Good morning! We just returned from a weekend of shows in DE, MD, and NJ. What an amazing time we had! It’s always fun to see family, but the shows were ridiculously fun too. We had the privilege of opening for Matt Maher in DE and I was so encouraged by him. Honestly, I’ve been a bit critical when it comes to CCM radio and the industry in general. I’ve complained a lot about how it’s so driven by worship songs (as in songs for congregational worship rather than storytelling or songs with metaphors) that sound the same. I’ve also complained about Christian radio and how it’s so geared towards one specific demographic – women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. But being at the concert really opened my eyes to why this sort of music is important. It really does minister to people. Matt Maher was incredibly humble and gracious to us and he was very genuine in his interaction with the audience. I thoroughly enjoyed it. While I do wish there was more room in Christian radio for singers-songwriters like Sandra McCracken and bands like Gungor, I think I have a better appreciation for some of the popular, radio friendly music out there.
Here are a few photos from our trip:
Packing the night before. Don’t worry there are socks in there, nothing more.
In flight reading:
A rainy day in Newark, DE where we met:
Matt Maher in Greenwood, DE:
Sparta, NJ:
Beauty in NJ:
Bakery in NJ:
So good.
In other news, Tyler and I attended the CMT Awards last night. CMT stands for Country Music Television. My mom is in town and has a friend who gave us free tickets so we said, “why not?” It was definitely one of the most interesting experiences we’ve had in a while. The theme of the night was drinking beer. A guy who won for one of the categories threw his camouflage underwear into the crowd, and Kenny Chesney premiered a music video that was essentially a steamy sex scene between him and girl half his age. So bizarre. One of the funniest moments happened at the beginning of the night. An opening segment (pre-recorded) included President Obama and Mitt Romney voting for who should host the show. When President Obama was on the screen no one cheered. Seriously, not a single person. Mitt Romney appeared and the crowd erupted in applause. I don’t want to get into politics here, but I literally laughed out loud in that moment. So many stereotypes about country music were affirmed last night. I will say that there were some great performances and that from what I could tell every artist was singing live and did a great job. And seriously, when will we go to an awards show again? It was a great cultural experience.
Here I am with my mom before the show. She’s so pretty:
Abe Lincoln?
With Tyler before the show. We had great seats!
Well there you have it.
Wow, Jenny, you look stunning in that last photo! I am glad that you have had such a marvelous time & that you have {more or less} come to terms with the way Christian radio works, or at least learned to appreciate certain aspects of it! Blessings from Germany!
Thanks, Lina! Blessings to you as well.
Your mom hasn’t aged a day! You guys look great. Love reading your adventures through your blog, and love that you are still reading Narnia. 🙂
Lauren! So good to hear from you! I hope that you’re doing really well.
No way! I’m rereading the Narnia books and I’m just starting Dawn Treader too! Those books are so delightful.
Anyhow, I’m a recent fan; I found Faint Not on Noisetrade and fell in love with it. Your raw music and honest lyrics are a huge encouragement to me, as I have started penning songs of my own and am working towards my own album. I waited eagerly for the release of Open Your Doors, and just purchased This Isn’t A Dream and am very excited to get to know these songs. Although I have to say, I keep coming back to ‘Song For You’. I found that album around the same time I bought my first mandolin, and because of that song I am stoked out of my mind to really learn the instrument.
Thank you for what you do. Your music is all-around beautiful– I just can’t get enough of it. I am blessed and encouraged by your music, and I pray the very best for you both! Thank you!
P.S. Please come out to CA 🙂
Hi James – thanks so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying the music. Song For You is one of our favorites too. 🙂 Just so you know – I play the mandolin in open C tuning on that song – I believe the strings are tuned to G C G C. The chords are on our website. I hope that makes sense. Happy learning!