We loved it . And honestly , I ’ ve never visited another church around here . I don ’ t even know what churches are in Nashville still ( laughing ) because I just love what ’ s going on there and I got plugged in and it ’ s been amazing . It was really refreshing the first year too I didn ’ t tell anyone that I really played the guitar or anything . I wasn ’ t in a hurry to hop in and start serving on the team because I had done that my whole life at churches . I think when I first started serving on the security team ( laughing ) and then I switched over to the guy that set up the projection screens for lyrics . Next , I was a stage manager guy and make sure all the cables were run properly . I had no idea what I was doing . They just needed help in that area . I was like , “ I ’ ll figure it out . I can do it ”. I worked on the parking team , the camera team , and then eventually was on the worship team . I was like , “ Okay , this is the only thing I confidently know what I ’ m doing , so I ’ ll stick to this team ” ( laughing ).
[ WM ] Now how often do you serve on the team ? Because you ’ ve got your recording work and you play tours . Is it kind of flexible ? Do they keep track there who ’ s in town and when ?
[ Cory ] They ’ re very flexible . I mean , at this point , the church probably has over a hundred people rostered on the worship team so they ’ ve got a pretty big pool that they can move around . I try and be available as much as I can . I think I serve probably two to three services a month . In the summer I ’ m usually traveling a lot more , so I may only get to do one service a month .
[ WM ] Now do they have a weekly band rehearsal ? Like a Thursday night or something ? How does the rehearsals work there ?
[ Cory ] No , they don ’ t do rehearsals . We show up a little earlier . On Sundays we have a 9:00am service so the call time is pretty early . I think we get there at 6:00am . We get line checks because we have so many different people that serve . Obviously the in-ear packs are always constantly changing . Yes , and various mixes .
We try and get everyone just comfortable , and then we ’ ll do one run through . It ’ s not really a rehearsal . They ’ ve created a culture that you just come prepared , you know , not stumbling through parts . It ’ s not really the place to learn what to do . It ’ s to take what you know and what you ’ ve learned on your own and play it on stage with everybody and make sure it ’ s all sounding comfortable .
[ WM ] Do you have charts on stage ?
[ Cory ] No , there ’ s no song charts or anything .
[ WM ] You just go in all memorized then . Amazing .
[ Cory ] ( laughing ) Yeah . Which I mean , nothing against people that use charts . And I think a lot of it is just the nature of … I ’ d say 90 % of the
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