End of tour....Headed to Honduras

Hey! Here's what I've been up to: www.homewheretheartis.com

We have two more dates left on the tour....Charleston and Atlanta! Things have gone extremely well on the tour and I've made some lifelong friends! We've partnered with some amazing homeless shelters and organizations in the NC, VA, SC, and GA areas....they are each very unique and are making an impact in their communities!

Thanks to everyone who attended the house concerts!!

On Saturday, I will be heading back to Honduras for the third time with Riverside Mission out of East TN. We will spend 7 days in San Pedro Sula feeding the most impoverished population that reside on the banks of the river in the city. We will also have our 2nd annual shoe drive, where over 500 kids from the river area will be receiving a new pair of flip flops (provided by Soles 4 Souls). There are 15 of us on this trip and we ask for your prayers!

Thanks to all of those who have supported me and for those who continue to pour into the lives of those that are less fortunate!

Now on NoiseTrade.com

Wanna try out my music? Pay what you want or recommend 5 friends!!

Michael Jackson memories.....

As I watch CNN's non-stop coverage of Michael Jackson's death, I'm gonna recall a few of my favorite childhood memories of MJ:

Smooth Criminal:  I took dance for nine years.  3-2-1 Strike a pose!!  I remember how excited I was when I finally made the dance troupe.  (All the girls in dance troupe were sooooo cool, so I wanted to be THAT good!)  This was back in the day of record players folks!!  We would dance so hard in rehearsals that we'd knock the pin off the record!  Anyway, for our first dance troupe competition we chose MJ's song "Smooth Criminal" as our song.  When I was all decked out in my red sequined 3 piece suit--complete with hat & gloves--I thought I was a real criminal on the stage.  :)  We'd dance to other of MJ's songs that year, but that one holds the most weight.

World Premiere of Black & White video:   In November 1991, I remember sitting in the living room of my parent's old house and waiting anxiously with my brother Tate for the world premiere of MJ's "Black & White" video.  We didn't have cable television at the time, so it was pretty rare for us to get music videos on network t.v.  We were pumped!  My brother Tate was so excited that he had a "spaz" moment (like most 10 year olds have when they have too much energy)....and ran around the living room making his best attempt at MJ's dance moves.  The problem was that my Mom had plugged up the space heater....do you see where this is going?  In the midst of Tate's spastic dance break, he put his hands on top of the space heater and pushed off of it to get some air on one of his moves.  BAD!!!  That was the negative part of the night.  I remember the video being amazing....and I loved the fact that there was some kind of storyline, with the use of other actors, and to be honest, I'd never seen a man walk through fire, or transform from being a black panther.  Wow....nobody does it like MJ.  RIP.  

Gonna try to locate the pic of that red suit from dance troupe......

new lyrics.....

Just wanted to post the lyrics from one of my newest songs......let me know what ya think!!  Hopefully, I'll have these new songs recorded soon!  More to come.....:)

Bittersweet

Campbell/Philpott

June 2009 Copyright

Verse:

The stars they are falling but they never reach the ground

They loose all their glitter on the long way down

I long for your sweet voice, to be wrapped up in your arms

I wish I had wished on a different star

Chorus:

Bittersweet, bittersweet

I'm looking, looking for love again

Bittersweet, bittersweet

I'm looking, looking for love again

Verse:

Sometimes I laugh, to show I'm alright

Would it be easier to give up the fight?

Now I sit alone here, while young lovers pass by

And I miss your kiss and your hand in mine

Bridge:

It's time to pack up, head back east

My load is lighter this time

I've had all the sunsets that I can take

And I'm ready, oh I'm ready to see one rise

i heart summer

Hiya there!  This warm weather has been good for my soul!!  I am having a blast now that summer is here.....Last week I took a long overdue vacation to Florida with friends.  I haven't spent that much time baking in the sun since high school, and I was loving every minute of it!!  Also, I finally finished Dylan's autobiography "Chronicles"....and would encourage anyone that loves music, songwriting, or loves Dylan's music to read it!  His life is intriguing and I was able relate with him on several levels....mainly when he was struggling to get the ball rolling.  The last two chapters about working with producer Daniel Lanois....it details the struggle between artist/producer....and I would've loved to have been there when the two of them were battling it out over stylistic approach, song arrangement, sounds, etc.etc.  Now I'm onto reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.....I'll post some amazing quotes soon!  

I've also been on quite the writing rampage lately as well......so I'll post some of the new song lyrics and give a little detail on the inspiration behind each one in the next few days.....

I also want to tell you that Kelleigh Bannen and I are planning to do another tour in the Fall (September).....and we may need some help booking shows.....house shows.  If you have space to hold a concert (i.e. living room, poarch, backyard)....and friends to come hang.....we're gonna have a heck of a concert for you!!  More details to come....Send me a message if your interested! 

The times they are a changin'

Hey hey hey! I'm back again....after I swore I wouldn't take this much time off from my blog!! I've spent the last 3 weeks out and about...Atlanta, NC (twice), and now about to head to Mississippi for the weekend!

As I was talking to a fellow musician yesterday....it really hit me in our conversation when he said "I'm just doing all I can to keep my head above the water." I also feel like I've had to "strong arm" myself into staying positive....when things (especially in the media) seem to be draining the life out of people.

I know many of us are facing the summer without steady work....but, I'm gonna choose to make the most of it. This no-strings attached time will be used to hone in on those things that I never seem to have time for....the list goes on and on. I was talking to a lady this past week that recently retired from her job...I asked her what she was doing now that she was retired and she replied, "Doing the things I've been waiting to do my entire life." It made me think---I'm sure there are things that I can wait to do, but most of the things on my list need to happen NOW, matter of fact, yesterday if I'm being honest.

As Dylan wrote "the times they are a changin".....so let's make the most of it!

A new blog title paired with coffee and dark chocolate

Just nibbling of a piece of dark chocolate and sipping on some iced vanilla coffee at my desk. What a great combination of flavors. You should try it if you haven't......

Anyway, I was thinking of how annoying it is to be constantly cleaning up my hair out of the floor today. Inside I was just about as antsy as my stomach gets when I'm on stage and can't find my guitar pick....or when my bangs have tickled my nose one too many times and I can't seem to locate a dadgum bobby pin to save me from my perils. And then I remembered......why I created this blog. Maybe I should change the title to: Guitar picks, bobby pins, and hair everywhere. Not quite as catchy, huh?

This past weekend was FANTABULOUS! My friend Tracy and I went out for a "one day getaway" on the outskirts of Columbia, TN....we stayed in an extremely cute renovated smoke house (a 10x15 ft. one room loft). It was just what we needed! I walked outside to enjoy some alone time and I stood on a stump in view of the hills, trees, and a field full of cows (that were jumping around and playing the entire time), and watched the sky fade into a shade of dark orange as the sun went down. And it didn't come to me until Sunday morning as I was listening to the pastor @ Mercy Hill church on 12th Ave speak about Acts 4. Topic: Dealing with pain. It hit me.....In my mind I went back to that stump and sunset scene. When I was standing there watching the sky unfold, with tears in my eyes, I asked God to show me what he wants for my life....what I'd missed that day was that He WAS showing me. Then and there on that stump. The display before me......was exactly what God was showing me.....I am loved.....I am not alone.....and my life was created by the One who made that beautiful sunset. Isn't it beautiful when moments come together to complete the picture...like two strings to tie a bow. Like, well, dark chocolate and coffee.

We will meet again soon.