Night one is done and what a night it was. Thank you to JMU for kicking this tour off proper. Benji has created a whole film series to accompany the music in our show and it is overwhelming. Full of subtleties, layers and thought. Here are a couple of shots he took with a still camera from tonight. I hope everyone who is a fan of our band gets to see this tour because it might just be the best one we have ever done! Check out Benji's blog at http://www.brettakabenji.blogspot.com/ and come out to a show!

In a mere ten days since returning from Australia we have somehow managed to pull off a miracle. I won't say it is a success until we make it through our first show tomorrow night. We have bitten off a big bite and I am still chewing as I write. The last five days have been a blur of preparation and all of them have lasted 19 or more hours. I still have several hours of work left and we leave at 7Am. Most likely sleep will be brief it at all.
This is a big step for us. In the weeks that have preceded this tour we have watched our world collapse around us. We lost two of our band mates. We lost our management. We are losing our label. We have gone from bus to van again in order to save money. Times they are a changin...
In a season of transition as sweeping as this it is easy to get discouraged and miss the brighter rays of light through the clouds that converge. Things simply move. We either flow with them or struggle to swim against them. I have fought for a long time and I am tired. My arms are weary and I need to be held up. These are the true tests of character.
As I pack my suitcase and say goodbye to the river at the end of our neighborhood, I find comfort in the fact that many long and wonderful music filled drives and spirited conversations with old friends await me in the weeks to come.
I am truly grateful for the chance to be a part of the art that is coming your way. Benji has worked around the clock to create a film to accompany the music during our show and finally take us another step towards the vision of m.a.e.
I hope you enjoy this tour and please know that we have poured our very selves into the moments you will experience each night. They are indistinguishable.
BEAR TIA MART

I have not been this excited about a tour since we did a week with Foo Fighters and Weezer. We have been working like madmen to pull off a production of m.a.e. proportions and it looks like it just might work. We are entering the final stages of preparation and working around the clock to finish the details of the show. All I can say is that it will either be the greatest thing we have done or the worst. There is no middle ground. And as the sun sinks lower in the horizon, I feel as though we might actually pull it off.

Here is a link you should read and tell me your thoughts about :)

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/jarons-world-metaphors-vocabulary

"The clouds are waves..."

I really do feel that all of art is a wrestling to describe something transcendent of our selves. I know that in my own searching and struggles there have been many times where I doubted my own understanding of God. My own feeble classification of such a being left me unsatisfied (as it should). Yet the undeniable beauty and creativity of our existence never ceases to fill me with wonder and gratitude for the chance to experience it. Life is full to the point of bursting with mysteries beyond our comprehension but the peace I find in this simply rests in the appreciation and celebration of that very same mystery. Love for God and love for each other will inevitably be the only thing that transcends the divisions that our lack of understanding creates. It is with this end in mind that I post some of these little dots of light captured in a screen and I hope that the differences that divide us will pale in the light of the beauty we walk past every single day.

Psalm 19

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

³ There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

⁵ which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.

⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

⁹ The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.

¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.

¹¹ By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.

¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Melbourne. We had two days off and shortly after our arrival Robert and I set out on a walk around the city. My new favorite thing is listening to In Rainbows or Sigur Ros and getting lost.

Visual music. Lines and shadow fill the late afternoon sky. Gardens move at the speed of clouds. A million dormant thoughts are resurrected with the tide. Sounds and smells weave like kites through the air. Quite conversations mingle with children's laughter warming me with an ambient blanket of gratitude. Sydney, your river caught me and carried me away. There is never enough time unless we make it...