12:43 Wednesday, October 22, 2008 |
Good things happening! |
Hey y'all! Time to update ye on the good things that have been happening recently. I'm just back from a week's holiday in Tenerife and ready to get some work done now! My wife, Gerry, and I both really needed that holiday!
So, now I'm back and an old song, 'Ballad of Beijing (radio mix)', from my first album, went into The Australian Indie Radio Charts - Country Chart at No.6 last week - great!
Then, last Monday (Oct 20th) I was given an Honorable Mention in an international song contest on the ISSA Awards website, (Independent singer-Songwriter Association), for my song, (off the new EP, 'Different'), 'Want to be different'. First time i've ever received any acknowledgement, (apart from song critique), in any song competition!  There are some still pending - so let's hope somethjinmg even better comes along, eh?
Next, I have another song listed as 'On File' for Steel Tree Films, Hillers, the Series. This means that up until the production finishes, there is a possibility of that song being used in the TV series!
Another good thing is that one of our new podcasts, Celtic Roots Radio, has really taken off in USA, Canada, Australia and UK - with subscribers in France, Spain, Ireland and Finland, also. 255 subscribers, (20+ subscribers/day!), and most have already downloaded both 30-min episodes currently available on iTunes, PodOmatic.com, etc. A new 30-min program of Celtic/Roots 'music 'n' craic' will be uploaded very soon.
My own songs are also now podcast (24kb/s) on iTunes and PodOmatic.com Website URL is now: raymondmccullough.com
Another podcast that might be of interest is my wife Gerry's new Irish story podcast, at gerrymccullough.com. with her award-winning story, 'Primroses', read by actress, Kate O'Toole, (daughter of Sir Peter O'Toole); and the first of a series of 20 'Old Seamus' stories, set in Donegal - read by Gerry herself. This podcast is also available at PodOmatic.com and iTunes.
We have just purchased a new HDV (TV quality) camcorder, so will soon begin editing the 15 hours of footage for our TV documentary, 'Broken Treaties'. Updates on this documentary will be available on a Broken Treaties podcast - so subscribe now (at iTunes or PodOmatic.com)!
In fact, just type 'raymond mccullough' into the Search box on iTunes Music Store to find all of our podcasts!
More updates soon.
Slan agus beanneacht Dia!
(Bye and God bless!)
{:-{>
Raymond
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Mood: Inspired
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06:11 Monday, August 18, 2008 |
New Celebrate Radio schedule launched! |
Wow! Just realised how lonnnnnngggg it's been since I updated this blog - mainly because so much has been happening.
Property
A year ago the Lord provided amazingly for us to buy a new property in Co. Down, here in Northern Ireland. We agreed it with the owner the day before my two daughters and I flew out to Canada to film a documentary with Native American friends in Manitoba. ( we've just got the Mac & Final Cut Edit Suite, so we'll be working on finishing that documentary over the next couple of months!)
The new property is a stone building in the countryside, which needs planning permission to convert to a dwelling - so it will be a year or so before we can begin the building work! (Please pray that we get the PP!)
Filming/Editing
We spent 2 weeks last year in Manitoba - every minute was hard work! - filming and interviewing. But, until now we haven't been in a position to edit all the footage we filmed - about 14 hours of it! Just recently, the Lord again made it possible for us to purchase a new MacBook Pro and software ($6,400!) and it was delivered 2 weeks ago by my friend and colleague, Joel, from Winnipeg. We spent two days together in Donegal & Dublin before his flight back home - and the rain stopped for two days!
 New Radio schedule!
Over the last few months, my partner Don Fass, (in San Francisco), and I have been working hard getting a new schedule ready for our 24/7 Celebrate Radio station.
Previously we've had great music from independent artists, (rock, pop, folk, CCM, Praise & Worship, Jewish Contemporary, etc.), with 1 or 3-min devotionals from people like Max Lucado & Anne Graham Lotz, plus our 'Albums of the Month' and Don's 'Reaching Up' and 'What's Up with God?' shows. Now we've added a whole new programme of shows from Friday through Sunday.
On Friday evening/Saturday morning we now have 'Shabbat Shalom' - two hours of Contemporary Jewish music, plus a talk from Sinai Temple, LA, Rabbi David Wolpe. Saturdays we have a 2-hour 'Celebrate Kids' programme, with kids music, 'Radijo Jo' from Germany, plus 'Reaching Up! radio'. Later on Satyrday we have California musician, Bryan Duncan's show, 'Radio Rehab - Road to Redemption', featuring contemporary music and comment from Bryan.
'Worship Sunday' is now our main attraction - a 9-hour programme of Praise & Worship/CCM music, with:
Fr. Stan Fortuna's, 'Digital Audio Deli', from NYC
Dr Jim Meyer, from Bay Farm Community Church, Alameda, Ca.
Catholic Music Express, with Jim O'Meara, Pa.
Carl Anderson's, 'Born to Blaze', from Buffalo, Minnesota
'New Christian Music' show, from United Kingdom
Todd Spitzer @ Regeneration, Oakland, Ca.
'Fresh Bread', (teaching), plus 'In tha Name a' Gawd!' , (music, news & interviews) -
(from Raymond McCullough, in Northern Ireland)
plus 30-min specials form various speakers.
We now have 'Rock 'n' Hits' music sections and also - in addition to our regular UNI NEWS from Washington - have another news & commentary programme, 'Democracy Now!, with Amy Goodman - on Tuesday/Wednesday.
It's been a busy year, or so!
Beanneacht Dia!
(God bless!)
{:-{>
Raymond
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Mood: excited
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12:11 Wednesday, November 29, 2006 |
Music and healing! |
Wow! A whole month has gone by since I last added to this blog! And it's been a busy one! I've been working on recording some new songs - for a new EP called, 'Different'. Three of the songs are pretty much finished and you can hear two of them on my Xianz player. I'm re-mixing an old song, 'Ar tir seo aguinne (Our Land)', from my first album, 'The great China Bike Ride', and I'm also recording another new song, which has a Native American flavour, with some funky blues on the verses. 'The Rez in Israel' tells the story of our trip to Israel last Jan/Feb (2006), with Inuit, Woodland Cree, Ojibwe, some white Canadians and an American, two Fijians and myself. It was an amazing trip!
I've also been involved quite a lot with Celebrate Radio - a Christian/Jewish faith-based radio station which broadcasts 24/7 worldwide on the internet and 12/7 (9 pm - 9 am, CET) on satellite across Europe, Russia, Middle East and North Africa. I have been editing new station IDs and intros, putting up podcasts, ('Reaching Up', 'What's Up With God?' and 'Celebrate Radio'), as well as adding to my own, 'Fresh Bread', talk series. Check these out on iTunes, Podomatic, etc.
But even more amazing things have been happening over the last few weeks. My friend, Stephen, was involved in a hit and run accident with a lorry while out on his motorbike. He sustained several fractures and was still having agonising muscle spasms in his leg several days later. His kneecap was shattered and he had 4 fractures in his right arm, a fractured hip, two broken ribs and two hairline skull fractures!
They let him out of hospital five days later, unable to bend his knee. Two days after I picked him up to join another friend for lunch and a chat. We began to pray together and, after praying for my other friend, we both began to pray for Stephen. His leg began to bend as we were praying and within a few minutes he was able to walk normally, stand on the 'injured' leg and even hop on it!
On Friday evening (3 days later) we meet as a house fellowship and we again prayed for Stephen. This time his arm started to burn from within as we prayed, and he was able to take off the sling from then on. On Wed past he had to return to hospital and the doctors were baffled - making him go to X-ray twice, because they thought the X-rays were wrong! His knee shows no evidence of ever having been broken and the three main fractures in his arm are also completely healed, showing no scarring. The fourth fracture (just a chip, really) is still there and matches perfectly with the previous X-rays, proving to the doctors that this was the same arm that had 4 fractures before!
Praise the Lord for His amazing healing power! |
Mood: sleepy
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12:38 Monday, October 23, 2006 |
Getting into radio production and more contact with Judaism! |
Hi there again,
I will try to keep this blog up to date where possible - but don't go holding your breath, or anything! I have been kinda busy recently. I have been praying about this whole area of radio, (which I had been neglecting recently), and suddenly I get two emails in one day - one asking for me to contribute talks to a regular FM station here; the other from US, which has led to my getting more involved with satellite and internet Christian radio, (go listen to www.celebrateradio.com)
So, now I am very busy producing and recording a series of talks for several different stations - both on FM and satellite/internet. The first 3 of this 13-part series, 'Fresh Bread: Your kingdom come', are now available from iTunes, Blubrry, etc., (see our 'Podcast' page on the KCT site - kingdomcome.org.uk/podcasts). They are also up on a commercial Public Radio eXchange site, so we hope to get even more stations showing an interest soon.
Talking of which, I just got an email from ILR, an Australian Radio distribution company, saying they had a request from another radio station for my 'Into Jerusalem' CD - in Argentina! At the same time I got 5 more plays this week on ILR stations, (143 in 16 countries), than usual. Recently, my new song, 'Hey, hey!', has been featured every week on ILR's 'World Indie Top 40 Countdown', (see the NEWS page on my 'Band Website') It's great to feel wanted!
As well as all this radio stuff, I have been praying for some time about some way of having more contact with the Jewish community - especially in the USA. I felt I should go to the local synagogue on Saturday just over a week ago and met a Messianic believer, with whom I have had a lot of contact since. Also, one of the aforementioned radio contacts turns out to be completely Jewish also! Last Sunday I came home and checked my email - to find a work request from a company in Israel, plus an invite from a friend, whom I met again last Saturday, to a dinner at the synagogue later this month. Something is going on here!
It is great to feel that the Lord is in control of your life and that things are happening that He is leading you into. Long may that continue! Beanneacht Dia! (G-d bless!) |
Mood: Inspired
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12:16 Saturday, October 7, 2006 |
Musical, cultural and spiritual background |
Been meaning to get around to this blog thing for a while and, now that I've added some content to this page, maybe it's time to start. I've been involved in music in various ways since I was in my teens - and now I have four grandchildren!
I graduated from heavy rock, (a la Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc.); to melodic rock, (The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, Eagles); to folk/rock, (Horslips, Planxty, Moving Hearts), and more mellow stuff, like Clannad, Christy Moore and Bruce Springsteen. Yes, my influences are many and varied! I like bluegrass, but draw the line just beyond Johnny Cash - no country whining! No discordant jazz, either - but apart from those, I like a wide range of music.
Oh yes, and I don't like bland, mid-Atlantic 'praise & worship', either! As it says on my recent album sleeve, when the nations come up each year to Jerusalem, (in the millenium), I think they will each bring their own culture, dance and music to use in worship of their creator. I believe in indigenous culture and music - and as I come from Ireland, I try my to do my bit for Celtic culture. There are a lot of us (Celts) out there - about 15M in the UK and Ireland, 50M more in the USA, and then Canada, Brittany, Galicia, (Spain), Australia & New Zealand, etc. To say nothing of the following for Celtic music in places like Russia, Israel, China, Middle East, etc. Amen!
So what about the 'spiritual' side of things, (as if music isn't spiritual!)? I was aware of God, and my need of Him, from about eight years old, but I didn't discover exactly how to make the connection, (totally by faith!), until I was thirteen. I made a deeper commitment at the age of nineteen - after coming close to a nervous breakdown! Since then I can honestly say, I have never looked back.
That doesn't mean that there haven't been a lot of hard times, but each time there has been difficulty, the Lord has used it to continue forming something inside of me, which has become like a diamond, because of being formed under pressure. So never resist the hard times in your life. Nothing everlasting can be created in you without some difficulties coming your way.
Well, it's getting late and I need my 'beauty sleep'. Ha, ha! so, I guess this will have 'to be continued ...'
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Mood: sleepy
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