This weekend - April 2nd!

Hi All:

Sorry that I have not been the greatest at keeping you all informed during the past week or so!

The 19th should be a great show, so be sure to tell everyone you know and send an e-mail to your address book!

Entertainment will include Eddie and Mary Day from Princeton, WV. These folks play some really jamming Christian music. Check out their web site at www.eddieday.org. They will play 2 sets for us of 40 minutes each. I am awaiting the final word from Laura Luttrell as well. Laura is a contemporary vocalist who previously performed with the band "Won by One" and has several CD's. Jeff Arwood has also graciously agreed to come back to do stand-up comedy this weekend (yeah!). Of course, the house band will be performing and has a new song to spring on ya ;) ! We are also going to do "The Numbers Game" with the audience - BE PREPARED!

Missi and I will be at the Youth Lock-In at Twin Valley High School on Friday, April 1, 2005 handing out information and getting to know the youth at TV. We hope to generate a big buzz and draw some of those folks! Should be cool.

I will be getting a schedule/calendar up on the web site ASAP since we have been blessed to schedule up into June. This will allow any interested person to see who's on and when by visiting the web site.

See you this weekend! Godspeed! BR

PHOTOS NOW ON THE WEB SITE!

Hi Guys!

I only have a quick minute, but wanted to let everyone know that we now have PHOTOS on the web site! During the show this past weekend, Rita Keen was busy, busy, busy taking a pics. Several are posted...

www.geocities.com/ofghigherground

More later on the agenda for April 2nd...I think it is going to be pretty cool!

Godspeed...BR

March 19th...Great Time!

Hi All:

The March 19th show was OUTSTANDING! Man! The agenda lined up with Emily Ratliff, VISION (featuring Jeremy Dotson), Harold Kinder, and an encore comedy presentation by Jeff Arwood. It was awesome! We again ran around 100 people...God is truly blessing us to be able to create a fun place for the community!

The Higher Ground House Band took the stage at around 7:30, with emcee Justin Rodda taking the reigns of the show right away (way to go Justin...great job!). Justin did a super job with handling the mic for the night. Ren Harman (we found some drums, eh?), Terry Harrison, and BR played the Higher Ground theme song.

Emily Ratliff's set started at about 7:45. She did several songs including "Redeemer, Savior, Friend," FFH's "One of these Days," and an original entitled "Perfect Plan." Em graciously invited me to the stage to help out with an acoustic version of "God will Move" which was a load of fun...the crowd was standing and jamming along to a pretty hot acoustic version....REALLY COOL. GREAT job Em!!! Visit Emily's web site at www.emilyratliff.com.

Following Emily's set, a brief break, while Marci Watson brought a word about Easter and its special meaning for all Christians (and sinners too!). This precipitated the handing out of Easter eggs to everyone in the place - each of which had a number - periodically the emcee called out a few numbers and the number holders had to visit the stage. The funny part came when the person either got a prize (like a Higher Ground T-shirt, car wash, gift certificate, or something else) OR they had to "join the Higher Gorund entertainment team ;) ...of course this was hilarious. Losing numbers were required to do a number of things including "sing like Elvis," "do a guitar solo," "sing the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies," and more! MANY THANKS TO EVERY PERSON WHO SO WILLINGLY PARTICIPATED! You made the show a lot of fun!

Jeff Arwood did an encore comedy set with his "friend" JJ. JJ is a dummy --- well, so is Jeff, but JJ is LITERALLY a dummy ;) In actuality, Jeff is a talented Christian comedian and the laughs were delirious. Really FUNNY! By the way, Jeff and JJ - the crack at me - HMMMM...I am thinking of ways to get even :)

VISION started at around 8:30 and absolutely blew everyone away! They were AWESOME! Their music was outstanding with excellent musicianship and wonderful vocals. VISION rocked the house with several hyper-praise songs including "Lord you are Good (All the Time," Jeremy's guitar work was phenomenal and closely emulated by Tim Short (bass player extraordinaire) and their drummer and vocalists were fantastic. We hope to get VISION back soon and perhaps Jeremy will become a regular at Higher Ground.

Harold Kinder performed "Lay It Down" from his new CD as well as "Brand New Start" by Big Daddy Weave and "The Anchor Holds," which was particularly powerful. Lay It Down was killer! Great performance! Harold's new CD will be out by mid-May.

We wound up the show with Jamia Harman leading the vocals for the house band on two songs...Jaima did a great job and the songs were fun. We hope to have Jamia perform some time soon.

As with every show at Higher Ground - we MUST thank our volunteers! We sincerely appreciate everyone who helped get the night going and kept things moving. There is a lot of hard work that goes into every show at Higher Ground. Kitchen - Missi Ratliff, Linda Harman (Linda was a god send, getting there early and staying late), Wanda Kinder, Marci Watson, Ted Watson (Ted's Finest Tea - it really is the FINEST!!!), Tina Lester, Lindsey Bandy (and Mark - YEAH! Thanks, Mark), and everyone else. These folks make some of the very best food available ANYWHERE! We probably get more compliments on the food than on the entertainment ;) ...it is seriously some good stuff!

Special thanks to Rita Keen for taking photos all night long! Tab Keen for running lights, Jacob Robinson for training on sound; Joy Vandyke, Donna Mullins, and everyone who helped with the children downstairs. Hodge Chambers and Harold Kinder - we want to especially express our appreciation to you for working tirelessly to solve the electrical challenges we experienced previously -- THANKS SO MUCH! Special thanks to our pastors, Trula Harman, and Jerry Harman.

I will try to get some actual pictures posted at the Higher Ground web site www.geocities.com/ofghigherground.

Next show is April 2nd! Keep it here for more on the schedule. By the way, if you have comments about the show, send them to me via e-mail at brad@swvaol.com and I will get them posted ASAP.

Godspeed my brothers and sisters! BR

Higher Ground Temporary Web Site is up!

Hi Guys:

Great news....the web site is up, er, well, at least a temporary one ;)

The site is posted at www.geocities.com/ofghigherground. Pass this link on to your friends and family to spread the word about Higher Ground. We will get the permanent site up as soon as possible. Oh, yeah - please send me reviews of last week's show by e-mail to eithe brad@swvaol.com, or ofghigherground@yahoo.com. I will post them on the blog. If you would like to see any kind of specific page on the web site, e-mail that to me too (includes pages about stuff, pics, etc. Generally ideas to make the site better).

Don't forget....next opening in 3-19-05 from 7:00 to 10:30. Godspeed! BR

March 19th!

Hi All:

Thanks for all of the awesome comments! If you want to comment about the event on 3-5-05, please e-mail me directly and I will get your post up ASAP.

We have been getting ready for the show on the 19th. So far, we have:

• Justin Rodda - emcee
• Jeremy Dotson and it is possible that his band "VISION" may join him. They were unfortunately unable to be there for the last one....should be great!
• Higher Ground House Band

We are working on a couple of more performers for the 19th and will let you know as soon as we do. In honor of Easter, we will be handing out Easter eggs with surprises in them ....hmmmm (not Halloween, but it will strangely be 'trick or treat')...

The Cappuccino machine has been repaired! What is a coffee house without cappuccino? That's right! It is all fixed up. There will also be a coupel of new drinks this time - the "Lemon Tornado Icee," the "Blue Mountain Icee," and the "Cherry Bomb Icee."

I have had some e-mail dialogue with Clinton Collins and we hope to bring his music to Higher Ground in the immediate future. If you get the chance, check out his web site at www.clintoncollins.com. There are some mp3's on there and a lot of great information about his music and ministry.

Later! BR

Opening Night! It was HUGE!!!

OPENING NIGHT --- IT WAS HUGE!!!

WOW! Opening night for Higher Ground Christian Coffee House was a complete success! It was awesome. The environment was unlike anything most folks had seen and compliments were around every corner. Despite some competition from a local high school dance, we still ran about 100 people...NOT TOO SHABBY!!! The place was shakin' and the spirit was sweet. What a great place to be!

The Higher Ground House Band took the stage at around 7:15 and rocked the place with a self-written theme song for the coffee house. The crowd definitely got into it and adopted the house band ;). Tonight's house band included Terry Harrison (bass, vocals, saxophone, guitar, keyboard), Ren Harman (drums and percussion), Brad Ratliff (Guitars), Ted Watson (keyboards), De Harman (keyboard), Justin Rodda (Bass), and we had a couple of honorary members! Roger Vandyke joined us on acoustic guitar and percussion and K.T. Vandyke joined us on percussion. I must say....it was the coolest! SWEET!

Morgann McClanahan took the stage after her introduction. She did a very brief interview then flew right into her first set. She has an AMAZING voice, an incredible talent, and a tremendous anointing. She recently won a national songwriting competition in Nashville, TN. During the second set she had the whole crowd on their feet with "Better than Life" then on to My favorite song of hers (and one of my favorite songs outright), "Breakin' Out!" Morgann absolutely did an outstanding job and we hope to have her back really soon. Check out her web site at www.morgannministries.com. There are pics of Morgann, a lot of info about her and her ministry and pics of the coffee house set. Mucho Thank you, MORGANN (and Kate and David).

After Morgann's first set, the house band took the stage to the tune "Purple" (another original) then introduced Jeff Arwood - Christian comedian. Man, this guy was funny! He had folks rolling in laughter....if you ever get the chance, ask him sometime about how he sings ;).

The band "Vision" was scheduled, but unable to make it. NOT TO WORRY!!! The House Band jumped to the task along with Elaine Harman, who performed in an awesome way! We played several songs and had a BALL doing so! The crowd loved it! Elaine also got the Oakwood Full Gospel teen class together for a skit about adoctor's office. This thing was HILARIOUS! Everyone was cracking up....it was sooooo funny! Justin Rodda ---- you ARE the man!

The Coffee House would not have been possible without all of the volunteers that made it happen - especially in the kitchen where they cooked up some of the finest stuff you can buy for any price, anywhere (and it was cheap! RIGHT ON!). Missi Ratliff, Carol Robinson, Tina Lester, Susan Harman, Wanda Kinder, Linda Harman, De De Belcher, Marci Watson, Rita Keen ....and everyone else (I am sorry if I missed one of you guys!).

Many thanks to other volunteers including Becky Keen, Melissa Kinder (both of whom greeted and provided information to patrons); Tabitha Keen - Tab ran the BIG SPOTLIGHT and greeted folks; Donna Mullins, who worked in the kitchen, greeted, and ran lights; and Bill Russ - the "Parking Lot Patrolman!" Special thanks to Ted Watson and Harold Kinder for literally "keeping the fire burnin' - (you guys know what I mean).

Thanks to Meg Sagi and Jeff Greene and his lovely wife Julie (my two buds from law school) for showing up to support the cause. You guys are the greatest!

Shout out to Richard Conner - it was GREAT to see you!

Very Special Thanks to Brian Ratliff for a lot of hard work and for running the sound for the show! great job, Brian -- Thanks so much!

A special thank you to: De Harman, who worked tirelessly to help get everything ready; Justin Rodda; Emily Ratliff; Elaine Harman; Darlene Russ; Hodge Chambers; Harold Kinder; David Hess; Jerry Harman; Bobby Lester; Tina Lester; Ted Watson; Marci Watson; Mark Bandy (you PAINTED a REFRIGERATOR???; Terry Harrison; Pastor Trula, Marci Watson, and Rita Keen ...and everybody else who worked on the recreation center to create a place for the coffee house to exist ( and a lot more projects to exist in the future).

Thanks to the pastors of Oakwood Full Gospel Church - Paster Jerry Harman and Pastor Trula Harman - for making ALL of this possible.

We are so blessed! Come join us - the next Higher Ground Christian Coffee House is scheduled for Saturday, March 19, 2005 from 7:00 P. M. to 10:30 P.M. We would love to see you!!! We are currently working on the entertainment, so keep watching right here for updates.

In Christ...BR