Downhere

Downhere Christmas Chords

2011-11-18T10:52:00.001-08:00

Many of you have been asking so here are the chords to Gift Carol and Glory To God. Both off of our album How Many Kings - Songs For Christmas.

Buy it from the Downhere Store now.

Or you can also find it on iTunes.

Newsletter Update - Foundation, Tour, New Album, Photoshoot

2011-04-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a copy of our latest email update. To join the list click here.

Hi! Sorry our emails have been so spoardic as of late. We'll do better leading up to the release of this next record later this year. It's been a busy last few months as you'll soon discover (if you make it through to the end of this newsletter). We've finished the album (nearly), had a photoshoot, commenced our spring tour, and tried to fit in some time with our families as well (Glenn and his wife Sherri are expecting their 3rd boy any day now!). On that note... I was reflecting the other day on the number of kids that have been added to the downhere family since the release of "Ending is Beginning" - Liam, Karis, and Bram have all been born since September 2008 (you could also count Owen who was born to our ex sound guy Dave). That's 5 kids born to 3 families since our last album - in pregnancy terms, we're LONG overdue for a new album!

DOWNHERE FOUNDATION: PURPOSE

If you have been a long-term friend and subscriber to our email list, you have heard us talk about the Downhere Foundation before. It was initially set up late 2009 to help provide a way for people to donate towards the purchase of a bus (thanks to you we were able to buy a 1998 Prevost Coach). What you may not know is that the fund has been open and in operation since then with the primary purpose being paying for the maintenance and upkeep the bus requires.

Any time you buy a used vehicle you are bound to come across little things that need to be fixed/repaired/updated. A bus is no different - what IS different is the cost (a new tire is about $700). This past year has been fairly costly as we've rebuilt the engine ($18,000), had to do some work on the cooling system ($5,000), and done the regular upkeep. Thankfully we had a good amount of money saved up in the Foundation after the purchase of the bus to cover most of these expenses that we KNEW we'd run into at some point. However, after last year the coffers are running low and we wanted to present to you the need in case you were interested in contributing to the operational costs of our ministry.

Please don't feel any pressure here - the Lord has sustained us for the last 10+ years though thick and very thin, and we trust He will continue to do so. But if you are looking for an opportunity to partner with us, this would be a great "nuts and bolts" way to do so (pun intended). Just click here and enter your donation amount. You may want to commit to making a monthly donation (you'll have to set your own reminder every month) or simply make a one-time gift. Either way, you will receive a tax receipt at the end of the year for whatever you give.

If you can't give, we would appreciate your continued prayers. We are putting countless hours in on the road every month and we truly believe it is the prayers of our families, friends, and fans that keep bringing us back home safely every weekend. Thanks so much - as always, we look forward to seeing you in our travels!

"OUT AND ABOOT" TOUR MARCHES ON

We are currently on the road with our good friends Rush of Fools on our spring tour. It's been great so far - we've got another 13 stops before the tour wraps up. Here's where we'll be - come out and say hi!!

Apr. 7 - Henning, TN

Apr. 8 - Knoxville, TN

Apr. 9 - Charlotte, NC

Apr. 15 - Trenton, MO

Apr. 16 - Palos Park, IL

Apr. 17 - Worthington, MN

Apr. 27 - Madison, WI

Apr. 28 - Mequon, WI

Apr. 29 - Greenville, IL

Apr. 30 - Gallant, AL

May 1 - Louisville, KY

May 6 - Hardyston, NJ

May 7 - Quakertown, PA

NEW RECORD TO RELEASE AUGUST MICHAEL JORDAN

This past weekend Marc announced at a show that our new studio album would be released "August Michael Jordan". It made complete sense to me - there was a time in my life when my bedroom walls were plastered with Michael Jordan posters! For those who have no idea who he is (basketball legend) or what number he wore (23), let me break it down for you: our new album will be in stores on August 23rd - mark your calendars!

VIDEO FROM THE STUDIO

You may have already seen all of the videos we've posted from the studio as we've been working on this new record, but if not, check out our YouTube channel and catch a sneak peak of some of the songs (and observe some in-studio silliness!).

SNEAK PEAK OF NEW PHOTOS

We had fun with our new photoshoot a couple of weeks ago and took some period pictures that actually turned out REALLY cool. Here's a couple of shots to whett your appetite - it looks like we're the spitting image of our great grandfathers!

DOWNHOMIEPALOOZA SET FOR JULY 29-30

This year marks the second time downhere fans and friends will converge on Nashville for a weekend of fun, service, and all things downhere. Two years ago we had people in from all across North America and enjoyed some time together serving at a local distribution center and fellowshipping together. If you are interested in being a part of this year's festivities please click here.

RELEASE TOUR WITH JASON GRAY AND AARON SHUST

We're thrilled to announce that we're going to be joined on tour this fall by Jason Gray and Aaron Shust. We've toured with both of these guys over the years, and consider them to be good friends. It will be an honor to share the stage together as we will ALL be playing and releasing brand new music this fall! It promises to be a fun, fresh tour with plenty of substance for you to chew on at the end of the night. We're still working on a catchy tour name, but regardless - make sure you come out and see us once the dates are announced!

Help Us Reach the Top 10!

2010-11-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

Wow, our video for You're Not Alone has reached the list for a potential top 10 of 2010 on the Gospel Music Channel. We'll need your help to get it there though. Follow this link and vote as often as you can to help us reach the top 10.

http://gospelmusicchannel.com/vote

And since you're in a music video voting mood you can vote for us on CTS's "Most Requested" too. This is a TV show based in Ontario Canada. It's always nice to do well at home! To vote there follow this link!

http://www.ctstv.com/mostrequested/index.php

And in case you haven't seen it, here it is!

Just to keep you in the loop we just received the first draft of our new music video for "The Song You Sing" off of our newest Two At A Time project. It's looking really great. Once we have that totally completed we'll be sure to let you know!!

Glenn

Live Online Show

2010-10-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Watch us live online from South Carolina this weekend, October 23rd. Our friends over at Steelroots.com are broadcasting the show. We're taking a short break from the "You're Not Alone" tour and are doing the "Gimme Shelter" event which will feature us, The Wrecking and Philmont. Show starts at 7:30pm EST. Here's the link to check it out. http://www.steelroots.com/live

We've been enjoying a busy fall on our "You're Not Alone" tour. Thanks to everyone who has come out to see the show. We had the privilege of having Rush Of Fools on the road with us for the previous 8 shows and we'll be welcoming Chris Sligh back for the last 6 shows. Hope to see you there!

We Go to the Dominican Republic this week

2010-08-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

This week promises to be a life-changing week for us as we embark on our first "vision trip" with World Vision to the Dominican Republic. We have had the privilege of working with World Vision over the last 10 years - you have probably heard us share about them and their ministry at one of our shows. This quick trip (Monday through Thursday) marks our first opportunity to see first-hand what your sponsorship dollars are doing in the lives of the poorest of the poor. We would like you to join us throughout the week and participate in the trip via live video chats, blog posts, your prayers, etc. Our hope is that the Lord will break our hearts with the things that break His heart (sound familiar?) and give us stories to bring back and share with you as we encourage the western Church to step up and give out of our enormous abundance. Here are a few ways you can join with us this upcoming week:

Twitter - if you are not yet following us (@downhere), now's the time! We will be tweeting real-time updates from the various projects we visit along with specific prayer requests throughout each day.

Facebook/Blog - each evening one of us will be posting some thoughts and pictures as we process what we are seeing and experiencing. Chances are that whatever is posted here on our blog will also be duplicated on our Facebook page - so it's your call as to where you check it out!

Video Chat - if you have been a part of one of our live streaming events via our Livestream channel you know what to expect. We don't have set times for this yet - that's why it will be important for you to be following our Twitter updates as that will be where we post the times. We WILL be in Eastern Standard Time and won't be streaming any earlier than 6pm any given day. We look forward to having you join us as we share our experiences of the day (as long as the internet service at the hotel is robust enough to handle it).

SPONSOR A CHILD

In the spirit of full disclosure, World Vision is taking us on this trip so that we can come back to North America, share our stories and experiences, and help them get even more kids sponsored. It is a well documented truth that - while some of us may not feel like it - we in North America are among the wealthiest people in the world. And as the North American Church it is our biblical mandate to take care of the orphans and widows - not just in our country but around the world. This week we are focusing on the people of the Dominican Republic, and we want to present to you a unique opportunity:

All the children you will see via this link are in one of the villages that we will be visiting on Wednesday. If you sign up to sponsor one (or more!) of these children and email/Twitter/Facebook us their names before Wednesday morning we will do our best to meet your child, take a picture with them, and tell them that one of our friends back in America (or beyond) has sponsored them. We cannot guarantee that we'll be able to meet each one, but if we have their name we can be on the look-out and ask around for your new sponsored child.

As always, we would covet your prayers as we travel. There will be a lot to digest in a short amount of time; we want to come back healthy as we have two shows to play right after we get home and don't want to share any bugs/sicknesses with our families. Thanks for all of your support - we look forward to seeing how the Lord extends the ministry of our music as we partner together in changing lives around the world. We can't wait to share this week with you!

Sincerely,

Jeremy, Glenn, Marc, and Jason

You're Not Alone Music Video

2010-07-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Steelroots for putting together this great music video for us. We had a great time working with them. To see some behind the scenes footage from the making of this video you can also check out our youtube page at youtube.com/thebanddownhere.

CANADA TOUR WITH MICHAEL W. SMITH

2010-05-04T13:51:00.001-07:00

Today we are on our way to Winnipeg after playing the 4th of 11 shows with Michael W. Smith across Canada over the next two weeks. So far we've had great shows in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. Here's what we've got left:

May 5 - Winnipeg, MB
May 6 - Winnipeg, MB
May 7 - Saskatoon, SK
May 8 - Red Deer, AB
May 10 - Kelowna, BC
May 11 - Vancouver, BC
May 12 - Victoria, BC

This is a historic tour for us: it marks the first time we will be joined by family on an extended tour in the bus. We are excited to have Glenn's wife and 2 boys out with us - it will definitely add a new dynamic to life on the bus.

NEW ADDITION TO THE THIESSEN FAMILY

In case you missed it, Jeremy, Erin, and Liam welcomed Karis Joy into their home on March 8th. She is healthy and fat (funny how those those things go together in our early years). Liam is still warming up to the idea of having to share the spotlight, and Erin is reminiscing about the good old days when sleep was a reality. Thanks to all for your thoughts, prayers, and gifts on the road.

NEW RADIO SINGLE "YOU'RE NOT ALONE" AVAILABLE MAY 11TH

We are currently working on a new studio album which will release late this year (hint: being a last-minute Christmas shopper may actually pay off this year!). The first radio single "You're Not Alone" from the yet-to-be-named album will be available for download May 11th via all digital outlets. Click here to listen to a sneak peek of the song. Make sure you call and thank your local radio station when you hear it on the air.

BUSY FESTIVAL SEASON

We have a very busy summer festival schedule and hope to see you out there at some point. Here is a semi-comprehensive list of where we'll be:

Frenzy Festival - Edinburgh, Scotland - June 12
Fuel Festival - Ballymena, Northern Ireland - June 12
Atlanta Fest - Atlanta, GA - June 17
Creation NE - Shirleysburg, PA - June 30
Spirit Westcoast - Salina, CA - July 3
LifeFest - Oshkosh, WI - July 10
Hills Alive - Rapid City, SD - July 18
Creation NW - Enumclaw, WA - July 22
Kingdombound - Darien Lake, NY - Aug. 3
Inside Out Soul Festival - Gilford, NH - Aug. 4
Rock the Desert - Midland, TX - Aug. 6
Rock the River West - Surrey, BC - Aug. 7
Unity Festival - Muskegon, MI - Aug. 12
Downpour Festival - Great Falls, MT - Aug. 14
Rock the River West - Calgary, AB - Aug. 21
Rock the River West - Edmonton, AB - Aug. 28
Rock the Light Festival - LaCygne, KS - Sept. 3
Lifelight Festival - Worthing, SD - Sept. 5

We are discussing some ways we can make our short time at each festival even more memorable for you - make sure to stay tuned as we figure that out! (On a sidenote: if you have a connection with a private jet and pilot who would consider it an adventure to donate their time and resources for the summer, please email us - we'd love to talk with him/her. I jest... sort of.) Keep your eyes open for some money-saving opportunities in the upcoming weeks as we partner with these festivals.

"TWO AT A TIME: SNEAK PEEKS AND B SIDES"

To help tide you over until the new album comes out, we're excited to release at festivals this summer a 2-disc project called "Two At A Time: Sneak Peeks and B Sides". This is an album of - you guessed it! - sneak peeks of the new album as well as some never-before released songs (if you were a participant in one of our past listening parties you may recognize some of these tunes). This will only be available online and at our merch table, so make sure you come by to pick it up and say hi!

HARK THE HERONS RELEASES THEIR DEBUT ALBUM

If you haven't heard yet, Glenn has been working on a side project with Kalyn, an old family friend. The result is "Under Skies", a vibey folk record that will keep you hooked from start to finish. Click here to download the album from iTunes - or just visit www.harktheherons.com to see what's new.

New Music, Tulsa, Jeff City and KC!

2010-02-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

Not sure if something has changed but lately our shows seem to be a lot more packed! This past weekend we played in Tulsa, OK, Jefferson City, MO and Kansas City, MO. Every show was full! And in Kansas City we had a full house 10-15 minutes before showtime which meant they had to turn people away!! Full houses sure make for a fun show for us. So thanks to all who worked so hard at putting the shows together and thanks to everyone who showed up! Especially you crazies who drove 5 hours to get there! (Tom & Dianna!) We saw many familiar faces and met lots of new friends. Definitely one of the perks of the job!

We were also fed like kings. The bus was overflowing with sweets and treats. Pastries, cinnamon rolls, brownies, cookies, candies, chocolates and more! We had to wade through it all to get to our bunks. Candies were probably spouting out the exhaust as we drove down the interstate. At least I was able to bring some home to my wonderful wife since we missed Valentines together.

Next week we'll be hitting the studio to record a couple of new songs. We'll be working with producer Mark Heimermann again which is great! He produced songs on our last two albums and seems to produce the ones that make it to radio so hopefully that can happen again. These will be part of a new project we're working on releasing by the summer.

Just a reminder, if you haven't joined our Facebook Fan Page to do so. The bulk of our updates are happening there and we do stop by to check it out too. So it's a great place to leave comments.

Until next time . . .

Glenn

Cruise/Marc Update

2010-02-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

For those of you who may have missed our Twitter updates after the cruise, we want to assure you that Marc did make it back into the U.S. quite easily. More easily than he should have I'm sure but when you pray for something for so long I guess that's what happens.

Marc approached the customs agent and started to dig his passport out of his bag. While he was doing this she asked if he was carrying any fruit or vegetables into the U.S. He said no then without seeing any ID or asking any more questions she dismissed him. He was through quicker than any of us!

He did eventually receive his paperwork yesterday. So if we want to leave the country again anytime soon we'll now be OK.

So thanks again for your prayers. Things worked out great and Jason was quite happy we didn't have to put on the Jason Germain show although I'm sure he would have done great!

Here's a pic of our group. We were happy to have our friends Algernon and Teryn join us. It sure made for lot of laughs!! You may notice Jeremy's wife Erin is missing. We really missed having her out with us but she was quite busy with their little Liam at home and only a few weeks away from baby number two arriving.

GL

Downhere Newsletter January 29th

2010-01-29T09:14:00.001-08:00

QUICK UPDATE...

Good Friday morning to you! First of all, thank-you so much for your response regarding Marc's situation with his immigration paperwork. Thanks to two email recipients we were able to get help from the offices of Senator Thune (South Dakota) and Senator Shimkus (Illinois). There's good news and there's bad news: the paperwork was approved - that's the good news. The bad news is that it was put in the mail on Wednesday - so it is all in the hands of the US Postal Service now. We will know whether the Lord intends for Marc to join us if the paperwork arrives by noon on Saturday - if we miss that window chances are slim to none that we'll be able to get the necessary documentation to him while he's on the ship.

So that's the situation. Please continue praying - we're supposed to get hit with a snowstorm here in the south today and tomorrow - so pray that the USPS lives up to its "Rain or shine, the mail must go through!" reputation. We will give you an update tomorrow...

Thank-you SO much!

Jeremy, Marc, Jason, and Glenn

Downhere Newsletter January 26th

2010-01-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We need your help. This Sunday we will be flying down to Florida to get be a part of the 2010 KLOVE Music Cruise. Marc, one of our lead vocalists, is currently in the middle of applying for his Permanent Resident status (i.e. Green Card) and his travel papers from the government are 10 days overdue. This documentation will allow him to get back into the US when the ship arrives back in Florida - without these papers it is quite possible that the Immigration folks will not let him enter. We are obviously not willing to take this chance - so unless the proper documentation does not arrive by the time we leave Sunday morning Marc will not be joining us on the cruise.

How can you help? In one of two ways:

1. PRAY - "Nothing is impossible with God." We believe that and are asking you to pray that with us.

2. GO THROUGH YOUR ROLODEX - If you or someone you know has a connection with someone in the political world who could help expedite this process we would greatly appreciate your help. Please contact Jeremy at theband@downhere.com and he will coordinate with them.

We would obviously love to have Marc join us - only one other time in our 10-year career have we had to perform without Marc or Jason, and we would like to keep it that way. The K-LOVE folks have already expressed there understanding of the situation and for that we are grateful - however, we would understandably like to be able to give them and their listeners our best as a thank-you for their support over the years.

Thanks again for your support - we appreciate you joining with us in this!

Sincerely,

Jeremy, Marc, Jason, and Glenn

WELCOME TO 2010

2010-01-11T05:59:00.000-08:00

This November we quietly celebrated 10 years together as a band. It's really hard to believe - 10 years is a long time! We consider it a real gift to have been able to serve you and many others in the capacity of "traveling minstrel", sharing our lives and music with you along the way. Chances are you have been on this journey with us for many of those years already - we are so thankful for you and for your continued prayers and support. This upcoming year is shaping up to be a busy year once again - as our families grow and we struggle to find a healthy balance between time on the road and time at home, your thoughts and prayers are welcomed now more than ever.
And now, enough of the sentimentality... let's move on to what's coming up!

BETHLEHEM SKYLINE TOUR A SUCCESS

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we want to say thanks to all who joined us as we enjoyed 15 Christmas celebrations in 18 days on the Bethlehem Skyline Tour with our good friends Jason Gray and Lanae' Hale. The shows were very well attended and we had a blast playing some new songs off of our new Christmas album "How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas". We didn't count on the number of Christmas goodies that we received - needless to say by the time we finished the tour there were a few pounds gained across the board I'm sure... If you weren't able to catch a show in person I hope you were able to see the webcast version - it was probably our best webcast to date, thanks in large part to the media team at Fox River Christian Church in Waukesha, WI.

NEW BUS IS A REALITY!

Thanks to the incredible response to our "New Wheels" Campaign (and to the faithful prayers of our wives over many many years!) we have been able to buy our first bus! We will NOT be painting DOWNHERE on the side of it, so you'll just have to keep your eyes open for a bus that looks like this rolling through your town. We are so excited and are in the midst of planning a bus warming party. Thanks to all who contributed - we were overwhelmed and humbled by the many, many gifts that came in.

SPRING TOUR WITH AARON SHUST AND LAURA STORY

We are excited about parterning with our friend Aaron Shust on tour this spring. We will also be joined by special guest Laura Story. Look for March/April dates to be announced in the next month or so. If you are interested at all in bringing the tour to your area, click here to send an email to our booking agency.

CANADIAN TOUR WITH MICHAEL W. SMITH

We reallly didn't expect to get up to Canada again so quickly after our tour with Building429 this summer, but we're thrilled to announce that we'll be joining Michael W. Smith for 10 shows in Canada April 29th through May 12th. Here are the cities we are scheduled to hit - you'll have to stay tuned for more details as this is all we have:

Toronto
Ottawa
Winnipeg
Saskatoon
Red Deer
Kelowna
Vancouver
Victoria

Thanks again for being such a wonderful partner with us. We are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for all of us in 2010, and trust that our paths will cross this year.

To God be the glory, forever and ever, amen.

Downhere Chord Charts

2009-11-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T07:09:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-09-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

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:

USED TOUR BUS - our first choice, but also the most expensive. For the amount of shows we play a year, this would make sense.
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.
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

2009-08-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

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

Donate to the Downhere Foundation

2009-06-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

We have had a rather trying couple of weeks as far as the van is concerned. Only by the grace of God did we make it to every show, but it has been rather expensive as we've had to pay for multiple repairs, truck rentals, etc.

Many of our fans and friends have been asking how they could contribute financially to help offset those expenses. For starters, let us say thank-you. I firmly believe that we have the most generous and gracious supporters in the industry. Time and time again we have been blessed unexpectedly, whether in the form of goodies at a show or financial gifts. We have recently set up the Downhere Foundation which will allow us to accept your gifts and give you tax deductible receipts in return. If you would like to contribute to the Foundation please click on the button below. This will take you to a secure page where you can give whatever you would like.

Thank-you in advance. We are so thankful for you and are humbled that you would want to help us out financially as well. We look forward to seeing you on the road!

Done!

2009-05-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Good news! The Christmas record has been completed after much hard work in plenty of time for its release in September. We're calling it "How Many Kings". We'll likely add ":a Christmas album", or something like that to the title to better describe the record's contents. Marketing. It's important. So I have to say that the record sounds like Downhere, and it sounds like Christmas... kind of a Christmassy, Downherey type deal - with a couple of stylistic surprises. There are epic moments, quiet moments, lighter moments - everything to suit the many moods of the Christmas season. Usually, after we finish a record, I'll send it to my family and some close friends. But this time it's different. If some other artist said me "hey I just finished my Christmas record, wanna hear it?" I think I'd be inclined to respond "hey, um, I'm really happy for you, but let me enjoy the summer and fall first... but I CAN'T wait to hear it!" But truthfully... I can wait. And so must you, my friends, and even my family.

-Marc

Studio Time

2009-02-27T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well we've officially started recording for our Christmas album and I've gotta say I'm pumped. I always thought this would be a fun thing to do so I'm excited that we are finally here. We've spent the last couple of days finishing writing the originals we wanted to record as well as finalizing the song list for the album. I think we're going to have a really fun record and can't wait to hear it when it's done.

Today we worked on We Wish You A Merry Christmas. We had a lot of fun with it. The idea behind it was us showing up at your door with a bunch of random percussion instruments and "caroling" the song. By random I mean that I played Jason's Juno Award as a percussion instrument today. It's even got the dents to prove it! Below are some clips I just put up on YouTube from today. Enjoy!

GL

Christmas Recording

We Wish You A Mery Christmas

What's In Store For 2009?

2009-01-16T07:38:00.000-08:00

A belated Happy New Year to you! The beginning of the year for me is always an exciting time. I like to wonder about what may happen before the Big Apple drops again next year. I started 2008 by running a half marathon and full marathon in the same weekend at Disney World. My wife and I bought our first house, I ran another marathon, our newest addition Bramwell was brought into our lives, Downhere released another album and had its highest charting song ever. Jeremy and Erin welcomed their first child Liam into their lives. Then we ended the year with the Bethlehem Skyline tour which was so much fun. SO much can happen over 365 days.

We don't know what 2009 will give us but here are some things we are looking forward to. Potentially recording and releasing a Downhere Christmas album, (not for sure but we are working towards it). Playing in Northern Ireland and Norway this year is always something to look forward to. We'll be releasing Hope Is Rising and My Last Amen to Christian radio so here's hoping for another top 5! Then as 2009 closes we'll be hitting the studio for our next album! Time flies.

We hope your year is looking to be an exciting one and that we'll be able to see you somewhere along our journeys.

Glenn

A New Addition and the Bethlehem Skyline Tour

2008-12-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

For those of you who follow our blog we should fill you in on what's been going on in the last week. We started the Bethlehem Skyline Christmas tour 4 days ago with fellow Centricity artists Jason Gray, Jamie Jamgochian, Daniel Kirkley and Lanae Hale. It's been real great travelling together and working together with so many talented people not to mention that we're all good friends too! I really hope you'll have a chance to see this tour, if not, hopefully we can make happen again next year.

When this tour started our very own Jeremy Thiessen was road managing for all of us but just before we played our first show he got a call that his wife's water broke and she was going into labor. So Jeremy played most of the show then hopped in a car and drove back to Tennessee from St. Louis. He made it back in time and now they have a beautiful baby boy named Liam Jeremiah Thiessen. He must have been anxious to meet his parents since he arrived 22 days early!!

Thankfully we have on the road with us doing our lights an excellent drummer named Tim Twinem. Tim has stepped up and learned the songs very quickly so that the tour could continue and people could still hear these songs as we all want them to. Thanks Tim!!

So tonight we are near San Antonio and you can see the rest of the schedule on our web site at downhere.com. Hope to see you soon!

Glenn

Best of 2008

2008-11-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

Check this out! We made the Christianity Today Best Albums of 2008 list! Number 4 even. To see who else made the list and read the full article click here.

#4
Ending Is Beginning
Downhere
Centricity Music

This one's no surprise since Downhere has made our best-of list with every album they've released—and for good reason, as more and more fans have come to discover on their own. What's truly impressive, though, is how consistently strong Downhere has remained, continually improving with every release. The interplay between lead vocalists Marc Martel and Jason Germain is still an appealing draw, and the band as a whole gets better and better with age and experience, mixing in beautiful ballads with anthemic rockers. But what truly sets Downhere apart from other pop-inclined bands is their songwriting, and it's not just their ability to craft a tuneful melody either. Most artists are either subtle or clichéd when it comes to expressing their faith, but this band gets it just right by openly sharing God's Word with original lyrics that stimulate the mind as well as the heart. Ending Is Beginning offers fresh perspectives on rebirth through grace and the hope of life after death—old ideas expressed in new ways. Christian music needs more of what Downhere has to offer, maintaining a balance between artistry and ministry. We hope they'll continue to lead the way for years to come.
Click here for the original review.

On the Road Again!

2008-10-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

Today we're back on the road for a solid amount of time - 10 days, to be exact. We've had the last couple of weeks off (basically) which have been fantastic. My wife and I were able to get the nursery painted for our upcoming kid (Baby Rockstar is due Dec. 26th), we attended a couple of baby showers, we watched some football, and we were even able to have some people over for dinner! I know the other guys enjoyed their time off too - getting some regular exercise, finishing up projects around the house, reconnecting with friends, pursuing hobbies, etc.

And now that all comes to a screeching halt. For the month of November and the first two weeks of December we will be BUSY. First November: we'll be wrapping up the second half of the Ending is Beginning Tour with The Michael Gungor Band. We've got shows scheduled in OK, MO, TX, GA, PA, VA, and TN. Then we get almost a week off to recover (i.e. eat lots of pumpkin pie and turkey!) before we start the Bethlehem Skyline Tour with shows in OK, TX, AL, PA, MI, and WI. Lord willing (and please feel free to pray for this with me!) my son will wait until his daddy gets home off the road before bursting on the scene.

So it's going to be a full next couple of months - but good at the same time. Make sure you're signed up for our email newsletter via www.downhere.com - there will be more information and updates coming via the newsletter early next week.

Blessings to you all - thanks for being such faithful supporters! We look forward to seeing you on the road as always...

Jeremy

"Here I Am" in the Top 5

2008-10-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here's our big news of the week: "Here I Am", our current radio single, broke into the Top 5 at Christian AC Radio this week! You can check out the chart here. To read a post about the song and listen to it, go here. If you get a chance, call your local radio station and thank them for playing our song!

A Couple of Days Off...

2008-10-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

"Day off"? What is that? That's something my wife and I are wrestling with. This week we have a few days off, but Tuesday we played in the rain out at Debate 08 in Nashville - so much for a day off (it might have been easier to swallow if it wasn't raining so hard out that hardly anyone was there... but no one could have expected that). I'm looking forward to just hanging out at home today (after running a few errands this morning) taking care of my sick, pregnant wife. We hit the road again to Arkansas on Saturday for a show before having nearly two weeks off - that's going to be glorious! We may disappear off the radar for some of that time... and if we do, just be praying for lots of rest. Thanks!

Jeremy

Manufacturing Issue Delays Delivery of Pre-Ordered CDs

2008-10-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hey all! We've received a few emails in the last week about this and so I wanted to make sure everyone knew what the situation was. Much to our chagrin, it appears that a number of you have STILL not received your pre-ordered CDs. Unfortunately, we have absolutely no control over this - all of this stuff is handled by a third-party company. We double-checked to make sure these albums would either arrive early or on time (we had some problems with this on the last album) and were assured they would.

However, before I completely throw our distributors under the bus, the real culprit THIS time around was the actual CD manufacturer. They went bankrupt and closed their doors without telling anyone. Our label didn't find out until they went to pick up the product days before it was to be shipped out to all the retail outlets (including the online distributors). Needless to say, they missed the deadline for shipping which has resulted in some pretty major consequences: some of your CD orders have been delayed, and our CD will not be available in mainstream outlets (i.e. Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Circuit City, etc.) until January.

So... I say all that to hopefully help some of you understand why your album has not arrived yet. For others of you you'll have to work a little harder to find the album (it should still be available in all Christian bookstores). Thank-you for your patience and understanding - we wish it was a different story, but the Lord knows exactly what He's doing... we've just got to hold on for the ride.

Thanks so much - looking forward to seeing you on the road this fall!

Jeremy
Check out my blog!

First "Ending is Beginning" Tour show a success!

2008-09-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful day here in Virginia... and I'm exhausted. Last night we played in Uniontown, PA for the first show on the "Ending is Beginning" tour. It ended up being a great night, but as all first days of tours go, it was a LONG and tiresome day. Our hosts were great - we played in a really cool old theater and Len the theater "dude" was a great help (sometimes with venues like this the "dude" is extremely unhelpful). With this being our first time setting up the lights, meeting and working with Michael Gungor and his band, and just getting everything ready to roll, we literally started loading in at 9:20am and didn't stop for a break until 11pm when we arrived at the hotel at the end of the night.

Then this morning we hit the road at 6am so that we could drive to Williamsburg, VA for an outdoor show tonight. I'm excited about tonight - we're going to see some great friends and it sounds like they've done a superb job promoting this show. It's being billed as a "release party" for our new album and they're expecting around 1500 people - I hope we've got enough CDs for everyone! Regardless, it's going to be a fun night - I just wish I wasn't so tired! Oh yeah - and Michael Gungor had to leave his driver at a hospital in Uniontown this morning as he went in for an appendectomy. I'm thankful I'm not him today!

So with setting up the lights and sound for a second day, a messageboard chat this afternoon, and another early morning tomorrow (we leave for the airport at 5:15am to fly to TX where we'll be launching our record on-air at K-LOVE with Jon and Sherry Rivers) we've got a lot to think about today. Your prayers for health and strength would definitely be appreciated. Take care, and I hope we'll see you on the road!

Jeremy

Highlight Video

2008-09-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

We recently played in Grand Rapids Michigan for the folks at WCSG and they posted a highlight video from our time there. Here's a link to their site to check it out! Enjoy

http://wcsg.org/

Glenn

A quick update

2008-08-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Glenn here. I'm writing from the 5/3 ballpark in Grand Rapids Michigan. I drove here today with my sister Krista since it wasn't all that far from home. The other guys are flying in from Nashville. So that means a flight to Detroit then a connection to Grand Rapids. They got to Detroit fine but when they left on the flight for Grand Rapids it sounds like one of the planes engines blew shortly after take off. I'm not sure what that means but they had to do an emergency landing in Detroit. Everyone is fine we're just wondering when everyone will arrive for the gig now!

I'll update you later. Keep up with our Twitter status as that's a little easier to update quickly.

Glenn

Sneak Preview

2008-08-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

For those of you itching to know more about the new album "Ending is Beginning" here's a great site for you to check out.

http://mylastamen.wordpress.com/

It's a song by song explanation/devotional for each of the songs on the new album. Jason and Marc took lots of time working on these and we think it'll give you some insight into each of these new songs. Enjoy!

Glenn

downhere message board

2008-08-06T07:04:00.001-07:00

For those of you who spent any time on our previous message board I figure you need an update. We hoped to have the new board up and running by now. When we made the switch to the new site a bunch of things needed to happen in cyberspace so that it would all work just right. Well, after time there were things that we just didn't realize needed to be switched so now there are essentially some broken links that we are trying to get fixed. Once we get there we'll have it up. I'll post here when it's all ready to go.

With some help from Oldiesmann I think we've managed to keep a great deal of what was on the last board and we'll have a much improved board. Stick around and we'll keep you updated!

Glenn

More Glitches

2008-08-02T19:14:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed our pic from this page is missing. I guess it's that glitchy time of year for downhere web material. We're doing what we can to get it fixed up. Thanks for your patience!!

Glenn

Updated!!

2008-07-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

I took a bit of time today to get this page back up to date and I think it's looking pretty good. Thanks to Marc for the image above. It makes me laugh but suits the picture well. I added our "Tweets" over on the sidebar too so if you want to subscribe to those there's a spot for it!!

Please add us to your blog roll if you are a blogger and tell your friends about us here. This is where we will be posting news/blogs/updates. This should be your source for the latest Downhere info!!

Glenn

New Myspace Home

2008-07-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

www.myspace.com/thebanddownhere is now the new official home of downhere on myspace. We have been having problems with our old address and now (as you may have noticed) we don't even have it anymore. So until we can get that sorted out, if we can get that sorted out this is where we'll be. You can hear our music here including some of the new tracks from Ending Is Beginning. You can follow our blog here and leave us comments! This is where we will look!

And how about the new design? I think it looks pretty snazzy. I think snazzy is a word one of my old grade school teachers used to use. I like it though, kinda sounds like jazzy with a little sna to it! We'll keep this new site updated with the latest info on our upcoming release "Ending Is Beginning" and you can pre order it here too! I'm telling you, this is a pretty cool place to be! thebanddownhere on myspace is it!

Tell your friends, send bulletins, post blogs! We're only allowed to send out up to 400 friend requests a day so it's going to take your help to spread the word! We love you all! Thanks!

Glenn

New Video Posted

2007-10-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to let you all know that we've posted a new video from on the road in Mount Rushmore.

Click here to watch from our website. (Highest quality)

Click here to watch or subscribe on YouTube. (YouTube quality)

Click here to subscribe to all our videos on iTunes. (Best quality and you can watch them over and over again and share them with everyone you love!)

New Video Series On The Way

2007-09-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well I've been working on a video for quite some time from a trip we did back in February and March. It was a long trip with a lot of footage. The resulting rough cut video was over an hour!! So I just get to it now and then in little pieces.

As I was working on it recently I decided I needed to figure out how far we traveled during that trip. Take a look at this map to see the results. You'll need to click on it to see a bigger version. Crazy!!

So the video will be released in parts hopefully within a couple of weeks. Each segment will last under 10 minutes. Look for it to show up on our web site, our new YouTube page, YouTube.com/TheBandDownhere and in our podcast on iTunes.

Glenn

Time to move!

2006-08-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

We have started blogging over at myspace now too and soon when you click on the link from our web site you will be directed there. So it looks like our days on blogger will be coming to a close. It may not be as pretty to look at but many more people will read it which is great. So come visit us on myspace and check out our blog there.

If you happen to be one of the very nice people who links to our blog please change the link to this:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=23104425&MyToken=c031e01f-805d-4c4f-b5b6-908f05108554ML

Thanks!!!!!

Glenn

Weekend Of Travel

2006-08-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Hope you're doing well... I just wanted to drop you a quick line and let you know what's going on with us. We're currently in Concord, NH where we are playing at the Inside Out Soul Festival - it's a great festival (one of our favorite) and we had a great time yesterday playing twice - once at the top of a ski hill (we actually had to take the guitars up on a ski lift!) and once on a late-night stage. Today we play on the mainstage early afternoon (although it's looking pretty wet right outside right now - I feel bad for those sleeping in tents!) before racing off to the airport to fly out to San Jose, CA to play at Spirit West Coast Monterey tomorrow.

Speaking of airports... we had a rough start to our crazy-travel weekend when we were delayed for 4 hours in Chicago (we sat on the tarmac in the plane for 3 of those hours) for lightening storms. We were supposed to arrive at our hotel at midnight - instead, we pulled up around 5:30am... it definitely made for a rough start.

So that's us, and that's what's going on - we'll get caught up with you more next week AFTER we get home on Sunday. Later - thanks for checking in!

Jeremy

A Blog From Jessica

2006-07-21T05:39:00.000-07:00

This is my first chance to blog for downhere! Oh the stories I could tell... I could be here all day. So let me just keep it to the past few weeks! Since the videoshoot, we've had some time off the road to do --- off the road stuff. (You know, the usual stuff you do when you have time off.) Our first show after a week and a half off was July 14th at the Nashville Sounds baseball game. We played for about 45 minutes before the game and had a pretty good crowd, despite the HOT and HUMID Tennessee weather. With the heat index of at least 105, we were all soaked in sweat about 10 minutes after we began setting up for the show. After the show, we were treated to skybox seating (with air conditioning!) and baseball food: hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. Apparently "Sara Lee" was a sponsor for the game, and as people were leaving, volunteers passed out hundreds of loaves of whole wheat bread. We all cashed in on the goodness; we could take as many loaves as we wanted. Some people were taking whole pallets. Jason kept handing Heather more and more packages of bread... I think they'll have enough bread for sandwiches and toast for the next few months. On a side note: as I'm writing this, my husband Dave just walked in the room eating 2 plain pieces of Sara Lee bread... weird.

The next day (after the Sounds game) we left for Dayton, Ohio. We loaded in and sound checked on Saturday night - and lead worship for two Sunday morning services at Far Hills Church. This was especially exciting for me, as I was in familiar territory; I used to go to college around there - and my brother and sister-in-law live in the area. It's always fun to see family when we're on the road. The people at Far Hills were so great to work with; we had such a great time worshiping with their church. They responded well to "A Better Way" "Little is Much" and "Surrender."

After church, our friends from Far Hills took us to PF Changs for lunch. It ended up being an afternoon event rather than just lunch (meaning it took all afternoon to get our food!). But we enjoyed the conversation and time spent with our new friends. As we finished our meal, one of the waitresses informed us that someone had ordered and paid for dessert for all of us! A note accompanied the kind gesture; it was a "thank you" from an anonymous family who attends Far Hills church and enjoyed the music from downhere that morning.

Sunday evening we drove to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. On Monday morning, we visited Star 88.3 WLAB where we did a little mini concert for their staff. We then drove back to Ohio for another radio interview in Mansfield at WVMC where the guys did an on-air interview and played some new music. We then drove to Mt. Vernon to interview at WNZR, where Josh Peterson, our record label marketing guy attended college. Josh then took us out to eat at one of the best pizza places in Ohio - Elm's Pizza (owned & operated by his family... and seriously, the best pizza....)

Dave just came back eating another piece of bread...

For Tuesday, we had more radio stations to visit. WAKW in Cincinnati had us for the morning show... We did another quick interview in Hamilton at WZFR, then grabbed lunch at Red Lobster with Tony Smith, a Berean music buyer, and ended the day at WJIE in Louisville, KY.

Next week we will be in West Palm Beach, Florida - leading evening worship for a week long camp. It's then on to Soul Fest in New Hampshire and Spirit West Coast in Monterey, CA! There are lots of things coming up - so keep checking back for more stories of what happens next!

It's been a pleasure informing you.

jessica (road manager)

Video Shoot

2006-06-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

I'm typing this at 1:47pm CST after waking up about 30 minutes ago. And I'm still feeling pretty tired.

Yesterday's music video shoot turned into an all-night affair. Our producer/director Andy flew in from NYC yesterday morning and started shooting around noon. We finished sometime around 5:30AM I think!!

If you are out of the loop about this first go to www.downhere.com. Then go back there once a day so it never happens again. So, we just filmed a video for our song "The More" which is the first track on our new album "Wide-Eyed and Mystified". It's the first music video we've ever done so we are really excited to see the end result.

I'm not sure how long it will be till it's completed now but we will let you know as soon as we do!

My highlights from the video: since you have to exaggereate everything on film, everyone was pretty entertaining to watch. Jer was flailing quite a bit and Marc was . . . well, himself. He's a natural. That guy was born for this. Andy got some really great shots of Marc's performances. A shot of Jay singing in the bridge looked really cool, hope it gets used. And though I never got to see my own footage I look forward to seeing that. I kind of felt like a monkey in a cage doing tricks for everyone. It's actually a little scary. But, once I decided not to care it was not big deal.

So there you go, some thoughts on the music video. Here's a couple of pics too. There are more pics at our website too.

Our road manager and make-up artist for the shoot, Jessica, also posted about the shoot on her blog. So check that out too!!

Glenn

Long Overdue Update

2006-06-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well we are back from . . . . . . . . it seems like everywhere, but most recently Denmark. The last couple of weeks went great. To those of you who purchased our CD the week it came out, thank you!! That first week is so important to a band. And for those of you who still don't have it . . . what are you waiting for???

We had a lot of fun on the west coast during release week. We rented an RV for a bunch of it and got to travel along the coastal highway between San Luis Obispo and Santa Clarita twice, which was beautiful. If you ever get the chance to drive out there do it. I can't wait to bring my family some day.

We have really been enjoying playing the new songs. It's great to add some freshness to our set. While on the west coast we visited and played at a bunch of different radio stations and stores ending up at Spirit West Coast - Del Mar. Del Mar is just outside of San Diego. So while we were there Marc, Dave and I got the opportunity to do some surfing. That was my second time and man is it fun . . . and tiring. Especially when the undertow is so strong.

Actually the day we surfed was the same day we played at a church in Carlsbad. The interesting thing about this church is that the father of two Switchfoot members pastors it. So while we were there they were of course advertising a Switchfoot show coming up. It would be pretty cool to be in the youth group at that church I bet! We had a great time there. We played the Saturday night service and two services on Sunday morning. Our host families were wonderful!!

Man, there's a lot to catch up on. Sorry we've been so long in posting here.

After that we took off to Alabama for a Student Life camp. This isn't the kind of 'camp' that you would normally think of. This one had over 1000 people there and the living conditions are pretty good for the week. We led worship all week, once in a while interjecting some of our songs. We love playing these camps and had fun getting to know the students while we were there.

From Alabama we drove to Atlanta then flew to Denmark. Those European crowds sure know how to rock. We need them to come here to give us some lessons. We played a two-hour show for between 2000 and 3000 people and had so much fun. The sun only goes down for a few hours at night this time of year there so the whole experience of being messed up for sleep, not knowing the language, and night never really coming really made it all feel pretty surreal.

So now we are home. A short break before a few more shows. We will soon be recording a music video for "The More". So we will try to keep you in the loop with that too.

Until next time . . .

Glenn

Post-Morocco Update

2006-05-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well, when they say "Don't drink the water," I guess they REALLY mean it. Aside from memories of it's beautiful scenery and unmeasured hospitality, Morocco left us another memorable parting gift. E. coli. Yep, the whipping child of gastro-intestinal illnesses. I contracted it, and so did Glenn and Dave, our prodution manager. Jason was very ill for 2 days after we got back, but we're pretty sure it was something different than what the rest of us got. But now at least I can say that I survived E. coli. I'm putting up a picture of me drinking the water that I believe gave me the bacteria. It was a tap-water refill, and I shouldn't have drank it. Someone handed it to me as I stepped off stage after our Sunday night performance. I'm almost all better now after an entire week of eating bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast -- so are Glenn and Dave. It's a boring diet, but it works. Once I've completely recovered from this I'm sure I'll look very fondly on my first time in Africa once again. I took about 800 pictures, so the trip is very well documented.

On a higher note, our second and final performance at the Friendship Festival was a blast. I admit, I was a little intimidated by the idea of communicating to the crowd in French (since I've never done that before), before our Friday night performance. But by the second one, I was pretty confident, and we all felt like the second concert went even better than the first one. We were the only straight-up rock band of the entire festival, so that definitely worked to our advantage. And the French-speaking really endeared us to the crowd, I think, so that was fun. And we've never played for a crowd of 60,000 before -- that was fun too. We made some new friends overseas, and hope to see them all again, maybe next year.

Now on to the next thing... the album release tour on the West Coast! I can't tell you how stoked were are about the new songs. Plus, we miss California... it's been too long. Later!

Marc

A quick update from Morocco

2006-05-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

Well this is our third full day in Morocco. Already we have gone for a carriage ride through the Medina (downtown, kind of), rode camels, made a trecherous trip to visit a Berber village and had supper with the regional president. Here are a few pictures to help tell the story. Today the festival starts. We play tonight and on Sunday.

GL

Invisible Children

2006-04-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, I actually took time out of my day to sit down and watch the Oprah Winfrey show. I never watch Oprah, but I had to yesterday because of the guests she had on. No it wasn’t Tom and Katie. She was focusing her entire live show on the unbelievable events that are happening in Africa right now. In particular she helped shine a spotlight on a group of 3 guys from Southern California who are really making an impact in Uganda.

About 2 months ago we were at a youth conference and I was able for the first time to see an independent documentary short film called Invisible Children. The film was created by 3 college students who had no real plan other than to go to Africa and try to see what they could see. When they finally made it to northern Uganda they found their story. They found thousands of children who were forced to walk up to 10 miles every night into town to find a safe place to sleep. If they stayed at home in the country they would be abducted by a radical militant group and be forced to kill their own neighbors and sometimes their own family. If they resisted at all they would be killed or brutally maimed. The little girls have also been used as sex slaves. Over 20,000 children have been abducted so far. This film is incredibly powerful and very well done. It tells a story that must be told. These 3 guys upon returning home decided that they needed to get the word out and take action. They quickly created an incredible campaign and loaded up 7 rv’s with their friends to go spread the word across North America. They have been stopping at hundreds of locations and showing the film then asking people to act in whichever way they can. We actually just 2 days ago randomly ran in to one of the groups while we were waiting in a parking lot in downtown Atlanta. They were a great group and are really working hard to make a difference over there.

This Saturday in over 130 cities thousands of people will be gathering in their downtown to sleep there just as these children in Uganda do every night. I personally feel and I know the rest of the guys do, that this is a very worthy cause to align ourselves with. If you want to find out more about this group and how to get involved please visit www.invisiblechildren.com This is something that God’s people need to be involved in. We can’t ignore these problems anymore. I hope that the next time I actually sit down to watch Oprah it will be to see how much has changed for the good over there and how much God’s people have been a part of it.

Dave

I Love Nashville!

2006-04-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

Sitting at one of my favorite offices this morning, I was struck by how much I enjoy living in Nashville. The community of artists (see Jason's entry below) is so tight-knit... at least in my small world. As I sat plugging away at various online tasks, who should walk in but the members of the band Starfield, fellow Canadian rockers who are preparing to release a new record on May 16th (the current single "My Generation" is a killer tune - make sure you check it out!).
As they were headed out, the boys from The Swift walked in for lunch and a band meeting of their own (we did some dates with The Swift in the fall and had a blast together). Two great bands - two great groups of guys - one great morning at the office. I love this city!

Jeremy

I like GMA week (finally)

2006-04-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

The sweetest part of GMA week is the community of artists, support staff, radio, magazine, promoters, managers who sincerely cheer on each others efforts to reach the world. I was struck with just how much, at least from my vantage point, that this was true. Maybe it was because I was feeling supportive and like a cheerleader myself. So many amazing things happening in our extended community of artists and music ministry initiatives.

It was fun as well to share some fresh songs, and vision with everyone as well....as it has been a long time coming. Jeremy was having so much fun connecting with people he actually got a blister on his hand from shaking hands.

There where so many amazing bands this year! It was encouraging that the bands I enjoyed the most, where also fans of us. It's hard to pull out the highlights from this past week, other than the encouraging words so many people had for us. We now have a little bit of time off, which I'm going to help my wife plant our container garden, do some chores around the house, and write some music.

Jason

Stories from St. John, NB

2006-03-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

We played in Saint John, New Brunswick last night and had a great time with the folks there. I'm the "trailer guy", which means I'm in the trailer coordinating the unloading when we arrive and the loading when we tear down... and we had a stellar load-out crew last night! Many thanks to you guys for all your help.

Here's my fun story from Friday night: we're traveling with a band called "The Silent" - they're from eastern Canada so we're in their "home and native land". Well, because we drove through the night after our Montreal show, we headed straight to the hotel for a quick shower before going to the venue to start loading in. One of the Silent guys (who will remain nameless) told us that the church was really close to the hotel - "just around the corner". So I thought, cool - I'll leave my suitcase here and come back to get changed into my "rockstar clothes" (i.e. put on a clean t-shirt and clean pants).

Well, as Murphy would have it, the "local" boy was loco - the church was a good 15 minutes away from the hotel, and most definitely NOT a straight shot (I believe St. John may be the most confusing city I've ever been in as far as getting from Point A to Point B!). So I had to find a ride back to the hotel after dinner to grab some clothes before the show started... and the only ride available was on the back of a BMW motorbike. Now remember, we're in Canada in March - there's still piles of snow where parking lots were cleared - most of it is gone from the roads and ground, but it is still quite chilly - especially to be riding around on a motorbike! But we did it - Chris and I - and had a great time too (although the helmet he had for me was quite tight - it squeezed my ears so tightly I had a hard time having a conversation with him!). I was definitely the envy of the crew when I got back. It got me thinking about buying a motorbike again - what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon (after a nap, of course!) than driving on back country roads with the love of your life squeezing you from behind enjoying the scenery and the company? And they're GREAT on gas... Hmm - maybe we'll try the moped first and see how things go...

Jeremy

from the road in Quebec

2006-03-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

I am typing this blog at a coffee shop in Montreal just down the street from our venue. And nobody around me is speaking english. I love that for some reason. I suppose I may not love it if nobody spoke english anywhere but it's nice to be in foreign environments once in a while. Plus with our trip to Morocco coming up I'm trying to relearn the French that I once learned in school. French is the second language there so at least we have one guy who will be able to communicate with them!

Tonight we are at a club here in Montreal with The Silent (great guys, great band) and Onlyforward. Another great band which is fronted by Marc's brother Dave. It's not the usual church gig which is nice for a change, however, the smokey room is not a nice change. I forgot about that part of the deal. Oh well.

All night drive to New Brunswick tonight. Yippee! I was hoping to recover from a sore throat. Guess that won't be happening.

Anyway, there's a quick update. We will check in with you later!!

Glenn

The Amazing Race

2006-03-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

Today is another beautiful day here in Kansas City. Yesterday was also beautiful and nearly perfect. Then suddenly, without warning myself, my wife and several others were thrown into what I would like to describe as The Amazing Race. No we weren't on the cool T.V. show or anything but our day definitely took a turn for the surreal very quickly. Myself, Jess and Glenn had been having a great day with the morning off to relax and go for a good long run. We didn't have to be at the venue for our show that night until 5pm. It was about 30 minutes away so we had lots of free time which was great. It was also and incredibly beautiful day at about 70 degrees outside. The three of us decided to go down into the city so Glenn could get his computer fixed. we then would have just enough time to come back, pick the rest of the gang up and be on our way. We would get to the venue, load in, have supper and have a couple of hours to hang out with some friends. That was the plan until 3:30 rolled around. On the way into the city the van was making some strange noises but we figured it was nothing serious. We got into the city and walked around and Glenn got his computer taken care of. Everything was great and we were on time to get back to pick everyone up.

We got in the van and started to make our way up the road to leave. We got about a 1/4 mile from where we were and as we were going up the hill our transmission decided to commit suicide, leaving us in a very bad situation, with traffic behind us as we began slipping backwards. We managed with much effort to get the van parked on the side of the road and then the insanity began. We immediately called Jeremy and informed him we would not be picking them up and to get the ball rolling on how to get the van to the shop and our trailer to the show as well as the 7 of us. So after about 45 minutes and many phone calls the tow truck came to pick up the van. Glenn went with the van to the shop leaving me and jess behind to stay with the trailer.

The plan was for a guy named Chad to come pick the trailer up with his truck and tow it with us to the show and the rest of the guys would borrow a car to get there. So, after more than an hour of waiting on the side of the road with our trailer my bladder was in a bad way. After being denied at the only possible bathroom facility close by, I was forced to take drastic measures. I'm not ashamed to admit that for a very brief moment our trailier was transformed into an emergency bathroom or washroom for you canadians. After that emergency was taken care of, our new friend chad arrived with his truck. We got the trailer hooked up quickly and were on our way. At this point we would only be about 30 minutes late so not too bad. We were moving along just fine and enjoying a beautiful sunset until we noticed a huge cloud of white smoke pouring out the back of his new truck. We immediately pulled over on the side of the highway, got out and watched the transmission fluid pour out of his truck. So now our trailer has claimed the lives of 2 transmissions within two hours and we are still 20 minutes from where the show is.

But wait, the grace and providence of God is way bigger than any stupid transmissions. The craziest thing is the spot we broke down at just "happened" to be at the exact exit where his inlaws lived less than a mile from. Chad quickly called his father in law and found out that he had just pulled in the driveway and was free that evening to come help us out. They were there in less than 15 minutes, that's faster than AAA. He had a Chevy Envoy with a tow hitch that would do the trick. So once again we took the trailer off Chad's truck and put it on his father in laws envoy. Now quick visual here, our trailer is massive. It is 14 feet long and about 9 foot tall and it is now hooked to a chevy envoy, which although it is classified as an SUV it's pretty small. I was worried the whole time that our trailer was going to tear off the back bumper of this poor car and claim the life of a 3rd vehicle. Thankfully it held up rather well. At this point we are now about 2 and a half hours behind schedule from what we were planning. While we were changing the trailer on the side of the highway the car with Jeremy, Marc, Jason and Erin caught up with us and would follow us in the rest of the way. Glenn had already been picked up by one of the people who we had stayed with the night before and been brought to the venue. So, we took it nice and slow and limped the trailer on into Lawrence, KS and on to the KU campus where we were to lead worship for some college students. We arrived in one piece minus a van and truck. We frantically unloaded the trailer and got everything set up in record time thanks to some great volunteers.

By the time the show started no one would have known that any of this had even happened. The worship was great and we even had a few world vision kids get sponsored. If all of this craziness to get there was just so those kids would get sponsored, I think we all would say it was well worth it and we would do it again. The thing that was so cool to see was how awesome everyone was who stepped up to help us get there and to get back to KC which was a task as well. It really showed us how God's church really works and how great it is to be a part of it and be blessed by it. We sincerely thank everyone who helped us out then and in the past as well. So today we will finally be on our way back to Nashville, a day late and an expensive new transmission later. We will be enjoying a good weeklong break once we get home and then we hit the road pretty hard so check out the touring section to see if we will be coming near you. Please pray that we make it home ok today and continue to pray for safety on the road. We are very blessed despite these minor setbacks. It could have been a lot worse, we didn't have to cancel any shows and we really haven't been that inconvenienced. We all have positive attitudes still and thank God for what he's doing with this band and what he is about to do. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far. Stay tuned for more adventures from Downhere.

Dave

Getting busy

2006-02-22T07:19:00.000-08:00

With our new album done things are starting to get busy again for downhere. On Monday morning we met with a bio writer who will write a brand new bio for us which we are in desperate need of. Monday afternoon we were at a television studio to record a couple of songs and an interview for a show called '1 cubed'. This show plays in more than 35 countries and is available in many different languages. It sounds like it's a show that is really taking off right now. Then Monday night we stopped in at the national radio show Total Axxess. We had a lot of fun there. We did the world premier of two of our new songs, The More and A Better Way. Thanks to our fans for being all over their message-board!!

At 5AM Tuesday morning we were on the road for a full day of driving. We arrived in Minnesota around 10PM, but we did manage to get one more interview in while we drove. So tonight we play at Crown College in Minnesota then right after the show we drive through the night to Chicago where we'll do another radio stop and a visit with Christianity Today.

Can you tell there's a new album coming? We sure can and we can't wait!

GL

Congrats Greg!!

2006-02-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

I missed it! You'd think a musician would want to watch the Grammys. Oh well. Here's the good news, one of my favorite bands U2 cleaned up. Here's what they won.
*Album of the Year
*Best Rock Album
*Song of the Year for "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
*Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
*Best Rock Song for "City Of Blinding Lights"

The reason I mention all of this is because Greg Collins, who produced six songs for our next album worked with U2 on the album that won them all 5 Grammys. Congratulations Greg!!
Greg is the guy on the far left in the picture.

GL

Answers to questions

2006-01-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

You've got questions, downhere has answers. Well, at least answers to these questions.

"Nice to read a new downhere blog post today. So which songs again were produced by Mark, Greg, and just the band? Decide on that first single yet? So we might be hearing something on the radio next month?

Oh, and how is that website design coming along? Get what your looking for yet?

So many questions!"

So to start, we had six songs produced by Greg Collins who came in to Nashville from LA in December. We have another six songs being produced by Mark Heimermann here in Nashville and we produced four songs on our own here too. As far as titles go I won't go into that because I'm not even sure if I'd have all the final title names correct.

We're not sure what's going to happen for our first radio single. We feel like we have more options than we originally thought which is great. This is a decision that has to go through many people though and we won't be able to begin that until we have all the songs mixed. We're just a couple of weeks away from that. We expect to release our first single sometime in February though.

The progress on our new website has been a little slower than we anticipated but it takes time to get what you want. We expect to have the main page and theme approved within the week. After that the other pages can all be built. We have a good idea of what we want to see so applying the design to the functionality we'd like to see should happen over the next 4 to 6 weeks. I know I know, we hoped to have it ready this month too but we are moving as fast as we can.

I hope that gives you some more information as to where we are at!!

GL

Mixing

2006-01-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy couple of months for us. We've played two shows in last month but we've been in the studio almost every day. For the next week we're bouncing back and forth between two studios every day! We are in singing land right now which means Jason and Marc are keeping extra busy. Bewteen singing and listening to mixes their days have been quite full.

For those of you who don't know much about the recording process let me take a minute to talk about mixing. Mixing is one of the most satisfying parts of recording. Basically you spend a year or more writing songs you want to record, then you decide which ones you actually will record. Then you spend a few weeks recording those songs. While you record, you have an idea of what it is going to sound like but it's sometimes hard to know exactly how everything will fit together, until mixing that is. When you are at the mixing stage that means everything is recorded. It's time to sit back and enjoy the work your mixer will be doing. The simplified explanation of what a mixer does is turn up parts and turn down parts until everything is balanced and mixed well enough to hear everything.

As of this morning we still have 12 mixes to listen to, 6 of which aren't fully recorded yet. 3 of the mixes will be sent to us from L.A. and another 3 we'll listen to here in Franklin, TN this week. Then the last 6 we'll hear in the next two weeks. So we are in the home stretch for sure. We'll try and get a few more pictures up here so you can see what we're up to!

Glenn

Get What You Pray For

2006-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

I'll admit that leading up to this recording time I was getting concerned that we were running out of time to get this new album done. If you're counting, you know that it's been 2 and a half years since the release of "So Much For Substitutes". It feels like we've been writing for this new record for almost 2 years... um, maybe because we really have. So the last thing I wanted was to rush the recording process. I like to take my time in the studio and not have to worry about time constraints. I think I speak not only for the band here, but the entire artist community: there's nothing more inhibiting to creativity than knowing you have to meet a deadline.

Well as God, who supplies for all of our needs, would have it, this experience has felt anything but rushed. So far we've had all the time we've needed to really scope out the songs and make them as great-sounding as we can. I think working with 2 producers instead of one also has a lot to do with that. It almost feels like we're working on 2 records at once! I can honestly say that I'm really looking forward to being done with this album, although working in the studio is one of my favorite things in the world. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but it's often hard work too. The songs are all sounding even better than we'd hoped. But the crazy thing is, when you put all of the days we've spent in the studio so far, it really doesn't add up to that many.

I was sitting next to Mark Heimermann (who is producing 6 of the songs) at Dark Horse Recording earlier this week while Jason was laying down a piano track for a song called "The Real Jesus". I said to Mark in awesome disbelief, "Man, this has been by far the most nonchalant recording process I've ever been a part of. Everything has been going so well." And his response was, I believe, what summarizes this whole experience. He said, "I think that's called 'getting what you prayed for.'" Little did he know that that particular song is one that I've specifically prayed for. I knew right away that he'd completely nailed it on the head.

Sometimes we get what we pray for. God gives good gifts. And it's especially amazing when those gifts are actually the thing that we want. I remember being out walking at night, over a year ago, on more than one occasion, asking God to give us songs. Songs that would speak to the needs of people around us, near and far. Songs that we would be proud to sing every night in front of all of you who come see our concerts. Songs that are unique. Songs that would speak to people in their times of joy, their times of need, and their times of intimacy with God. Songs that would help people speak to God, and hear from Him. As well as the patience to wait for God's timing on all of this. I believe we're getting all of that. And I can't wait for all of you to hear what's coming next from downhere. Thanks for staying with us, although it's been a long time coming for the new songs. We're working hard to make it worth your wait. And most of all, thanks for praying for us.

Here are some pictures from this past week!

Marc

Last day with Greg

2005-12-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hello all! We are a frenzy of final touches finishing up these six songs. Marc's in the vocal booth right now doing some back grounds and touch ups on a song.

I spent the day in the dentist chair getting a root canal. A root canal is not half as bad as having an aching tooth while recording. All is well that ends well.

Today is the last day of this stint here at Platinum Lab with Greg Collins producing. He did a great jarb. He'll take the hard drives back to his home in L.A. and edit all our tracks, then do rough mixes then take it to a mixing room and mix it...then send it our way to listen too.

Ray (our manager) came in and listened to the songs this evening and really enjoyed what he heard. It's ten o'clock and it will be one likely before we are completely finished. We'll make sure we get a group picture before we do. I'm going to go pack up my guitars.

This will probably be the last post until after Christmas, so Merry Christmas to you and yours from the downhere team. Looking forward to seeing you in the new year.

Jason

Some studio pics

2005-12-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Glenn and producer Greg Collins.

Disco Marc.

Jason playing Marc's Epiphone Wildcat.

Jason playing B3.

Jason playing the Wurlitzer.

Studio dog: Tucker

Producer extrodinaire greg Collins.

Engineer extrodinaire Mark Dobson

Many times, one song.

2005-12-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

It's just after 7:30pm as I type this and we have been playing one song since about noon. It's crazy but I'm not sick of it yet. Being in the studio somehow makes it easier to listen to a single song many times over. I'm guessing it's because the song constantly changes and you never really hear the same song twice although it may feel like it. However, when listening to the radio and you hear the same song three times in one day for five days in a row, that starts to drive me nuts!

The song we have been working on is called 1000 miles and I think it may be one of my favorites of all the songs we have recorded. It's a different sounding song for us but still very much Downhere. Jeremy played his lap for this song as well as a small cardboard gift box filled with Montreal Steak Spice. It's pretty crazy what you can get away with when you start tweaking sounds. Put it through this unit then add that effect then reverse it and add some reverb and delay and you get something cool. Or really crappy! This time it turned out really cool. I can't wait to hear the end result of our work whenever we get there.

So anyway, until next time.

GL

Pre-Production

2005-12-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

Pre-Production is what we’ve been doing for the last two days with our new producer Greg Collins. All this basically means is that we have a rented rehearsal space with some time to get the songs we are going to record to a place where we are actually ready to record them. Out of the six songs we are recording with Greg we haven’t really had a chance to play any of them live. In fact, we haven’t really played most of them at all until this past Friday! This is actually a good thing. It keeps the songs really fresh and exciting while we are working on them.

We have Sunday off, then we’re in the studio from Monday until the 22nd of December. It will be a long haul but we have some great songs and I can’t wait for you to hear them!

Oh yeah, we just found out yesterday that our producer Greg Collins has been nominated for two Grammies! Both nominations are in the same category: best album of the year for U2 and Gwen Stefani. Greg is from LA and has had some great experiences and worked with many great artists. We are truly blessed to be able to work with him. Here are a few pics from the last couple of days.

Glenn

From L-R: Producer Greg Collins and from Centricity Records, John Mays.

Our rehearsal space with a blurry Jason standing in the middle.

Glenn having a laugh at something.

From L-R: Glenn and Jeremy, Downhere's extrodinary rhythm section!

2005-11-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

Greetings folks. Well we are in full swing with recording. As I've mentioned before - one of my favorite things to do. So far it's been, by far, the most relaxed and natural-feeling recording experience we've had together. I guess it comes with experience, and also due to the fact that we've been preparing for this for over a year, it seems. Not to mention that the people we're working with are so professional and easy-going. We've had a great time with Mark Heimmerman so far, who is producing 6 of the songs. Over the last two weeks we've recorded the drums, bass guitar, and piano for 8 songs. But don't think that means we're almost done! By the time we're all done in the studio, we'll have recorded about 16 songs. So we'll have lots to choose from as far as which actually make it onto the final CD. Here are a few pics from our 3 days in Tom Laune's studio this week.

The computer monitor we stare at for hours every day.

Jeremy hammering out a new one called "I Miss You Here"

Of course you need a little R&R when you're working hard recording your life's work. Tom's studio has a nifty ping pong table that you can even play against yoursefl on. No joke. Well Glenn and I have to get in there and work out a couple of bass lines. Chatch you all later.

Marc

More Pics

2005-11-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

The Evening of the Day, After Day Two

2005-11-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

Well we set out to record the bass and drums and some piano on four songs and we accomplished it. The two days in the studio were pretty long but we didn’t mind since it has been such a long time since the last recording. Mark and Todd (our producer and engineer) did a great job at getting some incredible sounds from us. I’ve never heard my bass sound so good! Thanks guys! And the songs we recorded sound even better than we imagined so we’re all quite excited about them now. I can’t wait till we can have them on a disc and ready to go for all of you to hear!

So after a photo shoot on Tuesday, pre production on Wednesday, recording on Thursday and Friday, and meeting with our new internet marketing company today we finally have a bit of time to ourselves again this week. I’m back in Canada, Jeremy and his new bride are taking a short holiday, Jason is finishing off moving into his house and Marc . . . well, I’m not really sure what he does. I guess he’ll be writing more hit songs for everyone to enjoy.

We’ll have a few more pics from the studio up here tomorrow. So until then . . .

GL

Day One - 3:30pm

2005-11-17T13:17:00.000-08:00

Here is Jeremy tracking drums for the first song we're doing, "Surrender".

Here is our producer Mark Heimermann (middle) and his trusty engineer Todd Robbins (left) making sure Jeremy's drums are all where they should be.

Here is Glenn laying down the bass licks for "Surrender".

Good times!

Jeremy

Day One in the Studio

2005-11-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day One of the downhere recording process - hard to believe this is album #3 already! We'll be posting updates throughout the next couple of days here while we track drums and some bass guitar as well.
Today we are at a studio called Dark Horse. We recorded a bunch of the last album here and a little of the first one too. It's a beautiful place, cabin like buildings, lots of wood, and very pretty.

Jeremy is in the process of getting drum sounds which often takes a long time. To get an idea of what this looks like start by imagining a drum kit surrounded by microphones. Now picture Jeremy sitting there hitting the high tom for about 10-20 minutes. Then the the middle tom, then the low tom. Then there's the kick drum, snare drum, cymbals, routing off the audio signal through all sorts of processing, cables running everywhere, the rest of the band standing around drinking hot drinks and having a good laugh about whatever story happens to be being told at that particular moment. Then I'm sitting there on a computer writing to you, trying to catch whatever conversation I can.

Once Jer is ready the rest of us will plug in and we'll try to figure out how we'll play these songs since we haven't played most of them live too often. The hope is to get drums for four songs as well as bass and maybe even some piano too. We will keep you updated!!

GL

Dave's First Blog

2005-11-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

Hola blogaroos. This is Dave, I'm the band's sound dude. The guys have asked if I would like to join in on the blogging good times and of course i said sure. My blogging skills are a bit rusty so bear with me. I guess the idea is to give you peeps another perspective on life out here on this crazy road. Lately, as you may know, we've been on tour with the super stinkin cool band called The Swift. The tour has been moving along quite nicely. The Swift guys, along with their lovely wives, have been a joy to work with. Currently we are all involved in a cut throat competition we are calling the biggest loser, inspired by the wildy popular t.v. show. However, myself and brit from the swift are competing in a slightly diferent version, the biggest gainer, for if we lose anymore weight we may cease to exist. I'm happy to announce that the Downhere crew is in a solid first place and plan to take home that blue ribbon. Today is a welcomed day off in which we plan to go to the mall of america which i think is it's own continent. Malls are fun for about 45 minutes until you remember that you can't afford to buy anything there anyways which is really just as well. We've been spending a good deal of time on this trip in the twin cities area of minnesota and have enjoyed it. The weather has been unusually spectacular and the people have been great too. We have 2 more shows left on this tour and then we head home for yet another 14 hour drive in the van. So goes life on the road. We're all really looking forward to going home this time for many reasons. The guys are finally going to be getting into the studio to start the new album. I know you guys have all been waiting along time for a new one and trust me, we have too. The guys probably would never say this but I can, the new album will not disapoint. Get excited, get your friends excited, and get ready, cuz it's gonna be great. Well i think i'm all blogged out now and we are ready to leave for the mall. So for myself and the guys, thanks for staying interested in what we do.

Dave

The Longest Tour Name in Existence!

2005-10-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

We're pretty excited about this upcoming tour that we're leaving on this week - heading up to Minnesota of all places. I know - it's 50 degrees here in Nashville today and I'm excited about going to Minnesota? Go figure... but we're stoked, 'cause we're going to get to hang out with our good friends The Swift on the "There's No Substitute for Today" Tour. For tour information, click here. (I'd send you to our website, but it's currently almost dead, and we're in the process of doing a remodel, so sorry about that!) Make sure you come and say hi - they're great guys, and we're going to have a killer time together... looking forward to seeing you on the road!

Jeremy

P.S. Check out my latest blog on the success of the Nashville Predators... yah hockey!

New Album Process

2005-10-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well last week we met with two producers who may both be working on our next album. This is exciting as we have been waiting for at least a year to get started on recording. We still haven’t recorded a note but I expect we should start next month. The two producers we talked to are Mark Heimmerman and Greg Collins. Mark Heimmerman is best known for his work on the DC Talk albums. Greg Collins has worked with Tracy Bonham, The Eels and mixed three U2 songs off their last album. So we would be totally privileged to work with either one let alone both of them. They have both chosen songs that they would like to work on with us so we’ll try to keep you up to date as the process goes ahead.

We also had a meeting with our new internet marketing company and we have some really cool things coming for our online presence. One thing we are talking about is having some video clips and pictures from the studio so that you can watch the recording process as it happens. So to keep you in the loop we are just in the stages of choosing an art director for our next album so we can get started on our photo shoot and develop the artwork for the new album and redesigned website.

I hope that updates you for now. Until we see you again . . .

GL

Katrina Benefit

2005-09-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

This Thursday September 22nd Downhere will be participating in a live television broadcast to benefit Katrina victims, Gospel Angels: A Concert To Restore Hope. The line up includes Third Day, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Nicole C Mullen and many more. For more info go here.

Retreat

2005-09-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

As I write this, I am flying back from Vancouver with my wife after having had a great time in Winthrop, Washington. Our new record label, Centricity Records, organized a retreat for all of their artists, in a beautiful location in north central Washington State. And it wasn’t just the artists who were invited – they also invited spouses, which made the retreat even better. (However, we did miss Erin, Jeremy’s new bride.)

In preparation for this retreat, we as a band took the time to figure out why we do what we are doing, and how we are going to go about doing it. We put all of this down on paper so that we could share it with the staff of Centricity. It was a really great chance to organize our energies and focus on what we’re really about. It also gave Centricity a chance to figure out who we are and what we all need to do to achieve our goals together as a team.

Over the next few months, you’ll probably start to notice some changes, especially with our website and message board. We will be making a concerted effort to help grow and look after our online community. This is something we have tried to do from day one and I’ll admit we haven’t been doing so well lately but with some new tools and new people to help us out I think we should be able to do a great job.

After spending five days with our new label we are all very excited to be working with such great people. The leadership of this label is very family focused and ministry focused. They are also creative and generous and want to help their artists in whatever way they can. We can’t wait to get started on this next recording and get the machinery working.

If you have a minute stop by and visit our new label mates and learn something about the people we just spent our last week with.

Circleslide
Jaime Jamgochian

Glenn

Jesus in Hollywood

2005-08-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We got home from Indiana a couple of days ago (we played at Grace College, home of the acronyms - I wonder if they ever discovered the acronym I left on the Student Union whiteboard...) and are getting ready to head out tomorrow morning for PA where' we'll be playing in Allentown Saturday night - lots of driving this weekend!

A couple of things for you to look at:

1. We have recently started a www.myspace.com page - make sure you stop by and check it out. We're currently just building up our friends list, but we'll be posting stuff there from time to time as the recording process starts. Come be our friend!

2. I posted the other day on my personal blog about an article I came across this week concerning Jesus in Hollywood - I'd love to hear your thoughts. Check it out at www.jeremythiessen.com.

That's it - hope you're doing well. Have a great week - we'll keep you in the loop as production stuff comes together for the next record. We covet your prayers!

Jeremy

Waterskiing

2005-08-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

I can waterski on one ski now! Yes! This is something I have wanted to be able to do since I was a kid at our summer cottage watching my Uncle Al ski behind our little 50HP boat. We were able to spend a couple of days with some friends in Muskegon, Michigan before we played at Unity Fest. They hooked us up! We went for a swim in Lake Michigan just as it was getting dark, we water skied, we ate bratwurst, we played video games and we slept. I should tell you that Jeremy and Marc also had the opportunity to ski on one ski and pulled it off pretty quickly. Quicker than me anyway.
Unity Fest was a great festival. We had the pleasure of sharing the stage that night with jeremy Camp and Toby Mac. Quite a treat to be put on the same night as those guys. Toby even sat down and ate his supper with us. It's always nice to see the more seasoned/popular artists do that. That is one thing we always want to strive to do no matter how seasoned or popular we are.
In other business . . . You may have noticed our web site was down for a couple of days and still hasn't fully recovered. Well we have switched servers which was the cause of the problem. So for all of you who are in the know as far as computers and sites and code and blah blah blah you know this isn't quite as simple as most people may think. I think we are through the worst of it now and we are going to be taking a meeting very soon to start discussing a new web design and when that will all take place. We are also still in the hunt for the right producer. We have talked to a few and even came close to starting recording but we are still in need of a song or two as well as a confirmed producer.
Anyway, that's what's going on with me and us. Hope to see you soon!!!

Glenn

Kingdom Bound 2005

2005-08-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

As it started to rain in the middle of our set at Kingdom Bound this past weekend, I was inspired in the moment to share about my love for weather from stage. I love thunderstorms, rain and really any natural phenomenon that is beyond my control or really understanding. It's still magic. I have a bookmark on local doplar radar on my web browser and my favorite channel is the weather channel. I'm almost annoying on this point, the guys can atest. As I spoke from stage, the reason why I'm so fascinated by weather is because it reminds me that I'm not in control, that I live on a planet that has Gods finger prints all over it, and that however well manipulated my self made isolation chamber becomes...."You never know when lighting could strike." Had I the opportunity to experience a thunderstorm for the first time without being conditioned to their normalcy, I would be sure to believe the whole world was coming to an end. So maybe every time it rains, a piece of me deep down really thinks the world is ending; that as the rain stops, the sun reveals a re-creation. For me, thunder storms plead the case for redemption. As the Kingdom Bound attendants scrambled to cover speakers, and get instruments under cover, many of us sang together "Because I'll never, Hold a picture of the whole horizon, in my view...because I'll never rip the night into it makes me wonder, who am I? who am I? and great are You!" God is great at making himself a knowable mystery, especially through the pictures painted in nature. He's still magic. --Jason Germain

update!

2005-07-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

So yes it is true. We have a new label and are very excited to get the ball rolling on recording a new album for everyone to hear and for us to play. We do have a tough job going through our songs to choose which ones we will use for the album but that is a good problem. We will do our best to pick all the good ones.

Well Student Life camp at Stetson University in Florida this past week was another blast. You guys were excited! That always makes it fun for us. No volleyball tournament this time though. We always enjoy playing these Student Life camps. They put together really great teams who operate the whole thing and we love getting to know them. Plus the dramas are always pretty fun to watch. There were some real moments this past week that are sort of a "you had to be there" type of thing.

I am typing today from a dorm room at Colorado State Univerisity I believe. I say I believe because maybe it's the University of Colorado or something different. It's kind of hard to keep track of this stuff all the time. We flew in this morning from Orlando with a couple of us not feeling so well but it looks and sounds great here and we are expecting more than 2000 people I think so it should be a fun night. Then tomorrow back on the plane to Nashville. It's been a busy couple of weeks which has really been nice since we just came off a pretty good break although I think we're all a little rusty at living the road life right now. Next gig Kingdom Bound in Buffalo, NY!

GL

Great gig!

2005-07-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well I believe we scored this week for having a pretty cool gig. Last summer we were fortunate enough to be able to play for an organization called Student Life. They invited us to come and lead worship at a couple of their summer camps. We love playing these and have a lot of fun spending a few days with the students rather than just a night doing a concert. So I guess thay liked us enough to bring us back for two weeks of this years camp. The difference is our first week is camp at the beach! So we are hooked up staying in condos right on the Gulf of Mexico. I even have the luxury of having my wife and 13 month old with me. It has been pretty cool already and we are only finishing the second day.

Today we created team Downhere to enter into the beach volleyball competition and as much as I don't like to gloat I've got to mention that yes, we took the whole thing. And you thought all we knew how to do was to play music. Oh yes we have skills. We were playing against students 10 years younger than us but does that really make a difference?

So for an update . . . there WILL be an announcement very soon THIS week that you won't want to miss. I guarantee it. So keep checking our site and we will keep you in the loop!

Hope to see you soon!!

Glenn

New Record Coming!

2005-06-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Man, we're not doing so well at keeping you updated here, are we... Well, since Glenn's last entry, I GOT MARRIED! :) So that's pretty big news... My wife's name is Erin, and she is the most wonderful woman ever. Yesterday was our six week anniversary, and we spent it at church (I drummed with the worship team, so we were at church from 7am to noon!), Costco, napping, eating leftovers, and enjoying cookies and ice cream while entertaining our first (and quite possibly only) guest in our apartment before we move into our new house in a couple of weeks.

So that's what's going on in my life - I suppose I should talk about the new record though, seeing as that's the title of this blog entry! Well you can continue praying for us - the ball is rolling, and things are moving, but still not quite as quickly as we would like. At this point we're in the hunt for a producer and want to start recording in August at the latest. We are probably a song or two short of having the full record, so you can pray for a couple more "hit songs". ;) Otherwise, things are looking good - we will continue touring as usual and will be announcing a co-bill fall tour in a week or so... should be pretty cool - they're a great band and a great bunch of guys (that's all the hints you're going to get - "a bunch of guys") so we're excited.

That's it for now - I've got to head out and get some husbandly duties done as well as band duties. Thanks so much for your prayers - make sure you check out the website and listen to our new podcast while you sign up for email newsletter... there should be one going out here soon! Thanks so much for stopping by - make sure you check out my blog at www.jeremythiessen.com as well as Glenn's. Have a great week!

Jeremy

It's Jason's Birthday

2005-04-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

Well seeing as today is Jason's birthday I thought I'd make my entry about Jason. So here's to you Jay!

Jason is the first guy I really got to know in Downhere. Before I joined the band Jason worked in a studio in Saskatchewan and worked on an album with the band I used to play in. We had some fun there and became friends. The thing I liked about Jason immediately was that he wasn't afraid of being goofy and he enjoys it when other people are too. So that works great for me!! Eventually I joined Downhere and in the first few months, since I knew Jay the best, he was the guy I talked to the most. Plus he was the only other guy married.
It didn't take long to figure out that Marc and Jay had a really strong friendship. I think it may have something to do with Marc and his goofy episodes. Post show in the van when we're on our own is usually when things get the weirdest. We say things that I'm sure nobody else would find funny but we are all just losing it laughing. That's when the goofiness is at it's peak.
So yeah, Jason likes to do strange things sometimes. I think it's to make us laugh but sometimes I think it's just for his own entertainment. For instance he has these van exercises that he likes to do. Although, it has been a while since I last saw them performed. Anyway, they are stationary exercises that can be done while just sitting in one position. They are a little bizarre to watch but they make me laugh and that's enjoyable.
Jason is also one of the most musically creative guys I know. Every once in a while he'll spice up something we're playing by changing his part and we're all like "What was that? That sounded stinkin cool!" He is also the king of figuring out cool crazy sounds on whatever instrument he is playing. If you've seen us play live then you know what I'm talking about. There's one part in a song where he's got some strange combination of effects and then he knocks on his guitar! Anyway, it sounds good.
Also, when it comes to Jason's brain, I never know where it's at. He is definitely a thinker. He's often thinking about stuff none of us get and he thinks about things in different ways than I ever do. It's really great to have such different people all working together in Downhere. I think that is how the body of Christ is designed to work.
Well that should give you a little bit of insight into Jason's life. If you get a chance make sure you say happy birthday to him!!

Glenn

A Week In Ontario

2005-03-30T06:31:00.000-08:00

Good morning! I'm sitting here in Glenn's house in Ontario after having slept in this morning... it's kind of nice! I really haven't been able to sleep in for a LONG time... Poor Glenn is off at the dentist this morning as he had a filling come out while eating Easter candy - Ouch! What else can I tell you? Wedding plans are coming along (I'm getting married in 46 days!) and it stinks to be away from home right now. We're still in the negotiations phase of our new record contract, but Lord willing we'll have some definition to it by the end of next week. And I'm about to go out on another run - I've finally been able to start running again just this last week which has been a huge answer to prayer. I hurt my knee about 8 months ago in the gym and haven't been able to get out on the road, so this is awesome - I'll probably need surgery at some point still, but that's okay... at least I can still be getting some exercise! Make sure you check out my blog and see what's going on there - you can also link to Glenn's blog from there... Thanks for stopping by - if you're in Ontario, we hope to see you in the next few days. If not, we'll see you soon, I'm sure! :)

Jeremy

It's Still Cold!!

2005-03-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

Well we have a bit of time at home before we embark on our little Ontario tour. Time at home is always welcome. Especially since my little 9 month old boy Jonah is changing so much week to week. He's just figuring out the whole walking thing. Today we put a margarine container on the couch and gave Jonah a ball. Then I backed up from the couch a few feet and Jonah just wanted to put the ball in the container so bad he would walk there on his own. It is very cool to watch a child learn and discover things.
Another thing I like to do with him while I'm home is take him out with me while I run. He's got a pretty sweet ride when it comes to running strollers thanks to the people Sherri used to work with. But man, it's near the end of March and there's still a bunch of snow here! Grrrrr. That means the sidewalk are not good for strollers and the trail I like to run on is doable by myself but with a stroller . . . forget it. I figured the cemetery would not be busy and the snow should be cleared so that's where we went yesterday. I think it's good to visit a cemetery every once in awhile. It helps me to remember where our Earthly shells end up. It also helps me to remember how important the time we have on Earth is. Plus it gives me a sense that yes there is a history. We are not the only ones who have ever lived. As silly as that sounds I think that's how a lot of us live. I know I have been. I think I've forgotten about history and how important it is for us to know how we got to where we are today. Part of this feeling is from listening to lectures about Islam by Dr. George Grant as well as reading a book called "In, Not Of" by Hugh Hewitt. I now have a good book list to start reading to hopefully gain an understanding of our history. Anyway, there's my rambling thoughts for the day!

Glenn

Writing

2005-03-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a whole week off from the road. It's great having periods of time
like this because that is when I can really dig into song-writing. I've
never been able to do a whole lot of productive song-writing while on the
road because the ever-changing environment really complicates it. Finding a
quiet place where I can be creative on my own time rarely happens when we're
meeting people, setting up, performing, packing up, and traveling from place
to place. Also, we're working with a bit of a time crunch because we are
hoping to start recording our next album in May and June. Despite all this,
the writing has been coming along quite well. So far we have approximately
30 songs to choose from. So these last few days have been spent trying to
make those songs as good as they can be, also allowing for time to come up
with more new material.
My biggest inspiration lately has been a book that seems to be the "book of
the moment" in our circles here: "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. It's a
collection of essays about nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality.
Miller has put into words a lot of what has been at the back (and front) of
my mind over the past couple of years concerning my faith. I highly
ercommend it. But you know sometimes things don't always line up the way
you wish they would. Even with all this ammo to create songs with, I've
been sick for the last few days, and since it's in my throat, I can't sing.
So that makes writing pretty impossible! Hopefully I'll be ready to sing in
2 days when we'll be in Minnesota. I'm living on a diet of Robitussin,
Sudafed, various herbal teas, chicken noodle soup, and rest. So hopefully
that works.

Marc

Great Weekend On The Road!

2005-03-01T06:29:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I trust you had a great weekend... We sure did, although we spent most of it in transit - airports, airplanes, vans, gas stations, etc... The highlight of the weekend for me was the time we spent in Caronport, SK playing Youth Quake 2005 at our alma mater, Briercrest College. It was a lot of fun because I got to see a whole bunch of people that I knew from my years there as a student. We shared the stage Friday night with Pillar and had a great time rockin' out with our Canadian brothers and sisters (there were even some people from the US as well as a girl from Slovakia who was there to play on the guys hockey team... crazy!). It was also great to see my family again, as they live on campus there. However, I definitely didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked... but it was a work weekend after all. Oh well - I'll get to see them again in May when I GET MARRIED!! Hey - make sure (if you haven't already) to check out my new blog - I'm pretty excited about it and have had some great response already. Don't be afraid to leave a comment to share your thoughts too - just remember that everyone will be able to read it, not just me! :) Thanks for stopping by - you can be praying for us this week as we get some rest, work on songwriting and preparing for the next record, and work on finalizing our new record deal... We appreciate you and are looking forward to seeing you on the road - God bless!

Jeremy

Glenn Blogs

2005-02-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

So we've gotten a little behind on our journal entries here I notice . . . Whoops. Sorry about that.
You may also notice it's stinkin early in morning when I posted this. I just got hit with a head cold and have only been able to sleep for three broken hours so far tonight. Grrrrrrr. So I thought I might as well do something while I'm awake.

So is this a journal or a blog? Do you know what a blog is? I think some people are afraid to ask because they don't want to appear like they are getting behind the times. Now I consider myself to be pretty tech savvy and into the whole computer/internet thing. I think I've got a pretty good handle on this whole techie revolution. Blogging? . . . I think I understand it. Here's my take. People write almost like a journal and post it online for anyone to see. It's basically a look into someone's life from their own perspective. Or it's them giving their opinion on various aspects of life. A good source for blog info can be found here http://www.hughhewitt.com/
So with all that said I think I am writing a bonafide blog. And here I was just thinking I was doing a journal. If this whole blogging thing interests you our drummer Jeremy has started to keep his own blog. http://jeremythiessen.typepad.com/ And my mentor from Franklin, TN keeps a blog with some really great insight too. http://randyelrod.typepad.com/

So there you have it. Blogging. That's what we've been talking about in the Downhere van lately. Check it out. Maybe there are thousands of people just waiting to hear from you!

Glenn