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It's as if I stood at the tippy top of a humongous iceberg, lit a match, and watched to see if it would melt.  A drip formed.  A single, lonely drip in 365 days of holding that lit match.  I realize as I roam throughout the rows and rows of music out there that I didn't even begin to melt the iceberg!  And that's okay.  My hope for the experiment ended up happening.  I exposed people to music I love and they exposed me to music they love.  I gained some new-to-me artists that are now staples on my playlists and I now am tuned in for continuing to broaden my playlist.  Like the other night on Facebook one of my besties, Stephanie, posted a song by The Head and The Heart (whom I have never heard of) and as I type this out I am listening to their music right now.  They never made it on the 365, they missed it by one day, but now that I'm tuned in they are gaining a spot on my playlist.  (Yes.  CHECK THEM OUT!!)  365 days sounds long but it was the quickest 365 I've

Here's the data in numbers.  Pure, raw numbers.  (Yeah I have no idea if what I just said made sense but just go with it okey dokey?)  Actual number of songs to make an appearance on the 365?  461! How many times did any one musician appear?  11 (Can you guess who it was?!?) How many new-to-me artists were featured?  58 How many times was the most represented letter of the alphabet on the 365?  45 (T) Number of ex-Porn Stars featured on the 365?  1 :)  (WHAT?!?  Yeah check it out here .) How many contributors were there to the 365?  45 How many of those were unknowing contributors?  20 How many times did I unknowingly repeat a song?   1 (Matthew West "The Motions" September 28 and December 15 ) How many instrumentals appeared on the 365?  18 How many songs had the same exact title but were by different artists?  5 How many songs started with a number for it's title?  3 That's it for stats, all these numbers are making my head

I think it's fitting that I end the year of music in a similar way as I started it, with God's Amazing Grace .  Yes, today's song isn't a hymn per se.  But it prompts the same thoughts, feelings, and action that hymns do.  And, after all, the definition of the word "hymn" is a song of praise to God and a song of praise or joy so really today's last song fits right in with the hymns I have been featuring the past year.  His grace still amazes me.  And actually it amazes me more and more as I age.  As I physically age and as I spiritually age I cannot really stand in awe of his amazing grace but rather it brings me to my knees in gratitude and humility.  The grace of God is the only way I know of, the only thing I have seen, the only covering that gets the job done when we are in need of covering.  It is deeper, stronger, wider, and higher than anything our minds could come up with for comparison.  His grace.  It IS amazing indeed.  Amazing amazing grace. 

Decyfer Down is a great band.  They are the best of hard rock and lyrical content.  Their songs crossover the boundaries of Christian music and reach out to the secular.  Best I Can is a ballad that verbalizes the struggle we all have to live our lives the best we can.  And a lot of times we strive to live the best life we can while regret hangs over us.  Regret will hold us back from living the best we can every time and the only way that we can get rid of the regret completely is to lay it all down at the feet of the One who can bear the burden of it in our place.  So in this song Decyfer Down works through that process and the conclusion is that the only way we can live the best we can is if we align ourselves with God.  Want to do the best you can?  Then give yourself over to the One who can be your true strength.  Since Best I Can is a slower, ballad style song and I wanted you to hear what Decyfer Down can do I also included a heavier song from them, Fading.  Both songs have go

Jeremy Camp is a fave and this isn't the first time he's appeared on the 365.  I was listening to his most recent project the other day which happens to be a worship album and this song really struck me.  It's not the first time I've heard the song but you know how sometimes something you read or hear that is familiar suddenly impacts you in a new or fresh way?  So it was/is with this song and I wanted to squeeze it in on the 365 before we ended, which incidentally is only 3 (including today) days away.  In today's culture it has become rather unpopular to state so definitively that you are a Christian, believe God's word is infallible, believe that Jesus is truly the ONLY way, and seek to live according to the standards God lays out in the Bible.  Oh I'm sorry, I should have said "in today's CHURCH culture" because that is where it has become, ironically enough, the most unpopular to be/say/do those things.  Today's song goes against that

I'm 362 days in and JUST NOW getting to Van Halen?!?  What is WRONG with me?!  I love Van Halen!  Okay, I love Sammy Hagar Van Halen to which my hub is like, "Ew."  He loves David Lee Roth Van Halen and there are differences.  Pretty significant ones actually so today is a Van Halen special with a song by both Van Halen's.  :) So back in the day, after Roth left Van Halen, Hagar stepped in and that's when I first heard Van Halen.  This explains why I like the Van Hagar (ha!) better, it's what I grew up listening to.  Plus I thought David Lee Roth was ugly.  Hey, I was in Middle School cut me some slack.  The first album I heard of Van Halen was "OU812".  Don't judge.  It was the album that came out and once I realized what the heck that meant I was like, "EW!" but still listened to the music.  Now you all know I'm a big lyrics girl BUT with Van Halen I am not.  In fact I'm hard pressed to find a song lyrically from either Van H

Kerrie Roberts is new on the music scene.  If by "new" I mean the past couple of years...and I do!  She's got a good voice and she will make a few albums.  Does she have sustainability in the big sea of talent?  Time will tell.  In the meantime we will enjoy her music.  I really like this song because it should be true of every person who says they love and walk in God's ways.  Note that I said "it should be".  Unfortunately it is not.  But that's a different blog because that's a big soapbox for me to climb up on to!  Roberts sings about being an outcast, the right kind of one, in this world.  Go against the flow of culture and reach for the higher standard.  We aren't reaching for the higher standard, or any standard at all, when we blend in so seamlessly to the culture that nobody can tell if we love Jesus or not!  This song encourages Christians to be outcasts - be different, be Godly, be Holy, be sanctified (which means SET APART).  It isn&

Barlow Girl is an "oldie" fave here at the Peninger home.  A group of sisters, these women have talent coming out of their pores.  They are the singers and the musicians.  We love Barlow Girl for a few reasons.  1) We are, obviously, all about girls in this home - Lanny is really outnumbered but he'd have it no other way!  2)  They sing a message that is important for my girls, and all girls, to hear and take in.  3)  They have talent! Listen a person's heart may be good but if you are gonna say you are a musician then you'd better have the talent to back it up when you are on a stage or in the studio.  You know?  The oldest redheaded wonder tuned in to Barlow Girl at a pretty young age so we have their first 3 album's and we have worn them out listening!  Today's song is a favorite because of it's message (and it helps that they sing it beautifully).  The mirror is a co-conspirator with our minds and together they lie to us about the reality of what

One of my besties, whom I call Sunshine, tapped into Josh Wilson and his music this summer.  And through her I became introduced to him as well.  :)  I love it how that happens!  So Sunshine went on a 7 week mission to our beloved Kenya (she and I have gone together twice) and this song really impacted her.  In fact she's saying it's now on her "soundtrack of life" and I can easily see why.  If you have ever traveled to a third world undeveloped country AND allowed it to truly impact you then you'll get this song as well.  You come back from wherever God had you and you say to yourself two things.  1)  I'm never going back to things just being okay and 2)  I refuse to not do anything any longer.  This song is about the 2nd statement but really about the 1st as well.  It is NOT enough to write a check and send money.  You'll note that God never called us to just that.  He called us to put one foot in front of the other and GO.  Get out of your cushy chair

Well once again I picked a hymn obscure enough to not have any sort of play on YouTube or anywhere else except for Cyber Hymnal.  :)  As with other hymns, I don't remember ever singing this one but that doesn't mean I didn't!  Looking at the lyrics of today's song/hymn seemed to fit today very much.  Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  I doubt that there isn't an American who isn't aware of what today is and means.  The impact of 9/11 wasn't contained to a couple of months or even a couple of years.  The impact of what happened that day still runs incredibly strong and powerful ten years later, and I'm going to guess even 20 years after the fact.  It was a horrific day on American soil.  It was one of those days that you say, "I remember I was _______ when I heard the news" much like back in the 50's people could (and still can) tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard JFK had been shot.  Today's h

I had to do it.  HAD TO.  Reality compelled me to put this out there for those who haven't witnessed the train wrecks of Walmart.  C'mon.  It's funny because it's so unbelievable that people actually think this is okay to go out into public like *this* .  It all started with a few pictures snapped of some outrageously horrid outfits, or lack of in some cases, walking through the doors of Walmart.  It ballooned into this huge thing, having cult like following on the site. Face it, laughing at someone else's ridiculousness makes us feel pretty good about ourselves.  My brother watches Jersey Shore because it makes him feel like he is awesome compared to the idiots running around on that show!  And I confess.  When I go into Walmart with flip flops on, sweat shorts and a shirt thirteen sizes too big for me I'm thinking I'm pretty normal compared to some of the people who grace the aisles of the store.  Fess up, you've thought it too.  It was inevitable that

My friend, Eric, without hesitation mentioned this song to me as a favorite!  I love it when someone mentions a favorite anything without any hesitation, that tells you that they truly LOVE that thing!  This is such a silly song, perfect for a Friday when I'm feeling a little goofy myself! :) It makes not a whit of sense and that's just fine.  The Kingston Trio does a great job of singing it in Spanish and then translating.  Eric, upon sending me this song suggestion, also sent along some old Polaroids he had scanned of he and a buddy dressed up in their Mexican gear - sombrero hats and all!  Fun times!  In Spanish culture Coplas is traditionally a verse or stanza in a folk song.  Thus today's song is Coplas!  Have fun on this Friday!  Coplas

I love this song.  I'm not sure when I first heard it but it might have been in the Benny & Joon movie (which The Proclaimers video shows clips from) or it might have been before that.  It doesn't really matter because the point is I LOVE THIS SONG!! 500 miles is a fun song. It's got a great beat, it's fun to bop around to and the lyrics make all women swoon hoping they can land a man who will promise to be the man for them.  :)  It's a great song.  It happened to be a one-hit wonder with The Proclaimers but it turned out to be a huge hit with everyone else!  It has been done and re-done more times than anyone may be able to track.  It popped into my head this morning as I was reviewing in my mind, and heart, a recent convo with a friend going through a divorce.  There's no judgement coming from me at all, the question entered my mind, "When do you suddenly stop walking those 500 miles toward the other person?  Is it when you realize they have stopped

My bestie, Jodi, loves Whiteheart.  I texted her just now and said, "Quick!  Your most fave Whiteheart song ever!"  And her response became today's featured song/band.  :)  Whiteheart was a Christian rock band from back in the day.  They formed after Stryper had had their heyday and Petra had been around for awhile.  My hub loved Whiteheart too.  Me?  I was never into them as much.  I certainly know their music though because back in the day there was a limited amount of decent Christian music and so Whiteheart got played a lot!  Sometimes I think back (way back - haha!) to when I was in High School and the Christian radio station was basically elevator music with some Smitty and Amy Grant thrown in from time to time.  (Smitty would be Michael W Smith...) So you can imagine that when groups like Whiteheart hit the scene lots of high schoolers who were forbidden to listen to that devil music played on the secular radio stations heaved a huge sigh of relief!  :)  Powerho

Happy "Monday" of this work week!  :)  My friend, Gary, thought this would be a good Friday song but I think actually it fits Monday better because in my experience people generally on Monday's feel a little "growl-y".  :)  Seems that people are trying to cage their inner monster that is protesting being back at work after a weekend AND in the case of 3 days weekends like we just had it seems even worse!   I've featured Skillet before on the experiment.  Our family loves Skillet, especially my rocker hub and the youngest redhead who is obsessed with one of their older tunes, "Whispers in the Dark".  Skillet blows the idea of cheesy Christian rock to bits.  This ain't Stryper people.  :) They are legit in their talent and their hearts.    Monster is a great calling people out kind of song.  It's gritty, edgy, and dead on in its message.  It's about that inner Monster that most of us have.  Sometimes the monster resembles Cookie Monster

There are a lot of songs I could have chosen for Labor Day but Dolly Parton is a classic and she hasn't made a showing yet on the experiment and deserves to!  I confess.  I really, really, REALLY like Dolly. I like her singing, I like her laugh, I like her acting.  I just really like her.  She's smart, down-to-earth and one of the last good ones left.  In 9 to 5, which became a movie, she co-stars with another great actress (her singing really leaves much to be desired - ha!) Lily Tomlin.   9 to 5 is about that day in and day out grind of a work day, just trying to make enough to get by while living for the weekend and 2 days off.  I get that but it makes me sad.  It's too bad that more of us can't find jobs that feed us as people, that energize us, that use our giftings.  It's sad that it is so rare to find a job like that.  Nothing bugs me more than to hear people on Monday counting down the days to the weekend coming up.  Especially at a workplace where we are

As far as I can tell I haven't done this hymn yet and I'm shocked.  It's one of the classics.  One of the BEST.  I love this hymn.  I mean LOVE IT.  Jesus. His name causes more controversy; His name causes more relief; His name causes more assurance;  His name causes more discomfort than any other name.  People have emotional and physical responses to the name of Jesus.  No matter the response you can see that his name, it is above all other names.  Nobody else has their name spoken so often and with such a great response.  What is YOUR response to the name?  When you hear "Jesus" what kind of emotions rise up in you?  What kind of physical response do you have?  If your responses lean toward the negative I'm so sorry.  I respond with freedom to the name of Jesus.  I love his name because of what it represents to me and my life.  His name has compelled me to look to God and I have found freedom in Christ.  I am grateful for what Jesus did for me to find t

GO BLUE!  WE. ARE. WOLVERINES!  Today kicks off Blue's 2011 football season and I for one am excited!  Hailing from the great state of Michigan my family and I are loyal to U of M and their football team.  And lucky for me this year at work there is quite a "large" contingency of Wolverines, totally outnumbering the (hissssssss) Buckeyes!  :)  Haha, I love having fun with it.  In fact I wore my U of M tshirt to work yesterday and represented.  So today's song is by a group called Pop Evil.  I have NO idea.  I have never heard of them, something tells me that I wouldn't be too keen on any of their other music.  The only reason I am featuring this song is because it is Michigan!  This year we are playing our first night game in OUR house against Notre Dame.  It promises to be a big match-up.  The Big House seats 120,000 and my friend at work, a fellow Wolverine thank you very much, told me that 150,000 tickets were requested!  That means about 30,000 are possibly

I love me some Ska music!  I love Ska bands because they have talent that just oozes.  You have to have talent in order to have the big band sound.  You can't fake big band.  Coming from a family that loves and appreciates music I have a great appreciation for Big Band.  In fact swing, ska, big band are some of my most favorite genre's of music.  Unfortunately ska is a hidden gem in the sea of musical tastes.  It enjoyed a brief surge in the early 2000's but drifted off the scene.  Along with The O.C. Supertones and Five Iron Frenzy, The Insyderz (a Detroit based ska band - woop!) have been disbanded since 2005.  BUT rumor is they are reunited and working on a new project - YAY! Today's song, from The Insyderz, is a sample of why I love ska.  The horns are blowing and the tempo is upbeat, it takes me back to Big Band and makes me REALLY happy. Beside the fact that it is Friday so I'm happy about that, this song makes me happy - actually this song reminds me that wh

'Ol Blue Eyes.  If my memory is working I haven't yet featured Frank Sinatra.  *GASP*  How could 'ol blue eyes NOT be on this 365?  There have been a few good ones in the history of music and Sinatra is one of those few.  Part of the famous "Rat Pack" he spent his time with the likes of Harry James and Tommy Dorsey (Swing era) and moved on to Tony Curtis, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop in the 1960's.  Apparently the term "rat pack" came from Lauren Bacall after her husband, the famed Humphrey Bogart, spent a long night drinking and gambling with Sinatra and some others. Spanning music and cinema, Sinatra made a name for himself although that's not to say that he didn't have low periods in his career where nobody wanted him or his music.  But I believe the high periods made up for the low ones and he is one of the most loved artists of our times.  Happy September 1!  18 more days of this 365!  I can't believe

It just so happens that I decide to do "Dad" for the experiment after doing "My Little Girl" yesterday.  :)  It's how the chips fell my friends.  Today's song, and artist for that matter, is courtesy of my friend Rick.  Yes, he's contributed many a song to this 365.  Skip Ewing is an artist that I have NEVER heard of.  And I truly mean never.  This is what I love about doing the song 365, I am being at least clued in to so many new-to-me artists!  So this song is about the title, Dad!  It's a tribute to Dad, it's a wish for more time with Dad, it's a realization of not enough moments spent with Dad.  For all the bad Dad's we hear about in this world there a million times more good ones.  If you have a good one count yourself blessed and make sure you tell him!  If you have a bad one I am so sorry.  I hope you know that you do have a good Dad in the One who created you, he is in fact your Abba.  Dad

"Daddy's Girl" is a real thing.  I know.  I'm one and my redheads are ones as well.  :)  There is a special relationship between a Daddy and his little girl (who, btw, will ALWAYS be little in his eyes and heart - just ask my Daddy!  I'm 37 but I'm his little girl).  I think the relationship is unexplainable.  A little girl brings out emotions and behaviors in a Daddy that I think takes most Daddy's by surprise!  All of a sudden shotguns are considered, memories of being a teenager are forgotten, and mistakes made as a teen boy serve as projections for how to parent her.  Admittedly some Dad's handle being a Dad way better than others.  My hub, Lanny, is a fantastic Daddy.  He waited a long time to have a family and his personality is well-suited to girls rather than boys.  He would agree with me btw.  :)  Anyone who knows Lanny knows how much he loves his little girls.  True, his little girls are 13 and 11 but not to him.  I have to remind him pret

This is Royal Tailor's second appearance on the experiment.  Pretty good considering they are brand spanking new on the music scene.  I featured their other popular song "Make a Move" earlier this summer.  I actually heard today's song first.  It played on the radio as I traveled home from work one night and I thought, "That is a great song!"  If you know me well then you know why I thought so...the lyrics, of course!!  :) If you want the background on Royal Tailor then click here and pop over to my previous entry about them.  "Hold Me Together" is that cry to God that we sometimes hear ourselves saying out loud.  C'mon.  You know there are days that you need someone or something to hold you together because you are just at the end.  Like today was for me.  By 7:30 am my day had gone to hell in a hand basket and I was so over the day!  Problem was it was just getting started!  I definitely needed some holding together by Mercy.  I was wonde

So I'm getting hard pressed to find hymns on YouTube, or otherwise, that well...are done decently.  I'm sorry but hymns are kinda a thing of the past and YouTube can only offer so many!  Today's, for example, is kind of karaoke style.  The words are highlighted for you as the piano plays the song.  Just go with it, okay?  :) I picked the hymn because one, I have no recollection of ever singing it myself (this, of course, does NOT mean I never have back in my Baptist days) and two, the message of the hymn is great!  Psalm 40:2 talks about God being our lifter.  He lifts us up out of the miry pits we find ourselves in.  Whether we tripped and stumbled into the pit or whether we dived in of our own free will, God is there to lift us up and out - all we have to do is reach out our hand to him.  He is the greatest lifter of our heads and hearts.  Will you allow him to lift you up and out of the pit you are mucking around in?  All you need to do is look up and then reach your h

So we are closing in on the end of my experiment and I'm obviously slowing WAY down on getting these out every day, funny how life has interfered GREATLY - actually funny how a dead laptop brings my online life to almost a complete halt!  :)  I know.  Steven Curtis Chapman "just" made an appearance on this blog about 21 entries ago but you know what?  My blog so I can do what I want!  :) This is one of my absolute favorites from SCC.  It's not a well-known one.  As far as I know it never got radio play and it's kind of hidden on an album of mostly remakes of his other works.  But I love it.  I have been known to put just this song on repeat and play it over and over and over.  And then repeat the repeat! This song should definitely go on the soundtrack of my life.  I am found in him.  I'm built, no I'm CREATED to be found in him because he is the one who created me.  In my experience what causes me and others to doubt our place in Christ is when we come

I'm feeling a little old skool today so I'm pulling out DC Talk which hasn't made an appearance yet on the 365.  That's largely due to the fact that they haven't been a group for years so I don't think about them as a group anymore, rather as individuals with their new projects.  tobyMac has a successful (that's probably an understatement) solo career, Michael Tait is front for the Newsboys, and Kevin Max has his own solo career as well.  Free at Last was one of many songs that put DC Talk on the music map.  For that time they were like no other band (white rappers say what?!) and they really made some inroads in Christian music.  They brought together the best of Christian pop and Christian rap and mixed the two to become a hugely successful band.  I will probably always love Free at Last and actually the album it was on.  It's like my "oldies".  DC Talk is to me like Beach Boys is to my Dad.  Free at Last celebrated the freedom we can have

People have asked me where I get my ideas for this little ole experiment.  Some of you have given me suggestions - especially when I have begged and pleaded on FaceBook.  And sometimes the songs just present themselves to me...like today's song.  I actually heard it a while back but have been holding on to it, not sure if I could or should but today I decided I could AND should.  My friend, Leith, and her family have just lived through some hard, hard years that had beauty intermixed.  Sometimes there are no words and other times there are a few.  Leith and her hub Aaron had a beautiful girl named Hadley.  As an infant it was discovered that sweet Hadley was born without part of her brain and what she did have was underdeveloped.  She never advanced past about 2 months old developmentally, was fed through a g-tube, had seizures, wore diapers, was legally deaf and blind, lived her days in a wheelchair and was the BEST thing that ever happened to her family and so many others.  Hadl

Two of the most dynamic country singers join up for today's song that my friend, Alison, told me I had to listen to!  Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.  I don't think there needs to be anymore explanation about why the song is fantastic!  Their names say it all.  Two extremely talented musicians/singers joining up for a duet?  AWESOME.  The song is such a good one for couples who have found themselves forgetting what it was like in the early days of their relationship.  It's hard to keep that flame going when you have jobs and kids and a home and whatever else on your plate, they all serve as distractions and before you know it you are looking at each other over the table and you can barely recognize the person you are much less the person you fell in love with!  We all need reminders, we all need to be pro-active in keeping the flame alive because one day the kids will be gone, the job will be done, the distractions will be minimal and you will find yourself wondering wh

One might think it is kind of sad and pitiful that I didn't know about Miles Davis until the movie "The Runaway Bride" in which Richard Gere's character listens to Davis almost exclusively.  But I choose to forget how sad and pitiful it is that I first heard Davis through a movie and focus on being grateful that I finally heard of him at all!  Miles Davis is really soulful and soothing.  His music is the perfect soundtrack to most any kind of mood and day.  Today's song choice is actually courtesy of my oft mentioned friend, Misty.  It's one of her fave's and I love it as well!  There's not much I should say about Miles Davis and his music - it's best just to listen and soak in it! So What

I actually have had Addison Road's "Hope Now" stuck in my head and had fully planned on doing it for today's song until I checked my list and saw that I had already done it.  Then this song came on the radio this morning and I was so filled with gratitude for the people in my life who stick with me that I decided this is today's song!  So Addison Road gets another turn on the experiment which is starting to wind down.  Today is 343! I am a firm believer in friendship and especially in the friendships that go the distances.  And I'm not talking about the distances, necessarily, that you can measure by miles.  I'm talking about those distances that get created by life circumstances, by hurts/wounds, by the cloudy days.  I have a handful of people in my life who have stuck with me, pushing and pulling on my walls and letting me throw my fits and being there no matter what.  I'm SO grateful for this handful of people.  Some have been around for years and

Would you agree with me that in today's society the word "Christian" carries some negative connotations?  I generally shy away from the word and prefer instead to use "believer" or "follower of Jesus".  But the Early Church were called Christians and I sure don't want to put that important and vital part of Church history on the backburner.  So I have found myself trying to reconcile to the term in light of today's culture.  Today's culture sure makes it hard for a lover of God to follow him as he has laid out in the Bible.  This hymn kind of addresses that, or at least in my perspective it does.  Before we can be the things we want to be - the hands and feet of Jesus, loving, Holy, etc - we have to first allow them to be a true part of us in our hearts.  What is in our hearts comes out - no matter if it is "good" or "bad".  Or to state that more biblically, "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up

In honor of the Real Pirates exhibit that I took the youngest redhead to today the song(s) of the day have to be pirate based...of course!  The youngest is obsessed with all the installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  She has a poster of Jack Sparrow on her bedroom wall.  So I figured that the National Geographic Real Pirates exhibit would be a winner for her and I was right!  It was a GREAT exhibit.  Very cool.  If it comes to your town/city I'd recommend it for sure.  It leaves Denver the week of August 21 and travels to ???  But if you see it advertised and wonder if it's worth your money...do it!  (Of course I'm a nerd and love a good museum exhibit so if museum's aren't your thing then forget I said it would be worth your money - ha!) So today's song(s) are serious and silly.  The soundtrack for the first Pirates of the Caribbean was, in part, responsible for making the movie so good to watch.  The music matched the action perfectly.  I'

Michael Grimm won last year's America's Got Talent and rightfully so.  From the moment our family saw him audition to the moment he won we cheered him on.  He is INCREDIBLE.  He has talent beyond his years.  He's got a great bluesy voice and style and he is SO incredibly down-to-earth that you just want to eat him up!  When I saw that his first album had finally been released I immediately bought it on itunes, it's so worth it to hear him sing and play.  Today's song is like the one a couple of days ago in that I didn't have a ton to choose from since he's just getting started. So I just picked one because truthfully all of them are good! Enjoy!  Stay With Me

So today's song is for two reasons.  1)  I love Africa.  I do.  A large part of my heart actually resides in Kenya, Africa.  2)  Today was Young Life Service Center's Summer Picnic and we had it at the ZOO!  Our Zoo happens to have a large Rift Valley (which btw I've been to FOR REAL) exhibit and while it is nothing really like the real Rift Valley it did just enough to make me long for and miss deeply my Kenyan family and the nation of Kenya.  So the obvious song selection for being at the Zoo is today's song and I did my best to honor the continent of Africa in the process so the Soweto Gospel Choir is my choice for the song today!  The Lion Sleeps Tonight

My friend, Jason, tweeted the other day that this video and song were a must and far be it from me to not obey!  :)   I'm totally in the dark about Jeff Carl , so I'm super glad that Jason tweeted about him and his music.  He plays guitar and sings.  :)  Okay but he does really well! Here I'm Home is one of the few songs Carl has out right now as he's still in the early stages of his career.  I love the idea behind the song and the lyrics really drive it home.  (Get it?  Home?  Haha.  Okay, yeah it was bad.)  ANYWAY.  Here I'm Home talks about that bittersweet in-between place we all find ourselves in at least once in our lives.  I'm going to argue it happens more than once to the majority of humans but we'll go with once for now.  That in-between place is where you ask and explore the answers to questions like: Who am I? What am I meant to do? Where am I headed?  What will happen in my life?  Etc, Etc.  And as you figure these things out there's

Trace Adkins has some great tunes.  This is by far his best!  :)  It was no surprise to me that my friend, Misty, told me I should do this song for the experiment!  Trace Adkins has, apparently, observed my husband and used him as the basis for this song.  I just don't get my hub.  He seems to have eyes that see what he wants to see and not what's reality and standing in front of him! :)  I suppose I should be thankful.  I think I'm a lot like the woman in the video, completely oblivious to my husband's second set of eyes.  At the risk of TMI, that's me sacked out at the end of the day not even thinking about anything but sleep!  And my hub is NO GOOD for me when it comes to physical fitness matters.  I could be double my size now and he'd not even bat an eye but still be after me.  He's a good man.  Well regardless of his apparent bad eyesight I still am making efforts to fit into "those" jeans!  But Trace Adkins honest song makes me really appre

Oh my gosh.  The Nylons!  I totally forgot about them until my bestie, Jodi, thought I needed a little Nylons on the experiment!  She was SO right!  I appreciate a good acapella group.  I appreciate the blend of harmony and melody.  I appreciate the sounds and noises that acapella groups can make with their throats, tongues, and whatever else.  My brother, Paul, sang in an acapella group in High School and did a show in College that was acapella.  Admittedly his performances in these groups made me appreciate the art of acapella so much more than I think I would have otherwise.  The Nylons are still together and still performing around the world.  Many of the videos on YouTube are from 2010.  Long live acapella! :)   Happy Together

Okay so it's true that this hymn was written for American patriotism.  And I'm all for that.  But today I picked it because I wanted to focus in on the truth in it.  Regardless of who is singing this and who it was originally written for or even the motivations this particular hymn was written there is a deeper truth in it that is UNIVERSAL and not just specific for America.  And it lies in one line that really sang (pun intended!) out to me when I heard the song, again, recently.   "His truth is marching on." God's truth marches on.  It marches through the doubters, the skeptics, the mockers, even through the believers-who-aren't-quite-believers.  God's truth cannot be squelched, changed, eradicated.  God's truth is truth no matter what.  It doesn't find it's existence or meaning in people, it IS.  God's truth is TRUTH no matter what.   His truth marches on and on and on...Selah!  Battle Hymn of the Republic

Jack Johnson is not new the music scene, unfortunately he is to me.  Now, fortunately, my siblings introduced him to me and so now I'm not so much out of the loop! :) Johnson is one of those artists that if you aren't in the mood for music but some needs to be playing in your background he fits the bill.  And when you are in the mood he fits that as well!  Lucky for him I suppose.  :)  This particular song makes me want to go sit on a shaded beach with a cold drink and a good book that I don't mind putting down from time to time to listen to the waves.  The song is kind of about that actually.  Wishing for a breakdown from something practical in order to get a break from life.  A breakdown of the other kind doesn't necessarily lend to a good break from life.  :)  What kind of breakdown could you facilitate for your life in the next few days or weeks?  Don't forget, if we don't take breaks from life in whatever way soothes us then we will have one of those &qu

So yesterday I said I would have to feature Caleb, the band made up of Steven Curtis Chapman's two sons, Caleb and Will Franklin plus another friend of theirs.  I figured there was no time like the present!  :) There is no doubt that both Caleb and Will Franklin have inherited some musical ability from their famous Dad.  In their own right they are great musicians and haven't modeled themselves after Dad, which is refreshing, but have forged their own way with their own style of music.  Fight the Fear fits this style that Caleb has.  It sounds nothing like anything Steven Curtis Chapman would do and that is a-okay with me!  :)  I love that their style is going to bring them their own fans, legitimately.  It won't be because they were riding Daddy's coattails.   The Chapman's are a tight-knit family and it shows in how the boys relate to one another and if you watched yesterday's video interview with their Dad you can see the three of them interacting and you

"My" :) Steven Curtis Chapman has released a new album, re:creation. He's recreated some of his old songs and added some new ones in.  Today's song is the first release off that album and it's a new song for him.  The video is actually...weird? creepy? fun?  All of those?!  :) But the song is great no matter what the video may be!  So Steven hits on a really important theme in this song.  We all have inflated egos that believe we should be doing bigger and better and we aren't worthy of whatever task we deem "below" us.  This inflated ego causes big problems for us.  We become discontent, irritable, snotty, whiny, hoover vacuums (sucking the life out of people) of complaining.  It's so not pretty when we allow our egos to get the best of us.  Chapman addresses the most menial of tasks - changing diapers, mowing lawns, etc - as opportunities to bring glory to God and shine with his grace (remember what I said a few days ago about my lifesong?). 

Sometimes I'm just in no mood for music at all.  And when that happens I usually will stick to instrumental.  Jim Brickman is a favorite.  He plays piano beautifully and his music soothes that irritability I sometimes have with music.  Oh.  Let me explain.  As Front Desk in a Lobby I have to play music over the speakers in the Lobby.  :)  So therefore there is always some kind of music running through my days.  As far as I'm concerned there is no bad Jim Brickman.  It is all good.  So today I just typed in his name and the first song that popped up was this one.  I liked it also for it's title as I'm originally from Michigan where Lake Erie is. :)   I hope you enjoy and appreciate Jim Brickman as much as I do!   Lake Erie Rainfall

Lauren Alaina was the runner-up in this most recent season of AI.  Just like Scotty blew us away in auditions so did she.  I mean THAT voice coming out of that little 15 year old?  Crazy! It seems that like Scotty Lauren comes from good family.  She's very close to her parents and you can tell that they did a great job of giving her a firm foundation to stand on for life.  We loved, and still love, about Lauren that she is so confident in who she is that she isn't too fazed about body remarks that have been thrown her way.  She's beautiful and curvy and that's all okay!  This song is done beautifully!  The power in Lauren's voice is very comparable to Faith Hill or Martina McBride.  I can imagine they might be kicking themselves for not picking up the song, if they had the chance.  The voice Lauren has is right up there with the big girls of country. She's gonna do just fine.  :) Like My Mother Does

Scotty McCreery is AI's newest winner.  And he totally deserved it.  Actually in our household it was such a tie between him and Lauren Alaina that we let the rest of America duke it on the voting and just sat back and watched the results.  We have loved Scotty since he and his deep bass appeared in the audition room for the AI judges about a year ago.  We are so impressed with him as a person.  To have the voice and the maturity that he does at his age just blew us away!  Not to mention that Scotty recognizes that while he may have come in first on AI he's actually second...click here to see what I mean. This is Scotty's first of what I feel is to be many videos.  He is likeable, his voice is soothing (very Josh Turner like except he has made it his own), and he's pretty stinking cute!  :)  He's got endurance for sure, unlike some of the past AI winners.  Yay for Scotty! :)  I Love You This Big

"Today" my brother, Paul, participated in his second NYC Triathlon after completing in the past few years the NYC Half Marathon and The NYC Marathon twice!  We think he's crazy BUT we are SOOOOO proud of him!  I want him to do a bike race and he's mentioned a Century so we'll see... I remember when I was a little girl we watched this movie on that new fangled thing called a VCR...I was amazed! The theme song has stuck with me all these years later, as I'm sure it has with many many many others.  And I, of course, always think of it in the context of running which explains why it's today's song.  Part of a Triathlon is running...I'm hoping you all knew that already - ha!  :)  So today's song is dedicated to my amazing brother who also happens to be a new Daddy!  We are SO proud of you Paul!  Chariots of Fire Theme Song