the story i find myself in

so your fav songwriter and mine Damien Jurado is doing some audio blogging at and now that i'm in your shadow. here is what he says about it: "I've set up an audio blog in honor of my forthcoming record And Now That I'm In Your Shadow. I'll be posting new demos, and the occasional audio letter while on the road or at home." so be sure and add it to your rss feeder. also, be sure and download his cover of nick drake's pink moon. check out the story SPIN.com: Damien Jurado Covers Nick Drake for yourself. his new stuff is sounding great - he has a cellist that sings with him now and a guy doing some 'atmospheric' stuff. brillant. the new record comes out on oct 10th. sweet.

Posted by ashdown at 9/29/2006 10:07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so if you live in the rdu area you need to be attending this church. here is there site visio dei. sign up on the email list and you will get all the info you need. secondly, download the podcasts. seriously. i am so stoked on their vision and the way they are following christ and dreaming church in their context. so inspiring. i just finished listening to their thoughts for discipleship and so vibe with it. and i guess that comes out of some of my own frustrations with where i am at (but that is either here nor there). so all that to say - do yourself a favor and listen. i am spurred on by listening.

Posted by ashdown at 9/28/2006 08:34:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

also, some very close friends of mine - jason and jeff are planting a church called visio dei. they have a podcast of their pre-services...listen and journey along with them.

Posted by ashdown at 9/27/2006 08:27:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so as soon as i saw this topic under the mosaic podcasts i had to listen this morning. what a tough topic that i have thought of much...i am listening to it right now - do yourself a favor and listen with me...

Posted by ashdown at 9/27/2006 08:24:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

yes - you heard it right - the one the only matt shilling is back blogging again. keep up with him at a new mission in Boston.

Posted by ashdown at 9/25/2006 08:34:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

yep. amanda and i headed out last night to see some good, good music last night. first of all - it was at 2115 Taft which is a sweet, small venue. and it was sold out - but didnt feel like many people were there. so great. first - Sandra McCracken played and derek and a bass player played with her. the bass player was incredible - he played bass and keys at the same time. i am telling you this guys was a freak of nature he was so good...so sandra has a new album (of course we scored it) and she played like 5 tunes from it as an opener. she has a great voice and is a great songwriter. after sandra finished her set there was a short break - then derek came back up by himself. he opened with 'i want a broken heart' - which was great because that morning we led that song for the 11o5 crowd. then after that song he said he was going to take a couple of requests from the audience and then he would bring the band back up and play through mockingbird in its entirity - because he said it makes more sense a whole - and not individual songs. sweet!! so i yell out as loud as i can 'SOMEWHERE NORTH'. and saw the head nod...sweet!! the songs he played from the requests were: i repent dance somewhere north the rich song wedding dress oh yeah. what a set. then after that he brought up sandra and the bass player and they played through mockingbird. he is such a gifted songwriter. so great. and if you havent heard, you can download his album for free - just click the mockingbird link above and enjoy the free music.

Posted by ashdown at 9/25/2006 08:07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so yesterday was great. i woke up early - spent some time in my Sacred Space here at the house. then cleaned the whole place. dusted, vaccumed - took it down! then as i was finishing cleaning radkey called and asked if i wanted to go play some disc golf. yesssssssss!! there is a course right by his house - so we played 9 holes there - i ended up 3 over. then we drove out to another park downtown and played 9 holes there. so great! all in all i finished 4 over for the day. not too shabby for not playing these courses and being out of the rhythm. needless to say i am looking forward to more days like this! after amanda got home from school we headed out to see the astros game. got some free tix from work again and had a blast! the astros stormed back in the 8th and won with a walk off single in the 9th. probably the most exciting game we have been to yet! and now it is my fav day of the week. saturday. day of rest, hang time with the wifey and grrrrrrrreat breakfast!! enjoy your sat...

Posted by ashdown at 9/23/2006 09:03:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so today i got to hang with corey - a church planter here in houston. what a great connection to make! he is leading Missio Dei, a church here in town and its structure is very similar to that of scu. community groups, comm pastors and such - i love their vision and their heart for this city. i am excited to see where this will lead...

Posted by ashdown at 9/21/2006 08:10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

my boys THE ALBUM LEAF are coming to town. yessssssss!! picked up the new album as well - a definate must have for your complete collection.

Posted by ashdown at 9/18/2006 09:16:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

full update located here : our story begins.

Posted by ashdown at 9/18/2006 03:33:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

check these guys out: una. a buddy of mine brandon burch (formerly everyday collision) has been busy at work these past few years. man. great tunes and looks like they are doing some great things. check em out... btw - I LOVE AUSTIN! (aside) 2 fav things about austin: 1. the marlows 2. waterloo records more to come later... sufjan was incredible. see him on this tour if you can. wow.

Posted by ashdown at 9/16/2006 09:34:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

yes it is going to be an amazing couple of months of good music for the ashdowns. first we begin with Sufjan Stevens tonight - in AUSTIN!! amanda and i are headed to hang with the marlows after school today - eat some dinner at WAHOOS FISH TACOS!! chill with the marlow clan - oh yeah, cant wait. concert number 2 is derek webb on sept 24th. he is playing at 2115 Taft. should be freaking amazing. and last but not least... yes you read it correctly. DEATH CAB!! and ok go is opening - that sweet band that does the dancing on the treadmills. hopefully they will do it live. much much to look forward to. updates tomorrow on sufjan and austin. live alive.

Posted by ashdown at 9/15/2006 09:46:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so our last day in seattle - sad but true...we were able to sleep in and then met jeff, stacey, ken and brenda for some amazing breakfast at 3 sisters at pike's place. it was a relaxing morning walking around and hangin with friends. seattle was so great...we cant wait to get back... last round of photos: our last view of a great city...

Posted by ashdown at 9/14/2006 06:20:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so here was our dinner destination: THE SPACE NEEDLE!! it was such a great atmosphere and hanging with jeff and stacey was great. the food was kinda eh - but other than that it was great. here are the pics: day 3 here we come...

Posted by ashdown at 9/14/2006 06:06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so after some awesome room service breakfast we had a special treat - some in-room massages...wow. so so so great!!! after that we headed to walk around town and see the city. jeff and stacey bought some tickets to the mariners game so they were in some sweet seats while we were tearin up the town. we eventually hooked up with them for dinner later on (see pics below). we headed out from our hotel down to pike st and walked about 5-6 blocks down to pike's place market. pike's place was so cool. seeing the fish thrown, smelling all the fresh fruit and flowers, all the people around...what a great place. we walked all the way down to belltown area, then walked back to the hotel for a little break, then past the library down to pioneer's square. very cool area as well. we had lunch at this sweet cafe underneath the elliot bay bookstore. here are the pics: after doing all of that walking we were ready for a break. and it was perfect timing because jeff and stacey were done with the game, so they picked us up and we headed out to Vivace next to rei and then out to freemont. vivace was just as amazing as marlow had described - and they did some sweet latte art with our drinks!! there was some traffic heading over to freemont so we couldnt stay long because we had dinner reservations - but it was a cool stop. the drive along the lake was so great. we took the infamous troll photo, browsed a used cd store, walked by the stalin statue and then headed back to the hotel to get changed and head to dinner. ok - dinner events and pics on the next post.

Posted by ashdown at 9/14/2006 05:00:00 PM | Permalink | Comments