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