Have you ever woke up on your own in the morning and you begin to panic because you have an important meeting or someplace you have to be that day and you notice the flashing numbers on your alarm clock? That happened to me on Saturday. I was supposed to be up by 8am and on the road by 9am. Fortunately, it was only 7:30am when I woke up to see that our power had went out during the morning.

After getting my things together I headed out to 3rd and Lindsley to meet up with the guys to begin load in at 10am. As I was pulling in, I saw the guys pulling in behind me. Mike, from Charis Core Mgmt, was waiting there at the door with some other people to help us load in.

I asked Mike what the situation regarding the drum kit was going to be. He said we would be using one kit so I gladly volunteered to let my kit be the back line kit. I mentioned that I had a DW kit with top o' the line Zildjian's. It was nice to see the other drummer's reactions to that statement :-) One guy even said "I'm not a drummer but you've got me excited about wanting to play your kit."

After clearing the house kit off the stage I started sitting my kit up. I had some help from a couple of guys from the other bands, John from Not Ashamed and Matt from Kennebec. As I was sitting up, some of the other bands started showing up. I couldn't help but overhear one of the conversations that took place. It went something like this...

Drummer: "So, that must be the house kit up on the stage, eh?"
Other guy: "No, that's not the house kit. That's the kit of the drummer from Judah First."
Drummer: "Really???? Wow..."
Other guy: "Yeah, that's the kit everyone is using today."
Drummer: "Sweet..."

What can I say? I'm a proud papa. I finished getting the kit set up and then got out of the way since we were the last band to play that day. While I was sitting around, Philip's brother Gary showed up. I've only been around him a couple of times but I think he's a great guy. We chatted about the state of our beloved UK basketball program for a bit while we waited for the show to start.

The first band to perform was Not Ashamed from Georgia. I REALLY enjoyed these guys. They had a great sound and stage presence. About midway through their set they did what's now becoming commonplace among bands - giving out their MySpace page info. And as soon as they did, I couldn't help but laugh. What's so funny you ask? The showcase was being sponsored by Charis Core Mgmt and also ShoutLife.com. For those not familiar with ShoutLife.com, basically it's a Christian version of MySpace. So when they gave out their MySpace page, it was like saying "Drink Pepsi" at a Coke sponsored event. To top it off, the 4 founders of ShoutLife were right there in the front row. And before they finished their set, they plugged their MySpace page a 2nd time! LOL!

The next band up was Bloodline Severed from North Carolina. These guys were having a rough week. On Wednesday night, their trailer was stolen containing around $12-13 grand worth of gear. Despite their setback they gave it all they had. Their drummer was fantastic. His footwork was amazing. I believe he has an endorsement and I could see why. And like the band before, they also plugged their MySpace page, which just cracked me up.

Before the next band took the stage, we were treated to a Christian M.C. from California. Not my cup of tea. That's all I got to say.

Up next was One Foot Forward from New York. They were quite a contrast from the first two bands. First off, their sound was much more mellow and CCM Radio friendly. Second off, they plugged their ShoutLife.com profile page. The bassist was the sister of one of the guitar players. She had only been playing for 2 months and I gotta say she sounded great for being so new at bass.

They were followed by the band Mile 7 from right up I-65 in Louisville, KY. They were also more of the CCM Radio friendly format. Their vocalist also played violin during a couple of songs. He had some effects hooked up to his 'fiddle' that really sounded cool. I really enjoyed listening to them.

The next band was 39 Stripes from Tampa, FL. Unfortunately for them, their vocalist blew out his vocal chords the night before at a show in Knoxville. They went ahead and played 3 songs but then they had to call it quits. And their drummer had been sick the night before. I'd like to hear them when they're at a full-strength.

One more band was left before we took the stage. That band was Kennebec from Arizona. They had kind of a funk-rock-p&w sound. They had a great front man who could really sing. The drummer was solid as well. Definitely worth checking out.

As the last chords died down from Kennebec, one could hear a low rumbling noise out in the distance. That noise was the Heavy Metal Thunder we were about to unleash on those in attendance! Though we weren't using the performance tracks, we still had some tracks that we were playing in between a couple of the songs. As the first track ended, we started in to the song "Speak To Me" and then chaos ensued on the stage.

Though I was stationary, my head was banging and my hair was flying. Philip, Aaron and Spencer were running around like madmen. I don't think the crowd knew what hit them! We plowed through our set of 6 songs, each one as intense as the one before it. By the end of the show, everyone there knew who Judah First was. During the last song, Gary was at the edge of the stage and he was soon followed by one of the guys from ShoutLife and they both rocked out with Aaron on "Devil's Dice."

Needless to say, by the time the set was done I was exhausted. I try to put everything I have in to each and every performance and this one was no different. It didn't help that I really hadn't eaten much before the show began.

We then got to meet the guys from ShoutLife and have our picture taken with them. I had a chance to talk to one of the guys, Steve, for a bit. He really enjoyed the show, which is always nice to hear.

After a brief rest, we began to tear down our gear and begin the process of packing up. We said our goodbyes and then headed home.

On Monday I got a phone call from Philip of Judah First. He told me that there was a slight chance that they may need me to fill in for them for their GMA showcase on Saturday. He said that it was a very small chance but he wanted to make sure I would be available just in case.

The next day I was visiting my friends at my old job and telling them that there was a slight chance I may get to play a show on Saturday but that I wasn't expecting it to happen. Just as I finished telling that to one of them my phone rang. It was Philip. Turns out they were going to need me after all.

Fast forward to Friday night. I met the guys at S.I.R. in Nashville. I wasn't familiar with the place, but after telling a few of my friends about it, it's apparently THE place to rehearse at. So after loading up my SUV I headed up there to meet the rest of the band.

We started loading in around 9pm and by 10pm we were all set up and ready to rock. I brought my iPod along with me so I could practice along with the performance tracks. We tried practicing with me using my iPod. I maxed out the volume level on it but it still just wasn't loud enough for me to hear the click consistently over the rest of the band. So we scratched the
performance tracks idea for the show. I really was hoping I'd be able to do it but since this was a big show and it would have been my first time using them, we decided against it for the time being.

We went though the set and I felt pretty good about every song. It was fun just getting to hang out with the guys again. We took a short break and then went back through a couple of more songs. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and load the trailer. We each headed out to our respective homes for the night to get some rest before bringing the Heavy Metal Thunder to
3rd and Lindsley the next day.

I had a few moments of spare time this morning, something that I haven't had much of over the last month, so I thought I'd post an update. Turns out that this post will be my 100th post in this blog (actually I'm referring to my blog at blogger.com but since I'm copying those posts over in to this site I thought I'd clarify). I suppose that's some kind of milestone. Maybe not, but with my love for sports and numbers I'm going to say that it is.

The main reason for my lack of blogging over the last month or so has been my job. We've been working on a redesign for one of our web sites for several months. Well, on Monday we went live with the new site. I'm very excited about this site and think that it's probably the best overall site I've ever been apart of. My basic routine for the last 2 weeks has been get up at 5:30am, get to the office by 7:30am, leave about 8pm, get home around 9pm, get something to eat, go to be around 11pm, and then repeat this process. It's been very tiring but in the end it was all worth it. But it's not a process that I want to repeat.

My wife has been helping out with adding content to the site. She really enjoys doing that, plus she gets to work from home so that's a nice bonus. She was very glad that the site finally launched because it meant she could slow down some. The last couple of weeks have been just as hectic for her as well.

Other news... I'll be performing with Judah First on Saturday, April 21st at 3rd and Lindsley for a GMA Showcase. The showcase is from 11am-4pm, we go on around 3pm. I haven't had much of a chance to practice over the last month due to my work schedule. Last night was the first time I've played in a while so I was anxious to see how rusty I was going to be. There was some rust, for sure, but it wasn't as much as I was expecting. I'll be hitting the skins again each night this week so that on Saturday we can bring the Heavy Metal Thunder!

If anyone out there reading this thinks about it, say a prayer for my family, in particular my papaw. He's in the nursing home with Parkinson's disease. The doctors haven't given any definite numbers, but they said it doesn't look very good for him to make it much longer, but that could mean 6 hours, days, weeks, or months. I'm planning to go up and see him one last time after the Showcase. We weren't as close as my other grandfather but he's the only papaw I've got left.

The only big basketball news is that the new UK coach, Billy Gillispie, hired his first two assistant coaches this week. One of them has some very close ties to the Lucas family, that would be John and not George, who has a son, Jai, that is looking at UK. If we can get him and the Patterson kid from WV then we'll be alright next year.

Until next time...

The last week was yet another busy one for me. I got home early Sunday morning last week after playing a show in Virginia with the band Judah First. After getting some much needed sleep, I watched my beloved 'Cats play a great first half against Florida, only to fall apart in the 2nd half. A few hours later Bryan, a co-worker from my office, showed up at the house. He was going to be spending the week with us while he was in town for work.

The work week was filled with meetings and more meetings. We did manage to get some programming done though. We spent many a late night working some overtime while he was here, trying to get as much done on our project so that we could make our mandated deadline of April 16th.

Tuesday morning I had to drop off my SUV to get the rear bumper repaired after being hit a couple of weeks ago so I had a rental for the rest of the week, a Ford Focus. Surprisingly, it was a pretty comfortable car for someone my size. I wish it would have cruise control but oh well, it was just for a week.

Thursday I watched UK play one of their best games of the year as they knocked Alabama out of the SEC tournament for the 2nd year in a row. I was also planning on leaving with Judah First for another show but we didn't end up leaving until the next day. I also picked up the new Sevendust album that night. So far I'm really liking it. It seems to be the heaviest album that they've put out since the first couple of albums.

I set our DVR to record the UK game for Friday and Saturday since I was going to be in Kingsport while the games were on. At one point, I was going to be playing drums for JF for this show but it turns out that Chris was able to make it after all. But I accompanied the guys to the gig anyways. They had a great show and I had a blast hanging out with the guys before and afterwards. We drove straight back to Nashville after getting some great breakfast food at IHOP.

Philip, Chris and I got back to The Shed at around 6am. After we got everything unloaded, I went over to the body shop where I dropped my car off and waited for them to open. After dropping off the keys to the rental, I headed home for some much needed rest.

I got up a few hours later and began watching the UK game that I had taped from the day before. It looked the 'Cats were going to pull it out but due to a stupid lane violation call, they ended up giving Miss. State a chance to tie the game, which they did, and then proceeded to lose the game in Overtime. Unfortunately for me, I only set the game to record 30 minutes extra as opposed to the hour that I typically do. So I only got to see the first 90 seconds of overtime.

I had also set up Saturday's game to record in the hopes that UK would be playing. So I had to switch to that recording to find out that they lost. It was very frustrating to say the least.

Then Sunday night I watched the selection show to see UK getting an 8 seed and having to play against Villanova, a team that's very similar to us. If we are able to get past them, then we will have to play against Kansas in the 2nd round. If we play our best game, and Kansas has an off-shooting night, then we have a chance. But it's not going to be easy.

This past weekend was my first road trip with a band in nearly 6 years!!!! The last official road trip I had with a band came back in June 2001 with one of my old bands, 100 Watt Magnet. We played a show in Marble Falls, Texas called the Texas Rockfest. A couple of months later I left the band and the music scene.

Fast forward to this weekend. I accompanied a band, Judah First, to a show in Bealeton, Virginia, which is about an hour outside of Washington, DC. For those of you who only keep up with me through this blog, this is probably the first time you've heard of Judah First.

I first met the guys a few months ago when I answered an ad that they had placed looking for a drummer. I auditioned for them and I felt like it was without a doubt the worst audition I had ever done. There were several circumstances as to why but I'll just chalk it up to you can't always hit a home run and this was one of those instances where I thought for sure I had struck out.

They got back with me a little while later. The situation had changed somewhat. Their current drummer had decided that he would continue on with the band and play with them as much as possible, but anytime he wasn't able to make a show, then they would get a "go-to" or "backup" drummer to fill in for him. They offered me the chance to be that guy. So a few weeks ago I began learning their songs so that I could be ready to play out with them if the opportunity ever arose. That opportunity came this past weekend.

I met up with Philip (guitars) and Spencer (bass) here in Nashville. We got off to a late start due to the inclement weather that was going through the Southeastern US that day. We finally made it to Kingsport and met up with James Aaron (vocals). I also got to meet one of their old bass players, Keith, who would be playing a show with them the following weekend.

Philip, Spencer, and Keith ran through the songs while I was getting my kit set up. By the time I got all my kit set up it was 1:30am. Since we were in a residential area we had to wait until morning to do a full band rehearsal. The rest of the guys continued rehearsing their parts for another couple of hours. We finally went to bed around 3:30am and set the alarm for 9am.

I woke up a few minutes before the alarm went off. After the alarm finally went off, the rest of the guys appeared to be staying in bed. So I had to resort to other methods to wake them up so I went upstairs and began playing my kit. Spencer showed up a few minutes later and then we jammed through a song. I went back downstairs and the other two were up now.

We started going through the songs at about 9:30am Friday morning, less than 12 hours before show time. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this, but this was also our first practice as a full band. I had practiced with Philip and Spencer once but never with James Aaron other than the audition. So we were able to go through 9 of the 12 songs before we had to start tearing down and packing up the van.

We got everything packed up and loaded and were on the road at around 11:15am I believe. As we were on our way to the show, we noticed that some of the instrument gauges in the van had quit working, mainly the odometer, speedometer, and fuel gauge. We pulled over to try and fix it to no avail. Then about an hour later it started working again.

We eventually made it to the venue, a bit later than when we wanted to. The kids that were there were excited about the show. We had several people helping us get our gear unloaded and setup. We got everything setup, did a sound check on one of the songs that we didn't get a chance to practice on earlier, then headed to the "green room" to get changed for the show.

After everyone got changed, we then went over the set list and talked about the transitions between songs. We had a time of prayer and then we went up to the stage to unleash the HMT - Heavy Metal Thunder, as Philip likes to call it.

From the first note to the very last chord, the place was rocking. The kids had crowded around the stage and they were into the show for the entire concert. We poured everything we had into that show. Many of the kids there were singing along with every song. Aaron did an incredible job of keeping the crowd involved. Philip and Spencer were both just giving it everything they had. That place had so much energy. It definitely helped keep me going. I'm currently not in the best physical shape that I've ever been in and the energy of the crowd definitely helped me get through the show.

Afterwards, we hung out with the kids, signed some autographs, talked about our faith. Eventually we had to start tearing down and loading up the gear, that's always bittersweet. I hope that I have an opportunity to play there again in the future 'cause those kids were awesome. By far one of the best crowds I've ever played for.

After the show was over we stayed with one of the most genuine couples I've ever met, Shawn and Arlene. If there is a nicer couple in this world, I'd like to meet them. They opened up their home to us and just made us feel like we were part of their family. I felt so at home just being there. I truly hope that I have a chance to see them again. They were just wonderful people.

Then the next day we headed back home. We had some great bonding time in the van. It was definitely a unique experience for me. It was the first time I've ever been on a road trip with a band where I wasn't "officially" in the band. As of right now, their current drummer is still their guy. At some point he may decide to step down, but then again, he may decide to stay on. But in the meantime, I know what my role with them is and that's totally cool with me. I had a blast getting to play the show and I can't wait until I have a chance to do it again.

Well, it's been a great weekend, but I've got to get some rest before the work week starts up again.

Until next time...