Thank you for your sweet comments yesterday.You are good to me. Thanks for speaking truth that I couldn’t find on my own.

There are some shows in Nashville that I have been hearing about since I moved up.  Some shows are epic, year after year, or whenever the particular band comes to town, and you have to go.  Because everyone else you have ever met will be there.  Because they know.  They KNOW.  It’s epic.

So it was with Andrew Peterson’s Christmas Show- “Behold the Lamb of God”- which is an album you need to purchase. Like, now —>

Pretty much Andrew Peterson has become my favorite all around writer- books and music. I want him to be the sensei to my literary karate kid.

Type on. Type off.

I’m going to go ahead and say I may not do the best job recapping this event.  Because of aforementioned mild devastation.  And because music does this thing to me which I can never fully write out.  It moves me deeper than that.

The Ryman Auditorium, where the concert was, is music history in building form.  So there is something about sitting in there that just makes you feel.  Feel the past.  Feel the music.  Feel the tingle in your fingers as you lay them on the wood bench to anchor yourself as you scoot to the edge. Because to sit back, for me, was to be too far away.

The first half of the show is songwriters singing originals.  Which was layers of heaven for me.  Bebo Norman, long time respected by your blogista, sang one.  As did Andrew Peterson.  As did Andy Osenga- who taught me that yes, I actually do have a favorite electric guitar player [it's him]. Michael Card was there, singing some OLD SCHOOL CCM hits that Annie circa 1990 loved. As was Jill Phillips and Randall Goodgame and Andy Gullahorn and Ben Shive.  I mean, y’all.  I could go on and on.  [Go listen to all these folks and consider that your Christmas present from me. You're welcome.]

The second half is the Behold the Lamb of God album, start to finish, with no talking in between songs.  It tells the story of Jesus’ birth, starting in Genesis- going through the whole Old Testament, describing how it speaks to the birth of Christ over and over. Then they sing about Jesus.  Which I always enjoy, cause they’re talking about Someone many of us have come to love deeply.

I’m listening to it now as I write [a "technique" used in the biz, if you will ], and I’m tearing up just hearing “Deliver Us” again.  Because that whole album pours into your heart and attaches to the edges and almost makes you feel sick it is so good.

And I go to church with these people.  And they worship the same Jesus that I’m depending on.

They write albums, and leave their families to tour the US for all of December, and they write books, and they learn to play instruments better than 98.9% of the population- all to bring the spotlight to this little baby who changed everything.  Forever.

I have a new Christmas tradition. A new heart for the season. And a new album that I CANNOT quit playing.

Wanna read Andrew Peterson’s take on the show?  GO HERE. Obviously, it’s way better than this post.  Well done, Sensei.

Based on my hard-hitting journalistic style.

JJ Heller Interview Part 2

Enjoy.

And yes, at some point today I will actually write a blog post.  This I promise you.

Here’s my first excursion into other blogdoms.  [Don't worry, AnnieBlogs.com, you are still my first blog love.] But this is of the musical variety.

An Interview with JJ Heller

If you are a blogger, you should totally be joining the Bloggable Music Network.  All the cool kids are doing it.

Joy Williams, whom I love mucho, is releasing a new 4-song EP soon, but for now you can download one of the songs for free.  Oh yeah, you heard me.  FREE.  Meaning NO MONEY IS NECESSARY TO OWN THIS AND YES YOU ARE WELCOME.

CLICK HERE to get the free song “Lose Myself”.  Let’s just say that for me personally it was a timely find, to say the least.  Read the lyrics.  For realz.

Joy is an amazing artist and she’s a Nashville girl, so we obviously have so very much in common.  Maybe that’s why I like her.  Maybe we’ll be Nash-friends one day- she probably dresses really trendy and I, um.  I’m working on that.

Sorry to interrupt Haley’s birthday, but free music is, well, free.  Haley loves free stuff.  Uh, Haley.  I got you a song for your birthday.  CLICK HERE. 

Andrew Peterson and his wife hold a special place in my heart, whether they know it or not.

See, a few weeks ago, I told them a major secret.  Standing in line at the Third Day show, I told them the deepest secret I was currently housing.  After discussing his AMAZING book and my slowly appearing book, I said quietly and almost in a whisper, “Andrew, Jamie, I hate my book.”

I was scared to think it, much less say it.  It’s my first time around this block, after all.  This book is supposed to be my bread and butter.  And I hated it.

I’ve only had three or four conversations with them since I moved here- but in those conversations, they hugged that little writer that lives in me, asking about my work, listening intently and responding to my ideas.  So in that moment, Andrew felt like a safe ear.  And he was.

I try not to be overdramatic, but I will say this- Andrew telling me that it is okay to hate my book, to set it aside and ask God for something else to work on for a while, may have saved my writing career.

And I will be forever grateful.

On Sunday night I got to go to Andrew’s CD release party at 12th & Porter.  And these are the nights when I smile because I live in the same city as these people.

It was an awesome show.  It was beauticulous.  Beautiful melodies.  Ridiculously talented musicians.  All together off the chain.  [And that's a good thing, Mom.  Just so you are up with the lingo.]

I have never had this experience at a show before, but as I listened, I felt like crying.  Really deep, safe, empty your soul kind of crying.  And at the same time, it felt hopeful.  The music itself FELT hopeful.  How does he DO that?

It’s just the way he writes.  It’s the way he thinks.  It’s the way he composes these phrases that attach themselves to my heart as if they have been there all along.

His lyrics ruin me in a way that makes my soul ask for more.

I’m a sucker for good songwriters.  I know.  I just really love hearing someone retell the story of the gospel-in song or book or conversation.

I came home and wished with all my might that I could go back and buy everything he has ever written and sit up all night and listen to the words over and over again and maybe write them down because.  Well.  Just because.

And for FIVE DAYS STRAIGHT I have been listening to his music.

The CD came on out Tuesday, but being that it was Tatum’s birthday, my sister trumped the CD.

But y’all.  You need this CD.  Please go buy this CD.  And then back up and buy anything else of his that your budget allows.  [Especially his book, because there are sequels to come and you are going to want to be ready.]

Thanks, Andrew.  For your words in the book.  For your words on your CD.  For your words that day when you made me feel like a real writer.

I have my friend Drew Worsham to thank for last night. [That sounds WAY more scandalous than it is... keep reading... I'm embarrassed.....]

Because I got to see probably my favorite singer/songwriter in concert last night- Phil Wickham.  [Now, Dave and Matt have no reason to get all up in arms, I still love their writing too.  Down, boys.]  But Phil.  There’s just something about his words.  Good gracious.

Summer of 05, Drew and I were riding in a car to the Atlanta airport and he said, “You’ve got to hear this guy.”  And voila.  I’m undone. And a permanent Phil Wickham fan.  Hence the reason I owe Drew the big thanks.

So Phil came to the ole Nashville and brought the band Fee along with him.  My hung-out-once-but-we’re-pretty-much-best-friends friend Brandon plays drums for Fee, so it was a double whammy of awesome.  Phil and a home friend?  Shut up.  Too good.  [And you will love that touchless Annie still has the ole "hug the home friends" problem, as I hugged Brandon probably 53 times.  Sorry, bro.  It's part of my "moving issues".]

I have never seen Brandon play the drums.  Sure, I knew it was his “job”, but I had never seen him in action.  And OH. MY. GOSH.  My friend is talented.  But its more than that.  I couldn’t stop watching him- there was this dude whom I love as a person TOTALLY moving to the rhythm of God’s heart.  He was smack in the middle of God’s purpose for him last night.  It was more than music, it was ministry.  It was beautiful.

I had a similar thought when I saw Melanie with her daughter Caroline.  The Melanie I knew before was just a friend with a daughter.  I’d never seen her in “action” as a mom.  The minute we were with Caroline, it’s like God breathed on Mel and suddenly she was walking in who He’s called her to be.  It was more than being a mom, it was ministry.  It was beautiful.

Amazingly, I have a lot of people I could tell you about here.  Suffice it to say that I am overwhelmed at the thought of listing all of you who I know have beautiful God’s purpose moments.  If you think, “I wonder if she would have listed me”, then yes.  I probably would have.

Phil has a song called “You’re Beautiful”.  You must listen to it.  I insist.  I know what you are thinking and no, I am not the boss of you.  But just GO HERE and download the FREE CD and listen.

In all honesty, its so true.  The Lord is beautiful.  And watching Him escort my friends into the very dead center of His plan for them, where their skills and talents and desires and His heart collide, is sometimes a bit too much for me.  It moves me deep.

I think I’m slowly creeping into that place.  I’m surely not a mom like Mel [wouldn't that be an interesting twist if I was], nor am I a worship band drummer [though I wish I could be].  But I watch them.  And then I write about it, in my journal, on my computer, wherever.

I’m still figuring out what that beautiful place is for me.  And that’s okay.  In fact, its awesome.  So don’t be discouraged if you are still looking.

Because searching for who God made you to be?

It’s beautiful.

I never fully expressed how much I enjoyed the Next Big Nashville shows that I went to on Saturday night.

We got there in time to hear the uber-talented Brooke Waggoner.  I’m not kidding- hearing Brooke live for the first time was awesome.  Listening to Brooke’s music is like hearing summer turn to fall.  Knowing that she lives and worships [oh yeah, she knows Jesus] here gives me hope for my own art.

We then heard Thad Cockrell.  He has an amazing voice, but his style just isn’t my style.  He’s a good songwriter- had the best line of the night if you ask me- “Ever since I met you, beauty has a name“.  Hey, Thad, I don’t know who she is, but I bet she loves you.

The final show was Ten Out Of Tenn.  See, here’s the thing.  It is composed of 10 individual Nashville artists.  And when they perform live, they all are involved in every song.  For example, when Matthew Perryman Jones is singing his song “Don’t Fall In Love”, other artists are playing instruments, singing backup, doing whatever it takes to make that song sound awesome.  Then it’s Katie Herzig’s turn- everyone rotates around to a different instrument and they all work equally hard on that song.  And they shift around like that over and over.  Everyone being in front.  Everyone being in back- nine times out of ten.

I watched Andy Davis- we have a few mutual friends, he loves the Lord, I like him as a person.  And y’all.  He played every instrument at one point or another.  He sang the words to every song, even if he wasn’t miked, like a true fan of the other musicians.  He was there to ensure the best sound came out on every song.  And of the fifteen or so songs we heard, ONE was his.  ONE.  Fourteen times he lived for someone else.  Fourteen opportunities to serve. Every artist played like that- served like that.  And they had fun doing it.

It amazed me- it was all I could think about.  How selfless.  How giving.  To give as much attention to nine other artists’ songs as your own.  Risking their song sounding better than your’s.  I was more than impressed.  I was blessed.  It was a picture of the best things about Nashville.  [Yes, there is coveting and backstabbing, and in my few weeks here I've seen that as well.]  But watching these ten artists give their all for each other made me want to be a better artist.  A better writer.  Why?  So that I can get together with my other writer friends and hold their work up to the world and say “HOW GOOD IS THIS?!?!  READ IT!!!”  With no concern for myself- if they succeed, I succeed.  Like Shannon or Sandra.  Like Linda.  I want to live Mark 12:33 like that.

I salute you, Ten Out Of Tenn, because your music is good.  And you remind me of Jesus.

How does this affect you today?  I don’t know that answer for you.  I just know that if we all sought success for the other people in our professions and in our lives, this world would be a different place.

I think maybe this is how we were meant to live all along.

[By the way, there are other artists doing this in Nashville- Annie, Josh,and Meg, Dave and Matt - but these are just the ones that birthed this whole thought process in me.]

For two reasons:

#1- My friend Sandra Byrd has a book releasing today- Bon Appetit.  I’ve had the pleasure of reading it and it is FANTASTIC.  The first novel in the series, Let Them Eat Cake, is one of my favorites.  A friend of mine is reading it and she immediately commented on how real the characters are and how it is the best Christian fiction she has read because it isn’t pushy.  That’s called a breath of fresh air in this genre!!  So grab both books today.  Because there is a third.  And trust me, you WANT to be ready for it.  Oh Sandra.  Keep ‘em coming, sister.  Because you are good at what you do.

#2- Our buddy Matt Wertz’s new album Under Summer Sun drops today.  [That's industry talk for "releases"- it happens when you move here.]  We’ve been over this before, but this man can write some good music.  He uses words wisely, which is an antonym of “Annie”.  If you haven’t heard him yet, go listen to a few songs on his myspace THEN buy the album.  You will want to.

[And because I know you care, my very favorite Wertz song EVA is "Capitol City".  Read the lyrics and you may cry.  Or at least you will if you are moving to a new city and have no friends.  Ahem.]

I feel pretty strongly about our blogmunity [that's a blog community, by the way] supporting these two artists.  I have nothing to give away, no freebies here.  I just have to say that when two different people each love God well and express that love and gratitude through their art, I’ll pay for it.  And I’ll tell my friends to pay for it.  And it is GOOD art.  GOOD books.  GOOD music.  If it was bad, I’d magically forget to post today and apologize to Matt and Sandra on Wednesday.  So trust me.  It’s worth it.  I haven’t led you astray yet… uhh….. I don’t think I have, at least.

I’m praying for both of these artists today.  For Sandra.  For Matt.  For the people that work with them.  That they would encounter God today as they release to the world a portion of their praise.

Y’all.  How cute is Ayiesha?  I know.  You adore her already. And you haven’t even heard her voice!  Good gracious it is unbelievable.

Her second album, Love Like This, comes out on Tuesday and it is oh so wonderful.  She is not only the artist but she is also wrote many of the songs.  And y’all know I love me some solid song writing.  Her song, Because of You, made my happy cry a little bit over and over.  It is so beautiful and a sweet reminder of how God loves.  Oh, and I love the song Alive.  Y’all.  And she recorded Jennifer Knapp’s Refine Me which is a personal favorite of mine.  She did RIGHT by the song, I’ll tell you.

And because Ayiesha is a giver, she’s letting you hear the songs from her new CD right here right now.  Look below and you will see the player.  You will also be able to pre-order the CD if you just can’t wait until Tuesday. Which I will not judge you for. I can understand it is hard to resist after hearing.

Or…. you could win one right here!!  I have 2 CDs to giveaway!!  So all you have to do is leave a comment telling me which song you like the most and I will use the random number generator to pick 2 winners.  I’ll close the comments at 5pm on Tuesday and announce the winners.  That way, you can go ahead and buy the CD as soon as it comes out if you don’t win it. (You can get the album on iTunes and at Target! GoodBuy, right?)

Of course, I hope you win.  Seriously.  I want you to win.  So does Ayiesha.  She loves winners.

I have a few things.

First of all, if Jeff Lewis is reading this, we should be friends. [Just had to get that out of the way, you never know, people. We are on a mission.]

Secondly, as you see here on the top right, we have a memory verse. And by “we”, I mean “I plus any of you”. I’m going to memorize Psalm 145. Join me if you dare. Or care. Or stare. [I don't know about that last one, it just rhymed.]

Thirdly, if you will scroll down on the right, you will see a link to FREE MUSIC. Seriously. Again. It’s from JJ Heller. And she is awesome. Her voice is spot on and her lyrics make me cry. I’ve listened to the whole album three times today. [Yeah, I love my life.] And did I mention that it is FREE? That’s beauticulous. So download it and then email her and say, “You are so very good at what you do”, or something of the like.

Fourthly, I have a super great friend named James. We’ve been friends for nine years or so and I absolutely adore him, could put him in my pocket and keep him with me all the time. [Except that would be weird.] My friend Kat has a music blog that is excellent and on Mondays she has other bloggers talk music-speak. So let’s put those together- I love my broseph James, Kat wants music.

James meet my blogmies and bloggites. Kat meet James.

He has an AH-MAZ-ING voice. In fact I sat on a couch last night as he played a new one he has written and I said, jaw on the floor, “Uh. Yeah. That’s a good one.” He writes from honest places and sings like no one else I know personally at this particular point in my life.

So, I super duper encourage you to go listen to his myspace (my personal fav- “Long Way From Tomorrow”) and then head to iTunes and buy his EP. It’s cheap. And good. [And when he goes on tour, I get to man the tshirt table and wear a headset. So by buying his EP, you are, in essence, securing my future job.]

Fifthly [is that a word?], my friend Sophie has an awesome music giveaway going on RIGHT NOW. So head that way if you want more free music.  And I’m proud to say I was the first comment.  I believe in small, attainable goals now that I am self-employed.

Seventhly, I hate doing things in groups of six, so I skipped straight to seventhly to say have a great day and your ears can thank me later.