A lot has happened since being dropped off in front of the House Of Blues in Chicago on Friday. A good friend of mine, Matt, who happens to be the technical director at a little church called Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, and his girlfriend came to the show along with an elder of the church and his family. I had dinner with them at an amazing steak place overlooking the river that runs through downtown Chicago. The food and conversation was amazing and it was great to make some new friends and catch up with Matt, who I hadn’t seen in a while.

After the show Phil, and I hopped in the car with Kai, a media guy from Phil’s label and drove about an hour to Bourbonaise, IL. Phil was scheduled to be on a morning radio show there, which meant a late night and an early morning. After about four hours of sleep we were up and shaking hands at the local radio station. Phil played a few songs, answered some questions. I took a few pictures. We drank coffee. Then another hour drive or so to a lunch date with another radio guy.

After another stop at another coffee shop and some really good conversation with a radio program director for stations in Indiana, we had to head out to drive another few hours to sound check for a solo show that Phil was playing last night.

Phil played last night in Lafayette, IN at a Sacred Ground Coffee Shop, owned and operated by the Camp family. Jeremy’s parents, sister and brother-in-law, and other siblings were there serving coffee, running sound and being amazing hosts. Phil played to about three hundred people and the plan was to spend the night at Jeremy’s parents house. After going back and forth we ended up staying the night upstairs in the coffee shop in a couple rooms that have been turned into what felt like rooms in a hostel.

From what we heard, the coffee shop building was actually purchased by the Camp family’s church, and the building was previously the local strip club. If the walls could talk, I’m not sure we would have stayed. After business went south, the strip club closed and the building was available. The church stepped in and created this pretty cool venue, and from what we have heard is a vital part of changing the entire neighborhood. So there we were. Just Phil and I in a two-story, former strip-club, now coffee shop/venue owned and operated by Jeremy Camp’s parents and Sister. Maybe that’s just weird to me.

Right now Phil and I are driving back into Chicago, where Phil has another solo show tonight at a church outside of the city. The guys from The Myriad are opening for Phil tonight, which is cool to be with them in a completely different element. Other than completely random interactions with completely random people and traveling back and forth across Indiana and Illinois Phil and I are having a great time. So now we are all caught up with what’s going on out here. More later.

Last night I was able to finally watched the final episode of Long Way Round, the documentary where Ewan McGreggor and his friend Charlie Boorman ride motorcycles around the world from London to New York. I’m not sure why this thing was so intriguing for me, but for some reason I was completely captivated by it. After a recommendation from Brian and Jeff, I picked it up from Borders and was hooked.

There is something very real about watching friends go through some of the hardest possible conditions and come out closer to each other and changed. Phil asked me why I liked it so much and the only thing I could think of was that it’s cool to see some one so successful and well known, completely strip that down and connect with children sleeping on the streets in Mongolia or farmers in Eastern Russia living on what they produce and come back to America realizing how trivial and excessive making million dollar movies is.

No doubt he will continue to make movies but hearing that side of things is fascinating to me. Also watching a friendship between two guys grow through trials and the excitement of success is cool to see. I’m sure I will watch it again with Kristin when I get home.

Make sure to check it out and also check out Long Way Down when you can.

Just when you thought re-wireing a guitar hero controller to play actual songs was creative enough, David and his crew come up with this mess. Yeah it’s a live-feed web cam from wherever they are. You can find this thing on David’s Blog and even chat on it with the band and others watching. The other day this camera was on the bus with them driving from Waco to Chicago. Tonight they are playing at some event in St. Louis (?) while Phil and I are in Indiana. There are plenty of things to say about Indiana and how we got here today, but I will be back later tonight to talk about that. For now, check out these guys that are way too smart to be playing music for a living… or maybe they are just smart enough.

I woke up in my own bed this morning, and left for the airport at about seven. After a short flight and Episode Six of Long Way Round I landed in Chicago refreshed. I got a cab, rode to the House of Blues in downtown Chicago and was dropped off. I’m not used to being dropped off at the front of venues so I probably looked like an idiot standing there with my luggage looking for a way in through the back. I wasn’t sure if the busses were here yet so I just figured I would walk around until something happened.

After about ten minutes I ran into Bwack and Joe and they told me where the busses were. Directly below my feet through the rain grate, was the roof of Crowder’s bus. Unfortunately it was about a three block walk to get there. Once in the bowels of the city through a gravel parking lot, I found the busses. So here we are now, Phil just arrived and we are getting ready to sound check. This week is going to be crazy but good. While the tour takes another short break Phil has several radio interview things (which means early mornings) and shows at night in the Chicago area. Then we will meet back up with the tour again in Cincinnati.

It was great to be home though. It was amazing to see my wife and kids and be able to spend Halloween with them. I feel refreshed and ready for another two weeks to finish out this tour.