Squirrels and the Bachelor

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?

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

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...

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

This is what the future looked like in 1978.

sshhh!!

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!

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.