Blogtoberfest!!

Have you ever had that friend that you wanted to call on the phone, but you knew that if you did you would end up being on the phone a really long time? You have so much cool stuff you want to talk about with them but you're kinda busy right now, there's a lot going on, and you know that if you call now it's going to be a long conversation. So you decide to wait until later when you can give your friend the proper amount of time they deserve! And basically you just end up not calling them at all. My friends, consider this blog the call I should have placed to you a long time ago! Or just consider me an absolute failure when it comes to my communication skills.

So much cool stuff has happened since my last "web log" I'm not quite sure how to include it all. Ya know, stuff like summer, and autumn!! Ok you get it; it's been a long time. But seriously, these past few months have been packed with some really cool developments. My long time percussionist Josh and I have been all over the country sharing our music and making new friends. We have even started performing with a full rock band, which is something that came about in a very interesting way.

Basically I had a couple bigger shows lined up for the summer including the Big Ticket Festival in Gaylord, MI, and I thought it would be really cool to put together a full band to try to recreate the sound on the CD. So I asked my buddy Derek Turcsanyi if his new group would be interested in backing me up just for this show….no long term commitment, no strings attached. One thing I didn't know until just before the show is that the "Indie Stage" at Big Ticket Festival is basically a big battle of the bands, where one winner is selected each day to perform on one of the main stages at next year's festival. Now, if you know me at all you will know that I am not a big fan of battle of the bands. It's just not my style. I get kinda competitive about stuff and I let it rob some of the fun of playing music from me. So we decided that we didn't care about the competition, we just wanted to play for a bunch of people at a rad festival and do our thing. Besides, this was going to be the very first show this band had ever played together, so we really had no big expectations for the event. Well much to my surprise we ended up actually winning the indie stage and got invited back to perform on one of the main stages at Big Ticket Festival 2011! It's pretty awesome how God opens doors!! There was no intention of this group being a full time band, but since we figured we had something good going here, and since I'm pretty sure the guys want to play at next year's festival, we decided to book some more shows together. So it is my great pleasure to introduce to you the new members of the band. Swing over to their Facebook pages and say hi!!

Derek Turcsanyi – Bass and Vocals (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=729978941)
Caleb Gates – Lead Guitar (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1278414652)
Josh Minor – Drums (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1197000752)

These guys are some absolutely amazing musicians, and it has been some of the most fun ever making music with them. If you get a chance to see a full band show sometime you gotta check it out!! But that's just a couple of the fun things from this past summer. Here are a few quick highlights off the top of my head to give you an idea of some of the musical adventures Josh and I have had these past few months.

*Performed at and won the indie stage at Big Ticket Festival 2010.
*Lead worship on a mountain top in South Dakota. (how awesome is that?!?!?)
*Invented several new games after riding in the car too long on tour, most of them incredibly stupid.
*Performed at Carpenter's Way Church in Lufkin, TX with my good friend Steve Glass.
*Reached #1 on the Reverbnation.com "hot" charts for rock artists.
*Performed at the first Christian Comedy Blast in Milwaukee, WI with our good friends Fish Sticks Comedy.
*Had coffee and cookies with Dave Ramsey in Nashville, TN.
*Shared the stage with some AMAZING artists!! (Paupers Field, Nevercast, At the Onset, The Legend of Xero, Nate Fueurstein, Take the City, Sound of Reign, etc…)
*Went rock climbing with the Peak Experience crew in South Dakota. (some of my new favorite people)
*Performed right next to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
*Went canoeing with the Impact crew from Coleman Wesleyan Church (amazing youth group!!)
*Stayed in some of the seediest hotels/motels in the entire country!! (stories………so many stories!!)

Way too much stuff to actually list in one blog, which I guess is what happens when you wait half a year to write a new one. Plus there is a lot of cool new stuff in the works (ie, new shows, new website, new street team, new songs, maybe even a new album in the works??). So I will work a lot harder to try and make this blog a more consistent thing, that way I can actually get into the details of some of these great stories. Although, technically once every six months would could still be considered consistent. Something to think about!

Matt

We gotta get out of this place!!

Ok, so when I said I would be updating this baby more often I meant preferably more than once a month!! But hey, even once a month is more often than I was updating it, so I guess technically I'm still living up to my promise! February was a pretty intense month both at home and on the road. In between playing a whole bunch of shows around the state my wife and I have been working on some long overdue home improvement projects. And when we start into a project, no matter how big or small it is originally intended to be, it's gonna be a PROJECT!! Meaning that the simple repainting of one little bedroom has thrown the rest of the house into complete disarray for weeks! I can't tell you how many "weekend projects" have turned into major life events in the Moore house, but let's face it....that's not really why you take the time to read this blog. So let's talk about some music stuff!

Since February was just packed full of cool gigs, eleven in the past ten days alone, I'll forgo lengthy details of each and every show and instead give you some juicy highlights. One of those super sweet shows took place at the YMCA in Traverse City, MI. Josh and I traveled North after performing an awesome afternoon gig at MMCC here in Clare. Several Northern Michigan youth groups had gathered at the "Y" for an evening of games, food and live music. We got a chance to lead worship for the group which was an incredible experience, then the teens absolutely tore the roof off the place while Josh and I rocked out. To give you an idea of who great these guys were, there was actually a "worm contest" in the middle of the set! That's right, there was a showdown to find who could dance the worm best!! This was easily one of the best crowds I have ever played for! I can promise that we are coming back to the Traverse City area again soon! Definitely a special night!

A couple days, and a couple gigs later, I got the opportunity to visit my buddy Chris Freeman down at his new church in Northville, MI. By the way, you have got to check Freeman's music out!! Not only is he a sick guitar player (GS Megaphone, Poor Man's Riches, etc...), but he is an incredible sitar player as well! Anyway, Josh and I got to lead worship there at The Ward Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and what an amazing group of people they have there!! We also had the chance to perform a couple of my original songs for the congregation, and everyone was super supportive. In fact, we set up our merch table just outside the sanctuary where we played and sold every last CD that we had brought, which was literally all of them!! I completely did not expect that kind of response, but it was such a blessing getting a chance to connect with people and share my music. We're already making plans to return this spring to put on a full blown rock concert, including the one and only Mr. Freeman on electric guitar. Ya'll might wanna make the drive for that one!! I promise I'll have more CDs by then too!!

There were so many other cool shows this month that it would take a mighty long blog to share all the stories with you. But I want to make sure to direct you to some of the amazing artists that I had the pleasure to jam with this month. Visit their websites, become fans, buy their stuff, etc... These are some mighty rad artists, and well worth supporting!!

Chris Freeman - www.myspace.com/christopherleefreeman
The Confidence - www.myspace.com/theconfidence
I Am the Branch - www.myspace.com/iamthebranch
Mighty Medicine - www.myspace.com/mightymedicine
Artificial Heroes - www.myspace.com/artificialheroesbaycity
Jessi Carrick - www.myspace.com/jessicarrickmusic
Finding Clyde - www.myspace.com/findingclyde
Derek Winter - www.myspace.com/derekwinter
Central Harmony - www.myspace.com/chacappella

Lots of good stuff coming up for March and beyond.......stay tuned!!

I blame the government!!

Once upon a time, on a computer far far away I used to update my blog on a weekly basis. Usually I would share stories about my musical adventures, and occasionally I would just tell stupid stories about places I had been or people I had met. Then somewhere along the line I just sorta stopped. I'm not totally sure why this happened, though I think it may have been some sort of government conspiracy.........I'm working on some theories, it goes pretty deep. Well I figure that it is once again time to cast off the shackles of my oppressors and violently rise up against "The Man". I shall overcome!!! So what has been going on in my crazy world you ask?!? That is a fair question, and I will try to give you a fair answer.

So last weekend my longtime percussionist and friend Josh Thompson (aka THO or Tivio) took a little road trip to the cheese filled state of Wisconsin. Now I hear you asking your computer monitor out loud "who would choose to drive to Milwaukee Wisconsin in the middle of January?!?" To which I would respond "how did YOU know I went to Milwaukee? Do you work for the government?!?" (I told you my conspiracy theory ran deep, but I digress) I was invited to be the musical guest on an improv comedy TV show called "Fishsticks.TV". The show went great, the Fishsticks crew was not only hilarious but incredibly kind (check them out at www.fishsticks.tv), and I got to meet another amazing musical guest from Sweden named Jonathan Thulin. Definitely check out this cat, he is super rad!!! (www.myspace.com/jonathanthulin) I was also introduced to "Milwaukee Style" pizza on this day, which to my understanding is flat, huge and delicious!! I learned so many new things on this trip, far too many to share in a blog that any of you would take the time to read. I will however make note of a few things I learned on this trip, you are all welcome to ask me about another time if you would like to hear the hilarious back stories.

- Josh Thompson is apparently Seth Rogan's younger brother. Did not know that.
- The waitresses in Milwaukee will rap for you once you have finished your meal.
- Lawyers are hilarious!!
- A bottle of water in your hotel room will cost you $5, or the machine right outside your hotel room door has them for $1.50.
- Some people move to Wisconsin because there is so much more to do than in Alabama. In Alabama people just spontaneously start jogging because they are so bored.
- A mouth guard worn by a certain percussionist I know to stop snoring can mysteriously fly across the room in the night and land on YOUR double bed. Either that or some strange things were afoot at the Best Western that night!
- There is a place in Wisconsin called the Cheese Castle! I really wish I would have had more time to investigate this one further!!
- Tollbooth operators in Illinois are legally allowed to screw with you if you happen to pick the unlucky booth. They will also throw your lousy Canadian quarters right back in your face.
- Etc...

This last Friday I had the opportunity to be the special guest on "Fuse FM's BIG Morning Show" with my friends Sara "The Intern" and JohnnyBIG. They were running a special contest this day called "The Avalanche of Goodness", which is the best name for a contest ever!! Better yet, the grand prize of this contest was...............ME!! The lucky winner gets to host a private house concert featuring yours truly. I mean, how many radio stations are actually giving away people these days?!? I also launched my brand new career as a country music singer on the show, which I figure should either make me exceedingly wealthy or kill any musical credibility that I once had. Either way, you can't beat live radio!!

And finally I got to close out the weekend playing a special birthday show in Saginaw with my good friend Jayson Simonson. Basically the entire evening consisted of Josh, Jayson and myself completely slaughtering all your favorite pop hits from the 80s, 90s and now!! What better way to end a great week of musical adventures!!

I'm planning to keep this baby updated on a more regular basis to keep you all informed, so be sure to stay tuned for more ridiculous tales and silly stories. And if any of you have any more information to share about that government thing I'm looking into, might wanna speak in code....they might be listening! Just walk up and say "The grey hawk flies at night!" I'll know what it means!