Alright guys.  Who can come up with the best caption? 

What did you do for the 4th?

Hey everyone.  I have a favor to ask.  I need your face.  

The release of the Live Record is just around the corner and I have decided to call it “singAlong”.  We have been working hard on getting everything sounding right and are hoping to have a song up here on the blog this week for you all to hear as a sort of preview.  

I do have one small favor to ask of you though.  I’d like to ask anyone who was at the show or watched the show online to send a picture of your face to singalong@philwickham.com.  I have a neat idea and I think it’s going to be fun.

So anyone who was at the show or watched it online on May 9th, send a moderately sized picture of your face to singalong@philwickham.com. 

Thanks again.

-phil

A lot of you were asking for a picture and some of you dug deep and found some.  I opted to keep the links out of the comments and thought I would share this picture with you instead.  That is me and my bride to be.

-phil

I’m engaged!!!

-phil

I am flying. Seat 28D feels painfully small. To my right there is a not so small middle-aged man napping in a flowery luau shirt. His glasses are slipping down his nose. To my left is an aisle. I must remember to keep my left elbow tucked closely against my body, for the flight attendants are moving quickly and are much too busy to be cautious about the occasional overhanging elbow. By the feel of them, their mobile drink stations seem to be made of reinforced titanium. The drink station is getting closer now. I am thirsty but the thought of managing a beverage in these close quarters always sounds like more work than it’s worth. I wonder if they serve yahoo. I decide to order a cup of cran-apple juice from Liz the stewardess, excuse me, the flight attendant. The only time I drink cran-apple juice is when I’m on a plane. When I am safe on the ground the juice never enters my thoughts. But here, in the sky, I crave it. I don’t know why. Maybe the sharp sweet and sourness of the drink is a refreshing change to the bland musk that fills my mouth from the recycled air of the overstuffed cabin. My juice is gone.

I have recently noticed that I am an ice-chewer. I love to feel it crunch between my teeth then swallow the cold slushy leftovers. I remember hearing once that ice chewing can become a real addiction. I don’t know if this is true, but I feel as though I have been told that there is something we get from chewing ice that we don’t get when simply drinking water. Research anyone? A young boy just grabbed my arm with both hands to steady himself from a small air jolt. I am bored.

The last two days I played at two different festivals. One was in Pennsylvania called Creation East. The other was in Dallas called Celebrate Freedom. I don’t know how many of you have gone to any Christian music festivals, they are, if anything, an interesting place to be. Let me begin by saying I am honored to have been asked to be apart of Creation and CF (Celebrate Freedom) along with the handful of others I am playing at this season, and I must say that they are a great way to get in front of a lot of people at one time. Summer Festivals are almost always outside. There is only one I have been to that wasn’t, which was in Scotland. As you probably deduced, summer festivals occur in the summer, which means summer festivals are hot and sweaty sort of things. Many times it rains as well, which turns them into hot and muddy sorts of things. For hours upon hours and sometimes days upon days a great slew of bands will mount any number of stages and offer their best slice of rock to a mass of eager hand-clappers and “whoop-whoopers”. But what I find more interesting than the music is what’s happening offstage. It’s the people themselves that seem to grab most of my attention. I am amazed by them.

For one, the sheer number can be staggering. But beyond that I think it’s the spirit of the crowd that is so intriguing, maybe even inspiring. The fact that so many would come together and brave the heat, muddy their clothes, sleep in tents, and still night by night fill the place with their voices is incredible to me. Though I would greatly prefer the smaller more intimate settings of an indoor venue, I have come to appreciate the festival for what it is in spite of the sweat. Viva La Festiva! By the way, have any of you heard the Coldplay record, “Viva La Vida or Death And All of His Friends” a lengthy title I know, but know with over ten solid listens under my belt I can safely say that I very much enjoy it. Thoughts?

So today I fly back to Southern California. I’m playing at the L.A. Convention Center with a band you may be familiar with called P.O.D. If I remember correctly, the letters stand for “Payable On Death”. If you have any other clever guesses at the mysterious meaning of the three letters please comment below. Phil Wickham and P.O.D., an interesting line up to be sure, but I am expecting a fun night. I’m thinking about writing a new bridge for Divine Romance so Sonny from P.O.D. can rap it during the show. Then we can close the song out with a scream off. I’ll try to get some pictures so I can share them with y’all here on the blog.

Lastly but not leastly, many of you have been asking about the live record that I recorded in May. For those of you who are not up to speed: I recorded a live show in Portland with me, my acoustic guitar, and about 2500 peeps singing out my songs and some hymns. It was a rad night of worship. We are currently editing it and making sure it’s ready to be listened to and soon…very soon, we will be making it available for free download here from this site. This week we’ll tell you all the exact date it’ll be available so stay tuned!!!!!! I am very excite!!! (said in high pitched middle eastern accent)

-phil

True Love

D Bm A G
Come close listen to the story
D Bm A
about a love more faithful than the morning
D/F# G Bm Asus A
The Father gave his only Son just to save us

D D/F#
The earth was shaking in the dark
Bm A G
All creation felt the Fathers broken heart
D D/F#
tears were filling heavens eyes
Bm A G
The day that true love died, the day that true love died
D D/F#
When blood and water hit the ground
Bm A G
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
D D/F#
We were free and made alive
Bm A G
The day that true love died, The day that true love died

D Bm A G
Search your heart you know you can’t deny it
D Bm A
Cmon Lose your life just so you can find it
D/F# Bm Asus A
The Father gave his only son just to save us

G
Now Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive
Bm A
Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive
Em D/F#
Jesus is alive, Oh He is alive
Asus A
He rose again

Enjoy

-phil

“FOOL’S WISDOM”
Malcolm & Alwyn

Got myself some wisdom from a leather back book
Got myself a Savior when I took a second look
I opened up the pages and what did I find
A black and white portrait of a king who’s a friend of mine
Funny how when you think you’re right everybody else must be wrong
Till someone with fools wisdom somehow comes along
His voice was strange and the words he said I didn’t quite understand
Yet I knew that He was speaking right by the leather back book in his hand
Hey Hey what a day! Fools Wisdom
Hey Hey what a day! Fools Wisdom
Got myself some wisdom from a leather backed book
Got myself a savior when I took a second look

A few decades back there were a handful of bands and artist who pioneered what we have come to know as contemporary christian music. With their simple and sincere faith artists and bands like Keith Green, Larry Norman, Love Song, Parable (of whom my parents were members) and many others drew up the maps to what was then uncharted territory. Now, years later, I believe much can still be learned from the examples they set both in lifestyle and in art. The song “Fool’s Wisdom” by the artists Malcolm & Alwyn is one of my favorite songs from that era. The great amount of quality and honesty that it holds in it’s lyrics and melody seem hard to come by now a days. I love singing it. I hope you like listening to it.

-phil

I am here today at this amazing festival. For all you guys still in America that might want to check out the festival, the nice folks at GodTV are making it available online to watch. Go here and register to watch.

Here are the times that the festival will be broadcast:

USA (ET): June 7 at 8am
UK (BST): 7 June at 13:00
Europe (CET): 7 June at 20:30
Africa (SAT): 7 June at 19:30
Asia (IST): 7 June at 19:30
Hong Kong (HKT): 7 June at 22:00
Australasia (EST): 7 June at 22:30

Hope you can check it out.

Also, for those of you asking about the LIVE recording, we are still working out all the bugs and will try to get a song or two up as soon as we can. Hang in there.

-phil