Bryan & Kenny Metcalf sing at the Toy Run
Nifty Noodles
Nifty Noodles/ Wrap it UP
Nifty Noodles/ Oh come all ye old folks
Nifty Noodles/ Kissimee
Nifty Noodles/ Neho Christmas
Nifty Noodles/ Interview
Nifty Noodles/ Back at The Toy Run
12/27/07 Front Office
Well after wrapping all the gifts, mostly things we can’t afford… we begin to wrap up the year…something we can’t avoid. Christmas this year was like none other in my life… all new.
Oh seven started for me in a small apartment and found me in a huge house by August, mostly thanks to the plummeting real estate market In California. Renting a house is cheaper than an apartment for now.
Highlight of Christmas was having my sons over, playin games. Best gift? A pair of house slippers (both for the left foot!). I think this Christmas reflected the kind of year it has been too. Gifts were less expensive overall. But like in the Grinch movie…even with less trappings.. we could still sing!
I chose mostly to share presents with my kids that were designed to be more for the smile and the memory… (last year I got both of em a picture of me! ) This year I got my oldest son a giant remote control that he couldn’t lose if he threw it in a dumpster! And for my “Disney” son… a megaphone that changes his voice pitch… not that he needed that. For me?, it was a set of Ginsu Knives and a “Duck Chucker”!
This year didn’t bring the culmination of much of anything…. A stepping stone in life.. filled with many a steep learning curve. I end the year hopeful but mostly unfulfilled. My plans and God’s timing seem to be a little out of wack lookin back at this one.
Next year I will start some new books. I ordered “Blue Like Jazz” and “The Choice”… one spiritual and the other, simply a novel. I think I’m gonna give Oswald the year off mostly. All my spiritual insights have seemed to dry up. I’m trusting God for a new vision I guess… but setting sail requires leaving the shore line and all that has been familiar.
God has fallen silent on me… and the insecurity that that brings is indescribable. I will hope to finish the project with NehoSoul Band in the near months but again I add.. if it be God’s will. We’re one song away now… and then mixing and mastering and a photo session…and packaging … and manufacturing …and marketing…. Thank God there’s another year coming 8)….
Happy Neho year I say… go forth and conquer…out flank the opposition! O.k. so there’s that… Bryan D
12/20/07 Sunrise Assisted Living, Riverside CA
“I think this time of year we all need a little assisted living”…I opened…. I volunteered to sing a few tunes at the annual Assisted Living Christmas gathering. Around a 100 people close to a hundred years old each, many suffering from Alzheimer’s. I was singing as soft as I could… opening with “Christmas Time is here” and talking about Charlie Brown.. they remembered him fondly… and everyone was clearly enjoying the commentary.
I sung walkin in a winter wonderland for the first time this year. (the band didn’t pick that one for the live shows). It was a big hit here.. and they were all singing along. I had a deeper respect for this elderly crowd. I’m right behind them on my own journey these days. And they seemed more like kids only without the energy.
By the end of thirty minutes of my songs, I was loosing the whole front row… they were falling asleep! Or maybe the medications were kicking in. There was egg nog afterward and it was a rewarding time for me shakin hands with the residents. Actually having a formal Christmas setting and group Christmas singing is what really brings home that Christmas is here and it is wonderful…
I finished with “What a Wonderful World” and it was deeply received I think. Especially cause this song was probably a brand new song when these folks were kids!
O.k. so there’s That… Bryan D.
12/22/07 Church Without Walls, Riverside, CA
The best thing about doin music locally is I get to sleep in my own bed after the gig. This year I got to stay close to my own Christmas tree instead of watchin the one in the Hotel lobby. This was another act of benevolence on my part and I got a free tri-tip dinner out of the deal. Set was 45 minutes of a three hour Christmas party that included many many prayers.
I was home by nine… with the satisfaction that I had presented a first class version of Christmas songs in a style I’m sure they have never heard before.
CWW is a grand collection of ethnic backgrounds. “the colors of the rainbow… are also on the faces”…. From “what a wonderful world” was really appropriate here.
I had some real feelings about my convictions this evening. About searching for the right things to remain focused on at Christmas.
O.K. so….. I’m through working till new years…. Merrrrrrrry CHriiiiiiiiiistmasssss Bryan D
12/15/07 Kissimee, Florida
Life Church is an “Assembly of God” background program… Duke is the pastor a real “no nonsense” kind of guy too, very down to earth…he knows my dad and remembers him as a kind man. He also grew up on my music in his early Christian life. So I came to play Christmas music for his church outside of Disney World. Two morning services, and to get there I flew a marathon from California To Orlando… through delays, weather, and maintenance problems. Got in around midnight on Saturday with a six a.m. wake up call for the morning services and soundcheck.
Nice hotel but I couldn’t sleep. The wind was blowin hard even in the summer like warmth. Tornado’s were threatening again as last time I was here.
Met a man at the hotel offering me ‘weed and women!’. Hey welcome to Florida I thought… had to avoid drugs and prostitution before I’d opened my hotel room door. Yea I coulda witnessed to him (and her) I suppose but I thought for my own sake I might wanna just move on quickly. Sometimes it’s my own salvation that I worry about.
I was at the church plenty early… nearly an hour and a half before service. I’m exhausted.. didn’t fall asleep before three a.m. cause I’m on California time too. First service was a real struggle to fight through jet lag. Second service was great except for the attention deficit… knocked over a music stand at one point… forgot the words to my own “this Christmas” song.. and started over… crowd seemed more entertained by my failures than my music. I started with fun up stuff but by the end I couldn’t help finishing with the song “peace”… “not all Christmas memories are good ones” I admitted. Speaking of missing my grandmother who passed away two years ago.. but I was thinking of other memories that will always remain there rather than in reality. “This is why Christ was born” I said “because there is a “hopelessness” without a savior”… and I finished the second set with “what a wonderful world” and the response was very positive.
The last song is simply about Gratitude….but it does not come without an awareness of the inequities of life… or perhaps it is just not as powerful a thing… it’s like forgiveness.. offered cheap it returns rather cheap. But there is something wonderful about finding a sense of your own gratitude through all the trials of life that just adds to your own salvation.
It was a long ride home on Sunday afternoon.. three hours of airport hell in Orlando… everybody brings their kids here!... I lost my drivers license for an hour and couldn’t get through security without it… Skycap never gave it back! After that it was a ten hour extravaganza of down time, half asleep, legs cramping from the long hours.. all just to get home a little earlier. The Road is maybe worse than it’s ever been and fatigue never feels good… but ain’t no place like home and no amount of suffering is too much to get there!
Good thing on this gig… I met a couple of singers that may be interested in doing the band date with me in Feb just an hour away…Sam is the worship leader at Life Church… has a great tenor voice… and Duke’s own daughter McKinsey just sixteen has a wonderfully soulful voice as well…lookin forward to adding some “local vocals” to the mix when NehoSoul returns to Florida.
O.K. SO there’s THAT…. Bryan D
12/07/07 Grand Rapids, MI
The NehoSoul Band converged on downtown Grand Rapids… with a little help from long time Club 4-40 founder Pete Muir who picked everybody up and arranged for a rehearsal of our first Christmas show of Oh Seven!. It was our first official “corporate date” too… brought to you by Gordon Foods.. the largest family owned business in America I’m told.
This gig came about because of a couple who work for this company who saw me alone in concert several years ago and suggested to the Gordon Family that they should have the NehoSoul Band in. I apparently had given them a free CD at that show and shook their hands in passing during the concert. It’s an example of what a little kindness produces sometimes… and years down the road.
We convened at “Pete’s school for tech heads”. (Grace University) Met most of his understudies, (they all looked like ‘sound guys too”). And so rehearsal had an audience as we tried to remember what keys and mind sets we were in when we recorded the Christmas project.”being here for the rehearsal has been the highlight of my semester” one guy told me. I was exhausted after flyin all day as were the rest of the band but we had to sieze the opportunity…. And that came around 9 p.m. and went till around 1a.m. and included the first argument between me and Ricky B about the set list… I think the fatigue was playin into that a lot but the tech guys got to hear ‘where the rubber meets the road’…the uncomfortable pressure of bringin the best we have to offer.. which varies in opinion sometimes.
Sound check came at 9:30 a.m. in a thunderous hall soon to hold some 5,000 people. It was more of a Christmas Fair atmosphere. There were several bands set to play on numerous stages around the convention Center as well as other “talent”… “you guys were better than the jugglers!” was the highlight comment after our first set of the night.
The Sound was great and Tim Coleman (our official sax player on gigs we can afford him was able to join us on this one) but the audience must have been next door at the comedian show. We were expecting this huge crowd that never quite found us. I discovered later that we were listed as on the “Christian Stage”… once again discounted to whatever people’s definitions are there. And I’m sure we would have drawn a good response without the label. Why can’t we just be a really good band here? Its like if yer Christian we gotta warn people.
Bottom line is the folks that sat through our show were impressed cause what can I say here… the NehoSoul Band is top of the line! And the delivery here was absolutely top notch. But I left a little down… whadda ya gotta do to get folks attention? 2nd show was a miserable turn out… until the end when people started wandering in … but they were showin up for the Other “Christian band” ..33 mile. I guess there’s a fine line between preachin to the choir and understanding who wants to be at the show… but I gotta say… I’m lookin for some new horizons here.. out on the street. I was hoping for the opportunity to hit a wider cross section of people here…. It was disappointing on that end but the good news… We have band gigs this week!... gotta start somewhere. And we came away with a giant banner with the band’s picture on it. Gordon Foods went all out in their production and presentations. Sound was great!
Thanks to Pete Muir for making so many details work .
12/8/07 Portland Oregon…
Southlake Church in West Linn is the surprise of the year! I Met Wilson Smith, a musician from this church, when the band played near here back in the summer. (thought is was funny that “Wilson” works for Nike shoes). Anyway we joined forces with him as he had several top notch singers and players in mind from Southlake. And we added a Great sax player (Danny …somthin never got his last name right) and four extra singers from their program. Can’t remember all their names either…there was a Rachel and Dorcus (I remembered the biblical names at least,) and Leisa and Selena.
Also joining us were the four girls who’ve helped with bgv’s for Neho everytime we’ve been to the northwest this year…Shari, Angie, Petra and Vanessa.
We missed Rich Davis who had planned to sing with us and intro the band… couldn’t make this one this time.
Still the new Christmas stuff was outrageously good with all the vocal support. I was in heaven. Both shows were packed. And let me tell you this church is bringin a quality in “atmosphere” that is unmatched by any big church in this country. Seats maybe five hundred, but stage and lights and video screens were all first rate. It made for the best visual presentation of the band ever! And we have video footage! I hope to use some of it in the promotion of the new project and the Christmas live pitches in the future.
Thanks to Sheri Shershall the video wiz who put together a montage of dance clips from famous movies to go with our “Still Dancin” number… so as we played that down you saw three screens of scenes from “happy feet”, ‘singin in the rain”, and “footloose” to name a few. Sheri also provided great screen backgrounds for the Christmas material and the stage lighting was spectacular!. Christmas songs we agreed upon for this show were “Silent night’, ‘christmas comes but once a year’,’this Christmas’, Christmas time is here”, ‘Peace’, and my new favorite performance.. “little drummer boy’. The singers made this a wonderful presentation. We also did our standard jam numbers “step by step” and Wheels of a good thing”… and added “I love you so” and “love takes time”.
The northwestern U.S. is a perfect place to jump start the band as most of the Soul Brothers live in the area. I hope to have another concert with SouthLake Church. They were wonderfully supportive of this effort and really brought an ambiance with table seating and candles. It was a dinner theater approach that I wish I could recreate across the country at Christmas time.
This weekend constitutes the whole of the Nehosoul Band presentations until February of next year when we will reconvene in Florida for a regular concert at The Villages and do a drop in at the Bourbon Street Grille nearby. I will be in Florida doin a solo performance this weekend as well and the rest of the month is local fare in my own back yard.
Lost my voice from the travel fatigue when I got home, but I got a real Christmas tree this year.. first one in four years… and now for the shopping duties, and a gig tonight at Teen Challenge in Riverside.
O.K. so there’s that…. Neho Christmas Y'all….
Bryan D
Front Office 12/6/07
Started a book today called “my interview with God”…thought it would be interesting… not sure it is what I expected as I was recalling an email someone sent me with a similar title… “what would you ask God in an interview”… it started with “God, what surprises you most about your children?” I was deeply intrigued to imagine insights from God about peripheral things… and of course with the movies recently about conversations with God such as Evan Almighty… I have been considering my own prayer life as it needs some serious overhaul if I want to be intimate with God.
So this morning I made up my own exercise that might have brought some closer communion with God in my own prayer life! I asked myself the question… ‘what would God say to me if he walked in my office in the flesh?” and I closed my eyes and imagined it as a surprise visit… and I wrote some things down from the conversation that would probably flow more evenly… but here’s the highlights of my imaginary meeting in a moment with God….
What does God say to me if he walked in the room in the flesh….?
“BRYAN”!...... (long pause here… and I’m feeling very naked)
“your world isn’t as small as you make it”
“your seemingly Inconsequential encounters have a bigger purpose than you think”
“Your heart is more full than you know”
“what you see is not all there is”
“that unfulfilled longing you feel is only there for this life… to provide motivation to pursue me”
“the emptiness you feel in this world will not kill you”
“there are good things I won’t explain to you right now”
“yer missing the point”
“most of your relationship with me has been to impress someone else”
“I’m not horrified by your behavior by the way… I know what yer gonna do”
“you are exactly who I have made you to be”
“you are exactly where I have placed you.. trust me”
“you have no ability to ruin my plans… I’m bigger than you think”
I’m thinking how speechless I would be as I realize my thoughts are known before I can assemble a sentence… it slows down the conversation for one thing… but God is patient allowing me to process at the speed of molasses…
And then I thought about what that would truly feel like… an intense heat followed by extreme light…fear maybe… or panic…and then … awe!... and Relief… and a feeling of pure satisfaction… and I thought harder about it.. and wondered.. maybe not…seems to me that God would approach in a very unassuming manner as he often does in scripture where it doesn’t quite dawn on you who yer talking to!.... anyway…I’m just thinking out loud here about how to “improve my conscious contact with God”….
O.k. so there’s that… Bryan D
12/4/07 Yorba Linda, “California VTX riders Toy Run” and party.
This last weekend I joined my friend Kenny Metcalf’s BACK YARD BAND again for the second year in a row. We played for the California VTX Riders Association… his motorcycle club’s TOY RUN… I was the only Harley owner there!.. some hundred Honda’s out front where we played a three hour set. It was a fun combination of old rock music… from Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Grand Funk Railroad, Heart, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughn etc….
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