LINKS TO FACEBOOK LIVE VIDEOS AND CDS
POEMS, PRAYERS & PROMISES 4.19
The first in my series of Facebook Live videos featuring John Denver's song in a test of my stream-from-home set up.
BEER & HYMNS SING-A-LONG 4.21
Then my friend, a pastor up in Anchorage, Alaska invited me to do a guest shot for his weekly "beer & hymns" gathering that had moved from a local pub to online. Didn't have hymns in my kit so I picked some songs that folks could join in on and sent it up north. You can join them on my "Amazing Grace Medely", Uncle Kracker's "Follow Me" and the sweet ballad, "The Rose".
The Best Of Ed 1 & 2
FROG KISSING 4.24
I learned this bedtime tale at a storytelling festival up in South Carolina years ago and have been sharing it with children of every age for years. It's topped off with guitarist Chet Atkins classic tune, "Frog Kissing".
The Best Of Ed 1
A PLACE TO WATCH THE RAIN 4.28
The painting in the background of the picture behind me, is the center piece of our home. We named it after a tune by Carrie Newcomer entitled "A Gathering Of Spirits". That song kicks off this visit leading up to one of my classic stories, the one about losing our home (and almost our lives) in the Carolina tornado outbreak of March 1984. The story concludes with my own composition, "A Place To Watch The Rain".
A Gathering Of Spirits & The Best Of Ed 1
A GATHERING OF SPIRITS COFFEEHOUSE 5.2
I decided to try a little longer show of my stories and songs in early May, not quite a concert but close. I picked some of my favorites opening with Dar William's "Echos" followed by the oft requested "Mississippi Squirrel Revival". Then I did my friend Pat Terry's powerful piece "If Jesus Was Like Me" and closed out with "When It's All Been Said And Done".
A World Of Good, The Best Of Ed 1 & 2
FAMILY 5.5
We've been couped up with each other for a while now so I thought it was time to have a little talk about family. Using Pierce Pettis' beautiful tune I kicked off a show that ended up with my grand daughter Breah's favorite, Trout Fishing In America's "Baby's Got The Car Keys".
Light The Fire & The Best Of Ed 2
IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE 5.8
With a tip of the hat to Jimmy Buffett for the title of my show, I moved over to the keyboard for a couple of tunes, Dan Fogelberg's "The Higher You Climb" which I use as the theme song for my Senior Adult Vacation Bible School Series and then Keith Elder's "Still", undoubtedly the most meaningful and powerful piece of music I have had the pleasure of sharing through the years.
Light The Fire Again & The Best Of Ed 1
THE BACK ROW OF THE SANCTUARY BLUES 5.12
My life long song writing and singing buddy, Tom Davidson has been unselfishly sharing his songs with me since I first met him back in the 70's. I opened this visit with his "Simple Things" and then took everybody to church with "The Back Row Of The Sanctuary Blues".
The Grateful Ed Live
A GIFT OF MERCY - PART 1 & PART 2 5.15
This visit turned out to be a two-parter due to a glitch in the Facebook stream. They ended about five minutes before I did. So after you watch part one, click on the second to hear the "rest of the story". I begin with one of my children's sermons from my many years of being a guest in worship, a piece I call "Grown Up" using John McCutcheon's "Kindergarten Wall". Then I get to share a story of my visit to a megachurch and close with Pat Terry's sacred classic, "A Gift Of Mercy".
The Best Of Ed 2 & A Gathering Of Spirits
A WORLD OF GOOD 5.22
A story about the return of Jesus that leads into a song I wrote with Tom, "What Will Jesus Do". Which leads to another story, one about Jesus fishing with Peter and almost ending up in a beer commercial. The visit concludes with another Keith elder gem, "Tiny Hearts".
A World Of Good
Opening with a John Denver favorite, an anthem of my life and journey, "Poems Prayers & Promises", I featured once again the infamous "Amazing Grace Medely", treating this fine hymn with a bit of whimsey and irreverence. Please forgive. And enjoy.
Beginning with a conversation on the beach at sunset about the "things we don't see coming" and how in a few hours or even minutes of a day, our whole world and life changes, I shared a song of hope, "Show The Way" by David Wilcox. Then the featured piece of the evening is about stories "to heavy to carry", the ones that come from life changing but bewildering experiences where we are left in wonder and in tears and yet show the way to hope and promise. It is sometimes called "The Susan Smith Song" but I call it "Promised Land".
Jesus and humor, a subject that has interested me for some time. And it is because we don't know. The laugh track was left out of the New Testament. So the storyteller takes over. Two stories, one about the bullying of Howard Grey, a childhood experience of songwriter Lee Domann. And the second, Jesus' reaction to pharisees using radar detectors.
We go back to a story from early in my travels when I first met what I learned to be part of my God-family and began a friendship with Brian. During his teen years, Brian became a member of an odd and bizarre cult. I got to watch the parade of his young years and tell "the rest of the story".