waiting for a shower

We're all here at some Super 8 in West Virginia taking turns getting cleaned up before soundcheck. Why is that whenever six grown men have nothing to do but flip through basic cable we always end up watching extreme police videos? We may never know.

The show last night was pretty fun. Monitors were ridiculously awful, but I feel the show went well despite. Our friend Mark Polack is playing bass for us this season and this was his first show. He was great. A bunch of our internet cc.net friends were there last night as well. I was telling a few of them about the movie Hands on a Hardbody. Here is the contest's official site, and here is the movie on Amazon. One of the funniest movies I have ever seen.

And just because I feel I've gone too many hours without being embarassed today, I just stumbled upon this old photo of yours truly in seventh grade...



(Note the Michael W. Smith poster and dc talk Free at Last cd...)

All right, my turn is up, gotta run. Thanks to everybody who came out last night and to all of you who are going to be here tonight. Oh, and tomorrow, we're playing with Aimee Mann, Over the Rhine and the Indigo Girls, and I'm doing a solo set as well. So if you're in North Carolina, you don't want to not be there. Showertime!!

on the bus

so I’m on a bus somewhere in Pennsylvania, I think. I don’t really know. I just woke up. I sleep really, really long and hard on a bus. If you’re unfamiliar with how a tour bus is set up, you’ve got a lounge in front, with a couch, little kitchenette, tv and bathroom. There’s a little lounge in the back, as well. The middle is twelve bunks, stacked three high on either side. You crawl into one of those little bunks, shut your little curtain, let the swaying of the bus (we drive overnight while the band sleeps) and the purring of the engine just lull you right to dreamland. Anyway, it’s 10:30 Nashville time and I just crawled out to greet the day.

We had a flat tire in the middle of the night, so we’ll still drive for another couple of hours to get to the show tonight.

I’m SO glad we’re not flying this weekend, though. We’ve been flying every weekend and you have to play other people’s gear and you don’t really get any sleep at all. And after five years in a van, the bus is even more delicious.

Anyway…

Yesterday I went over to Jeremy Casella’s to help him out with some ProTools stuff. He’s deep in the building of what I believe will be a masterpiece of a new album. Jeremy is a real genius with melody. Like McCartney kind of melody genius, and I don’t throw that around. He’s using very different instrumentation from a usual singer-songwriter record and it’s utterly and thoroughly beautiful. I’m getting to work on it some more in the coming weeks and I’m very excited.

Well, I don’t have much else to say right now AND World’s Wildest Police Videos just came on tv so I have to go. This is awesome.

swimming in songs

Maybe I'm weird, (ok, I know I am) but I often "landmark" different events, seasons, memories in my past with songs. For example, when I get within fifteen minutes of Normal, Il, my hometown, and it's anything resembling Autumn outside, I have to listen to R.E.M.'s Green. It's how I fully experience that memory.

These past couple months have been sort of a bizarre inverse of that idea, though. I have been writing more songs than I probably ever have in my life. This last week that has jumped into overdrive.

I've been writing with different artists and staff writers for their respective projects, and that has been a fun and new challenge. And by challenge I mean American Gladiators-style challenge. It has been good, but not easy at all.

I've also been writing a little bit for myself, which is sort of usual.

Plans are being made to go into the studio sooner than later for a new Caedmon's album, and I'm writing like a mad man for that. Randall Goodgame was just over a little bit ago and we were throwing out more ideas and seeing where ones in gestation had come so far. I can't say much at this point, vow-of-secrecy-we-know-where-you-live kind of stuff, but I can say that I am really, really excited for where it's going, and I'm thrilled, honored and a little nervous to get to be such a big part in it.

Not only have I been writing a ton, but I am surrounded by friends who are fantastic artists and a lot of them have been pumping out great new tunes as of late. At our Square Peg show last night we did a round of covers, everybody playing a song from somebody else up there, and everybody but me debuted new tunes, as well.

Chris Mason wrote a new one that really blew my mind with greatness, and Eric Peters ended the night with a fresh one about an onion. It sounds like it should be lame, but it was incredible. Really. Can't wait for you to hear it. Andy P played one he had shared at our Weaklings meeting last Tuesday that has been in my head all day, and almost made me cry every time I think about it.

The covers were a blast. I played one of Chris' (that he woefully has not recorded yet) called Innocence. I hope I did it justice, it's one of my favorite songs he's written. I played it on the new Elloree baritone, it did well on its maiden live show voyage. Andy P played an Eric Peters tune that I had produced a couple years ago, but somehow, hearing someone else interpret it made the song just get better to me. I heard things in it that had escaped me before, and I've heard that song a hundred times.

Also, Billy Cerveny sang Andrew Peterson's song Family Man with a subtle variation. His version was called I am a can of Spam.

And finally, my old buddy B.J., who was in The Normals with me, sent me the link to this beauty yesterday. For those of you who don't think you're as good as U2. They used to be worse than you. How encouraging and sort of unbelievably awful is this clip?

Square Peg show tomorrow

is going to be...

Andrew Peterson
Billy Cerveny
Eric Peters
Chris Mason
Randall Goodgame
and yours truly...

We'll be doing a round of covers (of each other's tunes) as well, so we'd love to see you out there if you can make it!

Radio Cafe (14th and Woodland)
8 PM
Free

yeah, they USED to be cool

I think we all have that dude in us who doesn't like things just because they're popular. Or worse, used to like them BEFORE they got popular and now talk about how great they used to be and how lame they are now. I'm kind of that guy. I'm totally that guy about Sarah McLachlan. I got kind of bummed when she got big. But I also hope people get bummed about me someday. ("Did you see Osenga's last blog? He actually paid all his bills again this month... Sellout.")

I'm sort of in the don't-like-it-cause-it's-hip camp with John Mayer, but I just found his blog, and I have to admit, he's pretty freaking funny. And he ain't a bad guitar player. And he doesn't sing as gross and phlegmy as he used to. And his songs aren't as pervy as the early stuff. I'm not a big fan or anything, but I think I can officially say, I don't NOT like him anymore.

My wife is mad because she ate a Krystal Chik the other day and liked it. ("I LIKED hating Krystal!!!")

In that vein, I am also officially not ashamed at all to say that I really like the new Rascal Flatts cd. Perfect pop music, and I love it.

All right, I'm going to help my wife fold clothes and then go to bed somewhat early. Post again soon.