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As published on page B8 on February 18, 2005
NEW
MUSIC
Prayer leads to CD of gospel
music for Maritimers
 (Courtesy Stephanie
Mainville/4Shore Music
2004)
Stephanie Mainville will
launch her new CD Family March 14 at St. James
the Less 1770 Rothesay Rd. in
Rothesay.
| | MIKE
MULLEN
Religion
Stephanie
Mainville's first CD release, Family, truly is an answer
to prayer.
The Darlings Island mother of four
traces the roots of her Celtic/gospel recording to a
simple but earnest prayer she breathed prior to the
Worship Together Conference held in Saint John in the
fall of 2001.
After declaring her willingness to
be a vessel He could speak through, she asked, "Lord,
where are the songs that represent the sounds of our
region and Your heart in destiny for us in Atlantic
Canada?"
God, she says, was quick to
answer.
"That very night I wrote the lyrics to what
is now The Maritime Song on the CD," recalls Mrs.
Mainville, 34-year-old wife of management consultant
Kenn Mainville.
"The next day, I sat down and all
the music came. It was a real flood of activity for me,
just to be be hearing the sounds and putting all that
music together."
The lyrics read: "Flow Lord,
make our people free. Take us to Your sea. Our hearts
hear Your voice through the wind and the waves. There's
a sound that's calling me. God of the islands and all
who smell the sea - the Atlantic, you Maritimes, rise
up! The Lord's come to meet you and He's
dancing."
Excited and a bit overwhelmed, the
accomplished vocalist, violinist and pianist first
thought that maybe God was treating her to her own
personal symphony.
She shared her song the first
time with Days of Elijah songwriter Robin Mark and his
band members when they visited the region. "We prayed
(together) and we felt God had imparted something," Mrs.
Mainville says. "They encouraged me to keep
writing."
With the encouragement of her own
pastor, Rev. Eric Phinney of St. James the Less Anglican
Church in the Renforth section of Rothesay, and the help
of pastor/producer Tim Davidson of the Saint John
Vineyard Christian Fellowship, she recorded and released
a demo of The Maritime Song in January of
2002.
"After I started to share The Maritime Song
and sing it in different churches, there was a
tremendous response from the people," Mrs. Mainville
says. "They felt the sounds, or prophetic nature of that
song. Some were responding in intercessions and others
were really released in the dance. There was just a real
awareness of God's unique plan and purpose for us in the
Atlantic Region.
"So, for myself, God just kept
giving me a heart for our region, our area. I continued
to be open to Him to use the sound of the fiddle to
express worship and thanks, and to give gratitude to the
God who made us to be, our history, and who we are going
to become."
And the music, she says, just kept
coming prompting a decision in October of 2003 to put
together a whole CD project. Mr. Davidson agreed to
engineer and produce the album. They went into the
studio in February of 2004 and the CD was completed last
fall.
She said the confirmation she had been
seeking came out of an August 2003 conference in
Summerside, P.E.I., where Vineyard recording artist
Graham Ord was leading worship. "Now, where are the
fiddles?" he asked. "I thought you people (in the
Maritimes) were known for your expression and your
vitality and your dance."
Mrs. Mainville knew he
had been hearing about other East Coast musicians,
secular perhaps, since there was little in the area of
Christian music reflecting that distinct
sound.
She e-mailed Mr. Ord. He encouraged her
with words, prayer, and gave her a real big boost by
taking time out during the 2004 Atlantic Awakenings
Conference to spend four days in the studio with her. He
and his bass player, Peter Daveyduck, both contributed
to Family.
I found this album is easy on the ears
and evokes a response to worship but, for non-musician
like myself, it's difficult to describe the diverse
musical mix.
So, I will defer to those promoting
it.
"This independent release is a Celtic/gospel
recording that takes listeners on a musical journey with
songs bursting with high-energy Maritime fiddling,
rocking inspirational praise songs, and deeply moving,
intimate heart-filled worship," they say.
That,
however, only tells a small part of the story because
each song has one.
Take the title cut Family, for
example.
Mrs. Mainville says it came out of her own
desire "to see all generations come together in our
church communities, fellowshipping together, worshipping
together, doing outreach together."
The youngest
of three children of Carolyn and Duke Murray of the
Kingston Peninsula, Mrs. Mainville's family has always
been important to her. Her sister and viola player
Shannon Creary is among a strong lineup of local
musicians who have contributed to the
album.
There's a lot more than could be said
about this attractively packaged first CD if space
allowed. But better still, check it out for yourself.
Family is already available for purchase at Anglican
House, the Canadian Bible Society and the Baptist
Bookroom in Saint John, La Bonne Nouvelle in Moncton, or
at http://www.stephaniemainville.com/ on
the web.
You're also encouraged to attend the CD
launch scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 14, at St.
James the Less, 1770 Rothesay Rd. The event will feature
worship, some tracks from the CD, special pricing, and a
door prize of a gourmet dinner for four.
Best of
all, the dinner includes musical accompaniment by Mrs.
Mainville.
Reach our reporter
mullen.mike@nbpub.com
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