Some of the new pictures will also be added to our Flickr feed, and we are going to bolt in some features to help with social networking, including the ability to re-tweet posts directly from the site.

If you have any suggestions for features you would like to see on the site, just let us know.

Every blessing,
theREIGN

As previously noted, 96 is going to be available from the TKFM Store as a CD and download. However, the download will not contain everything on the album.

As the album includes songs written by others (a total of 8 if you count the bonus MP3s and 9 if you also include the videos), we have had to purchase a licence to release the recording at all, but the terms of that licence require that we only make the copyrighted songs available in physical format. This is because the licence restricts the number of copies we can make available and, obviously, we cannot control the number of downloads.

This means that the album download available from the store only contains the following songs and additional material:

Songs
Charcoal Skies
Song Of Love
Prodigal
Thank You
I Love The Rain
Never Failing Love
Praise His Name
House Of Worship
Where Jesus Touches The Earth

Additional Material
Never Failing Love (video)
Lyric Sheets
Chord Charts
Sheet Music

The price for the album download reflects the reduced level of content but, for the full effect, you really do need to buy the CD.

Just so you know.

Every blessing,
theREIGN

The second half will be an introduction to the “new” lineup of theREIGN, featuring Rob Peirson on lead guitar and Simon Redfern on drums (sadly, you will still have to listen to David droning on from the microphone but you can’t have everything). This half will also feature the world premieres of three brand new songs to kick start the new era in style.

And for our grand finale, the “massed bands” of theREIGN will be taking to the stage all together: two drummers, two pianists, two lead guitarists and so on. It might be brilliant, or it might be chaos … hopefully it will be both!

Whatever it is, though, it will be fun. See you there.

Every blessing,
theREIGN

2. This is more than just our own songs

Over the years we have often been asked whether there were recordings of more worship oriented material. In releasing 96 we have taken the opportunity to include some of the most powerful worship songs the church has at its disposal written by the likes of Robin Mark, Chris Tomlin and Tim Hughes. In addition, there are a couple of treats for fans of our secular covers.

3. The booklet has no lyric sheet

Rather than reproduce the song words as part of the booklet, we have instead included comments from members (and one ex-member) of the band summarising their feelings about the songs. Lyric sheets are, however, available in the data folders on the disc.

We hope to see you on Saturday for the launch, but if you can’t make it you can buy 96 on CD or (partial) download from the TFKM Store.

Every blessing,
theREIGN

The album will be available at the concert, and also online (as a CD and partial download) via the TFKM Store. Sadly, licensing restrictions mean that we can only make the songs we didn’t write available in physical format (i.e. CD in this case) and not downloadable. That means that 9 of the audio tracks will be available electronically.

The launch concert begins at 6:30pm, entry is free, and it will provide an opportunity to say a final farewell to Paul and Kev as they leave the lineup once and for all, as well as a rousing hello to Rob and Simon as they fully take over the guitaring and drumming duties. There will also be a very special finale featuring the massed bands of theREIGN!

We really hope that as many of you as possible will be able to join us on September 10th to celebrate with us the launch of our third (and first live) album. Click on the thumbnail to the left to download a PDF version of the poster detailing the concert, and feel free to circulate it wherever you feel led to.

Every blessing,
theREIGN

As usual, there is no cost for the concert itself, but the new album will be available on the night (£TBC). Songs will also be available in mp3 format from the new TFKM Store.

More information will be leaked over the next several week, and we hope to see you there, as we send our latest baby out into the world.

Every blessing,
theREIGN

theREIGN are delighted to have been asked back to play in Valley Gardens for the Withernsea churches’ outdoor outreach event (hopefully the weather will be as stunning as it was in July 2010).

Appearing alongside the band this time are renowned Christian singer/songwriter Angie Lendon and speaker/singer/songwriter Jarrod Cooper. The fun kicks off at 2:30pm.

Click on the thumbnail to the left to see the poster in full.

When you are as sad a geek as I am, there are few things in life that cannot be linked in some way to a quote from Babylon 5, and in the couple of weeks since I posted part 2 of this Mega-Update, the quote above has come into my mind over and over again.

As outlined in part 2, theREIGN is in transition at the moment, and the next couple of months see us juggling between lineups old and new, ensuring that we honour those events that were in the diary before some of the changes were required.

Before that though, we are pleased to report that the first rehearsal with the new lineup went very well indeed, and the two new members slotted in quite nicely. They are now set to make their debut with us on Easter Sunday evening at St Aidan’s church in Hull for the Easter Praise worship event.

A couple of weeks later, the previous lineup takes to the “stage” at Holy Trinity, Barrow Upon Humber for a Saturday evening concert (7 May) and Sunday morning service (8 May). The only reason for the switch is that there simply isn’t time for the new lineup to get to grips with our own songs and do them justice in concert form having only just got together for the first time.

There is then a brief pause until a mixture of old and new takes to the outdoor stage in Withernsea on 2 July for a (hopefully) sunny outdoor worship and outreach event. That event should then mark the final transition from old lineup to the new one which we hope will take us forward into the future. July also marks the start of preparation for RE5 to debut in the Autumn (for which ideas are already starting to fly) and, possibly a return trip to Church Stretton.

In amongst all of that, we are delighted to announce the imminent release of a live album, called 96. Recorded at Withernsea United Reformed Church in October 2010, it features 9 of our own songs (including one brand new, previously unrecorded song), some souped up worship songs and even a couple of secular covers, along with some cool bonus features. The release date and launch concert is still to be finalised, but look out for it … we have some exciting plans for the launch concert.

Looking further ahead, we are hoping to get our act together and take RE5 (or maybe even 6) to Greenbelt 2012, as well as building on our existing church relationships for these events.

Finally, the running joke within the band at the moment (well, with me anyway) is that the Lord seems to be gradually replacing us with younger versions of ourselves but that, for me, is pretty exciting as it allows us to use our individual gifts and theREIGN’s opportunities to help develop and mentor young musicians and crew.

Jemma joined us in 2005 as a talented, but inexperienced, 14 year old singer and, 6 years on, is a confident and accomplished performer and worship leader in her own right. I would never seek to claim that theREIGN is responsible for any of that, but I hope and pray that the time she has spent working with us has provided a good environment for her to develop and grow her gifts.

Bethany is now where Jemma was in 2005, and hopefully she will also find that singing (and playing trombone) with the band gives her the opportunity to “spread her wings” a little bit, develop her gifts and gain confidence in making music.

On the tech side, both Dave Cartwright and Jon Cole have done superbly in looking after us and have moved on to full time jobs in sound engineering. Again, we cannot claim the credit for that, but I am delighted that we could give them the opportunity to really get their teeth into something to assist in their development.

And so, to prayer requests …

The new lineup: Please pray that the new members will settle in quickly and be blessed as they get to grips with what we are doing. Leading worship should never be a chore.

96: A lot of hard work has gone into putting the album together (mostly by John Osbourne if truth be told). Please pray for the final stages to come together and a suitable launch date present itself sooner rather than later.

Technical Crew: With Jon Cole moving on, Tim and Joel will be under greater pressure on sound and light. Please pray for them to be blessed as they work with us.

Future Opportunities: Please pray that the Lord will continue to open doors for us to lead his people in worship, and continue to bless what we do in His name.

I think that pretty much brings everything bang up to date. Sorry for my tardiness in getting part 3 completed … real life and the day job have kind of got in the way over the last few weeks.

If you get the chance to catch us at an upcoming event, we look forward to seeing you. If not, 96 will soon be available via the website, at very reasonable rates!

Every blessing,
David

New Lead Guitarist
Having driven down several blind alleys in a search for a likely candidate, and even flirted with the idea of taking a crash course and doing it myself, we have found a willing victim … sorry, soul … to step in and take on the thankless task of following in Paul’s footsteps, who originally only joined us for one gig, but is still here some 6 years later at the time of writing.

The new axeman is a young guy keen to spread his musical wings and get involved in leading worship in new and exciting ways. However, until he gets the chance to do that, he is happy to play for us!

I will reveal his identity once we have completed transition, and he has had the chance to play with us and begin to settle into the new lineup.

New Drummer
We always had a replacement drummer in the back of our minds should the need arise and for a time it looked as though we would experience a fairly simple transition from Kev to a new skin-basher. However, for a variety of reasons it just didn’t work out, which left us in a bit of a hole.

Suffice to say that Hull’s Christian music scene is not massively endowed with players – the fact that we are the City’s only itinerant worship band probably says all that needs to be said about the talent pool. However, one name did come to the top of the list, a drummer that Kat and I had played with in the past (and who had played with a scratch version of theREIGN several years ago, and he was keen to get involved if he could.

Both the new members are set to make their debut on Easter Sunday evening when we lead worship for East Hull Easter Praise, and we would greatly value your prayers for this event and, particularly, for our preparations and the integration of the new musicians and all the exciting (and scary) changes to the dynamics of the band that are sure to come with them.

John Osbourne and I have had several conversations over the past year about how we can once again freshen up the sound and feel of what we play and continue to move forward rather than just playing the same old songs in the same old style all the time, and the quick-fire addition of new piano/keyboard player Richard Fuller, along with a new lead guitarist and new drummer means this is almost bound to happen quite naturally. God is good like that, sometimes!

Technical Crew
Since releasing part 1 of this mega-update, our long standing (suffering?) sound engineer, Jon Cole, has made the decision to move on, most notably as he is about to take up a job as a sound engineer at Butlins in Skegness. Given that he was in the final year of this university studies, this was a conversation that was almost bound to happen in Summer 2011 anyway, it is not unexpected, just a few months earlier than anticipated.

Jon moves on with our heartfelt and genuine thanks for the time, effort, energy, skill, dedication, patience and creativity he has brought to our ministry over the last several years. He will be missed, and we are extremely grateful to Tim Canty for being prepared to step up and take on more of Jon’s responsibilities in this area. It is also a valuable opportunity for Joel Cooper to really get his teeth into the job in a way he hasn’t been able to so far.

Personally, I am excited by the prospect of playing with new people. There is always an underlying joy in discovering how other musicians play, and hearing that taking shape around you is always a pleasure. However in seeking not to disappoint anyone who already has theREIGN booked into their diaries the next few months will surely feel a little disjointed as the lineup changes around a little before settling into its new form come the Summer.

Even before we play together for the first time, there are already three new songs for the new look lineup to call their own which I hope will help in giving the updated version of theREIGN its own identity and voice, whilst never letting go of everything we have achieved over the last 8 and a half years.

We will take a look at some of the stuff on the immediate horizon, as well as some of our aspirations further afield, in part 3.

Every blessing,
David Cooper
on behalf of theREIGN

July 2010
Kev Sargeson was also moved to London by his employer, initially commuting during the week but eventually (and inevitably) this will become a permanent move for him. Thus began the not quite so lengthy, but equally frustrating search for a new drummer (and again, more in part 2). David, Rachel and Andy began the process of pulling together the 4th incarnation of Communion On The Rocks, Taking The Step.

September 2010
The band enjoyed a reunion with Richard Hill (formerly of St Barnabas’, Swanland) as they led a youth concert and open air service for his new church in Church Stretton, Shropshire, the first of several minibus trips to out of area gigs in recent months. RE4 was finalised and rehearsed ready for the Autumn series.

October/November 2010
October opened with a very enjoyable concert in Withernsea (of which more in part 3), followed by the Autumn RE series which saw Rachel bow out (sort of) after events in Sutton and Greatfield, and Andy make his mark with an energetic outing at Holy Trinity in Barrow Upon Humber.

January 2011
The annual Gathering took place in late January with no lead guitarist, a new keyboard player in Richard Fuller and a potential new drummer (alongside Kev) that unfortunately did not pan out.

February/March 2011
The Spring RE season took in Swanland, London, Warrington and Anlaby with Andy leading the local events and Rachel the out of area ones: London, because it was her own church, and Warrington because they were looking specifically for a female minister to lead that one. Andy has settled in brilliantly and is gaining a particular reputation for his high energy style. I don’t think his glutes and hamstrings are going to forgive him any time soon, however.

Richard has also settled in well behind the keyboard, and will bring some new and interesting possibilities to the band’s sound and style.

All of which is a potted recent history of theREIGN. Making music together continues to be a joy and a privilege and while Paul, Rachel and Kev’s enforced departures bring with them a sense of sadness and loss, there is some exciting stuff afoot, and you can read all about it in part 2 and 3.

Every blessing,
theREIGN