More congrats! Wow!

I knew this was going to happen, but - wow- didn’t realize it would happen so fast!  Meghan Coffee is an amazing Atlanta artist and Zack Arias is one of the go-to music photographers in this town.  They are dear people.  Congrats on their tying the knot earlier this week!  Read all about it and see pics here.  

 

And how funny is this picture?  Thanks to my brother Rich for bringing it to my attention.  

Lollapalooza Trip with Manchester Orchestra, Day One

By Dan Hannon

Yesterday started in Atlanta with the band (Manchester Orchestra) and me meeting at 11am at Vision Rehearsal studios, loading the trailer and hitting the road!  Well, we hit the road to QuickTrip for some Rooster Booster Icees, 20 oz. Red Bulls, the current issue of Us and Star magazines, and some waters. THEN we hit the road!!

Well, after discovering that the GPS no longer worked, we hit the road to WalMart in Chamblee  (which is surprisingly short on van and trailer parking) to purchase a new unit. While Robert circled the parking lot, the rest of the guys sauntered into Walmart and I hurried into Smoothie King to get a 32 oz. Power Punch Plus to give me the ‘healthy boost’ that I expected to need for the first band road trip that I’ve embarked on in several years (not counting the short run in April for which I flew to Newport News, VA, hopped in the band van and rode with them back down to Atlanta after 2 shows).  So after acquiring the new Garmin GPS unit,  complete with a handy dash-mounting kit, and a selectable vehicle icon–either an arrow, car, or Monster truck–we were HITTING THE ROAD!! The road that led from Walmart to Suntrust Bank!!

Jeremiah needed to pull out some cash for per diems and other travel necessities. This would be the third trip up or down Peachtree Industrial Blvd. for me on this exciting first day of tour with world-traveling indie rock sensation Manchester Orchestra.  FINALLY, we have the money, we have the GPS, we have snacks and rivetingly-entertaining-celebrity-gossip-periodicals…we’re ready to HIT THE ROAD to Columbus, OH–our final destination on this exhilirating first day of the tour!!! YES!! Except that we have not yet redeposited any of our crisp $10 bills that we all received as per diem money (yes, even little ole me!!) at the  prestigious Bank of Chik-Fil-A, an establishment that has welcomed many a $10 bill from us throughout our many roadtrips! How could we pass up such an opportunity to invest in our nutritional futures?!  SO, once again we were journeying up Peachtree for another arduous two-tenths of a mile.

After we finished eating at Chik-fil-a (I chose just to finish my Smoothie), we headed back up Peachtree to Vision Rehearsal Studios to complete a sort of round-trip-supply-gathering-test-run-tour. ‘Why back to Vision Studios’, you ask? Well, I had forgotten my sunglasses, of course.

We arrived in Columbus, OH at about 11:30 pm est at the Holiday Inn.  We ordered 3 medium 3-topping-pizzas from Papa John’s and retired to bed with full bellies.

Over.

Give your Congrats to the Sheltons

Candi Pearson Shelton gave birth just a few hours ago to a son, Elias Ryker Shelton.  Candi and her hubby Jonathan live in L.A. but are “grandfathered” into the ONE Atlanta community of singers/songwriters from their time spent living here and the fact that they still come back to write, record, and gig from time to time.  They were in the studio working with some of us in the spring, in fact.  There couldn’t be a sweeter couple and we’re thrilled for them! 

 

Please leave a note of congrats if you know them, or even if you just know and love their music.

 

Elias Ryker Shelton
Birthdate: July 30, 2008
9:30 PM
8 lbs 10 oz
21″ long 

 

 

A whole lotta palooza.

ONE Atlanta’s own Dan Hannon will be tour managing Manchester Orchestra this week as they head to Chicago to play at Lollapalooza ‘08.  Check back here starting Thursday for his blogs from the road.

 

This year’s fest includes: Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, The Raconteurs, Wilco, Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets, Gnarls Barkley, Dierks Bentley, Manchester Orchestra, Iron & Wine, Toadies, and many many others.  Check out the Lollapalooza web site for the complete list.

 

Who do you wish you were going to be there to see?  Or will you be there?

The Return.

I’m playing keys in the band at Buckhead Church all day today.  But they’ve also booked a very convincing Beatles cover band to do two songs in the service.  They’re called The Return, and they have the act down-pat, from the suits to the mop-top wigs to the bass player who has taught himself to play left-handed, so as to emulate Paul.

 

I’ll repeat the question asked by one of the staff from the stage today: “What’s your favorite Beatles song?”

Third Day on Leno.

 

Third Day (above, from Atlanta) is scheduled to perform on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Tuesday, July 29. The band’s performance on the show, which airs 11:35 a.m. ET/10:35 a.m. CT, is in conjunction with the street date for their latest project, Revelation (Essential Records) and comes on the heels of the band gracing the cover of the June 7 edition of Billboard magazine.

 

At the risk of namedropping, I used to hang with these guys back in the day when my band played at lot of the same concerts and festivals as they did.  Ironically, it would almost always be in other cities, and rarely in Atlanta, that I would get the privilege of hanging out with perhaps the nicest band of guys on the planet.  However, in the early early days, when some of them were teenagers, they used to come see us play local gigs, before any of us had record deals.  Who knew then that they would be trail blazers in bringing Christian music to the consciousness of the mainstream world?

 

Any Third Day fans out there?  Holla.

Glow In The Dark.

Hung out with former Smalltown Poets drummer/producer Matt Goldman today at Glow In The Dark Studios in Atlanta.  Matt has worked with a million bands, including Atlanta artists like Third Day, Casting Crowns, and - of course - the Poets.  Some of his best work, IMHO, is with one my favorite bands, Copeland.  As usual, our whole time together was spent telling stories and talking about heady stuff like politics and religion.  The renovated studio is rumored to be where The Police once recorded.   

Back in the USA.

I’m back from China.  I’m tired, and I’m sick, so this will be a quick post.  But we had an amazing time with our friends over there.  Thanks to Michael Johnston for the previous post.  I’d encourage everyone to check out the post itself and the Awake My Soul documentary and CD.  Below are more pics from my trip.  Sorry a couple are blurry…

#376

No, it’s not the number of blog posts. Not a house number and not my ticket number at El Torero. Got it yet? Here’s a hint - B.F. White, 18th century. Don’t worry, three years ago I would not have known the answer.

My friend Matt Hinton reintroduced me to Sacred Harp music while he was filming the first ever documentary of America’s oldest original music - Awake My Soul. My mother sang Sacred Harp or “Shape Note” music as a child and teenager and I grew up in a small church in South Georgia so I had heard the Fa Sol La Mi but had never actually been to a singing.

Matt is working on the final touches of a companion cd to the film which contains reinterpretations of traditional Sacred Harp or songs inspired by this style of composing and singing. I was asked to come in and sing a harmony to Mac Powell’s version of #376 - Help Me To Sing. We recorded monday might at Matt Goldman’s studio (Glow In The Dark Studios). I had alot of fun learning the song and think Mac made a great choice with this song. Here’s a challenge to Danny to figure out why it was fitting that I was asked to sing on this particular hymn. Hint: search the words.

From the other side of the world….

Nothing new; just some reminders of some upcoming events.  One correction to the video.  When I mentioned groceries, I should’ve said 80,000 pounds.  That’s some serious grub.  Take a gander.

 

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