Street Gatherings #3

Tonight's "Street Gathering" is brought to you by the good folks at Mountain Dew... Mountain Dew, keeping people up way past consciousness.

Tonight I got the chance to meet Dante (in the black Metallica shirt) and Raymond (in the hat) at rehearsal. They rolled up pushing shopping carts full of bottles and cans and stayed through the whole rehearsal. Tonight we were working on some new material for Sunday morning, playing two great songs: "Everlasting God," and "I Am Free."

After rehearsal we got a chance to chat, and the guys really were so uplifting to us. They said some people "have it" and we "ABSOLUTELY have it." I haven't yet figured out what "it" is, but I am reassured to know that we found it. In any event, these guys were real nice guys. We talked old time vinyl from Zepplin to AC/DC to Warren Zevon and even got to rap about some pretty crazy concerts Dante had been to. Ultimately, great guys and were extremely gracious to us.

Raymond took one of my cards and wants to give it to his sister who he says is an MTV producer. He said that she has to put too much "crap" on the air that when she finally sees real talent, she will fall in love with us. Everyone knows someone whos going to make you famous.. huh.

Great night of rehearsal... Great getting to know Dante and Raymond. I hope our paths cross again.

Street Gatherings #2 - My Friend Dave / Isaiah 43

Last night, on my way from some dessert with some friends, I crossed paths with a local man named Dave. Dave has been coming to Missiongathering for a while now, but I have yet to really have a conversation with him. Dave also lives on the streets and is a self-proclaimed "Bum Theologian." He asked me if I had a minute, and we sat and chatted for a good 45 minutes. In the midst of hearing a little of his story, he pulled out his bible and started talking about worship leading with me.

He asked if I could write a song for him and then opened to Isaiah 43 and told me to start reading.

"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, Ill be there with you. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it wont be a dead end--Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. " (msg)

We finished up our conversation over a good laugh at the old school rockers like Zepplin and Bowie and said good-bye for the night. I cant shake those verses. Talk about hope... and talk about the new TBR album. Thank you Dave. I hope I can write a song that tells your story.

Street Gatherings #1

Our first installment of "Street Gatherings: music for the street soul," are two guys we got to hang out with last night throughout our rehearsal.

We've been busy in writing new songs for our upcoming album, and in the middle of rehearsal, two guys came to join us on the steps yelling, and whistling and clapping after each evolution of the new song we were writing. After rehearsal, they came over and introduced themselves: Daryl (in the puffy jacket) and Red Beard / ZZ (in the red shirt).
Daryl is a songwriter / poet and shared a few of the songs he's been working on with us into our PA system. Red Beard used to play saxophone, but said he had to pawn it to get beer money a few years back. It was interesting to hear their stories and their dreams. Daryl wants to move to Nashville to write songs and we told him he should totally give it a shot.

They were full of encouragement and had some funny lines to share with us... and I quote:

"You guys are the next Pink Floyd and U2."
- Red Beard
"It's progressive, but its rock and roll. Everyone loves rock and roll. Finally, you guys can put POD to rest."
- Red Beard
"If you want a lyricist, I have all the songs. I have all the songs. I have all the songs. My mother was a singer. I have all the songs." - Daryl

Street Gatherings ROLL-OUT

One of my favorite parts of rehearsal is when passer-bys "join" us for a tune or two.

To give some background, our rehearsal studio is in a nice four car garage in a storage building here in North Park. The garage doors open to the adjacent ally that is attached to a fish market (stinky) an art gallery, coffee shop, and an old church. Needless to say, it can get kind of seedy at times as there is a large population of homeless men and woman in the area.

So I've decided to start a portion of my blog that is dedicated to these people, their stories, and the memories we get to make with them. Im calling it "Street Gatherings: music for the street soul."