Wednesday
Aug102005
back to Normal
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 at 06:49PM
It's Wednesday afternoon, about 5:30. Kevin Twit just left the studio, where we've been working to finish up Indelible Grace 4. It's sounding really good, and I enjoy this collection of songs quite a bit. It's a challenge, but so much fun, to have so many different people involved. Alison's parents are getting in tonight for the weekend, so we'll be getting ready to hang out with them, and I've got to mow the lawn (eek!) and make some audio clips for the Elloree guitars website of the instruments they've built me.
Today, at about 11:30, our good friends Chris and Megan Weigel gave birth to their first little, baby girl, Zoe. Wow, she is so cute. We went and visited about an hour later, and that child already had a full head of hair. Our baby is almost five months old and still looks like Telly Savalas. With Winston Churchilll's cheeks. Anyway, it was a real joy to get to hold her and welcome little Zoe into the world. Please keep them in your prayers as these first few days (and weeks and months) are pretty tiring. Oh, and some of you may have seen Chris before, he was filling in for Caedmon's on bass for quite a while, and he also plays Andrew Peterson's Christmas shows, if that helps put a face to the name.
Our weekend trip to Normal was very good. (For those of you that don't know, Normal, IL, is the town I grew up in. No lie. And we've heard all the jokes, yes, we ARE Normal. You're not funny.) We stayed with my folks, and they loved getting to play with their new granddaughter. Ella got to meet my dad's parents, and my friends Bobes and Ken. We spent a good deal of time with Mark and Dawn Lockett. Mark was in the Normals with me, and they live back there now. They have a little daughter, 13 months old, named Eleni, who is hilarious and beautiful. The moms had a good time being moms together, as well.
On Saturday night we went with Bobes to see his dad's new country band, Sidewinder. They were great. His dad is the guy who gave me the guitar I used to write and record "(early in the morning)." They played at the VFW and man, we had a good time hearing them, just Alison and me, Bobes and his mom. His mom and dad came and met Ella, too, the next day, and that was nice.
Bobes just started at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, where he is having to learn Greek in 12 weeks. That is crazy. I tell him that often. But he just got back from spending a year in North Korea, so maybe Greek is nothing. We hadn't seen him in a year and a half, he'd never even seen Alison pregnant. Weird. We had a great time, though, and appreciated him making the drive from St. Louis to visit.
It was nice to spend some time with my family, as well. My mom and dad were around all weekend, as were my brother, Rob, and his wife, Candice. Rob just started a new job as a teacher for students with autism, and he's really enjoying it. A far cry from the landscaping he was doing a month ago! Candice is an audiologist, and Monday night she took molds of Alison's and my ears for some noise-plugs. She works with Westone (www.westone.com/music) who made my in-ear monitors, that I love unceasingly. It will be nice to have a set of these for loud wedge shows and hanging out at festivals when we're not playing. And probably for loud hotels and buses, as well! Anyway, we don't get to see them too much, so it was nice to have that time.
We got back late, late Monday night, and I worked a little on Tuesday, but I got to feeling pretty sick, so I just hung out with my family and waited for the flu to kick in. I woke up this morning feeling fine, just a funky throat, so who knows what that was. The four-hour flu? Do they even make that?
Ok, so here's a question that I really would like some feedback on. The guys and I have been talking back and forth about this, and we're ready to let people know what we're thinking. We'd like to play a Normals show again, somtime in the next few months. It's been a few years, and we just really miss it, and miss eachother. We're thinking we'd try to book it for some Saturday evening in October or November, here in Nashville. A lot of you have told us over the years you wished you could have seen us play, so if you're interested, we probably will. We'd like to make it as easy as possible for folks to roadtrip out, have time to get there and back, and make it a really great weekend. Some of our old friends, and openers, will probably join us as well, at the show. So yeah, any weekend events that we should schedule around? Would you even want to come? Also, we're going to try and record a couple more songs to release for free, to help get the word out and people interested, but mostly for fun. So yeah, that's our idea. Let us know what you think.
Well, that's about it for me. Off to go brave El Toro the Toe-Muncher.
Today, at about 11:30, our good friends Chris and Megan Weigel gave birth to their first little, baby girl, Zoe. Wow, she is so cute. We went and visited about an hour later, and that child already had a full head of hair. Our baby is almost five months old and still looks like Telly Savalas. With Winston Churchilll's cheeks. Anyway, it was a real joy to get to hold her and welcome little Zoe into the world. Please keep them in your prayers as these first few days (and weeks and months) are pretty tiring. Oh, and some of you may have seen Chris before, he was filling in for Caedmon's on bass for quite a while, and he also plays Andrew Peterson's Christmas shows, if that helps put a face to the name.
Our weekend trip to Normal was very good. (For those of you that don't know, Normal, IL, is the town I grew up in. No lie. And we've heard all the jokes, yes, we ARE Normal. You're not funny.) We stayed with my folks, and they loved getting to play with their new granddaughter. Ella got to meet my dad's parents, and my friends Bobes and Ken. We spent a good deal of time with Mark and Dawn Lockett. Mark was in the Normals with me, and they live back there now. They have a little daughter, 13 months old, named Eleni, who is hilarious and beautiful. The moms had a good time being moms together, as well.
On Saturday night we went with Bobes to see his dad's new country band, Sidewinder. They were great. His dad is the guy who gave me the guitar I used to write and record "(early in the morning)." They played at the VFW and man, we had a good time hearing them, just Alison and me, Bobes and his mom. His mom and dad came and met Ella, too, the next day, and that was nice.
Bobes just started at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, where he is having to learn Greek in 12 weeks. That is crazy. I tell him that often. But he just got back from spending a year in North Korea, so maybe Greek is nothing. We hadn't seen him in a year and a half, he'd never even seen Alison pregnant. Weird. We had a great time, though, and appreciated him making the drive from St. Louis to visit.
It was nice to spend some time with my family, as well. My mom and dad were around all weekend, as were my brother, Rob, and his wife, Candice. Rob just started a new job as a teacher for students with autism, and he's really enjoying it. A far cry from the landscaping he was doing a month ago! Candice is an audiologist, and Monday night she took molds of Alison's and my ears for some noise-plugs. She works with Westone (www.westone.com/music) who made my in-ear monitors, that I love unceasingly. It will be nice to have a set of these for loud wedge shows and hanging out at festivals when we're not playing. And probably for loud hotels and buses, as well! Anyway, we don't get to see them too much, so it was nice to have that time.
We got back late, late Monday night, and I worked a little on Tuesday, but I got to feeling pretty sick, so I just hung out with my family and waited for the flu to kick in. I woke up this morning feeling fine, just a funky throat, so who knows what that was. The four-hour flu? Do they even make that?
Ok, so here's a question that I really would like some feedback on. The guys and I have been talking back and forth about this, and we're ready to let people know what we're thinking. We'd like to play a Normals show again, somtime in the next few months. It's been a few years, and we just really miss it, and miss eachother. We're thinking we'd try to book it for some Saturday evening in October or November, here in Nashville. A lot of you have told us over the years you wished you could have seen us play, so if you're interested, we probably will. We'd like to make it as easy as possible for folks to roadtrip out, have time to get there and back, and make it a really great weekend. Some of our old friends, and openers, will probably join us as well, at the show. So yeah, any weekend events that we should schedule around? Would you even want to come? Also, we're going to try and record a couple more songs to release for free, to help get the word out and people interested, but mostly for fun. So yeah, that's our idea. Let us know what you think.
Well, that's about it for me. Off to go brave El Toro the Toe-Muncher.
Reader Comments (16)
I am all for a Normal's show and new songs...that would be amazing!
SDG
I really liked Bloomington-Normal when I was there on a business trip earlier this year. Brutally cold, but it seemed like a really nice place to live!
Adriene and I would totally drive up to Nashville for a Normals show, especially if it was on a weekend date. About the only thing that would keep us there would be the tickets we have to some college football games during the fall and there's no way we're missing U2 (Nov. 19) Otherwise, bring us the rock!
Man, I would fly from my home in California to see the Normals in concert! Absolutely! I vote for a Saturday night. That way I can get there.
I would probably not be able to make a show in Nashville...but I would love to see the Normals back together as much as possible. I was just thinking the other day how cool it would be if you guys did another record because of how meaningful your music was to me. I just figured with you guys going all different sorts of directions in life that it woudl be awhile. Very cool if it happens this fall! Can't wait to hear the new recordings!
i have not been more excited about a blog post in a long time
i know for sure of quite a few people including myself that would journey from various places in AR to see you guys.
I would sell plasma to make such a show.
I would stay up 24 hours blogging to raise money for such a show. [Just not this weekend, please.]
October 22 would be a bad day for me, but I wouldn't expect you to plan a show around my kid's birthday.
But if it's on a Saturday and it's within 5ish hours of Atlanta, I'll do all I can to make it (even though I will be severely overdrawn in the "husband points" category).
I like the blog-a-thon idea. lol...that's awesome.
definitely do a normals reunion. i'll be there.
Bring back the normals!!!!! I will absolutely be there!
[...] It’ll be in Nashville (probably), and it’ll be either October or November (again, probably). Details here. [...]
i will fly from California to see the Normals.
I'd like to try the trek from Greeley, CO if I can get away from teaching for a bit. It'll be a stretch, though. If you grill up some burgers too, that might sell me.
yeah, I would bring a van load of peeps to Nashville from Arkansas to see a Normals show. The Normals show you played in Little Rock with Waterdeep in 1999 was me and my wife's 1st date and it'd be amazing if we got to come to one now that we're married. I'm in Nashville alot so that sounds great!
My wife and I have already talked about this. We would be most happy to make the 3 hour trek to Nashville and arrange for some friends to watch our kids while we attended a Normals concert. Anytime in October or November is cool (except for Thanksgiving), so I say, "Book it, man!"
normals show?? nashville??? Do you even have to ask? I'm there, any date, any time.
Andrew....seriously....I have wanted to see a Normals show for a VERY long time now. I can not even begin to express to you how big of a fan I am.
I'm in Columbus Georgia, and I will road trip up there to see this show. I do not care if i have to sleep in my car...I will see this show. So plan it out and we are there!
OH and as for new songs....it'd be like Christmas, birthday, and Labor Day all rolled into one...or something....
Thanks for such an exciting post!
Sandy Johnson
www.sandyjohnson.net