Saturday night I saw people picking up roadkill. My wife insists it was a dog, but I’m not so sure. Roadkill. Eww.

I drove the family up to Spring Hill, Tennessee on Saturday to see Andrew Peterson (and Ben Shive) in concert. Spring Hill, in case you were wondering, is 3 miles east of the geographical center of nowhere.

Andy and Ben missed their flight in St. Louis, so they called back to Nashville and had Randall Goodgame and Ron Block (from Union Station) come out to be the openers for the evening. Randall and Ron did a great job before Andy and Ben showed up to take the stage. It was a real treat to see them.

Around 9:30, Andrew and Ben pulled into the parking lot and quickly rushed to the stage. AP played some of his new stuff that will be on the new CD “Resurrection Letters.” It’s going to be really, really good.

I got a chance to talk with Randall about the new Caedmon’s Call CD, which is excellent. We talked about the writing and about some exciting things he’s got going on. I rarely get to see Randall, and it was a nice surprise to see him.

Because of the late arrival, we got back extremely late. The kids were exhausted today, but they seemed to have a good time at the concert last night. I’m a little tired from the trip as well, but it was nice to pull away for an evening, hang out with some friends, and listen to some really good music.

I should do this more often.

This morning I saw that Bryan pointed out that Jeremy Casella’s album RCVRY was awarded a 5 star rating from Christianity Today.

Says Christianity Today: “in a sea of copycat pop/rock acts, Jeremy Casella’s artful music is refreshingly original sounding—both musically and lyrically.”

You may also recall that I wrote a post about the awesomeness of RCVRY earlier this summer. (That’s right, you heard it here first.) If you still haven’t got your copy, you’re missing out on some really, really great music.

(P.S. Congrats, Jeremy.)

AP’s latest Appendix is out now. It’s a fun collection of 8 songs, plus you get a whole bunch of “enhanced” content (chord charts, movies, old journal entries, etc.) when you put the CD in your computer.

This, like Appendix A is amazingly imperfect. It reminds me of Andrew. (I guess that means Andrew is amazingly imperfect.) Let me explain. It’s an album with lots of good stuff; it’s an album that’s fun to hang out with and get to know. It’s fun, serious, encouraging, honest - and imperfect - all at once. Andrew is a lot like that.

Appendix M, much like Appendix A, may not be for the casual listener. Casual listeners will want to hear the studio perfected awesomeness on “Behold the Lamb of God” and “The Far Country” rather than mastered bootlegs and sometimes shaky videos. But the folks who have gotten to know Andy or his music will want to hear this one. It’s a deeper look at his art. After spending time with Appendix M, you’ll feel like you spent a whole day just hanging out with Andrew. You’ll know him better, and you’ll love his music even more.
Some of my initial thoughts about Appendix M:

• “Over My Head” was recorded by me at New City Cafe in Knoxville. I thought that was cool.
• I’m glad the original version of “No More Faith” made the cut. I lobbied for it to be on Appendix A, but it didn’t happen.
• The instruments on the other “No More Faith” are absolutely beautiful.
• “Sun on the Moon” - can we get AP, Jamie, and Gabe back together to play this? I wish I had been able to see it.
• “Long, Long Ago” - Ben Shive is awesome. I wonder if he’ll ever finish his own CD.
• “All the Way Home” - hearing Jill Phillips sing this was like hearing it again for the first time.
• Enhanced Content - it’ll take me a while to fully digest all that’s in the enhanced content on the CD. I’ve seen the movies and read some of the old journals. It’s nice getting a view of the past several years from Andrew’s point of view.

If you want to pick it up, you can grab it at AP’s site. If you’re new to his music, go ahead and get it, but get a full studio release, too.

Continuing with the music reviews theme I seem to have started this week…today we come to Andrew Osenga’s “Letters to the Editor” project. From concept to release, this project is unique.

Andy decided to record a 6-song EP to release. It’s been a while since “The Morning” released (has it been a year already?), and the new Caedmon’s Call CD won’t be coming out for a while. So Andy decides to make new music. That’s cool.

Even cooler than that is that he decided to write the songs based on ideas sent in from the people who frequent his web site.

Even cooler than that is that he set some rules for himself on what he could do when recording:

• Only 1 guitar (an acoustic) per song, but he could use unlimited tracks of that guitar.
• The only other instrument would be his voice, and he could use as many tracks of his voice as he wanted.
• No picks

Even cooler than that is that he broke the rules when he had to choose between keeping within the rules or making the music better.

Still cooler than that is that he had people on his web site (not me…don’t worry) sing, as he called them, “webground vocals” on one of the tracks.

Then (and this is pretty cool, too) he made a little pdf booklet for the album.

Coolest of all, he made the music free. You don’t have to give out email addresses or anything. You just click a link and download a zip file. (And if you like it, you can hit the tip jar to help Andy be able to continue making music.)

If you’ve been waiting (for whatever poor excuse you have) to check out Osenga’s music, here’s your chance.

More music reviews from Ron today…I got some cash for my birthday, and I used some of it to pick up Derek’s new CD “The Ringing Bell” from iTunes.

I’ll be totally honest here. I like Derek. He’s a great guy, and he’s doing some great things with his music, but I don’t always immediately fall in love with his stuff. There are at least 2 reasons for this: I’m not familiar enough with him and his writing style, and his writing is far more intelligent than I’ll ever be.

Over the past 4 or 5 months, I’ve been consciously trying to get to know Derek’s music better. I can’t necessarily make myself more intelligent, but I can try to appreciate good music, right? Well, I must be doing something right, because I absolutely loved “The Ringing Bell” from the first listen.

When trying to cram “The Ringing Bell” into a genre, I guess I’d call it a rock album. I can’t find another genre in my iTunes list where it would be a better fit, plus that’s what Derek calls it. I saw somewhere that some guy called it Alt Country, but I think that’s a wrong label. It sounds a lot like something The Beatles would have done, which makes me like it a little more.

Lyrically, “The Ringing Bell” is full of lines that make you think.

For example, the first verse and chorus from “A Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fear”

What would you do
if someone put a gun to your head
and asked you to tell them a lie?
What would you say
if you were pushed that way
to betray yourself to keep yourself alive?
Is life worth so much?

There’s got to be a love that’s
stronger than our fear
of everything being out of control

and “A Savior on Capitol Hill” is another of my favorites, which includes the lines

So come to DC if it be thy will
because we’ve never had a savior on Capitol Hill

and this one always makes me laugh, probably because it’s so true.

You can always trust the devil or a politician
to be the devil or a politician

I may break some world’s record for longest blog post if I mention all the noteworthy lyrics in this album, so I’ll not keep going. You can hear the whole album over at theringingbell.com if you’d like to try before you buy.  I suggest you do both.

I have intended to post about Jeremy Casella’s new CD “Recovery” for some time now, but I’ve not really had the time or the words. I’ve got time now, but I still struggle for words. It truly is beautiful music.

I spoke to Jeremy in Nashville last fall (Octoberish, I think) and he was telling me about the CD he was working on. He told me of strings and drums and horns…I could tell his passion for the art he was making, but I struggled to truly understand exactly what he was describing.

When I had the option to pre-order the CD (and download immediately, which was nice), I jumped at the chance to finally hear what Jeremy had done. I listened in awe - it had grabbed my full attention. I listened to all these instruments blend together in ways that I’ve rarely heard anywhere before.

Reading the liner notes, I see the following instruments:

• acoustic guitar
• grand piano
• upright piano
• bass
• pedal steel
• drum kit
• chamberlin
• cello
• viola
• violin
• french horn
• flugel horn
• concert bass drum
• snare drum
• electric guitar
• slide guitar
• accordian
• bass
• mallet drums
• tympani
• sleigh bells
• cymbals
• wind gong
• tambourine
• trumpet
• bass harmonica
• clarinet
• water jug
• 12 string guitar
• trombone
• tuba
• flute
• bass clarinet
• microkorg
• indian drum
• glockenspiel
• organ
• tom toms

What a list! I’ve had this music for a while now, and I’m still nearly speechless when I listen to the music and the way it has been so finely crafted.

The best part about reviewing “Recovery” is that I can let the music speak for itself instead of trying to find words good enough to describe it. You can hear the full CD over at virb.com under Jeremy’s profile. So go listen. And then go get it here.

Well, things have been quiet out here lately. I’ve been really busy lately, and this blog just hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. I know there are millions of people out there wondering what’s going on, and I should work harder to keep them updated.

This week has been a good week of concerts for me. My friend Drew called me last weekend to let me know that Andy Gullahorn was playing at his church in Chattanooga on Sunday night. So my friend Chris and I drove up for that. Good show, indeed. And we went to Zaxby’s after the show. That’s always good too.

I didn’t get pictures from Sunday, mostly because we were way in the back and not really in a prime spot for photos. The backs of heads aren’t all that thrilling to see.

So then on Tuesday night I drove up to Knoxville to a benefit concert for New City Cafe. They’re not going to be New City Cafe anymore…they’re teaming up with some folks in Knoxville to do a mission-oriented project in the city. It’ll be good; I’m certain of that, but I don’t really know all the details of what’s going on.

Andrew Peterson, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, Randall Goodgame, Matthew Perryman Jones, Alethia, and Ryan Long (I think that’s everybody) came out to help raise some cash for New City Cafe. It says a lot about New City that all of these guys were willing to take a night out of their schedule, drive to Knoxville for the show, and do it for free so that New City could benefit even more from the ticket sales.

If you ever get a chance, ask some of these guys what they think about New City. I’m sure they’d be glad to tell you all about what New City has meant to them.

I did get a few pictures from the night. They’re not great because 1)the lighting was really, really weird (spotlight behind the artists and colored lights directly on them) and 2)I refuse to be “that guy” with the flash popping all the time during a concert. They’re over here on my flickr page.

I’ve got a few thoughts about New City that I’m organizing into a separate post. It’ll be one of those deep thinking posts that I come up with about every 3 months. I’m overdue for one of those anyway…

Tonight I’m taking my favorite 6 year old up to Dalton to see (once again) Andy Gullahorn. The real reason I’m going up there is to get our stroller back from him (I had to leave it at his house in December because of the impromptu drive to Huntsville with Eric, Sandra and Jill). And, since we’ll be there anyway to get the stroller, we’ll sit and listen to the music…since we’ll be there anyway.

About a week ago I thought it would be a while before I got to another concert.  This weekend, I got to see 2 concerts featuring 3 of my favorite musicians.  And the concerts were free.

Last week I got an email from Katy Bowser letting me know she was playing in Atlanta on Saturday.  The Spine Doctor and his wife were gracious enough to babysit for us, so we had a date night listening to some music.  Katy and crew did a fabulous job.

Katy’s husband, Kenny Hutson, is an amazing musician.  He’s from the Atlanta area, so his family was all at the show.  That also means that they played a lot of stuff that featured him working his magic with his guitar.

Then last night I drove down to Lagrange to see Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken play a concert for a few hundred college kids.  Sandra played a new song that (if I heard right) will be sung by Danielle on the next Caedmon’s Call CD.  Derek played some new stuff as well, and he mentioned that his next release will be May 1.

I’ve been chasing the buffalo for some time now, and I finally got one. My friend Curt has insisted this is one of the best CDs ever made. I’ve only heard it a few times through, but I really have been enjoying it. That Pierce Pettis is pretty awesome, in case you didn’t know.

Thanks, Curt.

There have been some pretty big holes in my collection of music that just haven’t been filled, for whatever reason. I’ve picked up some new music in the last month (thanks to Christmas, mostly). I’ve enjoyed the new tunes, and I decided to blog about it.

Sara Groves
“Add to the Beauty”
I picked this one up for my wife, but I’ve listened a little bit, too. Sara was at Andrew Peterson’s Christmas concert in Nashville, and I really enjoyed the songs she played. The CD isn’t the greatest in my collection, but to be fair, I’ve only listened to it a few times.

Pierce Pettis
“Great Big World”
I got this in Nashville last month, and was pretty much blown away (again) by Pierce’s music. He’s got a voice that might take some getting used to, but this guy can tell a story in song unlike anybody else.

Pierce Pettis
“Making Light of It”
This is an old CD (1996), but I’m late to the party for Pierce, so I grabbed this one courtesy of an iTunes gift card. It’s interesting to hear the old Pierce Pettis stuff and think “wow, he’s even more amazing now.” This one has a song about Absalom that I like, and I really enjoyed “Satellite Sky” as well. This one is still very new, but so far, I have really enjoyed it.

Pierce Pettis
“Everything Matters”
Another old (1998) CD from Pierce that I finally got. It’s also very new to my collection. I now have 4 of his CDs - enough to put them in one playlist and get lost in the music for a few hours. Somebody please tell me why Pierce isn’t a name that everybody knows.

Sandra McCracken
“The Builder and the Architect”
You take old hymns, rewrite the music, add some Sandra McCracken, and you get pure awesomeness. Brilliant CD. Sandra amazes me.

Indelible Grace (3 and 4)
If you haven’t heard of the Indelible Grace stuff, you should check it out. They took old hymns and rewrote the music, and just got some great arrangements of some wonderful old hymns. They are mostly an acoustic folk-rock sound and are very well done. It’s nice hearing a new sound to the old hymns.

Chris Mason
“Not So Gracefully”
An internet friend was kind enough to share his extra copy with me. The production is good, but Chris has definitely matured as a musician since this recording. I liked the line “If I had a talking donkey, I would treat her right” in “Balaam’s Place.”

Sufjan Stevens
“Songs for Christmas”
I mentioned this before in a previous blog post. I’ll probably listen even when it’s not Christmas time.

Sufjan Stevens
“Illinois”
I’m still getting used to Sufjan, but I like him a little more with each listen. He’s very talented, and the music is well-produced…it just takes some getting used to (for me, at least). Illinois (the album, not the state) is worth your time.

Justin McRoberts
“Christmas EP”
It’s only 3 songs, but it’s good. Justin McRoberts singing “O Holy Night”…that’s worth the ticket price any day.

Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson
“Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies”
It’s for the kids, but I’ve enjoyed listening, too. Randall and Andy never cease to amaze me. I’m sure I’ll tire of hearing this one (the kids demand it every time we get in the car), but at least it’s not Barney the purple dinosaur.

Caedmon’s Call
“In the Company of Angels II - The World Will Sing”
Not their greatest stuff, I know. It’s not even close, I know. But I like the influence Andrew Osenga has had on the band’s sound, so I bought the CD.