NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 25, 2010
Below is an update of what has been happening:
Dear Friends,
After a long lull, we actually have something new to report. (Please re-read out newsletter of 2008 which spoke about what to do when life isn't necessarily newsworthy at the moment.)
But this is what's new. We're recording a brand new CD!
I am off to Bloomington, Indiana and during the week of March 1-5, 2010, we hope to finish recording my eighth project. My good friend, Rich Morpurgo, who is an awesome engineer, producer, and guitar player, is once again producing this album for me. Rich produced our last project in 2004, called "Kalamazoo or Beyond the Blue." It's always exciting to work with someone as talented as Rich and the great musicians he assembles in Hoosierland.
This CD will be a mixture of new and old songs over my forty years of writing and singing. Remember us in your prayers that things will go well and the final result will be that people are drawn to the foot of the cross.
I was thinking about the seven previous recordings we've done over the years. Each one represented a different season in my life.
The first record was with the Fishermen and was called "I Wouldn't Go Back." It was recorded in 1973 in Oklahoma City, and Andrae Crouch gave us ten hours free studio time to record it, using a great engineer who later became a well-known producer, Bobby Cotton. Andrae went to bat for us and tried to help us land a contract at his record company. Suffice it to say, some of the top brass initially voiced some interest in us, probably based on Andrae's recommendation, but later sent us "the dreaded letter" saying they were going through some changes and would have to pass.
The second album was a "live" Fishermen concert recorded in Anderson, Indiana on Valentine's Day, 1976. It was titled, "The Fishermen For Friends" and was a very intimate kind of recording with people who had been a part of our lives for the past several years.
The third record was with a new band and was simply titled "Lawrence Chewning & Eastland Band," The year was 1977 and we were getting ready to move to New England. Once again it seemed like "the breakthrough" was about to happen. Gary S. Paxton, who had won the Grammy award for Christian music the previous year, heard a demo of us and liked the songs. Not long afterwards, Gary and another producer, John Darnall, contacted me and said they'd like to produce a record. We went to Nashville and our hopes were lifted high again. However, the following year, a lot of unexpected circumstances signaled this was once again going to be a custom project with no distribution.
I became very discouraged after this fell through and abandoned any illusions of ever making the big time in gospel music. It was fifteen years before I released any more material, although I continued to write. The priority in the 1980's was to co-pastor a church in Massachusetts. Mainly what I wrote was praise and worship songs which we sang in our church. Finally, the thought kept growing regarding recording a small project of songs birthed during our experience in New England. This project was done in Andy Pinkham's basement studio at his home in Reading, Massachusetts and took five years to make, little by little. By the time we actually manufactured the copies in 1994 our family had taken a new direction and had moved to South Carolina, where I was raised. I must say it was a little awkward selling a CD in Dixie devoted to revival in New England. One of the songs was actually titled, "Welcome to New England.".
The next year, Ray Boltz' version of "The Anchor Holds" went to number one in the nation. In late 1996, Ray funded a new CD for me, entitled "The Anchor Holds." Steve Millikan produced it and did some wonderful arrangements on it.
In 2000, we recorded our fifth project in Florence, South Carolina, where we live and work. Fred Shaw, who specializes in "Beach Music," produced it and it had a definite Southern boogie feel to it, along with a variety of other styles. The three most requested songs on that project were "The Final Goodbye," "Ebenezer," and "Welcome Home."
The most recent project was recorded in 2003 and 2004. Ray Boltz called me in 2003 and said he'd like to produce a new CD and offer it on his website. It would be the first time I had done a CD which would be offered to a national audience. Ray recruited Rich Morpurgo to produce it and we were very pleased with the end product. That year I was able to sing at seven Ray Boltz concerts and appeared on TBN on Memorial weekend.
Then, in the summer of 2004, Ray abruptly retired from the Christian music scene.
And, in time, the latest CD ended up being distributed by the now familiar distribution company, "Car Trunk, Limited."
So, here I sit, getting ready to leave tomorrow to record yet another project.
Which brings me to the whole point of writing this. It's not about "success" the way the world defines it. The bottom line is that it is, and will always be, an honor to sing to anyone about the Lord. I have never lost the sense of gratitude and wonder of it all. Whether the audience is big or small, the songs must go on.
And. as any student of history can tell you, a song, that curious blend of words and varying tones, does indeed have the capacity to change a life for all eternity.
Even so, Lord, let it be!
Lawrence Chewning
February 24, 2010
OLD NEWS (FROM 2000)
Dear Friends,
It recently dawned on me that for the past four years I have only gotten around to writing one newsletter each year. In actuality, there haven't been a lot of "newsy" things to report. I've just been trying to "stay at it" and continue to keep doing the things I feel called to do. In other words, to keep my hand on the plow, refusing to look back, and to stay faithful to the call.
My great grandfather was a preacher. On his tombstone is inscribed, "He fought a good fight and kept the faith." That's taken from a verse in the book of Second Timothy. Actually, Paul included a third statement in the same verse.. He also said, "I have finished the course." Jesus said in John 4, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish His work." When he died on the cross he could victoriously proclaim at the end of his earthly life, "It is finished."
Faithfulness doesn't usually make the news. To be honest, it's a little boring, because it entails doing the same things over and over again, walking steadily through the mundane affairs of life, knowing that in due time the value of it and the lasting fruit will become evident.
So, for the record, even though it doesn't make news or require much more than a yearly newsletter, this is what I'm still doing:
I'm still writing songs.
I'm still preaching and singing wherever the doors open.
I still don't charge a fee or asking price.
I'm still working a regular job with the State of South Carolina as an adoption specialist.
I'm still hoping record more projects.
I'm still hoping to land songs with more singers who can take them to a wide audience.
I still love my wife, kids and grandson.
I'm still growing thinner in the hairline and attempting to grow thinner in the waistline. (Needless to say I'm more successful in former than the latter.)
I still love the Red Sox (even though I couldn't catch a ball if my life depended on it).
I'm still a little weird.
Most importantly, I still love Jesus with all of my heart and He is still the number one focus of my life.
Summing up, I'm still trying to fight the good fight, keep the faith, and finish the course.BOOKING INFORMATION
Even though I work a regular job as a social worker, I continue to do concerts and/or speaking engagements on weekends. Because of work restraints, most of my traveling ministry is done in the South Carolina area. However, as my annual leave time builds up throughout the year, I am able to make out-of-state tours every two or three months. We book year round and it would be an honor to come and minister where you live. Feel free to e mail at lchewningjr@sc.rr.com or call at (843) 260-0556.
RAY BOLTZ
I have gotten a number of inquiries regarding Ray Boltz in the past month. Below is my official response:
I was privileged to be a part of the contemporary Christian band, The Fishermen, who were singing at a coffeehouse in Indiana in 1972 the night Ray Boltz prayed and accepted Jesus Christ. In the months that followed it became very evident God had His hand on Ray and on the songs he was beginning to write. On several occasions we invited Ray to sing several of his original songs at the Fishermen concerts. I remember writing Ray in the early seventies and encouraging him to keep writing those great songs.
Many years later Ray recorded a song the Lord had inspired me to write called "The Anchor Holds," using his gifts to craft the song into a shorter, more focused version that would work on radio. When his record company refused to put this song on radio, Ray went to bat for the song and lobbied hard to give it a chance. Because of his influence, the record company reconsidered and released it and it soon went to number one. I will always be grateful to Ray for the doors he has opened for me through his renditions of "The Anchor Holds," "At the Foot of the Cross," and a couple of other songs of mine he recorded.
Ray Boltz quietly retired in 2004 and brought his touring and recording to a halt. Recently Ray disclosed publicly he has made some key changes both in his interpretation of what the Scriptures teach, as well as in his personal life. Many of his fans and supporters have reacted with anger, but probably most, including myself, have been deeply saddened. I continue to love Ray and keep him in my prayers, as well as his wonderful family whom I have known for over three decades.
Lawrence Chewning
October, 2008
