i'm kind of jumpy.

i recently worked project 86's merch table. i'm not a huge project fan (i have one cd that i think they gave me the last time i worked their table) but i know who andrew schwab is, and let's be honest, does anyone care about anyone in the band but him? not so much.
so i got to the table as they were setting it up and met mr. schwab, matt the drummer, shook hands with a fill-in guitarist whose name i can't remember and saw cody from the wedding (he was filling in on bass- i already knew him). i was filled in on prices and the special sale of the day as hordes of project fans started crowding around to buy stuff and get andrew to sign it since he was conveniently standing there. out of the corner of my eye i saw him sign one of his books, take a picture and walk away as i was grabbing someone a tee in their size. as i was holding up the shirt and about to ask, "this alright?" (in reference to the size of the tee) i felt a hand on my shoulder and hear a voice in my ear say, "you okay if i leave?"
thinking i was alone behind the table i did the very girly thing of screaming really high and really loud upon realizing i was, in fact, not alone behind the table. yep, i screamed right in andrew schwab's face. everyone stopped and it got real quiet. i felt awesome. and turned bright red.
thankfully he just started laughing and said he'd be back later. true to his word he came back later. and waved at me from about 20 feet back so i'd see him coming and when he finally reached the table said, "i wanted to make sure you saw me, i didn't want to scare you again." thanks andrew, you sure are a swell guy.
xo

a poem.

i have a friend. we'll call him chad* chad really likes jen (the newish drummer in the band skillet). chad likes jen so much he wrote her a poem but didn't deliver it. this is really your gain that he never got it to her because now you get to read it here.

"roses are red.
violets are blue
i suck at rhyming
so i just thought i'd say i think you are amazing. i really appreciate what you are doing and your desire to be a godly woman and think you are breathtakingly gorgeous. you have the voice of an angel. i'm not a creep and i never do stuff like this, but i have a job and a car and a college degree in music so i'm not a deadbeat. and i'm sure you have guys asking you to marry them all the time, so sorry if i'm just another one of those guys. the point is i'm NOT just another one of those guys. i don't want to marry you. i think a phone call or two first, then some dates, meeting your parents, you meeting mine, etc should probably come first. in summation i would like to quote abba, 'take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me' sincerely, chad"

i think it's a shame he didn't deliver it. rock star or not, any girl would swoon over beautiful words like that. haha!
xo
*not his real name. seriously, it's not.

best. night. ever.

this fairy tale story starts way back in 2004. this is the year i saw the band, the wedding play for the very first time. instantly in love. loved their sound, loved their stage presence, loved their message. ever since then i've caught every show of theirs possible. skip ahead to last summer- i ended up working the merch table right next to theirs at multiple festivals and got to know them a little bit. this past may i went to one of the smallest wedding show's i've ever been to (shame on you, minnesota, where is your love?!). after the show i was talking with matt (the lead singer) and i asked if they ever had anyone play violin live for the song "redeem" because it's my favorite on the album and i love strings. to keep the story short, the conversation ended with him telling me to bring my violin to a festival called "rock the barn" to play together and see if it would work to play in the show.
so i did. i learned the song and brought my violin, fingers crossed that i would at least get to jam with matt and die a happy girl :) i was so stinkin' nervous that i dang near threw up yesterday morning. that's right kids, rock the barn was yesterday....this is about as fresh as any story of mine is gonna get!
shortly after arriving i connected with matt and we went into the "band barn" to play. i was nervous but a line from the song "redeem" ran through my head, "we cannot afford to be afraid anymore." this was it, do or die, step up to the plate, now or never and there was no way i was going to let this opportunity pass me by! so we jammed (well as much as an acoustic guitar and a classical violin can jam) and it was so great! throughout the course of us running through the song (i think we probably played it about 35 times) the other band members would stop in and listen. once we had it down we stopped for dinner and to listen to some shows.
a short while later matt came to me and said the other guys in the band thought it would be great if we played during the set and were fully supportive! i was out of my mind ecstatic! we ran through the song one more time and then they took the stage.....three songs later i climbed up for the most whirlwind three minutes of my life. it was epic. i even got my own special applause when adam said, "give it up for sara on the violin". not gonna lie, the best part though was after when all the guys in the band told me i did a fabulous job. it means a lot coming from people who play music for a living.
if you haven't listened to the wedding before go listen right now! and they have a new ep coming out later this summer that you can pre-order on their website (www.theweddingrockandroll.com)- so you should probably do that too! i heard some demo cuts from it and i'm already in love with it! and some of the pre-order packages are pretty interesting ;)
xo

these boots are made for walkin'

i love big productions. when there's a huge stage, pyro-technics, security guards and thousands of people. but there is also a part of me that loves small, intimate concerts in the grungy little clubs where the artists mingle out on the floor because there literally is no backstage area and the stage lights consist of track lighting. i just so happened to be at one of these shows watching one of my favorite kentucky bands, the savvy (formerly nineball)along with some other bands i didn't know.
now i also love fashion and that night i was wearing my red corduroy boots. my outfit was all black and grey so the boots really popped. as i was walking into the club i was stopped by a boy who asked, "can i touch your boots?" I said, "sure!" and lifted a foot for him to give my glorious boots a feel. "rad," was his response as he rubbed the corduroy and i said, "yep, they're pretty great." we both went into the club and i met up with some friends as he went off in another direction.

the red boots.

the next time i saw him he was on stage sound checking his mic. turns out he was the lead singer of the radiance effect. opportunity missed.
xo