Recording John Schmid Demo “¡CORRE!”

We had a fun afternoon in the studio yesterday as local artist and good friend, John Schmid, stopped by to record a quick demo of a song that he has been singing on his most recent prison ministry tour in Latin America. This is what John had to say about the song (from his Facebook post dated March 2, 2018):

One of the songs I sing on this tour is “Corre,” a translation of Steve (& Annie) Chapman’s song about how Joseph dealt with Potiphar’s wife’s seductive advances.

In English the song is entitled, “Run.” That’s how Joseph dealt with this beautiful, powerful, lonely woman’s advances. He ran! (BTW: If this would have happened in the U.S., Joseph would never have been able to be president… or Vice Pharaoh. The press would have accused him, even though he was innocent.)

The response to this song on Wednesday (2 days ago) at Pavoncito Prison was electric. “AMEN!” “ESO!” “SÍ!” Applause…

The looks on the faces of these men told me that it never occurred to them to run. When a pretty woman offers herself, what’s a man to do?! Be a man! Accommodate her. Certainly not run!

Joseph (& Steve Chapman) tells us that real men run.

“Run! Don’t hesitate!
Run! Don’t negotiate!
Hurry to the Father in the name of the Son.
That’s where you’ll find the victory ’cause it’s already won,
When temptation comes, go like a bullet from a gun… RUN!”

After the service several men surrounded me as I put my guitar away. “How can we get the words to Corre? What are the chords? Please teach us.”

So, I took my guitar back out of the case where I just happened to have a copy of the Spanish version, and we had a music lesson right there as the rest of the chapel was being served the food we brought in. Within 20 minutes these musicians were catching on to this very non-Latin style song that has a very Biblical teaching about faithfulness.

It will be interesting to see how Steve Chapman’s song may impact the men in a culture where having a girlfriend, even as a married man, is considered normal.

We recorded a very simple version of the song. John played his legendary Martin guitar into a Blue Blueberry capturing the sound hole and a Shure SM81 pointed towards the fretboard. We recorded his vocals at the same time with a Shure SM7b. I did a quick mix, and the song was finished!

John is a fantastic musician, a gifted storyteller, a great guy, and possibly the best at what he does! He is always fun to work with.

Zach Yoder has been my studio assistant this year, and he was also very helpful in the recording process. He continues to grow and learn and get better as a studio assistant each week.

We hope to take this demo recording and turn it into a full band version of the song at some point, but until then… who knows how God will use it!?