Nifty Noodles/Gone with The Wind
3/23/08 Birmingham, Alabama … Briarwood Presbyterian
I was late out of LAX .. missed a flight, spent the night in Phili… missed the first of two Easter services in Birmingham. My voice cracked once in I love you with my life… haven’t cracked like that since Jr High… I was a little nervous I think.. I was in the Bible belt after all… and man everybody was dressed up. I was wearing the same clothes from last night of course… thanks to the flippant lack of managerial experience brought to you by U.S. Airlines. Connections were tight every time and no flight left on time. And the “apology” on the loudspeaker comes off with a true lack of empathy on the part of the airline. It was a nine hour trip home too.

The gig on the other hand was a good surprise. I had unrealistic expectations of what the south might truly be like these days.. hadn’t been to Alabama in several years. I even cut my hair for the gig! What I found was a southern drawl reminiscent of the movie “Gone With The Wind”. There was a surprised kind of enthusiasm from folks on Sunday night as I brought an entire concert. Most had never heard someone talk of recovery even as a Christian… and the need for continual grace long after salvation is a fact. I opened with Chains come in every shape and size and quoted my new favorite scripture from Psalms…”the suffering you sent was good for me.. it caused me to consider your principles”… 119: 71

“you might lose a few of the older people” music pastor Clay told me. They’ve not heard much of the kind of music you bring. “Old people?” let’s see I’m 55 myself.. so how old do you have to be to not like my stuff? “I got my first ever “senior discount” last night” I told him. I was not compensated for the missed connection in Philadelphia cause “it wasn’t our fault” says U.S. Airlines… it was “traffic control”… so I had to get a room for the night as no other flights were available. “you got any discounts I can use”? I asked the lady… “well you are old” I think she said 8)… “let’s see… we can give you fifty bucks off the room’…hey… now that’s a discount!...maybe 55 is my lucky number!.

Anyway.. for the sake of the “older” people I opened the Sunday night thing toned down a notch. The sound was really nice and the building was new but designed in a historic kind of way with original church pews!. Hadn’t been to a church with pews for some time. The good news was it was a decent turn out for a Sunday night after all the Easter festivities. Maybe six hundred still mostly in coats and ties! 8)…. I didn’t lose anybody during the concert though so I was grateful. The local radio guys showed up with a lot of enthusiasm as well.. they were “old school” too…loved all the old CCM artists and talked of songs I wrote but don’t remember these days.

“I saw a different attitude from you this time” one man stated afterward. Noting a lack of “tension” in my face he said. “more honest and down to earth”.. he added as well. Well.. life tends to make you a little more humble in yer presentation of things I think. I actually thanked the crowd for giving me a couple hours of their lives. And I meant it… I see people differently now… in the early days of my career I always noticed the empty chairs first!... now at least I see real people who went out of their way to be here to hear me sing. Now that’s a real blessing no matter how old I am.

I even heard next day from someone who said they came by “accident”… didn’t know I was gonna be there and had never heard of me anyway! But “God wanted me there I think”… she said… “you had some things to say that I’d never heard in church before”… well now I am surprised. I don’t feel that honest really. But then again it’s all in how you present the love of God as you have experienced it… I do remember sayin at one point… “Oswald Chambers told me never to pose as a spiritually profound person”…”even the ocean has a shore” I added… “so I’m just gonna sing my songs and tell you a little of where I’ve been”… maybe that’s different from a sermon.

O.K. so there’s that! Bryan D

Nifty Noodles/New Blog.................
3/20/08 Front Office…
I’m really not much of a political activist. But I recorded a song with Kenny Metcalf yesterday for John McCain… we took Eric Clapton’s song “Cocain” and made a spoof tune out of it.. it was mostly for the laugh!.... the sad thing is.. I was astonished at how many of my younger friends don’t know the original song… this is how you know yer an old man… when no body remembers the stuff you do!.

Still I’ve never in my career recorded something and had it aired on the same day on the other side of the country! Until yesterday.. by two oclock in the afternoon we were finished singin it down… and by six it was on a political talk show in Washington D.C. …. This morning it was already being played locally on 101.3 KATY… an old school rock station… they found it on the internet… wow how fast is that!.

Man I wish my career worked like this all the time!. I guess it’s a matter of serving someone else’s agenda that helps.

And of course ‘Covering’ someone elses hit helps with the immediate identification and use. New songs have to be ‘arranged’ and scrutinized to the tenth degree and worried about.. “is anybody gonna buy this chili?” . I got ten new songs lined up for the NehoSoul Band project called “Still Dancin”…. It’s taken three years… so far… and we still gotta mix and master it… at least it’s not like a movie where you know in two weeks if you have a successful project… I can nurse this project for five years and have a longer window to make up my investment.

I’m just short of faking my own death to find a new marketing approach! 8)….joking of course but I had a near miss on my motorcycle the other day… first one ever for me…

Couldn’t stop shaking for a few hours….I was mostly worried about it taking my bike out of service though… I’ve been riding to my gigs in Southern California… now the trips to the gigs aren’t as boring… over my career all that ‘Van” time driving to gigs… and “Air time” traveling through airports has made me wanna take up gardening… I break out in a rash just goin to the airport anymore. They’ve managed to make that a gauntlet to hell since the OSAMA accomplishment.

Which brings me back to the political thing again… does anybody else have a problem with having the next prez of the U.S. with a name the rhymes with Osama? Obama seems very ‘presidential” really… but man I don’t know where he’s comin from ..just seems a little too slick… but then I voted for Nixon… twice… so don’t take any comfort from my expertise… I believe ultimately in a “higher power” who “establishes kings and dethrones them as well”…. I think it spoken of in the Old Testament. I hope God knows whats goin on here… cause I have made poor decisions almost as often as any president of the United States 8)

o.k. so there’s that…. Bryan D

Nifty Noodles/New Pitchin'
3/18/08 Front Office…
Drove to Newport Beach this morning with a guitar and my little ipod and carrier… sung an hours worth of stuff to mostly staff at Sober Living By The Sea. They’ve been around for over twenty years here as a recovery program and I had the opportunity to show how my new songs fit into the stories of recovery. I sat at a boardroom table and played the tracks and sang off handed. I felt like I was pitching jingles almost. But the impact was made and perhaps concerts with their program might be produced in the future.

Man it’s a new world out there. Most places there’s very little name recognition for me to lean on. I’ve been scripting a new approach to my concerts as well. Putting a list of songs together that speak in a specific Biblical direction to the process of redemption. It will be set up to include the local pastor or someone in leadership to join me on stage for the presentation. In speaking to people this week in ministry it seems to be getting some interest as they begin to see how the songs tie to an eternal message. They always have but I’ve been negligent in explaining that in recent years. Sometimes you just gotta spell it out and come along side others as a co-laborer.

I hope this approach helps redirect me as well. I’m looking at the overview of the message in “Still Dancin” project… Redemption is still at it’s core… and calling my solo shows a presentation of that road I hope will bring a renewed interest in my songs. Also calling the presentation Road To Redemption I may inspire interest in the Radio Rehab shows still available on line. And with the new articles in Wheels of Grace I hope to trade favors by having an add placed for Radio Rehab as the front cover is the front wheel of a motorcycle!

o.k. so keep coming back I always say…. Bryan D

Nifty Noodles/ I Can't Drive 55
3/14/08 Pismo Beach, CA
I made my longest solo run on Jezebel. Under the threat of rain this weekend I made the six hour trip up the coast to Pismo Beach for a concert. Defiant that I was not gonna be deterred by the weather anymore. I’ve been out with severe cold symptoms all week and I was just plain tired of being sick. The sun was out though on Friday morning as I went from home to Santa Clarita then to Santa Paula to Santa Barbara and thru Santa Maria!

Paul had his missionary journeys and I will have my bike tours. Of course I’ve never been ship wrecked or beaten in the name of Jesus. No my beatings are more on an emotional level. But Pismo Beach was not a trip to Mars Hill either. It was a full house of like minds and soul’s passion. I opened with “I’m still dancing”… a story of survival and those in the room understand surviving things… they resonated with “Chains come in every shape and size” and they danced and laughed through the song “if you wanna be lonely”, recognizing the pitfalls of hidden self righteousness.

If any thing I was clear in my perspective though not as much clear of voice. Still struggling with cold symptoms but it didn’t deter my enthusiasm and passion for my new songs. I could see their meanings merging with my spiritual experiences. “You Keep me Coming back” though written as a love song, it fits the concept of “lifting each other up” and that is the way I sang it too.

I was encouraged to find eleven year olds ecstatic about the concert (specifically the “danceable tunes” ). I also talked to a couple of nineteen year old guys who presented me their state ordered rehab cards to sign off on (as a joke). “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen” one told me. “well I’m honored you’d listen to a soon to be 55 year old man” I told them.

I celebrated after the show, with some thirty Black Sheep who rode in for the concert. And next morning lit out on Jezebel just ahead of a cold front that chased me all the way back to Riverside. I raced home to get in just an hour before cold rain and sleet hit the ground, leaving almost a half inch of freezing slush on the landscape. I was given a small window of great weather, just enough to make my last weekend as a 54 year old memorable.

O.k. so there’s THAT! Bryan D

Nifty Noodles/ Motorcycle Mag Writer
Front Office 3/12/08
So after hangin out at the National Black Sheep leadership summit two weeks ago, I got a call from the publisher of Wheels of Grace Motorcycle Magazine. I’d ask him about writing something for the mag. Oddly enough he asked if I could send him something. So I sent him my latest noodle about the funeral of Sharon Chiles that I sang a couple songs for. His editor loved it and asked for a second article. So I wrote a little piece called Confessions of a Christian Biker… and I sent in pics of Jezebel.

Now as God might have it, I’ve agreed to write a series for them. Mostly for the opportunity to write, but also a chance to have Radio Rehab listed in the adds as a kind of exchange.

I’m pretty excited about writing just to write. I’m not waiting on anybody to finish tracks or mix things down. Or package it. It’s a lot faster and cheaper and it keeps me occupied in a good direction.

I leave tomorrow for a six hour solo ride on my bike. Playin a concert in Pismo Beach. It’s another opportunity to ride to work! Several chapters of Black Sheep in southern California are planning to ride in for support. This is the good stuff!.

O.k. SO there’s that! Bryan D

Nifty Noodles/ Black Sheep weekend

Lake Elsinore, CA Lambs Fellowship 3/1/08

Lambs Fellowship is the home church of the founding chapter of Black Sheep Harley Davidson's for Christ outreach ministry. It was the National Leadership Summit this weekend. I went to hang out mostly. Sang a couple of tunes but this was about the nuts and bolts of how to get things accomplished. The organizing of ministry is not something I look forward to as I sat through an "IRS class" that was required for all chapters on how to stay inside the tax rules on raising money and giving it away.

Still it was mostly great fellowship with other motorcycle enthusiasts who are looking for ways to give back to the biker community. We heard from Peter Cay publisher of "Wheels of Grace" magazine a Christian bike publication, Fred Z president of Bikers For Christ on proper conduct around outlaw clubs. (that was enlighting to say the least). And of course the National Pres of Black Sheep Marty Edwards.

I met bikers from thirty states. Some road their bikes... from as far away as Pennsylvania to be here. One guy told me a story of carving a strip out of the snow just so he could ride his bike in the winter! (this is why I live in California)

I sang "Chains" from the "Still Dancin" project... maybe I should call it "Still Unfinished"...and closed a short music presentation with "Strollin on the Water". "I had to make a career decision about weather to have a band or a bike here today" I opened... "you can see my bike outside"...I smiled. it was a way to excuse my track performance but I really wished I could show these guys the NehoSoul Band in person.

It was perfect motorcycle weather in California for a change too... California Poppys were ablaze with color against the local hills now covered in green grass after all the rain last week. It was hard to keep my bike in the parking lot frankly. Jezebel was just one of 400 bikes in the parking lot. I talked on Saturday to a local biker who was just coming from the biker bar down the street.. he was "lit" to say the least.. "I saw all the bikes at this church parking lot and it looked like there was more fun here than at the bar" he added wobbling...with broad sweeping hand gestures.. he sat in for a while... and hence the point of having a motorcycle ministry... bikers attract other bikers!

Nothing gives better opportunity to love others than a shared enthusiasm for something good. My local chapter in Riverside met on sunday night to say good bye to one of our members who's moving to Washington State.. we presented him with the ugliest trophy ever concocted. A gold biker helmet with lights and feathers and "eyeballs" on it... we had won it at the last annual Motorcycle Olympics.. took it from the reigning Temecula Chapter for the first time since the Games were invented!

In all the laughter and the helmet ended up being passed around the restaurant to curios patrons who were taking pictures with it! see now that's the way to meet people ... in the middle of a great time.

O.k. so there's THAT! bryan d

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