last friday

Last friday night, a group of gals met a small group of lads at Eddie's Attic. We then enjoyed the musical talents of S. Carey . Not only did I finally see a show at Eddie's Attic (hello music history has been made there...and pretty sure John Mayer used to work the door there) but Rebekah made a good observation about Sean Carey. She thought it was neat how he and his 4 or 5 other musicians were creating music on stage. Now, that isn't to say that other musicians don't do that...they do, but something about the Sean Carey's music is so convoluted that it's almost as if you're listening to a modern orchestra tune and perform music. Regardless, give him a listen...you will be impressed, but also sleepy.

On an entirely different note,
Because this week is the prelude to the resurrection, I've been trying to keep the cross at the forefront of my mind. Meaning, I've been trying to avoid stress in the fact that not only is worrying unbiblical but Christ already won the war for me. So a full week of school is just an opportunity for God's grace to abound. And it has. And it probably will next week as well (hello final project of the semester). These two songs have helped me keep in a constant state of worship:

Place of Freedom:


Holy Spirit:

Sum-sum-summer

the small things are what make summer...summer.
spending the afternoon at the boulder fields with cool kids. and then being able to grab dinner with friends.


but THEN learning that we're (bonhomme) about to make a spontaneous music video at the base of vulcan. 
funny story. 
i'm wearing nike shorts, a fluorescent sports bra, tank top, and toms.
i end up masquerading the nike shorts by tucking the white piping under and throwing on Garrett's chambray button down (and then I just so happened to have my boots in the car). So I was able to look like I actually had decent clothes on while the guys chilled in their plaid.


ya know?


that's what summer is all about.


and popsicles.

remember this? yeah. i'm actually wearing nike shorts. shhhhhh.

Steel

Or, as I like to call it, Garrett's love song to Birmingham (& of course the people in Birmingham).

We filmed the video at the base of Vulcan (hence, the name Steel).

All I've got to say is I have extremely talented friends. 

filmed by Kirk Robert Photography (check him out. he's kind of...awesome.)

You're Worth

On Monday, I drove down with some friends to Orlando.

And this is what we did yesterday:

FYI. The guys are ridiculously talented (Zac on Guitar and harmony, Clayton on tambourine and harmony, and Garrett on banjo).

And there will be more to come.

So.much.fun.

endless inspiration

i never, ever, ever put one of needtobreathe's song on and feel nothing.

from the first time hearing them when they opened up for Dave Barnes in April 2008, I felt a connection to their music...and boy has that connection lasted. not only lasted, but it has gotten me through some stuff (so cliche but true) and pulled me out of bad moods. i'll put on the radio and sometimes out of nowhere, one of their songs will play and i immediately feel:

happy

inspired

courageous and brave

proud

loved

rested

comforted

i feel home.

weird, huh?

us humans get crazy connections to music. but i think God made us that way. the chief musician created melody and we, his worshippers, are amazed by the sound.

so. yes. i'm still in love with this band.

they have integrity in every aspect and that's hard to find.

keep truckin' kids. y'all rock. (literally. oh ha ha. i'm hilarioussss)

William Fitzsimmons

Friday, the state of Alabama was plagued with Tornado weather.

Sirens were going off, rain was falling like crazy, wind was blowing (love it), etc.

But you know, I had somewhere to go.

I looked to the sky and said to the storm,

"Hey. If you really don't mind, I'd looove it if you would just pass on by in the next couple of hours so I can leave my house at 8. See, William Fitzsimmons is coming to Birmingham...and he doesn't visit often...and I'd really like to NOT miss him."

Whadoyaknow?

It stopped.

I got to go.

And Mr. Fitzsimmons is brilliant live.

He played all the good ones.

He cracked jokes.

And of course he was there...with his beard.

(always enough for meeee)

Also, attending a show with people who also really love a musician allows you to have an even better time. Little girly squeals were okay, and nobody judged.

(So nice. No judging.)

Ok.

Enough with my words....pictures speak a thousand words, right?

Steve, STEEEEVE!

So.

This is Steve.

We both have dark curly hair.

This is back in February at Workplay (he opened for Ben Rector).

Then last week, I got an email saying that Steve was playing a free show at Harry's Coffeehouse.

(Oh Harry's you ARE so amazing for always being free :D)

So I called some friends. And of course we went!

Do yourself a favor and look the boy up:

STEVE MOAKLER

Live music never ceases to amaze me.

When someone is doing something they love and they put the entirety of their heart in it, you cannot stop yourself from smiling and enjoying watching them love their life.

(I mean. If a person sold stamps for a living...and that is what they loved, I would still want to watch them sell their stamps. Okay, maybe I sound a bit like a creeper but that's the truth.)

But what is even MORE amazing:

In our life, we have someone who smiles on us when we put the entirety of our heart in learning and loving this someone. In a way, we become the musician and this someone becomes the audience. All we want to do is play our song and send a sweet sound to our audience. And the more we get to know our audience, the more we love our audience, and the more we want to play sweeter and sweeter songs for our audience.

So this audience is Christ. But the thing about Christ is He doesn't get distracted while we play our song. He doesn't sit our song on a shelf and forget about us. He doesn't abandon us when our song is dirty, filthy, and unworthy of an audience.

He loves us in spite of the fact that our "life" performances are terrible.

But He delights when we play a chord that is sweet sounding.

God placed us on this stage (life) and we don't know any of the songs, we can't play guitar, and we can't make up our songs (and when we do they're just horrible). But if we look at Him, he directs us in a way that makes the music beautiful. He shows us the chords to play and how to play them. And as long as we look at Him our song is sweet.

But the second we look out and try to trust our own "skill", our song becomes as filthy rags.

So place your eyes on Jesus and don't look anywhere else, and you will send a sweeter note to the one who created you.

God is the Chief Musician.

P.S. Hopefully I didn't butcher the english language in this post. I'm always afraid that I make tons of grammatical errors. So if you'll excuse those...I'm so sorry.

Happy Thoughts on Thursday

So, I know I talk about them often, but I've gotta do a Happy Thoughts post on NEEDTOBREATHE. Especially since I'm promoting them for this tour! (Remember the posters??) I've been making stops at stores, restaurants, and coffee shops dropping off posters. This past summer, when I was in Nashville volunteering for Musician's Corner, I discovered my love for promotion. Spreadin' the word, introducing people to cool events and amazing musicians, things of that sort. While in Nashville, I went door to door on Broadway handing out flyers. I learned that once you say the words free, community, and concert together, people are willing to hear you out (turning away from this digression).

Where was I -- ah -- love for promotion. Yes. That is it.

So, since I'm completely head over heels for this band, I wanted to help pack the Alabama Theatre OUT. So, I have a friend who is head of the...well, I guess she's head of the Street Team for Alabama (lovingly called a BREATHER) and I told her I'd love to put out posters (a bunch of people do this...I wasn't special). So a week or so later I received that amazing package full of NEEDTOBREATHE posters and bumper stickers. Boy, I loved it.

So I got to do something I love (promotion) for a band I loooooove (NEEDTOBREATHE).

Good life, eh? Yep, good, good life.

SO.

Happy Thought for TODAY is the concert is TOMORROW!!!!

So I'm tearing through my closet trying to put together the perfect outfit (gosh I'm such a girl...but I'm going to the meet and greet ya know...gotta make a good impression).

(I know this is a super hyper post...sorry bout that...I'm just excited...overuse of ellipsis)

It will be an amazing event. The atmosphere will be beautiful, especially since it's at The Alabama Theatre. And I wish I could describe their live shows. But I can't, I really just can't.

Words can't describe what the band's lyrics mean to me. I told Bear once that their music felt like home (my friends snickered), but that is exactly what I meant. After I heard them for the first time, I listened to their cds over and over to a point that when I hear their music now, I immediately have one of the following reactions: screaming, shrieking, breathing (haha. pun.), crying, smiling, and always I have a calmness (after the shrieking) completely overwhelm me. And that's why people make music. You create emotion, you match emotion, you connect with people on a very, very personal level. That's why these guys are sticking around, and not just sticking around, but their following is growing day by day.

So thank you NEEDTOBREATHE for being just a genuinely talented, honest, fun band.

first and second photo from needtobreathe.net (by Tec Petaja -- woot! woot!)

the rest are from flickr. I'm so so so sorry but I lost the links to the people who posted them to flickr.

P.S.

Seth Bolt & Cam Newton should make a toothpaste commercial together...I'd buy it.

Be still.

A couple weekends ago after church, I took a little walk around our neighborhood.

These pictures just make me feel at ease. Taking time to just breathe and really be aware of your surroundings is a really fool-proof way to stay sane.

"Be still and know that I am God..." - Psalm 46:10

P.S.

BARTON HOLLOW MUSIC VIDEO

If you know me at all, you know that I am in LOVE with The Civil Wars.

^Here's the video for my favorite song of theirs! ^

(and the namesake of their first album out February 1, 2011)

Adventure Weekend

This past weekend was certainly amazing. It was also a nice little adventure. From running around Nashville talking to strangers, to ending up on the side of the road with a busted radiator. I love me some Nashvegas and Franklin, TN. Seriously Franklin is one of my second homes.

Friday: I drove up to Franklin. Chelsea and I played around with River. Then, we drove up to Nashville, picked up flyers and headed down to the touristy part of Broadway and passed out flyers. After that, we went straight to downtown Franklin; I wanted to eat at the Franklin Mercantile Deli...but it was closed for a private party. Boo. So I believe we walked up and down the sidewalk about 4 times before we decided to just eat Ben & Jerry's for supper and then go see the 9:30 showing of 'Charlie St. Cloud'.

Saturday: I got myself a nice lil haircut from Katie (my...cousin-in-law?). Then Chelsea and I headed to Centennial Park and proceeded to set up tents, hand out some more flyers, set up tables, drink lots of free vitamin waters, listen to some of the best musicians in Nashville, run around slapping tattoos on kids (not slapping...), people watch, sweat, clean up, and then go out to eat at the cutest little Burger & Ice Cream place. By then, it was way dark and Nashville's sky was being invaded by ridiculous lightening. So once we got back to Franklin we went to Chelsea's friends house (AMY!!!) and sat in her back yard on a swing with a fire and watched the lightening, sing, just...chill.

Sunday: We ate some breakfast. (duh) Packed up and headed out to get to B'ham for our cousin's bridal shower. About 4o minutes down the road I noticed the 'check engine' light was on. Then Chelsea noticed the temperature thingymadooger was all the way in the red. So we decided it was best to pull over, as we pulled over we noticed that the hood was smoking. (Great.) We got on our cellular devices and began to call the fathers. Mind you, it is also 100 degress outside (i'm not exaggerating, those from the south can back me up on this...in fact, 100 isn't even the tip of the iceberg...but that's another post). A police officer pulled over and checked on us, he offered to go and get some water to put in the car, so we could maybe get down to the exit that was only 1 mile away. So Chelsea and I pulled out the camera, video camera, mexican blanket, gatorade previously purchased at a gas station (a saving grace! oh gatorade!), and climbed up to the top of the...bank (?) and sat under the trees while we waited on the police officer. Well, it turned out my radiator was busted. (Whatever that means...car talk is like rocket science to me...or, well, it's all greek to me) So the nice police man took Chelsea and I to a restaurant/truck stop so that we could wait on Chelsea's brother to come and get us. So we ate, chilled, journaled, videoed (is that a word?), photographed, talked, and the like for a while. Caleb (chelsea's bro) showed up a little later and took us back to my car, we traded cars, unloaded our stuff and put it in the "new" car, and then we rudely left Caleb with my car to wait on Chelsea's dad (my uncle Jimmy) to come with a trailer. I felt bad about leaving him, but I guess they wanted us to get to the tea. Currently, my car is still in Franklin. But I am at home. Out of the heat.

That's my weekend adventure.

Oh life!