Nifty Noodles/ Swing Time
9/30/02
just back from Miami, FL.
One concert and 4 church services this weekend...and two golf rounds!!! The concert was in Miami sponsored by Logoi... Sounds like Oh boy! they're a Spanish outreach doing things in Cuba. I was supposed to sing something in Spanish and bring lots of Spanish CD's but Word records has discontinued the Spanish CD and I don't sell enough of 'em to make the investment in a reprint. So... I played a song from that CD and deliberately did a poor "lipsync" job. It was a point of humor as you might imagine.

O.k. So the next day we were free, as the next gig was 30 minutes down the road... So we played on a really cool PGA golf course... I played with more grace than I usually allow myself if ya know what I mean. Mulligan was an Irishman.. Could've been my cousin!

That night I sung two songs at a Saturday night church service at Calvary Chapel of Ft Lauderdale... The places seats 3800 and it is full four times a week end. After hearing the pastor, Bob Coy, I can see some of the interest... He's a mixture of personalities from several sitcoms... You're 20 minutes into the sermon before you realize you're attending a bible study. Very enjoyable... And he is very unassuming... He likes to show up early and hang around to meet people before they know who he is... He looks like your average guy... And he introduces himself by saying... Hi I'm Bob. That's it... I guess too that he can get a real idea of motive and attitude from the guests who might not realize who he is... I didn't either at first. But I was too tired from Golf to have a bad attitude... So that was a good thing. Calvary Chapel is an intimidating place when you walk in... A huge church... And my feeling is "why do they need me".

Never the less I was comfortable there. And I enjoyed the hang... They got us on the Golf course behind the church after the last service... So wow... I could develop a second skill maybe.... Or not.

I'm bryan thanks for lettin me share....

Nifty Noodles/ An Exercise
9/17/02
Tuesday, Jackson, Tn
Spent three days getting to and from this date. Why they picked a Tuesday to do this gig I don't know. But it was an exercise in focus for me. The turn out was dismal but the sound was nice and we just turned the lights out in the house and went with it. The lack of people was accentuated by the huge facility. Never the less there were people there and I focused on a mother with her four kids in the front row. My concentration became critical. It was an exercise in "what do I believe in my songs". It would have been easy to feel irrelevant in light of the low attendance. But I am trusting that God will make all things right if I surrender to his will. In this case I had no control over who showed up.

It's hard not to think about the wrong things when I'm on stage... I have a negative mind set naturally which I'm trying to overcome. Here, I had a chance to try a new attitude on for size. The highlight was the conversation with my manager, Ray and my booking agent, Holly who drove with me and my sound man David Rowe from Nashville.

We found an open Ihop after the show and I enjoyed pancakes with my favorite syrup... Butter pecan! It's up there with Krispy Kream I'm telling you.

A point to be grateful for here: on the way to the gig we were in a car accident on highway 100. An hour and a half from Jackson, Tn. No one was hurt. And though I was driving... It wasn't my fault (for a change). We were rear ended on the on ramp by a mom in a mini van in a major hurry. I stopped for an idiot who doesn't know the meaning on the sign "merge". The driver in front of me came to a complete stop entering the highway and we were sitting dead still. The crash took out the entire left tail light and fender of Holly's near new car and jammed the doors closed on the drivers side.

We got out like it was just another potty stop, mostly consoling the woman who hit us. She was quite shaken up but no injuries. David tore the hanging fender off the car and we were on the road (carefully) within an hour.

So file this one under proper focus for our attitudes. The small things matter!

I'm bryan d ....Thanks for lettin me share

Nifty Noodles/ Chula hoop
9/15/02
Chula Vista...
Did a couple of songs at two morning services at classic California kind of church.. Casual and comfortable with energetic pastor and driving worship music. I'm amazed at the musicians.

I'm here for an afternoon picnic on the lawn out front. We're in the foothills above the Pacific ocean. I received a God send after the morning gigs... A doctor with a cortizon shot. He said he could tell I was fighting an "infection". He doesn't know the half of it!

That and a good P.A. System made this gig feel like the Newport Jazz festival. A sophisticated crowd who appreciated every nuance in the music. I experienced several moments of Serenity on the way home.

Thanks for lettin me share. Bryan d

Nifty Noodles/upper room
9/14/02
Upper Room Christian Café
Redlands, Ca
Two shows in this great coffee house. Seven thousand square feet of high class coffee bar. The stage is in an adjoining room from the bar. The place seats three hundred easy. Unfortunately we only had two hundred. For the two shows. But concerts have to be promoted and I didn't know what to expect. The shows went well.. The first show was the highlight... I was still in a good mood.

I'm fighting a throat infection this week and I was happy to finish the two shows without losing my voice completely. "anybody here notice that the Upper Room is on the first floor?" I cracked in the opening moments... "and looks more like a basement.." the wall lighting is an artificial open flame that would remind you of an Egyptian tomb.

The carpet is a leopard skin print combined with immaculate wood floors. The stage is draped in back with burgundy crushed velvet and the walls are old world gold. Normally the room is full of over stuffed couches in gold and purple. So the vibe is very bohemian. They serve coffee at a horse shoe bar made of cherry wood with leaded glass over hang. It's a great place to play. Just gotta figure out how to get people here.

Had to leave in a hurry to make the Sunday morning stuff in Chula Vista at the border with Mexico... Some two hours away. Saw a lot of old friends at this gig... Folks I hadn't seen in years. My youngest son came for the first show... Stayed for the whole thing... I was honored at his interest. He's 16. All in all it was a good local hang... Just thirty minutes from my house... Too bad all the gigs couldn't be thirty minutes away.

O.K. So there's that.

Bryan d

Nifty Noodles/ the way to San Jose
9/7/02 Friday
Left Santa Barbara to drive the coast highway north to San Jose... One of my favorite travel routes. I just need a motorcycle! There's no gig tonight so this is a leisurely trip. Stopped to play Golf in Avila Beach. Got a cheesy little bungalow in Pismo Beach for the night so we could watch the waves. The ocean redefines everything every time it comes into view.

Finished the drive on a cool Saturday morning after some devotion, Coffee and coffee cake in Pismo.

South Valley Community Church in San Jose... Could be my church... It was a match for me...and I felt a rare connection... What a surprise... Did a Saturday night service and then a concert and then there were the services on Sunday morning... This is becoming the new reality these days...

The concert was good... But the services were better... And better attended I must say. I was not expecting anything... Sunday services are usually so formal that I feel inhibited. The pastor introduced me with the list of awards and honorable mentions that is found in my little scenario. I felt good walking up... But I know the truth about me... "I used to put my hope in all that stuff" I said... "it's never enough"... "sorry I'm late this morning", "I got lost on the way to church... And when I finally got here I couldn't find a place to park" I laughed. I had hit it off with this congregation. They understood the realities of daily life.

One member of this church was killed on 9/11/01. She was on flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Her fiancé had missed the flight and was taking the next one home. It was just a quick little trip they thought.

I talked further about my own disappointment with "performance" and trying to win approval from others. "Better to trust in Jesus and find his approval" I said before singing 'Jesus Loves Me Anyway'. The song found it's way easily into many hearts... I could see the tears. I finished with a song about living with uncertainty... Alluding to the attacks of 9/11. I finished with 'Once I've Arrived'.

I received a standing ovation. Wow... Approval! I smiled to myself. It's not bad when it¹s not the main thing you're going for.

I drove home fulfilled in many ways.

Thanks for lettin me share bryan d

Nifty Noodles/ 4 star
9/5/02
the Four Star Four Season's Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara, Ca. (100 yards from the Pacific Ocean)

I was here playing for the Salem Broadcasting's Managers and programmers conference. There's something about a four star hotel that makes you try to act "dignified" as soon as you get out of the car... Pretentious even! I'm trying not to look too excited. you know like this happens to me every day... Remember that you don't carry your own luggage to your room. You don't park your own car... And lets watch those manners around the restaurant. Suddenly I'm worried about my shoes! " Maybe they'll think I'm so wealthy that I just don't care what I wear!

I stayed in room 440 by the way. How appropriate.

The gig? Well, I always have a hard time playing "industry" gigs... It's a funky feeling... I examine my motives and worry about that approval rating... I was distracted and my humor wasn't funny to these guys. I felt like a sinner among saints.

I was supposed to give my "testimony" about the power of Christian Music but I couldn't find the words at the gig. My real testimony doesn't quite fit anything. I was just plain nervous. Some of these folks are very conservative I could just tell by the conversations.

I don't know exactly how I feel about my own choice of vocation really. It's a calling for me not a business and I often don't see the real Godly perspective either. "Just do it" and "let God give the increase" I say.."It may never look good on paper!" that's been my experience.

I was disappointed in the night, I had wanted to mention my new radio show... But never did. I was confused about the order of events... I was told to do three songs and then two more later and then an after dinner concert... Well I played once and I wasn't sure where to end, no one came up as I was walking away so I came back on.

Out of 85 attendees 15 stayed for the "after dinner songs". I was told that it was because so many had traveled all day and were on east coast time... I still should have waited till the room settled to come back out though. There's nothing like singing as everyone leaves the room.

Sometimes it's hard to gage what is accomplished. I passed out some radio show CD's to the night owls from Oregon and Hawaii stations... Next morning I had a $20.00 breakfast! the same food they have at Denny's... ...I'd rather eat at Denny's.

I'm bryan d thanks for lettin me share....

Nifty Noodles/ fire starter
9/01/02 Sunday
In Calabasas, California... I sat at a Denny's on Ventura Blvd next to the Red Roof Inn across from the "silver streak" (a carnival ride)... We're on the edge of the valley. It's a holiday weekend... Kinda deserted. It's 110 degrees outside... I'm talking with David about the one Sunday morning service at a high school auditorium... I was asked to do the worship service at the Rock Church... I used my own songs... It's not like the kind of worship people come to expect. But personally I'm tired of my own expectations.

Interesting side note... They had a box of ear plugs on the table next to my CD's. Exactly how do we start churches anyway? We start with free starbucks coffee and Krispy kreemes here. There are already so many giant going concerns around southern California. But "community" needs a smaller investment.

I don¹t' know how I fit in this world full of mega churches and mega worship... My gift is not wrapped like what I see around me... In fact it's not wrapped too tight either if you know what I mean. I'm drawn to these pioneer works maybe cause they're askin for help and 'mega church' has it all under control.

I'm looking for a place to breath these days. The air is stuffy everywhere... I'm a rose among thorns... A melody amidst machine noise. Where is the great Adventure? It's been packaged neatly with a brochure on the Gray Line Tour.

"You have passion" one lady told me after the service... She seemed surprised. "It's more desperation than anything" I laughed back... But it is the truth... I'm in a panic that God won't surprise me anymore... I'm feeling forced to "settle" for half speed. The Silver Streak is closed this morning.

My set was good in an unconventional way... But is it my calling? I don't know. I'm trusting that God will make all things right if I surrender to his will. He's meticulous.

I'm bryan d thanks for lettin me share.

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