Jesus in the Gravy

I'm not big on holiday-themed blogs, but I felt that since it is Easter, I should have something on here related to the holiday. I have friends who will go off on the origins of the holiday... quite frankly, I don't care. Does it matter that its name started in pagan religions? Not really, because it's not in a pagan religion anymore. Ok. And I have other friends who will discourse on the greatness of this day. You can go read their blogs. I'm frankly not that theological.

Instead, I shall tell a story, and then give you a Nashville-trip-summary, which is something I haven't done yet and I really should have by this point.

When my mom was a kid, her family would sing the hymn "Up From The Grave He Arose" at Easter. Since they always had a big Easter dinner, with gravy boat and everything, she always thought the lyrics were "Low in the gravy lay Jesus my savior...." What a funny picture! :)

Ok, end of story. (And then I found $5?)

So Nashville. Well, we flew there on Thursday (the 18th of March). We got dropped off downtown that evening to find dinner and hang out. We were all a little bit tired from getting up at 5:00 to leave and then traveling, but we managed to have fun. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe, even though it's like the one chain restaurant down there. It was our first night; we're allowed to act like tourists. On Friday, we went to The Recording Academy (formerly NARAS), which is the company that puts on the Grammys. We also met with Tina Parker, a music industry executive, and David and Sarah (Masen) Dark. On Saturday, we went to Charlie Peacock's house, talked with him for a while, and then got to see his house/mansion/church/studio. Pretty neat. We also dropped by Jars of Clay's new studio (affectionately called the Jarhole) and met with Steve. Finally, we went to Nathan Lee's warehouse for pizza, a little bit of a show, and some conversation with music industry people.

Sunday, we went to church at the Village Chapel, pastored by Jim Thomas. On Monday, we had a meeting with him and his wife, Kim. They are former artists, and it was nice to hear their take on life. Later on Monday, we drove to Toby Mac's studio where we met with Ryan Lampa, his tour manager, Toby Mac, Michael W. Smith (who is using Toby's studio), and Bryan Lennox (Michael's producer). I really enjoyed meeting with each one of those people. They were all very busy and took a big chunk out of their day to talk to us. It was very refreshing to hear their views, too. Later, we went to Word Entertainment (CCM record company) which was sufficiently creepy. And then we fed the homeless with Ryan Lampa.

That was the end of our school trip. Everyone was supposed to leave Tuesday morning, but I couldn't get the bus out until 6:40 PM, so I had my friend drop me off at the bus station on her way out of town, and then I hung out in Nashville all day. And got a tattoo. :)

So yeah. I spent Spring Break in the Shenandoah Valley with my aunt and uncle. That was really nice. Though they probably think I'm insane. And they're probably right.

And since getting back to the CMC, it's been really warm. Like, I'm seriously sunburned right now. It's spectacular!

Anyway, I have studio time in about fifteen minutes and we're doing final vocal tracking today, so I should go make sure I'm vocally prepared for this. :)

Love and lotsa "links",

LeahJoy