Hey all,

We’re feelin’ good at the Skinner house.  I’ve got a good friend who’s life was just spared, a few friends and family with significant birthdays, the seasons are changing, God is great … and it’s time to celebrate!

The Celebrate EP is a Spring/Summer jam that I want to share for the pure fun of it!  The perfect song to get your boogie on.  So put the top down/roll down your windows and find an open road, or just crank it up and dance your heart out!  MK (my wife) says to tell you this is her favorite tune to date.  She says it makes her wanna shake her “money maker!”  I had a great time making this song, and I hope you have a good time with the tune as well.  We all have so much to celebrate!  So give God your boogie and enjoy!

Oh, one more thing!  If you would, as always, a great review here on  itunes is much appreciated, and you may point your friends in that direction too!  Thanks!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD!

http://anthonyskinner.com

“The Sex and Skinny Tour is the one place where you can get the skinny on sexual compulsivity and weight issues and learn that one struggle is not that different from the other. Time to bust out of isolation and bask in relationship – the grace kind.”

Come here my good buds ”Nate Larkin and Constance Rhodes share grace-filled, story-based multi-media presentations designed to get you thinking in a new way about what underlies the common struggles of pornography addiction, eating disorders, negative body image, and relational disconnection.”

http://www.sexandskinnytour.com/

http://anthonyskinner.com

Porter’s Call is dedicated to the counsel, support and encouragement of recording artists and their families. For more information, visit www.porterscall.com

Past entertainers include Donald Miller, Ian Cron, Amy Grant, David Wilcox and Becca Stevens.

http://anthonyskinner.com

I’ve often wondered if it came from growing up on a farm.  His family farmed cotton and corn, had several milk cows, a couple of pigs, a few head of cattle, and a big garden.  In his world, you didn’t have time to regret what did or didn’t happen with the last crop and your tomorrow was up to God.  All he had was the plow in his hands, and the mule, and the untilled ground in front of him.

Sometimes, I’ve wondered if it was my grandmother (dad’s mom) who passed along the ability to live in the present to him.  I use to spend hours sitting alone with her at her kitchen table, just talking.  Her table was a place for plenty of good conversation, a place you could ask and learn about almost anything … and still grandma always knew more than she said.  I remember her commenting on her morning ritual, “I always put it in the Good Master’s hands, before I put my feet on the floor”.  It sort of shook me when she said it.  I’d never heard anyone own the title “Good Master” like that before (or since).  The ownership, familiarity and surrender all packed in the words “Good Master” made the rest of her sentence so powerful, and made me want to know God the way she knew Him!

Maybe that was it!   Dad has never put it just like grandma did, but he’s said it with his life in so many ways — and with a few simple phrases along the way.  Phrases like “you just gotta trust God, Anthony”, or “it’ll be alright”.  Come to think of it, he’s always had the same twinkle in his eye that grandma had when she’d say something and you knew she had a stretch of road behind her to back up.

My own ability to enjoy the present comes by the grace of God, the aforementioned DNA in my bones, and a real commitment to live in the “now”.  I have a lot of ways I like to say it, but today it’s “Don’t regret your past moments, or fear your future moments, so much so that you miss your present moments (your “now” moments)!”

God really is worth trusting!  Today is an opportunity to let go of the past, surrender your future and embrace life in your every “now” moment!

1. Paul McCartney and Crew – The “Medley” from The Beatles album Abbey Road.
  Rock and Roll at it’s best!  What’s not to love about some of the best music ever written, played by one of the best to ever write and sing a tune!  the “Medley”, comes from The Beatles Album entitled Abbey Road (by the way Abbey Road happens to feature some of my Beatles faves “Something”, “Here Comes the Sun”, “Come Together” and the “Medley”).  The icing on the cake came near the end of Sir Paul’s performance when (staying true to the essence of the recording), he traded licks with his all star guitar jam band featuring Springsteen, Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh and McCartney’s long time side-men Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson!

* Side Note: Abe Laboriel Jr. was on drums, and any time Abe is playing OR singing, it’s gonna be great!  Check the bottom of this blog for an outtake of Abe jamming in between takes while we were tracking in the studio in Nor Cal, and then check out his performance on my tune ‘To Really Love’.

2. Adele -”Rolling in the Deep”  All about the song and the voice, no need to waste her time shaking her booty, hiding behind a load of props, or distracting the audience with dancers. If I weren’t a musician already, this performance would have made me want to jump in all over again.

3. Bruno Mars – ‘Runaway Baby’
  FREAK YEAH!! Bruno was summoning the vibeliciousness of the one and only Godfather of soul himself! He came close to putting the grammy night to bed before it ever got going!

4. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “We Take Care of Our Own”  What’s not to say about one of the greatest American songwriters of all time and the man who is 2nd to none as a performer. I have to say I missed the presence of Clarence “The Big Man” Clemens (R.I.P.) playing the saxophone at Bruce’s side.

5. Civil Wars –“Barton Hollow”  
The only thing wrong with this moment is it was just that, a moment! Wish we could have heard these 2 sing the whole tune. Joy Williams and John Paul White prove if you can do it right with just a guitar and a voice, you can do it anywhere! Also, props to producer Charlie Peacock for taking the helm and helping The Civil Wars make a great record (look for Charlie’s new record coming soon)!

*HERE ARE A FEW VIDEOS FEATURING ABE LABORIEL JR.

Abe Jr. jams in between takes while we were tracking in the studio.

“To Really Love” and AK-47, featuring Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums.

http://anthonyskinner.com

 

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

2011 Year-End Factoids

Digital music sales officially overtake physical sales accounting for 50.3% of all music purchases in 2011.

Album Sales Up for the First Time Since 2004.

Best Seller Album Factoids:

Garth Brooks continues to be comfortably the best selling artist in the Nielsen SoundScan era with more than 68.5 million album sales; 5 million sales ahead of the Beatles.

Rihanna takes over the top spot as the biggest selling digital artist of all time with digital track sales totaling more than 47.5 million.

For the second straight year, Lady Antebellum finishes the year as the biggest selling group of 2011 with more than 2.1 million album sales.

Metallica’s self titled album remains on top as the best selling album in the Nielsen SoundScan era with more than 15.7 million album sales; more than 200,000 ahead of Shania Twain’s Come On Over.

Most Played and Streamed Factoids:

Katy Perry ends the year as the most played artist over the airways in 2011 with more than 1.4 million spins; edging out Bruno Mars by 17,000 spins.

Lady Gaga claimed the top spot as the most streamed artist in 2011 with more than 135 million streams.

Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” was the most streamed song and music video in 2011 with 84.9 million audio streams and 71 million video streams.

Holiday Season Factoids: (11/7 – 1/1/12).

Michael Buble’s Christmas album was also the biggest selling album during the 2011 holiday season (2.2 million sales) as well as the biggest holiday album since Josh Groban’s Noel (2007) that sold 3.7 million copies.

Vinyl Factoids:

For the fourth consecutive year, more vinyl albums were purchased than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan.

Nearly three out of every four vinyl albums purchased in 2011 were a Rock album.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Nielsen-Company-Billboard-bw-3137090198.html

http://anthonyskinner.com

Anthony Skinner-Christmas Morning EP-Christmas Morning(Single)

Anthony Skinner-Christmas Morning EP-In Excelsis Deo(Feat.Phil Keaggy)

Anthony Skinner-Christmas Morning EP-Glory to the King(Feat.Phil Keaggy)

Anthony Skinner-Christmas Morning EP-See Amid the Winter’s Snow

Anthony Skinner-Christmas Morning EP-Tell Me the Story of Jesus

Click on each song to listen & download OR COPY & PASTE the link files.me.com/anthonyskinner/7bfsn1 IN YOUR BROWSER and DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE CHRISTMAS MORNING EP!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

files.me.com/anthonyskinner/7bfsn1

http://anthonyskinner.com

Von Braun Center Playhouse, Huntsville, AL.  Doors open at 5:30pm.  Anthony and Jason will play at 6:30.  Tickets are $20.

Tickets available at the Von  Braun Center Box Office, All Ticketmaster Outlets, online at ticketmaster.com and by phone at 800.745.3000

For additional information visit www.jimparkermusic.com