Posts filed under 'Creation of an Album'
FLAWED – We are pleased to let you know that we have finally finished our brand new CD! There are 11 songs, and I really feel that this CD is a major step forward in our writing, arranging, and overall sound. Here’s a rundown of the 11 songs:
War Fatigue – (WARNING: Political commentary forthcoming!) There is a phenomenon taking place in American culture, and quite frankly it’s been around for decades, but we’re seeing it more pronounced today because of the sustained war on terror. Americans, unlike terrorists, don’t like war; we don’t like to see bombings on our TV’s; we don’t like to hear about terrorist plots on our Radio programs; we don’t like to hear about the casualties. We are a peace-loving people and quite frankly, these days, many tire quickly if enemies of freedom are not stopped in the first hundred days . If we lose the War on Terror, it won’t be because our Armed Forces are not strong or dedicated enough, it will be because people back here in America are tired of having their lives interrupted by things as mundane and draining as say…the security of our Country. In other words, they’re suffering from “War Fatigue.” Now, I really didn’t mean to get all political (ok, actually, I did a little), but this is not a political song. I simply took the term “War Fatigue” and applied it to spiritual warfare. There are many believers who have been persecuted by the enemy and exhausted by living in a world that is not their home. I feel that from time to time too, and this song is just my prayer that God would give me the strength to fight this spiritual battle ‘till the end and that I would not “cut and run”. (Ok, I just couldn’t resist)
My Burden – This song is about that burden that we carry around with us and refuse to lay at the foot of the cross. It’s the one we keep worrying about, but continue to try to “work out” on our own. Jesus want us to “Cast all our cares on Him” because He knows just what to do with our burdens. We’ll never have true peace until we do!
One Of Those Days – Have you ever had one of those days when everything goes right for you? Everything gets done in half the time you planned, everything you have been worrying about amazingly works itself out, and you even understand why God is doing what He’s doing? Well, this song is NOT about one of those days! However, this song does point out that even in our worst days, God’s grace is sufficient.
Save Me From Myself – This is one of those story songs that tells of two people (one from outside the church and one who attends all the time) who both need Jesus in their life. The first is seeking God in desperation, the second knows all the right things to say, but Christ has never changed his life. This song is a testimony song of how God changes lives.
Create In Me A Clean Heart – This is a song about forgiveness that comes from David’s prayer in Psalms. There are times in all of our lives when we need to pray the words of this song. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
An Inconvenient Truth – Despite the title, this song is not about Global Warming. It’s about the philosophy of this world that there is no God, no absolutes, no truth, and no standard. This one picks up where “God is Still God” from the “Soldiers” CD left off.
At World’s End – The most simple song on the CD, but probably my favorite. This one basically says that I don’t know what this life will bring, but when it’s all over, I know what is awaiting me at the world’s end.
I’ve Got No Problem With That – One the scale of 1-10 on how odd our family must appear to the world, we are pretty high. We homeschool our kids, our teens don’t date, we believe in absolute truth and strive to follow a God that the world says doesn’t exist. Some may call us crazy or even fanatics, but we wear it as a badge of honor…we’ve got no problem with that!
Jesus Is Enough – This one is a new praise chorus that God has recently been using in our invitation time in a miraculous way. It wasn’t originally written to be an invitation song, but God had other plans!
Weak – the theme of this whole CD is “The Inability of Man and the Ability of God” and no song better reflects this concept than this song that says “When I am weak, You are strong”.
Pray – This is the “Song that almost didn’t make it on the CD”. We had to wait for this track to be done at the last minute, but I’m glad we waited. This song tells about the times when we are not in control of the circumstances in our lives and we feel there’s nothing we can do. It reminds us that we can always pray and God will always answer.
If you would like to hear a few of these songs, go to our myspace page at www.myspace.com/theitzelfamily
If you would like to order one of these CD’s, send a check for $12 to Bill Itzel 4215 Salem Bottom Rd. Westminster, MD 21157.
October 19th, 2007
SOLDIERS: The new tour has begun and the pre-release CD’s are now available. There are 12 new cuts on this CD (1 is a special “hidden” song), and they are getting an incredible response in concert.
The songs are: This Is Your Life, God Is Still God, Plastic People, Soldier, Stand Up, End Of Your Hope, I’ll Take Time For You, Follow Me, Live By The Sword, Barbarians At The Gate, Forgotten, Someone Who Watches Me.
* Note: The SOLDIERS TOUR is already booked up for 2006 and is quickly booking up for 2007. If you would like for your church to be one of our stops next year, email or call me (410-925-0687) right away!
September 24th, 2006
All of the vocals have been recorded and the mixing and mastering process is almost complete. When this is done, we’ll send the master off to Nashville to get CD’s pressed and will press a few pre-releases for sale immediately. I’ll send out a newsletter to let you know when they are available, but for now, I’ve got to go for a walk with my ipod and give one final listen to the album!
September 6th, 2006
We have decided to record a new version of the old classic hymn, “Stand Up For Jesus“. The song has no chorus, so I wrote one. We wanted to record this song again (it was originally recorded on the “Seasons” CD), and this seemed like the perfect time since theme-wise it fits so well with “Soldiers”.
So, the final 12 cuts are:
This Is Your Life
God Is Still God
Plastic People
End Of Your Hope
Barbarians At The Gate
Live By The Sword
Soldiers
Stand Up
Follow Me
I’ll Take Time For You
Forgotten
Someone Who Watches Me
RECORDING HAS BEGUN!
This past Wednesday, we received the finished tracks in the mail and after a few guitar and piano overdubs by yours truly, we started on vocals. At this time (Sunday Morning, 8/27), we have completed all of the vocals but “Sword” which we’ll do on Monday. Then, after listening to the CD about 50 times over the week, we’ll fix any lines that aren’t quite there yet, and mix next week. That means, pre-release copies should be available by the weekend of September 10th! The finished product will be available by October! I am always excited about our new projects, but this one really is something special.
August 27th, 2006
On each of the last several CD’s, Karen has written a beautiful ballad that has been a real encouragement to many who are going through trials, songs like Intercede, When The Darkness Comes, When He Speaks, Impressions Of God, and most recently, Even When The Answer’s No. In fact, an Itzel album wouldn’t be complete without one of these songs, and Karen hasn’t disappointed. She has written a great new song called End Of Your Hope. It is a moving song about how God is always there, even in the darkest moments of our lives.
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After attending a recent Casting Crowns concert in Baltimore, I heard them perform a song that used the phrase “Plastic People” in the lyrics. I got to thinking about the song I wrote that Simply Faith recorded in 1998 that featured my brother, Adam called Plastic People. We don’t stage it anymore, but I felt it was a really good song with a great message. We totally rearranged it to fit Karen’s voice and a more pop-rock style.
NEXT POST: The final cut! - A Rockin’ Remake
August 8th, 2006
11 Tracks for our new CD Soldiers were recorded in North Carolina on July 12th. We are waiting for the mix in early August and then we’ll start on vocals. We hope to have the whole CD completed my early Fall!
July 19th, 2006
During the 90’s Jessica and Ryan occasionally sang a song in our concerts, but nothing was ever recorded and it was not a regular part of our setlist. However, things changed in 1999 with the release of the 2 Natures CD and a song called “A Little Bit of Sin”. Since that time, the kids have been a regular part of our concerts with songs like “God Gave Me You”, “King of Glory”, “Count Your Blessings”, “Thankful”, and more recently “A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot”, “Sharing is Caring”, and “Little Things”. Shannon Bailey has even gotten involved and sang the la la’s on “Daddy’s Song” and “God Bless America”. On our last project, “Guns Blazin”, we didn’t record any new kids songs since the album before that was a full family project, but we felt it’s time to give the kids something new to sing this time around.
I have always been a firm believer that if the kids are going to be a part of the program, I didn’t want to use them like a gimmick. Too many times I’ve seen even “Big-time” artists get up and bring their kids up on stage for a “cheap pop”…who doesn’t like it when cute kids do cute things? The problem is that it adds very little substance to the program. I wanted everything that the kids sing to be good on its own merit if at all possible. I wanted the kids songs to stack up quality and ministry wise to all of our other songs. I believe that Jessica and Ryan have really met that challenge. “Sharing” is one of the most ministering songs we do, “A Little Bit of Sin” and “Thankful” are a couple of the most popular songs we have ever recorded. Even “Daddy’s Song” is more than just a cute little song to sing with the baby; the message is one that has encouraged many in our audiences to turn their hearts toward home. Now, I will admit that Shannon’s “God Bless America” is more of just a cute little rendition, but a. I consider her in training and b. It’s a pretty awesome rendition for a 3 year old! It also acts as a good theme transition in our program.
All of that brings me to the next 3 songs on the new CD. Last time Ryan did the slow song and Jessica sang the fun up-tempo song. I wanted to switch it around this time. From the beginning of our writing process for this CD, I had the idea of a Karen-Jessica duet that spoke of the relationship between a mother and a daughter. Karen and Jessica really do have a unique relationship. I have seen so many girls at Jessica’s age who have built a huge wall up between them and their mother. With Jess, this isn’t the case at all. They are as close as any mother and daughter I have ever witnessed and we are so blessed to have that. I thought this would be a great example to show and lesson to teach in a song, so we sat down, the three of us and together wrote “Follow Me“. I think this is going to be a really wonderful part of our ministry for the next several years and a real centerpiece of our family section.
With Ryan, I was thinking of a song that we could do as a duet together, perhaps as a “Father instructing his son in fighting spiritual warfare” kind of song. I wanted one that rocks out pretty good, but one that Ryan could handle vocally…he’s still only 11. For years Ryan has always said that “Live by the Sword” is his favorite song, so rather than write a new one, when I mentioned the idea of giving “Sword” a new 21st century twist to Ryan, he jumped at the idea.
For Shannon Bailey, we feel that she is ready to finally sing a song with a soundtrack. Karen wrote an adorable lullaby-type song that will be great for her. It’s called “Someone Who Watches Me“.
NEXT POST: 2 final songs for Karen!
June 28th, 2006
On March 17th, while walking around the Walmart parking lot waiting for the mechanics to change my oil in the old Envoy, the idea for a song just struck me (and fortunately, I had just bought some pens and pads of paper in said Walmart). Many of us as Christians turn into Chicken Little when something bad happens on a national scale. Oh no, CNN is putting a liberal slant on the news…again, oh no, some Senator in Congress is proposing legislature that may restrict my rights, oh no, Bush’s approval ratings are at an all-time low, oh no, Hillary Clinton my run for President…and win, oh no, THE SKY IS FALLING!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!! Panic sets in and reasoned thought flies out the window.
Sure I don’t like it when bad things happen, but God Is Still God and God’s still in control! It’s a simple message for a song, but sometimes we need to be reminded of that simple message. Regardless who is in power and what their goals are; regardless of how we as Christians are represented in the media; regardless of what the DaVinci Code says about our Savior…God Is Still God!
For several years I had been tossing around the idea of writing a patriotic song. I love America, I love those who fight and die each day for the freedoms we share and for the safety of our families. With all the Anti-American, Anti-Soldier sentiment going around today, I decided, when I got home fro Wal-mart, that it was time to finish up the idea I had jotted down on a business card. This idea became the title song of our new CD - Soldiers. It is a big inspirational patriotic “thank you” to those who sacrifice for our country with a suprise twist at the end. For those of you who remember “The Couriers”, know the song “The Statue Of Liberty”. This is a similar 2006 version of that theme.
NEXT POST: The Kids Are Back!!
June 9th, 2006
We just received word from our track producer in Tennessee, Roger Talley, that they will be recording tracks for our brand new CD on July 12th!
May 8th, 2006
On March 16th, after finishing the first 2 songs for the new CD, Karen and I went to our weekly Bible Study where a missionary couple from “Endure” working with muslim converts shared with us about their ministry. Their testimony was powerful, particularly the story they told of an Algerian man who smuggled himself out of his country under a truck to find out about this “Jesus” he had heard on the radio. After finally making it to Jordan, someone shared the gospel with him and he accepted Christ as his Savior. Now he is regaining his strength after this long trip that almost killed him, and he wants to smuggle himself back into his country so he can share the gospel with his family. The hard part is, his family will most likely kill him because that is what they do to people who leave the muslim religion.
His incredible dedication stirred and convicted both Karen and me so much that we went home and both wrote songs about that experience. Karen wrote a beautiful ballad with a haunting melody about that man’s dedication and how we, in this country, sometimes forget how blessed we really are. It is called “Forgotten” and is definitely one of the most thought-provoking songs we have ever recorded.
I wrote a song entitled “Barbarians at the Gate”, dedicated to those believers who live in parts of the world where becoming a Christian is a death-sentence. Their culture is one that we, living in this land of freedom, just don’t fully understand. We saw a glimpse of it on September 11th, 2001. We saw it when we were shocked at the beheadings of innocent civilians. However, the last line of the song says that we’re, “Holding out hope that God can save…Barbarians at the Gate”.
NEXT POST: 2 more songs added to the line-up!
May 2nd, 2006
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