sure that those signals get communicated to everyone , and we know that when a guest gets up there to be looking out for different signals . But we are friends with each one of those guests , and we love them . It felt really natural and easy to play with them .
[ WM ] Did the nights go as planned ? Did you have to call some “ audibles ” during those nights ?
[ Jonathan ] The nights went fairly smoothly ! There was one moment that no one would notice , except if you could hear me in our monitors . Throughout the night we had times built into the run of show as “ transition ” moments that would give our video crew time to swap to fresh memory cards . About every 3 or 4 songs . I remember we were flowing unplanned after a song , and it was getting a bit into crunch time of whether or not we would need to swap out cards .
Paul was leading a really beautiful tender moment , and it felt like the moment would continue for a bit . So our video director made the call to go ahead and have his ops swap out cards . He told me in my monitors it would take 5 minutes . About 30 seconds later , the moment ended and I had to tell Paul after he really beautifully landed this moment that we actually need about 3 minutes while video swaps cards .
So he handled it amazingly and told everyone that we had to wait a few minutes . Right when he said that , our video director told me we were ready to go . I remember saying in my talkback mic , “ Paul , I ’ m so sorry . But we ’ re actually ready to go now ” with a little laugh . So , Paul on the mic said never mind , we ’ re ready to go . It was very clunky and hilarious , and Paul was the best sport about it . But chaos in my monitors !
[ WM ] You also played lead guitar those nights . Were you playing your usual Veritas , Gretsch and Fender electrics ?
[ Jonathan ] I played a big combination of guitars . Consisted of my Puleo Guitars HSS Strat , Gibson R7 Les Paul , Gibson 335 , Danelectro Baritone , and my Martin BL 000-28 ! And for this record ’ s amps I played a Matchless DC-30 and Benson Chimera . Did a lot of switching around . But each guitar serves just a bit of a different purpose for the songs .
[ WM ] I ’ m sure you had other guitarists , too . Can you run down the house band for the project ? Who played guitar , bass , drums etc .?
[ Jonathan ] First off , the band for these nights are really incredible . They carry these songs and moments in really skillful ways and have each served the Lord and church for so many years . I ’ m really lucky to be able to play with them . They are all insane . We had quite a team contribute to these songs ! We had David Whitworth on drums , Adam Kiser on Bass , Nick Stailey on synths and pads , David Funk on piano , some acoustics , and BGVS , Allison and Antonio Marin on strings , Kenyon Reed and I on electrics , and a choir ! We also had E Edwards and Scottie Mills on some guitars .
[ WM ] We are focusing on “ The Church ” song in this issue . Tell us what you think about this new song and the ministry behind it ?
[ Jonathan ] I love this song . First off , I love the message of the song , and the fact that the writing credits reflect the message of the song . It wasn ’ t written by just our writers at Bethel Music . It involved people from different churches and movements . And it is something that Jenn has a heart for . She sings this song so powerfully because she loves the “ global church ” and she lives out this message . The message is all about unity in the church , and I think it ’ s important to remember that in today ’ s times !
[ WM ] Jonathan , thank you again for your time and giving of yourself to our readers of Worship Musician …
[ Jonathan ] Thanks for having me ! The record is a good one !
20 January 2025 Subscribe for Free ...