Thursday, June 08, 2006

4-wheeler



I took Kassady on her first 4-wheeler ride. Kassady was not impressed with my driving abilities. This same look is on the faces of the guys when I drive the bus.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Excuses, More Excuses

Lately, I've had more trouble when it comes to uploading files and pictures. Anyway, I've been trying to get the pics from Seattle and Memorial Day on the site but it's not happening tonight. I'll try it again tomorrow.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Just doing my thing

I started early in the workforce. As an 8 year old I was part of some impressive productions: http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=86873.

Hellbent

This is one twisted city: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060604/D8I1BSP00.html

Home Again

Doran, Dan, and I had a great time in Seattle. I have some pictures that I'll be uploading soon. We had a great weekend in the state of Washington. We pulled in at about 7 this morning. I'll tell you more about it later.

My little solfege

Kassady practicing her sight-reading. We decided to start her a little early. She sounds a little bit like me during my freshman year of college performing selections from "Jesu Meine Freude".

Garminator



Recently, we have been giving Royce a hard time about his driving. Dan purchased a Garmin GPS system for the bus about 3 months ago. The GPS unit, affectionately called the "Garminator" keeps us going in the right direction (most of the time) and helps us keep track of time. It also keeps statistics such as average, slowest, and fastest speed.

Now, Royce has a love/hate relationship with the Garminator. He loves to hate it. It features a woman's voice telling him when to turn and where to go. That doesn't sit well with Big Daddy. He likes making the calls. He has, on occasion, made a wrong turn and has suffered the humiliation of the woman's voice telling him that it is recalculating as a result of his mistake. These deep feelings of animosity are in sharp contrast to Dan's embracing of the GPS. According to Dan, the Garminator makes no mistakes.

On our trip to Fresno, CA Royce drove through the night. Dan woke up complaining of the rough ride. So, Dan went to the Garminator to see how fast Royce had been driving. The GPS readout said that Royce had reached a maximum speed of 104.7 mph. Well, that's all the rest of us had to hear. We razzed him the entire trip. In fact, we were talking the guys from Legacy V about our trip out, so Scott Fowler publicly made a big deal of it with Royce. Royce kept on insisting that there was no way that he was going that fast, but we wouldn't hear of it.

While talking to Legacy V, they mentioned that they had saved $15,000 a year by keeping their speed at 65 mph and below. So, we decided to track our mileage, drop the speed, and see what difference it would make. It has already made a huge difference in mileage.

Well, on a trip up to Moscow, ID on a Sunday afternoon, Royce was behind the wheel again. Doran and Dan were sleeping in the back and I was working on my laptop. All of a sudden Royce yelled out, "Keith, you gotta get up here! And bring a camera." Royce isn't usually that excitable so I rummaged around for my camera and made my way to the front of the bus. Royce pointed at the Garminator and said,"See if you can top that." The picture tells the story.

Royce was, of course, vindicated and now the tables have turned. Now, it's Dan who's on the defensive trying to explain why the GPS made the calculation that it did.

Life on the road. We create drama.

Kansas pics


Dan offered his insightful advice concerning alternator installation to the mechanic (who was actually doing the work). This is a common sight around the Liberty bus. Think Tom Sawyer painting the fence.

Actually, Dan does the heavy work, making sure we stay on the road. On this weekend's trip we had AC thanks to Dan and Myrl (our erstwhile bus driver). We replaced our alternator and rebuilt part of the generator. That was an expensive trip to Kansas.

Farmer Dan


Dan was in his element checking out this combine. Larry Froese,who helped us repair the alternator for the A/C unit, also builds giant machines for farms in Kansas and Texas. They go for about $250,000 each. Pretty impressive. Fortunately, Dan didn't get beyond the garage.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Sports that matter

By the way, I'm happy to see that Miami finally made it to the finals. Who knew that I would ever be cheering for Shaq? Dwayne Wade is a bonafide superstar.

Also, my Reds beat up on the Houston Astros tonight 14-3. About time.

The Evergreen State

Hello everybody. Life is good! My voice is back to 100% and our concerts are going extremely well. I want to say thanks to everyone who visits keithinside on a consistent basis (even the shy ones who don't like posting). I'm having fun keeping you informed on what's going on in my world. I have been pathetic about getting pictures on the site, though. I've got some great pics to download, but haven't got around to it yet. Anyway, life is exciting in the great state of Washington.

This is my first visit to the Evergreen state and I love it! Man, this is some of God's most beautiful creation. I highly recommend it for you outdoor enthusiasts. There are some breathtaking views in this area. Last night we did an outdoor concert in Moses Lake, WA at a beautiful garden. It was an incredible evening! It rained, a normal occurence in Washington I'm learning. Not long, just a little shower. The only bad thing is that I don't have hair to catch the raindrops. It hits my head and drips right into my eyes. Fun stuff! This evening we were at the First Baptist Church in Bellingham, WA. We had a great time with some enthusiastic people! It's so much fun to sing to people who enjoy listening to SG music.

Tomorrow will be interesting, to say the least. Royce's son, Jeremiah graduates from high school and he is flying back to help celebrate this awesome achievement. So, Dan, Doran, and I will be performing as the Liberty trio tomorrow night. Only God knows what's going to happen in that concert. We might need your prayers for that one.

We're going to spend the day hanging out in Seattle. I don't like coffee, but I gotta find the original Starbucks, We're going to head down to Fisherman's Wharf and see the sights. We'll see if I run into Eddie and the boys from Pearl Jam. I've never been there before so it should be a great day.

Stay tuned. More info on the CD giveaway contest is on the way. To hear some of Liberty's previous music visit my great friend Jon Plank's blog at www.jonplank.com. As a side note, Jon served as graphic designer for our new album and it looks great!

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

averyfineline.com


The stuff you always wondered about concerning Southern Gospel, but didn't want to ask can be found on this blog. While I would hate to live on the cynical side like this guy, there is some interesting material found here. The blog is well-written, sarcastic, and often insightful. Think Simon Cowell.

Graduation, Golf, and Grilling

Man, I'm getting pathetic at updating my blog. It's been a full weekend and holiday. I spent the weekend going to several graduation parties. Congrats go out to the following grads:

Andy McConnell, Grace Christian Academy
Tiffany Black, Nampa High School
Jaron Crane, Nampa Christian High School
Justin Aman, Melba High School
Justin Gilbert, Timberline High School
Jeremiah Mitchell, Eagle High School
Levi Riggs, Greenleaf Christian Academy
Eli Harbin, Greenleaf Christian Academy

I hope you all had a great Sunday. Liberty had the weekend off, so it was nice to be at our home church (Grace Bible Church). Dr. Keaton, as usual, preached two masterpiece sermons (or should that be two sermon masterpieces? it's too late). Incredible! On Saturday, several of the young adults from the church passed out roses to homes in our neighborhood. There were several who just couldn't grasp the fact that all we wanted to do was give them a rose. One guy kept on trying to give me money. I finally convinced him that the rose was simply a gift, no strings attached. It's amazing how something so simple can have such a profound effect. Lori gave a rose to a woman who teared up and said that she needed it at that exact moment. Pretty cool.

On Memorial Day I played in a best ball golf tournament with a bunch of guys from Grace. Until my game improves I'm only doing best ball golf. Our team broke even. We shot 3 over on the front nine, 3 under on the last nine. Our time spent of the time laughing. We had 3 rookies in our group (Dustin, Terry, and myself). Now, Terry is actually pretty good. It was Dustin's first time to ever play, my 3rd. I did really good with the irons. My drives, on the other hand, were pathetic. At one point, Marc and Doran were on the ground laughing at my feeble attempts. I did have enough good shots, though, to catch the fever. I am now committed to practicing teeing off. My goal is not to be good. I just want to play without embarrassing myself. The great thing was that the team with all the pros only beat us by 3 strokes.

We then headed to the home of our friends, John and Shawna Mullins, for a barbeque (cooking out for those in the Midwest). I'll have some pictures up soon of our day. Trey rode a four-wheeler and a dirt bike for the first time. I also took Kassady for a ride on the 4-wheeler. She was not impressed.

This morning and afternoon, we finished the vocals for our new recording. It should be out next month.

Thanks for the suggestions for the contest and keep them coming. I want something good.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Liberty in the Studio


We are one studio session away from having all of the vocals done for our upcoming CD "Old Time Gospel Songs,Vol.1". I am excited about this new project. I've been a huge Southern Gospel fan for as long as I can remember, but I hadn't heard some of these old songs we're featuring. This has been a lot of fun and I know you'll be able to tell on the recording. Our studio musicians did an outstanding job of providing fresh arrangements for this album. Pictured above is Liberty with Scott Pergande (center), our engineer. The guy has a fantastic ear (along with an extremely dry sense of humor). He kept things loose in the studio.

As promised, I will be giving away a free CD to one of you loyal blog readers (I mean, really, if you are consistently reading this you definitely are worthy of a reward). I need to come up with some contest to determine how the CD should be awarded. I'd like to do something half-way creative. Any ideas?

Royce's Muscle Mass


Royce took some time off from recording to flex his enormous neck muscles for the camera. As you can tell, he's spent quite a bit of time on cultivating this attractive look. The man is photogenic, no question about it.

studio time



A contrast in pictures: Doran confidently cranks out his baritone parts while Dan nervously fiddles with his headphone cord while studying the music. Actually, the boys made it happen.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

American Idol

Just for the record, America finally got it right. Taylor Hicks was the man from day one. He definitely doesn't fit the definition of American Idol, that's for sure. Those funky moves coupled with his infectious energetic singing won me over. He is a true entertainer. Congrats!

Back in Nampa

After several days of no posting, my guilt conscience has brought me once again to keithinside.blogspot.com. I have some good excuses, though. I haven't had much time to do anything. I finally got home at about 10:30 Monday night. Man, that was a long trip. First of all, let me say thanks to all of you who posted and e-mailed me, letting me know that you were praying for my voice. It has slowly, but surely, improved. Friday evening was the toughest concert I've ever done (dating back to the GBS/Assurance Quartet days). I literally had nothing to give. I sang so hard it hurt, but nothing came out. By the time we left the church I was communicating via hoarse rasps and esoteric hand signals. I couldn't even laugh. One of the guys would say something funny and my mouth would open to laugh, but no sound would come forth, save for a slight wheeze. We were on for a concert at a nursing home Saturday morning at 9:00. By the time we got to our hotel room it was 11:30 PM. I took some powerful medication, prayed fervently that God would give me a touch and went to bed by midnight. I woke up at 20 'til 2 in a panic, struggling to breathe. I jumped out of bed and began searching around in the dark for my medicine. I finally found it, got as much of the congestion out of my system as possible (thanks to Kleenex) and headed back to bed. As soon as I laid down, the congestion cut off my ability to breathe through my nose and mouth. You talk about feeling claustrophobic. It was awful. For nearly 4 hours I walked around the room, down the hall, wherever trying to get enough oxygen. I've never had anything happen like this, so it was a little unnerving, to say the least. Finally, about 4 something, I fell back to sleep.

I woke up Saturday morning with no voice at all. On the way to the nursing home the guys tried to rehearse some trio numbers. We get there, and I went over in the corner of the room to get out of the way. Royce, I guess, chickened out on their new-found arrangements and called me up to the stage on the first song. It was unbelievably awful. I don't wish deafness for anyone, but I have to admit that I was praying that no one could hear me. Which they probably couldn't, not just because of their age, but due to the fact that nothing more than whispers were coming out. We made it through an hour of me struggling to produce sounds before Royce called it quits. We made our way to Sirloin Stockade for brunch (I forgot all about that restaurant) with some great friends of Liberty, Stan and Faith. It was the first time I've had pancakes and hot wings during the same meal. A little strange. I then stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some medicine. Now, I can't find this stuff anywhere here in Idaho, but it was something called severe congestion PE. I'm here to tell you that it made me a believer. It gets the job done!

We spent the night on the bus, Saturday, in the parking lot of the Wichita First Church of the Nazarene. Sunday morning before the concert I was extremely tentative concerning my voice. I couldn't tell if there was much difference. However, a couple songs into the concert I could tell that it was starting to come back.

Sunday night we were at Olathe College Church of the Nazarene and had a great time! My voice made a little more progress and I was able to handle the entire concert. It wasn't totally back, but it was at least close enough to sound half-way decent.

Now, I'm still struggling to get back to 100%. Unfortunately, we were scheduled to be in the studio this week, so I've haven't been able to get any vocal rest. But thank God I've made a little progress. Thanks again for your prayers!

Now in addition to my interesting vocal issues, our bus encountered some issues of its own. An alternator which serviced our generator, which in turn controls our air conditioning went down. Dan and a mechanic in Inman, KS (who went way beyond the call of duty) came up with a way to get everything working on Saturday. Well, on Sunday evening the generator went down. It had nothing to do with the alternator problem, but still cut out the AC. So, we limped back to Boise Sunday night and all day Monday, enjoying the breezes blowing in the window. It looks like we're going to have to sink some serious money into the bus to repair the problems. The joys of having a bus. So, if you have any extra moola sitting around...

Hey, you know what? God is good, no matter what is going on. The cool thing about being a part of this ministry is that we depend totally on Him to supply the need and He does it.

Since I've been back I've been running non-stop. This new album that's coming out next month has been a lot of fun to record. Some of these old songs I had never heard before, so it's new to me. I have some funny pictures that I have to post in the next few days so stay tuned.

Go Reds!

Friday, May 19, 2006

In Jayhawk Country

Thank you to everyone for their happy birthday greetings. It was a good one. Tonight, I'm in McPherson, KS. We sang at the Bethel Mennonite Church in Inman, KS earlier in the evening. Packed house. Unfortunately, I have developed a full-blown case of laryngitis. I have never experienced vocal problems like this. Ever. I struggled mightily this evening. The cool thing is that in spite of my inabilities to hit the notes, 2 people gave their hearts to Christ. God is good.

If you think about it, please pray that God helps me. I'm serious about this. I've never had a cold so severe and debilitating. We have 3 more concerts before we head back to Boise. I'm praying for a miracle.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

It's Official: I am no longer a 20-something

The big 3-0. Thirty. I'm here. It's great to be here. I thought that by 2006 we would have our own personal rocketships, cruising around the galaxy. Nope, instead I'm on a grey bus somewhere in Nebraska. But, hey, life is good.

I'm 30, bald, and enjoying life. I wondered if it would be kind of depressing turning 30. It's not really that bad. You know, maybe I'm graduating to a new plateau of maturity. I'm feeling a strong urge to put on a black tie. I don't know...

We were in a Freemont, NE tonight. We got on the bus last night around 7:30 and drove straight through. That was a long trip! Fortunately, I'm getting used to sleeping on the bus. I even drove about 6 hours on this trip.

Lori surprised me by sending a balloon bouquet to the church. The pastor brought it up to me in the middle of the concert. Many middle-aged women wished me well back at the product table.

I have been fighting an awful cold. I hate these pre-summer colds! It started out as an extremely sore throat Monday morning and has expanded into a head cold. I was very concerned about this evening's concert, but many people were praying for me and God came through. Keep me in your prayers this weekend.

Tonight, 3 people gave their hearts to Christ. You can't beat ministry!

I'll have to write later about the Brian Free and Assurance concert at Grace. Man, those guys are great!

I'll touch base later on. 30 and holding, for now.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Kids


The other night we had Taylor and Courtney over to play with Trey and Kassady. They had a blast!



The kids loved playing in the sand. Taylor wasn't real sure about having Kassady in his personal space in the top picture.

Bam-Bam is at it again. Kassady has so much more energy than I do. She is beginning to talk and jabbers incessantly. Her vocabulary is expanding and includes some weird words that I wouldn't think would be first to be pronounced. She could say egg before she said "da-da". Go figure.

TNT


Nampa's explosive cowboys ride again. Trey and Tyler love to play Cowboys and Indians when they get together. I feel sorry for the horse, myself.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

The Thursday Update

Well, it's back to prison for me. You knew that sooner or later this would happen. Actually, Liberty is privileged to sing at the Idaho state prison this evening. It will be a different type of concert, but I'm looking forward to it.

We've been practicing like fiends this week trying to get ready to tomorrow's studio session. Hopefully, we will walk away tomorrow having recorded the vocals for 3 tracks: "Jericho Road", "I Found it on My Knees", and "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand". My voice feels shot due to allergies, but I'll see if I can muster up enough ummph for 3 songs.

I'm also in the midst of working on AYC stuff (that's Appalachian Youth Camp). Unfortunately, I can't be there this year due to a schedule conflict, but I still have to get the communications department up and running. Man, I hate to miss it. We were hoping to do a live DVD/CD with the choir and AYC praise team this summer, but I guess we're putting it off until next year. Tony Mac will be directing the choir in my absence, which means I'm probably out of a job. You know how that goes: ya' miss one year and you're back to rookie status.

I'll try to have some pics up tomorrow of the recording session. We'll see how disciplined I am.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Reds 9 Nationals 6

Oh yeah, and by the way, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Nationals tonight to hold on to a precarious 1/2 game lead over St. Louis in their division. Whew...

Finally...

Finally, I am able to post pictures on here. I hope they are worth the wait. All of the pictures from last weekend were taken by a great friend of Liberty, Lem Miller. You will readily ascertain his knack for capturing us at our best.

These pictures were taken at our Saturday night concert in Twin Falls, ID at the Magic Valley Gospel Opry and our Sunday night concert at the First Church of the Nazarene in Twin Falls, ID.

We're going into the studio on Friday to work on the vocals for our new recording coming out in June. I'll try to get some insightful Kodak moments, if you know what I'm saying. It's all good.
Royce can't help but beam at Doran's beautiful baritone licks inserted into "Jericho Road". He looks on with proud admiration. Doran, of course, is oblivious.

Confident in his ability


Our veiled looks of apprehension no doubt encourage Doran as he plays his new jazzy arrangement of "Jesus Is Coming Soon". Sure, Doran. We believe you can do it.

Rated R for disturbing images


OK, this pose will cause nightmares. Parachuting midget clowns weilding spider egg-filled needles can't compare with this picture (I just mentioned several of my phobias).

I try to grunt out a low note on this number. I don't know why we are all leaning in like that. We're a little unbalanced, if you know what I mean.*

*self-deprecating humor (I've always wanted to type self-deprecating. It felt good.)


You know, I'm really the wrong guy to be giving the sales pitch at our concerts. I think of so many witty things to say (as reflected so clearly on Doran's countenance) and take forever. However, it does beat the alternative (see exhibit A, Doran's hat advertisement at the anniversary concert).

I get wound up every once in a while. Royce looks on in amazement.




I'm thinking that it's a sad commentary on our concerts when our most-requested song is our bluegrass take on "The Gospel Plow". It's commonly referred to as the "teeth song".

During our rendition of the classic bass solo "Happy Rhythm", Dan attempts to show Doran and I how to dance. Dan comes from the Assemblies of God church; they are born with the dance gene. I can tell you right now that Doran and I were never cut out to cut the rug. My face pretty much gives away my impression of his advice.

Charlie


Royce does a pretty mean Charlie Chaplin impersonation.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

I'm Red-faced and embarrassed

You know, just when I get to thinking that the Cincinnati Reds might be legit, they go and get spanked by the Washington Nationals. Yes, the Nationals (MLB's only big-league minor league team)! Pathetic. Oh well, this first place stint has been nice. We haven't had this for a while.

I hate getting a page that looks like this; so much for my pictures

The page cannot be displayed

The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings.

Please try the following:
Click the Refresh button, or try again later.
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To check your connection settings, click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Connections tab, click Settings. The settings should match those provided by your local area network (LAN) administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).
See if your Internet connection settings are being detected. You can set Microsoft Windows to examine your network and automatically discover network connection settings (if your network administrator has enabled this setting).

Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options.

On the Connections tab, click LAN Settings.

Select Automatically detect settings, and then click OK.

Some sites require 128-bit connection security. Click the Help menu and then click About Internet Explorer to determine what strength security you have installed.

If you are trying to reach a secure site, make sure your Security settings can support it. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section and check settings for SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, PCT 1.0.

Click the Back button to try another link.

Cannot find server or DNS ErrorInternet Explorer
OK, I don't know what the deal is, but I can't get my pictures from this weekend posted. Stay tuned. I'll get this figured out.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Congrats!

Congrats to my great friends Jon and Alicia Plank on the successful arrival of a new baby girl, Lauren Elizabeth. Mom and baby are doing fine. I'll give you more info as I get it. Visit Jon's website: www.jonplank.com.

Living the good life

It's been a great weekend, so far. We finally made it to Eureka, NV on Friday. If you recall from a previous post, Royce mistakenly tried to take us there a couple of weeks ago. The people received us very graciously, especially considering that we were exhausted from the last 2 weeks. Royce is a very proficient emcee, but on Friday night he got into the middle of a story and totally forgot the punchline. He turned around to me and muttered, "What's the punchline?" I had never heard the joke before so I told him I had no clue. Doran finally came up with something from the keyboard while Dan and I laughed (a very encouraging, bolstering chuckle, of course). I was so tired I could hardly think straight. God truly helped us, though, reminding me that it's not my strength that matters in the big picture.

Tonight we were in Twin Falls, ID at the Magic Valley Gospel Opry. Fortunately, I got quite a bit of sleep (and a nap this afternoon) so I was able to function at a normal level. It was enjoyable to touch base with several people who have supported the quartet for several years.

So, now, I sit in my room at the Shiloh Inn waiting on a meal* from Pizza Hut. Life is good.

*large, stuffed crust pizza (half pepperoni, half Italian sausage, mushrooms, and olives) with the sampler special (hot wings, breadsticks, and cinnasticks)

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

It's a Wonderful Life

OK, I'm weary in well-d0ing. Well, mostly well-doing. I've been running non-stop since getting home on Monday. Tuesday, I got together with the guys to rehearse for our upcoming album and to go over our parts on "The Star Spangled Banner". We are singing for the Idaho National Day of Prayer observance at the state capitol tomorrow. Our arrangement of the national anthem is very similar to the GVB rendition. Except for one small little fact: I'm no David Phelps. That dude hits notes that just aren't natural. Anyway, we spent quite a bit of time on the song (long enough for me to realize that smashing high C after high C doesn't do much for the longevity of a voice). Then, today we were privileged to be a part of the memorial service for Edie Munson, a fantastic woman who impacted her family, friends, and community for Christ. I didn't know her that well, but after hearing about the lives that were dramatically changed and refocused after Edie introduced them to Jesus I was profoundly impressed.

I've also been working on a live DVD of our Fresno performance. It features several pics along with 4 live songs from the Great Western Convention. I've had several requests for the DVD. It's going to be an entertaining, amateur production that lets everybody else in on the fun we had.

Well, I leave you with a link to a music video produced by my good friend (and faithful poster to keithinside.com), Carlton. It's his first attempt at filmmaking and I think it's pretty funny; you know, in a quirky sort of way. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjaEjOSBMw

Monday, May 01, 2006

Well, I'm finally home after a long week. A fun, full, long week. I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to sing at the Great Western Fan Fest. I was able to meet many of the men and women whom I have admired over the years. For the most part, they lived up to my impression of them. Their warmth and compliments were accepted gratefully. I have tried to capture just a little bit of what happened last week in the pictures below. Enjoy!









These pictures were taken during our performance of the song "Contagious". The song, written by an 81-year-old man features a little island flavor. I call it our Jimmy Buffet song. Doran has some hilarious comedy lines in this song. The top picture features Royce, Dan, and I trying our hand at some choreography. As you can tell, even if you're blind, our moves are as about uncoordinated as it gets. In the middle of our little routine, Doran pulls out what can only be described as a cross between an Indian rain dance and a seizure. The crowd loved it! I have video of us doing the song, and you can hear the cackling and wheezing from the audience. We nearly sold out of the CDs featuring that song.

We had some extremely busy times at the booth. It's pretty cool to meet people whose lives have been deeply impacted by the lyrics you sing. We heard so many kind comments during the three days we were there.
It was a privilege to get to know Dan's parents. They were able to spend the week in Fresno. Here Dan and Donna pose with Dan's father.

The wives of all the guys (except me) were able to go with the quartet to Fresno. By the time that I knew that I was for sure joining Liberty, it was impossible to make the arrangements for a babysitter so that Lori could attend. Next year, she'll be with me. It was a lot of fun having Diane, Donna, and Tammy along. They sell a lot more CDs than we do. Look at the smile on Doran's face! He actually looks halfway good in this picture (thanks to Diane).

I, on the other hand, look like I'm part of a new line of Muppets in this flattering picture. Doran looks like he's excitedly waiting to audition for "The Addams Family".

On the way out to Fresno, I took some time to wash the bus, while Doran took some time to watch the bus.


Doran and I attempted to sabotage the mascot of Fresno State University (bitter enemies of our beloved Boise State football team). That is one ugly dog. I agree, the pictures are a little odd.

It was great to have Dad and my brother, Bob, come out for the convention. We had a lot of fun just hanging out and enjoying some good music. I inherit my passion for SG music from my father. We're tentatively planning on having Bob on bass guitar for us next year.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Dan really gets plugged in to Southern Gospel music. After driving about 5 hours or so, this is a normal Dan expression.
Darrell Stewart, the pianist for the Florida Boys, is not only a Gospel music legend, but an extremely funny man. The comments that he mutters to the other groups as he walks on and off the stage are hilarious. He's a nice guy who has a penchant for wearing red socks.