shepherd king project
Songs from the tape, including Big Strong Tree
Irene Bom (with the Big Strong Tree banner) and Faith Gale (to her left) with children who participated in the recording, and a number of others especially recruited for the concert.
In May and June 1994, just months before I emigrated to The Netherlands, a good friend and I, together with a small choir of children aged 7 to 12, recorded 12 of my songs, 2 psalms and a traditional hymn for a tape we entitled, Shepherd King.
The oldest song on the tape, "Big Strong Tree", dates back to the mid-1980s. Four of the songs, including the title song, were written specially for the tape.
Recording is always a team effort. But it helps if each person knows their role. I basically steered the whole project, and took responsibility for the children's choir - all the logistics and the practice sessions. My friend, Faith Gale, an accomplished musician with good keyboard, guitar and percussion skills, played many of the instrumental tracks. Together we worked on the arrangements and the instrumental tracks, as well as the lead and backing vocals.
Irene Bom and Faith Gale
Our sound engineer, André Russouw, also played some of the tracks (e.g. the mandolin on Give Thanks) and gave us a lot of scope with his vast range of sounds and equipment. André's wife, Annemarie, provided good insight into running this type of project. (She is also a songwriter and has quite a few children's tape to her credit.)
There were major time and money constraints, and numerous other problems. But by God's grace we kept all our deadlines, and I'm very proud of what we were able to achieve. Each song has its own unique sound - ranging from bells to bagpipes.
The tape was launched on Sunday 3 July 1994 at a special service held at my local church - Trinity Anglican Church in Lynnwood, Pretoria.
Choreographed dance to the song,
"Apple of the Father's Eye"
Before I left Pretoria I was able to showcase the tape at several events organised by the local branch of Scripture Union. I also visited some Sunday School and Scripture classes.
irene bom ~ songwriter © 2022