Music City

I love Nashville. I really do. The atmosphere is just contagious. I love that you can walk for several blocks downtown and hear live music pouring out of the various clubs and bars. The music scene in Colorado Springs is virtually non-existent compared to Nashville. I'm sitting in the Colorado Springs airport at 7:00am, waiting for my 8:00 flight. I'll be in Nashville til Tuesday...then I'm off to San Diego for two days. Gonna be tough to be away from home for that long. My son is in his "cling to daddy" stage right now and it's just so hard to say goodbye to him. (Truth is, daddy is in his "cling to Morgan" stage" too. Ha!) I wish I could say I was going to be doing some music on this trip, but I'm not. Sad to go to Music City and not do any music! Both trips are work-related...doing stuff for Compassion International. Speaking of music, my single, Open Up the Darkness, is now #10 on the Christian Radio Weekly Indie Rock Charts. Sweet! Thanks to all of you who are supporting my new album, So Human. If anything exciting happens during the trip, I'll write about it. Blessings!

Music City

I'm in Nashville right now...at a broadcaster's conference. I get to come to Music City once or twice a year and I always enjoy it. There's something about the atmosphere...the energy. As you walk along the sidewalk down Broadway, you can hear a lively cocktail of blues, country, rock and jazz spilling out into the streets from the various night clubs and bars. It's a music lover's paradise. Obviously I love music. But many folks are suprised to hear that I like country music. Actually, I like just about every kind of music. In my opinion--a good song is a good song--whether it's rap, rock, pop, jazz, blues, opera...or yes, even country. So imagine how stoked I was today when I was invited to an event at the Grand Ole Opry House. There were about 200 of us who gathered to eat lunch on the stage...the actual stage where legends like Minnie Pearl, Little jimmy Dickens, Hank Williams and a whole slew of other superstars performed. I walked through the hallways and saw the old black and white photographs of artists who were the foundation of American country music. Photos of them singing into bulky old microphones, playing simple acoustic guitars and banjos...on the very same floor where I was now eating my Tuscan Grilled Chicken and mashed potatoes. How cool is that? Actually, most of those performers were part of the Grand Ole Opry back when it was in the Ryman Auditorium. But when the G.O.O. moved to the newer building in 1974 they took a section of the wooden floor from the Ryman stage and put it onto the new stage. So today's performers are standing on the same section of floor that artists like Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Roy Acuff all sang on. One thing I noticed about those old photos. There were a lot of older performers at that time. It seemed almost odd to see artists like Granpa Jones on stage. I remember when I turned 30. I was talking to a record label rep who told me I was "too old" for a label to take a chance on me. Too old at 30! But that's the business today, isn't it? So much of it centers around a "marketable face" over music. Back then, it was all about the music. Sure, there were marketable personalities, but they didn't get anywhere if they didn't have the songs. And my, what songs they were! Songs that meant something. Songs that told stories of heartbreak, love, addiction. There was something so pure about those old days of country music. And it was one of the highlights of my life to be there today. As a bonus...our group sang worship songs together. So now I can say I've sung on stage at the Grand Ole Opry! :) Ahhhhhh....I love Music City!

Superbaby

My son, Morgan Douglas Glenn, will be 8 months old next week. I'm just amazed at how fast he's growing. Heck, I'm still shocked that I'm a daddy! I am so in love with this little guy.

A couple of weeks ago, he mastered sitting up on his own. Now he loves to fall over, just so he can sit back up! He's not quite strong enough to pull himself up to a stand yet, but if you stand him up at the edge of something, like a coffee table, he can hold on and stand on his own forever.

This pic is of him in his Superman costume. Doesn't he just look like he's ready to take off and fly? For those who don't know, I'm a huge Superman fan. I jokingly told my wife that if he was born with black hair and blue eyes, we'd name him Kalel. Well, he's definitely got the blue eyes, but looks like he's going to have daddy's brown hair.

That's okay. I love his name. He's named after a Christian music artist that was instrumental in me becoming an artist myself. His name is Morgan Cryar. I used to listen to his stuff all the time in college. I loved his sound...and thought he had a pretty cool name. His music influenced me to get involved in Christian music. The summer after my senior year in college, I entered a vocal competition in Dallas...and ended up winning. There were two prizes for first place:
1. I got 12 hours of studio time at a recording studio in Nashville. It's where I recorded the majority of my very first solo project, Shock the World. (Available only on cassette--I have a case of 'em in my garage!)
2. I got to open up for Morgan Cryar at a concert. What a blast!

Back to my boy. He's sleeping through the night now, which makes mommy and I both happy. And the most awesome thing: Sometimes, when he wakes up in the morning, he sings in his bed. It's all just baby babble, but he loves to sing! And I love to listen to him.