…Or maybe it’s just that this guy is so freaking good at it. I can’t stop watching this. As someone said over on Boing Boing, it’s not as trippy with the music off, but I find the whole video just beautiful.
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As a Christian, the point of making music is not for the glory, right? Well let me just say that for us independent artists, there aren’t a lot of glorious moments. Or at least they are tempered by the not-so-glorious moments. When you play a gig, you schlep your own gear. When Amazon.com needs more CDs, you buy a padded envelope and send them out. And in spite of whatever a real rock star’s life is like, I still have to get my own mail, drive myself to the airport and brush my own teeth.
I’m not complaining but when an opportunity comes along to level the playing field a bit between the record label somebodies (them) and the indie artist nobodies (me), I take it.
Recently (I’m convinced by way of Divine intervention), I was asked by the producer of the Dove Awards pre-show to come and hand out some awards. That event took place just over a month ago on the evening of April 23rd, 2008.
There were a few highlights from that day that I wanted to share, with “not tripping on the stage” being in the top 3. Things started when I met a good friend downtown for some lemonade at Starbucks. I recognize the irony there.
12:02p - I return to my car, which is 10 minutes past due on the $4 parking spot and now has a bill for $23 under the windshield (independent artists pay their own parking citations too).
12:30p - I meet my sister at the hotel and I get changed. She paid for us to stay at the Opryland Hotel, which was a nice bonus, but each trip to and from the front desk is an Everest-esque trek.
1:20p - I’m 20 minutes late to my call-time at the Grand Ole Opry thanks to the hotel treks and other general lateness.
The time from now until 4:30p, when the Dove Awards pre-show begins, is unique and incredible and kind of boring. At first I was like, “Wow, I’m eating nachos with Phil Joel!” or “Hey, is that the guy from Mercy Me changing clothes in a tiny stall in the men’s room?” but after awhile it’s just crowded. It’s a crowd like any crowd you might find yourself in at the bank or Laundromat except the people have fantastic fashion sense and really great hair. Plus, you recognize most of the faces from your CD collection.
4:30p - The pre-show starts. This is the part of the show where they hand out most of the awards. Probably one of the weirdest moments is watching the closed-circuit TV in the greenroom with Jordan from PureNRG, Bibleman*, and Warren Barfield (among others).
4:35p - *I think to myself “I’m glad I don’t have to wear a purple cape tonight.”
5:02p – They call me backstage where I prepare to present with the guys from Need to Breathe. It’s funny how someone’s song starts going through your head when you meet them in person.
ME: Hey guys. How’s it going?
THEM: Good man. You?
ME: (thinking to myself) Yahweh, Yahweh!!
ME: (outloud) Good. Yeah.
5:08p - Bibleman comes backstage with the kids from PureNRG to get ready for their segment. He dons his “helmet of salvation” which looks a little like the “helmet of Power Rangers.”
5:10p - Overheard backstage: “So that’s Bibleman. He’s kind of a freakshow, isn’t he?” It wasn’t me. I’m just saying…
5:15p - The very funny host of the show, comedian Nazareth, introduces the guys from Need to Breathe and me. We all walk out without tripping.
5:15p - We’re at the edge of the stage now and each of us has a sort of “deer meets headlights” look as the teleprompter is slowly counting down from 30. Instead, it should have my first line, “The first award we have the honor of presenting tonight is for Country Album.” After what seems like way too long, I remember my line and the teleprompter people catch up to where I am. The 5 of us get to present 4 awards.
5:20p - I announce the winner for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year.
ME: And the Dove Award goes to “East to West,” Casting Crowns, blah, blah, blah (The blah-blah stuff is important, but it’s drowned out as the applause swells).
Mark Hall and Casting Crowns will win a truckload of hardware tonight. Odds were pretty good that we’d get to deliver some.
5:21p - Mark Hall takes a second before accepting his award to tell the guys from Need to Breathe that he loves their music and has it playing in his car. In his head, he’s going “Yahweh, Yahweh!!”
The rest of the show was great. Another highlight from the pre-show was when someone announced David Crowder as the winner of the award in a gospel category in which he wasn’t nominated. After a long awkward pause, they said, “Sorry, that was the wrong envelope. The actual winner is Mark Lowry.” It was a really good moment.
Of the whole pre-show, my favorite performance was Phil Wickham, joined by his brother Evan Wickham on keys and vocals. Evan is the only other indie artist I met that night.
Later, in the televised portion of the Dove Awards, David Crowder put on an amazing performance and I sang along during the Michael W. Smith tribute.
Overall, I had a blast. I got to hang out with my sister, which is rare enough. It was a big honor to present at the Dove Awards and I got to meet lots of nice people backstage. It did take some restraint to not hand my CD to every person I saw, but honestly I’m more comfortable making friends than “contacts.” And for the record, Robert T., the man who plays Bibleman, is a pretty cool guy. I just would have to ask him to leave the cape at home if we ever, say, go out for lemonade at Starbucks.
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Here’s a quick video of me presenting at the Dove Awards last month. I don’t know how much more will be available at Godtube.com (We presented 4 awards in all) but I will be posting some details about my trip to Nashville very soon.
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It’s been about a month since the trip to Beijing and Hong Kong. I had a great time and enjoyed some really sweet moments with good friends from all over. In this short video, the nations of China, Iceland, USA, Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and the UK are all represented! We recorded a live DVD and CD that should be available soon. More details coming on that…
Also coming soon, I’ve got a very detailed, behind-the-scenes look at the Dove Awards that I’m about to post.
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This is in front of Starbucks in Beijing (Chaoyang District). Manu is a good friend from Germany who doesn’t wear lederhosen (very often). He’s also an excellent bass player with a great sense of, erm, timing.
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Let me say this first: I’m an Andrew Peterson fan. I’ve seen him play live a couple of times and his songs have touched me in ways that few others have. So, when I was perusing his site a little over a week ago and saw the invite for bloggers to join his new book’s blog tour, I decided to send an email to the listed address.
A few months ago, I read that Andrew Peterson was writing a book and I casually investigated the details. I think a few weeks went by and I looked into the story a bit, as it existed at his web site. The title sort of caught me off-guard at first. “Does he realize…” I thought to myself, noting the obvious redundancy in the book’s title. The answer is “Yes. Yes he does realize.”
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness releases Tuesday, March 18th. This is book one of the Wingfeather Saga and it primarily follows three siblings, Janner, Tink and Leeli Igiby, as they make attempts to pursue a happy life in a town that isn’t altogether happy. The children live with their brave peg-legged grandfather, Podo and nearly-as-brave mother, Nia. The family and other residents of Glipwood, live in what has become a police state run by Fangs (a sort of snake/human creature). One afternoon, in all the hustle and bustle of the local Dragon Day Festival, Janner, Tink and Leeli manage to make one of the Fangs hate them even more than he already does. Could this be the beginning of the end of their semi-peaceful existence in Glipwood Township?
So I started reading this book with the expectation of a Lord of the Rings style tale. It has a bit of that, but it’s difficult to say how it’s so different than that. One thing is certain, and this is the charming thing that sets The Dark Sea of Darkness apart from stories like the one I mentioned: the novel really doesn’t take itself too seriously for very long. Let me explain by giving a couple examples. The top Fang in the township of Glipwood is named Gnorm. Gnorm. It’s really not that silly until you say it out loud. And almost every one of the story’s short chapters has a footnote that is completely ridiculous, yet completely effective at moving the story along. To me, these endearing little bits made the story really enjoyable.
In a way, the silly elements and the fact that the lead characters are all under the age of 13 might make you think it’s just a kid’s story. On the contrary, I think it’s a story that will engage kids of any age, like all the great stories. There’s action, humor, peril and toothy cows (which are much worse than they sound). Actually, I think some of the other animals are worth mentioning just for their creative names. There are thwaps, ratbadgers, flabbits, sea dragons, horned hounds, quill diggles, digtoads and more.
Andrew Peterson’s On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is an excellent book. The tale is engaging and absolutely satisfying. The characters leap off the pages like a pack of ratbadgers. In fact, I was so riveted that I plowed through the last two-thirds of the novel this evening. And amid all the silliness, there are some deep, important themes to the story–things I’ll be thinking about for a few days. I know a part of me really longs to attend the Dragon Day Festival and be rapt by the songs of the Sea Dragons…
Honestly I’m not surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. Andrew was already one of my favorite singer/songwriter/story-tellers. I just didn’t know he could write fiction.
I have a brand new, extra copy of the book to give away. If you’d like it, send me an email and I’ll give the book away on my next podcast. Email to jeff@jeffcaylor.com.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Andrew Peterson, visit his web site here and be sure to check out his writer’s collective web site, The Rabbit Room (I’m waiting for him to rename it “The Flabbit Room”).
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness can be ordered at Amazon.com here
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