room at the top

Doves, Needtobreathe, and The Redeemer

2011-04-21T22:48:00.006-04:00

Alright, shoot me. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. Can I use the excuse of having two full-time kids and a job that keeps me up late shaking people’s hands and saying cheese almost every night? Or maybe just the fact that life has just been really busy and free time is just plain hard to come by. Anyways... I was feeling inspired to write tonight so here goes.

Although we didn’t win any awards last night at the Dove’s I still had a great time with my bandmates and my fam. We road-tripped it all the way from cold Toledo to eighty degree Atlanta. Some parents even came along for the first time ever in the bus and that was a pretty awesome thing to see happen. We arrived the morning before so that we could make our 10:30am rehearsal time. The Fox theater is right downtown and is an impressive building to stand in. We’ve played in quite a few old theaters, but this one was pretty special. Complete with a dome shaped, star filled, twinkling ceiling and a rad balcony that looked as though it wasn’t supported by anything underneath. The stage was shiny and the best way I can describe the room sounding is ‘right.‘ Mark wasn’t with us for the trip since Susan is due with their third child in only a few days. Anthony, a friend of ours, filled in for the performance of ‘Lead Me’ and did an absolutely amazing job Wednesday night for having only playing the song with us twice before. There’s a lot to be said of a musician who just comes in unrehearsed and gets the job done. We were up for 3 awards and struck out twice during the pre-show awards and finally again for song of the year that was announced at the end of the actual show. I can’t say we weren’t disappointed. We really thought we had a chance at taking one home, maybe if only parents and siblings were allowed to vote we would have.

So just before the time came for us to perform our two minutes and forty seconds of Lead Me they announced the nominees for the group of the year award. This year the award went to the guys in Needtobreathe. So I felt like all was right in the dove world once that happened. I could be at peace losing 3 out of 3 nominations as long as Needtobreathe won something. I’ve written about those guys on my blog before and I just love their music. I can remember early in the summer of ’09 playing a show with them and knocking on the door to their bus, being invited in, and having the chance to sit and listen with them to the final mix of their latest record ‘The Outsiders’ before it was mastered. I can remember them playing me the title track first and then thinking, shoot I hope they don’t think I’m on a spy mission here because that song starts with a banjo and we had just recorded our song Forgiven with a banjo as well. I started to get self conscious and wanted to say something like ‘that sounds awesome, we just did a banjo on a song too!’ But I decided that would be lame all around and I might not get to hear the rest. So I put the brakes on that comment and continued to listen. Just a couple songs in and I think one of the guys, either Seth or Bo asked Bear if he played me Through The Smoke yet. He kinda got a smirk on his face, found the remote, skipped to that song and said check this one out. At this point all the guys from the Needtobreathe camp had made their way in and were in on the listening party. It wasn’t til later when Tom Petty released a DVD talking about his third record that I realized just how cool this moment was. Tom explains how when him and the Heartbreakers were recording Damn The Torpedoes they’d always put on a certain song when their friends would drop by the studio because they knew it would just lay them down flat. I thought that was pretty awesome, because I’d like to think every band has that one song they’re all geeked on - if it becomes a single or not, it’s just their favorite song - period. For Tom he says it was Here Comes My Girl. I’d like to think for the guys in Needtobreathe it was Through The Smoke and that they had invited me in and played me the song they knew would knock me out. And so there we all were listening and absorbing this brand new piece of music, which it still was to them at the time. But Bear was kind of being low key as we listened, almost as though he was unsure if I’d like it or not, and it seemed he was holding back a big old grin the whole time. He was waiting to see what I thought - yeah me, the guy that’s a sucker for everything this song had. The ingredients were all there and mixed just right... accordion, mandolin, gang vocals, a verby tambourine, harmonica, the soulful lyric ‘I was born in a house in a town just like your own / I was raised to believe in the power of the unknown / cause when the answers and the truth take different sides / will you still find me / will you still see me through the smoke.’ I didn’t like the song. I loved it! I mean come on, it laid me down flat and I walked out of that bus knowing they had something special in that record and that it was only a matter of time before everyone would hear it and know the same thing I did.

Let’s say I was stoked they won 2 Dove’s last night. Yay Needtobreathe. Sanctus Real? There’s always next time. But I will say that we do have a song on our record that we all feel that same way about and it just happens to be our new single - The Redeemer. I really love this song and I’m ecstatic that it’s a radio single. If you get the chance check it out, or call your radio station and ask them to kindly play it. The band loves this song for its message and music. It’s all around one of our favorites, if not our favorite song on the album. I hope you like it.

We’ll be on the road a lot this spring. Check out our dates and come hang out with us. I promise to shake your hand and even say cheese with you if it comes down to it ;)

The Traveling Salesmen?

2010-09-08T23:29:00.002-04:00

I was fortunate enough to be home last week when my dad called one night and said he needed a hand with a job he was doing. We’re off the road and not doing any touring for a few weeks so it worked out that I could help. There I was the next morning in the Toyota minivan on the way up to Michigan feeling reminiscent of the last time I was in that seat - probably well over 10 years ago at this point. My dad is a photographer, one of the best in my opinion of course, and he had a routine job lined up to shoot a vip for some automotive corporation near Ann Arbor. The woman he was shooting had apparently been awarded with an industry honor and needed some shots to go with the press release. So they called in Jim, my dad, and they got what they needed. His full-time assistant was on vacation in Europe so when they called for Jim they actually got Chris as well. Ha! I think it’s kind of funny. Anyways, as I was carrying gear and unloading tripods and lights, hanging seamless and running cables I realized a few things all at once. I’m watching as my dad sets up his gear to his liking, and listening as he’s sort of talking himself through the process and it became very clear to me for the first time ever really - that we are the same person. I mean that figuratively of course, but I’ve thought this before and my wife will attest to it. I thought we just sneezed the same incredibly long number of times in a row or that we clear our throats the same way, but no it turns out we travel around from gig to gig setting up and tearing down in random rooms, just getting the job done. Making the light, or the sound in my case, do something special for those who care to observe. And the packing of gear, traveling, untangling dirty cables, shaking hands and saying cheese bit are something we both do to get the picture taken and the song sung. I don’t mean this in a brash or belittling way - I mean I’m way cool with it for once. Because for some time I’ve doubted to some degree the real significance of what I do, or should I say the things I do in order to do what I do - you follow me? I mean it’s just six strings and a beat up piece of wood - and beyond the bright lights and the sixty minutes or so spent on stage it’s a lot of open road and running cables. But I’ve realized that somewhere out there I’ve probably lost some of the wonder and the amazement that just maybe God made me for exactly this. And not only do I mean the traveling gig part, but to raise a family and be a dad too. And of course I can’t forget that He gave me a heart to share and a life experience to encourage others with. So I’m doing my best to understand that every good and perfect gift comes from him above. That these gifts are something I have a responsibility to use for his glory. I mean that’s a pretty big job in itself.

So we packed up all the gear that day, shook hands with the clients and drove the minivan to jimmy john’s for some lunch. Was a fun day - and it reminded me of how I got to a place in my life where I believed I could be the traveling musician in the family. So here’s to my dad - the original traveling snapshot man. The one who makes art out of work - or is it the other way around? Either way, thanks dad for letting me use the Rickenbacker, showing me how to work hard and wrap a mean cable, and last but not least for showing me what it takes to get the job done.

*for more on my dad's work visit www.jimrohmanstudio.com

The Way The World Turns

2010-01-16T22:47:00.002-05:00

Let's just start this one off big... so Dominique and I are happy to announce that we are expecting a little sibling for Josiah in August. Crazy right? Yeah, so we're unbelievably blessed and can't wait to see if it's going to be a little sister or a little punching bag for Josiah. So that's pretty big news. So big in fact that we decided to finally build a room in our basement for the little guys. Dominique's dad is a builder extraordinaire and has already started building out the downstairs into a playroom/place where dad can crank the stereo a bit ;) The news is bigger yet, so much that when I found out before Christmas I decided the perfect gift for Dominique would be a vacation. She's been pretty much tied down to the house since Josiah was born and hasn't been able to travel hardly anywhere with me. I found a cheap cruise to Mexico, snatched it up an booked the flights. We left last week and had a great time despite some unusually cold temperatures. It was nice being able to fly without a laptop, guitar, pedalboard or drummer. Ok - that last part I exaggerated. But it was a great time to relax and try to recharge. I had been helping my father in law demolish our basement the week prior. Tore out everything - including the basement sink. He had the walls framed and the concrete floor broken into in only 4 days before we left and continued to work while we were gone.

So that's what the past few weeks were like. Things were great, the new record is finished and the year is off to a good start.

I give a little bit of the weeks history to help explain why I was in the Caribbean on Tuesday when the earthquake hit Haiti. As if living on a cruise ship out in the middle of the ocean in a perfectly miniature sized room isn't surreal enough - I happened to turn the tv on to see the sobering news of devastation that was simultaneously occurring in a world not so far away. Being away from home and family had me already feeling disconnected. We left Josiah at home and were definitely missing him. I just couldn't sleep that night at all. Just thinking about how so many in Haiti, already living without the basic daily essentials I had at arms length in this vacation la la land we were living in, were missing their loved ones as well because of a deadly earthquake. Not much makes sense in a situation like this. Here I am safe and sound - able to make phone calls and eat a freaking cheese burger at 1am on the ocean while people in Haiti had lost everything. I guess I prayed my way to sleep that night... praying for those in need and asking God 'why?'

There's just so many questions I don't know I'll ever have answers to. I've had heartache in my life for sure and I think I'm learning more and more that there will always be a plentiful supply of it.

So where does it lead me? The only place I can really go... that is if I choose to, and that's to God's mercy. If I can somehow be grateful for what I have - and I don't mean a flat panel tv or a cool cellphone but things that really matter - and at the same time mourn for those who have lost then I guess that's what I am left to do. All of this in hope to somehow feel human.

I've read through a bit of Ecclesiastes tonight since I'm still not much for sleep and I can't say I have any explanation still for how to keep things mentally tidy while these things happen, but maybe a bit more understanding of how things play out...

Ecclesiastes 3 verse 10-11
I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

I know there's at least some truth in that I don't know the beginning or the end in the sense of tomorrow say, but I do believe I know the 'end' that is made possible through God's grace. Salvation is what I have through Christ and I guess in these times it's what I should be focusing and sharing more of. I suppose we relay this hope through our music - and I'm excited for you all to hear new songs in just over a month - but I think I finally have my new year's resolution... To whole-heartedly try to live in a God fearing way - so much so that I'm completely reliant every day on his Grace.

And that's that for tonight. God please bless Haiti.

Give EPACE a chance

2010-01-04T01:46:00.004-05:00

Can't sleep tonight. I think my schedule has been out of whack since the ball dropped. So, thanks to anyone that came to our hometown new year's show by the way. I must say it was a jolly good time ;) Still unbelievable to me how Toledo has been and continues to be so supportive. It was fun playing some new songs for everyone. The band stayed up super late the night before rehearsing the new tunes. I even had a tambourine solo planned, but was foiled by a faulty kickdrum pedal setup.

I must also say thanks to everyone that wrote in response to my last post. Sorry I'm a bit late in giving an update... We managed to get the transmission fixed thanks to some family help ;) Not sure the technical terms, but basically a part had blown causing the leak. My dad and I were able to drive it to the shop instead of getting it towed, just had to make a few stops to fill the transmission fluid. While it was in the shop though they found a few more things that needed replaced. Everything was fixed though and we made our shows in Florida later that week. By the time we got back home it was the 23rd I believe and I had some major Christmas shopping to do. Christmas was great, but wow it went by fast. Got to see some old friends so that was nice. And here I am now finally recovering from it all. Which means I should really be in bed.

HappyNEWYear!

Forgiven

2009-12-10T22:46:00.003-05:00

It's been a little while since a post, I'm not really sure anyone checks this thing anyways ;) Well, here goes... I'm home at the moment. Last week we drove halfway across the country - all the way to Montana and Wyoming and back. It was a crazy trip really, exhausting for an old guy like me. The trip really put our bus to the test too. Sub zero temps, running 24+hours straight, and then turning right around to come home. Everything seemed fine all the way to Billings, and even down to Wyoming where the temp got down to zero. But then once the temp settled down near -15 we started to have problems that prevented us from making it home after the last show. Tired and stuck in a small town in Wyoming we weren't really sure what to do. Having stopped at a gas station about 40 minutes into our return trip home we noticed that the front of the bus was sitting super low. Buses like ours have an incredible air system - and by air I don't mean like AC. The air that is required for the air ride suspension, is the same air that is used for the braking system and to park the bus among other things. It's so important in fact, that there are two systems really, one being an auxiliary system just in case the primary goes out. Now you might be saying, "chris, aren't you just a guy in the band, shouldn't you be more worried about guitar-related things and not about the mechanical workings of a bus?" Well yeah that's a good point. And I can't really say I wish that were true because deep down I love this kind of stuff. I enjoy being the guy that has the privilege of getting to the bottom of such problems and then making it all work again. I have some good support from the guys too. So back to Wyoming... We barely had enough clearance between the tires and the wheel wells by the time we were done fueling to even make a mild turn and park the thing over night. Having done so in the nick of time we decided to just let it sit and deal with it in the morning. Well I awoke to the lovely smell of diesel fumes and -15 degree weather at about 6am. The bus was now sitting even lower and the engine was doing its' best to stay alive in the frigid weather. Long story short, some great guys that had helped with the show the night before came by later that morning and brought some portable diesel heaters and a tarp. We aimed the heaters at the frozen air lines and sure enough in no time the bus began to rise to its' normal level. They helped us get it down the road to a shop where they even took care of our bill! Wow - we couldn't believe it. We were back on the road that evening and made it all the way home in about 24 hours thanks to some amazingly generous people in Wright, Wyoming.

So here I am at home after all that has transpired and I'm still feeling fairly shocked because now a diesel mechanic friend of ours here in town put a new compressor on the bus for us basically free of charge. I'm thinking wow God is pretty awesome. But low and behold right when the bus is suppose to leave town tonight to do a run with some friends of ours for the weekend - boom! the bus springs a massive transmission leak. Literally transmission fluid everywhere just a few hours before our driver was going to take the bus out tonight. It's cold here in our home town as well, not nearly Wyoming temps, but close enough to not feel the difference. So needless to say I'm bummed, our driver is bummed, the other band is bummed. I'm left trying to figure out how to tow the thing to a 24hr shop, but hear that the other band found a backup bus and we're off the hook for the night. I deserted the bus and came home - which is where I sit now.

So I'm thinking 'why does all this stuff happen?' Even in the midst of God's grace in the other mechanical situations It's still my nature to feel bummed out in the here and now. We've definitely been through somewhat of a tough time lately just as many people have with their finances and trying to figure out how to pay for things like this... you know sanctus real isn't as popular as miley cyrus (sarcasm), and to be honest there has been a lack of shows lately and a lack of income because of it. There have been some serious sacrifices we've made this year to keep this thing going and to be honest a lot of questions being asked as to how to push forward in a way that makes the most sense. I'd be lying if I said we didn't feel insufficient, insecure, or talented enough to continue to make music in an industry that is more competitive than anyone this side of the dial would ever let on. We definitely struggle with feeling 'good enough.' Someone always has a 'better' song or sells more records or has a more successful tour, a better site, a better amp, or cooler merch to sell. I convince myself that that is it - someone always has something better to sell....

So with these thoughts of defeat in my head I sit down now and somehow land on our band website. I start to read stories from our 'Forgiven' page. I guess In the midst of everything else I too easily and all too often forget that after almost 13 years of doing this we actually do have music out there that connects with some people on a heart level. Maybe it connects with them more than me even. And that's when it hits me tonight - reading these stories, that most of these people get 'it' more than I do. By that I mean the grace that comes with Forgiveness. God's desire to cleanse us of everything that separates us from Him is a freedom that these people have found. Though I have not experienced some of the tragedies those that have shared have, I find myself in the same place... desperately needing forgiveness for so many things and ways of thinking. Ways that I have convinced myself I'm not good enough. The habit of overlooking the positive to only see the negative. The lie that I'm suppose to be selling something that's better than what the other guy is selling when all the while I should be pedaling grace.

I'm encouraged by the stories I've read tonight. And I'm not going to worry about the transmission on the bus, or how we're going to pay for it. Or about where our songs sit on the chart, but instead I'm going to be concerned with accepting forgiveness. Most importantly so that I can move on and experience a life more full of grace. A life where I understand that a God that is entirely concerned with our redemption will not let me idle in a state long enough so that I would be unable to accept that redemption.

Isaiah 55:6
Seek God while he's here to be found, pray to him while he's close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

a day in the life?

2009-10-23T01:08:00.005-04:00

on the eve of our new single FORGIVEN being released I decided it would be appropriate to start a 'simple' kitchen project. ridiculous? yeah it kind of was. we had an old sink and faucet. the sink was awkwardly shallow and I could never wash many dishes at once. ok enough of the boring reasons why, since we have a week off I figured it would be cake. long story short I bought a sweet black cast iron sink which was super heavy. installed the faucet and mounted in the counter and discovered my counter top was far from level. couldn't keep the sink and had to get a stainless one which was way lighter and flexed enough to make up for the poor countertop. not that any of this is interesting, but today I finished it up all by myself - even installed the disposal. good news is that all my fingers are still intact and I didn't have to buy a new countertop. definitely not in the mood to do any dishes, which is why I'm writing this instead. (awkward face in picture is intentional I'm pretty positive)

October already?

2009-10-11T21:48:00.003-04:00

It seems as though fall has come upon me pretty quick this month. Every year now for as long as I can remember we head out on the road for a fall tour when it's still warm and green out and then somewhere in the middle of the tour - between catching colds, eating bbq, and changing guitar strings - the leaves turn and the air gets crisp. This year it is a welcome change for sure though and I'm enjoying the scenery right now on our way home from a long stretch of shows. Matt is working on some lyrics and Mark is working on some cereal. We dropped off the other guys in St. Louis last night to grab the van and head back to Nashville. The next few days will hopefully be the highlight of my Fall in the sense of being home in the heart of the season for more than just two days. I get to see my awesome family and spend some time with the little man.

We finished up the shows with Phil Wickham last month and now we're out with Addison Road. It's been a whirlwind for various reasons but I'm just happy to be out with great people and such great crew. We have 3 crew guys on the bus and they set up a pretty unbelievable show every night. We'll only be out for one more week and then it will all be over. It's been so much fun playing new songs every night and hearing the response. You can check out our newest single 'Forgiven' on our site right now and I'm pretty sure it will be on itunes later this month. We'll be heading back to record the final songs for the record in early November. I'll try to keep things a little more current on here before the year gets away from me.

Sanctus Real: Something Heavenly

2009-09-02T16:03:00.001-04:00

Here we go

2009-07-20T01:05:00.005-04:00

I've been eating oatmeal in the mornings lately. Dominique makes it on the stove. We throw in some almonds, dried cherries, brown sugar. It's been a good routine. It helps me to get a better start on my days - at least the days that I'm home. I'm a routine kind of guy. I like to change my guitar strings every 3 shows. I like to cut the grass in alternating patterns from week to week. And this week I think I'll have a whole new set of routines to learn. We made a ridiculously big and overdue step as a band. We finally bought a bus! This ain't no van. I mean I need to learn how to dump the toilet and service the generator. This is serious stuff my friend. So I'll be busy learning some new routines - if you have any advice let me know.

So we rolled into our first show with the bus up in Minnesota. Sonshine Festival is always a good time. I actually found a picture of us playing it back in '03. Crazy to think it's been that long since we started playing festivals in such distant lands as Minnesota. When we pulled up this year though we heard some cool fresh music on mainstage. I'm probably a bit behind, but check out Tal and Acacia if you get a chance. Way cool melodies.

Anyways. See you on the road (hopefully with my oatmeal in hand from now on)

June, be nice and don't go so fast

2009-06-20T22:54:00.005-04:00

I'm getting old. Older that is. My birthday was a few days ago. I'm feeling pretty good though and I'm finally done coughing. So here we are almost done with June and I'm just getting back to normal. The year is halfway over and that means we're just getting closer to 2012. Let's make some predictions. In 2012 will anyone have topped the iPhone? Will anyone buy CD's anymore? Will rock and roll come back to life, because whatever it is I'm hearing on mainstream radio stations today is not the stuff dreams are made of ;) Seriously though... when I wanted to learn how to play guitar it was all about my name is jonas and not about 3 kids playing air guitar. But again I guess I'm just getting old.

Ok - one thing is for sure in 2012 I'll be rockin' the same laptop but with moon leopard osx. And I'll have a sweet stache like this.

Also this week I got a wicked flat tire, but discovered the spare kit in my car included some creepy white gloves. proof shown here. I had to snap a pic. The tire went flat and my alternator decided to go all at once. I think I unknowingly traveled through some weird electromagnetic field. I was near a hospital when it all happened. *note to self* always be ready for a flat tire and don't be afraid to wear gloves if you find some hiding with the jack.

How often do you eat chicken? Dan and i were talking about chicken the other day. We eat a lot of it. Not on purpose though, it just happens. Wendy's, Ralphies chicken chunks, Chic-fil-A, Zaxby's, chicken wings... but it made us think that we really don't ever see chickens - real live chickens that is. Then we thought what if we were the only people left on Earth and we were stuck on a chicken farm. Would we even know what to do in order to survive?

*note to self* learn how to raise chickens by 2012.

2009-05-17T16:55:00.003-04:00

It seems that Sunday has been the day that I'm allowed to relax a little the past few weeks! So here I am again. Got home way too late last night from our show in Michigan. But what a great night it was. We got to play with our good friends from The Afters. It was freezing cold out and the stage was setup in a wave pool at theme park. Pretty random. They had drained most of the water out though - all except for an algae filled puddle in the deep end. By the time we played it had to be barely 40 degrees out, very brisk and very good for my old buddy pertussis. Got through the show though and had a great time with our friends in Michigan. Again, sorry I have no pics ;(

Matt and I spent some time writing songs in Nashville last week with some other writers. It was a good experience, but a crazy schedule. Four sessions in two days. We got around with a sweet Kia we rented though. Funny note - when we flew up to Michigan to meet the guys our flight was late so we had to get another rental to get to the show instead of getting picked up. Had to go with the Kia again. Pretty stinkin awesome. Again, wish I had pics.

Ok - so here is a pic. It is Sunday - I am relaxing and surfing the web a bit. Check this out. I've never heard of these pre-fab houses before. But they look pretty rad.

www.flatpakhouse.com

Whoop there it is

2009-05-10T23:49:00.003-04:00

Here we are in May already. What in the world is going on? I'll tell you what's going on. Or more like, what's been going on for a very ridiculous amount of time with me... meet my friend, his name is Pertussis. It's a horrible name really, so I call him the whooping cough. Yeah - he's been hanging around since that time way back in February. I found out I had it a few weeks back after visiting the doctor for the 4th time and finally having some blood taken and sent to the lab. It's no longer contagious, and when it was contagious I more than likely didn't even have the cough. He's a nasty little friend and I haven't been able to ditch him quite yet. Anyways - I really haven't been myself most of the year because of it, just kinda scrapping by on fumes since he likes to keep me up at night. I'm really hoping he leaves me alone soon though.

So, onto better news. We tracked some new songs this past week! What a crazy week it's been. Started with a hometown show one day, flew to Texas to play the next (on stage performing when just a few miles away the cowboys training facility blew down) ended up in Nashville most the week recording (and sleeping in Jeremy Camp's basement) Wound up back in Ohio for a show in Columbus - couldn't stop there so we flew to Florida to play with some of my favorite bands at Busch Gardens, then finally made it home for Mother's day. One box of tissues later and many cups of coffee and we managed to record 3 songs of which we are all crazy excited about. I can't even wait to see how the rest of the record shapes up! We were pretty busy on a limited time schedule so I wasn't really in picture mode, but I think DAN might have some pics. His blog is way better anyways. Oh and for the record Dan bought the microkorg. Which is a pretty cool little machine.

I also forgot to mention we have a sweet management team. One of the guys that manage us had us over for dinner while we were recording and his wife made us feel like we were home with some great pasta and dessert. Delish. Did I mention we have a sweet management team?

Well I hope you all had a great Mother's Day. Was pretty rad over here. I just got done doing the dishes. It's my nightly duty. "Maybe it's time for a new duty"

See, I was kidding...

2009-04-05T23:25:00.011-04:00

I waited til it was April, not March. Oh man. So really no joke though, that cold I talked about waaaay back when... well I still have it. Or a version of it. I don't know what has been up with me lately. I've been trying to enjoy some time off here at home but have had some serious issues! I now have a cough that I'm sure has disturbed our neighbors, been to the doctor twice, had one x-ray, polished off a bottle of robitussin and a bottle of antibiotics, blown through 3 boxes of kleenex, and sustained a weird neck injury requiring muscle relaxers and lots of ice. But on the bright-side my wife and son are healthy and still love me! And I've somehow managed to set up a pretty cool recording rig (slash) studio in order to stay productive by recording band demos for the next record. (cough cough, gag gag...) That kind of sums up the last month - at least the past 2 weeks ;) My Dad thinks I'm allergic to a new mattress I bought right around the time I started to get sick.

I'm currently investigating this theory.

Let's just say I'm excited to get feeling better and for spring to hit, although we're expecting snow tonight.

I'm in a good mood tonight though. I watched some of the Academy of Country Music Awards. I then talked to Pete and told him to bring his slide this week to the studio. He said it's already been packed and is ready to go. Also this weekend Dominique and I had a great date night. Check this out - dropped off the little guy at his grandparents, went to Cracker Barrel, then went to a cheap movie at the Maumee Theater. And that's how a guy from sanctus real spends Friday night at home if you ever needed to know.

still my two favorite people...

the rig before completion... (looks much cooler now)

king of the castle...

current favorite record...

my next tax write off?

And I must mention my favorite thing I found on the web tonight!

http://makechangecampaign.blogspot.com

goodnight everybody -

Squirrels and the Bachelor

2009-02-23T20:04:00.002-05:00

It's been a while. Wait, maybe I should re-phrase. It's been a looong while ;) So my home internet connection has been down all month. Turns out squirrels get bored up in Ohio during the winter and like to chew on cable lines. The cable guy comes over today to 'fix' it and of course it was working today right before he arrived. He said I have a miracle modem because his little computer showed that I shouldn't be getting anything coming down the line. Weird, but that's cool. It's working at the moment and my wife is sucked into watching the bachelor this season for some reason so now is a good time to write.

The band just got off an incredible tour this weekend. We had the privilege of going out with some great guys and working with WayFM. If any of you were able to come out I really hope you enjoyed it! We couldn't believe how many people showed up every night. I feel like the whole thing was a dream since it was such a short run. But I really felt blessed to be part of something that reached so many people every night. I'm hoping to get some video from the last show at some point. I unfortunately lost my camera battery charger a while back, so that explains the lack of road pictures. It's time to get one though I think because already so much has happened this year. We've been super busy writing songs for the next record and I'm happy to say that things are rolling right along.

We have a few days to recover before we head back out. I think I have a bit of a cold coming on. I'm hoping the zicam comes through for me this time.

til next month ;) just kidding...

dare i say it?

2009-01-17T00:38:00.004-05:00

Super excited right now. I think something huge happened today! I'm not one to hype things too much, but I think after a full day's work we may have just written my new favorite song!! haha! Victory! Now's the time to sit on it and let it stew. Wait to see if it hits me as hard tomorrow. Like a good chili - it always tasted better after a night in the fridge right? Let's hope ;)

In other news, bummed I missed the office yesterday. I wonder if it was any good. I know what will be good though, that's coming up next wednesday on ABC. oh man. WE GOTTA GO BACK!

maybe the kid needs his own blog

2009-01-14T12:56:00.009-05:00

ok, so I think I might be turning into that parent that always posts pics of their kid on the web. well maybe not too bad. But he's just so awesome! This is his super hero pose. Sorry for the delay in posts lately. The past few weeks have been somewhat relaxing and the old brain has been in non-blog mode. BUT it's time to move on, it's time to get goin. what lies ahead i have no way of knowing. What better way to kickoff a blog hiatus than with some t.p.?

So the band did an impromptu recording session last week. 2 songs in 2 days. FUN FUN. Seriously though, it was. I'm thinking this new record is going to have some cool flavor to it. I regret I did not have my video camera on hand in the studio. Seriously, never again. There was some cool stuff going down. Including a new found piece of equipment known as the 90's meter. I guess you guys aren't ready for that, yet. But your kids are gonna love it. HA! and a BTTF quote to boot.

I'm feeling goofy for some reason. Could be the caffeine. Dominique made a great breakfast this morning. lots of sugar though.

Well, this week we're getting together to write some more songs. It should be cool. It's going to get down to 0 degrees here tonight. Not cool. But hey that's the joy of living in the midwest.

See ya!

my two favorite people...

2008-12-26T16:05:00.003-05:00

So the little guy looks like his mom. I thought so, but here's the proof. I hope you all had a great Christmas!

nice

2008-12-23T21:51:00.002-05:00

This is what the future looked like in 1978.

sshhh!!

2008-12-23T00:40:00.006-05:00

I'm up a little late. Mark sent over some song ideas we had recorded on the road but had since forgotten. Well, at least I had forgotten. It's fun to listen to something you did but don't really remember. It caused me to look through my iTunes library at the 'album' entitled junk which consists of at least one hundred song fragments. Junk is a very fitting name for this collection, even though it has been cleaned out plenty of times during this age of the mp3. I came across one recording though that I really enjoyed hearing again. It's from a night I'm pretty sure all the guys remember fondly... the night we wrote the song 'eternal.' I'll try to explain it in a way that doesn't sound pretentious - but we came up with the bones to at least 4 songs in a period of 2 days last year when we were in desperate need for some new material. We had already recorded a good portion of the record, but we honestly lacked some key elements - of which included Half our lives, turn on the lights, we need each other, and eternal. Those four songs were demoed in rough form during 2 nights we took off from the road late in the summer of '07. But the one that came out the best then was Eternal - at least in my opinion. It felt like the most pure thing we had ever written or created in a day's time. It was a real highlight for me in the whole twelve years we've been together actually! For the first time ever the five of us got in a room and created a piece of worship with no strings attached and with no commercial ploy in mind. Maybe I should re-word that... We love making music, we are privileged to share and record it, but this song was all of us in a room making a sound that reflected the love of Christ for us. Even as I listen now I get a bit worked up over it. So yeah, here it is for you to hear... It's one take, 2 mics in a bad sounding room, matt singing through a guitar amp and no sauce to cover anything up. This was the first and only complete take. I'm pretty sure I could get in trouble for posting this, so keep it on the down low ;) It's a video file but it's all blank - just give it a listen...

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-12T22:47:00.010-05:00

Today I think I stole a guitar. From Matt. I don't think I need to worry about him getting on a computer to read this though. But little does he know I found a PRS of his in the van today and I'm laying claim to it for a little while. At least 'til he notices.

Hmm, what else has happened lately... Some good friends from out in California sent us an AWESOME hand made gift for Josiah. It's a 'watch me grow' book that looks like a tree and it has room for a year's worth of pictures. The Goldstone's always send us these incredible hand-made Christmas cards too. I'm not kidding, but I know for a fact they could start their own company and give hallmark a huge run for their money...

Random, but tonight I heard John Tesh on the radio. What a perfect radio voice that guy has huh? He was talking about PB+J at about 9pm. So I pulled over and bought some at the kroger. Not my kroger though, because I really don't like that one. That's a different blog. Also went to Best Buy tonight and noticed how ridiculously big and bright their shopping carts are. It's like they're just asking to be filled with large corrugated boxes full of non-biodegradable packing wrap and shiny black boxes. Don't worry though I just bought a dvd with some best buy bucks, the cart was for the little man. Which brings me to my next point. I never knew about the funny noises a baby is capable of making. I mean, it's pretty incredible. I'm told it's normal, but sometimes I wonder if it's my baby in the crib or a terradactyl egg hatching.

Really?

2008-12-08T18:50:00.003-05:00

So if you were to tell me at the beginning of this year that by Christmas one of the following statements would be untrue I don't know which I would pick.

a.) I would have a baby boy.
b.) I would pay $1.42 for a gallon of gas
c.) I would be nominated for a grammy award
d.) I would see over 2000 people sign up for the Mocha Club
e.) I would have no gray hair

Well I guess hair dye would be the logical solution to the trick question. But it's been a while since I've opened a bottle of that...

So yeah, I'm pretty shocked right now. We had a good little trip to Nashville this weekend to let it all sink in. Pete got married on Saturday. What a great time. It was a perfect day and the bride and groom looked pretty awesome. Dan was in the wedding so he looked cool too. Hopefully those guys will share some photos. I've already seen some and they're ridic. Yep. We got to see a bunch of friends and the very accommodating mr. Jeremy Camp let us stay at his house for the weekend. Dominique said it was like a vacation. I think that's fair to say.

Home right now and it smells like fresh baked cookies.

Can't wait to work on some new tunes this month. I think we may have some good ones on our hands ;)

I need Africa more than Africa needs me.

2008-12-03T20:26:00.002-05:00

So this week the good people over at mochaclub asked if we could help get the word out about what they've seen to be reality in Africa. For those of you who don't know what mochaclub does it's actually pretty simple. They use monthly pledges of only $7 a month from people all over the U.S. to greatly impact the people in places like Sudan, where in the past 3 years over 2 million civilians have been forced to leave their homes. The mocha club relies on the support of it's members to bring relief to multiple areas through a wide variety of projects - And they do all of this with only $7 a month! On the last tour we brought out our friend Sammy to help raise support. The response was overwhelming and enough money was pledged to provide water for A LOT of refugees who would otherwise have no clean water.

This brings me to what it is our friends at Mocha club have seen to be true in the midst of these war-torn regions, and that is not the images of despair that so often gets flashed on our televisions, but communities of people grateful to be alive and grateful for what little they do have. In seeing this it becomes evident that finding happiness is not about finding sweet deals on the internet or waiting in a line outside a department store the day after thanksgiving. True happiness is something I understand more by having the privilege to give 7 dollars to people who really don't need anything more than clean water to be 'happy.'

SO... help my friends at mocha club and help yourself by checking out the following info....

I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME

When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. “I am needed here,” I think. “They have so little, and I have so much.” It’s true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in the people. It’s a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day. [read more]

my laptop went to Vienna but I'm home with a new friend

2008-11-19T23:31:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting about the biggest news in my life! But this past week has been fantastic and crazy all at once. Last Tuesday night my wife and I got to meet our little boy! He was born here in the great city of Toledo, Ohio on Veterans Day at 10:20 PM. Weighing in at only 6 pounds and 1 ounce at 19 and 1/2 inches long here he is... Josiah Christopher Rohman. He's my new best friend and right now he's sleeping in my bedroom. I'm starting to get the hang of this new sleep schedule we're on, but my wife is much better at it than I am. Like I said, i'm still without my laptop because the guys went to Finland and Austria and required the use of my computer. So when I get it back I'll be sure to post again. Thanks for all your prayers! God is good ;)

yep

2008-11-04T21:57:00.003-05:00

had an awesome time today in michigan. I'm happy to have a very cool, and very pregnant wife ;)

some decorations dom made while i was gone last week...

What do I like?

2008-11-03T02:35:00.002-05:00

So every once in a while someone will ask me what music I listen to. Every once in a great while I'll actually have something to share I'm really stoked about... Tonight I discovered there is a new Travis record releasing here in the states on Tuesday. It's snippets of songs like this one that make me want to play my guitar all night. The video is shaky - and you may not like it, but right now I'm diggin it.

More Snacks?

2008-10-23T16:42:00.002-04:00

Right now I'm in the air somewhere over the midwest. I guess I should mention I'm in a plane. I'm surrounded by some sleepy people with awkward hair and travel pillows around their necks. Some of them have large headphones on as well. Today I feel like I'm back in pre-school for some reason. Maybe it's because the flight attendants look as though they could have jumped out of 1985. They just have that golden look to them, like many people and things did back then. Like my moms brand new shiny volvo station wagon. The new car smell still comes to mind. I think it's the way the sun shines through the windows on a plane at 30,000 feet that reminds me of being young again. That and the fact that now on Southwest flights the attendants come around with a big box of 'snacks' for you to choose between. One of the snacks being Lorna Dunes, a staple at my Grandma's house. It's funny watching people half-awake with their sleepy eyes rummage through a box that some flight attendant has to hold in front of their face as they decide which snack will best hit the spot. All the while the attendant must careen carefully to keep their balance as the plane jostles to and fro. If I could take pictures of this going down right now I would...

The past week I've learned a few things about myself. Funny things really. For one I love green M&M's. I've also been thinking at what age I was when I can remember things fairly vividly. Probably because I'm starting to wonder what kind of things my kid will pick up on as he grows up and what things he'll be funny about too. I had a really nice watch fall apart during the tour. You can barely make it out in the picture we used for the new album cover. I have small wrists. I realize every time I go 'watch shopping' I tell the nice lady opening the glass windows this fact. Why? I guess I hope that it will help her not to think I'm less of a man because I have to use almost all the holes in the strap to make the watch stay in place. Or maybe it just helps to make conversation. Or maybe I really do have awkwardly small wrists. Anyways, the strap came completely undone in about a years time and so Dominique, having worked in retail before, decided to help me out while I've been on the road and called the store to see if we could get a strap. After a week of playing tag with the manager she said she would give me an altogether new watch since they no longer make this one. This brings me to the funny realization - I'm the kind of person who hates asking for things. So to have to go in to a store and pick out a new watch and walk out with a new one for free makes me feel weird. Even if this is what they should do and agreed to do anyways. I realize I'm this way a lot. I don't like asking for a cup of water at the drive through. What? I don't like taking more than one snack - even though they encourage it. I guess my fear is that someone at the back of the plane might not get their cheese crackers. I only like to do things when I ask if it's really OK to do so. A few weeks ago I had a terrible experience with a store that rhymes with 'battery farm' not wanting to return an item we had ordered for our house. I had asked before ordering if it was returnable, covering my bases I thought. It wasn't my intent to order this large item only to return it, but after receiving it we didn't like it and decided to return it that same day. They changed their tune though and stated it was all the sudden non returnable. After practically threatening the company and them having to change their website they caved in. Anyways, back to the watch. We didn't have the receipt, but we had the warranty with the original sales tag attached to it. I picked out a watch quickly and the 'dudes' working took forever to get me out of there with the watch. They wouldn't look me in the eyes really, as if I was a thief stealing something from under their noses. They continued to make comments on how I really need to keep the receipt this time etc... The manager had left a note for them that it was all cool, but still they gave me a weird vibe as if they were making a huge exception and doing me a favor. This was just what I expected though so it came as no surprise. It put me in a weird mood the rest of the way home. I guess I have no faith in retail, not that I should anyways, and very little faith in customer service. You know when you go to best buy and they have open boxed items for sale? Most of the time they are damaged or missing something like a cable, a battery, or a remote? Yeah I'm pretty sure those once belonged to people that have no problem using something then taking it back bruised and dirty. This gets me going too! I guess next time I need to take some nice pictures of something I'll buy a camera then return it a week or two later. I'll just tell them I didn't like it.

Anyways, as I'm thinking all of this, before I type it out I'm on the plane still.... listening to my ipod and my eyes start to close. Just for a minute it's all coming together in my head. I'm remembering my pre-school teacher I had a crush on, my mom picking me up in the volvo, the way the sun made the fall leaves look on the way home and then suddenly...... My tray table is pushed down in front of me and the woman with my dr. pepper is looking at me all flustered and hands me my drink only to sarcastically say 'well you know I was about ready to skip you.' That's when it hit me. It's been this woman my whole life that has made me not want to ask for anything. She's been everywhere I go. She's been the one huffing and puffing behind the counter at Tim Horton's when I ask for a toasted bagel. She's the one on the phone at pottery barn. She's the one working at fossil giving me the dirty eye. She's the one one working for Northwest that doesn't want to enter my frequent flyer miles in for me. She's everywhere!! And she's the voice that pops into my head the moment I think about taking more snacks.

nice leaves

2008-10-22T20:20:00.002-04:00

Today I was able to be home and spend time with my wife. We ran around and did a bunch of things... went to the park for a sec. Wish I would have had my better camera. These are from the old iphone ;) Not too bad I guess. What a day!

Las Vegas, NV

2008-10-20T03:42:00.004-04:00

Good times today. Tired at the moment -it's late and I'm wiped out from a long weekend. Tonight was pretty awesome though - packed to capacity. There was a guy running security tonight that was super pro. He use to be head of security at some casino here in town. I definitely didn't want to tick him off. He had a sweet accent too. I would of taken a picture but then he would have had to confiscate it.

Can't wait to get home some. Won't be long now til the little guy shows up! Can't wait ;)

We'll see you in Portland.

FYI... 4 In N Out stops in 6 days. It's been a busy week.

Highland, CA

2008-10-19T04:14:00.003-04:00

Tonight was great. Thanks to everyone who came out and helped raise money for the Mocha Club. Sammy tore it up for the crowd during Turn On The Lights. Cool note - 2,100 people in Africa will have clean water courtesy of the people in Highland, California. Ya'll rock ;)

Santa Maria, CA

2008-10-18T05:14:00.001-04:00

Wildomar, CA

2008-10-17T03:09:00.002-04:00

It's fall, I'm in California, I'm gonna listen to some T.P.

2008-10-16T13:31:00.004-04:00

And maybe some Cardigans for old times sake - thanks for getting me in the mood Mr. Brennan Smiley ;) A friend of mine who recently acquired a brand new shiny black Deusenberg guitar.

So we've been having a great time on the road. Last night we 'camped' out at Joshua Tree Park, today we're going to rock in Wildomar somewhere outside L.A. I think. Tomorrow Pete's parents will be hanging out so maybe we'll get some bbq action.

I gotta go find a shower and some coffee right now. oh check out the new twitter ;)

oh boy - is anybody else tired?

2008-09-30T00:49:00.007-04:00

So I'm up late watching Anberlin on Jimmy Kimmel dressed all in black and reading about how I just lost a chunk of change today in the crazy slip and slide that is our nation's economy. Today started out bright and great though. Dominique and I took another road trip - as though this past weekend's jaunt through 'northern accent country' wasn't enough. We headed just a few hours north to a magical place called Frankenmuth, Michigan. And yes - some would say we have northern accents too, though I would like to think mine has withered a bit. We filled up at the Bavarian Inn and ate like mad. It was Dominique's birthday last week so we had a coupon and ate fried chicken and schnitzel without the knowledge of the stock market turning upside down today. But even now I'm not too worried. I mean just throw it in the pile with the rest of the noise we're bottled up in... HD, BluRay, Bluetooth, Nintendo wii's being in stock for Christmas, WiFi that's not free, 2G or 3G, Tall or Grande, rampant illegal MP3 downloads, Home Depot or Lowe's, extended warranties, and no interest no payments til 2012. Oh not to mention that almost everything we buy is made in a foreign country... and that probably includes this sofa and keyboard. All that aside I guess I'm more concerned with the fact that Bill Maher is on Conan and whole-heartedly thinks there is no God.

So where does this leave me tonight? Grateful for a God that has orchestrated the creation of the universe, a God that knows no political or economic boundaries. Grateful for a God that loves his creation enough to give us all free will, but saddened that the reality of that also means there are those that will never grasp God's eternal love.

The truth is that everything here on this planet can get crazy. The fact that we're all here is crazy. But I believe there is a God that is crazy about us - we just need to cut out some of the noise to realize it.

btw - I'm Chris Rohman, and I approve this blog

random notes

2008-09-24T00:01:00.007-04:00

We are taking a few days off from the road at the moment, but we're excited to get up to the great states of Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend. I promise we'll get some pics up after these next few shows. The past week was incredible though - Maine is so good to us. Not to mention the 1400 people who showed up in Pennsylvania on Sunday!! I finished my book in my bunk somewhere between Bangor and Souderton. Good times. Somehow in Oklahoma last week I lost my sunglasses. My favorite sunglasses. Bad times. I've never owned a nice pair of sunglasses in my life and I took such good care of them - only to loose them in the end. (Here's a pic of Pete sporting my long lost compadre) I really don't know what happened but I'm on a quest to replace them and so far haven't been able to find the exact same pair. Sad Day. I did find out though that the sunglass hut has an incredible return policy. So I'm 'trying' out a pair for the weekend. We'll see how it goes. Silly huh? I never realized how much sunglasses really do help reduce glare and stress on the eyes though ;) I'm Not sold on the grey lenses as opposed to the brown which I loved. hmmm

Anyways! So I'm getting really excited for our little boy to arrive. It's going to be pretty awesome. I can't wait to get him his first guitar!! Which btw I just scanned a picture of mine recently... Yeah it's about to get crazy at our house ;)

waiting for my ride

2008-09-18T01:03:00.003-04:00

So we just finished a good six shows in a row this week, something I don't think we've ever done before. Actually I think it was 10 shows in 12 days to be exact. What a whirlwind, but what an awesome way to spend the last two weeks! I still can't believe how well the tour is going. Every night we've been shocked at how many people are actually showing up and singing along. We have an ongoing joke I'll let you in on as to why things have bode so well, then I'll try explain what I really think it is...

A few weeks ago we played a show in Kansas City and I decided to bring a rug to put on stage. I have to admit it's rather funny showing up with A rug. Not enough rugs to cover the stage mind you, but just one lonely rug to place on my 5 x 8 space on the stage. You see, all the big guys have been doing this for years and I don't think it's just because of the 'vibe' effect. It feels good on the feet and I believe it has great acoustical purposes in the way it counteracts the harshness from a blaring guitar amp. Most drummers will use a rug to prevent their hardware and drums from slipping all over the place. It also helps to move a kit a few inches with one gentle pull on the rug. Mark has actually been setting up his kit the past 12 years on a rug we stole from my mom. No joke - it's out on tour with us right now. So I decided it was high time I got a rug of my own. Kansas City was the first city to catch a glimpse and I honestly think the show went amazing! It just felt like everything on the rug was under control. When we started the tour we felt like it was time to kick it all up a notch and so we decided to grab an additional rug. I know - it's kind of a big deal, but we thought it was the right time. So here we are out on tour with 2 rugs and things are just smokin'. Every night after a great set we joke that it's 'gotta be the rugs.' I mean every night we're walking off stage and for the first time in sanctus real history we feel like we're just part of something bigger that is happening and none of us are really in control of it. Well the jokes are funny for many reasons. Pete and Dan are funny guys, so of course the rug comments are new and more hilarious every night. But when all the joking subsides and we're still scratching our heads as to why this tour is going better than expected it becomes more and more obvious that it's God's blessing on it and nothing at all to do with cheap oriental rugs. We really believe that what this tour is doing is far greater than playing some songs and selling t-shirts. Of course we've always been concerned with writing songs to encourage people and relate what God has done in our lives, but everything has such deeper meaning this time around because we're helping to build wells for refugees in Darfur. It really is life changing. Thousands of people will get to drink clean water now because of people joining together at the shows and committing to send just 7 bucks a month to the mocha club. I can't even begin to describe how crazy it is that over $100,000 has been raised already!! We're not even a quarter of the way through the tour! To sit here and think that this dream we had earlier this year of taking the 'we need each other' theme on the road is now a God-breathed reality is absolutely mind blowing. So yeah - rugs are cool, but people coming together for the broken and thirsty is where I really want to be.

SO - thanks for reading. I'm waiting for my ride to Virginia. I'm excited to see what lies ahead. I'm also about 3 chapters from the end of a great book. Check it out... The Shack

What a week!!

2008-09-08T23:10:00.017-04:00

WOW! I can't believe everything that has happened this week. First of all thanks to everyone that has come out to the TOUR so far - you definitely helped kick start it into action. Perrysburg on Thursday was a huge success thanks to everyone who signed up for mocha club. You helped raise over $30,000 in one night! Enough money to build 2 wells in Africa this year. That is truly amazing! Not to mention the way the other two shows in Cinci and Spring Arbor went. After this weekend I believe people have joined together to raise over $60,000 already!!! I'm too excited to sleep because of it! AS if those 3 shows weren't enough, we were able to play a sold out benefit show for a local family in Toledo being featured on Extreme Makeover - Home Edition! Check out the Toledo Blade, and our local ABC station for details. Last night over FIVE THOUSAND people showed up for the rally. They were forced to turn people away - I don't think anyone was planning on it being so big! We even got to play a quick song with designer Paul DiMeo. HUGE! What a night. We're going to head to the demolition tomorrow and I'll try to get some pics. Thanks to my dad for these photos already ;)

Also must quickly mention - Check out TOMS shoes NOW! And check these pics too...

today we start this thing

2008-09-04T10:10:00.002-04:00

well actually a few days ago the chaos started, but we're embarking on the big tour today. kicking the whole thing off right here in our hometown. we're pretty anxious to hit the road and see how things play out. i'm trying not to get too nervous, but there's a lot of work to be done and a lot of diesel to be burned. i don't think i could feel any better about the guys we'll be out with and the music we're all bringing to the table though - it should be an incredible time ;)

i'll do my best to get back into blog mode, been taking some time away from the ol laptop lately when i've been home.

oh, i thought i would mention too you should go out and buy the new record from 'above the golden state.' you will not be dissapointed ;)

'til next time...

What?

2008-08-12T11:25:00.002-04:00

I just saw that the new kids on the block have a new record coming out. OK.... really?

what's new?

2008-08-07T21:58:00.007-04:00

Hey there. It's been a busy couple of weeks over here. Since the last time I wrote I think we've been in Seattle, Nashville, Virginia, Maryland, Texas, and Oregon. There were a few places there between - 4 hour layover in Phoenix (allowed for a cab ride to In N Out) and late night driving through the great state of Pennsylvania. I've definitely seen more of PA under the moonlight than during the daytime. Dominique and I decided to head north for the weekend and made it up to Frankfort Michigan last week. Her parents have a great place up there so we try to hit it up when gas dips below 4 bucks. We love to look at furniture - neat huh? There's a cool place up there we always go to called Betsie Bay Furniture. Yeah, nothing in there is too affordable so we just look. Everything in this town is on the main strip really, including an old movie theater - with one showing during the weekends. We decided to walk down and see hancock one night and it was a good little movie. Hit up the beach in Empire and talked about baby names. WHICH by the way is the hardest thing to figure out. The biggest news right now is that we found out we're having a BOY! Yeah - check him out...

How crazy is that!! We can't wait. Between shows and traveling we've been getting some things ready for the little guy around here. Took a trip to the outlet mall and got him this guy at pottery barn... I think he'll dig it. We have some awesome baby furniture coming next week too. Can't wait to put that all together ;) I might have to get Dan Gartley to help since way back when Dominique and I got our first place he helped me move all the furniture. I think it was like his first trip to Toledo - we had just met and I had him help move heavy things in the rain. Really, I was just preparing him for life on the road. So far so good. Now I just need to sell him one of my cars ;)

yeah I got an agent, and a roadie named bart...

2008-07-11T23:42:00.005-04:00

It took me a few days to get around to writing about one of the most memorable nights of my life. For that I apologize - it just took me that long to recover! WOW. Tom Petty, 4th row on the river in Cincinnati. I mean this guy alone is just about the biggest reason I wanted to play music when I was young. And it only took me this long to get around to seeing him live. And he was pretty much right in front of me. I debated if I should bring my vinyl records in to the show to hold up and try to get his attention. I was so freaking nervous too! Haha - but it was awesome when he looked my way and gave a nod (right at me of course) when I held up my Damn the Torpedoes record during Even The Losers. And then during Saving Grace when I held that vinyl up and got Mike Campbell's nod of approval that warranted a pick throw that woefully fell short by only an arms reach. AHHH! But he made sure to shield his eyes well enough to get a good look at the skinny kid with big hair and genuine vinyl records in the 4th row ;)

So yeah - what a night...

YOU WRECK ME
LISTEN TO HER HEART
I WON'T BACK DOWN
EVEN THE LOSERS
FREE FALLIN’
MARY JANE
SWEET WILLIAM
END OF THE LINE
BAND INTRO
BREAKDOWN
SAVING GRACE
HONEY BEE
YOU DON’T KNOW HOW IT FEELS
LEARNING TO FLY
DON'T COME AROUND HERE NO MORE
REFUGEE

ENCORE:
RUNNIN' DOWN A DREAM
MYSTIC EYES
AMERICAN GIRL

I've never had a more amateur video moment than this.... As soon as he came close I almost dropped the camera.

Schooled

2008-07-06T02:27:00.004-04:00

It's Sunday 2:30 AM and Today - by that I mean Saturday, I woke up at 4AM in Bakersfield California in a small queen sized bed with Matt. Ok that may be too much info, but I'm still awake because I bought the new John Mayer film and it's blowing my mind right now. Don't watch it. Seriously - especially if you think you play guitar. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now ;)

... ok, i was kidding - you have to check it out. Musically it's incredible. He plays 3 back to back sets and keeps his voice and hands flawlessly in sync the whole time. I'm not into his wristwatch preferences but to each his own. I don't know how Eric Clapton can even sleep well at night after watching this.

OK

2008-07-03T22:49:00.005-04:00

Hey, sorry for the long delay in updates lately. WOW, I'm terrible huh? Where to start ? I guess where I left off... bought the Coldplay record on the Tuesday it came out on a drive to Kentucky. Actually bought the last copy at a starbucks somewhere in Marion, Ohio - which btw is the hometown of none other than mr. Dan Gartley. He was not there on this day though, which is probably why I was able to buy the last copy. So that was fun. Also sometime in June was my birthday! Yes - I turned 18, well not quite. But I did get some sweet gifts. I'll mention two of them; an apple TV and a model airplane my dad made. Pretty awesome. We had a good old fashioned cook out and I dropped some burgers between the grate in the grill somehow. Dominique got me a sweet Reese's ice cream cake from Friendly's. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. We played some fun shows in June. One was at stone mountain in Georgia. It's called stone mountain because there is literally a mammoth stone that sticks out of the ground at this park. It supposedly stretches miles beneath the earths surface too. We got to the top via a ski lift contraption. I snapped some pictures, but it's really hard to tell what it really looked like, plus there are two dudes in the background sporting their farmers tan. Anyways, Dan and Pete decided to walk down the mountain before showtime. I think they were pretty tired. I did get a cool picture of us flying over St. Louis. Don't remember what flight that was, probably on the way home form Texas. Anyways - it's pretty cool to see the arch from a plane.... Somewhere in Colorado we were spotted on a 'no alcohol beyond this point' sign. We all got a kick out of this. And sometime in June I had a chance to pick up some genuine Mexican Coke.

Why...

2008-06-05T19:19:00.002-04:00

..do I love this soo much right now? It's a 4 chord song. I guess it's the whole bit - melody, visual, strings, a familiar beat... hmmm.

=w=

2008-06-04T00:57:00.004-04:00

OK - a few thoughts before I get to bed. First I need to mention that if you have seen the new episode on sanctusreality then you've probably unnoticeably seen one of the greatest bass players of all time hanging out with us. His name is Adam Nitti. Look him up on youtube.

Second - Last week I went to a big box electronic store and asked the music manager if he would tell me how many of a certain blue looking CD had sold. I was curious beacause a few weeks prior I happened to notice that they were stocked up with like 25 cds! I looked again and now there were like 3 left. I wanted to know if they had actually sold or had been sent back. I mean - wouldn't you like to know too? So as I'm talking to the guy he casually says 'I bought that CD.' Surprised I said, 'Cool. Is it any good?' He said 'Yeah.' So that was cool. Turns out that this particular store is making about 37 bucks a week in profit off of sanctus real according to their computer. Then I started to think if that might be more than....

Third - I just realized tonight that weezer came out with a new record last week. Not sure If i'm going to buy it.

Fourth - I got my hair cut today and while talking to my hair dresser (is that a proper term or is it stylist) I realized I've never seen any of the Lord of the RIngs movies or Harry Potter movies - or the narnia movies. This could explain some things. Other than that though I think I'm a pretty normal guy. I mean I love chocolate cake.

goodnight ;)

what do you think?

2008-06-03T14:14:00.002-04:00

there it is for those of you that missed it.

Anyways - I think it might be time to go see ironman finally. Might take off this afternoon and catch a mattinee. Or maybe I'll vacuum my basement........ ok probably not.

Well it's about time Jeremy Bentham

2008-05-30T19:14:00.003-04:00

Hello there. Where to start, maybe I'll work my way backwards. Today I bought a snazzy new wireless apple mouse. I can now move my cursor from the other side of my kitchen. Maybe even further I just haven't had time to check yet. I also purchased something else super cool today. Personal financial software. Yep - check it out. If that doesn't strike you how about this. Yeah used that on our cars this morning. And if that isn't interesting enough I have yet to mention my wife and I are expecting our first child! Bam!! Didn't see that one coming now did you? Oh, and I thought I could save that news til the end of this blog. We're super excited and we get to find out if it's a boy or a girl in just a few more weeks! So we've been pretty busy getting things ready here and having late night debates on names. Now that's gotta be one of the hardest things to figure out. Maybe I should take a poll. We'll see...

So last night was the season finale of lost. I've talked to Pete and Dan both about it already and they absolutely loved it. I on the other hand thought it was just so so. Maybe my head wasn't in the right place - it's been a busy week, but I just didn't feel the usual excitement afterwards. I'm hoping this will pass though. I think I'm bummed that they had to shoot 2 alternate endings. I won't spoil it for you, but after I saw that today It was like learning the secret to a great magic trick. I just went 'oh.' I think they did a great job of wrapping up such a unique season, but I think they'll have to get super crazy with the plot next year to keep everyone's attention.

Last weekend we celebrated Memorial day up near Traverse City, Michigan. It was great to get away and have a good old fashioned family vacation. My parents, my sister, and Dominique and I got in the car late Thursday night, put some Tom Petty in the cd player and drove up 23. Bought some dried cherries and skipped some petoskey stones on Lake Michigan.

I guess it was the weekend before that when we were in England. What a travel nightmare that was! 5 hour delays there and back and cold hot sandwiches. But the show was AMAZING. We definitely plan on heading back sometime when we can all hang out. We're also booked to go to Finland this fall - which is right next to Sweden home of the all new volvo xc70 btw. Anyways, England was great, but by the time we got there we were running a bit behind that I didn't get to take any pictures AT ALL. I had to change strings, program the set into the old laptop, figure out the gear 'sitch. Oh and somewhere in there we ate some baked potatoes for dinner.

Until next time... I gotta go check the range on this mouse.

finally!

2008-05-15T12:02:00.000-04:00

Well, we've finally made it. I don't have one, though I should because I've forgotten how to play Leap Of Faith. Made my day to see this on Amazon. I think it's on back-order though ;)

I Promise I'm Not...

2008-05-08T12:14:00.001-04:00

Slacking. I know I haven't posted anything terribly great lately. Dominique and I did take a week long vacation in Florida last week though. Daytona Beach, and Orlando... Disney. That did involve a bit of slacking. But today I'm up to all sorts of fun stuff. Cleaning my shower, spraying for bugs, cutting grass, scrubbing my kitchen floor, fixing my pedal board wiring, fixing a clogged drain, you know the good stuff. Tomorrow we do leave for the weekend, so I'll be sure to blog some tasty timbits later. yum

getting ready for the UK

2008-05-01T01:03:00.000-04:00

It's a dirty world

2008-04-17T23:43:00.000-04:00

Tuesday two great things happened 1.) my wife and I bought a dyson. 2.) phantom planet finally released a new record. Both purchases happened to be sale-priced, adding all the more to my excitement. All said and done this made writing a check to the IRS a bit more forgettable as I spent all night and the following day vacuuming and listening to one of my favorite bands. These actions left me with a very, and I mean absurdly clean home. We mainly have wood floors and I'm not kidding that vacuum picked up more 'stuff' than I'd like to admit. 3 emptied canisters later 5 out of 7 rooms had its own solid go-thru. I called my mom and told her all about it; she ran out and bought one wednesday. I think I found my plan b for when the band is over. All of this led me to remember a funny story... onto the real meaning behind the subject title.

So for some reason this morning when I woke up and the sun was shining through my dustless blinds and onto my gleaming floor I was reminded of a funny thing that happened on the third day tour. I, as usual, can't remember what city we were in but Dominique and I took a walk from the venue one day out into the town. Someone from the show warned us not to go too far as it was a bad part of town supposedly. It was the middle of the day though and there was hardly any traffic anywhere. Five minutes out this truck pulled up to a stop light and a witty dude-man (the term we use to describe any not so fluent guy we run across on the road) rolls down the back window of a truck with a rebel flag on the back of it and starts to bark at us. Literally bark - and growl. It was so unusual that I had to say something back. Obviously dude-man was trying to be demeaning, so I turned around and yelled back at him 'are you alright?' as if I was confused why he would be barking like a dog-man. I don't know - maybe he had gotten bit by a dog and needed a rabies shot and his only way of letting me know was by sticking his head out the window and growling. Anyways, he acted a bit startled that all 135 pounds of me acted like I wasn't scared, but then he gained his composure and dropped a few f-bombs. At this point I was just staring at him and then his fellow dude-men in the truck opened their doors as if to warn me they'd be coming out and barking as well. The light turned green and they sped off.

For some reason after remembering all this, I read through James this morning. Mainly touching on chapter 1. When it says 'slow to anger' it really hit me when I think about that little incident. I was pretty quick to let dude-man know I wasn't going to just let him bark at me although his actions didn't really warrant my response at all. Anyways, I thought about how great it would be if every time something started to bug me I just took a deep breath and blew it off instead. I don't know, It's a thought.

So tonight - as my wife and I took a bike ride guess what happened? Yeah, some dude-man started to yell out his window at us. Seriously - not kidding. What the heck right? All this, with a little help from the dyson, led me to one conclusion.... it's a dirty world out there isn't it? Oh well, I won't let it bother me too much.

Oh to meet Cip Patterson

2008-04-12T23:10:00.001-04:00

Hello there. It's Saturday night and we're getting more than 3 hours of sleep tonight! We're in Tulsa... again. Played at the Mabee center... again. But every time is a blast, seriously and tonight was no exception. To top it off Pete bought me an authentic glass bottle coke from Mexico. It's the best coca cola out there. Last night we were in California - again as well. Wish we could only stay longer than 15 hours one of these times. We played the Fox theater in Visalia. Amazing theater. Won't be long before some other really great bands hit that stage too, ie. Foreigner. Anyways, I'm super tired and don't have anything too heady to type out at the moment. But since you chose to check this out I'll leave you with a tiny morsel to chew on. Enjoy. .:aptera.com:.

you know it's been too long if...

2008-03-26T00:07:00.000-04:00

you forget your username and password. But then again, I'm a terribly forgetful person. There's really no good excuse for this though. It's usually the little things. I can come up with an idea and in the time it takes to find a way to write it down it's usually floated out of my brain somehow.

anyways - some lucky guy out there with five thousand dollars just sitting around won this tonight...

73 tele

I'm not too jealous though. I opted to buy the new jon foreman ep today which cost me way less and brings instant satisfaction anyways.

this week while on the road we'll be shooting a video for 'whatever you're doing.' It should be a good time. I'm planning on fake-playing guitar and I'm pretty sure the other guys will be doing likewise. I'll try to post some pics this week...

did anyone catch Counting Crows on Letterman last night?

It's hard to keep moving when your feet are cold

2008-02-29T12:13:00.000-05:00

"Well I may shake your hand, but I won't know your name."

So here I am at home getting back to a normal routine after being away for a few weeks. Doing my taxes, shoveling snow, jumping cars that won't start. You know, the usual. Oh and a few band related things like sending out press info, approving show schedules, and doing my part to keep the ship afloat. All in all I'm ready for a 'big weekend.' Last night definitely helped relieve the stress level though.... LOST on ABC was amazing. Best episode ever in my opinion. It's like taking my favorite movie of all time and kicking it up a few notches and throwing in a cool Scotsman to boot. For those of you into the show you know what I mean. Pretty much stood up and clapped after that one.

Next week we gear up for the tour with Third Day. We have definitely hit the big time - Van and all. Ha - seriously though, we are excited to be in such great company for a month and to play a BUNCH of new songs! I hope you're all ready to sing along.

Back to my taxes -

photos gallore

2008-02-19T22:36:00.001-05:00

I'm writing this really quick because I'm pretty excited about it... I figured out how to post pics immediately from my phone. Here's the link for now. I'll make it fancy later.

http://gallery.mac.com/chrisrohman

A return to my roots

2008-02-11T15:32:00.000-05:00

Today has been an eventful day. I regret that I don't have any pictures though - the main reason being it was just too crazy to be able to. As many of you hopefully know our new record releases tomorrow. It's almost like a birthday party - except there's some work involved and I don't know if we'll get any cake. But today started the whirlwind that goes with releasing a new record. I can honestly say though that all of us guys are enthusiastic and ready to promote the daylights out of this thing. All that started this morning - with little daylight actually. I got up nice and early - headed to our local radio station YesFM and met up with the guys there to talk on air. It turns out the station has been running a contest of sorts this past week where they asked their listeners to write 'essays' in which they were to describe how a Sanctus Real song had impacted their life. What a crazy concept I thought - but people actually took the time to write in and it floored me! They decided to pick one story from the pack and give them the opportunity to have lunch with the band and 10 of their friends. That happened today as well - but not before we made a stop at my old High School. You see, it's been ten years since I've graduated and it's been almost that long since I've stepped foot in the school. Today we were able to convince the principal to let us come in and play for chapel - just like we use to when we were 16. It was AWESOME! The students were great, the news channel was there, and we had an amazing time. After that we proceeded to lunch with the winner of the radio contest and 10 of her friends. They were probably one of the coolest group of people we've hung out with in a long time actually - and we all got to eat some great food. So anyways, i'm in the middle of doing some radio interviews, but wanted to write a quick note before things got any crazier. Thanks ahead of time to everyone who goes out tomorrow and buys the new record!! We hope it blesses you ;) See you all soon -

It's time for healing - It's time for the nitty gritty

2008-02-05T04:54:00.000-05:00

So people always ask us what does our band name mean? Why did you add 'real' to a strange latin word that you purposefully chose to miss-pronounce? Good question. Well I can honestly say it's because of our desire to be genuine with each other and the people we hope to affect with our music. To let people know we don't have it all figured out, but that we rely on God's grace to survive - particularly when it's not easy. Not a small task really, but something we try hard to do no less. So these little blogs have been setup with the idea of being a place for anyone who cares to stop by and be entertained, maybe encouraged, but I don't think any of us thought of it as being a space to be completely 'real.' Maybe that's was just me, and maybe this is where it all starts.

So I unexpectedly discovered today how long you can go without talking to someone you've loved dearly. Someone I've loved my entire life. For me at least - that time was 3 months and 26 days. I never really let on to many people on the outside, but my Grandmother, Martha Rohman passed away on October 9th, 2007. She wasn't terribly old and she definitely never acted like it. She enjoyed a lot of un-grandmother like things like cool cars, hip gadgets, and good music. She really liked the beatles, sheryl crow, some johnny cash, and a band called sanctus real. She bought us our first van, our first nice trailer, and helped me purchase various gizmos and guitars along the way.

Our pastor this week started a month-long series called 'it is well with my soul.' For the past few months I've felt like I've been walking around without a limb or something. Nice timing huh? Although I wouldn't have minded chopping off my left leg because of problems I've had with a slipped disc and my sciatic nerve. It was actually today that I went to the Hospital for a simple procedure to have a needle shot up the base of my spine to apply a healthy dose of steroid between my 4th and 5th vertebrae. I've been very fortunate my whole life to have never had any major surgeries or sickness - so to be laying in a hospital room all by myself in a gown with a cold i.v. in the back of my hand was a strange feeling. The last time I had really been in a room like this was the night my grandma passed away. So there was a bit on my mind and I can't say I was really looking forward to this whole ordeal. I guess I can thank my bad posture and my les paul for being here though. Eventually it was time and I got up and was wheeled into the room where I was to lay on my stomach and pretend like I wasn't scared. I could hear the heart monitor beating frantically so there wasn't any real way to hide it. They asked if it was my first time, I said yes and they said 'oh we can tell... it's that whole fear of the unknown that's getting you huh?' I guess they were right - the whole procedure took all of 2 minutes and I was out of there eating a muffin and sipping on juice like nothing even happened. The rest of my day was great and fairly normal, but then tonight as I was looking through some files on my laptop it hit me. I saw some pictures of that familiar but not recently seen smile and was thinking about a letter I had just received from the nursing home facility about a candle lighting service they'll be having while I'm out of town for some unequivocal record promo stuff. I lost it, and I lost it hard. I hadn't cried this much that night I was with her, but for some reason I finally felt the release and it had to be brought out of me. I lost all control for a good while - I couldn't formulate any words and I probably should have passed out there on the floor.

So, back to the sermon from this Sunday.... Talking about "soul health." I guess there in church I prayed that God would do a work in me to shake off some things - I wasn't sure exactly what, but there was this knowledge there that I had been holding in some issues and because of that my heart had been numbed . Some things that had prevented me from feeling healthy in my soul. Things that had stopped me from really feeling like I could come to Christ and ask for some help. The pastor started speaking on how true health in your soul is a gift for everyone though, and that the only reason we can have this is because we are made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ. (romans 5:1-11) It might have been the first time in a looong time that I grasped that idea and really allowed it to happen. It wasn't like a huge ordeal - there were no tears involved at that moment. It was just a time to be honest and genuinely 'real.' After the service I walked out and was about to get out the door before someone stopped me. It was a friend of mine, a woman who constantly prays for me and the guys and comes to our shows when she can. She quickly gave me a hug and just as quickly slipped me a picture of myself that she had been holding on to since July. For no particular reason - she just felt like taking it to church and giving it to me that day. First of all I generally dislike 99% of pictures I'm in - and probably almost 100% of pictures that involve any kind of big zoomed-in lens. This was one of those pictures - I gave it a brief look and instantly thought - oh man I probably look terrible. As we spoke for a minute I began to look it over though and it was actually kinda neat, well... really neat. I had my favorite guitar held perfectly high, my eyes were closed, and I was smiling and singing at the same time into the microphone. I looked unbelievably happy. You could kind of make-out some green foliage in the distance and then I realized this was a picture taken at the very last show my grandma was able to attend last year. I think I almost lost it there in the foyer - but there was way too many people around. But how crazy was it to receive this picture of myself in a state of what looks like nothing less than pure joy and happiness, and then to think back to that day and remember the main reason I felt that way - because I knew then God had blessed me with one more special moment where I could look over to the side of the stage and see grandma giving me the thumbs up. So to me it was pretty evident God was already answering my prayer and beginning to show me that He's going to love me enough so that I could get back to that place. Today was definitely the biggest step in all of it.

Maybe the reason I'm up at 4 am writing is because of the steroids. But I really think it's for someone else to understand it's ok to be real with God about your heart and soul situation. It's OK to cry out to Him. That's what he wants actually - is for us to be so real with him that we can hardly speak anymore. There's no other way to get to a place of healing. I catch myself when I talk to people or do interviews not to sound too cliche and not to quote many of our song lyrics - I guess I'm way too self-concious... and that probably needs to change too. But, I'm getting excited all over again for people to hear the message on this new record. I look back and think about the songs my grandma was able to hear and how much she loved them and the stories they tell and how she thought they would encourage people.

When it came time to finalize the album artwork I was asked if I wanted to have a special note to dedicate the recording to my grandma. I actually said no. Almost in a defiant, pre-thought out way. I think because (A) I'm kind of weird (B) it didn't feel like the right timing for me yet, and (C) it's too small of a thing to dedicate to such an amazing person. But aren't those the same things God deals with in us? The things that stand in the way of coming to Him so that we can live a fulfilled life and have a healthy soul? To lift up what seems to be a small thing, even when we don't think it's the right timing - or we feel too self-aware, so that he can begin the massive overhaul that unbeknownst to us really needs to take place? Today can be the day that starts - today is the day I'm dedicating the new cd to my Grandma Martha - even though in my heart I know I'm dedicating a lot more than just that.

"It’s time for healing, time to move on, it’s time to fix what’s been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong; it’s time to find my way to where I belong

There’s a wave that’s crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there’s peace
And it’s hard surrender to what I can’t see, but I’m giving in to something heavenly..."

Now that's rock and roll

2008-02-03T22:12:00.002-05:00

So the superbowl is over. I personally thought it was over after Petty played running down a dream. But what a crazy final minute huh? I lost a bit of interest as I got on my laptop after the halftime show to buy some Tom Petty tickets for July! But I'm glad I kept watching. So really, how about that halftime show? I was beyond excited. Top notch performance. I'm glad he played the classics. The Hammitt's were over and we all thoroughly enjoyed the show. Dominique dug out her Halloween costume from when she was 8 years old...

Good times. Also good stuff this week... season premier of LOST! We've only waited about a year for that to start. We had to wait an extra day to watch due to the cruise we were on - but I can't complain about that. It was a fun week for sure... more fun than what Bill Belichick will be having this week. We also signed some CD covers today. It's about that time. The record will be out on the 12th and we have a lot of things going on this week to get ready. Tomorrow starts at 7 am with a needle to my spine. Yeah - maybe I'll get some pics of that procedure for ya;)

just a few more months and we'll be fine

2008-01-25T21:54:00.000-05:00

This past week has been pretty eventful. Somewhere I forgot to mention I got an iPhone. Although I don't know how it slipped my mind. It's a solid investment. The first iTunes download on my phone was Jon Foreman's second EP - Winter. I downloaded that just after midnight when it came out. I also used the phone to listen to some rough mixes of some acoustic tracks we recorded to supplement the new record. And just tonight I used it to find the number to Red Robin and then proceeded to call an order in for a whiskey river bbq burger. So that's the phone sitch' (that's for you pete)

Right now I'm listening to some good friends of ours latest record - needtobreathe. Their unbelievably good. Scary good actually. Good music is hard to come by these days - at least I think. But what do I know. I was just thinking that I don't know who the jonas brothers are. What does that mean? I know that Tom Petty is doing a summer tour though. And I'm going to be there. I also had this funny thought the other night when I was listening to Jon's new EP. When we recorded our first record for the label we were in the studio one day and one of the label guys came by with a brand new disc. It was switchfoot's beautiful letdown. Yeah - I'm pretty sure he played us meant to live - this was like a year before it came out. He left and we proceeded to record a silly song like captain's chair or something. It was a humbling experience, but if it wasn't for truly good music there would be a lot of mediocre bands with no one to look to for inspiration. So thanks Jon, and thanks Tom for bearing with me.

A day to relax

2008-01-13T22:11:00.002-05:00

So the past few weeks have been fairly hectic. I woke up late yesterday after a quick two day trip with Matt and Pete to visit some radio stations in Texas. I worked on some un-fun things for a while and then I happened to look outside and noticed that it was actually kind of nice out. Nice as in not cloudy or windy. It hit me then that I hadn't flown any of my rc airplanes since summer. I asked Dominique if we could go and she was in. So I charged up some batteries and we headed to the park....

happy new year!

2008-01-03T21:52:00.000-05:00

Alot has been going on since the last post. We've had some time off the road to be home and that was super awesome. Although in the middle of it I found I had a terrible problem with my back. Turns out I have a slipped disc in my low back, the L5 - S1 disc to be exact. It's a pretty nasty little thing actually. It decided to make my leg feel crazy for the few weeks leading up to and after Christmas. After much rest and some Dr. prescribed medications I'm feeling much better and hope to avoid the all too serious fate of back surgery.

I did get to play a show with the guys on New Year's Eve in our hometown. We haven't played a show that allowed us more than 10 songs all year it feels like. Such a good feeling to play that much live again, although shows like that tend to be a blur. All the fog didn't help either. I think the lighting guy didn't know how to turn off the fog machine. My dad sent me a pic so here it is... We got to play some new songs and I got to finally mix some live tracks in stereo rather than mono, which is a very awesome thing. It's kind of hard to explain how cool it is, but let's compare it to having a PC then getting a mac. Hopefully to most of you that's a happy thought, but it's also like having a dodge neon then getting a decked out volvo SUV. Maybe that's more like it. I decided to buy the gizmos to make it all happen while I was home recovering from the back issues. I purchased pro tools m-powered, an m-audio 410, and a tranzport wireless remote control. It's ridiculous how nice it runs on my new macbook pro. I know... blah blah blah. Dan Gartley was excited about it though.

We also had our annual sanctus Christmas party the day after the New Years show. I got some sweet vinyl like the new Paul McCartney, old T.P., and some zeppelin. I got to hang out with my pals...
We all got really nice Christmas bonuses too!! O.k. that isn't true, but I consider it a bonus we made it through another year and things are great. We couldn't be more excited about our new record that releases in february and we're getting set to do some really cool things to promote it. I think that's all for now though - it's time to get some late night Big Boy ;)

My favorite dudes and I

2007-12-20T01:33:00.000-05:00

Here's one of my fav videos caught by a 'fan.' It's old, but I love that you can actually hear Dan's bass, we seem to be in the pocket, and the off key sing along at the end ;)

Where does the time go?

2007-12-20T01:03:00.000-05:00

For real, who isn't stressed this time of year? It's rather ridiculous I think to allow it to happen, but it never fails and it's ever increasing. Would I be ashamed to admit that I'm the guy who goes shopping for others and only comes home with new clothes for himself? Yeah, prettty much. Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck. After all, how silly is the whole hub bub of the season in comparison to the real reason we're abe to celebrate. Yeah - enter my reality check. I thank God for the blessings of life and family, and I will try my hardest not to let the little things get to me this week ;) Not even that ticket I got today...

2007-12-09T21:49:00.001-05:00

Ok, so here's the proof that I was in 88 degree weather the same weekend that I returned home to a car with its doors frozen completely shut. This is us at the Alamo. We had an amazing time with my aunt and uncle and I had a chance to see my grandmother for the first time in 12 years. She still doesn't speak much english and unfortunately I still can't speak a lick of spanish. It didn't really matter though, I sat and listened, trying to decipher a few words just like I would try when I was a kid. We all laughed a bunch and it was cool considering she's not in the best of health. I think I'll try posting some more pictures soon. Back to my car though... I poured hot water on the doors and they opened right up.

here goes

2007-12-07T15:51:00.000-05:00

Today is a big deal. My family and I have not taken a vacation together since I was 16 years old. It's been 10 years in the making, and I've been around the country 10 times without them in the meantime. I never thought we would ever travel somewhere together just like we did way back when. We're in San Antonio visiting family we rarely ever see and I feel like I'm 16 again. All I need is my sony discman loaded with 'The Bends' and about 8 bucks in my wallet. Who has their own cell phone? How much for a gallon of gas? What are estimated taxes? What do I care?

So anyways, as I was saying today is a big deal. I started this page today and I'm excited. I also saw the Alamo today. Pretty cool. I saw one of Davy Crockett's guns and my dad bought some little army men. We walked around in the 75 degree weather and forgot all about the 3 inches of snow we left behind in Toledo. I think we saw a mexican soap opera being filmed too. Which reminds me, my aunt calls me Antonio Banderas, which is funny because my wife also calls me that but for different reasons. Either way I don't see any resemblance. I mean come on... zoro? I could only dream of having my own cologne.

Tonight's dinner was great. Dad paid. My Aunt and Uncle provided the entertainment. My sister ordered a steak and I had a sweet potato. I saw some great moustache's and thoroughly enjoyed the 90's mix of music. Oh, and who doesn't love the foam soap at Outback?