The NFC North Tour

So we were in Green Bay last night and finally got most all the kinks out out of the show. Our apologies to the first 3 shows in PA, MD and NC. We played Green Bay last night, Madison tonight, Duluth and Brainerd, Minnesota the next two days.

The Auditions have been fun! We had Caroline Deason from North Carolina come to the Raleigh show, she played acoustic guitar during Matchless (that's the contest song) and twas a lot of fun. We don't provide a comfy soundcheck for the contest winners, it adds to the excitement. Tonight, we'll have Andy Boettcher play and sing...he doesn't know that he'll be singing yet...but he will. We've had a guy audition for drums, which would be a lot of fun too. So keep those auditions coming and tell your friends about it too!

I had a nice morning this morning, we arrived in Madison around 3am and I slept til 10:15, had a leisurely morning sitting by the window, letting the warm sun stream in, had some coffee, read the Sports page of the USA Today, Romans 2 and another great chapter from David Nasser's Glory Revealed. Went for a run, grabbed a bite to eat with Nate at Yola's, turns out that the owner is a pastor and the girl working there was coming to the show tonight, so we got her tickets and she got us free dessert. The barter system is alive and well in Wisconsin.

First two nights

So I'm blogging on my iPhone. So it'll be short. The first two nights in Washington PA and Laurel MD were challenging to say the least but God was glorified none the less and a total of 55 children were sponsored through compassion international which means their lives will be forever changed and the cycle of emotional, economical and spiritual poverty has been broken for them! 125,000 children made commitment to Christ last year through Compassion: indescribable!

We had a technical nightmare or two this evening occur on stage: my favorite of which was when the live version video for To God Alone that was playing for our last song reset right in the middle of the song and started over!! While we kept playing! So instead of seeing how God can take our struggles and our broken lives and turn it into something beautiful... The concert members in Maryland only saw the struggles depicted...twice. If you wanna see the whole thing click here.

Now we're driving to Raliegh. We should get in around 5am. That's rough man. Pray for Nathan: he's driving.

Back To School

Remember how before when I was leaving for the Glory Revealed Tour I said I would blog a lot? Yeah. that was awesome. Sorry about that. I twittered a lot! and now I have one of those new fangled iPhones, so I should be even better.

The Back To School Tour with Chris Sligh starts today. We actually had rehearsals yesterday here in Nashville. They went well, a little longer and more complicated than anticipated, but we survived. Duffy, my bass player from antiquity, and my new guitar player for this tour, Nate Betingfield just spent the night here in Nashville and we have bus...van call at noon and we'll hit the road for the first show tomorrow night south of Pittsburgh (Little Warshington for yunz Burghers)

So that brings me to my fear. I have been BLESSED to have traveled the past few years with some of my heros in Christian music, (enter name dropping section here) and even when I've gone out on my own, we've traveled on a bus, which places our lives in the hands of a well rested, professional driver while we sleep. I actually woke up this morning and thought I was in Pittsburgh (which would be awesome, cause I'd try to weasel into the big game!)

But in light of the present economy, we decided to keep our costs down for this tour by driving vans so that ya'll could enjoy the concert experience for as inexpensive as possible! And I'm thrilled about that: I think it's gonna be a great evening (here are the list of dates to see if we're coming near you) But I DO appreciate your prayers for us as we travel and drive ourselves to each next show right after the previous show is over (we're driving at night mostly and hauling trailers...scary). My mom reminded me today that Paul spent many sleepless nights in his travels (II Cor 6:5) and I read this morning in Psalm 56:8 "You've kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights...each ache written in your book"

So we may look a little haggard up there on stage, but we're looking forward to coming, so come on out and join us! I'll try to keep you posted.

This week:

9/11 Washington, Pa (Alliance Church)

9/12 Laurel, MD (1st Baptist)

9/13 Raleigh, NC (Christian Comm Church)

General Admission at the door or VIP Tickets available (VIP includes ticket, CD, t-shirt, early venue admission for seat selection, preshow acoustic concert plus meet and greet)