I'm back

Well, as you may have guessed from the title, I'm back in town. Christmas in ETown was nice, a little hectic, but a lot of fun. We got to spend time with both sides of her family and caught a couple of movies in the evenings. Charlotte's Web was a fantastic movie, every bit as good as the classic 1973 animated film, but The Good Shepherd was quite a disappointment. I'm sure it could've been a lot more enjoyable if I understood the plot of the movie but with so much history in it, I felt lost the entire time. I think Dustin enjoyed it, but then again, he actually enjoys history.
Oh, I guess you all may be slightly intested in the presents that I received this week. I got a few new cds (David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Andrew Peterson, Derek Webb) and a lot of new books (I'll have to get a lot of reading done this year so I can get some more next Christmas). I'm sure I'll keep you updated with my current reading selections and my own insight on this literature, no matter how meaningless that insight may be. Later

Traveling

Just thought I'd let you all know that Mary Beth and I are about to leave and spend the week in ETown. We'll be back sometime later on this week- not quite sure which day. We're going to spend Christmas with all of her family so I thought I'd tell you so that you don't expect much blogging this week. I'll let you know how the week went whenever we get back. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and get some much needed peaceful rest.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! May you be blessed today as you celebrate our savior's humble birth and be reminded that He was born to die on a cross so that we may have an atonement for our ugly sin.

Guitar

Here's the guitar I bought a few weeks ago. I love this thing and it has definitely served me well thus far in my own noodleing around the house and in leading worship. For those of you gearheads who care- here are the specs:
solid mahogany back and sides
solid sitka spruce top
rosewood fretboard
mahogany neck
nickel tuners
dovetail neck joint
bone nut
rosewood bridge
open-back sta-tite tuners with 18:1 ratio

Oh, my dad and I went to an audiologist in Louisville today and got our ears injected with some awesome yellow stuff that hardened in about 8 minutes. These nice molds are being sent to sensaphonics so that some custom sleeves can be made for our in-ear monitors. It should take a few weeks for them to get shipped to us and then we have to go back and make sure they fit correctly. Hooray!

Bummer

I tried and tried to post a video last night but the new blogger isn't working well with youtube so I wasn't able to post. I'll keep trying and it may just pop up in a day or two so we'll see how it goes. Oh, and David is getting his hair cut by my dad right now in the kitchen. For those of you who know David, this may come as quite a shock since his hair was much like mine before I cut it- only curlier and longer. Dad cut it into a mullet for him at first and David promptly put on some cut-offs, a tight t-shirt, my old combat boots, and my sunglasses. I'll post a picture on here as soon as I can get it downloaded into my computer. Keep checking back.

Finally...

It took me many hours, but I finally finished my bass pod editing. I'll spare you the boring details (because no one really wants to read those anyway) and I'll just say that it was some very tedious work. However, I did enjoyed it because I rarely get the chance to play bass if it isn't Sunday or a JMB concert. I went through and set all of the levels so they match up, edited about half of the settings for my Rickenbacker, and went through and renamed everything so that I understand it better. I'll be ready to try out some different sounds at the next JMB concert or maybe in church on Sunday- depending on which songs we are playing. I'm about to leave shortly to pick up Mary Beth in E-Town and before that I need to get some food... so I'm going to cut this a little short, post a new video, and head out. I'll see you all later.

Bass Pod

I sat down for about an hour tonight and did something that I've been meaning to do for quite some time- I made a nice chart of all of the factory bass pod settings. I went through all 48 presets in my bass pod and made a chart with columns for the modeled amp, cab, mic, and effects. This will be a great help in my quest for the right tone for each song. I'll be able to look at all of my choices for sounds right in front of me whenever I'm changing settings instead of going through hours of endless scrolling. Tomorrow I am going to wake up early and hook my bass pod up through my computer recording program and regulate the volumes on all of my presets (or at least the useful ones). I've been having a problem in switching sounds during our shows since the volume differences are so noticeable- at times I have almost dropped completely out of the mix from one song to the next. It's been quite frustrating. I'll let you know how it all goes tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm also going to pick up Mary Beth who's been spending the last few days at home doing some cleaning and shopping with her sister. Yessir, tomorrow is going to be a good day- bass pod and Mary Beth... could I ask for anything more?

Proverb of the Day

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs to it and is safe. The rich man's wealth is his strong tower, and like a high wall in his imagination." Proverbs 18:10-11

Christmas Program

Do you ever have a huge moment of reassurance that you're doing exactly what God wants you to do? I had one of those tonight while watching Buck Run's Christmas program. As I listened to the songs and monologues, I felt God telling me that I'm doing just what I'm supposed to be doing. Not in ever aspect of my life, but in the path towards music ministry and becoming a music minister. There have been moments of doubt since God first called me to the music ministry, but He has often used moments just like these to pull me out of the valley of doubts and into His assuring hand. I can't wait to see where God is going to take me in these next few years as I strive to follow His plan and listen to His voice.

Proverb of the Day

"The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway." Proverbs 15:19

It's a no-go

Alright, so the ear thing isn't all worked out yet. Apparently, they were confused over the phone, or perhaps when we went to see them and weren't really sure what we were talking about. Once we explained it to them, they weren't even sure if could do anything like that. So, we shall do a little more research and hopefully get the molds made soon. Mary Beth and I are to leave and head to spend some time with the gang from GSP. I got the chance to see everyone over the summer but Mary Beth hasn't seen everybody since summer of 2005! We're both excited- see you all later.

Proverb of the Day

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." Proverbs 14:12

Going Home

I just finished my last final a couple hours ago and now I'm finishing up some last minute packing before I head back to the big city of Frankfort. Well, actully, I'm going to go get a mold made of my ears, and then probably do some Christmas shopping, and then go back to Frankfort. I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing, and peaceful break. I was planning on working at my old job, you know, Kroger, but I've decided that a month of no-work will be nice and give me a chance to catch up on some reading and spending time with family and friends. It should be a nice day for loading and unloading all of my stuff due to the unseasonably warm weather we've been having these past couple days. The mornings have been a little chilly, but once the sun comes out it's nice and warm.
Oh, the JMB DVD planning is still in full force and if anyone has any suggestions, we'd love to hear them. You can head over to our message board or you can post comments on this blog. Josh just started a new thread yesterday about band member interviews. If you guys have any questions and you've been dying for us to shed a little light on the truth and set the record straight, tell us! We really want this DVD to, first off, bring glory to our Creator and, secondly, be an enjoyable experience for all parties involved. We always (well, usually) have fun whenever we play and we really want the fans to have just as much fun whenever they come to the show or watch it on their own tv. Let us know what you think.

Proverb of the Day

"The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death" Proverbs 13:14

Summer Plans

I got my official call from Cedarmore today about working as a bible study leader at Crossings this summer. God has been so amazing through my entire application process and has continually opened and closed doors in His perfect will. My original plans were to play in the band at Jonathan Creek but God has pretty much shut that door off and shown me that He wants me to be at Cedarmore leading bible study. Although I don't really know what's going to happen this summer, I know that God's hand is over everything and nothing will happen outside of His master plan. I'm so excited to see how God is going to work next summer and to see how He might use me. That sounds like such an odd statement. God is going to use me- God is using me. While God is so incredibly holy, we are so unworthy to praise Him, to serve Him, to have anything to do with Him. But, He still chooses to use us to do His will.
"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscutable His ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who Has been His counselor?' 'Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?' For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:33-36 (ESV)

2 down, 2 to go

I got my "real" finals out of the way today and also finished both of those papers that are due at the end of this week. Tomarrow I'll turn those in. So, today I had my geology final in the morning and then my math final earlier tonight. I think I did pretty well on both of them- well enough to pass the class. The only things I've got left are my two theory finals and a short matching test that will take 15 minutes in my honors class tomorrow morning. So far finals are going quite well.
Thursday, I'm going to go to a hearing-aide place here in town to get molds made of my ears so that I can get custom fitted ear-pieces for my in-ear monitors. I've got some Christmas money that I must spend so I figured this would be a great way to spend it... ok, actually it wasn't my idea... Mary Beth thought of it, thanks babe. But it's still a great idea and I'm very excited about getting this done. That's about all I've got for tonight, I just realized that I'm very tired. Goodnight.

Blogging Bliss

As you may be able to tell, my blog is no longer on the fritz and is now working with new Blogger Beta. I don't really understand what all of this new stuff means, but I do know that it is incredibly easy to edit my blog now. I have control over fonts, colors, and even the layout. The old format was all in HTML (which I know nothing about) so I love that I can actually change my blog now with the greatest of ease.
It's finals week here at ol' U of K and today is our day off. I don't think anyone has any finals today so we're all supposed to use this day for reading and studying... so I'm messing with my blog! I'm a terrible student, I know. Actually, I'm going to go right now and write 1 of 2 papers due on Friday of this week. I should be able to write each of them in about a 2-3 hour time span, so if I split them up and do one today and then maybe one tomorrow or wednesday, I shouldn't be stressed too much. Besides the papers, I have a Geology final tomorrow morning and then a math final tomorrow night, then a Aural theory final wednesday morning, and finally, a Written theory final on thursday morning. I'll keep you posted as I go... wish me luck!

Frustrations and the DVD

I'm a little frustrated right now at blogger because of this format change. They are in the process of switching all of the blogs to a new format that will make publishing posts and editing your blog much easier. However, I suppose they're still getting all of the bugs worked out and I am currently unable to make the switch. I went through all of the steps and set up this new account through google but whenever I go to my dashboard (list of my blogs) my blog doesn't show up. They said once I made the switch, I would be unable to log in the way I usually do and would have to go through the new google account everytime. But, as you can see, I am still very capable of logging in and I can still post through the old format. I hope they get this fixed soon- I was getting excited about the easiness of new blogger beta.
JMB had a meeting last night at Johnny Carinos (thanks for dinner, Cedarmore) to talk about our plans to produce our first live dvd. It will be filmed at Cedarmore on March 31 (as of this moment) and I expect all of you to come. It's going to be a lot of work trying to put everything together and solidifying a set list (which we've never really done before) but I'm really excited about this project. We're hoping that all of our churches will make a good showing (Master's, Buck Run... are you writing this on your calendar? BRING YOUTH GROUPS!) and we're also hoping that the different churches we've played at in this area will come to the show. I'll keep you all posted as more develops.

Awesome Night

Last night was a great night of worship at Master's Church. Marc spoke about God's holiness so I tried to select songs that would really allow us to focus on God's main attribute. Mary Beth came in to sing with me and it was really great to able to sing the split guy/girl chorus on You Are Holy (Prince of Peace). God was really in control the entire night and took us all out of the picture so that we could see His holiness as we've never seen it before. That is especially true in the life of one of the youth. Upon hearing Marc talk about the holiness of God and our unholiness, or more importantly, when the truth was revealed to this young man by the work of the Holy Spirit, God did an amazing work in his heart and made him a new creation. I'm so excited that this youth was saved last night- not simply saved from hell, but saved from his sin. I absolutely love it when God takes us out of the equation and does His work in and around us- all we have to do is sit back and worship Him.
To God be the glory, great things He hath done.

What A Relief

The priest's face in the end is the best part of the whole clip.

Hymns

God has often used hymns to show me more about His amzing omnipotentence and this is a hymn that's been running through my speakers the past week.
Before the Throne of God Above
by Charitie Bancroft (1863)


Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Worship

This morning I met with Marc (youth minister) and Alex (pastor) of Master's Church- where you can find me Wednesday nights- and talked about some different possibilities for the future about the music ministry there and the Wednesday night youth services. I was planning on driving back to Frankfort after that to get my tire replaced (I ran over a nail the other day and I'm on my spare at the moment) but I ended up just going down the road to the nearest S&S. They kept my tire and said it may be fixable but they aren't sure until they can see how deep the nail goes. (I'll have to check back on Monday.) So, not having to travel to Frankfort really opened up my schedule today and has allowed me to spend more time in prayer, especially in the area of my own personal worship.
God has really been convicting me these past few days of focusing so much on the music and forgetting why I play and sing in the first place. He's showing me that my singing and playing isn't worship at all if it's only an end in itself. If His glory isn't the ultimate goal of my music than it's all in vain. It's become so easy for me to get up on the stage and concentrate so much on sounding good, playing the right chords, and singing the right words (in the right order) and completely forget about the God to whom I'm singing. I can't even count the times that we've finished a concert or a worship service and I've messed up some notes or words and that is the only thing I remember about the night. I was so out of tune with the Holy Spirit working that I completely missed everything important that happened. I'm sure that all worship leaders have gone through this problem and I'm sure this isn't the last time this will ever happen- it will be constant battle that I fight for the rest of my life to forget about everything and focus on God. I pray for your support as I repent.

Now I've seen everything

I finally found it. I've been wanting to write about this for a few months now but I knew I couldn't fully appreciate it or be able to properly inform you of this absurdity until I found it for myself. When I first heard about this new addition to the student center, I thought that there was no way it could be real- surely it was just an urban myth as false as the exploding pop-rocks and coke or Walt Disney being buried under the Pirates of the Carribean ride. But after I saw it, I knew it was true and such things cold really exist. UK has an iPod vending machine. Yes, you heard me right. An iPod vending machine. It sells iPods in all different sizes, chargers, earbuds, and even bluetooth earpieces for cell phones. Being the broke college student that I am, I cannot afford to partake of the wonderous offerings of this machine but I would love to say "Yes, I bought my iPod from a vending machine." You know, I'm sure this says something about society today... I'm just not sure what that statement is.

Mary Beth Mann

I was just browsing through my pictures and found this gem. Isn't she the most wonderful thing you've ever seen? I don't know why she wants to be with me, but I definitely feel like the luckiest guy in the world.

Two Gigs, One Souncheck

Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving? I know I'm a few days late on the follow-up but it's been pretty stressful these past few days. Mary Beth and I got back from ETown on Friday and then, almost immediately, turned around and traveled to Centerfield for a JMB gig. Yes, yes, the rumors are true the Josh Martin Band is still alive and kicking- we've actually got some pretty big plans in the making right now. I can't say too much sense nothing is set in stone but we are going to have a meeting about it next Thursday and I will say that I don't think you'll be disappointed. But anywho, Friday night we played at Cowboy church in Centerfield. You heard me right... Cowboy church. I could explain it to you but you're just going to have to come see us next year to truly understand. It was a great night. Doug couldn't be there with us but that didn't seem to stop us from playing a fantastic show. I walked off the stage that night feeling more confident about our performance than I ever have before. We pulled out a new one on the crowd- Clumsy Believer, which is sure to become one of our favorite songs. We had practiced it on two separate occasions before Friday night and for the amount of time and energy we put into that song, it turned out to be superb.
Saturday. We sat around at my house for awhile the next day until I called Wilcutt Guitars in Lexington and talked to them about purchasing a new acoustic guitar. The guitar didn't have a pickup in it so they installed one and then I went and bought it. I'll dedicate a whole post to the guitar either tomorrow or the next day when I've had a chance to actually play it on stage. It's an Epiphone Masterbilt and I am absolutely loving it but I don't want to say too much about it in this post. Saturday night we had a concert at another Cowboy church (actually, I think they call it Country Church in Brandenburg) which didn't go quite as well as the previous one. It was just aa hectic night overall. We got there about 2 hours early in order to set up our equipment and get a good sound check... or so we thought. We were all under the impression that Brandenburg was in Central time- right over the border, but apparently they stick with Louisville's time. So, our extra 2 hours magically turned into 1 and we rushed to start 10 minutes late. I never really got in the right mindset to play a concert so both my playing and singing suffered quite a bit. But hey, at least I got the licks in the chorus of Clumsy Believer that night. (Did you hear them Kelly? I'm pretty sure I looked over at you a few times so you would know that I didn't screw them up again). Oh, and for some reason we could never get the bass level settled because I kept messing with my sound and my amp. Pretty soon I'll be saying good bye to my loud on-stage amp, and going with in-ear monitors- as long as I can get everything figured out and my mix right.

Thank you, vandal

The phrase "Jesus is helping me through my struggle" takes on a whole new meaning when someone carves it into the bathroom stall at Wal-Mart.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Althought it's not my absolute favorite holiday, I do love this day. It's always nice to spend the day with my 3 favorite f's- family, friends, and food. Today is going to be a fun-filled day of traveling for Mary Beth and I as we travel to Somerset in just a few hours to eat lunch with my dad's side of the family and then drive to Campbellsville to eat some dessert with my mom's side of the family. After that we will venture into E-Town to eat with her dad's family and then spend the night out at the farm and eat lunch with Bob and his family tomorrow. As soon as lunch is over we have to head back to Frankfort and then to Centerfield for a JMB concert tomorrow evening. Whew! I got tired just telling you all of this stuff. I can't imagine how I'll feel once all of this traveling is underway.
On another note, Mary Beth is continually improving and we both thank you all for your prayers, phone calls, and support. She is walking a lot more and the pain has subsided oh so slightly- hopefully she's ready for today and tomorrow. I guess we'll see shortly. Well, I hope to see some of you at the concert tomorrow night or, if you're in my family, I hope to see you today at one of the meals.

I'm still alive

Well, it's certainly been awhile. I don't have much of an excuse for not blogging within the past couple weeks- just a lot of little things seemed to come up. The biggest news from the past few days would be Mary Beth's hospital stay. She started experiencing large amounts of pain at the Lousiville football game on Saturday and was taken to the hospital before half time. I was already on my way to Lousiville to pick her up from the game when I heard she was on her way to the hospital so we arrived at the same time. After many tests and an overnight stay, they decided that the pain was caused by a ruptured ovarian cyst. Sounds painful, right? I'm not really sure what it feels like but I'd imagine that it's pretty terrible. She's staying at my house right now for the week, recuperating on the couch- actually, thanks to the magic of wireless internet, I'm sitting beside her right now. Say "Hi" Mary Beth. She waved. You'll just have to take my word for it.
I'll try to do better this week with this blog. Be patient, people.

I Love These People

Thy Mercy - Sandra McCracken

Thy Mercy, My God

1. Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart. and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast.

2. Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin would reduce me to utter despair;
But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

3. Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found.

4. Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.

Boo Rain

No, the "boo" in the title is not a Halloween interjection, it's a cry of anguish and disgust due to the water falling from the sky. It's been raining a lot here lately and today is no different- it just started about an hour ago. I thought that maybe my trip to San Antonio would get me away from the precipitation for a few days but no, it's supposed to rain there as well. I guess I'll take my jacket. On the bright side, the high for the rest of the week in San Antonio is around 70 degrees. Maybe this trip won't be so bad.
Happy Halloween everyone, eat some candy.

Travel Time

I'm leaving wednesday morning for San Antonio. Yep, that's right. San Antonio, Tx. The UK Men's Choir is flying out of Louisville at an atrocious hour to go to Texas so that we can perfom a concert at the Trinity University Chapel on Thursday and then at the National Collegiate Choral Organization's (NCCO) first national convention. I've got mixed feelings about this trip, to be quite honest. I'm sure it's going to be fun, and I love performing- our songs are all about "The Life of a Man" and the audience will probably enjoy the show, but I don't want to miss class. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a dork who doesn't like missing school. We get back really late Friday night so I've got to miss all of my classes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The make-up work will be the worst part. I just worry that I won't allow myself to have a good time on this trip because I'll be stressed about all of the work I'll have awaiting me on my return. Oh well, it will probably be more fun than I am expecting.

Making a Banana Split

The Muppet Show-Swedish Chef

Boy, this really takes me back. I laughed so hard as I watched this today... numerous times.

Favorite Picture

This is definitely my favorite picture that we've taken together thus far. I'm not really sure what it is about this one, but I like it a lot. It really captures the essence of "us".

Heck yeah!

I just figured out how to add titles to my posts. It was really easy to do, I just never thought about trying to figure it out before now. That's all I've got really. Nothing else. Well, maybe later.

The current musical mood is country. I'm listening to a lot of country today and really digging and focusing in on the simplicity of the bass. I have a tendency to over-play if I'm not careful so I'm trying to get this concept of simplicity in my head and trying to translate it over into the JMB. The current album is Electric Rodeo from Shooter Jennings and before that was Son Volt (more alt-country, really) and earlier today I listened to some of Shooter Jennings first album, Put The O Back In County. Now, that I think about it, I believe it was the Eagles that first got me on this kick on Monday.
For anyone who cares: I think I'm going to put some flats on my Rickenbacker this weekend.

I'm out. I'm off of Facebook and Myspace. Why? Time. It's as simple as that. I was getting quite terrible at managing my time correctly and these things were getting in the way of homework, studying, pracatice, and my quiet time and prayer life. It became most obvious in the last two and that is what finally pushed me over the edge. I realized that I was slacking off so much in my bible reading and prayer and I knew that I had to deactivate my accounts if I ever wanted it to change. But, have no fear. The blog will remain- actually I'll probably post a lot more since facebook, myspace, and my blog won't be in competition anymore. And, if you really need to get a hold of me, you can always email or call me. Stay classy readers.

What happened to fall!?! Did I miss something here? Last week I was walking around in shorts and t-shirts and now I'm here bundled up in a sweater, my nice toasty hat (which Mary Beth made for me), and my winter jacket. It's October! I'm not sure what the weather is supposed to do next week but I surely hope that autumn makes some sort of appearance before Santa shows up. Don' t get me wrong, I LOVE winter and I'm thorougly enjoying this weather and it's figidity, I just feel a little cheated- that's all.

Back to the dorm after an amazing weekend with Mary Beth. I spent the past few days in E-Town with her and her family. Well, not exactly her family. Actually her youth minister and his family, but they might as well be family. Mary Beth stays with them a lot (they actually look quite a bit alike) and treats them as if they were her family so that is how I will refer to them from now on. I drove there Friday night and just got back about an hour ago so I'm pretty tired and I'm about to go to bed. But, I hadn't posted anything in awhile so I felt this deserved a little bit of coverage. It's actually too late for me to have any sort of well thought-out comments on the weekend so any discussing I did wouldn't do it justice. Sorry if I got your hopes up and then let you down. Go check out Andrew's blog- maybe he's been posting some good stuff.

Have you ever had a great "this-is-going-on-the-blog" moment? If you don't have a blog then I'm guessing that you haven't- but everyone else out there knows exactly what I'm talking about. You may not find this one as amusing as me, but I've been laughing to myself at this for the past half hour or so.
So, I'm walking to the Funkhouser Building for my Geology class, in which I had a test today. I was walking through the part of campus surrounded by the various classroom buildings and I smelled a delicious aroma. Hamburgers and hotdogs. I looked around and saw a huge line and since I was running late for class, didn't have time to stop and partake of the free food (it's ok, there's always free food around here.) The test took me about 15 minutes to complete (I may not have done very well, but I sure can take a fast test, dangit) and so I started to walk back to my dorm, hoping that the free food would still be out there. As I approached the tables, I saw what the free food was all about: PETA Cookout. Hmm. Weird right? Ok, I thought, maybe it's all fake meat... but it's still free! So I got a burger and started to eat it- definitely real. What the heck huh? So then I started reading their posters and actually, the cookout was an anti-PETA cookout sponsored by the Republican organization on campus. They had a bunch of posters with different facts about PETA and why they disagree with them. And if that wasn't enough to make me laugh, I saw a poster telling me that it's Republican week here! In fact, yesterday was "Fun with Guns Day." I'm serious. Oh man, what a great start to my day!

I never thought I'd do this... but here you go. I'm on myspace now. Actually, I'm not really sad or anything, it will actually be quite helpful in keeping track of people- especially people that a) aren't on facebook or b) never check their facebook... you know who you are. Myspace is also a great place to find new bands. So, if you're on myspace already- send me a friend invitation, myspace friends= best friends for life! Ok, not really. But we can at least have some sort of connection right?

http://www.myspace.com/derekjohnhughes

I just got back from my dorm room after an amazing weekend at home in Frankfort with Mary Beth. She drove to Lexington on Friday to hang out and eat and then we went to a cool concert across campus- The British Export (Beatles Tribute band). They were really good and it was a lot of fun. Their first set was the early pop tunes and they wore the matching suits and it was a lot of fun with everyone standing up and dancing. Then we took a short intermission and they came out for the second set with the St. Peppers costumes on (complete with George and Ringo with mustaches). They played their later rock songs to close out the night- all in all, it was a really fun concert. I definitely couldn't stand being in a tribute band of any kind, but these guys were really good and you could tell they had done their homework on the Beatles.
Then Mary Beth and I drove back to Frankfort to stay at my house (Dustin is in Canada for the weekend so she took his bed downstairs). We slept in Saturday and just sat around for awhile and then went over to my friend Sarah's house for a short appearance at her birthday luncheon (she goes to school in Illinois and it was her first time home). Then we went to Louisville to meet up with my friends Joshua and Matt and Joel, one of Joshua's friends, and had way too much pizza and that night, I filled in for the bass player in my dad's southern gospel group at a concert right outside of Louisville. We went to church that next morning and then to a family reunion for the rest of the afternoon. Mary Beth had to be back in Louisville for one of her band concerts and we had to be at church by 5 for practice so had to part ways at that point. Although that may not sound like a great weekend to you- let me tell you, it was. It was so great to spend so much time with Mary Beth, it gets pretty hard not seeing each other very often (not at all during the weeks) so any time we can spend together is just awesome. I can't wait till next weekend when I get to meet her family.

Here's me and Mary Beth- isn't she great?

It's getting pretty cold. I'm really ready for fall and winter- I just dislike being hot. I don't particularly enjoy freezing my butt off (figuratively or literally), but I do love cool autumn days and snow in the winter time. I just need to go home and pick up some more sweatshirts and sweaters, and maybe even a jacket. I'm kind of dreading college in the winter. Walking to and from class in the frigid Kentucky winter- not my idea of a good time. But hey, it's definitely going to beat swimming through my own sweat to get to my music theory class. I see the cold as the lesser of two evils- not something I enjoy, but something I will tolerate in order to avoid the heat. I wish it would just stay around 70 degrees all year. That has got to be the greatest temperature ever and if you don't agree, I will fight you. With that kind of weather, if you want to wear shorts- hey, go ahead! If you want to wear jeans and a sweatshirt- you go right on and do it buddy. It's the everyman temperature! If 70 degrees were to run for president I bet he could have a easy coast right into the oval office. I'm going to go ahead and stop before I go off on another odd tangent again- it's too late to be posting these things!

I want to apologize for yesterday's post. I realize now that it was extremely long- and rather boring if you're not me. You see, I find it quite interesting since it directly applies to my life and it's been on my mind for the past few weeks- but no one else cares. I'm not asking anyone else to care- I just know that no one else cares. But then again, if you're reading my blog then apparently you have some sort of fascination with my life, and the fact that you're reading this post shows that although I may post some pretty boring stuff, you keep coming back for more. Well, whatever the reason you're still here- Thank you. I really mean that. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means a lot that you take the time out of your busy lives to check up on me and are somewhat concerned with my well-being. I'll try to keep the posts more universal from now on... ok, so I really won't. Because my life isn't exactly universal. A lot of the things that I write about will apply only to me, but I still hope you find them amusing.

Alright faithful readers. You've asked for it, and here it is... a new post!
This one will be about music, so if that's not your cup of tea then I suggest you stop reading and go watch CNN or something, or just skip to the final paragraph. I really want to try out in-ear monitors. I've used them before, back with Willing Heart and they worked pretty good for me. But, that was with completely different equipment and in a completely different musical setting. Now, I've got 2 onstage amps to deal with and (if we're lucky) acoustic drums and I've been having a lot of trouble hearing myself. I use my amp on stage (500 watt hartke with a 4x10 Carvin) but this is only for monitoring purposes. Since I've gotten the bass pod (still love it), my sound comes straight out of it and I don't use my amp to change my signal to the board, I simply run parallel outs to the amp and the mixer. But, as you may know, a 4 x 10 cab has a bit of a problem getting the sound up to the ears. If you distance yourself enough from it, it sounds pretty good, but I have never had the adequate stage room to pull this off. All of my sound ends up hitting me in the legs, so I feel the bass more than anything. Now, this is quite a problem since I need to hear myself over said amps and drums, but I still need to give control of my overall volume to my dad, he runs sound. If I turn my amp up loud enough where I can hear it onstage, it becomes impossible for him to control the bass and most times he ends up turning me off completely in the house mix. You see, most places we play are rather small rooms, barely large enough to hold us, much less an audience. When you get that much bass going on, it feels up the whole room and ruins the overall sound of the band. So...
I really want to try in-ear monitors. If I could take a monitor signal from the board, run it through my head phone amp, and pump it straight into my head, I could do away with my onstage amp and give dad complete control over the bass in the house mix. With this new board, I could have my own monitor mix, separate from the rest of the band, and I could have as much bass as I want. Since Willing Heart, I've updated my ear buds to a higher model and messed around with many different tips until I've found one that best fits my ear and blocks out the most sound. Next time JMB practices I am definitely going to bring my new set-up and give it a go. And not only would this improve my monitoring of the bass, it would allow me to hear everything with so much more clarity- especially vocals. Yes, I have a great feeling about this. I can't wait to try it out.
For those of you who skipped the majority of the post to read the final paragraph, here ya go. I had hours of free time this afternoon between class letting out and a 7 o clock practice. I had this strange feeling that I was missing something really important and that I should be doing something instead of sitting around. It finally hit me. The thing that I was missing. It was dinner. I forgot to eat. Boy, I scare myself sometimes.

Update time. As of this past Saturday night (or I guess it was actually really early Sunday morning): I am in a relationship with a wonderful girl named Mary Beth Mann. Yes, I realize that I am dating a "mann" and feel free to laugh about it as much as you want, I get quite a kick out of it actually. Those who frequent the JMB message board- yes, all 6 of you, may know her as Number1Fan. Yup, that's the one. I realize that this relationship has progressed very quickly over the past month or so, but, other than the truth in my salvation, I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I know that this is exactly where God wants me right now. We would both greatly appreciate your prayers for our relationship to stay completely grounded in Him and for us to be extremely sensitive to His voice. Thanks guys.

I just got back from my first night of leading worship for the youth service at Master's Church in Lexington. I didn't know quite what to expect since I've never really been to any service at the church at all. I went to the park with them last week- they've been going to a nearby park all summer and getting the neighborhood kids involved, many of which were there tonight. There were a few technical difficulties with the sound system but it all got straightened out by the third song so it was alright. There were 12 kids there tonight, and a lot were not "church kids". They didn't really care too much about the music or the message that Marc brought, they just wanted to be in a place where they were loved and accepted. Anyway, Marc presented that gospel tonight and gave an opportunity at the end for people to make decisions and three people were saved tonight! Three! God moved in three peoples lives and they are now in a relationship with Him. I'm so excited right now for Megan, Nicky, and Emily. Nicky and Emily were both ready to go talk to more of their friends about Jesus! And when Marc was talking to Megan and she said that she wanted grow in her relationship with God. You could tell that this definitely wasn't a "get out of hell free card" for her, but a real relationship with God and she understood exactly what it meant.
I can't wait to see what God is going to do next.

I didn't want to post this at first because it is quite a personal song for me but I'm posting it in hopes that God will use it to influence your life.

Because of Me

They say they feel your presence and I can see you on each face
But the place in me where you should be feels like an empty space
They sing and shout and praise your name and dance all down the aisle
And as to not look out of place I sing along and smile
Their holy hands are lifted high and unashamed their battle cry is
Holy is the Lord, my God, He reigns
But this thorn in my side has caused me pain

Where are you God? Your face I cannot see
All this sin still present in my life shows me that I need you to be
Before time you chose me, so I know you'll never leave
But I can't see you, because of me

I know your word is always true and it's clear about the right
But this sweet sin, she draws me in with colors and bright lights
"Come follow me" she calls each day, I'll surely fit right in
Because I'd rather be a harlot, than go fishing for your men
Oh Lord, I'm tired of living like a righteous man in my own eyes
My Fig leaf suit is rotting away
Oh God, you hear me when I say

Where are you God? Your face I cannot see
All this sin still present in my life shows me that I need you to be
Before time you chose me, so I know you'll never leave
But I can't see you, because of me

I cooked soup. I ate soup. Soup was good.
After realizing that my meal plan at the moment includes only 7 meals a week I've decided to eat more meals on my own. As it is right now, the meal plan averages out to be between $8-$9 per meal so it would be cheaper to do more meals on my own than it would be to add more money to a meal plan. However, my parents do pay for my meal plan so that makes it cheaper for me, but not for them. Good thing I'm happy eating pretty much anywhere. There are so many places to eat on campus, I've only been to about half of them- not including the restaurants right down the street. The place that I've eaten at the most is this grill in the food court at the students center (right across the street) with really good chicken strips and fries. There burgers are ok, but the buns kept falling apart in my hand, so I've sworn them off forever. Ha, that'll teach 'em a lesson. I've also been to Ovids a few times (downstairs in the library). They have sandwiches (which I've heard are good) and good ol' home cooking. One time they made me a nice meal with turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Oh, so good. I'm still making my way around campus trying to find the best food and I'm really enjoying the journey, much more than I enjoy studying. Maybe I could switch my major to "Restaurant Exploration"... do they have that? If not they really should. Maybe I'll be a pioneer in the field. Anyone wanting to study under me can just call. I've left my number with my mother so call her first.

I'm back in my dorm room now after a weekend at home- I was really glad to be home but at the same time, I missed my life here. It seems odd that after only a couple of weeks, this place already feels a little like home- enough that I miss it when I'm gone. I didn't miss going to class, or doing work, but I did miss my friends and my dorm (man, I love my dorm a lot). But, even though I'm happy to be here, I miss home... my real home. I miss my mom and dad and David and Daisey (she's a dog) and being close to my church and Andrew's church (that's where we practice). I wouldn't go as far as calling it homesick- but I definitely miss everyone.
Oh, I didn't make the acoUstiKats. I forgot to mention it last time. There ended up being 3 open spots and 2 of those spots went to returning former members so there were 17 guys going for 1 spot. The guy who got it was either a junior or a senior, and I think he's a Bass 2. Since I auditioned for Bass 1, I didn't really have a shot at all, but at least I know the audition process now and they seemed to be pleased with my tryout. Hopefully I'll have a shot in the future. Well, I need to get some sleep because I've got class tomorrow- oh, the college life. See ya

Goodbye freetime, hello outrageous music major workload! Wow, this semester, not to mention the next 4 years, will be the death of me. Ok, so not actually death... I'm sure that I'll manage, but it will be a huge adjustment having to stay organized and keep track of lessons and recitals and parties and studio time and homework and parties and research and parties and... nah, I'm just kidding about the parties. There will be no time for parties and even if there was, come on! I'm not a partyer! Well, I have more to say but I have to go meet some people for dinner and then JMB is practicing at the Point tonight so I need to start the long haul from my dorm to my car and drive to Frankfort. Random trivia of the day: It takes me just as long to get to my car from my dorm as the drive back to Frankfort. Does that blow your mind? Cause that just happened!

I was writing a post last night when I went to do a spell check. Something crazy happened and it erased my post. I was pretty irritated and went to bed without reposting it, so here's a new post. UK is pretty awesome. I really love it here. I'm doing A LOT of music- 2 theory classes and 2 choirs at the moment. I tried out for the acoUstiKats today- the mens a cappella group that sings pop music. I'm not really expecting to get in as a Freshman, but I thought, what the hey? Might as well try out so I can know what the audition is next year. I've been looking forward to this group for the past four years and it is one of the big reasons I am here at UK. I'll let you know how it goes, they should post results tomorrow afternoon.
So, I've been hanging out the past week with Eric (a friend from GSP), Amber (Eric's friend from church), and Molly (Amber's friend from GSP and roommate). They are all extremely cool people and I feel very blessed to have already made such great friends. We are about to finish a movie and then I have a great deal of reading to do so... See you later.

Well, here I am. Sitting in my dormroom at UK. I just moved in this morning and my roommate and his parents are out at Target buying some stuff. I've got all of my stuff situated, which didn't take long, and I've decided that I'll be leading a pretty simple life this year- unless I decide to bring a lot more items from home. I still need to bring a few more clothes and posters- I'm coming home Sunday so I didn't see a point in bringing everything now. I think I might go try to call some people and see if anyone else is ready to stop moving in and start hanging out.

i repent, i repent of my pursuit of america's dream
i repent, i repent of living like i deserve anything
of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
in our suburb where we're safe and white
i am wrong and of these things i repent

i repent, i repent of parading my liberty
i repent. i repent of paying for what i get for free
and for the way i believe that i am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
i am wrong and of these things i repent

i repent judging by a law that even i can't keep
of wearing righteousness like a disguise
to see through the planks in my own eyes

i repent, i repent of trading truth for false unity
i repent, i repent of confusing peace and idolatry
by caring more of what they think than what i know of what we need
by domesticating you until you look just like me
i am wrong and of these things i repent

"I Repent" by Derek Webb

I didn't get my request to the schedule people in time... one more week of kroger. Blast.

I'm almost done, just a few more days until I'm out of Kroger... until Christmas break. I'm taking a leave of absense so that I can attend college and still come back and work whenever my Christmas break comes around. It will be nice to not have to go to work... but what will I talk about on my blog? A lot of my ramblings and rants come from my experiences at Kroger so I will have to find something else to write about for a few months. Maybe college will provide me with ample material.
Right now I'm trying to get all of my stuff in order before I have to move out next Friday. I'm in the process of seeing friends before they move away and that's going pretty well so far. I have a party today and tomorrow. Well, party probably isn't the right term here- my friends don't really party too much. It's mostly a get-together with a big group of friends but it's still going to be a lot of fun. I'm also in the process of putting all of my cds (and Dustin's and David's) on my computer into iTunes so that I don't have to mess with all my CD's anymore. The next logical step would be to buy an iPod so that I can carry all of my music with me everywhere I go. This would be especially helpful in my car where I could simply plug the iPod into my CD player and have my entire music library at my fingertips. The only problem here is money. Yes, it may suprise some of you, knowing that I work so diligently at Kroger and assuming that my paychecks are just phenomenal, but I'm a poor college student. I can afford an iPod right now, but I need that money for other things (like food) so I keep putting off this purchase. Don't worry though, I'll probably break down and buy one in a few months, or maybe weeks... who know?

Well, I think that I have finally got my sleep back from Band camp. Last week was pretty rough but it was a lot of fun. This week should be a lot less busy but then the next week I have to move in at UK. I'm pretty excited about that actually. At first I was not too ready to start classes and start doing work but then I realized... I'm a music major! How much hard work will I have to do? And the work that I will be doing will be doing will be enjoyable and I won't mind doing it at all. Yes, I'm ready to go to college.

Welcome to the busiest week of my life... maybe. All this week I've been working Kroger from 7 am- noon and then driving over to UK to teach at FCHS band camp. I have gotten very little sleep this week and I think it might catch up with me tomorrow (I only had about 4 hours the night before last so that should probably kick in soon). But regardless of the amount of sleep I'm getting- I am having the time of my life teach these high schoolers how to play tuba and how to march. Some of my favorite high school memories come from band- most of them really- and I'm glad that I can help these kids experience the same feelings. Wow, I'm really tired and my writing is getting somewhat sentimental. I better go before I burn these Ramen Noodles.

I spent my Friday evening and about half of Saturday at the Honors Program Luau at UK. It was ok I guess, I didn't really know that many people- one girl from western hills, a few gsp people, and one Rexroat who was working at the Cat's Den. I got a lot of new information about the Honors Program which is nice because I knew NOTHING about it. I wasn't even sure if I was in it. Oh, some exciting news! I started someone blogging. Yes, one of my friends read my blog and has now started their own. This has happened a couple of times before but they have already stopped keeping theirs up so I figured maybe if I blogged about Hannah's blog, then she will have to keep on blogging.
I am so excited for Hannah right now- not because she started a blog, but because of what God is doing in her life. She is thinking a lot about God right now and started to seek after Him, realizing that she has kind of strayed away. They most awesome thing about this is the fact that no one really seeks God. Paul quoted from the Psalm's when he said, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God" (Romans 3:10-11). The only way for a person to be "seeking" after God is for the Holy Spirit to be working in their lives. You see, no one seeks after God because we are born sinners. We can do nothing good on our own apart from God- even the "good" things that we try to do apart from God are fueled by our selfish desires to appear "good" to the outside world. (But that's another story). Anyway, the only way that my friend Hannah could be thinking about God so much, is that the Holy Spirit working in her life. God has specifically chosen to cause Hannah's brain to ponder Him. If you'll allow me to use an illustration: God doesn't fish for people with a net- God uses a pole with very specific bait. He doesn't simply cast a huge net out take whatever He gets. He seeks after people and when that happens there's nothing you can do to resist Him.
Wow, that's a really roundabout way of say that but to sum it all up: I can't wait to see how God is going to work in Hannah.

Posting, posting, everyone loves some posting. That has a little tune in my head but since you can't hear me singing it you can't really experience that diddy. You could just make up your own tune I guess. I've been working the past few days at Kroger and it's been a pretty typical week. Busy during the same hours, slow during the same hours. I did, however, bag yesterday. I'm not sure if I am really supposed to but I sure did. I came back in from my break and they didn't want to open up another register. John still had another 25 minutes before he took his break so I bagged for awhile- I even helped some woman out to her care (I think she was some elementary school teacher). It was fun I guess, but I don't care to ever do that again.
I'll tell you what I want to do. I want to play some music with JMB. It seems like it's been forever since we last played. We have a concert coming up this weekend I believe so I'm really looking forward to that. My five string hasn't gotten a whole lot of play since I got the Rickenbacker and I am wanting to play that some more. I'll probably only use the Rickenbacker for one or two songs in JMB just because it's not exactly the sound I'm looking for in that context. (It's still pretty sweet though)
Well, I've got to go to work now. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go. That one has a tune too but I'm sure most people know that one- so enjoy singing it to yourself, or aloud to the rest of the house.

Here's a picture of me with no hair. Deal wit it.

I'm home as of Sunday night but havne't had a chance to blog due to a studio project in which I was involved. I layed down bass for a song that a friend of my friend Josh wrote for his wife. We recored at Saint Claire Studio in Lexington. Lexington. Can't be that great huh? Well let me tell you- this was the nicest studio that I had ever seen (in person, tv, online, album art). It was insane. The guy who played acoustic guitar used to do a lot of session work and he said that it would be years and years before any of us ever saw anything that nice again- it was definitely the nicest place he had ever played. It was a late night but awesome nonetheless.
Bowling Green. What an awesome weekend! I'm so happy that we were all able to get together and hang out like that. I hadn't seen any of those guys since last summer and it was great to just be around each other again. We went to Mammoth Cave and took a tour of Bowling Green on Saturday (not much to it really) and then went to church at Rich Pond Baptist on Sunday. Rachael had to get back to Louisville for the evening service at her church so we had to leave a little early from Jonathan's house but then I ended up going to church with Rachael. After the service we went over to her boyfriend's house and spent time with some of her friends. I laughed so hard at times that I thought I was going to get sick but then the conversation always came around to spiritual matters. It was so awesome to be around a group of peers that had that sort of mentality- Jesus isn't just an area in their life, he is their life. It was a really great weekend and I hope we can do it again soon.
Facebook. I'm on facebook now- finally gave into all of the peer pressure. Actually, it's a really great way to stay in touch with high school friends throughout college and meet different people who go to your school. So, if you're on facebook, look me up and add me as a friend! That'd be really cool of you.

I am in Bowling Green right now with some GSP friends- good times... good times... We just finished watching The Bourne Identity (well, they did- I slept through most of it) and I think we are about to go to bed, unless Rachael wants to play some cards. Having just slept a few hours, I'm not that tired and I could either go right to bed and be fine or I could stay up for a few more hours and that be alright too. Tomorrow we are going to go to Mammoth Cave and do one of the tours (Frozen Niagra maybe?). I'm really looking forward to it since I haven't ben in years and these people are really cool.

I'm in the mood to listen to Broadway musicals right now. So... I'm listening to The Last 5 Years. Ok, actually it's an off-broadway show but it'll do. The cast consist of one man and one woman and the play takes place over a five year period- two and a half of dating and then two and a half of marriage and break up. The man tells the story from forwards to backwards starting with the moment they first met and the woman tells the story backwards, starting from the moment the break up. They sing the middle song together when their stories meet as they get married. The music is really amazing with piano, fretless bass, strings, and a few horns I believe. I hope I'll get to see this play in the future but I'm not sure how much longer it will be touring. Oh well...
Andrew was the first to receive his prize today as he stolled through my lane at Kroger buying some food. I'm not going to reveal what he got, but let's just say that he won't be forgetting it any time soon. Don't you want to come now and receive your reward? Just come through my lane, mention the blog, and get yours. But... I won't be there until next week sometime. Probably tuesday. This weekend I'm going to hang out with some GSP friends in Bowling Green- woohoo! I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Alright all you faithful blog readers out there: Today marks the beginning at a competition. What game you ask? Well if you would just keep reading and quit pausing to ask such questions you would find out shortly. As you all know, I work at Kroger. I am there a lot and that is why most of my blogs have something to do with Kroger. I am offering a prize to the first person to come through my lane (to buy something) and mention this post. All you have to do is come through (while buying something) and mention that you read the post about the competition. I am giving away some fabulous prizes to the first 5 people to complete this task. The prize may be a cruise... or it may be a handshake and a pat on the back. Considering my current job and salary I'm sure you can imagine what kind of prize this will be. But, it's a prize nonetheless. So next time you're in Kroger, pick up some produce, come stand in my line, say "Hey Derek, I read about your competition on the blog), and receive your fabulous prize. I'll give an extra bonus to whoever beats my mom to my lane. She's in Kroger a lot so be on your toes. I'll be there tomorrow from 8:30- 2:30 and Thursday from 3:15- 8:30 (random hours, I know). Let the games begin!
Oh, some woman left a mop in my lane tonight. She paid for it but just walked off without it. Miss, if you're reading this, go to Kroger and get yourself that mop. You know you can't mop the kitchen floor without that new mop.
See you at Kroger!

This post is almost blank...

Apparently if you show up to a movie with only three people in the whole place they will give you a raincheck and tell you to go home and come another day. Who Knew?

Monday, monday... What a great day of the week! It's right after Sunday but still right before Tuesday. I mean, honestly, could Monday be any greater? I'm not sure if any of that makes sense but you had to read it anyway... so there.
It was a pretty busy day at kroger. From about 4-6 we were SWAMPED! At least it wasn't boring I guess. That's a good way to look at it. If no one comes through my line then I get pretty bored so it's nice to have something to do. I had to work the Express lane today for about 3 hours. It would get pretty slow so I would take a big order through my line (maybe 30 items). And as soon as I would start ringing it all up, a "real" express person would get in line so I'd feel terrible for ruining the purity of the express lane by allowing a large order to sneak into the line. Oh well, I guess they'll get over it.
Ok, here's the rant of the day. This one has been stewing for about a week now and I'm finally rady to bring it to light. If you come through my line and you are paying via EBT (foodstamps)... TELL ME! Nowadays, ebt is on a credit card. It's a lot easier to keep up with and all you have to do is swipe a card in order to pay for your food. People with ebt usually assume that I can look at them and automatically tell that they will be using ebt to pay. If they are using ebt, I have to hit the foodstamp button, then total, then the button that allows you to scan the card. I think it says ESV but I'm not sure... that may just be my bible translation... ANYWAY... If you don't tell me that it's ebt I don't hit the foodstamp button and then I have to cancel it all out and make the person swipe the card again. Sure, it only takes about 15 more seconds if we make this mistake... but it's the principal of the whole thing. Why can't you just tell me that it's foodstamps huh? Before you swipe the care just say "EBT". That's all you have to tell me. Sometimes I get lucky and I get a glimpse of the card before they start to pay- the front looks like an American flag. So that is helpful. But, it's not helpful that some other credit card companies feel the need to put the American flag on the front of their cards. So the moral of this rant is... just tell me if you are using ebt ok? Thank you.
I'm going to see the Pirate movie again tonight with David. There was some stuff in the first viewing that I didn't catch and I was a little lost at times. David's been wanting to see it sense the first time he saw it too, he loved it. It'll be nice to hang out with David- he was at church camp all last week so I'm sure there's some catching up to do.

Hair For Sale! Hair For Sale! To help put myself through college I have decided to put my hair up for sale. Anyone interested in purchasing a lock or two should contact me. But please, no wierd-o's or stalkers.

I just cut my hair... short.

I'm off for the next three days from Kroger. I think they are trying to get rid of me. Perhaps they've discovered my plot to take over the world... one Kroger at a time. It is really a genious plot. Think of the millions of people who shop at Kroger. If I had control of the Krogers I could control all of those people. It's just a shame that Kroger doesn't exist all over the world... or the country for that matter. Oh well. Maybe I should seek employment at McDonalds. Now there is a franchise worth controlling. You all just wait and see- in a matter of a few years you'll all be eating at McDereks and listening to subliminal messages played over the radio inside. I will have the world at my finger tips and there's nothing you can do to stop me... Bwah ha ha ha ha! Bwah ha ha ha ha!
Maybe I should quit posting at night. All of my night posts turn out odd...

Man... this bass is sweet. This new bass is just really cool. I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to have this bass. There is one small problem which you would find with any bass of this age- the electronics are a little dirty. This means that over the years dust, dirt, and rust have all built up inside the input jacks of the bass so that when it is plugged in, it cuts in and out. It should be easily solved with a quick trip up to Wilcutt guitars in Lexington. I went there the other day to ask about a price for the work and they said it would only be around 15 dollars to that's cool. I'll probably try to take that in next thursday so that they can look at it.

Today I spent a large portion of the day in Campbellsville with family. It was great seeing everybody and eating some awesome burgers. The cookout is definitely my favorite part of the holiday. But, I ended up eating so much watermelon (4032) that I thought I was going to puke. I'm sure it would've been just as good on the way back up as it was going down!
So tomorrow I get the bass. I'm not officially the owner tomorrow but Jeff (the current owner) is going to bring it to church so that I can take it and try it out. Although I am almost positive that I am going to buy the bass, there is a slight chance that I may hate it and not want to spend the money... but I doubt it. I'll probably play it a few days and then pay for it on Sunday. That is the plan anyway. I'll let you know how I like it tomorrow. Man, I'm excited!

Today is a big day. Today was the first day that someone did not forgot something when I was in the express line! I know, I know... you are all quite impressed but please all applause and questions until the end. So, I work the express line a lot and on the express line there is no bagger... I am the bagger. Yes, that's right. Two jobs, one line, one paycheck. Not cool. But anyway, the bags are all stationed on a turning contraption so that when one bag is full, you simply turn the thing and fill up another bag. As the bags sit there I usually forget about one or two of them until the person is already out the door and then I have to deal with the bags from there. One time a woman called back because I had kept two dozen eggs while she left- don't worry, she came back the next day to get some more. But today, nothing of the sort went down. Oh, wait. Ok, so one woman forgot her salad... but she came back withing five minutes to reclaim it. So there. We will now open the floor for questions. Anyone... anyone... Well- I see that you are all amazed at my cashiering skills.
Don't worry, I have an instructional video series coming out next month so you (Yes, You!) can become a cashier too! You'll learn the lingo! You'll learn the codes! You'll learn how to make small talk and how to pick up the single women who just came in to buy some milk! Three videos for only $49.99! Yes, you heard me right! Only $49.99! But wait- that's not all! If you call within the next 12 minutes I'll send you not one, not two, but three of your very own Kroger shirts! You can look like an authentic cashier anytime you want. So, whenever you go in for that big interview, they can see that you're the real deal with your real Kroger shirt. So don't delay! Get on the phone and dial right now! 1-800-Cashier.
I think I may be on to something here...

Ok Ok OK. So the whole deal about not working for college money was not entirely true. I do need college money and working at Kroger is a good way to get it. Another good way to get money is by donations from nice, friendly, generous blog readers. Don't you think so? Anyone dying to donate to the Derek Needs College Money Fund (DNCMF) can mail me cash, a check, or your bank account information and I can take care of everything. But anyway... a new bass would be great to buy with Kroger money but my dream bass will have to wait a little while longer because... (insert your own trumpet sounds here, you know, the kind that goes on the intro to movies or a great unveiling of a wonder)... I'm getting a new bass! Ok, not actually a new bass. It actuality it is quite an old bass- 9 years older than me! Think about that. This "new" bass was pretty used when I was in diapers! I will soon be purchasing a 1978 Rickenbacker 4001 from a church friend who's looking to clear some clutter out of his house. The Rickenbacker has a very distinct sound and he hasn't found much use for it in the past years. I'll be getting it Wednesday to try it out and make sure I want to buy it so I'm pretty excited about that. Hmm, I guess that's about all I have to say right now.

It's been awhile... It's been awhile. I haven't blogged in a long time. Oh well, I'm doing it now. I finally got a job. After 18 years and 10 months of living a carefree, no-worries, no-hassles life, I have a job. Full time at that. I'm a cashier at kroger. Yes, Kroger. I know what you're all thinking: Lets go to Kroger so we can go see Derek and go through his line! Well I'm going to advise against that at the moment. You see, I'm not that good at my job. I am still making a lot of mistakes and unless you've got a lot of time to spare then I would just pick another line... U Scan is always open and they don't let me mess with that stuff yet. But, if you do come through my line then I would suggest not buying any produce unless it is bananas, green or red peppers, or plums. Those are about the only produce codes that I have memorized by now: 4011, 4065, 4088, and 4040. I'm sure that I'll memorize more as time goes on but I don't really want to. I probably won't work this job once college starts. Well, I don't know... I might come back and work Christmas break and summer but then again, maybe I won't. You see, I'm going to tell you how it is right now. I'm going to lay it on the line and I'm going to be completely honest. This job is not for "college money". No no, not at all. This is a job to provide money so that I can buy a new bass. Yes, that's right, a new bass. Hopefully I will have enough by Christmas so that I can buy what I want and still have enough on which to live. I guess we'll see if I keep the job once I buy the bass.
Oh, I've decided to give banjo another shot. It's very frustrating learning a new instrument but I want to give it a lot more effort this time around. I just thought that I'd put it on this blog so that I feel more of an obligation to stick with this decision now. I'll keep you posted with any progress.
Go check out the new JMB website. It'll rock your socks off. Good job Andrew. You deserve a nice pizza pie.

We are on myspace! Kelly just created a page for us on myspace: www.myspace.com/thejoshmartinband I'm pretty sure that's it. There are a few songs on there that will be on our next cd (hopefully out in a few weeks!) That is all for now.

I am officially a high school graduate. To be honest, I didn't think that I would feel any different. Since we had to wait over a week since school let out so we could finally graduate- I thought all the feelings would wear off and graduation would just be one more thing to take care of. But, in actuality, I feel older. It's an interesting feeling that I'm not quite used to yet. I guess I did have one last hoorah before leaving high school for good. Project Graduation was last night. Project Grad was created to give high school students an alternative to going out and partying after graduation. Instead everyone goes back to school for a lock-in with free food, live music, games, and, most importantly, prizes! At the end of last night, every senior ended up with a prize worth at least $50. They gave away tvs, microwaves, dvd players, dorm fridges, and printers. Luckily, my name was drawn for a dvd player- I did not have one yet. At the end of the night, most people had already gone home and there were about 20 seniors left. There were still prizes on stage so they let us all pick up something else. I grabbed a fridge and after a little bit of haggling, left with a tv as well! What a great night!

Let my love affair with the Bass Pod begin! Wow, I absolutely love that thing. I used it last night for the first time with JMB and it gave me more than I ever could have imagined. This was money well spend. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed that much of a difference, but my tone was a lot tighter than it's ever been which made my playing much better. I can't wait until Saturday when I can use it again. I was so pleased with the sound I was using that I was too hesitant to try out many other sounds live. I did switch to an Acoustic 360 sound for Billy Graham with a Mu-Tron envelope filter for my solo. Hopefully I'll be figuring out more sounds to use in concert.
At the current moment, I am listening to Caedmon's Call. I have also been listening to a lot of Derek Webb (former member of Caedmon's) and I've discovered that no matter how far away I stray from this kind of music (poppy, acoustic rock) I always come back. This is by far my favorite style of music and I could listen to it all day. I've also discovered that it's my absolute favorite music to play. Now that you've been inside of my mind for a few seconds you should probably get out before it get's wierd in there.

The world of amp modeling is pleased to welcome it's newest member: Mr. Derek Hughes!
I did it. I bought a brand new Line 6 Bass PodXT Live- the new floorboard model. My dad and I went to Guitar Center in Cinn. after he got off work today so that I could try it out and decide if I wanted to buy it. After messing with it for about 15 min. I decided that it was definitely right for me. I'm so excited right now- I just got done messing with it some more up in my living room and I can tell that it's really going to be great for me. I'm sure that I will never use it to it's full potential (well, not now anyway) and I won't use a lot of effects or different amps with JMB but I am looking forward to seeing where it will take me. I hope that I can figure out enough settings to use it with JMB on Thursday.

School's out! I'm not sure if I'm sad or not. I don't think that I am- but maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet ya know? Oh well, we'll see. Perhaps all of my newfound free time will allow for more blogging. Let's hope so because at the moment, I feel like a complete blogging failure.

11 more days until school is out! I'm very very ready to be out of high school. That doesn't have much to do with the rest of this quote but it felt like a good intro at the time. JMB played a concert at The Point (andrew's church, new crestwood) and it was great to skip the band banquet. Yes, that's right, I skipped my Senior Band banquet. Well, I didn't skip all of it, I actually showed up in time to have my name called and to receive an award... but I did miss the chicken. But anyway, back to the concert! It was really awesome tonight. There are some performances where you go away feeling like something was missing all night, and then there are concerts that you leave trying to figure out what magic just took place on the stage. There were a few moments tonight where EVERYONE was on fire- not just Doug this time! If anyone hasn't heard JMB since we've added Doug Dearinger playing lead guitar, come see us! Doug has added to much to the band and he knows exactly how to make all of us sound great.

Wow, I really need to start making myself post everyday- I feel like I'm letting everyone down. I'm sure that my millions of followers are going nuts since it's been six days since I last posted- sorry guys! I am happy to say, though, that I think my school year is pretty much over. Yesterday, I completed my last AP test (Music Theory, quite difficult) and the !Fly Guys had their last performance and pasted on the dance floor to the next generation, FG3. This week we also had our last Jazz Band performance and Choir's final songs will be at graduation. Since we have already performed the songs we will be singing at our last concert- practice will be a minimum I'm sure. So, hopefully, I won't be doing much of anything else at school for the rest of the year.
A few days ago, I was musically inspired, by a drummer nonetheless, to strive for something better. Mr. Jim Tyler, my eighth grade math teacher and an amazing drummer, did a few performances last thursday during band. I skipped my English class to watch him during the percussion class, then I heard him during Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and Music Theory. Since I have left the middle school, he has begun to learn how to play songs on his set. Real songs, not just rhythms, but actual songs. This man has probably 15-20 toms set up in front of him and overhead, all tuned to different pitches which he uses to play melodies and harmonies while still keeping insane rhythms with double bass, snare, and a plethera of cymbals. He made me realize how shallow I was being with my bass playing. I've discovered that there is so much more to be done on the instrument and I'm just a liar if I call myself a bass player but only cover a small percentage of that. I'll keep you posted as I go off the deep end onto the road less traveled in bassdom.

I'm baaaaack! Life has been CRAZY these past couple weeks and I've been constantly kicking myself for my lack of dedication to this blog. I suppose the biggest thing that has happened in the past few weeks would have to be Prom which was last night. Ah, prom... where do I begin? Quite arguably, the largest, most lavish, most expensive high school dance in Kentucky. Franklin County is known practically all over the state for their prom and with a $22,000 bill, it's no surprise. While, the decorations were amazing, it didn't seem any different from the tons of other dances that I've gone to throughout the past four years. Oh, well, it was fun. I must leave now and prepare to go visit my grandparents in Cambellsville- Happy Mothers Day Mommy!

So, I went over to Kelly's today to fix a few of my troubled spots on "Not So Easily Pleased" (from now on I will use the acronym NSEP and everyone will have to keep up). I ended up fixing three songs I think. I showed up about 10 minutes after Josh left, he re-recorded all of his vocals this afternoon. This new album is starting to sound better and better- I'm getting pretty excited about it. And just between you and me, the title track is amazingly tight and funky. At the end of the song in the solo sections that go from Doug to Kelly and back to Doug, the band falls into this groove... ah, you just have to wait and hear it for yourself.
I've decided to buy a new bass. Yes, a new bass. "What kind?" I hear you asking. Well, I haven't quite decided yet. It won't be any time soon, maybe a few more months after graduation (these things cost money you know!) But anyway, my latest and greatest idea has to do with this ebay story called The STRATosphere. They sell Fender guitar and bass parts, mostly Japanese parts from the past 10 years. I am wanting to buy a ReIssue of a 1962 jazz bass body (comes fully loaded with pickups and electronics) and a ReIssue of a 1962 or 1970 precision bass neck (with tuners). I like the jazz pickups and body style, but that slim neck will be the death of me. I've been playing my 5 string much too long to yearn for a skinny neck. I still love my 5 string but there is something super cool about fender 4 strings. Maybe more to come on that later. I will continue my research.

I haven't posted in a few days because my life has been extremely busy- but it's been pretty awesome. Friday night was my last piano recital- number 12. I have enjoyed piano immensely but I am excited about moving on in so many areas in my life. After the recital, I went up my youth group's Spring Retreat at Cedarmore. I missed the first couple of sessions but I was able to catch up by Saturday. Last night JMB played a concert for my youth group- many of the people had no idea that I was in a band of any sorts! And while JMB isn't geared towards youth at all, everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Towards the end of the concert we slowed down a lot and went into 4 or 5 worship songs to set the mood for a prayer service to follow. WOW! I do not think that I have ever been a part of a more powerful worship service. God was speaking to me so much last nigh, it was just so amazing. Usually at the end of services like that I go away feeling so guilty because God used that time to point out all of the sins in my life of which I should repent. But it wasn't like that at all last night. It was as if God sat me down and simply said "Derek, I am God, and I am awesome. Worship me." It was such a great service. We are about to leave in 30 minutes or so and head up to my aunt and uncle's church in Indiana to play a concert tonight. We have played there before and last time the crowd was so open and receptive to the holy spirit- I'm really looking forward to tonight. More later...

Warning! This post is filled with musical jargon and some potentially boring content. You have been warned.

Let the quest begin. Last night I began my quest for the ultimate bass tone. Since listening to the rough mix of our newest album I've realized that I'm going about bass tone all wrong. All this time I have been searching for this perfect soloed bass tone, this tone that sounds exactly how I want it to sound... when I play by myself. But there's no way that this sound will work in the JMB. I need a less bassy, more midrangy, distint, cutting sound in order to get through 3 guitars and keyboards. I've been doing some research about different recording options and eq suggestions and I feel like such a loser. My amp has a graphic equalizer and I have been adjusting my sound by boosting the bass like crazy, leveling out for the mids, and then dropping a little bit of the highs off. While there could be worse things to do to my sound, this is not at all good. The lowest two frequencies that I've been boosting aren't even really audible to the human ear, and therefore, result in mostly low rumble and air movement. What I should be doing is cut those back drastically and mostly use the mid controls to shape my tone. I can't wait until Saturday when I can finally play through my whole rig again and try to fix what I've spent years messing up. I'll keep you posted on the details.

It's been a few days since I last posted and, to be honest, I haven't missed it that much. I'm sure that as my life goes on I will grow more attached to this blog but it hasn't happened yet. Although it has been nice to have a place to speak my mind... oh well. The last couple of nights, my friends and myself have had the pleasure of experiencing Zaireeka. I am certain that only a handful of people reading this blog have ever heard of Zaireeka so I will explain. Zaireeka is a Flaming Lips album recorded in 1997, a four disk album. Now, it's not that it's so long that it takes up 4 whole cds, no, each cd actually contains the same 8 songs. But, each disk holds a different part to each song. On track 1, disk 1 might have drums and some vocal, disk 2 might contain some guitar, and so on and so forth. In order to hear the songs as a whole, you must play all 4 disks on 4 separate cd players and sync them up. It takes a few attempts to get them together but the results are well worth it. Being extremely experimental, Zaireeka has really opened up my eyes to what music is and can be. I encourage you all to look it up and read a little about it, I don't think you'll be sorry.

No need to fear... I have returned. I'm sure that everyone was pretty worried about me since I didn't post anything yesterday. I got no fewer than 47 emails from concerned fans making sure I was still alive. Actually, that didn't really happen. I'm not even sure if anyone realized that I didn't get on yesterday. Oh well! I didn't finish my spanish essay and while it was quite difficult to write, I was able to knock it out in about an hour. Yesterday, The Capital City Boys played a benefit concert with The Palmer Sisters and The Gary Polston Family to raise money for Send-a-Kid-to-Camp. It was a pretty fun night all around and a little over $1000 was raised making it possible to send 15.3333333333 kids to a christian camp this summer. I'm not sure which kid is going to be the 1/3 but either way, I don't think I want to be around when they cut him up. Normally, I would be sleeping right now. It's early Saturday morning and I wish that I could still be in bed but at 9, our church is hosting a free car wash and oil change for single women in the community. It's a really neat service that is provided. While their oil is being changed (by the bubbas of the church) and car washed (by the youth), a lady from our ladies ministry takes the women inside to talk to her. You can be sure that the gospel will be shared many times today and that is the most awesome thing of all. I'm pretty excited to see what happens today. I'll see you guys later...

Homework... bleh. Tonight I have to write a 200 word essay in spanish about whether or not I believe that fashion reflects who a person is on the inside. I could barely write that much about the topic in english. Maybe more posts tonight... if I make it out alive, but if I don't come back, I just want to tell you all that I love you and it's been real fun. Oh, and don't let my family sell my stuff yet, give me a few years in case I've actually been stranded on some island with only a volleyball for a friend. Later...

I am sitting here at the computer doing some research on different basses through harmonycentral reading reviews and what not and my dad just came down to play piano. He is playing songs from his southern gospel group, The Joymakers. For those unfamiliar with The Joymakers, they are one of the longest lasting southern gospel groups ever (Dad says that this is the groups 49th year.) Although the members have frequently changed the ministry has never stopped. The southern gospel world lost a great man this week with the passing of Tim Durall, Joymakers' tenor. My parents just got back from visitation and the funeral with be tomorrow. Tim was in his second stint with The Joymakers, I believe, and I have often listened to early Joymakers' recordings when Tim was with them in the past. The voice that comes through the speakers is honestly one of the best southern gospel tenor voices that I have ever heard. Not only was he an excellent vocalist, he was also one heck of a songwriter, writing many Joymaker songs throughout the years and also writing songs performed by professional groups. I have been priviledged to have been able to play with The Joymakers on a few occasions and Tim was always so much fun to be around. He will be greatly missed.

I recently obtained Derek Webb's new CD, "Mockingbird" and it is absolutely amazing. For those who aren't familiar with Derek Webb, he was one of the singer/ songwriters in Caedmon's Call and is currently in the midst of a successful solo career. His latest album looks deep into God, politics, and social issues. Here are some lyrics that have been rolling through my mind the last couple of days from "Mockingbird."

there are two great lies that i've heard: the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him -from A King & A Kingdom

peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication it's like telling someone murder is wrong and then showing them by way of execution -from My Enemies Are Men Like Me
are we defending life when we just pick and choose lives acceptable to lose and which ones to defend -from Love Is Not Against The Law

don't teach me about moderation and liberty, i prefer a shot of grape juice -from A New Law

my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man, my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood it's to a king & a kingdom -from A King & A Kingdom

come on and follow Me, but sell your house, sell your suv, sell your stocks, sell your security and give it to the poor -From Rich Young Ruler

I love live albums. I just want to say that right off the bat. Now, a lot can be said for an extremely deep, extremely produced studio effort, but it always lacks the energy level and the overall ambience of the live recording. I've finished listening to our newest studio project and have began listening to the live board feed from our Freedom Experience benefit concert a couple weeks ago. I am proud to say that I consider the JMB a live band. Now, you may ask yourself, what is a live band? Don't all bands play live? A live band is simply a band that is better live. It's a band that communicates well onstage. It's a band that puts on a much better show in the spotlight than in your cd player. As I listen to this recording (live), I am actually a little disappointed in my performance at Cedarmore in the studio. I don't know if my style developed so much between the two days or if I am just timid when that red light goes on, but my playing live is much more melodic and in the pocket. I'm not saying that I'm not proud of my work on "Not So Easily Pleased", I'm just saying that I wish I would've thought a little more about my parts before recording them. You see, that's the funny thing about recordings. They represent exactly where you are as a musician at that moment, almost like a snapshot. But years (or months in my case) down the road you go back a listen and instead of feeling nostalgia, you often feel anguish and regret thinking "Why did I play that note there?" or "Why weren't we together going into that bridge?" With live recordings, I sometimes feel the same way, but there is so much more that goes into a live show than just playing notes. Whereas studio time is dedicated to getting music recorded, live shows are focused on energy, getting the audience involved, and if you miss a few notes or rhythms, the show isn't a bust at all. You can listen to those concerts and immediately be taken back and overwhelmed with feelings of pride, sentimentality, and inspiration to get back on the stage. I hope there will be a new JMB live album coming out this year. We'll surely keep you posted.

After Capital City Boys practice tonight, Josh handed me a copy of the rough mix thus far to JMBs newest album and also a live recording from a few weeks ago. I listened to the rough mix a couple times so far and I'm pretty excited about it. Andrew has been doing all of the mixing and although he isn't finished yet it's sounding like a real band- go figure! The only areas that I would improve would be the vocals- they sound dry (no effects added) and there are a couple instances where the background vocals could stand to be brought up a little more. Andrew- thank you so much for taking time out of your busy life to get this cd finished. And who knows? If it turns out to be good, you might find yourself being treated to an ice cream cone!
So... here's some proof in the pointlessness of high school (as if you needed more). For the next couple of weeks we have CATS testing at our school. The seniors have to do an on-demand writing that will take 90 min. on wednesday but tomorrow is a testing day for the rest of the school as well. The seniors will be attending a seminar entitled "Making College Count" and then sitting around in homeroom for 3 hours doing NOTHING. Therefore, I have decided to skip school tomorrow. Not all day- just until lunch is over and we have to go back to regular class (I can't afford to miss calculus or spanish). Out.

I've been thinking and have come to the conclusion that a blog should be observed as you would a story. Because what more is a blog than a running commentary on one's life? Therefore, as to not start my story in medias res, I should start with some sort of opening explaining a little about me.
Hi, my name is Derek Hughes (as you can clearly see at the left side of the page) and I am 18 years old. I am currently enrolled as a senior at Franklin County High School and I cannot wait until graduation. It's not that I haven't enjoyed high school, because I honestly have. Sad as it may sound, school is definitely pretty high on my "fun things I've done list" and I'm sure that I will miss high school dearly. But still, I am ready to move on to a new chapter in my life as I become a freshman at the University of Kentucky. OOOOOOOH C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS! Actually, I am already enrolled in my classes and have been accepted into the Fine Arts Living Learning Community (a community of all of fine art aficionados) which places me in my first-choice dorm, New North. I'll be majoring in Vocal Music Education in hopes of eventually attending seminary and becoming a music minister at a nice Southern Baptist church.
Yes, that's right- I am a Southern Baptist. I am a member of Buck Run Baptist church here in Frankfort and have been for about 16 years now. Wow- time flies huh? I am involved in the youth praise band, Hott Rob and the Heartbreakers, and also the regular praise band, sans any cool name. I am also a member of the church. Not some fancy building- but the holy body of believers that Chirst has chosen as his bride.
I believe that all humans are truly wicked to the core and that our sin separates us from the one true God. There is nothing that we can do on our own to get close to God and that failure to do so results in us all going to hell when we die- eternal separation from God. Although this truth may sound terrible, God is just and cannot allow any blemish into his perfect kingdom. Thankfully, He allowed a way for our salvation to be possible. He came to earth in the form of man to live a perfect life and to show us the way of holiness. That man was Jesus and He was murdered for our sake. The sin of God's people was placed on Jesus and God poured out all of His wrath, the wrath that was intended for us, and Jesus died. But, 3 days later, He raised Himself up from the dead and whoever believes in this truth with a truly repentant heart will have eternal salvation with Him in heaven. That truth is my reason for living. It is the only real shred of hope that I have and I desire to live my life in such a way that everyone realizes that.
I can't think of much of a segue- so I'll just start talking about music. Music is a huge aspect of my life and I am fortunate to be involved in so many awesome groups. I have been playing piano for the past 12 years and I began playing bass in the 6th grade. I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am a bass player. For years I regarded myself as a pianist who also played bass but just in this past year I've realized that I am, indeed, a bass player. More to come on bass later. Probably a few posts dedicated to it actually. I play in a southern gospel group, The Capital City Boys, and also The Josh Martin Band. If you are on my blog you have probably heard of The Josh Martin Band so you know what we sound like. If you don't know- I would probably not be the best person to ask because I'm not quite sure how to classify us. We have been described in the past as, no joke, "progressive country gospel". I don't have a clue as to what that means! If you have a better explanation I'd love to hear it.
Well, that appears to be a pretty good intro to my new blog. I have obviously left out much of my life and I plan on covering those areas in much greater detail in posts to come. But until then, you stay classy San Diego.

Well, I finally did it. I have accepted the fact that everyone must have a blog. If you haven't come to this realization yet- just wait. I have been putting this off for awhile now. Ever since The Josh Martin Band has started blogging I've longed for a blog of my very own- not necessarily because I believe people want to read about me or my life, but because that's how it should be! No, I'm just kidding. I just want my own little online space, dedicated to sharing my thoughts, interests, struggles, corny jokes, and (occasionally) some inspirational thoughts. So, if you're reading this, I just want to say thanks for taking time to visit and there will be a lot more to come...