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CDs in production!

I’m excited to announce that recording, mixing and mastering for Redeeming The Time are now complete! On New Year’s Day 2020 Dave and I got some strong coffee and plugged away at wrapping this up! It was a very awesome way to kick off a new decade. Usually my new year is all about starting something new. A new habit or project. This year I started by finishing something that is very dear to my heart!

The next step, already in process, is to produce CDs and distribute the music for digital download and online streaming. There was a sense of anticipation as I uploaded and named each song to the website. CD production takes 2-4 weeks from when you place the order.

Here’s how the process works

  • First they create a test print and confirm that its all looking good.
  • Then they print the CD cases. (Up to here is already completed with my CDs)
  • Then they print the design on the CDs themselves and duplicate the master copy.
  • Then they assemble the cases, put the cds in and wrap them in poly
  • Last of all they ship them to me! and I get really excited 😀

Where can you get a copy?

I set up a shop right here on benjamintagg.com where you can purchase a physical copy or a digital download. This is the BEST place to buy the album for multiple reasons. Firstly, it supports me the best. No portion of the sale goes to a company, just me (and a tiny bit to PAYPAL). Secondly, for the first two months after release there will be special discounts available that won’t be elsewhere. Thirdly, I’ll get it to you faster because I care the most about people who listen to my music.

Where else can you get it?

I will be distributing the album to the following outlets. Timeline for release is unsure and the outlet has to approve the music, so there are no absolute guarantees for all of these. However, I’ll keep you posted as and when I get confirmation.

 Spotify
 Apple Music
 iTunes
 TikTok
 Google Play & YouTube Music
 Amazon
 Pandora
 Deezer
 Tidal
 Napster
 iHeartRadio
 ClaroMĂșsica
 Saavn
 Anghami
 KKBox

Are you having a release party?

Yes, the plan is to get together and celebrate this new release at Steps. It will hopefully be sometime in February. Please stop back here in the coming days and weeks for more updates and news of the listen / release party.

In the Studio

So I have been writing songs since I was 15 years-old (half my life ago). I am a Christian. The songs that I have selected for this project are songs that express my heart to God, and His heart to me. There are songs with honest grit, like Burn In Me, then there are songs which are scriptures put to song, such as Fruitful and Be Still.

“Redeeming the Time is the title track of the album. It is a simple song written to express my desire to just worship God.”

Ben Tagg

Redeeming the Time is the title track of the album. It is a simple song written to express my desire to just worship God. As life gets busy, it’s easy for me to neglect to “sing You my love”. We redeem the time when we “speak to each other with spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord” as the Bible instructs us to do as Jesus Followers.

I have done many small attempts at recording music that can be shared with others, but nothing on this scale. Most of the recordings have been poor quality and have not done justice to the music.

My first go around with music recording was with my band Interlude! We were a group of four 16/17 year-olds in College wanting to jam together. I came up with the name because I thought it was cool, but now I don’t really know where my head was at.

We took our three songs to a recording studio. the place was quite rundown and stank of smoke. I think the guy was actually smoking weed while recording the music (probably explains why it came out so badly) !

I was the drummer of the band and I sang lead on one of the songs. I had written the song and the lead singer couldn’t quite master the melody (even though we had gigged it about 5 times LOL). We called the four song EP “Look up” Because there was a theme of looking at nature and seeing the hand of God.

This is a theme that you see in my current songs too. Creator God, for example, was written after an infamous snow storm hit Buffalo in October. This storm was so damaging and powerful that it stopped everything for a few days. The song explores the wonder of God’s creation in the raging storms and the conception of babies in the womb.

Ruth is my helpmate, my biggest fan and my best friend in the whole world.

I am honored that I am not doing this alone. I couldn’t do any of this without the amazing support of my wife, Ruth. She is my helpmate, my biggest fan and my best friend in the whole world. She has sacrificed so much so I can do this and pushes me at times when I get depressed and just want to give up! Ruth is an incredible singer, you will hear her on the song Burn in Me.

I have an amazing group of friends and family that will be on this journey with me. One of my best friends, Dave Riffel, is side by side with me on this project, hosting us in his studio, called Upper Story Studios, and playing piano and guitar.

Dave Riffel
Dave Riffel

Though we are recording songs written by one person, we are doing this together – from start to finish.

I invite you to join us in this exciting journey!

See my pitch video for more information on how you can be a part of this project!

Being Inspired by Hannah More

I’m really inspired by Eric Metaxas’ book 7 Women. I’m realizing that I am often reading of the great exploits of men, but I rarely read about the great exploits of women.

Hannah More is a women who shaped the cultural mindset on abolition in the early 1800s. She wrote pamphlets, poems and books denouncing the slave trade and the illicit and immoral behavior of the wealthy. She advocated for the education of girls which was not valued at the time. She cared for the poor, setting up schools in small villages that had lots of families in poverty. The schools were on Sundays because that was the only day of the week that people had off work. In her schools, the main topic was religion. She believed that religion was the most important subject to lift a child out of poverty.

You don’t lift someone out of poverty with Science, Math and English, but by changing their worldview. If you can teach a child to value character, speak from the heart and submit to God they will thrive in life. Many that have been “educated out” of poverty, but not taught religious virtue, have found themselves bringing the practices of poverty into a wealthier surrounding. When I say the practices of poverty I’m referring to sexual promiscuity, gambling, smoking, drunkenness and casual drug use. I don’t mean to say that these things aren’t done by wealthy people, they certainly are! But I mean to say that they are the practices that lead to or perpetuate poverty.

The most enraging thing about the practices of poverty is that they are celebrated and promoted by the media. Therefore, the poor are continuously pushed down in our society. The widening gap between the rich and the poor is not because of anything in politics. Rather it is Hollywood that does it!

Hollywood elevates the stars that are emblazoned with vices. It promotes a false pattern of success. The pattern doesn’t correspond to the reality of daily living on this earth. Children are watching as these stars mock God, sleep around and use narcotics. They are watching as they are rewarded.

Reading about Hannah More reminded me that education isn’t enough. Children must be given a moral framework or their heart poverty will not be overcome. Ultimately, they need to have an encounter with God. I hope this gives you something to think about.  Also, I’d recommend picking up the book, it’s an excellent read!

Eric Metaxis – 7 Women