In our ongoing series well known artists run through their albums and books. This time one of the fathers of British worship music DAVE BILBROUGH
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As a psalmist, I felt I was on a journey and the act of opening up one's heart in worship by definition required renewing and change from previous comfort zones. There are some songs on this which still remain very special to me: "Wings Of An Eagle" speaks about going deeper with God, as does the title track. "Not One Moment Too Soon" talks about waiting for God's promises to appear. This album also saw the emergence of a song "Holy Ground" that was to have great significance for me. It seemed all around me there was a kind of power surge in the Holy Spirit. Some people were calling this the Toronto Blessing. Rather than being located or centred in one particular place I prefer to think of it as a worldwide phenomenon. The very first time I played "Holy Ground" was in a meeting where Gerald Coates, team leader of Pioneer Network of churches that I am involved with, shared the news of a series of meetings that was to be held at Marsham Street. I was amazed at the reaction to the song, but it was later to have great significance as the Marsham Street meetings developed.
Andy Piercy, who produced the album, encouraged me to travel down some new routes when developing and writing these songs. The album closed with "This Is My Prayer" which was my first step in that direction as I proceeded towards the album. I remember Andy waking me up late in the night as he had just listened to the initial demo recording that I'd sent him and in his phone call he conveyed that he felt we'd found the direction we were looking for. It was therefore a very moving moment when recording this track in my home studio; voice and guitar live together, and a blackbird joined in at the end which, if you turn up the volume, you can hear. It was almost like God's way of saying, "I can hear the song; I can hear the cry.
Live From Marsham Street,
Westminster, Kingsway Music, CD & Cassette, 1999
Having developed themes which were more to do with the inward heart
in 'Secret Places', the 'Live From Marsham Street' album presented the
other edge of the sword - a more outward, exuberant live style. Gerald
Coates has successfully convened Sowing The Seeds Of Revival meetings
in London's Marsham Street. They ran for many nights during the week
and over a period of many months. Along with my fellow members of the
Pioneer team (Noel Richards, Sue Rinaldi, etc) I was regularly invited
to lead worship. These were significant times, not only for the
congregation but for me personally. So when it came time to record an
album it felt right and appropriate to do the album at that venue.
Acoustically, I knew all along it was going to be a bad choice, but
spiritually I felt it was important to base this audio statement at
the place where so much vision had been birthed. The songs have a very
strong "world music" style - lots of percussion and improvisation
linked in with fiddle from Nick Haigh as well as Irish whistle. Pat,
my wife, began to develop new sounds on percussion in our live
context, adding to the tremendous contribution which Martin Neil
brought.
It was important for me not just to sing about God's heart for the nations, but to portray it in the music. The song "Holy Ground", which had appeared on 'Secret Places', was re-recorded. In many ways the CD reflected a breakout call for us all to take the gospel into new places.
Personal Worship 2, Kingsway Music, CD & cassette,
2000
As a songwriter my songs always derive their
first expressions on my trusted acoustic guitar. Many of them start
out as simple prayers to God or carry a message of what he is speaking
into my life. It seemed natural, therefore, to return to that stream
for this album which was part of the Personal Worship series produced
by Kingsway. Unashamedly acoustic, Nick Haigh on fiddle joined me
again alongside Steve Criddle (keyboards and accordion). Pat Bilbrough
developed much of her percussion sounds on this album.
Running parallel with the experiences of that time was a new project that I'd begun to develop which was my attempt to crossover to an audience beyond the church with the Good News. Based in a small, intimate London theatre I began to put together an evening of songs, stories and testimony reflecting my spiritual journey, but also being an opportunity for some fun and entertainment. I was really trying to re-present the message of some of my songs to an audience that would not be comfortable in a Christian worship gathering, but to do so in such a way that did not compromise the spirit of worship which I believe should be accessible to all human beings. One or two of the songs on 'Personal Worship 2' were born out of that context. This album was also an opportunity to work for the first time with my close friend Matt Hay who has gone on to produce many albums for me and remains a close friend.
New Heart/All Hail The Lamb, Kingsway Music, CD,
2002
This was a double CD re-release of the two albums
from 1995 and 1997.
Everybody Sing, Kingsway Music, CD & cassette,
2002
Following the pattern created in the 'Secret
Places'/'Marsham Street' combination, if you like inhaling and
exhaling; internal and outward expressions, 'Everybody Sing' contained
a series of songs which in the main were for congregational use and
developed various musical expressions from around the world. Recorded
live at Easter People it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to
share these songs in the context of a diverse gathering of people.
This was the first album I ever had with decks on it, supplied by my
hip-hop influenced son, Dan, which made things different! The content
of the songs, in many ways, reflected my own travels where I, along
with others in my band, had the privilege of visiting and sharing our
music in various parts of the world.
Revival Worship, Kingsway Music, CD,
2004
This package was a triple set of albums
produced to commemorate and celebrate the distinct expressions of
musical style and location growing out of the Holy Spirit encounters
that many were experiencing in the Church. The package contained my
1999 album 'Live From Marsham Street' plus an album 'Rivers Of Fire'
recorded at the Revival Now Conference with worship leader Isabel
Simpson, and an album by the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship with
worship leader Robert Critchley.
This Is My Worship: Live
& Acoustic, Independent, CD & DVD, 2005
I
recorded this in the East End of London. Songs for this project were
in a more performance, singer/songwriter style and contain a strong
emphasis on the need to combine our worship expressions with acts of
social compassion towards the poorer regions of the world. Not
primarily a traditional congregational album of the kind that Kingsway
service so well, it became instead a springboard to initiate this
project myself. As I began to take these steps the news of the 2004
Tsunami broke on our TV screens and, with the permission of my band,
we decided to put together a fundraising event for the churches that
we knew of that were hit by the tragedy. God TV heard news of this and
asked if they could broadcast the event worldwide, synchronising with
their own campaign. From small beginnings the concert/recording began
to take on a life of its own, as we filmed and recorded not only an
album, but a TV concert. Subsequently a considerable amount of
additional background and unplugged footage was added by our own team
and a DVD was born to accompany the CD. God's heart beats for the
nations and requires more than just a song to make our response
authentic in worship. The event and proceeds from the recording helped
in a small way to alleviate some of the suffering of our brothers and
sisters, but also as the album was released enabled us as a team to
travel to and serve through our music some of the parts of the world
where worship events are not commonplace.
Studio, Live & Personal, Kingsway Music, triple CD
pack, 2006
A triple CD pack to revive interest in
three back catalogue albums: 'Secret Places' (1997), 'Personal Worship
2' (2000) and 'Everybody Sing' (2002).
Worship And Grace, Worship And Mission, Worship And
The Presence Of God, New Wine Press, books, 2006/7
Somehow word got around of the teaching that I often give to worship
leaders and pastors concerning what I consider to be key foundational
areas of the life of a worshipper. Highly connected together, these
aspects, namely an appreciation of God's grace, a welcoming of our
call to mission and a seeking after a deeper awareness of God's
presence in our lives, are I believe three fundamental truths that we
need to address in our worship communities. Writing them was fun and I
hope that many have been provoked into seeking God afresh as they have
read through the pages.
People Of Promise,
Independent, CD, 2008
25 years on from writing 'An Army
Of Ordinary People' with its twin themes of grace and community I felt
the time was right to revisit and to develop some new songs
appropriate to today's Church. Recorded in a live studio setting and
produced by Matt Hay the album was fun to make as I would literally
teach the song to the band and we would press record while all playing
together, including a live vocal. It was really important to me to
maintain an organic feel rather than the heavily processed sound.
Upright acoustic bass, banjo and piano were very much to the fore as
this collection of songs moved towards a country influenced sound. As
God's people we are called to be 'People of Promise', moving together
in the expectation of God's ongoing fulfilment of his word in our
lives. The desire to discover the inheritance and freedom of our lives
in Christ still burns strong within me. That discovery will lead us to
fresh expressions of an age old truth. It's not a time to settle down
into what we've known in the past, but press on and be all that God
has called us to be.
Hi Dave, I remember some of those days when we moved over from Dartford. Quite a stiring time for us all and hope and pray we can all be involved in a new move of the spirit. God will build his church ! He will restore and beyond, taking it up another level and fine tuning our hearing to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, God have you way with us all. He will pour out his spirit in these final days. Take care and just written a song about the secret of happiness, being a close walk with God. Keep in touch, Jesus is Alive !