Thank you, India… and Other Favorite Names

I bet you didn’t think this post would be about Alanis Morissette, did you? Well, you’re in the ball park of being right. I heard her on the radio and totally forgot about the song “Thank U.” She wrote it after a memorable trip to India, so that’s why the chorus repeats “Thank you, India.” As for why she’s naked in the music video, I have no idea. I’m sure it’s something about being vulnerable or government oppression. Hearing the song reminded me how much I like her voice, and I’m not the only one. Just 2 days ago Prakriti Mudra made the Youtube comment, “She’s one of the most amazing singers I have come across.” Thank you, Prakriti. You might have the newest entry on the list of names I really like… which is as follows:

Alanis
Nicollete
Holden (Yes, it’s the name of every mom’s favorite man from “Young and the Restless”)
Downs (as a middle name)
Kelty
Hali (pronounced ‘Holly’)
Everlyn (as heard in the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence)
Asia
Piper
Amy (an all-time favorite)
Jennifer (an all-time favorite)

-Out of the Wilderness

Travelling Taylor Swiftly into the Night

The other day I was driving down the interstate and what did my eyes behold? Taylor Swift! OK, not exactly the Taylor Swift. But it was a semi-truck with her last name on the side. Seconds later it was cut off by a truck bearing “West” on the side and I heard it say, “Yo Swift truck, I’m really happy for you, I’m gonna let you keep driving, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!”
swiftEvery time I see these trailers, I think of Taylor Swift for obvious reasons. The first time our professional paths crossed was in 2006 at the music video shoot for Wayne Warner and “God Bless the Children.” My guess is this video would be shot a lot differently today than it was in 2006, because Taylor wasn’t a superstar back then.

Taylor’s days as an unknown audience member in a Wayne Watson music video are long gone.  Her stock has skyrocketed and working at CMT, her name is heard quite often around the offices. I wonder if her worldwide popularity even affects the tractor-trailer business? I can’t imagine having “Swift” on the side of your trailer is a bad thing.  Unless you’re Harry Styles.

-Out of the Wilderness

Guns, Roses, Me and You, too

Riding into town for a night off from working at Kanakuk in Branson, Missouri.
On our way home from school at a stop light in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Sitting in the back of a Suzuki Samurai in Newport, Rhode Island.
Driving to get food during lunch time in Miami, Florida.

There are so many songs that have left a permanent imprint from the first time I heard them on the radio. I can remember where. I can remember when. In fact, because we moved around so much growing up, my siblings and I classify music by where we were living when the songs came out. I first heard “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House in St. Pete. And I remember hearing a lot of U2 back then, but it wasn’t till working at Kanakuk one summer that I fell in love with the band’s music. Then as a junior at Westminster Christian School in Miami, Florida, my friend Jonathan Baker and I left campus for lunch and that’s the first time I heard Club Nouveau’s version of “Lean On Me.” I love that song to this very day. But long before I could drive, my sister’s friend drove us around in a Suzuki Samurai and that’s when I was introduced to “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses.

So I guess the point of all this is to say I’m glad listening to music in the car hasn’t been made illegal… yet! Road trips and quick runs to the grocery store start like any other, but those moments in the car sometimes turn out to be landmarks in my life… all because of the music.

-Out of the Wilderness

Throwing Rocks at Chuck Norris

I was driving from Tennessee to north Florida by way of Interstate 65 with my oldest niece in the back seat. I was behind my brother-in-law and his van loaded with a few other nieces and my sister. It was an old-fashioned caravan, y’all! Like the good ol’ days when they used wagons and horses and wooden wheels. Horse-drawn_garbage_wagon,_Seattle,_1915.gifTheir problems were issues like life-threatening sicknesses but mine? Mine was big time. A piece of earth with violent intentions blazing through the atmosphere with the launch power of a Scud missile and a radar locked on MY FACE! However, the small rock was intercepted mid-air by a Patriot missile… also known as my windshield. The resulting damage was a crack that slowly began to spread across the glass. Unfortunately, insurance didn’t cover this type of damage in the state of Alabama and now that I think about it, don’t even get me started on all the reasons I don’t like that state anyway! The only good things to come out of Alabama are Jameis Winston  and my Versa every time we pass through! I could’ve forked over the cash to have new glass installed but as odd as it may sound, I’m proud of my windshield so I won’t replace it.  For so long I’ve taken for granted that I have a giant piece of very strong glass in front of me, protecting me as I drive a metal entrapment down the road at blazingly fast yet limit obeying speeds. Plus, this life-protecting glass has the word shield in it and right now I can’t think of a more manly word. Shield. It’s like Chuck Norris is laying across my dashboard. Chuck_Norris -Out of the Wilderness

Just Between You and Me, I miss DC Talk

Michael Tait
Newsboys on TV

Sometimes the oddest things happen when you least expect it.

Today at the Nissan dealership I overheard a TV show host introducing a live performance from a band. The sound of their lead singer was quite nostalgic. He’s got a voice that:
1. somehow reminds you it’s all gonna be OK
2. sounds a lot like Michael Tait from DC Talk

That’s because it is Michael Tait now fronting the popular band Newsboys. But if you were growing up as a Christian in the 90s, you know Michael from DC Talk.  He, along with TobyMac and Kevin Max Smith, were the yoot’s outlet (“What is a yoot?”) for gospel rap/rock music. This band was a clear sign that the days of Carman (but not you, timeless Michael W. Smith!) were passing and it was possible to make popular and good music that just so happened to have spiritual lyrics. So of course my brother and sisters and I latched onto the band very early on, starting with a concert somewhere near Washington, D.C. in 1989. We were living in Stafford, Virginia and went to watch 3 guys (one white, one black, one swirl) rock out and it was awesome. You might hear people say they’ve loved DC Talk since the beginning when Free At Last came out, but I’m talking about songs like “Spinnin’ Round,” “Time Ta Jam,” and “Heavenbound.” Gui-gui-guitaaaaar!

We moved away from Virginia but kept listening to the band from Lynchburg as they released another album, then another one, then another one, and another one. And around 1998 when I was in college, a group of us drove to Alabama for a DC Talk concert, this one much bigger than the first one I saw. I remember singing along and Kevin Max’s bleach blond hair. I remember sneaking backstage with Nathan Oyer and acting like we were supposed to be there (I think we just walked around in circles).

Momentum Mobile3I’ve got a lot of good memories of the band, and it didn’t stop when they took a temporary (which is still going??) hiatus about 15 years ago. My very first job when I moved to Nashville was driving Toby’s Momentum Mobile which turned out to be such a fun experience. I learned a lot… like:
1. we live in a big, big country
2. how much I love music
3. leave the car running if you’re going to play music for a few hours
(yes, a fan had to give the Momentum Mobile a jump start)

Driving around the country on that tour was nothing I expected as a 5th grader watching DC Talk perform back in ’89. But it was better than my wildest dreams.

So needless to say I’m holding onto a sliver of hope that DC Talk will have a reunion tour before I’m too old to hear it! And today, just today I’m thankful my Nissan Versa needed an oil change.