Greetings Friend!

Typically I try to write you a little inspirational idea or story. Today though is different. It is my birthday and I have a way we can celebrate life and music together.

Do you feel good when you are able to give away something that is special to you? I do! Today I’d like to see if we can both do just that.

My new album, Beautiful (you can read the description about it below), is set to be released on Tuesday, September 3, 2013. If you pre-order Beautiful today (or any day before July) I will send you two copies of the album; one for you and one for a friend. Consider it a ‘buy one give one free’ sale!

Help me send you something that I care deeply about and let me help you spread a little love to someone you know.

Take me up on my offer now by clicking here (or pasting http://mctill.bandcamp.com/album/beautiful into your browser), click ‘buy the disc,’ enter the amount you want to pay, click ‘check out now’ and follow the prompts.

Thanks for considering it. It will make my birthday that much sweeter and hopefully bring a smile to you and your lucky friend.

Peace,
MC (Till)

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Beautiful, the Jazz influenced album by independent artist, MC Till, is scheduled for release on Tuesday, September 3, 2013. This new project is unlike any of MC Till’s earlier work as it encompasses live instrumentation from four musical giants, GRAMMY® nominated bassist Byron House, GRAMMY nominated guitarist and producer Ric Hordinski, and Blue Wisp Big Band members Jon Von Ohlen on drums, and Steve Schmidt on piano.

In 2007, Till quit his comfortable job in the suburbs and moved into one of the poorest Cincinnati neighborhoods without a steady paycheck. He became a student mentor to several children and worked with their families in building authentic friendships. In 2008, he married his beautiful wife Larita and a few years later they had a precious little daughter. Hardly a full year after giving birth Till’s wife was diagnosed with cancer and went through a terrifying round of chemotherapy. Till’s 2013 Beautiful release deals with the highs and lows of his past several years.

Till shares his personal life in a universal way. Listeners will appreciate the metaphor, story, and letter format that Till utilizes to describe his recent experiences. These experiences are big and so is the music.

Legendary drummer Jon Von Ohlen earned his claim to fame as the drummer for Woody Herman and Stan Kenton in the 60′s and 70′s. Now, Von Ohlen leads the Blue Wisp Big Band in Cincinnati, Ohio.

GRAMMY® nominated bassist Byron House has years of experience playing with music’s elites such as Sam Bush, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Jerry Douglas, Jorma Kaukonen, The Dixie Chicks, Nickel Creek, and Robert Plant. House was honored with a grammy nomination in 2005 for his work on Mark O’Connor’s 30-Year Retrospective.

In 1979 Steve Schmidt began touring with Columbia recording artist and guitarist Wilbert Longmire. He then became the house pianist at The Blue Wisp Jazz Club. Schmidt has played with Eddie Harris, Charlie Rouse, Joe Henderson, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Joe Lovano, Mark Murphy, Johnny Coles and Scott Hamilton. Schmidt co-founded the 16-piece Blue Wisp Big Band. Schmidt has also played with the Count Basie Orchestra on several occasions.

Ric Hordinski is a genius on the guitar and that genius was solidified when Hordiniski was asked to go on tour with guitar legend Phil Keagy. Prior to that time Hordinski co-founded Over-the-Rhine with Linford Detweiler, Brian Kelley, and Karin Bergquist. After leaving Over-the-Rhine he began a solo and producing career. He has appeared on records with David Wilcox, Tony Levin, Bill Kreutzmann, Victor Wooten, Victoria Williams and Robbie Fulks. He has also produced award-winning records with greats such as Wilcox and Phil Keaggy. Hordinski was honored with a GRAMMY® nomination in 2003, has received two Cammy awards, and a Dove award.

“I was in awe that day in the studio.” MC Till recounts on the day these four musical titans laid down the instrumentation for Beautiful. “Ric would give instructions for about 30 seconds, Byron would start playing on the acoustic bass, Jon would drum up something, Steve would throw in some piano, Ric would watch carefully and start strumming his guitar, and moments later we would have a song. It was truly inspiring.”

Working with such brilliant musicians is a dream come true for Till. Being a Hip-hop artist Till traditionally works with sampled based producers. With this record Till was able to really let the music inspire. And it did. “I’m still living off the high of that initial recording session. I can’t wait to start performing Beautiful with a live band.” Till plans to do that as he works with Hordinski in assembling such a band.

Dear Friend,

Just the other day I found myself in the middle of a big fight. It started out with a teenage guy roughhousing with a girl and ended up with four guys swinging punches.

I wanted to jump in there to stop it, but I had to wait to find my way in without getting hurt myself. Finally, one of the guys stepped back and I was able to put my hands on his chest, push him back a bit and say, “hey, this is not your fight.”

I was amazed that he didn’t jump right back in, but unfortunately, it didn’t stop one of the fighters from coming over and cold clocking him right in the face. Man!

I tried again and the fight eventually ended. I sat with one of the teenagers, helping him to calm down and once the adrenaline settled we got into a good conversation about his life, the sports he’s into, his twin sister, how school is going…

As we talked, some girls walked by and called my friend a thug. I was surprised by how much this upset him. I mean, I’d just watched him pick up another human being, slam him to the floor, and kick him repeatedly. Maybe I’m confused, but to me, this seems like something a thug would do; But interestingly, he doesn’t see it that way. He sees himself as a good kid who was simply doing what he had to do in the situation he was confronted with. In other words, he’s a nice guy who sometimes acts like a thug.

That’s actually a really important differentiation, and it got me thinking about how easy it is to stereotype people and hurt their feelings by labeling them with the stereotype. If I need to confront a kid about bad behavior, I need to be careful to label the behavior as bad and not the kid. I want to look through the negative behavior to find out what the child sees as positive about him or herself and label that for them instead. And if they can’t see the positive, I want to be bold enough and patient enough to find it myself and say it out loud to them. I want to give them the opportunity to see and hear and respond to the good that is within them.

I see a lot of bad behavior everyday in my school and in my neighborhood and it can be very discouraging. And so, though I hope that I can do the right thing and I hope that you can too, I know it is only with our prayers and God’s help that it will actually happen.

So, here’s to looking for the good (or perhaps the God) in everyone!

Peace,
MC (Till)
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New Album is Finished!!!!!!
I am not sure how much more excited I could be right now:) I am happy to announce that the music to my new jazz hip-hop project is finished. All that remains now is the artwork and that is on the way! Yipeeee.

You can pre-order your copy right now and receive some perks.

$15- copy of album a month before anyone else
$20- month before plus autographed copy
$30- month before, autographed copy, and free download of instrumental version
$50- all the above plus an extra friendly thank you from me:)
$300- all the above plus a house show (rates vary on traveling distance:)
$1000- you just tell me what you want

Simply click here, then click ‘buy now’ and enter the amount you like.

Dear Friend,

My team lost. Bad! Indiana University, a top-ranked team lost. They were supposed to win it all. Zeller and Oladipo (two really great basketball players) were supposed to be unstoppable. But, they were stopped. And there was nothing I could do about it.

While I was sitting there watching my team get a royal whooping, I thought about Kevin. He is a young teenager I will be working with for the next few months. I could connect the dots of his problems from behavioral disorders to family drama to low academics but that process would be too long for this e-mail. The only important point is that Kevin is supposed to become a success story. You know the feel-good movie plot: deadbeat dad, momma doing her best but falling behind on rent, and here comes Mr. Hayden to save the day.

Even though the game has been stacked against him, Kevin is supposed to rise up and beat the odds by playing his cards right. He is supposed to break the cycle of poverty, learn how to use his words instead of his fists, overcome his reading disability, and play excellent help-side defense. Wait, Kevin, that’s who were talking about, not a basketball player. In a way, though, cheering for a teenager like Kevin is a lot like cheering for a 16th seed in the NCAA tournament. The odds of such an underdog team actually winning it all are very slim. So are the odds of a person like Kevin overcoming all his challenges.

A friend of mine once broke it down with another basketball analogy. He said that loving people is sometimes like the desperate Hail Mary shot. The basketball game is coming to its final seconds, the team with the ball is down by a point and far from their basket. Even so, no player in his or her right mind just drops the ball down and says, “Well, making a shot from here is so unlikely that I won’t even try.” Instead, filled with desperate hope, any player worth her salt hurls that ball with all his might and prays to God that it goes in. It rarely happens, but the possibility of a miracle is always worth a shot.

So is Kevin. There is one big difference: When your favorite team is self-destructing before your eyes, there is absolutely nothing you can do. When someone you love is self-destructing, however, you can step in and be that Hail Mary shot for them. I am going do that for Kevin. Please cheer with me that this one goes in.

Peace,
MC (Till)

PS….
New Album Almost Here!!!!!!
I am not sure how much more excited I could be right now:) I am happy to announce that the music to my new jazz hip-hop project is finished.

You can pre-order your copy right now and receive some perks.

$15- copy of album a month before anyone else
$20- month before plus autographed copy
$30- month before, autographed copy, and free download of instrumental version
$50- all the above plus an extra friendly thank you from me:)
$300- all the above plus a house show (rates vary on traveling distance:)
$1000- you just tell me what you want

Thank you. You have been a part of a vast network of supporters who have provided money, prayers, and advice over the past few years. You helped equip me with everything I needed to live and serve in this broken neighborhood of Walnut Hills, Cincinnati.

I have seen and learned so much. I saw a community rally behind my wife and I when we went through the most challenging phase of our lives, as Larita battled cancer and the effects of chemotherapy. I learned that I was not put on this earth to change people, but rather to love them, and hopefully to convince them to love me back, for both our sakes.

Even as I write this, I am watching my little friend Charles transition from a problem child to a classroom leader who, after a year and a half of interventions, mentoring sessions, medication, and hours and hours of intensive love, is finally reading on a first grade level.

Each encounter with a kid like Charles, all my interactions with families, every experience I lived through in Walnut Hills, every story I shared via e-mail has helped shape me into a person who deeply appreciates the manifestations of God; grace, mercy, forgiveness, and most importantly love.  This neighborhood and this work has been invaluable to me as an individual in so many ways. It wasn’t easy, and I felt very awkward at times, but I gave it my best and I am confident that the people I was loving on felt my love. 

Sadly, Walnut Hills never really worked for my family. Try as we might, Larita, Zoe, and I as a unit never really figured out the rhythms of this neighborhood. Really, living in a neighborhood like Walnut Hills is a kind of dance. There is little structure to it, like jazz. It can speed up or slow down at the drop of a needle and, like jazz, mastering it requires an unrelenting passion and devotion. As a family unit we just couldn’t find our rhythm here.

So, because we are committed to dancing together, we are moving on to find a different kind of music, and a different kind of ministry. I will finish out the school year at Douglass and continue to visit kids like Charles in my off hours, but after that I look forward to our family bringing all that we have learned in Walnut Hills into a church-based setting. I am excited and, to be honest, a bit anxious, but I really believe God is calling us to move in this direction.

In the meantime, however, I am asking that you support me through the end of May, so that I can truly finish out the school year strong. After all, I may be leaving the neighborhood, but the rest of the Walnut Hills Fellowship will still be here, and my job over these next few months is to do my best to connect the families I am currently working with to that community.  In order to make this work possible for another three months I will need to raise $1,500.

You have carried me this far, and I am counting on you to bring me to the end of this chapter, and to the beginning of the next.  As always, I am so grateful for your support!

Your friend,

Adam (mc till)