HAPPY NEW YEAR - Well a little early

Well it's almost the new year and I can't wait to see what happens with X-ALT in 2007. We are starting off with a bang by making 6 appearances this month - 2 church services, 2 coffee houses a retirement community and a prison. We'll be busy but we love it! We just received great news that a great new sax player, Randy Janoski will be joining us for 3 of those, Randy is a pro that has worked with some really great nationally know acts over the years and we consider ourselves lucky to be able to add him to the ever growing X-ALT Family.





Speaking of which we are so lucky to have so many great players willing to step in when we need them, I want to say a special thank you to a few of them here...





Randy Janoski


Lawrence Bailey


Bill King


Michael Griggs





You guys rock and we are so glad to have you as part of our family!





I have not done this lately so let me tell you who X-alt is..





Mark Mills - Vocals & Piano


Susie Reel - Vocals


Eddie Loper - Drums


Brooke Pinkerton - Vocals


Mark Pierce - Lead Guitar


Katy Seal - Vocals & Guitar


Tom Landers - Vocals. Keyboards, Guitar and Mandolin


Vince Pinkerton - Vocals & Bass


Brian Lucas - Trumpet





We as a group and individually have so much to be thankful this year but we are most thankful for all of you that have come out to be part of our ministry!





Now for a blast from the past. Tommy and I were in a band called "Blue Collar" for many years along with our buddy and sometime X-alt mate Lawrence Bailey. Here is a picture of the old group.

That's us going Left to Right across the top

Vince Pinkerton (Me), Lawrence Bailey, Tommy Landers

Were we a studly group or what?!?

Well I guess that's enough for now but stay tuned for some new videos and reports, and don't forget to come on out to TBG Coffee House on Jan. 6th for a great night of great music. The show starts at 8:00pm we'll see you there.

V

Trudging on

Christmas is quickly approaching and so is January when X-ALT! takes to the road again. One short change the Bellevue Mall appearance has been canceled because we are a gospel group and don't take to kindly being asked to sing "Frosty" instead of "Silent Night" Nuff said!

We had a great service at New Beginnings last Sunday, it really put me in the Christmas Spirit (That particularly spirit was keeping his distance so far this year!) We also provided Music when the New Beginnings Church hosted a group of local Southern Methodist Churches. We video taped the program and videos are in the works so stay tuned!

We will be singing with the residents at Claiborne & Hughes nursing facility at their Christmas Party on the 21st then come Janurary it's off to the races.

It's going to be a great year, see you then.
V

Checking In

The Holidays are upon us and so the X-ALT! Holiday slow down continues. We will be doing a few things with our new home church "New Beginnings Southern Methodist Church" and we will be singing the songs of the season out at the Bellevue mall on Dec 16th. But watch out because Jan. is near and that is when the ball starts rolling again. As you can see from the list in the previous post the new year is looking great already, and we are all stoked at the idea of getting busy again and spreading God's word in song.
We will be shooting some new video on the 27th so stay tuned!
Untill next time
Vince

Schedule Update

More new dates have been added to the X-ALT schedule, Here is what we have as of now!

Nov. 27 (MONDAY) New Beginnings Church Annual conference meeting Dinner
at 7:00 we play at 8:00

Dec. 10 (SUNDAY) New Beginnings Church All Music Service 11:00 am
Dec. 16 (SATURDAY) Bellevue Mall Christmas Show 5:00 pm (1 hour show)
Dec. 21 (THURSDAY) Claiborune and Hughes Nursing Home Christmas Party 6:00 pm

Jan. 6 (SATURDAY) TBG Coffee House, Ashland City 8:00 pm
Jan. 14 (SUNDAY) Cumberland Heights Rehab. 11:00 am service
Jan. 20 (SATURDAY) TN women's Prison (W/Ben Houston from 23rd Psalm)
Jan. 21 (SUNDAY) New Beginnings Church 11:00 am service
Jan. 27 (SATURDAY) McKendree Village 10:30 am
Jan. 28 (SUNDAY) Talents Coffee Studio, Springfield 2:00 pm

Feb. 3 (SATURDAY) 23rd Psalm Coffee House 7:00pm (?)
Feb. 4 (SUNDAY) New Beginnings Church 11:00 am Service
Feb. 7 (WEDNESDAY) Mariner Health Care (w/Ben Houston from 23rd Psalm)
Feb. 11 (SUNDAY) East End UMC 10:30 am service

March 4 (SUNDAY) RiverBend Men's Prison Time TBA

Come on out and worship with us some time!

A Few More Videos To Share

Amazing Grace / Peaceful Easy Feeling



Piggyback Ride



Down To The River

Our current schedule as of 11/01/06

Sunday Nov. 19 East End UMC 10:30 am East Nashville
Monday Nov. 27 New Beginnings SMC 7:00 pm Bellevue

Sunday Dec. 10 New Beginnings 11:00 am Bellevue
Saturday Dec. 16 Bellevue Mall Food Court 5:00 pm Bellevue
Thursday Dec. 21 Claiborne and Hughes Christmas Party 6:00 pm Franklin

Saturday Jan. 6 TBG Coffee House 8:00 pm Ashland City
Sunday Jan. 14 Cumberland Heights 11:00 am Nashville
Sunday Jan. 21 New Beginnings 11:00 am Bellevue
Saturday Jan. 27 McKendree Village 10:30 am Nashville
Sunday Jan. 28 Talents Coffee Studio 2:00 pm Springfield

How about a video

OPEN UP



SHOW HIM LOVE



We also want to welcome aboard Mr. Brian Lucas on Trumpet! The X-ALT family is changing and God has seen fit to send us two great new players in Brian Lucas and Mark Pierce who I introduced you to in a earlier post. We have a new Sax player coming in this week and hopefully all will go well with him and the new X-ALT! will be in place and ready for our Christmas appearances and or the Jan. appearances that are already on the books.
More to come
V

A couple of new articles

I have recently been asked to write article for a couple of web sites. If you are intrested check them out at

www.MyFaithinGod.com

the article is call "What is a Christian" the other is at

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=117115913

and my article is the first Blog entry.So check them out when you get a chance!
More updates on the way.
V

Are you a "Weener"?

This is a recent post on the blog of a good friend of mine - Tom Mulnix. It made me think - and that is an accomplishment in and of it's self.
So are you a "weener"? Read on and decide for yourself
V

**********************************************************************************

Alright, it's confession time. I need to confess something that I discovered about myself over the weekend. Not something I didn't know about myself, but I must admit the exact ramifications weren't on my radar screen. Here goes:

This blog, and other newsletters before it, along with devotions and snippets I have written over the years are born from my mind as I ponder those things that catch my interest. The "what ifs" and suppostions fill my head until I must share my thoughts with the world. Not that I believe I know more or think more, on the contrary, I believe there are other thoughts held by dear folks like you that I'm simply trying to evoke and hear from. Just one thinker sharing with others. That's the part I knew.

This past week as I shared the company of friends and a not-so-serious game of Scrabble, I layed the tiles W-E-E-N to form the word ween. I was immediately challenged by the resident "spelling police" saying I was wrong; apparently, this particular "officer" only knew of wean. Now I must admit that I wasn't completely sure of the word I played, but thought I had seen it before. However, without a dictionary at hand, and the fact that I valued the company more than my need to be right, I removed the tiles from the board and continued on. What followed was an evening of laughter and fun with many more challenged words by all. I did not not win for those of you keeping score.

A couple of days later, one of the more competitive members of that group decided to check those words that were disputed in that game, which I find odd because they had actually won. Anyway, my word ween was valid. Check it at dictionary.com. I don't want to spoil your fun, so you'll have to click the link to find the meaning.

Now for the part of the confession I did not know: I am one who weens. A weener if you will. Imagine my surprise. Perhaps you're one too.


Peace......

*********************************************************************************

Read more from Tom at his site http://the-beat-goes-on.blogspot.com/

Welcome Mark Pierce

It's been a great time in X-ALT! land. God blessed us by bringing Mark Pierce to us via a year old inner-net ad. Mark is a great guitar player and from the first practice with us we knew he was going to be a great addition to our ministry. We really put him to the test - after just one rehearsal we took him with us the next night when we returned to the TBG Coffee House In Ashland City TN where we played a rockin set to a good crowd. The music seemed to have a spark that had been missing, and we didn't even know it! The 2 hour show went just great, TBG is such a cool place to play, with a good size stage and a great sound and light system. We were on fire for the Lord that night! I knew something great was in the air when for the first time that I can remember Mark Mills looked out at a coffee house crowd and asked "Are you ready to go to church?" and that's just what we did.
After a day off we took the Lord's music to the good people at Woodbine UMC where our old buddy James Cole is the minister, it was another good Sunday of worship and even though the older congregation was not as vocal in their praise as they are at some churches we attend, we still saw smiles and folks singing along.
We don't do what we do for applause or a paycheck, we do it because we feel that this is the path the Lord has placed us on, sometime He feeds our egos (like he did Friday at TBG) and other times He lets us know it's all about Him and bringing the word of His love to His people (as was the case Sunday) but either way it is a great feeling to know that you are one He has chosen to spread His word and that you are being blessed in doing so. We're not perfect (no one is) we are just a group of regular people, who fall short of God's glory on a regular basis, but what a lesson it is to know that God chooses sinners like us to help spread his word. No one says you have to be perfect to be a Christian, if that were the case there would be no Christians. God commands that His people spread the Good News of Christ, to take it to the world so that everyone can know of His unending love. That is what we are trying to do in our own little way, we may never reach millions of people or lead to the salvation of nations, but it's enough to know that we may be helping the few people we play to take one step closer to the Lord, and at the same time we are making personal leaps forward. It is my prayer that God allows us to continue this ministry for years to come and that it may be a blessing to all we encounter. Because all the people we have met and all the churches where we have served have certainly been blessings to us.
Over the next few months we will be slowing down a bit to allow our members time for their family's and friends for the holidays but we won't be sitting still, we will be doing some special Christmas appearances and putting together new material that we can play in the new year and hopefully be looking toward a new X-ALT! CD.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us in our ministry and we look forward to seeing everyone again very soon. Keep checking the Blog for upcoming appearances and announcements.
God Bless you all
Vince

November and December Schedule
11/19 East End UMC 10:30 am service
11/27 New Beginnings SMC annual SMC conference meeting 7:00 pm
12/10 New Beginnings SMC 11:00 am service
12/16 Bellevue Mall Food Court Christmas Celebration 5:00 pm
12/21 Claibourne and Hughes Nursing Facility Christmas Party 6:00 pm

Blessings And Bars

Some of the folks in the band tell me that I tend to glorify some of our performances a little more than I should, Maybe I do - Maybe I don't - you won't know unless you come out and see for yourself sometime, but I promise you that this next update is the truth and nothing but the truth with no glorification what so ever.

Sunday Night October 1st X-ALT! Went to church! In a small chapel with no adornments, no crosses, no robes, no suits and ties, just cold tile floors, benches with no padded seats and guards at the door. But God was in that room and it was felt by all that attended. We were in the chapel at Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Prison where along with our good friend Ben Houston from the 23rd Psalm Ministries, we hosted a church service for approx. 25 prisoners. I really didn't know quite what to expect before going in and I have to admit I was a bit nervous as I waited in line to get searched before we were allowed through the gates. Then as we waited as gate after gate was opened for us I started thinking that this was really a great analogy for what we as a band have been through in the past months - how many Gates has God opened for us? How many locked doors have we been allowed to pass through? But this was the biggest gate of all, God seems to like taking this band out of it's comfort zone and he did just that last night.
I think that as people out in the free world (the guards referred to us a free world volunteers) we get a conception of what prison and prisoners are like, some of those conceptions, for me at least, were shattered yesterday. Riverbend is really quiet an amazing place with well manicured lawns and some of the most beautiful rose gardens I have ever seen, all surrounded by fencing, razor wire and armed guards. As we walked across the grounds with our escort it would have been easy to forget that behind these wall have lived and still do live some of the countries most hardened criminals. Across the yard from us prisoners could be seen being led to and from some of the different buildings. I assume that it was dinner time for some of the inmates and that others may have been being taken to exercise areas or for other activities.
Our sound equipotent arrived at the chapel before we did and I was shocked as we walked into the chapel to find two prisoners quickly hooking up our stuff! My first instinct was to yell "Hey get away from that!" I mean these guys were prisoners right - they were the "Bad Guys" and couldn't be trusted. But I held my tongue and just walked up to them to see what was going on and what greeted me were two of the friendliest folks I have ever met, Gerald was a guitar player and often played for their services and the other man whose name I missed was a bass player and they had been the first to arrive and just wanted to help, and they did. We got the sound system together in record time and the service was under way. As Ben started to introduce us another prisoner came from a side room carrying cups of water for us. These guys seemed so happy to have us there, it was really starting to sink in that we were a part of something special. We opened with one of our original numbers "Jesus We Worship You" and followed it with "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" and we could tell that these guys were there to worship. Tommy kicked in with "Piggy Back Ride" and we were off and running, later in our set we did the old standard "Lean On Me" and you could see in these guys eyes that the spirit had filled them. Some were singing along and others were clapping their hands while others just swayed to the music and let it fill them up with the spirit. We took a break and the speaker for the night came up during which Ben came to me and told me that the guys really wanted us to do "Lean On Me" again, so after the message we did. The rest of the set for the most part was filled with gospel standards like "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", "I'll Fly Away", "He Touched Me" and "Down To The River To Pray" as we were about to go into our final song Ben came up and asked us to hold off a second because some of the prisoners wanted to do a song, so we set down and five of the guys came up and sang, I wish I could remember the name of the song but I got so caught up in the sentiment and sincerity that came from these men's voices that all I could do was listen and be filled, Brooke (My Wife) told me afterwards that their song had brought tears to her eyes, it was just that powerful a moment. Ben then took prayer requests and we closed with "Amazing Grace" with Ben and the group that had just sang joining us for it.
afterwards we had a few minutes to visit with the men that attended, we laughed and prayed with them, shook their hands and hugged them. We were in a higher place, a prison had become a church for those two hours and hearts had been touched and at least in my case lives had been changed. We were witnesses to what the glory of God can do. As we were escorted out I couldn't help but think "I can go home now to my nice bed in my nice house, I can kiss my kids goodnight and then settle in, where as the men we worshiped with tonight are returning to a cold cell where they will be locked in for the night and many of them will be doing that day after day for the rest of their lives. Quiet a contrast, but for two hours we were together, brothers and sisters in Christ and filled by what each had brought to the service. I'll be praying for these guys today and I hope all of you that read this will do the same, because as Ben said during the service there were no black people and no white people at that service there were no prisoners and no free people, at that service as at any church service we are all the same, we are Christians that believe in God and in his care we are all one.
Vince

The Good, The Bad and the Blessed

So how do I cover all that's going on with X-ALT right now - I don't know - But lets see how far I can get.
Since the last update we've played Talents Coffee Studio in Springfield TN, The Bellevue Mall, The Coffee House at Christ Church, and Cumberland Heights Rehab. Center.

We'll take them as they came...

Aug. 27th Talents Coffee House...
I'm still full! We were invited to play at Talents and were told that there would be a pot luck lunch then we would lead an informal time of praise and worship. I only wish we had taken a picture of the food, there was more great things to eat than I can even start to describe. And as filled as we were by the food we were filled even more by the people. Before we took the stage (we were still eating)Talents owner brought the coolest group of kids to the stage and they set the bar high for the good time of worship that was to come.





Anyway... The rest of the day was a real blessing to us, the group that filled the coffee house was so responsive and positive that I think we all left feeling filled with the spirit, hopefully we will be returning to the fine city of Springfield soon.




*****************************************************************************

Moving on...

The Bellevue Mall was filled with music, literally on the afternoon of Sept. 10th as we took the X-ALT! Message to the people of Bellevue. We had a good turn out of friends and family and those that happened upon us seemed to really enjoy themselves. One real treat we had was being joined on trumpet by Kyle Netherton, Kyle was the trumpet player on the "Rhythm and Praise" CD but due to his schedule and location he is usually unable to join us live. He is a great player and a great addition to the X-ALT! Team.

****************************************************************************



Next up was The Coffee House at Christ Church and if I say so myself we sounded great! Too bad nobody showed up. We haven't had the best of luck at C.C., the first time we played there was one of our first outings as a group and a lot of our friend showed up to support us but with C.C. being on the opposite side of town and Friday nights being busy for everybody we weren't so lucky this time around. But being the troopers that we are we forged ahead and kept playing in case someone was running late, I would have hated for someone to make the trip only to find that we had given up and left. No one said that every night would be a blowout and this served as a great practice for the service at Cumberland Heights.

********************************************************************************




Speaking of which - Sunday morning's service at Cumberland Heights Rehab. Center was one for the books, we are so grateful to Rev. Ishee for including us in the service that capped off their reunion weekend. The chapel was full and a camera had been set up to broadcast the service into another room. It was such a good feeling to be singing and praising God with a group of people who have turned to Him as a way past their addictions. It was such an opposite of the night we spent at C.C. that it leads me to think that we are being shown our path, I have always felt that our calling was to be in a church service situation, that is where we started and it is what feels like home to me. I would never want to give up doing the non-church appearances but I think our focus needs to be on the church's and their congregations who are looking for a pathway to worship. I am a strong believer that God will make his way known, that is what HE was doing when we were let go from our regular service commitments and what HE was doing when HE led us to all the church's who have opened their doors to us and to all the coffee houses where we have tightened up our sound. Now we are just looking for that next step. As God shows us the way we will be going about our scheduled appearances that will have us going non-stop thru October. November and December will see us making very few appearances in order to spend the holidays at home with our family's. But we will be doing some Christmas related projects around the area so keep your eyes on the blog and I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Next up is a return to the Music City K.O.A. then on October 1st we join the good folks from 23rd Psalm in bringing the word to the men at Nashville's Reverbend Maximum security prison. October will also see us at New Day Southern United Methodist Church, a return to Woodbine UMC, we will be playing for the ladies and gentlemen at Nashville's McKendree Village retirement community and also at the Truth, Beauty and Grace Coffee House.

Well that catches us up for now, more news when it happens.
V

A New Update Is On The Way

Boy do we have a lot to talk about, just give me a few more day and I'll once again be filling you in on all the goings on. Pictures and maybe even somve video. It will be worth the wait.
V

See you at Talents

We are tired, but it's a good tired!

It was a whirlwind of a weekend but blessings were flowing and the music was sweet!
We started out Saturday night at the world famous 23rd Psalm Cafe where we were the main act but we were surrounded by a group of fantastic Christian singers and songwriters.


The 23rd Psalm is more than a coffee house it is a true ministry run by the one and only BEN HOUSTON. Ben has a true heart for GOD and his ministry reaches into the community in far too many ways to mention. After an incredible career in the music business where he worked with the likes of Keith Richards and The Uptown Horns, and played in some of the country's greatest venues not the least of which was the Apollo theater in New York. Ben stepped out of the spotlight when he felt God's hand moving him in a different direction. That direction was back to his hometown of Nashville where he was led to start the 23rd Psalm Ministry. Ben has been a friend for a few years now and I can think of no one that I know who is more focused and driven to do God's will.
Ben always puts on a good show at the 23rd Psalm but I have to say that Saturday topped any that I have had the pleasure to be a part of. God's love was evident in the room and felt by all.

The night started out with short sets by two great songwriters, first up was Adam (Sorry Adam I didn't catch your last name) who played some songs from his band AFTERLIFE. These incredibly touching songs were very modern sounding in the style of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a mixture of rock and rap that got peoples toes tapping and really set the stage for a night of inspirational soul stirring music.

Next up was Toni Klughart, what a sweet and talented lady, very much the classic folk singer her songs were direct and to the point, and filled us all that warm fuzzy feeling like only a person who sings from the heart can do. She was there with her husband and young son, at one point during her set I looked back and you could just see the pride shining in her son's eyes. The night just kept getting better and better.

The man - The Legend - our old buddy Chris Warren was up next and as usual he raised the bar another notch. I can't say enough about Chris and his abilities as a songwriter, singer and musician. He never fails to inspire and touch people with his smooth vocals and well crafted words, he is truly one of Gods servants, on a special note Chris came out to perform after moving all day, talk about dedicated!

I don't know about everybody else but by this time I was itching to get to it! And Get To It we did. X-ALT! took the stage and the gloves came off. We had been filled by the blessings of the other great performers and it showed in what was probably one of our best shows to date. God's love had surrounded 23rd Psalm and it was flowing through our fingers and voices.


After our set Bryan turned to me with a grin on his face and said "Something is definitely happening here" He's right, something is happening with this band and with God's blessings and guidance it's only going to continue to grow.



The night continued after our set when Moira (I hope I spelled that right)took over the mic.

Talk about a bundle of energy, this girl had it. A great voice, cool songs and a high kick that would make a Rockette blush. I kid you not! Her last song ended with a high note and a high kick. Energy like that is contagious and add to that the fact that she was such a sweet and positive person. It was a pleasure to share a stage with her.

Mark Daily was up next and he brought with him an introspective style of music that really brought the reality of Gods love home. It takes a special type of writer to really make you think about what God has given you and how you've truly been blessed. Tony and Adam ended the night with a couple of more songs and Chris closed the evening with prayer. There is really something to be said about being surrounded by a group of believers that are dedicated to spreading God's word and are willing to do it in such a public manner...

and speaking of being surrounded by a group of believers!!!!

Welcome to Flewellyn Baptist Church!

We were welcomed by the good folks at Flewellyn Baptist just like we were one of the family and by the end of the day we were.

There sound guy John and his lovely wife Jessica met us bright and early Sunday morning and helped us get set up and ready for what was to be a beautiful Sunday of worship and fellowship. It was homecoming at Flewellyn and their all purpose building was filled with smiling faces of all ages. The morning service was full of joy and praise and we were so proud to have been invited to be a part of it. Throughout the service the room filled with the smell of ham and fried chicken with all the fixins that was waiting for us in the kitchen, prepared by the church members. Why is that nothing tastes better than a pot luck lunch at church?

After we thoroughly stuffed ourselves we made our way back to the stage and led the congregation in another hour and a half of praise and worship music and some of our original material. Everyone seemed to really have a great day in God's house and everyone we talked to wanted to know when we can come back and do it again...
Just let us know when the next pot luck is and we will be there!

We do want to thank the good folks at Flewellyn for there more than generous gift and we will gladly return whenever you will have us.

Well I guess that's enough for now, why don't you all come out a join us next Sunday when we return to Springfield for a special Sunday of praise and worship at Talents Coffee Studio. It will be worth the drive!
V

23rd Psalm Poster

Show Starts at 7:00pm
Open Mic. Jam at 6:00pm
Cover $7.00
This is one night you don't want to miss!

TBG & WSNG

It was a busy weekend in X-ALT land it started out Friday night at the "Very Cool" Truth, Beauty and Goodness (or TBG) Coffee House in Ashland City TN. The "Crowd" if you want to call it that was hampered by a huge thunderstorm that passed through the area just before we were scheduled to play. If fact "The Crowd" was a small group of family and friends and a few passers by that happened in. But hey, you can't win them all. We'll be back at TGB soon (Hopefully at the End of September) and weather permitting we will fill up the place. We had a good time playing and singing and we were blessed by having Tommy and my ol' "Blue Collar" band mate Lawrence Bailey join us on Sax and guitar. Lawrence was kind enough to fill in for Bryan who had other commitments Friday night. Lawrence is a member of the Nashville Based Funk Rock act "The Jones" and he did a great job, hopefully he will be joining us again soon, I would love to see a show where we had him and Bryan up there together!!!

Sunday Mark and I had the pleasure of joining my old friend Tommy Lewis on his Sunday afternoon Gospel radio show that airs on WSNG 880am. Tommy is the long time host of the "Nashville Gospel" TV show that airs locally on WSMV-TV Channel 4, and has been a prominent member of the Gospel Music community here in Nashville for the last 30+ years.
We spent about half an hour with Tommy and our songs "Piggy Back Ride" and "Oh, Happy Day" saw their first radio airplay!!!
Tommy is just a great person who loves the Lord and never hesitates to show it.


Speaking of Busy weekends...Let's look at next weekend! Saturday night X-ALT will be performing along with our buddy Chris Warren at the world famous 23rd Psalm Cafe and Coffee House


Then on Sunday morning we are providing the music for the 11:00am service at "Flewellyn Baptist Church" in Springfield TN then after lunch we will be doing an hour set to help them celebrate their annual Homecoming.

So keep an eye out for us because we're not stopping any time soon. Don't forget to stop in at www.xaltband.com to get a full list of upcoming appearances and to check out song samples for the "Rhythm and Praise" CD.
Till Next Time
V

Truth Beauty and Goodness Coffee House

BE THERE

When A Hot Summer Night Turns Cool

X-ALT! Made it's way to the Music City KOA last night expecting another fun night of music and praise in the music barn. Were we disappointed? In a word "NO!" In fact we were blown away!
The evening started out as we expected with a small crowd. Shows at places like the campground are always slow to fill up simply because people don't start to file in till they hear the music start and that was just what happened. Through the first three or four songs the crowd slowly filed in, but the cool part is that once inside they stayed, they yelled, they clapped and danced, the more the crowd got into it the more the band turned up the heat and before long a full grown party had broke out.


We put a lot of new material into the mix last night which brought about a much higher energy show than we have done before, a trend I think we all want to see continue! Along with playing every cut off the CD, we brought out some of our favorites. A re-worked version of the Sam and Dave classic "Sooth Me" brought cheers from the crowd as did the rockers "More Love, More Power" and "Ain't No Rock".


Tommy was in rare form last night as we did one of the hottest versions of his song "Piggy Back Ride" ever, I've been working with Tommy off and on for 25 years now and I have never seen him get as fired up as he does when he sings this song. It truly makes a difference when your singing for the Lord and spreading his word through your songs. That was evident last night, we felt God's presence in that room and it could be seen in the smiles on the crowd and in the smiles of those of us on stage. It was just fun, there's no other word for it. What could be better than spreading the love of Jesus Christ to a great crowd and flat out having a ball doing it?
Look at these faces and tell me that these people aren't filled with the spirit of Gods love...








Mark put his voice to the test throughout the night last night hitting all the high notes only to turn around and sing bass on "Down To The River". Bryan played the sax like a man possessed (in a good way) and his guitar playing is not to be believed.

If you have not been to an X-ALT show you should really make plans to see one soon, you have plenty of opportunities so there is no excuse!








And lets not forget the hardest working drummer I've ever worked with, Eddie came into the night not feeling his best but he didn't let it slow him down!



















Your next chance to catch X-ALT LIVE is Friday August 11th at the TBG Coffee House on the Square in Ashland City, The Show starts at 8:00pm.

Then on August 19th X-ALT headlines a great night of music at the world famous 23rd Psalm Cafe, the night begins with their famous open mic night followed by our old buddy Chris Warren then X-ALT hits the stage around 8:00. You don't want to miss a minute of either of these shows. God has blessed us and we want to share those blessings with you.
V






Psalms 150 - The Message Translation
Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship,
praise Him under the open skies;
Praise Him for his acts of power,
praise Him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
praise Him with banjo and flute;
Praise Him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
praise Him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
Hallelujah!

A Hot Summer Night

It was a hot summer night when X-ALT! came to play for the residents and their families at Claiborne & Hughes Rehabilitation Center in Franklin TN. and Prayers were answered (At least the fast one I threw out for the rain to hold off!).
We were all looking forward to this show because what we do is about touching people and bringing the Joy of the love of Jesus Christ to anyone who wants to hear it. The folks at Caliborne and Hughes were listening.
Our good friend Chris Warren joined us and did a great set to open the night.

Chris is an amazing singer and songwriter and he wears his beliefs on his sleeve for all to see and hear. He has a way of presenting his message that is both captivating and a joy to be a part of. We are looking forward to working with Chris again as he will be joining us at some coffee house shows and when we do a concert at his church later in the year.
X-alt's time had arrived and we played a great show for the folks, it was so inspiring it look out at the 50 or so people who had come out for the show and to see heads bobbing to the music and people clapping along.
We played most of the new CD along with a few covers including Katy's version of "Jesus Take The Wheel" which always seem to go over well.

All our ladies were in great voice, it is such a joy to hear Brooke, Katy and Susie when they are in sync. Unfortunately due to time constraints we were unable to do "Down To The River" at this show but I can only imagine how it would have sounded, it is such a showcase for our ladies!

I don't know if it was because we were playing outside or not but the band really seemed to find it's groove and stayed in it all afternoon. Songs like "Piggyback Ride", "Open Up", and "Keep Our Eyes On Jesus" seemed to have a life of their own and our vocal heavy songs like "Love Never Ending" seemed to just swell and grow.

After about an hour we took a break and Chris came back up to do a few more songs. During Chris's set we were informed that the heat was getting to some of the older members of our audience and we were asked if we could cut our second set a short so when we returned to the mic's we pulled out the old church hymnal and did some favorites,

"Will The Circle Be Unbroken", "Power In The Blood" and "I'll Fly Away" ended the night.
We wanted to make sure to thank the folks at Claiborne and Hughes, especially Stephanie who heads up their family nights.
As we were packing up she and I got to talking about us coming back at another time and we decided that our next appearance should be at Christmas time. As the holidays get closer we will be putting together an X-ALT! Christmas show to take on the road and I can't wait. Mark tells me he has an original Christmas already written and I know Tommy has a song called "The Great Southern White Out" a song that speaks the truth about Southern drivers and snow!

The rest of 2006 looks great for X-ALT! The bookings keep coming and we can't wait to see where the Lord takes us next.
That's it for now, next stop is Back at the Nashville KOA this Sunday, August 6th then we are off to Ashland City and the Truth. Beauty, and Grace Coffee House on the 11th. It's going to be a busy week but were ready for it. So come on out and see us!
V