“Religion is what happens when the Holy Spirit leaves the room” -Bono

ht: Chad aka The Blogstar

Robbie Seay Giveaway Winner

Contrary to what the above title might imply, I’m not actually giving away Robbie. Liz wouldn’t like that.

I am, however, giving away a copy of his latest album, ironically, titled Give Yourself Away.

I know you’re waiting on pins and needles, so without further ado, the winner of the album is:

MamasBoy

Thanks to everyone for participating. Stay tuned for more fun Music Mondays.

He Said What?!

Shaun is such a nice friend.

How do I know this? Because in his post on Monday (warning, there is a disturbing logo at the top. Ok, it’s not really disturbing. It’s actually funny. In a disturbing sort of way...), he listed me with 4 other bloggers.

(Begin singing, “Which of these is not like the others...?")

I don’t know how Sophie (Boomama), Kat, Shannon (RIMD), Melanie (Big Mama) and Ree (Pioneer Woman) do it.  I really don’t.  How does a mother - sans servants - have time to blog?

To give you a sense of the caliber of these other bloggers, may I tell you that Ree, had a post last week that had 14,000 comments.

14 THOUSAND.

(”...which of these just doesn’t belong...?")

Like I said, Shaun’s a nice friend.

Thanks Shaun for sneaking me into the big leagues. Hopefully, the blog police won’t arrest me for impersonating a real blogger.

Check out Shaun’s blog, buy his cd, and most importantly consider saving a child.

TSLOK Summer Camp

Speaking of blog friends, I want to throw out a teaser for something that’s going to happen here May 25-30. It’s called TSLOK Summer Camp.

It will be an entire week of getting to know each other, singing by the Camp Fire and eating gross camp food.

Or something like that. Stay tuned. 

Mine was…

Gee, can anyone guess?

I was probably about 6 years old and my dad and grandparents were taking my brother and I to a theme park in Wisconsin (we lived in Chicago at the time.)

As we were driving up, I saw a billboard that said “degarmoandkey with *********AMY GRANT********”

That’s not actually what the billboard looked like, but that’s how my little 6 year old eyes saw it.

When I floated back down to earth, I noticed my family all smiling at me. What a wonderful surprise.

The show was great even though it started raining halfway through (it was an outdoor ampitheater). I remember she made some joke about how we didn’t need to take showers since we were getting so wet. I laughed and laughed like only a 6 year old can when someone they think is cool says anything remotely resembling funny.

What was your first concert?

If you’re reading this right now, you probably are at home enjoying an peaceful evening.

Why not enjoy a peaceful evening WITH great music?

Phil Wickham is broadcasting his concert in Portland tonight - LIVE - 9:30pm Pacific time.

Check it out.

You’re welcome.

(I couldn’t decide on a title for this post, so I used all of them at the same time.)

The other day I got an email asking if I’d like to do an interview with Cindy Morgan.

Um...let me think about that.

Do I want to interview one of my all time favorite artists who also took home two Dove awards this year, including Songwriter of the Year (She wrote Point of Grace’s hit - How You Live)?

Hmmm....

Huh.....

Mmmm....

Well....

How do I put this gently?

A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y!!!

So now I have to decide if I want to do an email interview or a phone interview.

Here is my quandry. I am a dork. That is a fact that doesn’t always come across immediately over email. But over the phone? It’s unavoidable.

But how cool would it be to chat with Cind (that’s what I call now, since we’re BFF’s… you know)?

So, I’m going to take a vote. What do you all think? Phone or email?

In Other News - Get 3 Free Cindy Morgan Songs

In other news, you can get 3 FREE Cindy Morgan songs by participating in her upcoming Blog Tour.

Here’s the info from Michelle, her publicist:

What we are going to do is set up a listening station for bloggers to hear the new album Beautiful Bird and review it. Each blogger that posts a review will receive a 3 song digital download from Beautiful Bird.

You can listen to the title song and read her bio here.

If you’d like to participate in the Blog Tour - just email michelle AT fallawake.com.

Back To My Quandry - WWYD

Email (be cool) or Phone (reveal dorkdom) interview…

What Would You Do?

This is part two of my interview with Robbie Seay. Be sure to read part one and enter to win the latest album from the Robbie Seay Band.

What’s the story behind the song for New Day?

The song was supposed to be my token pop song.

I went to an Nsync concert a few years back..there, you have it. my musical influence confession of the day. That’s been weighing on me and now its finally in the open. (the ticket was free from a friend, if that makes it anymore digestable for your readers)

I saw girls waving their cell phones in the air like they just don’t care—I thought to myself, “I gotta do that”.

So a few months later I began writing New Day but it really turned into a song for Liz and our life together thus far. We used to dance in the kitchen, not very well i might add, in her parents home growing up.

I think her Dad thought that keeping us in the kitchen was better than us making out on the couch. True enough.

Its really a song about hope and though the world seems to be such a mess these last few years, love is strong and i’m thankful to have people in my life to share it with.

I’ve been thrilled about the response to the song thus far.

Oh, and its about coffee..we love coffee!

How do you manage your roles as a touring artist, a worship leader at your church, Ecclesia, as well as a husband and a father of 3?

It’s hard. That balance is always out of balance it seems.

Somebody usually suffers from most of the decisions I have to make in how i spend my time and energy.

The gift to me is that our church community is so giving and supportive of what we do.
My kids have come to know this life as normal, though i drive through the nights to get back to them - and time away from them is my greatest wrestle within.

Liz puts up with so much crap from me and my schedule, i owe her a thousand vacations to tropical places, with umbrellas drinks.

I truly never thought I’d ever be this busy in my lifetime, but I love every minute of it and I’ve been extended mountains of grace from everyone in my life to do this.

What artists are you listening to? Any indie artists you recommend?

Gatlin Elms will be a household name one day. I just produced his album with him and he’s fantastic. Look for his album “Oceans & Stars” on iTunes.

One of my favorite singers just did an album with me, Jill Paquette. It was such a thrill to produce music alongside such a talented musician. I haven’t heard a release date yet but hoping its soon. She’s amazing!

I really enjoy Chris Taylor’s new album as well. He’s a new artist on BEC and is a great young songwriter.

Of course when I"m driving, I listen to a lot of music—usually Jon Foreman, Amos Lee, Patty Griffin, John Mayer & Elliot Morris.

If you weren’t a musician what kind of career would you have?

Easy.
CIA.
quit laughing.
When the CIA comes looking for a college dropout musician with no espionage experience or skill—I’m their man and I’ll get my spy on 24/7.

What are your hobbies outside of music?

My days are full so I usually spend free time hanging with my 3 crazy punk kids and my much smarter, wiser, and all around better human of a wife - Liz. We watch The Office and eat Tex-Mex.

I love Astros baseball games, the beach & George Clooney movies (does that make me a wuss? my wife says its a man crush..)

If you were a Major League Baseball Player, what would your at-bat song be and who would you play for?

uh, the Astros..hello!

I would be baseball’s first reincarnated player, returning as a modern day Craig Biggio.

At bat song?

It would have to alternate between —‘Fly Me to the Moon’ by Frank Sinatra (this is my favorite song of all time, btw - it would be so out of place, the pitcher would be distracted, throw me a 90mph fastball down the middle and the rest would be Astros history)

Also, ‘Get Up’ by James Brown—i love this song.

More Info on RSB

Robbie Seay Band website
Robbie Seay Band blog
Robbie Seay Band on iTunes

And don’t forget to comment here to enter to win their latest cd.

If you haven’t heard their music yet, here’s a clip for your listening pleasure.

I’ve written about the Robbie Seay Band before. Their album Give Yourself Away is incredible. I play it so much even my kids know the words.

They’ve been featured on American Idol commercials, Oprah’s show The Big Give and now they’ve reached the pinnacle of their career - an interview here on TSLOK.

Robbie, himself, acknowledges what a momentous occasion this is. Read on:

The Interview

What inspired the theme of Give Yourself Away?

(First off, thanks for the invite to your blog kingdom. Your reputation precedes this written exchange as one who is loved by thousands if not dozens of readers everywhere - and my wife likes you which carries value far beyond monetary measure.)

Give Yourself Away was supposed to be my album, with my songs and my vision. God told me to screw off, in a Godly way of course, and He began to cross my path repeatedly with those in great need in situations where i couldn’t turn my back and pretend all was well in happy land.

My life, my church and the music we were writing couldn’t escape the grasp of mission and the idea that Jesus calls us all to something bigger than just prosperity and peace.
The storms of poverty and illness is waiting for Jesus followers to drive in and take up residence under dark clouds of sacrifice and little reward - and those basic premises of faith became the foundation for the new album.

Based on the theme of the album (and many of your wife’s blog posts - one of which really resonated with me - How Can We Not Move?), there’s seems to be a lot of passion in your family for those in need. How has that affected the way you live and your daily perspective?

Well, I’m still a selfish pig, if that’s what you’re asking.

I wish it weren’t true.

I’m still fuming this morning as my skim milk latte was not to my liking and i considered sharing my deep frustration with the barista. Luckily I was rescued from myself in such a weak moment by Kanye West.

“i’ve never heard Kanye playing in a coffee shop,” i blurted aloud to no one in particular, though the unqualified young barista stared back with eternal blankness.

Kanye rarely leads to moral victories or even anger restraint in any scenario, however the unique combination of coffee and “Stronger” gave me reason to laugh aloud and recognize what a idiot I was becoming over a latte.

Truthfully, what has surfaced is a new tension in our lives - the collision of what is comfortable & self serving and what is giving & selfless.

Jesus has a call on each of our lives not to fill our pockets or fill our cups with lattes. Rather the call pulls us to the poor, the broken and requires us to extend the grace that has been life changing in our own lives.

If i wake up on days without that tension, i’m useless. I love reading about Peter. He embodied this tension in scripture and it seemed to follow him until his last days. He was a mess, much like myself, but on that struggle and ensuing honesty inside of an imperfect man, God built the church. So, maybe there’s hope for strugglers like me.

To Be Continued...

Get The RSB Album

I’m giving away a copy of Give Yourself Away. Just post a comment here to qualify. I’ll announce the winner next Monday.

So, um, my grand plans to have the book ready on Sunday didn’t really happen. Here are my excuses:

1. I fell asleep snuggling with my girls at 8:30pm on Saturday.
2. We had an event at church last night.
3. I completely procrastinated on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.

There were several folks who commented or emailed me saying that you’re currently working on updating your music site and you were looking forward to reading the ebook asap.

If that’s you, contact me, and I’ll get a rough draft to you.

It’s Music Monday!

Today’s theme is: If I Had A Record Label, I Would...

You can answer one or all of these questions (or make up your own):

1. Who would be on your roster?
2. How would you run it differently?
3. What would your company name be?

How Do I Participate?

Write a post on your blog telling us about “What You Would Do If You Had Your Own Record Label” (and why) and post the link (to that specific post - not your general blog URL) below.

If you don’t have a blog, share your answers in the comments.

This should be a pretty fun Music Monday. Be sure to jump in on the action. I look forward to reading everyone’s answers!

(FYI - Sara D. won last week’s iTunes GC. Thanks to everyone who participated!)

(This is my entry for Music Monday. Read the rest or submit your own here.)

What would my label name be?
I would name my label: Katostrophic Records.

Why? Because that’s the first thing that popped into my head.

Naturally.

How would I run it differently?
Everyone at the label would earn the same salary. From the President and CEO (that would be me - thank you very much) to the front desk secretary to all the artists and business people in between, we’d all make the same income (adjusted according to family size).

Each artist would have a cause that they supported and talked about on tour. All the money that they earn in excess of their base salary would be given to their cause.

I would hire Brody to set all my artists up with blogs, twitter accounts, you tube channels etc.

Which Artists Would Be on My Roster?
The first ones that come to mind are:
Shaun Groves
Sara Groves (no relation)
Brooke Fraser
Spur 58
The Robbie Seay Band
(all these artists, in one way or another, have deeply inspired me to live differently.)

Oh, and since this is imaginary and there are no limits, I’d also like these guys on my roster:

Keith Green
Rich Mullins

Speaking of Causes
Aaron, from the aforementioned Spur58, said that we’ve already raised $700 for them to buy food for people in Haiti when they go on their trip next week.

$700!! You all rock. That’s all I have to say. And if you haven’t donated yet, there’s still time to donate (and possibly win a Palm Zire 72 PDA). Here’s all the info.