Ok.......I'll admit it. I sometimes go look at our website to see if looks cool. Our web design friends, FiveEdge Media have done a great job with our website here....but sometimes, I'll be looking at another bands website, and then go check ours to see if ours is still cool. Wow, that's pretty prideful!! :) It's ok though....God loves me still, and you too.
So, I was looking at our website and thinking "Gosh...it has been a long time since we posted an update of any kind. I should alert our faithful fans, of what's been going on, and what is coming up." Here are the items I would systematically like to describe to you:
1.) Recent Shows
2.) Upcoming Tour
3.) New Gear Purchases Because I Am A Guitar Nerd
4.) Books I've Been Reading
Ok, shall we start at the very beginning,....a very good place to start?1.) We've had some great shows recently. We played in California, at the Harvest Crusade with Pastor Greg Laurie. That was a wonderful night. Great weather, great fans, and great bands. P.O.D., and Leeland, and Lincoln Brewster also performed that night. Greatest of all though, was Greg's very impassioned message of hope and grace and salvation through a relationship with Jesus Christ. This message, for him personally, came in the wake of the death of his son. He used that scenario to show people that you never know how much longer you have here on earth, and that it's important to fall in love with Jesus, today! We played in Portland with Luis Palau Portland Cityfest. That was a great show too!! Our hometown ruled as always. I would love to say I saw people that I knew out in the crowd...but the crowd was literally TOO big! Over 78,000 people were attending our performance there, and I think the total for the weekend was over 100,000!! Most recently, we flew to Kristiansand Norway, for a show. We are SO jetlagged!! That show was a blast though!! The crowd was great, (as most European crowds are) and there was a big response to evangelist Johannes Amritzer's salvation call (which was in Norwegian, so I didn't understand any of it....but it was still beautiful).
Next, 2.) Our shows for the Creation Tour are coming up soon!! Tickets are going on sale soon, dates are getting finalized, all the bands are planning their shows. This is soooo exciting. Go to www.creationfesttour.com, to see all of the bands that will be on tour with us. Some of the bands included on this tour are, Pillar, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Fireflight.
3.) This might be one of my favourite subjects to write or talk about ever!!! I think I even bore most band guys, (including my own) when I talk about gear. I have only 1 friend who likes to talk about this kind of stuff more than I do, and his name is Lukian. Our wives think we might as well be speaking Chinese, when we get going!! So without much further ado....the gear! Nick and I both are getting some new amp heads. I'm getting an Orange Rocker 30, and he's gonna get an Orange Rockerverb 50 (I think). My rig for the fall is based on 3 different guitar sounds within our music; therefore, I am using 3 different heads. Since some of our new songs (particularly the heavy ones) on To Know That You're Alive are in drop C tuning, I got a new guitar too. PRS made me an SC 250, that is solid mahogany, painted flat black, and has the EMG Zakk Wylde pickup set which feature an EMG 81 in the bridge, and an EMG 85 in the neck. I got some new effects pedals too. My friend Brad Noah, (from Disciple) got me to set aside effects for a while, until I could learn to not rely on them (which is, I think, a great lesson for all guitar players). But now I'm adding a few back in. The ZW Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, a Boss DD20 Giga Delay, a Line6 Verbzilla, and an MXR Phase 100, and Tremolo pedal. I'm also selling some of my old Mesa stuff on eBay to buy my new Orange amp. Anyone interested?? :)
4.) Some of you may not know this....but I LOVE to read! Books, that is. I just finished the JRR Tolkein Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series. So I became interested in reading his earlier work, The Silmarillion, which (chronologically) pre-dates the LOTR series, and explains the creation of Middle Earth. I know....super-nerd, right!!?? I read C.S. Lewis' Narnia series before that, and while doing so, spent some time with a couple of other author's series. Our whole band is really into Joel C. Rosenberg (who wrote a fascinating non-fiction book called Epicenter, which I think every Christian should read), and a couple of us are into Madeleine L'Engle, who wrote the time quintet featuring A Wrinkle In Time. She also wrote a book (not related to the series) called Walking On Water, which Jeff strongly recommends. I also just read a book called The Shack, written by an author from Portland. After reading his book, I randomly sat next to William P. Young, (who goes by Paul) on a plane ride back home from Dallas, TX. He and I really hit it off, and I got to ask him some questions about the book, which has been the subject of debate, and (unfortunately) ridicule. I will let you decide for yourself, what the Lord would show you through his book, if you choose to read it. Suffice it to say, I liked it a lot. In conclusion, I am about to read, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, Grimm's Fairy Tales (author unknown), and then some George MacDonald books. Kutless should start an online book club. Or Klub!!
Ok.....That's all. I'm going to stop typing before I get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and bid you all a rapturously joyful day!! May God's Spirit be with you all this week!! We love you,
James