Caedmon's Call '98 Tour Journal (1998)

2/11 Lookout Mountain, GA

What better way to start a tour than to make a visit to the king. So we went there yesterday. To Graceland--Memphis, Tennessee--with Paul Simon's song playing on the stereo. Unfortunately, we did not see Elvis himself, but we did see his alleged grave and the thousands of messages scrawled on the wall in front of the house. I have been there before, and both times I have felt a strange mix of somberness and amusement.

Covenant College here is beautiful, perched atop a mountain. The band was supposed to play here last week, but a snowstorm rolled in. They couldn't make it up the last hill to the school, so instead they went sledding on a big sheet of plastic.

The first of several Spinal Tap moments. The band got a huge backdrop that was to hang behind the stage. An artist was designing it, and it was supposed to be cool, but it looked extremely cheesy. Needless to say, they didn't use it. But the show was great.

2/12 Richmond, VA

A fun show at The Flood Zone, a club where Dave Matthews used to always play. Too bad they had a "Disco Rave" scheduled for 10pm tonight. About ten minutes after our show ended, the bouncers began yelling, "Get out!" and herding people like sheep out the door. I thought he was kidding. But he wasn't. Weird.

Steve and Scott from Awakening Records were there, and so was Keith Rodgers from Jammin' Java. Amy and I stayed with those guys at some place they were house-sitting near Annapolis, MD. It was beautiful.

2/14 Messiah College

Pennsylvania has been good to us. Last night at Grove City College was an amazing show, and so was tonight. Here 1,300 people packed into the gym to hear the band. All around, the Pennsylvanians were real nice folks, very welcoming and kind.

Andrew Peterson and his wife are one of two opening acts on the tour (Bebo Norman is the other), and they had this big desire to go to Hershey, PA and see the chocolate factory. It was a blast. We didn't get to actually see the factory itself, but we did view a highly educational film. Seems that Hershey is quite a tourist destination, with two million visitors a year, more than the White House. I never would have known it.

2/16 New York City, NY

My first time in the Big Apple. As soon as we got to NYC, Cliff, Danielle, Garett, Todd, Christie, Buddy, Amy and I went into the city, and the first thing we did was find a clothing store and buy scarves and hats. Yes, we are Texans, unprepared for the Northern winter. Once we bundled up, we walked around the streets and settled for dinner at an overpriced sandwich shop called "Carnegie's Deli." A friend of ours met us there and gave us a small tour; we entered a swanky hotel right on Central Park and took the elevator up to check out the view. It was a great night in the city.

The show at the Bitter End was good. Thankfully, about 150 Caedmon fans arrived, and the show was intimate and nice. The Bitter End is quite a famous folk venue. Some of the people who've played there are: Tracy Chapman, Bob Dylan, Indigo Girls, Tori Amos, Shawn Colvin, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Sarah McLaughlin, Kenny Rodgers, James Taylor. After the show, all of us, and a group of friends crammed on one bus to go to some Irish pub called Kennedy's, that Cliff said had the best Shepherd's Pie in the world.

2/18 Harvard University

When I first walked into the theater at Sanders Memorial hall, Buddy (the band's guitar tech) was setting up the guitars. As I looked around, mouth agape, Buddy said simply, "They win." He was right. The theater was the most amazing place Caedmon has ever played in, and perhaps ever will. Everything was a dark wood paneling, and ancient looking; a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling. Every wall seemed covered with Latin--not just a word or two in Latin like most schools have. No, here there were entire paragraphs written in Latin. Unfortunately, the Harvard students I spoke with didn't know Latin.

The show was as incredible as the venue. It had all happened because of one student, Mary, who had been trying to arrange to get the band there for the last two years. Her hard work paid off. The show sold out 1,300 seats, and students from all over the Boston area came. The energy and enthusiasm of the crowd made this one of the best shows of the tour.

2/19 Syracuse University, NY

Another Spinal Tap moment. The back stage was a maze of hallways, rooms, storage closets and gates. It's incredible that anyone found the stage in time.

2/21 Avon, CT

We have two buses, and two bus drivers--Mike and Lee. Usually they sleep during the shows since they drive all night. But tonight they came to the show and Derek dedicated "Bus Driver" to them. The crowd gave them a big hand. Of course, everyone always goes crazy for that song. No matter where we go, that is always the crowd's favorite.

2/22 West Point Academy, NY

Wasn't I just saying how popular "Bus Driver" is? Tonight I saw a family on its way to the show. The mom was dragging a two year old, who seemed tired and reluctant to follow. In order to encourage the kid to get moving, the mom said, "We're going to hear Bus Driver!"

The cadets at the academy were very cordial, just as you'd imagine. They were so welcoming that I was sad to go. The band members, who all sleep until 3pm daily, were astonished at the cadet's schedule--up at 5am and all that.

2/26 Miami of Ohio University, OH

Steven Curtis Chapman made an appearance at this show. Yesterday at Kent State University, the band dropped into a Christian bookstore and were given a life-size cardboard cutout of "SCC." At tonight's show, before "Another Ten Miles," Derek announced that we had a very special guest, and that it was Steven Curtis Chapman. Certain areas of the crowd went nuts (they seemed to be female voices) and then Cliff walked out with the cutout. The disappointment in the air was palpable.

In front of the venue was a huge metal jail-like cage. Modern art. Apparently a performance artist had welded the cage together with himself inside it. Then he spent all day tunnelling himself out of the cage using only dental tools.

Best food of the tour goes to the diligent guy who worked all alone all day long to create an amazing buffet for us. Don't remember his name, but he was a Sigma Nu.

2/27 Anderson University, IN

On our way here, we drove through the hometown of Rich Mullins, Richmond, IN. We didn't know it at the time. But apparently he was born there and is buried there. Rich is still such a presence on this tour. They talk about him all the time from stage; both Andrew Peterson and Derek play songs about dealing with Rich's death. And our partnership with Compassion International is in part due to a desire to support a ministry that Rich was totally committed to. Tonight we were flooded with people interested in getting involved with Compassion, and I couldn't help but think it was because we were in the fertile ground of Rich's ministry.

2/28 Wheaton College, IL

The largest crowd of the tour. 2,100 people. Sixpence None the Richer opened up for us just this one show. We all offered Derek $200 to write "Soy Bomb" on his chest and run out and dance topless during Sixpence's show. But he didn't do it. Aric did write "Soy Bomb" on the Steven Curtis Chapman cutout, but he didn't get any money for it.

3/5 Orlando, FL

So much for the boycott (most of us don't support it anyway). With our first days off in a long while, we took the opportunity to go to Disneyworld. The kind folks at St. Luke's United Methodist Church (who hosted our Orlando show), got a bunch of us free tickets so we could go to Epcot and Magic Kingdom. I went on a rollercoaster for the first time in my life. Yes, I was scared to death. And, yes, I know Space Mountain isn't even a real roller coaster.

3/7 Stone Mountain, GA

After the show tonight, Christie (the road manager), Todd, and Garett went to Waffle House to pick up some food for everyone. The four Waffle House employees working were not getting along, and one waiter lost it. He started throwing plates, scattering glass all over the restaurant and into all the food. Then he stormed out. The cook then cussed out the remaining waitress, and walked out, leaving food burning on the grill. Everyone in the place was bewildered. Finally, the waitress just said, "Everyone ready for their check?"

3/8 Orlando, FL

Back in Orlando again for a day off. Staying at a little condo just down the road from Benny Hinn Worldwide Ministries. We wanted to go take a tour, but we didn't.

It is physically impossible to drink a gallon of milk in an hour. That is a fact. But in every group there is one person who thinks he can. Doug, one of our sound guys, was that guy. And of course everyone taunted him and encouraged him to try--everyone thought it'd be fun to watch him puke. And puke he did. After finishing only half a gallon, he threw up a stream of milk. Three times. I know, because it was captured on video and replayed countless times over the next few days.

We also witnessed a fight on an Orlando Bus. A thirteen-year-old girl was making fun of a total stranger, and then the two began to call each other names, and say they were going to fight. The thirteen-year-old girl said, "Well, do you want to go to jail for hitting a pregnant girl?" The other girl responded, "I've been to jail before. I don't mind." Soon the two were going at it, hitting each other in the back of the bus. The bus driver pulled them apart finally. (Guess he wasn't "just a busdriver.") It seems that we have a way of attracting strange acts of rage.

3/10 Dade City, FL

The pastor insisted on doing an altar call after the band played his church. Which is fine. But then, with every head bowed and every eye closed, he did the thing where he said, "If you've prayed tonight to accept Jesus, just raise your hand just so I can pray for you." And he lied. He said "There's one...I see that hand...There's another one...There's another one..." And no one was raising their hand! We know because Doug saw it and told everyone. We were all so embarrassed. It makes such a mockery of such a solemn moment. Yet the weird thing is, apparently a ton of pastors do it.

On the positive side, a guy proposed to his girlfriend during Bebo's set. The guy had planned to take her out on a big date, but when she learned of the Caedmon show she insisted on seeing the band. So, the guy arranged to make the best of it. After Bebo played "A Page Is Turned," the guy and girl came up and the guy proposed right there on stage. Fortunately, she said yes.

3/11 Naples, FL

The concert contract states that the venue we play must get "10 strong men" to volunteer to help tear down equipment after the show. Although I think it's chauvinistic to insist that they be men, the volunteers are essential. We have to move 600-pound soundboards and tons of speakers, lights and other stuff. Well, tonight they did not respect our contract. After the show, we had three volunteers--2 thirteen-year-olds, and 1 nine-year-old. John, our lighting guy, called it "Camp Caedmon."

3/13 Northport, FL

Another tough Florida show. Again, the church didn't provide us with any volunteers. Fortunately, a group of about a dozen women on Spring Break from Ball State (Indiana) were there and helped load up our gear. They were awesome.

We did enjoy the amazing Florida weather. Micah (the band's old road manager), Stephanie (Micah's fiancee and Danielle's sister), Amy and I got to go to a Spring training game. And we had a blast throwing an Aerobie in the church lawn. Gabe (Andrew Peterson's second guitarist) gets the award for best Aerobie thrower, with Cliff in second.

3/15 Houston, TX

It's good to be home. The bus stopped in Biloxi on the way home. While sitting in a fast food place there, Garett witnessed a robbery. Some guy took two baseball cards from a store and just ran out with them. For some reason, the robber ran right past his own car parked out front, and instead tried to run away. The store owner ran after him and caught him. As far as we know, Garett will not be called to testify.

Although I have seen them both perform more than 20 times this tour, I still love to hear our openers--Andrew Peterson and Bebo Norman. I find myself singing their songs all the time, and I want to hear more. So, tonight, as the bus took us home for our week off, I convinced the two of them to play for me. In return I had to play for them. We sat on the bus until early in the morning playing new songs for each other. It was a great way to end this leg of the tour, and it was so great that we were all sad to say goodbye for a week. It was like some sort of camp goodbye. But our consolation is that the tour's only half over, and I've still got 20 more times to see them, and many new places to visit and people to meet.

Until later...

Aaron

3/24 Abilene Christian University, TX

It is so great to be back in Texas. We have had great fun around the country, but as they say: "There's no place like home." The folks at Abilene were great. In the middle of the show, the electric guitar amp broke. We'd been having trouble with it for weeks and didn't have the money to fix it. At any rate, some very cool students ran back to their dorm room and got their guitar amp, so Derek could play the electric later on. By the way, for those hard-core folk fans who distrust electric guitar--rest assure that Derek has been playing the electric on only two (and a half) songs.

3/26 San Antonio, TX

Joey is our friend and our faithful truck driver. He has driven our equipment truck (a huge U Haul kind of truck) across this entire country. Though not a driver by profession, he has avoided road hazards, low clearances, and fatigue like a pro. Until now. Maybe Joey wanted to fulfill a lifetime dream of driving a convertible. I don't know. But today he pulled into the church parking lot with a low-hanging tree limb. The tree limb snagged the front roof of the truck and peeled back the roof like a can of sardines. Amazingly, hardly any of our gear was injured, and we still got set up in time to play the show.

3/27 Fort Worth, TX

It was fun to be back in the city that started it all. Back in 1991 Cliff and I met in this city at TCU and began playing guitar together. I showed him some songs I'd written (most memorably "Not Enough") and a year later he hatched the idea of starting a band using some of my songs.

While we were eating dinner, Andrew and Gabe (both quite amazing piano players) entertained us by performing lounge versions of "This World," "Lead of Love," and "Table for Two." It was quite horrible. I always feel so sorry for those musicians whose songs end up as elevator music or grocery store music.

3/28 Texas A&M University

This was the show we'd been waiting for all tour. It was a milestone show. Caedmon has played in College Station or at A&M almost ten times, but never had a show big enough to fill the large Rudder Auditorium. But finally we had our chance, and 2,400 incredible A&M students came out so show their support. We were blown away. Nothing in the world could have kept us away.

Not even six donkeys. There we were, sound asleep, as our able bus driver Lee cruised down the country highway on the way to A&M. It was four in the morning. All of the sudden, Lee's headlights came upon six donkeys in the middle of the two-lane highway. Amazingly, he swerved crazily to miss five of them. But he hit the sixth one. After he had stopped he and Cliff (the only band member still awake) went out to check out the donkey. He was dying, but unfortunatly still alive and suffering. Cliff said it was quite a bizzarre experience. Fortunately, as they stood there trying to decide what to do, some locals came by in a pickup and said they knew the owner and would notify him. So, we drove on, carefully, through the night.

4/1 Wartburg College, IA

It snowed here today. It was just flurries, but still we found it quite cold for April. Travelling in the North and Midwest this Spring has made us all realize just how Texan we are.

With every operation there are those essential behind-the-scenes guys. Doug is one of them. He runs the monitor sound board from the side of the stage. Before I got involved with Caedmon, I didn't even know monitors existed. I never realized that when you're on stage playing guitar and singing, you can't even hear your own guitar and voice, much less someone else's. All you hear is the pounding of the drums behind you. So the monitors are speakers (or earphones) that let you hear the band as a whole. All this to say, if your monitors or monitor mix is no good, it is impossible to play. Derek, for example, can't play guitar with Cliff if he can't hear Cliff's guitar.

Anyway, Doug does all the monitor mixing and no one even knows he exists back there off stage. But he's amazing, and fun and has the best body piercings on the tour (actually, he has the only ones). And tonight, Doug came out from his corner and joined the gang to play "Hope to Carry On" for the encore. This song is so much fun on this tour. Danielle plays guitar on it, and Andrew, Gabe and Bebo also join in for a powerful performance.

4/2 Mall of America, MN

This band be shopping. Whenever we have a day off, we always end up at a mall. The folks on this tour never seem to get tired of walking around a mall. (I do). We've been to malls across the country, so it is appropriate that on this tour we should visit the granddaddy of all malls, the largest one in world--The Mall of America in Minneapolis. It was huge, with an entire amusement park inside it.

Tonight Garett, Kirby, Keith (our part-time guitar tech), Amy and I went to a sports bar in the mall. We got quickly bored and so we went over to a video arcade and played air hockey. All the sudden this extremely enthusiastic guy comes up and starts telling us all the air hockey rules we are violating. We thought he was weird. Then he starts telling us how he knows because he's a member of the American Air Hockey Association--he says "I get the newsletter." So after Keith beats Garett at a game, this guy challenges Keith to a game and beats him bad. Then somehow Garett ends up playing him and starts beating him. The guy was getting quite excited and red in the face and I thought he might jump over the table and attack Garett. But like a good AAHA member, he finished out the game, losing to Garett. It's good to know that if all this music stuff falls through in the future, Garett has an important skill to fall back on.

4/4 Kansas City, MO

Here we are at the New Earth Coffee House, a truly great place. The first time Caedmon played here, they were just openning up for Waterdeep. But the crowd went so nuts that they gave two encores. I've never heard of an openning band doing an encore.

This is the home of Waterdeep, my favorite independent band in the entire world, and it was great fun for me to see their photos up on the walls. It was a personal highlight of the tour. Besides, the tator tot casserole that we got for dinner was so good that Andrew immediately got the recipe and called his wife in Nashville to give it to her.

4/5 Branson, MO

Branson is the Vegas of the Ozarks, a tiny town of 3,000 that gets millions of visitors in the summer. The visitors come to see the shows at the dozens of huge theaters that feature everything from county music, to majic, to classical music, to Yakov Smirnoff. We played at the Will Rogers Theater, which is home to a musical about the life of Christ called "The Promise."

We got to rest in the house of the Lord. Kinda. Actually we did use Jesus' dressing room, well stocked with hairspray, nice couches and mirrors. The stage had a feature where they could make it rain onstage. We thought that would be cool to use during "April Showers." But we couldn't. Before the show, I could tell that the Holy Spirit was in the place, or so it seemed. While we were setting up the stage, a pure white dove (presumably playing the role of the Spirit at Christ's baptism) escaped his backstage cage and began flying around the entire theater. The local stagehands turned out all the lights, stunned and blinded the bird with a flashlight, and captured the bird in a huge net so it wouldn't bother us. Gosh, there's some symbolism there...

4/8 Charlottesville, VA

Our performance was part of the local Franklin Graham Festival (that's Billy's son), and as part of that everyone at the show got free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. Pretty cool. The folks running the event wouldn't let me talk about Compassion International that night, a sad testimony to the fact that Christian ministries get competitive for attention. I guess we all do.

We stayed outside after midnight playing frisbee. It was Todd, Cliff, Andrew, Gabe, Keith and I. Todd is one of the craziest people I know, and I can't describe how much he cracked me up that night. I haven't laughed that hard in a long long time.

4/9 Lexington, KY

Danny Baker is one of Derek's best friends. In fact, he's mentioned in Derek's latest song, "Table for Two." Anyway, Danny goes to school at KU and plays in a band called "The Shuers" (after the other two guys in the band--they're brothers--don't remember their names). Anyhow, they came up on stage in the middle of Caedmon's set and played two songs from their brand-new indie CD. They were amazing. The crowd went wild. Sometimes these concerts are quite a festival, full of "very special guests." I mean, that night four different bands played. And the cool thing is that this is not some tour packaged by a record company or booking agent or manager. Those tours are so obvious--you see a Christian music tour with a folk singer, a ska band, and a hard rock band--and it's obviously contrived.

But one thing I respect about Caedmon is that they committed to bringing on tour who they wanted and liked--their friends. Not until last year did I realize that openning bands pay the main band money to get to go on tour with them. And last year Caedmon was approached by numerous CCM managers. These guys offered meney--sometimes tens of thousands of dollars--if Caedmon would bring their band on tour as an openner. I couldn't believe it. While Caedmon is by no means perfect in their dealings with money, I greatly respect their decision to turn down the money and bring quality independent musicians on the road. Musicians who don't give Caedmon money, and who sometimes may cost Caedmon money. But musicians who are friends, and part of the family.

I can hardly wait to get home for Easter...

Aaron

4/15 Fayetteville, AR

After the show, Cliff, Todd, Doug, Andrew, Gabe, Amy and I played kickball in the church's gym. Cliff insisted that we play in our socks, so we set shoes for bases, made up some rules and divided teams based on what bus we were on. It was the Van Hools (the name of the Caedmon bus) versus the Eagles (the other bus with the openers and crew). I'm proud to say that though Cliff and Todd were excellent kickers, we Eagles sailed to victory.

4/16 Wichita, KS

Here we are in the hometown of our musical mentor, Rich Mullins. From what I understand, early in his career, Rich moved to Nashville like all Christian musicians. But he quickly became annoyed with all the junk there, and he liked a church in Wichita, so he moved here. The strange thing is that Wichita seems the most normal place in the world.

This morning Andrew, Gabe, and Bebo played at chapel for Friends University, where Rich had gone back to school to get his degree in teaching. Andrew played the song he'd written when Rich died. Andrew said he felt like a dork playing a song about a guy he never met to an audience who knew Rich personally. It was quite powerful. There was a silence after he played the song. And a good friend of Rich's told us later just how deep the song had touched everyone there. It was incredible. And yet, the college was quite normal--like any college in any town.

After the chapel, the guy who was giving us a ride took us to eat breakfast. He told us how he'd gone to Rich's church, and had lived in the house that Rich had lived in earlier. After breakfast, he took us to the house. It was in a plain neighborhood of small, one story homes, probably two or three bedroom homes. Small lots, nothing special. Like millions of houses in thousands of neighborhoods around America.

I had heard the stories about how down-to-earth Rich was. I'm no expert on Rich, and I don't want to venerate him beyond measure, but I had heard stories about Rich's desire to live without wealth. Some say he'd taken an oath of poverty early in his career. I've also heard he vowed to never make more than the average American income for a single person. At any rate, just the stories had impressed me. But seeing his house stirred me deeply. Stories are stories. And the stories you hear about public figures can rarely be trusted. But here was something true. Here was a guy whose songs and career probably earned over a million dollars in his life. And yet he was happy living in a completely non-impressive house, comparable to those lived in by mechanics, and bank tellers, and other normal folks. That's pretty rare in life, and especially in Christian music (and all music) where people live as rich as they can stand, and figure they've earned the right to live well.

Everyone I've ever met who knew Rich has told me the same thing--how human he was. They are so quick to point out what a flawed person he was, and the closer they were to him, the more they talk about him being flawed. But I guess that's why we respect him--because he was flawed, but still honest and still trying. He knew how sinful he was. The thing is: few Christians aspire to be greedy, most want to help the poor as God asks. But few realize the depth of their sinfulness and how greed seeps in so slowly that you don't even know it's there. You just gradually make more and more and spend more and more, in increments so small that you never think twice. And there you are, all the sudden, an entertainer with brand new cars and a brand new house and everything you don't need.

So, what was Rich's secret? That's the cool thing. From what I understand, Rich set a body of people over him in some sort of board. He told them that he didn't want to make over a certain amount of money, and he instructed those people to give any extra money away. He made a mental commitment early in life, and he made a tangible decision corresponding to it. The amazing thing is that I think it worked. I'm not a really super-mystic person, and I don't have the faith to say such things a lot--but I think this is an example where he found freedom in sacrifice and gained all he lost. The cruelest thing in life, that saps us of joy and fulfillment, is this thing that tells us we must always do more, be more successful, and make more money. By his own decisions, Rich made himself immune to this. Because he knew he'd never make any more money than he was currently making, he had no reason to try to make more money, sell more records, play bigger venues, or sell out for money in any way. I didn't know Rich, and this is just my speculation, but it is my suspicion that his financial decisions contributed greatly to the contentment and happy nature for which he was well-known.

4/17 Oklahoma City, OK

It is rumored that Hanson has been to a Caedmon's Call concert before. Derek swears that someone saw them at last year's show in OK City or Tulsa (where Hanson is from). They also were at a Waterdeep show in Tulsa some time ago. So, needless to say, I was terribly hoping that Hanson would come to tonight's show. I scanned the crowd as they came in the doors and was disappointed that they didn't show.

Derek made up for it in some ways. Before they played the last song of the night, he broke into a great version of "Mmmmbop" but with the words "Bebo-bop" instead. Then he did "I've Got You Gabe." You've got to see it to believe it.

4/18 Arkadelphia, AR

Tonight's show at Ouachita Baptist University marked our fourth show in Arkansas on this tour. Fortunately, we love Arkansas, because four shows is a bit much to play in a state that's not all that big. We think it may have something to do with the fact that our booking agent is from Arkansas. We aren't complaining, certainly not about this show. The crowd was great, and the campus was gorgeous, with a river running through campus. Cliff and Randy got out their fishing poles, which go on tour with us everywhere, and fished some in the river.

4/23 House of Blues, CA

This is so cool. We're playing the House of Blues in West Hollywood on the famous Sunset Strip. While having lunch today at a trendy spot, Derek and some of the other guys saw Christopher Lloyd, the scientist guy from the "Back to the Future" movies. This afternoon, we saw Little Richard in our hotel, and I rode the elevator with him. Tonight we saw Dan Akroyd walking along the street with a friend; he walked down the road, looked into a strip club for a moment, then continued on down the street until we lost track of him. We went to the Chinese Theater where the handprints are in the cement, and saw a bunch of the stars on Hollywood Boulevard (interesting fact--Billy Graham has a star for his radio broadcasts).

The show was promoted as "Heaven and Hell" night. There were two shows that night, with separate tickets. We played at 7pm and the show was amazing. Derek said, "This is the best crowd I've ever played for." After our show, they ran all of us out, and King Diamond played. They are a hard rock band known for their anti-Christian message. We were able to watch some of the show, and I assure you it was quite a cheesy joke. I mean, they had upside-down crosses and tombstones on stage, but mostly the band seemed just theatrical, like they were going through the motions trying to be scary. Kinda like if you look back at Ozzy Ozbourne's old albums from the '80s--what was scary then just seems so comical now. On one hand, it is frightening and concerning that a band would employ anti-Christian imagery. But on the other hand, the thing was so ridiculous that you couldn't take it seriously. It was so silly. I just can't describe it. But it was "Spinal Tap" come to life--trying so hard to be serious and rocking and tough, but just coming off as a big joke.

Tonight was the Dove Awards in Nashville, which we were glad not to be at. We watched the video and most of us thought most of it was cheesy, and even embarrassing for us Christians. But I tell you, nothing on the Dove Awards was as ridiculous as King Diamond. And it was good to realize that although there is so much cheese in Christian music and marketing, Christians do not have a monopoly on cheese.

4/24 Phoenix, AZ

Tonight was a great surprise. We were expecting a small crowd of 200 (in a church that seats 2,000). But apparently one of the pastors at this church decided to do what the promoter had failed to do--let the colleges know about the show. Through his work, for which he wasn't paid, we ended up with 1,400 people there.

Derek played a song for our super-amazing and incredibly kind-hearted sound guy, Rod. He played "What if Rod Was One of Us."

4/27 Las Cruces, NM

Yesterday we had a day off in El Paso, TX, which is right on the border with Mexico. So, we all decided to cross the border to Jaurez. We enjoyed some low priced food, celebrated Danielle's 22nd birthday, and did some shopping. Cliff and Todd bought those Mexican poncho things for $6. Rod bought a velvet Elvis wall hanging for his girlfriend. Amy and I bought a pinata (candy not included) for $2. Some of the gang considered trying a Cuban cigar, which are supposedly excellent but are illegal to sell in the US because of the trade embargo on communist Cuba. It was a good time, but it was also incredible to see first-hand the poverty in such a city. We passed many people--women with small children--begging for money. The children sell items like gum and little trinkets to tourists if they can. I have not fully come to terms with what we saw there, but it did make me glad that we are working with Compassion International on this tour. Over 400 kids have been sponsored by people who have come out to our shows--all the cool folks that we have met over the past few months. And these are kids who are living in great poverty, some of whom would be begging on the streets if not for the support that people give through Compassion. It's the least we can do.

Still trying to figure it out...

Aaron

5/8 Amarillo, TX

Great to be in Texas again. A great show. Some folks wonder how much we get to see of the towns we play in. Well, that all depends on when we wake up. Cliff, Derek and Bebo are famous for sleeping late and getting up just in time for soundcheck and dinner. Aric, on the other hand, wins the early-bird-gets-the-worm award. He is up by nine a.m., and on days like today he is out perusing the pawn shops for some great deals on basses. Aric used to run a business buying and selling basses, and now he continues to do it on the side. He is known for being a great haggler and he has found some real gems in small town pawn shops. But none today.

5/10 Denver, CO

Last night was an amazing show. Not just because it was packed, but because the crowd was so good to us. The place we played, Crossroads Church in Wheatridge, had a cool coffee shop in the lobby, and after the show Andrew and Gabe played some more songs there. So, everyone was hanging out in the coffee shop for about an hour after the show. This coffee house gets some great bands there, like Mark Williams and Waterdeep (my favorite band in the world). Pretty cool.

Today we had a day off, and we had more fun than ever. This cool guy named Kirk invited us to come up to Fort Collins and spend the day out on the river with him and another friend. So, we went. Cliff and Kirk's friend (sorry--I'm blanking on his name) went fly fishing on this pristine river in a perfect Colorado valley. While they did that, the rest of us tried kayaking. Kirk is an expert kayaker, and he taught Aric, Christie, Todd, Bebo, Andrew, Gabe, and me how to paddle around in circles. Bebo and Todd were brave enough to kayak with him for several miles down the river, down some pretty considerable rapids. We climbed the nearby mountainsides, enjoyed the view, and just had a great time. We were all so thankful to Kirk for inviting us, and showing us such a good time.

5/11 Salt Lake City, UT

We played in a church with a very mixed crowd. There were some young kids there, and they began a conga line during one of the songs. Strange.

5/13 Sacramento, CA

The past two days have been quite memorable. For two important reasons. First and foremost, yesterday Todd asked Christie to marry him. She, of course, said yes. They have been dating for five years and we all knew it was coming, but nevertheless it was a great celebration. They will be married this summer.

The other memorable thing happened at the show. Tonight was Bebo's last show on this tour with us. He had to go home for a wedding. So, during his last song the whole band, except Derek, went out and played with him. During that song, all the sudden Derek comes running out on stage without a shirt and with "Soy Bomb" written on his chest. He ran up to Bebo and danced oddly right beside him for quite a while before Buddy ran and pulled him off stage. It was quite a sight, and I don't think most folks knew what to make of it. Of course, Derek had been dared to Soy Bomb someone earlier on the tour, but he hadn't done it. But this was perfect.

5/16 Knot's Berry Farm, CA

We are ending to the tour with two amusement park shows. Yesterday we played at Paramount's Great America near San Francisco, and now we're at Knot's Berry Farm near L.A. Tonight was the very last show, and therefore Andrew's last show with us, and therefore we had to pull a practical joke on him. Now, as you may imagine when fifteen guys spend several months together (with only three girls), the humor on the busses can get pretty adolescent. Some kind girl at the Sacramento show gave us a bag of fun toys and candy, and from that bag Andrew took the whoopee cushion. The usual whoopee cushion humor followed, and Andrew was the biggest fan of it.

So, tonight during the show, right as Andrew was talking between songs, Doug and I put the whoopee cushion up to a microphone and let it rip. We let the sound come out of the monitors so that it would sound like it was truly coming from stage. It was loud, so that all 1,000 people in the theater could hear it. Andrew tried Plan A--ignore it. When we realized he was ignoring it, we blew up the whoopee cushion and let it rip again. So, Andrew tried Plan B--laugh at it and explain the gag to the crowd. So, all the sudden Andrew is on stage trying to explain to a stunned audience about how much he enjoys whoopee cushions, and, unfortunately, no one is laughing. As he pointed out later, in his five minute attempt to lighten the situation, he must have said "fart" a dozen times--not exactly the most impressive word to use from stage. I guess he ended the tour with a bang.

We were sad to say good-bye to Andrew and Gabe and Bebo, but after four months on the road we are ready to be home for a bit and begin work on the new record.

5/23 Secret Location, TX

Today was most certainly one of the best days of my life. Today was the first annual Guild Concert. Held at a secret location, only Guild members were invited and received a map to the place. Three hundred Guild members from across the country converged on this perfect plot of farmland for a day of fun and music. We had people come from as far as Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, California, and Canada! Some folks had road tripped for twenty hours to get here--crazy, but certainly worth it, I think. We spent the afternoon just hanging out, playing Frisbee, playing guitar, and getting to know people. All the band members got a chance to hang with the Guild members. About half the people were camping out, and I went down to the camp area where people were meeting and mingling and playing music together. There must have been fifty guitars there, as well as various drums, a hammer dulcimer and bagpipes.

We had a barbecue dinner, and then the show began. People sat on hay bales to listen to the band play. It was such an intimate environment that Cliff and Derek ended up talking forever about the songs--the kind of explanations you want to tell your friends but that you could never tell at a normal concert. Even Danielle got into the act, sharing far more than normal. That night we also had the cover song contest, with a surprising twenty-two entries. We heard some talented and daring folks play our songs. Perhaps the most memorable was a parody of the song "Not the Land" sung intentionally sub-par. The song went something like "We are not the band you came to see..." I wish I could remember the rest of the words; we all were dying laughing.

With twenty-two cover songs and all the talking the band did, the show went way long. We ended the night around the campfire with those who managed to stay up so late. We sat around for a question and answer time with Derek and me. It was so great and so intimate. We answered questions about songs and were able to share things that we never could with a general audience. It was the sort of comfortable environment where I found myself talking about things that I never talk about even with my closest friends. It felt good to have folks who we could feel that comfortable with.

Me and two Guild members were the last ones awake in the campsite. It was five a.m. and I had to wake up at eight, but I could have stayed up even longer. It was incredible, and I can hardly wait until next year's show.

5/28 Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Amy and I are here in Bolivia with Compassion International. Since we have been speaking about Compassion at the Caedmon shows this Spring, they wanted to take us to see their work first hand. It has been incredible. There isn't sufficient room to describe it all. But suffice to say that Compassion is doing a great work here in Bolivia. We have visited some of the sites where the work is being done, and we have seen the children who are being sponsored by people in the U.S., and they are full of hope. The communities are poor, but children who are sponsored through Compassion have the opportunity to make something of themselves. They are so appreciative for that, as are their parents who told us American visitors: "Tell all the sponsors in America that we said Thanks."

We also got to meet the child that we have sponsored for the last four years, Edwin. He lives here in Santa Cruz. He recognized us immediately from the photos we had sent him over the years, and he remembered the things we had told him in our letters. He was doing quite well in school and was looking forward to finishing and becoming a professional person. We met his parents too, and they were so gracious to us. They told us how much it meant to their family that Edwin had a sponsor, and they told us that they consider us like godparents, and members of the family.

I believe in Compassion more than ever. And it made me so happy to think of all the children around the world that are being sponsored because of Caedmon fans being kind enough to get involved. I talked about Compassion at fifty shows this Spring, and invited people to get involved. Almost 500 people responded and signed up to sponsor a child. And so there are 500 kids around the world who now have real hope for a future, thanks to Caedmon fans. That is the coolest of all. Long after my writing pen is dried up, and after Caedmon's music is no more, those relationships of the sponsor to the sponsored child will live on. And who knows what God will make of those relationships, what he will make of those children.

Since I've been talking so much about Compassion, I should say that if you are interested, please check out their great webpage. It's www.ci.org

6/7 West of Austin, TX

We are out here in the studio working on songs for the new record. We anticipate spending the entire Summer recording the album, and it will be released in November. This record will be packed full of new songs--I know some Caedmon listeners have been waiting a long time for new stuff. The songs are coming together well, the band is performing brilliantly, and we are all optimistic that this album will be so much better than the Warner Alliance release.

The studio here is owned by Willie Nelson, who also owns the adjoining golf course, and lives near here. Yes, we have seen Willie quite a bit. This week he has been up playing golf every day. Todd, Randy, and Cliff have all made small talk with him. I said "hello" to him but that was it. He seems pretty cool, very laid back. Especially here in Texas, he is quite a legend.

This will be my last journal entry for quite a while, since we are focusing on the studio work and playing only about six shows this Summer. We are planning a tour of about twenty select colleges across the country this September-November. We also will play the NACA (National Association of College Activities--I think) conferences. Should be fun. By then we should have a great record done--one that really represents who we are.

Yours,

Aaron