by Cory Woodroof | Dec 3, 2013 | News Slider
By Bridgette Begle and Brianne Welch The ninth annual Lighting of the Green brought rich tradition and holiday spirit to the Nashville community Tuesday night. Show regular Amy Grant was joined tonight by Ben Rector, David Phelps, Brenda Lee, Nicole C. Mullen, Hymns for Hunger & Friends (feat. Cindy Morgan and Andrew Greer) and the Stella family, including Nashville‘s Lennon & Maisy, for a night of music, merriment and plenty of bright Christmas lights. Fourth and fifth grade students from Lipscomb Academy, as well as the high school chorus, joined the University chorus on stage throughout the performance. The younger chorus tipped off the night with a medley of holiday classics, and the University chorus sang “Deck the Halls.” “We came here to hear one of our children sing in the chorus,” parent Heather Duncan said.” Our daughter is in the fifth grade at the campus school, so we’re looking forward to hearing everyone sing tonight.” About halfway through the show, Brenda Lee, singer of holiday classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” came onto the stage and ignited enthusiasm throughout the crowd. She asked for “eight really good singers,” and ended up with about 15 children, ranging from ages five to 20, to join her in the Christmas classic “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Lee shared her delight in being a part of the night’s fun. “You know, when miss Amy Grant asks you to do something, it’s just awful hard to say no,” Lee said. “So I’m awfully proud to do this for Lipscomb. It’s a wonderful event.” Christian artist Nicole C.Mullen insisted the crowd stand during her song “365.” People...
by Aaron Schmelzer | Nov 29, 2013 | Uncategorized
Now in his eighth year at Lipscomb University, Director of Vocal and Choral Activities Dr. Gary Wilson hasn’t always been an educator in the Volunteer State. Originally from Texas, Wilson started his teaching career in Little Rock, Ark., where he stayed for 13 years. He left to pursue teaching at the collegiate level. “[I] thoroughly loved my job there, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with it,” Wilson said. “There’s some music that I knew I was capable of teaching and conducting that my high school students were not capable of learning and performing, and so I really wanted to get to the collegiate level, but I didn’t have a doctoral degree.” He explained that, in the choral profession, there are many people with doctorates, and there is typically only one choral director at a small university. Thus, there is plenty of competition for the title of choral director. To earn his doctoral degree, Wilson traveled to York College in York, Neb., a Church of Christ university. Wilson taught full time and studied there during his tenure. Wilson said that he learned valuable lessons during his time at York. “For one thing, I had to learn how to drive on the snow. I grew up in Texas, [so after] a half inch, we pretty much shut things down,” Wilson said with a laugh. Along with driving in snowy weather, Wilson learned organization and focusing skills. “I probably learned how to be more organized than I have ever in my entire life, and how to be very, very focused on what has be done today, and what can be put off until...
by Kyrsten Turner | Nov 1, 2013 | Sports
This week’s basketball exhibition games filled Allen Arena with the sounds of cheering fans, slick sneakers on the hardwood and plenty of booming buzzers. Through all the noise and confusion that accompanies live sports, the pep band is usually the one providing the structured soundtrack to the evening. “Emphasis on musicality,” said Elliot Bowman, Lipscomb’s pep band director for the year. “Instead of being a really loud band, we want to be able to hear all the parts, all the instruments. Each instrument does have an important role in each song we play and we want that to be showcased.” The conglomeration of trumpets, drums, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trombones, a piccolo and a bass guitar bring together the best of wind and jazz instruments. “We don’t have any tuba players this semester but I’d love to have anybody that wants to play one,” Bowman said. Coming off the Bisons and Lady Bisons exhibition games, the pep band is ready to begin a new season. Bowman said the band isn’t just a way to showcase students’ musical talent, but a way to be more involved in the games and support Lipscomb athletics. “In the past, while [band members have] shown moderate interest, they’ve not been shouting with the cheerleaders and trying to help out like a normal student would,” Bowman said. “We’ll put a little bit of emphasis on that.” Jennifer Green, Bowman’s co-assistant, is looking forward to making the pep band a vital part of the game’s atmosphere. “We used to be a really small group that didn’t have much school spirit,” Green said. “Now, we have grown exponentially and...
by Kage Sanderson | Oct 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
Joe Sanderson is a junior Journalism & New Media major at Lipscomb University and is a part of the Lumination Network. While Sanderson likes all things broadcasting, he equally likes something else. Music. We talked with him about the band he tours with and what life on the road is like. Currently, Sanderson is on the road touring with country artist/writer Lance Carpenter. He has been playing with Carpenter for around six months now. “A majority of the guys in the band, we all came into the group at the same time,” Sanderson said. “We’ve had to swap a few band members around due to scheduling conflicts and such. But the guys that have been there from day one, they are awesome.” Even with a busy work and school schedule, Sanderson says he still practices consistently with the band, and travels on the road with them. “Whenever we pick up a new gig or set of shows, we usually just do it. We could have two to four shows in a week sometimes. We can usually make weekend trips up to 500-800 miles away from Nashville, Friday through Sunday and make it back in time for school on Monday.” Getting a head start on Friday mornings is no joke. “For the typical weekend gig we leave at around five or six in the morning on Friday and move on to our destination,” Sanderson said. “We try to take as few vehicles as we can. I usually ride with the bassist, Justin Trimble. We can fit our drum and bass gear in my vehicle, as well as a keyboard or anything else we need.” There is...
by Bridgette Begle | Oct 15, 2013 | News Slider
By Bridgette Begle and Cory Woodroof Allen Arena traded basketballs for golden trophies Tuesday night as the best and brightest of Christian music gathered to celebrate this year’s Dove Award winners. The 44th annual show made its home at Lipscomb after spending two years at Fox Theater in Atlanta. Industry legends Amy Grant and Kirk Franklin were the evening’s emcees. Gospel Music Association CEO Jackie Patillo thanked Lipscomb for their guidance in hosting the event in its return to Music City, a longtime home of the awards. “We are at the Allen Arena because of the vision of the leadership here,” Patillo said. “President Randy Lowry has opened his doors to us and his heart.” Dr. Lowry told the estimated crowd of 2,800 of the importance of having fellow believers join the campus to celebrate an art that ties directly in with faith. “We have about 200,000 visitors a year on this campus, but there are no visitors that are more important to us than those who share the Christian story with us,” Lowry said. “A lot goes on in higher education, and a lot of it is so far from the story we believe in. “But at Lipscomb University, we are going to be Christian intentionally, we are going to be Christian courageously and we are going to be Christian graciously.” Lowry noted that arena donors Jim and Linda Allen were in attendance of the evening’s events. “They had a vision 15 years ago and dedicated a tremendous proportion of their resources to build this – not knowing you specifically, but having you in mind. Hoping that in this...
