PRAISE AND WORSHIP by BRENT CLIFTON

BC

Brent Clifton is a songwriter/composer currently living in the Houston, Texas northwest suburbs. I have been writing praise and worship songs for almost twenty years now. At least at the start, to be more exact, the Lord sang songs to me (or the Holy Spirit sang to me about the Lord), and I tried my best to write them down. I used to tell people I was more of a "song-writer-downer" of the Lord's songs than a "songwriter." The songs don't come as easily now, but I guess you could say I've matured into more freedom to express myself without thinking God will get offended if I don't get every word exact. The best songs, though, I think you can still sense the Lord's anointing on.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I realized, while looking to see if my site showed up on some of the major search engines, that there's a heck of a lot more people out there named Brent Clifton than I would have thought there were. So in case you're wondering if I'm "that" (Jeffrey) Brent Clifton (not the Dallas lawyer, Indiana football player, real estate mogul, banker, or gunsmith), here's a few biographical facts:

Born - Haskell, Texas, 1950's; Lived in 15 or 16 West Texas oil patch towns through grade school. Landed in Midland, Texas for junior high and high school - Robert E. Lee High, grad. early 1970's, band, no sports; one year at Abilene Christian (band); construction work in Midland and Amarillo for a few years; stints at Texas State Technical Institute in Amarillo and Amarillo College; B.S. from West Texas State University, 1978; more construction then Blue Water Boat Works in Amarillo; married Debra Johnson (Chicago native, Purdue graduate, masters from Old Miss), 1981. To Beaumont and work at Pleasure Island Yacht Shop in Port Arthur for awhile, then back to school at Texas A&M at Galveston, worked at Marine Accessories Company (later called Galveston Marine Center). Two kids, Laurel and Jeff; B.S in engineering 1984. Worked at Naval Sea Systems Command in D.C. until 1993, living in Lake Ridge and Springfield, VA; more construction and related sales in Oklahoma City and Tulsa; came to Houston for Zentech, Inc. in 1997; employed at Alan C. McClure Associates as a Naval Architect since mid-2001. There. I'm "that" Brent Clifton.

What formal musical training I had was scattered piano lessons as we moved throughout the West Texas oil patch as a kid, then band (tenor sax, bass clarinet) through junior high, high school, and one year of college. I learned more about playing piano just by doing it in church than any lessons I've had. I accompany the songs on the acoustic piano or Yamaha keyboards, and try to write them just as I play them, which is what it is; no claims of great talent there.

My voice and singing talents are untrained and inconsistent at best, which means I can occasionally surprise myself and sound good. I grew up in the acapella Church of Christ singing from SATB hymnals, and learned what I know of singing there, mostly by listening and imitation. I have been part of a church music ministry in northern Virginia, played and sang a lot of my own and others' songs at a small church in Spring, Texas, then took a break from up-front ministry to spend more time writing the music (hah!-It just doesn't work that way, if you're thinking of trying it).

I've hit a few open mic nights and will play wherever you'll have me. Would be delighted to share one or a few songs with your church, small group, coffeehouse, etc. (within a few hours travel from Houston. Family in North Texas and Oklahoma City makes it more likely I'll travel further in that direction). Check my Yahoo! calendar or email me (brent(a)jbcmusic.com) for any scheduled gigs.

ON THIS SITE NOW

Here on this web site are lyrics and (some) sheet music for the songs the Lord has given me, at least the ones I've actually finished writing in some form. More songs are coming along, but very, very slowly. If you want to see more for a specific song or lyric, either beat on me with emails (brent(a)jbcmusic.com) or have lots and lots of patience.

THE FILES

The lyrics are in a separate html file for each song, which you can read and print from your browser, or save as text and pull into your word processor to format as you like for printing.

I'm currently working on "printing" the sheet music from my song-writing software into Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files. You should be able to read and print all the sheet music from the Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free from several places on the Internet including ADOBE).

Of course, these files are for people who read music. I will eventually get back to getting some recording done on my Mac home studio, but until then, there's not much way you're going to hear most of the songs unless you either play and sing them yourself from the sheet music, invite me to play somewhere, or show up somewhere I'm playing. There is a not-so-great start on an audio page that you can listen to at your own risk; I've been "hoping" to improve it for quite awhile now.

LEGAL STUFF

The formally copyrighted songs are, and new praise & worship ones will be, licensed for church use through CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International, www.ccli.com). Please see the CCLI web site for terms of the Church Copyright License. I now have ten (10) songs registered with CCLI and will send in others as I get the songs finished up and copyright registrations submitted. CCLI doesn't supply the sheet music, just licenses the copying or "fixation activity" for church use. For my own thoughts on what "fixation activity" means in relation to PDF files, please see the file CCLIlegal.html.

Songs not (or until) licensed by CCLI may be freely used in any non-recorded, non-broadcast congregational worship, church service, Christian group meeting, or ministry, for which the musicians or singers are not paid as professional performers. For commercial recordings, publishing, broadcast or paid performance, email me (brent(a)jbcmusic.com) to initiate contract discussions.

Recording: These songs may only be recorded under the terms of the CCLI Church License or as part of a church service or meeting which is recorded solely for archive purposes, or to be made available to the sick, shut-in, or otherwise absent members of the body.

If you do use and record any of these songs and can get it into a digital format, please send me a copy. I would like some recordings of the songs, both as a personal interest in seeing what other people do with them, and with an ear toward possibly including clips on the website. Please contact me if you come up with a reasonable-quality recording you would like to share, brent(a)jbcmusic.com

Any files obtained from this website may NOT be further distributed on any web site, ftp site, publicly shared file directory, electronic bulletin board, or computer network without the express written permission of the Author.

All rights not granted under the CCLI Church Copyright License nor expressly stated on this website are reserved to the Composer and Author, Jeffrey Brent Clifton dba www.jbcmusic.com.

MORE, MORE, MORE TO COME

Will continue finishing up the printed music and hope to eventually publish three or four collections of 18 to 20 praise & worship songs each. Will try to keep a rotating selection of free songs here on the website, but most of the sheet music may be purchased via PayPal/PayLoadz or Google Checkout.

My current focus has shifted away from attempts at audio recording, mainly for pure time constraints, and because I'm not quite happy with the quality coming out of my home studio. Nights or weekends when I'm feeling the anointing or hitting the groove, I'll still fire up the studio and post any audio that comes out half-decent here. Please check back occasionally. Until further notice, any recordings posted here will be free, just remember they are HOME STUDIO recordings, not commercial quality.

I'm not able to commit to any of this as a full time job just yet, though, so patience, please!

SPECIAL THANKS

Special, special thanks, of course, to the Lord Jesus Christ for giving me the songs and beginning to open doors to share them with other people.

Very special thanks to my wife Debra and kids, for putting up with countless hours of practice, experimentation, revising, burying myself in headphones and computer, and practice, and for the love to see me through it all.

Very special thanks to Norman and Richardean Scarborough; I'M STILL USING THE PIANO, Richie. Thanks for both the piano and the encouragement that got me back to playing after the years of putting it aside. (See the lyrics to My Piano Savior).

Special thanks to Rose Hale for her talented help fixing and tuning said piano when it looked hopeless. That piano fixing "party," when we all tore down the piano then put it back together again in a couple of hours, is still one night I'll forever remember and be grateful for.

Thanks also to Celine, Michelle, Wayne, Sharon, Mike P, Debra W, Citizen Rick & Laura, and to many others at Rhema Faith Center in Tyson's Corner, VA, for all their encouragement, training, and inspiration in how to truly worship.

Thank you, Marlene, Mickie, and Pat, for your encouragement and work at Spirit of Grace in Spring, Texas.

I especially appreciate Patty Hood, Jerry Arnold, and the fine congregation at Christian Fellowship of the Northwest for the opportunity to share the songs in worship with you. Thanks for putting up with all my mistakes and the "training by doing" you allowed me!

Thanks also to Pastor Bryan Wilson and for allowing me to share a few songs at The Well in Houston.

Special thanks to Patsy and her crew for allowing me to share quite a few songs at South Texas Coffee Company in Tomball - and inviting me back! Hope to see you there from time to time. Stop by for fresh ground coffee, lunch, or great pies anyway.

Thanks also to Pastor Bart Dye and congregation for allowing me to share a few songs at Lighthouse Worship Center in Spring, Texas.

You are all a blessing to me, and I hope the songs can return some measure of the Lord's blessing to you all. Thank you.
BC

All Lyrics, Music and content Copyright 1988-2009 Jeffrey Brent Clifton

eMail to: brent(a)jbcmusic.com

Updated 7/2/2009/jbc