Jeannie
"The Story Behind The CD Amazed"
Mar 24, 2010
The Story Behind the CD by Jeannie Gilliam
I am a Christian and have been since 1978. I love God with all my heart and I love my husband Russ and my 4 children. I got married really young and have been raising a family and trying to be the best wife and mother to my children that I can be. God planted a dream in my heart while I would sing and play my guitar while rocking my babies to sleep. I have had a dream for about 30 years to record a Christian worship CD to glorify GOD. I have been writing songs and singing to the Lord for many years. In June of 2008, I went to Israel on a ministry trip. While I was there God deposited something inside of me and really put it on my heart that it was time to record the CD that I had dreamed about doing.
THIS IS MY STORY
I want to introduce my new CD called, "AMAZED.' The title of this CD tells you how I have been feeling about God and the way this new project came into being. My friend of 20 yrs. or so--Cassie McCarter had been taking a class at her church about prophecy. She was told by her teacher to listen to the voice of God and when He tells you to do something, to be obedient and say what He puts in your heart. Cassie was at work and the Holy Spirit told her to go over to a new employee named Danny and to ask him if he was in a band. The Holy Spirit kept bugging her ALL day about this. She finally went over to Danny, who was a temporary employee at Rock-it Cargo where she works in L.A. and it was his last day. She asked Danny, "Are you in a band." He said, yes, at one time he was in a band but now he was working as an assistant in a recording studio. Cassie mentioned that she had a friend named Jeannie (me) who had been interested in recording a worship CD for many years. She got his phone number and email and then thought the studio might be too far for me to travel. She sent me an email with pictures of the studio. She connected me with Dwayne Russell who Danny works with and the studio ended up being in Anaheim, Calif. very close to where I live. That was just one of the amazing things GOD did for me.....there is more….
Dwayne Russell is a very humble man of God and he helped me tremendously to stay focused, and to work hard. He has a very soft spoken, kind way of pulling excellence out of you to complete each day of the recording we accomplished. I won't miss the words, "Do It Again." It took over a year to complete this album and Dwayne was very helpful to make suggestions and arranged most of the songs and set up other musicians to come in the studio to help make each song sound better. He is very humble and never mentioned that he used to work with very famous musicians and artists until God told him to only work with Christians. I felt very thankful that God connected me with such a talented and creative producer. His website is: www.russellrecording.com
One of the most awesome musicians that came into the studio was a former Beach Boys guitarist named Philip Bardowell. Dwayne mentioned Philip was a friend of his and that he would help me out with guitar recordings for my songs for a few bucks for gas money. I have a few of his CD"s and he leads worship now at his brother's church in Yorba Linda. You can check out his website at: www.philipbardowell.com
He played most of the guitar parts, both acoustic and electric guitar on my songs. I played a few of the songs but since he is such a talented musician, I wanted him to play on most of them. He played the song, "Rain on me Holy Spirit" exactly the way I had imagined it to sound like. He played such amazing (there is that word again) rhythms on the guitar that sounded so professional. He could hear the song once and then record it so he has quite an ear for music and is so gifted. He also sang some background
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Cont. The Story Behind the CD, Amazed
Mar 24, 2010
Then, Dwayne asked some young Celtic musicians from Nashville-the Willis Clan to come and play on the song, "Amazed." They played Irish whistles, button accordion, fiddle, Irish bagpipes (called ullilean pipes) on this song. They made up the intro and the background instrumental parts to the song that made it sound so much better. I was surprised to find out that they have 10 children in their family like I have in mine. They even have 7 girls and 3 boys which is EXACTLY like my family that I grew up in. All of the children in the Willis clann are very talented and either all play musical instruments or dance or do both. Beautiful Irish family!!! Their website is: www.thewillisclan.com
Dwayne has another friend named Mike Stephens who played a 1948 Strata verus mandolin on the song called, "Precious Blood.” He is a very talented musician and has a couple of CD's out. He also plays classical guitar and I have a few of his CD's. I love the classical guitar and also the mandolin.
Another "amazing" thing that happened is that God supernaturally re-connected me with my niece Erin. She moved back home to New Mexico about 10 yrs. ago and my family and I had lost touch with her. My sister in law found her on Facebook and she called me out of the blue and I was so delighted hearing her voice again after almost 15 yrs. She lives right here in Orange County about 10 minutes from the studio. Then, two days after I talked to her, I was at the studio and Dwayne asked if I knew anyone who played the cello. I said that my niece Erin plays the cello. It was so amazing that he never asked me before this time. Erin played her cello and sang background and harmony on the songs, "Rain On Me Holy Spirit," and "This Is My Cry." It was such a huge blessing to me to have her be a part of this with me. It was so much fun to see her and also my other friends, Cindy, Cassie, and Ernie come to the studio and do some background vocals. It was great to watch them in the studio recording on a CD for the first time. It brought so much joy to me.... As a matter of fact, the song "Amazed" was written in the process of this last year that I began recording. It just came out of my heart from all the JOY I was experiencing with all that GOD had done for me personally....
Then, God spoke to me to ask some friends of mine named Stephen and Elizabeth Osi to come and play the drums and sing and do some background music for the songs, "Call To War" and also the song, "Hungry Heart." They are from Nigeria and I was so delighted that they could be a part along with their 4 children. They have 3 boys and 1 girl like my husband and I. They are a real blessing to me and were so happy to be a part to share in my joy...
Lastly, I want to thank you for reading this long blog and to always remember that God's timing is perfect in your life. I had a few doubts that this CD was not going to happen. I NEVER gave up on the dream so if God has put a dream in your heart, don't ever give up, don't ever give up on the fulfillment of that dream no matter how long it takes. God is in complete control and will release the dream at the right time.
God bless you,
Jeannie :)
https://www.jeanniegilliam.com
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https://www.myspace.com/jeanniegilliam
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https://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/jeanniegilliam
https://www.twitter.com/jeanstergband
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