thesurrendersound

I wrote this song awhile back for a friend of mine named Andrew who was going through a little snag in his life. Now, this guy has a passion for the Lord and has over come many obstacles. The Lord is using him every day, and I cant wait to see whats next for Andrew and his family. So I wrote this song for him as an encouragement and to anyone else who might be going through a hard time right now let this be a prayer. Andrew hasn’t heard this song yet cause I’ve been super busy, but here it is!

Victorious

verse 1:
Give me a passion, give me a desire
for Your heart Holy Father.
Give me the strength to stand for Your great name.

chorus:
Yes our God is a great great God.

verse 2:
When there’s darkness all around me
Your the light that’s right in front of me
You give me strength to stand for Your great name.

chorus 2:
Your name is victorious, and You
gave so that all of us can say we are saved.

Victorious

-josh

Here is a shout out from my friends at Fidelis Foto:

This is Josh Taylor. Rad. He’s been working for quite a few years under the banner of a band named “Clairmont”. It’s good. It’s real good.

Josh has, in the last year, taken on a side project by the new name of The Surrender Sound. This solo project, with some help from friends, has produced an album called “Clarity, Humility, and Peace”. I’ll say here that you should buy it from THIS place. Now that that is out of the way… I tell you why I love this project.

First up, let’s start with the name The Surrender Sound. For something like 16 years, Josh has been training, working, and writing music. That much investment in a craft will tend to lead you into some serious control issues. You may be particular about the album art, the songs themselves, your message, your band rider, what venues you will and will not play, or any number of things. For Josh, that all got brushed away when, to hear him say it, “the Lord started giving me songs. A LOT of songs. Like, a couple a day for months.” He had no control over what he was putting into it anymore, yet it was more than had ever been done. He decided at that point to find a way to give as best he could. So, being totally supported by his community, he found a way to produce the album with no cost to himself, produced the album, and is now hoping to give as much as he got. Genius.

For instance, he spent this afternoon schooling our intern in the importance of photography for bands. How a photo will communicate within half a second the soul of the album. How if the artist does not know what the soul of the album is about, then it is the photographers best guess what that soul is about.

These are the photos that we shot for the album. Josh wanted to communicate that this album was given by, produced by, and eventually distributed by the Lord and His people. We hope that we got close to that message:

Click here to go to the fidelis blog

Thanks guys!

Thank You!
On May 9th 2011 I started a kickstarter campaign with the help of Justin Romack, to try and raise $2000 in three weeks for my new project “thesurrendersound.” With hundreds of facebook messages, occasional twittering, emailing, and good old fashion talking, texting, and constant praying. You and Your support made this goal possible. Thank you so much for all of your support, whether it was with prayer, sending a message, telling a friend or donating, I really appreciate it. Be on the look out cause the next time I see you you’ll be getting a huge hug from me. You are a blessing.

The fact is – your support will go beyond just having a few CDs printed and getting a few new songs for your iTunes library. I’m excited to share these songs with youth groups, Bible studies, small groups, home churches and any other communities that will allow me to share these songs with them. I want to make “Clarity, Humility and Peace” available and accessible to ears that want to hear it, and your prayers and monetary support are going to make that a reality. And – for that I say…

Thank You!
josh

Hey guys,
Here is a sneak preview of “Listen to Your Heart” off the new album. This song was written for my Aunt back in 2010 when she was diagnosed with cancer, also during this time a few other people close to me were diagnosed with cancer so I just had to get this song out. This song is to be an encouragement to all those who are struggling and fighting the Lord brings hope and peace. If you like this song please go here: http://kck.st/jfpCCb and donate there’s only 3 days left!

thanks!
-josh

I’m guessing it was about a year ago when some hood rats tried to kill me and I found refuge at Josh Taylor’s house. This is all very true. I would never joke about things like hood rats or the Taylor house.

The story goes like this. Josh Taylor and I were watching movies real late one night when Josh’s bride was out of town. Josh has this wicked great flat screen, so we hit up the Blockbuster and made a night of it. Somewhere about midnight I get this call from a friend who sounds a bit distraught. I silently mouth to Josh to keep watching the flicks, and I slipped into the parking lot to chat with my vocally disheveled friend. (It might help to know that I live down the sidewalk from Josh’s backyard and I often pace this very parking lot when I talk on the phone. Nervous energy and such. Also, the pacing is good for the metabolism.) So I’m in the parking lot chatting when this van stops out on the street and these two guys stare at me. I do not recognize them, but their staring feel sinister. Feeling a tad bit absolutely terrified, I turn towards Josh’s house and attempt to walk back as naturally as possible, as if I just, at that exact moment, needed a pickle from the fridge or a pencil to make conversational notes. That’s when the van peeled into the parking lot squealing tires and kicking on their high beams. I’ve seen enough horror movies in my day to not entertain the inquisitive nature of two scraggly dudes in a windowless van, so I high-tailed it heels to buttocks back to Josh’s house, busted through the front door without knocking, and ran all the way upstairs where I collapsed on the floor and checked if I had soiled anything. Josh said that immediately after I bolted through the door a car pulled up in front of the house and an industrial strength Mag-Lite peered through the front window. I asked Josh what he did. He said, “I didn’t do anything. I figured they were looking for you.” I have not paced our parking lot so late since.

I was just thinking of that story while listening to Josh’s new record and realized two things: 1) Josh is much calmer about Mag-Lites shining from windowless vans than I am; and 2) Josh also has a big white van, but I could never conceive of fearing Josh Taylor or his van, mainly because it’s chock-full of windows.

These songs from Clarity, Humility and Peace, playing in the background of this ridiculous memory, carry something true of Josh Taylor, something I want to be increasingly more true of me: these songs carry Josh’s longing to connect with his Father. There’s movement these songs. Approach. Hope to abide. Desire to enter into the presence of Holy. I’m listening to these songs and I’m seeing something similar to that silly memory outlined above. I see a wild mad dash towards the Father. I see running. I see a heels to buttocks style high-tailing. I see feet kicking up dust, and I see sons busting through the front door of the Promised Land. That’s what worship does. Worship quickens our approach to the Father. I’m glad for a friend who writes such songs. Even more than that, I’m glad for a friend who shares these songs, not only on his records, but also in the way he loves his family and lives life with his community.  No wonder the folks who play worship are called “worship leaders” – these songs do not sit still. They move. And when we sing these songs, our hearts follow. Into His Land. Under His banner. Through His streams. Hallelujah.

Got a sweet shout out from our buddy, Todd Wright, a worship pastor and songwriting powerhouse from Tyler, TX. If you want to hear the track, “Banner”, that he’s discussing here, head over and watch the music video. You should also check out Todd’s blog, appropriately called TODDBLOG, and subscribe to his podcast while you’re at it. 

Thanks for the encouraging words, Todd!

I heard about Josh Taylor for a couple of years before I met him. Through mutual friends, I kept hearing about this songwriter and worship leader who had a knack for writing captivating melodies and a devotion to make God-exalting music.

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of meeting Josh and getting to see first-hand his dedication to the craft of songwriting. That’s why I’m excited to hear his new summer release of worship tunes. Under the name The Surrender Sound, Josh will be releasing nine new songs this year. Josh was very gracious in letting me hear a pre-release track entitled “Banner” and I’m happy to spread the word about this new record.

THE SONG The “banner” image from scripture was prominent during the worship explosion of the early ’90s, but soon was eclipsed by other images that have hung around longer – fire falling, shouting louder than the heavens (which makes no sense, by the way,) and singing “whoa whoa whoa”. But the banner is something we need to sing about. We need to embrace the idea of finding ourselves under God’s banner – finding our whole identity in Him as the Victor-King and submitting our lives to His purposes.

The tune is simple – acoustic, percussion and vocals – and doesn’t rush the pace. This isn’t a song trying to become an anthem, just waiting around for the big drum solo bridge. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that this specific tune finds it real power when the voices of the congregation overpower it with their own volume.

THE ARTIST I’m encouraging my readers to check out Josh at his Kickstarter page. He’s got about a week to raise the money needed to finish out the project. Poke around the site and if you like what Josh is about, then throw a few bucks his way.

I’ll try to keep you updated on Josh’s progress with the new project. Thanks, readers! You’re great!

– Todd Wright

Eleven days ago, I asked a community of my family, friends and strangers, too, for belief in an idea that I’ve been working toward over the past year. “Clarity, Humility and Peace” is a collection of nine songs that I’ve written for the Church – and want to freely give back to the Church. It’s tough to release a record as a fresh face and a brand new ministry, but I knew that this platform would be a way to share the experience with folks that were willing to support the idea.

The kickstarter campaign has begun! Help me raise $2000.00 to get my side project off the ground. Please post this link everywhere and spread the word! And if you feel lead please donate.

Project URL:
http://www.kickstarter.com/e/rokLm/projects/1325767074/thesurrendersounds-cd-release-clarity-humility-and

thanks!
-josh

As we prepare to launch the Kickstarter project, a few of my friends want to share what these songs have meant to them. Some are involved directly with the project, while others have heard the songs in church, a home group or provided helpful critiques and insight along the way.

First up, Justin Romack talks a bit about the general direction of Clarity, Humility and Peace and the surrendersound ministry. Take a minute to read Justin’s thoughts on what we’re doing here, and give him a follow on Twitter, as well.

This week, I’ve worked to shed some light on the process of writing, recording, designing and distributing a collection of songs for the Church. I believe very strongly that thesurrendersound is a ministry based on community, and this series of blogs and my website can be another platform to share community.

-josh

I’ve taken the past few days to “break down” the process of putting together a recording project that will be distributed both physically and digitally. It’s a ton of creative hours, labor, and mental work, but I’m so excited to see it all come together and for people to take a listen. I wanted to focus a bit on what will happen AFTER I release this album project. As I’ve mentioned before, thesurrendersound is a music ministry that I’m incredibly passionate about pursuing over the next year and I wanted to share some of my ministry goals with you.

-josh

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I’m sure that was said before they saw the work done by my friends at Fidelis Photography. Seriously their photography is worth 2,500 words. I’ve had the privilege of working with Tim and Kristen Douglas through the years, and they do such great work, and that’s why I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have do photography for my side project.

-josh

Most of these songs off the album have been on my mind for a while now. I’m excited about this project because I can watch these ideas that have had, literally, hundreds of hours poured into them, become a beautiful explosion of sounds, texture, harmony, and rhythms. But, what I’m even more excited to see happen, is how the same prayers and worship I’ve lifted up to the Lord as I’ve been amidst the writing process, can be translated into a collection of nine songs on this new record. That’s why I want to invite you into the process. It’s beautiful and reverent, but full of details, scheduling, rehearsals, critiques, overdubs, and decisions. Ultimately, these songs are an offering, and I want to share how it all came together.

It’s been a crazy busy year for my family and ministry. First and foremost, my wife, Whitney, and I celebrated the birth of our daughter, June, on May 5th, 2010. She’s been a tremendous blessing and has taught me to have more patience. I’ve also had the privilege of leading several church groups in worship, as well as staying quite active in my local church. It’s really helped shape my outlook on the ministry I want to do with The Surrender Sound over the next year. One of my major goals is to release a worship project for the Church – and that’s what I’m writing about today.