Hyper-Active Awesome-Life Go!

Our life as of the past month: After arriving on April 27th of last month…

Musically:

Musically, we've been all over Nashville, it seems. (All of these "Musical" things can be also under the upcoming "Ministry" section, but those I reserved to be more direct). We played at a venue called "Mad Donna's", where we met up with our friends, the Deasons and the Reeds. It was awesome not only to get to meet and love on the owner and his wife, but also on the other bands there, and getting to catch up with our old friends. 

From playing at the cajun restaurant, Ri'Chard's cafe, again, a chain of exciting events happened. We met a fiery , kind lady named Morgan, who runs a talent agency in Nashville, looking for artists and bands and talents for films, commercials, and festivals, and she had us meet with her the next week. What we didn't expect was a "cold read" (acting out commercials they're preparing for Sunsilk hair products auto commercials) right on the spot. I honestly thought I was a goner-- I can't act, like, at all. But luckily she gave me the part of a blond for a hair commercial. Like, a ditzy, bubbly blond. So it wasn't that hard of a part to pull off. 

And from meeting her, we were then auditioned the next day for the CMA (the Country Music Awards) showcasing downtown Nashville, next week on the 8th! So we're really looking forward to that. We also were signed up to be part of a film shoot for a book-read by the author who was going to be aired on PBS. We went to that-- it was a really fun, but really different experience. :) We'd never seen or done anything like that (we were only part of the crowd, laughing when they told us to, also standing, clapping, yelling, etc., but it was super fun). 

We met an artist named Tom there, and he then had us come play a show with him at a bar called "The Other Place", where we got to meet and reach out to and love on the other bands there, the owners and workers, and the customers there. By rule, we had to leave at ten (besides me, we're all under 21, so we couldn't be there anymore), but it was amazing to meet everyone! 

Ministry: We began going with the Lacks (the band/family that we're living with) to Puckett's Grocery Store and restaurant in Leiper's Fork, the small town outside of Franklin, that we're living in. It started with us just going there to play the open mic night, and meeting the other bands, but not long after we came to help clean Puckett's and spend time with the workers and owners. (There's also some PHENOMENAL musicians that come into that small, old-time grocery store-- some to mention are Jaxon, a 12 year old boy, Emmy, a 13 year old girl, Elvis' old guitar player, a honey-butter-smooth-voice duo named Brynn and Nicole, and SO many others.)

We were invited to play at a little girl's birthday party, who we'd met last August at a school. She'd had a REALLY rough year, and her kind mom wanted her to have the best birthday party ever. So we came to her birthday as a surprise, and it was the BEST birthday party ever!!! It was SO amazing to get to know her, and her mom, and the other siblings more, and they were so kind to us. 

The landlord and his companion, James and Eileen, live right behind where we live currently. They have been so kind to let us live on their property. They also were so excited to have all of us bands here, that they put on a community concert in the large, park-like backyard, and invited out many friends and neighbors, who we got to know and play for. And before this, we'd had a few get-togethers to play music and talk together. 

The Objective was in the beginning of May, the four day conference of preparing bands for the Extreme Tour and teaching musicians about business, ministry, vision, mercy, focus, and pretty much anything else music-related. This year we were asked to help with it, which was a huge honor to us! We got to help serve meals, pray for people, clean, help musicians on and off stage, and really, get to encourage and meet other artists and musicians, and talk to them about Christ. It all ended with an outreach to the local neighborhood, which was neat, and the gospel was preached SO many times by different pastors and rappers and musicians (and the sword swallower we met last year). 

Life: We finally got to meet our friends, the band De La Croix, consisting of the Fontaine family. We'd talked over the phone and in messages many times, but never had met. It was SO encouraging to meet them-- it felt like meeting our long lost family! 

We also got to see our favoritest friend, Jared Epps, and met his girlfriend, Nisa. They are both so sweet and funny, so it was so encouraging to see them again. Like family!!! 

Both Darren and Sarah Lack had birthdays this month, and Deborah Aull (part of the Lacks) just had her baby Juniper on Friday! So we spent time over at the hospital, holding the baby, and being surprised at how good Deborah looked for just having a baby! :)

We've been practicing like fools inside and out of the camper. Now that we're implementing Sarah Lack into our set for the Extreme Tour (she's an amazing drummer, who picks up on our songs in seconds), we've been practicing our set outside, which has been wonderful. I'm definitely enjoying this moment in time of being able to practice our music, for a living, OUTSIDE. Nothing like living in nature 24/7 (we pretty much sleep outside now, too. It's been getting warm, so we're leaving our door to our trailer open now. Stars, wind, crickets, frogs. Mosquitoes. They're not as much my favorite). 

We did a couple photo shoots, too! (New pictures coming soon!) Jennifer Adams, who's previously done many of our photos, took more pictures of us. We got to revisit with our church from here, Epiphany baptist. We also did a picnic-themed photo shoot in our back yard, for a picnic we're playing this weekend for the talent agency (we're also playing at a mansion here in Nashville, though I'm not sure where. I'm stoked about it, though!). 

Prepping for Stevie and Darren's wedding. The days are counting down till Stevie Davy will be Stevie Schrag! Almost everything's in place, and we're soooo excited!!!

We have a new song that we recently just finished, and will be playing on the Extreme Tour. I believe we'll be releasing it as a single, too. :) Super excited for you to hear it! 

Lots of hiking in the Natchez Trace trail lately, with the Lacks and Colton and I on our own. Snakes, mosquitoes, lizards, ticks. Lots of good, keeping off the bad.

That's all that's been happening lately. As for coming up, we will be playing: 

The Graham Picnic on the 2nd

The Mansion on the 4th

CMA (at Wild Beaver's Saloon, downtown Nashville) on the 8th (feel free to come!)

The Little House on the Prairie for Prairie Days on the 9th, in KS (feel free to come!)

At a church in Wichita, KS, Sunday night concert (feel free to come!)

And then the wedding, and hitting the tour for July in the Southeast (check for details where we'll be near you-- we'd love to see you again, or meet if we haven't met)!  You can find the dates at:

http://www.theextremetour.com/index.php/home/page/tourschedule 

Love, zara