X-ALT Rhythm and Praise

Getting Started Again!

2010-03-22T15:15:00.005-05:00

What a great service yesterday morning at New Beginnings. X-ALT! did an all music service and from all the positive comments that followed it seems we were able to touch a lot of hearts. I recieved this e-mail this morning from Theresa Thomas...

"Heard nothing but great comments yesterday even from a lot of people who don't usually "get in" to the music service. Everyone left with a "great feeling of worship" yesterday. We so appreciate you guys!!! Tony turned 42 yesterday and he said "I got a really great concert for my birthday this morning"!"

We love it when something we do touches people and this program was especially special to us as it marks the return of X-ALT! to doing what it has always been our plan to do. To take the word, the music and the blessings that God has given us all to people everywhere, whenever and wherever they will have us.

X-ALT! will be doing a short set at the Community Easter Event at Antioch Park (off Blue Hole Road) next Saturday (March 27th) hosted by Antioch UMC and Easter Sunday many of us will take part in the Easter Service at New Beginnings Church and we will be joined by a horn section made up of some younger X-ALT'ers. Mark you calendar for this special service that begins at 11:00 am.

Looking to the future we are hoping to be part of some up-comming festivals, we will continue our prison ministry and are in talks with the Nashville Rescue Mission to possibly begin doing a service there. It's looking to be a busy Summer for X-ALT! and that's the way we like it.

Thanks for your prayers for our group, we feel them all!
V

News from the trenches

2010-02-22T14:04:00.003-06:00

Just an update on the band. We have had to say goodby to Leslie from our group, although her departure is so that she can persue some music ministry on her own. You can catch up with her at Lamb of God Ministries, and I believe the website is lambofgodmusic.com (if I'm incorrect, would someone please post the correct site). We are slated to start performing again, starting on March 21st with the 11am service at New Beginnings Fellowship, located at 7700 George E Horn Road in Bellvue. We're mixing some material from both CD's, as well as some cover songs. We NEED you to be there to help us get back in the groove! If you haven't seen a show in a while, it's time to come and worship with us!

In the glory of His name,
Mark

Great Southern Whiteout

2010-01-11T17:52:00.003-06:00

From the "On The Air" CD here is a little celebration of winter from our very own Tom Landers.

Christmas

2009-12-22T09:43:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to send everyone a very, merry Christ-mas from all of X-ALT! to everyone out there. You have been such a great support to us over the last, almost 4, years. Wow. In that amount of time, so much has happened to all of us, and to this ministry, that it is mind boggeling. Just this past month, we were able to do a prison service, and because of a mix-up, ended up ministering to several inmates that we had not been able to reach before. The next Sunday, we led worship at New Beginnings Fellowship, followed that evening with a show at St. John's United Methodist Church. (and there's already talk of putting together a Christmas album for the next project, more details later!) We do covet your prayers for each of us, and for God's continued use of us, through this coming year. Please take time to stop during all the hustle and hurry, and wish the King of Kings and Lord of Lords a happy birthday. May His Grace be on all of you! - Mark M.

New Beginnings Coffee House

2009-10-12T15:00:00.003-05:00

Hi Folks, just a reminder that X-ALT! will be appearing at the New Beginnings Coffee House on Oct. 17. The show starts at 6:30 and features NU GENERATION from Lakeshore Christian Church, the one and only Sarah Valley and X-ALT! will close out the night. This will be a great chance to pick up a copy of the new CD "On The Air" and it will also be the first time our new collection "X-ALT! - Clean Version" will be available. As usual coffee and soft drinks will be flowing and there will be great snacks to munch on and to buy at the bake sale that will be going on at the same time. ANT IT'S ALL FREE!!!!! So make plans now to attend. New beginnings is located at 7700 George E. Horn Road, Nashville TN. 37221
See you Saturday
Vince

Checking In

2009-07-23T09:23:00.002-05:00

Hi folks, things are picking up, we've have had a flurry of new bookings come in, in the last few weeks. Please check the appearances section on the right to see those and try and come out and join us for a few. We have a surprise coming up but we are not quiet ready to announce it just yet but check back often. Until then God Bless you all.
V

It's been a wild couple of weeks!

2009-06-11T14:46:00.005-05:00

Revival 2009 at New Beginnings was a great success, all three services were filled with great music and inspiring messages. Souls were saved and new friends were made, and a new tradition was started - I can't wait till next year!

The three Pastors that took part in the service found a common ground in God's love. Pastor Arthur Alexander. Pastor Dan Shapley and Pastor Ron Baptiste.

The following weekend we were invited to Pastor Baptiste's Church - Covenant Confirmers Church in Springfield - for their annual Biker Rally. I can only say that a great time was had by all, especially us in that we were joined by Sister Rita Hardison of "The Sounds Of Life" choir to cover for the vacationing Tom Landers. My goodness can the girl sing!!!!!

Hey there is more pictures and videos to come so check back soon.
God Bless
V

Jesus Take The Wheel

2009-05-18T11:59:00.003-05:00

Mark Mills and I had the pleasure to back up Jessica Reel (Susie Reel's Daughter) at her senior high pops concert earlier this week. She's got a great voice just like her Momma!

It's Finally Here!

2009-05-06T09:24:00.005-05:00

X-ALT "ON THE AIR"

The new X-ALT! CD "On The Air" will be available beginning May 31, 2009 at Revival 2009 at New Beginnings Church, 7700 George E Horn Road, Nashville TN 37221. It's been a long time coming but it's finally here and we can't wait for you to hear it!

More soon

Something New

2009-03-24T12:16:00.003-05:00

This is a new song from the soon to be released CD. We are looking to have it finishe by Mid-May.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-02-16T09:53:00.004-06:00

X-ALT! is proud to be a part of REVIVAL 2009 at New Beginnings Church

Service Schedule

Friday May 29 6:00pm - Pastor Dan Shapley w/ Sounds Of Life Chior

Saturday May 30 6:00pm - Pastor Alexander Arthur w/ The Pearl Band

Sunday May 31 3:00pm - Pastor Ron Baptiste w/ X-ALT!

Please make plans to attend.

It's a NEW YEAR lets get busy

2009-01-02T09:33:00.002-06:00

Here's hoping you all had a great holiday season. X-ALT! has been keeping busy getting the new CD ready. We still have some work to do but we are hoping that new CD will be ready to go by mid February if not before. I'll keep you posted right here so check back often.
Once the CD is complete the plan is to hit the streets doing shows and services anywhere and everywhere that will have us, so hopefully we will be seeing you all soon and often in the new year.
God Bless
V

I Just Want To Thank The Lord!

2008-10-07T15:40:00.002-05:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking, praying, crying, and generally feeling pretty upset lately.

Last night I took a walk and prayed the whole time I was out for some guidance. I told God I needed something good to happen because I was having a lot of trouble finding anything good to hold on to. What I just discovered is that God has been giving good things in abundance lately and I've just been in such a negative place that I've been refusing to see them. Tommy's new song that I've posted above really helped me when I stumbled on it hiding on my desktop as an un-named file. Although there is a lot of crap hanging around my neck right now I have to try and look at the bigger picture. Sunday morning we were blessed to participate in a homecoming service at Richland Baptist Church that saw some folks come forward and rededicate their lives to Christ. Five hours later we were behind bars at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison worshiping with a group of men who literally have nothing left but when they hit bottom they looked up and found their salvation through the love of Christ and God Almighty. Next Saturday we see one of our own, Mark Mills become an ordained minister then on Sunday we get to worship with our family at New Beginnings then later that afternoon take part in a praise concert at Word Of Life Christian Center. My faith is strong, my family has their health and I believe that God is at work in this world and we have nothing to fear.

Are there going to be bumps on my personal road? Sure. But if I can keep my eyes focused on THE ONE who made me,THE ONE who saved me and THE ONE that will lead me home then those bumps will not seem as bad and there will always be a bright horizon ahead.

GOD BLESS

New Beginnings Coffee House 9/27

2008-09-29T16:22:00.000-05:00

2008-09-17T14:42:00.000-05:00

Updates

2008-09-12T15:59:00.003-05:00

X-ALT! continues to work on the new CD "On The Air", we are hoping for a mid October release of this 2 CD package so keep checking in. Once we are sure of a release date I will make sure to let everyone know. Also we are excited that our own Mark Mills will soon be an ordained minister. His ordination service is scheduled for October 11th. Mark is a great man of God, a true leader and I'm sure he will make a great minister.
Till next time
V

"Brother" Bill Jenkins

2008-08-06T13:41:00.003-05:00

"Brother" Bill Jenkins is the Pastoral Director of Claiborne and Hughes Nursing Facility in Franklin TN. I was recently hired to do a video profile of "Brother" Bill for the facility to present at an upcoming convention as part of a discussion on the role of religion in health care for the elderly. In doing the project I not only met an incredible servant of the Lord but also had my eye's opened to the good that prayer can do in the lives of many who have nothing else and that a simple touch can convey not only love but healing. I hope you enjoy the video and that it touches you as much as making it touched me.
V

Goodbye Pastor Olds

2008-07-23T15:07:00.003-05:00

The Nashville community lost a great minister and leader early this morning with the passing of Pastor Howard Olds. I worked closely with Pastor Olds on his "Faith Break" television spots. I produced these spots for the last couple of years and found Pastor Olds to be a kind and generous person who was concerned with the welfare of his church and community. Despite numerous battles with cancer Pastor Olds never lost his spirit. He will be missed. Please pray for his family, friends and congregation at Brentwood UMC. Pastor Olds had recently retired due to the serious condition of his cancer.

God Bless you Pastor Olds, may you finally rest in the arms of the savior, free from pain and worry. You have touched many souls and the time has come for your reward.

A Quick Update

2008-07-22T18:16:00.004-05:00

We had a great service Sunday morning at New Beginnings, Kyle Netherton and his son joined us playing Trumpet and our good friend Susan Christians added her flute to the music. It was a joyful noise and none of us wanted it to end!!! Pastor Dan Shapley brought a great message on "Grace" to us all and I think we all left feeling filled and lifted up. It was just a wonderful way to start the week.

I've got a couple of pictures to share. These are from a recent show we did for the good folks at West Nashville Southern Methodist Church as part of their "Homecoming" celebration. We were a little rusty that day and were missing Mark Mills (our big toe) but it was fun to get out and sing the glory of God.

We start recording the new CD on August 16th then we will be back on the road trying to get out and play for all the folks that we had to put on hold during Mark's cancer surgery and recovery. It's going to be a busy fall in X-alt Land and I can't wait!!!!

See you all soon

V

Finally Getting Started

2008-07-11T13:11:00.005-05:00

After much delay I'm proud to announce that we will finally be recording our new CD titled "On The Air" beginning on August 16th.

If things go as planned this will be a special 2 disk package containing the "On The Air" CD and a second disk of re-mixes and, live and other cool stuff. We are still finalizing the song list but I can give you a preview of some of the song titles.

"Just Wanna' Praise The Lord" (Tom Landers) Vocal by Tom Landers

"Flame On Jesus" (Vince Pinkerton & Mark Mills) Vocal by Brooke Pinkerton

"In His Song" (Vince & Lucy Pinkerton & Mark Mills) Vocal by Mark Mills

"Too Blessed" (Susie Reel & X-ALT) Vocal by Susie Reel

"Lift Me Up" (Vince Pinkerton & Mark Pierce) Vocal by Vince Pinkerton

"Paper Dragons" (Katy Seale) Vocal by Katy Seale

Here is a preview of one of the songs. This is "Too Blessed" live at Ashland City UMC with special guests Bryan Cumming and Bob Shultz.

Stay Tuned!!!

The Sounds Of Life

2008-06-30T12:03:00.002-05:00

Been a while since my last post - sorry about that!- but I just had to mention the great, great, great event we were part of this weekend at Word Of Life Christian Center. This was Word Of Life's Community day and we were invited to play along with the always amazing "Sound Of Life" (Word Of Life's Praise team). There was also a Christian Rapper and some dance performances. I would be remiss not to mention the incredible Food, fellowship and love expressed by the members of the church to all involved and attending. It was truly a day blessed by God and he was certainly in attendance.
I'll let some of the other XALT-ers tell you the rest...

From Tom Landers "Shoot The Moose Blog" -
A Little Bit of Heaven In Bordeaux
June 30, 2008 — Slartibartfast
I didn’t want to let too much time pass before I mentioned the incredible experience I had this weekend.

X-Alt took part this past Saturday in an open house event for the community in Bordeaux at Word of Life Christian Center. The church had gone all out with marvelous food, inflatable slides for the kids, “fair” fare (snow cones, cotton candy), and music.

Politicians were there (including the local legend Thelma Harper), and there was some speechifying. There was some not-so-subtle campaigning, and although many in our band probably won’t vote the same way as many present, one had to be struck by the sense of urgency and commitment felt by most present.

Anyway, that was only a tiny part of the proceedings, and when the music started, it was hard not to be swept up by the spirit present in this very hot and sticky (and windy) outdoor venue.

Susie has her own God Sighting about the event at her place (hurray, Susie’s blogging!)

Our set was not bad (we REALLY miss Mark Mills!), and by the end of the second set, we had hit our stride. The members of the Nashville “biker church” had showed up, and that coincided with us starting our rock set. The timing couldn’t have been better.

You haven’t lived till you’ve won over a crowd of bikers with your version of “Jesus is Just Alright”.

When the church’s praise team did their set, things really started rolling. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this group. It’s just hard not to get excited when they are singing.

I sometimes forget to thank God for the incredible gift I’ve been given. I have been given a small view of the width and breadth of the way Christians of all backgrounds worship Christ. I have been in high churches with great organs and soaring choirs, singing some of the greatest hymns ever written by some of the greatest composers in history. I’ve seen the quiet, somber worship of those struggling to overcome addictions. I’ve heard great scriptural teachings, and liturgies that have been spoken for centuries, and heartfelt prayers inspired on the spot. I’ve worshipped with prisoners who sing, and feel, every word of ‘Amazing Grace’.

Jesus left us with a specific prayer, and He told us that we would one day worship in spirit and in truth, but He pretty much left the ‘how’ open. He did not tell us to face a certain direction, or say ‘x’ number of prayers per day, or do this or that meditation to reach enlightenment. He did not dictate rituals that must be performed by His followers. He did not tell us to make a pilgrimage to a geographic spot, or to sing certain songs, if we sing at all.

Now, we Christians argue over these things; we have for centuries now. But, I really feel in my heart that God is pleased, not dismayed, by the almost unlimited ways His children display their love for him.

I only say this because I was struck by one particular moment. The Sounds of Life sang their wonderfully soulful version of “Trading My Sorrows”. Several people started an impromptu dance. Before I knew it, I looked up, and there were 50 or so people doing a variation of the Electric Slide. Church members, community members who had just walked up when they heard the music, tattooed bikers in full regalia, old and young, some of us west-siders - all of us singing, and dancing and shouting “Yes, Lord!”

This event was not billed as a worship service, but that’s what it was.

Surely, this is the stuff of Heaven, no?

I sure hope Ford got some good pictures for the X-alt blog. Y’all check later, it was really a great day.

And from Susie Reels new blog OhSusieQ's...

Rubber Band Man
Xalt played yesterday at the Word of Life Christian Center, International…that is one of the places I would rather go to play than anywhere else. The people are so incredibly filled with the Holy Spirit…they were having a Community open house with lots of fun stuff for the kids and the best food you have ever seen! Kinda reminded me of what it would be like in Heaven at the buffet table…and the desserts…WOW!!! The church is located on the top of a hill in Bordeaux, and the wind was really whipping everything and everybody around. I have long hair, which kinda was starting to look like a mop…upside down…well, I was wearing a hat, but it wasn’t doing a bit of good. So I asked around to the other girls in the band, hoping somebody had a hair bow of some type that I could corral my shagginess…but to no avail…so I said, Lord, I would just die for a hair bow of some type (Drama Queen, lol), even just a rubber band would work…well I guess he was listening because right then, I happened to look down on the ground, and what was curled up at my feet? A Rubber band! with the wind whipping around the hill there is no telling how long it would have stayed there…God even cares about the small things…that’s just one of the many reasons why I LOVE Him so much!

Check back later for pictures from the event.
V

New Web Site

2008-05-13T17:46:00.003-05:00

OK Folks, the new X-ALT! web site is up and running so go check it out at

www.xaltband.org

some sections are still under construction so check back often for changes.

This Blog will continue as usual so make sure to check both for all your
X-ALT! news!

V

Prayer Requests

2008-05-12T07:50:00.002-05:00

Just a short note this morining asking you all to send out prayers for three X-ALT! member with health concerns.

Please Keep...

Mark Mills

Katy Seale

Tom Landers & Family

in your prayers.

Thanks
V

A Little Something New

2008-05-05T13:13:00.003-05:00

Here is a clip of a new song from our own Susie Reel that we played at Camp Marymount Saturday night. Sorry about the rough sound, we were in a big, beautiful barn of a room so the sound bounced around (A Bit!), but it's always fun to get out and stretch our musical legs a bit. Hopefully we will be going back to camp sometime this summer to do a show for the kids. I talked to the camp manager about that and he seem excited at the idea. I think it would be a ball.
More coming soon.
V

A Last Minute Opportunity

2008-04-28T12:50:00.006-05:00

We recieved a last minute invitation to join our own Katy Seale in performing at Camp Marymount outside Fairview, TN this coming Saturday. Katy will be doing a set of her fantastic solo material then
X-ALT! will join her on stage to rock out the night with our own particular style of Rockin' Rhythm and Praise. We love to play whenever and wherever folks want us whether it's at camp, church, a coffee house or anywhere else.

It looks like after delays due to health and scheduling we will finally be recording the new CD starting in late June at Studio 23. At the helm will be our producer and sometime band mate Bryan Cumming. We are looking at a whopping 16 cuts that will feature X-ALT! and some special guests who will be named later. So keep checking in and hopefully come late July we will announce the name of the project as well as availability. From all indications this is going to be a diverse collection of songs highlighting the Best of what X-ALT! has to offer.

I'll be posting some video from Ashland City UMC in the days to come as well as pictures from Camp Marymount.

More soon,
V

What A Great Night Pt. 2

2008-04-17T13:10:00.002-05:00

What A Great Night

2008-04-16T15:07:00.003-05:00

X-ALT! was back, with the help of a couple of friends, last night in Ashland City. We were invited to perform at a regional meeting of United Methodist laity that was being held at Ashland City UMC. Our friends Bryan Cumming and Bob Schultz filled in for Mark Pierce and Eddie Loper (respectively) and did just a wonderful job. Hopefully I'll have some video and pictures from the event up in a few days but until then here is what some of the band members had to say.

FROM MARK MILLS:
Wow. What a time we had last night! It was so great being back with everyone, and worshiping God together again! I've got to say, everything clicked last night, and as Turner Potts said, "God was in the house". The old songs sounded solid as ever, and the new songs just rocked! More than that, though, both we and the congregation WORSHIPED. In spite of all Satan has thrown our way lately, God is not thru using us yet.

FROM SUSIE REEL:
I have to say that tops the list as one of my favorite places we ever performed!
Can I just say that I could not have been prouder of the group of people that were on that stage last night? And one of the cutest things that happened was when we started into our set after Down To The River, something was mentioned about we might be loud...and the older gentleman on the second row took out his hearing aids...too funny! WOW I so love our gigs...lol

FROM TOM LANDERS:
I had chills, especially during the song Vince, Mark and Lucy wrote. My
goodness, what a beautiful song!

More Later,
V

It's been A While

2008-04-09T16:20:00.003-05:00

Things have been kind of slow lately (not really) but it looks like things are picking up!

First off GREAT NEWS: after a series of problems from his cancer surgery I'm glad to report that Mark Mills is on the mend and ready to start playing again. This is something we have all been praying for and as usual prayer works! Mark will make his return appearance with us at a private function at Ashland City UMC on Tuesday April 15th! Also sitting in with us that night will be our old buddy Bryan Cumming and a new friend, drummer Bob Schultz.

X-ALT! has been continuing our monthly services at New Beginnings Church and another New Beginnings Coffee House is in the plans - more on that later.

For now thanks for all your support and prayers and keep an ear out for the new
X-ALT! CD hopefully before summer.
V

This Says It All

2008-02-27T16:17:00.002-06:00

E-MAIL FROM MARK MILLS

In case anyone is considering coming to the hospital, don't. Save the gas, save the time, it will do you no good. I'M FREE!! They released me this afternoon after only six days and I am home. We were shocked when the Dr. walked in this morning and told us. But after hours of poking and prodding they finally let us go. So we will be resting the next few days. I'll get back to everybody after some of this soreness has subsided. For now we will enjoy not having wake up calls every two hours. Mean time thank you for all of your continued prayers and concern. they lift us up.

******************************

Thank You Lord!
V

I just want to thank the LORD!

2008-02-25T12:25:00.004-06:00

Great news today. Mark's Tumor was a stage 1 not stage 2, and he is healing at a miraculous rate! In fact he is being put on solid food as of today, all tubes are being removed and he could be home before the end of the week. Never let anyone tell you that Prayer does not work. Mark is proof that it does, God has big plans for Mark and for X-ALT! and nothing will stands in God's way of making his plans happen!
THANK YOU GOD! Thank you for your healing touch, Thank you for the blessings that you pour out on us every day, thank you for family, friends and complete strangers that are led to pray for us. Your greatness is seen in everything that happens in this world and it is up to us to see that greatness and understand that You are in control. Your hands touch us daily and we so often dismiss Your work as fate or coincidence. Fate does not exist, coincidence does exist, Only You are in control and we are safe in your hands and live with the assurance that no matter how it happens when our time comes we will have a home for all eternity with you. Until that time we live to serve You, praise You and spread Your word for all to hear.
You are the one true God and we thank you.
Amen

V

God Is Good and Prayer Works!

2008-02-22T16:00:00.002-06:00

Thank you all for your prayers for Mark as he underwent cancer surgery this week. The doctors tell us that the surgery went as expected and that their was no immediate indication that the cancer had spread. This is great news, that means that there will be no need for cemo or radiation treatments!!!
Mark is recovering in the hospital for the next week or so then will need a few weeks of recovery at home before getting back to a more normal schedule, but he will be back soon.
Prayer works folks and we thank you for yours.
V

Checking In

2008-02-04T16:16:00.000-06:00

Wow it's been an interesting month!!!!
But at X-ALT! we are not the type of folks that let
life get us down. We continue to write new material for
the next CD and let me tell you it some pretty good stuff.

We have beeen batteling some health problems, most noteably
Mark Mills recent cancer diagnosses, but the news is good
and the doctors tell us that surgery should take care of the
problem and Mark should be back up and running in a couple of
months. Untill then we will continue to write, do what recording
we can and be ready for late spring and Summer appearances.

We ask for your prayers for Mark and his family and for the X-ALT!
family, and keep watching here for further updates.

We will continue to lead our monthly service at New Beginnings as well as a few other churches that have contacted us but we will be doing these without
Mark untill he feels ready to come back.

Thanks for all your prayers and support
Vince

It All Starts Tonight

2008-01-10T08:32:00.000-06:00

Well this is it, tonight we start what will be the next chapter in the X-ALT! story!
This will be our first night concentrating on writing and refining the new music that will make up the next X-ALT! CD. This has been a long time coming and after a long conversation with Mark Mills last night I can promise you that this CD will be more diverse than the last. One thing X-ALT! has always done is pride itself on not adhering to any musical boundaries and with the addition of some new key players since the last recording, and simply becoming a tighter band with all the live performing we've done I think we are going to produce a very different CD. One I'm sure you all will enjoy and one that hopefully will help lift your spirits and bring you closer to God. That is our prayer and our purpose - to help make your journey a smoother and happier one and as a good friend of mine put it, "To plant seeds" that hopefully will grow into a stronger relationship with the Creator.
We are all looking forward to the spring when we will be taking X-ALT! back on the road, there are some very exciting new opportunities on the horizon. We are looking forward to expanding our relationship with New Beginnings Fellowship and creating new relationships everywhere we go.
If you would like to have X-ALT! come to your church or special event, leave a comment here and I will get back to you, and keep watching because as the time gets closer to the release of the CD we will be premiering our new website and will be giving you more ways to get in touch with us.
Please pray for us as we start this process and thank you all for your continued support.
Vince

A Little Nashville Gospel

2008-01-03T22:28:00.000-06:00

A while back I told you that X-Alt! would be providing the theme music for the TV program "Nashville Gospel" Well here is a sneak peek at the music and the new opening segment for the show.

Keep checking back for updates on the new CD and appearances beginning in March when the CD will be ready for release (Hopefully)
V

Catching up and winding down

2007-12-13T16:08:00.000-06:00

First off MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

We kicked off our Christmas season with an incredible Coffee House at New Beginnings. Our special thanks to Tom Shiness, Jim Webber and The Sounds Of Life! They were all just fantastic and we can't wait to work with them all again soon.
We will wrap up our Christmas performances this Sunday at Belle Meade UMC and invite you all to come join us in celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Beginning next week we will start the process of preparing and recording our new CD. We are very excited in that this band has grown and evolved so much since we recorded our first CD a little over a year ago. This should be a very diverse CD and I can't wait to share all the new music with you all.

Hopefully the CD will be ready by March and we are in the process of setting up a show schedule that will keep us busy and hopefully give you all a chance to come out and join us in some great nights of "Rhythm & Praise".

I will keep the blog updated with the progress that we are making and as always you are all welcome to join us at New Beginnings for a Sunday service. Watch the appearances section of the blog for those dates.

Thanks for all you support and love.
Vince

2007-11-26T22:21:00.000-06:00

Christmas Coffee House

2007-11-26T10:26:00.000-06:00

Don't Forget the great CHRISTMAS Coffee House, this Saturday night at 7:00 at New Beginnings Church, 7700 George E. Horn Road, Nashville Tn 37221 (Map Quest the address for directions).
The Coffee House is FREE (no cover charge) and features

The Sounds Of Life
Jim Weber
MEN-U
Tom Shinness
and
X-ALT!

It's going to be a great way to kick off the Christmas Season.
See you there
V

Where the River Bends...

2007-11-12T21:57:00.000-06:00

Hi everybody! It's Ginger here, and I wanted to take a moment to share with you the blessing that we experienced last weekend as we went back out to Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. We once again sang to a group of inmates who showed such genuine appreciation, and blessed us with their kindness. They played and sang for us at the end of the service, and the fellowship was just amazing.

Vince told them about how earlier in the week, we got to sing at The Wildhorse, but if he had to choose between that and playing for them, he’d choose playing at the prison.

I’d have to agree. Knowing that you are giving a person a bit of joy through your smiles, singing, interaction, and acceptance of them, means much more than any amount of applause ever could.

While most assuredly these guys know what it’s like to be at the very lowest one can be, it was beautiful to witness the healing power of music as it broke down the barriers of pain, grief, hurt, doubt, hate, racism, hopelessness…and, even if but only for a few moments, replaced those things with faith, hope and, the very greatest of these, love.

Jesus once said…

"…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ …‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me.'"

With experiences like these, I believe I'm beginning to grasp what He truly meant.

*

Rockin' at the Wild Horse Saloon

2007-10-31T09:31:00.000-05:00

SO what is a christian/gospel group doing playing in Nashville hottest Bar? Well, hopefully taking a little bit of Gods word to folks that needed to hear it but also we were competing in the first annual Media Challenge to benefit the United Way. We were one of three acts asked to represent WSMV-TV Channel 4. We didn't win but that's not important. What is important is that God was glorified, a great charity was helped and we had a blast playing on the biggest stage we have ever had a chance to appear on, and as you will see Tommy made the most of every inch of it!

We really had a great time but now it is time to get back to what X-ALT! is really about as we head back to Riverbend Prison this Sunday to bring the service to the men who are incarcerated there.
God has truly blessed us with opportunities to do so many different things and to serve him in so many different ways.
Always remember that God is good, and his blessings overflow.
V

John Wesley UMC

2007-10-29T14:31:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much to the great folks at John Welsey UMC, especially our dear friend Elder Kenneth Edmondson, for inviting us to take part in the Homecoming celebration. We were blessed, and I'm not just saying that, to be a part of this wonderful afternoon of Praise and worship. The speaker for the service was Pastor William Dobbins II of Springfield Parish United Methodist Church who preached on Peace. Peace in the world, in our homes, in our relationships and in our personal ministries. The Springfield Parish UMC Choir also joined in the festivities and lifted the Word to a all new level. It was so cool when we did "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" and "Lean On Me", they joined in and added so much to our music that I just could not believe how cool it all sounded.
It was truly a wonderful afternoon.
Thanks again to Pastor "E" and the good folks at John Wesley UMC.
God Bless you all!
Vince

Help us Support United Way

2007-10-19T10:37:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! will be one of the acts representing WSMV-TV in the upcoming media challenge / talent show at he Wild Horse Saloon. The show is Oct. 30th beginning at 6:00pm. We will be competing against all kinds of acts representing the four major TV broadcasters in the area and the Tennessean Newspaper. Please make plans to join us at the Wild Horse on the 30th and bring you checkbook to make a donation during our set. The acts that raise the most money during their set will receive a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place prize there is also a professionals prize that will be given away by group of judges. So come on out and support United Way and X-ALT!
thanks
Vince

Check Out Our Guests

2007-10-11T15:25:00.000-05:00

Two of our performers at this weekends coffee house have web sites where you can find out more about them, so head that way and check them out. Then be at New Beginnings Church at 7:00pm sharp Saturday night because you won't want to miss a minute of this one.
V

http://www.myspace.com/sarahvalley

http://www.jimweber.com

New Beginnings Coffee House is Saturday the 13th

2007-10-05T19:50:00.000-05:00

You don't want to miss this one. We have tried hard to surpass (or at least live up to) the last coffee house at New Beginnings and I think we have done it. Check out the poster and make plans to attend. I'll be updating the blog with info on the performers as we get closer to the event.

God Bless

Now here's some of what you missed

2007-10-03T11:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I posted some shots from our busy Sunday, here are two videos from the Word Of Life Christian Center Event.

First off, here is a group of incredible kids that performed before us. The Unity Steppers from Word of Life in Dickson, TN. How do you follow something like this?!?

Well, if you are X-ALT! you do it like this...

Need I remind you that God's spirit, strength and love was in the house that night.

More to come
V

Some Memories of Sunday!

2007-10-02T13:06:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post with some pictures from Sunday's (Sept. 30th) activities. There will be much more to come...

Shots From Brotherton Baptist Church in Cookeville

>

Back Stage at Word Of Life Christian Center International

No explanation for this one.....

Some Days Will Last In Your Memories Forever

2007-10-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

This is part of an e-mail I sent to the band this morning...

I hope you are all as proud as I am to have been a part of both the Homecoming in Cookeville as well as the incredible night at Word Of Life. I wish you all could have stayed through the end. To say we made an impression would be an understatement. Pastor Arthur has asked us to return to do the next Praise and Worship concert but he also wants us to do a Sunday Morning service as well. This is a huge deal! And honestly something I had not expected. You all took that extra step last night and were on the top of your game and proved that X-ALT! can stand with the best! God has blessed us and continues to do so and I truly hope you all felt God moving through us and through that church last night. God was there and let all of us know it!

I'm still reeling from our day yesterday, especially our appearance at Word Of Life Christian Center last night. When I've had more sleep I'll post pictures and video for the appearances and do my best to describe what was a totally un-describable evening of worship.

God Bless
Vince

Back in the studio

2007-09-11T07:36:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! will be returning to the recording studio tonight to record the new theme song for Nashville's longest running gospel music program. "Nashville Gospel" hit the Nashville airways over 35 years ago and was for a long time the standard by which local "religious" music programing was judged. Over the past 10 years with the change in viewing habits, and management at WSMV-TV, "Nashville Gospel" has seen it time slot changed again and again till it came to it's final resting place in the wee hours of Sunday morning basically destined to defeat by scheduling. Lack of advertising income caused by it's ever changing position led the show to stop new production about a year ago and they have been airing re-runs while trying to create new revinue but unfortunately WSMV made the decision to drop the show off the schedule about a month ago. But host Tommy Lewis is determined to get "Nashville Gospel" back on it's feet. He has begun working with a partner that will allow for new content to be shot and they have brought on a new producer/editor (That would be ME)to update the look of the show. They are in talks with another local broadcaster about picking the show up, and it continues to run in a few other television markets. X-ALT's new theme is the first step in a hoped for revival of the program. Please add "Nashville Gospel" and it's producers to you prayers and keep your eyes open for it's return. I will keep everyone updated through this blog on "Nashville Gospel" news and watch for the theme to appear here first in the next few weeks.
V

A Good Thing - A GOD Thing

2007-08-30T09:47:00.000-05:00

There are not words to express how proud and blessed I feel to be a part of a band like X-ALT. Last night we returned to Belle Meade UMC, the church where we used to lead the contemporary service and the church that was a source for great pain and heartache for so many of us after we were asked to step down from our leadership position there. I will admit that I was not sure of the reception that we would receive, would the crowd be small, would the ones that came for dinner leave once we started playing, I really was worried. But GOD took over last night and showed me that HE is bigger than our petty worries and that HE is in charge and last night's show became one of the highlights in my mind of anything this band has done so far.

Dinner was scheduled to start at 5:15 but so many folks were showing up early that the decision to go ahead and start serving was made and for the next hour or so a steady stream of people made their way into the fellowship hall where they were treated to an incredible dinner prepared by the ubber talented Susan Meador and her staff. Pork Tenderloin, Cheese Grits with Shrimp, Green Beans and "That Special Salad", Hot Rolls and Pie. It was truly a feast. Looking around I was watching the different band members prepare for the show, I think all of us were a bit surprised at the size of the crowd that was making their way into the fellowship hall.

At about 6:00 Pastor Mike Ripski announced that tables had been set up in one of the nearby classrooms to handle the overflow. It was just amazing. Smiles were starting to spread throughout our little group and worry was starting to turn to excitement and optimism.
At about 6:20 Pastor Ripski started with the weekly announcements, birthday and anniversary celebrations and generally welcoming everyone back to Wednesday night activities after a summer off. Then after blessing the meal he introduced X-ALT! and we took the stage to a full house.

We had purposely put together a set list that mixed our original music with contemporary worship standards and hymns done X-ALT! style, a little something for everyone. We opened with our version of "Down To The River To Pray" then went straight into a beefed up version of the standard "I'll Fly Away". The crowd was singing along and clapping their hands and my head was spinning, I never expected to receive this type of reception, it went from being a concert to being worship.

It was amazing, the little kids were dancing around, folks our age were on their feet clapping and getting into it and the older ones were smiling and singing along. This has got to be what church will be like in heaven! Or at least I hope it is!

40 minutes later when we closed with "Oh, Happy Day" the good people at Belle Meade came to their feet and came forward to shake our hands and hug our necks, congratulate us and tell us how much the music meant to them, and I can't tell you how much it meant to me.

I got this e-mail from our guitarist Mark Pierce who was not with us at the time we were leading the service at Belle Meade...
"Being that I was one from the outside looking in, I saw from my own observation that the people there really loved all of you that were part of that church prior to X-ALT!. Just the interactions that I observed showed that. I think the message that went unspoken but was definitely illustrated was just loving people and all the good stuff WE are and were made of. As I remind myself each day..........WWJD! Rock on!"

Mark Mills our music director and resident piano player sent this along...
Great job last night! I thought the energy was way up (especially for middle of the week!) and alot of people were truly blessed. I spoke to Susan Meador (she did the cooking) and she told me it's about the largest Wednesday night supper crowd they've had. And they came to hear X-ALT!. Thank you all for your giving of yourselves.

This just in from Susie...
Being back at Belle Meade was like visiting family...everyone was so receptive and supportive...I kinda had to take a step back for a moment and ask myself if I was at the right place! But I was, and I also feel like X-Alt was...at the right place to mend the hurts caused so long ago...the people that were there loved having us back and we truly appreciated their warm reception and good hugs...maybe we can do a contemporary service or music there for them sometime!

We need to say a special thank you to few folks.

Ben Jones a member of the youth group at Belle Meade and Mark Mills' nephew filled in on drums for Eddie who was in school and did a great job. THANK YOU BEN!!!

Our Old Buddy Lawrence Bailey returned to play sax for us and as always did a wonderful job. THANK YOU LAWRENCE - AGAIN!

Also a great big THANK YOU to Brandon Boozer who did sound for us, and to my daughter Lucy for all the pictures I've used in this post.

A Special THANK YOU to pastors Mike Ripski, Pam Hawkins and Regina Proctor for inviting us to come out and play. It was a wonderful night of music, praise, and rekindling of old friendships and a time for making new friends. Wounds were healed and hearts were opened, and most importantly GOD was glorified.

It was a good thing - It was a GOD Thing.
V

Prayer Request

2007-08-13T11:07:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! will be making it's return to Belle Meade UMC on August 29th for the first time since we left there almost two years ago under some unhappy circumstances. Time truly heals all wounds, but some take longer than others. Please pray for us and for those at Belle Meade that were involved at the time that this appearance will go well and will lead to healing and closure for so many of us. Also pray that the members of the band can put any hurt or personal feelings aside and treat this appearance as we do all others - as a way to celebrate God and His glory, the saving grace of his Son Jesus, and the power of music to cross all boundaries whether they be physical, mental or emotional. This appearance is something that Tommy, Brooke and Myself have been hoping for, for a long time as we are still members at Belle Meade and it's really hard to handle a rift in your church family and your musical family. So please pray and pray hard for all of us!

On a happier note we want to thank - ahead of time - two great guys that will be filling in with at Belle Meade. Our old buddy Lawrence Bailey will be once again filling in on sax and Mark Mills' nephew Ben Jones will be behind the drums filling in for Eddie who is stuck in a night class. Ben is an incredible young drummer with a great future and we are so proud to welcome him to the fold!

V

Welcome to our newest member

2007-08-13T11:01:00.000-05:00

Ginger Eldridge made her first official appearance with X-ALT! yesterday at New Beginnings and we are so glad to have her aboard as part of our Group. Her voice blends so well with Brooke, Katy and Susie giving us a true Angel Choir. Those of us fellas that sing are now out numbered so we have got to stay on our toes!

Welcome Ginger - now lets get busy!!!
V

A Little More On The Prison Service

2007-08-07T09:11:00.000-05:00

This in from Fearless Leader MARK MILLS

It never fails. We go out to the prison to do our “Christian Duty” , and we end up being the ones blessed. Isn’t that the way God works, though? Every time we get a set together for Riverbend, it seems our hearts are the ones being lifted. God’s Spirit moves among these men, and they are so eager to have us share in that joy. Seems odd, huh? Joy, inside of a prison. But with the singing going on Sunday night (them and us), I’m surprised the walls didn’t just fall in, like in the Bible. So often, prisoners are put away, never to be thought of again, not even by their own families. Thank God, He never forgets them, and just like with us, meets them where they are. May we always be so aware of His presence.

I Love Going To Prison

2007-08-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

We had the previledge of bring the Word to the men at Riverbend Prison again last night and as usual it was a great night of praise and worship. I've asked the folks in the band to write their feelings about the service and as they come in I'll post them here for you to read. We had a special guest, one of Tommy's Blogger friends Ginger (I won't give her last name because I don't know if she gives it out on her Blog) anyway Ginger has a beautiful voice and it was a blessing having her with us. Here is what she said on her blog about the service...

The prisoners wanted contraband, not a “country band”!August 5th, 2007
…but they did enjoy the gospel band that played tonight!

I had the incredible opportunity to sit in with Slarti’s band, X-Alt this evening for a concert at the Riverbend Maximum Security Prison.

It was a great experience! The men were all very kind to us, and so grateful that we came out to sing for them. It was cool to me how they helped set up our equipment, and when we realized that the piano that used to be in the chapel was gone, one of the inmates let us borrow the keyboard he had been allowed to have for good behavior. I noticed how a couple of them were so excited to be able to play Katy’s guitar and she was very gracious to them when they asked if they could play it.

The two most moving parts of the evening, for me, was when each man was asked if he had a need that he would like to be prayed for. These guys wanted prayers for their families, for each other, and even for us. Then one of the guys stood and spoke about how earlier in the week, he hurt one of his fellow inmates, who was now sitting across the aisle from him. He said that he wanted to publicly thank this man because he showed compassion toward him even when he had hurt him so bad. He said it was the first time in his life that somebody had shown him that kind of compassion. It was a very compelling moment to watch two very tough-on-the-outside hardened criminals be so touched by an act of kindness.

The other thing that was just amazing was listening to one of the inmates play and sing a song he wrote. It’s called, “Where the River Bends,” and it was REALLY good. (Remember the name of the institution?) Anyway, having just an acoustic guitar accompanying his R&B flavored voice fit perfectly together for this song. All of the guys seemed to know the song, too, and were singing along. He sang of struggling to stay afloat in the raging river of life and of praying that the Lord would keep him safe where the river bends. It made me all teary (of course).

It was a blessing to be a part of this band tonight. It felt great to be singing with a group again. There are few things I enjoy more than singing harmony with some really great singers. It was a blast.

I am very thankful to Slarti for the opportunity. I can’t put in to words how much I appreciate it.

A good man once said…”…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ …‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

After the experience tonight, I kinda feel like I know what he meant

Here is the link to her post...
(http://gingersnaps.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/the-prisoners-wanted-contraband-not-a-country-band/)
This is Tom's Post on his blog from this morning...

You’re MenAugust 6th, 2007 — Slartibartfast

The church service at Riverbend Prison yesterday was quite intense, and it’s hard to gather my thoughts on it, because I have feelings more than thoughts about the whole experience.

First off, if you didn’t know it, Ginger can sing. Oh, I know you knew she could carry a melody well, but the hallmark of a great singer is someone who can do that, AND slip into harmonies with an ensemble; well, Ginger is spectacular in that regard.

Sometimes, I take that particular talent for granted, I am surrounded by it: Mark, Vince, Susie, Brooke, Katy - they all have oodles of vocal talent, and it’s so wonderful to see that talent offered up in service to the Lord.

It was great that Katy went along this time. She just adds that extra something to the vocals that takes the music from “good” to “wow”.

The main speaker preached a sermon that spoke to me, about building and nurturing a spiritual garden no matter where you are. The sermon was meant for the men, but it spoke to me, nonetheless.

Men. That was a moment that sent chills down my spine - when the preacher said, “Outside, they think of you as criminals; they call you inmates. You’re not inmates. You’re men. You’re men.” Amen.

I sure wish y’all could have heard the song “Where The River Bends”, written by one of the men. If I’m ever able to write that well, I’ll know I’m a songwriter.

Ginger has summed up the evening perfectly for me, and Ford will have a post up about it soon. Be on the lookout. No pictures - those are kind of out of the question in this setting.

I can tell you this: pick a group of people that you have had a degree of cognitive dissonance about in the past. A “them”. Ask God to send you to minister to “them”, no matter how much it scares you. Allow your heart to be opened.

This is the place where true healing is found.

Link to Tom's Blog...
(http://shootthemoose.wordpress.com/)

Hopefully some of the others will put thier feelings into words over the next few days, It was as touching a service as I have ever been a part of.
God Is Good!
V

Sorry for the delay

2007-08-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted, sorry about that, it's just that time of year where we all are spread thin with vacations, mission trips, reunions and the usual X-ALT appearances.
We had a great service last weekend at New Beginnings and will be gathering later this afternoon to host a service at Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. The services at Riverbend are always so uplifting and really let you feel God's presence in action.
More up dates soon - I Promise - until then....
V

A Great Weekend

2007-07-03T12:03:00.000-05:00

Saturday Night we said goodbye to TBG Coffee House, it was a night of fun and mixed emotions. We will miss playing at TBG but we can say goodbye knowing that Dana and Wade are moving forward with their ministry. We have not seen the last of them! Here are a few pictures from Saturday Night with thanks to Katy Landers (Tommy's Daughter)

Sunday Morning Susie, Brooke, Mark Pierce, Tommy, Susie's Daughter Jessica, Eddie and myself led the worship at Nashville's Oak Hill Assembly Of God. It was an inspireing morning of worship and we made a lot of new friends along the way. I hope God sends us their way again sometime soon.

We will be taking a break in July, but beginning the last Sunday in Juy we will start a three Sunday Run at New Beginnings Church then moving on with more services at Riverbend Prison, Belle Meade UMC, John Wesley UMC, Cumberland Heights Rehab center. We love keeping busy and the Lord has truly blessed us by allowing us to do just that.
Peace
V

Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend

2007-06-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

It's with great sadness that I have to announce that the T.B.G. Coffee House in Ashland City is closing it's doors. I recieved word this afternoon from TBG's owner Dana that our appearance there this Saturday night will be the final show at the Coffee House. TBG has been a blessing to us, an outlet for our music and has been a shining light in the Christian Music community. We will miss them greatly as will the community of Ashland City. We wish Dana and her family the best of luck and we will keep them in our prayers as they move on to the next phaze in their lives.
V

A New Beginning

2007-06-18T11:50:00.000-05:00

Words cannot describe the Coffee House at New Beginnings Church, let me start out by saying a special thank you to those who participated...
Bryan Cumming & Band
Radnur Siitam
Steven Troy
Jennifer Herron
The members of X-ALT!
And most importantly the good folks at New Beginnings Church. There is no way to tell you how important and special it is to have a group of people that are willing to step up and make people welcome. The congregation at New Beginnings are the warmest most giving group of Christians that I have ever encountered and I thank God daily for every one of them.
In the near future I will be posting videos from the program but for now I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

First up was Bryan Cumming and his kickin' band

Next up Radnur Siitam who defines the Christian Singer/Songwriter

Radnur Set the stage and then Steven Troy took it over and played a set of brand new songs that had the audience bouncing in their seats, clapping their hands and partying for the Lord!

X-ALT! had it hands full following Bryan, Radnur and Steven and if I say so myself we steped up and hit it out of the park. All I can figure is that we had been so filled with God's glory by these other great performers that when we hit the stage all that glory came spilling out in what had to be one of the most spirit filled performances that we have ever done.

We ended the night by getting all the performers to join us on stage for a group performance of "Amazing Grace" & "Awsome God"

It was just one of the greatest nights of my life and I am so proud to have been a part of it. We raised a good amount of money for the church, but more importantly we raised up the name of God and Jesus and filled those in attendance with God's Grace, and in the process got filled ourselves.
Keep checking back for video and more comments about the evening, I can't wait to do it again and we will soon!
V

A big thank you from Katy

2007-06-14T13:36:00.000-05:00

Dear Friend,
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your most gorgeous gift.
I can't tell you how that beautiful guitar has lifted my spirits. It
sounded so wonderful at rehearsal Tuesday night. I have been practicing with it since and have actually written some new songs! With the help of my band X-ALT, that guitar will be used to spread the joy of music and especially the promise of God's grace and love.
I do hope that you can come out to see some of our shows. I pray God's
blessings for you.

With Love,
Katy

It's Almost Time

2007-06-13T08:06:00.001-05:00

It's almost time for the NEW BEGINNINGS COFFEE HOUSE and after what I can say was our finest practice in a long time X-ALT! is ready to go! If you have not made plans to attend it's time to make those plans and come on out to New Beginnings Church located at 7700 George E. Horn Road, Nashville TN 37221.
You will not be dissapointed. I can say with out a doubt that this is the finest line up of Christian musicians to appear under one roof in a long time. Bryan Cummming, Radnur Siitam, Steven Troy and X-ALT! How can you go wrong? And once you know where New Beginnings is you might as well come back for the Father's Day Service Sunday, X-ALT! will be leading the service and Pastor Brian Howes will be bringing the message. The Coffee House begins Saturday Night at 7:00 and the service is Sunday Morning at 11:00. WHAT A WEEKEND! See you there.
V

This Just In

2007-06-06T13:10:00.000-05:00

Jennifer Herron host of WSM Radio's Midnight Jamboree and one of the hosts of WSMV-TV's morning show has signed on as host of The New Beginnings Coffee House. We are so excited that Jennifer has decided to join us and it just adds to the excitement of what is already turning into a very exciting night of music, all for the glory of God and to help out a great church.

Make plans now, you don't want to miss it!

V

2007-06-05T13:56:00.000-05:00

Thank You! West Nashville SMC

2007-06-05T10:57:00.000-05:00

We had a great Sunday afternoon celebrating homecoming with the folks at West Nashville SMC. X-ALT! was one of four sets of performers that sang throughout the afternoon and a good time was had by all.

MARK YOUR CALANDERS

New Beginnings Coffe House is just 2 weeks away!

We can't wait - hope to see all of you there.
V

Prayers Do Get Answered

2007-05-29T11:50:00.000-05:00

If you are a friend of this band or if you have been following this blog for a while you know that a little over a year ago we were asked to step down from a long running commitment we had made to lead the contemporary service at Nashville's Belle Meade UMC. The reason why is still unclear, but many members of the band X-ALT! were badly hurt by the way things were handled. As a member at Belle Meade, along with my wife Brooke and Tommy and his wife Luann we have been facing our own challenges in continuing to worship at Belle Meade.

Not long after we were let go, a new Assistant Pastor, Pam Hawkins, was assigned to the church and she has made quite a difference, especially where Tommy, Luann, Brooke and myself are concerned. She has spent time talking, praying with and for us and counseling us and it has made a huge difference in our outlook. But there has still been that feeling of hurt and betrayal that continues to nag at me. I have been praying for a chance at closure for the situation and also for a chance for
X-ALT! to return to Belle Meade. We have many friends there who stood by us while we were going through everything and transitioning from a "Church Praise Band" to a working "Contemporary Gospel Group" and we so missed all of them.

Well today my prayer was answered with an invitation from Senior Pastor Mike Ripski for X-ALT! to return to Belle Meade and play an after dinner concert on Aug. 29th. We have accepted his invitation and it will now be my prayer that this appearance will be a stepping stone to the healing that needs to happen. God is good and everything happens on His schedule. I've always felt that when the time was right we would be asked to return to Belle Meade, and now that time has arrived.
Thank God! (Literally)
V

Portland Strawberry Festival

2007-05-21T13:28:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to waste a lot of space telling you about our day at the Portland Strawberry Festival. Let's just say "We Had A Blast"! Here's the pictures to prove it.

A special thanks to my daughter Lucy for the stellar pictures she took of us on stage and to Susie and her family for the ones they took as well.
V

Prayer requests and many thanks

2007-05-16T12:54:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! is blessed to have a lot of very talented friends and we so appreciate all that they do for us.

Having said that we need your prayers for one of our own. Katy Seale, who has been with us since the beginning, is facing another round of surgery for problems with her back and neck that have kept her away from the X-ALT! shows for too long. Please keep Katy in your prayers that this surgery will be a success and she will be feeling good enough to join back up with us soon. GOD bless you Katy, we love you and miss you.

I also want to say a special thanks to a couple of people.

Thank you Lawrence! Lawrence Bailey is one of the most talented multi-instrumentalists that I have ever had the pleasure to know and work with. Lawrence started playing with Tommy and me many years ago in a band called "Blue Collar". He is now resident Sax player for one of the hottest FUNK bands in Nashville. His group "The Jones" is well worth your time to check out whenever they are playing around town. Lawrence has been kind enough to sit in with us from time to time and will be doing so again this Saturday at the Portland Strawberry Festival, playing both Sax and Guitar (not at the same time). THANK YOU LAWRENCE!

Thank You JESSICA! Jessica Reel will be making her first official appearance as part of X-ALT! at the Portland Strawberry Festival. Jessica is Susie's daughter and has an incredible voice and her mother's love for singing. Jessica will be filling in for Katy untill she feels well enough to come back. Thank You Jessica! You ROCK!

Come on out to Portland for the Strawberry Festival this Saturday. X-ALT! will be playing at 4:30. See you there.
V

A few pictures from the Portland "Relay For Life"

2007-05-16T09:26:00.000-05:00

How cool is that!

2007-05-15T09:32:00.000-05:00

Mark Mills informs me that Gospel radio station 790am out of Ashland City TN played "Open Up" from the Rhythm and Praise CD during their Sunday morning line up!
We were on the radio - HOW COOL IS THAT!
V

A Great Night in Portland

2007-05-13T20:53:00.000-05:00

Sometimes things just go your way, Friday night at the "Relay For Life" in Portland Tn was just one on those nights. We were all grumbling a bit as the rain came down for the second consecutive night we had scheduled for an outdoor appearance but God was watching out for us and for this great event. The rain had dwindled to a sprinkle as we arrived and started to unload our stuff. Just as the luminary ceremony started the rain stoped and a cool breeze started to blow. The luminary ceremony was one of the most touching events I've had the pleasure to experience as candle after candle was lit in memory of those who had survivied cancer and for those who unfortunately had not. As a bagpipe player started playing "Amazing Grace" the crowd made a commemorative lap around the track at Meadow Brook Park, we finished our set up and were ready to go. The six of us that made the trip began our set as the crowd completed their circuit with "Down To The River To Pray" then went into a set of our favorites including "Piggy Back Ride", "Lean On Me", No Place Like Home", "Just For You", Sooth Me", "The Lord Is Coming Back" and a few others. The night was perfect and the crowd seemed to enjoy our music. Afterwards the host who is a DJ for a Christian music station in Ashland City pulled us aside to thank us for our appearance and to ask for a CD so he could play some of our music on his station. He also invited us to make an appearance on his show to talk about our ministry.
We tentatively made plans to do the show the Sunday before our appearance in Ashland City on June 30th.
We are really looking forward to our return trip to Portland for the Strawberry Festival next Saturday the 19th.
Then we are off to the races again during the month of June with four appearances before taking a break during the month of July. God has blessed us with such an active ministry, and we thank Him for it. EVERYDAY!
V

A Note From Some Fans

2007-05-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

We received this over at our Myspace page from the girls in the pictures at the end of the last post...

"Oh my goodness I saw y'all at relay for life in Gallatin...I was one of the wet dancers!!!! I'm in those pictures!! Y'all were awesome!!"
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"We loved y'all's band! And we had so much fun!!! I wore my shirt today and put y'alls CD on my ipod! I'm glad I'm y'alls friend!! I hope we talk! Love y'all, Jade"
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We love you guys too! Thanks for helping make a wet night a lot of fun! Hopefully we will see you all again soon!

Raindrops Are Falling On Our Heads

2007-05-07T11:58:00.000-05:00

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit,
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin
'But there's one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me'
Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm freeNothin's worryin' me

I am so proud to be a member of X-ALT!

We arrived at the Sumner County Fairgrounds for the American Cancer Society "Relay For Life" Friday around 8:00PM. It was starting to sprinkle as it had been all day long but the forecast was calling for heavy storms with thunder and lightning - and the forecast was right. Around 9:00 the bottom fell out. Some of the scheduled bands cancelled but we were there and although there was a lot of concern we decided to wait it out and see what happened. The ceremony scheduled to start at 9:00 was delayed for about 20 minutes and the track was cleared due to lightning. As the water started to flood the set up area we started to quickly put our equipment on the stage and begin our set up. The rain slacked off to a steady downpour but they began the ceremony around 9:30. By 10:00PM, when we were scheduled to start, the rain was still coming down but a few of the walkers has returned to the track as others started giving up and packing to go home. We were given the nod and started our set and it was like God was listening, the longer we played the less it rained and by our last song, an hour and a half later the rain had cleared and we even had some young and very excited dancers in front of the stage.

What could have been a total wash out turned into an evening to remember. I've said it before and I will continue to say it "God is good and works miracles every day." The "Relay for Life" was a blessing for us and it raised a lot of money for a great cause, and I hope God was glorified by both.
Here are some pictures from the event...

A slight change of plans

2007-05-01T13:50:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! will be performing "Horn-less" for the upcoming "Relay For Life" benefits. Circumstances beyond our control have caused our horn section to be unavailable for the month of May so we will be pulling out the more Rockin' material and moving on!
Our good buddy Lawrence Bailey will be joining us on sax for the Portland Strawberry Festival.
Rock On!
and God Bless
Vince

The Car Show Pictures Are In

2007-04-30T12:23:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from the Classic Car Show and Concert. It was a great day for XALT! and for the church, they raised a great deal of money for their charity. Up next the "Relay For Life" for the American Cancer Society in Gallitin TN.

A Little Late In Posting

2007-04-26T08:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, work and home life has been very busy. Here's a quick update. We had a great afternoon at the Classic Car show, there was a great deal of musical talent and beautiful cars. Hopefully I'll have some pictures up early next week. Sunday we did our regular service at New Beginnings - the highlight of the service was the message brought by our own Mark Mills. God is great and is working so hard in our lives and in the lives of the saints at New Beginnings.
We are looking forward to our late night appearances at some up coming "Relay For Life" American Society benefits and the Portland Strawberry Festival. Check out the schedule and come on out and celebrate with us.
More soon.]V

More Taters

2007-04-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

As Promised more Tater Days photos

When In Benton Visit Our Beautiful Wal-Mart

Look closely in the middle and you will see our buddy Jason Oliver (in the ball cap) that filled in for Eddie at Tater Day. Thanks Again Jason! You Rock Dude!

Tater Parade!

Believe me there were Lots of tractors! But it looked like a cool little small town Parade, Wish I'd stayed and watched it!

Randy and Mark! (Pictures are a bit blurry - don't worry it's not your eyes)

And finally Benton KY's own Paris Hilton!

With this we bid farewell to Tater Day!

Up next the Classic Car Show and Concert at Gateway Assembly Of God in Ashland City on April 21st. We should be playing around 1:00 so why not come on out and join us! God is good and a classic Corvette doesn't suck either!

Tater Pictures

2007-04-11T14:57:00.000-05:00

OK so Tater Day was a big disappointment for us but whenever we get a chance to get together and play something good comes of it. For instance I learned how to better screen offers! "Trust Your Gut" is my new motto, that and "Beware Of All Metal Buildings"

Anyway a few pictures from the "Event" are filtering in (Thanks Susie) so I thought I would post them.

Lucy and Jessica enjoy a Funnel Cake

This is the group that played before us, "Santa" was the bass player and our favorite

AHHHH The Ladies Of X-ALT! You Gotta Love 'Em

That's it for now - I've been afraid to see what is on our camera at home (I'm really trying to block out April 2, 2007) but I'll look when I get home and if there is anything good I'll post it later.
V

We don't need no stinking bunny!

2007-04-09T12:01:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! celebrated Easter with the good folks at New Beginnings SMC yesterday and to say it was a celebration is an understatement! What an incredible service, God was present and his glory was lifted high. Rev. Brian Haws brought a great message about the freedom we received with the risen Christ. How that one act, Christ's rising from his earthly grave set all of us free. It was an Easter that I think we will all remember for a long time to come.
V

Happy Easter!

2007-04-06T12:08:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! will be bringing the praise to New Beginnings SMC this Easter Sunday along with our good friend Rev. Brian Hawes bringing the word. We met Brian at Riverbend Prison where he service as one of the pastors that work with the 23rd Psalm Prison Ministry. Brian has a down home, conversational style of preaching that is incredibly effective, I have no doubt that this will be an excellent Easter Service and I hope that many visitors will find their way to New Beginnings!

Also I have added links for the Portland Strawberry Festival and the Gallatin Relay for Life Benefit. Please take a moment and check out these great events.

See you soon
V

Mashed Taters

2007-04-03T14:44:00.000-05:00

Well,Well,Well, Where do I start with this.
Yesterday X-ALT! went to "Tater Day" in Benton KY.
Benton is a beautiful little town in West Kentucky and on "Tater Day" this small town grows to a population of over 20,000 and has parades, a carnival and all kinds of good fun.
They also have a "Singing On The Hill" a Gospel music celebration, that's where X-ALT! comes in, we asked about the Singing On The Hill, sent them a CD and info about us and we were asked to join in the days festivities.
Well it turns out that "Singing on The Hill" should be called "Singing in the GYM", in an all metal building. Now anyone that knows anything about sound knows that if you put a big band in a big metal building with no sound baffling you get noise from the sound bouncing all over the room. That combined with the fact that the singing they wanted was strait from the hymnal church music with a little southern gospel thrown in for good measure, X-ALT! became the famous "Fish Out Of Water". I think we all saw it coming but it was too late. The twenty or so people that bothered to show up (We had been told to expect between 80 & 100) looked at us like dogs watch TV, their eyes kinda glazed over. Thankfully there were a few we saw singing along but for the most part it was not pretty.
Nothing against the good people of Benton, but next year I think I'm gonna schedule a root canal for the first Monday in April.
We all have bad days and what doesn't kill us makes us stronger - Today - I am Superman!

Big Schedule Changes

2007-03-27T14:38:00.000-05:00

We have made a major overhaul on our appearance schedule please see the list to the right for the new dates. X-alt! seems to be becoming a more wanted commodity and Our schedule is starting to show it - Ain't GOD Good!

A Hot Night At TBG

2007-03-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

X-ALT! had another great night at TBG coffee House in Ashland City TN. Saturday night. A good crowd of old and new friends gathered and if I say so myself X-ALT! put on one of our best shows so far. There was really a spirit in the band despite distractions, I hated my bass sound that night and it bugged me all night long,
Mr. Pierce had car key problems and Katy's chronic neck and back problems were flaring up, but in spite of that we went on, sang out and played our fingers off.
A dear old friend of mine who had come to see us for the first time hugged me after the show and said "Y'all are doing God's will, spreading joy and helping people find something have lost along the way". I can't tell you how that made me feel! she then told me to let her know next time we are at TBG and they will do their best to fill the place up. I say bring it on!
We found out Saturday night that we will be part of a fundraising classic car show and concert to be held at the Ashland City Assembly of God Church on Saturday April 21st, we don't know what time we will be playing yet but keep checking back and I'll let you know as soon as I do.
This just in from the "Salem's Lot" blog...

"Rocking the joy in Ashland City, or, I’m seeing a lot less of Slartibartfast these days..
Jump to Comments
Friends, let me testify. Those scales that Slarti keeps showing on his blog are accurate. The man is disappearing before our very blog-eyes. He really is nearly at fighting weight. If his thick hair keeps growing it may soon outweigh his torso!

We saw ‘his’ band last night. Little group of about 73 people (uh, actually there were nine, but they sound BIG). The band is called ‘X-Alt‘, which is a pretty clever despite the fact that maybe one of the ‘kids’ in the band is from Generation X (not that everyone else on stage is dino-saur-ish!) and they really don’t play alternative music, but what they do is exalt, with some Memphis-style horns, a couple of keyboards, some stinging guitar, and a ton of good vocalists.

This is the third time I’ve heard these guys. I’m not a big Christian music kinda guy. I grew up in an era where a lot of schlock was passed off as music and labelled Christian or praise, and it was somehow OK, because of the ‘brand’. I know the industry has grown up quite a bit since those days (yeah, probably a lot more than I’ve grown up), but my prejudice still is woven neatly into my sleeve.

These guys play great music. If the music blows, the message suffers. I know the message is really the true medium for X-Alt, but they know better than me, if the songs aren’t popping, the ‘go ye into all the world’ bit isn’t going to make it out of the driveway.

Our diminishing buddy Slarti got more vocals last night than the previous times I’ve heard the band. Slarti’s voice has a little more grit and growl than anybody else up there. He’s the one that can do the upbeat Stax-rumble and make it work along with those punctuating horns behind him. He especially shines on his own tune, ‘Piggyback Ride’ (uh, Slarti, your passion is showing).

My wife pointed out to me last night that the reason the song ‘Oh Happy Days’ works so well for these guys is that they don’t play it dirge-speed. They actually SOUND happy. Yeah, they do a lot of standards from the 60s, either leaving them alone lyrically to convey the message: Lean on Me, He ain’t Heavy, Put a Little Love in Your Heart*, or twisting the lyrics a bit to make sure we know WHERE the love’s coming from, e.g. Slarti’s take on the Sam and Dave ‘Soothe Me‘. The soothing here is heart-ward, and a little more to the ‘north’ than perhaps the original.

I don’t want to denigrate or neglect the rest of the band, especially the vocals. They truly have more lead singers on one stage than Van Halen and The Band put together. But, I”ve just gotta say that last night, Katy Seale was ON. She sings right on the edge of Americana, blues and torch just enough to make you realize you’d drive all the way to Ashland City for her featured songs alone. Throw in the amazing harmonies, the tight horns, the stinging guitar, and an occasional poignant flute, and you have good times, even if you doubt the Source of their inspiration.

And, oh yeah, Slarti threw in a little go-go dancing last night that almost cleaned out my nasal passages with espresso. Somewhere, someone needs to get that on ‘YouTube’.

*my one piece of advice is to drop ‘Put a Little Love in Your Heart’ and pick up another Memphis style song like some Dusty Springfield or the Isaac Haye’s chestnut: “If something is wrong with my baby…”. Too many good vocal chops in that band to not serve up some more grit. "

You can find a link to this blog in our links section.
Well that's it for now, hopefully tomorrow I'll have some video from the show to share with you, and hey if you ain't doing nothing next Monday come on up to Tater Day in Benton KY. X-ALT! will be there for a 2:00pm performance at the gospel singing.
Hope to see you there
V

Bits and Pieces

2007-03-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

First off a big Happy Birthday to Jessica Reel the now 16 year old daughter of our own Susie Reel. The family and I were thrilled to be a part of the celebration last night, Over the last few years we've seen Jessica bloom into a beautiful and talented young lady and we are all very proud of her.

A sad note, the music world lost one of it best last week with passing of "BOSTON" lead vocalist Brad Delp, from all reports he was a great person without many of the ego problems that so many "Famous" people seem to develop. I personally thought of BOSTON's song "Long Time" as a theme song for my youth and still can't resist trying to hit that high not in the chorus every time I hear it - I've never made it. RIP Brad Delp.

X-ALT! will be a TBG in Ashland City on Saturday March 24, so come on out a hang with us a while. It'll be a Party!

Speaking of parties our friend Lawrence Baily and his band "The Jones" will be appearing at "The Rutledge" this Saturday, March 17th. Cover is $5 and worth every penny. "The Jones" are Nashvilles definitive Funk Force and put on a show that will blow you mind.

Just added a new link to the links section, this is from our old singing partner Jennifer Coomer. The girl is crazy. She is also a great friend that we don't get to see enough of. We miss you Jennifer, come back and sing with us again, SOON!

That's it for now, but keep checking in you never know when something new will pop up.
V

Getting Ready

2007-03-09T08:32:00.000-06:00

Just a short note... We had a great rehearsal last night as we started getting ready for the service this Sunday at New Beginnings, for our return to TBG in Ashland City later in the month and for "TATER DAY" in Benton Ky on April 2nd. We were joined by our old buddy Jason Oliver who was filling in on Drums for Eddie who has the Flu. Jason will be playing with us Sunday so Eddie can fully recover and he will also be with us on "TATER DAY". Jason is one great drummer and took to our material like he had been with us forever. Mark Mills, Brooke and I have known Jason since he was just a kid (He's still a kid compared to the rest of us old fogies!) He's played with us before, almost two years ago now, at St. John's UMC at one of the first
X-ALT! Services after we left our old church gig. If you search back far enough in this blog you will see a couple of songs from that morning. Anyway it's great to have Jason back with us and wish him the best in all that he has going on in his life. Also we are asking for prayers for Eddie, that he gets better and is ready to return to the drums at TBG.
Service is at 11:00 am Sunday morning at New Beginnings. SO get up and come on out!
See you then,
V

Riverbend Prison

2007-03-05T15:13:00.000-06:00

We had another great service with the men at Riverbend last night, I don't know what it is about taking the word to the men at Riverbend but it is such a soul strengthening experience that it is really hard to put into words.

Mark Pierce nailed it in an e-mail I received this morning...

"No doubt that playing in the Riverbend facility is a humbling experience. It is somewhat funny, but upon leaving I didn't seem to have ANY problems!"

I think that says it all. We, "On The Outside" - I think take our freedom for granted. But when you come face to face with a group of men who have lost that freedom and everything else, and have decided to turn their lives over to God, it creates and incredible worship experience.

I look back over the last year or so and see how much fighting and arguing has gone on at my church in the name of "creating" a worship service, the meetings, planing sessions, re-arranging of leadership, new banners, new video display and the list goes on and on, and then I think about the service at Riverbend, and I realise how down right foolish we all are. I mean who are we worshiping here? All God has asked is that we bring our lives to Him. That's it! I hate to say it but I think the rest is for us. Sure it helps "Create" a more worshipful atmosphere, but is it worth it?
At Riverbend all that is left outside the gate. Worship is "Created" by God from nothing, It happens because a group of people have come together for no other reason but to worship. Now having said that, do I want to go to prison in order to have a true worship experience? No. But our experiences at Riverbend has opened my eyes some and I am going to be rethinking what worship means to me.

Sorry - I kinda went off on a tangent there.

The following are two posts from Tommy's "Shoot The Moose" blog about our recent trips to prison...

First from March 2nd

I don’t know if I’ll be able to accurately express what I want to say. I’ll give it a shot, though.

No matter what I do the rest of my life, no matter how much money I make or what heights I rise to in computing, music, or writing, I know that I will look back on the first day I went to prison as one of the absolute pinnacles of my life experience. Last year, members of X-Alt traveled to Riverbend Maximum security prison in Nashville, to lead worship services there. What happened there had such a profound effect on me, I am drawn to return as soon as possible.

It was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done. No doubt, we were going behind inpenetrable walls to be amongst some very scary people - men who had done horrible things to get in the position they were. Here we were, whitebread, middle aged men and women from Belle Meade, Bellevue, and West Meade, going with eyes wide open into the one prison in the state of Tennessee where the worst of the worst of criminals was housed. But we felt called, and we had made a promise, so we went.

When entering Riverbend, you are searched vigorously. The musical equipment has to come in separately, inventoried down to the smallest wire. You are not allowed to bring ANYTHING in with you but your driver’s license, and a single key to your car. You are told not to ask the men about what they’ve done, and you are told that under no circumstances are you to give any personal information to them. Then you go through a gate. Then another. You walk a bit, then go through another. With each automated gate closing, you feel you’re being drawn deeper away from the word you knew.

We walked across the yard, accompanied by a lone female guard. As we walked, a large group of men were crossing the yard on the other side, probably going to dinner. I’ll be honest, they were quite scary looking. We had females among us, and, being a male myself, I understood perfectly the looks they were giving us. We finally got to the chapel, if you can call it that. It’s just a bare room with a few pews. No decorations, no adornments. Just a bare room.

Our equipment was already there, and some of the inmates had already started setting up for us! Our first instinct was to yell, “Hey! Get away from that stuff!” But we remained quiet. It became obvious after a few minutes, that these men were just very eager to get the worship service started.

Once set up, the strangest thing happened. A couple of men left the room and came back with Styrofoam cups of water for us. To be “served”, in a Christian way, by these men who were in the direst of conditions was quite humbling. It moves me still, just thinking of it. We started playing, and immediately you could tell that these men were there to worship. Not to see or be seen, not to gossip, not to socialize. They hungered for the Living God. We played our set, feeling that we had done pretty well in those circumstances. The minister preached a bit, and then they called a few of the inmates up to sing.

They called themselves “God’s Soul Children”. Five of them had worked up an acapela version of “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye (To Yesterday)”, changing the word “hard” to easy, and inserting their own verses singing God’s Glory. I can’t tell you how moving this song was. Many of us had tears in our eyes. Later, I thought to myself, they must have been ridiculed endlessly when they were working up this song in “the yard”. Yet, they sang anyway. God was glorified, I can tell you.

Then, we got up to close the service. We did an encore or “Lean on Me”, then we called up God’s Soul Children to sing Amazing grace with us. The only way I can describe that moment is the same way that Handel described the moment “Messiah” was written:

“I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself.”

I have never experienced anything like it before, or since. We weren’t a bunch of west-side white folks and a group of hardened criminals thrown together in a room. We were brothers and sisters, singing a song for our Father, and the Spirit let us know that the Father was well pleased. Singing words like wretch, lost,blind, saved take on a whole new meaning in such a setting. It was such a glorious experience, I feel my words are failing to express it properly.

We are going back to Riverbend Prison this Sunday. I don’t know what we’ll find there - usually the second time you experience something, there’s a letdown. But if the worship service is only half the one we experienced last time, we’ll be talking about it for years to come.

When I went through that third gate into the yard, half scared out of my mind, who would have thought I would hunger, no, ache to get back in there again. God is funny like that.

Then from today...

Yesterday evening, not being the first time going to prison and all, went a lot for efficiently. That’s a weird word to use for something so profound as a prison ministry, but there’s not doubt we got in and out much more quickly than last time. That was good, because it left more time for “church”.

It went beautifully, as expected. There is a man who calls himself “Happy Jack”, who was there last time as well, who may be the best singer I’ve ever heard. Anyway, it was a wonderful service, and it went over a little because nobody wanted to leave. A couple of guards positioned themselves in front of the chapel where we could see them in an unspoken summons for us to wrap it up.

But even they got into our version of Amazing Grace

Back to my tangent for a second - Isn't that what we all want in a worship service? As Tommy put it "who would have thought I would hunger, no, ache to get back in there again" that's what I'm talking about, when my church service ends I want to hunger and ache to return. Isn't that what God wants from us, to hunger and ache to be with him?
I'm going to have to keep thinking on this one.
What do you think?
V

Mark Pierce Rocks

2007-02-19T12:00:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned before that we are a diverse group of players, writers and singers, many of us have other projects outside of X-alt.
Last Saturday night our ubber-talented guitarist Mark Pierce made an appearance with his other band "The Wreckingball" to what I understand was a happening crowd.
Here are a few pictures from the gig.

Check out their website - the link is in the links section and keep a eye out for The Wreckinball next time they are in your area.
V

East End UMC

2007-02-12T08:58:00.000-06:00

What a great Sunday Morning!
Sometimes God steps up and says "This is why I've put you where you are." X-ALT! was truly blessed this week by bringing the music to the morning service at East End UMC.
We want to say a special thank you to Pastor Diane Luton Blum, Music Director Joe Lee and organist Lee Druce for inviting us into their beautiful church. East End is one of Nashville's most historic churches and has seen many changes to the area it serves in it's 150+ year history.
This was our second visit to East End and again we were blessed to be a part of God's service there. Also a special thanks to my Mother in Law. Peggy Howell who was instrumental in bringing us back to East End.
So many people came up to us and told us how the music we choose took them back to their childhood church experiences, we chose to do the old hymns, "I'll Fly Away" and "Old Rugged Cross" to open the service. We did two specials, Katy sang the Contemporary Christian hit "The Voice Of Truth" and in a last minute change of plan I got to sing the old country/gospel song "Why Me Lord" and we closed with "Oh Happy Day".
It is always a blessing to see what you do touching the hearts of those in the congregation, Brooke told me she saw tears in the eyes of some of the members while we were doing the two opening hymns. Sometime we forget just how powerful those songs are and how much of God's glory is packed into those lyrics. I don't give us any credit for those tears of joy, all the credit goes to God and his power to change peoples lives. We are just the ones that are lucky enough to be the tool he uses to bring these powerful songs into peoples lives.
Thank you again to the wonderful folks at East End for a beautiful Sunday Morning!

Well next up for X-ALT! is a two week break from appearances as we start to work up new material for the next X-ALT! CD and as we start getting the line up ready for what is starting to look like a very busy Summer of church services, coffee houses, prison services and an ever growing number of festival appearances.
God is Good and he is blessing us as never before, all we can do is follow the path he is placing before us and say thank you Lord for this incredible opportunity to do you work.
V

Here is some comments on the service for one of Tommy's blogging friends that attended. His blog can be found at http://salemslots.wordpress.com

Bouncing around the East End, or, Slarti plays for the mayor (and a few wonderful commoners)
Today we took Slartibartfast’s invitation to church seriously. His group (X-Alt) was one of the main events today at the Sunday morning service at East End United Methodist Church. I’m sure someday Slarti is going to look up from his keyboards and see my smiling face and regret his open invitation policy. Anyway, Slarti’s band shook it up and out for several songs (I’ve never actually considered ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ as a polka, but hey, if it works, it works) including a rousing ‘Oh Happy Days’ that easily rivaled the Edwin Hawkins Singers’ version.

The mayor was in attendence (I think he is a regular) and he made a beeline to the band after the service was over, presumably to compliment the performance (hey, he’s got taste). I was slightly tempted to ask the mayor as he walked by me and spoke to me (with a leery eye, I might add, not that I blame him) - ‘uh, Mr. Mayor, would you PLEASE veto that stupid English bill’, but, (a) I’m really kind of a nervous around big-wigs, (b) I’m scared he might call his security guards, and (c) it really wasn’t the place.

I’m a lucky guy sometimes. I got to sit between two wonderful beautiful women during the service and despite all the pulchritude surrounding me, I ‘got into’ the service, the sermon, and especially the music. We all got to meet another really cool blogger - Linda Creekmore, of Fixin’ Supper fame.

The sanctuary worked better for the band than the Ashland City coffee shop where we last heard them. Slarti gets into his music…he’s got a delightfully geeky style (I say that with the highest of complimentary thoughts). I love watching him play because he has his passion and he is living that passion. There’s not much better than that (and I have to add, the guy CAN sing).

We rolled down to Cafe Marche’ after the service and had one of the greatest brunches of our Nashville life. Holy camembert , this place rocks the brunch party. The coffee alone is worth the trip. I strongly recommend Marche’ for brunch or any other meal it happens to serve (I’ve been there for lunch twice, supper once and now for brunch..it’s all good).

Thumbs up for East End United Methodist, for X-Alt (esp. Slarti) and Cafe Marche’. Thumbs WAY up to my two delightful pew mates: my wife and the wonderful Jag. Great company, and they nicely and patiently put up with me pretty much the entire time.

This Just In

2007-02-09T15:44:00.000-06:00

X-ALT! has been added to the line up for the American Cancer Society's "Relay For Life" Celebration for the Portland TN area. This will be on May 12th beginning at 7:00 pm although we don't know what time we will be playing as yet. This is an all night party for a great cause and YES that is the weekend before we go to Portland to take part in the annual Strawberry Festival.
V

Portland Strawberry Festival

2007-02-09T09:25:00.000-06:00

I just recieved confirmation that X-ALT! will be part of the entertainment at the famous Portland Strawberry Festival in Portland TN on May 19th. Our actual performance time and length is still TBA but keep you eye right here for more details.
V

We Missed The Mark (& The Brooke)

2007-02-05T10:14:00.000-06:00

X-ALT! had a busy weekend but it was worth it. We started out Saturday night at 23rd Psalm Coffee House minus two of our members, Brooke was out with the creeping crud that rendered her unable to sing and Mark Mills was out due to his father having some serious health problems. The good news is Marks father is in good hands and hopefully on the mend, Brooke's voice is still not 100% but is getting better.
Anyway 23rd was a good show with a few rough starts but those in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves and come out feeling uplifted and blessed. I need to say a special thank you to our Sax player, Randy Jenoski. During Amazing Grace which is usually one led by Mark the rest of us hit a wall that could have ended very badly but without missing a beat Randy threw into an inspired Sax solo that allowed the rest of us that split second that we needed to re-group and bring the song to a neat closing. Randy is truly a blessing to this group, with his professionalism and great attitude. Thanks again Randy.
Sunday morning Mark was back with us as we led the congregation at New Beginnings SMC (Our Home Church). A few old standards from our previous stint as a praise band were pulled out of the closet and brought back to life. Our own Tom Landers brought the message with appropriately was about "Football"

This weekend we lead the service at Nashville Historic East End UMC. The service starts at 10:30 am, hope to see you all there.
V

A couple of more fom Talents Coffee Studio

2007-02-01T12:26:00.000-06:00

Here are two more songs from Talents Coffee Studio - Did I mention how much we love that place!

Voice Of Truth

Piggy Back Ride

Once again Tommy Says it better than I can

2007-01-30T13:18:00.000-06:00

"This past weekend was wonderful. We had an incredible experience when X-Alt played atMcKendree Village. We’ve learned our lesson about when we play nursing homes and retirement villages. If you break out the old hymns and jazz them up a little, you’ll get them going every time. This past Saturday was no exception. The little old ladies and men were REALLY getting into it.

After we finished, an older lady walked up to me with tears in her eyes. She said her husband had brain surgery 6 months prior, and she was amazed at how engaged he was with our whole performance. (Apparently, he hadn’t been ‘with it’ in quite a while). He had even brought out some of his old funny lyrics:

On a hill far away, stood an old Chevrolet, with an emblem of cherry and red…

His wife thanked each of us many times. We all teared up, too. You just don’t know what it’s like to know you have been used by God in that way.

Sunday was almost the exact opposite. We played a private event at Tallent’s Coffeehouse in Springfield, and to say it was rollicking would be an understatement. These people were so open to The Spirit - and it was overflowing. Every vocal, even my own, seemed super-charged. Mark Mills was on fire. It was quite a wonderful, but tiring afternoon."

It was a great weekend and all of us came out feeling so blessed and uplifted. I wanted to share a few highlights with you all from Talents Coffee Studio.
V

LEAN ON ME at Talents Coffee Studio in Springfield TN

"PUT A LITTLE LOVE IN YOUR HEART" at Talents Coffee Studio
in Springfield TN

"OPEN UP" At Talents Coffee Studio in Springfield TN

Even more kind words from our friends

2007-01-25T10:15:00.000-06:00

This is from our Producer and former Sax and guitar player Brian Cummings.

To whom it may concern:

This is to let you know that the band X-ALT have worked on an extended project here at Studio 23, and I was impressed with the band's talent, dedication and desire to do a good job.
The band is blessed with lots of good singers and songwriters. In any other circumstances, this would create ego conflicts, but X-ALT is blessed with a corporate commitment to teamwork. There's humility to go with the talent, and flexibility to go along with the professionalism. They are a pleasure to know, to listen to, and to work with.
Thank you for considering this recommendation.
---Bryan Cumming
Owner, Studio 23 Nashville

More nice words from an old friend

2007-01-25T09:51:00.000-06:00

In our quest to get some testimonials for our promo pack we sent out requests to some new friends and some friends that have been in our lives for a long time. I recieved this from Tom Mulnix who many of us worked with when he was worship leader at Belle Mead UMC. Tom is one of the nicest people I now and also one of the strongest Christians I have ever met. He has a true heart for Christ and a belief system that comes from living life on the other side and finding his way back home.
He and his lovely wife (his equal in all ways) serve the Aldersgate Church in Lubbock TX. now.
Thanks for the kind words Tom, we love you and miss you more than you'll ever know.
V

"It is with high regard that I recommend X-ALT to you. I have been in ministry some 15 years, and can honestly say that this group is filled with servant’s hearts. I have personally ministered shoulder to shoulder with several of the members – the Pinkertons, Tommy Landers and Eddie Loper – to name a few; and have experienced their genuine desire to bring God glory with their music.

In a city like Nashville where everyone you meet is ready to pitch you a song to further their career, it is refreshing to find a group that simply wants to point others to the One that deserves fame and glory – Almighty God. I know that your time with X-ALT will make that abundantly clear.

I would be happy to talk with you personally about my relationship with them if you’d like; feel free to contact me. Blessings…………

Glorifying God Through The Arts

Tom Mulnix

Worship Pastor

Another Godstock testimonial

2007-01-23T08:22:00.000-06:00

This just in from our good friend Dr. Phil Speer.

The Xalt! Band is one of the best Christian
groups to ever hookup together in Nashville
as studio-quality vocalists and musicians. They
have combined their superb talent into a top-notch Music City USA band! Talk about
talented, these are the best of the best in
musicianship. Wow - their dedication and
commitment to Christ cannot be surpassed.
Give them exposure, and you'll find everyone
will love them.
Dr.Phil Speer
Nashville, TN

Dr. Speer has been a friend of the band for quiet a while now and we really appreciate the kind words. Check out Dr. Speer's Web Site at
http://www.cashinhouses.com/

A nice note from the folks at New Beginnings

2007-01-22T12:25:00.000-06:00

I e-mailed Theresa at New Beginnings this morning to ask her to write a reference for X-ALT as we are getting our promo pack together for a possible place in "Godstock X" a Christian Music Festival later this summer. The following is that Testimonial as well as some wonderful things she had to say concerning this weeks service at New Beginnings SMC.

X-Alt has been a member of our Church Family since October of 2006. They have blessed us with worship services that ministered to us through their music and personal testimonies with sincere hearts. God sent them to us at a time when we as a Church were in great pain and used them to help us to heal. We are a small congregation and our finances are small but they came anyway. They are extremely talented but most importantly they use their talent to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we as a congregation have been brought closer to God because of their willingness to be used by Him.

A Sister in Christ
Charter Member/New Beginnings So. Methodist Church
Theresa Thomas

Hope this is what you need. By the way tell Mark (or whomever was responsible) that we had a great response to the Responsive Reading yesterday, not only the choice of verses but the way it was presented. Tell Tom that everyone enjoyed his sermon and are looking forward to "The Football Sermon". Believe me if there were any negative comments to be heard either myself or Barbara would be told and so far there has been none!

Thanks
Theresa

This world is full of great people and great church's, New Beginnings may be small in number but their love for each other and for the Lord is stronger than some of the "BIG" churches that we have been a part of. New Beginnings has opened their doors to us over the last few months and all of us in X-ALT can never thank them enough for the love and hospitality they have extended us.
V

Schedule Change

2007-01-17T11:57:00.000-06:00

Just a short note that the X-ALT! service at the Women's prison has had to be rescheduled. An exact date has not been set but it will hopefully be in early March.

See you Sunday at New Beginnings SMC, the service begins at 11:00 am

Oh What a Night

2007-01-16T12:07:00.000-06:00

Just a short note about our rehearsal last night...

Let me start by saying that when X-ALT! put together the "Rhythm & Praise" CD, we collected songs that each of us had written over the last million years and recorded them as a group. In a way that is a good thing because it makes for a very diverse CD with at least one song that will appeal to just about any musical taste. On the other hand, in some cases the CD sounds kinda like one of the K-TEL "Hit's" records, the ones that all of us old enough to remember when CD's were 12 inches wide and made of vinyl, had in our collection. I'm not putting down the CD, I love it and all that it has to offer and I am more proud of the work on that CD than anything I have ever been a part of. I just say that, as a lead in to this...

Last night at rehearsal we wrote 2 new X-ALT! songs, this time as a group. Mark Pierce and I had the basics of a song called "Lift Me Up" written by the time Mark Mills, Tommy and Eddie arrived, but it did not become a complete work until they threw their two cents worth in, and without bragging - this songs kicks! We will be testing it out on the congregation at New Beginnings this Sunday but I'm willing to bet they will really dig it! The ladies were all busy doing other things last night so it will be a suprise to them as well!

Just as we finished putting the final touches on "Lift Me Up" Tommy brought out his newest magnum opus. (That's A Good Thing) Anyone that has listened to "Piggy Back Ride" knows that Tommy is a master of creative lyrics and his new song is no exception. The yet-to-be-named song is a throw back to the old Stax Records days with one of the coolest vibes of any X-ALT! song yet. Not to mention a bass line that will have my fingers in knots for days! But it will be worth it. It needs another night of work to pull it all together but once it's ready to go I'm sure - Like "Piggy Back Ride" - it is going to be another staple of our live sets.

That said, the next CD should be a bit of a departure from the first because it is setting up to be a true group effort. After a year of playing together outside of the old church gig I think we have all come to know each other better and that unique musician's experience of knowing what the other players are thinking is starting to sink in. Needless to say- I'm Stoked!

V

As usual Tommy can say it better than I

2007-01-16T12:04:00.000-06:00

This is from Tommy's blog "Shoot The Moose." A link to the site has been added to the links list.
V

Let Go and Let God
Posted on January 15th, 2007.

I am myself again.

Saturday, while doing early set up at Cumberland Heights for yesterday’s church service, it helped to have a task to concentrate on. Then, while leaving the beautiful grounds, I paid particular attention to the arch over the driveway. In big letters, it says, “Let Go and Let God”. I literally did one of those “I could have had a V-8″ forehead slaps. Sometimes, these moments just kind of come at you, dontcha’ know?

One other thing about yesterday: worship at a place like Cumberland Heights (it’s a drug and alcohol treatment center) just seems so much more real. Songs that we’ve played a hundred times, that usually bring about polite head nods or applause, at this place they bring forth such raw emotion. You get so used to playing these songs that it becomes routine; yet, after almost every number, I look up and see so many tears. For some people there today, songs like He Touched Me, Lean On Me, Amazing Grace, even my own Piggyback Ride struck a nerve.

I’ve always believed that music is God’s way of giving us just a taste of the ecstacy of Heaven, a fleeting glimpse leaving us wanting to get to His kingdom so that we might experience the real thing. Kind of like walking past a McDonald’s and smelling the french fries. Music touches us in a way so unknown, in a place so hidden within us that it is impossible to describe. I forget that sometimes. That’s why it shocked me to see people so visibly moved by music I had begun to take for granted.

We musicians are there to “Lead them to the Altar”. So many Sundays, whether because the congregation is distracted, or we are, that doesn’t happen as much as we’d like. But not this Sunday. You could see the Holy Spirit embracing every person in that chapel. It is hard to remain in self-pity when you know that you are being given the highest honor: being allowed to do God’s work. It is impossible to not feel all Joy when you see that work bearing fruit. This is why we do what we do. I’m going to try not to forget that again.

I know I’m using a lot of Christian-Speak, but I do not apologise. These are the apropriate words for what I am feeling.

I had a Crocodile Dundee moment yesterday. I offered up the knife of my pain and struggle and dared God. The Lord just smiled at me and said, “That’s not a knife”. He took me to Cumberland Heights and said “THAT’S a knife”.

Lesson learned.

Cumberland Heights

2007-01-15T10:06:00.000-06:00

It was a beautiful Sunday morning when X-ALT led the Residents, their families and alumni at Nashville's Cumberland Heights Rehab. Center yesterday morning.

It was one of those mornings that reminds us of why we do what we are doing. Rev. Ishee surprised us by requesting a song off the "Rhythm and Praise" CD that we had not intended to play and he asked us to start the service with "Down To The River." That made it so special, knowing that our songs and voices had touched the group enough last time we were there, months ago, that they wanted to experience those songs again.

It's hard to explain the feeling of "CHURCH" that was in the room Sunday. The chapel at Cumberland Heights is like something out of a story book: a capacity of around 75, wooden bench seats and beautiful stained glass windows.
There were no empty seats and folding chairs had been placed in the small aisle.

It was a strangely warm morning for January in Nashville so we threw open the doors and a warm breeze blew through the chapel. X-ALT's songs of praise joined by the voices of the congregation were carried on those breezes to the flocks that stood outside and they traveled over wires to the overflow room and God's presence was definitely felt. The congregation was on their feet and clapping and singing along - I tell you it was CHURCH!

The feeling of God's presence washed over us and our ladies voices blended together like the songs of angels! The band was tight and together and it was as if each song took things up another notch untill the bluesey version of "Amazing Grace" was played to close the service. Amazing Grace is Cumberland Heights theme song and they sing it at every service. As they sang along with us you could see by the smiles on their faces that they had been uplifted and strengthened and we are so proud that God has given us the chance to be a part of those blessings.

Rev. Ishee dismissed the group and we played them out with the song he had requested "No Place Like Home." Our drummer Eddie must have been feeling the vibe of the room as he started it "a bit" faster than usual, but believe me when I tell you - it worked - it was such a great upbeat way to end a morning of praise and worship.

We will be returning to Cumberland Heights this summer to help them dedicate their new sancturary and we can't wait!

Next weekend if everything works out we will be worshiping with the ladies at Metro Nashville's Women's Prison on Saturday and then with the good folks at New Beginnings SMC on Sunday. We ask that you keep us in your prayers as the X-ALT train keeps chugging along spreading the Good News of God's love thru song.

Be Blessed
V

A Few Shots From The Show

2007-01-11T11:56:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Sister-N-Law Delilah for some pictures for Saturdays Show at TBG. I was bored so I fritzed with them a bit just for the heck of it.

Bits and Pieces

2007-01-09T15:31:00.000-06:00

I was cleaning out the computers closet and ran up on a few videos from a coffee house show that we will say was "scantly" attended but we were still having a good time! Enjoy
V

Love Never Ending

Jesus Take The Wheel

I'll Fly Away

A Great Review

2007-01-09T08:48:00.000-06:00

This just in from one of Tommy's Blogger friends that made the trip to Ashland City Saturday night. Did I tell you we had a good time?

1. Slartibartfast (Tommy) is a rocker. It's a Christian band, yeah, and if you can't handle Christian lyrics at all, it might not be for you, but I'm telling you, if you avoid Slarti's band for that reason, you will be missing something.Slarti is one of the keyboard guys and once the music starts, the quiet, shy-ish Slarti we met at the blogger meat-up turns into (1960's reference, watch out!), Paul Revere (not the horsey silversmith guy but the one who lead the 'Raiders), which is to say a geeky dancing, mugging for the audience who is having so much fun it really doesn't matter that the geek meter is moving to the red zone. And, I'm using 'geek' in a very loving manner, btw.Slarti's band (X-Alt) is quite an ensemble...they got the Memphis-style horns that punctuate the bar, rather than roll all over it, they got not one, not two, but three women who can sing the lights out, and they got another keyboardist who can sing some serious tenor. The Memphis Stax soul oozes through their music even though they appear to be all of the 'blue-eyed' soul variety.My one complaint: Slarti' only gets one solo. He's got a great rocker voice, and his song just SWINGS. Besides his song, he re-arranged the old Sam and Dave song called 'Soothe Me' to handle some really top-notch harmony and lyrics that weave the band's philosophy into the groove. Slarti NEEDS MORE SOLO.My one question: They close the first set with 'Put a little love in your heart' and they attribute the song to Aretha. Actually, their arrangement is pretty much a pepped up version of the original by Jackie DeShannon, but hey..it was good.All in all, it was more than worth the trip to Ashland City. Plus we got to hang with Ms. Slarti and two Slarti-kids. Good family times...

I love a great review! Well as soon as my Sister-n-Law gets them to me I'll be posting some pictures from Saturday and I have a few videos I found hanging around the bottom of my computer to post so stay tuned and if you have a minute drop a prayer or two for us as we get ready to lead the service at Cumberland Heights Rehab. Center this Sunday, that we can help touch the hearts of the good folks there that are trying to get their lives back in line.
God Bless
V