I started Sunday out bright and early by meeting with Tim Trudeau of Syntax Records and his brother Steve, who everyone knows as MaxOne. They're both great guys who really love what they do and when they heard that my 16 year old son loves rap and hip hop they sent home a goodie bag for him. I rushed upstairs to meet with Istra and then rushed back downstairs to hang out with Michael Olson for a while. Michael is such a great guy ... he makes you feel like you've known him forever. Circleslide was across the hall, so I didn't have to worry about being late for that interview. The guys have a release coming out on June 21st and they gave me a CD as well as a vinyl version (made me feel like I was a kid again because I remember when vinyl was all that was available!) We talked about everything from music to chows to touring and had a blast hanging out. I almost missed Scott Krippayne because we were meeting at the deli area in the Renaissance called The Bridge and neither one of us knew what the other looked like, but we finally hooked up and had a great chat about how he's gotten off of the "people pleaser bus" and is making the music that he knows God has called him to make. We had just finished up when Phil Baquie came in for our meeting. I love listening to Phil talk with his Australian accent and I could have sat there all day but I had more people to meet! Bryan Duncan and Ricky B. (his bass player in the NehoSoul Band) were as wide open as you could possibly want. If you're looking for white-washed, politically correct Christianity, you better look somewhere else because you won't find it with either one of them. They're as real as can be and they're not afraid to let you see it. Curt Collins was my last interview before a short snack break and he's a super-nice guy with a real heart for what he's doing.
I can't really call four cheese crackers lunch, but such it was at GMA week! Needless to say, I wasn't overstuffed when I sat down with Detour 180. I met Adrian and the guys almost two years ago and it was great to see them again and meet the new faces in the band. Awesome guys, awesome music and, of course, awesome accents! I headed downstairs and hung out for a few minutes with my friend Dennis Disney from D-Squared Entertainment and he introduced me to a brand new face in Christian Music - Jaime Jamgochian. I strongly suspect that her debut CD will be a winner because her heart is too good for her to bring bad music to the table. KP Westmoreland came in and we sat down for a while to chat. KP is one of my favorite people and talking to him is always such a treat. I could sit for hours just listening to him because he's so real. He speaks a strong truth but he doesn't talk AT you with it, he talks TO you and WITH you. After we finished talking I headed upstairs for the umpteenth time of the day to the McCain Public Relations suite for the annual Guitar Pull. Lynn and her great staff bring in a bunch of the artists that they represent, invite some friends and everyone hangs out, playing and listening to great music. Imagine having folks like Ricardo and Sarah Hart bring a few friends and their guitars over to your house to sit around and fellowship, worship and share great music in your living room and you've got the Guitar Pull. It was a great two hours and one of the highlights of GMA week.
By the time we said our good-byes it was almost 7 pm and time to go have dinner with Karl Messner from the ApologetiX and his publicist Kathleen Burke (who is one special lady). Karl is one of those people that is just fun to be around. He's got a great sense of humor and can imitate almost any voice he wants to. He takes his ministry very seriously, but he doesn't take himself too seriously at all. Dinner was full of laughter and the food wasn't bad either!
The next stop for Chad and I was Rocketown for the NACRR/Word of Mouth showcase followed by See Spot Rock. That place is huge! We moved around from stage to stage listening to incredible music and seeing lots of familiar faces. KJ-52, Stellar Kart, The Wedding and Poor Mans Riches were just a few of the bands we heard and they all rocked! It was great to see the BarlowGirl's (who were hanging out, showing support for former tour-mates Stellar Kart) - especially since we couldn't work out our schedules for an "official" meeting or interview. By the time we got back to the hotel it was after midnight, and we were both seriously dragging, but it was worth it.
