James Randolph Smith
Looking back on more than four decades of a career in music, there are people who made a crucial difference along the way. Yesterday, I lost one of those people, and too soon. James Randolph Smith, Randy to everyone who
Blog
Showing – the (Mostly) Finished Stage of Creativity
I recently I finished a new choral composition. When I say “finished,” I don’t mean “finished” finished. I mean more like “mostly” finished. In my catalogue, I’m not so sure anything is ever “finished” finished. But I digress. (Look! A
Changes
Wow. Has it really been some five months since I last posted??? Truly – I am the World’s Most Inconsistent Blogger. Where is my award for this great distinction? Somebody call the folks at Guinness! So – what have I
For the Children
Anytime a government huckster (and they are ALL hucksters) want to grab more money for something, one of the standard appeals is – it’s “for the children.” Now this is a blatant, emotional approach. But it works – because grown-ups
The Twelve Choral Books of Christmas
I haven’t published a new choral book in a decade. For one thing, I don’t know what I could possibly add to the mountain of cantatas, choral collections, and musicals that is already out there. For another thing, nobody has
Behind the Song: “Amazing Love! How Can It Be?”
“Amazing Love! How Can It Be?” Words by Charles Wesley & Robert Sterling Music by Robert Sterling In my book, Principles of Choral Arranging… wait, what? You didn’t know I wrote a book on choral arranging??? Well, here’s a link.
Room for Improvement 2
If you were to dig through my blog archives (and I know you all do that), you would find an old blog from years ago, titled “Room for Improvement.” In that blog I wrote about re-visiting, and subsequently re-writing, one
Behind the Song: “Leaving us to Say Goodbye”
“Leaving Us to Say Goodbye” (words & music by Robert Sterling) The unexpected death of a friend lands like a body blow. It leaves you stunned, even speechless. You receive the bad news and go numb. Hearing of Luke Garrett’s
Emerging From Our Caves
I’ve often said that if I were to compare myself to an animal it would be a bear. A Grizzly, to be more specific. Grizzlies eat half the year and sleep the remaining half. And they spend a lot of
It’s Almost Here…
Forgive me, readers, for it has been eight months since my last confession…I mean Blog Post. Where has that time gone? And more importantly, what was I doing with that time? Well, among other things, I was completing the writing of
BEHIND THE SONG – Love Is the Better Way
“Love Is the Better Way” from SOUNDS CRAZY. Several of the songs on Sounds Crazy go back a way. “Love Is the Better Way” reaches back further than most. I wrote its first iteration in the early 1990s. The reason
The Return to Normal – Whatever That Is
There is much talk these days about getting back to normal. And the Buzz Word of the Day is the “new normal,” though nobody seems to know what that will be or when it will happen. Maybe there will be