apologies

well, it's safe to say that i definitely did not keep my promise in updating a lot on tour. so sorry.

but the tour is coming to an end. i should be home by saturday night. can't wait to go back to my home church.

tour was incredible. we met so many great people and saw God work in our lives and bless us more than we could have ever asked for.

there's a very good chance that we'll be opening for Starfield in concert in Seattle in late september. will keep you guys posted as things get confirmed soon, hopefully.

go to my facebook to see the most recent video blog i did for the band. "midwest" episode.

i started making video blogs on this tour and it was my first time ever doing it... and i've definitely been putting my macbook and iMovie to good use. it's become a really fun hobby for me. other than songwriting, this seems to be another good creative outlet.

until next time.

Texas BBQ

Before the tour started, once we confirmed we would be playing in Texas during the tour I got really excited.

Was it because we would be playing an important showcase? No.

Was it because I've never been to Texas and was looking forward to seeing it? No.

Was it the fact that we would be in the sun rather than the rain? No.

Was it because I would be on a hunt to find the best BBQ ever? Yes!

We've been in Texas since Tuesday night now. Lucky enough to have been put up in nice hotels since; which means clean showers and comfortable beds to sleep on (for the most part). So much for "roughin it." But coming to Texas I knew I would be on a adventure to eat as much BBQ as I could and determine where the best BBQ place was.

First stop: Rudy's (picture below) was a place I had heard about from a friend months before the tour even started, so I was definitely excited. The hype was met with a lot of smiles. The place definitely had me doubting as when our GPS finally got us there we saw that the restaurant was connected to a gas station. But once we saw the sign that said "The Worst Bar-B-Que In Texas" we knew it was going to be amazing. I had the extra moist brisket and it was probably the best brisket I've ever tasted.

Second Stop: Salt-Lick. This place had the best baby back ribs. Nothing compares. And they had good bread that was really soft as well (was good for making sandwiches with the brisket). The brisket was pretty awesome as well.

Third Stop: Vans BBQ. My last stop for BBQ was on our way down south near the border of Mexico today and was near a rest area. It was a hole in the wall but the brisket sandwich was pretty great as it comes in a close 3rd. A VERY close 3rd, I might add.

The Winner: Salt-Lick. Overall, the best BBQ this mouth has ever tasted. I'm satisfied. But I've had enough of Texas. I can't wait to move on to another state tomorrow night. All night drive to Arkansas for a show Monday night.

The Journey Begins

Our treck around the country began today. Started off getting picked up at 9am (not to mention I slept that 4am cause I started packing at 1am...had to go on a wal-mart run for tour things at 2am...). Then we drove down to Olympia and stopped at my parents restaurant for free food before we went down for a 6 hour drive to Bend, Oregon. Our set just ended...the amazing band, Elliot is performing now. Please, take like 5 minutes of your day and check them out, you won't regret it. www.myspace.com/weareelliot.

It's our first show of the tour tonight (excluding our tour kick off in Seattle) and we couldn't have asked for a better way to start it. Picture time!

Here's our ride

Soundcheck/setup at "Oneighty"

Crazy kids.

Tour Starts Tomorrow

After 6-7 months of planning, our first ever nationwide U.S. tour starts tomorrow. That has a nice ring to it. It's a bit surreal because it crept up so fast. I'm anxious and excited.

I'm determined to update this as much as I can while on tour so that friends back home...if they wish..can see what I'm up too. And I'll try to include a picture taken from my phone every post.

Watch

HAHAA...

remember my previous post about going to the Tim Hughes live cd/dvd concert recording?

this is the trailer for it...and you can see my face..hahaha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWBV9CNaEKQ

press pause at 31 seconds and my face is the one on the lower right corner of the screen. can't miss it. hahahaa. 

Oh Happy Day!

I'm pretty excited for the new Tim Hughes Live CD/DVD (recorded live in London) to come out. Actually, I'm really excited for it. Mostly because I'm in it. Haha. Well, parts of my face and maybe a hand or two lifted in the air in the front row. I was ecstatic to find out 2 days before I left for London that Tim Hughes would be recording a live CD and DVD during my trip there. Not to mention only about 15 minutes from where I would be staying. So I bought my ticket. Only 5 pounds. About 10 US dollars. That is ridiculously cheap. I think just the experience of a live CD/DVD concert recording was something that I thought was awesome. I never knew they re-did songs at the very end of the concert. The concert was about 10-12 songs, then they said "good night!" as if the concert was over for DVD purposes. Then about 5 minutes later the producer came out into the microphone and goes "okay folks, we'll have to re-do about 5-6 songs because the band messed up on certain parts" haha. So blunt. Tim was a bit embarassed and said sorry as he laughed it off. I remember when they were doing the re-do's, Tim was like "okay, let's just worship more and get into it..." then they started the song, about 1 minute into the song the producer ran out onto the stage with his hands in the air and yells "STOP! STOP! Do it again" haha. Priceless.

Seattle life

Yesterday we went to this rad viewpoint at a place called Kerry Park in Seattle. Whenever I show people around Seattle who have never been here, it allows me to fall back in love with Seattle.

Today I gave up and had soda. Two times, actually. Yes, pathetic that I only lasted one month. But, I will still vow to not drink nearly as much soda as I used too. Maybe like once a week? If that. I like water now.

Things I did this weekend:
-ate the best fried chicken of my life
-ate pho
-played music
-updated my blog (well, I'm currently doing it)
-went to the first Starbucks ever established in Seattle...for the first time...

What I will do tomorrow:
-make credit card payments
-go to work
-buy a triangle scarf (I will look at urban outfitters for a good one)

Here's my thing with wearing a trinangle scarf. I really want too, but because I never have, I feel like if one day I just start trying to pull it off people are going to be like "...why are you wearing that?" haha. But the way I see it is...we'll be going on tour in about a month...and since no one on tour knows me, I can wear it everyday and since people don't know me they won't know that I never used to wear it in Seattle. So I'm not really a poser.

Or...I can just wear it around Seattle too. Maybe I'm overthinking. I mean, it's just a scarf, right?
Plus, the way I see it is...if you're wearing it...then you're pulling it off.

Jon Foreman is playing his solo stuff in Seattle tomorrow (Feb.3rd). I'd like to go but I have work at night.

...Okay I just checked it out and looks like the show starts at 9pm. I get off work at like 9. It could work. But it's 17 dollars.

My wisdom teeth on the top (I already took out the bottom ones) are starting to really kick in. One side on the top is pretty much growing at a furiously, fast rate. I must get it out before tour. I MUST GET IT OUT BEFORE TOUR.

Okay one last thing before I end this painfully long blog post.

What I am looking forward too on this upcoming US tour.
-seeing our friends pushpushpull (a band) in norcal
-hanging with ken and ed from the ken oak band in LA
-eating authentic texas bbq
-visiting and hanging out at EMI-CMG
-getting to see some great friends on the east coast
-getting to see the US (a lot of it, at least)
-new york...if we get to make it up there
-boston...if we get to go there (as of now the only show we have in massachusetts is in Amherst...about an hour or two from boston)

March 9th is the official kick off for the tour. Little over a month left. Crunch time.