At some point, churches understood that the ability to write and/or preach a compelling, moving, life-changing, visionary sermon did not equate with the ability to manage a church. So the paradigm of “Teaching Pastor” was born. Those that could preach would preach. Those that would manage would manage – so far so good.
Music (or Worship) Pastors face an equivalent dilemma that hasn’t yet been sorted out. They are often hired on the ability to lead worship and sound great singing a solo. This is a very analogous skill to preaching a great sermon. But does this mean they know how to manage (or produce) a band? Again, maybe, or again, maybe not.
The focus for churches remains on the extroverted worship leader, and resources today are worship-leader-centric. That is all fine and good, but may not actually be a good match. The giant blind spot in this is that the extroverted worship leader also needs to know how to produce a band, or we need to look elsewhere for the introverted producer – that magical person who doesn’t live in the limelight, but who is responsible for everything working and sounding so much better. If that person is one and the same, great. This blog is for you! If you’re not the worship leader though, and have a passion for building your band, this is for you too.
Producing music or a record means pulling together the right people and then getting them to play to their strengths in order to best serve the song. In a live setting it also means connecting with your audience in real time, so a dynamic flexibility and sensitivity to the Spirit is in order.
It begins with fundamentals and it builds. I hope this can be a real resource for you in building your band.