Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 31, 2016

This Saturday is the Feast of Mary, Mother of God.

Huge thanks to those who where able to sing/play at Christmas Eve Mass last week! I know there were a few issues with the Homily and Eucharist portions, but I appreciate everyone's willingness to jump in head first and try to make everything work. The rest of the program was actually pretty solid, and I hope everyone had some fun pulling it off. If we end up doing a Children's Program again next year, this should give us a better idea of what to expect.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 24, 2016

This Saturday is Christmas Eve.

I wasn't at Mass last week, so I don't have much in the way of updates. Both Eva and Maggie had to call off, so thanks to Jim for running things.

I ran into Tim, the person who's interested in playing piano, on Sunday. As we go into the new year, I'd like to see about bringing him into the fold. Between him and Eva, that'll give us more options and flexibility for keyboard coverage. More on this later.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 17, 2016

This Saturday is the 4th Sunday of Advent.

Special thanks to Eva and Tom for covering instruments last week! We ended up switching out the Psalm for one that was more piano-friendly; there were a few challenges here and there with entrances and Mass Parts, but nothing serious. Of all the songs we did, I think the Psalm and 'Each Winter' were probably the highlights.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 10, 2016

This Saturday is the Third Sunday of Advent.

Mass last week was pretty solid, with the last song being pretty exceptional (check it out below :-). There weren't any major issues, but please do remember to watch for cues so we come in together (and stay together) throughout songs.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 3, 2016

This Saturday is the 2nd Sunday of Advent.

Rehearsal and Mass last week were both a bit chaotic (for the record, I did have a plan...), but everything more-or-less came together. We had quite a bit of new(-ish) material to cover. There was a last-minute switch in guitar coverage, with Jonathan playing in Jim's place. Tom also rejoined us after a long hiatus (welcome back!), and the transition to the new book seemed to go off without a hitch. Thanks for bearing with me and the instrumentalists as we got everything sorted out!

On top of that, Father Charlie was pretty sick and was barely hanging in there for Mass. I've heard that a number of events he's involved in this week were canceled, so I'm not sure how this will affect the weekend Masses. It's possible that we may end up with a visiting priest.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 26, 2016

This Saturday is the 1st Sunday of Advent and the beginning of Liturgical Year A.

Mass last week was pretty solid, with only a few very minor issues. Special thanks to Mr. Jonathan for joining us! I also wanted to pass along Mike's compliments -- Mike plays bass at the 11 AM Mass, and noted how much our group has improved since the last time he was here.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 19, 2016

This Saturday is the Feast of Christ the King, and the last Saturday/Sunday of Liturgical Year C.

I wasn't at Saturday Mass last week, so I don't have much in the way of updates (I did help out our counterparts at the 9 AM Liturgy, though :-). It sounds like there may have been some challenges pulling together intros, but I also heard that you guys managed to surprise Father Charlie for his Birthday, so nice job!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 12, 2016

This Saturday is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! There were one or two minor issues with intros, but everything otherwise went pretty smoothly. The Psalm was definitely a highlight of the night -- check it out below if you missed it.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 5, 2016

This Saturday is the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It was great to be nearly at full strength last week! We had a few slightly-iffy intros and two Baptisms, but everything overall went pretty well. Jim, Jonathan and Maggie also did a lovely rendition of 'Grace Revealed' as a prelude. There was a technical issue with my audio recorder, though, and nothing was captured (grrr....).

I missed mentioning this in my last post, but please welcome Jeff to the group! Ginny recruited him to join us last week.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 29, 2016

This Saturday is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We were a little short on instrumentalists last week, but ended up with a nice group of singers. Mass was overall pretty solid, and it was nice to 'keep things simple' for a change. Thanks to everyone who was able to be there!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 22, 2016

This Saturday is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! We mostly had a program of fun, familiar tunes, and despite being light on singers, everything went pretty smoothly. Thanks to Jonathan for joining us on bass!

I apologize in advance for the longer-than-usual post -- the last week as been a bit eventful.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 15, 2016

This Saturday is the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Last week's program was quite a bit of fun and went really well! Thanks to all who were able to be there, especially the Davis's for taking on the Psalm :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 8, 2016

This Saturday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Huge shout-out to Eva for being our sole instrumentalist last Saturday! Special thanks as well to the folks who stepped up to cantor the Psalm, Alleluia, and the first part of the Communion song!

Despite being short on musicians and a compressed rehearsal, we had a nice-sized group of singers and Mass ended up going pretty well.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 1, 2016

This Saturday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Mass last week was pretty solid. Thanks to everyone who was able to be there, especially Jonathan for helping us out on bass and Frances for joining us for the first time on flute!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 24, 2016

This Saturday is the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Very nice work last week! I think several of our more fun and upbeat tunes speak for themselves: (here), (here) and (here). Special thanks to Jonathan and Barry for (re-)joining us!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 17, 2016

This Saturday is the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to everyone who was able to be at Mass last week! We had a visiting priest and the Liturgy was celebrated in the Parish Hall due to the Great Worship Space Flood of last Thursday/Friday. The setup is a bit different than our usual Easter/Christmas configuration, but it still did the job nicely (huge thanks to the staff for getting this up and running so quickly on Friday!). Like others have mentioned, despite the microphone challenges, it was a refreshing change in pace and a good warm-up for Christmas Eve :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 10, 2016

This Saturday is the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week, folks, and I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the holiday weekend!

Jim and Maggie were out, but Eva, Joe and Jonathan were available to round out our instrument section. All the songs went pretty smoothly, and I was especially pleased with how well the Communion song turned out (check it out below!).

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 3, 2016

This Saturday is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We were very short on musicians last week, but didn't run into any major issues. Special thanks to Eva for covering piano, Ben for helping me out with the Psalm and to everyone else who was able to be there! It was also great to see so many of you at the Group Therapy concert to support Jim, Jonathan and Maggie in their new musical endeavor!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 27, 2016

This Saturday is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to everyone who was able to be at Mass last week! Jim had something come up and wasn't able to be there, so Maggie and Joe made up our instrument compliment for the night.

I'm not usually a fan of pulling off largely a capella Masses without advanced planning, but most of our tunes turned out pretty well. Adding in harmony helped to fill in the gaps, while Joe's percussion minimized tempo issues.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 20, 2016

This Saturday is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Once again, very nice work last week! Mass was pretty strong and everything went smoothly even with a visiting priest. Special thanks to Jonathan for dropping by to help us out!