tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125858392011-08-16T22:09:44.574-05:00The old SHLOG. New one located at shaungroves.com/shlogShaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1165780616283552292006-12-10T13:55:00.000-06:002006-12-10T16:41:34.030-06:00

SHLOG has moved to shaungroves.com/shlogPlease change all links on your site to reflect the change of address. Thanks. See you at the new SHLOG.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1165592542396581002006-12-08T09:13:00.000-06:002006-12-10T18:48:37.266-06:00

It's the ultimate display of Jesus-powered evangelical manliness: Two alpha-male boomers enter the ring. A steel cage lowers, fencing the two warriors in for a fight to the death...or the front page of your local newspaper. One, a complete set of Republican talking points come to life, a comedian with lightening fast lips and a die-hard commitment to never putting down a toilet seat. The

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1165088504295065802006-12-02T13:41:00.000-06:002006-12-02T13:41:48.436-06:00

SHLOG is closed until Friday December 8th. I'll be using my usual blogging time to finish up the new shaungroves.com and shlog.com. Thanks for understanding. I will check comments here so feel free to keep them coming, but no new blog posts will appear.See you again soon.-Shaun

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164940324380546342006-11-30T20:19:00.000-06:002006-12-01T08:37:17.133-06:00

On December 1st only, you can download a song of mine FOR FREE at MyFreeMusicFriday.com (as well as one from Aaron Shust and another by Chris Rice.)This is FREE free, not free-if-you-give-us-your-e-mail-address kind of free. Totally free.You CAN hand over your e-mail address though if you want to receive info about all future free music offerings from MyFreeMusicFriday.com and be entered in a

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164920188227484082006-11-30T14:54:00.000-06:002006-11-30T14:56:28.290-06:00

I'm making a list of the best ten albums of 2006 for Billboard.com. Jog my memory. What's your list look like?

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164919564124025902006-11-30T14:39:00.000-06:002006-11-30T15:57:49.686-06:00

It's hard for a svelte man to find pants. In America. In Europe, not a problem. Japan, a sinch. But in a nation where the average waist size - I'm betting - dwarfs the average in-seam measurement it's not a breeze.Twelve stores later I finally found a pair of 30/32 black pants that fit like my usual freakish 30/34's.And Becky says they're navy blue.Here we go again.I'm having seconds at

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164897898218504662006-11-30T08:35:00.000-06:002006-11-30T08:44:59.743-06:00

I'm meeting the head honcho over at indieheaven.com for breakfast this morning. Then quickly from there I head to Music Row up in Nashville to be interviewed by a man whose last name is "Thunder" - so he would have us to believe. Then it's off to buy pants for that wedding I practiced for yesterday - and look through Brody's shoes for a black pair anywhere near my size. (Again, this wedding

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164830223898320432006-11-29T13:31:00.000-06:002006-11-29T14:17:48.576-06:00

This is the kind of music geekery I'll write more of on the new site, which will have a blog dedicated to music and musicians.I biggest difference I hear at the moment between the mainstream music my ears gravitate toward and the "contemporary" music in so many U.S. churches could be described as a tonal one. Here's what I mean in geeky theory terms. (I have a degree in theory/composition so I

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164818800111946922006-11-29T10:23:00.000-06:002006-11-29T10:46:42.606-06:00

I'm practicing for a wedding. I don't do weddings. Not because I'm above it but because I'm not that good. You have to be an actual singer to pull off a song you didn't write, in public, with any amount of confidence. Scary.I wouldn't do this for just anyone. But for the Dream Weaver I'd do anything, as long as it's legal in the majority of states and doesn't involve clowns. Clowns scare me

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164771415791424242006-11-28T21:15:00.000-06:002006-11-28T21:37:30.770-06:00

My former label has launched a new marketing initiative: myfreemusicfriday.com There you'll get three songs every Friday for no money. (More about that later this week.) And you can stream three videos from Rocketown Records artists. And, lastly, you can read a "blog" they call "Our 2 Cents." (Can we get a ruling on whether this is a blog? What IS a blog by definition anyway?)Anyway, my

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164738017572461942006-11-28T11:50:00.000-06:002006-11-28T15:00:27.550-06:00

"I want to go to a whore," he said, his four year-old brow furrowed by the weight of his sincerity."You want to what?" I kept my head down and continued to fervently work the tiny screws out of his broken car's underside."I want to go to a WHORE!" He pinched a tiny screw between his index finger and thumb until it sprang from his grip and bounced across the table and into the abyss that is the

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164726464465736152006-11-28T08:33:00.000-06:002006-11-28T09:08:18.990-06:00

What do you do when you need a cover for a live album but you...Don't have professionally taken high-resolution pictures from the showDon't have the budget for a graphic designerDon't have time to do much work on it yourselfI called Tim Parker. I remembered the ten or so comp covers Tim designed for my Twilight CD. My favorite was this illustration in shades of orange of me on a horizon line

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164652210394093162006-11-27T12:27:00.000-06:002006-11-27T12:30:10.406-06:00

I've read a few book son writing, a few more blogs by writers, and they all mention becoming a better writer by forcing yourself to write every day. I do that. But I've run out of things to say. When that's the case, the experts recommend, we should go back in time to one moment in our life, maybe something seemingly mundane or ordinary, and write about it in detail. We're supposed to try not

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164651081336762782006-11-27T12:07:00.000-06:002006-11-27T12:11:21.503-06:00

What should you get for the person who has everything? Nothing.So why don't we give them that this Christmas? Seriously. What is it that keeps us from giving nothing to people who have everything...and people who have enough?

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164642975968138122006-11-27T09:37:00.000-06:002006-11-27T10:01:30.206-06:00

My friend Brant over at Kamp Krusty writes...I don't know if he wrote that from his University office, or from his own home in the leafy, Urbana, Illinois neighborhood that we wanted to live in, but couldn't afford to. Doesn't matter. What is noteworthy is that we have become like those barbarians, who were apparently chiefly noted for their inequalities of income. He's right. But we need to

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164595190309720362006-11-26T20:37:00.000-06:002006-11-26T20:39:50.320-06:00

Hey, heads up. Things may look weird here at SHLOG.COM for a little while this evening. It's all part of the move to the new site. So if the blog looks unusual, don't worry, it'll be back to normal soon. And soon after that we'll move to a better blog.Thanks,The Management

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164513175019725302006-11-25T21:52:00.000-06:002006-11-25T21:52:55.120-06:00

I woke up with a throat full of razor blades and the day didn't get better from there. I couldn't hear. I couldn't taste. I couldn't be nice. I was short-fused and longed to just be left alone.As is often the case when I'm emotionally and physically under the weather, my head filled with melodies and lyrical fragments. Inspiration always strikes me when I'm the least available to play along. I

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164386071321128952006-11-24T10:33:00.000-06:002006-11-24T10:50:36.886-06:00

You knew it would come to this.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164383316816674682006-11-24T09:22:00.000-06:002006-11-24T13:17:59.280-06:00

I'm thankful for family. I'm thankful that I've eaten and slept in some sort of bed and been reasonably healthy every day of the last 365. These are the usual things I'm thankful for. But this year, add to the usual something unusual: Failure.This year I officially failed as a Christian recording artist, defined (cynically, admittedly, and accurately I think by me) as "a person making music

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164318369701454532006-11-23T15:45:00.000-06:002006-11-23T15:46:09.833-06:00

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164205365266524282006-11-22T08:20:00.000-06:002006-11-22T08:22:45.386-06:00

Thanksgiving blog beak time.The in-laws are here. The sister-in-law is arriving soon. Time to step away from the laptop. (I think I can. I think I can) And hang out with family.See you again when the ham and hashbrown casserole are gone.Happy Thanksgiving.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164122790934815682006-11-21T09:17:00.000-06:002006-11-21T09:59:29.406-06:00

Christianity Today has just published (on-line) their picks for the best ["Christian"] albums of 2006. Fellow blogger/indie folk-rocker Andrew Osenga is #11.And it reads..."If The Normals had only continued after 2002's A Place Where You Belong … well, it might have been as impressive as this sophomore effort from front man Andrew Osenga, who also serves as lead guitarist for Caedmon's Call.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164121689113781292006-11-21T08:58:00.000-06:002006-11-21T09:08:10.323-06:00

Too poor for a PS3 and too bored to make it through the work day? Check out Line Rider.Play it/make it here.See what's possible here.There's even a forum and a squidoo lens.Have fun. Link us to anything you make. If you're looking to record your creation on a Mac I recommend Snapz Pro.Hey, who needs Sony?

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164045731337191292006-11-20T12:01:00.000-06:002006-11-20T12:02:11.573-06:00

I made it. You can too.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1164034318364753282006-11-20T08:27:00.000-06:002006-11-20T09:23:18.410-06:00

I stayed up later than I wanted to last night writing a pretty good post for the blog today. I finished and actually thought it might be something to send on to one of the magazines I sometimes write for. I was eager to get it posted here and get the discussion started. But I knew that my late night writing is even more full of misspellings than my day time writing, so I hit "save as draft.Doh

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163712987835621272006-11-16T15:33:00.000-06:002006-11-16T15:38:11.346-06:00

I recorded two shows back to back for the live disc we're working on right now. And there's one song in particular that, well, honestly, sucked both times. Badly. I sang it horribly and played it poorly as well. The two takes suck in different ways though. So I've been stuck all afternoon listening to the two and trying to decide which one sucks least or in the most tolerable ways.So, as I

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163706823374236502006-11-16T13:49:00.000-06:002006-11-16T13:53:43.493-06:00

Tickets had been sold-out three weeks before the much anticipated fight, which took place in the city of Kâmpóng Chhnãng [Cambodia].The fight was slated when an angry fan contested Yang Sihamoni, President of the CMFL [Cambodian Midget Fighting League], claiming that one lion could defeat his entire league of 42 fighters.Sihamoni takes great pride in the league he helped create, as was conveyed

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163696053736850042006-11-16T09:17:00.000-06:002006-11-16T11:24:06.143-06:00

Dear Married (about to be married) Guy,There is one simple nugget of wisdom that will dramatically improve your marriage quickly. I want to pass it on. It will transform you and your wife into people who love better and more freely and are easier to love in return.It's simple: Serve her.Wake up and think to yourself - What can I do or say to make her life easier or better than it is? It's that

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163618311821975772006-11-15T13:06:00.000-06:002006-11-15T13:18:33.666-06:00

I think I was more excited than Gresham and Gabriella when we filed into the Nashville Children's Theatre with a couple hundred other little people this morning. I was about to relive the Saturday mornings of my childhood.The Schoolhouse Rock Live show was great - bad sound - but great singing, and I learned what an adverb is all over again, not to mention how a bill becomes a law. If you have

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163532775015659952006-11-14T13:27:00.000-06:002006-11-14T13:32:55.023-06:00

Brian tells me we've had about 50 calls or e-mails about booking me for free January through March. And the phone's still ringing. Wow. So much of that response is from SHLOG readers who either called or e-mailed Brian or passed on the info to those who did. Thanks for all the help. We should have a full three month tour and hopefully free a lot of kids from poverty.Thank you.Brian's still

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163530091164501562006-11-14T12:11:00.000-06:002006-11-14T13:11:01.820-06:00

I'm Gabriella's (about to turn six) music teacher one day a week. She's mastered dynamics: She sings a song or plays the piano at forte or pianissimo and a few other other dynamics depending on what flash card I hold up. She's mastered half the notes on the keyboard: She put stickers on all the Cs, and the next week the D's and on and on until now all she lacks is three of the white keys.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163523782900310532006-11-14T11:02:00.000-06:002006-11-14T11:03:03.030-06:00

Congrats Brody and Kristen. And welcome to the cult-de-sac, Cooper.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163433106481398192006-11-13T09:47:00.000-06:002006-11-13T09:51:46.766-06:00

I have only two things I MUST do today. I must cook for everyone in the legendary cult-de-sac food co-op. Pray for them. And I must listen to the live recording and decide which songs stay and which ones go. Imagine listening to 280 minutes of your voice on the answering machine. Yea, unpleasant.Not sure which is worse: Eating my food or listening to my music? Hmmm...

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163379059376230982006-11-12T18:21:00.000-06:002006-11-12T23:20:48.430-06:00

Becky has taken the kids to see her grandparents in Texas. When she first told me about this trip of theirs I confess I got more excited about it than she probably wanted me to be. I couldn't wait to be truly alone for the first time in years. No toys to step on. No whining. No questions. Just me and silence.I thought I'd rent some movies Becky would never want to see and eat stuff we never

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163359443395094082006-11-12T13:21:00.000-06:002006-11-12T13:25:48.496-06:00

I just want to be like you, Brody.Only mustachier.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163253124067991562006-11-11T07:43:00.000-06:002006-11-11T07:59:23.176-06:00

Brian and I have marveled at the power of the SHLOG over the last two days. We've traveled from OK CIty to Lexington (where we're spending our second day today) answering Brian's cell phone over and over again, talking to promoters who want to book me for free. Every time Brian hits receive on his e-mail - DING - another promoter asking how to book me for free."How'd you here about this free

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163135346679662042006-11-09T22:26:00.000-06:002006-11-09T23:12:58.453-06:00

That's Dusty Harris, me and Nathan Smith.Look at those guys. Look closely. Do they look special? Not special but special. Do they look like they have something (something non-viral) you and I don't?If I had to reduce everything I sing and speak and write about into one bumper sticker type phrase it would be this: We exist to know God and to make Him known. All of us. Not just those of us

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1163101583961877922006-11-09T13:28:00.000-06:002006-11-09T14:22:18.660-06:00

For the last couple years hundreds of people have sponsored children through Compassion International at my concerts. No manipulation. No pictures of starving children. No pressure. Just more than an hour of music and seven minutes of me telling about my experience sponsoring a child named Yanci. It's a highly effective way of matching kids in tremendous need with folks willing to feed,

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162933397304831512006-11-07T15:00:00.000-06:002006-11-07T15:03:30.306-06:00

I'm teaching and critiquing and playing some tunes at National Worship Leader Conference in Austin, Texas July 23-26. Go here for more info and to register.Tex-Mex and music. What else do I need? Oh, yea, my wife. She's coming too! Now if we could just get some cool weather this might just be a perfect few days in July.See you there.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162927561670858562006-11-07T12:43:00.000-06:002006-11-07T21:15:11.946-06:00

St.Paul's Cathedral, the first non Catholic cathedral. "Cathedral" means "seat." A cathedral is technically the seat of a bishop. No cameras allowed inside.Westminster Abbey. An abbey is a church associated with a convent or monastery.On the face of Westminster Abbey is a row of figures, a tribute to the martyrs of the 20th Century. They are men and women of different races and nationalities

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162920907373677262006-11-07T11:19:00.000-06:002006-11-07T11:35:07.733-06:00

I haven't posted about the recent headlines regarding a very public Christian leader's now very public mistakes because I'm grieved. I should be. Blessed are those who mourn, who don't make jokes or place blame but simply mourn that sin exists...in us all, and that all sin in any Christian's life is truly tragic because it ultimately damages the God they represent.My friend Dwight Edwards said

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162916616607252722006-11-07T09:07:00.000-06:002006-11-07T10:23:37.720-06:00

On the way to California this past weekend I finished reading the latest issue of WIRED - my favorite magazine. (Thanks Randy for recommending it to me years ago.)Fascinating. In a geek meets theologian sort of way.The issue is titled "The New Atheism: No Heaven. No Hell. Just Science." And it's main story The Church of the Non-Believer is written by a self-desribed spiritually undecided

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162869509130134712006-11-06T20:38:00.000-06:002006-11-06T21:18:31.656-06:00

It's Monday and Mondays are kid days. Remember the whole cult-de-sac food co-op thing? Yea, Becky cooks on Monday afternoons and I take the kids of her hands in some way.Today, as promised, we made a bog pile of leaves outside this morning and jumped in them. Twice. Then the spider showed up. Party over.So we moved the party to the car. We played Gresham's mix CD, a disc I made for him full

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162825507184030272006-11-06T08:54:00.000-06:002006-11-06T13:15:52.590-06:00

I reluctantly watched Kyle's film last night on the long plane ride home from California. The film makers sent it to me a couple weeks ago and I've been scared to watch it - scared to grieve all over again. I was surprised and pleased though at how not melodramatic and not sad it was - to be either of those things would not reflect who Kyle truly was. Instead, the film is two short films in

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162675760939218772006-11-04T15:21:00.000-06:002006-11-04T16:57:54.130-06:00

I flew to California this morning because my body wasn't jacked up enough already. I'm still waking every morning between four and five and forcing myself back to sleep - my body thinking it's ten or eleven and about to sleep through lunch. Now I've added a couple hours to the disparity just to see what happens..and because I have no choice. I have a gig out here.A great gig.I'm playing for a

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162584025668258992006-11-03T13:53:00.000-06:002006-11-03T14:00:25.676-06:00

A quick update on the new shaungroves.com/shlog.com site. It's my fault; I left the country as we neared the aimed for launch date of the new site. We're close but not there yet. I have a few more files to finish up and get over to Kat, who'll then load them in and begin testing everything out to make sure it works as it should.In the meantime you can help me create more content for the new

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162582909405101622006-11-03T13:40:00.000-06:002006-11-03T13:41:49.526-06:00

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162572579245682992006-11-03T09:53:00.000-06:002006-11-03T10:53:23.436-06:00

Some more pics from the European tour/vacation. After playing two shows in Ireland, we left our cushy promoter provided hotel rooms, took a ferry to Scotland and moved into a two bunk bed room at a hostel. It was dorm-like living, four adults, one shower, no frills living. So we spent little time in our rooms and much time seeing the city of Edinburgh (pronounced Edinborough).The Globetrotter

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162515512585692892006-11-02T18:46:00.000-06:002006-11-02T18:58:32.723-06:00

I know there are quite a few seminarians lurking around this blog and I need your help - and the help of anyone else who's interested (aka bored and ridiculously smart).I'm needing to learn up on "Liberation Theology" - I've been accused of being an espouser of it and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, if it's true or false. I've read what I can on-line about it and it's not

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162495970508193232006-11-02T13:11:00.000-06:002006-11-02T13:32:50.740-06:00

I've written and rewritten large chunks of my book five times now. I'm doing it again.My fear of failure and inability to finish anything that I know won't be perfect are mostly to blame - along with poor time management skills, a lack of discipline and a dozen or so more character flaws that I'll keep between me and the other folks in my head.But then there's this too...Seth Godin writes about

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162488720471066752006-11-02T11:19:00.000-06:002006-11-02T11:32:01.966-06:00

Between us we took three cameras and mine is the worst of the bunch. Even so you can still get a feeling for just how beautiful Ireland is.And old church from the 1700s. This sort of stuff is just strewn around Ireland, nothing written about it, no historical markers. "1700s? That's not old!" It is in America.More from the old church.Beck and me (I'm the tall one) near the Giant's

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162485256635978632006-11-02T09:18:00.000-06:002006-11-02T10:34:22.450-06:00

On the very long flight to Europe I finished reading WHAT ABOUT HITLER?: Wrestling with Jesus's Call to Nonviolence in an Evil World.Here's a little about it.Now, I usually read books twice: Once to get the basic gist of it and the second time with a pen in hand underlining, writing questions in the margins, writing disagreements in between lines, circling things I'd like to learn more about.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162415516955572932006-11-01T15:10:00.000-06:002006-11-01T15:11:56.960-06:00

Ummm...

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162397577854466612006-11-01T09:49:00.000-06:002006-11-01T10:13:00.006-06:00

Like the marginal American Christians we are, we and our friends and all our marginally Christian offspring walked house to house in our neighborhood last night, paying tribute to the Prince of Darkness and all his minions. Apparently we'll do anything for candy.We dressed our kids in tribute to their favorite demons of the underworld: Superman, Spiderman, Cheerleader, Bee, Gorilla, Angel etc.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1162317459338734842006-10-31T11:46:00.000-06:002006-10-31T11:57:43.330-06:00

We arrived in Nashville late last night, Becky and I having successfully stayed awake all day so we'd be ready for bed when we got home - forcing ourselves back onto a U.S. schedule. The kids were a little weirded out when we woke them up this morning - not so sure, I think, that the sugar wielding grandparents should be replaced so soon. I opened the pantry to get started on breakfast to find

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161942426554518882006-10-27T04:42:00.000-05:002006-10-27T04:49:53.866-05:00

We're splitting up today, our last day in London. Brian and Amy headed out a while ago to see Buckingham Palace and London Bridge and Becky and I slept in, got showered and dressed lazily and will eventually head out to the National Gallery to see Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, Seurat and other masters I'v learned about in school but whose works I've never seen up close.Then we're catching a movie.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161905585827690852006-10-26T18:15:00.000-05:002006-10-26T18:37:07.510-05:00

Chicago (the musical, not the city) was great. Actually, sitting down for a couple hours was great - no matter what we watched. but Chicago was great. I need to look up the cast. There were a couple of real stand outs. I'm not familiar with her pop music, but Ashlee Simpson sang and danced very well tonight - no lip syncing I swear.Then we met up with her mom , Tina, and headed back to

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161881020456093322006-10-26T11:24:00.000-05:002006-10-26T18:38:57.206-05:00

We toured St.Paul's Cathedral and West Minster Abbey in London today. St.Paul's is the oldest Protestant (non-Catholic) cathedral (seat of a bishop) in existence and Westminster Abbey is a former medieval monastery and current Anglican church where everyone from Mary Queen of Scots and Sir Isaac Newton to Darwin and Chaucer are buried. Fascinating history: the marriage of church and state, the

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161793851147684802006-10-25T11:21:00.000-05:002006-10-25T11:30:52.066-05:00

Just arrived in London from Scotland (5:15PM), took a cab from the train station to our hostel and checked in. Edinburgh (pronounced Edinburough) was relaxing. We spent almost the entire day touring the castle there, home to Kings and Queens for hundreds of years. More on that later I'm sure.I won't be playing any music here in London but hope to take some in. We'll see the musical Chicago (

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161507636231261952006-10-22T03:50:00.000-05:002006-10-22T04:00:36.353-05:00

I'm on a hotel in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, grabbing some blog time before we head out the door to play a church service nearby. I'm on the lobby computer - no WiFi around these parts. It's been a nice unintentional fast actually from all things wired: No cell phone. No internet. Ahh,relaxing.Wanted to pop by here though to say thanks to all the Ireland bloggers that came to the show last

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161136266840931292006-10-17T20:32:00.000-05:002006-10-17T22:02:36.303-05:00

It's strange, as I've said before, that anyone asks me to come play music for them. Stranger still that an audience shows up to watch this music making. Even stranger when I get asked back.The stranger thing has happened.I'm headed back to Northern Ireland tomorrow, and to some places in Germany for the first time.I toured parts of Europe as the opener for this guys named Michael W something or

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161100637989832012006-10-17T10:00:00.000-05:002006-10-17T11:04:49.790-05:00

Almost a year ago I bumped into Randall Goodgame at a smokey lunchtime dive frequented by construction workers and elderly farmers and their wives. We were both there with our families, eating fried meats and cheesy veggies to the sounds of old school country twang coming from small speakers in a corner.We exchanged e-mail addresses and a little small talk. We said "we should get together

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1161009155333472682006-10-16T09:05:00.000-05:002006-10-16T09:32:36.933-05:00

I held off on blogging this until this morning because so few folks come here on the weekends.A big thank you goes to everyone who had anything to do with the live recording's success on Friday night:THE DONORS: You know who you are. Tons of people made donations for weeks leading up to this recording, and without those donations, seriously, it would not have happened. I was shocked at how

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160881163807271072006-10-14T21:34:00.000-05:002006-10-14T21:59:23.923-05:00

I love Andrew Osenga's blog. If for no other reason, it makes me feel less crazy - crazy in that no-one's-life-is-like-yours kind of way. It can be a bit isolating having such an unusual job, my experiences day to day are in many ways not at all like a "normal" person's. My life's generally too easy, I think. I feel a little guilty about that sometimes when I'm standing on a stage somewhere,

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160865820747127992006-10-14T17:16:00.000-05:002006-10-14T17:43:40.946-05:00

Brian explains it like this. He has four kids. When he asks his kids to smile for a picture his four year-old ends up looking like a Sharpe. very time. His little face wrinkles up, his eyes squint shut. He looks nothing like he does when he's genuinely happy. Brian has zillions of pictures of this completely normal kid looking completely not normal.That was the first show last night at the

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160855084512372952006-10-14T14:26:00.000-05:002006-10-14T14:44:44.720-05:00

After the live recording last night In Knoxville, TN, Brian and I drove (Brian drove and I rode) to Cookeville, TN, about halfway to Nashville. We got about five hours of good hotel bed sleep in, drove to Nashville's airport this morning and took off for Raleigh-Durham. Then flew to Philadelphia. Then drove a short ways to Wilmington, Delaware.All that traveling and we arrived to be told our

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160762358836282452006-10-13T12:54:00.000-05:002006-10-13T12:59:20.473-05:00

I'm blogging from New City Cafe in Knoxville, TN. Just finished lunch at a pizza place across the street. Piano tuner just left. Sully (sound expert for the night) is setting up the stage and taking the front off the upright piano. Don't know how that'll sound, but it looks pretty stinking cool. I trust him. Jim, the recording engineer, is on his way, somewhere in Knoxville traffic. Brian

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160676920375231212006-10-12T13:08:00.000-05:002006-10-12T13:15:20.513-05:00

It's the day before the big day - the recording in Knoxville. Heard about it? New City Cafe. 6:30 and 9:30 PM. Tickets $10 at the door, $5 if you e-mail Brian right now and ask for them. Oh yea, that concert.Anyway, I didn't sleep much last night. I tossed and turned. It was like the night before Christmas, or the night before the night before Christmas.I'm trying to decide to day which

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160674872404029502006-10-12T12:32:00.000-05:002006-10-12T12:48:58.623-05:00

Andy Brockenbeck was my first real enemy. A sixth grader with pale freckled skin, he was a head shorter than I, with the mouth and reputation of a man doing 25 to life. He commanded his gang of three, all of them roundish and speaking mostly in monosyllabic grunts, using only his gifts of intimidation and swagger.I popped a wheely off the curb of Andy's driveway one Saturday and attracted his

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160534206708583042006-10-10T21:06:00.000-05:002006-10-10T21:38:31.610-05:00

I sat in a room today. All day. Me. My guitar. A lap top. All day. I was writing songs, or trying to, and unable then to hang out with my kids much at all.But yesterday was different. Becky cooks dinner on Mondays. Let me explain, because this is the beauty of my neighborhood.There are five families in what we call the cult-de-sac co-op, four in Brian's cul-de-sac and then us - we're on a

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160530587035178882006-10-10T20:23:00.000-05:002006-10-10T21:57:46.906-05:00

Andrew Osenga writes..."My friend Aaron Sands is selling a couple of his basses. He asked me to let folks know about them. For all you bass players out there, Aaron played with Jars of Clay until this past year when he decided to get off the road to be with his family, so you can trust they play well and sound great. They’re expecting a new baby next month, as well, so bid high and bid often!I

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160414649909536032006-10-09T12:21:00.000-05:002006-10-09T15:57:31.903-05:00

Brant's looking for a church. Here's exactly what he wants:"First, I want to be attracted by a glossy mailer.From there, I want to be welcomed, gently, at an Enjoy Level Event, targeted at my kids, where I'm given a non-threatening introduction to the grassy area precariously close to the church's building. I want to then be made aware of the church's Sunday Event.At that Event, I want to be

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160403237925927332006-10-09T09:06:00.000-05:002006-10-09T09:15:35.710-05:00

THIS IS THE WEEK! We record the live project this Friday, October 13 in Knoxville, TN at New CIty Cafe. I recorded an interview with Love 89 in Knoxville this morning to get the word out to their listeners - thanks to Marisa at Love 89 for setting than up.You can still get $5 tickets by e-mailing my booking agent/road manager Brian. thehummingbirdagency@charter.net Tickets are $10 at the

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160334231624877672006-10-08T13:34:00.000-05:002006-10-08T20:19:28.130-05:00

"What if I was So-and-so, and I had such-and-such and X number of people or this or that? What could I accomplish if...?" Grateful for who and where I am but wondering what else could be accomplished if..., I read these words late last night on the drive home from Alabama: "It's with the second temptation that I begin to get curious because it seems so odd to me. It exhibits such a different

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160105749719181612006-10-06T00:23:00.000-05:002006-10-05T22:35:51.383-05:00

I shelled out a couple hundred and my mom matched it and we walked out of Mundt Music in Tyler, Tx with a flashy red sunburst Takamine guitar.I learned how to play on it. Took it to college and played my first gig ever at Common Grounds Coffeehouse in Waco, Tx on it. I wrote all the songs on my first record with it, played it at the showcase for Rocketown Records that got me signed, and used it

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160104452267571652006-10-05T21:22:00.000-05:002006-10-05T22:37:22.660-05:00

Hundreds of shimmering strands hung stretched between the slats of my back door stairs. Gresham stood with a juicy pear dripping in his right hand and his left wrapped around my forefinger. He inhaled deeply, his back arching to take as much air into his three-foot trunk as possible. He drew his lips into a tight circle and blew into the spider web with all his might."Try again," I chided.He

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1160070794926344662006-10-05T12:20:00.000-05:002006-10-05T12:57:02.720-05:00

My colon doesn't handle a pint of cheese and a half dozen tortillas like it did when I was in college. It gets angry.Eric, Jess and Thomas, students at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma, picked me up from the OK CIty airport about 10:30 (PM). As we got nearer to campus I simply asked, innocently, really, "Are you guys hungry?" Seconds later, I don't know exactly how it happened

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159905078787337992006-10-03T14:45:00.000-05:002006-10-03T14:51:19.050-05:00

Attention all non-frequent fliers: The new TSA rule is no more than 3 ounces of gel, cream or other liquid may be brought through security check points. Three ounce containers of the stuff must be removed from your carry-on baggage and placed in a ziploc baggy and run through the scanners. If you do not have a ziploc bag one will be appointed to you by your friendly TSA agent.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159823369493139192006-10-02T15:39:00.000-05:002006-10-03T14:34:10.843-05:00

Terror: Two planes ending 300 lives in fiery collision. Mass graves filled with the bodies of the innocent.Terrorist: A man with a box cutter and a one way ticket in his pocket. A dictator waging war from an underground bunker.These are the definitions in the minds of my white audience. As I speak about shalom and quote the commands of Jesus to refrain from anger, love the enemy and even

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159585670848716492006-09-29T21:50:00.000-05:002006-09-29T22:07:50.950-05:00

Old people eat prunes and drink Milk of Magnesia. Rich people eat caviar and sip ancient wines. Country folk eat biscuits and gravy and guzzle sweet tea. Brits eat fish and chips and drink beer. College students? Well, college students eat crap and drink crap.But crap to one man's colon is heaven come to earth for another. The "another" is usually 19-25, owns an X-Box, has a student loan

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159584438864729422006-09-29T21:36:00.000-05:002006-09-29T22:18:12.540-05:00

I started getting hits today from a relatively new blog Remain Undone, popped on over and read a while. (See how that works?) Good stuff, Rob. Thanks for the link. And sorry, I should have been reading more often.I don't know Rob. I've heard of the church he sings at (he's the music director) and recognize a few of the names in his blog roll, but other than that, complete strangers Rob and I

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159541736420346082006-09-29T08:44:00.000-05:002006-09-29T15:27:04.946-05:00

My wife is hot. We've established that here before. Not hot for a mom of three kids or for a woman in her mid thirties. My wife is just flat out hot. To me even the imperfections she sees in herself are cute quirks that make her, you know, hot. And she's brilliant. She earned a masters in finance and became a CPA. She audited entertainment companies for a large accounting firm for a while

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159502681577324472006-09-28T22:46:00.000-05:002006-09-28T23:04:41.846-05:00

I was brought to the University of North Carolina by Intervarsity to mostly teach and to sing a little. They've been meeting weekly, between three and four hundred college students, this semester to dissect the Sermon on the Mount. The beatitudes, those eight blessings I've been studying and writing about now for a couple years, kick off that sermon from Jesus. So, my job was to teach my

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159469262247012772006-09-28T13:39:00.000-05:002006-09-28T13:47:42.413-05:00

I'm at the University of North Carolina today playing and teaching at an Intervarsity meeting on campus. Nothing to report yet. Just the usual traveling day: getting up before God, packing the suitcases, tossing them in the back seat, picking up Brian and heading to the airport. Once here in North Carolina we ate some "Tex Mex" (not even) and checked into our hotel. I'm spending the next

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159315079505666462006-09-26T18:13:00.000-05:002006-09-26T23:11:16.543-05:00

I'm taking a short break from studying for the conference I'm teaching at this weekend. I'm teaching through the beatitudes - those eight blessings from Jesus in Matthew 5:1-12, the ones I've been studying and teaching and singing about for a couple years now. And I just learned something new about them. Well, about one of them.I've read a couple dozen books and a stack of commentaries,

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159285284411767922006-09-26T09:54:00.000-05:002006-09-26T10:41:30.170-05:00

Have you ever heard "them" say something like "If you don't have enough time, then you're too busy." Well, "they" are wrong.I don't have enough time not because I'm too busy but because I'm a perfectionist, a procrastinator, disorganized and the guys in the black helicopters sneak into my house at night to hide my car keys and my wallet and my shoes and crash my computer. I know this.Today I

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159201732878315562006-09-25T11:20:00.000-05:002006-09-25T11:29:02.113-05:00

Maybe it's because Thriller was the first cassette I ever owned. I don't know. But I like this video. And I want one of those birds...and this scientist lady at my next house party. Ain't no party like a bird lover party. Hee hee hee! Sham'on!

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159127824451455922006-09-24T14:29:00.000-05:002006-09-24T21:01:40.513-05:00

I'm not asking how you're doing so I can "share Jesus" with you. I'm not listening to you so you'll listen to me talk about God. I'm not hanging out with you so I can make you a Christian.I'm your friend because I'm one. And being one makes me love people. Makes me love you.Sorry for all the Christians you got burned by before me. Relatives. Friends. Co-workers. Fellow passengers on

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1159041648331921232006-09-23T14:52:00.000-05:002006-09-23T15:00:48.423-05:00

Help please! I'm using Entourage (First mistake, using a Microsoft product when a perfectly good Apple alternative is available) and my internet service provider is Bellsouth (And number two mistake, their DSL is buggy and slow in my neighborhood - but cheap).I'm getting an error message from Entourage when I try to send mail to certain people. These people don't seem to have anything in common:

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158990370415893312006-09-23T00:16:00.000-05:002006-09-23T01:06:46.466-05:00

I'm done (I hope) with the graphic end of the new shaungroves.com. Kat's turn now to code this sucker and make it work with the "back end" she's already completed. (What I like to call "the guts".)This is the fourth shaungroves.com incarnation of my career and my favorite so far - simply because it's different and more functional and full than the last three. They were fine but they didn't do

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158940154755760672006-09-22T10:42:00.000-05:002006-09-22T10:49:14.763-05:00

Supersimbo's bringing me to Ireland and has created a cool little blog button in his sidebar to promote the show. Got me wondering if there are other bloggers in Germany or Ireland who would be interested in posting similar promo banners on their blogs to spread the word about the upcoming European leg of our What's Wrong With This World Tour. (End of October)Let me know if you are and where you

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158939054936478862006-09-22T10:10:00.000-05:002006-09-22T10:36:17.543-05:00

How do you build an eight page artist website for $622? Do it yourself. Kat's donated her time and energy to creating all the code and hard stuff and purchasing the right guts for me and I've been working for, um, forever in the graphic end of things. I'm putting the finishing touches on the artwork this weekend. Soon, very soon, the new shaungroves.com will be launched and a new shlog.com

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158853453828395212006-09-21T10:36:00.000-05:002006-09-21T10:44:14.246-05:00

From Andrew Beaujon's Body Piercing Saved My Life. Is this true?Worship tunes tend to evince an adolescent theology, one that just can't get over how darn cool it is that Jesus sacrificed himself for the world. "Our God is an awesome God." "Oh Lord, you are glorious." "How can it be/That you, a king, would die for me?" Moreover, it's self-centered in a way that reflect evangelicalism's

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158851865201067812006-09-21T09:21:00.000-05:002006-09-21T10:55:50.583-05:00

What kind of marketer are you? Am I? You are one whether you realize it or not.Seth Godin is the guru of marketing I've been waiting for the last five years, able to condense all the malarky and guess work of marketing down to musician-level simplified inspiration and practical application. (Thanks Matthew for introducing us.)He's written about permission marketing a great deal - the idea that

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158764615442888442006-09-20T08:58:00.000-05:002006-09-20T10:03:35.786-05:00

I took my seat on the aisle as usual and tried to look smelly and mean. There were a zillion pixels needing to be pushed around on my computer screen, twice as many e-mails awaiting replies and I work better alone. Alone as in no one sitting next to me elbowing me throughout the two hour flight, no one with a crying or squirming child, no one trying to start conversations despite my laptop

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158684285994258102006-09-19T11:39:00.000-05:002006-09-19T11:44:46.003-05:00

Brian's neighbor/my friend Brody is hitting the road for three months with an undisclosed band. Well, kinda undisclosed. He writes..."The band I am traveling with requested a certain anonymity, and I can only imagine it's because of certain privacy policies. So, for the next three months, it will be, "so long self" because I am here to serve and work behind the scenes. And if any other band

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158674214493548762006-09-19T08:39:00.000-05:002006-09-19T08:56:55.680-05:00

Do you ever feel like you're doing more harm than good? The thought's crossed my mind this morning. I wonder if part of that self-doubt exists because, well, fact is, those we hurt are often louder than those we help. I tend to carry around the one criticism from the past week as if it were a boulder, the majority view, as if there isn't a mountain of good that came out of the same seven days

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158597248469615892006-09-18T11:28:00.000-05:002006-09-18T11:34:08.586-05:00

Josh Cassidy - one of my guitar players, an IKONer, and a good friend - has started a blog where he promises to post one of his paintings every day...ish.Check it out.

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158464446591722432006-09-16T22:26:00.000-05:002006-09-16T22:40:47.090-05:00

Last night's suburban camp out by the numbers:9 kids 8 and under.4 dads.4 tents.1 backyard.1 campfire (OK, a small grill.)25 hot dogs and 10 hamburgers.1 bag of large marshmallows.1 dozen Hershey bars.1 box of Graham Crackers.4 campfire songs.8:30 bedtime.54 degrees Fahrenheit.50 barking dogs.10,000,000 crickets.A dozen "I'm scared"s300 mosquito bites.1 sleepless night.4 aching adult backs.9 kids

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12585839.post-1158343722890756062006-09-15T12:47:00.000-05:002006-09-19T11:34:58.500-05:00

Derek Webb is offering his entire year-old record Mockingbird for "free" over at freederekwebb.com. Why sandwich the word free in quotes?SHE AIN'T BUYING ITWell, while it's technically free, monetarily speaking, some think it comes at a price - a price they're not willing to pay. Kat over at thesecretlifeofkat.com says she was disappointed that "in order to download the album I have to sign up

Shaun Grovesnoreply@blogger.com104