The Sidelines

Tumblr

2010-12-21T04:53:00.001-06:00

I've moved my blog over to Tumblr..... You can find it at:

http://jonsteingard.tumblr.com,

or just jonathansteingard.com, as that points to the tumblr site now.

Thanks for checking in!

Jonathan

The Much-Debated Existence of Gwar

2010-11-15T17:52:00.004-06:00

So last night was the final night of our Fly Me To The Show tour. Fun times were had by all.... Maybe a little TOO fun! Haha. The evening gradually descended into the realm of prank night, with various bands pulling stunts on each other. Haha. Prank night is always a blast.

For example, Paul, the audio guy on the tour, ran up on stage dressed up as a crazed hawk fan, complete with an ensemble of hawk apparel, and demanded each of our autographs during a song. Earlier, the entire tour joined John Reuben in his little interlude sway/dance. Britt Nicole and her drummer Josh decided to prank us by writing "What stinks up here? Who farted?" on a white board and bringing it on stage. Of course, Jas turned it around on her when she pointed to herself to claim responsibility for the joke... Jas yelled "It was Britt!" Also, the entire tour joined us on stage for a group rendition of our song "Ode to Lord Stanley".

It was a fairly loose, laid back evening, with a ton of crazy stuff going on. As the evening got crazier, Jas explained to the crowd that it's the last night of tour, and that's why the show is so unusual.... I commented to the crowd that it would be crazy to see a band that's already nuts on their last show of tour.... Like Gwar or some crazy band like that. I brought up Gwar because they're probably the most extreme example of a band that is known for having absolutely over-the-top shows. I made that comment, and thought nothing of it.

Well after the show, a young man comes up to us during signing and asks, "Who thought it was a good idea to bring up Gwar at a Christian Concert?" I quickly claimed responsiblity for the comment, and he proceeded to ask me why I thought it was appropriate to bring up a band like Gwar in front of an audience of Christians.... He suggested that I should have used Underoath or Norma Jean as an example instead, because they're Christian bands.

This young man is clearly serious about his faith, and I commend him for that... But what he is implying is that as a Christian musician, I have a responsibility to act as if Christian music is the only music in existence. He is confronting me on my "reality infraction" because I referenced a band that is not Christian, and therefore, not a part of his perception of the world.

The thing is, I have never even listened to Gwar. I don't know the name of a single song, album, or member. I've never seen them live or on TV... but because I'm in my twenties, I live in North America, and I'm ALIVE... I am aware of their reputation for having insane live shows, and it was that reputation I was referring to in my comment. Am I endorsing them or their behavior? No! I simply referenced their reputation.

This would hardly be blog-worthy if it was an isolated incident.... but because the 4 of us in Hawk Nelson are Christians, and we play primarily Christian events, we come across people like this fairly often.

Recently we played at a "Christian club" where the venue refused to let our crew guys test the audio system with "non-Christian" music. This interfered with them doing their job, because they use the same songs to test the system every day. That's how they ensure some level of consistency from show to show. The venue ended up clearing their staff out of the venue for 20 minutes to allow our crew to do their job.... because they didn't want their staff to be "exposed to secular music". I mean, it's commendable sentiment, but who decides what's Christian or not? Is U2 Christian? Is Switchfoot? Is Thrice? What makes a band Christian or not? Having Christians in the band? Being on Christian radio?

Fundamentally, what on earth is wrong with listening to music created by non-Christians? Is it fair to make such a blanket rule against it? Shouldn't every piece of music, every artist, every song, stand for itself?

I guess this whole line of thought leads me to a place where I start to question the spirit behind it all.... I tend to think that when we start to allow a spirit religion to rule our lives, it's easy to miss the core of what God intends. When we rely on rules, regulations, and guidelines to rule our lives and "keep us out of trouble", we can miss some of the freedom that Salvation brings.

I'm reminded that when Jesus walked the earth, the people he was most critical of were the Pharisees... The religious institutions..... The people that made rules and protocols more important than the heart behind them. Clearly from this example, it's possible to follow all the religious rules, and still miss the point. The Pharisees sure did.

So I ask myself, who am I more like? The Pharisees or the Disciples? Am I more like the religious clerics who are all about rules, protocols, and establishments? Or am I more like the ragtag band of Jesus-followers that wanted nothing more than to follow Him? That's a question every believer should wrestle with.

I would never claim to have it all figured out, and I certainly don't have all the answers for some of these difficult questions. These are things that we each need to wrestle with for ourselves.... As I've wrestled with them, these are some of the thoughts I've come to. Maybe you will come to different ones.... but what's important is the struggle.

Wisdom is knowledge that is fought for and earned. It costs us something, and that's why it's so valuable.

Jonathan

The Touring Life

2010-11-13T10:37:00.005-06:00

So we've reached the final weekend of our Fly Me To The Show tour. It's been a great tour..... John Reuben, Britt Nicole, and Revive were a blast to tour with. I certainly hope they had as much fun as we did.

Last night we were in Port Huron, Michigan... at a theater there. The show ended up selling out, and it was a packed house. These shows are my favorite.... packed out small theaters. The setting can be somewhat intimate without feeling tiny or unsuitable for a rock show. :)

We had a few special moments during the acoustic section of our show that will be quite memorable for me, and hopefully everyone else who was there. Travis, the truck driver for the tour, joined us on violin, and it was heavenly (he's quite the violinist!)! It's special moments like that, especially the unscripted ones, that make live music so fun for me.

After 6 years of touring and playing shows, I can honestly say I still love it. I still love traveling (although I also love complaining about it sometimes. haha...), and I still love playing music live. For me, it's all about chasing down those special moments during a performance.... looking for opportunites to create something memorable.

I really appreciate the guys I'm in a band with. I've been making music with Dan and Jas for 6 years, and Justin has been with us for about 3.... so we've spent a LOT of time playing together. We've gotten pretty good at reading each other, and sometimes we'll change something on the fly.... simply by giving each other a look. I love being in a group whose members can read each other that well..... and one that embraces spontaneity so much.

Having said all that..... sometimes that spontaneity takes us on a ride which does NOT involve musical skill..... for instance........ last weekend at our show at Club 3 Degrees in Minneapolis, Justin and Jason decided to switch positions for the song "California". They've done this once or twice before, but it's still hilarious every time it happens. For those who don't know... Justin is the karaoke KING, and it he can prove it....

Ahh, the joys of the touring life.... Yes those WERE written lyrics that Justin pulled out of his pocket... Sorry we didn't have the screen with the bouncing ball, Buddy!

Jonathan

Ode To Lord Stanley in Cullman Alabama

2010-10-17T17:53:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we played in Alabama to a crowd of about 8,000, and we all sang "Ode To Lord Stanley" together.... I captured the moment from stage.......

Jonathan

Give Me an H to the A to the W K!

2010-10-12T12:49:00.005-05:00

So we've started the first week of our FLY ME TO THE SHOW tour.....

It's been a great start!

Frisco, TX, and Longview, TX, thanks for being so awesome!

Next weekend we're headed to Indianapolis, IN, Cullman, AL, and Jacksonville, FL.

Hope to see you there!

Jonathan

Like Family

2010-10-02T21:01:00.005-05:00

Today was a good day.

We played a festival called Sonfest in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. It was cold and rainy, and basically worst-case scenario for an outdoor show.... but it was a GREAT day nonetheless. You see, the lineup was full of bands that we love playing with.... and have great friendships with. Specifically Disciple and TFK... These guys really are a lot like family.

Our friends in Disciple just released a new record called "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades"... and it's ALL I've listened to since I bought a pickup truck last week! Haha. Seriously though, this record is awesome. If you haven't heard it, check it out. It's awesome.

They opened their show with "The Ballad of St. Augustine". I love this song on the record, and I think I like it even more live. The guitars are TIGHT with the drums, and the breakdown in the bridge is killer. They also played new songs "Dear X (You Don't Own Me)", "Watch It Burn", and "Worth The Pain".... Seriously.... have I mentioned how great this record is?

Thousand Foot Krutch headlined the show today... and it's always a pleasure to play shows with them. We've known these guys since WAY back in the days of local bands in Ontario. They're veterans in this business, and they've taught us so much over the years. Their latest record is called "Welcome to the Masquerade..." and it's pretty awesome too. Check it out!

In HN news, there are a lot of exciting things going on right now. Our first single is called "Crazy Love" and it's hitting radio now... so PLEASE call your local radio station and request it! You can listen to it on Hawk Nelson's facebook page, and it hits iTunes for sale October 26th!

Also, we're doing a Halloween promotion with a new song... "Skeleton". This is a straight-up old-school Hawk Nelson punk song..... a throw back to the Letters to the President days. It will be available for FREE DOWNLOAD around halloween - but only for a few days. After that, it will also be available for sale at iTunes. So for you folks who love Hawk Nelson, but "miss the old Hawk Nelson" - check out this awesome punk song!

That's all for now! Email me at jonathansteingard@gmail.com if you've got any questions about any of this, and I'll do my best to email back!

Jonathan

Fly Me To The Show Tour

2010-09-23T11:39:00.003-05:00

Hey All -

If you haven't heard already - Hawk Nelson is heading back out on the road for some shows this fall, and we're taking some friends with us - Britt Nicole, Revive, and John Rueben. It's gonna be a blast! It's called the Fly Me To The Show Tour.

We've got all sorts of fun stuff in the works for the tour, so come check it out at one of the following dates!

Go to www.flymetotheshow.com for more info!

Oct 9th, 2010 Frisco, Texas Pizza Hut Park

Oct 10th, 2010 Longview, Texas S.E. Belcher Jr. Chapel

Oct 15th, 2010 Indianapolis, Indiana The Irving Theater

Oct 16th, 2010 Cullman, Alabama Cullman County Fairgrounds

Oct 17th, 2010 Jacksonville, Florida Murray Hill Theater

Oct 28th, 2010 Lancaster, Pennsylvania Manor Church

Oct 29th, 2010 Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield Evangelical Free Church

Oct 30th, 2010 Charleston, Maine Charleston Pentecostal Church

Oct 31st, 2010 South Portland, Maine South Portland Church of the Nazarene

Nov 2nd, 2010 Syracuse, New York The Westcott Theater

Nov 4th, 2010 Gladstone, Michigan Grace Church - Gladstone

Nov 5th, 2010 Minneapolis, Minnesota Club 3 Degrees

Nov 11th, 2010 Monroe, Michigan River Raisin Centre For The Arts

Nov 12th, 2010 Port Huron, Michigan McMorran Pavilion

Nov 13th, 2010 Gaylord, Michigan Evangelical Free Church

Nov 14th, 2010 Canton, OH Bethel Temple Assembly of God

..... and here's the little promo video....

Hope to see you all there!

Jonathan

The Economy of Hope

2010-09-14T08:22:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I watched a series of videos on YouTube of Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope.... I had never seen it before, and I'm a fan of Dave, so I took the time to watch the videos.... (It's a 90 minute video broken into nine 10-min vids on Youtube - just search "Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope" to watch).

I was so inspired by Dave's talk..... and I wanted to share some of that with you.

Over the last few years there has been a TON of dire talk about the state of the economy.... how BAD things are, and how we haven't seen anything this bad since the GREAT DEPRESSION. The media refers to this present downturn as the Great Recession.

The videos get a little bit technical sometimes, but the underlying message is incredibly inspiring. The media loves to paint a dire picture of the state of things, and while things really are bad out there.... there are plenty of reasons to have hope.... Below are a few details... skip ahead if you wish.

Other recessions have happened in the past 30 years, and these previous recessions were actually WORSE in many ways (i.e. Mortgage Interest rates were up around 17% during the early 80's recession! They are down near 4% now!).

60% of all the foreclosures are in 5 states, Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, and Michigan. So if you live elsewhere, things may not be great right now, but they are probably not as bad as they SEEM if you watch CNN all day.

The media covered the stock market crash of Fall '08 in GREAT DETAIL, but the 25% rally that happened in the following 6 months was barely mentioned. A 25% rally in 6 months, and barely a peep from the media?

If we believe the dire headlines, we will begin to be taken over by a spirit of fear. This is not of God. The Bible talks about sowing your fields with hope... meaning... despite the circumstances, if you get after life with a passionate and positive outlook, God will honor that.... and incredible things will happen.

You are still in control of your own life. It is what you make it. God loves us, and wishes to prosper us, but that doesn't mean we can prosper while sitting on the couch. God comes through with opportunities. Ask him for patience, and he'll give you an opportunity to be patient. Ask for wisdom, and he'll give you an opportunity to make a wise choice. Ask for a way to provide for your family, and he will give you two hands and a strong back.

Anyways, you get the idea. I know there are a lot of people that disagree with some of Dave's financial teachings, but I've been inspired by them. They seem to me, to be the opposite of wishful thinking. The area in which these videos inspired me most is my attitude. It made me realize that there are no downsides to working hard with an infectious positivity. No good can come of endless gossip, negativity, or "loser talk" as Dave calls it.

So I am resolved to become better at what I do. I will work harder, and with a more positive point of view. I want to go to bed exhausted at the end of the night, because that is good for me. I want to be kind to those around me, and bring out the best in people. I want to be a more valuable member of my team. There are no downsides to any of these things.

Obviously this kind of thing isn't a magic bullet for success, but like Conan said, "If you work hard, and you're kind to people, amazing things will happen."

Jonathan

Live Life Loud in Calgary

2010-08-28T15:22:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we got to play an awesome Franklin Graham event in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This is, of course, the home of Jason's favorite hockey team, the Flames. He opted to wear a Flames shirt underneath his show clothes at the start of the show, so he could proudly rock Flames stuff later in the set...

It was a great time, and Ransom.TV posted a great video of our last song of the day.... Live Life Loud. Check it out!

Jonathan

Franklin Graham on CNN

2010-08-20T06:12:00.002-05:00

Last night I just happened to flip over to CNN, and I saw John King interview Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham. It was about a 12 minute interview, and I was so appreciative of how direct Pastor Graham was..... He shared the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.... directly and repeatedly. I counted 3 times.

During the interview he was asked many direct questions about Islam. He speaks out very strongly against Islamic teachings, but still always comes back to his main point.... that Jesus Christ died on the cross for ALL of our sins, and that salvation is ours if we but accept it through faith.

It was awesome to hear such a bold sharing of the gospel on CNN.

I managed to find the first few minutes of the interview here.....

They go on to talk more about Islam, and Pastor Graham shares the truth of the gospel several more times. At one point I was listening to the interview while making dinner, and literally cheered every time he looked directly into the camera and talked about salvation through Jesus Christ.

If CNN posts the entire interview, I'll put it up here... but for now check out the portion above!

Jonathan

Hawk Nelson with Red Eyes

2010-08-17T18:41:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we played in Alaska, and then took a Red Eye flight to Minneapolis to play in Minnesota the next day.....

Hawk Nelson with Red Eyes from jonsteingard on Vimeo.

Jonathan

G-G-Guns!

2010-08-13T00:16:00.003-05:00

We're up in Alaska at the moment..... and one of the cool things about this place is that the gun laws are........... well, let's say "relaxed".

Jonathan

Photo Montage: Fly Dates!

2010-08-09T14:20:00.003-05:00

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be in a traveling band?

Have you ever thought about how glamourous it must be to fly all over the world and play amazing shows?

Sure there's some awesome experiences, a good amount of fun, and some music played... but there is also a lot of what I like to call "awkward sleep".

Here is a photo montage of some "awkward sleep" moments from this past weekend....

Jonathan

Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford!!!

2010-08-05T15:03:00.001-05:00

I saw this hilarious SNL video - Very funny, but also very true!

Jonathan

Sh-Sh-Sh-Shake it!

2010-08-03T07:49:00.026-05:00

So I've been in the studio again this past week, finishing up guitars for the new hawk nelson record!

Yesterday, I ventured into the magical world of percussion....

J.

Disciple Rocks Dot Com!

2010-08-02T09:13:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we played a festival in Colorado called HeavenFest. A TON of other bands were there, on like 7 stages... It was a great day!

One of the highlights of the day was Disciple's performance. I'm biased, cuz some of these are my close friends.... but I still think they put on a killer show!

They've got a new record coming out next month called Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. I've heard a bunch of the songs and they're KILLER. You need to get this record.

Oh, and on top of that, they have an amazing pre-order package. If you go to disciplerocks.com, you can get the record digitally before it even comes out, and then they'll send you SO much more... plus there's like 7 bonus tracks. Rad, right? Don't be silly, go get it.

Jonathan

Paul Reed Smith EPIC WIN!

2010-07-30T18:43:00.004-05:00

Hey All!

So I know you've all heard me rant about how great PRS guitars are - well, I just wanted to re-iterate the point.... As of today, I've finished up guitars on a brand new Hawk Nelson record - and I used PRS a LOT on this album!

During the rhythm guitar tracking, our best combination was my trusty PRS SC245 goldtop (which is my main live guitar) on one side, and a Gibson Les Paul on the other (thanks to Adam Agee of Stellar Kart - this LP was his!). I can't say enough about how comfortable, reliable, and consistent my SC245 is. It's definitely a lifetime keeper and favorite.

The photo of the goldtop was taken during the Winterjam Tour 2009. Like I said above, this is my go-to guitar for live shows. From the moment I first played it, there was always something special about it.

During the lead guitar tracking..... the two main guitars turned out to be a PRS Mira, and a PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow.

The Mira has a woody tone to it, but it's still got plenty of bite. The mahogany body sans-maple-top is definitely a recognizable tone. The double-cut body lets me get higher up on the neck than any of my other guitars. Today I recorded a guitar solo with it for a song called "Crazy Love". The solo is so high up on the neck, I'm not sure it's possible for me to play it on any other guitar. I might just have to bring my MIRA everywhere with me for the sake of that song (cuz it's gonna be a big ol' single)!

Now, I've RAVED about the SE Semi-Hollow before.... but I've got to again. For lead guitars, this was the first guitar I'd go to 90% of the time..... It's bright and chimey and sits perfectly in that spot in the mix that I'm trying to nail. Beautiful.

I used it for all the shimmery bright lead tones on the record. I also recorded guitar solos for two songs, "Joanna" and "Tally Ho!" with this guitar. Look for some guitarmonies on "Joanna" - YES!

Incidentally, when I'm at home learning songs or writing guitar parts, this is the first guitar I go to. It's bright and clear, but still has plenty of body. When we're at home, it sits next to my desk for easy access anytime I need a great guitar to figure something out on.

This is an incredibly affordable PRS... I think they're $715 in stores? REALLY REALLY WORTH IT.

If you haven't seen it already, I did a video demo of the SE Semi-Hollow a while back. You can check it out here!

When it came to doing drop tunings, I tried a TON of different guitars. I generally try to keep guitars in standard tuning, because they tend to play and sound best there.... but sometimes a drop tuning is called for. For "Tally Ho!" I needed a guitar in drop C#.... but parts of the song are REALLY fast, so I need the tuning to be flawless. I didn't have time to be gentle or subtle with the performance of the parts.

When push came to shove, the PRS Chris Henderson Model performed the best in drop tuning. It was meaty and delicious, and stayed in tune great. Listen for it on all the rhythms in "Tally Ho!"

So there we are folks - a little insight on some of the guitars used on this upcoming Hawk record. I can't wait for you all to hear it!!

Jonathan

Dunn Boys

2010-07-24T09:42:00.003-05:00

Last night, Jason's family band, the Dunn Boys, played in downtown Nashville at Hollywood Disco. I got to be a front-of-house sound guy for the evening.... It was a blast. Good times were had by all! Here's a little clip of their last song - NOVA SCOTIA!

The evening wasn't without a few awkward moments, of course. Somewhere along the line, the MC had mistakenly believed that Hawk Nelson would be playing... I kept hearing him refer to the Boys as Hawk.... Of course, I assumed that he just thought Jason's NAME was Hawk (we get that every day)..... but nope! - sure enough, when The Dunn Boys were introduced, the MC introduced them as Hawk Nelson, and he OWNED it. Awkward.

The handful of people that may have believed the MC must have been very confused when they heard a set full of awesome irish jigs!

Jonathan

Lemme Lemme Update Ya

2010-07-06T13:31:00.002-05:00

So I realize it's been WEEKS since my last post. I'm not sure why exactly, but I just haven't been feelin it. Maybe I needed to take a break. It's definitely not for lack of events to write about - tons has been going on.

We're working on a brand new Hawk Nelson album - most likely to be released in early 2011. Not sure of the exact title of the record yet... we've got a title we're about 80% sure of, but I don't wanna say what it is til we're 100%. In any case..... I've gotta say, it's the most high-energy Hawk Nelson record ever. I'd even cautiously say it's more high-energy than our first album, Letters to the President. Pretty exciting.

We've been working on a ton of tunes over the past few weeks, and settled on 13. There are several SUPER singable songs that I think could be really huge.... and also a couple of ballads... There is ballad in particular (called My Next Breath) that feels like the most honest, meaningful, heartfelt song we've ever recorded. I still get chills.

Then there's another half to the record - the remaining songs are pretty straight up fast-paced punk rock. It's been REALLY fun to throw caution to the wind, and pound out some of the fastest, most energetic punk rock tunes I could possibly imagine HN doing. Several songs are downright silly.

Overall, we set out to focus on the elements of our band that fans really connect with. Over the years we've heard many people tell us that they loved the high energy of "Letters", and the fun spirited "Smile, It's the End of the World". Not to take away from our 3rd (HN is my Friend) and 4th (LiveLifeLoud) albums, but it seems that most HN fans have a special place in their hearts for our 1st (Letters) and 2nd (Smile). We had a ton of fun taking the fun and exciting elements of those two records, and finding ways to meld that with the maturity and experience of the band we've become.

I think HN fans everywhere are really going to love this record.... I can't wait to share it with you!

Jonathan

Live Life Loud Rock Band

2010-06-11T10:17:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure I was aware of this until this morning - but we have a song on Rock Band?!!!

Live Life Loud!

GO HERE to check out the Live Life Loud page on rockband.com...

I saw this video this morning of some people playing the song on Rock Band. It's SO BIZARRE to me to see this. I remember writing these guitar parts, and recording them..... Sitting there, I never would have thought that those notes would end up being played in a game like this.

So Cool!

Jonathan

Pyro at EO Youth Day

2010-06-10T10:27:00.000-05:00

This is a RIDICULOUS video that a fan took during our performance at EO Youth Day in Holland.

Check out the PYRO!!!

Jonathan

Walkabout Zurich

2010-06-09T11:48:00.003-05:00

Zurich was such a beautiful city.

It's amazing to walk around old European cities. They've seen so much history.... far more than our North American cities. Zurich, for instance, has apparently been permanently settled for over 7,000 years, and was formerly called Turicum (thanks wikipedia). It's seen massive empires come and go. Amazing to think about.

Jonathan

Backstage EO Youth Day

2010-06-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

Hey All...

Here's a little video of my experience playing EO Youth Day in Holland!

Jonathan

Live Life Loud Live in Holland

2010-06-06T09:53:00.000-05:00

Hey All.

EO Youth Day's production and crowd was amazing.... Here is our performance of Live Life Loud from yesterday's amazing event!

Jonathan

Hup Holland Hup!

2010-06-05T17:06:00.002-05:00

This was the crowd today - We got them chanting the Dutch chant.... "Hup Holland Hup!"

Always learn local chants!

Amazing crowd. Amazing show. More details to come soon!

Jonathan

Amsterdam

2010-06-04T07:50:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we walked around Amsterdam. What an amazing city!

Soundchecked at EO Festival in Arnhem, Netherlands. This is gonna be a great show tomorrow!!!!

Jonathan

Ode To Lord Stanley!

2010-06-01T12:05:00.002-05:00

If you've seen us play recently, you'll know we've been performing "Ode to Lord Stanley". It's a little diddy about Jas's favorite hockey team, the Calgary flames. We performed it Sunday night at spirit west coast, and our friends over at cmzine caught it on tape. (follow @cmzine on twitter if you feel so inclined!)

Jonathan

Spirit West Coast Del Mar

2010-05-31T15:02:00.002-05:00

I just got home from one of the funnest shows I think I've ever been a part of.

I'm on no sleep, and my brain is fuzzy, so this will be a bit of a mindless rant, but I have been slacking on this blog, and that's gotta stop!

Yesterday, we flew from Tennessee out to California to play Spirit West Coast Del Mar. It was a really busy day with tons of travel, interviews, meet and greets, and that kind of thing.... and by the time dinner rolled around, I was pretty exhausted. We did a mid-afternoon signing session, and met lots of wonderful people - including this woman, who named her dog Hawk Nelson, and made a shirt in his honor! Crazy!

It had been a few years since we played Del Mar, and it's a festival that's kind of dear to my heart. It was at this festival in 2005 that I had "the talk" with the beautiful girl that is now my wife. You know "the talk", right? The incredibly awkward... "um.... I like you..... do you maybe..... like me?" talk. Yeah, that one. Anyways. 5 years ago, I built up the courage to do it. I'm so glad I did!

This year some things were a little different at Del Mar. There was a roof built over the C28 stage, which was nice.... We closed out that stage, and played after Flatfoot 56! If you don't know them, they're a celtic rock band that's been around for a little while. Really fun band.

Anyways... when we hit the stage, we were greeted by one of the most eager, energetic crowds we've played to in a while. I'm gonna let you in on a not-so-secret secret. When a crowd is full of excitement, anticipation, and energy like this one was.... the band WILL ABSOLUTELY play a better show. Guaranteed. It was because of this crowd that this show was so fun.... definitely one of the most energetic and exciting shows we've played all year.....

So, next time you go to see a band you like - don't just stand and stare - jump around, sing along, throw your arms around... have fun! I guarantee the entire show will be better!

Yesterday's San Diego experience was complete with In-N-Out burger. Someone tried explaining to me that it's a Christian Burger place. My response was....... "ooohhhhhhhhh-kay." If I'm truthful, that kind of live-in-a-bubble-and-try-to-stick-to-Christian-everything mentality completely rubs me the wrong way. I mean, what makes a burger Christian? And don't say the Bible verse on the wrapper. Christian or not, their shakes are like 700 calories, and that just ain't right. Haha. Delicious though.

(let's save THAT rant for another day shall we?!)

In any case - San Diego and Spirit West Coast Del Mar were everything I remember and more - thanks for a great festival experience!

On Wednesday we fly out to The Netherlands for our first European Hawk Nelson shows ever! So excited! Let there be blogs!

Jonathan

Lost

2010-05-23T23:33:00.001-05:00

Well Done.

Fin.

2010-05-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

Le Grand Nord Blanc

2010-05-22T23:38:00.002-05:00

So we just played a GREAT show in Muskegon, Michigan. Awesome crowd....... and we're on the bus headed to the Chicago airport.... and then we're flying to Montreal, Quebec, Canada!

This will be my first time playing a show in the french-speaking part of Canada. I've visited Montreal once, but only for a weekend. Now that I've seen so much of the United States, I'm almost ashamed that I never explored Quebec more when I lived just a few short hours drive away. The Old Port District in Montreal has SO much character. Cobblestone streets. Centuries of history.

Unfortunately, this trip falls on a somewhat inopportune moment.... the finale of LOST!

If you're into LOST as much as I am, then you know that there isn't much that can keep you from watching the finale tomorrow night. I'm just lucky we play in the afternoon tomorrow - because from 7pm EST on, I'm gettin' my LOST on. I might even have an iced capp and a box of Timbits with me! Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!

Who here's into LOST. Are you excited? If our hotel has internet I'll most likely blog and tweet while it's all going down... Can't wait!!!

Jonathan

Jas and Justin Share Their Gifts!

2010-05-16T19:41:00.003-05:00

So a few weeks ago we played a show in San Angelo, Texas. It was the last show our spring Live Life Loud tour, and I guess we were all taking things pretty lightly, to say the least. Haha. At one point in the show, Jason decided he wanted to play drums, and have Justin sing. We had never talked about this or planned it at all... so we sort of went... "ohhhhh kay!"

We performed California with Jas on the drums.... and Justin got to share his gift on the microphone. He definitely knew about half the words. Haha.

This is the only video footage I could find on youtube of it... (thanks to britlovesconverse). Email me if you've got more footage of this wondrous event!

Jonathan

The Family Name

2010-05-08T18:08:00.011-05:00

This week, I traveled up to Canada to be with my family, as my grandfather passed away last Saturday. My grandpa Bill was my last remaining grandparent, and he was probably the one I had spent the most time with over the years. Yesterday I attended a visitation along with most of my extended family, to honor and remember my grandfather.

My Grandpa Bill with sons Phil and Kevin

At this visitation, I had many people offer condolences and give friendly hugs to comfort me, and while I appreciated the thoughtfulness, I sometimes sensed a bit of a disconnect between what I was feeling, and what I know these kind people imagined I was feeling. At that moment, I wasn't so much grieved as I was inspired... and in awe of the effect my grandfather's life had the people around him.

A great many people loved my grandfather, and he will be missed by many... myself very much included... I remember very clearly the sort of man my grandfather was. If he had been at this visitation, he would been cracking jokes, waving a video camera around looking for the most exciting part of the room, and basking in the affection of all the people gathered there to remember him. I somehow doubt he would have been dour or subdued. He would have been the life of the party! He might have even rattled off a slightly insensitive death-related pun or two. Haha.

More than anything, I know he would have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support that made its way into that funeral home. I was actually somewhat taken aback by it. In truth, I had seriously underestimated the immense impact he had on so many over the years. He had 8 children (7 with spouses), 13 grandchildren (5 with spouses), and 1 great-grandson. That's a family of 34 (I hope I got that math right).... all of whom he loved very dearly.

The passions and gifts of all these family members can be traced back to grandpa in one way or another. Mine is a family of photographers, musicians, adventure-seekers, and entrepreneurs... with incredible creativity, resourcefulness, playfulness, and generosity. My grandpa had all of these qualities in spades. Over the years he crafted inspirational plaques, shot photographs, sang in a 4-piece quartet, played many instruments, shot and edited video, flew ultralight aircraft, shot arial photography from a blimp, and so much more.... All of us Steingards take after him in one way or another, and most of us follow in some of his many footsteps. It's staggering to see how one man's life can have such a profound impact on so so many.

Most of the Steingard family lives in the Canadian town of Barrie. I didn't live in Barrie until I was about 18, so I didn't experience the full effect of being a Steingard in Barrie until that point. After moving into town, I was shocked at how the name Steingard opened doors there. Upon learning my last name, people would immediately smile, shake my hand, and regale me with a wonderful story of how they know my grandfather, or one of my other family members. It seemed there was not a life in Barrie that was not touched by his... and the good will my grandfather earned is somehow passed down through the family name. I cannot imagine a more wonderful inheritance.

I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to reconnect with my extended family, and regain an appreciation for how amazing they are.... and how fun it is to see little hints of my grandfather in each of us. He was one of the most adventurous people I've ever known, and the effect his incredible life had on others will be felt for many, many years to come.

Jonathan

Nashville Under Water

2010-05-04T13:33:00.005-05:00

I can honestly say I never thought something like this would happen so close to home. I've seen this kind of thing on the news before in other parts of the country or world, and always thought.. "Oh, that's so sad..." and then gone back to whatever I was doing. I can't help but feel a touch of guilt for how quickly I've moved back to thinking about myself when confronted with images like these.

Jess and I were lucky enough to not have damage to our house or cars, but we were one of the lucky families. There were very very many who were not so fortunate. Also, this area is not known for floods, so most people would not have had flood insurance.

There are a huge amount of photos and video hitting the internet right now showing the flooding and damage to the Nashville area. Some folks in the area have felt that the national media have failed to give the proper level of attention to this crisis, and have focused more on the Gulf Coast oil spill, and the NYC failed bombing. I don't know what to think of the national media, but this is the first time that I've turned to Twitter for minute-by-minute updates of the news. It's really an incredible tool during a crisis.

For those who are outside of Nashville, however.... The national media seems to be able to give a more concise, broad perspective of what is going on.... so if you haven't heard about the severity of the flooding here in Nashville, check out this CNN video.

Local residents who are frustrated with the lack of coverage on national media outlets should probably find other resources if they're looking for detailed, up-to-the-minute coverage of the flooding. Channels 4 & 5 are local media that are giving a LOT of attention to this crisis. The Tennessean.com is a great resource. So is Nashvillest.com, for a more personal perspective of the story.

There are also many twitter feeds that you can follow for reliable, current information. @nashvillest is the one I've followed the most.

One aspect of this crisis that has impressed me greatly is the local community. People are pitching in and sheltering their neighbors, helping with cleanup, and volunteering without hesitation. I've never seen a community come together quite like this. I haven't heard of any looting, rioting, or anything of the sort. Nashville really is one of the most decent, warm, and thoughtful communities I've ever lived in.

If you're in the area, and want to help out with relief efforts, go to THIS LINK for info on how to get involved....

If you're not in the area, there are many organizations accepting donations.... Check out THIS SAME LINK for info on that as well.

Also, please be praying for the people of Nashville. This is a difficult time for the city, and there are many people who have lost their homes, cars, and belongings.

Flooding in Franklin

2010-05-02T23:04:00.006-05:00

As you may or may not have heard, there has been severe flooding in the Nashville area. Here is some video of the flooding in Franklin.

My house is fine, and Jess is also doing fine.... although there is a lot of flooding in our area. Most roads in and out of local subdivisions are flooded and closed. Our subdivision is very close to the freeway, so we're lucky enough to still have road access, but many don't.

Please keep the Nashville area in your prayers - many homes are flooded and the damage to property is extensive. This is a difficult time for many. I'll likely write more about this in the coming days.

If you're looking for updates about the nashville area flood situation - go to www.nashvillest.com

Jonathan

The Talented Mr Owsley

2010-05-01T18:28:00.000-05:00

Hey All...

It's been a pretty intense week. Storms, bus breakdowns, flooding... and a few people I know have passed away. A friend of mine, Will Owsley, passed away this week. He was loved by many, and was one of the most talented musicians I ever shared a stage with. He played for Amy Grant for many years, and was a part of the Amy Grant / Hawk Nelson Creation East 2008 performance we did.

I managed to find a video of us performing "Lead Me On" together. Will was on lead guitar, and I was on rhythm guitar. His playing and tone were incredible... even though he was playing through local backline that night. Amazing.

This is how I will always remember Will Owsley.

creation 2008 life goal: hawk nelson amy grant - enough said from Paradigm Management on Vimeo.

Jonathan

My Local Favs

2010-04-29T14:32:00.004-05:00

Alright - So I just ate at Taco Express, my favorite local restaurant, and I was thinking I should write a little blog about some of my favorite restaurants in the area - So here goes....

#1 - Taco Express / Oscar's Taco Shop

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I think this is the best mexican in town. The fish tacos are outta-sight, the salsas are amazing, and atmosphere is great. Amazing patio. The pico de gallo salsa is also INCREDIBLE. This location is only about a year old, but there is also a smaller location further south on Main St. in Spring Hill, as well as 2 shops owned by the same family in Franklin, under the name Oscars.

#2 - Peter's Sushi and Thai

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This is one of several favorite sushi restaurants in town. They do amazing sushi (including fried sushi).... the dragon roll and volcano roll are my favorite. I've heard the Thai is also good there, but I haven't been able to keep myself from ordering the delicious sushi when I'm there!

#3 - Sweet Cici's

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Sweet Cici's is some of the best frozen yogurt you will ever have. It's soft serve, and it's also self-serve.... so you pour as much as you want, and pay per-ounce. They usually have 10 different flavors, and you can mix them to your liking. They also have 30-40 mix-ins like m&m's, chocolate chips, berries, caramel, etc..... It's hard not to end up with a giant bowl by the time you're done! Luckily almost all the flavors are non-fat, and the ones that aren't, are still low-fat. Keep telling yourself that helps! Haha!

#4 - Utopia Coffee

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This little coffee shop is in a really old house that was a part of the original town of Spring Hill (before the subdivisions and expansions). There's a little coffee bar when you walk in, and then loads of rooms and places to sit. It's very cozy... and their Irish Mochas are RIDICULOUS. Amazing.

#5 Jasmine Restaurant

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Jasmine has some of the best Thai in town. I'm a big fan of the yellow curry (I'm always looking for the closest thing to chicken korma I can find - nobody seems to use the word "korma" in the states?" The nan bread is awesome, and the prices are pretty reasonable.

Anyways - those are three of our favorite places to eat or treat! If you've never checked any of these places out before, and you're in the area - what are you waiting for?!!!

Jonathan

Gear Really Can Change Your Life (Ok, Mine)

2010-04-28T16:31:00.009-05:00

This is definitely more of a gear-related post, so skip this post if you're bored already!

When I was growing up, I always wanted to know about my favorite guitarist's gear... so if there's even one person out there that is interested in learning about how I get the sounds I do, then it's worth it! (Actually I geeked out looking up Stu G's current setup just the other day, so that habit has not gone away!)

In the past week or two, I've gotten some gear that has really changed the game for me.... the BIGGEST life-changing gear purchase I've made is an amp.... I came across a '93 Matchless Clubman 35 (Mark Sampson Era), and it is AMAZING.

It's pictured here with my Heritage 2x12 cabinet which I keep at home. On the road I'm playing it through a standard Marshall 4x12.

When I got this amp home last week, I seriously just sat and played it in my studio for 2-3 hours. I haven't done that in YEARS. There's just something about it.... it's kind of magical. It's super responsive to your playing.... the EQ is incredibly effective... and it just sounds CLASSY. It's a joy to play.

Every guitar sounds different through this amp... and while that may sound like it should be a given... it's not. For the most part, when you plug into a Marshall, it sounds like a Marshall. You can plug in different guitars, change the EQ, and fuss with the settings, but it always kinda just sounds like a Marshall. Nothing wrong with that, it's a good sound... Just not terribly versatile. This Matchless almost has multiple personality disorder in comparison. You can go so many places with it... and all of them good.

Anyways, I digress.

I also re-worked my pedalboard this week. I removed a few individual pedals I had, and replaced them with a Line 6 M9.

If you're not familiar with the M9, it's a pretty amazing pedal. They basically took all the sounds from ALL of the Line 6 modelers (DL4, MM4, FM4, and DM4), along with the Verbs from the Verbzilla, and put them all in one pedal.... one not much bigger than the DL4 was. Amazing. It allowed me to clean up my setup a TON. I got rid of an overdrive, a delay, a phaser, and a tap tempo switch. Runs on standard line 6 power, and comes with an adapter... but I was able to use the "red barrel plug" cable that came with my Voodoo Labs Power supply to power it just fine!

I also replaced my volume pedal. I switched from an Ernie Ball JR Volume Pedal to a Visual Volume pedal from Visual Sound.

I've always loved the way Ernie Ball volume pedals feel, but they're such an outdated design. It's basically a volume pot on a string attached to a pedal. The pot gets scratchy, the pedal kind of sucks some of the higher frequencies out of your tone, and that "tuner out" always seems to cause problems... not to mention if you break that string, you're HOSED. Replacing it is like performing open-heart-surgery. Ugh.

I switched to the Visual Volume more for reliability and tone than the lights. The status lights on the side show you visually where the volume pedal is currently set.... that could seem a little gimmicky but the build and design of the pedal is such that it easily wins you over. It's a buffered pedal, so it requires power (boss compatible), but it's smooth as butter, and CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN sounding. Thanks, Visual Sound, for hookin' me up!

So, here is my setup now.

The signal comes into my Boss TU-2, then Dyna Comp, then Visual Volume, then Tubescreamer, then M9, then Carbon Copy... and out to the amp.

I like my Compressor in front of my Volume, because then I can hit the compressor hard, and still control the output of the compressor with the volume pedal, in a sense.

I've used an Ibanez Tubescreamer for 7+ years now and I've still never found an overdrive I love more. I've tried MANY, and always come back to this one. Mine is one of the very first reissues, with the "holy grail" JRC4558 chip in it (if you believe in the value of such things.... this video from visual sound made me question it!).

The MXR Carbon Copy is one of the most amazing bang-for-your-buck delays I've ever used. It's the closest thing I've found to an EHX Memory Man, but in a much smaller footprint, and for much less money. The Memory Man is still my favorite delay of all time.

The Pedalboard itself is a Pedaltrain JR. I love this thing. Rock solid. I chose to travel with it in a 1560 Pelican case. The size of the pelican case limits the size of my board a bit, but it's a LIFE SAVER in airports. It's got wheels, and I never have to carry it around by hand. It's also deep enough that I've foamed myself out a section below the board for tools, cables, strings, soldering iron, picks, in-ear monitors, an extra cable, and a mini marshall practice amp.

All within airline weight and size restrictions. Boom!

So that's a little run-down of my pedalboard setup. Feel free to email me or comment with any questions - if you comment with a question make sure you leave a way for me to contact you, or check back to see if I comment back.

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did!

Jonathan

Under Edge Influence

2010-04-19T19:35:00.007-05:00

U2's guitarist, The Edge, has always been a hero of mine. It was records like Joshua Tree and Acthung Baby that really helped get me interested in playing guitar. I remember WHERE I WAS the first time I heard "Where the Streets Have No Name". The pad and organ swells in the intro..... that pickey guitar part in 6/8 timing.... and the way it flowed into 4/4 so seamlessly.... then the bass and drums kick in with the bass drum on the quarter notes..... the bass sounds so woody and honest.... and then the flat 7 chord, and then Bono.. "I want to run........" SO GOOD!

More than just my style of guitar-playing, The Edge has always influenced the way I think about a guitarist's place in a band...... I never much cared for shredding or soloing. I was always so intrigued with the way U2's guitar parts FELT. They could be exciting or moody, delicate or abrasive.... but one thing they NEVER felt is pretentious. There were no wanker solos..... no selfish attention-drawing. It was ALWAYS about what served the song. I think The Edge is one of the least selfish guitar players out there, and that's how I've tried to approach the guitar.

I just watched a youtube interview with The Edge, and he summarized his feelings about that exact topic as he reached the end of the video clip.... It was fun to hear him describe in his own words so many of the qualities that make him one of my favorite guitarists of all time....

(please forgive the one wee cuss word at 0:48. skip past that if you'd prefer!)

Jonathan

World's Loudest Guitar Rig

2010-04-17T14:46:00.002-05:00

So, I like to run my guitar amps pretty loud. I guess I just feel dissatisfied with the tone if the amp isn't REALLY workin'.... saturating power tubes and seriously moving some air.

I keep my amps off-stage in order to keep the guitars from dominating the vocal mics and such. It helps preserve a reasonable stage level. This seems like a pretty good solution, except folks backstage sometimes get dominated.

Yesterday, my rig was pointed right at the door to our dressing room. Since we were onstage, I figured the room would be empty. Well, Ryan, our manager, was working in the dressing room. He took this little video...

Incidentally, this is the last chorus of "Meaning of Life".

Jonathan

Fear of Science

2010-04-13T13:39:00.006-05:00

An interesting video about the fear of science.

Thought provoking..... I'm sure there will be many varying opinions on this... but it's an interesting discussion, and I think, one worth having.

So, what do you think?

This speaker makes a good point about recent trends towards distrusting vaccines, engineered foods, and conventional medicines. I know plenty of people that sound as if they've boarded the train to crazy-ville, and have decided to reject anything that comes from a man in a white coat.

But, it's not really the doctors and scientists we mistrust, is it? Isn't it really the institutions that we believe control them? We don't really trust our government or the corporations that create vaccines and medicines. We don't fully trust that they really have our best interest at heart... and I can relate to that feeling.

So where does that leave us? Who do we believe? If someone hands us a pill, and tells us we need to take it, how do we know if we really should or not? There are SO many voices out there right now. Everyone has an opinion. Some of the most opinionated people are often the least educated.

At one time or another, most of us are guilty of spitting out propaganda. We say "High fructose corn syrup is bad for you" because we've heard it many times, and that must make it true. We say "Don't eat that - it's full of chemicals" without even looking at the ingredients to see if it is..... and if we looked, would we even know what these things are?

For instance.... if you saw Tocopherol on an ingredient list, would you assume that it's some sort of chemical, and that it's bad for you?

Well, Tocopherol is the scientific name for Vitamin E.

Vitamin E has strong anti-oxidant properties. To illustrate my point further, when you read the word "anti-oxidant" you think "oh, that's a good thing"... and so do I. That's because we've heard a million times that anti-oxidants are good for you. This is another example of exactly what I'm talking about. Do you know what an anti-oxidant does? I don't!

There are tons of things out there that are bad for us - and it is important for us to be careful about what we put in our bodies.... but simply repeating whatever we hear is just adding to the noise.

So who do we trust? Something to think about.

Jonathan

Adventures in Australia

2010-04-10T11:41:00.001-05:00

So I'm back home in beautiful Tennessee after our 10 day trip to Australia. What a whirlwind that was! I made a little video of some of my favorite moments from the trip.... Enjoy!

Jonathan

Room with a View

2010-04-07T03:55:00.002-05:00

Today is our last day in Australia..... it's been an incredible trip. 7 days. 3 amazing cities. 3 awesome shows. 15-20 amazing coffees.

Our last day is being spent in downtown Sydney - at an apartment-style hotel in the World Tower. We're staying on the 65th floor. The view is ridiculous.

Isn't that amazing?

Then, when you come down the elevator, you find yourself in one of the most incredible downtowns I've ever experienced. There are all kinds of different food and clothing shops, coffee places, and such.

I can't imagine a cooler place to spend our last day in Australia!

Jonathan

Stay Cool

2010-04-03T19:37:00.002-05:00

So far Australia has been pretty amazing. We spent a couple days in Toowoomba, where Easterfest is located. The weather, the food, the people.... were all incredible. The show went great (even though my dear MIRA didn't much care for the humidity, and gave me tuning troubles all show long!)....

Yesterday we drove back to Brisbane, and explored the downtown area. We walked through the Queen Street Mall... I love the fact that so much is walkable in this area. I must have walked 6-7 miles yesterday. It feels so good.

As we were walking through town yesterday afternoon, I noticed all of a sudden that quite a few people were looking up at the sky.... I looked up, and someone had written "Stay Cool" in the sky. How cool is that?

That phrase seems to be something of a mantra here. Everyone seems pretty relaxed.... as if they haven't a care in the world. It's amazing how that just puts me at ease. I don't see people rushing to get anywhere... I don't see people having business meetings in coffee shops.... People just seem so much less stressed here!

I've been surprised to notice some incredible similarities between Australia and Canada. I'd venture so far as to say that in many ways Australia and Canada have more in common than Canada and the USA do.

Sure, there are the obvious correlations... the multi-coloured money, the way I just spelled "multi-coloured", the queen on the back of all the coins, the fact that we have prime ministers instead of presidents, and a parliament instead of a senate. But when you look at the culture, there are many more similarities. There's an inherent sort of hippie-culture, a pluralism, and a multiculturalism that runs deep in both countries.

For instance, walking through the Queen Street Mall yesterday.... I saw coffee shops, irish pubs, felafel and kebab shops, asian tea shops, and so much more... all on the same streets and blocks. Nowhere did I see a "chinatown" or "italian district". I just saw everyone mingling. Black, white, asian, indian.... It was pretty inspiring. Canada is similar in this respect, although Toronto does have a few ethnic-based districts.

Sure, I haven't seen that much of Australia yet, so I'm not exactly an expert... these are just my first impressions. The general sense of community and good-will is refreshing, and definitely reminds me of Canada. It's nice to experience a culture somewhat less based on "every man for himself".

It's interesting that all this comes on the heels of me finally getting my green card in the United States. I'm definitely SUPER grateful to be able to live and work in the states... It's really one of the only places in which I can seriously pursue the line of work I'm in... and most of my friends are American.

For now, the United States is my home.... but the more I travel abroad, the more I am inspired to see and learn more about the world. I appreciate the differences in culture. There is always something to learn from another culture. I like to be reminded of that.

Today we're flying to Melbourne. I've heard the food there is incredible. Can't wait to check out another great Australian city!

Jonathan

Now I Really Have Seen Everything

2010-04-02T17:50:00.002-05:00

The festival in Toowoomba, Australia, last night was awesome. Seriously amazing. The people here are incredible.... Seriously amazing. Sometimes the culture here so reminds me of Canada. It feels a lot more familiar than I expected it to.

One thing I did NOT expect to see involves both brass and metal (no pun intended).

The festival brought in a big brass band, and this band created big-band arrangements of various songs by artists at the festival. They performed these songs, and invited the singers of each of these bands to sing with them...

Jas sang Live Life Loud with them... and it was glorious! (video to come)

The real surprise was when the big band did a song with a "singer" of a hardcore band.... It ended up a little like this!

Don't ask me what the backpack is about - I guess they're from New Zealand... maybe this is a trend there?

Should I play our next show with a backpack on? Wouldn't that be uncomfortable?

Jonathan

Roo Time in Australia!

2010-04-01T19:07:00.002-05:00

So we landed in Australia yesterday morning.... and with travel, we ended up staying up for about 40 hours straight. Crazy. Right now it's 10am here, and 7pm (YESTERDAY) back home in Nashville. I've never been so far away from a home time zone before. Nuts!

We went straight to a zoo from the airport yesterday.... To feed and pet kangaroos, and see all manner of Australian wildlife! So fun!

Tonight we play EASTERFEST! Boom!

Jonathan

Justin Frickin' Benner

2010-03-29T09:16:00.006-05:00

You know who I can't get enough of?

This guy!

Justin-I-Don't-Know-How-To-Drop-The-Beat-Benner!

You may know him as the divinely gifted drummer of Hawk Nelson (which he is).... but oh my, oh my, he is so much more.

Unbeknownst to most of you, but knownst to me and the boys.... Justin is the karaoke king. I, unfortunately, cannot show you video of his true "golden ticket" (we all might lose our jobs)... but I can show you a little snippet from the Music Boat Cruise Karaoke Party.

Ladies and Gents.... strap on those seat belts, and grab that bottle of Pepto....

This is Justin Frickin' Benner... The Karaoke King!

(Thanks ChrisBCrazy, for always being there to catalogue our adventures for later finding on youtube!)

BTW, Justin also has a webpage and blog - check it out - www.justinbenner.com

Jonathan

Immigration Miracles

2010-03-26T09:17:00.009-05:00

As you may or may not know, I've had some troubles with US Immigration over the last few months...

I am so excited to be able to say that God has come through.... just in the nick of time! Now that things are pretty much wrapped up, I wanted to share the story with you..

Back in 2008, Jess and I got married, and at that time I filed paperwork with USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, formerly INS) to become a permanent resident of the United States. It's commonly called a green card, but as you can see from this picture, it's not actually green! In any case, the paperwork took about 4 months to process (pretty quick for USCIS), and I was now a permanent resident of the United States of America.

The only catch was that because this green card was based on a recent marriage, the first one would only last two years, at which point they would require proof that Jess and I are in a continuing, legitimate marriage in order to issue me my final 10 year permanent resident card. So, last September, I filed the necessary paperwork to prove that our marriage is legitimate, and get my final 10 year card.

The process was supposed to be relatively simple. They would send me a letter telling me when to go get my biometrics taken (fingerprints and photos), and then they would make a decision about my case, and I'd be good.

Well, I waited for that biometrics letter for months. I had no idea that it was only supposed to take a week or two to receive... lots of things take a long time with USCIS. Finally I did receive a letter from them, in late January... but it was not the letter I had been hoping for. The letter said that my application was denied because I failed to appear at a biometrics appointment. Also, all status in the US was revoked, and I was no longer legal to live and work in the US. It was a pretty strongly worded letter, and it came as quite a shock!

I came to the conclusion that the biometrics letter had been lost in the mail. It turns out that USCIS sends all their correspondence by regular mail... no tracking number or anything. If it gets lost.... well, too bad. That seems pretty negligent to me, but I can't make them do that differently. I had 30 days to appeal the decision, which I did... and in my appeal, I sent in all kinds of evidence regarding my mail situation. It's difficult to prove that you didn't receive something, but I did my best. (The letter in this photo is a DIFFERENT letter from USCIS. This one was not lost in the mail, but only HALF of it made it to me! Thanks USPS!)

I figured that this whole situation would be resolved eventually, and that everything would be ok... but I was worried about this trip to Australia that we had planned for early April. Knowing USCIS, I had little hope that I could get this resolved by then. So, I called a couple of immigration lawyers, and sought their advice... They were somewhat helpful, and made me feel a bit less stressed, but the phone call that REALLY made a difference was the next one. I called a local Senator's office, and made contact with an aide there.

Over the coming weeks, this Senator's aide and I stayed in touch every few days. She had the ability to simply call up the office where my case was processing, and make requests about it. Things looked hopeful, but it still seemed a little far-fetched to think this could all be done in time. The reason this mattered so much is that until the situation was fully resolved, I would be unable to travel outside the US, because I would not be permitted back in. Also, any appeal I had in the system would be considered abandoned if I left the country.

Well, last friday, I got word that my appeal was approved. This means that my case was re-opened, so it was great news, but there was still so much to do! Within a few hours, I wrote a letter requesting expediting for my case, and it was approved. I got a call that I could go and get my biometrics done THAT DAY. I rushed over to the office to pick up the necessary forms, and then sped over to the government building where biometrics are taken.

Then, about two days ago, I received word that my final permanent resident card was approved... less than a week before our trip to Australia. Honestly.... praise Jesus! What a relief! There's no way this would have happened in time without the help of Senator Alexander's office. They were incredibly helpful!

It's now hitting me that I'm going to Australia in just a few days.... I can't wait!

So I wanted to share this story with you as a testament to God's faithfulness. I don't entirely understand why He does it, but He loves to come through at the last minute! Maybe it's to build faith (it works)... I can honestly say without a shred of doubt that God had his hand on this entire situation...

Well, Australia.... See you in a couple days!

Jonathan

Moments from Shaken Video Shoot

2010-03-24T19:57:00.002-05:00

Hey All -

I captured video of a few moments from the video shoot for Shaken yesterday... and wanted to share them with you!

Jonathan

Shaken Video Shoot

2010-03-23T19:58:00.002-05:00

So today we shot a video for our song Shaken in North Carolina. What a cool day it was! I don't have photos for all the fun moments, but I do have a couple photos....

I will piece together a video of some of my footage in the near future.... but for now, here are a few photos from the day!

Jonathan

PRS VIDEO: Wood Selection and Drying

2010-03-22T08:49:00.004-05:00

Would you like to know why I'm such a huge fan of PRS guitars? Sure you would.

I've visited the factory a couple of times, and every time I've been amazed by the amount of care and attention to detail they folks at PRS put into each instrument. They aren't simply concerned with pumping out the maximum number of instruments in the minimum amount of time... they're out to create instruments that last a lifetime.

That process starts with the wood.... and they just put out a video sharing some of the processes I've seen with my own eyes. I wanted to share it with you, because this stuff is EXACTLY why I love these guitars so much. It's this mindset and work ethic that makes their guitars so good.... check it out!

Jonathan

Fourty Fest? Not so much.

2010-03-20T23:04:00.001-05:00

Today we were scheduled to play a new festival in Ft Worth, TX, called Fourty Fest.... however the weather here in the Dallas area had other plans for us. Even though it was sunny and 74 degrees yesterday..... it was cold, rainy, and right around freezing today. What a bizarre turn of the weather!

Around 11am we learned that the festival was going to be canceled... we were already entering the city limits, and our driver Andrew had already driven for about 11 hours, so simply turning around and heading back to Nashville wasn't really an option. We ended up parking the bus at a hotel, and just killing a few hours for Andrew to catch some Zzz's. Got some Denny's, and watched movies on the bus. All in all, it ended up being a pretty bizarre day.

The cancelation sucks for a lot of reasons, but one in particular is that I was kind of looking forward to seeing this guy perform today:

The last time we saw Brian "Head" Welch, he was visiting our show in Phoenix with Skillet last year. Jas saw him from stage, and referred to him as "scary Jesus" on the mic. Haha... he had no idea who Head was. CLASSIC.

Well, if you were planning to see us play at Fourty Fest this evening - we're sorry for the cancellation! I believe we are playing in Dallas again on June 26th. Not sure of the details on that one yet - keep an eye on hawknelson.com for details!

Jonathan

Why Pirahnas Eat People

2010-03-16T14:33:00.011-05:00

Today I received a package in the mail from my mother... It containted a few things of mine she found in their house.... including this little gem... a "book" I wrote and put together when I was 9. It's called "Why Pirahnas Eat People". While I realize this is not how you spell piranha, I will stay true to the original!

I can't believe I wrote "doggedly". Haha!

Jonathan

Mad Dash

2010-03-14T12:29:00.002-05:00

We had a great time in Baltimore at the BLAST game, and the post-game show! What a great crowd!

We all couldn't help but notice the chaos that happened when everyone was allowed up to the stage..... I think we all wanted to take video of it, but never really got a chance... thanks to the wonders of the interweb, I found that someone else did!

Thanks for the wonderful night, Baltimore! We will be back in your area in two weeks - in Ocean City! Hope to see you there!

Jonathan

In Due Time: Thoughts on MuteMath's Armistice

2010-03-07T13:14:00.008-06:00

I'm not entirely sure why I delayed so long listening to this album.

MuteMath's self-titled debut was an incredible introduction (not counting an earlier EP). It had so many essential elements... It was catchy and accessible, but still complex and layered. It was strong and confident, but still somehow delicate.

After 3+ years of waiting, MuteMath fans finally received a follow-up album... Armistice. It's hard to live up to the anticipation that their debut would have engendered. I'd be willing to bet that most fans were disappointed with Armistice upon first listen. It's not as accessible, it's less direct, and to be perfectly honest, it's a little more selfish. MuteMath made a record for themselves.

Having said that..... I fail to see why this is a problem. Van Gogh didn't sit down and paint with the thought..."Will people like this?" He painted what he saw in his mind. Steve Jobs doesn't spend time worrying about making products that consumers ask for... He makes a product that he thinks is incredible, and he TELLS the consumer.. "Check this thing out! Isn't it awesome? You want one, I know you do."

I see nothing wrong with a band taking a similar stance on their music. Sure, Nickelback sells more albums than Mars Volta, and I'm not here to rip on Top 40 bands. There is enough room in the world for both Shinedown and Wilco. There will be people that love Radiohead, and those that don't (you know I'm in the former group).

My point here is that there will always be a group of listeners that are interested in music that is not created with them in mind. They recognize this kind of music as a glimpse into the imagination of another... and that's why it's a fantastic journey. I tend to think it takes an active imagination in order to be intrigued by another's imagination in this way. These listeners may appreciate the new offering from MuteMath.

In reading reviews on Armistice.... I noticed a trend.

Reviewers who loved the album delved deep into the substance of the record. They wrote about the layers, the moods, and the soul of the songs. They shared specific thoughts about moments in songs that moved them. They displayed their reviews in small fonts in order to squeeze in as much detail as possible. It's obvious the reviewer wanted to get to the core of what the album meant to the band, in order to understand it better.

Reviews that started with generic fare such as "MuteMath is not your typical rock band" were not generally as positive. These reviewers were frustrated by the very same layers that the adoring reviewers relished in. Where the above reviewers talked more in terms of "mood" and "atmosphere", these negative reviews tended to talk about "choruses" and "hooks". They were often written in large fonts, and felt overbearing at times.

One reviewer describes the single "Backfire" as "a disconcerting reiteration of any pop-rock song that cracked the top-40 in the past decade". Seriously?! What top 40 radio station was he listening to?

By this point, I'm assuming you can see that I am enjoying getting to know Armistice. Sure, at first listen I was kind of surprised. I wondered where the huge "aahaaa!!" moments were.... It took a bit of time for it to grab me... but it certainly has.

Maybe there's another correlation to consider here. Some people are willing to spend time and effort to really dig into a good book. They appreciate the workout for their imagination. It might take some work, but the payoff is well worth it. These kinds of people are probably more willing to spend time getting to know a record in the same way.

However, if you're more of a "let's order pizza delivery and watch Jersey Shore" kind of person, Armistice might not be for you.

Having said ALL that, Jess loves Armistice.... "I just like it. I don't know why..." She says. (She likes reality tv too. :) )

So maybe just forget I said anything.

Jonathan

What It's All About!

2010-02-27T01:00:00.000-06:00

Tonight we played an INCREDIBLE show in Houston, TX.

It was honestly the kind of show that reminds me why I love to do what I do. We flew from Nashville to Houston and got picked up by a great guy named Dennis, whom we spent most of the day with. From that point on, every person we ran into was so kind, friendly, and hospitable!

The venue held about 1500, standing room only, and the house was PACKED. An actual WARNING was displayed to the crowd regarding the lighting.... I had never seen anything like this before... haha!

When we hit the stage, the crowd was already ready to throw down. What an amazing energy there already was. It was a screaming, dancing, jumping party from the get-go. Friend Like that, Let's Dance, California, Live Life Loud, and Bring Em Out definitely seemed to be the favorites.... although Ode to Lord Stanley, Alive, and Meaning of Life definitely got some love!

I wanted to share a moment with you here.... One of my favorite songs that we've ever recorded as a band is a song called Lest We Forget. We started playing the song live this week, and the bridge of this song gets me every time! The string section and the band just feel so good together, and of course, it's my moment to be a selfish guitar player! Justin and Dan have some really great musical moments in it as well.

Anyways.... I had to record my in-ear mix for some other purposes tonight, and I thought it might be fun to share with you this particular moment from the set.... but from my perspective. This is exactly what I hear in my ears when we're performing. Since it's my in-ear mix you're hearing, you'll hear the click track that helps keep us all in time.

Here's the bridge of Lest We Forget, live in Houston:

I think the other guys and myself all had the same feeling tonight..... The feeling of... "This is what it's all about." For us, there is no greater pleasure or honor than to spend our evenings connecting with people on a level like we did tonight.

Thanks, Houston, for bringing your A-Game. You're the best!

Jonathan

A little too eager.

2010-02-25T10:21:00.002-06:00

I bought a studio desk, and I won't have time to set it all up 'til after my vacation, in about 10 days. Anxious to see what it would look like, I photoshopped it together from images on the internet.... placing all my gear on the desk. Why do I do stuff like this? Ugh.

Jonathan

2010-02-17T11:52:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I flew from Nashville to Portland, and it was the first time I had been out of Tennessee since the beginning of December. What a bizarre feeling it was to stay put for so long! I'm so accustomed to being in a different time zone every few days, so this was a very rare few months of normalcy... or at least as close as I've been to it.

Over the past few months I've slept in my bed every night, watched TV with wifey, gone out for dinner, shopped for groceries, fed the dog, bought a treadmill, run on the treadmill, painted a bedroom, and did so many other things just as domesticated as these. I had such a normal, stationary life for a few months. It was surreal. Of course, I watched my wife get ready every morning and head out to work, knowing I would just be hanging out at the house all day. That's not exactly normal. Most regular dudes have jobs, right? The whole experience got me contemplating what things are truly most important to me.

I remember when the idea of moving on from the music biz and working a regular job was awful to think about. I felt I would never be happy doing anything else. I no longer feel that way. I still love making music for a living, and I'm SO grateful for the opportunity to do it... but it's just not the #1 priority anymore. Jess and I have been married for 3 years now, and at some point in the future, I know we're going to want to start a family..... Sometimes I get little glimpses into what that will be like (the last few months have provided me with quite a few!), and as I get older, my own career path feels secondary to the wonderful responsibility of providing for my family (which at the moment consists of me, Jess, and the Till).

I suspect this feeling will grow in leaps and bounds once children arrive. I hope to be involved in music for many many years to come, but taking a regular job at some point no longer seems like the harrowing path it once was. I can see how it would be worth it, if it was better for my family.

In any case, I'm not there yet, and I'm limited to tiny glimpses of the future through my experiences....... ones like being home for 2 and half months straight!

Of course, I have had plenty on my plate....

The other HN boys and I spent a few weeks in the studio recording an acoustic album, and that was TONS of fun. We completely reworked our live set, and it will be SO fun to play it for you guys in all the cities we plan to hit this year.

I've also had a slew of immigration issues, which are still unresolved as of yet. I have every confidence that it will be worked out eventually, but the process is slow, and in the meantime, I dare not leave the country for fear that I would not be admitted back in, since my status is currently in jeopardy. As a result, I may not be able to join the rest of the band in Australia for Easterfest in April. I would be seriously bummed out if this were the case, but I have to make sure I'm not stranded outside the US.

So, needless to say, dealing with all this has nearly constituted a full-time job. The system is slow and incredibly flawed. For instance, immigration does not send any correspondence by certified or registered mail, so there is no way to be certain that their mail arrives properly.... and as I've found, the mail system has plenty of its own flaws. Just last week I received a letter from immigration that was literally ripped in half. I received the left half of the letter. It's scary to think that my ability to live and work in this country relies on the stability of this system that has lost or damaged two of my letters in just a few months, from a single sender alone. What other mail isn't making it to my mailbox?

Anyways..... I'll get off my soapbox now!

Well, there's my update.... More to come!

Jonathan

Party in the USA

2010-02-12T21:12:00.003-06:00

I felt inspired to sing about my immigration issues..... So here it is, for your listening pleasure....

Yeah, I've had a bit of extra time on my hands.....

Jonathan

Bloxes!

2010-02-10T10:30:00.002-06:00

My very creative brother-in-law posted a video about BLOXES! Don't know what bloxes are? Neither did I. Check it out...

Jonathan

I. AM. CANADIAN.

2010-02-05T13:17:00.003-06:00

Over the last week or so I've had to deal with a rather frustrating immigration problem. Although it will hopefully all be worked out in the next few months, it's a huge legal hassle, travel impediment, and source of worry. It's got me thinking a lot about Canada, and what it means to be a Canadian living in the United States.

Experiencing the stereotypes most Americans hold towards Canadians can be both irritating and hilarious.

This is a Molson Canadian Beer commercial poking fun at this fact. If you think this is an exaggeration..... think again. I've experienced people JUST like this guy MANY times.

Jonathan

Handbell Madness!

2010-02-02T11:12:00.002-06:00

I received an email a while ago from a fellow in Wilmington Delaware who had created a hand-bell arrangement of Everything You Ever Wanted / Zero.... He sent me a link to a youtube clip of their performance! Check it out!

This is the Joyful Ringers of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Wilmington, Delaware:

Pretty cool, right?

Jonathan

General Anesthesia and Major Pain

2010-01-25T18:42:00.002-06:00

So I had oral surgery on Friday to remove all my wisdom teeth, and I went under light general anesthesia for it. I'd never been anesthetized before, and it was kind of a freaky experience! I wanted to write down what I remember since my memory of the experience is already sort of fading.

I laid down in the chair, and they started me off with nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas. Oh, that's not me in the picture, I just bing-ed anesthesia. Haha. After a minute or so of breathing in the N2O, I said to the doctor, "I don't feel anything." Then it hit me.... my toes started tingling, and I felt like I was kind of floating. "Oh there it is...." I said.

I felt him insert the IV into my right arm, but it seemed like it was happening far away, and didn't really matter. Jess was allowed in the room with me until I was asleep, so I waved to her and said "Bye Honey!" I was mostly kidding around, and I thought I'd be awake for a bit longer, but that's literally the last thing I remember.

The next thing I know, the doctor and nurses are cleaning up the tools, and talking amongst themselves. I remember thinking.... "Shouldn't they be getting ready to do this, not chatting and packing everything up?" Turns out it was all over!

Apparently Jess and I walked out to the car after that, but I don't really remember walking out there. We also stopped at the pharmacy on the way home, and I waited in the car. I don't really remember that either. I spent the rest of that day replacing the gauze in my mouth, and recovering. I don't remember a ton about that day either.

The whole experience wouldn't have been that bad at all, if it weren't for my reaction to one of the pain meds they gave me.... I tried taking the hydrocodone twice, but tossed my cookies each time afterwards. Haha.... then I just decided to stick with the ibuprofen. I was never really in much pain anyways.

I'm 3 and a half days post-op, and feelin' pretty good. My face is still a little puffy and sore, but it's feeling better every day. I should be back to normal completely in another couple days.

I still can't get over how effective the anesthetic was. I expected to have some sort of vague memory of what happened.... but NOTHING. I'm a pretty light sleeper, so I'm used to having some sort of awareness when I'm asleep, but this was WAY more than sleep. Anyways..... anyone who's ever been under knows what I'm talking about.

I'll always choose general anesthesia over major pain!

Thoughts on the Late-Night Debacle.

2010-01-21T20:19:00.004-06:00

I'm with CoCo.

I'll say that up front. I loved watching Conan over the last decade on Late-Night. His humor was always so casual, self-deprecating, and sarcastic. It made people of my generation feel like we were in on some kind of inside joke... and Conan took some chances with it! I tuned in because I never knew what was going to happen on the show that night.

Well, the Conan that I knew and loved on Late-Night has been back in FULL FORCE on the Tonight Show this week.

(If you're unfamiliar with all the late-night TV drama that's been going on... you're living on the moon. Google it.)

Conan's pending departure from the Tonight Show and NBC has brought out the underdog in him... the prankster... the heroic villain. This is Conan at his best. He talks openly about his battle with NBC, he bashes the network openly, and he's constantly making light of the situation. Last night he even explained how NBC has to pay for anything the show does during it's final few shows, so he spent $1.5 MILLION dollars on a Bugari car, and dressed it up as a mouse... giving it the Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction" as a themesong, with the knowledge that NBC has to pay to license the use of such a massively popular song.

..... and the ratings have been rolling in. Conan has been dominating the late-night ratings the last week or so. You could attribute some of that to the publicity surrounding all the late-night drama, but Leno is involved in this great debacle, and his ratings have not received the same boost. Letterman and Kimmel are turning heads with the stunts and comments they're leveling about the situation, but neither of them have seen ratings boosts either.

Today, the news broke that NBC is paying Conan a severance package of $32 million dollars, and his staff another $12 million.

So, let's get this straight.... NBC spent MILLIONS developing two new shows (Leno's new primetime show, and Conan's Tonight Show), then pays Conan MILLIONS more to leave the network, so they can go back to what they had before, except with Fallon in Conan's old slot. Fallon's great, but he's no Conan. So they've essentially paid millions and millions to DOWNGRADE their lineup.

Plus, they've paid Conan millions to leave, and he will most likely start a new show at some point. That means they paid MILLIONS, downgraded their lineup, and created a new competitor.... all the while making themselves look like the bad guys, and making Conan look like the witty, charming victim.

After all, he never REALLY got a chance at the Tonight Show. When you replace someone, and your predecessor refuses to leave entirely, you haven't really replaced them. People that were used to watching the Tonight Show with Leno simply watched Leno in primetime. They never had an incentive to get to know Conan. I firmly believe that if Conan had been given the years and grace that Leno was given when he started, the mainstream late night audience would have grown more fond of Conan. The Tonight Show would have continued to be the most-watched of the late night shows, like it's been for most of it's 60 years.

It seems to me that NBC has made bad decision after bad decision, and they will most likely suffer for it. Leno's new show was even less interesting than his old one, and I suspect this entire debacle will leave him with an even weaker show. NBC's actions seem like those of a desperate corporation, more comfortable holding on to the past than reaching for the future. It kind of reminds me of the actions I've seen some record labels take recently.

So, with music and television alike, I tend to root for the underdog....

.... and that's why I'm with CoCo.

Jonathan

Acoustic Adventures!

2010-01-21T16:53:00.002-06:00

So Jason, Daniel, Justin and I headed back into the studio this week to record an acoustic record! It's been fun hanging out and revisiting some of our old favorite songs. We're doing a selection of songs from all four of our studio albums....

Today I added a banjo to a bunch of acoustic guitars. It added such a cool layer. It was my first banjo experience - and I was feelin' it!

I'm super excited to hear how these songs turn out.... Can't wait for you all to hear them!

Jonathan

Pedalboard Project

2010-01-05T21:09:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd start my New Year by modding my pedalboard.... with something I've never seen anyone do before. Perhaps in the weeks and months to come I'll discover why it is that no one else seems to do this, but for now I think it's one of the raddest things I've ever seen.

Now I'll never have that "where the heck is everything" feeling when the stage goes black between songs... and I'm betting it's enough light for me to bend down and see my fretboard. This means that when I start a song in pitch black, my chances of starting that song in the correct key is not too shabby. I'm sure Jas will appreciate that. :)

Plus, it occupied me for the afternoon.

Jonathan

PRS CCM Report

2009-12-23T17:43:00.003-06:00

So if you receive PRS Guitars' CCM Report email newsletters, you'll see that my PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow demo video was included in the mail-out... Pretty cool! I knew that this was in the works, but I didn't know they'd use a picture of me for the top of the email!

This is a bit of an early Christmas present for me!

I think incredibly highly of the folks at PRS, and their awesome guitars. I had my MIRA set up and tweaked out this week, and it plays better than ever! I'm impressed with this guitar all over again. So go to prsguitars.com and check out the amazing things they're doing over there!

If you'd like to check out the newsletter, click here for the online version.

Snowball Fight in Times Square

2009-12-21T10:38:00.001-06:00

This is NOT what I think of when I think of Times Square!

Awesome!

Thanks Mom, for sending this to me!

I think my favorite part is the girl yelling "RETREAT!!!" at the end. Haha.

Jonathan

Oh We're Getting Christmas-ey!

2009-12-21T09:43:00.002-06:00

The Steingard residence is officially ready for Christmas. We've got a killer tree and plenty of presents under it for the whole family..... My entire family is coming down to stay with us this Christmas, so it's going to be a full house! We're gonna have eight people in the house over the holidays - so fun!

I hope your holidays are all wonderful, and you get to spend them with family and friends!

Jonathan

How We Think About Money : Part 2

2009-12-19T09:42:00.002-06:00

I had a comment on my last "How We Think About Money" post that I thought was worth discussing...

Anonymous said...

Be careful with that credit score - it affects your car insurance premiums, property insurance premiums, any rentals you might want to partake of, mortgage rates, even jobs, as employers often check credit scores. Ramsey ignorantly assumes that people must go in to debt to build a credit score. This is not true. If you use a credit card, pay it off each month. You're building a credit score without going in to one penny of debt. Ramsey has no problem with people paying more for insurance, etc, possibly missing out on a job opportunity, by adhering to his little set of simpleton financial 'rules'. Think it through - Ramsey's advice is only advantageous to those who have no financial savy at all, and is useless for those who are in a stable financial situation and in a position to start building wealth. I wouldn't have been able to build the wealth I have today if I'd listened to his advice.

December 19, 2009 6:01 AM

Jonathan said...

Anonymous -

Good thoughts.... some of which i partially agree with. in other areas I think you're missing the point.

Firstly, I still have 1 credit card which I've had for quite some time, and I decided to keep it open for the very reasons you described... I just didn't want to have multiple credit cards open when I don't need or want them. I've got a long credit history with my bank, my mortgage is always current, my bills are always paid, and I've never missed a payment on anything. I'm sure my credit will be just fine... it's not that I'm looking to destroy it - I'm just choosing to live a lifestyle that isn't dependent on it.

Secondly, you say you wouldn't have accumulated the wealth that you have if you had followed dave ramsey's plan.... well good for you, you have money! That's not the primary goal of these financial plans. These plans are designed to create financial peace and security, not just wealth. These goals involve nurturing marriages and families, it's about more than wealth! There is absolutely nothing wrong with having money, in fact, these plans help you accumulate savings and set you up to have much more money in the future... but the ultimate goal is financial peace.

Thirdly, I am one of so many North Americans that got myself into a good deal of debt when I was younger. I discovered firsthand how EASY it was. It took me years to dig myself out of the hole i dug myself in my first few "adult" years. After all that, I made a choice never to put myself in that position again. These debt-avoidance plans have given me a freedom in life that I wouldn't have had if i had just stuck to the status quo, financed everything i wanted, and accepted a debt-laden lifestyle as the norm.

I'm not interested in simply doing whatever I can to accumulate wealth. That's not my aim, nor is it the aim of these types of programs. It's not about accumulating money, it's about living in such a way that you're no longer consumed by it.

I want to cultivate a debt-free lifestyle because I do not want to be a slave to money and debt. You do not need to make $250k a year to do this. Wealth is great - living a lifestyle of financial peace is even better... and many wealthy people do not live in financial peace!

You're right about one thing though - These plans are designed for people who need help with money... people who are unorganized or undisciplined with their money. However, you seem to think that this fact makes these plans irrelevant. On the contrary, I think the majority of Americans fall into this category. I know I did!

So I would ask....What's wrong with encouraging people to take charge of their financial situation, and free themselves by aggressively eliminating debt?

Thanks for your thoughts -

Jonathan

How We Think About Money : Part 1

2009-12-18T14:48:00.004-06:00

Today I canceled a credit card. It was as if the heavens opened, and a dove descended from the sky.... and voice boomed "Well done, my good and faithful servant!" Canceling a credit card has got to be one of the best feelings ever.

This particular card was the first US credit card I was ever accepted for, 4 years ago or so. I had originally opened it to build credit here in the U.S., and it carried a limit of on $500, so I figured there was only a limited amount of damage I could do with it. Haha. Well, of course, over the course of the following few years I maxed it out more than once. It did serve its purpose, however, as it helped get my credit to a point where I bought a house last year.... Which was one of the ultimate goals of this whole credit-building endeavor.

Since then, though, my thinking on a few things has changed. I read a book (and then several more) by an author named Dave Ramsey.... and he fundamentally changed the way I think about money, relationships, debt, credit, and so many other things.

For instance, with the cancelation of this credit card today... I did something that flies in the face of conventional wisdom. You see, credit reporting bureaus look at several things to determine your credit score. They look at how much debt you have, how much available credit you have... Basically the difference between your balance and your limit on credit cards, lines of credit, etc... They ALSO look at the length of time you've had those relationships in place. So, by canceling my Capital One credit card today, I've basically severed my longest lasting credit relationship, and that will likely affect my credit rating negatively.

Now, here's the thing. That doesn't bother me one bit.... and I'll explain that with a question...

Why do we have such a reverence for the almighty credit score?

Why is it that we fuss over this little number held by three companies that we don't even have any direct relationship with? Why are we willing to GO INTO DEBT in order to improve this number, by opening credit cards and financing purchases? It's because a good credit rating gives you access to things you wouldn't have access to with a poor rating, right? .... And what is the primary thing a good rating gives you access to? Borrowing money!

So wait.... let's get this straight. We're encouraged to open credit cards and accumulate some "manageable debt" as young as possible, in order to establish a good credit history, so we can borrow MORE money when we're older? Tell me that isn't the plan!

There has got to be a better way to live!

..... and I really do believe there is. Since this fundamental shift in my thinking about money, Jess and I have really buckled down and gotten in control of our financial situation. We made a monthly budget, and use cash in envelopes to set physical money aside for each area (groceries, gas, fun, clothing, etc...)... We've also started aggressively paying off debt, and developed an emergency fund. Essentially, we started paying closer attention to our spending, and started planning our our spending instead of just swiping the card whenever we need (or want) something.

The basic idea behind Dave Ramsey's thinking is this: Take aggressive control of your financial situation, and sacrifice NOW in every possible area of life, in order to secure financial peace for your future.

The truth is that many of the things we spend our money on are NOT things we need, or need immediately. Avoiding debt this aggressively means we can't have everything we want as soon as we want it, but ultimately I believe it leads to a less stressful and captivating lifestyle.

Now, I realize houses aren't exactly easy to buy in cash, and that is one exception that Dave Ramsey talks about, although he's a big proponent of putting 20% down, and doing a 15 year fixed term... but that's another blog!

There is so much more to think and talk about with regards to this whole subject, and I will likely write another blog at a later date that continues many of these thoughts (hence the "Part 1" in the title).

I'm interested in your thoughts on the issue!

Also check out daveramsey.com for more information on financial peace and living debt free!

Jonathan

PRS Roadshow

2009-12-18T09:49:00.003-06:00

The Roadshow was a fun event! About 30-40 folks were in attendance, and Paul started off by telling stories from the early days of PRS right up to the present....

He told a story about how many classic guitar shapes came to be.... How the Fender headstock was sculpted to look much like the side profile of a violin headstock, and how the Les Paul shape was basically a smaller, solid acoustic guitar shape. Interesting. He spoke a bunch about different types of woods, and how obsessive he is about wood! I can vouch for that, since I've seen the warehouse full of amazing woods at the PRS factory!

Next David Grissom demoed a DGT model PRS, and a Sweet 16 head.

This guy can really play. He seems heavily influenced by Jeff Beck, although when he listed his influences, he named half a dozen guitar players I've never heard of (although BB King was in there, I knew that one). He discussed his move to Austin, TX, and how other guitar players in Austin told him, "You ain't s*** unless you play a strat!". At the time, he did play a strat, but that kind of attitude made him want to play something else, just to go against the grain! That was the beginning of the long development of the DGT model PRS.

Next David demoed a PRS acoustic.... and Paul admittedly committed a huge acoustic guitar faux pas!

He placed a vocal mic in front of the guitar. Eek! It actually sounded halfway decent though! These acoustics are incredible. If you stand just a few feet in front of one when it's in the hands of a real player, there's nothing like it. Very very incredible workmanship.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening!

Quote of the night from Paul Smith : "You wouldn't go to an ice cream shop just to look at the ice cream, would you? You'd buy yourself some ice cream!" This was followed by a gesture towards the wall of PRSes at the shop, and a big smirk. True enough, Paul!

Jonathan

PRS Roadshow comes to Nashville

2009-12-17T08:57:00.006-06:00

Wanna know what I doing today? Of course you do. I'm going to the PRS Roadshow.

In an effort to connect with fans and players of PRS guitars, PRS Amps, and PRS acoustics, the wonderful people at Paul Reed Smith are doing a tour of sorts, and today they're coming to Nashville. Paul Smith himself will be there along with Johnny Hiland, one of PRS's foremost endorsees.

They're going to be at Corner Music on 12th street from 6-8 pm, and they'll be showing off the latest and greatest in PRS gear.

If you live in the Nashville area, and you're interested in PRS guitars, amps, or acoustics... then come check it out! I'm sure it's going to be a rad time!

For those unable to make it, I'll try to post some pictures and possibly video from the event!

Jonathan

End of the World Movies

2009-12-15T12:24:00.007-06:00

There have been a slew of "end of the world" movies in the last ten years or so. I'm a fan... because for some reason I enjoy watching scenes of unparalleled destruction. Call it sadistic, I don't know....

In any case, there are certain things that seem to be constant throughout most of these end of the world movies..... So if you ever grow up to be an end-of-the-world-movie filmmaker..... be sure to include these into your story!

1. The President is in charge of the world, and it's up to him to make choices that save America. If other parts of the earth are saved, that's a bonus.

2. Generals are always wrong. They will tell the President to take the exact wrong course of action. They love red phones with no buttons.

3. Nuclear bombs can fix just about anything... Whether it's breaking up an asteroid or restarting the earth's core rotation... Nukes are handy little fellas.

4. When re-wiring a nuclear bomb, always cut the red wire. Never the green. In fact, use the red, white, and blue wires whenever possible. It's the patriotic thing to do.

5. When the destruction starts, you can be sure that it will strike in Europe or Asia first. Rome, Paris, London, Tokyo, and Beijing seem to be the favorites.

6. Destruction will reach America eventually, but will spare most of the population. Regardless, the golden gate bridge must be destroyed at some point in the film.

7. If the movie involves spaceflight, be sure to ignore all basic laws of physics. You can walk on small asteroids even though the gravity wouldn't be enough to hold you down, you can hear explosions in space even though sound can't travel in a vacuum, and of course, nukes still fix everything.

8. 60% of the time, the cause of the destruction is something we did to the planet. Global warming, scientific experimentation gone awry, or something of that sort. Don't worry though, 20% of the time the President is African-American, so the human race isn't so bad.

9. The clock always stops with 3 seconds left..... and the 15 seconds preceeding this little miracle are always enough to say goodbye to your loved ones and have a nice 2-minute flashback.

10. In the end, much of the earth is destroyed, but the remaining population have learned a valuable lesson... or have they?! Well, at least the threat is neutralized.... OR IS IT?!!!.......

Well, at least the dog ALWAYS ALWAYS survives.

Jonathan

Christmas "Decorations"

2009-12-14T08:36:00.004-06:00

How tempted am I to do this to my house?

HAHA! A quote from the "decorator":

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

Michael Steingard : We Are One

2009-12-12T12:07:00.008-06:00

Hey Guys....

So last fall I spent some time working on producing a record for my brother, Michael. It's now up on iTunes and available! It's called We Are One, and it's something of an experimental worship album.... I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I'm excited to see it iTunes now!

Click to view this album in iTunes

.... Also, Michael and I decided to give away one song on this blog to give people an idea of what to expect from the album! So, here you go! This song is called "Would You Come".

Click here to download "Would You Come".

Check it out and enjoy!

It's been a ton of fun working on this album with Mike. There are some songs on here that I just can't get enough of. My personal favorites are "Be My Delight", "Would You Come", "Anchor", "I am in the Ocean", and "Funny How". If you want to hear all these, you'll have to buy the record!

Jonathan

PRS SE Semi-Hollow Demo

2009-12-10T12:41:00.003-06:00

So yesterday during our live chat I was asked to DEMO my PRS Se Semi-Hollow guitar by a user named Jkilla - I'm trusting that "J" doesn't refer to me.

Here you go Jkilla!

I used my Bad Cat Hot Cat 30r Head through a Heritage 2x12 with vintage 30 speakers. For pedals, I used my TS-808 TubeScreamer first, and then a Wampler Plextasy overdrive. At the end of the clip, I'm using my TS-808 and a Wampler FUZZ together. The delay is an MXR Carbon Copy delay.

If you've never heard of Wampler, you need to check him out... He's a guy that makes custom built pedals, and he's based out of Ft. Wayne Indiana. I've got 2 of his pedals on my board, and I love them! Go to wamplerpedals.com to learn more.

Awake and Alive Tour - FIN!

2009-12-07T14:35:00.004-06:00

Last night, in Grand Rapids, MI, we wrapped up this 50 city tour we've been a part of over the last 10 weeks. We made lots of great new friends and had a wonderful time LIVING LIFE LOUD!

A GREAT MULTITUDE of wonderful memories were made on this tour..... so many I can barely remember them all. Thankfully I don't have to, because of the miracle of youtube! I've been shocked to see how quickly videos from shows get up on youtube.... Heck, just now I found a 10 minute clip from last night's show summarizing all 3 bands. Crazy!

Anyways..... I'd like to share a couple of my favorite moments from these 50 shows, through the miracle of youtube.

Jason's Halloween Costume
Jay wears an orange tux from the movie Dumb and Dumber as a halloween costume!

Jas Gettin' In Their Faces...
Pretty much every night Jason jumps down into the crowd at least once... This is one example of such an occurrence (might wanna turn your speakers down for this one!).

Richard Marx Sing-Along
Richard Marx's son visits one of our shows. Jas decides to serenade him with one of his father's songs.

S-T-L-O-U-I-S

Jason made up a little diddy whilst we were in St. Louis, and decided to grace the crowd with it.

NFL Nike Rewind
This wasn't exactly part of the tour, but we found out about it during the tour.... Live Life Loud was used for the NFL's Nike Rewind!

Then, of course, came last night's show... the final show of the tour.... and that's when the funniest stuff generally goes down. The last night of a long tour is generally "prank night"... when bands and crew pull stunts on each other. It's kind of a way of letting loose and enjoying the final night of a tour. Skillet isn't much for pranks, and we decided not to pull any stunts on them this tour... but the crew decided that WE weren't to be spared.

Kenny, the monitor engineer for the tour, dressed up like Jason, and came up on stage for the beginning of our show AS Jason! We had a few friends from the tour hold back the real Jason, so Kenny would get a moment in the spotlight!

Also, our good friend Jonathan Chu, who plays violin for Skillet, surprised us and came out to play the string parts on "Meaning of Life"! Chu has been riding with us on our bus throughout the tour, and he's a great dude... and a RIDICULOUS violinist!

Then, on the final song, Live Life Loud, most of the crew came up on stage and danced their HEARTS OUT! It definitely made me wonder who was doing sound and lights at that point! Haha... If anybody has any video of any of this stuff.... throw it up on youtube and email me a link, would'ya?!

We've got about a month off now... and I'm very ready for some much needed rest and relaxation! Christmas is just a few weeks away........ so get ready for some VERY FESTIVE blog updates!!!!

Jonathan

Timmy Ho's!

2009-12-05T10:55:00.003-06:00

I know I've mentioned Tim Horton's many times on this little blog of mine.... but it appears as if you're going to have to endure another rant about this wonderful place...... as there was a Tim Horton's 0.3 miles away from the venue yesterday!

We all walked down to the Timmy Ho's multiple times..... and over the course of the day I managed to devour the following: 2 mochas, 1 bagel with cream cheese, 1 donut, and a 20 pack of timbits. Delicious!!!!!!

This place really just GETS Canadians. It's cheap. It's tasty. It's ALWAYS readily available on Canadian street corners.... To demonstrate how much this place GETS Canadians... observe.

This is Dan's bagel and hashbrown.... Immediately after sitting down he asked, "I wonder if they have any Ketchup packets?" Then he discovered they had ALREADY put one in the little hashbrown pouch. THAT's how much they know Canadian's desires, and anticipate their requests! Boom! KETCHUP!!

We're in Cleveland today, and I've already used google maps to see if there is a Tim Horton's near us today. No dice...... However, we're in Grand Rapids, MI, tomorrow, and I'm willing to bet there will be one there!

Jonathan

Confessions of a Bandwagon Ducks Fan.

2009-12-03T23:36:00.003-06:00

Hey All....

So I've never been a big football fan.... but it's hard to maintain that track record when you've got a friend like my buddy Adam.... who is the biggest Oregon Ducks fan EVER. He watches every Oregon Ducks game in the front lounge of our tour bus (Adam does merchandise with us, so tours with us wherever we go). As the Duck's season has progressed, I've gone from casually listening to the game whilst writing emails to watching every play in complete anxiety.

Tonight the Oregon Ducks played the Oregon State Beavers in a civil war game that would determine who goes to the Rose Bowl on Jan 1st. It was a hard-fought game, but Oregon emerged victorious!

Of course Adam lost his MIND at the end. I think he'll probably cry tears of joy when he goes to bed. Haha....

So on January 1st I will be watching intently as Oregon takes on Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Yeah!!!

Jonathan

Gimp Rock

2009-11-22T21:40:00.002-06:00

Last night Brandon from Decypher Down was putting his suitcase in the bay of their bus, and he turned around just in time to have his foot run over by the production truck! Poor guy was taken to the hospital... and luckily none of the bones in his foot were broken (although I don't know how... it looked brutal).

Aaaaaaanyways..... when the time came to play the show tonight..... he did not wimp out.

Hot Pockets!

2009-11-21T23:48:00.001-06:00

Jason sings a little diddy about Hot Pockets!

Marxism 101

2009-11-16T23:16:00.003-06:00

One of the best things about Hawk Nelson shows is the sheer uncertainty. Every night I get on stage and think.... "I wonder what crazy, hilarious, ridiculous, embarrassing, or incredible thing is going to happen tonight." There are glorious moments of inspiration, and there are moments of unbearable awkwardness.

Last night at the House of Blues show in Chicago, IL, Richard Marx's son decided to stop by the show (we wrote One Little Miracle with Richard Marx himself)..... and Jas decided to do his own version of one of the famous pop singer's best-known songs....

So, can a moment be both inspirational or awkward? I certainly think so!

Jonathan

AMA Commercial!

2009-11-13T15:02:00.003-06:00

The other night I was watching the Country Music Awards and I saw a commercial for the American Music Awards.... and they were using LIVE LIFE LOUD for the music on the commercial!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!

In the last few days we've had an NFL spot, a song on Melrose Place, and now this AMA commercial.... All playing Live Life Loud.

So fun!

Jonathan

Buried by Your Wishes

2009-11-10T15:17:00.003-06:00

So we've been on the road for several months now with Skillet, Decypher Down, and The Letter Black.... it's been a long haul, and right now it's been about a month since I've seen home. I have to admit that this gets harder as I get older. I can only imagine how difficult it might be when we have kids, sometime down the road. That's got to be tough.

The shows, for the most part have been amazing. Tulsa, Medford, Salem, Spokane, Boise, and Denver probably stand out as having been the best shows of the tour so far. It's hard to believe we still have a month before this tour is wrapped up..... and while it's a great tour with some awesome shows... I am definitely feeling the wear.

The term "careful what you wish for" comes to mind... Haha. Making music and touring the country playing shows are what I love to do, and I can't imagine spending my life on anything else right now.... So I can't really complain, because I'm getting to do what I love (a lot of it). However, that doesn't mean that I don't miss home, and it isn't difficult to do a 50 city / 10 week fall tour.

I will say though.... I've had a good amount of free time during each day on this tour... So I have listened to a LOT of new music.... and there is a TON of good new music out there. Why does it happen in spurts like this? I'll go for a year without finding a single new album that inspires me, and then I'll find 3 all at once.

Here are a few new albums that I'm in love with..... that you should really check out...

(in alphabetical order)

David Crowder*Band - Church Music

Fee - Hope Rising

Paramore - Brand New Eyes

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane

I'm actually buying and downloading Switchfoot's new album as I write. I include this in my list because every single switchfoot album since Learning to Breathe has changed my world. I'm THAT confident that this one will be no different...

Anyways.... I realized I hadn't written a blog post in a while, and despite feeling like my blogging muscles are atrophied and sore, I decided to erratically toss a few thoughts down here. I'd like to promise that I'll get back to writing here more often........ but you just never know. Haha.

Pic of the Day

2009-10-30T02:46:00.003-05:00

Tonight at the show, a fan had a copy of our second record, Smile It's the End of the World.... and he was smart enough to know that Justin wasn't in the band at that time.... and he decided to do something about that!

Live Photos

2009-10-25T03:07:00.002-05:00

A photographer named Phil Rucker came to the show today, and handed us a few discs of photos from previous shows. Here are a couple!

Celebrity Theater

2009-10-23T11:52:00.002-05:00

So last night we had SUCH a good show!

We played the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona. If you've never been to this theater.... it's a trip. The room is circular, and the stage is in the middle of the room. The stage is also circular, and it SPINS while the show is going on! This way everyone gets to be faced by the band for parts of the show. It's a pretty bizarre way to set up a stage, and it makes for some technical nightmares, but it was a pretty amazing experience nonetheless.

I generally set up my amps off-stage, or at the back of the stage facing backwards. They've got mics on them, and I can hear them in my in-ears, so it really doesn't matter where they are exactly. Here's what they look like normally.......

Well, the problem with the show last night was that the stage is SPINNING, and I didn't have enough cable to have my amps off-stage, so I had to put them at the back of the stage. The problem with THIS, is that they'll be pointed at people's HEADS when the back of the stage faces them. That's bad news, since these amps are so loud.... SOoooooooooo this was our solution.

We covered the amps with 3-4 moving blankets, and there are also some case lids under there. Haha..... So if you were at the show, and wondered what monstrosity was hiding under all those blankets.... There you have it!

Jonathan

Tours and Shows, Tours and Shows

2009-10-22T02:34:00.004-05:00

Alright.... I KNOW.

I know I've been LAZY with blog posts recently. The truth is that I haven't been feeling particularly inspired with anything to talk about. I've felt like keeping to myself these last few weeks.... so I hope you all can forgive me for that.

Let me catch you guys up....

We're on the Awake and Alive tour, with Skillet, Decypher Down, and The Letter Black. We've been having a good time so far... but I think we're about to start having an even BETTER time, because we're getting to my favorite part of the country.... the west coast.... Tomorrow night we're playing in Phoenix, and then on to Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Redding, and then up through Oregon and Washington.

Tonight, however, was a special night for me. We had a day off in Phoenix today, and we heard that Our Lady Peace was playing in town. Now, you have to understand that OLP was one of my favorite bands growing up, and they influenced me tremendously as a guitar player and musician...... and I've NEVER seen them live.... So I knew I HAD to go. Even better, Skillet's tour manager Scotty managed to pull some strings and get us in for free! Yeah!

There were 2 opening bands, and then Our Lady Peace hit the stage......

I've gotta say, there were a ton of surreal things about this experience.

First off, they played incredibly well. The set list was a great mix of songs from each record.... They played 3 new songs from their new album Burn Burn, so there was plenty of space for the HITS! Songs like Innocent, Superman's Dead, Somewhere Out There, and Is Anybody Home had the crowd singing along. He let the crowd sing the first half of 4am on their own before really kicking in on that one. Nice touch.

Steve Mazur, the guitarist, played both new and old guitar parts faithfully. He joined the band in the early 00's, and I wasn't sure how much liberty he'd take with the parts. Well done Steve. He NAILED the "One Man Army" guitar solo. This solo was hugely influential to me, and was my inspiration for the chaotic guitar solo on "The Job" of the new HN record. I was so glad he didn't alter that particular part.

Jeremy and Duncan, the drummer and bassist, were SO locked in. Amazing rhythm section. The foundation of their playing left the field wide open for Steve to be SUPER expressive with the guitars. It inspired me to push the envelope a little more on the guitar... and take more chances... not play things so safe, and I sometimes like to do.

Raine's vocals were classic Raine Maida. His pitch was better than I remember from seeing him on TV shows and such back in Canada all those years ago. He seemed tired at times, but that's kind of his persona. Haha.... I was more interested in the rest of the band anyways.

Probably the most shocking thing for me was that there were only maybe 300 people at this show. This was MIND BLOWING to me, because OLP has sold more than 5 million records worldwide, and they're a massive band (especially in Canada, being good ol' Canadian boys). I got the impression that when they play in the US, this number is not unusual. It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this crowd is smaller than the smallest crowd we'll have on the tour WE'RE currently on. WOW.

I can't contemplate this fact without feeling a deep sense of humility and appreciation for our fans. You guys are seriously amazing. Thanks for coming to our shows.... thanks for showing up in the hundreds and thousands..... thanks for showing up and singing along, and kazooing like crazy people. Thanks for helping make it possible for us to do what we do. I love my job, and tonight, I am exceedingly grateful for it, and inspired to push myself even further with it.

You guys are the best. Thank You!

Jonathan

Canadian Winter

2009-10-13T15:49:00.001-05:00

Ahhh... I miss Canadian winter...

j.

Selling a 1980's Custom Telecaster

2009-10-08T22:29:00.004-05:00

Hey Guys....

I'm selling a one of my guitars on ebay right now.... It's a telecaster was custom made under the name Ed's Guitars, sometime back in the 1980's. It has aged beautifully since being made.... and plays great. More details are available on the ebay listing...

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE EBAY LISTING

I used it extensively on our new Live Life Loud album..... so it's a fun guitar to send to a new owner!

Jonathan

The Mountains and The Valley

2009-10-03T10:43:00.000-05:00

I've been reading through My Utmost for his Highest by Oswald Chambers the last few days, and this particular part was a huge eye opener for me.

The Place of Exaltation

. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2

We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18 ). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.

We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, "What’s the use of this experience?" We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.

Jonathan

-- Post From My iPhone

Firsts and Lasts

2009-09-24T09:27:00.005-05:00

Today is the first day of the Awake and Alive tour that we're a part of this fall.... along with Skillet, Decyfer Down, and The Letter Black. First and last days of tour always get me thinking... about the future, about the past.... about how crazy life has been the last 5 years. I'm trying to remember all the tours I've been on... let me try to recount them.

2004
Fight The Tide Tour - Sanctus Real, Seven Places, Hawk Nelson, Ever Stays Red

2005
Fight The Tide Tour pt 2 - Sanctus Real, HN, Ever Stays Red
X Tour - Falling Up, KJ52, Seventh Day Slumber, HN
Diverse City Worldwide Tour - AudioAdrenaline, tobyMac, Kutless, HN
Art of Breaking Tour - TFK, HN, Dizmas, 4th Ave Jones

2006
Winterjam - Newsboys, tobyMac, Zoegirl, HN, Krystal Meyers
Art of Breaking Tour pt 2 - TFK, HN, Falling Up, Run Kid Run
Smile (End of the World) Tour - HN, Project 86, Falling Up, Run Kid Run
Beyond Measure Tour - Jeremy Camp, HN, Adie
Winter Wonder Slam - tobyMac, HN, The Afters, Family Force 5, Aeisha Woods

2007
Winterjam - Jeremy Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman, HN, Sanctus Real, Britt Nicole
Tooth and Nail Tour - MXPX, HN, Classic Crime, The Fold, Sullivan
Baseball Tour - HN, The Send
Revolve Tour - Natalie Grant, HN, Aeisha Woods, KJ52

2008
Green Tee Tour - HN, Run Kid Run, Capital Lights
Baseball Tour - HN, Run Kid Run
Revolve Tour - Natalie Grant, HN, Krystal Meyers, Group 1 Crew

2009
Winterjam - tobyMac, Brandon Heath, HN, Francesca Battestelli, Stephanie Smith
Rock & Worship Roadashow - Mercy Me, Jeremy Camp, HN, Tenth Ave North, Addison Rd.
Awake and Alive Tour - Skillet, HN, Decyfer Down, The Letter Black

Wow. I managed to complete most of that list without googling. That's around 600 tour shows.... including one-offs and festivals, we've probably played nearly a thousand shows in the last 5 years. Wow. No wonder it's flown by.

It almost feels as if I've been somewhat isolated from the real world these last few years. Being on the road can be good therapy, but it can also be a big carpet under which it's tempting to sweep your problems. Everything is put on hold when you're on the road.... and when you do 120-150 shows a year, as we've settled into recently, anything put on "hold" can remain there for quite some time. Some people are cut out for the road, and some aren't.

Mostly, I love being on the road. I enjoy my morning coffee routines. I like waking up in a different place every day. I love walking around the various cities of this country. I love that I have some minimal level of familiarity with nearly every city in this country. I love playing guitar for a living. I love making music.

Even so, touring is hard on you. I've seen it age people...... If you're talking to someone who has toured extensively for 10+ years, you can see those years on their face. You can hear it when they speak. It's interesting. Some people wear those signs as a badge of honor. Others try to hide them. Some are clueless to the presence of any of these things.... but regardless, the years are there.... as bags under their eyes, or a hoarseness of voice. I sometimes wonder how I've been changed by the last 5 years of touring.

It's on days like this.... the first day of this fall tour.... that I wonder. A lot.

I wonder if this is a lifelong obsession for me, of if it's a phase that I go through during this time in my life. Really, I'm quite content with either, as long as I'm where God wants me to be. As I get older, my priorities change though. If I have kids in the next few years, I suspect priorities will shift even further. Being away from family will get more and more difficult. I used to just LOVE playing shows and having fun on the road... now I feel more of a need to have a sense of purpose, if I'm going to be away from home.

Some days feel more full of purpose than others. It's the others that sometimes leave me asking "What was the point of THAT day?" ..... and the older I get, the more frustrated I get when I have to ask myself that. But then every once and a while something wonderful happens... and I get to see a little glimpse into the life of someone our music has affected.... and I wonder how I could ever question the purpose of what we do. That is a pretty humbling feeling, and reminds me of the responsibility we all have to be good stewards of what we are given.

In the end... I refocus on the tasks of the day. Today I need to finish tweaking arrangements for the show, I need to change some strings, and prepare for the first show of the tour. I'll probably make some more coffee later. I'll make some new friends, and catch up with some older ones. I'll fill my day with tasks and errands.

The shows on this tour are selling incredibly well... there are going to be a lot of packed out theatres and concert halls. It's going to feel great playing to such great crowds each night.

Here we.... go!

Jonathan

Livin Life Loud!!!

2009-09-22T09:03:00.002-05:00

For a band guy there are several days that are pretty special.... You know, there's birthdays, and Christmas... wedding anniversaries and holidays. There is also STREET DAY!

Our new Hawk Nelson record, Live Life Loud hits stores and online today!

.... and for today ONLY it's available for $3.99 as a download on Amazon. CLICK HERE to check it out!

It's crazy to think about so much time and effort finally culminating in a single day like this (I bet any woman who has given birth would tell me I know NOTHING about the subject). Really though... we spent months working on these songs, arranging them, recording them, talking about album artwork, shooting photos for it, shooting a video, doing interviews, writing thank-you's, and all that good stuff.... So in a way, LLL is our little baby. Haha.

This is only the 3rd time I've had a label-release of an album I've been so much a part of (I joined HN several months after Letters to the Prez came out, so Smile was the first HN album I was a part of). I hope there are many more to come!

Anyways.... this album is a bit different for us. I hope that you guys see growth in this record.... and furthermore, I hope we're growing in a direction you all would like to go....

Jonathan

Live Life Loud Music Video!

2009-09-17T13:41:00.001-05:00

Our video for Live Life Loud was released today on myspace..... click here to visit the myspace page.... or watch it below!

Hawk Nelson "Live Life Loud" Music Video

j.

A bijillion MPG

2009-09-16T13:54:00.000-05:00

So I'm down in southern California for a week of relaxing and hanging with family... And I've been riding around town a lot on a beach cruiser bike.... This is awesome! Riding a bike makes you feel like a good person, doesn't it? You're getting excercise, and not using any gas. In my mind, there are a room full of earth-muffins applauding every time I hit those pedals.

Yesterday Jess and I cruised around the beach and checked out all the million dollar shacks that line the beachfront. So that's why people bike here... They spent all their cash on a 400sq.ft. apartment. Oh wait, there's a Mercedes in the driveway. Nevermind.

It sucks that Tennessee is so unfriendly to bicycles. Everything is so far away and it's never really biking weather. Either it's too humid and hot, or it's raining. No gracias. Plus, there are no bike lanes. If you try to bike to starbucks from my house, you WILL get wrecked by a mom in a minivan who's late to her son's soccer practice.

So here's what I'm thinking.... I'm resolving (at least in my own idealistic little mind) to move somewhere more biking-and-walking-friendly before having kids.

Do you guys walk or bike places in your towns? Is it practical where you live? I wanna hear what you think of your town!

Break me off some information!

Awake and Alive Tour Map

2009-09-14T11:02:00.004-05:00

So I had a lot of time in the Denver airport yesterday, and I got bored.... so I made a map of where we'll be playing on the Awake and Alive Tour with Skillet. Click on the map below to open it up in google maps....

In most cases, the venue names and addresses are on the map..... So come check out the tour when it comes near you!

Jonathan

Rock The Universe

2009-09-13T05:34:00.002-05:00

Last night we played at Rock the Universe.... in Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida. It was our first show back after taking several weeks off.... so it felt good to get out and playing shows again! The crowd was ready for some rock 'n roll, and we did our best to deliver. ;)

Our new record comes out in 9 days, so we debuted a few brand new songs, including Never Enough, The Job, and Eggshells. We also played Live Life Loud and Meaning of Life, two new songs that have already been released as singles.

Playing new songs breathes such fresh life into a show for us. It's fun to have that on-the-edge feeling of "are we going to be able to pull this off?" haha. With any luck we'll be super comfortable with these new songs within a few weeks... we're certainly going to be playing a lot of shows! Our tour with Skillet starts on Sept 24, and we're going to be playing over 50 shows this fall.... so keep an eye out to see if we're gonna be near you!

MORANS!!!

2009-09-10T20:59:00.001-05:00

I can't get enough of this photo!!!!

What is this guy is protesting............... education reform?

j.

Reality TV

2009-09-09T09:36:00.004-05:00

So yeah, I've had some time off recently..... and that means I've ended up watching some good ol' reality TV with Jess here and there. After watching my fair share of it, I've noticed some common threads between every reality show........ besides from the obvious facts that they cast the most unstable people possible, and the cameras go where the drama is.... Here are my observations:

1. Our favorite characters are the ones we hate. Sure, there's one "nice" person in the group that we naturally identify ourselves with, but we all love watching that unstable one go off on a rant, being a complete jerk, don't we?

2. The dumber the better. We love watching dumb people do dumb things. I guess it makes us feel intelligent and successful?

3. Nobody ever accepts apologies. An apology is just an opportunity to drag up what happened all over again and take up another 10 minutes of screen time talking about what happened 10 minutes earlier in the episode.

4. Being a gold digger is boring. All the celebrity shows about women who live off their rich men (real housewives, girls next door, etc...) reveal the dark side of what happens when fame and money come without a busy career. They're constantly coming up with random things to do..... like "let's throw a theme party" or "let's do a photo shoot for fun" or "let's senselessly remodel a room in the mansion". It's seems as though they're constantly trying real hard to find things to occupy their time. They could get a job! Oh wait, they have one, that's what all the cameras are. Ok, clock in.... action....... look ridiculous........... and cut!

5. Everybody's the victim. I don't think I've ever heard anybody say "I've had it pretty easy in life, you know?" It doesn't matter if they've been raised with a silver spoon, or in a barn..... they've all "been through a lot", and "never been given a chance by nobody". If drama goes down on set, "It ain't my fault! I've had a rough life. The other girls have had it easier than me." Umm.... they say the same about you.

6. They're out to find their "true love". Really? They're getting paid to choose between 20 of the most unstable people the producers could cast.... and the sequel is already being planned.... Oh, but you'll be devastated that it didn't work out the first time, won't you?

7. It's all about variety. Let's make a reality TV show..... How about a dating show! Let's come up with some super original twist shall we? Sure, there's been dating shows on reality TV before..... but how about a dating show with a washed up rock star? Been done? Ok, then let's do one with overweight people! Oh, that's been done...... well, what about people formerly on OTHER reality TV shows?! Oh that's been done? Dang it!

8. EVERYONE has an assistant. What does a housewife with no discernable career (other than frumping around the house in pajamas in front of a camera) need an assistant for?

These shows are pretty bottom-of-the-barrel TV. So why are reality TV shows so plentiful?

Because they're cheap to produce (it's cheaper to stock a house with vodka and cameras than to cast a scripted drama), they cast the lowest bidders ("i can be on a TV show?!"), and the bar for being famous is so low that they can make a celebrity out of a trailer park superintendent (I smell a HIT SHOW!).

........aaaaand cut.

Jonathan