Stanton Lanier / Sky Whisper Sound, LLC

Scripture inspired piano to refresh your spirit

How the Song Bread of Angels Happened

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The heart of this longer than average post is “Where do you most need provision in your life today?” Whether you are musical, creative, or moved by this question, I hope this inspires your life and spiritual journey… Below are brief highlights from the six months (December 2010 through May 2011) it took Bread of Angels to go from an idea to a recorded song. It became a favorite from the album A Thousand Years, is heard on Sirius-XM Spa, Music Choice Soundscapes, and is a Top 3 iTunes song download from all my albums. It’s a story of amazing provision…

Bread of Angels is on the album A Thousand Years

December, 2010 – At home in Atlanta. A new melody begins with inspiration from Psalm 78. It’s sounding like a good one. No title as of yet. January 6, 2011 – At home in Atlanta. I have been meditating on the psalmist’s words “…he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.” (Psalm 78:24-25). This reminds me to look back on 2010 with remembrance and gratitude…for provision, blessings, memories and even the struggles. In the first week of 2011 I have been coming to terms with surrendering the New Year. For me, this means deeper trust, child-like anticipation, sometimes running, sometimes walking, sometimes waiting, and replacing self-sufficiency with dependence on God. February-March, 2011 – Atlanta. Lots of piano practice, new composing, and making changes to compositions that I expect to be on the new album A Thousand Years. There is a sense that Bread of Angels will be something very special with Noah Wilding’s vocals. March 18, 2011 – Atlanta. It’s been a busy week with Music to Light the World and family activities. I recorded several demos for the new album A Thousand Years, including new originals Always in Blossom (Psalm 1) and Bread of Angels (Psalm 78:25), as well as original work blended with unique arrangements of Amazing Grace, The Doxology (a piece titled For a Lifetime Blessings Flow), Pachelbel’s Canon in D, and Bach’s Air on G String. Some Oswald Chambers thoughts that really spoke to me this week are, “Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. I must maintain an adventurous attitude toward God, despite any potential personal risk. The secret of walking by faith is showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead.” April 12, 2011 – Imaginary Road Studio Day 2. Started through the Psalms this morning before my first day in the studio. Finished recording three songs today: 1) Always in Blossom (Psalm 1 . . . you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month. Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom), 2) Across the Skies, featuring interpretations on Pachelbel’s Canon in D (Psalm 19 . . . God’s glory is on tour in the skies, His Word vaults across the skies), and 3) Bread of Angels (Psalm 78 . . . They ate the bread of the mighty angels; he sent them all the food they could eat). Tired and ready for rest. Grateful for life’s blessings and looking forward to tomorrow. April 14, 2011 – Imaginary Road Studio Day 4. Today stretched me out of my comfort zone, as producer Will Ackerman and engineer Corin Nelsen challenged and guided me. Two pieces I knew I wanted to record both required more composing in a search of music that would be unique. The first was Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor. This piece expresses the shedding of tears during life’s moments of sadness. It is set between original opening and closing phrases inspired by a passage in the book of Job to represent hope. The second was the hymn Amazing Grace, which is interwoven with an original melody called World of Wonders after Psalm 98:1. It took several hours to discover the final outcome. We finished the day recording the angelic vocal colors of Noah Wilding to accompany World of Wonders as well as Bread of Angels. April 15, 2011 – Imaginary Road Studio Day 5. It was a beautiful clear, cool, blue sky day in Vermont. Today was another new experience, stretching my composing to be more improvisational. This happened with two pieces recorded today…the title track A Thousand Years that interweaves original music inspired by Psalm 90:4 with Mozart’s famous Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star melody and the hymn It Is Well With My Soul, and a unique combination of J.S. Bach’s Air on G with the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy. We also listened back and were powerfully moved by the vocals that are being mixed with Amazing Grace / World of Wonders and Bread of Angels. April 20, 2011 – Imaginary Road Studio Day 9. The 9th and final day of this adventure was spent mixing tracks in the studio. The variety, beauty and emotion of this new music is rich and soothing. I am just beginning to be able to listen from a perspective that is outside the studio, where piano, vocals, English horn and guitar were all recorded. Here are the 12 tentative track names…Across the Skies, World Of Wonders, Vive La Joye, A Thousand Years, Hymn To Bach, Bread of Angels, For A Lifetime Blessings Flow, Always in Blossom, Be Still My Soul, Shedding Tears With Chopin, Prelude in C and Alleluias Dancing. Six of the greatest classical composers and seven famous hymns are represented in the arrangements, which interweave original composing throughout. Next week the CD mastering will be completed, then music samples can be put up on the website while CDs are being manufactured for the May 20th official release.

How to Live an Unforgettable Life

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“Who has had the most influence in you life? For me, it was my dad and Frank Stanton Bondurant, my mother’s father. My mom called him “Daddy,” but to his grandsons he was known as “Daddy B.” He was born in 1905 and died in 2002, just shy of his 97th birthday. As I reflect on his influence in my life, I am amazed at how many lasting impressions he made. He was quite a storyteller.

Daddy B was an only child. His parents both died before their 42nd birthday, so he didn’t think he would live past that age. They both played piano, but he was a gifted violinist.  He played high school football when there were no face masks, just a thin leather helmet. He broke both eyebrow bones and both collar bones. He loved to play games and tell jokes. If you said, “Please pass the cereal,” he would throw you the box! He introduced me to fig preserves and Mama B’s blackberry cobbler. He threw baseball with me for hours when I was a little league pitcher, teaching me how to grip the threads to throw a curve ball, drop ball, fast ball and slider. He played his violin with me when I was playing piano in middle and high school.  When I learned to drive he always reminded me that if an animal ever ran in front of me that I should “go through it,” and not swerve to miss it. He had wrecked his car one time avoiding a dog. His advice probably saved my and my family’s life when I hit a deer in June 2002 driving sixty miles per hour.  Incredibly, we were on the way to his funeral when this happened.

“Lord, make us thankful for these and all our blessings. Pardon our sins for Christ’s sake.  Amen.” This was Daddy B’s prayer before every meal whenever we saw him. These are only a few of my memories of this beloved man of character, passion and faith. I loved Daddy B and will never forget him.

I think what made Daddy B’s life unforgettable to me is how he lived life to the fullest, and how he was fully engaged in life’s moments. Who was (or is) a “Daddy B” for you?  For whom can you be a “Daddy B” as you go through life?

Is Your Heart Set Free?

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July 4th, Independence Day, reminds us to give thanks for the freedom we enjoy in the United States. Fireworks shows across the country celebrated this freedom last night. In 2005 I composed Freedom, which is on The Voice CD. Following are the liner notes for this track, which share the inspiration behind the song…

Personal freedom has been a breakthrough experience in my life. For many years I thought I could achieve freedom through success and being in control. Then I discovered that the human spirit finds true freedom through serving others in love. Seeking to grow in a freedom that is centered on others has been an adventure filled with emotion and risk. This song almost became the title track because this truth has been so powerful for me. The notes represent running through life with a heart that is free, pausing to treasure this freedom, and discovering higher levels of giving oneself away. I trust that the music and texts that inspired it will help you experience a freedom that gives you hope . . . makes you come alive . . . sets your heart free . . . “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (Psalm 119:32; Galatians 5:13; John 8:32)

Where does your heart need to be set free in your life today? How can you serve others today to experience freedom?

What I Learned from Coldplay Last Night

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Even though I have played over 500 times for concerts, events and groups of all sizes, I haven’t been to that many concerts in my life. Last night I got to go with a friend to Coldplay in Atlanta. Below is an image of confetti that was blown in huge volume from the stage to the ceiling at the beginning of the second song for the show. Then it floated back down over the crowd in millions of pieces. It was magnificent. Here is what I learned…

Confetti = Beauty, Hope and Wonder

1) Humankind loves to behold beauty (eyes, heart and mind). The stage, the band members, the confetti, the stage lights, the sparkling light wristbands (that everyone in the audience was wearing), displayed rainbows of colors. The moments illustrated C.S. Lewis’ quote that our greatest moments of beauty, adventure and intimacy in this life are glimpses of heaven. Also, that God planted eternity in the human heart: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.”                        – Ecclesiastes 3:11

2) Humankind longs for hope. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “All joy…emphasizes our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings.” Pleasure, comfort, safety, security, good health, provision, enjoyment, seeing the world, loving people. The list could go on and on. If there is a Creator, there must be a Creation. If there is a Storyteller, human life lived to the fullest must be part of a greater story (paraphrased from G.K. Chesterton).

3) Humankind loves moments of wonder / adventure. “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation” – C.S. Lewis. There is this “hard wiring” we are born with. One part says guard your life, another part says go for it, “it” being experiences of wonder and adventure. Life moments that make our heart race in a good way, like being mesmerized by nature, a roller coaster ride, serving others in love.

What beauty are you beholding today? What hope are you longing for? Do you have a memory, or something you are looking forward to that promises wonder and adventure?

Seizing Your Divine Moment

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These are my notes from 2004 that I kept from Seizing Your Divine Moment (retitled Chasing Daylight) by Erwin McManus. They had a powerful impact in my life then, and they still do now. I hope these thoughts and questions inspire your journey today…

When we play it safe, we squeeze God out of the formula.  If we go only where we know and do what we’re certain will succeed, we remove our need for God.  Whenever we take on a God-sized challenge, self-sufficiency is no longer an option.

This is the challenge that is set before us – that we not only take initiative, that we not only move with confidence into the reality of uncertainty, but also that we maximize our sphere of influence as we grow in depth of character.

The Christian cliché “the safest place to be is the center of God’s will” has eliminated the place for risk and insulated us with a comfort-and-security theology. This view runs counter to what is found in the Scriptures. The center of God’s will is not a safe place, but the most dangerous place in the world. God fears nothing and no one.  God moves with intentionality and power. To live outside God’s will puts us in danger, but to live in His will makes us dangerous. When we begin to seize our divine moments, we do not begin to live risk-free, but instead become free to risk.

You have already been authorized to move forward, so advance (Phil. 3:12-14).  Impact your world by fighting the battles that are on God’s heart.  Move with an urgency that creates a movement. Engage in an adventure so compelling that it causes the awakening of the dead in spirit. In this moment, each of us will have to choose. Will you seize your divine moment or let it slip away? Will you choose to go to the left, or will you go to the right?

What Will I Choose?

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A few thoughts about the choices we make each day, from Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. These words crossed my path in the early 2000s when I was a financial planner, and my heart was being stirred to compose new music. They are just as special and profound in my life today…

In my moment of truth what will I choose?  Will I choose the wilderness or the adventure?  Have I confused the blessing of God with wealth, comfort, and security?  Have I considered that His greatest blessing comes when He calls us to be pioneers, explorers, and even conquerors?  Will I dare to live a life of adventure?  When I do, I will live in the epicenter of God’s activity.

Adventures Unlimited – Part 1

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My first real job in high school was at a canoe rental called Adventures Unlimited.  It was the summer of 1981 after my junior year.  Somehow I didn’t end up bagging groceries, waiting tables, or flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant.  I had my new driver’s license and I was going to drive old trucks and vans full of people going canoeing or tubing on the Coldwater River near Milton, Florida.

Canoeing down the Coldwater River with my son’s Boy Scout troop brought back wonderful summer job memories.

One of the first things I learned was that there are a lot of vehicles in the world that do not have an automatic transmission.  My boss was assigning vehicles for one Saturday and asked, “Who wants to drive the bread truck?”  Picture a UPS truck, make it about forty years old, retrieve it out of a river with a crane, beat dents into it with a baseball bat, spray paint it sky blue, and feel the tremor of an old engine with a three foot long stick shift and you will have some idea of the bread truck.  As you may have guessed, I volunteered to drive it for that day.  So, I went over, put the keys in and cranked it up.  It started rocking like a giant amusement park ride.  I didn’t know I was supposed to hold down that third pedal (the clutch) with my left foot and at the same time turn the key and give it gas with my right foot.  You should have seen the guys laughing.  I thought I was going to show them I could do anything.  I ended up discovering I had a lot to learn.

After driving every van and truck that summer, including the bread truck, the next summer I graduated to the old school buses.  Driving a 1960 five-speed school bus is good training for life.  Especially when it has forty people on it with paddles, life jackets, coolers, beer, cigarettes, and occasionally some kind of cigarette that didn’t smell like a regular cigarette.  I was growing in responsibility, confidence, and the realization that the world is made up of all kinds of people, including some that really like to party. To be continued…

What was your favorite summer job growing up? Did you have an embarrassing moment? Did these experiences influence your spiritual journey?

Solitude Refreshes

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You will often see themes of simplicity, silence, solitude and surrender interwoven in my music and life stories. Solitude makes me think of the saying about how the quality of our private life produces the quality of our public life. Solitude refreshes, renews and revives. A few memories of solitude and current practices of solitude for me are:

  • Sitting all alone at the top of my favorite tree when I was ten years old
  • Going on a childhood bicycle ride to a friend’s house
  • Working at a canoe rental and being outdoors in the river all alone
  • Driving or camping all alone in open spaces, like northern Minnesota in grad school
  • Going for a run and listening to peaceful music
  • Waking up early for quiet time while most of the world is still sleeping

What are your favorite memories of solitude? What are your favorite practices of solitude?