TobyMac From The Studio
So tomorrow night I’ll be in the studio with a Mr. TobyMac as he’s introducing his new record to the world live online and answering questions. So you can either watch it here, or you can watch it on his Facebook page. I even heard there might be some special guests. Pretty fancy huh?
See you then.
Patty Griffin – Tonight At 7
So check it out. Tonight at 7PM (Central Time) I will be in the studio with Patty Griffin for a short, live performance and question and answer time.
What? Patty Griffin? Hanging out in her studio? I’m not really sure how I end up in situations like this, but I’m cool with it for sure. Now, I’d be lying if I said that I was the biggest Patty Griffin fan in the world, but the stuff that I have heard from her blows me away and I’d say I’m a fan, which makes tonight even cooler. That, and the respect she has from any musician I talk to is amazing.
So that’s the deal. Tonight at 7, we’ll be broadcasting her hanging out in the studio, answering some questions and playing some songs on PattyGriffin.com
MercyMe Live In Des Moines
So, as most of you know, we’ve been broadcasting the MercyMe tour every night possible and have done so for the last 3 tours. Well yesterday was one of those special days where you show up at a venue and they have everything to make the broadcasting possible. I almost kissed the church video guy…. but that would have been a weird first impression I suppose. But anyway, I knew last night was going to be a good show online, and it was. The awesome thing? We’re here again tonight.
See, the people of Des Moines apparently are pretty big MercyMe fans and they needed to add a second show because the first one sold out so fast. Funny thing is, the second show sold out faster and I’m guessing they could have added a third show.
All this to say, 1,267 of you showed up online last night to watch the show and make my job awesome. So thanks for that. Also, tonight is round two of the ‘Des Moines Take Over’. Make sure you start telling people about it now. Tell people to head to m.ercy.me 7PM Central. See you there.
A Night With Steven Curtis Chapman (Again)
So, if you remember the other day I had that ‘super secret project’ that turned out to be not as much of a ‘secret’ so I blogged about it? Well, tonight is sort of a ’round two’ of that only this one isn’t secret at all. This is a full blown broadcasted evening with Steven Curtis Chapman. Turns out the other one went so well that they wanted to do it again, and called me back.
So tonight at 9PM Steven will be playing some songs, talking about his record that came out today and answering some questions all from the World Wide Internetland. Now, I’m going to warn you though. When he starts talking about the songs and meaning behind this record I promise you will choke up. So guys, if you want to be all manly and junk watching it, just make sure you have some sunglasses next to you so no one can see you like Rocky Balboa did in Rocky 4.
Seriously though, take an hour tonight and head over to Steven’s Facebook page and check out his amazing story of loss and recovery through the making of this record. It will blow your mind. I’m honored to be a part of it.
EMI Event – Beauty Will Rise – Steven Curtis Chapman
So, what started out as a sort of ‘top secret’, radio promotion thing turned into a more public, ‘okay if everyone knows’, radio promotion thing. Which now gives me liberty to talk about it on here rather than say that it was some secret thing that you all don’t get to know about. Because I’m not that good at keeping secrets…. especially when it comes to doing things online.
So, anyway. This morning I was up at the EMI/CMG building broadcasting a special event with Steven Curtis Chapman. Basically it was an event that originally only radio folks were “invited” to, even though it was just Steven, some label people and us in a room together. The idea is for Steven to basically give the radio folks some insight into his new songs, the stories behind them and introduce them to the new record. Up until this point labels would just fly out a few select radio guys and the rest of the ‘team’ would have to stay in their offices in some part of the world and wait to hear how their boss’ trip was.
Well, props to EMI/CMG for thinking outside the box and making an effort to reach out to everyone in the radio scene and not just the bosses. Pretty cool plan eh? What’s where we come in. Looks like a ‘new division’ of SkörInc is born. A few cameras, some cables, and a little testing and here we go. We’re instantly reaching the entire world with Steven’s stories about this record…. And obviously some ridiculous stories they are. I guarantee there wasn’t a dry eye online or in the room we were sitting in hearing him talk.
So that’s the ‘secret mission’. Not so secret eh? And guess what? I have a feeling this is going to become a ‘thing’ and if I can help it, maybe it won’t have to be a secret next time either.
Anyone here catch the broadcast this morning?
Over 500
The numbers are misleading really. See, while you saw the number 500 under the screen of The Rock And Worship Live Broadcast, the actual amount of people watching for the last night of the tour was quite a bit more. There’s a weird delay when logging the ‘total’ number of viewers any specific night and the actual number was 15,103 people watching the show! What? 15,000 people?? That’s almost enough to get Bart to shave his head too.
So, anyway. Right after the show we all went back to MercyMe’s dressing room and they started in. Bart and Mike with clippers, Nathan with scissors and Barry with (literally) a pocket knife hacking away. About an hour later and here we are.
Now, originally the plan was to wait until after The Dove Awards, but Bart wouldn’t allow it. So now, walking around GMA Week yesterday no one recognized me, even if I had just gotten off the bus with them that morning.
Yes, we do have video of the whole ordeal and it will be posted at some point over on the MercyMe blog, but for now here’s a quick picture. Thanks to everyone who showed up to make the last night of the tour the biggest night online. You people are amazing.
The Last Day
So, today is the last day. This was the shortest tour I have been on but was able to make some great friends and have an amazing time out on the road again. We’re in Springfield, IL today and, while I’m more than ready to be home, I will be sad to not be on the road with these guys anymore.
Here’s the funny thing. Aside from Audio Adrenaline I have never been on the road with bands that live in Nashville. It’s awesome to be on the road with Tenth Avenue North and Hawk Nelson and know that we all live around each other and can hang out beyond the tour.
So as this year’s Roadshow comes to a close, I hope that it’s been an experience like no other tour on the web. My goal was to ‘step up’ the web interaction on an entire tour and give everyone watching a better view into what it’s like being on the road. I hope I’ve done that to some level. Kyle was a great help keeping things going, and without him I think I would have run out of steam a long time ago.
And speaking of tonight being the last night, we have (finally) gotten clearance for everyone to be broadcast on the stream tonight. That’s right. The show from beginning to end will have no breaks. Make sure you’re watching and tell your friends.
Here’s to a great tour. Now it’s time to start planning for next year. And it’s only going to get better.
Pocket TV
My friend Michael and all the other Pocket Full Of Rocks folks are in the studio today. They are starting the recording process on their new record, and have invited us all to join in. For the next few days they will be broadcasting a video of them in the studio online. Make sure to stop in and say “hey” on the chat room.
If I get a chance I will stop in the studio and say hi. Also make sure to check out Pocket’s records if you haven’t. Definitely worth a listen.
