Blogging

Blog. There I did one. Actually I am going to try to keep up a few a week. Been crazy busy.

Later

Los Angeles gives me a headache right now.

DDB is in LA right now. The fires are raging all around. There is smoke and particles all around. Where we are at is about 5-7 miles form the closest fire. You should have seen the smoke clouds yesterday when we were flying in to LAX. The fires we saw were on the sides of a mountain and the smoke clouds were as big or bigger than the mountain. We were about 10,000 feet up (I would guess) and I could see the flames on the side of the mountain. They had to be huge for me to be able to see them. It smells like a campfire everywhere in LA. I don't know how the locals can stand it. We are glad to be flying out this afternoon. It is hard to sing, think, and just be in this environment. I definitely feel for those who are ck=loser to the fires; especially the firefighters.

Peace

I need a bailout too.

Ask and it shall be given I guess. If you believe, like the Bible and stuff. Matthew 7:7 (and I DO). Well luckily I HAVE been asking for a bailout. Cassi has been asking for a bailout. Other people have been praying for us to have a bailout. Well, we got it in a few ways.

Stress bailout: Both Cassi and I have worked in an extremely high stress corporate environment at certain times over the past year. This music thing was my work-stress bailout. Cassi started another job this past week for her work-stress bailout. This exacerbated and contributed to another bailout need.

Income (cash flow) bailout: When you step out of a great paying job in Corporate America in to a music job and a job with a private school there is an income gap. When Cassi got her work-stress bailout I waited in anticipation for what God would do to help replace some of that income and help us lower our budget. In a sick way I was kind of excited because I knew God was going to show up. Well, the very next day a job opportunity came my way that allows me to keep playing with the Daniel Doss Band and teach my students. It came to me. I did not seek it out. So now Cassi and I have averted a crisis and we have lowered our monthly bills.

Mortgage bailout: Let's put it this way. I bought my house when rates were low and I was single and I was only playing music for a living. Now as rates have adjusted, our mortgage is not so great. I am working on getting a mortgage bailout. We will keep praying for that and if you could focus your prayers on that it would be awesome. We have some hurdles to go over, but the process is being started.

So even though America has not gotten their $700B bailout, my household is getting theirs. It seems that God is shaking ALL of us and letting us know that we need to rely on Him. It is easy to forget and feel like you don't need Him when things are good. Right now it is very apparent that we need Him. So all of this really is a blessing if your perspective is right.

Peace

Take Me Back Andrae

I was listening to an old Andrae Crouch song a few days ago. My parents used to play his records all the time. Please read the lyrics to this song. Andrae was and is one of the best Gospel writers of modern time. My prayer is that YOU make this the desire of your heart if there is ANY distance between you and God. I know I can always be closer. Literally stop what you are doing and pray these words. It will change your day.

Take Me Back

(Chorus)
Take me back, take me back dear Lord
To the place where I first received you.
Take me back, take me back dear Lord where I first believed.

(Verse)
I feel that I'm so far from you Lord
But still I hear you calling me
Those simple things that I once knew,
The memories are drawing me.
I must confess, Lord I've been blessed
But yet my soul's not satisfied.
Renew my faith, restore my joy
And dry my weeping eyes.

(Bridge)
I tried so hard
To make it all alone
I need your help
Just to make it home.

Andrae's website is found at http://www.andraecrouch.com/.

Oh Tom Cruise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUAZCc12ZZQ&NR=1
Pretty Funny though.

I coulda made $18,990 today. Oh man. Stupid, stupid, stupid

Do you trade stock? Well I don't. If I would have bought 1 single solitary share at today's opening and sold it at closing today I would have made $18,990 in increase. What? Is that possible? It is when you are talking about the stock BRK-A. Oh yeah, it is going to cost $147,000 for one share so it is a pretty big investment up front. That is why I am not doing it.

Ha, musicians don't buy these types of stock.

Peace

Ok, not funny, where are my drill bits?

How do you lose drill bits? Well first I do have to take the steering wheel off. It is in the way of the drill. And to top it off I need a certain star bit to get the steering wheel off. What would happen if I used a Smith and Wesson 38 Special to get that little ignition switch out?

Probably not a good idea. I guess it is back to look for those drill bits. (and some star bits)

Peace

It is like stealing your own car

Because I am a musician I have to be a Do-it-yourself-er. We musicians have irregular income; feast or famine usually, and we have time during most days to work on projects.

My latest project is getting my Camry's ignition switch to turn. It is turning enough to unlock the steering wheel, but not enough to get to the "ACC" position or really any position. If you can't get it to the ACC position it looks like you have to drill out the tumbler in the mechanism. That is basically where I am at. I have looked for any other way to make it happen. I wiggled and jiggled the: brake pedal, parking brake, key, steering wheel, tilt, pushed car back and forth. Nothing worked.

Now if I could only find my drill bits. Seriously, where are they?

DDB featured on BreathCast.com

BreathCast.com selected Daniel Doss Band as a featured artist. Check it out. http://www.breathecast.com/Christian.Music.Radio/worship.htm

Peace

I am not a Glenn Beck supporter nor do I support Mormonism but...

...Glenn Beck gave a great speech on patriotism at Brigham Young University.
http://www.kbyutv.org/patrioticservice/player/byub.asp. Go about 55% of the way into this video. That is where his speech starts. It is pretty good. I was in awe and could not stop watching. Glenn Beck "gets it" on certain things.

Want to know more about Mormonism? Go here. That is a starting point. They believe in Christianity plus as I like to call it.

Peace

Bored-Again Christians...we are everywhere

If you are like me, you like positive music. You love hearing great music. You wonder if you are the only one out there that wishes there was more "arty" faith-based music. The reality is that Christian radio just can't survive that way.

I guess one great way to overcome the safe sound is to have bands made up of Christians get a secular deal, market themselves as a secular band and make sure their songs have a positive message. Plenty of bands have done this. Mute Math, POD, Collective Soul, and plenty of bands that I am just now getting to know thanks to a new podcast I just found. I was about the 11,001st person to find it though.

Check out the Bored-Again Christian site and subsequent podcast. I DO listen to Christian radio but sometimes I want to take a chance. This will help you find that music you are looking for.

Peace

SayNow has something to say

Hey people. The Daniel Doss Band has a cool service called SayNow. It is a way for fans to call us and leave a message. You can also hear what we have to tell you and what others are saying. It is a cool way to keep up with us and us to stay in touch with you.

Check it out and leave a message for us via the phone at (615) 823-7658, or you can go to the URL and listen to DDB and fans. That URL is http://www.saynow.com/danieldossband.

Peace

Daniel Doss Band featured on WorshipTogether.com

Hey everybody. Worship together has featured a new song from the Daniel Doss Band and has made it available for a free music chart download. My personal favorite song "Blessed Is the One" is what they picked to feature. There is also a "New Song Cafe" episode dedicated to this song. Go to http://rqst4.info/track/viewmsg.cfm?n35037s2093c11303373t2310 to check it out. We are pretty excited!

Peace

Mute Math

I am about a year slow on this one. A buddy let me borrow Mute Math's CD. The rhythm section does a fantastic job throughout the album. This might become one of my favorite albums. Check Mute Math out.

He IS my favorite artist

My favorite artist out there right now is Martin Sexton. He has a cult following of a few hundred thousand in America. He used to be a signed artist on Capitol Records. He was not getting much radio play and found that he was selling most of his albums at his concerts as opposed to in music stores and such. He parted ways with Capitol and started his own label. His thought process was that he sells more records than his label, why cut them in on it? They were not getting him radio play. Why pay them?

I heard an interview with him on NPR about 5 years ago and he said that he was clearing about $500k a year traveling independently and selling his own records. Now the rocker in me says it is way better to sell 2 million records and have sold out concerts to 50,000 fans, but is that more profitable?

Signed artist? Think about this. You give up much of your artistic license. You pay someone else for distribution. You actually give them ownership in your project. If you hit it big you make more than $500k per year. Most people do not hit it big and spend their time being broke. I dare say though that most people reading this blog have not heard Martin Sexton much at all if ever. He does not need to be a commercial or radio success to make a great living. Now with the integration of the internet distribution is even less important than it used to be.

So if you want to be big and important in the music industry go with a label. If you just want to make music for art's sake and make a living you might want to think about staying independent. It is just very hard for labels to be everything to artists. Too many cut backs and such to be as effective as they once were.

Wow, I started this post to tell you about my ALL TIME FAVORITE ARTIST and ended up on a soap box. That was unintentional. Yes, I do play for a signed artist/band and they do treat us exceptionally well. I am just trying to dispel the "pie-in-the-sky" ideas that we all have when we start looking for that deal.

PLEASE check out Martin Sexton!

Peace

I'm as confused as a baby racoon

I watched the DNC and RNC. It is the first time I feel that both candidates actually have something to offer to America. I have no idea how I am going to vote. The next 2 months should be interesting. To be honest I do not like either candidate or party very much. American politics is very broken right now. Hopefully we can pull ourselves out of the muck.

Peace

BTW the title of this post is a quote from a movie. Do you know which one?

DDB caught on a security camera...

...stealing the show.

Drugs and musicians just go together

That is essentially what I gathered from my chiropractor. I had a very painful session where my spine and my hips were not getting along. Last time that happened I was on the road 8 years ago. That ended in me taking pain meds, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflamatories. My current chiropractor says that this is all because we stand for hours on ends, move around to the music, ride for hours in vehicles to get to a gig, carry very heavy equipment and set it up. We also, according to my doctor, stand funny.

Apparently he has another bass player with nearly the same symptoms that I have. He took x-rays. My spine has twisted and tilted. Doc says that we stand there and while we play we drop one hip. That turns the spine. He says that I probably picked something up, twisted, and when I came back my hips did not come back in line. Now I am going to the chiropractor 1-2 times a week.

So you want to be a musician? I know guys in their 40s that have incredible problems with their bodies. Think twice before you decide the road is the place for you. It is easy to get in to pain meds, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflammatories. All that just for a back problem? I opted out on the drugs.

Peace and Love to you all.

Cassi

I love my wife. I have not posted that in a while.

Glocal

Glocal is a word just so you know. My home church has been using that term to describe an idea of where we need to have our mindset and our physical campuses. If it is in Wikipedia, you know it is true. :) I did look it up to see if was something that was made up recently or what. It stems from the Japanese in the 1980s.

Examples of glocalisation can be found many places including web applications like Craig's List or Meetup. They provide a service for a local community, but serve communities all over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glocalisation

Check it out.

What a Terrible Vacation...he says with sarcasm

This is the very quaint cabin. No A/C. Awesome.











Fishing on Houghton Lake with my wife Cassi, grandparents, and mother.








2 of the fish Cassi and I caught. These Northern Pike were about 2 feet long each.








Evening on Houghton Lake. VERY SHALLOW lake (21 feet at the deepest). 1 of 3 lakes we got in on this trip.









Higgins Lake, MI. VERY CLEAR water at this lake. Beautiful state park. 2 of 3





Lake Michigan in Grand Haven, MI. VERY COLD water.










Uh oh...I got another gun too. Big thanks and help from my Uncle Bud. Winchester 12 gauge.

Vacation

My last post was long. Sorry about that. We are in a small town in Michigan with very few things to distract us. No wireless internet, little cell phone service (because we are leaving our phones in the cabin), no alarm clocks, no schedules, some fishing. It is nice to have a vacation. I am hoping to make some break throughs on the theology front. I am pretty hungry for knowledge right now.

Hope you all are doing well.

Peace

Bryan

Pride: Part 1 of who knows

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted a blog. That is for many reasons, but one main one is because I have been dealing with pride recently. That is not a easy problem to tackle.

After seeing Ann Graham Lotz a few weeks back, she made me take a little bit of a look internally. She had struggled with some sin in her life she did not even realize was there. This was only 3 years ago and she has been preaching for over 3 decades. So I thought that I need to look a little more at myself.

I have been reading C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" for a little while now. I have started reading it and trying to apply it to me as opposed to apply to those around me. The latest chapter I have been reading was about pride. Those 8 pages took me about 4 days to read. I kept going back and rereading and then not wanting to turn the page because I realized I had some pride issues.

Clive Staples Lewis states that, "There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty of themselves." Believe me, Christians struggle with pride. Mr. Lewis is not trying to make that point.

I realize that being in Christian entertainment pride is rampant. We tie everything up in a package that we can sell, which in and of itself is ok. As we create that package it is next to impossible to not let your pride get puffed up. We have the clothes, the lights, the stage, the producers, writers, consultants and the list goes on. Would I still play if there was no stage? No lights? No money? No recognition? If I answered no then I am doing this all for prideful reasons. For this express reason it is vitally important that I stay plugged in to a community of believers and serve as much as I can.

My wife Cassi asked me a few days ago what I would do if I could do anything. I gave her a stock answer I am sure but my first thought was that I wanted to be significant in whatever it was that I did. How is that not pride? I wish my first thought was to be in God's perfect will and give Him excellence. That seems a little more in the right direction.

Pray for me and my pride. I will be working on humility. By the way, Mere Christianity has been excellent so far. I would suggest it as a good read. I am a slow reader so I should be done with my copy in a few months. :)

Peace

Did Christ have to die?

Anne Grahm Lotz was the speaker at the event today. She is the daughter of Billy Graham. She said something today that really caught me off guard.

Apparently, a Pew Research Poll said that there are people that call themselves evangelical Christians and also believe that Jesus is not the only way to heaven. Ann says that there are many of us in the church that believe this. If there are other ways to heaven then why didn't God find it? She then said, "Why would God send Jesus to die on the cross if he didn't have to?"

Think about that. Why would a Father send their child to die a horrible, painful, and ridiculing death if it was not necessary? Would you do that? Isn't that a sick thing to do? So why would we think that there was another way to heaven except through Jesus? You would have to believe that God is a sick and twisted individual. Would God make Jesus go through that if he did not have to?

Your comments are appreciated.

Peace

Camp Wow

This post was written yesterday but not published until today.

We have had a great time here at Camp Wow Camp Walk On Water). Tonight is the last time we play at this camp. Tomorrow we have a 3 hour drive to get to the airport and fly out to Orlando. We are doing a conference for Christian retailers. Another great thing is that we scored tickets to a Disney theme park. That will be fun on Monday.

Last night at camp they had some pretty good fireworks. Here are some of the pics.

I am also going to throw few a pictures in of the lighting. It was one of the best lit shows we have done.

We are hanging with our label and management for a few days in Florida. Stories and pictures will follow I am sure.

Peace

We ARE going back to OK (The Afters...anyone?)

We made it to our next, and final, camp of this year. It was a longer drive than what was anticipated. We originally thought we would be pulling in around midnight and we actually got here around 5:30am.

Joe just got back from his honeymoon and we all went to our churches Sunday morning. We got out of town a little late. Then we stopped in Memphis to see a friend from my, and Daniel's, past, Jeff Jones. He and his wife and 4 kids met us at a Taco Bell in Memphis. (We love Taco Bell) It was great to see Jeff again. The last time I saw him he had zero kids, now they have 4. If it had not been for Jeff and his youth group in Martin, TN I might not have ended up playing Christian music. I was in a few secular bands and Jeff needed a worship band for some Wednesday night stuff. A group of us formed a band called JAG, Jazzed About God. From there Daniel found out I was playing in a worship band and needed a player for a gig he had. That was about 11 years ago. So I might owe some of where I am at today to Jeff Jones (obviously working through God's plan).

After we got back on the road it was a normal drive with road construction, gas stops etc. When we got closer to the camp we got a little "side tracked". I wont say lost, but we did take a long time to figure out how to actually get to the camp. We pulled in after 5 am and got in our rooms after 5:30 am. Now we have had a FEW hours of sleep and are about to get ready for this week.

I played in Church Sunday morning and had to get up at 5:50am. I went to bed Monday morning at 6 am. I have not stayed up for over 24 hours in a long time.

I am sure we will be posting pictures as the week goes on. There is a lake and a lot of recreational things the campers will be doing.

Peace

PS - check out the Afters. I referenced a song of theirs in the title of this blog.

Wedding Bells

We are back in the hotel from Joe's wedding. It was a great service. The rain held out until about 5 minutes after the ceremony and pictures were done. Everyone is very tired.

Congrats to Joe and Kari!

I think I may have some pictures. I will see about posting them a little later.

Peace

We are home now. We drove for more than 80 hours, just shy of 5000 miles on this trip. 13 days away from home. It is sure good to be back and see our families and to get some sleep in our own bed.

Our drummer, Joe, is getting married in 12 days. We are only home for 6.5 days until we leave for a week. Joe is going to leave from a camp we are doing in East Tennessee to get ready for the wedding. The rest of us are going to be there Friday night after we get done playing. He is the last unmarried guy in DDB. We wish you guys, Joe and Kari, a long and happy life together.

I have many chores that need my attention. I have been gone 2 weeks.

Peace.

Into Thin Air

We are still at a Camp in NM. The air is thin. The humidity is VERY low. This is not at all like Tennessee.

We are having a great time investing in to about 1000 campers. They have really taken to the song Great God.

Peace

We keep on runnin'

We have put on many miles and spent many hours in a vehicle over the last week. We drove from Nashville to Fresno non-stop, except for gas, restroom and food. We had 3 shows opening up for Casting Crowns. The shows went well. Daniel blogged about some of it and will be blogging about some of our misfortunes and how we had to rely on God to physically step in and take care of certain issues.

I did get the chance to see my aunt and uncle on my dad's side of the family. It has been a few years. I want to tell them thanks for coming out. It meant a lot.

Here is a pic of us with Casting Crowns (minus Andy, he was breaking down his drums)

This is a picture of Crowns from backstage

Peace

First show with Casting Crowns

There was a little trouble with the electricity. That put the day about 2 hours behind from a technical standpoint. We ended up getting a sound check in about 20-23 minutes. It was just enough to get through a show.

The actual set went well. We added "Lord Reign" for this weekend. We had not performed that one in front of anyone before (except for the CD release). I really love the message and the feel in that song.

Casting Crowns did a great job tonight. The people who showed up loved it too. They got some new lights and a backdrop that they did not have on their recent tour. Tonight was the first night they had used it. It was all new LEDs. They we VERY cool.

Big thanks to Adventure Christian Church for the hospitality.

We have to get up early to get down the road tomorrow. Gotta run.

Peace

West Coast Run

DDB is headed out west for 2 weeks. We got a late start the first day in so we have been paying for that trying to get caught up. We left Clarksville around 10:30 am instead of 9. Traffic in Memphis was the worst I have ever seen. Emily was driving then and her 3 hour shift started right before Memphis and 3 hours later we were just on the other side of Memphis. That should have been a 30 minute drive.

We were cycling through all 5 of us driving. By the time it was my turn to drive we were just getting to our 1st planned destination, Amarillo , TX. We planned on being there around 10 pm and it was now 2 am. Since it was so late and we were running behind we decided that rather than sleeping in a hotel for 4 hours we would just keep driving. My shift was about to start anyway. I drove from 3 am to 5 am. Towards 5 it was getting harder to stay awake. We switched out and then Daniel, and then Emily got us to about 8:30 am. At this point we had been on the road for 23 hours. Then in Holbrook, AZ a gas station attendant told us we were headed in to a wind storm with 25-35 mph winds and gusts up to 60 mph. Derek drove us in to Flagstaff and the wind started picking up.

We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch. When we got off the interstate we ended up in the historic part of town. We parked and found a good Mexican food place. There were some cool shops in the area. We even saw a few posters up for our show coming up in Flagstaff in a few days.

Joe drove for a few hours and the wind picked up even more. The rest of the day was wind, mountains, and slow driving. We were getting about 8 miles per gallon with all of that. We normally get about 12.

So now we are in Fresno, CA. We slept, showered, charged up our phones, trying to feel human again. We drove 40 hours straight. Yummy.

Peace

Tracks and schedules

That has been my life for the last few days. I have been working on some backing tracks, been at a friends studio for some programming insights, and also making sure that all of our bases are covered for our 2 week trip to the west coast. I am the acting road manager for DDB and this trip is really the first time I have had to do more than just show up and play my parts.

We are playing 3 shows with Casting Crowns on this trip, then playing at a camp, and then stopping in at a church to lead worship on the way home.

Pray for Cassi's sanity as we are gone for 13 days on this run.

Peace

You have one life. Do something. Seriously.

Our country is influenced by society. Society is made up of people groups. People groups are comprised of families. Families are made up of persons.

The only thing wrong with our country is the way people act on their human nature. I have decided to work on my human NURTURE and see what we can actually change.

If we can change or influence people we can ultimately influence or change society and our country. We can do this one life at a time. If you find it in yourself to show love and kindness today it would really help. We also need to hold each other to a higher moral standard. There was a time in our countries existence that we did a better job of this. Corruption, greed, refusal of responsibility have all attributed to every scandal, crime, and not-so-moral decision we have seen.

Hey, you gotta realize, these are people breaking the law. That seems ridiculous to say that but if we had good, law abiding citizens then we would be a very different country. I will make a pledge to love, enrich, invest in and hold accountable those in my circle. If everyone does it we will change the world. I will make mistakes but I will have those that love and invest in me too, so I plan on growing myself.

Peace

Synthesize this!

I am a bit of a slacker. No new blogs in 6 days. I do have about 3 I am working on in my head. This first one is going to be light hearted and fun.

Derek, Joe, and I went on a "spot" date with Avalon to a suburb of Chicago. At the church we played at I saw this:

This real synthesizer was designed by Serge Tcherepnin and was built and hand soldered by Walter, the "worship dude" at the church, in 1974. Walter spent about an hour total with me and some of the other guys showing us the workings of this really cool synth. The modules alone cost about $4000 in 1974. Then he had to build it from the schematic, hand solder the points, and mount it in a custom case. Walter also wrote a symphony based on classical forms in the style of house music and even integrated the Serge throughout the 4 different movements. I want one now. Thanks Walter!

Peace

Cast and Crew

This was our entire cast and crew on the We Will Stand Tour. This picture was taken after the last show in McDonough, GA. What a motley bunch huh?

I just started reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity yesterday. My worship pastor, Ron Alley, and I got in to a discussion about it. Seems pretty good. I am a VERY slow reader and have read 5 chapters since starting the book yesterday. That is some kind of record for me. I am sure it will create all kinds of blog "goo" for me to talk about.

Peace

PS here is a pic of everyone's real personality! ;-)

I am on the road with a bunch of idiots

Man the last few days have been pretty fun. With the end of touring getting close there are plenty of shenanagins going on. Practical jokes are starting up. Everyone is trying to get everyone else to have a good time and laugh.

The culprits are Heath Hollensbe, Steve Hartley, Adam Brake, Joe Stevens, Derek Williams, Jeremi Richardson, Jana Long, Greg Long, Daniel Doss, and many others with an honorable mention.

Now, before I get fired 2 days before tour is over for insunuating that anyone from Avalon is and "idiot" I do apologize, that comment does not apply to you. :) Seriously though, we are all having a great time and enjoying each others company.

Here are some pics from today. Joe lost a game. The picture was shows what his penance was.

Pics from the road

On tour you make your own rules

I am not sure if you can readily see the irony in this picture. The sign says "NO VEHICLES BEYOND THIS POINT". Our bus was parked there ALL DAY. The crazy thing is that no one said anything. It is funny how a bus lets you make your own rules. There are times when we go to the hotel after the show and we just park on the road with the hazard lights on. We are blocking a lane of traffic usually. No one says anything. There are areas in the venues and churches that say "DO NOT ENTER" or "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY". If you are wearing a tour pass people think that you are allowed to pretty much do anything, or they are too "scared" to say anything

People are funny.

Peace

Almost there

We are over halfway done with the We Will Stand Tour. For those of you in the Nashville area, we have a concert coming up. We will be at Harpeth Heights Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN on Tuesday April, 29. I believe it is a 7 pm show.

Peace

My Typical Day (now)

A few people asked what a typical day looks like for me now. It is a little different from the start of the tour. Everyone is getting settled in on their own schedules.

I have found that in most cases the looks like this:

09:00 buses arrive at venue to unload
10:00 buses are unloaded and one bus heads to the hotels. If I go to the hotel this is the time to do it usually but…
10:30 I wake up. You will see why later.
11:30 Get my gear off the bus and in the venue
12:00 Lunch time
13:00 Setup my gear and possibly line check system
14:00 Get showers and start getting cleaned up for show
16:00 Sound checks for artists that want them. Lately all the artists have been happy with the mix so sometimes we do this and sometimes we don’t.
17:00 Dinner
18:15 Devotions, usually led by someone on the tour, but occasionally a pastor of the venue will lead
19:00 Show starts
20:30 Intermission
20:45 2nd half of show
22:00 break down gear
22:10 Meet and Greet
22:20 Sign autographs
23:00 Finish getting stuff packed and out of venue
23:45 Buses go to hotel to let crew shower
00:30 Buses head out for new city. Depending on the day we are not able to get out of hotel until 1 am. Some shows take longer to break down and such
01:00 go to bed if you can wind down enough
02:00 force yourself to go to bed so you can start the process again. I have gone to bed as late as 04:30, but that is not typical.

You wake up a lot at night without earplugs, Simply Sleep (or Tylenol PM), and the 62 degree air blowing on you and then someone gets cold so they turn it to 76 degrees. Touring is not as restful as one may think.

All that to say…today was completely different. It did not even look like this. I was up early, worked out, setup my stuff, worked out more. Talked with the local peeps, showered at the venue and wrote the blog (although I do not have a connection and will have to publish it later)

Peace

I got took, to uh ball game

We were at a minor league game between the Jacksonville Suns and the Carolina Mudcats. Our tour was the post game entertainment. We had no sound check and then we had to setup the show in 20 minutes. So, we set up the speaker stacks on utility carts and reduced the band gear to a kick, snare, bass guitar, acoustic guitar keyboard, and vocals. They pulled the stage trailer on to the field right in front of the dugout in this picture. An interesting mishap was when 5 of us grabbed the feeder cable, which is actually 5 power cables that carry 3 phase power to the stage from the generator. Unfortunately 5 guys running 50 feet with 40 feet of slack is not a good thing. The power distribution rack came off the stage and landed face first on the ground. I hope it is ok. We had to rig a few things to get power to work last night. I also hope that no one from the production company ever reads this blog. If they do then all of this was a joke, otherwise I am being completely honest.

We ended up having a great day. Free ball game, franks, fireworks, peel and eat shrimp, popcorn, etc. That has to be good.

Our hotel was amazing too. This is our view from the 9th floor of the Hyatt. There was a cool center about 3 blocks from the mall that had shops and restaurants. Joe and I had some great sushi for lunch. Derek caught up with us at the sushi place.

Days like today are relaxing and make it a little easier to be on the road. It is terrible being away from the loved ones though.

Peace

Suite life of musicians and roadies

We are in a suite today again. Same hotel different room. It is nice having a kitchenette 2 rooms and a living room. My camera is not operational so that is why I have not put any up recently.

It was my week to do the DDB radio interviews for the tour. I had 3 this morning. They went fairly well. They are a little strange in that you are acting like best friends with a person halfway across the nation that you just called.

We are in North Carolina today.

Peace

Louis Vuitton and other stuff I can't buy

Day off today. The closest thing to our suite is a mall with Neimann Marcus, Luis Vuitton, Tiffany's, etc. There are some nicely dressed women and men walking around. As I walked past Tiffany's I thought, "man I could go in there and buy anything for my wife Cassi and she would be so happy." However, if I did that, there would not be a way to pay the mortgage this month. Strangely enough, a gift from Tiffany's would make my wife not care. She would say, "Well, we could figure it out this month. Thanks for my gift." Why are girls like that?

Anyway, it is hard being away from home. Strange things happen when you are away. You actually contemplate walking in to Tiffany's. Sorry babe, not going to happen, at least not on this tour. :) We are almost exactly halfway done now. I am happy to be that far. I want to spend time at home with the wife.

I will probably write more later. We have a day off. I like it.

Peace

Psalm 34...a post about hope

The following passages came up in my time reading the bible a few nights ago. Parts of it came up again the next day as Jana Long of Avalon spoke from the stage. I was looking up some passages that speak on blessings and being blessed. A passage in 1 Peter chapter 3 quoted a exerpt from Psalms.

RIGHTEOUS
Psalm 34:15-19
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;

FEAR
Psalm 34:9 (ESV) Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!

To be righteous in the Old Testament days meant you had to offer a sacrifice for your atonement. Since we are in the days after Jesus, that sacrifice was made. So if you believe Jesus was the Messiah and he died for you, then your sacrifices are taken care of. The promises about what the Lord does for the righteous are for you.

I am still trying to figure out what it mean to fear the Lord. Right now I am feeling like it is the realization that he is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere. There is no greater power anywhere.

If you are righteous and fear the Lord, then you should also have hope.

Peace

The beach was awesome, I think.

We are in Shalotte, NC today. Everyone from the crew and band are at the beach right now, except the production manager, Steve, and me. We felt like we value resting more than hanging out in the sun, having fun, zapping our energy, etc. I know I would have had a blast, but I did not sleep well last night on the bus. Look at Derek's back. He had a good time at the beach. With there just being 2 people from the tour at the church it is VERY quiet today. I love peace and
quiet from time to time.

I feel like I need to give some shout outs today. First up is FBC in Smyrna, TN. It is my home church. Thank you so much for the thoughts, prayers, and phone calls while I am gone and Cassi is home. It means so much. Miss you guys and will be back in church soon.

Second shout out is to my new buddy Michael English. It is his birthday today. Happy birthday!

Third, to my wife. I am excited to see you at the show tomorrow night in GA.

The tour is going very well. Last night 202 kids were sponsored through World Vision. That means a great deal to those specific 202 children. If the tour comes near you please come and check it out. Go to http://www.danieldossband.com/ and go to the 'Tour' section to see when we will be in your area.

Peace

These Damp Linens

The bus is clean, but the drier did not quite finsh drying the blankets. Well, not everyone's. Mine is fine. Clean sheets are a nice touch. We are driving from Nashville to Orlando in one stretch tonight. If I do not post after this it is because the bus driver fell asleep on the long drive. Pray for him. :)

Let's see what this trip brings us. Hopefully some good stories to tell you.

Peace

Home sweet home

We are taking a break for 3 days and 2 nights. It is great to be back at home. Tonight will be my first night of rest in a bed in two weeks. The last 14 nights have been on a bus in that infamous 72" bunk. It is easy to take the simple things in life for granted. I have more appreciation for those things now.

I won't blog much today, but I did want to thank those of you who read the blog, leave comments, and pray for me while I am out on the road. What we are doing out there is changing lives. It is also a bigger personal sacrifice than what I thought it would be. It does not compare to the sacrafices that have been afforded to me through my friends, family, and ultimately God.

Peace

Computer died

My computer will not turn on. Something is wrong with the power. Now this is coming from the blackberry. Hopefully I can get a real blog in today. I want to tell you about last night's show.

Peace
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tonight I realized I was living someone else's dream

I tried to write this blog last night (Saturday night). My computer decided to freeze up on me. Now it wont even turn on. I think it is the power supply. I grabbed Emily's computer while she is out visiting her family members that came to the show.

The show was amazing. It was a very emotional evening. I realized during the set tonight that I was living my dream performing with professional artists. It was one of those times when you really understand what is happening with your life at that very moment.

17 years ago my father died. He was an amazing musician. He had talked about having a family band and I know he would have loved to play music for a living instead of being a computer programmer. He would like to have seen his son on stage performing. When I came to the realization that I was living his dream it hit me hard. Especially when he died 17 years ago. It is not like I am actively grieving. So I was not ready for those feelings to undulate over me. So last night was for you dad. Miss you.

Each artist did especially well last night. We did some things in our show out of the ordinary. We had a "worship" service last night. It was very refreshing.

I will try to blog again soon. To borrow a lyric from Steve Taylor, my computer is "On the Fritz".

Peace

I am a slacker

One of the hardest things to do on the road is plan some time for yourself. Time to blog, organize the suitcase, listen to music, check email, check in on loved ones. Every day is a little different and you have to be opportunistic. When an opportunity comes up at 10:45 am to go to the hotel do you take that and then get a shower. Or do you setup early and hope you have the opportunity to run to the hotel later? If you are not careful you will be stuck not getting a shower before the show, fixing your hair that has been in a bandana all day, and just feeling junky, dirty and unclean for the show. We have to make snap decisions based on limited knowledge.

How far along is the crew with setup? Are we ahead of schedule, are we behind? How many runners and hotel rooms are there? One bad decision may wind up ruining your plans for the day.

I have not blogged in a few days. Poor planning on my part I am afraid. I have not skimped on the showers. I definitely need one right now. I would not want to get in the way of someone experiencing God only to get knocked off their spiritual pedestal by a lingering oder. They have showers here at the church so I think I am going to be good.

Peace

It's what you leave behind

Today was our first off day in Nashville. We were in town for 14 hours. That is a blessing and a curse. It gives you enough time to do some laundry, repack your bags, go to the store to get some supplies, take a nap, go to dinner with your spouse, go to the bus to leave. How do I know this? That is exactly what I did today.

It was just enough time to not really spend much time with my wife. The good news is that when I come back to Nashville next week I have 2.5 days in town. I have not slept in a real bed since March 25th. Well, today I did take a nap in my own bed, but that was the first time for over a week. It has been bunk sleep since that. Next sleep in my bed is April 8th.

I asked some of the guys who have been doing this for years if it gets easier. They tell me that it does.

It was nice being away from the hustle and bustle of the road for a day.

Peace

Dancing, Shopping, and Man size chess

We got a day off today. After all the exhaustion from 4 hard days of labor we were all ready to have some down time. Our tour manager decided to hop on our bus and force a "dance party" on us before we went to bed last night. It was really dark so you will only see silhuettes. You will hear some music and laughing too.

Today we decided to check out the mall and get some new duds. Joe looks cool in the hat I think. We also played some life size chess. I won. Derek forfeited.

We will be in Cincinnatti tomorrow night and then back home in Nashville for 12 hours or so on Wednesday.

Peace

Sundays are going to be fun

Most Sundays we are playing in churches. This means that we will usually have to wait until 12 or later to load in to the churches. We normally load between 9 and 10 am. We also had an earlier show tonight. We had to shave about 4 hours off of the show setup time today. The bus dirvers still found time to wash the busses today. Snapped this quick pick of Dale and Jim washing Avalon's bus.

This room was fairly large so we had to set up the entire system today. This was another one of the days we had to help load in.

Tonight we had a great crowd and there was a good response. Each group did very well too. It is deffinitely awesome seeing the way people are inspired by the services (concerts) we are putting on.

More to come tomorrow. It is our first day off.

Peace

"You know, it was a typical Friday night"

The show went great today. Every place we go we have volunteers help with unloading equipment in the morning and then loading the equipment after the show. Typically our show calls for 12 volunteers to assist the 5 crew members we have. This morning there were 4 volunteers. This meant that the band was going to have to help pack up tonight. We did. Wow. We have a lot of stuff. I have a new found respect for our crew guys. They have to load that gear 2 times a day 4 and 5 days in a row. I have figured that playing 3 hours a night and the occasional load out will be good for my "girlish" figure.

One thing that is nice is that we had some TGI Fridays waiting for us when we all got back to the bus. We had all 13 of us in the front lounge desparately trying to replenish our calories. So after the carnage I snapped this picture. I had to replenish my calories too so that is why this is an after shot.

We are tired time for 72" of rest. :)

Peace

72" No More, No Less

The bunks on the bus are 72" long. I am 69.5" long. This means if I put my feet flat on the footboard I have just enough room to put my fist on my head. So you really have to plan your sleeping positions. The bus also is constantly moving. This means you have to get over some motion issues. The roof of the bunk is maybe 20-22". That gives me the length of my forearm and then a few inches. So there is no sitting up at all. You also have to keep some of your personal affects in your bunk. We have 12 people on our bus, so all of the bunks are taken. It can get kind of crowded and hectic here. Oh yeah, the mattresses are about 4 inches thick. It is pretty comfortable but not too thick. This is going to take some getting used to.

As a practical joke the bus driver turned the thermostat up to 99 degrees when he got off the bus this morning. So my alarm clock was the sweat that was dripping off my forehead.

On the road again...for the first time

Tonight we set out on a 7 week tour. The Daniel Doss Band is touring with Avalon, Michael English, and Cadia. So these next 33 dates should prove to give some really good insight into a struggling industry, a good source for new 'road' stories, and us meeting a lot of ineresting people. I imagine these things will take up most of my subject matter for the blog here.

Gotta get some sleep. Can't screw up opening night tomorrow.

Peace