|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Want to get in touch? Email me at:
|
It's slow times for music and fast times for life. Currently, I'm in Augusta, Georgia, waiting for my bride-to-be to come back from a medical missions trip to Bulgaria and looking for a job. Most of my stuff is in boxes, here or in Gainesville, and I'm house-sitting until our apartment is ready in late June.
This is old news now, but I did play the Farewell Concert at Lakewood Baptist in Gainesville on April 20. That was really a wonderful night. I am going to miss my home church and my friends in the band.
Once again, it was such a thrill to have my songs blossom into full-band glory after so many acoustic performances. Some of those songs are supposed to rock, and that night, they did.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the whole band playing - the best I have right now is this one of an acoustic set.
Here is a pic of the whole band:
That's Paul (guitar), Michael (faithful sound tech), Shanda (vocals), me, Charles (drums), and Matt (bass).
Our friend TJ did most of the mixing that night, but Michael did something else that means a lot to me: he recorded the thing.
No live recording is perfect, of course, but these come closer than any other I've had to capturing my vision for these songs. So it's a pleasure for me to present those of you who didn't catch the concert these live tracks: If You Love Me, Love Picture, and Minister's Song.
It's been a sweet, sweet time with you folks in Gainesville these last few years. I'll keep you updated about what's happening in Augusta.
 |
For those of you who haven't heard it, this was an album I did in 2003, retelling the parable of the prodigal son over the course of 11 songs - in the first he's asking for the money, in the second he's partying, and so on chronologically.
It's a strange project, especially in the world of Christian music, but people have told me it blessed them. You can see more of it here, and the link that says "what's the lost son story" now contains my updated thoughts.
The reason this beautiful young lady and I are so happy is because, about an hour before this picture was taken, we got engaged.
 |
Her name is Elizabeth Broman, and she's wonderful. She loves the Lord, she's compassionate towards people, she's funny, intelligent, hardworking, humble, forgiving, and lots of other adjectives that would describe the "Wife of Noble Character" in Proverbs 31.
I proposed to her on Feburary 9, one year after our first date, to her complete surprise. We had talked about marriage, but only recently, through prayer and the counsel of wise friends, did I realize that the timing was right. Enthusiastic nodding was about all the response that Elizabeth could manage for a while.
We will be getting married this summer, and I will be moving to Augusta to begin working and start our new life together. Elizabeth is a first-year medical student there, so there is a long road ahead for us, but we are extremely excited. God is so good, and it is clear to us that He has given us one another. How amazing!
 |
I do, however, often have random thoughts or devotionals that I'd like to share with you, which I think would be more useful to you than every little detail of what I'm doing. I'm thinking of converting this section to a blog format to work with that. If you have thoughts on the subject, feel free to drop me an email.
Meanwhile, you should notice a brand new site design today! It's been a long time coming, and I've made and scrapped several ideas before arriving at this relatively simple one. The main impetus was some great new photos that photographer David Bond made for me recently.
Aside from the site redesign, these pictures lend themselves well to printing in newspapers and making posters, like this one that I made for the St. James concert.
These posters will be at various churches and bookstores around Athens. If you live there, you can also be on the lookout for ads in the Athens Banner-Herald, Flagpole, WMSL Radio, WUGA Radio, WUOG Radio, and the Athens Area Arts Council Calendar.
See why I'm so excited about this concert? :)
December was a light month for concerts for obvious reasons like Christmas and less obvious ones like finals. But I did get to do a few fun things, like play the Christmas party for our local Drug Court program, which had something like 500 people attending. The Hall County Drug Court is an amazing program to get people off drugs and back into productive lives instead of sending them to jail, where they almost never get off drugs for good.
This program has a phenomenal success rate (upwards of 90 percent, I think), and it's always good to encourage them in their work. One couple who came to the Christmas party said they had not been out to a normal social event in more than 5 years. How cool that their first one was a Christmas party. I played with the college worship band from our church, and we sang lots of great Christmas tunes, skipping over most of the meaningless stuff to do the ones that proclaim the gospel, like O Come O Come Emmanuel and Joy To The World. It was a great time. I hope that for many of them, it helped them to have a Christ-centered Christmas.
I also had the honor of playing for one of Lakewood's Christmas Eve services, and I did Miracle Boy with harmonica, Bob Dylan-style. I don't get to bring that song out but once a year, so it needed to be special.
I've already got several things planned for the new year, as you can see in the listing above. Songs for Supper, the Our Neigbor benefit, and others are going to be cool. I'm really excited about playing at St. James United Methodist. What a great church. They were a huge encouragement to me when I lived in Athens, and became my church family away from home.
The coffeehouse series at St. James is great, too - I saw Bill Mallonee of Vigilantes of Love play there once, and it was a great night. I want to bring as many people in as I can to that one, and Paul and I will be working to put together a special concert. Come and bring friends!
In good news, sales of my newest CD on CD Baby are going well! Thanks to all of you who've bought one so far.
Also thanks to everyone who laughed at my new song. The moment when you got the joke was such a thrill. Now I'm just wondering how to refer to it without giving away the punchline...
The only disappointment of the night was that Joel Goddard didn't make it - he was sick. I was really looking forward to seeing him and hearing him play. Oh well - it happens.
And here's the news of the day: my newest CD, "Until My Fingers Ache," is now selling on CD Baby. If you've already got a copy, write a review and let others know what you think about it. If you don't have a copy, you can buy one there, at IndieHeaven, or at one of my live shows. I'll be posting some new ones soon.
Everyone who has ever mentioned Matt to me has had only good things to say - including our mutual friend Amy Winkles (who co-wrote the song "Until My Fingers Ache" with me). The music on Matt's site is awesome. I don't really know him well yet, I look forward to the chance to hang out with him.
Joel, on the other hand, I already know, and I have tremendous respect for that man. He is a great worship leader. I've been on several retreats where the music he played and the words he spoke just floored me, and you could feel the presence of God in the room.
Now that's not something that happens because of talent or whatever - I even feel a little uncomfortable putting it together with "Joel is great." I think the point is that GOD is great, and has always used Joel to remind me of that fact whenever I've had the chance to worship with him.
So I'm very excited about that night. The concert will be in Cleveland at a place called "The Barn." You can get more information and directions right here. I hope to see you all there. To promote the concert, I made the following banner, which I encourage everyone to post far and wide, especially on MySpace.
P.S. I linked to Amy Winkles above - I should mention that she has a cool new web site. Amy is a very talented gal with a heart for the Lord, and I encouarge you to check out her music and support her.
Hey, I'm on the charts!
Well, the IndieHeaven charts, anyway. But that's nothing to sneeze at - IH gets tons of visitors every day, and if my song gets rated highly, a lot of people could hear it!
If you like my music, please take a minute and vote for "Until My Fingers Ache." My song was just added, so it started out in last place. Oh no! :)
Seriously, if you like it, give me a good rating, and stick around to check out some of the other artists on IndieHeaven, too. It's a great site that really supports Christians who want to use their music for ministry. About half an hour ago, I discovered Omar K. Alley on the charts, and man, that guy is good!
You can vote for both of us (by rating our songs) here.
Thanks again for your support.
 |
 |
For those of you who didn't see the Gainesville Times article following the "Bruce Burch and Friends Honor John Jarrard" concert Aug. 1, they ran a very large picture of me the next day. Sweet!
 |
 |
Also, here are a couple of pictures from my trip, where I spent a whole pile of time with my former roommate, Michael. We took a weekend trip over to Segovia, Spain, which is where we really became close during a study abroad in 2001. Michael will be adding a blog post about the Spain trip pretty soon at his blog; I wrote a couple of entries from Ireland, too.
 Walking down Haddington Road in Dublin |
 On the plains outside Segovia |
While I was in Dublin, I got the chance to play at The Lighthouse, a soup kitchen run by Dublin Christian Mission. The volunteer staff there was amazing. I was privileged to lead a worship time with them before the homeless arrived, and their prayers were lovely, and it was great to be with believers from around the world. (They were from Ireland, England, South Africa, Equador, and the U.S.) I then played my own songs while people got fed.
Most of the people who came in were Polish immigrants to Ireland and didn't speak much (if any) English, so I'm not sure how meaningful my songs were to them. But the volunteers seemed to be touched by them, and I had a wonderful time. Apparently so did Teresa, who grabbed a fella and started dancing while I played. That was awesome. :)
The Booking Deal
I am very happy to announce that I now have a booking deal with IndieHeaven, a Christian independent music site that I've been affiliated with for a while. They just opened a booking division and I applied to work with them; we have now signed a contract. It's very exciting, and let me tell you why.
When I left my fulltime job to pursue music, I already had experience writing and singing and performing, but the business side was totally alien to me. Since then, I've spent the majority of my time and energy researching, making phone calls, etc etc to try to get some concerts lined up. You wouldn't believe how hard that can be - I called one guy repeatedly for six months before he booked me. At the beginning all I could do were open mics, but slowly more opportunities have opened up. When I get a concert, I throw myself into promoting it and that takes a lot of time, too.
This summer has been an ideal time for that because I've been out of school, and my work as a writer, while not lucrative, is very flexible. But this fall I'm going to be in school a lot more, practicing piano and voice and choir and studying music theory, working for the paper, and trying to maintain both a music career and a long-distance relationship with a lovely woman who just started medical school. Crazy.
In steps IndieHeaven, just in the nick of time. Basically it's a non-exclusive contract, meaning I can book myself, too, but they have financial obligation and incentive to find me some paying concerts. I know these people personally because I attended a conference with them, and they are both godly and professional, so I'm delighted to work with them. This should take some of the phone call pressure off of me and help me find opportunities I wouldn't have had on my own.
Meanwhile, if you know any churches or venues that might like to have me play, even as a concert opener, I'd love to hear about it. Basically if I can get there and back in a weekend, starting in Gainesville, GA, it's possible. I appreciate recommendations more than almost anything else you could do for me. Thank you all for your help.
So: look for great things with the IndieHeaven booking service.
Now on to other recent happenings...
The Lakewood Concert
The concert at Lakewood was great. Thank you to everyone who came, especially those who drove a long way. Brad and Melissa are two examples. You people are awesome. I also appreciate everyone's generosity when they passed the hat. A lot of time and effort went into the concert that could have been spent making money, so apart from the fun and the ministry, it's nice to not leave empty-handed. You were a blessing to me.
Thanks so much to the band - Paul, Matt, and Charles, as well as Amy - for practicing hard and rocking so much. It was the first time I had the chance to play some of those songs with a band, and it just felt like they came alive.
Lots of thanks also to Matt Webster for opening up and for recording the show for me.
The Jarrard Concert
That concert was on Friday, July 28. On Tuesday, Aug. 1, I was honored to be an opening act at the Bruce Burch and Friends Honor John Jarrard concert in Gainesville (web site). Bruce and I have become friends through a mutual friend and he invited me to open for the concert. (I wrote more about it in earlier posts if you want to know.) I haven't heard numbers afterward but before they show I think they were saying it was a record amount of money raised.
J.P. Williams and his girlfriend Irene Steelman were two of my favorite people to talk to. Both very sweet people, and J.P. absolutely tore it up when he played. He has a song called "Stronger" that practically forced me to dance. Very talented guy, as were Curtis and Allen. The four of us sat on four stools and took turns playing songs as the opening act.
I also met Tony Arata, who wrote Garth Brooks' hit "The Dance." He was a very nice guy and gave me the name of a guy to talk to at ASCAP (a music publishing company). All in all I had a great time.
Ireland
After that concert, I went home and stayed up late packing, and the next day I flew to Ireland with my former roommate and close friend, Michael. He was in the States for the weekend to attend a wedding, and when he flew back to Ireland where he works, his wife stayed behind to start a teaching job and I went along to keep him company. We are having various adventures - shenanigans, tomfoolery, and whatnot - for a couple more weeks before I come back, then a few weeks later he's moving back to the States. I haven't seen him much for a year and a half, so having lots of quality time is amazing. We're staying up all hours of the night talking, like we used to do, except that this time he has to get up and I can sleep in. When he was a grad student and I had 8 a.m. classes it was the opposite. Revenge! :)
See you all back in the States.
|
I only got 100 on this first batch, but when those sell I'll get more. About 10 are already spoken for, so I expect them to go fast. Here's going to be the experimental deal: the price is whatever you want it to be. $15 is ok, $5 is ok, or you can have one for free. You've got $7.39 in your pocket? Sold. Want to write me a check for $100? Sold. (And thank you!) Never has the customer been more right than you are about to be, my friends. See you at the show! |
My show there July 20 is just canceled, but for the 28th, we've managed to move the whole affair to the chapel at Lakewood Baptist - which is a great place for a concert. It's also a good thing for all the people who were going to drive from Gainesville to Duluth to hear me play.
Here's the lineup: guitarist and singer/songwriter Matt Webster will start it out with original songs, and Amy Winkles will follow him with her own songs on keyboard. Both of them are very talented and you'll dig what they have to say.
After that, I'll be up to do a set of original songs, some you know well and some new ones, plus a few covers. Joining me will be Paul VonEppinger on lead guitar and harmonica, Matt Wildeboer on bass, and Charles Pharr on drums. Sweet!
To celebrate this great summer, I've decided to make a new CD of mostly live recordings, which I plan to have for sale at this concert and at the Bruce Burch one on Aug. 1 (see the last post before this one). The songs on it will be: Psalm 46, Blessings, Progress, Trees, Until My Fingers Ache, and a new recording of Minister's Song. (Minister's Song is the one I played at Lakewood recently and had so many people comment about.)
I'll be selling them cheap, and profits will go towards a real studio project next summer.
If you've been meaning to come to a concert, July 28 is a great time to do it. See you there!
Last year's concert drew a crowd of about 1,500 according to the article in the Gainesville Times. Bruce said I'd be the first Christian singer they've had play. I'll just be playing a couple of songs, but it's a chance to be heard by lots of new people and help raise money for a good cause. Tickets are $30 or $25 if you buy in blocks of five. For more info, see the official website.
In related news, Bruce (here's an old interview with him) now heads up the University of Georgia's School of Music Business, where they teach students how to be promoters and managers and publishers and the like. I met with him recently about partnering with his students to do promotions in the fall. I'm really excited to see what will come of that.
Meanwhile, I just played a concert with Matt Webster at IF Coffeehouse in Atlanta's Little Five Points on Friday night. That was really fun. It's a funky, strange area, and IF Coffeehouse exists to be a Christian presence there. Many thanks to Kristi and Callie for bringing tons of friends and to Shanda for bringing Anita from Croatia. Also to Christina for coming to my concert on her birthday! Tommy, we should totally be friends.
I'm going to say this again in lots of ways, but everybody should plan to come to my concert at Higher Grounds Coffeehouse on July 28. It will be my last full concert of the summer, and I'd like to celebrate a good season with all of you. Angie in Jacksonville, Florida even said she'd try to come. Sarah G. will be playing, too, and perhaps others. If you like my music and your friends haven't heard it, bring them to Higher Grounds. Admission is free.
Thanks to everyone who loves and supports me. You are helping me accomplish the mission God has given me, and I hope I'm helping you do the same.
A few highlights: "3 Feet Ahead" and I played at a festival in Dawsonville called "Stars, Cars and BBQ," a patriotic and antique cars weekend event. We did mostly worship music, plus a few hymns and originals, closing out with "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful." I really like doing those songs because they're so different from what I usually play, and singing harmony with Shanda on the latter is great.
I played at Java City in Demorest on May 25, and Garth of "Garlington" opened up for me. He is an amazing guitar player and a great singer, and I really enjoyed sharing the mic with him. I'm coming back to Java City next week, so if you live nearby and missed it, you've got a second chance.
I also had the chance to play for the youth at Westminster Presbyterian in Gainesville and Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Toccoa. The youth at Westminster are awesome - really mature kids and fun to hang out with.
In Toccoa, the youth minister, Scott, has put together a cool concert venue called "The Warehouse," and I had the chance to open for Chasing Saturn. Loads of fun. I also met some great guys there, including Dustin, probably a future teacher, and Jonathan, who is a talented rapper. Check out some pictures:
The Warehouse - Glad Tidings Assembly of God, Toccoa, GA
 |
 |
 |
 |
These little shows may not have a huge listener base, but their audiences are probably people who care about Christian music. It's exciting to have other people saying "you should listen to this guy!"
I firmly believe that the Internet is a big key to succeeding as an independent musician, and that it's a great way for musicians and fans to meet and stay in touch, so I'm pumped to be a part of the music revolution. Rock. On.
Special thanks to all my friends who came to hear us, and to the lovely Elizabeth, who brought tons of friends. Clare had never even heard me and she brought two friends, and the next morning started a fan club for me on Facebook. Wow! You people rock.
This morning I played "Blessings" as special music at my church, Lakewood Baptist in Gainesville. The usual band from the college class joined me, and as always we had a great time. Those guys rock. To top it off, Greg and Chuck from the church's house band jumped in with electric guitar and rhythm. Wow! Thanks, guys. That was awesome. You can download an mp3 of the live performance by clicking here. (Yes, I forgot a couple of my own words. I know, I know. It's sad.)
God is opening more doors for me right now. I appreciate everyone's prayers and support. See you at a concert!
 | Three super-cool people deserve thanking: First, Edwin, an old buddy of mine from UGA, Googled me, bought my music off a digital service, emailed me, came to the concert, and stayed the whole time to listen. WOW. I'm pretty sure that deserves an award. I didn't have a real camera, but I took his picture with my crappy camera phone, so here he is folks. |
Second, Jason, a professional photographer, volunteered his own time to take pictures of me and Sarah while we were playing and burned us CDs before we left. He even brought his girlfriend Tracy along to listen, and it was cool hanging out with them between sets. Thanks a bunch, man.
Third, Scott, the manager on duty, was extremely helpful and hospitable, so I felt right at home. Muchas gracias, Scott.
It was a good night for tips, a good night for friends, and a good night for music. In short: hooray.
Since the night went so well, I hope to go back to Higher Grounds for a weekend gig. I'll keep you posted.
I definitely want to come back to Java City in the future, so look out for that. Meanwhile, my next show will be at Higher Grounds in Duluth, with the lovely and talented Sarah G. Tell your friends, your acquaintances, and the people who bag your groceries.
I was fortunate enough to sit at a table between Jim Drew and Chris Ames, both very good independant artists who make a living doing music. And both of them were very gracious to me. I encourage you to check out their music.
From talking with artists, managers and producers, I have started to rethink my recording goals. Before this, I thought I'd go into a studio as soon as I could and do a full-length project. But everyone advised me to spend the money to do a really professional project, even if I can only afford to do three songs. If those three songs are radio quality, they'll open more doors than a so-so project with a dozen tracks on it.
Recording is very expensive, so I don't yet know how I'll afford it, but one producer made a comment that really hit home to do. He said that artists get hung up on the cost of recording, but the bottom line is that if God has called you to do something, He will provide the means to do it. Our church has taken that approach to ministry for years, but I needed to hear it as regards my own ministry. I believe that if I follow God in obedience to His calling, He will provide for my needs. Hallelujah!
Thanks to everyone for your prayers! Come see me in concert when you get a chance.
This morning I had another neat experience: I got to play for the local Drug Court graduation. It was an emotional event, with people who had been hooked on drugs and gotten sober finally graduating from this program with the support of their families and peers. I played Rich Mullins' song "Brother's Keeper," which is all about holding each other up and loving each other in faith. It was an honor to be there.
Tomorrow morning, I'm packing up and driving to Nashville for a conference for independant Christian musicians, put on by Indieheaven. Lots of experienced people and a few famous ones will be sharing their insights on how to succeed in music and ministry, and I'll be taking lots of notes. I also hope to meet some people who can help me carry this vision forward. I'd appreciate your prayers, before, during and after the weekend.
Thanks to everyone for your support and love.
But a lot of the things Jesus said sounded different to his first listeners than they do to us. Steve Chalke wrote in "The Lost Message of Jesus" that His statements about turning the other cheek and similar reactions to injustice were actually prescribing a type of non-violent protest to his downtrodden listeners, who lived under the thumb of Rome. To quote:
In Jesus' illustration, the initial blow suffered by the victim would have been backhanded, designed not so much to injure as to offer insult... By following Jesus' advice, a servant would make it impossible for his master to hit him again with the back of the hand. The left cheek may not have offered a perfect target to strike another blow, but strong cultural taboos meant that the person hitting could not use his left hand, which was kept for "unclean" tasks. In practice this meant that aggressors only had one option if they wanted to continue to hit. Because they could only use their right hands, they would have to slap or punch their victims - but only equals fought this way.
Similarly, he said, Jesus said that if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, you should let him have your cloak as well (Matthew 5:40). Chalke wrote that peasants usually only wore two garments, and doing this would mean walking out of the courtroom naked. Imagine how that would humiliate the person suing you!
Jesus' words in Matthew 5:38-42 remind me of Proverbs 25:21-22:
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.
The beatitudes come at the beginning of the same chapter of Matthew, and reading over them the other day, I saw them more as a challenge than as a consolation. Should I be blessed? Am I poor in spirit, pure in heart, and merciful? Am I a peacemaker - even at risk to my own safety? Do I have reason to "rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven?"
With that in mind, I wrote "Blessings." You can read the lyrics and download a rough recording in the Future CDs section. May it be a blessing to you - and a challenge.
If you're here because of that story, welcome! You can check out the site for yourself, but you may be interested to know that I play pretty often at open mics in the Atlanta area, most frequently at Northern Star Coffeehouse in Norcross. On Tuesday night I'm co-hosting a Valentine's Day open mic there, and I'll have a Friday night concert there on April 21. Come to either one, listen and say hello!
You can also find me on MySpace at www.MySpace.com/NathanLongMusic.
Anyway, I've been hustling like crazy to play at as many coffeehouses and such as possible, and it has been going well. I've got some new live recordings up from some of the performances in the "Future CDs" section.
Part of the benefit of playing around is meeting people. A couple of posts ago, I mentioned meeting Matt Webster and Sarah G.; since then I have played an open mic at their church in Duluth and met a couple of cool guys there who do music promotion and studio recording, respectively. The more I put myself out there, the more neat things happen. Funny how that works, huh? :)
Chances are good that I'll be in the AJC story I mentioned last post; if I am, I'll let you know. Meanwhile, check out Music for Molly, coming up Feb. 4 in Dahlonega. I'll be playing, though I'm mainly backing up my friend Amy Winkles, who is a very talented singer and songwriter (we co-wrote "Until My Fingers Ache"). You won't want to miss it. And your $10 admission goes to help a spirited little girl who needs spinal surgery. Follow the link above for more information.
Of course, there was a little pressure to do it right, because a photographer and a videographer from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution were there, working on a story about open mic nights, and they were documenting my every move as I set it up. For a while I couldn't get it to work until someone realized that the speakers themselves had power cables. We hooked them up and voila!, which is French for "the sound system worked."
So then I played some songs and they were snapping pictures and filming and all that, just me, the one guy at the open mic night. Wow.
I'm not just freaking out or anything; I've been a newspaper photographer and it's not totally glamorous to me. Plus I know that they may or may not put me in the paper, depending on what material they get. BUT, considering that this is the largest newspaper in Georgia, and is read by millions, it could mean that lots of people who don't know who I am will find out. All in all, it's something that I wouldn't even have had the guts to pray for. So it's awesome.
I don't know yet if or when I'll be in the paper, but they said probably in February. I'll post a link if it happens.
