Victor Barden: Calendar

I showed up around noon and mostly hung out until it was time for the Gospel Train to go on. We saw the K and C Band (Kenny and Company), a praise and worship team from a church with "Faith" in the name, singer-songwriter Randy Long, and the team from My Father's House, which is right down the street in Newport.
We had major battles with our Bose sound system, but once we had them solved we had a GREAT time up there playing gospel music. Ken Skinner, who sometimes plays drums with us, joined us on the nice Yamaha set that was on the stage; that made it particularly enjoyable for me as the bass player. We also had Pastor Curt Jensen doing his thing on his Gretch electric guitar and another man whose name I've forgotten on clarinet.
I saw several people I knew, including Steve Gregoire, one of my high school classmates that I hadn't seen in about 25 years; I didn't recognize him at first. I picked up his first name in conversation, but when he mentioned a brother Jim I knew who he was. He didn't recognize me either until I said, "Stevens High School." Steve and I used to play duets on the piano in the study hall during lunch periods. It was great to see him again -- and to see that he has an interest in gospel music.
The rain held up until we were just about to pack it all up; it stopped pouring long enough for us to get everything loaded without damage.

We sang "Gloryland Way," an old gospel number that was arranged in the barbershop style.

I ended up missing this one due to illness. My stomach was queasy and my body ached, so I decided this was not the time to be a "hero" because doing so could have infected several of the residents with what I had.

This place is always fun! It is totally unpretentious, and so are the people there. Tom Travers encourages people to kick back, relax and enjoy God's presence and the music.
Tom shared with me just before the show that he will never again make the mistake of saying how many churches are represented there; the last time he did that the Holy Spirit spoke to him to remind him there is only one church. The real church is not an organization but an organism, the Body of Christ.
There are several rooms to the Power Station. The musicians play in a room by the road, but there is another one a little further back. The next room back is where the coffee is, and there is also a small tract library, and then you can go upstairs to a small kitchen and the rest room. People were staying in that second room because it was warmer in there. Tom said the plow truck had broken some of his windows by pushing the snow just a little too far off the road, so that room was a little harder to heat. I was plenty warm because I had some PAR cans shining on me, and I generate a lot of heat when I play anyway, but my wife stayed mostly in the other room.
As always, I had a great time here, and Tom and I have agreed we need to do it again some time.