Whack! Uh oh, that’s not good…

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Not the sound you ever want to hear from your guitar!

Video with the Euphonic & String parts to “Like A Child” c. 2018 Rhon Van Erman

Well, it’s been an interesting few weeks to say the least. Man, I was truckin’ along (yes, I’m older) with my BluesGrass, 80’s riff induced version of “Amazing Grace” and on the last day of rehearsing some final changes, it happened. In my enthusiasm of the sound of the Hymn I got up fast from the couch and started to hold my guitar high in an old stage move I did when I was on the road and “Whack”….  time stood still….that was really stupid Rhon….what were you thinking? I had banged the back of my guitar with my knee. “Well dude, you really did it now”, I mentally beat up on myself for what seemed like an eternity and I looked it over and to my surprise didn’t notice any visible signs of damage. Well, that’s a relief. So on I went and recording was tomorrow, so I thought I was good.

The next day I recorded a few takes and got a good one only to hear some distortion right at the end of the track. Hmm, wonder if I just had to much signal? I listened back, pulled down the fader and there it was…the thing I’d craved for all my guitars when I was 12 years old…Distortion!…but, this wasn’t the type of distortion I wanted any part of. It was just plain hideous. Now what?

Some things work themselves out in the long run and the plans we make don’t always turn out the way we wanted. Honestly, as a Christian I know this and need to be humble to it, but as an “A” personality and “let’s get it done” type, I thought I had done something wrong or God was shutting me down. That’s the problem with my way before His way.
So after a bath in frustration I forged on. I had purchased some digital samples back in November of ’17 and had been wanting to get to this sound called the “Soft Piano” or “Felt Piano”. This was my chance! It is the most beautiful piano I’ve played. I got it loaded into the computer and upon the first chord played I was transported into the happy place I haven’t been in quite some time sonically. I played for about 20 seconds and there it was….my next single. It had a childlike sound with a very intimate character, which just happened to tie into a Bible reading I’d had a couple days before when Jesus said ”  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Perfect! And it reaffirmed for me that I must do my best to please my Father in Heaven especially when things don’t go as planned. Yes, easier said than done but this has become my next offering. I would love to hear your stories of “Plan B” and how it shaped your relationship with Him. I will be posting more video and updates until release of this very unique and intimate song. As always, may my words and notes be a blessing to you!

Rhon

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Euphonic & String Parts to “Like A Child” c. Rhon Van Erman 2018

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“Abide With Me” Now Available!

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Amazon, Christian, Christian Music, Classical Music, Crucifixion, Faith, God's Word, Google+, Guitar, Hymns, iTunes, Jazz, Jesus, Music, Music Blog, Presbyterian, Songwriting, The Bible, The Cross

Announcing my latest Single for the ongoing project #HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar is now available! “Abide With Me” is now on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music, and all other major music retailers. There are links below to listen, purchase, and share or you can Click this link – Newsletter – for the story behind this release as well as artwork and more. I pray that this release is a blessing to you!

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Hymns For Solo Acoustic Guitar Webpage

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Release Date 1/29/2018 for “Abide With Me”

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Amazon, Christian, Christian Music, Classical Music, Crucifixion, Facebook, Faith, God's Word, Guitar, Hymns, iTunes, Jesus, Music, Music Blog, Praying, Presbyterian, Recording, Songwriting, The Bible, The Cross, YouTube

One week from today my 2nd release for #HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar will be available worldwide!

The 2nd release is “Abide With Me” and will feature a stark guitar tuning that weaves through an emotional ride of several styles. This Hymn is a standard song that speaks truth and peace to the soul and I am very excited about this version.

I have included the Artwork for this release in this Blog Post so be on the lookout for this picture one week from today.

All my Newsletter subscribers get all release details, videos, artwork, and more before Social Media. You can sign up here Newsletter Sign Up to get the Newsletter delivered to your email inbox so sign up today!

Your prayers of blessing for this release are appreciated!

Blessings,

Rhon Van Erman

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• www.rhonvanerman.com 
• #HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar – Webpage
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It’s Live! #AccordingToThyGraciousWord

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Acoustic Guitar, Christian, Christian Music, Classical Music, Facebook, Faith, God's Word, Google+, Guitar, Hymns, HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar, iTunes, Jesus, Music, Music Blog, Presbyterian, Recording, Songwriting, The Bible, The Cross

Today is Release Day! My first “Hymn For Solo Acoustic Guitar” is available digitally at all major retailers and streaming services. This is a day I’ve been looking very forward to because of one of the great benefits of this release is – Peace from the chaos. 

In a time where we have busied ourselves with whatever we can crunch into 24 hours that seems important at the time, we are losing one of the most important things to our health, well being, and eternity – Quiet Time. 

It it my hope that the Hymn “According To Thy Gracious Word” will make you pause even for 2:40 of your life to reflect, reset, and focus on what’s most important. Even though music is what I do for a living, the power of these great old Hymns has been very moving in their creation. A time of purpose, re-dedication, and taking in what is now.

Let me know how this song blesses you. You can email me at rockin@rhonvanerman.com. There will be a “Behind The Music” video soon and more releases in the coming months. There are links below to some of the major digital retailers and Spotify. Other companies will be added in the coming days. As always, thanks for listening and supporting my music!

Blessings,

Rhon

iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/according-to-thy-gracious-word-single/id1296625188 

CD Baby – https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/rhonvanerman5 

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/user/rhonve/playlist/0KdY4Ah7dDhtYIMCwFU1mo

Website – http://www.rhonvanerman.com/Hymns-For-Solo-Acoustic-Guitar.html http://www.rhonvanerman.com/Hymns-For-Solo-Acoustic-Guitar.html 

 

 

#HymnsForSoloAcousticGuitar

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Yep, that’s a hashtag. A virtual way of following all the releases, videos, photos, and more for the singles I’m about to release digitally. I’ve even started a special page on my website dedicated to this release here – Hymns For Solo Acoustic Guitar. So we’ll call this a virtual CD. There will be new Hymns released about every 60 days or less in an ongoing project that I hope will add peace, clarity, and a fresh listening experience for you! Please bookmark, share on social media, and add these songs to your playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and more! And if you’re a bit nostalgic, you can buy each track too! I will be creating a video soon about the story behind this project.

The first Hymn will be “According To Thy Gracious Word”. A hymn that we sing A Capella quite often at Presbyterian Chapel of The Lakes Church. The guitar is tuned differently to give a Celtic drone with the melody being played at the same time. The dynamic starts low and builds to the 3rd verse with an intimate verse 4 that builds to a harmonic peak. It was quite cool to arrange! The release date for this first Hymn is Thursday November, 2nd and will be available on all digital retailers and streaming services.

One of the unique qualities about this adventure is I’m doing it all from start to finish. Like cooking from scratch. The arranging, recording, mastering, artwork, copyrighting, licensing, upload, and PR! (I’m tired already!) Not so I can wave my flag, and not only to keep costs to a minimum (although that’s awesome!), it keeps everything real, like it is in Church when we sing it, or when I sit back in the Lazy-Boy and put in my earbuds to just listen and get two minutes and thirty-nine seconds of peace! This allows me to be even closer to God because I’m laying everything in His hands on these releases. That…is the place I need to be!

I truly hope this music will be a blessing to you and hope that you will write to me and let me know your thoughts. Here’s my email rockin@rhonvanerman.com 

As always thanks for reading and listening and blessings to you!

– Rhon Van Erman  www.rhonvanerman.com

 

 

Christmas – The Reason EP

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Christmas, Christmas Music, Christmas The Reason, Facebook, Guitar, Guitar Solo, iTunes, Jazz, Music, MusicBlog, Reason, Recording, Rhon Van Erman, RhonVanErmanBlog, Rock Guitar, Songwriting, Studio, The Reason, Twitter

As the saying goes “It’s all in the timing”. I would have to agree with that most of the time. So I’ve always struggled with prepping, arranging, and being in the mood to record Christmas songs in the middle of August. For whatever reason this year it fell into place. And not only has it been a blast to record, but, the Spirit in these songs has been moving.
First of all this will be an EP (Extended Play) release. Longer than a single but shorter than a CD. There are five songs in which I played all the parts of this all instrumental work. Some Jazz with “What Child Is This”, “Away In A Manger” for solo piano, and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” with the vibe of driving down a city street on a snowy night. “Silent Night” has a dreamy tone as that reminds me of when I was a kid and I’d sleep by the Christmas tree until Mom woke me up. One departure from the reflective mood of the EP is “Hark The Herald Angels Sing”, which started out acoustic and slowly manifested into a rocker. The main focus in this recording is to give the melodies and arrangements the opportunity to create a time to reflect on the reason of Christmas, where-in the title of the EP came about. Personally, one of the things I enjoy during Christmas is sitting by the tree late at night when it’s quiet and reflecting on the blessings of this miraculous event. To look up at the sky in the cold of Winter and know there is a divinity of this creation that gives me peace on a silent night. A reason I feel at rest in a place that is bigger than my mind can imagine.
My hope is when you listen to these songs you will take some time to reflect. Your blessings, your journey, and the mark you make on those around you.
This EP is scheduled for release around Thanksgiving. You can subscribe to this blog with your email address, or email me at rockin@rhonvanerman.com to keep up on all the details. And for events and daily goings on you can follow me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RhonVanErmanFanPage and Twitter https://twitter.com/RhonVanErman
As of this writing (11-8-13), the picture below is a copy of the artwork for the cover. I will be posting more about the EP the closer we get to release. Thanks for reading and for supporting my music. Time to get back to it, the Christmas clock has started!

Rhon –
rockin@rhonvanerman.com

“The Vacuum That Sucks”

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A/CRock, CD, Guitar, Guitar Solo, Lovesongs, Music, MusicBlog, Recording, Revolution, Revolution The CD, Rhon Van Erman, RhonVanErman, RhonVanErmanBlog, RhonVanErmanRevolution, Songwriting, Studio, Videoing

Hmm, quite a title eh? The only vacuum that sucks and does a great job is my sweeper. It does a great job of making the carpet look and feel so nice and I like that. However there is another vacuum that can suck the life right out of you, being or thinking you are an island. I will refer to the saying “No man is an island”. When I was a kid I had no idea what my teacher was talking about but as I started to work with others in sports, rock & roll bands, etc, it all became very clear, even the greatest of my talents need the inclusion of others to really make them shine. The other saying that has gotten a lot of shout lately is “There is no I in the word Team”. Yea, there may be some great things someone can accomplish on their own but they really miss out on the entire experience of life when they don’t involve others and will never achieve their best potential. Besides, sharing the victory with others is a richer experience compared to patting yourself on the back. That makes your arm hurt just reaching around to try it anyway!
I am dedicating this blogpost to all those that have helped me with the pre and post production of the Revolution CD. For most of you that read this these people are total strangers, and at one time, some of these people were total strangers to me as well. And there you go, the vacuum. If I didn’t talk with others, ask questions, involve myself with them to be the best I could be, I never would have met some of these vibrant people. So I’ll just settle for the only vacuum I need, and that’s the one that sucks dirt, not the breath of life I receive from others.
I’ve also included in this post a picture of The Telly Award that was given for my video “The making of She’s Everything I Need”. This was produced by Cabin14films and recorded at Studio D. Always good to be recognized for your work! Now I give
my deepest gratitude and thanks to –

My Father in Heaven, my Wife & Son, my parents, Lynn Graber at the Recording House, Andy Symons (formerly at The Lodge Recording Studio), Darrell Powell at Studio D, Jared Powell & Garrett Matney at Cabin14films, Randy Melson (Bass), Dane Clark(Drums), I miss playing with you guys more often but it’s great being able to pick up where we leave off, Phil Maxwell (Back Round Vocals), the wonderful people at Disc Makers and CD Baby & Greg Chupp. I would also like to thank my Wife for the perfectly packed cooler with my lunch and treats to sustain me for my drive to the studio and the hugs from you and our son that got me there and back! And you, my fans, you give fuel to the fire on this journey. When I complete a song one of the things I can’t wait to do is share it with you. I am blessed and grateful 🙂

Rhon –

The Road Most Traveled

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Music, MusicBlog, Recording, Revolution, Revolution The CD, RhonVanErman, RhonVanErmanBlog, RhonVanErmanRevolution, Songwriting, windshield time

So often the focus is “The Road Not Traveled”. Take the risk, it could be just the path you needed and on and on… But what about the road you travel everyday, are you seeing all that there is, or wondering, perhaps wishing, that you were on another road?
Well, It’s Sunday, the day of rest and reflection. But the last four months I haven’t been home on this day, but on the road to record the “Revolution CD, and I’m almost there…
As I’m doing some of the final approvals this week for the “Revolution” CD I decided to look through the pictures I had taken on my way to the recording studio. This indeed has been a journey recording this project, however I’ve never been able to document the process so well, especially with something that fits in my pocket! I can take pics, video, update social media and even blog from my iPhone. To me that is amazing, and I don’t want to ever lose that “wow” factor of anything that is amazing in this life. Some of the cool things that intrigued me was watching the seasons change, the inspiring sunrises, and even the beauty of a plain ole corn field in the middle of central Indiana. That saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” really makes sense when you can see beauty in a corn field. Life is a sit down dinner, not a drive-thru! As my walk in this life continues I have learned to always look for the blessing, even when it’s not so evident. When I was looking through the attached photos they told the story, the journey, the commitment of making these songs come to life. The various times that give a glimpse into the moments that were fleeting, never to be seen again in the same way. Then came the “A-ha” moment. Just like the pictures caught in a moment in time, so were the songs. Like getting out of bed at 5:00 a.m. to write the lyrics to “When The Lightning Crashes In” when I would’ve rather stayed in bed. Getting an idea for a guitar riff in the shower and scrambling to find my recorder. If you don’t get the idea then, it won’t come back the same way, if ever again. Hugging my family goodbye on a Sunday afternoon and praying that God would protect my travels, and that I would return to hug them again, all, moments of the journey that are on the “The Road Most Traveled”. This sit down Sunday was encouraging to me and I hope it is to you as well. Wishing, hoping, dreaming are all good things but should not be overshadowed by living each day and moment on the road we’ve been given. It may just be your dream in disguise.

-Rhon

: )

Revolution – The Song

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A/CRock, CD, lyric line, Music, MusicBlog, Revolution, RhonVanErman, Songwriting, Studio

Deep, to the core of your soul kind of passion that fuels the fire of your dreams. An embrace that has not yet been felt.
Finding your soulmate. Not the same experience for everyone, and for some can be a road of highs and lows that almost make you lose hope. But it’s still there. A spinning in your soul that looks for that momentous change that is a “Revolution”.
When the music and lyrics to this song came I didn’t have a particular person in mind but I felt it had to be written because someone, even just one person, needed to hear it and know there is hope. This song was written with a tuning on the guitar that matched the intensity of the music which helped the lyric come alive.
Verse 1 –
She had the hope inside, since she was a child
What was in her heart was always sacred
She gave it all away, just to be betrayed
With empty promises that always faded…
Can, she, hold on ’till

Hook –
She will find out, that what lies in her heart is not illusion
She will find out, that what burns deep inside, is a Revolution

The connection of Spirit and body is where all this connects. The journey to find your other half is often not what you would expect. And a lot of the time it ends up being better and different than you could’ve imagined. It’s the time searching that is very difficult. But the searching gets you ready for when it does happen. If this song is for you, enjoy each step and breathe deep, because you only get one at a time.

Blessings,
Rhon

In The Shower! Really?

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Songwriting, windshield time

Gung, gung, gung..wah (Musical speak for non musician readers)….Great, here I stand washing off the day before and begin the baptism into the new day and it hits me. Inspiration! A riff, then a killer drum beat, but oh no..I’m in the shower : / Umm, Houston I think we have a problem. No recorder in sight, shampoo still in my hair and this riff is kickin’ my, well you know what. Ok, my nice relaxing shower has turned into a express panic driven “get to your guitar quick” rinse off.
As I said before there is no routine, no formula, and you never know when it’s going to hit. Songwriting is about the craziest adventure I’ve been on, but the most exhilarating. I also love long drives in the car out from the city. “Windshield Time” is what I call it. But I make sure I have a recorder with me at all times because the little “outerspace carnival ride” is coming and I’ve got to be prepared.
Being the “Glass Half Full” kind of guy I am, this inspiration could’ve been at a more uncomfortable time so I will count this one as “To The Good”. Hey, I’m clean and have a new song. This is going to turn out to be a good day after all. I will be posting the fruits of my shower experience, umm…music only, in an upcoming blog so until then, happy showering!

Rhon