Over 1,000 views! Thank you!

Hey everyone, thanks for getting one of the YouTube clips to over 1,000 views! I was a little surprised that it was the instrumental piece, but no complaining. And for everyone who keeps asking, yes, we are planning a live show soon. With the arrival of Nelson into our lives this past summer, the time available shrank to zero. Plus work has been a little more consuming than I would like, but rest assured, we will dust off the old guitars and get some music out soon.

"How is it Between Us?"

This past Sunday I was asked to sing for a Commission Service at our church for a missionary couple that is headed to South Africa. Steve and Vickie are such great people and uniquely qualified for this awesome task! But the service went really great otherwise. I was not sure that the song I prepped was going to fit in, but it did.

Sara Groves wrote the song "How is it Between Us?" and it is a featured track on her album Conversations. She is such an amazing song writer that it is actually easy to learn her lyrics. The chords were a slight challenge but fun to learn. It would have been a lot more fun with a band, but they had just played with me last week so I did not want to wear them out, and lead guitarist, Brandon Montgomery was already on vacation.

See this deal was a bit of a late thing. Our music coordinator had been left high and dry and she approached me one week out. But it worked out great. This was just another example of when God is in it, we can relax and take refuge in His work...we have to do our part...but He does everything else.

Music videos live on!

I guess I am old enough to remember when MTV and VH1 actually played music videos! It was so cool when Live Aid was broadcasted and it seemed like the whole world stopped and jammed for a little while. U2 tore the house down as did Bruce Springsteen and The Police.

But I couldn't help but realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same. These bands still are some of the best live shows going, and old clips that we only got a fleeting glance of in the 70's on Don Kirscher's Rock Hour, Saturday Night Live or later on the video channels, now live again on YouTube. It is so cool to go back and get to see those clips again.

TV was so different then because with limited networks, no DVD's, no Internet, no MP3 or 4's, you just had to soak in the moment live - because you thought you would never see it again! We went to see movies four, five, six times in the theater because when it left, your only bet was a late night TV showing 10 years later!

So here are some favorites: Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son" and it appears in about a dozen interations. ELO is a fantastic band and their popularity in Great Britain had them appearing on a lot of shows, so there are far more clips than we ever got to see. Supertramp's "Overture" from live in Paris is a classic.

Great way to relive those musical moments that were almost lost in time!

Different Kind of Music

Yeah , I know this blog is about music, but I have to write about a different kind of music! This past weekend our group headed to Indianapolis for the United State Grand Prix. And yes, Formula One cars are music. The sound is so intense. It is hard to imagine V8's twisting and sreaming to 19,000 rpm's, and it can only be appreciated in person!

What is really cool to hear though, is the combination of cars at different points on the track. Some are trying to grab traction out of a corner, and have a thunderous rumble over tone of the traction controlled cutting the lower revving engine in and out. Some are at full throttle, shrieking down the grand old front straight with exhaust ringing through the grandstands. And in the background is the up and down whine of cars between corners.

Then throw in the air driven wrenches, track announcer, and sounds of air horns coming from the crowd when their favorite driver passes, and it is mechanical symphony!

Welcome Nelson Wade!

Thank to everyone for the flowers, well wishes and support on the arrival on Nelson Wade Stevenson. He was born at 7:02 p.m. on Sunday, June 3, at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jimandkims/NelsonWadeIsBorn

It was a very long few days for Kim and started Saturday night at midnight. By 3:30 a.m. we called the doctor on call who talked us into waiting a little longer to go in. Easy for him to say, eh? But by the time we arrived at the hospital at 6:00 a.m., things had slowed down, and they sent us home at 8:00 a.m. Kim was really frustrated but better to be miserable at home I guess.

Thanks to Pam Montgomery for saving the day and coming over to watch our other kids!

Kim gave me the greenlight to go to church and lead worship since our band is scheduled to play every first Sunday. I was a little dazed from not sleeping for 36 hours at that point but Brandon, Jonathan and Michael Clutz carried me! The music went really well, mainly because of them, and I was so appreciative that Michael stepped in on piano. He did an awesome job!

Back to help with the kids while poor Kim breathed through the pain on the couch. By 1:00 p.m. Sunday, she said we have to go! So the kids headed for the Montgomery's and got to attend Amanda Jane's graduation with them while went back to Riverside.

Things were moving right along, with only one big scare. At one point Kim's epidural had migrated too far towards her chest and slowed her blood pressure WAY down, and the baby's heartbeat got dangerously low. I have never seen so many people in scrubs come running into a room! We really did not panic until afterwards we heard them talking about the resusitation methods they had to use!

But at 7:02 a.m., Nelson Wade surprised us - of course we did not know what sex of baby we were having, but for some reason were convinced that the baby was going to be a girl. Surpirse!

And he is an absolutely perfect little boy. We are home, healthy and ecstatic. Thanks again to everyone for your prayers. God has been so good to us through all of this and has blessed us beyond our expectations!

Why Acadia, You Ask?

Some of you have asked why I have an RSS feed from Acadia National Park. I guess I have never found a place as magical, moving and inspirational as the State of Maine, and specifically the region surrounding Acadia. The combination of ocean, rocky coast, deep forest, granite mountains, clear lakes, country roads and cabin; all in one relatively small area is not found anywhere else I have roamed.

Back in the mid 90's I wrote "Somewhere In Maine" after performing at a music festival in Bath, Maine. More on that in another blog...

But "Acadia Drive" was written about the miles and miles of Park Loop Road that twist through the park, and offer some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere in the world. We have been to Acadia about a half dozen times now, but have never seen it the way twice.

This last time around, in 2006, was so special because Kim and I took the kids, and they were old enought to begin appreciating what they were seeing. And we did things we normally haven't done, like a horse-drawn carriage ride and a whale-watching trip. It is so humbling to see God's handiwork and realize that it is all going on right now as I type...the huge whales are playing in the ocean, the tides are coming and going out of Otter Cove, the lobster boats are fighting the waves to pull their traps, and someone is getting to see it all for the first time today. Pretty cool stuff.

Rediscovering my Taylor 210

A few years ago Bob Taylor introduced a "Maranatha" limited edition model 210 guitar. Kind of a cool story, really. Bob attends church where most of the guys who started Maranatha Records sometime back in the 70's I believe, also attend. They are now the praise and worship band, and to help make a contribution to the church/band, Taylor created this little 210 auditorium model with the old "dove" logo from the Maranatha brand, and donated a portion of the proceeds.

I missed the launch of this guitar and they all vanished into the dealer network quickly, but I happened on two of them in-stock and brand new at Wildwood Music in Cochocton, Ohio (maybe the best acoustic guitar shop going). It is a fabulous place in Roscoe Historical Village, and is an old house, stacked floor to ceiling with some of the best brands in the business. I had bought my Martin Backpacker from them years earlier and always stopped in the shop when doing gigs at the village music festivals.

Anyway, on the way back from business one day I stopped in, sealed the deal and brought the guitar home. I have always been so impressed with the Taylor tone and despite the fact that this guitar's body is slightly smaller than the full Dreadnought scale of my Taylor 310, the little 210 actually sounds much bigger. But there was something missing in the feel of the guitar, so it sat in case for quite a number of months before I finally got it to J. Thomas Davis Guitars on High Street in Columbus, Ohio, and they put an absolutely killer, open-tuning set up on it.

Now I cannot find enough excuses to play this guitar! It also has the Expression pick up in it which is a bit of a shift for me, but married to my Fishman amp, it is powerful.

There are few better bargains than these guitars, and I am so glad that I actually get to own one of these limited edition Taylors.

Guitar String tests

For the guitarists in the group, recently I got to test out some experimental strings from Elixir. Since I started playing guitar I have always had a body chemistry that ate strings up at an alarming rate - caustic sweat or something nasty! It's all of that Yoo Hoo I drink I guess. But I digress...

A few years ago I stumbled on Elixir strings and am absolutely sold on them. But it gets better! Two years ago they asked me to do some string tests and I actually recorded "Faith. Family. Friends" with the experimental stings on my Taylor 310. They really held tune, remained bright throughout the entire, lengthy recording period, and actually didn't need changing after months of use. Yes, I said months.

Now I really could have changed them sooner, but I was on one of those kicks, like seeing how far the car can go towards empty and still run, and the strings probably overstayed their welcome. But that's not the point.

Point is that they really do deliver long life, exceptional tone, great feel and very stable tuning. Anyway, I have a link to them if you are interested!

Great night for coffee...

What a great night everyone! I really appreciate everyone who came out and to Eric Ahlteen who let us play. To answer the burning question, yes, we are playing there again, but we have not gotten a date that works for everyone yet.

For those of you that don't know, Espresso Yourself is a new coffee shop in an old church, and is located in Powell, Ohio. The place is great with hardwood floors, an open plan, lots or original building character, and a "house sound system". Eric opened the place with live music in mind and it shows.

We had a blast and will post soon on the new date. I think Farrel and I will do our "singer/songwriter" gig there next...stay tuned...