nashvillesilverstrings

On 9/1/18 Gary Tussing, Susan Mullen and I found ourselves on an early morning road trip to a residence near Fayetteville, TN to bring the music to the morning wedding of Leanne and Brian.  The weather was hot and steamy so we were grateful for the shade of the front porch of a beautiful home in rural Tennessee.

Leanne surprised her parents with a tribute to them in the form of Floyd Cramer’s “Last Dance”, a favorite song of theirs when they got married, right before she floated down the aisle to “A Thousand Years”.  Leanne and Brian found out the day before their wedding that the minister they had wanted to do the ceremony wasn’t able to do it for health reasons.  Another minister of their acquaintance was able to step in and do a fantastic job.  A highlight of the ceremony was the singing of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” by Matt Gress, a close friend of Brian’s.  It has to be one of the most moving performances of that song that I’ve ever heard.  (Some of the words were changed to be more wedding appropriate btw.)

Vows said, rings exchanged, the first kiss as husband and wife and we sent them off on their new life together to the strains of “Brown Eyed Girl”.  Congratulations to Leanne and Brian!  May they have a long and happy life together.

On 8/18/18 a trio of us braved the nasty weather to (finally) play the bride down the aisle at Ravenswood Mansion in Brentwood.  Under the capable direction of Sarah Goude of Regalo Design the trio was placed on the porch of the mansion out of the rain.  Fortunately none of us had any place to be right away so the delay of 30 minutes wasn’t a big deal.  After the rain stopped and the chairs were dried off with towels the wedding went on as planned.  We didn’t have so much to do this time as the groom had chosen a playlist of their favorite songs to be played as prelude.  Then we took over playing traditional wedding music for the processionals including “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and the Wagner “Wedding March” processional ( aka Here Come’s the Bride).

Note to brides:  Adorable children and dogs sometimes will steal the show….just saying.  At any rate a lovely ceremony ensued during the let-up of the rain and the happy couple were duly married.  Congratulations to them and their families!

On 7/29/18 Silver Strings quartet was called upon to provide special (surprise) music for the pastor of the Living Truth Christian Center, first starting with a performance of the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” during the service.  After the service they treated the congregation to more hymns and dinner music at a luncheon in honor of the Pastor’s 50th birthday.  After seeing pictures of the beautifully decorated room I was really sorry I couldn’t be a part of the quartet that day.  Check these out:

On 6/9/18 a trio led by Craig Duncan was present at the wedding of Ansley and Matty at King’s Chapel in Arrington, TN.  Music was very important to them for this joyous occasion and there were more than the usual number of processionals marking the entrance of the mothers, the groom, the maids and the bride.  Selections included “Butterfly Waltz” for the pastor and Ansley’s mother and grandmother, “Hallelujah” for Matty’s parents and groomsmen, “Canon in D” for Matty, “Tiny Dancer” for the bridesmaids.  Last but definitely not least “A Thousand Years” for the lovely bride, Ansley.  The wedding took place in the wooded area behind the clubhouse rather than the little church with the guests facing a lovely wooded area.  After the ceremony the newlyweds made their way back down the aisle to “Wedding March Recessional”.

Laurie Montgomery who works as coordinator for King’s Chapel did an amazing job of whipping the wedding party into shape during the rehearsal including such details as to how the men were to hold their arms as they escorted the women to and from the ceremony.

Congratulations and best wishes to Ansley and Matty!

On 5/27/18 it was our pleasure to convene at Castle Gwynn in Arrington, TN for a wedding in front of a magnificent replica of a castle worthy of the Knights of the Round Table.  There Kevin and Sarah said their self-penned vows in front of family and friends.  But I’m ahead of myself…the music included some well known songs from Disney movies including “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “Bella Notte”.  The entire wedding party including the bride and groom arrived to the strains of “Concerning Hobbits”.  As I mentioned earlier the couple wrote their own vows.  In addition to that they exchanged albums of pictures of themselves from their childhoods.  At the close of the ceremony they returned back down the aisle to “Meryton Townhall” from Pride and Prejudice.

Kevin and Sarah were a delight to work with and my colleagues and I wish them every happiness in their journey together as husband and wife.