Prodigal Song Has Come Back to Us!

A while back, Jim had sent me a very primitive concert that dated back to the early 80's, and on there was a rare copy of "Prodigal Song". (It was the climax of our 'Prodigal Daughter'-themed show, when Mike & Chuck were still with us. The show told the story of a young runaway girl who comes to her senses.) The cuts he had included the 'witnesses' or talks we would do before songs. I had put this on our extra LW Classic Tracks site with other raw material. Lately, I realized I could just trim off that intro and post the song on our regular site; what a find!

Prodigal Song on LW's ReverbNation site

Here, we see a song being born. It might have been one of the first times we tried it which is true of several songs in this concert - we were trying things out. I noticed some 'missing' elements that we eventually used to do. For instance, my guitar would join the melody line during the bridge, Greg was yet to find his preferred distortion, and the vocals got more developed in time. But, what a treasure it is! Tony's jazz sense on drums, perfectly melded to Dave's funky bass is on full display. It is a very rare case where we can hear Chuck's 'marching valve trombone' perfectly. 

I am thinking of putting out a 'classic live' album. Stay tuned, friends!

Peace & Love & JOY,

Mark LaJOIE!

St. Luke & Mary's Singing Heart

 St. Luke & Mary's Singing Heart

recent convert Roy Schoeman described Mary's voice as 'what makes music music'

Below is a PowerPoint about St. Luke, celebrated October 18. This reminds us of our song, the "Magnificat", which Denise sings so well. Luke loved Canticles, art & poetry; he had to have spoken directly with Mary; he heard her musical voice & wrote down her beautiful song, so prophetic & scriptural!

Magnificat by Living Waters

 More Than the Sum of Its Parts

Mark's recent demo recording, "Streams of Mercy", demonstrates something that's true of Living Waters music in general from the beginning. After Mark finished doing vocal & guitar tracks, he sent that mp3 to Mike; he wanted to add piano & strings. He put these together on GarageBand, sent it back for finishing and? voila! a great demo....

Streams of Mercy CLICK!

Here's Mark with his Ovation Legend II; it's kind of beat up!

Well! Let's just say what he did really enhanced what Mark had laid down. Just one example: go to 1:33 up to 1:53 where Mark is singing the quiet part of Christ praying from the Cross. Mark has just one guitar part going, high up on the neck. Mike is adding simple stroke chords on piano that perfectly match the tones in the guitar chords. (You probably wouldn't even have noticed it if it weren't pointed out to you.) This imperceptibly 'fills it in', and makes it 'work' much better. He did this sort of thing all over the final demo - so awesome!

This makes a point. It's ALWAYS been like this in LW! During arranging & practice, each member has added 'little' things that 'serve' the song. We could talk all day about it. This is especially true of the songwriting as well as the arranging. Mark would add a vocal echo as part of Mike's song, as in "The Joy"; Mike would add a keyboard riff to top off a song of Mark's, as in "Glory". What we end up doing is often far better than if we had each gone totally solo. And even when we 'go solo', one or another of us often steps in to help & give it that "Living Waters" magic.

Recording "Streams of Mercy"

Streams of Mercy DEMO! CLICK!

Mark Lajoie here! I thought you might be interested in how this recent demo got recorded last week.

I had done my own self-recording at times in the past. For instance, "Forever", "Tell the Whole World" and "We All Did It". We even released some of those on our interim album, "Still Flowing". This was probably NOT a good decision on my part; these were little more than my own GarageBand demos. Actually, many of our studio-recordings produced by Josh were based on demos I created, a much more sound process of creation.

BUT recently I have not had access to GarageBand or a producer. I now live in a very small place with several family members & limited income. My ability to create was, it seemed curtailed. However, the URGE to create has been persistently pressing me. I go to Mass every day now, and during Communion every day, this old song of mine, kept crowding into  my consciousness, insisting that it be expressed & shared. 

The song, is a very simple one: 3 chords, 4 basic notes. I received it at the age of 15 while on my knees before the Tabernacle. It brought me to where THE Victory was won for us by the King: to the Cross as He shares with us in the Bread of Life. This is precisely what is under attack right now and what people need to know. What was so relevant for a poor teen back then was perfect for those I want to reach now. I HAD to get this OUT of me!

Well, where there's a Will, there's a Way. I had done a very rough demo for "May I Receive You" using the Audacity app. That's basically for doing podcasts, and I had used it to do some pre-production recording for our LW podcast. After investigating, I figured out how I could get this app to serve as a studio app. I drove up to my son's house where it was quiet, while he was at work, and I spent the day there. I  plugged in my Ovation 12-string to my little Acoustic-brand amplifier, turning up the volume with a light effect. I then set my mic to omnidirectional so it could pick up both the live guitar (which sounds pretty awesome all by itself!) AND the amplified sound. I scrabbled to get a scratch track, laid down two different lines of acoustic, a lead vocal and a harmony. I added a simple bass line on the acoustic, and then was able to put it down a whole octave; sounds like a stand-up bass. This song needed bells, but they HAD to sound something like altar bells, so I recorded the chimes from my cell phone alarm!

I then was able to add some effects, pan tracks to either side and play with the mix. I created a demo. Mike kindly invited me to send this to him so he could add keyboards. He downloaded the mp3 to his GarageBand, added a sterling piano track and strings track, mixed it and sent it to me. What he did?? It was if he was reading my mind! He put in eXACTly what I imagined should be there. I then added the end echo track, and? voila! what I think is a wonderful demo!

I got it OUT of me!! I hope you sense the Power of where these words & images of Scripture take you.

Thinking of doing a proper job on "May I Receive You" next: stay tuned!!

A Sword Shall Pierce Your Heart....

 

A Sword Shall Pierce Your Heart... Stabat Mater (Mark solo) CLICK to listen! *{AND! Mark has now created a demo that mentions the Sword piercing the Mother's heart Streams of Mercy DEMO}* At the Cross her station keeping Stood the mournful mother weeping Close to Jesus to the last. Through her heart His sorrow sharing All His bitter anguish bearing Now, at length, the Sword has passed "And a sword shall pierce your heart that the thoughts of many may be revealed...." Lk 2:35

Music

Home is Where the Heart Is (live) There's a Woman   MORE MUSIC

Press

"I know this song is anointed from the first chords and words. I can hear this song in heaven and you brought it to mankind with a precious oil of His anointing. Holy Heavenly Zion's living waters are in this song of profession and confession. Vocal talents resonate His love and light and blend harmoniously with the musical composition. Talented and anointed musicians gather in this band to give Him glory. Great testimony and witness in this song that lifts the singers who worship Him to His heavenly throne. Amen. [City of Joy song review]"— Electric Spice Music, United Kingdom, Wales "I think this single is a gem for [the] Christian Rock community that should be heard and recognized for the true and honest classic energy that it has. (about "There's a Woman"!)"— Review, Indie Music Spin "There’s a Woman by Living Waters is a 60’s Inspired Christian Rock Gem! This new single is REFRESHing and it makes me smile. [emphasis added!]"— Review, Indie Music Spin

Connect

 Can't You Feel the Loving Arms?

Our live version of "Loving Arms" is getting some pretty strong reactions! The performance was on June 29th, 2014 for St. Peter's in Athol, MA. We were cooking in that hot sun; we were very tight and played as if we had never stopped all those years. This is especially true of this song. Jim recorded some raw footage that day, and recently sent some audio to Mike. We took the audio, edited a bit and released it as a single.

Mark created a simple video which basically runs a GIF throughout that has pool water with occasional water bubbles: https://youtu.be/HsAbSs0oZkc

And? the reaction from those who have listened is overwhelmingly positive! Here is a sample: 

AVA has a great feature on it here: Classic Live Video from LW

I sure hope you love it, too!

 It's Not the Same was not the same!

Our song, "It's Not the Same" was recorded on multi-track in the basement of our community house at 505 Pleasant circa 1985. This salvaged work is what you hear on our sites now. But, just as a point of ironic interest, that song was NOT the same in years after that recording! After the chorus coming out of the bridge, there is a lead-in to Greg's rock-and-roll style lead. On the recording Tony and Dave continue to play straight, blending, rhythmic backing. But soon after this time and for the rest of our concert days that part changed into your classic sharp staccato transition, with drums & bass playing like "ONE (x-x-x), ONE (x-x-x), ONE x THREE x, ONE TWO THREE FOUR like Chuck Berry in "Johnny B. Goode" . And after I said "Get back, Jo", I used to also say "Johnny B Goode" and "Go home!", and other improvised classic rock n roll references. Ok, so, go ahead and listen to this, but, just remember:  it's not the same!!

It's Not the Same on Spotify!

Peace & Love & JOY,

Mark LaJOIE! for Living Waters