Well, sorry about the loss of touch, but i break in to give a little news...and a new link. This is my final post from this space. My new blogging home is here. So come on by and read a while.


  posted by Andy @ 2:17 AM

 
Quick note. Changes are coming(and in some cases, have come).

New Songs: Drawn(already on the site), and The Search For Home. They'll both be played Thursday night at New City for those who are able to make it.

On the Photo page: I finished a new roll of artsy stuff, i will put them on the net asap, as well as a group of live photos.

I'm also playing tonight for the Culture Night for the Appalachian Service Project volunteers with my good friend and former roommate Adam Whipple. I dont quite know what it will be like, or exactly where it will be, but i'm excited about it. The weather(and quite possibly the fact that i actually have on tennis shoes(which hasnt happened since i worked out once at St. Marys at the beginning of the summer) has put me into a good mood for playing a show. And for working on some of my stuff(i still dont have the kinks worked out of the new songs). Since i'm talking about my songs, i'll continue that. I wrote a song called "The Search For Home" in a span of about 30 minutes last Thursday night at New City, and i ended up stealing the melody for a song that i had been trying to write based on Robert Frost's poem Home Burial that pretty much takes the side of the husband(since he could hardly get a word in edgewise), but maybe that's for the best.  If the song doesnt want to be written, i'm not the one who should argue.

The other night, while i was writing the lyrics to Drawn(a necessary lyrics before music song, because of how late it was), and i wrote down all the songs that i have written, and the list came to 15. So there's a possibility that 15 songs will be on my record. But probably not. There's a good chance that i'll cut a couple. But i may end up keeping them. I wont know until i start recording and start finding out how they sound. Before i leave, here's a discussion question for the comment box. What have you read (or what are you reading) this summer, and out of what you have read, what's your favorite...and why?


  posted by Andy @ 3:46 PM

 
I know it's been a long time since i've posted, but i've got some good news. I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance....okay, so i didnt. I've got a couple of gigs coming up soon...like real soon. The first one is this saturday at New City Cafe, opening for Ryan Horne, a songwriter out of Marietta, Ga. The show starts at 7 o'clock and there's a 5 dollar cover. Also, next friday, there is a possibility of me playing out at Crossroads Cafe in Maryville sometime between 7 and 11. I'll have more information about that when i get it.


  posted by Andy @ 10:39 AM

 
Something that gets talked about quite a bit on here is the subject of the Church. Here is a good article on relevantmagazine.com about something that i think the Church needs to do much more: go outside its walls and minister to the surrounding community. On Joe's blog there is a good post(and potential discussion)on whether the church focuses too much on being relevant over preaching the gospel. And i think that in so many churches, that really does take place. And to an extent, even in my own, and even i get drawn into it. I dont think it's an uncommon problem. We always want to be culturally relevant, to be "cool" in the eyes of everyone, that so much of the time, we throw the gospel out with the holy spirit(baby out with the bathwater...get it?). So, what do you think? Let's throw down some discussion on the comment box.


  posted by Andy @ 3:58 PM

 
Last night, i called up Joe, and was like,"Hey dude...you wanna watch the all-star game and hang out?" Having nothing really better to do, he agreed, so after work yesterday, i drove over to his house to watch the all-star game. My figuring was, 'The NL is gonna win hands down. Look at the pitching...they have Clemens, Johnson, and Glavine. And the hitting? Edgar Renteria at short, Albert Pujols at first(you know you're deep if you're hitting Pujols in the two hole), Bonds in left, Scott Rolen at third, Sosa in right, Piazza catching, Berkman out in center, and Jeff Kent at second. Any one of those guys could hit cleanup for any team in the majors...and every manager would be salivating at the thought.' But did this happen? no. What happened? Clemens got his hat handed to him. Six runs in the first inning, and a complete trip through the order. Suffice it to say that i was livid. I think that his parents shut the door to his room just because i was pulling a McEnroe every time an AL batter hit a ball into the outfield...or when Jeff Kent and Sammy Sosa were demonstrating how terrible of fielders they are. Utter insanity. When Ichiro stepped up to lead off and hit the second pitch into the right field corner...I kind of knew the NL was in trouble...but i didnt know how much trouble until Pudge hit his first pitch off the top of the wall in right...and it only took Sammy two days to get to the ball. My mamaw could have made it to second in as much time as it took him to pick up the ball and throw it. Horrible.

  posted by Andy @ 12:43 PM

 
So, it has been a while. Not that i really have a "readership", but whether or not this space attracts a large amount of traffic (though it has been an area of concern to me in the past)is not and should not be my concern.

Having said that, there's quite a bit of ground to cover. Let's start with news. I have a producer(Rick Huemmer)for the rerecord of my record, and i will be starting recording very soon, and hopefully it will be done by the beginning of school in late August for all of you who have been waiting on a cd.

Since i'm on the subject of music, let me talk about some music that i've been getting into lately(and then i'll talk about what i've been reading/writing lately).

Stuff that's in my cd player at home:(doesnt always change, but when it does, it's usually something new that hasnt made it to the car yet)

-A Place Where You Belong: The Normals
The last release from The Normals is a permanent fixture in my cd rotation. The melodies are at once both haunting and soothing, and the lyrics are a potent reminder that the grace of God and a sense of belonging go hand in hand. There are many dark and lonely nights where this cd serves as a reminder of my security in Christ and where exactly my home is.

-Caedmon's Call: Caedmon's Call

This album is probably the most influential in my formation as a musician and a songwriter. It's good. Really good.

-Ten Thousand Days: Bebo Norman

I was first introduced to this album when i heard the song "Walk Down This Mountain" the first summer i worked at Camp Ba-Yo-Ca. I went home and bought the cd and absolutely loved the honesty that his music carried.

Stuff that's in my car cd player:

Photographs:Andrew Osenga

This has literally been in my cd player since i bought the cd midway through last year. Soundwise, it is probably more influential on my writing than anything else.

Twentythree Places:Matt Wertz

I have a burned copy of this cd(Sorry, Matt...I am buying one if and when you come back to Carson-Newman), but it is incredible. Go buy it. You will not be sorry.

Love and Thunder:Andrew Peterson

Start to finish, this masterpiece is the best cd I own. Not a subpar song on it, and it is a work of art as an album. Not something you find everyday.

Songs for the Walls(1st ed.):Rob LaLiberte

This is a four-song ep(there's a 5 song version out as well)by one of my friends in the New City Cafe Community. Rob's music combines acoustic melodies with techno rhythms in a way reminicent of David Gray.

The Joshua Tree:U2

It's u2, and it's the Joshua Tree album. Enough said. I've also started covering Running to Stand Still as of late. Very good music.

Ben Franklin Must Be Proud:Eric Hurst

Eric's sound is unique in its sparseness. Ehh...who'm i kidding...I was never meant to be a cd reviewer...i guess that's why i'm a musician. Leave the reviews to someone else. But i have picked up some new music as of late, and i think i'm better qualified to talk about that...maybe because it's new to me, and not so familiar. But i think that will garnish its own post. Especially after this one taking two days to finish.


  posted by Andy @ 3:03 PM

 
I think that someone could get a proper education through only reading back issues of National Geographic. Reading just one will give you, if you read it closely enough, a perspective on parts of the world that could only be gained by participating in many unique cultures. And the education is not just on the mind level, because it is greatly enforced by the vibrant depictions of worlds that average people cannot easily reach. These pictures, and these stories are the stuff that stir up emotion, that jumpstart imagination. In one issue, you can travel, in the time that it takes to cover the 132 pages of an issue, to Hungary, Hawaii, Ireland, and Alaska, and see things that most men work liftimes to see. It's something we take for granted far too often.

  posted by Andy @ 3:16 PM