Last night was an interesting night. We played in Waco at Common Grounds, which is on Baylor campus. It was the first night that we had our EPs so we went ahead and sold them. I'm not sure exactly how we did but Paul said we did well, so that's good. It was also the first time anyone heard "Preaching To The Choir Invisible, Part I." We all loved playing it live. I think, more than we expected. And we played it well, so I was really happy. Paul kept commenting on the strangeness of debuting that song on one of the most Baptist campuses in America. Maybe it was weird or offensive to some people, but if it was, no one said so. In fact, someone did come up to me and thank me for not censoring ourselves because of our proximity to Baylor. The song isn't obscene, but it may be uncomfortably personal for some people. Betsy said she liked it but she did feel "heavy" after we played it. Whatever that means.
We were talking about it on the way home and I confess that I do worry a little bit about losing religious fans, but at the same time I feel like even most liberal, self aware, Christians are going to find a lot to relate to in the new songs. Surely, everyone has felt like they're praying to nothing at one point or another, even if they're determined to hold on to their faith.
Anyway, Paul had the idea of having a contest where people make Quiet Company essay videos and the winner got to ride along with us last night. So, in the van, we had myself, Matt, Paul, Justin (our video director), Greg (from the Austin Music Examiner), and Jaqueline (our contest winner). Tommy and Jeff both took their own cars for their own reasons. Everyone was nice and cool and I think had a good time. I'm hoping that Greg embellishes on his adventures with us in whatever story he writes about it. Something like, "I woke up on the floor of Quiet Company's van with the band members standing circled around me, dressed in blood red cloaks, holding candles and chanting in unison. I had strange bruises all over my body and what looked like Stigmata..." You know, something more interesting than, "they fed me pizza and made fun of Owl City a lot." Which is what really happened.
Anyway, the show was fantastic. Since the other two bands also featured ex-members of Jeff's old band, Ethan Durelle, they had a reunion show after our set. It was really good to see them play again. I love watching Jeff play drums and I don't get to as much now that he's always behind me, so that was nice. I still love that band and I wish they'd just found another drummer when Jeff left and continued making music. They were, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite bands to play with.
So it goes.
Did you hear about the Michael Jackson flash mob at Baylor yesterday? Travis' ultra-conservative, baptist cousin is a student there and helped plan it. I didn't know baptists danced! For real, I thought they were all Footloose townsfolk about it. You learn something new everyday when you marry into a big, southern right-wing Christian family.
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ReplyDeleteWe were talking about it on the way home and I confess that I do worry a little bit about losing religious fans, but at the same time I feel like even most liberal, self aware, Christians are going to find a lot to relate to in the new songs.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll find that even 'right-wing' christians (whatever that means) will surprise you. Contra the popular picture of them, in my experience believers are much more sympathetic toward disbelief than unbelievers are of belief. The next time you have a conversation with someone who believes in God, ask him or her to make a case for atheism just for the sake of argument. Then ask an atheist to defend belief in God.
The difference is pretty interesting.
Yeah the defense is usually that we're poor, unhappy, and misguided people who "hate" god and are just confused. How noble.
ReplyDeletehuh?
ReplyDeletei love you
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