My weekend

 

Saturday morning, ONE Atlanta took a group of musicians and singers to Safehouse, to play for a chili outreach block party for the homeless of Atlanta; things like haircuts and some basic medical care were also available.  Most of the event was moved indoors, but it was still a great time of celebration. Reuben Bidez led worship for us.  He had help too; one dude stood right in front of Reuben through nearly the whole set, “singing along” (he didn’t know the words) and almost sharing the mic with Reuben!

 

Here’s a beautiful story from Saturday, as shared by Alicia Benton whose husband Drew works for Safehouse:

The Annual SafeHouse Chili Outreach was an amazing day … despite the pouring rain. There were hundreds helped, clothed and fed. I wish I could share with you all of the stories of the day, but I narrow it down to my favorite …

Verizon Wireless loaned us 20 cell phones with free service and unlimited minutes so that our homeless friends could call their loved ones. Many, many of them took us up on this and made contact with friends and family that they had not spoken to in months or even years. 

One of the many who used this service was a young man who had not spoken to his mother for quite a long time. He made contact with her using our Verizon Wireless Call Home station. They spent over 45 minutes on the phone. When the conversation was over, he hung up the phone, with a huge ear to ear grin handed it to one of the women working this station, gave her a big bear hug then proceeded to walk to the corner of Ellis Street and Courtland Street and hop in the car with his mother!! Even retelling this story now brings tears to my eyes. 

 

Saturday night I went to this event at the fabulous Fox Theatre.

 

Right now (Sunday), I’m at Buckhead Church playing with these guys.  Check out the new Christmas single at their myspace page.  We’re doing it today, and to quote Will Ferrell impersonating James Lipton: “It is a delight!”

 

 

 

Christmas in the Cul-de-sac

Come to the party, and hear 2nd Wave rock such Christmas classics as We Wish You A Merry Christmas, Angels We Have Heard On High, Here Comes Santa Claus, and Joy to the World.  They’ll also be performing Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Wizards in Winter , a new song called Mary Mother of Jesus, and some favorite songs from their regular repertoire.

 

Last year’s Concert in the Cul-de-sac on an October Saturday saw 200 people pack Volte Court in the Dressage neighborhood of Cumming GA, on Post Road near Vickery.  We’re hoping for even more folks this time!

 

We’re hopeful of having some concessions for sale, but feel free to bring snacks and drinks just in case, or to eat before you come.  The party starts Saturday Dec. 6th at noon, and the band will kick off at 1pm.

 

Click here for map/directions.

 

Will we see you there?

 

 

Christmas in Central Park

It rocked.  Highlighted by their rendition of Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Wizards in Winter , Second Wave put on a great show.  Special thanks to Jayce Fincher for bringing in a new soundboard to sweeten the deal; sounded great!

 

Some other notes of interest: The band was interviewed by Forsyth County’s local cable access channel; this was the first show where bassist Holden Fincher played electric guitar on some of the tunes, and Savannah Wofford played keys on several songs; the band finally had some merchandise to sell - well, sort of (we took pre-orders for shirts being printed this week); we accidentally stole a mic stand that belonged to someone else meaning the following artist had to sing into a mic ducktaped to a camera stand (oops)!

 

On a different note, Chris Coleman Twittered me last night to tell me that he’s recording vocals tomorrow on a song I recently wrote for 252 Basics.  Check out Chris’ music; he’s a good dude, and very talented.  Can’t wait to hear what he does with this song about the Good Samaritan titled Here I Am.

 

 

LA Hoops or ATL Breakfast?

First up, I have to tell this story.   A couple of nights ago, our own Dan Hannon called me from LA where’s he mixing at Sunset Sound Studios, to say, “You’ll never believe who I’m shooting hoops with right now.”  I guessed Bon Jovi.  After all, he’d hung out with Steve Perry only days before, so I went for broke.  Wrong.  It was John Kraskinski, “Jim” from The Office.

 

Anyway, yesterday Rudy Vaughn and I went to the Atlanta Public Relations Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at the invitation of our pal Glen Jackson from Jackson Spalding PR.  In fact, Rudy (left) had his guitar at the ready; he was officially the understudy for Aaron Shust (center), who was there to sing a few songs, but whose wife could go into labor any time.  

 

Aaron indeed sang.  He did great; his voice is always super smooth.  And if there’s a nicer dude, I’d like to meet him.  Rudy and I made some new friends, and renewed some acquaintances.  Really enjoyed meeting Eric Elwell, who was there with Aaron.  Over his 20+ year career, Eric has recorded and mixed over 50 major label releases, and in 2005 was honored with a Dove Award as a producer & engineer.  He also does production on major tours.  Great convo.  Good guy.

 

Afterwards, Rudy and I made an unplanned visit to the big auditorium next door within the Cobb Energy Centre where the breakfast had been, and we watched the Atlanta Opera perform Cinderella.  We capped all this off by having lunch with Matt Winters, the new service programming director of Cumberland Church in Nashville.  Good day. (Special thanks to Brian Steely at Jackson Spalding for the pics.)

 

So, what’s cooler?  Hoops with John Kraskinski, or breakfast with Rudy and Aaron?

 

 

How much would you pay?

Today, we ordered 2nd Wave shirts.  Though we won’t have them in time for Saturday’s gig, we will be taking pre-orders, so please give us a shout if you want one.

 

Speaking of which, 2nd Wave will be playing at 1pm this Saturday at Forsyth County’s Christmas in Central Park.

 

Then, on Dec. 4th, we’re throwing a Second Wave Christmas block party in Cumming called Christmas in the Cul-de-sac, the sequel to last year’s Concert in the Cul-de-sac.  We plan to have hot cocoa, hot dogs, and such.  There are also rumors of an opening band containing Second Wave parents.  More info forthcoming.

 

So, how should we price these shirts?  How much would you pay?

 

 

I have no words…

 

This left me speechless.  This is an audition tape made by the FBC (probably stands for First Baptist Church, but not First Baptist Atlanta) Senior Choir for a student talent competition; they are also known as the Funky Fresh Senior Choir.  But I haven’t been able to figure out where this church is or why they were entered in a student competition; the web address given in the video isn’t right.  I also can’t figure out…just…why.  But I’m glad they did it.  I needed a laugh.

 

 

 

Comments.  Please.

 

 

Part of the Plan.

 

My buddy Chad Jarnagin works with a great fellowship in Nashville called The People’s Church. I want to point you to this great entry on Chad’s blog, because it so lines up with the idea behind ONE Atlanta Music.

 

The core of guys who started this organization, this “brand” called ONE Atlanta, want to cultivate, encourage, and develop some of the young talent in this town that needs experienced hands guiding them. That’s not at all to brag on my experiences as an artist/agent/manager. But I will brag on guys like Dan Hannon, a guy who continues to get face time with major labels all over the place who are excited about the artists he’s developing and producing (several such discussions this past week). I’m proud to be affiliated with him, specifically in regard to those artists who will be working under our 1ATL moniker.

 

The first of those, in terms of us actually developing, producing and recording an artist under the ONE Atlanta brand is Rudy Vaughn. We hope there are many more.

 

Of course, there’s plenty more young talent out there that we’re getting to pour into, in different ways.  I love being one of the band dads helping with the development of Second Wave.  I love helping other young musicians and singers in different ways, from helping them find gigs to connecting them to other musicians.  I can only do so much of that, of course, but I’ve really been blessed this year to spend a lot of time “pouring into” different artists in different ways.  Again, I don’t mean to talk about myself as if I think I’m something great.  But there’s something very exciting about knowing you’re wired a certain way, and that God is asking you to use that wiring for Him, and then actually having opportunities to do it!

 

Are you doing what you’re passionate about?

 

 

You’re A Good Man, Vince Guaraldi.

This week I’ve officially decided that A Charlie Brown Christmas featuring Vince Guaraldi on piano is the best Christmas album ever.  

 

By the way, another album I wore out last Christmas when it came out, and will this year as well, is Jars of Clay’s Christmas Songs; I can’t get enough of that record.   

 

What are your fave Christmas albums?

 

 

 

 

 

Getting it right.

Here are a couple more pics from Dan’s mixing excursion to LA, as I’ve blogged about much in recent days. These are basically just shots of Manchester Orchestra listening back to mixes, mulling things over, deciding if they’re liking what they’re hearing. 

 

These particular pics remind me a lot of historic Ardent Studios in Memphis, where I spent many an hour back in the day with Smalltown Poets.  We’d roll into town to work on a few songs here or there and would stay in the old, dilapidated “band house” next to the studio.  It was rumored to be haunted.  Don’t know about that, but it was creepy.  

 

On a completely separate, but good, note - today I led worship at North Lanier Baptist Church here in Forsyth County. They’re some good peeps and I had a good time.  The Veteran’s Day tribute in the service was pretty cool.

 

There was a color guard there; veterans were honored according to their branch of service (complete with military theme songs), and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice were memorialized by a bugler playing taps. I love that stuff.  Happy Veterans Day.

 

 

Oli and Steve

Dan sent me some pics from a cello session today at LA’s Sunset Sound with the brilliant Oli Kraus. There’s some beautiful stuff at his myspace page, definitely worth checking out.

 

It’s also worth noting that Dan called me last night to tell me that, the night before, he got to meet and hang out with Steve Perry of Journey, at a showcase for the band Public Radio.  That’s a big deal for anybody, even a guy like Dan who’s been doing some serious hobnobbing lately.  He said that Steve was just walking up to the soundboard and tweaking it at his own discretion.  I replied that, if you’re Steve Perry, who’s going to stop you?  (I really think he had the band’s permission to make tweaks if he liked, but it’s a better story with about that detail.)

 

Journey fans, represent.

 

 

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