The Cricket and Seagull Fireside Chat

How do you write and sing jingles for national clients, sub for Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight when they can't make it, be an arranger, producer, music director, and first call studio singer without ever making your own CD? That's what everyone -- including me -- keeps asking Jenny Jordan Frogley. It's totally pop this week on The Cricket & Seagull...

A live telephone interview from Santiago, Chile, reporting on the recent rededication of the Santiago Temple. Brad Wilcox is an Educator, a BYU Professor, an author of published books and magzine articles, a sought-after speaker for Church Educational System programs like Especially for Youth and Education Week, a husband of one, father of four, and currently serving as mission president of 130 in the Chile Santiago East Mission, where he and wife Debi have been for the last 2 1/2 years. Today we talk to him about missionary work, the temple rededication, and small personal miracles. That's this week on the Cricket and Seagull... - SKP

With nearly 200 firesides, concerts, or other performances a year -- often with a full choir -- Jenny Phillips must be the hardest working woman in LDS music. Now she releases her newest CD, "The Miracle," a journey with the Apostle Peter. That's this week on the Cricket and Seagull... - SKP

In 2003 she released her first CD,Clay in His Hands, which won four Pearl Awards from the Faith-Centered Music Association -- Inspirational Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, and Inspirational Recording of the Year for the title song. Now Jessie Clark Funk shares her newest collection of contemporary inspirational music, Better Than I. That's this week on the Cricket and Seagull...

If you invited Marvin Payne to your house and had him sing songs and tell why he wrote them, it would sound a lot like this. That's because I invited Marvin Payne to my house and had him sing songs and tell why he wrote them. But the best part is that I recorded it so you could enjoy too. I bet you'll like it. That's this week, on the Cricket and Seagull...

An encore broadcast in commemoration of Black History Month. Margaret Blair Young and Darius Gray are the authors of a trilogy of books on Black LDS History, called "Standing on the Promises." The books, each named for an African American spiritual, are "One More River to Cross," "Bound for Canaan," and "The Last Mile of the Way." They take us on a remarkable journey from the 1800's to the present -- revealing an African-American presence in the LDS church from its very beginnings. This is a history that until now was largely known only to those remarkable saints who lived it. That's this week, on the Cricket and Seagull... - SKP

Some people say success is all in who you know, others say it's just a lucky break. But for most people, success is being prepared and ready when someone you know introduces you to a lucky break and it's all up to you. It's "the overnight success," that only comes after years of work and dedication. This week we feature "Within," the first release from Pianist, Performer, Composer, and Warner Bros. recording artist William Joseph, who -- when the moment came for his "lucky break," delivered the goods. That's this week, on the Cricket and Seagull... - SKP

If you were an operatic tenor, had a list of leading roles a page long, had sung multiple solos with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and had two successful recordings of sacred hymns, what would you do next? This week we feature "A New Song," the latest release from George Dyer. I also reached the co-producers of this contemporary classical CD -- Kurt Bestor from the studios of AM 820 in Salt Lake City and Staci Peters from... her car. Don't worry, she pulled over to talk. That's this week, on the Cricket and Seagull... - SKP

Clive Romney -- writer of the favorite children's song "Scripture Power" has a list of credits a mile long, more than 2,000 live performances under his belt, and plays about a dozen instruments -- well, I might add. But once a year he heads into the studio to produce a CD of the Primary Program songs for the coming year. We'll show you what's he's been up to for 2006, hear his philosophy on arranging for children, and even sneak in a few moments from the latest recording with his spectacular Pearl Award-winning instrumental group, Enoch Train. That's this week, on the Cricket and Seagull... - SKP

Okay, here's a challenge; choose 15 songs your kids like and you like too. Harder? How about 15 inspirational or church songs your kids like and you like too? That's exactly the challenge taken on by today's guests; award-winning arranger/producer and Meridian columnist Greg Hansen, and Earl Madsen, A&R (that's Artists and Repertoire) for Sounds of Zion and Inspirational Music Showcase. We'll give you a preview of their label's latest recording and you can hear how they did -- or maybe you should let your kids hear how they did. That's this week, on the Cricket and Seagull... - SKP

For years the original manuscript of "The History of Joseph Smith, Jr. by His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith" was lost, but once it was recovered, Scot and Maurine Proctor, editors and publishers of Meridian Magazine, combed through the manuscript to restore Lucy's fascinating original narrative. With the addition of maps, nearly a hundred photographs, and painstaking endnotes, "The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith, Jr. by His Mother" has become the authoritative edition of this historical treasure. This week we bring you Part 2 from a presentation Scot & Maurine Proctor gave in June of 2005 at "This Is The Place Heritage Park" at the mouth of Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah, including a very informative Q & A session. (See July 2005 Archives for Part 1.) Thanks for listening! -SKP

This past April marked one-hundred and seventy-five years since the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and -- on December 23rd of this year -- two-hundred years since the birth of it's prophet-founder, Joseph Smith. Today we trace the life of the prophet and celebrate the restoration musically with two of my favorite guests, my mother and my sister, Janice Kapp Perry and Lynne Perry Christofferson. Thanks for listening! - SKP

This Week: Ardeth Kapp. When you think of the Young Women Program in the LDS Church today, you think of personal progress books, class medallions, even values, seven colors, and -- most strikingly -- Young Women around the globe standing together and saying, "We are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love Him..." Today we talk to Ardeth Kapp about her childhood on the Canadian Prairie, the origins of the Young Women's Values program, and hope for everyone who faces unexpected challenges... in other words, all of us. Thanks for listening! - SKP

Parley P. Pratt. Even his name is interesting. Minister, missionary, poet, author, and Apostle; he lived only 50 years, but left a powerful legacy including an autobiography and some 50 hymn texts -- many of which are still favorites of the Saints. Now "Parley P. Pratt's Greatest Hymns" gives new arrangements to these favorites, and musical life to many others for the first time. The writers, arrangers, and producers for this project are Pete Peterson and Roger Hoffman. Pete is former Executive Vice President of WordPerfect Corporation, currently a volunteer with the Perpetual Education Fund, who says he would have been an excellent musician except for his problems with rhythm and intonation. Roger is is a Clio and Peabody Award-winning songwriter, singer, and arranger -- the writer of "Consider the Lilies," a Tabernacle Choir favorite. Today we talk to Roger and Pete about bringing the hymn texts of Parley P. Pratt to life. Thanks for listening! - SKP

For years the original manuscript of "The History of Joseph Smith, Jr. by His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith" was lost, but once it was recovered, Scot and Maurine Proctor, editors and publishers of Meridian Magazine, combed through the manuscript to restore Lucy's fascinating original narrative. With the addition of maps, nearly a hundred photographs, and painstaking endnotes, "The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith, Jr. by His Mother" has become the authoritative edition of this historical treasure. This week we bring you excerpts from a longer presentation Scot & Maurine Proctor gave in June of 2005 at "This Is The Place Heritage Park" at the mouth of Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah. (See Dec 2005 Archives for Part 2.) Thanks for listening! - SKP