A show to remember
We(Earline Starnes and I)record our long-running gospel music show for KMJ radio on Thursdays.
So Thursdays are my really super long days at the station. I just now got home after spending 10 hours there.
This Sunday's show is going to be a special treat, though...we remembered Roger Bennett in our own way.
When Roger passed away last Saturday morning, I called Earline right away to pass on the news. You see, Earline doesn't often look at gospel music sites on the internet. With a full-time job, kids at home, and her responsibilities as an executive with the Central California Southern Gospel Music Association, as well as being a gospel music promoter, she seldom gets the time to spend on a computer to check out what might be there.
I knew, too, that Earline really liked and supported Roger very much. She had the chance to work with Bennett in connection with Legacy Five in connection with the Great Western Southern Gospel Fan Festival(coming very soon, BTW!)often...plus, like me, she had met Bennett several times when he was still a member of the Cathedrals.
I should have known that Earline would have something special in mind for our next program, knowing how she felt about Bennett and his music.
Well, she certainly did. When she arrived at KMJ to do our show with me, she had a perfectly planned musical tribute program to Bennett all planned out. She was certain that she had picked out the right songs...and prepared it with the idea that they would not only paint a fitting musical portrait of Bennett, but that those songs would speak to our listeners as well. (We try to plan EVERY show with the latter intention in mind.)
Now, as the station employee and the "radio pro" charged with producing the show to conform to the time constraints our show operates in, I looked at some of the titles and their timings, and ventured to Earline that maybe we might have to drop some of the songs she chose(they were NOT all by Bennett)in order to get certain key ones in. Normally, we have no problem "fixing" the shows to conform to those constraints.
But Earline's response was almost defiant. "God picked these songs out for me", she exclaimed, "and we can leave off some of these songs by other artists that I picked, but I've GOT to play the songs by Roger I selected, because God picked them for me".
So I had to use all my professional experience to fit the songs featuring Bennett into our time frame. Now, most radio stations don't operate with the tight time restrictions we do, because we are the area's major news station, and we always run commercials. Our program has commercial sponsors, as do the programs adjacent to us. And there are also hourly network newscasts we have to work with as well.
So we removed two songs, one by the Talleys, and one by Greater Vision...and determine ourselves to fit in what was left. I reminded Earline we needed to keep our dialogue within the show to a minimum to fit the songs in. Since we record the show live with almost no post-production, we HAD to follow the plan. We don't have much of a time window to play with.
As the show proceeded, and as we played 1994's "Don't Be Afraid" by the Cathedrals(one of Bennett's BEST songs), and Legacy Five's "In His Grip"(done just a couple of years ago or so), it became clear to me that not only were we doing a proper tribute to Bennett, but we would also meet our time constraints easily, as well.
Oh, me of little faith!:-)
I guess God truly DID pick out the songs for us, how else would the music had come out so good, and the program run on time, as well?
Earline was happy with the show, as was I! She was happy because we were able to execute the show she planned so carefully, and I was happy because I had learned yet another lesson about trusting God completely with my "things"...you know, when we do that, He ALWAYS makes it work out just as it should!
Oh, well...I'm still learning some things...and I'm glad God is so patient in teaching me His lessons!
Posted on Mar 22, 2007 - 10:42 PM | [0]
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