We just finished our show here in Houston and Zach Godbold, who opened up for me in Baton Rouge a few months ago, showed up with a bunch of his friends. I told them about this great mp3 of two Nickelback songs on top of each other, and you can hear how they're the exact same song. Here's that clip. And even funnier, here's an NPR report on it. Enjoy...

Oh, and it's my Mom's birthday today. Happy Birthday Mom!

CC - Houston

I'm down in Houston today, or just North of it, I should say, and we're getting ready to do a Caedmon's show. A guy named Harold was our sound engineer when I joined the band, he's one of the best I've ever worked with, and he's now on staff at this church. He picked us up from the airport and it's been fun to catch up with him again.

I had a day off in Nashville yesterday and it was wonderful. I played with Ella a ton, we went to the library and Target, a trip that is fast becoming a Tuesday evening tradition. Our goal is to get home by 8 so we can put Ella to bed before The Office comes on. Last night did not disappoint. Gotta love a good Christmas party episode. We decorated our tree and got to walk down memory lane looking at our old ornaments and such.

Monday night was our fifth Andrew Peterson Christmas show. It was in Chattanooga and Alison and Ella came out for it. That was great. Going on five days away from my family was rough and it meant a lot to me that they came out. Ben's wife, Beth, and their two kids hopped in Andy's 15-passenger van with Jamie, Andy's wife, and their three kids, with another lady from our church and her son and they all rode out together. Six car seats in one van. Holy cow. Andy's two boys rode the bus back to Nashville that night and Ben and I rode back with our families. Oh, the hedonistic life of a rock and roll band on the road...

The AP shows have thus far all been really amazing. I really respect and admire Andy for the work he did writing those songs and having them tell the story that way that they do. It's an incredible work of art and few songwriters, I think, could pull something like that off. Being a part of it for most of its existence has not really clouded my judgment of just how good it actually is. I'm so honored to get to be a part of it. I don't play with them again until Saturday, which is a bummer. They have to do one show without Garett and I, due to a Caedmon's show that was already scheduled, but Paul Eckberg is going to fill in on drums, so all shall be well.

I guess that's about it for me today. I'm going to try and find some a wireless code or something so I can post this, and then I'll see if I can find a couch somewhere to take a little nap before soundcheck. Oh, the hedonistic life of a... wait, I already said that...

Oh, also, if you, like me, love the show Arrested Development and don't want to see it cancelled, sign this

AP Christmas Tour - Iowa

It's a little after midnight in Iowa. We're on the bus going from tonight's show in Iowa to tomorrow's in Midland, MI, and sitting in the front lounge watching "The Big Lebowski". One of the weirdest and funniest movies of all time.

Our show tonight went pretty well. The room we played in was so cold my fingers were not feeling as loose as I would have liked. My two songs tonight were "If I had wings..." off of 'Souvenirs and Postcards' and "early in the morning" from my new record. I led off the round tonight and felt I maybe shouldn't have started with a slow song, but Jill said I was being too hard on my self. I probably am. Still, I won't open with something so slow tomorrow. I'm thinking I may pull out a Normals tune or something.

Every tour seems to have some game that everybody gets into. With Jars we played marbles, on last year's Christmas tour it was Super Text Twist, which I was very good at. Forgive me for bragging. Cason decided this tour's fascination was going to be dominoes, and we've been playing every day. Sandra and I have been a pretty good team today. We killed Cason and Andy Gullahorn. Yesterday we played dodgeball in a gym at the venue. We are all out of shape. It was fun, though.

Well, that's about it for tonight. I'm going to post this and then head to bed, read a little and try to get some good sleep. I've been reading "The Bourne Identity" which is a good read, but set way earlier than I imagined from the movies. It's placed back in 1975. Weird.

Oh, also, I think this is really funny.

AP christmas tour - Nebraska

We just finished the second Christmas show here in Nebraska and it is going incredibly well. For those of you who haven't heard Andrew Peterson's Christmas album "Behold the Lamb of God", you are severely missing out. I can honestly say that playing through that record is the musical highlight of my year, and has been for the past few. We play it from start to finish without stopping and it is incredibly moving.

I get to play a smorgasbord of instruments which is really fun. A lot of guitar, both electric and acoustic, a little mandolin, 12-string mando-guitar and upright bass. I just have a blast going from one to another.

The playing of the album is the second half of the show, after the intermission. Beforehand Andrew, I and the four special guests each do two songs in a round. Derek and Sandra Webb (and/or McCracken) and Andy and Jill Gullahorn (and/or Phillips) are the guests. That's a powerhouse of great songwriting right there and it's an real thrill sit there and hear everybody share their songs one after another.

It's always a bit intimidating to have to follow one of them, even though we all know it's not a competition or anything. You just don't want to play a lame song after hearing one of their great ones, you know?? Maybe you don't, but you can imagine! It's great for me, though, very inspiring. I've played the usual, High School Band and Early in the Morning the past two nights, but I sold out of Photographs tonight so I'm going to whip something else out tomorrow. Don't want to get in a rut!

Well, we've got to hurry up and get on the bus to head to Iowa tonight, and I want to call my wife before I get on a loud, crowded bus. I hope you guys get to check out this tour, and if you can't, the DVD of last year's Ryman performance just came out. If you have seen a show, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

All right, that's all for me tonight. Take care and I'll write more soon.