Well friends, the spring tour is officially over. We haven’t made it back to Nashville yet, but we’ve played all of the shows we’re going to play on the road. We do have a show in Nashville on May 14th, and we’ll head to Seattle and Portland at the end of May and into June, but for now, we’re done. Here are some highlights from the shows:
From Feb 26th – March 11th, our good friends Ben & Emily Roberts from Carolina Story joined us on the road. Playing with them was awesome. Seriously. We joked that we should form a super group and play together all the time. All of the shows with them were super fun. Here are a few stand out moments:
– A choir of little boys joined us on stage for Love’s Gonna Last somewhere in Arkansas. All of the towns in Arkansas sort of run together for me. I think that every one of those boys had 5 cookies before the show and they sat in the front row. We called them up for the song and they had a blast practically screaming “love is gonna last” with me.
-Learning about squirrel eatin’, frog giggin’, and noodlin’ somewhere in Arkansas.
– At our show in Mena, AR an older couple held hands during As Long As Our Hearts Are Beating. It was beautiful.
– Carrolton, TX was just fun. The crowd was so enthusiastic. It was one of those nights that just stands out as being an all around good time.
– The packed house at the Keller, TX show and the birthday present Tyler and I received from a total stranger. Really touching.
After March 11th, we continued the tour, just the two of us. More highlights:
– Receiving a Dundee at the Waco, TX house show and realizing that the host and I went to the same high school and that his younger brother was in my circle of friends.
– Everyone singing along to every single song at the Abilene, TX house show. It was like having a choir singing with us. Beautiful. And hearing everyone sing “I want to see myself through your eyes” just about brought me to tears. And hearing everyone belt Mac’s part on Carry Me while I sang, “I’m always weak, but you are strong,” was incredible. We worshiped together.
– Playing a few acoustic songs for a circle of new friends after the show ended in Normal, IL
– Making a video recording of Stop Staring At Me for some friends of a guy who attended the Naperville, IL show. Apparently they look young too!
– Chicago. Incredible. Words cannot express how much fun that show was.
– A breakfast complete with bacon, chocolate chip pancakes, and strawberries with new friends in Columbus, OH.
– Seeing old friends in Starkville, MS and making new ones. Bartering CDs for artwork.
– Windy Gap family camp. Speaks for itself.
– Dinner with new friends in Greenville, NC.
– A sweet gift of a pound of Starbucks coffee from a stranger who knows that I love it in Wilmington, DE.
– Celebrating our new friend Eileen’s birthday and hearing her story in Columbia, MD.
– The show at UD was amazing: a new friend played glock with us on Faint Not; we received a gift of gourmet cupcakes; surprised a girl’s big (Greek Life) by calling her up stage and giving her a gift from her little. And there were Deltones (my a’cappella group from college) there. I love Deltones.
– We were able to see so many friends in D.C. I joined one of my best friends for prayer at the International Justice Mission. We stayed with some sweet friends. More Deltones came to the show! A high school friend from MS was there. A junior high friend from DE was there. It was lovely.
– We played The Sound of Silence at the Kennett Flash. I tried desperately to remember all of the words and only messed up one lyric!
– The show at Burlap & Bean was sold out. We didn’t know what to expect. We were blown away.
– The folks at Grace Church in Dover, DE (a church my family attended when I was in kindergarten – second grade and then again from 7th to 9th grade) put together a little slide show of pictures of me from when we were there. Embarrassing? Yes. Wonderful? Yes. They also played clips of the band I sang with in junior high. Oh my. Thankfully one of the other members was at the show, so I didn’t feel so alone.
– The all girl piano + 5 vocals + banjo band was so unique, and so cool in Wenham. I didn’t think it would work. But it did. And there was brie. As Tyler’s mom says in her North Jersey accent, “It’s not a party without brie.”
– Old friends came to the show in NYC, including more Deltones! We love you so!
That about wraps it up. What a tour.