything happens at once. but i think it's safe to say it's always a process.
it's like cooking. it's like a recipe coming together to make a dish. yet, some recipes take longer to prepare and assemble, some need to be cooked longer. some are made with ingredients that were just bought, some have ingredients that have been on the shelf a long time.
the important thing is to pay attention to life. because there is no formula for songs. if i approach songwriting like that is the case, it's safe to say my songs will suck pretty bad. you never know what you will make, when you will make it, and what the ingredients will be. sometimes a melody, notion, chord voicing, etc. slams me over the head and i run with it in that moment. most of the time, i put them in my "bag" and "carry" them around for a while til i come across the next piece or ingredient to put with it.
for me, i have never had to go to a secluded cabin and write for a week. that has never made sense to me. it's not how i work.
for me songs come from life and experience. so why retreat way from that? don't songs spill out from life? there are 3 or 4 songs waiting to happen on my trip from my house to the store, if i am paying attention, if i am open, if i have the guts and courage.
You're doing 100 concerts a year. That's a lot of time on the road. Tell us about your traveling, how you get from town to town (are you driving yourself, are you traveling with a band in a bus, do you fly, etc)?
i drive myself from concert to concert in a van. i tour solo. i spent years traveling with and touring with other guys playing as a band behind me. now, this is where the lord has brought me. it's hard, but real good.
tours are extensive, but i get home every week. my van never gets home. roughly, i play concerts thursday through sunday. then, i park the van at whatever airport is between sunday's concert and the following concert on thursday. i fly home. i am there for 2 days. the re-connection with my family, every week, is invaluable.
i spent years taking the 6-week-gone approach to touring. i am done with that. that wrecks relationships. i am so very thankful to do it this way now.
How do you a) fellowship, and b) commune with God (while you're on the road)?
How do you a) fellowship, and b) commune with God (while you're on the road)?
fellowship is easy. i have amazing friends all over the country. yes, i am pretty much a stranger in the town that i live in, but i have an amazing community of life-giving people, that know me for who i really am, everywhere i go.
communion with god is a matter of obedience. that's a hairy, scary church word...but, for me, it's being faithful to what the lord is doing in me and remembering that he is turning me into my true-self. it comes down to a positioning of the heart and paying attention to the lord...around every corner.
for me, many times, it's a discipline. that's one of the ways the lord has set me up. the lord often communicates with me through my drive. NOT a selfish drive, but, rather, a true-self drive.
so tangibly, i read the scriptures, pray, listen, and journal before the day gets going. if i don't, i feel like i am walking around with a hole in my chest...and feeling as if i am being less than the lord has intended.
You have a young family now, how do you guard your family time with so much time away?
i guard it by making it a priority. there is a power in presence. so i try to be present as much as i can. and when i am present to my family, i try to really "be" there. not with a wandering mind, heart, or soul. i try to look at myself when i am 70, look at how i wished i would have spent my time, and then spend my time that way. "trivial" family time becomes powerful. you CAN do it all. life becomes truly full. it alleviates what is actually trivial.
What do you do to keep that time special, to make memories with them?
i play in the snow. i pick mushrooms. i make up nonsense songs. i try to listen. in short, i try to always do what is not "cool".
You play in churches--what's a way that we can get you to visit our churches or coffee houses if we'd like to see you, but have never done anything like this before?
You play in churches--what's a way that we can get you to visit our churches or coffee houses if we'd like to see you, but have never done anything like this before?
there is a phone number and email address on my website (i think). that's the way to get a hold of me about coming to do a concert. a concert is easy to pull off. what i do is pretty grassroots and small potatoes. i set up my schedule. 95% of the concerts that i do are done with people that "have no idea how to put on a concert". i have learned that that is a false statement. because it works. i love it. mmcvpromotions@aol.com - 770 714 2863.
**Mitch send this to me this morning (which is awesome, I couldn't get it copied off the site yesterday--so thanks Mitch!)
go to www.mitchmcvicker.com for individual concert details
(concerts will continue to be added over the next couple months)
(concerts will continue to be added over the next couple months)
2/24 JONESBORO..................AR
2/25 KINGSPORT..................TN
2/26 UPTON..........................KY
2/27 BENSENVILLE.................IL
2/28 MOSINEE.......................WI
3/05 BATESVILLE....................IN
3/06 ELGIN.............................IL
3/07 ELGIN.............................IL
3/07 EFFINGHAM....................IL
3/12 MENOMONIE...................WI
3/13 CAROL STREAM..............IL
3/14 CARLISLE........................IN
3/14 OREGON.........................WI
3/25 ABILENE.........................KS
3/26 SIOUX FALLS..................SD
3/27 MITCHELL.......................SD
3/28 CLOQUET.......................MN
4/07 MARSHALLTOWN............IA
4/08 CEDAR RAPIDS................IA *
4/09 BURLINGTON..................WI
4/10 CINCINNATI....................OH
4/11 PORTLAND......................IN
4/11 GRAND RAPIDS...............MI
4/14 FREDONIA...................... NY
4/15 MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS....OH
4/16 DOVER............................DE
4/17 DANBURY........................CT
4/18 CHALFONT......................PA
4/22 SOUDERTON...................PA
4/23 HOPEWELL JCT................NY
4/24 YOUNGSTOWN................OH
4/25 BEAVER FALLS.................PA
4/29 FAYETTE.........................ME
4/30 OXFORD..........................ME
5/01 ROCHESTER.....................NH
5/02 HILTON............................NY
5/22 PEORIA.............................IL *
5/23 WOODSTOCK...................GA *
5/29 YOUNGSVILLE..................NC *
5/30 ASHEBOR.........................NC
5/31 PLEASANT GARDEN..........NC
* tentative
2/25 KINGSPORT..................TN
2/26 UPTON..........................KY
2/27 BENSENVILLE.................IL
2/28 MOSINEE.......................WI
3/05 BATESVILLE....................IN
3/06 ELGIN.............................IL
3/07 ELGIN.............................IL
3/07 EFFINGHAM....................IL
3/12 MENOMONIE...................WI
3/13 CAROL STREAM..............IL
3/14 CARLISLE........................IN
3/14 OREGON.........................WI
3/25 ABILENE.........................KS
3/26 SIOUX FALLS..................SD
3/27 MITCHELL.......................SD
3/28 CLOQUET.......................MN
4/07 MARSHALLTOWN............IA
4/08 CEDAR RAPIDS................IA *
4/09 BURLINGTON..................WI
4/10 CINCINNATI....................OH
4/11 PORTLAND......................IN
4/11 GRAND RAPIDS...............MI
4/14 FREDONIA...................... NY
4/15 MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS....OH
4/16 DOVER............................DE
4/17 DANBURY........................CT
4/18 CHALFONT......................PA
4/22 SOUDERTON...................PA
4/23 HOPEWELL JCT................NY
4/24 YOUNGSTOWN................OH
4/25 BEAVER FALLS.................PA
4/29 FAYETTE.........................ME
4/30 OXFORD..........................ME
5/01 ROCHESTER.....................NH
5/02 HILTON............................NY
5/22 PEORIA.............................IL *
5/23 WOODSTOCK...................GA *
5/29 YOUNGSVILLE..................NC *
5/30 ASHEBOR.........................NC
5/31 PLEASANT GARDEN..........NC
* tentative
Coming back to Always Believe--what do you think this album offers its audience in terms of musical artistry, and also in terms of what God might be saying through it?
always believe is the artiest record i have recorded. but hopefully it's not art for art's sake. i just wanted to let the songs speak. i didn't want any booyah to get in the way of the creative process. i wanted the music and the lyrics to have room to be powerful. i wanted it to sound like autumn. this record is the greatest reflection of me that i have recorded. but at the same time, i think i am less in the way than i have been on records in the past. i had, and i have, no pre-conceived notions as to what god might say through it. but i know god does, and i know god will...because god speaks. hopefully this record makes listening possible.
What would you ask for us to keep in prayer for you?
What would you ask for us to keep in prayer for you?
prayer? that i can become real. that my family can become real. that i can direct attention towards jesus and remember why i do this.
Special thanks to Mitch McVicker for allowing me to load him down with twice as many questions I usually allow myself for an interview, and to his lovely family for the time they gave up while he answered them. Please feel free to repost this interivew (would love to have it link to my site, but even better, back to Mitch's site).
The vid below was filmed nearly 5 months before the night Mitch & Rich Mullins were in the car accident--one where Rich walked Home through pearly gates, and Mitch returned to us to finish the work God gave him to do for a while longer. What a blessing. For both of them, and for us.
Mitch McVicker & Rich Mullins performing a song entitled "New Mexico", which would later appear on Mitch's debut solo album. This performance is from Rich Mullins' guest appearance on the Wheaton College televison program, "The Exchange", on April 11, 1997. The full hour-long program is available through Wheaton College's media department. Click here for more info on how to purchase this program on DVD: http://www.wheaton.edu/media/duplication/request.html
And please support Mitch by sharing his music with your friends, and asking your church to visit his site and invite him to play a concert in your home church or favorite coffee shop.
To view currently scheduled tour dates, click here.
Two winners will be drawn Sunday, Valentine's Day, for a copy of Mitch's latest release Always Believe. For a chance to win, answer fill in the missing lyrics from Part 1 of the interview, or list your top 2 favorite song clips from Always Believe--you can hear those on Mitch's music page of his site.
Thank you, Mitch, the the interview, for making great music, and for making us more than fans--you've made us friends.
Thank you, Mitch, the the interview, for making great music, and for making us more than fans--you've made us friends.
I'm listening to “New Mexico” as I write this--what a blessing Mitch is to all of us. Thank you Lord, for such a precious gift.
I like what Mitch said, ‘I try to look at myself when I am 70, look at how I wished I would have spent my time, and then spend my time that way.'
Powerful!
Tina thanks for the second half of this wonderful interview. ;)
Thanks sweetie. When we finally get him out here on the west coast, I'll announce it fromt he roof tops! LOL!
Can't wait to drink in his music and ministry live. Hoping my church will invite him out.
Thanks for supporting him. Can't you just feel God's love pouring through him?
Thanks for doing this!
May 1, Rochester, NH ... hee! hee!
WKen,
Ugh, you wound me! LOL, working hard to get him out here, but think of me when you see him May 1st. And, enjoy!
BTW--you've won a copy of his latest release.
Please contact me at:
Tina[at]TinaDeeBooks[dot]com