Let Me Introduce You to the UCMVA…

In some of my past blogs I mentioned the UCMVA. I believe that this organization is something that all Catholic metal musicians need to be aware of and hopefully, some of you might be interested in joining.

The United Catholic Music and Video Awards is an organization that I have been involved with for the past four years or so – that is, I have gone to the past three award shows and I have had the opportunity to perform at the award show with my band – Critical Mass – and I have also been a presenter. I know that awards and awards shows might not rank as the reason why we practise our ministry – and to be honest with you – the recognition does not translate into more sales or “fame” – but the real reason for these shows is that it is a chance to network with a Catholic music community and meet other musicians who are putting God first through their music. In my past experience in secular music, it is not often that I would have ever considered hanging out with other musicians outside of my genre – maybe I’m revealing to much information about myself – LOL – but at the UCMVA – a hard rock/punk/metal musician like myself can hang out with a country or a “pop” musician due to the levelling power of the Holy Spirit. By putting God first – the walls of ignorance and pride that can exist are torn down.

I stepped on the plane to Calgary this past August with a little anxiety. I was going to participate in the award show as a presenter, a performer, a volunteer for helping with the stage or audio setup and as a participant in the many opportunities for prayer, mass and fellowship. My anxiety was over presenting the whole concept of Catholic Metal – so armed with fresh business cards and (later) a box of 20 t-shirts – I vowed to be true to this up-and-coming ministry and market the idea as much as I could – maybe “market” was the wrong word – I guess I was hoping and praying that this would be accepted by the amazing Catholic musicians that would be in attendance. Last spring – after almost 2 years of research and prayer – I propositioned some of my fellow Catholics about the concept and I faced mixed reviews. The punk side of me got inspired to keep rattling the cage by promoting the idea and through more persistent prayer. So, wearing my tshirt and talking up a storm in Calgary was a feat that I knew was right despite any ridicule, any disbelief, any “well-intended” discussion about me and mis-directed or mis-guided intentions.

But remember what I wrote above about the Holy Spirit’s levelling power? I was faced with genuine interest, fellow Catholic musicians taking my concept, listening and thinking that Catholic metal was an idea whose time had possibly arrived!!! The reactions from such devoted Catholic friends such as Tony Melendez, Bob Halligan Jr. (singer for Ceili Rain who penned “Heads Are Gonna Roll” for Judas Priest, “Rock You” for Helix and other works of metal mastery!!!), my Critical Mass bretheren, Tom Booth, Matt di Fillipo, Dan Duet and others were so inspiring. If you don’t know these Catholic musicians – please Google or Youtube them. For example, Tony is not a metal musician – but he is a true warrior! I dare you to watch him play live and not be filled with the awe and wonder of God – his story can be seen on his website which I will provide below.

I’ll be honest though – the first UCMVA show that I went to in Pheonix was a karaoke style show. It was a great experience but as a metal/punk musician – I thought it was “okay.” The second one I went to in New Orleans was a lot better since ther was more live music. The next year’s show was cancelled due to the death of an amazing man – Bernie Klein. He was amazing and is stll missed – his death brought the 2009 show to a halt – he was one of the key “backbone” organizers and an appropriate decision that was made in cancelling the show. Please keep Bernie’s family in your prayers (thanks).

The 2010 show in Calgary was the first show that was almost completely live and was one of the best shows – this was not only felt by myself but by others who have been a part of this organization since it started. What does this organization have to do with Catholicmetal?? This is a world-wide, international Catholic music organization. They are aware of Catholic metal and if we can keep witnessing the power of Christ through our individual or combined ministries – the sky could be the limit!! What am I referring to?? Wouldn’t it be cool if the awards show had a “metal ” category?? The awards and recognition might not be important – but the opportunity for all of us to have more people be touched by our ministry and the potential for our Catholic community to hear our own powerful brand of praise and worship music would be worth it!!!!??  Wouldn’t it be even cooler to have a Catholic Metal band perform at such a show??  I would love to see any of the bands that we have reviewed so far perform their ministry in front of the international Catholic community that would be represented at any UCMVA show in the near future.   Can you imagine having Catholic Metal music published so others could play some of the songs written by the members of our community in their praise and worship concerts as “cover” tunes??  I could go on percolating “what could be” situations – but this is due to my belief in the UCMVA as a legitimate Catholic music organization that should be of interest to all of us.

Please let me know what you think about the UCMVA. The next one is in St. Antonio, Texas. I am budgeting so I can be there and Catholicmetal will be represented!  If anyone else is interested – let me know.  I am in contact with one of the organizers – Dan Duet – quite often and I can give out information about the event as it unfolds.

 Yours In Christ,

Dave

Oh yeah, before I crash for the night – Tony Melendez’ website is

www.tonymelendez.com    – but be warned – if you don’t know about Tony – the Holy Spirit flowing through him will totally amaze you!!