Merry Christmas 2011

FLASHBACK MONDAY on Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day!

had been searching and finally came across some footage of Fr. Stan and I from back in October of last year...we played a little concert in LA...enjoy the loop...

My Mother-In-Law got me this book 4 Christmas a couple years ago...and i love her 4 it...check it out here





oh, and then there's this...

Part 2
Part 3

i hope & pray u all had a fantastic holy Immaculate Conception 2011...it's a rare delight 2 celebrate Mary with another holy person...yesterday a package came in the mail from my friend and contemporary Kyle from Popple Fame...

when u have a mail sticker like that, what is in the package must be super cool and hip...which led me 2 think of St. Anne as the sticker, and the Virgin Mary as the Alesis MultiMix 12 Firewire mixer...u c what i'm talking about??? Popple r SOOOOO deep...now go 2 their site and buy a "And With Your Spirit" T-shirt!

Saint of the Day
St. Cecilia (2nd century)

Cecilia was a virgin who was given in marriage against her wishes. She told her husband that she was accompanied by an angel, but in order to see it, he must be purified. After he was baptized, he found her in prayer accompanied by a praying angel. Her husband was killed in 117 for giving poper burials to Christians martyred by the Romans. Later, she too was killed when she refused to sacrifice to false gods.

in honor of St Cecilia i'd like 2 thank God 4 giving me so much work lately...both gigs and recording sessions...and 2 my wife and family 4 support...and 2 The Andrew Sisters for their harmonies...



Advent is upon us...pray!

welcome every1 checking in from Spirit Juice Studios! Thank u 2 Rob and Danny and Kyle and the whole SJS crew...i have been blessed 2 b a small part of what they do and appreciate the love & support they've giving me and the ministry... here is the 2009 flashback NCYC Unplugged vid feat. myself and my drummer Jamie Hopkins on the djembe...more vids and catholic music covering this event can b found here

UPDATE WEDNESDAY... My wife and I were blessed to become Godparents this past weekend of this angel! Sarah Jaggers...

Just finished a version of "Away In A Manger" for inclusion on a Christmas Album for one of friends Mike, whom I've known 4 quite sometime and musically responsible 4 who i am 2day...who has appeared w me on a number of gigs and Catholic Concerts...thank u Tingle Family 4 trusting me with this song...still needs a flugelhorn solo on it, but check out the demo below:



Also working with a church here in town on recording some music for their cd coming out soon! I will b streaming some of this session here...u can check the page for times...

A busy little couple of weeks coming up gig wise so thanks b 2 God as usual 4 the work!

Cora Therese Lopez was born monday sept 12...thanks b 2 God

as my wife and i expect r 4th child in just days, we r chillin' and getting ready 4 the fall...had a huge summer of gigs and thanks b 2 God 4 that...please continue 2 pray 4 us and the ministry and all the work the Lord has cut out 4 us...more music is soon 2 come!

the latest jam is on the new album by Pontifex aka Fr. Burns who is an ordained priest from Indiana...along with a sample done by the great D-Major, i played and sang on a track called "Cold Castle Blues"...check it out above and download the album here...it is wonderful...God Bless

Prayers and safe travels 4 those returning home from WYD...

Excerpt from the Homily by the Pope at Final Mass:
  
"Dear young friends, as the Successor of Peter, let me urge you to strengthen this faith which has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles. Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life. But let me also remind you that following Jesus in faith means walking at his side in the communion of the Church. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. Anyone who would be tempted to do so “on his own”, or to approach the life of faith with kind of individualism so prevalent today, will risk never truly encountering Jesus, or will end up following a counterfeit Jesus.

Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others. I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love. Growing in friendship with Christ necessarily means recognizing the importance of joyful participation in the life of your parishes, communities and movements, as well as the celebration of Sunday Mass, frequent reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the cultivation of personal prayer and meditation on God’s word." - Pope Benedict XVI

August 21, 2011
Madrid

2 all the WYD people..prayers r with u this week..especially my brother...love

thank u 2 Augie Leal and all the SHINE young adults in Chicago...what a funky time...thank u again 2 Jaime, Ian, and Curtis...
here is a taste of audio mixed with vid every now and then...check it OUT!!!

the Pope has had about a million "tweets" by now...
summer is super busy! as u can c by my lack of posts...

many, many gigs and shows and alot of preperation in2 those gigs and shows...

thank u 2 my wife and children 4 their continued support of my music!

the fellas and i r heading back 2 Chicago 2 play for SHINE Catholic Work Camp this friday...u will remember last year we played 4 this and it was fantastic...check out more info here

we thank Augie Leal and his wonderful family 4 letting us back in...the show will b great as we r playing some new music and looking back in2 the 60s with some cool Staple Singers classics...we all love Mavis Staples around here and we can't wait 2 take some gospel 2 Chitown!

will update and post some vid and audio when we get back...

please pray 4 us!

until then stay cool in this heat...wade in the water children!

wow...time flies

Fr Stan visit was great...mucho fun...we played alot of music 2gether...was able 2 take the mobile studio and grab him on a couple of new tracks..."dig me now"?

more later...

heading 2 St. Paul / Minneapolis area to jam with both my Uncle who lives up north and Fr. Stan who is in towns...should b a fun time...gonna try and also record a couple things with Father while i am up there 4 some new m3 stuff...thanks and love 2 my family for supporting my spiritual and musical wants and needs...i love u all

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
So Paul, standing in the middle of the Are-op'agus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything.
And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, for 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, "We will hear you again about this."
So Paul went out from among them. But some men joined him and believed, among them Dionys'ius the Are-op'agite and a woman named Dam'aris and others with them.

- Acts 17

Happy Easter Season!

2 celebrate Easter here is a song written back in the day called "Idle Tale"...taken from Luke 24:10...

"Now it was Mary Mag'dalene and Jo-an'na and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles; but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them."

random pics from google images...
all sounds by me...

Holy Thursday 2011

"The Eucharist is the mystery of the profound closeness and communion of each individual with the Lord and, at the same time, of visible union between all...The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. It reaches the very mystery of the Trinity and thus creates visible unity. Let me say it again: it is an extremely personal encounter with the Lord and yet never simply an act of individual piety. Of necessity, we celebrate it together." 
                                                                            - Holy Thursday Homily Pope Benedict XVI

my brother Macario has a new album out and all proceeds go towards a World Youth Day pilgrimage 2 Madrid this August...if u don't have any coin, u can still download the album 4 FREE!!! all he wants is a prayer said 4 the safety of all the youth in the world...it's that easy folks...so please take a minute 2 check out the blogspot...

link is here -> macario (Omit if not sung)

Palm Sunday!

a project i was working on 4 Spirit Juice Studios has gone live!

please check it out at Palm Sunday Film

gig with the Manny Lopez Big Band last night as well as sitting in on a set w some of my friends in the ever popular QC band Funktastic 5...

i have however been a little under the weather...and bcuz of this, my bro-in-law Ronald Wilson sent my this vid this morning...enjoy some Rita Morena w ur Captian Crunch

fun gig this past weekend...The Marvelettes and The Drifters...put that show in the archives! here is a taste:

playing the drums in a concert 2nite with versions of The Drifters, and the Marvelettes...i'm gonna get my shuffle bounce on!!!

also, finished up a couple of Lenten videos 4 Spirit J...will let u know when those go live...

trying 2 pray and b holy...praying 4 all of u in cyberspace 2day...God Bless

flashback...Chicago Catholic Underground outtakes...thnx Rob...ur the best

i'm still here people...
just working and playing...
Lent is going strong...
working alot w Spirit Juice Studios...
thanks b 2 God 4 them throwing me sessions...

pray 4 us and we will 4 u!

"I saw a man who danced with his wife in Chicago, that's my hometown" (this weekend)

Well...Praise Jesus...another successful Catholic Underground Chicago with Clap For Poland last nite...

they were fantastic and the crowd was awesome!
u can re-live the show here

thank u 2 Rob and SJS for letting me in the door...

AND...

2mrow morning my first born and I will have a father/daughter outing back 2 Chicago via Amtrak to witness the The State Ballet Theatre of Russia bring the world's most beloved ballet to glorious life...Swan Lake!!! needless 2 say both Cela and I r super excited...pics and vid 2 come! 

my brother Macario was over earlier in the week recording a new album...samples 2 come...

i'm out...and tired... God Love U

from the brilliant mind of Kyle Heimann comes the micro-book of the new year...Choosing The Right Urinal...


r friend from Popple fame has words on how the daily struggles of life can only really b answered by going in2 a public restroom and choosing the right urinal...

i don't know how Kyle keeps coming up with these sort of masterpiece's, but he does...
everybody please check this holy man out!

oh, and he just happens 2 play the guitarlele!

they call what i been doing: "re-recording mixer"

To Be Born The Movie

look 4 this soon and very soon