it's the heart that matters more...

Well, it’s been four shows in four days, all within a very close region. Not waking up with the baby or having to do things in the mornings has allowed me to catch up on some sleep. But I will still say that I am very tired now. The tired-on-the-inside kind.

Playing with a band wears you out, but usually I’ve got more energy at the end of a show than at the beginning, because of the audience and the volume and the fact that I share the focus with other people. Solo shows just wear me out on-the-inside. It’s just me and my guitar for an hour or so. If I stop to take a drink of water, it’s silent until I’m done. That’s not an easy thing for me.

Thankfully my friend Crystal made out to the show again tonight, three in a row, and that was SO great. She jumped in on all the Caedmon’s tunes and a few of my own. It was very nice to both have her wonderful voice, and to have a bit of a buffer. The shows have been fun. Small, but mostly the good kind of small, the kind where you are actually aware of who’s in the room and it feels like you’re all apart of something special. Many thanks to Jeff, Ben and all the rest who helped put this run together.

This weekend has given me time to read a little bit (nice), write a little bit (nicer) and to catch up on my nerd addiction Battlestar Galactica (nicest?). Say what you may, but that show rules. I’m very disturbed from the ending of the last episode. I’m now current with the show and it’s sad to think I’ll have to wait a week to watch another one. People, how did we live before TV on DVD?

Well, I have to get up at 4 to make my flight, which will feel like 3 because of Daylight Savings, so I’m going to pack up and go to bed. Thanks again to all of you who came out this weekend. Caedmon’s goes back in on Thursday so I’ll have new updates from the record soon. I'm taking tomorrow off to be with my girls. I can't wait.

Somewhere in the middle of America

I'm on Day 3 of my weekend in Nebraska and I'm having a great time. I'm sitting at The Foundry, where I'm playing tonight, and listening to a couple old guys talk about the inventions of ancient Mayans. The original question was "what do you think about original sin?" I think they think that means "can you come up with a sin that's original?" I'm still not quite sure where this is going...

I had a really fun show last night in Lincoln. Crystal Davy, who filled in for Danielle with Caedmon's for a while last year, sang a few songs with me. Her husband Ben put on the show and did a great job. She's going to join me again tonight, and I'm grateful. I'm always more comfortable playing music with other people than just by myself.

I need to pass along some truly terrible news. I left my hat on the airplane on the way out here. This was the best hat I've ever owned. I filed a claim with Southwest, so maybe it will show up, but I doubt it. It's a pretty amazing hat. If I found it, I don't think I'd turn it in. Much sadness...

Well, I'm going to go walk down the street and see if the used bookstore a few doors down is still open. Any suggestions?

the life we choose

The bags are packed with clothes, cd's, t-shirts, guitar pedals and a few books. They're waiting by the door for when my neighbor Stephen picks me up in the morning to take me to the airport. There I'll meet an airplane who will take me to Chicago, then Omaha.

I've done the dishes and cleaned up some of my more obvious piles and messes. I took out the garbage and the recycle bins. I threw out some nasty leftovers.

I get up in five hours. I'll probably get up twice in between there to help out with Sadie's feedings. I'll probably sleep well on the plane. Thank God for Southwest, the last hope for those of us looking to claim a row in the back to stretch out in.

I'm blessed with a great job that a lot of people wish they could have. But it's the nights before the trips that make the 9-to-5 look pretty great.

Now I'm going to go pick Ella up so I can rock her back to sleep and hold her a little bit more before I have to go.

A night on the town

I took Ella on a little outing tonight to see our friend Emily DeLoach play a short set. Her band was made up of Jason Feller, Kevin Mann, our usual road manager for Caedmon's, and Todd Bragg on a little broken down perc kit.

They did a great job and Ella was enthralled. She's used to hearing music, and to seeing her Daddy walk around playing guitar, but she's rarely seen a group of people playing together. She just stared and said "Emily... sing. Emily... sing." over and over.

I've been playing guitar for most of Emily's local shows, but I had to sit this one out, schedule-wise. It was wonderful and humbling to hear my friends not need me at all, and to just enjoy what they were creating. The sound wasn't that great and they were playing off-the-cuff and it was just fun. That's what music is about after all, isn't it?

a little more gear for sale

So I thought I'd throw this up here before I spent the time and money to put it on ebay. This is the audio interface I've been using since I closed down the Eagle. It's a good unit, just not what I'm really needing.

It's the M-Audio 410...


The Front...


The Back...


I've only used it in my basement, so it's pretty much brand-new. It comes with ProTools 7.1 and some decent plug-ins. It has two nice-sounding mic preamps, two other S/PDIF inputs, and eight analog outs. It has MIDI in and out, two separate headphone outputs and two firewire inputs. It can be powered with the power adapter OR the firewire cable.

It's a great little unit for recording, live tracks, or software keyboard sounds. I'd like to get $400 for the unit and the ProTools discs. Just send me an email at andrew@andrewosenga.com if you're interested or have any questions. Thanks.