Advent Plans?

Hey there ya'll...I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I ate and laughed a'plenty.

Advent started yesterday and I'm curious of your Advent traditions. This is the first year both of our girls are really at an age for Advent participation, so Kate and I want to do some special stuff and pull out as many stops as possible.

We're finalizing our calendar of to-do's later today, so i'll post what we decide in the next couple days.

What are you doing?
What should we do?
Anything specific to St. Louis we should not miss?

Peace,
Ross

Thank You!

I just wanted to thank everyone that stops by the blog to read from time to time. Thanks to everyone that's helped promote a show or pass along my music. Thanks for being a friend. I hope you guys eat too much, watch too much TV, and laugh a little too hard this weekend. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Peace,
Ross

Some Beatles, Courtesy of Cora

Cora has been singing 'Hey Jude' non-stop lately (which is a MAJOR improvement from Bah-bah-black-sheep, in my opinion). Last night I caught a little of it for your viewing pleasure.



Peace,
Ross

Putting Up the Tree

Here's a peek into our Christmas tree festivities. The girls had a blast. Though I think it was more fun for us, watching them...
Thanks for reading,
Ross

My Queen of Hearts...

This weekend we went to KC for a kid birthday party for our best friends, the Schultz's. It was an Alice in Wonderland theme party and was quite cute (see more pics here). Cora has been talking about it for weeks (possibly months). Olive was the Queen of Hearts. It was perfect, red hair, un-proportionally large head, etc. 'Twas a nice little road trip!



Peace,
Ross

BOXES & HUMAN FOG - VLOG-O-TRON

Thanks for your support in spreading the word!!!
-Ross

Barton Hallow by The Civil Wars

I've made the pledge to you in the past to pass along great music and artistry. So in my attempts to not horde greatness, here's a new song/video from a great Nashville band, The Civil Wars.

Watch it and love it!



Peace,
Ross

Recording Vocals

Welp, yesterday I recorded 4 tracks of vocals - ALL the vocals on those 4 tracks (lead vox, double vox, harmonies, oooh's and aaahhh's, and a couple yeah's). It went great and the sounds are better than expected. A few weeks back I bought one of these sweet numbers (the Primacoustic VoxGuard) to help with acoustic treatment. Its a sweet $100 fix to a make-shift home studio. Well worth the dollars in my opinion.Now begins the grueling process of listening to the vocals line-by-line and phrase-by-phrase. I like to record everything 3-4 times to give me plenty of options on phrasing, diction, pronunciation, etc. Then I begin comping everything, figuring out proper eq's, and any effects that help the song excel.

You can click the link below and hear some vocal-less tracks and PRE-ORDER the record, BOXES & HUMAN FOG.




That's all i've got for now. Thanks for reading & PEACE!
-Ross

Weeds = Survivalism

Last night was the Weeds season finale. From a season that (in my own opinion) started very slowly, ended with a solid 3-4 episodes. If you've not caught any Weeds thus far, you should. Because it's more than a show about a drug dealing mom. It's primarily a story of survival.

It tells the story from the perspective of a seemingly horrible mom, that makes bad decision after bad decision. But nonetheless, she lives with her choices and works the survival narrative episode after episode.

Here's what I've learned...

1. Don't sell drugs
2. Don't marry into a major drug cartel
3. Don't sell drugs

And there you have it folks. Check out Weeds on Showtime and thank me later!

Thanks for reading,
Ross

Cycles

This past weekend, I had the chance to SLOW DOWN and be still. It's been far too long since I've done this; and the solitude was greatly needed. It allowed me the opportunity and freedom to consider time and the pace of life (at least my pace of life).

Especially since we've had kids, life has flown bye. I'm always surprised by the calendar year and how it catches me off guard. I realized that perhaps the reason for this was that I tend to live my life in cycles. I measure time by the week, projects, to-do lists, big annual events, etc. I think I forget to take solace in the day to day rhythm of things.

Maybe you're like me, maybe not. But regardless, taking time to remember each day, each small event that equals the whole, I believe is a pace worth striving for. It keeps you from always seeking the next best thing (whether it be a task, vacation, or season), and allows you to remain healthy and content in what's provided for you in the here and now - your daily bread.

That's my 2 cents...

Peace,
Ross

Donald, Derek, Robbie, & Sandra

Last night the fam went to a cool event featuring Donald Miller, Derek Webb, Sandra McCraken, and Robbie Seay Band. It was a night focused on the narrative of love and all of its consequences. Donald Miller acted as narrator for the event and the 3 bands took stage as solo, duo, and trio acts. It was great seeing the combined creativity centered on love.

The high point was Derek Webb performing 3 tracks from his new release, Feedback. Feedback is an instrumental album of ambiance, beats, gritty guitar riffs, and soaring "oooh's," that walks like by line through the Lord's Prayer. The album does a very cool job of representing the singular lines, thoughts, and emotions contained in the most famous prayer (sorry Jabez). If this little tour is coming through your homestead, you should try and catch it!

Have a great weekend,
Ross

Recording UPDATE...

This new EP (BOXES & HUMAN FOG) has been such a fun process for me (and it's not finished). 2 of the tunes I've played live now for about a year, but the others have never seen a stage. It's been quite a ride as I've composed layers that have never been heard on other albums to date.

This EP is showing a real raw beauty to it. At times its a swell of orchestra and a second later its driving drums and bass at 126 BPM (that might be the fastest song i've recorded). There's moments of folksy Americana (1 moment), and then there's an ambient quality that will keep you guessing.

I don't want to give too much away. I apologize that the teasers are just instrumental too, but that's how I roll at this point :-)




If you're interested & willing to help me promote this on your blog, twitter, or Facebook page, PLEASE PLEASE use and abuse this stuff (videos, links, etc.)

Here's the PRE-ORDER LINK...it can't get much easier than that!

Thanks SO VERY much,
Ross

Book Excerpt #14

Here's another quick excerpt from my upcoming book, Outsourcing God. In this excerpt we can see the all-to-familiar problem of what outsourcing responsibility and roles within the context of the Church can do the body.

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...It is far too easy for us to parcel out our ministry responsibilities, tasks, and voices to staffed, paid, professionals. We make no distinction between faith and consumerism. And if we’re not careful, we wind up treating our leadership positions as if they were telemarketing firms or IT consultants.

But this doesn’t happen over night. It’s a culmination of culture, movement, laziness, vision, and pace, all working in tandem over time to affect every single aspect of how people see and follow God. Because God is inextricably linked to the way the Church behaves, it ineffectually becomes the same.

This is a conundrum of the Church.



Peace,
Ross

Sick

I hate being sick. I'm stubborn about it. Ask Kate. And I've been sick since last Thursday...

I woke up Thursday achy and running a temp. I tried to go into work, but Kate finally changed my mind. I went back to bed and didn't get out until about 10PM that night. I managed to watch The Office and The League before being exhausted (because I had done so much).

Around midnight, I started shivering so much the entire bed shook (Linda Blair style). I was running a 102, but was frigid. Kate fought me to get a stocking hat, long-sleeved shirt, and thick wool socks on. I did, and I continued to shake violently for a while. Friday I woke up feeling much better, but still sore and achy.

Sunday I led at AWAKEN and still just fought through it.

Alas, it's Monday and I'm still not 100%...

Hope you have a better Monday than mine's shaping up to be,
Ross

'Hell' of a Debate

Here's part 2 of 7, of a great debate regarding Hell.
Is Hell a physical and literal place?
It's divisive, its rough, it angers folks, and I think this is a great talk.

I know it's long, but if you have some time, check it out...

Hell Debate Part 2 of 7 from Doug Pagitt on Vimeo.

Hope you had a great weekend!
-Ross

Kate's Fair Trade Update

Today was the big day for Kate's FAIR TRADE CRAFT SALE, and it rocked! There was a solid flow of people from 8AM - 5PM and everyone left with full bags and smiles. And if you've read my blog before, you'll know I'm not one for promoting gluttonous consumerism, but today was an opportunity for folks to complete their Christmas lists and provide much needed support to women artisans in the developing world.

Thanks so much for all of the help and support!

Peace,
Ross

how can that possibly be right?...

Have a yummy weekend,
Ross

This Weekend = Holiday Fair Trade Event!

Hey ya'll, this weekend my wife and a bunch of her friend are hosting an AWESOME event for an even AWESOME-ER cause! You should most definitely swing by and get all of your Christmas shopping done in 1 stop. Here's a link to where it's being held: CLICK HERE

Hope to see you there!
-Ross

IT'S OFFICIAL...YOU CAN PRE-ORDER ONLINE!!!

You can now PRE-ORDER the new album, Boxes & Human Fog, ONLINE! It's cheap, secure, and by pre-ordering it, you'll get it before everyone else!

I truly appreciate everyone's help and support throughout the years. I'm extremely excited about these tunes and I hope you all are too! Please pass this along to your friends and family...you guys never seem to disappoint!

Peace & humbled-thanks,
Ross