Live Simple - Pray Hard

John Michael Talbot - Video Update - Easter 2009

2009-04-16T21:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T21:15:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter everyone! I leave Tuesday for Little Portion to begin the next tour leg which will bring us to the Northeast. I'm hoping to get some more new material online in the coming couple weeks including an update on the construction at Little Portion. Until then a most Blessed and Holy Easter to all.

Living Water - Live from Woodstock, New York

2009-04-10T20:47:00.002-04:00

I may have mentioned a while back that we had a video crew in at a concert in Woodstock last year. They've finally posted some of that video on youtube. Here's Living Water(PS- sorry about the aspect ratio issues but I didn't encode this:-):

May I Never Boast

2009-03-30T11:53:00.001-04:00

John Michael sings a group of Cross oriented songs in the concert. As it happens one of them is this weeks video clip from Quiet Reflections.

Almost home...

2009-03-30T11:48:00.002-04:00

Here we are in Lufkin, Texas. We have one more concert to do tonight then we all head home in time for Holy Week. John Michael and Viola will be riding the bus back to Little Portion and I'll be taking a long cab ride to Houston for an early flight home tomorrow. Overall it's been a good trip. John Michael has been in much better voice the last few nights. I think all the concert attendees have had a good Lenten prayer experience. We'll be back on the road in the North East in April and I still hope to post a couple more times in the coming days.

Hallettsville to Friendswood

2009-03-27T11:18:00.003-04:00

Successful concert last night in Hallettsville. I apologize to readers, there's some confusion over the name of the parish. It is indeed Sacred Heart parish but my itinerary says St. Mary's. At least we got to the right church! Today we're off to Mary Queen church in Friendswood.

Movin' right along

2009-03-26T12:33:00.003-04:00

Just arrived in Halletsville, Texas. Last time we were here was with the band on the Monk Rock tour. Played in the KofC hall and discovered Big A$$ Fans! Tonight we're in the church at St. Mary's.
Had a nice concert last night at Trinity Episcopal in Victoria. Thanks to Fr. Kevin, Russell and all the volunteers at Trinity.

St. Patrick's Parish - Denison, Texas

2009-03-24T19:19:00.003-04:00

We did something new last night in Denison. JMT sang the first set more or less as usual but in place of the second set we had Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, JMT singing and teaching on a few Eucharistic & Cross oriented songs, and Benediction. It made for a special, prayerful night.
Thanks to Fr. John Dick Pastor at St. Pat's and youth minister Dan Aedo (a Buffalo native:-)for all their work and help. Check out the parish's website to see what an active, orthodox, but not stuffy parish can be like.

2009-03-23 Denison, Texas

Latest from Quiet Reflections - Father I Put My Life In Your Hands

2009-03-23T13:39:00.000-04:00

Some pics from OKC & Tyler

2009-03-23T13:38:00.001-04:00

2009-03 OKC & Tyler

3 Days in...

2009-03-22T14:41:00.002-04:00

I'll be leaving the hotel shortly to load in for the third concert this trip here in Tyler, Texas. The first two shows went pretty good. JMT is suffering through a terrible cold but he's singing through it all. He's playing a very different set list this trip. Including two new, unreleased songs that people are really liking. Thanks as always to the sponsors and volunteers in Farmers Branch, Texas and Oklahoma City. Got to see some of John & Viola's family in Oklahoma City. Also got to meet a few of the Oklahoma ladies of CM. You know who you are, thanks for coming out. More words and pictures as time and bandwidth allow. I feel a nap coming on.....

Once more into the breech..

2009-03-19T11:55:00.002-04:00

The first JMT tour of AD2009 is officially underway! Departed Little Portion this morning at daybreak and we're currently on our way to the Dallas area. I've got some video and still photography from the monastery to share when I have time and bandwidth. Construction is underway for the new Chapel and Common Center. Hopefully I'll be able to post an update from JMT about the progress.
For those of you still reading this blog, thanks for stopping by, feel free to say howdy in the comments section or in the guestbook on JMT's site.

Healer of My Soul from Quiet Reflections

2009-03-09T14:39:00.002-04:00

Just released the latest segment of Quiet Reflections on youtube: Healer of My Soul.
There's also a playlist on JMT's youtube page with all the Quiet Reflections videos released thus far.

Just a quick update

2009-03-07T14:12:00.003-05:00

As usual I haven't posted here nearly enough. I still have pictures from Ireland to sort through and share. We've added some more segments from JMT's Quiet Reflections video to his Youtube Channel. Check 'em out.
The next tour leg leaves in a bit less than two weeks. You can find the schedule on JMT's site. This trip is mostly Texas with stops in Oklahoma & Louisiana.

Emergency Donations for Little Portion

2009-02-02T18:52:00.002-05:00

This from John Michael:
Peace and Good in Christ!
Our need for emergency donations in this ice storm natural disaster has come
sooner than we expected!
At 12:30 AM last night the main generator at Little Portion Hermitage died.
We believe that it is irreparable. It is a 40+ year old generator from an
old nuclear missile silo, with most of its parts very old and irreplaceable.
So this is not terribly surprising.
We are planning to replace it with four or five smaller new generators that
are better suited to our emergency needs. This will be an overall investment
of around $25,000, and hopefully less. In a way, this mechanical failure has
brought to light our need to be better prepared for such emergencies at the
monastery.
The community is in very good spirits, but a week without power gets very
old. They are saying that we may be days or weeks before power is restored.
No one will say anything for sure. At this point we simply do not know.
We know that the economy is bad, but we are asking for your generous
donation to help us with this necessary expense. Will you help?
Thank you.

In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder, and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

Link for Online Donations:
http://www.troubadourforthelord.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=415

Ice Storm Cripples Little Portion

2009-01-30T14:00:00.001-05:00

John Michael got this out via his cell phone which has intermittent access.

Brothers and Sisters,

Little Portion Hermitage has suffered the full weight of the recent severe ice storm. We have been cut off and without power since around 10 PM Monday night. The weather is now clearing and warming, but we are still without power, phones, and internet until mid to late next week according to "reports." There is little information available.

Currently we are low on diesel for generators to run limited electric for lights, water, and some heat. We do have small propane heaters for places without adequate heat. We only wood heat in a couple of places.

Our mountain road is still impassible for anything but farm trucks with chainsaws to cut their way out due to fallen trees. At least tire chains are no longer necessary. We will be seriously clearing this in the next couple of days. Then cars and the diesel trucks can come and go. But fuel is in low supply, and at best that will only provide minimal electric.

We are considering evacuation of some of our 35+ people as a last resort, with a skeletal work crew left at the Hermitage. Hopefully it will not come to that.

This has made us painfully aware that old backup systems were not maintained and updated. We will be correcting that as soon as we are out of this immediate crisis.

Please pray for us that power will be restored, or minimal provisions can be supplied and maintained. Pray for those even harder hit. I cannot imagine facing this alone without community. We are blessed.

In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

Quiet Reflections - Part 2

2009-01-10T23:27:00.001-05:00

Way behind..

2008-12-30T14:34:00.002-05:00

Ok, I know I've been slacking. I still haven't posted about the rest of the Ireland trip. Don't know if I'm going to get around to it or not. However, I have been working with JMT & management on some video content for John Michael's youtube channel. so I'm going to embed some of that here too.

JMT's Christmas message 2008

Quiet Reflections Part 1

JMT's Christmas Message

2008-12-24T00:26:00.001-05:00

Ireland log #2

2008-10-24T15:45:00.008-04:00

After Belfast we headed to Portadown for a concert at St. John The Baptist Church, Drumcree Parish on the Garvaghy road. This is a significant area in recent Irish history as the Garvaghy road was the site of major disputes over an annual march by the Orange Order. These disputes a decade nearly derailed the peace process. Our sponsor in Portadown, Jerome, took us for a drive around town to show us the road, Drumcree Church (Church of Ireland) and some of the neighborhood divisions and Anti-Catholic graffiti that still exist today. My first trip to Ireland with John Michael was in 2003 after the peace process had really begun to take hold. The armed checkpoints at the border were gone and the military presence largely diminished (even more so now). So for me there is a ghostly quality to all the tales of the troubles. They are certainly a close memory for the Irish of the northern counties though.
Enda McClusker was again tapped to handle sound and lights for us in Portadown. Enda's light man, Des, is a member at St. John The Baptist so he was on hand early in the day to get started. Enda as it turned out was a bit late having made a trip to the hospital after closing is thumbs in roadcase the night before. Ouch! Still, between Enda's guys and myself we had the rig loaded in, set and measured in record time. The concert itself was a big success with the church wonderfully decorated with candles and light by Des and Francis (the sacristan at St. John. Another treat was meeting all the kids in the youth group who helped run the event along with Fr. Michael & Fr. Brian.
Saturday the 11th we remained in Portadown. Fr. Michael, Jerome & Fr. Brian took us on a little sightseeing trip. First down through Newry to the mountain overlooking Carlingford Lough, then in to the little village of Carlingford. Then after a typically Irish pub stop for soup and sandwiches it was back up to Newry, across the river and down to Rostrevor to visit the Benedictine Monks at Holy Cross Monastery. With the impending construction at Little Portion John Michael was quite excited to tour this new monastery.
With all that we still made it back up to Portadown for the Vigil Mass when John Michael sang Healer of My Soul as a communion meditation and later a nice dinner out with all our Portadown sponsors.
Next time, we're off to Derry.

JMT, Fr. Brian and the youth group at St. John the Baptist

JMT in concert at St. John The Baptist Portadown

Overlooking Carlingford Lough

Cows on the road

Thatched roof in the countryside

King John's Castle, Carlingford

Town gate & jail, Carlingford

With the monks at Holy Cross Monastery, Rostrevor

Jerome, Marley, Viola & JMT, Fr. Michael O'Dwyer

1st of the Ireland logs

2008-10-22T08:35:00.005-04:00

Well, home now. Just a brief review of the Ireland trip with JMT. Even though I was at Little Portion I flew separately from John Michael and Viola. I left XNA early on the morning of the 7th flying first to Atlanta, then Newark and on to Dublin. I've never flown through Newark before though I took a friend there for a trip to London long ago. Terminal C is OK with lots of food options, but I still had a long layover and no amount of food will cure that. Flying from the NYC area up the coast toward Newfoundland after Dark I tried to identify what features I could along the way. Saw the baseball stadiums in the Bronx (Yankee new & old I think). Mistook Providence for Boston which I realized fifteen minutes later when the pilot announced that Boston was visible out the left side of the plane.
Boston from 35,000 feet
I was in the very last row of the 757 on the trip out. Fortunately, the middle seat was empty so I had some room. It's also fortunate that I hadn't succumbed to the urge to buy the special fancy power adapter to use on the plane with my laptop. Turns out that Continental's 757's have been refit and have plain old 120VAC in every row!
I arrived in Dublin at 7am local time but still had about two hours to kill before our friend Gerry McCoy would arrive to pick us up (the Talbots were scheduled to arrive around 9:30). I was meant to wait for Gerry in in the food court upstairs above departures. Problem, I couldn't find my way into the food court. It seemed to me to be on the other side of security. So back down to the arrival area which is really not much bigger than in Buffalo and pretty spartan in the way of accommodation. I parked myself in a chair and did my best not to fall asleep for the next two hours or so. I stood up to begin looking for Gerry when Lo & Behold John Michael & Viola stroll in having landed early. Now to wait for Gerry. After some waiting Gerry rushes to us, having been looking for me in the food court for some time. "How did you get in there?" I ask incredulously. According to Gerry "you have to be Irish".
So off we go into Gerry's car for the drive up to Belfast with much catching up to do along the way. We arrived at the Balmoral hotel in Belfast at 11am by which time I believe I had been continuously awake for 24 hours (I didn't sleep on any of the flights). Off to the room for an afternoon of napping and then a quick dinner. And now for my pet peeve of the trip....hotel beds with no top sheet! Fitted sheet on the mattress and just a duvet. Problem, the duvet is too darn warm and I don't like to sleep uncovered. Aaargh. I though the Irish were famous for linens. Didn't I read that in Douglas Adams book? Would one more sheet really kill them? Just the hotels, the B & Bs were fine.
Spotted from my window at the Balmoral
Our first concert In Belfast went great, with sound provided by our friend from Armagh, Enda McClusker. Enda's done several concerts for us now and has really grown his production business since we met in 2003. We wish him continued success!
More from the Ireland trip soon....

From the first concert, in Belfast

From Ireland..

2008-10-19T10:28:00.002-04:00

Well I have to apologize. We've been in Ireland for two weeks and I haven't posted a thing. Truth is we've been almost completely without internet access through out the trip and now I'm thoroughly exhausted too! We have one more concert tonight and fly home tomorrow. I have a bunch of pictures to share and people to thank so hopefully I'll get to writing and posting more soon. Until then pray for safe journeys for John Michael, Viola and myself.

Some more pictures from the gathering at Little Portion

2008-10-07T16:17:00.003-04:00

Well I am currently on a layover of a few hours at Newark airport in New Jersey awaiting departure for Dublin this evening. So far it's been a pretty easy day with the exception of a little phone tussle with AT&T over WiFi access. The flight attendant on my first flight this morning was named Colleen Fitzpatrick, that has to be a good omen on the way to Ireland!
To tide you over until I have something to offer from Ireland I've included a few more pictures from the Gathering at Little Portion.

Groundbreaking for a new Chapel & Common Center
(Can Viola handle a shovel or what?!)

How many cameras can you count?

Gong....gong....

Music from Shepherdsfield

Enjoying the music

A very busy weekend at Little Portion

2008-10-06T21:07:00.003-04:00

I arrived at Little Portion Thursday having stopped to pick up equipment from our new friends at DB Productions in Rogers, Arkansas. There was much excitement to be found at LP as the preparations for the 25th anniversary gathering were in full swing when I arrived. Friday night John Michael played a concert in town at the First Assembly of God for gathering attendees and the local populace. Saturday, the main day of the gathering, included morning prayer, teaching, a groundbreaking and blessing for the new Chapel & Common Center, a presentation from the architects about the new building, music from members of the Shepherds Field community, a Vigil Mass including the baptism of little Juan Pablo born just this past Tuesday, and finally a dinner featuring Little Portion pasture raised chicken.
I am truly grateful to have been invited. I see BSCD members here and there across the country but never so many all in one place! It was a joyful, if busy weekend for me. In addition to all of the BSC/BSCD members and friends who showed so much hospitality this weekend I have to publicly thank the Shepherdsfield members who gave everyone so much help, including me. I came out into the dark after dinner to find that the young men of Shepherdsfield had carefully packed up all the audio equipment that we'd setup for Mass and condensed it all into one neat pile. No gesture could have meant more to me at that moment as I was near dead on my feet. I have not located a web site for Shepherdsfield but if I do I will post a link here. I would love to thank everyone who touched me this weekend by name but if I do it will take forever and I'll end up leaving someone out. So, thank you all!

Debbie Ballard BSCD pointed out this flower growing in the rubble from the fire.

Richard Ims BSC giving the kids a ride at Little Portion.

BSC & BSCD Kids performing Walk With Jesus from Monk Rock for John Michael.

Our concert hosts at Berryville First Assembly of God Keith & Carol Butler with John Michael & Viola Talbot.

Benedict Don't Call Me Benny the 17th

Sister Mary Catherine BSC sharing the story of the fire with the children.

Sharon Pratka & Father Brian preparing the outdoor sanctuary for Mass.

A couple pics...

2008-09-15T16:38:00.002-04:00

These are from the Bloomingdale concert. New camera this trip. Now I just have to relearn shooting with a real SLR after a couple years with the point & shoot quasi SLR.

We're sorry..

2008-09-13T13:22:00.004-04:00

I'm afraid we did all we could, used all our capabilities, but we couldn't save it..

However, we were able to save the baby...

My faithful old Vaio has finally bitten the dust. After five years on the road, pcountless shows being used for audio measurement, recording & playback, Plus being my primary personal computer, it began to cry like a sick cat a few nights ago. The culprit a shot cooling fan. I attempted a repair (I've done it before) but the result was flatline, no boot. I'm still hoping to resurrect it as a spare (my last spare was lost in the Monastery fire).
So there is a new baby in my gear family, a shiny new Sony Vaio FW170J. I'm already thoroughly frustrated with Windows Vista but I shall overcome!

Update

2008-09-11T13:31:00.002-04:00

Well we've had several successful concerts since I last posted. The last several days have been quite busy so I've just not had the chance to post here. I've taken lots of pictures. Hopefully I'll have the chance to some web suitable in short order. Currently we're in Bloomingdale, Illinois. No concert tomorrow or the next day so I should have some time. Keep watching here....

Article from Perham Concert

2008-09-11T13:30:00.002-04:00

This article appeared in the newspaper in Perham, Minnesota after our concert there.

Onward to Shakopee

2008-09-05T10:56:00.002-04:00

Well, it's about 10am Friday. We left Trudy's house in Perham, Minnesota this morning after a terrific concert last night. It was a fun few days in Perham with a whole bunch of new friends. Trudy, of course, who put us up in her beautiful home and looked after us. Debbie who sponsored the concert, wrangled all the details, asked me my for my story and was patient(foolish) enough to sit and listen to it. Jeff (Debbie's husband) who gave up his car for us for three days, schlepped gear, and donated his guitar stand to the cause. Trudy's mom, Audrey, smiling for everyone. Tom, Sophie, Wayne, Judy, Terry and at least a dozen others who's names escape me who entertained us, loaded/unloaded gear, sold merchandise, ushered etc, etc, etc. It's hard when you spend a few days someplace, kind of like going to camp as a kid. You make all these new friends and end up not wanting to leave. But leave we must and today we're logistically challenged as we head to the Minneapolis area in the midst of the Republican convention. We've got a quick turn around today heading right out after the concert for Wisconsin. Keep reading here for more updates and pictures as I have time. If you haven't already, check JMT's Calendar for concert dates in your area.

Great first concert

2008-09-02T19:32:00.002-04:00

We had a great first concert for this trip in Waukee, Iowa last night. Thanks go to Steve, Dennis, Gerald and a dozen others whose names I can't remember! John Michael is trying out some different stuff in the set this trip so who knows what you might hear. We are renting gear again so I have some new things to get used to. Thanks go to DB Productions in Rogers, Arkansas for taking such good care of me with the rental.
Today after seven or eight hours of driving we've arrived in Perham, Minnesota where local parishioner, Trudy, has graciously put us up in her lakeside home. The concert here isn't until Thursday so tomorrow Viola and I expect to explore the town a bit and I've got some work to do on the gear as well. More coming soon....

And....we're off....

2008-08-31T14:41:00.003-04:00

Had a Vigil Mass last night at Little Portion and left this morning at 8a.m. for Iowa. When I last left Little Portion, three days after the fire, the ruins were still smoldering and smoke hung everywhere. Now there's just an empty patch of gravel and mud where the the Chapel and Common Center once stood. The stone carving of Christ as Teacher stands alone.

Hope though, is pervasive and the process of rebuilding has already begun. While I was at Little Portion this trip the community received the first formal presentation from the architects for a new Chapel, cloister and common building.

The community was nice enough to allow me to sit in. The plans are still in their infancy, but look wonderful. I am truly excited for the community, especially now that they can see the possibility of something new rising from the ashes. Of course there is still money to be raised. Much of this and coming concert tours will go toward that effort. Donations are always most welcome I know. Check out JMT's website or the BSC website if you're interested.

New JMT collection released

2008-08-21T11:47:00.002-04:00

John Michael has just released a new collection, The Troubadour Years. This new release is a two CD set featuring 34 tracks representing the music that John Michael has recorded since forming his own label, Troubadour for the Lord, in 1990. Much of this music can be heard live in John Michael's touring ministry events.
The Troubadour Years

Been away for a while..

2008-08-06T01:49:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't posted here in a while. Been caught up in other things since the Canadian tour ended. We leave on another JMT tour at the end of August. Please check his website for concert dates throughout the midwest.
Meanwhile, I have been posting some random little tidbits on my personal blog. Check it out at: JTC's World

More from Rafter Six & Lake Louise

2008-05-23T14:22:00.000-04:00

Rafter Six Ranch & Lake Louise

Leaving the Rockies

2008-05-21T01:33:00.002-04:00

We had a day off here at Rafter Six Ranch after a great concert and teaching yesterday. I have a bunch of photos and some video to sort through. Hopefully I can get some up in the next couple days. We leave first thing in the morning for Lethbridge, Alberta the back to Calgary for the remaining concerts. I've discovered that I was confused about the date of Memorial Day this year so it looks like I'm going to miss all my family at home. Any of you reading this....sorry! Absent minded sound guy syndrome.

Back in Alberta

2008-05-19T01:54:00.000-04:00

Well we had great concerts in Saskatoon & Regina and today made the drive from Regina to Rafter Six Ranch just a bit east of Banff. I had a great walk in Saskatoon the other day that I hope to write about on my other blog. CAM member and organizer of this leg Denis Grady met us here at the ranch today. Denis and his wife Wendy were nice enough to take me out to dinner tonight and show me around Banff a bit. The evening finished with a bit of a sing-a-long around the campfire. We even had John Michael and Viola out for a bit!

Denis getting his guitar warmed up

Vioal Toasting Marshmallows

Little Portion Fire Video

2008-05-19T01:42:00.000-04:00

Click here for an alternate, Ken Burns-esque, version of this video.

JMT on TopCatholicSongs

2008-05-16T01:49:00.000-04:00

Nick Alexander just sent word that some CAM members have placed playlists of favorite JMT songs and comments about the fire over on TopCatholicSongs.com.

Woooo...catching up...

2008-05-15T21:25:00.000-04:00

Well I'm settled in here at Queen's House retreat center in Saskatoon for the night. It feels like it's been a whirlwind few days. We've been to Red Deer, Sherwood Park, Caroline and Fort McMurray already. All the concert have been very good. All the crowds have been very responsive both to John Michael's music and to the news of the fire at Little Portion.
In Sherwood Park we played at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish to a packed house and John Michael did a retreat/teaching the next day. The folks at OLPH did a great job getting us all in and setup. Len, the sponsor from OLPH, is also from Universal church supplies who are handling product sales at all our Canadian concerts. We've seen Len and his wife a few times already. We sent our bus in for repair in Sherwood Park too. Unfortunately it still isn't fixed so it will make another trip to the shop here in Saskatoon. Our poor bus driver Bill has been nearly pulling is hair out dealing with the mechanics.
After Sherwood Park we went down to Sanctum Retreat center in Caroline, Alberta to meet our hosts Kristoph, Mariette and their son Joshua. Bill & Joshua struck up an immediate friendship & rivalry watching hockey on the bus! I wandered the somewhat snowbound trails at Sanctum taking pictures and shooting video. We all did laundry and John Michael sang, without PA, for a group of about 30 priests on retreat. A good time was truly had by all.
From Caroline we headed north to the oil sands country and Fort McMurray. We stayed at the rectory of St. Paul's church with 26 year old Father Andrew, the youngest priest of his diocese. St. Paul's is actually part of St. John the Baptist parish whose pastor is Father Gerard. Father Gerard has spent much of the past decade making tapestries which hang in his parish. They are each based in scripture and are spectacular. His tapestries of the book of Revelation and of the prophets nearly brought me to tears. I heard the song Ancient of Days in my head as Father explained the images to us. I only wish I'd had my camera with me. Perhaps one day Father Gerard will be able to publish a book of photos documenting his work.
So here we are in Saskatoon after a long drive today. I've been doing some video editing on the bus. John Michael and I have trying together to learn Google Sketchup the past few days. Viola is feeling a little under the weather and could use your prayers.
JMT playing for Priests on retreat at Sanctum Retreat Center

JMT & Viola with our hosts at Sanctum

JMT teaching at OLPH in Sherwood Park

Into Canada we go..

2008-05-09T00:53:00.000-04:00

Ok, actually we're already in Canada. We had a great concert in Great Falls, Montana Tuesday night. Stayed with the Poor Claires in their new retreat house. Special thanks to Colette Bernica at Central Catholic HS for enduring the flood of packages and other mayhem that ensued because of the fire. Thanks too, to Marty Severson for bringing me a decent little PA on short notice.
Wednesday we made the drive across the border. Spent an hour or so dealing with immigration. No great trauma there, just bureaucracy along with friendliness. Made a stop in Calgary; while I picked up rental gear John Michael did an interview with the Calgary Herald. Thanks go to the fellas in rental at Long & McQuade.
That brings us to today here in Red Deer, Alberta. I had to make a run this morning to pick a pile of assorted stuff necessary to getting my job done from day to day. Then this afternoon it was off to St. Mary's parish for our first Canadian concert. Turned out to be a great night. Irene, our sponsor, did a great job and my volunteers were cheerful and willing at every turn. Except for me a making a couple mistakes with the new PA it was a really good concert. Tomorrow and Saturday we're in Sherwood Park.
JMT in Red Deer

More Photos from the fire

2008-05-04T18:37:00.000-04:00

These photos come from Richard Ims, BSC.

LittlePortionFire from Richard Ims, BSC.

Tour departs on time...

2008-05-03T16:48:00.001-04:00

At 6:00 a. m. this morning, Viola, John Michael and I, along with Bill our driver for this trip, boarded the bus for our first Canadian tour. Meanwhile, life at Little Portion has already regained some sense of order if not normalcy. It's been one heck of a four day ride for the community. Myself, I chipped in a little here and there. I was able to help get the wheels in motion to have a new phone system installed and took the first steps towards having new broadband internet access brought on site. I also made some small electrical repairs to the interim common center. That, strangely, felt like the most productive and satisfying thing I did this week. There are many special little things I've seen or heard this week. I watched Tuesday as the children walked around the site taking in the damage for the first time. Many visitors were asked to make a prayer walk around the site and to pray over the grounds. Father Bob & Father Thomas I am told, prayed over the ashes of the Altar which lay atop my gear.
Thursday the whole community participated in celebrations for The National Day of Prayer at the Carroll County fair grounds. The event concluded with John Michael performing, the final moments were in candlelight. It's almost surreal to me to think of this event. Looking into the stands I saw a profoundly American, and newly ecumenical, picture. All of the Brothers, Sisters & Families from Little Portion in their habits. Mennonite children sitting among the LP children. Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians... Anyone who knows me knows that I don't pull punches when it comes to doctrine and belief. But that doesn't mean that I am unaware of, or opposed to, the significance of such an event. Many of my ancestors after all were Puritans with names like Cotton, Dennison & Gallup. Special thanks go to Randy Franz and family for the generous use of their PA for the whole event and the special assistance that Randy provide John Michael & Me. I have more to post about but am thoroughly exhausted at the moment. More pictures to come soon I hope.

Early morning after the fire

2008-05-01T10:25:00.000-04:00

These were taken early Tuesday morning. The last fire fighters didn't leave until about 6 a.m. They returned later that day to try to douse some hotspots in the area of the stock room & library. Even now that area is still smoldering.

LittlePortionFire

Fire at Little Portion

2008-05-01T10:12:00.000-04:00

Friends,
I'm writing to you from Little Portion Hermitage, the home of the Brothers & Sisters of Charity and their founder, my friend & client, John Michael Talbot. Late Monday night a fire broke out in the Chapel here. By the time the Sisters came to wake me up at 2a.m. The Chapel was completely gone and the adjacent common center was completely engulfed by the fast spreading fire.
Four volunteer fire companies responded to this remote location in the Ozark mountains. They worked hard to prevent the fire from spreading to the other buildings of the monastery. The workshops, farm buildings, convent, brother's hermitages, family residences, and the smaller Portiuncala Chapel were all spared. Unfortunately the Main Chapel and the common center were a total loss. In addition to losing their primary worship space the community lost its kitchen, dining rooms, offices, infirmary, classrooms, recreation room, stock room (full of CDs & books), and the library & community archive. This is a devastating blow to the BSC who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, fortunately no community members or firefighters were injured.
While I am not a member of the community it has been a part of my professional & personal life for about eight years. It's difficult to describe what it's like to watch your friends endure such a blow. Even more, words seem inadequate to describe the resilience and faith which this community and its friends have responded. By sunrise Tuesday friends and neighbors began arriving bringing coffee, food and offers of help. Working through the day the Brothers quickly restored power throughout the undamaged portions of the monastery and more importantly water, which was so desperately needed to care for both community members and farm animals. Office operations and a community gathering area were quickly reestablished in an empty residence. At 1pm the community and visiting guests crowded into the Portiuncala Chapel to celebrate Mass. Fr. Bob quoted Job: "The LORD giveth, The LORD taketh away, Blessed be the name of The LORD." At 5:30pm the community was back on it's regular schedule, gathering for evening prayer in the Portiuncala Chapel. Despite reduced phone and internet access messages of support and prayer have poured in from community friends far and near. There have been regular visitors from nearby catholic & non-catholic churches, local and regional press, and even from Subiaco Abbey, some distance away.
With the encourage ment of the community John Michael's scheduled tour to Canada will proceed as planned. John Michael, Viola & I will be leaving Saturday for the Journey to Alberta, with one concert stop in Montana along the way. All of the equipment we tour with, much of it purchased just a few years ago, was lost in the fire. There is not one cable, microphone, speaker or amplifier left. I'm making arrangements for rental equipment as we go along. It will be a simple, minimalist setup this trip.
If you are of a mind to, please say a prayer for the Brothers & Sisters of Charity. I know that they are ever grateful for all the support they receive. If you'd like to know more about the community or to make a donation please visit http://www.littleportion.org. Lastly, if you have time, stop my tour blog: http://monkrocktour.blogspot.com. As soon as I have decent internet access I'll post some pictures from the fire along with any more news and my regular updates from the road.
God bless,
John

Catholic New Media Celebration!

2008-04-25T13:42:00.001-04:00

Just checking in...

2008-04-14T21:15:00.000-04:00

Didn't want anyone to think I've completely forgotten the blog. We'll be leaving on another JMT tour in a couple weeks. We're heading to Alberta, Canada this trip. Our first time across the border on tour. I'm a little concerned about dealing with customs but I think we've got it all worked out.
Meantime it's been a sleepy but somewhat productive winter. I just finished a pretty large bunch of archival material for the BSC library. I'm hoping that some of this historic material will eventually be made available on the web. This year marks BSC's 25th anniversary at Little Portion so it's an appropriate time.
In my own world work continues on my house bit by bit. I made it to the Faith & Media Conference at Franciscan University earlier this month. A worthwhile trip that provided some insight into the way new media can impact the church. Not quite sure how I fit into it all myself though. To see & hear some of this new media check out SQPN.
I've also been posting randomly to my other blog.
More to come as we get going on our way to the great white north.

Liam Lawton on PBS

2008-03-09T14:20:00.000-04:00

Irish priest & singer Liam Lawton credits JMT in this story that appeared today on Religion & Ethics News Weekly.

There are two still images of JMT in the piece. The first is in the chapter room at Little Portion. The second is one, likely taken by me, from a concert at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Phillip in Atlanta.

Louisiana - Alabama

2008-02-12T10:32:00.000-05:00

Greetings!
We're two concerts into this run now. Sunday night in Louisiana was a bit interesting. We played in a worn out college auditorium. Had a partial power failure in the building just 10 minutes after the doors opened. We did the first set with the house lights on, I had to act pretty quick to make sure we had a functioning PA. Had it all back together with stage lights for the second set.

Last night saw us outside Birmingham in a nearly packed church. Overall, both concerts were pretty successful and I'm pretty much back into the swing of things having been at home since the fall.

Lent and the road

2008-02-08T16:40:00.001-05:00

Well it's been a while but we're road bound again. JMT had a busy fall between touring, visiting Rome, Ireland & India. Now we're off on a short lenten trip through the south. Please check the concert calendar and come on out to support the ministry and enjoy a little Lenten quiet time.
Also, if you haven't kept with all of JMT's traveling be sure to check his blog for reports from abroad.
God grant you a blessed and prayerful Lent,
John

Christmas Greetings

2007-12-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

A little levity.....

2007-12-11T00:13:00.000-05:00

Back home....

2007-11-23T00:10:00.000-05:00

Well, this tour ended well. JMT had serious vocal problems for the last several concerts. But, with much prayer & care he made it through. I flew home Monday from Kansas and have since moved on to visit family out of state for the holiday. I'll be back to working on my house and doing studio work for the remainder of the year. John Michael and Viola returned home to Little Portion on the bus and I've heard from JMT that the food and fellowship for thanksgiving were wonderful as ever. I'm embedding two slideshows below. One is an overview of the whole tour leg. The other, dedicated just to our time on the Navajo reservation in Tohatchi. While we work with many wonderful volunteers and visit terrific new places each trip, Tohatchi will likely be the most memorable for us this trip.

JMT November 2007

Tohatchi November 2007

Tohatchi

2007-11-06T21:27:00.000-05:00

Our concert in Mesa was canceled so we are able to spend some extra time at St. Mary's mission here on the Navajo reservation. Last night JMT played in the mission church here to a small but enthusiastic crowd. Today we went out with one of the Sisters here to bring communion some of the elderly on the reservation and later to visit the parish school in Gallup.

A few pics...

2007-11-04T00:02:00.002-04:00

Sunrise over Little Portion

Monastery Farewells

Onstage in Amarillo

JMT with our Sponsors in Amarillo

Off we go...

2007-10-31T12:01:00.000-04:00

Greetings campers. The JMT express has left the station once again. The boss is back from his sojourns to Rome & Ireland, we've got a big red pentecostal lookin' bus and we are now westbound! 1st stop Amarillo. Be sure to check the schedule for a concert near you. What? There isn't one near you? Then book one! There's booking info available here.
More to come soon.

On to Reading....

2007-09-16T10:16:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy few days. We haven't done this many concerts in a row in a while so I think we're all still catching our breath. One more today in Reading, PA (you know, Monopoly gave them a railroad), then two days off before our concert in Hershey. Mmmmm..chocolate. :-) Pictures and maybe even some video coming as soon as I have some time. Speaking of video, look for a JMT interview and some concert footage from the concert in Woodstock coming on IcthusEQ, a show from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Still goin'

2007-09-09T13:47:00.000-04:00

The concert in Forked River, New Jersey went great last night. A full house with an enthusiastic audience. John Michael for the first time in years came out for an encore and asked the audience to sing the Doxology with him. Today is Rehobeth Beach, Delaware and tomorrow Patchogue, Long Island. We're overnighting to Patchogue to try to avoid the NYC traffic Monday morning so pray for us as we go.

LA...Little Portion...and beyond

2007-09-07T08:15:00.000-04:00

Well we're back on the road again. For me it's been a bit longer than normal since I missed most of the last tour when Mom died. Thanks again to Richard Hoggat of Stage Directions in Houston for stepping up to the plate to cover me in April.
We flew out to Los Angeles and drove to Anaheim for SCRC. JMT taught a session on the Jesus Prayer and sang before and after the keynote address.
JMT & Jeanette Humes BSCD at the JMT/BSC Booth
We rushed right back to LAX for our flight to Arkansas sow worried about traffic we were four hours early! We killed some time with a leisurely lunch, arrived at the gate with two hours left only to find that our flight was canceled. This summer has been the worst for flying that I can remember. So we re-booked, flew to Dallas then flew to Arkansas Sunday morning. Drove straight to Little Portion Retreat Center in time to join the celebration of the retreat center's 30th anniversary on More Mountain.
I did some gear maintenance Monday morning, the bus arrived in the afternoon and we loaded up gear and merchandise. I had time enough Monday afternoon to take a little tour of the chicken pastures at LP too.
Chickens in a pen

Chicken Dog

Chicken Spider

Pens in a pasture

Wednesday was the first concert of the Living Water tour, at St. Joseph Parish in Freeburg, Illinois where they are celebrating 150 years as a parish. It was a great concert with a great crew of volunteers.
Now we're headed for New Jersey and four or five concerts in a row. Keep praying for us!

In Anaheim

2007-08-30T14:30:00.000-04:00

Well here we are in Anaheim, California for the SCRC conference. We're here for a few days. JMT teaches a session on the Jesus Prayer Friday, sings briefly Saturday morning, then Saturday afternoon we fly to Arkansas.
We load the bus Monday, depart Tuesday and it's on the road again for the Living Water 50th album tour. Just heard that we're getting our friend David Casey to drive for us once again. It's a great blessing for us to have David along and hopefully a bit of a break for him. David's just back from a grueling three months with Tim McGraw & Faith Hill. According to David he drove about 26,000 miles in those three months. That's what we call hard core touring!
Well if you're coming to SCRC please track us down to say hi. If you're in the Northeast or midwest please be sure to check the schedule for a concert near you.
God bless!

Official 50th Album Press Release

2007-08-16T12:41:00.000-04:00

JOHN MICHAEL TALBOT HONORED AT NASHVILLE SURPRISE EVENT

Christian Artist Releases 50th Recording, "Living Water"

NASHVILLE - John Michael Talbot, best-selling Christian music artist whose
50th album, "Living Water," was just released, was "grateful, stunned and
surprised" recently at a Richland Country Club banquet in his honor. The
gala event was co-hosted by veteran music industry Executive Producer Billy
Ray Hearn and Co-Producer and Orchestrator Phil Perkins.

Talbot had no idea that 55 excited celebrants had been planning this event
for months, flying in from all over the country to await his arrival.
Surprising John along with his wife Viola, daughter Amy Stalling, and other
family members were: EMI CMG Label executives Peter York, Greg Bays and Rick
Horne; John W. Styll, President of the Gospel Music Association; Oregon
Catholic Press Director of Artist Relations Tom Tomaszek with staff members
Tom Booth and Robert Feduccia; Susan Stein, Director of Catholic Distributor
Heartbeat Records; Mark Funderburg, President of Word Distribution; and
Dusty Wells, Sr. Director, Field and Telesales for Word Distribution, whose
work with Talbot's music goes back to its earliest days. The Catholic
Association of Musicians (founded by Talbot) was represented by Lynn Geyer
and Jim Cosgrove, who is also JMT's Troubadour for the Lord Operations
Manager. A singer, songwriter and musician in his own right, Jim was on hand
with his wife Paula Cosgrove, also a Troubadour staffer. Several monastic
members of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity traveled from Little Portion
Hermitage near Eureka Springs, Arkansas to congratulate John on behalf of
the community he founded there almost 25 years ago.

Rounding out the surprise party ensemble were sound engineers Bob Clark,
Brent King and John Cotton, along with musical arranger Kristin Wilkinson.
Traveling from Houston were JMT friends Mark and Becky Lanier, as well as
videographer Richard Hoggatt, President of Stage Directions.

It was obvious by John Michael's stunned silence that he was deeply moved
while viewing a documentary filmed for the occasion. The video, "Behind the
Man, the Music and the Ministry," paid tribute to Talbot's three decades of
what musician Michael Card described as "selfless service to God and
profound influence on both Christian music, and Church music." Billy Ray
Hearn, longtime producer of contemporary Christian music via labels like
Word and Sparrow, weaved Talbot's video story together with memories and
vignettes. Among those congratulating Talbot and thanking him for his role
in their lives were Christian musicians including Phil Keaggy, Michael Card,
Tom Booth, Joe Hand, and Al Perkins. John's brother, Terry Talbot, currently
touring with Barry McGuire, sent video greetings, reminding audience members
that John Michael had been quite the baseball player. "He was scouted by the
Chicago cubs when he was only 12 years old," Terry confided. Both Terry and
Al Perkins were band members with John Michael in the popular country-rock
group Mason Proffit during its heyday in the 1970s.

Mercy Corps co-founder Dan O'Neill (author of Talbot's biography,
"Troubadour for the Lord"), appeared in the video, thanking John for
donating over nine million dollars of money raised from his concerts to the
worldwide relief, aid and development programs of Mercy Corps.

Talbot, still speechless, was then presented with three awards. The first,
from the EMI CMG Music Label group, was a plaque featuring four platinum
albums recorded by Talbot between the years 1976-2007 commemorating "the
milestone event in Christian music of releasing 50 albums." A specially
commissioned piece of art depicting the humble act of service through
foot-washing, was presented by executives representing Word Distribution.
The last award, actually more of a spectacular gift, was a guitar presented
to JMT by Phil Perkins on behalf of all the event attendees-- one of only 30
guitars crafted that are exact replicas of the instrument played by Segovia.
With the presentation of the guitar, John Michael's stunned surprise finally
turned to grateful thanks as he finally took his turn before his guests at
the event's podium.

"Only our Lord Jesus Christ is deserving of such admiration," Talbot said,
"and so I thank Him first. The word "saved" can sometimes be overused by us
Christians, so I'll say instead that I am thankful that He has "salvaged"
me." John Michael then surveyed those in the room slowly, and after some
silence and a deep exhale, spoke again: "I look around and realize that I
could spend several hours with each one of you, sharing about God in our
lives, about things that have been and are happening. Fifty albums don't
happen without the work, prayers and cooperation of many, many people. I
could not have done this alone. I could never have done it without you, so I
am grateful to each one of you." Following his words, the standing ovation
that had greeted him upon his arrival was exuberantly repeated.

Talbot then admitted that he had coveted that particular guitar for months.
"I finally quit lusting after it, and gave my wanting over to the Lord. And
now, here you all are, giving it back to me in His name," he said.

"Living Water," John Michael's 50th release, marks the reunion of Talbot
with Executive Producer Billy Ray Hearn and Co-Producer/Orchestrator Phil
Perkins. Following 49 albums reflecting a diversity of musical genres
including everything from folk and chant to rock and roll and music for a
ballet, Talbot's latest unit showcases his return to his "signature" style
of reflective neo-classical songs. "It's a return to what his fans have
always loved most, while giving them some surprises and a few new things to
think about," said Billy Ray.

For more information about Talbot and his three-decade musical career, go to
www.JohnMichaelTalbot.com. "Living
Water" can be purchased now at your favorite Christian bookstore or musical
outlet. To order his new release online, go to his monastery's home site at
www.littleportion.org

50th Album released!

2007-08-14T10:15:00.000-04:00

JMT's 50th Christian album is now available. If you are even a minor fan of John Michael's music I urge you to run right out to get it. Living Water harkens back to JMT's earliest work in albums like The Lord's Supper. This album included as executive producer, John Michael's long time friend, founder of Sparrow Records, Billy Ray Hearn.

August 9th John Michael was surprised with a release party celebrating this milestone in Nashville. Among the more than fifty people who came to celebrate with JMT were members of The Brothers & Sisters of Charity, CAM, executives from EMI CMG, Oregon Catholic Press, Phil Keaggy, Michael Card, Tom Booth and yours truly. John Michael received several gifts and presentations including a limited edition Ramirez replica of Segovia's guitar.

JMT Psalm 42 Live

2007-07-31T11:20:00.000-04:00

Enjoy!

Laurel Ann Cotton 1945-2007

2007-04-23T15:58:00.000-04:00

Laurel Ann Cotton 1945-2007

Mom passed away

2007-04-22T02:31:00.000-04:00

I just received word on the road that my Mom passed away tonight. I'll be leaving JMT for the duration of this tour leg to be at home with my family. Please remember us in prayer.
John

JMT reports on southeast tour

2007-04-01T12:08:00.000-04:00

http://216.204.68.70/News/#Monday,%20March%2026,%202007

Blogging tired....

2007-03-20T00:14:00.000-04:00

Don't try this at home folks. I'm blogging while exhausted. We flew out to Arizona a few days back so John Michael could appear at a convention of Christian music publishers. It took two very long days of travel to get there and back for one day of conference. Followed that with good concerts yesterday and today, both on pretty tight schedules so I am pooped! Taling a couple days to drive up to Winston-Salem for the next concert. Then down to Atlanta. Have seen some people in these concerts that we met the last time around down here with the band. Made me think of the guys. When I last talked to Joe Hand I let him know that I'm making it back to my hotel by around 10pm each night. When JOe & I were humping gear together it was more like midnight.
Phil Perkins rehearsing the Chamber Group in Sedona

The view in Sedona

St. Petersburg to Naples

2007-03-12T16:12:00.000-04:00

Resting in Naples today after a short drive from St. Petersburg. Last night's concert at Blessed Trinity went very well. A big change for the folks at the church who sponsored one of concerts last year during the Monk Rock tour. Special thanks to Mary Lou and all the volunteers who worked so hard to put on another concert in just over a year. Tomorrow we play at St. William here in Naples then JMT, Viola & I fly off to Arizona for a private event. Keep prayin' for us.

Some pictures from the first concert

2007-03-10T17:20:00.000-05:00

jmt 2007-03-08

Ragtime bus loading

2007-03-06T19:47:00.000-05:00

Gettin' ready again....

2007-03-03T21:25:00.000-05:00

Just back from the Vigil Mass at Little Portion where I have just a couple days to repackage all our gear for a solo JMT tour. No truck, no trailer everything has to fit on the bus. We're heading generally southeast this trip, please check the calendar to see when we'll be nearby.
I'll do my best while we're out to bring you some fresh photos and maybe even a video clip or two.
God bless.

Myspace & JMT's new blog

2007-02-26T10:32:00.000-05:00

I've been on myspace (for better or worse) for a while. See: http://www.myspace.com/frugalaudio

JMT is now on myspace and blogger. Check out:
http://www.myspace.com/johnmichaeltalbot
and
http://johnmichaeltalbot.blogspot.com/

More on Brother Tim from JMT

2007-02-04T22:22:00.000-05:00

Brothers and Sisters,

Peace and Good in Christ!

It is with sadness and hope filled with joy that I share that Bro. Timothy Gerard McMillan B.S.C. passed away early Saturday morning before dawn. He died from natural causes related to his Diabetes.

Brother Tim was born in Vallejo, California on June 6, 1956. After finishing high school, Bro. Tim spent 4 years in the US Air force and was stationed in Spokane, WA. The next three years he worked at various manufacturing jobs and spent the summers working at Yellowstone National Park. The summers at Yellowstone drew his interest in seeking out a profession in the National Resource area. He began a 2-year study program in Natural Resource Management at Spokane Community College. After completion of college, Br. Tim worked for the Soil Conservation Service full time for ten years. Br. Tim enjoyed working with the farming community and stressing the importance of using our soil and water resources wisely.

Bro. Tim came to us on June 27, 1992, and was permanently professed as a celibate monk on November 27, 1997 at Our Lady of the Angels Mission in Nicaragua. During his years on mission he suffered a serious heart attack, and quite literally died. He was finally resuscitated after six minutes by Mark Shepler. Had he died in those days he would still have had much unfinished business in his personal life and vocation. I believe that God gave him these extra years so that he could really be ready to come face to face with Jesus Christ, his Lord. I am confident that he was fully ready to meet his Lord.

Tim lived a tough life, and struggled with various addictions before his conversion to Christ. I will always remember him giving his testimony to the monastic community, and quietly weeping as he spoke of how Jesus literally saved his life. He encouraged us to not get too caught up in the lesser things of life that so often rob us of our peace, joy, and love.

Bro. Tim was a man of few words. When he spoke he let you know what was on his mind. This was used by God many times when he would say just a few words at a community meeting, but would communicate much wisdom.

He was a great teacher, and I always thought that if his health had been better he would have made a great monastic priest. He often taught religion classes for youth. He also took the youth on several field trips, including the sacred pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Denver. They loved Bro. Tim. His quiet and no nonsense way was attractive to those who sought something more real. Prior to joining the Brothers & Sisters of Charity, Bro. Tim was involved in prison ministry at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, WA.

In recent years he also became an avid flintknapper, or a maker of arrowheads and other objects in the fashion of the Native Americans. He used this gift to fashion our community symbol, the heart tau, and crosses of various designs. These were much sought after.

He will be sadly missed. But through our sadness we also see Bro. Tim attaining his hope of glory in Jesus Christ. I am completely confident in his joy with the Lord, and this confirms me in my vocation and walk with Christ here on earth.

I will close by a story of Fr. Bob, our Chaplain. When he heard of Bro. Tim's and Eli's passing (Eli is one of our faithful monastery dogs who died the same day that Bro. Tim passed away) he saw Bro. Tim walking up to heaven, and Eli running and barking after him as if to say, "Wait for me." With our faithful dog Eli, we also say, "Bro. Tim, wait for me," for he is already experiencing first hand the fullness of what we all seek while sojourning here on earth. If this life on earth is just a twinkling of God's eye, it will not be long before we are all reunited with Jesus and everyone we love in Eternity.

Bro. Tim, we pray that Jesus will embrace you fully. We will miss you.

In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder, Spiritual Father, and General Minister
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

Sad news from Little Portion...

2007-02-03T15:09:00.000-05:00

Just heard from JMT that Brother Tim McMillan BSC, passed away last night. In all the times I've been to Little Portion Brother Tim was always there to lend a hand loading & unloading or just to talk in his quiet way about music. Please pray for him, his family and the community.
JTC

Looking back.....

2007-01-14T12:49:00.000-05:00

Well, thinking about it I figure I have a chance now to share some things from before I started the blog. In April 2005 we traveled to Ireland (thanks JMT for including me) just in time for the funeral of John Paul the Great. Among the activities was a quick appearance for JMT at a memorial event held that day at the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park Dublin. Here's a couple of pictures from that event. Perhaps later I'll post some video of the hair raising police car ride it took to get there!

Among my favorite photos from last year..

2007-01-03T12:35:00.000-05:00

JMT on stage in Bend, Oregon
I really like this one. I sometimes switch camera settings around while shooting at the concert just to see what comes out. I could just make it black & white after the fact but that would spoil the surprise.

A bit late but.....

2006-12-30T15:19:00.000-05:00

I just stumbled on this review of Monk Rock.
Two bad I didn't see it when it was fresh. :-)

2006-12-25T14:47:00.000-05:00

A little Christmas gift....my best wishes for a Blessed Christmas and a Happy, Holy New year to everyone. Special thanks to everyone who came to see JMT in the past year and all the volunteers who helped make each concert possible.

PS- This is a pretty big video file. You might want to wait until the little blue bar makes it about half way across before you push play.

Dan Schutte's Guitar

2006-12-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

Ok so this has nothing to do with JMT, but we're off the road right and it's my blog & I'll cry..er..do what I want to.

I just thought this was a neat story.

Video Test

2006-11-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

Video temporarily removed.

Little Portion Appeal

2006-11-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

The Brothers and Sisters of Charity are appealing for help to support the community into the future. While all the proceeds from JMT's music ministry go to the community it isn't enough by itself to sustain a dynamic and growing community. John Michael has sent a letter out to all the friends of the community if you're interested in their plans and might want to help, check it out here.

Last day.....

2006-10-24T08:22:00.000-04:00

Early morning on a Kansas highway, the sun just rising ahead of us as we head back to Little Portion. Last night's concert in Manhattan, Kansas was a great conclusion to the Monk Rock/Beautiful City/JMT & friends Tour. The church was packed wall to wall & the choir terrific. All in all a wonderful night except perhaps for the absence of Tom Booth who we've missed these past few shows.
Now it's back home for everyone, each to our own place. JMT & Viola back to life at the monastery. John Michael to finish work on his 50th album; a traditional JMT work it should be released sometime in 2007. Terry returns home to Fresno for some much deserved rest. He's been along with us not only for this tour with the band but for the previous few tour legs with JMT as well. Tom Booth continues on with his own work as an artist, producer, and A&R rep for Spirt & Song. Word has it that Tom will touring solo in 2007. Joe Hand is busy as ever. After returning home to Nashville he's expecting to head right back out to New Orleans to comlete recordings for one of his clients. John Martin heads back to San Diego and his band Cerro Negro. The most musically diverse of our little gang you can expect to find John playing or listening just about anywhere. He's even found a new interest in polka! My assistant, Stephen Bowman, returns home to his family in LA. Don't be surprised to hear that Stephen's been the on set photographer on your next favorite motion picture.
And me....after we unload at Little Portion I'm heading home to Buffalo to help look after my Mom & work on our house. In the next few months I'll be doing some planning and prep for the next JMT tour which departs in February. We'll be scaling back for the solo tour, I have to be able to fit everything in the bus once again. I've amassed quite a library of recordings, photos & video on tour with JMT. Hopefully I'll find some time to sift through it all for a gem or two that management can put on the official website. If you need a production guy don't forget to check out my site, Frugal Audio. In any event the blog will continue. Take a moment to pray for us and don't forget to come see John Michael in concert in 2007.

Greetings from Minnesota

2006-10-19T23:08:00.000-04:00

We played last night at Transfiguration Church in Oakdale, Minnesota. Thanks to Fr. Bob Hart and everyone in the parish for helping us do a great concert. Special thanks to our setup crew of eight graders from Transfiguration School: Cortney Vanderhoff, Danny Grant, Alee Conners, Ben Schroeder, Kacey Meis, & Austin Belde.

The future stagehands of Transfiguration School

A brief update...

2006-10-17T10:46:00.001-04:00

Well the sad yet glorious news....
Tom Booth left the tour before Sunday's concert to make his way home to be with his ailing father & family. Tom's dad, George, passed away late Monday evening after a protracted illness. We'll all be praying for him & Tom's family. Please join us.
JTC

Here we go again....

2006-10-03T17:45:00.000-04:00

I've been home just about two weeks from the last tour leg. We got pretty busy there for awhile and I apologise to anyone who came here looking for the inside skinny on the tour and found none. We did a great string of concerts throughout California, Oregon, Washington & Idaho. Among the highlights were an outdoor performance at "The Grotto" in Portland and JMT presenting Dan O'Neill with the Mother Teresa Award in Sammamish.
We leave again in just a week for the last leg of the year. It will be bittersweet in some ways as it will be our last tour leg with this band. While some of John Michael's fan's may welcome the return to his quieter solo concerts, and while it may be simpler to execute for us, I'll still miss having all the guys with us. This really has been one of the best groups I've spent time with on the road. I'll also miss the sense of accomplishment that comes from putting on a more complicated show, with a shoestring budget.

A look at the Grotto Sanctuary from above

Me tryin' to get everything put together

Dan O'Neill receiving the the Mother Teresa Award from JMT

Western leg well underway

2006-09-06T00:45:00.000-04:00

The western leg og the JMT & friends tour is well under way. After a couple days of rehearsal at Little Portion we headed out for Arizona. We played well received concerts in Flagstaff, Mesa & Tuscon then headed for Anaheim. In Anaheim we played SCRC in the arena of the convention center. Attendance for that one was about 4500. Two more dates in California followed and now we've arrived in Oregon after a lengthy, tiring drive.

This trip has been a bit rough from a production point of view. All I can say is: if you ever decided to sponsor a concert, read the contract carefully, ask questions and be sure to provide everything asked for. We don't ask for things like loaders & electricity just to be difficult.

At SCRC I got a chance to spend some time with Mike Beloud from Rise. We had a great lunch sharing stuf about music, faith & family. Rise is a terrific Catholic band, check them out if you can.

The band along with our bus driver for this leg, Richard Queen.

The Brothers & Sisters of Charity enjoy a preview concert at Little Portion.

Faith Ims gets a drum lesson from John Martin during a break from rehearsals.

Yours truly & Mike Beloud from Rise

Beautiful City release

2006-08-04T11:34:00.000-04:00

There's an announcement on JMT's site about the new album release.

Summer crusin' by...

2006-08-04T11:29:00.000-04:00

It's August already. The next tour leg leaves in a couple weeks. I head for Little Portion August 21. I'll have to get into the swing of things having spent most of the summer at home looking after Mom & working on the house. Did a gig with BJ Thomas & Billy Joe Royal the other day. Also spent two weeks in Houston for the COGIC AIM convention and an event for Edwin Hawkins. It was darn hot down there!
JTC

Leg over....

2006-05-16T08:17:00.000-04:00

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......

2006-05-02T22:29:00.000-04:00

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

I'm way behind here....

2006-05-02T13:09:00.000-04:00

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!

Between tour legs......

2006-03-30T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well I'm not out on tour right now, but I'm in a hotel and when I'm in a hotel I blog. Actually I'm in Virginia for my sister's wedding. Everyone say a prayer for Eileen & Rob. :-)
I leave for Arkansas April 22nd. The next tour leg will begin with a day of gear maintenance and rehearsal in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Special thanks in advance to Pastor David Hall and the Elizabethtown Brethren church for putting up with us for an extra day. I'm going to have the great blessing of having an assistant on this next leg. We've hired a young man named Stephen Bowman to back me up in all things technical. You can find out more about stephen by looking here. Now ladies, I know he's a studly looking fellow...but, remember, I'm single too! We're expecting another bachelor on the next leg too. He's not eligible yet though, rumor has it that Tom Booth's son Anthony will be joining us for a portion of the spring tour leg.
Please check John Michael's site to see where we're going to be. We'd love for you to come and check out the concert. I promise you'll pray & laugh and have a real good time. Leave a comment here or let us know at the concert that you've read the blog.
God bless,
John C.

A last word from Booth for this leg....

2006-03-04T12:06:00.000-05:00

Ahhh... It is great to be home! But, it was great to be in other's homes - places of worship in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Meeting folks is always great, and seeing different towns, sanctuaries and coffee shops is also cool. St. Augustine is beautiful! We stayed at the Hilton on the bay. This is the very site where Dr. King held protests, was arrested and made international headlines in the civil rights struggle (it was not the Hilton back then).
We were in Augusta, Georgia where one of the most famous golf courses on earth is vigilantly secured (you and I can't even look at it).
We visited guitar shops in just about every city - Joe Hand purchased two nice instruments for very little (Joe wins the editor's frugal award for his cost effective but inspiring purchases, JTC), JMT and I found a couple of new stringed friends. John Michael had already COMPOSED a dittie on his new axe before we even got home from the shop, Annie's Guitars in Savannah, Georgia.
John Martin buys cool things everywhere. He got a new shirt in St Augustine, wore it at the concert with the store owners in attendance. By the way, we think Mr. Gretsch came to our concert in Savannah -THE Mr. Gretsch. He was humble, affirming and liked JMT's "White Falcon" from his family of guitars. The people who helped us on tour were great - in all three states. I played "I Will Choose Christ", "Slipping" and "Here I AM" on most nights. I honored Our Lady a couple of times by singing "My Lady", a song of love and devotion. Go to SpiritandSong.com and listen to audio clips of my new record The Best of Tom Booth. See what you think... or buy a couple!

Huntsville

2006-03-04T11:50:00.000-05:00

A couple shots from the last concert in Huntsville. In the one of JMT you can just see the "Star Drop" in the background. It's a real pretty effect created with fiber optics. This venue just happened to have one. Huntsville had a great crew and probably set the record for load out on this trip. To be fair, it was the only venue this leg with a loading dock & conventional stage. If you handicap them for that I think they tied with Augusta. :-)

Not quite done....

2006-02-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's Monday morning here in Huntsville. The last concert for this leg is this evening. Thursday & Friday saw us in Savannah & Augusta respectively. In Savannah we played historic Christ Church. Check out their website. Names like George Washington, John Wesley, Juliet Gordon Lowe are prominent in their history. It's always intimidating bringing a modern, amplified concert to such an historic space. All the more so at Christ Church where the stairs presented a formiddable obstacle. Nevertheless we had a good concert (on of the best sounding to my ears) and I believe we left the church none the worse for the wear.
In Augusta we played St. Joeseph's church where Father John & a terrific crew from the Alleluia community welcomed us. It was a pretty full house and an enthusiastic audience. We had an unusual problem in that a brand new circuit breaker was defective straight out of the box. Neither the church's electrician or I had ever had quite this problem before. But, a new breaker was procured, and Joe & I enjoyed some Wendy's takeout while we waited. Speaking of Joe.....he & John Martin took a quick day trip up to Joe's studio in Nashville over the weekend to record a new song. This is the song that came when Joe purchased a previously loved guitar earlier in the tour. We all look forward to hearing the result.
Tonight's concert here in Huntsville includes a choir with members from about ten churches. Should be a good time for all. Check back for a report on that and any wrap up info I can think of before I give it a rest for lent.

A few more pics from St. Augustine

2006-02-23T11:14:00.000-05:00

You'll notice some red & blue in the background in these. I've been adding some improvised backlight at some concerts. It's tough, partly because there's only so much time in the day to get such things done. But, there's also a fine line between adding a tasteful, appropriate design element to the concert or getting carried away with the idolatry of a flash & trash Rock-N-Roll show. :-)

More on St. Augustine

2006-02-23T10:37:00.000-05:00

We travel a lot, so people often comment about how great it must be to see so many different places. The truth is we don't often see much. We meet great people all over, but mostly we see the bus, the hotel & the church. There are exceptions though. We spent a few days in St. Augustine. The town is a bit overrun by tourists but there is much to reccomend it and a few things to make you think. It's the oldest city in the United States. The Cathedral is on the site where Mass was first said in 1565.
The Hilton hotel sits on the site of the Monson Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in 1964. Each of us has a different background, a different set of interests which informs our view. But there is something there for each of us to take away...when we have the time to look. :-)

A great crew....

2006-02-22T09:02:00.000-05:00

Last night in St. Augustine we had a great crew of students from Flagler College. Joe had a chance to go out and spend some time with them after the concert and they sent a real nice thank you note by email. One of the biggest challenges of touring in non traditional venues is getting enough help. It doesn't need to be professional stage hands, just a bunch of reasonably able, attentive people willing to give a bunch of time & sweat. It's really a blessing for us to get a good group. So my thanks and that of the whole tour go to our St.Augustine crew:
Jayce Ginn
Andrew Tierney
Paul Cacciatore
Kim Swift
Lacey Brown
Chez Filippini

Winter Park on to St. Augustine

2006-02-18T23:19:00.000-05:00

We had a great concert in Winter Park last night. The concert was sponsored by the San Pedro retreat center and they did a great job. Probably the hardest thing all day was getting the truck & bus to the church without incuring too much tree damage. It was a pretty full house of around 900 enthusiastic people. I was just listening to the archive recording and am still surprised by the crowd response. If you were there, thanks for coming. If you had any trouble hearing, I apologize. St. Margaret Mary is a beautiful contemporary church, but it's a cavernous acoustically challenged space. I can only assume from the crowd reaction, and hearing people sing along, that most people were able to hear well enough.
Tom's friend Chris Gunty from the Florida Catholic paper came out to visit and took some great pictures. Chris was kind enough to share the pictures with us and I've included a couple here.

We've moved on to St. Augustine now where we have a bit of time to rest before a concert at the Cathedral Tuesday evening. I had dinner tonight at a place called Son of a Fish on Aviles street. A small, non touristy, place that seemed to be respected by locals. It looks like there's much to see and do here but it's quite crowded. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a nice place to visit a bit off season.
We've still got a few more concerts in this leg so please try to come out and see us if you can. Pray for us too as we move on. The road can wear you down. Terry and Viola have both been feeling ill this week and could use your prayers.
Don't forget to leave a comment to say hi and be sure to tell your friends about the tour and the blog.

Catching up....

2006-02-15T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been terribly remiss and am way behind in posting this trip. Frankly, I'm just feelin' worn out. I've no reason since we've only done two concerts so far but c'est la vie.
A couple days of driving got us safely from Little Portion to the Tampa area. Despite some difficulties (read Joe's post below) we had a great, well attended concert in Lutz. Joe & I managed to get a bit turned around on the journey back to the hotel but I still made it to the bus to see the second running of Battlestar Galactica on SciFi.
Special thanks and prayers go to Sacred Heart parish in Pinellas Park where Tom & I went to Mass Sunday. Not knowing that we were there the music ministry was using mostly Mass parts that Tom wrote. Tom was tickled. They also had their first LifeTeen Mass that evening so we wish them every blessing & success.
The second concert in St. Petersburg was as well or even better attended than the first. The crowd was truly responsive and the parish supportive. Volunteer help started to thin out during the load out though so we finished with a bit less help than we could of used.
Next concert is tomorrow here in Boca Raton. Hopefully I'll get some pictures to share. Please drop us a line and let us know you've seen the blog, the tour, or both.
John

Joe Hand on our Tampa area concert

2006-02-15T10:29:00.000-05:00

welcome to St. Petersburg, FL. Palm trees are swaying outside my window. We had a really long travel day today from Tampa...
15 miles.
but with our detours to various guitar stores and of course, WALMART, it took about 3 hours.
While John Michael showed INCREDIBLE restraint, Tom Booth did some damage. A 1960 Gibson Melody Maker. He was tearin' it up at the Guitar Center there. Got a great deal on it too.
I practically stole a lovely epiphone acoustic guitar from Legend's Guitar shop. $145 WITH a case. It's got a few marks on it, but I prefer buying instruments "pre-dinged". This way I don't have to worry about it when I bash it up.
John Michael says when you buy a new instrument, new songs come out of the instrument. Well, that's true. I wrote one this afternoon. :)
We had a great concert last night in Lutz (pronounced LOOTZ), just north of Tampa. about 750 people came out, and it was a nice evening, all things considered.
When we showed up, only 3 people were there to help unload the truck (we require at least 8 people).
Then, once we got into the church, and started to set up, we had no power. The electrician (another requirement) was a no show, so we had no way to patch our electrical panel into the breaker box.
So by the time they found another electrician, it was close to concert time, and we didn't start sound checking until 6PM. Doors opened at 6:30.
eek.
But JC saved the day. Not THAT JC, our OTHER JC. the sound master, JOHN COTTON. He did the classic soundman "all-odds-against-yet-somehow-pulls-off-a-great-sounding-show".
Voices sounded good, guitars sounded good. Great night of music and ministry.
Tomorrow night we're in St. Pete, and we'll have a choir with us. Should be alot of fun.
well, that's it. I shall live to write another day, Epiphone in HAND, so to speak...
Joe
February 11, 2006