1. Visit http://music.theblackthornproject.com

2. Preorder Reckless by entering enter your email, shipping address, and electronic payment. You’ll be among the first to get the new album when it comes out.

3. Check your email to start immediate download of the “Mud Song” rough mix

3-b. Fun notes on this version of “Mud Song”: In the Reckless session, the recording of “Mud Song” takes on a bit of Andean influence since the Simple Series release. This is a result of Tim’s recent trips to Peru where he was given a charango. The song features Steve Holley on upright bass, Karla Adolphe, Aaron Strumpel (also producer of Reckless), and Ben and Robin Pasley from Enter the Worship Circle: Fourth Circle on group party vocals! Tim and Aaron do the lo-fi percussion.

4. Realize you are a part of something very special. Many things, actually. Be thankful you are on the earth. It needs you.

One of the best things about Reckless is that it is not just our CD.

The vision (presented here in slick photo-rich PDF) was born in late 2009. A few days before Christmas, Tim dialed Aaron Strumpel from a Target parking lot in Dallas while Laurie was inside.

“Hey, do you want to make a worship album together?”

Aaron agreed to partner with us to make what is now Reckless, and since that moment many of our ministry partners and fans have also made this project their own by taking it personally and investing in it. They’ve given their prayers, time, talent, and dollars to share in it as a ministry endeavor.

The only thing standing in our way now is a mere $1600, which we need to finish the post-production and manufacturing of the physical CDs. We have committed to producing the CD debt-free.

That’s where preorders come in. There are two ways you can join the community that will link arms with us and get this puppy out in June. Fortunately there are some lovely rewards involved.

1. Preemptive Viral Strike.

This way is so easy we’re calling on every single person who likes our music to do it. You are now obligated.

Spread the word. We hope you’ll recommend the album to many of your friends anyway, so we’re asking you to do a preemptive strike:

Use word of mouth, Facebook, Twitter, etc, to say something personal about what TBP’s music is worth. Post a link to music.theblackthornproject.com. Click that link and then click “share” for an easy way to embed a snippet of “Mud Song” into your blog, Facbeook page, etc. Ask your friends to preorder along with you. Preorder one for a friend or family member! Your personal recommendation is priceless.

Nice job. Now, there are two levels of preorder.

2-A. Casual Level: Pre-order the CD now for a $15 donation and get a free download of a rough-mixed “Mud Song” (listen to a snippet here).

OR, if you want to put a larger (tax-deductable) amount toward the completion of the album,

2-Q. Stellar Level: Pre-order the CD now for a donation of $25 or more and receive the free download of the rough-mix of “Mud Song” as well as a hipster Reckless button and our personal thanks on an autographed poster of the original, yet-to-be-revealed, album art. Shwanky.

No matter which option you choose, you will undoubtedly be the first to receive your copy of Reckless upon it’s release. Yes, we’re that close to being able to hold our new CD, Reckless, in our hands (hopefully be by the end of June). When that happens we will immediately tell our hands to stopping hogging it and get to work shipping it straight to your ears.

Follow any of the links above or click here to pre-order your copy of Reckless today!

PS, thank you!

Aw, we shouldn’t have. But we did because we love your ears.

Lyrics, CD quality downloads, & more here!

The story of being rescued from slavery and coming into family and then into our inheritance as heirs and rulers can be seen all over the scriptures. Whenever a story becomes a motif–a theme–we know it’s speaking something important. It’s not just archaic happenstance; it is revealing God’s heart for you and me. From Egypt to Canaan. From Joseph’s prison cell to his throne. From the lost son’s pig sty to his welcome home feast! This story happens time and time again.

And it is happening.

African and Chinese orphans are the beloved sons and daughters of some of our good friends. Girls redeemed from the sex trade are finding places of refuge in the people of Jesus who are risking life and limb to call these “nobodies” their own.

And then there’s your journey…

“What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate… Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”

Romans 8: 15-17

So enjoy this barnyard party song about adoption and leave a comment to share with us how the Spirit testifies of your sonship and we’ll celebrate together.

You can share and download “Mud Song” and the whole Simple Series for free, or you can sow some dollars into the project.

How To Get A Songsheet With Lyrics And Chords, & How To Download Free:

Pretty slick: When you download the whole Simple Series album, a songsheet with lyrics and guitar chords for Mud Song will accompany it.

To download free, click here to open our music page then choose “Download” for Simple Series or the track you want and enter “0″ in the “name your price” field. We’ll ask for your email address so we can give you a chance to opt-in to future posts electronically. Despite what the computer tells you, you won’t be subscribed automatically. If you are already subscribed, everything will remain cool.

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If you like this song, please share it!
By Timothy Floyd Thornton and Laura Elizabeth Thornton (ASCAP)
CCLI song # 5588794
© Bricklayer Music Publishing 2006. All rights reserved. Please email us for a license to re-record or include this song in media.

LYRICS, CD QUALITY DOWNLOADS (free or you can sow something in to keep us rolling–your choice), & MORE HERE!

Tim and I wrote this song specifically for someone we know who has been living under the weight of things she feels as though she will never be able to overcome or defeat. It’s been years of her own wounds dictating in her mind who she is and what she’s worth. The enemy comes and lies to all of us–he sneaks in through anything he can and tries to separate us from the love of the Father and convince us that we are destined for nothing great. As children of God who are filled with his Holy Spirit, we know that our redemption, not only from death but also from what the enemy would have us believe about our lives, has already been won.

For more meditation on these themes, take a look at Psalm 57 and Psalm 18. We were reading these as we wrote this song.

Songwriting and recording notes: I have a love-hate relationship with this song. Over a year ago, we published a podcast with the informal just-arranged first version of it. Well, I don’t think we’ve played the song since that recording. We loved the song, we just didn’t feel like it did what we wanted it to. We knew it needed some changes, and although it would get in my head constantly, I couldn’t figure out where it needed to go. So now, one baby and a move to a different house later, we revisited it, leaning in the direction of a worship song–we cut out the end section, we changed the melody of the verses, we changed the lyrics to the second verse. Aaron Strumpel came to our house with an arsenal of preamps and mics and we recorded it live for the Simple Series. I finally feel like it’s done. Ha!!

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If you like this song, please share it on facebook, twitter, or (imagine) in person.
By Timothy Floyd Thornton and Laura Elizabeth Thornton (ASCAP)
Registered with CCLI
© Bricklayer Music Publishing 2006. All rights reserved. Please email us for a license to re-record or include this song in media.

Inspired by Psalm 139, this is the first song I wrote after the birth of our first daughter, Elizabeth Caroline, whose name means “Beautiful woman consecrated to God.”

I wrote it for her as a mother’s blessing, that she would know her place in the Father’s heart and trust in his goodness.

I wanted to post this as the next song as we are inside 3 weeks until the birth of our second daughter, and my heart is full of joy and anticipation.

–Laurie

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If you like this song why not leave a comment? Please share it with friends; feature it on your facebook, blog, or what-not; and put it on your next mix. If you wish to sow into our ministry or join our partners community, that would be great. If you don’t want to right now, then keep on rockin’ in the free world.

“Too Wonderful” by Laura Elizabeth Thornton & Timothy Floyd Thornton, copyright Bricklayer Music Publishing (ASCAP) 2009, registered with CCLI.

Some who know me (Laurie) know that in my mommy-hood I go to Wal-Mart to be alone. Oh yes. Wal-Mart. On this particular night I went to Wal-Mart because of that thing… That feeling that makes me want to call everyone I know for some “you’re the most awesome person in the universe” encouragement that my black hole of need tells me I must have.

But, in the spirit of this current season of taking charge of that need and not succumbing to it, I escaped. Not to the beautiful rivers that run just outside town or to one of the hiking trails that I can access just a few blocks away, but to Wal-Mart, the place I go to be alone.

I finished my trip empty-handed. I didn’t buy anything except more time with myself and my self-doubt. It was one of those nights when those voices were particularly loud in my ears, lying to me about who I am, how I behave. And I just kept getting more and more tired of being myself and not someone else who might have it more together than I do.

As I got in the car and pulled out of the parking lot, I cried to the Father out loud: “I can hear everybody else’s voice but yours. My head is so full that I can’t sort through what’s true and what’s not. I’m tired of being so concerned with others’ and my own expectations and opinions of me.” I asked the Lord to get everybody’s voice, including my own, out of my head. “I need to hear it from you. . .who am I to you? How do you see me?”

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If you like this song why not leave a comment? Please share it with friends; feature it on your facebook, blog, or what-not; and put it on your next mix. If you wish to make a donation or join our partners community, that would be great. If you don’t want to right now, then keep on rockin’ in the free world.

“Speak to Me” by Laura Elizabeth Thornton copyright Bricklayer Music Publishing (ASCAP) 2009, registered with CCLI.

One of our goals in 2009 is to eliminate barriers between you and the music we make. There’s lots of good new stuff to come too: we’re working on a full string-section version of the new song “Speak to Me” as we, um, speak. It sounds awesome. But I can’t wait until it’s mixed (hopefully just a few days though) to start giving you those free downloads we’ve been promising.

We just returned form Winter Park where we encountered a worshiping community at Timberline Lodge that got really fired up about music worship. It was so fun to be with folks who began to understand the value of each part of the body, and that when we apply that to worship, we get to be creative and free!

We’re so glad to know the folks at Timberline, and are grateful for Dan and Sarah putting us up in their house. Mary took this photo for us. I think I see Stefan and Spencer back there. I’m not sure who the lovely socks belong to.

In keeping with that theme (creative and free, not lovely socks), we thought we’d give away one of our original songs for worship together, “Spirit of Heaven,” from The Bluing of the Sky. Anyone can download it by clicking on the widget above, and you can pass the files along to your friends.

If you have any issues with downloading, unzipping, or if you experience anything weird or life-changing (like a surge of new worship-leader super-powers), please let us know with a comment on this post and we’ll fix it. Or be happy with you if it’s good.