BENSHEPPARDMUSIC.COM

News 

Feb 01, 2012
Still looking for opportunities in 2012 to share the music God has given me.  In the mean time we have been working on trying to build a strong foundation for ministry going forward.  God has been opening doors and I am trying to walk through them and follow His leading. 

Dec 25th, 2011
Enjoying time with family during this Christmas season.  I know this is often overstated, but I am so struck by how much Christmas these days is about commercialism and not about Christ.  As much as I enjoy giving, I really have come to dislike it this time of year, only because it so strongly overtakes the reason for the season.  I am considering becoming the Grinch next year when it comes to gifts with the goal of reminding my kids what Christmas is all about. Jesus did not come into a world of gifts.  He humbled Himself and was born in a manger.  King of Kings and Lord of Lords born in a barn (literally).  Yet we think on his birthday we should get all sorts of things.  ... are we really greater than He was?  ....just a thought this Christmas. 

Dec 8th, 20011
Played our first Christmas Concert tonight at Emanuel Baptist Church in Sioux Falls, SD.  Had a great time with the people there.  Lots of great homeade Christmas goodies/snacks afterwards!
 



Nov 21, 2011
Black Friday Week Special on Ben's new CD "Unspeakable Love."  5 copies shipped to your house for $40 including tax and shipping.  Take advantage of this special offer and give the gift of worship for Christmas.  To order e-mail your name/address to bensheppardmusic@gmail.com and put "Black Friday Special" in the subject line.  Offer expires Sunday Nov 27th at midnight.  This is a great chance to support our ministry and also get some Christmas shopping done at the same time.  Thanks for your support. 

Nov 10, 2011
Back in the studio working on little project.  Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the month so I can release it.  Enjoying a little change of pace.

Oct 30, 2011
Played in Hills, MN tonight.  It was the first time I got to try out the new sound system we just purchased.  (...thankfully it seemed to work well.)
We enjoyed our time at Bethlehem Lutheran church hanging out with friends and neighbors.  Plus I have to say something about our Lutheran friends.  Which is this: stained glass windows are very cool!  I know it is a little cheesy to say that, but there is something really neat about the artwork that is found in a church stained glass window. 

Oct 20, 2011
Got my new worship CD in today.  Very exciting.  I am really enjoying these new worship songs.  The new CD "Unspeakable Love" is now available at Crossroads Book and Music in Sioux Falls.  It is also available directly through me for $12  (e-mail bensheppardmusic@gmail.com to order.  It is also available at most of your favorite download sites and through the Ben's Store page of this site!  Please download it and take a listen to it.  If you are a pastor or worship leader I would encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to the songs.  I think you will enjoy them and find them very usable for corporate worship times.  If you have purchased or downloaded the CD I would love to have you shoot me an e-mail and let me know what you think! 

Sept 30,2011
Spent most of September finishing up recording my new worship project "Unspeakable Love."  Finishing touches are finally done, artwork is proofed and ready to go.  Now to get the CD duplicated and available.  I will keep everyone posted on when it will be
available.  I am really pleased with how it sounds.  My prayer is that God uses the new worship songs in powerful ways!

Sept 25,2011
Had a great opportunity today to help lead worship with some friends at 1st Assembly of God in Sioux Falls, SD.  It was Jeremiah Johnson's last day there and we pulled out all the stops to send him off in style.  It was great playing with him, Mike & Zach Dresch, Eli Logan, Matt Fjerkenstad, Tyler Sieh, and Phil on keys!  Great bunch of guys and a great day rocking the worship service!  I got to pull out the bass for the first time in quite a while.  It was a blast depite the blisters! 

August 13,2011
Back in the studio again today adding some electric guitar parts to songs.  Making some good progress on the album.  Still hoping we can get it out around November of this year!

August 12, 2011
Perfomed for the first time ever at the Sioux Empire Fair today in Sioux Falls, SD.  Great stage, great sound system, great tent, however the smallest crowd I have ever played for.  It was still fun though and my boys enjoyed the fair!

August 7, 2011
Had a great time in Grand Rapids and Hill City today.  It was great to be back in the church I grew up in this morning and be able to share some of the songs that God has given me.  We also enjoyed our time in Hill City this evening ministering and meeting some new friends. 


July 23, 2011
Things in the studio are coming along well.  Started the process of tweaking some tracks - adding drum parts -keyboard parts etc.  If everything goes well over the next couple months I am hoping to be able to release my new worship project in November!  Stay tuned for more updates. 


July 7th, 2011
Did special music and shared a short message at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Hills, MN.  It was nice doing an event in our home town and seeing our neighbors there.  ...also my boys went to VBS there this week and enjoyed every minute of it.  80 kids attended out of our little town of 500 people.  What a neat community church. 

June 5th, 2011
Had a great concert at Calvary Church in Sioux Falls, SD.  Spent some time hanging out with some friends from there at the DQ afterwards.  Not much better than a concert followed by some ice cream and good company! 



May 25,2011
This weekend we are going to attempt to shoot a music video for my song "Streets of Gold."  Praying that everything goes well and that the weather holds out.  This is my first attempt at doing something like this so it could be interesting!

April 30, 2011
Spent the day today recording some more songs for my new worship project.  I am really excited about some of the new songs God has given me.  I am looking forward to sharing them in the near future. 
    I attempted something new today by trying to play drums for one of my songs today.  It was a lot better in theory than in reality!  Oh well, live and learn.
    I am still looking or ministry opportunities for summer/fall 2011 so if  you are interested in having me come to your church/event please let me know.  You can e-mail me at bensheppardmusic@gmail.com
    
April 6, 2011
Had a concert in Canton, SD tonight at Ressurrection Life Fellowship church.  Talked my wife Deanna into singing a few songs with me.  Met some great people there.  The church meets in the old school there.  It's a really neat set up.  Lots of storage room, which most churches do not have.  I posted some photo's from the concert on my facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ben-Sheppard/151719324867?ref=ts

April 3, 2011
Had a great "guys" trip this weekend.  Ate too much BBQ in the Kansas City area.  Had a great time sharing some of my music and leading worship at Christ Chapel in Platte City, MO.    See pictures on my wall at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ben-Sheppard/151719324867?ref=ts

March 29, 2011
Starting today download my album
"Things I Think About" at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/BenSheppard
for only $5 through the month of April.  All proceeds will go towards recording the new worship project I am working on.  I would appreciate your support in this new endevor!  God Bless! 

March 11, 2011
Just got approached by a new online independent radio station that wanted to start playing my music.  You can hear it on the Minnesota Christian music channel at http://www.imradio.com/?f=artists_view&id=18167  It is a new station and I think they are working some of the kinks out.  So be patient.  But it is nice that they wanted to put the music on the air. 

Feb 14th, 2011
Spent some more time in the studio today tweaking some songs.  I know what a romantic I am!  Taking time off on Valentines day and spending it in the studio.  ...Well the good news is I brought my wife with to help out with some vocals!  We had a great lunch at our favorite Gyro place!  Nick's Gyro's in Sioux Falls! 

Jan 9th, 2011
Braved a snowstorm and headed to Mitchell, SD for a concert.  Thankfully the weather did not keep too many people away.  It did keep the Children's Pastor home though so we involved the kids by making everyone (including Pastor Kjerstad) participate in the old kids song "Father Abraham!"  Thankfully he was a good sport! 



Dec 27th, 2010
I've been at Cathouse Studio in Sioux Falls the last couple weeks working with Mike Dresch and Dave Moody on my new worship project.  We have a few songs roughed out so far.  It feels good to start laying some of these tracks down.  I am excited about this project and these new songs!  Stay tuned for more updates. 

Dec 25th, 2010
I've been very dissapointed this year at most of the "Christmas" specials on TV this year that have nothing to do with Christ.  Very few of them even mention the true meaning of Christmas. 

Dec 1, 2010
Just booked a little studio time this month to start working on my new worship project.  Excited about going in and starting to lay down some new songs.  To support the project download my current CD from cdbaby, itunes, or amazon.  I would love to have your support to get the music out there!  
 


November 14, 2010
Had a great concert in Sioux Falls opening for Jeremiah Johnson.  You can check him out at http://www.spendingtalents.com/Also met a Christian Rap artist from Sioux Falls Str8 Flowin.  It was great hanging out with them both .  Check Str8 Flowin out at
http://www.str8flowin.com/ . 

November 13, 2010
Had a lot of fun at the Missions banquet tonight in Luverne, MN.  Great authentic Mexican food, a great pinata missions fund raiser, and a fun concert!  It was great to see missionaries to Costa Rica Jon and Jen Dahlager who we had not seen for about 10-12 years.  They are doing a great work with PK's and MK's down there!  

November 7, 2010
Had a great service today in Sandstone, MN.  I did some special music, led worship, and spoke.  Had a good time with the great folks at the church there.  
    I also got a spike buck while deer hunting in the area.  So all in all it was a good weekend!  I realized how out of shape I am as I was dragging the 160lbs or so of deer out of the woods.  ...So I guess I know what my new years resolution will be next year :(

September 25-26, 2010
Put on a concert Sat night in Jefferson, WI for a missions fundraising dinner.  Also spoke and did special music at Rock River Assembly of God on Sunday morning.  Drove 950 miles over the weekend, but it was worth it to be a part of what God is doing over in WI.  Met some great people there too. 
    In an unrelated story we ate at a little truck stop called the "Pine Cone" in Johnson Creek while we were there.  Huge portions and low prices.  They make donuts literally 4-5 times the size of donuts anywhere else.  Check it out if you are ever in the area!  
    To see a quick clip on me playing my song "Noah" at the missions dinner check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgjimPwzvFA .  You can also check out some pictures from the weekend on my Facebook page.

September 15, 2010
Posted a picture montage with Jacob's Song at youtube.com.  Take a peek at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_dtzBjxlmA

September 5, 2010
Had a great service in Luverne this weekend.  Enjoyed playing with the worship team there! 

July 11, 2010
Celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this weekend in the Black Hills. 
Had a great time doing music at Calvary Temple in Spearfish, SD.  It was a refreshing time and a great service that morning.  Very powerful move of God there in the morning service.  ...also drove Spearfish Canyon for the first time ever.  Would highly recommend that for anyone.  It is beautiful! 

June 13, 2010
Spent some time this week and two weeks ago with the great people in Luverne MN.  Led worship, spoke, did special music, and had some great fellowship there!  Thanks for bringing us in. 

June 6, 2010
Had an opportunity to lead worship and do special music at two churches in Grand Rapids, MN today.  My wife and I led an acoustic worship set and did special music this morning at the Alliance church.  This evening we got together with a couple friends and led a more contemporary worship/special music set and New Song church.  We had a blast both places.  Below are a couple pictures from the Alliance church. 




May 23, 2010
Looking forward to some of the upcoming opportunities for ministry in the next few months!  Thanks to all those who have invited me to come in and share music at your churches.  I appreciate the doors that have opened up.  I am still looking for more opportunities this year, so if you are interested please check out the "booking" page. 

March 20, 2010
I have been working on some new worship songs lately.  Worship music is what got me interested in playing guitar in the first place.  It is still something I am a part of almost every week at some level.  If God gives me the songs and brings in the finances I think my next album will be a worship album. 

Jan 24, 2010
Played a concert at the Firehouse Underground Coffee House in Sioux Falls SD, last night.  The weather was pretty rough so the turn out was not the best.  But in spite of that we had fun!



Jan 1, 2010
I am looking forward to a great year!  I am praying that God opens up many opportunities for me to get out and share the new songs across the country.  Currently, I have started rehearsing for some upcoming concerts.  I still have some openings this spring on the calendar, so if anyone would like to bring me into their church for a concert please contact me.  Contact information is available on the booking page.  I would love to talk to you about putting something on the calendar for 2010!

Dec 3, 2009
I just found out this last week that the album is now available both through cdbaby.com and itunes.  Check it out and spread the word.  Thanks to everyone that has become a fan and/or left feedback about "Things I Think About" on Facebook etc!  I am glad that many of you are enjoying the CD and spreading the word.  Thanks! 
...Coming soon to the web site will be a Lyrics and Story Behind The Songs page.  Watch for it.   

Nov 11, 2009 
I just picked up my new album "Things I Think About" in the Twin Cities last weekend.  It is now available from me, and shortly will be available online as well.  I am also beginning to book concerts for the months of Feb-April of 2010 for the "Things I Think About" Tour.  If you are interested in booking a concert during those months I would love to get it on the calendar in the near future.  Please contact me for booking at bensheppardmusic@gmail.com
 
Oct 22, 2009 
I have been in the studio this week putting the finishing touches on my album.  I am hoping to finish up in the studio this friday.  I have also been working on the layout and CD design and am trying to get the finishing touches on that done as well.  If things keep progressing well I should be on target to have the CD available for sale mid/late November.  It is nice to see some light at the end of the tunnel!

October 10, 2009
I have been in the studio for the last 3 months working on my first album "Things I Think About".  It is an acoustic based Contemporary Christian album.  I have been recording with Mike Dresch at Cathouse Studios in Sioux Falls, SD.  Hopefully if everything works well the album will be complete and available by late November.   ...more info to come.