Downhere Chord Charts

We've had a few requests recently for chord charts for some of our Christmas songs. You can find chord charts and lyrics to all of the songs from Ending Is Beginning as well as charts for How Many Kings and Christmas In Our Hearts at our web site. Just click on "lyrics/guitar chords". We'll be adding other original Christmas song charts from "How Many Kings - Songs For Christmas" soon too. Enjoy!

www.downhere.com

Lots Of Coffee

I envy those who can write a song at the drop of a hat. Those who write year-round, no matter where they are. Those who have mastered the art of balancing discipline and inspiration. Those who do justice to the term "song-writer". I think I'm a bit of a higher maintenance song writer. I need peace, quiet, solitude, and blocked-of time periods to write well. Oh - and lots of coffee. I also have come to rely on the tools I have at home to make the process more seamless. I have everything I need in my home studio to produce a great demo, with all the instruments a rock band could require. And things have come up a couple notches since the songs on "Thunder After Lightening" were demoed.

It has become a tradition - or more, a habit - that after finishing an album approximately every 2 years, I put down the ol' pen for months at a time. I believe I went almost a full year after recording "Wide-Eyed" without writing a single song. We (Jason and I) managed to write some of our best stuff for "Ending Is Beginning". But I wonder how much better it could have been had I exercised the muscle of writing more faithfully and regularly. Sure, a guy needs a break, and I thrive on the diversity of what I do for a living, i.e. writing, recording, performing, traveling, etc. Keeps it interesting for sure. But they say an artist lives and dies on their songs, and you wouldn't know it for the amount of time I put into the craft... proportionally speaking.

The crazy thing is that the reason why I take those long breaks is precisely because I take those long breaks. Follow me? The way I've functioned as a song-writer for the past decade is feast and famine - mainly out of necessity. I wait until the record label gives me a deadline, so that our management can block off "writing weeks" on the calendar. Then I gorge myself on writing with every free moment I can muster for 6-8 months. Then, hit the studio, record for a couple months, and come out the other end completely exhausted from the process, not wanting to think about writing again until I absolutely have to. So I/we have kinda cornered myself/ourselves into this endless cycle.

I've always had a tendency towards procrastination, and we've all heard the studies showing how procrastination adds so much stress on life that could easily be avoided by planning ahead, blah blah. (Yet, somehow I manage to remain pretty mellow.) Easier said than done, though, with all the days we spend in a 15-passenger van. Then again, I often write some of my best stuff under pressure! So what's the answer to this conundrum? To each their own? If it ain't broke, don't fix it? Apply for a government bail-out? The deadline for the next album is now in sight, so if any changes are made, they will have to come after the next record is in the can... and after I've recovered from the process again... ugh. You SEE??? (Don't get me wrong. I do love it.) Until then, I'll be writing my little tail off. One bright spot on the horizon this time around is that, thanks to many kind and generous people, we are getting into a bus soon. This could be conducive to on-the-road writing, which would be new territory for me. Yusssss! Here we go!

Your prayers are coveted.

Marc

How Many Kings Songs For Christmas

How cool is this? Today we release our very first Christmas album. This is also the first album we fully self produced.

You may be wondering what kind of arrangement of these songs you can be expecting. Well of course we have some fun as you'll hear in Good King and We Wish You and 5 Golden Rings. Jeremy has a short solo, a vocal solo that is. Jason's dog makes a brief appearance. This is the second album in a row for us with trombone on it. (That's odd.) I (Glenn) use a Juno award for percussion, as well as a mixer.

You'll also hear songs of praise and songs of reverence to our new born savior. Songs like Silent Night, Glory To God and What Child Is This. Marc also sings in his native French for the first time on this album.

We added some strings to the original version of How Many Kings to update that one a little. Then we thought it would be cool to "cover" our own song. So we recorded a completely different version of How Many Kings with Jason singing. New harmonies new ideas but still the same song. I think it turned out very cool.

So there's a brief preview for those of you who haven't heard it and for those of you who have now you have something to listen for!

To order now you can click here and we'll send you one or you can click here and download it from itunes. If you have the time there are a couple things you could do to help spread the word.
1. Add you review to whatever site you picked it up from.
2. Review it on your Facebook page
3. Let your friends know you just bought the album by updating your Facebook/Twitter status and give them a link to do so too!

Below are a few links to articles and reviews about the new album.
CMSpin.com
Titletrakk.com
NewReleaseTuesday.com
Article about the title track How Many Kings

UPDATE ON NEW WHEELS CAMPAIGN

Well, it's almost the end of September which means the formal end to the New Wheels campaign. Many of you have been asking for an update, so here is the brief version:

We have been absolutely humbled and overwhelmed by the response we have seen. You have really stepped up to the plate and blessed us beyond what we could have imagined. From gifts of $10 and up, you have come together and made our dream of buying a bus a reality. The challenge at this point will be finding one that has many years left in it in our price range. With just over a week left in September, there is still plenty of time to give if you've been putting it off - click here (there is a "donate to the Downhere Foundation" button on our website).

There are a couple of wrap-up things happening in October as far as events/conversations taking place that others have organized to help raise money, but the major part of the campaign will be over the end of September.

Please continue to pray for wisdom and favor as we start looking for a bus. It is a major investment, and one we want to make prayerfully. And pray that the Lord would continue to be honored as this bus will be used in His service.

Once we find the bus we will provide you with some pictures so you can see what you were a part of. Again, thank-you so much - let's finish the campaign strong!

And we can breath now.

So we've been home for a week after a very long 25 day trip which included a tour in Canada from Toronto ON to Vernon BC as well as 3 U.S. festivals. Our Canadian tour with Building 429 was a great experience. 500 kids were sponsored through World Vision in the 13 shows we played!! That is incredible! Leaving a tour knowing that 500 lives have been directly impacted really helps making the time away from our families more bearable. Kudos to Jason Roy of B429 for doing a great job presenting the needs of these kids to our audiences.

Tim Horton's (a popular Canadian coffee and donut shop) is definitely better off because of our visit too. I'm pretty sure we stopped there at least once every day and often it was more than that. We did have one bizarre driving experience during the tour. During our trip across the west side of Ontario we decided to follow our GPS even though we knew which way to go. It's always the same argument.

"Well maybe it knows a faster way."

"No, that can't be faster, I've gone that way before."

"Then why would it suggest it?"

"Fine, let's try it."

Well next thing we knew we were on a dirt path (aka road) where the branches from the trees on either side were touching our van and we were traversing over massive bumps and puddles, trailer and all. This is the kind of road that only 4 wheel drive vehicles should be using but for

some reason the old Garmin had much confidence in our old trusty van and trailer. After a good 30-45 minutes of driving on this road we made it out to the "main" road. We stopped at a fishing outfitter/gas station and after talking to the owner gave up all hope of having lunch that day. The next gas station was hours away. Good thing we stopped. Eventually of course, we

made it to our destination and thankfully the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. Thanks for praying!!

After 14 shows in our home country where we got to see family or good friends every single night we left Vernon, British Columbia and headed for Montana. The reunions were not over

though because we were heading to Jeremy's in-laws to play a show at their church and spend a little time with them. I think most of us have recovered from our afternoon on the lake. Here

are a few pics. Jeremy's father-in-law successfully knocked all of us off the tube at least once! (Below, Glenn, Marc, Dave Jason)

After Montana it was festival time. Rock The Light in Kansas City was first. Beautiful location and thankfully the rain held off for the show. We reconnected with the Casting Crowns folks there too! Then it was off to LifeLight in Sioux Falls SD. We played the same night as our good friend and label mate Lanae Hale. I'm sad to say between traffic and a miscalculation in time we arrived slightly late but the festival and audience were really forgiving and we had a great show! From South Dakota we were headed to our last show in Peoria IL. This was a great way to end the tour. It was a free show and once again, even though it had rained on and off all day

the rain stopped for show time and they had over 2000 people there! Below are a couple of

pics that some of our Downhomies took. Thanks Mindy and Liz!

So it was a full trip and we had fun but we are all happy to be back in our own beds. So now we're taking some time to do some writing and tend to the myriad of things that were missed while we were away.

Glenn

New Wheels Campaign

As you may or may not be aware, we have been dealing with some significant van issues lately with costly maintenance required to keep it on the road (isn't that always the case when you pay a vehicle off!). Now, thanks to the generosity of one donor, we find ourselves with the opportunity to potentially "move up" in transportation. Getting out of a van and into something larger will provide us with the following:

• an overall safer mode of transportation
• a more comfortable means of transportation
• the opportunity to take other artists out on tour with us and offer them transportation
• the opportunity to have our growing families travel with us

Over the course of our career we have tried to be good stewards and keep our expenses as low as possible - that's why we've been in a van for the last 10 years! We do not feel it would be good stewardship on our part to take on a large loan to finance a new vehicle. Instead, we are inviting you, our friends and fans, to see if you want to help finance the new wheels. The plan is simply this: over the next month we will share the need and give people the opportunity to donate via The Downhere Foundation (you will need to scroll down and click on the "Donate to the Downhere Foundation" button in the right column). At the end of September we will look at the total amount raised and decide at that point what direction we will go. We basically have three options:

1. USED TOUR BUS - our first choice, but also the most expensive. For the amount of shows we play a year, this would make sense.
2. CONVERTED SHUTTLE BUS - our second choice. This wouldn't be able to tow as much or ride as smoothly as a bus, but would still be more comfortable and safer than a van.
3. NEW 15-PASSENGER VAN - our final choice. We will go this route only if insufficient funds come in.

We are trusting that the Lord will make his plans for us clear through this makeshift fleece. The decision will be made for us based on how much money comes in. You can help in the following ways:

• DONATE... Every little bit helps. Many have donated already simply from an earlier blog post announcing the creation of the foundation back in June (if that is you, THANK-YOU.) We can now offer tax receipts for all gifts. You can also give gifts-in-kind (stock options, real estate, etc.). So if you or your business are in need of donating some money for tax purposes, we are now set up to be able to issue the necessary paperwork. Donation instructions are above. If you would prefer to give via check, please email us (theband@downhere.com)so that we can give you the proper instructions.
  
  
• INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO GET INVOLVED... We would love it if you would share our story with your friends and family and invite them to become a part of our story as well.
  
  
• PRAY... We are so thankful for your faithful prayers over the years - this season is no exception. Please pray that the Lord would move in peoples' hearts to give and that we would be confident in our decision the end of September.

Thank-you again for your thoughts and prayers - as you think of us this week pray that we complete this Canadian tour strong and make it back home to our families safely. Hope to see you on the road!

The International Year

2009 is turning out to be quite an international year for us. In April we traveled to Vancouver BC to be a part of the Canadian Juno Awards celebrations. In May we were back in Denmark for some lovely time there.

June saw us again in Northern Ireland for a festival called FUEL. If you didn't catch it, while we were there Marc did a little impromptu performance of In The Light with Kevin Max formerly of DC Talk.

We're ending this summer with a Canadian tour. It's been a while since we've toured Canada so we are pumped to be able to play our home and native land again. This tour will bring us from Toronto to Vernon British Columbia.

In September we'll be back in Ontario for a weekend at my home church in Cambridge. I'm looking forward to that! Then in October we're returning to Western Canada for the Covenant Awards as well as a few Alberta shows.

And lastly, in November we'll be doing about a week of shows in Norway as well as maybe Ireland. We've played Norway before but it was such a short visit. Last time we were there it was for a festival called Seaside. We were in the country for no more than 12 hours. But man was it beautiful!

So yes, quite the international year for Downhere. On top of everything I mentioned above we've still been playing throughout America all year. We've even been able to hit up three camps this summer, two of which were beach camps plus 6 U.S. festivals. Can you tell we're having fun?

All that said, I hope we'll be in your area sometime soon so we can get a chance to say hi.

Glenn