Randall and Andall in Ohio

My dear friend Randall Goodgame and I headed up to Xenia, OH this past Sunday and played a show together.  Without denying the reality that the 11 hours of driving was one of the more fantastic times in the past few weeks, the show was a lot of fun.  Our old buddy Jud put on the show and, as always, was an incredible host.

I thought it'd be fun to share a few photos of our journey.  Our musical journey...

Randall and a grand piano.  This is never a bad thing.



Randall, Jud and I



The git-fiddles for the evening...



We get by with a little help from our friends...



It was a fun show.  Thanks to everybody who headed out to spend the evening with us.  I think we need to do it more.  If you want us to come play, let me know!

Ellie's Run 2009

June 13.  I'm running a race, and trying to rope in as many friends and family members as I can.  It's called Ellie's Run for Africa.  I ran it last year and it was a blast.

The best part is that all the money raised goes to help get supplies to kids in Africa so they can go to school.  25 bucks buys eight books, two uniforms and a pair of shoes; the requirements to attend.

CLICK HERE to go to my account and help out.

Tiny Dancer

My oldest daughter E had her first ballet recital last night. So sweet. She was, is, and for a long while will be, so excited about it. My arm is still sore from holding the video camera in the air for 45 minutes. It was also the last day of nursery/pre-school. I sound like an old man, but they are growing up so fast. Last night was tender and precious, a little bitter but mostly sweet.

Besides that I've been busy in the studio. Doing a ton of mixing/mastering these days. I'm new to that world, but I've really been enjoying it. Can't wait til you get to hear Randall Goodgame's tune on BriteRevolution.com next month.

I've spending quite a bit of time on my next "big idea". It's the weirdest one I've had yet, but I think it's probably worth doing. That's all I feel I can say right now, but soon and very soon you'll be invited to be a part and I'm excited.

Besides writing and recording I've been slowly starting to pursue what may very well be a leading to a whole new world. I've been talking with some folks, praying with others, and am hoping to find both a clear calling and a resource to allow me to more fully use my gifts to both help younger artists and provide for my family without always feeling the tug of the road. You can pray for me, I'd appreciate that. I wish I had a better way to say what this means to me, but it's still a bit amorphous in my head, though it's becoming somewhat concrete in my heart.

Anyway, Steve Hindalong is here now and we're going to cut a demo for a tune we wrote way too long ago. I'm always excited to spend some time with him. Should be fun. Talk soon.

Thunderbird

It's been a fun week.  I played in a round at the legendary Bluebird Cafe last night, always a blast to play there.  A great artist I just produced, Brice Ash, hosted the round and Kelleigh Bannen and Shannon Cain rounded out the evening.

I've been writing a few times this week with a band called Remedy Drive, which has been fun.  Other than that just working a ton in the studio.  Finishing up a Randall Goodgame tune and some of my own for BriteRevolution.com.  I've been doing my songs with Cason Cooley.  Here's a shot of him editing some percussion in his new studio.



Today I played bass on a project for Brendan McCarthy.  Mitch did a record for him last year that I played and sang on and I really enjoyed working with him.  This EP is looking to be even better.  I'll play guitar and sing on it later this week and next.  I can't wait.

Today I got the awesome experience of playing this gorgeous 1964 Gibson Thunderbird.  This was seriously rad.



It's finally stopped raining here in Nashville for a few minutes, so I'm going to head out and get a little run.  Who else is going to see Star Trek on Friday night?  I'm going to see the crazies in their Klingon costumes!

Crazy couple of days

So this has been a crazy couple of days.  Monday was awesome.  Eight dudes joined me for some rocking "Lunch n' Bowl".  I lost.  Last place.  Ouch.  Then about twenty or so folks joined Alison and I at Otter's for some chicken tenders and conversation.  Todd and Garett dropped by as well, which was really fun.

Had a pretty amazing show at 12th and Porter later that night.  First I played guitar with Lindsey Jones, always a good time.  Then my crew joined me onstage for some rock and roll.



That's Emily Deloach singing background vocals, Winn Elliott on the keys, Paul Eckberg on drums, Chris Weigel on bass and Jim Colella on guitar.  Quite honestly, one of the best groupings of musicians I've ever played with.  Hopefully this gang will be with me at local shows for a while now.  I can't thank them enough for their awesomeness.





And to prove that I live in a house with pre-schoolers, my setlist was written in crayon: (note the hints for the usual forgotten lyrics in black, guitar changes and capo settings in red)



Today, Alison and I got to go to Ella's PreKindergarten Spring Concert and Luncheon.  Basically, a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds on a church stage singing cute little songs with cute little motions.  Tears were shed for the sweetness.

Then I came home to this in my basement:



Yeah, this would be the SECOND time our kitchen sink has had a crazy leak into my basement studio.  First time it was the pipes going FROM the sink.  This time it was the col water TO it.  Thankfully it wasn't near as gross as it looked at first, it was just a giant mess and took up a bunch of time I'd have rather spent mixing.

I'll post some more photos of the roadtrippers as I get them.  Thanks to Geof, Chris, Josh, Doug, Michael, Tim, Andy V, Jaron and Katherine, Jud and his crew from Xenia and the boys from Alabama.  You guys made for quite a day, and I barely drove at all!  Glad you made it back safely.  It's a dream come true to have people care so much about what my friends and I get to do.  Hope you had a great time.  Let's do it again soon.