American Idol Expectations
“American Idol” and “Survivor” were certainly not the source of the concept but we can recognize that they have contributed to a sense of quick and easy fame in our culture. These television programs and many more “reality” shows have made household names out of ordinary people. Generations ago, if a person desired to become…
Continue readingCape Breton Island
My wife and I just returned from a week of vacation in Nova Scotia. We particularly enjoyed our time on Cape Breton Island traversing the Ceilidh trail and Cabot Trail. Nova Scotia is a proud land with a noble history. Scottish Highlanders, with their distinctive Scottish Gaelic language, were cleared out of the Highlands of…
Continue readingYour Redemption
(Words and Music by Mike Charko and Keith Shields – SOCAN 2012) Listen to it here. People always tell me, This world is all there is. You’re a fool to think there’s more. But God above has told us, Heaven and earth fade away, His word remains the same. So straighten up and lift up…
Continue readingWayne Kirkpatrick
A few years ago I was headed out on a long road trip and grabbed several CDs from my collection as “music for the road.” Yes, it was CDs at the time. I had not yet made the leap to an iPod that allows one to take almost all of their musical collection along for…
Continue readingWho Am I?
I used to spend a lot of time wishing I had someone else’s life. I used to dream of being a rock-star, a singer songwriter, an astronaut, a theologian, the pastor of a mega-church, a scientist, a leader of leaders, an author, a pastor of pastors, a teacher, an academic, a denominational executive, an…
Continue readingCalgary and Vancouver
I have lived in Calgary, Alberta and in Vancouver, British Columbia. Recently, a trip to Calgary caused me to reflect on the differences between the two cities. I love both cities for different reasons. I flew into Calgary on the morning after a blizzard that had left a thin layer of snow on everything and…
Continue readingThe Hometown Band
I arrived home from a week of Christmas and New Year holidays in Alberta and was pleased to find a package with two CDs in my mail box. The albums are Flying and The Hometown Band by “The Hometown Band.” They have recently been digitized from the original masters kept in the vaults of Universal…
Continue readingHow Many Kings
(Written by Marc Martel and Jason Germain; 2006 Centricity Music Publishing/Germain and Martel Music Publishing/ASCAP) From the album “Ending is Beginning.” Follow the star to a place unexpected Would you believe after all we’ve projected A child in a manger Lowly and small, the weakest of all Unlikeliness hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl Just…
Continue readingJust Like That
(Words and Music by Mike Charko and Keith Shields – SOCAN 2011) Listen to the recording of this song here. I sat down on my front step And I strummed my old guitarI wrote a song to make you laughI knew it would go far Usher saw me playing thereHe said, “You’re gonna be a…
Continue readingSong Writers
Music is highly personal. Ask a group of people to tell you some of their favourite songs and you will get a wide variety of answers. A friend of mine recently blogged about choosing his perfect music for a long road trip. Although I could appreciate his list and even liked some of the songs,…
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