The Comeback Kid

09/23/2009

B.Reith

Monday night hubby and I had the honor of attending a CD preview party for B. Reith with a co-worker. (One of the perks of working for CCM.) I discovered who he is last week (through CCM’s July issue) and Jason and I quickly became fans. B.’s music is a mix of rapping and pop singing with catchy hooks (like Jason Mraz) and hip-hop beats. He can’t decide which he prefers so he does it all and it works!

b-reith-now-is-not-forever

A friend of a friend hooked up up with his new CD Now is Not Forever, which just came out on Tuesday. It’s quite a diverse mix of musical styles. You can check out his music on myspace. My self-control faltered a little as I snapped a fanarazzi picture of tobyMac and B. Reith with my phone. I’ll refrain from posting it.

1 Comment | Art, Art: music | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

2009 East Nashville Tomato Art Fest

08/12/2009

One of my favorite things about East Nashville is the annual Tomato Art Fest in historic 5-Points. There are all kinds of activities like a 5K run, red-head contests, tomato beauty pageants, NOLA-style parade, vintage fashion shows, local artisan vendors, burrito eating contests, wine tastings, bloody mary contests, lots of tomato inspired art and like every Nashville festival — tons of live music. I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.

100_6410_b

100_6403

100_6398

Wonders on Woodland mid-century antiques:

100_6401_b

More vintage items for sale out front. I Dream of Weenie in the background. (I love these goofballs.)

100_6399

100_6415_b

Fanny’s House of Music:

100_6416

The Groove new & used vinyl, CD’s & more:

100_6417

2 Comments | Art, Art: crafts, Art: mid-century design, Art: music, Family | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

08/11/2009

I’m not going to claim that it was my favorite hymn before last week but I’m really loving it now. Originally I saw this video on Design Mom set to Sufjan Stevens’ version of “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Then I downloaded the song and have been listening to it for days. I’m definitely buying the rest of his Songs for Christmas boxed set this year in time for tree trimming and hot apple cider.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy unchanging love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

(I’m highlighting my favorite lines in teal.)

Wondering what Ebenezer means? I was and this answered my question well.

Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: music, Faith | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Kiss Me

07/21/2009

If Jason and I had “a song”, in my opinion, it would be “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. I’m not sure if he’d agree. Six years ago when we were trying to decide on a song for our wedding reception, we couldn’t agree and we ended up settling on one my mom suggested which, while sweet, had no personal significance. This song, on the other hand, was played in the climactic scene of the movie we saw on our first date. I can’t listen to it without all those feelings from 10 years ago being stirred up all over again.

Kiss me out of the bearded barley
Nightly, beside the green, green grass
Swing, swing, swing the spinning step
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress.

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor
Lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon’s sparkling
So kiss me

Kiss me down by the broken tree house
Swing me upon its hanging tire
Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat
We’ll take the trail marked on your father’s map

“kiss me” by sixpence none the richer

Do others of you in relationships have “a song”? I’m curious if people still do that. If you’re willing to share, what is it and how did it become your song?

1 Comment | Art, Art: music, Family | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Broken record

07/11/2009

Yesterday I tweet’d this:

Picture 10

I was having a bad morning. Nothing major but for me, bad. I was exhausted and I had a headache. (Why did I drink that Pepsi at 10:30 the night before?) Logged on to my bank account and discovered that I neglected to record a withdrawal last week and got hit with $97 in NSF fees. Dumb. It happens. God has provided more than enough to make up for it. But it’s still frustrating.

Meanwhile, all morning I had a line from a rather annoying song running through my mind. Why was it stuck in my head? I don’t even like that song! After the 10th time, I realized (DUH) maybe God is trying to tell me something:

I’m in a fight not physical,
I’m in a war but not with this world.

I don’t like to over-spiritualize things. I made a mistake. I forgot to record a transaction. I should have balanced the checkbook before auto-paying a bunch of bills. NSF fees are a natural consequence.

But it is nice when God sends me a little reminder: I am in a war. I have an enemy who seeks to kill, steal and destroy; who wants to rob me and take away my joy. Thank God for a Savior who is so much bigger than my problems, who is always faithful to provide, who has had favor on my life!

It’s from a song called “Counting on God” by Desperation Band. Rest of the lyrics here.

Leave a Comment » | Art: music, Faith | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Next Entries »