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| Chick-Fil-A headquarters |
MAY 16
These last few days have started to settle in to an actual tour. We've been sweating, not sleeping, and can't seem to remember what day it is or where we are anymore. Sean and I got to introduce the girls to the concept of the Zombie Drive. That's what we call it when we have to drive through the wee hours of the night. We left the gig in Charlotte and decided to head on down to Atlanta because we had several errands to run in town the next day. The thing about a Zombie Drive is that no one is really awake, and no one is really asleep. Every now and again, someone will yell out "ZOM-BAY!!" to help keep the driver awake. I started out driving, but Faith and Sean both took turns on it. We got to Newnan, GA around 4 am, picked up a key from a buddy of mine, and stayed at Ecclesia Church on some air mattresses they had laid out for us. I don't really know what happened next, because I kind of blanked out from fatigue. Next thing I remember is my alarm screaming at me - a whole 3 hours later. Nothing like a solid night's sleep. After hitting up the Starbucks, we rolled through rural Georgia to Douglassville to pick up some new Sean Michel tshirts (available at this link! http://seanmichel.storenvy.com
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| driving into Atlanta |
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| Joking around at Atlanta Live |
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and then went into Atlanta to have lunch with our buddy who had set us up for the night. He just happens to work at the Chick-fil-a corporate offices. And they just happen to have a cafeteria that serves all you can eat Chick-fil-a. For free.
After eating too much chicken, we went to the offices of Brash Records. Sean and I had heard some good things about how they do business, so we figured we'd drop by and hand 'em our records. Lara and Faith thought that was a good idea too. So we pulled up to the front door and I gave them a call. The guy I talked to said, "yeah, you can just stop by anytime", and I said, "well, we're outside on the curb". After a brief silence to let the awkwardness pass, he said, "okay, I'll come down and let you in." I was trying to play it cool, but there was a weird tension in the air. I mean, you got 3 artists hoping to impress this label with their music but all of whom are also trying not to get too caught up in it all that business. Its a hard balance to maintain. I was more-or-less neutral and just tried to facilitate the interaction. But after we got to talking with the two fellas who came out, it began to feel a little more natural... They recommended some Mediterranean restaurants for us to eat in and Sean chatted with the one guy about the Blues. So hopefully they get around to listening to the tunes and hopefully they have a good time doing it.
For the evening, we were scheduled to appear on a local Christian television program called "Atlanta Live". We got there early to chill a bit, but unfortunately not early enough for a nap. Lara, Faith, and Sean absolutely killed it on TV. Its really hard to communicate musical energy through the medium of video, especially when its filmed live. So instead of watching them in the studio, I went into a back room to watch them on a monitor so I could see what people watching at home would see. I was really impressed with how they came across - so much passion and energy in their songs. And you could tell the host of the show was taken back, as though it was much better than he was used to or had expected. It was a two hour show, and it wrapped up around 9 pm. We got packed up and were on the road by 10. We stopped at Agora Cafe in the Bucktown area of Atlanta for that Mediterranean food - and so Sean and I could watch the NBA playoffs - and then we were on the road again, headed to Birmingham where we'd finally put this day to bed.
and then went into Atlanta to have lunch with our buddy who had set us up for the night. He just happens to work at the Chick-fil-a corporate offices. And they just happen to have a cafeteria that serves all you can eat Chick-fil-a. For free.
After eating too much chicken, we went to the offices of Brash Records. Sean and I had heard some good things about how they do business, so we figured we'd drop by and hand 'em our records. Lara and Faith thought that was a good idea too. So we pulled up to the front door and I gave them a call. The guy I talked to said, "yeah, you can just stop by anytime", and I said, "well, we're outside on the curb". After a brief silence to let the awkwardness pass, he said, "okay, I'll come down and let you in." I was trying to play it cool, but there was a weird tension in the air. I mean, you got 3 artists hoping to impress this label with their music but all of whom are also trying not to get too caught up in it all that business. Its a hard balance to maintain. I was more-or-less neutral and just tried to facilitate the interaction. But after we got to talking with the two fellas who came out, it began to feel a little more natural... They recommended some Mediterranean restaurants for us to eat in and Sean chatted with the one guy about the Blues. So hopefully they get around to listening to the tunes and hopefully they have a good time doing it.
For the evening, we were scheduled to appear on a local Christian television program called "Atlanta Live". We got there early to chill a bit, but unfortunately not early enough for a nap. Lara, Faith, and Sean absolutely killed it on TV. Its really hard to communicate musical energy through the medium of video, especially when its filmed live. So instead of watching them in the studio, I went into a back room to watch them on a monitor so I could see what people watching at home would see. I was really impressed with how they came across - so much passion and energy in their songs. And you could tell the host of the show was taken back, as though it was much better than he was used to or had expected. It was a two hour show, and it wrapped up around 9 pm. We got packed up and were on the road by 10. We stopped at Agora Cafe in the Bucktown area of Atlanta for that Mediterranean food - and so Sean and I could watch the NBA playoffs - and then we were on the road again, headed to Birmingham where we'd finally put this day to bed.
MAY 17
We rolled into B-ham around 1am (thanks to gaining an hour via time-zone change) and got settled in for the night at a friend's house. Thanks to Lara, we had to get up at 8am to be at a radio station. She had made an appearance on WDJC's Ronnie Bruce show before, and so scheduled an interview and on-air performance since we were in town. I found some humor in the way the interview went, since it was implied that Lara was on tour and Sean and Faith were her backing band. Lara kept trying to correct the interviewer, but it never really came across that Sean and Faith were front-men in their own right. They were totally cool about it though, and honestly its not a big deal - just funny to see how reality differs from perception. Ronnie Bruce took us to Dreamland BBQ afterwards though and that almost made up for it. However, after having eaten there I feel compelled to warn you - if you ever find yourself in Birmingham, just know that Dreamland's marketing is better than their meat. Afterwards, we went and killed some time at Starbucks and ended up having some really good talks between the four of us. I think one of the things I've enjoyed about this tour, and its really unique, is how the four of us have interacted and really gotten to know each other. #ServantOfAllTour was something we wanted to happen and that's why we named it that, but its been really cool to see everyone treat each other as more important than themselves. We've been doing a Bible study through the book of Philippians, and I think we are all learning and practicing the very things Paul urged the Philippians to do. Its been sweet to be a part of that.The show in Birmingham that night was at the Good People Brewing Company. They're just getting started with putting on shows, but its already one of the coolest venues I've been in. Its a warehouse where they brew Good People Beer, but they also have a tap room with a stage set up. They have this really nice patio area as well that they're still developing. The Birmingham Barons Minor League Baseball team is building a new stadium directly across the street. There's just a lot of cool stuff happening down there. And they named the evening the "Bearded Ball", and despite the presence of two stunning beauties on tour with us, it was Sean who was the belle of this ball. At the end of the night, he got to judge the best beard competition. If you don't happen to know what I'm talking about, then just do a google image search for Sean Michel.
The next day, we were off to Baton Rouge. When we were in Nashville on the first night of tour, my friend Aaron came to the show and told me his band was playing in Baton Rouge and wanted to know if we were interested in opening. His band, As Cities Burn, is pretty popular and I knew it would be a good show - so we made it work. This was not a typical venue for Lara and Faith. The Spanish Moon in Baton Rouge is a rock club - clouds of cigarette smoke, beer-stained floors, music several decibels above average, and hip kids sporting their new tattoos. I was so proud of how the girls stepped up and owned the crowd though. We opened up the set and the crowd hadn't fully arrived yet, maybe around 60-70 people were there. All of them were expecting a rock show, so when Lara opened up you could tell they were not ready for what they heard. From where I was standing, they were mesmerized. And when she finished, there was enthusiastic applause. Faith and Sean followed with their songs and it was more of the same. This crowd was too cool to dance, but it was pretty clear the 3 troubadours had won them over. The rest of the bands were amazing, and it was one of the first shows I'd been to in forever where every band was really good - just an incredible night. We ended up hanging with the ACB guys after the show for a bit, and they were razzing us about being on tour with girls (there's kind of a tradition with rock bands that girls are bad luck on tour). But me and Sean are happy to ride with Faith and Lara - we don't believe in bad luck. We all hit up Raising Cain's Chicken near the LSU campus at about 2:30 am, and then headed on down to the French Quarter in New Orleans where we'd be staying for the next few days.
MAY 19The next morning we got up and hit Cafe du Monde for some coffee and beignets. I was happy to escort Lara to her first glance of the main-line of America - the Mississippi River. We got serenaded by a saxophone player, and saw the Natchez Queen steamboat leave harbor. At sundown I did some people watching around the French Quarter. Two-Hundred year old houses with gas light lanterns were just being lit as the shadows fell over the already beer drenched streets. The only place the sun was still illuminating down Orleans St. was the backside of St. Louis Cathedral. I could hear a jazz band firing up their ragtime on Bourbon as the whistle of the steamboat coming back into port blared throughout the French Quarter. The energy of this city gets inside you. The people are filled with life and creativity. I thought of Asheville, where we had been earlier on this tour. Asheville is an artistic city too, and I began to compare them in my mind. In Asheville we had seen zombies chased by ghostbusters outside the venue we played. There were all kinds of art shops and cafes - a lot of similarities to New Orleans. But as I sat on the corner it was apparent to me that this was nothing like Asheville or any other place I'd ever been. In places like that, the people give life to the city. In New Orleans, the city seems to generate its own energy from the depth of its own history, and infuse life into its people. This city is known for its sin and debauchery, but I couldn't help wonder how it would look if this city were redeemed. The life and energy would remain, but it would not be perverted and expressed in sinful ways. I got energized with that thought and got up and went to the Vieux Carre Baptist Church on Dauphine. I realized that a part of that redemption was about to happen that night - as Lara, Faith, and Sean brought truth and life through their music.
(THESE ARES JUST SOME OF THE MANY PICTURES NEW ORLEANS HAS INSPIRED ME TO TAKE)
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