Tuesday
Jun302009
The Welcome Will Not End
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 08:21AM
So here I am, packing up the dreams God planted, in the fertile soil of... wait, no... I'm packing my bag for two and a half days in a van with the Square Peg Alliance! So excited.
We're off to St. Louis in an hour or so. I won't be taking my computer, which will be weird for me, but I feel like it will be a nice break to "unplug" from the matrix for a few days and devote the time to my friends. Says the dude who's bringing his iPod, in-ears, cel phone (and promises to twitter and facebook update the whole time).
Still, for me, it will be one less distraction and that's something I'm looking forward to. Oh, and the music. And the friends.
We're off to St. Louis in an hour or so. I won't be taking my computer, which will be weird for me, but I feel like it will be a nice break to "unplug" from the matrix for a few days and devote the time to my friends. Says the dude who's bringing his iPod, in-ears, cel phone (and promises to twitter and facebook update the whole time).
Still, for me, it will be one less distraction and that's something I'm looking forward to. Oh, and the music. And the friends.
Reader Comments (10)
We'll miss you here on the Internet. But don't worry, Andy. Friends are friends forever.
You should cover a MWS song some time. Maybe "Rocket Town," "Go West Young Man," or my personal favorite.... "Secret Ambition" That song rocks out!!! and i mean rocks out in the loosest 80's christian pop rock kind of way.
At least it's not a van down by the river.
GREAT SHOW in St. Louis last night! Thanks Andy and all the Square Pegs (sans Derek). Hope you're able to do more of these shows in the near future.
For those not there, it was in the round with all the Pegs playing about 3 songs each. Andy's songs included Canada, New Beginning, and Hold the Light. I was hoping he could add Swing Wide to the list, but wasn't sure it was appropriate to yell out requests in a church!
Fun stuff worth sharing:
* Lots of senior citizens in the crowd. The Pegs are widening their audience! Or maybe they all showed up to see Ben Shive. We heard later that the venue was his home church.
* Andy Gullahorn played was "Roast Beef" - the hilarious tribute to Andy O's middle toe. Gully set it up with his incredibly funny intro, explaining the incident and how his song helps the toe live on forever. We've heard it before but it always cracks us up. Lots of laughter in the crowd and on stage.
* The crowd gave rounds of applause after each song and a long standing ovation at the end, which prompted the gang to come back for an encore. Nice.
* We finally saw Jeremy Casella! He's a hard guy to catch on tour. If you don't own his Recovery CD, get it.
* For me, the best part of these shows is seeing the Pegs interact on stage - singing along to each other's songs, Andy O grabbing a guitar from his arsenal and joining in on someone else's tune, someone trying out a new tune which in turn inspires others to play new tunes, etc.
* On the way home, my wife commented how it felt like we just saw some old friends. We don't know any of these guys (or gal - Jill Phillips) personally, but their honest lyrics and laid-back style on stage makes us wish we lived next door.
Thanks again Andy! If anyone sees the Cornerstone show tonight, please let us know how it goes.
You are officially a MWS nerd
Dude, if you did a tribute album to Smitty, I'd totally buy it. I'm not ashamed to say I love everything pre-2000 MWS. A cover of "Rocketown" would rule.
Ella appears to have inherited her mother's lovely voice. Further songs "feat. Ella O." will be welcomed enthusiastically.
OK, so I just got back from vacation. Part of said vacation was spent in Gatlinburg, TN. I walked into a discount bookstore in Pigeon Forge and they had, in their music section, about 50 copies of The Normals first CD. I bought it as this was the only record that Andy has recorded that I had yet to purchase. As I listened I am brought back to a statement that I read from Andy a while back. He made a comment that indicated that he felt like the Normals made two good albums and one turkey. I always assumed that the first one was the one he was not as happy with. Having now listened to this one, I am not sure which one he does not like. There are some GREAT songs on this CD (and the other 2 CDs as well). So, Andy, what gives? Which one don't you like? Why?
oh, it's definitely /Better Than This/. You probably don't want to be roped into hearing a 20 minute monologue of how he doesn't like that record. I did dupe him into signing my copy of it, though.
cant wait to have you back on the net soon! but in the meantime i'll be listening to Derek Webbs new album haha. Na but for real it's amazing. Stockholm Syndrome. gotta check it out