Hello friends!

Thanks for all your comments about how your weekend went. Fun to hear about it all!

Today I’m writing songs over at EMI Studios. I just took a late lunch break and made a home video in my Jeep. So watch out for that either tonight or tomorrow!

If you are wishing it was Friday and the weekend already, I have something to recommend to help get you through the week with a smile on your face! New music always helps life feels better, so here is my recommendation this week.

Joel and Luke are both great friends of mine and I’ve known them for about 3 years now. They are brothers and come from the "land down under" – Australia! So they have funny accents, similar to mine : )

Ever since I first met them, they’ve been writing AMAZING songs and I’ve been bugging them to finally record and release them on a CD! Well, the brilliant news is – it’s here!

If you want some insight into their "sound" it’s epic and edgy…some rock, some pop…very hooky, very emotive.. and their harmonies are incredible. They are bound for a great future, and I know they will reach a massive audience. So you heard about them here first ; )

You can buy their EP by clicking here  and great news – its only $5.95!

You can also visit their Myspace page, to get a taste of what their songs sound like and see some fun photos and video! www.myspace.com/joelandluke

Let me know what you think if you get it!

Question for you….

"What new music have you heard lately, that you could recommend to our community here?"

Love,
Vicky

Happy Monday, Blog-friends!

I got back late last night from what we British call a "truly brilliant" weekend, visiting Buckhead Church in Atlanta to hang out and lead worship. Here’s a snapshot of me and my team with Carlos & Heather Whittaker, our new and awesome friends who invited us and hosted us. (L to R: Stephen Proctor, me, Heather, Carlos, Jason Francis)

We arrived Saturday afternoon and did Soundcheck with new friend Rachel Bos, then headed to the Whittakers for an amazing dinner. Heather’s oven was broken, so somehow she cooked us an incredible meal in a toaster oven – read all about it on her Blog! The truth is I couldn’t have made that glorious meal, even if I’d had a FULL kitchen of PROFESSIONAL ovens at my disposal!!! Ah, I need to learn to cook one day! Heather has inspired me : ) It was SUCH a great evening…

Sunday morning, we arrived at Buckhead Church at 6.30am and did a service run through. Their Production – lights, sound, video and all things technical are incredible! Check out some photos of how  great it looked during worship on Sunday….

After the 9am and 11am services, we hit California Pizza Kitchen in the Lennox Mall for some yummy lunch, where I also got to go to my favorite store  – Urban Outfitters : ) Then we headed back for the 6pm service..really cool to get to play with the band 3 times in one day and get to know them all. This is the church’s Green Room for chilling in between services…its beautiful…

My set was Yesterday Today and Forever & Everlasting God on guitar (with their smokin’ band!), then Above All Else on piano.

If you don’t already read Carlos & Heather’s Blogs, I think you should check ‘em out! RagamuffinSoul and Whittakerwoman. Here’s a pic of their 3 kids to make you smile… I had even got a goodnight kiss on Saturday from Losiah, their tiny and super-cute adopted Korean son!

So tell me, how was your weekend? What did you do?…

Cheers!
Vicky

Greetings Blog-friends!

So GMA Week is now over. I never did really explain what GMA is – I know tons of you are reading from other nations, so apologies for that lack of explanation! : ) It’s an American thing and I didn’t know anything about it until I moved here. Its a week long convention where everyone involved in Christian Music gathers in Nashville at The Rennaissance Hotel and Convention Center and holds tons of meetings, interviews, radio and TV broadcasts, and then finishes it all up on the final night with the Dove Awards – a televised award show for whichever artists and songs have won awards that year. Apologies again to my international friends, for speaking about this mysterious "GMA" week without explaining it! : ) So thats where Ive been the past week…

One of the biggest highlights of it was that one of my favorite friends and mentors, Melody Green was in town. This is she and I in the photo above. She and I met several years ago, and ever since our first coffee together I knew God had gifted me with any amazing friend, and with someone who would speak much wisdom into my life. She was married to Keith Green until his tragic death, and has continued since his passing away to be a key voice for God to our generation. We had several great hang times the past week, and I walked away feeling like I had been strengthened and encouraged in my passion to keep serving Jesus!

It reminds me of Exodus 17, where Moses was in the thick of a battle campaign, but was feeling weary. For some reason, God would give him victory when he lifted up his arms. But his arms got tired. When his arms fell down, the enemy would start winning the warfare. You can read all about it in Exodus 17 and get the full story! But when Moses’ arms got tired, God sent him two helpers/strengtheners/encouragers. Aaron stood on one side of him, and Hur on the other. They took one arm each and lifted up his hands. That way, the army won the battle and Moses strength returned to him.

Melody is one of the many precious people God has placed in my life to "lift up my arms" – to come along side me and strengthen and encourage me in the thick of ministry and Kingdom activity! So my question today is:

"Do you have people like that in your life, who come along side you and "lift up your arms" where you need encouragement and input? If not, would you consider seeking them out?"

We can do nothing alone…we are the Body of Christ and it takes all the members working together to move the Body forward.

I’m off to Carlos’s church tomorrow http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com Exciting!

Love,
vicky