Early 2010 Tour: Weeks 4 and 5

March 15th, 2010

I was absent-minded last weekend and short on internet, so you’re getting to weeks in one post!

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday in San Dimas at the Vineyard church. One of their pastors used to live in Oregon with us, so whenever we’re in the area, he tends to give us a place to play.

Thursday and friday were, naturally, spent at Disneyland. Lu had never been in his entire life, and some friends in Copperopolis hooked us up with tickets. We spent Wednesday riding everything in Disneyland, except the Matterhorn, which was closed for repairs.

Friday, we also solidified a deal with this company:

http://www.strum-n-comfort.com/

I’m now ‘officially’ signed to this pick company. I don’t know what it means, but it makes me feel important. I like the product a lot too!

We spent friday exploring in California Adventure. I also got to visit with my parents, who were ironically in the area on their own.

Sunday was spent in Apple Valley at their Calvary Chapel. We really like those people.

Monday, we went back to Sand Dimas to visit our friend in the area. We went with him and his wife to Hollywood. It was something Lu and I had never seen. Very rewarding afternoon.

Tuesday and Wednesday, we hung out in a new church in Orange County. It was a very nice area.

Thursday, we drove to Turlock, California.

Friday, we played a show with The Fold, Until June, and Lady Danville. We opened, and for which I am very grateful. All the other acts were all phenomenal! It was a great show. I just wish more people would’ve checked it out.

This morning, we led worship at 3 Rivers Christian Fellowship, then drove back to Stockton. We met up with our friend Josh, and checked out a serious flea market. I picket up a pair of shoes for $20. I was very pleased.
Then we joined Pastor Paul for a Sacramento Kings game. He got the tickets for his outstanding efforts with the community, and he shared them with us. We beat the Timberwolves by about 20 points. Dinner at In n Out balanced out a pretty stinkin great weekend.

So there you have it. 2 weeks you might’ve missed.

Early 2010 Tour: Week 3

March 1st, 2010

When people asked me this week where we’ve played or where we were going, I would inform them of how I’ve felt like a pinball the last few weeks. I feel like we’ve just bounced between Stockton, Angels’ Camp and Modesto for the last 2 weeks straight!

Starting at Monday, we played in Angels Camp at Foothill-somethingorother. The youth leader we worked with is named Dusty, and his youth room is a renovated 3-car garage on the church’s parsonage. A lot of friends from around the area we hadn’t seen yet came out of the woodwork. We had a full room, and one of the best audiences I’ve seen in our band’s recent history. Props, folks, props.

Tuesday was a day off, so we drove to Modesto to visit our friends the Gendles of Generation New Hope. We ate a ton of food at their expense. We are very lucky they like us.

Wednesday, we met a funny 82-year-old woman at a music store called ‘Buck’s Music’ in Modesto, then led worship at 3 River’s Christian Fellowship. Their pastor Scott used to live in Oregon, and his family seems to miss living in the promised land.

Thursday, Joey and I got up before the sunrise and drove back to Stockton. Pastor Paul of Stockton informed us of some really cool flea markets we could hit that morning. Lu opted to sleep, but we went with our friend Josh, who knows those flea markets like a pro.
Later, we drove back to Modesto for Lu. We also met the Gendle ladies for a showing of a certain unnamed James Camereon Box-office giant in magnificent third-definition. It was glorious, but rather long.
After the flick, we drove BACK to Stockton to see Josh and Paul. We were supposed to spend the evening playing at an open mic downtown, but it was cancelled that night, so we went out and hyped the one we were setting up for Friday night.

Friday: If you missed that last paragraph, guessing what we did this day might be tricky for you. Pastor Paul wants to give his community something to do late on the weekend that’s safe and worth leaving your X-box for, so he converted his sanctuary into an all-ages open mic/coffee bar. They’re hoping for full bands, solo acts, comedians, magicians etc. It was their first attempt, and they had a turnout of about 30 or 40. We had a blast playing there.

Saturday, we went to the Gravity Church in Lodi, CA. Pastor Jason was really cool and let us stay at his house for the evening.

Today, Sunday, we got up at 5:30, got our affects, and drove back to, you guessed it, Angels Camp! We led worship again at Refuge with our dear friend Pastor Shawn. We left so early because we had to stop back in Copperopolis to pick up our recently pressed and FINALLY available Donkey Album! We’re finally actually kinda proud of something on our merch table. We didn’t get very many, so grab em while we got em.
Oh yeah, back to the day. After church, we finally watched some olympics. We went with our friend Mark from Sonora to an Angels Camp pizza place and watched the Gold Medal Men’s Hockey game between the U.S. and the Canooks. Needless to say, we were not thrilled by the outcome of the game, but we were very thankful that we got to see it.
Then we led worship for the evening service at Refuge, and got some dinner at Taco Bell for the third week in a row. I feel like it’s becoming a tradition or something.

Tomorrow morning, we’re driving far away to Bakersfield. I feel like I’m going to really miss being in this area. It’s starting to feel like a second home or something.

Early 2010 Tour: Week 2

February 22nd, 2010

This week wasn’t filled with as many shows as it was memories. It’s late, however, and I’m feelin’ a might forgetful. I’ll try REALLY hard not to miss anything.

After our awesome hockey night with Pastor Shawn in Angel’s Camp on friday, we spent the rest of the weekend doing the only thing more manly that we could think of. We helped Shawn move. It wasn’t easy, but when you show up at a friend’s place with a monster truck and a trailer, you gotta expect that you’ll be helping him in the future. It wasn’t easy, but we were glad to help.

Monday, we went to Stockton. We stayed with our dear friend Pastor Paul at the Free Methodist church. On monday nights, they run a group program for juveniles that’re basically on the brink of prison. We had a few snags, but we love being there.

We stayed in Modesto until Wednesday, when we visited Salida Christian Fellowship in Salida. Joey and Lu were allowed to play our song ‘Beautiful’ at another Salida church for their Ash Wednesday Service. Afterwards, we went to (Salida’s)Pastor Paul’s house and played their Nintendo wii. If you’re interested, I’m terrible at baseball, but I’m not too shabby at wii golf. In fact, I’d say I’m downright incredible. I might’ve come in 3rd place(out of 4), but I looked good getting there.

Thursday, we drove through Sonora to Jenness Park. It’s a camp out far beyond the reach of cell towers. We led worship for over 250 junior and high schoolers. We thought we were playing a concert too, but the camp brought in the VERY talented rapper C-FLO for that. We had a lot of fun getting to know him. You should too.

http://www.cflomusic.com/

Book him somewhere/anywhere people like hip-hop. You shant be sorry.

Well, we did that pretty much all weekend. We got fresh snow the last day, which was of course this morning. The kids seemed to love throwing snowballs, which I guess is something I’ve outgrown.

We led worship at our favorite church in Angels Camp, Refuge, this evening. We’re looking forward to this next week. What did you do?