Hiram’s Christmas Sampler

Hiram’s heading back to the US in a couple days, and has a Christmas Sampler of two of his Christmas Songs (Just a Single Season and O Little Child) that you can now download on NoiseTrade: http://noisetrade.com/hiramring – spread the love with your friends! All you do is put in your email address and you will be sent an email with a link to download the two songs.

New Old Hymns!

A short essay Hiram wrote about writing hymns has just been posted on the New Old Hymns blog/site, an effort by Sandra McCracken and other Nashville-based musicians and theologians. Check it out and give your feedback, let us know what you think, and spend some time on the site checking out the other great resources!

http://www.newoldhymns.com/why_write_hymns/

Pageant Music releases 12 Gates!

We have finally released the album ’12 Gates’, and are giving it away for FREE this Easter season! Yup – that’s no April Fool’s joke either.

You can find it at: http://www.noisetrade.com/pageantmusic – you can donate to help cover our production costs, but all we ask is that you share it with as many people as you think will enjoy it.

Our vision is that these songs would be an encouragement to believers everywhere and express the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a new and different way. Birthed from the artistry and collaborative nature of the believing community in Lancaster, PA, specifically Wheatland Church, we hope that these songs will edify and enrich the worship of churches all over the US and around the world.

The driving force behind this collection and collaboration is Matthew Monticchio and myself, Hiram Ring, but with an incredible amount of interaction from our community both within and without Wheatland Church. Other artists who sing on this album are Joy Ike, Brooke Annibale, Christy Danner, Cliff and Jen Lewis, Dan Kirby, Anna Demme, Keith Winder and Alisha Ring. Matthew Clark created the image for the album cover, and Ned Bustard designed the text. Many more were involved in producing what you hear.

Visit http://pageantmusic.wordpress.com for an outline of the tracks on the album with some additional notes on the performers and musical/textual elements.

Pageant Music

A small label that we partner with often is called ‘Pageant Music’, founded and run mainly by Matthew Monticchio. Matt is the music director at a local church, where he makes good use of his BA in jazz piano performance and MA in classical composition. He teaches locally in Lancaster, PA and plays jazz around town. If you drive around with him you may hear on his car stereo any number of obscure classical composers, jazz, funk, or his other favorites Bjork, Sigur Ros, The Cure, Genesis and others, including much of the new indie music. Suffice it to say that his musical taste is wide and varied.

Our partnership with Matt has been fruitful and engaging. We have learned from him and learned with him in our pursuit of creating excellent music. We first met when Hiram and Matt played a joint CD-release party in March of 2007. That October, Hiram, Matt and David Green formed a partnership to write and record music for a Christmas album. The album, titled “Word >>> Flesh” was completed in 3 weeks (from initial recording to physical CD), received local radio airplay on WJTL/Lancaster, and sold over 600 copies in the first two weeks.

To check out more of Matthew Monticchio’s music or learn more about Pageant Music, check out his website: http://www.matthewmonticchio.com

More Free Christmas Music!

Hiram Ring and Pageant Music are giving away more MP3s this season! Visit his blog for more info.