15 Things I've Learned Recently

Hey everybody. it's been a while since i've shouted at you. i've grown, learned many life lessons and quite frankly, am a different human being than i was before. and by quite different, i mean i'm the same cynical, sarcastic and self effacing douche bag you all know and love. here's a few life lessons i've learned in the past few weeks:

1. don't try to film any video blogs while in the red light district in amsterdam. no matter how family friendly your message is, you're bound to get something a little PG-13 in the background of your shot

2. my sister @AlieghShields's music has turned out awesome. that's not so much a lesson as it is a fulfillment of prophecy. we'll have it posted soon.

3. don't mess with @jordanmesser. he will have a smile on his face and then all of the sudden SNAP on you and stab you with a water bottle. i learned that the hard way

4. i am the greatest fisherman ever - and by EVER i mean the best this tour bus has ever seen.

5. Losing weight is awesome....the part that sucks is the not eating as much as you want. 

6. i miss my wife. i will not see her for a whole month. to those of you enjoying superchick and stellar kart shows this month, this is the price i pay for your enjoyment. your welcome.

7. i miss my dogs. see #6 for witty, yet scathing comment.

8. if you have an iPhone with a cracked screen, people will constantly ask what happened. just tell them you have the cracked screen app.

9. a good show sometimes has absolutely nothing to do with how well you played or how good it sounds. it's about how fun and entertaining you make it for the audience. no matter how well we play SK songs live or how much we rock it out, kids still tell us their favorite part of the show was "A Whole New World."

10. i don't know if this qualifies as a lesson i've learned, but i have definitey learned that i want this guitar:

one of the guys in Philmont had this exact guitar at a show we played the other day. I COVET!

11. it's all about the song. we've been writing and writing and writing for Tricia's solo worship album that i'm producing. i'm definitely going to do my best to make the record sound good, but the most important part of any record is getting great SONGS. you can have the best production, the best gear, the best performances, but if the song sucks, no one cares. however, if you've got great songs, then at least you have a fighting chance of getting noticed. we've written about 15 songs in the last two months and have had about 45 songs pitched to us for the record. we're still writing and will have to narrow it down to 10 songs eventually. sometimes it's just a numbers game. the more songs you write, the more chances you have at writing a hit song. someone told me a while back that for Tim McGraw's latest album, they sifted through over 1,500 songs. and guess who wrote the lead single? Chad Kroeger from Nickelback. now i'm not a fan of douche bag rock, but the dude definitely knows how to write a hit song. he also knows how to be ugly.