Leg over....

It is with much shame that I report that this leg of the tour has ended and I have barely blogged at all. If you've looked here for updates and found none, I apologise profusely. Truth is I've just been worn out this trip and haven't had the time and energy to devote to blogging.
As I write this I'm sitting on the bus (actually our second bus this trip, the first one broke down) and I'm online while we're rolling! The bus company gave us a wireless, roaming internet connection to try out for our last couple days. It's pretty scary that this is even possible. I remember when a 2400baud dial up connection was fast. Now here I am surfing at high speed from a moving vehicle. A few nights ago we met a bartender who had toured in the early '90s. She told us that their busses had few of the amenities that we now enjoy. No sattelite, no tv's in each bunk. Of course much of that stuff breaks down on the road but overall we have it pretty good. None of it however can replace a good night's sleep, or time at home with your family.
Our last couple concerts were very successful. Both Dover and Memphis were well attended. Both sponsors were models for how to put on a JMT concert.
I've taken a whole bunch of pictures in the past couple weeks. I hope to get a few more up here for everyone soon.
JMT's new album, Beautiful City will be released this summer so the next tour will include some new material. Rehearsals begin toward the end of August and the next leg will take us out west, starting in Arizona. Stay tuned for more updates.

Guess which song......

Regular JMT concert goers will recognize this as the audience participation and calisthenic portion of the evening!

I'm way behind here....

Alright, I know I haven't posted yet this tour. I've been fairly rushed and kind of speaced out. Our northeastern tour leg is well underway now. It's been some ups and downs. I flew into Springfield to pickup the truck April 22. Loaded the truck at Little Portion that afternoon and the bus Sunday afternoon after Mass. I've got a new recording computer out here on the road and that required some attention & preparation before we could get underway as well.
Our Monday morning departure started out on a bit of a somber note when we received the news that John Michael's spiritual father, Fr. Martin had passed away the previous evening. John Michael assured everyone that Fr. Martin would not have wanted him to cancel any concerts so we left on time. I only knew Fr. Martin to say hello but I know that he was a great force in encouraging John Michael to found the Brothers & Sisters of Charity and continue his music ministry. In that sense he is at least partly responsible for all of us having this work to do and for the graces received by many thousands of people who've heard JMT's music through the past 25 yrs.
So off we went...We scheduled a day early load-in in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania thanks to the generosity of Pastor David Hall and the Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church. But while I took over in the truck and headed for Elizabethtown the rest of the group met up in Bethlehem for a trip to the Martin Guitar factory and a special VIP tour. Tom Booth's 8 yr old son Anthony is a special guest this trip; JMT got him his first guitar while they visited Martin. Anthony is already learning from the guys in the band and has written his first song!
Meanwhile, back in Elizabethtown I met up with my new assistant, Stephen, for a day of load-in, training, and maintenance. Our first two concerts in Elizabethtown and Ashland went very well and Stephen was a big help to me. On the day of our third concert in Archbald though we hit a snag...it seems Stephen ate something the day before that did not agree with him. He endured a long day with nasty case of food poisoning that put him out of commission. Fortunately Joe Hand & John Martin stepped up to the plate and bailed me out by doubling as road crew for the day. We had another great concert in Archbald and Stephen is now well on the mend. Next concert is in Providence at the Rhode Island convention center. Come see us and say hi!