Live Worship Set with my friends at World Vision

Wade in the Water (I Think I Know What You Started)

Always For Me

Zach and Sal Episode 2

Zach and Sal Episode 1

Pandora

I am excited to announce that my single, What You Do To My Heart, will be included in the Pandora rotation!  Things have not gone live yet but will be soon!  Thanks for all your support yall and keep on listening!!!

What You Do To My Heart

So I do this thing where I go back and listen to a bunch of my old songs, pouring over each one, borderline obsessively.  I don't do this because I'm in love with myself (Kanye. DOWN BOY.) but because my creative mind is almost always hearing new things each time I listen to the tune.  New ideas form, or old ones get cut.  It's truly one of my favorite parts of the creative process!
Anyway,
I wrote this a while back and released it as a single.  I hope you enjoy it!

I Give Myself

Growth is good.  It's essential actually, but that doesn't change the fact that the process absolutely sucks sometimes.  I've found myself in one of those seasons.  I'm completely surrounded by so many amazing things, but in the midst of these blessings I am growing.  Some of this growth feels like fire burning my skin, when in fact it is burning away that which needs not be there.
This song is just a little peace of the process I'm in.

Get Out of the Green Room

I watched a fantastic video via The Verge Network this morning.  It was a talk surrounding the fact, yes FACT, that worship leaders need to get off their butts, get out of the green room, and go connect with people!  I'm wrapping myself in here as well because I have absolutely been one of those leaders who goes and does his thing, and then gets a coffee, plops down on the couch and proceeds to "listen" to the sermon via the web stream.

Jesse Stone, of Austin Stone Worship, lays this out so perfectly and it fires me up!  Do you realize that you have an incredible platform?  You have the opportunity as a worship leader to connect with, love on, lift up, encourage, teach, and so many other things, the people in the congregation you serve.  Listen to the word I just used one more time... "Serve".

I'll be the first to admit that I used to use my platform as a spotlight for my gifts.  I was in college, playing professionally all over the Seattle area and saw it as an opportunity to do more music.  I was squandering the abilities God gave me and was incredibly fortunate to have leaders over me who recognized the potential in me and took time out of their own lives to mentor and teach. 

The bottom line here is this,
the green room is not a lounge, it's a place a preparation and prayer.  Use it as that, and then get out so you can connect with the amazing people around you!  Pray with them, encourage them.  Maybe God has a mentor opportunity just waiting for you.

Watch Jesse Stone's video via The Verge Network here! I loved it and I think you will too.

His Presence Like an Ocean: Too Tired To Sing

There are some morning I get up and genuinely need a boost.  Not just from that first cup of delicious, hot, steaming, perfectly brewed, cup of coffee, but a REAL boost.  This is one of those mornings for me.  I've been running around like crazy with little time to slow down and rest at all.  This coming weekend will be one of the first weekends in the past couple months that I'll actually have some substantial chill time with my wife and daughter (and date night!).


So what do I do when I get to that point of exhaustion?  I press in.

When I feel that I don't have the mental, physical, or spiritual energy to sing I simply soak.  Some of my closest friends have heard me use this term countless times.


Soak: 1. to lie in and become saturated or permeated with water or some other liquid.

2. to penetrate or become known to the mind or feelings.


The incredible thing about God's presence is that it's actually tangible to us!  I've always loved the imagery of His presence being like an ocean, like water, and I'm often floating on my back near the surface when His desire for me is to just let myself sink in to His depths.


If you find yourself in that place today, where you are just tired, and you need to rest and soak in the amazing, healing, refreshing, presence of your Father then tune in to this video.  I've been a big fan of Bethel Church and the worship that comes out of that house, both musically and spiritually.  I love seeing the prophetic nature of His spirit come pouring out of His people as they worship and that happens in this video.  So sit back and let His water wash over you, drowning your exhaustion, refreshing and recharging your body, mind and spirit.


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How To Tell When Your Ministry Has The Wrong Focus

This is such an incredible word!  I've been under leadership like this in the past and have seen the damage a ministry can do to it's people when the focus is shifted from where it truly needs to be.
I encourage you to read through this article and maybe take some time to consider your own ministry.

Brought to you by Worship Links

JD Greear writes: Sadly, most of us can all too easily recount stories of pastors who betrayed their congregations, who hurt the very people God had called them to love, who—in short—made their ministry all about them… As a Christian leader, I don’t hear stories like that and congratulate myself. I hear them and tremble. Because the same pride that has shipwrecked countless other ministries lives in my heart. And in yours.
We need to be constantly vigilant for signs that our ministry has become all about us. Here are a few…  Read more...

Perspective: Creative Greatness

What does it really take to be a great songwriter?  Not just a good one, but a GREAT one.  I don't think the answer is the same for every songwriter.  Each of us has our own unique sounds and lyrical ideas, so it would be impossible for all of us to share the same idea of "greatness".  And let me be clear about the term "greatness".  I'm not looking at this through a "I wanna be gloriously famous and in the lime light for all of eternity" lens.  Greatness is not always seen by the public eye.
For me, being a great songwriter means looking through the eyes of someone else.  It means empathizing with what they might be feeling in their circumstances.  If it's pain, trying to understand it, crafting those emotions in to lyrics.  If it's joy, grabbing on to that, forming it in to a melody.

Much of the time we can become locked in to our own life experiences.  We forget that there is an entire world of creative inspiration right in front of us just waiting to be tapped in to.  So plug in!  Create a story line in your head, maybe even write it out, and then try to transfer it in to a song.  Use your creative muscles to break out of your usual box and try something different.

Here is a song I wrote back in 2009.  While the song sounds as though I'm singing from my own perspective, I actually wrote it with a dear friend in mind.  They were in the midst of a battle with their self image and the truth of who God created them to be.  I walked with them as a support beam, but it was hard to see them experiencing so much pain.  I imagined myself in their shoes, and composed this song.  Fast forward to today and I've found that this song rings truer now in my own heart than when I originally wrote it.

Zach Trandum Presents: I'm So In Love With You

Just a couple years ago I composed this little ditty.  Coffee in hand, surrounded by the walls of our cozy little apartment, my 12 year old Mac working it's tail of to do pretty much anything.  This isn't even close to a finished product, but I came across it in my archives fairly recently and fell in love with the song all over again.

Comparison: Break Yourself

I love being a part of ground breaking events.  Being on the cusp of something new has always been exciting to me.
It was years ago, probably around 2004 or 05, that I ventured in to The Republic of Georgia with a small team of worshipers bent on bringing praise in to the atmosphere of the people of Georgia's homes and cities.  We literally had no other mission other than worshiping and loving on people.  We landed early in the morning and were amazed by the small crowd that showed up to greet us as we got off the plane.  The church we were partnered with had shown up in full force to welcome us to their home.  It was amazing!
As we ventured in to the next day, we were sent out in to the city to visit the homes of many of the church members.  This is where I learned a valuable lesson... When visiting a culture that welcomes guests with lots of food, take small bites.  I think I probably gained about ten pounds that day. I pretty much felt like Jabba the Hutt with legs.

Near the end of our trip, after seeing some of the countries most historic and holy sites, including what most historians believe to be the burial ground of Mathias, we were invited to hold an open worship concert at Tbilisi's national museum. This was a great honor since this type of event was pretty much unheard of.

The concert kicked off amazingly well!  We had a packed house!  We did a handful of our favorite songs, and then started in to a small set of jazz standards.  I was an aspiring jazz vocalist fresh out of high school, so this was an awesome opportunity to test my chops.  After a few more tunes we had 2 student musicians ask if they could join us for an improv jam session.  I was excited about this, at first... When the flute player started completely shredding an incredible solo, while playing piano at the same time, I pretty much decided that I would just go crawl in a hole and hide.  These two guys, who just came out of nowhere, were AMAZING musicians.  They hadn't even graduated high school yet!

Though I was enjoying our time, I began comparing my own abilities to theirs, slowly sinking deeper in to a state of self conscious, depression and ineffectiveness.

Comparing yourself to others can destroy you when you look through the lens of self consciousness.  So don't do it!  I know that's easier said than done, I still battle with this concept and probably always will to some extent.  The difference is that now I recognize it when it happens.  So I'm shining a light on it for YOU!  Recognize it!!!  God did not design you to be like that other guitar player, singer, or drummer on the stage.  he didn't design you to speak or preach like that other pastor at the church that's bigger than yours.  There are skills you can sharpen, sure, but you will never be exactly like another, so begin practicing rest.  Rest in who God's created YOU to be.

I'm not the wisest dude on the planet, so I'm not going to give you a step by step instructional video on how to "be you".  Talk to God, get some wise council if you need it, but just start reprogramming your mind and heart to recognize that YOU were created uniquely by your father.  If you continue to live life by comparing your own gifts to others, you will only succeed in breaking yourself.

You and I: An Original Song by Zach Trandum (Featuring Sarah Trandum)

I have some pretty amazing people in my life.  God has richly blessed me with family and friends that have loved me enough to not only walk with me and rejoice in the good times, but to call me on my crap in the tougher times.  The single greatest, most amazing (and super hot) person in my life is my incredible wife, Sarah.  When I step back and look at the gift God gave me in her I am, quite literally, speechless.  And that's saying a lot because I like words lol.  This girl sharpens me, encourages me, challenges me, recharges me, along with so many other things.  And to top it off, just when I thought things couldn't get any better, she gave me a daughter.  Did I mention she's smoke'n hot? Cuz yeah, she is.  BONUS!!!!
Back in 2009, right when Sarah and I started dating, I was the worship pastor of a small church in Mount Vernon Washington.  Sarah would drive more than 2 hours to come visit me.  On one particular afternoon I was in the church neck deep in a songwriting session.  When she arrived I was getting ready to lay down a scratch track for my records.  Knowing that she's had quite a bit of musical experience and training herself, I asked Sarah to sing with me on the tune.  It took her all of 2 minutes to latch on to the melody, find the harmonies, and remember the lyrics.  I've been doing music for a long time and I still cant pick things up as fast as she does (kinda drives me nuts lol).
Well kids, this is the recording we did that day.  Nothing special at all about the production.  Its just the two of us singing live, worshiping God.  I sincerely hope you enjoy the tune!

Let the Music Thump You

If you could make worship music literally thump in your chest, I'm pretty sure this is what it would sound like.  One of the reasons I've fallen head over heals in love with Dubstep is because it is so insanely creative.  Hank Hill may label it as a bunch of toilet noises... But Dubstep has a musical quality that you just can't get anywhere else and now we're hearing more and more of it breaking in to Christian music. 

Whether you agree or not, these Christian Dubstep sounds are worth a listen. Let your ears drown in the thump.

Seasons of Songs: It's Not Time Yet

Ecclesiastes 3:1
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..."

I recently came across one of my old lyric books (I've got a pile of them boxed up...It can drive my wife crazy lol).  Not to toot my own horn, but I was rather blown away at some of the lyrics I've written just a few short years ago.  There was incredible insight and metaphorical poetry taking place that I didnt realize I had in me at the time.  Needless to say, I had to jump on those papers immediately and start crafting the words in to songs.  

Like a swordsmith preparing a new blade, I unsheathed my Ipad and went to work on the words, lines, and phrases contained in one of my notebooks.  I would love to tell you that one of the most amazing musical works I've ever created came out of that time but I would be lying.  A big, fat, nothing came out of it. As hard as I tried, as much thought as I put in to it, I just couldn't come up with anything that felt right and I was frustrated as to why I couldn't put the pieces together.  Why wasnt this working?

Well, I've developed a theory (though I'm not usually one to theorize anything at all).  

Just as we go through seasons in life, I believe certain worship songs can be marked for a specific season.  It may remain locked to you until that season starts.  Even as I'm writing this to you I can recall moments in my own life where I've poured back over old lyrics that had frustrated me before and suddenly sprung to life in that moment.

My point in all of this is to encourage you to not become discouraged.  The lyrics you write are important and may not show fruit for a while.  Continue to create!  When the right season comes and the door is opened that song will bust open from the depths of your chest like a wild river.


“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
― Albert Camus

Songs that Hit You: Nothing but the Blood (Featuring Julieanne Marie)

There are certain songs that hit you.  As you walk from day to day with the radio playing or your headphones in, marching along to your job, letting the sounds of your favorite band pump in to your ear drums, there will eventually be a song that, almost physically, punches you in the heart.  Maybe it's the lyrics that seem to be speaking directly to you and whatever circumstance you find yourself in.  It could be a haunting melody that moves you to tears.  It might be the ramped up energy of a chorus that boosts you as you push through the last mile of your morning run.  What song is it for you?

I had the honor of sharing the stage with a rising star, Julieanne Marie.  We didn't think we were going to have time to sing this song, but were asked to by the event organizer.  He'd heard us practice the music before things kicked off and I am SO glad he asked us to sing it as encore.

This is "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus".  What an incredible tune this is!  I don't want to say it's rare, but music usually doesn't strike me to my core the way that this song does.  I dig, and dig, and dig to find truly great music, great singers, and great songs.  This timeless song is an honest, outcry of the heart as it declares Jesus as the only source of life and strength.

I hope you enjoy this worshipful duet featuring Julieanne Marie (watch out for this girl!  She's taking off!!!)

What You Can Do: Breaking the Creative Box

Being a student of vocal jazz, I was exposed to one of the more creative sides of the genre.  I can't put a label on exactly what drew me to vocal improv (or "scat").  I fell in love with jazz at an early age and have been border line obsessed with it since then.  As I began developing my abilities as a vocalist I started listening to artists like Kurt Elling and Mark Murphy, who are known for their incredible scat skills.

One of the reasons I love vocal improvisation is the fact that it is insanely creative.  What would happen if we included aspects like this in to worship music!?  Awesome is what would happen.  If anything it would be a venture outside the normal box that so much of worship music is stuck in right now.  I'm not dissing on what the current popular sound is, I'm just saying that we weren't created to be creatively limited.  So how can we bust out off the box?

Here is a cover I did of an oldy that I'm sure you'll recognize.  I put my own spin on it.



But Seriously, what are your thoughts on creative worship music?  What aspects and cross genre sounds could you incorporate to usher in a new sound?

The bible tells us that we are created in His image.  This means that God, being the ultimate creative being, made us with the ability to be hugely creative.  But how do we get those creative juices flowing?   How do we take old songs and make them feel new?  Here are a few thoughts I have on this subject:

1. Listen like crazy.  Not just to the stuff you usually stick to.  Venture away from your DC Talk CD's and branch out.  Charge your creative batteries by listening to other creative people.  David Crowder is a great example of a massively creative writer.

2. Play with what you're playing.  Try taking the worship tunes you're used to playing one way and take them in a different direction with a different feel.  Who knows, maybe Mighty To Save would sound awesome as a Ska song. 

3. If you're a songwriter, get together with other songwriters and bounce ideas off each other.  Let creativity inspire creativity!

4. Make time for yourself to sit down and create.  Even if nothing of real substance comes out of the time spent, you're still working those muscles.  Creativity takes practice!

Tale of the Tambourine Lady: Are You a Distraction in Worship?

It was a glorious Sunday morning.  The congregation was congregating, pastors were pastoring, and the worship team was doing that prayer circle thing where you're invited to lead out as the spirit leads but then just stand there in awkward, yet reverent, silence.  After our stirring "go team" we ventured out onto the stage and took our positions, readying ourselves for an encounter with the Father.
Throwing my guitar strap over my shoulder, I made sure everything was in tune and stepped up to the mic.  Looking out over the good people of our church I did what any good worship leader should do to start the service and inspire all those groggy, but dedicated, first service folks... I proceeded with a short series of irritating questions.

"Are you excited to be in the house of the Lord?  Are you ready to worship?  Won't you stand with me?"

As people began slowly rising from their seats I noticed a new face sitting in the second row.  She glanced up at me and I mouthed the word "welcome" to her as she smiled.  I'm always glad to see new people joining us, then I saw her retrieve the largest tambourine I've ever seen, which had somehow been hiding in her purse.  Had Mary Poppins come to church today?  Whose taking care of the Banks children!?  Who will give them their spoon full of sugar!?!?
Needless to say, a feeling of dread crept over me as if Miss Poppins had snapped her fingers and commanded it too.

We kicked off the first song, nice and up tempo, and I watched as our guest stretched out, wound up, and began beating that giant tambourine like it had just tried to steal her purse.
The problem here was that I did not have in ear monitors and could hear every single, delightful, thump and tinkle from our new self appointed team member who refused to confine her expression of worship to the prison cell we call "tempo".  She was flying her freedom flag and stomping those feet like the devil himself was directly under her pew.

Well, after repeated attempts to get the attention of one of our ushers I gave up and focused as best I could on the remainder of the set... Apparently the lovely lady and I had the same plan except she wanted a solo.

Why am I sharing this?  Because it is possible to be a distraction in worship.  I'll be the first to stand up and advocate for freedom of expression but you also need to be aware of the people around you.  Are you taking away from their experience?  Are you slugging then in the head with a gigantic tambourine?  You can argue that focusing on something like this will only take YOUR attention away from worship.  Its not a matter of removing all your attention from worship.  Just be aware of where you're waving your flag (I got clocked in the face by a worship flag once) or if the massive percussion instrument you toted with you to church is going to be appropriate for the setting.  You might need to just wait for a your Sunday evening family jam sessions.