andrew dodson

Tomorrow, the Josh Martin Band begins the process of recording our next studio album.  On the eve of the recording weekend, I had a couple of thoughts.

Two years ago at this time, I was on my way to Minnesota for the Desiring God National Conference.  Head over to my photos section to see pictures from the trip.  It was my first conference and was a blast.  Aside from hearing some great speakers in person, there were a lot of little things that made the trip fun.  The bed at the hotel was insanely comfortable.  The Michigan Wolverines’ football team and the Chicago White Sox stayed in the hotel - I rode the elevator with Jermaine Dye and saw Paul Konerko in the lobby.  It was a great trip.

A little over two and half years ago, as the Josh Martin Band recorded our previous studio effort, The Point Community Church started.  I remember driving from Cedarmore on Sunday morning - after a full weekend of recording - to a skating rink to set up my equipment for our first service.  Since then, The Point has grown to 300+ members and 200-250 weekly attendance.  Sometimes, people ask me why I still live in Frankfort.  The Point is one of the reasons why.  I really love my church.

So, here we go.  Recording again.  The great part about this album is that we have no idea what will end up on the album.  We begin the process with only a handful of songs written.  Over the course of the fall, we’ll finish writing some more songs to finish out the album, but those songs remain a mystery.  Stay tuned for more updates from the studio.

I just returned from Russ & Lilly’s wedding in Cleveland, OH.  It was a fun weekend and congrats and Russ & Lilly!  Check out the slideshow.

I’m happy to recommend a new blog by a somewhat new friend - John Martin (not to be confused with Josh, and no relation).  John and I go back to February of 2006 when I was considering buying an electronic drum set.  My boss recommended I speak with a guy who used to rent a house from him.  So, I called and met up with John at Memorial Baptist Church and he sold me on the Yamaha DTXpress III Special.  Since then, I’ve had occasional contact with him through CLS and church activities.  Recently, he joined us (some guys from The Point and me) on a trip to Seattle, so I’ve gotten to know him better in the last few months.  I learned about his blog earlier this week, but I’m just getting around to linking to it.

John is a great guy in this order - He loves the Lord, he loves his family, is a great husband and father, he faithfully serves his church as a pastor, and he is a great drummer & musician.  Go read his blog.

This edition of random blogging might appeal to your visual and aural senses.

• I’ve posted my Seattle photos!  Go here to see a Flickr slideshow.
• I’m enjoying Wilco right now.  I’ve never really given them a fair shot, but I picked up a couple of albums on iTunes and they’re growing on me.
• Nine Inch Nails has released an all instrumental album consisting of 36 tracks.  It is available through their website and at Amazon for $5.  This is interesting.  I’ve never been a fan, but I enjoy instrumental music - especially music that blends rock and electronic.  I’ve read the music was recorded in a ten-week span in an almost improvisational way.  This also interests me.  I’m always a fan of improvisation.  I’m thinking, for $5, it’s worth checking out.
• The Barcode Trio is a new jazz favorite of mine.  The simplest label I can give them is pop jazz.  Not a huge display of “look what I can do” solos, but good, easy to listen to music.  They’re on iTunes - check them out.

Greetings from Seattle!

As I type this, I’m sitting in the auditorium of Mars Hill Church’s Ballard campus. Currently, there is a speaker from Acts 29 on stage. Should I be listening? Eh. I’m a part of a church plant, but I’m not a church planter.

Anyway, the trip so far has been great! Seattle is a beautiful city with a wealth of culture. I suppose everywhere has a wealth of culture, but I guess the diversity here is what’s interesting. The architecture is extremely interesting. The terrain here is interesting. The landscape is interesting. The food is interesting. The people are interesting. We did some sight-seeing this morning, which mainly consisted of going to the Pike Place Market. I have seen the space needle, but I won’t be able to go up in it before we leave. Fortunately, that just gives me a reason to come back here someday.

The MHC Ballard campus is great. It’s a remodeled warehouse, that actually isn’t very big (or, at least smaller than I thought it would be). The main auditorium seats 1,000 and is a fairly simple, rectangular room. But, the lighting, paint, and technology makes it ultra-modern. The auditorium takes up much of the building’s footprint. Aside from it, there is a good-sized, open lobby. There is a small theater that is used for youth events and overflow. There is a small cafe area for drinks & refreshments. Lastly, there is a small lobby in the back of the building that also serves as their bookstore.

My head is hurting from all of the information I’ve taken in this week. Mostly, thanks to John Piper. CJ Mahaney brought a great message, and I enjoyed seeing him “live” for the first time. I was fortunate enough to meet him one evening, as well. He’s been fairly visible around the conference, as he originally intended on just attending the conference (until he was also asked to speak). From seeing him interact with conference attendees, I can safely say his humility is as true as the book he wrote on the subject.

It might be a “conference high,” but I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head right now. Being here and experiencing Mars Hill in person has been inspiring. I’ve been brainstorming on what I can do additionally to serve The Point.

A surprise of the trip has definitely been the food. Seattle takes their restaurants very seriously. Fast food restaurants are actually rare in the areas we’ve visited. We’ve eaten good this week.

As usual, I will be posting pictures from the trip after we return. We fly out late tonight and will land in Louisville tomorrow morning. Please pray for our safety in traveling.

Tuesday has become music day around here.  I’m currently in Seattle for the Resurgence Conference, which so far, has been very good.  But, I, unfortunately, didn’t have time to write a theology post today.  The band performed “It is Well With My Soul” tonight during worship.  The lyrics to this song, penned by Horatio Spafford, are so powerful and moving.  I wanted to post them with the hope that they will bless you:

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
What ever my lot you have taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though the devil will ruin, though trials may come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And He shed His own blood for my soul

It is well, with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul

It is well, with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight
And the clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

In a few weeks, I’m going to the Resurgence Conference in Seattle.  The conference is titled Text & Context, and I’ll be hearing the likes of Mark Driscoll, John Piper, CJ Mahaney and a few others.  I’m pretty excited about the trip, and I’m pretty anxious for it to get here!  Joining me on the trip will be Rick, Jeremy, Shane, Tim Chase & John Martin.  It will be tough for that group to stay out of trouble, I’m sure.

I always enjoy traveling, and especially going to new places.  Rick, Jeremy and Shane all experienced Seattle previously, so they’re veterans.  Getting to see Mars Hill Church will be interesting, as will all the sights around Seattle.  I’ve heard the seafood is tremendous, so I’m sure we’ll eat well.  I will, of course, have my camera, so be looking forward to pictures.

Most of our trip’s logistics are already in place - plane tickets, car rental, hotel, and conference registration.  All that’s left is for the time to get here and for us to all show up to get on the plane.  It should be a great time!

“It’s an honor just to be nominated.”

I received an email this morning through my Flickr account.  Schmap is possibly going to use one of my photos from my trip to Minneapolis for a travel guide.  Ironically, it’s a photo that I took of the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant, while I was there for a Desiring God conference.  I won’t get any money to allow them to use the photo, but it’s nice to know they might use it.  I’m no Kari McGrath, but photography is definitely a small hobby of mine.  The photo is below:

I’m planning on posting a couple of extensive posts soon (more theological in nature), but for now, we’ll have to settle for some more random blogging:

• That bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis?  Yeah, Josh and I drove across that bridge last fall when we went to the Desiring God conference.  For some first-hand coverage of the situation, visit Desiring God.
• I’m halfway through Chasing Daylight (woo hoo!).  The posts mentioned above will deal with my reading of this book.  Look for them this weekend, or early next week.
• I’m excited about the previously mentioned internet ideas that CLS is pursuing.  I will likely share more about these this weekend, as well.  I didn’t come up with the ideas, but there is one in particular that I have done the majority of the work for so far, so I’m particularly interested in the result of that idea.
• The JMB DVD is nearing completion!  We will preview the DVD this weekend and see how it’s coming along.  Bert has been hard at work mixing the camera angles together for your viewing enjoyment.  We should have it completed in the very near future - just in time for our slate of fall concerts that are coming up soon.
• I’m buying a new ride cymbal tomorrow - a 20″ Sabian HHX Manhattan ride.  I’ve had my eye on it for quite some time and found a person getting rid of one in Lexington.  He’s going to be in Frankfort tomorrow, so I’ve made arrangements to meet up with him and do business.  You can hardly find them used on eBay, which is one reason it’s taken me a while to get one.  New, they go for $350.  Yeah - not gonna shell out that much for a cymbal that I don’t “need.”  But, I’m getting it at a great price and it will satisfy my desire for a jazz sounding drum set.  It’s designed to sound like the popular rides from back in the day when jazz ruled the music world.
• Speaking of money, I paid off my biggest interest-bearing debt today!  I’d originally planned on paying it off over the next two months, but I was itching to pay it off.  So, I took some money out of savings and paid the sucker off.

This post may break my personal record for most categories used.  Stay tuned for more this weekend…

Two hundred people got trapped in the St. Louis Arch yesterday.  Some were in trams, and others were at the top.  If this ever happened to me, I’d hope to be stuck at the top.  I visited the Arch a few years ago, and it has an amazing view of St. Louis.  Getting to the top and coming down weren’t as exciting.  I’m not sure if the “trams” are still the same, but at that time, they crammed four people into a tiny, egg-shaped elevator that took you to and from the top.  Getting stuck in one of those could be quite nerve-racking.