Ft. Worth
I took this picture a little bit ago while I was watching sound check. Pretty exciting eh?
We’re in Ft. Worth tonight at a place called Billy Bob’s Texas, which claims to be the ‘World’s Largest Honky Tonk’. I’m not sure what that means, but I guess I’m about to find out. Next door to this place is a rodeo arena and there’s something going on in there right now. I’ve thought about heading in there to see what’s going on, but there’s something about being that out of place that I’m not too fond of.
It’s been a pretty mellow day today. And at the same time, a pretty mellow weekend all together. I had dinner with Thad Beaty yesterday and he’s got some really cool stuff going on. I’m excited that he lives in Nashville and even when we aren’t touring we can hang out and think junk up. That should be really fun.
I’m ready to be home and exited about some time off. This will be the last run for about 3 weeks so it will be nice to get off the road and get some things organized at home. We’ve got some more announcements with SkörInc coming up soon so be looking for that.
Sorry this is such a dull post, but while we’re here and while that picture is up there let’s throw this out. What are your thoughts on smoking? I mean we all know it’s bad for you, we all know the effects it may have, but there are plenty of people that still smoke. So what’s the deal? Let’s hear it. This should be fun.
Ingrid Michaelson – You And I
My new favorite song for tonight. Stick around till 2:02 and I dare you not to start bobbing your head up and down.
Roots
My friend Chris needs your votes. Okay, well he may not need them, but let’s say he would greatly appreciate them. See, Chris designed this t-shirt and over at RedIsWhite.com and you have the opportunity to vote on it’s success. Now, if Chris’ design wins, RedIsWhite.com will print the shirt and sell it on their store. Not a bag deal eh? All it takes is logging in and clicking the ’5′.
There’s also some pretty cool shirts over there if you decide to browse around. So head over there and check it out.
SkörInc Welcomes Todd Agnew
It’s that time again. The time to announce the newest online friend of SkörInc, Todd Agnew. We met with Todd a few months ago and sat down and talked about all his ideas for what he wanted his web presence to look like. It was cool to get a window into his personality a little and now we have the opportunity to allow you a window into his personality as well.
Now, this process is a little different than other “normal” SkörInc projects, simply because this will be done in a ‘Phase One / Phase Two’ launch. What’s that mean really? Not much other than the site that is currently up is a ‘Temporary” site and we will have an official launch when Todd’s new record comes out in a few months. Sound good?
So, here’s what that means for you. It means that it’s time to head over to Todd’s new site, say hello, Follow him on Twitter, and make sure to check back for more from Todd in the coming months. We’re excited to start working with Todd and I hope you will all welcome him to the SkörInc family and Blog Nation.
And while we are here, how many Todd Agnew fans do we have? Favorite songs?
Positive Or Negative
So, I’ve been thinking about this a while and I wanted to throw something out to you guys and see what you thought. Now, a lot of you have been amazing at participating in Positive Post Tuesday, and this Tuesday, I wanted to try this out with sort of the same mindset. Here goes.
To anyone with a blog, Twitter, Facebook or any other one of the numerous social online network things, it’s no secret that at any given point of the day we can hop on thee old laptop and at the same time hop on thee old soapbox. We can speak our mind freely and openly without really much consequence. And those that are especially gifted with their wording can get away with saying whatever it is that they want despite the feelings of their readers. We can talk about what social networks are stupid, or awesome. We can talk about what our church is doing right and nit-pick everything they are doing wrong. We can discuss drama at our workplace, school or family. The freedom of our speech has never been more available. And I’d like to challenge you… and at the same time challenge myself. Are you ready?
I’d like to see us all who participate online to follow up everything we write with one simple symbol. + (positive) or – (negative). It’s that easy. Here’s the thought behind it. ”Is what you just wrote a positive statement / blog post / Tweet / ect? Or a negative one?” So what’s the challenge? To be completely honest with yourself and your readers. And I dare you to try it. I dare you to add one little character at the bottom of all your Tweets, blog posts, Facebook status updates, or whatever else you put online for the rest of the world to read.
My hope in this whole thing is to really focus on what I am sending out into the world. What’s my “emotional footprint” on this whole interweb thing? Am I one that is constantly throwing out negative (-) statements? Or am I focussing on, what I believe to be, a bigger challenge and keeping things uplifting and positive (+)? Now, sure the world is a negative place, and there will be times that I spout off and say something with more of a negative (-) tone, and I can only hope that I’m honest enough with myself and you guys to put that little dash (-) down there when I do.
So what do you think? You guys up for it? I dare you to give it a shot and tell your readers what you are doing.
Ready? Go.
+
Connection
I love connecting with people. If there’s one thing I’ve learned since working with Billy, and even more general working in the Country Music Scene, it’s this. Nashville is even smaller than I had previously thought. We are all very connected. Everyone knows everyone, and it’s still amazing to me. Here’s a short example. The original call I got for this job was from a guy named Aaron, who is friends with Spence. Now, it turned out that Aaron (Billy’s Road Manager) is really good friends with about a million people that I have known for a while and we spent a good deal of time connecting the dots. Well, now Aaron has moved on to road manage Babyface, and the guy to replace him is a guy named Mark who has been working with One Republic.
Now, I started talking to Mark the other day and it turns out that Mark has started working with a new band made up of two Australian brothers named Joel & Luke. Interesting. Now, once that connection was made, it turns out Mark and I also know several of the same people and the Nashville world grew even smaller.
One more connection I thought was interesting. Last week in South Carolina I had lunch with Jason Bradford, who I’ve heard so much about from my friend William. Well, it turns out Jason is friends with Thad, who plays guitar for Sugarland and writes and produces for several others. Since Thad and I are on the road together, we’ve got plans to grab some catering and learn what each other do and if we can work together on some level.
These connections and several others made within the past four weeks of stepping out of what I “normally” do blows me away. I’m excited to see where meeting all these new people can bring new friendship, opportunity, and again, more connections. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you reading this know the guys I’m talking about and are already connected to them.
I know some people love connecting with others and some are more interested in sticking to themselves. Which are you?
Hurra Torpedo
***If you are offended by a weirdos bare bottom, don’t watch. If you think a weirdos bare bottom is funny, push play.****
I woke up this morning with this video in my head. I’m sure some of you have seen this, but it’s always worth watching again. You’re welcome.
Sugarland Photo
Last night was the first night I stayed out front for some of Sugarland’s show. Typically I have photos to edit, and things to pack up when they start, but last night I hung out and watched the start of their show and about four songs. I’ve been watching the crew load in all this amazing production for the last few weeks and I’ve seen bits and pieces of their show and the production, lights and stage set up blows me away. I stuck around long enough to take some pictures before my camera battery died and this was one I got.
Now we are in Johnson City, TN. I’m sitting on the bus sorting through some things that have potential to make my brain a little more organized while I am out here and make things simpler for everyone involved. Which is a nice thing. We are still in the process of sorting out all the details of Billy’s web world, but I know it’s going to be great once it’s all taken care of.
Not much else going on out here. I wish I had more fun stuff to talk about, but it’s been pretty mellow and my brain is a little fried from this morning.
I’m curious. What’s the most impressive concert you have ever been to production wise? Best lights, stage set-up, video?
So You Know
This is more of an ‘Update’ style post, but I have several things I want to tell you all about and I figured rather than writing a couple short posts about these things I would consolidate them into one. Now, that doesn’t mean that you get to ignore any of these things. In fact, I’m encouraging you to take the time to check out all of these things individually and help support some of these peeps.
- First up, my good friend Joe has started a blog. Joe goes to my church and I have played music with him several times (when I’m able to actually go). Joe’s got some great insight and some great thoughts over there on his blog and he’s an amazing guy so make sure to stop by and tell him hello.
- Next up is something my buddy Will is working on. It’s called the Lambscroft Benefit Concert and Dinner. If you are in the Nashville area, May 30th at 6:30PM is a benefit concert and dinner supporting Lamscroft.
“Lambscroft’s mission is to bring poor, spiritually bankrupt and/or financially destitute into a safe environment.. offering immediate shelter, while entering earnestly into learning skills necessary for the restoration of their entire being. This will be done by closely observing the teachings of Jesus…and its personal actualization into everyday challenges and opportunities.”
Check out Lamscroft.org for more details.
- Next up is a missions trip that a long time, SkörInc supporter and has been involved in things from the beginning. Sarah Lagana and a team of others are headed to the Philippines for 8 days at the end of June. They have a Facebook page created and I’d encourage you to go check out what they are doing and give them any support you can.
- One more thing that we’ve got going that’s pretty cool, at least to me, is that our friends over at Michael Smith & Associates have launched their brand new online store. Now, this is pretty cool to me for a couple reasons. One. To my knowledge there aren’t many managers out there selling things on their web sites. I love seeing a manager jump on board with something that is a little outside the box and give it a go. That to me is exciting. Second. I think Mike has a great mind for this business and I’m excited to see where things go from here. So head over there and check out his store and what he’s got to offer.
Well I think that’s it folks. A quick little update here so you know about some cool things going on. I’m in South Carolina today and hope to sneak away for some lunch with the one and only Jason Bradford, whom I have never met but for some reason have gone though the last year or so of my life thinking he lived down the street from me. Turns out, he lives in South Carolina and we are hanging out today. And I think there will be sea food involved. And speaking of sea food. What’s your favorite sea food? Ready? Go.
Have a great Thursday.
