I've Been Washed!

Today I was baptized. It was amazing! The event started off at my church this morning where each of the eight people getting baptized gave their testimony (faith story). After we each gave our testimony our pastor prayed for all of us and we were congratulated by almost every person in church. Once the service was done, we all headed over to Pettibone Park, which is by the Mississippi. Food was served, frisbees were thrown, volleyballs passed around, and good conversations were had until it was time to begin baptizing. One by one we got into the river, each surrounded by close loved ones, and we were dipped into the water while being blessed by our pastor. It was such a cool experience!! I will remember this for the rests of my life. When I got back to my aparment I started thinking about music and what song would be cool to summarize today's events. The song that instantly popped in my head was "Benjamin" by Sanctus Real from their "Face of Love" album. It doesn't talk about baptism, but it is such a beautiful song that talks about seeing each other on the other side. Everytime I hear it a sense of calm comes over me. I felt that same calm once I was baptized today. Now, more than ever, "the other side" is real and attainable to me.

Danen Kane & Matthew Damico

During the school year I volunteer at the 2nd Story Coffee Shop, which is part of Cornerstone Community Church. At least twice a month we try to organize musical acts to come in and perform. One of the acts that performed there was Danen Kane. When he sings I instantly become relaxed. After his performance I bought two of his CDs, a live album and "She". The "She" album is amazing. I love his lyrics, because I feel I can relate to them. Almost anyone can listen to the album and find a way to relate to every song. Whether it is something you are going through or something a friend is. Your heart will break for the woman he talks about in some of the songs. Despite the sadness, he reveals the goodness of God and how he can carry you through the tough times. I hope we can get him back to the 2nd Story for another performance.

Another performer that has the potential of hitting it big is Matthew Damico. Every time I hear his voice it catches me off guard. His voice has a certain power to it that is hard to explain. The cover for his "Hopin' & Prayin'" album is a picture from San Francisco. His music sounds like it has been slightly influenced by San Fran's blues scene. That just makes me like the music even more. One of my favorite memories from visiting San Francisco was when my mom and I went to a blues club called Biscuits & Blues. Matt's music in its own way reminds me of Eric Clapton's acoustic work. Anything tied to Eric Clapton, even in the slightest way, is fabulous to me!

That perfect song...

My brother recently got married and as part of my wedding gift I made a slideshow of pictures from throughout his life and his wife's life. I had no problem getting the pictures together and finding the right order and transitions, but when it came to the right songs...it took me to the very last minute to decide. Seriously, I bought a CD the night before I drove home for the wedding and decided that night which song I would finish the slideshow with. Music is so huge for me that I didn't want to just pick a random song or an over used song. I had one song picked out a long time ago, because of help from my friend Jenn. The song was "When Did You Fall" by Chris Rice. It's a beautiful song about a guy asking his leading lady when she first fell in love with him. This song was played during the first part of the slideshow when pictures of their childhood and the beginnings of their relationship were shown. It was the second song that was giving me trouble. I wanted a love song that wasn't super sappy and slow and also wasn't so fast it seemed like the slideshow was on uppers. I was calling friends and getting suggestions, but nothing really seemed to fit. Finally, I called my friend Rochelle and she was giving my a bunch of suggestions. She was having a lot of fun showing me country songs that she knew I would hate. After a while she came upon Michael Bublé's newest CD "Call Me Irresponsible". I had been wanting to get that CD, but I was refraining for financial reasons. The perfect song was on there called "Everything". Needless to say, I drove to WalMart at midnight and bought the CD and put it in the slideshow that night. It's amazing what the right music can do for something like that. When I watch TV or movies I always notice the music selection. If the right song is picked it can blend in perfectly and seamlessly or it can add that extra oomf (I don't know if that's a word, but just go with it). If they pick the wrong song, it is awkward and you can't help but notice the noise.

Isn't is awesome how music can be a part of everything?!

The Shanes (again) and Michael Bublé

As I stated in my last blog, I have been breaking out some of the CDs in my collection that I really haven't listened to that much in the past months. A couple of the most recent CDs that I have listened to have been Shane & Shane’s Carry Away album and Michael Bublé’s It’s Time album. I’ve written about Shane & Shane before, but I haven’t written about Michael before. He is a jazz performer. I don’t have very much music that belongs to that genre, but when funds are more plentiful I would love to grow my collection of jazz music. A while ago I made a mix called Road Trip Sing-a-Longs for just what the title says- for me and my passengers to jam out like cheesy pre-teens in my car. Yes, we are those people who you drive by that are singing their hearts out, dancing, and well, basically making fools of themselves. Anyways… Michael’s "Save the Last Dance for Me" was one song on that mix. As soon as that song starts I am instantly energized and ready to jam out. I love the variety that can come with jazz music. Michael’s songs like the one I just mentioned are fun and good to dance to and his slower songs are relaxed and perfect to just chill to while reading a book.

Back to the Classics

So summer is in full swing right now and there are concerts going on all over the place. Unfortunately, I have reached the point that I think every college student hits at least once… I’m broke. This means I will be missing out on all of the amazing shows going on in order to do all of those frivolous things like paying rent. Nevertheless music is still a part of my everyday life. With the money situation a little tight, I have been avoiding buying new CDs (which is probably one of the hardest things for me to do besides avoiding Starbucks). Instead, I have been making the most out of the collection that I already have. I’ve been breaking out the CDs that I haven’t listened to in a while. Some of my all time favorites include Dashboard Confessional, Coldplay, and the Goo Goo Dolls. The GGDs were actually my first concert and Dashboard wasn’t far behind. For both of them we were able to be a few rows from the rail if not right up on it being smashed from the crowd- so awesome. Though none of these three groups are considered Christian artists, I love digging into their lyrics. For being pretty main stream bands they have managed to avoid the prepackaged cheese ball sounds and lyrics that so many bands fall into. No matter how many years I have had their CDs or how many times I have listened to them, I will always love these three bands. If I am ever feeling kind of sappy and want to, in a way, go back to simpler times, I can listen to their music and be taken back. You don't come across too many bands that have that resilience or that ability.

One last little tidbit: The GGDs are actually featured on the soundtrack for the new Transformers movie. Check it out!

Summer Concerts

Here are a few of the concerts going on this summer in the general area. I will try to continue to update it as I find more shows. If you aren't really sure of which ones to go to, I would without a doubt recommend going to a festival. As you may have noticed from my previous blogs, the Sonshine Music Festival was amazing. You get exposed to so many different bands: really popular groups, groups just breaking into the business, and even ones that don't even have labels. Half the fun is camping out, too. Most of my stories and random, crazy memories are from around the campsite.

Guster- May 1 @ Stevens Point, WI
Amos Lee- May 3 @ Fargo, ND & May 5 @ Northfield, MN
Mae- June 11 @ Minneapolis, MN & June 12 & 13 @ Chicago, IL
Bebo Norman- July 8 @ Detroit Lakes, MN
Tobymac- July 11 @ Appleton, WI
Michael Buble- July 23 & 24 @ Chicago, IL
Hawk Nelson- July 24 @ Appleton, WI

Some of the artists listed above are also playing at the following music festivals. You can check out all of the shows playing at these festivals by clicking on them. There are too many artists to list!
Lifest- July 11-15
Sonshine- July 12-14

I've Changed My Ways

I never thought that I would be recommending this next artist. I think my music taste is kind of changing. I still enjoy all of the same music, but I am opening up to some new stuff. A lot of the music that I enjoy isn't dancing music and..well.. sometimes it's good to shake it a little. Wow, I just wrote a lot of stuff justifying why I like this artist. I'm a dork...I know. The artist that I have recently become a fan of is Tobymac. He has really fun, upbeat music that you can definitely dance to. I have listened to his Portable Sounds CD so many times since I bought it. It is a good CD to jam out to in the car.

Last summer Toby was the final act at the Sonshine Music Festival. I had so much fun at his show! I didn't know any of his songs and barely knew who he was and I still had an amazing time. I am proud to say that I crowd surfed for the first time at that show. It was so sweet! The energy level was through the roof throughout the entire show. He is a sweet performer surrounded by amazing artists to back him up.