Today was another good day of GMA. The nice thing is I have learned how to be productive with interviews and I have also learned how to say no. So I didn’t have as many today, but I did get to spend some good time with Ashley Cleveland, Sarah Kelly, Karl Messner (Apologetix), Mark Stuart (Audio Adrenaline), BarlowGirl and Shawn McDonald, whose disc is one of my favorites from this year.
Of course, the biggie of the day was speaking to Michael W. Smith, a personal favorite for many years. In my first in-person interview, I managed to have the following dialogue concerning a time when I tried to pattern myself after his look (during the I2Eye phase):
DeWayne: I suppose it could have been worse, I could have patterned myself after your argyle sweater album cover.
Michael: (laughs)
DeWayne: So now that I’ve managed to thoroughly insult you, let’s get on with the interview.
I know sometimes there’s a certain sense to making someone nicer than they actually are but Michael is genuinely a nice guy. His cell phone rang and 9 times out of 10, an artist will answer it but he was extremely apologetic and quickly silenced it. Our interview flowed well and, at the end, he said, “We need another thirty minutes!”
Outside of the interviews, I had a chance to catch up with many others like Olivia The Band, Lisa Kimmey (Out of Eden) who I traded Treo secrets with, Hawk Nelson (who did a great set at the Tooth N Nail late night), Darrell Evans, Mac Powell (who told me my gotee hides my babyface), new group Inhabited and Anointed. I even gave a shout out over the telephone to 80’s music superstar (and now Christian musician) Sheila E. (remember “The Glamorous Life”?). I party-hopped a tad tonight between two side-by-side get-togethers from Integrity Music and my good buds Russ and Mary Lee, who are always a delight to talk to.
Musically, the highlight of the entire day was a last-minute decision for Gotee’s BBQ lunch at Jack’s with 4th Avenue Jones, who performed a stripped-down but AWESOME set that blew me away! So refreshing! I wish everyone could have been there! Also a neat side note was sitting at a small table beside Youth Specialties President Tic Long, a really nice guy.
My little sleepy town of Cleveland was a source of discussion today. I ran into surprise friends like former Campus Choir buddy Karla and her husband, me and Jimmy talking about Lee days and even Jason from Hawk Nelson telling me they recently performed there (and I didn’t even know). Also, as I walked down the street, on a street corner, I hear someone say, “Are you from Cleveland?” Turns out it was a Cleveland friend who wanted to make sure it was me. 🙂
On a side note, say a prayer for one singer who spoke with me briefly today that really needs a fresh healing touch from God. This person is broken and needs Jesus to come mend the pieces.
More to come tomorrow! Thanks for reading!
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