mclemorebrothers.com Blog

Tour

Administrator — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:24:36 +0000

The Four Shadow midwest tour is in full swing and going VERY WELL! We’ve had great crowds in WI and MN so far and looking forward to heading west in the next few days. I’m back in Minneapolis for a couple of nights and am catching up on school work and laundry. We had some fun with April Fool’s Day yesterday, played a couple of tricks on the audience. Rob’s story takes the cake though. He called his mom first thing in the morning and told her that the Four Shadow van had hit some ice and we flipped over a few times. He told her that he was fine, that only his leg was broken and he was not sure about the other guys as we’d been seperated at the hospital. She immediately started crying. If we really crash one day, she’ll never believe us.

Thanks to all who have come out to support us and the Allied Concert Series. And thanks for picking up a copy of Sunday Drive! I hope that you are enjoying it.

Jon

On the road again…

Administrator — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:19:01 +0000

Jon here. Very excited to be on the road with Four Shadow again. We did a few shows up in Bemidji, MN to kick off a 6 week tour. The crowd was very supportive and there are quite a few videos of the concert up on youtube already! We look forward to meeting and singing for many more across the midwest in the coming weeks.

I just wanted to take a sec to talk about the current lineup in Four Shadow. It is as strong of a group of vocalists as any I’ve worked with in my 15 or so years of performing. Eric Patenaude and Chris Foss are alternating and sharing bass responsiblities. Eric is the former bass for Marcoux Corner, and has over 6 years experience in a cappella. Eric is very funny on stage and has a thick low range. Chris Foss recently earned a master’s degree in choral conducting. He learns fast and has great pitch/rhythm. It is a tremendous pleasure to get to sing with either/both of these gentlemen. On second tenor, we have another recent graduate. Rob Lundquist recently earned a degree in vocal performance, and it shows! He has a beautiful and powerful voice, and again I feel privileged to get to share the stage with him. Finally, our baritone/lead singer is Kevin Steinman. He’s been holding Four Shadow together for many years, and has incredible stage presence and a wonderful mid range. He brings great character to every lead and also contributes a number of our original songs.

I hope you have an opportunity to hear this group! The schedule is up on the Four Shadow site, McLemore Brothers site, and our respective myspace pages. If you need more details for a show, please contact me and I’ll be happy to help you make the show.

Thanks for dropping by!

Jon

SUNDAY DRIVE

Administrator — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:05:52 +0000

You need this CD! It was designed to enhance your Sunday drive to worship, or your Sunday afternoon drive home. The songs are encouraging and will point you toward God. It could be called ‘Jam with the Lamb.’ It’s got a little of everything. It has taken us over 1.5 years to finish due to having kids (me) and gettin hitched (Mark). Let me tell you about the tracks!

1. Bind us together. The song starts off with an interesting intro which I can’t explain here. Don’t want to give everything away. This is a new twist on a song we’ve been singing for years in the church. It was in a major key, we did in a minor key. Very simple but catchy tune.

2. I Sing Praises. I had to do this song, it reminds me of a good friend of ours from Crown Financial Ministries named Jack. He used to lead singing at devotionals and would sing this one alot, except he sang it about two octaves lower than anyone in the room could even think about singing. We always enjoyed that. Another simple song. It always reminds Mandy (my wife) of when we brought Ellie (no. 4) home from the hospital after she was born. I was critiquing mixes alot during that time.

3. Be Still. Simple song about trusting God. It has a great beat heavily influenced by Aerosmith’s ‘Sweet Emotion.’

4. On the Edge. Kind of a rock tune with a message of struggling to do the right thing. Mark did some nice sampling on this one.

5. Whip for the Horse. Hilarious tune based on a proverb of Solomon. Mark did this one all by himself. It’s got some great sounds effects. Nice choir at the end. Did I mention funny? The kids love it.

6. All About You. A song I originally recorded with Mark with full instrumentation. It almost didn’t work for me because it sounded so empty, but I figured the message is worth it even if it’s not as full as I’d like it musically. It has a great outro. Kind of shifts gears to a disco sound.

7. Son of the Most HIgh God. Been working on this song since 1996. Wrote the chorus back then, and wrote the verses the same day I sang em. (Sometime late June 2007) Pretty strong tune, inspirational. I look forward to singing it live.

8. Where Could I Go. Another old tune I wrote around 1996. Mark did this one again all by himself. Did some nice things, it’s got a very upbeat dance groove.

9. Poor Wayfaring Stranger. Very heavily influenced by Rufus Wainwright. Mark does a nice job on the beat, it really bumps and the bass is great. I did the backgrounds, nothing fancy.

10. This World is Not My Home. This song rocks. It turned out much better than I envisioned. Really can’t wait to sing this live. It is the style I fell I was meant to sing.

11. In the Light. Old DC Talk tune. Really tough to do it justice a cappella. But, Mark did an amazing job on the foundation, I really struggled with the lead stuff. Those guys are awesome.

12. My Rock. Strong dance beat/groove. Kind of an ‘epic’ type song. We included a nice bridge with a big choir….hard to explain.

You need this CD!!!! There are some other goodies at the end, but I don’t want to completely spoil them. Please get a copy and give us some feedback! Thanks for reading.

Jon

The Life of a Starving Artist

Administrator — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 02:51:24 +0000

First of all, I am hardly starving. I actually prayed this morning that the Lord would give us this day our daily diapers. I am so well fed, I can now focus on lesser things like diapers…and my music career.

So, I’ve got myself a yahoo business account through which I can design and build mclemorebrothers.com. We’ve got a new CD due out next month. I’ve got enough songs for another solo record, and lots of time indoors so I can track. It’s nice to be back.

Writing, recording and marketing one’s own music is a considerable challenge. There’s so much of you out on display, I believe this is the reason I take so long in letting anything get out. I wish in some cases that I’d held on a little longer…my past work never seems to measure up. And, I’m sure in a short while, Sunday Drive will cease to meet my expectations. Until then, I must tell you that this album is a huge step forward for Mark and me.

The production values far exceed any project we’ve completed. We’ve taken our time, tracked and re-tracked, mixed, re-mixed, tested, experimented, gotten almost done with a song only to scrap it and start over, etc. Many of the things we’ve neglected in the past. Before, we’d get something down that kind of resembled the song we had in mind, and we’d say, ‘That’ll do.’ There was a time when that seemed to work OK, but then people started expecting more from us. So, we wondered what it might be like if we actually took our time and gave the songs the attention they deserved. Well, that’s hardly ever possible, but we’ve done a pretty good job this go around.

So, plan to buy this CD. I anticipate great things from it. I feel it is innovative and adventurous, and will most likely stir up alot of trouble in the a cappella world. There is a great deal (understatement) of processing of vocal sounds on this record. The Plethora lives up to his name. Purists will criticize, but I believe the record holds it’s own beyond the a cappella gimmick.

Buy, enjoy, share. Thank you!

Jon