Hello everyone! Well I was made aware, by some very dear friends of mine, that it was time for me to do a new post. Which I cannot argue with them, it has been a while. The tour has been going great and will be wrapping up very soon. After the last show on the 22 in Southhaven, MS we head straight to Nashville for GMA week. This is the week here all of us artists in the Christian music industry come together in Nashville to spend time with radio stations and other vendor's. It is really just an excuse for us to see friends that we do not get to see the rest of the year. It is also when the GMA Awards, formally the Dove Awards, takes place. We will be performing Hold Fast this year on the show so that should be fun.
As soon as that week is over we head for Hawaii!! We have the honor of joining Audio A for their last show which i think they chose a beautiful place for. Our families are going with us so that should be lots of fun.
After we get back from Hawaii we will begin working on a new CD which we are not sure when it will come out but we will let you know. I am also continuing my secret mission during the summer, so keep an eye out for that.
Alright, time to go do my push up's! Man i am getting old! haha.

The Big Chill

The Coming up to Breathe tour version 2.0 is underway and it feels like we never took a break. Things have fallen together easily and we are having a blast. We took some time out on a day off to go snowmobiling, which is always fun....until you hit that one snow drift you think is only one foot deep and find yourself digging out of a 6 foot hole! But hey that is why you travel in a pack. We only broke 2 snowmobiles this time. Broke a key off in one and ran one into a tree. Oh wait, make that 3...we hit 2 different trees. None of which I can take credit for, but I was present at each event. Then to top off an eventful day we got our bus stuck in a rather large drift trying to get out of the parking lot! So did we call a tow truck? NO, why would we do that when we had 10 grown men to push our 45 foot long bus out of it's hole! It took about 2 hours to get out, Will from Audio A and myself shoveled snow like mad men and cleared just enough for us to push it out. But we can't take all the credit. A big thanks has to go to the folks at Mad Mountain Adventures for not only supplying us with our rides for the day but for also working very hard helping us get out of the snow! We couldn't have done it without you! Okay gotta go.....Bart just put on some music here in our dressing room that I have to dance to! Woo Hoo!

SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I feel a bit like I should go hide my head in the sand somewhere from the shame of my lack of posts. I have many a time had the intention of posting a thought of the day, but alas, I let life get in the way of my online adventures. So if by some chance you have been awaiting a new post from me since, oh goodness, October!! Then I apologize.
Well so here is what has been happening. The fall tour ended with a bang. It went well enough that Audio A has decide they will postpone their departure from the music scene long enough to go at it again with us this spring. And of course we are thrilled about that.
After the tour it was full speed into the holiday season for us. We made a last minute decision to do a couple Christmas shows here in our home town to benefit the Biabetic research Foundation. Both shows went great and we had fun bringing out the Christmas songs again as only we know how to do them.
My family and I also moved into a new house during all of this. It has been about a three year process getting into this house so it is nice to finally be in a living. I have also been on a top secret mission during our time off. You will find out about that if you are curious enough;)
So it's off to tour for us, once again come catch us on the road, watch out for the scooter gang of course! I will do my best to keep you up to date on the tour and let you know what is going on in MercyMe's world. Love ya lots!!

Yo, so I have now lost count of how many times we have jumped on the scooters and headed off to who knows where. Ben from AA is great at leaving early and then coming back with somewhere great to take all of us. We had a day off in Colorado Springs and so what better way to see the city than on a scooter. I think we put about 150 miles on our little bikes in the course of the next couple days, but they are holding up great. Even after riding over dirt and gravel roads that curve like a snake up mountains. We almost made the trip all the way up Pikes Peak but we reached the first check point and found that it was closed for the day. Oh well, our scooters may have blow to bits from the strain anyway.
Today we are in El Paso and are considering riding the bikes into Mexico....maybe. That would be great to tell everyone that we have ridden our scooters form Colorado to Mexico all in the same tour.
Well other than a few questions from concerned police officers about our choice of scooter trails the tour is going great. We have had a good number of sell out shows which makes for an exciting night. Our families came out on tour for a week which is always fun. Lots of trips to the mall and parks, even some scooter races with the kids. Our boys got to participate in showering the crowd with tons of confetti which always made their night.
It is great to be out with friends since you have to spend so much time together, crushed into the back of a mini-van with 2 other guys certainly keeps you close.
Ok, time to go decide whether to cross the border or not. See ya!

Woo Hoo, On Tour!

The Coming Up To Breathe tour is well underway and we are having a great time. We took a few days off after the Bossier City show at which Bart began to feel a bit under the weather and then after the show he was taken to the hospital. He is much better now and we are back on the road. Speaking of on the road- as an early Christmas/ birthday present (to cover the next ten years), our management and booking companies bought all of us and the guys in Audio A. a Ruckus. Which of course is a great little scooter made by Honda. They are by no means the biggest bikes on the road but they are a lot of fun. Driving through downtown San Antonio at night with the wind in your face is a great feeling. So if you have been around during a show day you may have seen us riding around town with our goofy looking helmets strapped on, and a looks of pure joy on our faces.
Of course it isn't enough just to have the scooters, we must modify or as we say make improvements. We are doing just about everything we can to them without voiding the warranty! Some have put neon lights under the seats and on the wheels. Others have painted various designs and added leather bags and leather hand grips. Truly stylish. I have to admit that I am falling behind in the scooter improvement, refurbishment, upgrading, game. I have added a nice tiger sticker to the back of mine as well as a little tote bag. You never know when you will find a good book you need to bring back from the mall.
Aside from the time consuming scooter detailing the tour is flying by. We are having some great nights in worship and are completely enjoying playing the new songs. So if you can come out to a concert and have some fun with us. And oh yes.....if you see a group of big gnarly looking guys riding around on almost too small scooters be nice. It's just us!

Back From The Magic Kingdom

So we have had a busy last couple weeks. We had a great time at Disney's Night of Joy again this year. We take the chance to make it a vacation so Bart, Jim and I all took our families early and made the most of our time. I think I went on Small World a total of 8 or 9 times; which is okay. It has great air conditioning, which if anyone else was there that week knows how humid it was. And not to brag but I think my top score on Buzz Lightyear was somewhere in the 300,000's. Haha. My son William is 4 now and just tall enough to ride most every ride, and we did. But I still had enough energy to play before a sold out crowd! Which is quite a site from the steps of the castle. So thanks to everyone that came out to support us as we played at midnight, even though David Crowder Band was playing at the same time. Mmm, touch decision.
Tour is getting closer and closer and we are very excited. It will be a great night. Come with lots of energy and ready to worship! Also some of you have noticed that Mike has not been with us the last few shows. Not to worry he will be back soon with a great story to tell! So keep looking for that. Alright, time for bed. I have to get up and mow the yard before we leave for tour. Ha. Hope it doesn't grow back too fast.

Why Oh Why!?

So I think that these pics speak for themselves. We had a little to much free time at the Rivers ranch the other morning. Although....... I maybe this really is the way to go for Barry!

Sorry I'm Late

So I need to start by saying that I am very sorry for the extra large gap in my posts. The last few weeks have been crazy; last minute trips to Leno, vacation in Missouri. You name it I have been up to it.
I also need to give a big thanks to everyone who has left a comment/post to this blog. I appreciate your time and your interest. Please everyone let me know if there is anything specific you would like to know and I will do my best to give you my thoughts or comments, made up or factual haha. I think there is already one reference to my time working at Lowe's. And the answer is a 80# bag of concrete.
I promise to do better. Catch ya later.
Nathan

Yo-
Well, as you know we are doing a tour this fall which as surprising as it may sound, we did have to practice for. I say practice but we like to call it "rehearsal." Makes it sound a little more professional. haha. We have been friends with the folks at Irving Bible Church for many years now, and they have a great little studio at the church run by the infamous Dave Younkman, that we use for our rehearsal time. Works out great. Since we have to do our rehearsals for our tour starting in September, in July, we can record it all and then try to remember it all again later. But, we have some cool stuff lined up for the tour. So make sure to come check it out when we get near you.

Guys being Guys

The smell of hot dogs and cotton candy. The pavement flying by. Dirt and rubber in my teeth. Waiting to long for pizza. Trying not to spend all of my cash in Chicago. Bart telling us of his raucous speed boat ride. Only to see a picture of the before mentioned boat, and discovering that there were about 50 other people on the boat with him. Mmm, exciting.
We started off a week of travel with Wednesday at Alive festival. Alive was one of the very first festivals we ever did so it is always great to get back. Thanks to everyone there for sticking it out in the rain and making us feel welcome. After that we had a day off so it was off to Chicago! We love Chicago. Especially when we can catch a game. It was the last night of the Cardinals vs. White Sox series, which of course St. Louis lost by one run. Oh well. We had great seats behind home plate and to top it off it was $1 hot dog night!! They must know how to make us happy. Before the game we spent some time downtown, eating shopping....yes we turn into women on the road." I have just got to go shopping!" It was great.
Going to the game set up the next two shows for us. We did a mini tour, well two days, does that count as a tour? With Toby Mac and us, two nights in a row playing at a couple AA ballparks. The ballparks are great. Makes things a little more exciting. Across from the park in Combstock there was a little family fun park. So it wasn't long before Jim had us all on the phone, calling us girls if we didn't come over and race him on the Go Kart track. So we took it one step further and made a challenge to Toby and his band. Thus ensued one of the greatest racing spectacles ever to grace a figure 8. There were many complaints. The most common was, "man my car aint got no power!" There were also lots of spins, crashes, and hearty laughs of dominance. So maybe Toby and his guys can dance, but they aint got nothing behind the wheel!! Haha. Speaking of dancing. Somewhere there lies a video of Toby trying to teach Jim to dance. Hmmm. greatness. Hopefully that will pop up somewhere.