I'm moving...

www.justinromack.com

No more posts here folks. Catch me at my site for more bloggin' action - and yes, I actually blog on this one.

I lied. Okay, I admit. I told a bold-face lie. I didn't update "tomorrow", I didn't update the next day, and nor did I make a post taht week. I feel awful, just downright dispicable for being dishonest to my faithful readers who, even in my absence, carry on the very goal of my blog - to stay connected. It's just such an awful situation, I truly hope that you guys will continue to check back here, even though, I probably won't post. Why did I lie? Because I'm a bad person...

Life's been pretty weird the last few weeks. Things have been consuming my day and I find myself at midnight wondering where the time went. I have been busy trying to catch up in my classes and do some work with Reason. Guys, I have some cool stuff to share with you from my recent exploration of Reason. I am working on my site as we speak. I am attempting to move my blog to justinromack.com and store all my Reason files there. Have some pretty cool loops, songs, and projects to which I am actually going to turn in for a grade in my electronic music class. I just got done an hour or so ago on a project I had with Dave. We came up with a hip-hop track called "Pearl Harbor at Sunset". Why is it called that??? I have no freakin' idea....

Been doing a lot of work on drum lessons. I just got asked to teach another student. I am rally excited about this opportunity because I am finding out more and more that God has allowed me to work well with kids. I feel it's definately a gift...because a lot of people cannot do it. I am drawing ever closer to the idea of teaching one day...but, I just don't know what. I am scheduling a meeting with a career counselor next spring and we are coming up with a plan for my final few semesters so that I can find the accomodations I need for my career. Exciting stuff!

On the drum front...I am in the process of securing funds for a new drum kit. I had some pretty neat contributions to this fund from my family and have some good support. I am looking at the DW route...which I will have custom-built through either Guitar Center or a custom drum shop called West Coast Drums. I am not sure when this purchase is going to occur, but it is becoming more probable as the days progress. I am meeting with a guiy from Guitar Center this week to get a price quote and a better idea of what to do. I have considered a few other options, but I am wadding through them....I will keep you posted.....actually, I may lie again.

Church has been really interesting lately. We have started our Join the Journey "campaign" and it is going well. We had some mishaps that were resolved that definately hindered us for a while...but God prevails! In the last week, it is my understanding that the numbers have doubled for sign-up. I am trying to shake the mentality of looking at numbers, because I am not a numbers person - but it's an easy trap to fall into. I would definately recommend you guys checking out the Journey. Go to www.gracebiblechurch.com and read more. It's very exciting. In other church news, I had the week off completely this past week. I did run sound for Crosspoint, but that was by choice. It was very relaxing not to have practices and whatnot, but I am actually really anxious to play this week.

Well, I am off to sleep. Going to the vet with Mandi and Angela tomorrow. Have two drum lessons and a report to begin working on. Alright, I will post sometime again - better not set a time frame...I don't like setting myself up for failure.

Peace!

Dodging the Bullet

You guys will get a real post tomorrow...but, for now:

Why are an overwhelming majority of college students so stupid? Let me pose a better question - why are they so immature and isrespectful? I understand it is a little awkward to roll out the kegs and get tanked at 3 in the afternoon, but, I would much rather be around that then why I attempt to study for a test tomorrow. Now, I would be thrilled if I didn't have to see any of that. I knew it was going to be a bad night when Angela and I pulled up to the house and girls were dancing in the parking lot. Sheesh...

Got a lot to talk about, but, too frustrated and too exhausted to share right now. Wanted to vent so I could press on.

Extra-Cheese

Ok, this is open to everyone...and I expect to see some response.

I am going to pose a question that I am sure has been asked before, but I haven't seen/read it before, so I think this is a fair question. Let me first start by saying that, this blog post has been in my head for a long time. I just forget to post it, but, everytime I visit Lufkin - I remember, and you'll see why. So here we go:

"What's the cheesiest church sign you've read before?"

Ok, that's simple. Surely you've seen or read a sign that simply just made you cringe at the utter thought of it's cheesiness (yeah, that's a word). Here's the one I have at the moment:

"Be an organ donor, give your heart to Christ"

We're going to Tyler tomorrow, so I may have to update that...but there it is none the less. Alright, now it's your turn...answer me!

Go and get...

...Jared Anderson's new CD. Now, let me say a few things. First off, it's not what I expected. First listen was not as impressive as I expected either. Now in saying that, here's why - I expected a majority of it to be a resource. Some of it is. But, a lot of it is performance-based, and that's cool too. I really enjoy it. Production quality is great! It is really nice to here some of his tunes that others have done, like "Rescue" and "Hear Us From Heaven".

It's available on iTunes tomorrow. It's some amazing stuff, and I dfeinately think you'll enjoy it. I am more impressed with this guy everytime I hear him.

Mpact Weekend

I was given an amazing opportunity to play with some guys from Clear Creek Community this past weekend in leading there Mpact weekend for their student ministry. I went into the situation a bit nervous - honestly didn't know what to expect. Man, let me just start by saying, it was incredible! There were some amazing musicians on stage, who clicked rather quickly. It was truly an amazing worship opportunity.

We got there (Dave and I) on Friday afternoon. The facilities there were really nice...was very impressed. The guys rolled in later and we met and began to setup. Got a lot done, really quickly. I got to use the church's Gretsch Renown Maple Kit (very sweet setup). Definately my top-choice for my next drum kit. I tuned that bad boy up and it sang beautifuly. Just like maple drums should.

We got some great fellowship time in that evening and ran the morning's set. Hit the hay around 12:30ish.

Saturday's sets went really well. There were some minor mishaps that could have been avoided - but, all in all, the music was incredible. The speaker, Clint DeGroot (I think I spelled that correctly) did a good job. He was a guy that could connect with the kids, and that's important. Throughout the day I met a lot of great folks that do some amazing things. The fellowship time with the guys (and gal) were really nice too - here lately I have been running ninety-to-nothing, I haven't been able to hang out with folks.

Sunday flew by. Some amazing worship happened on Sunday...some amazing music was played, and the kids were so cool. I have a story from that last set on Sunday evening. So, we're at the end of the set and Daniel is talking to them about the last song, "Salvation is Here". Now some of the kids were a little more wound then others and some yelled, "we love you Daniel"...and that was that. Well, out of nowhere, from a row or so back from the front, I hear a girl yell something that I haven't heard before. Keep in mind I am behind a drum shield, the monitor next to my kit is blaring...and I hear "I love you Jesus.". I was taken aback. It was something I didn't expect to hear. Daniel heard it too! I think that put the weekend in prospective for me. I really feel like the worship team was able to bring the students to that point where they could just meet with God openly and freely and have no inhibitions about what surrounded them....and that alone is why I want to continue to do what I'm doing.

Some incredible opportunities have been thrust my way, and I cannot ignore them. God has truly given me the ability to play drums, and I think I do that well. I have talked time and time again about how I want to pursue music, but, I am serious. Friedns, I am not going to give up...I want it that bad! I want to play all the time, but not just play all the time, but I still want those time where I am serving students. I really want to be a part of playing these youth retreats and youth events. I find nothing more amazing then hearing a room full of 100 or so kids just praising God with all they have. It's an incredible experience....it truly is.

I think this weekend opened my eyes a bit more to music in itself. There were times when I would doubt my abilities. But, I really found that if I just loosened up, things sounded really good. The band sounded very tight. I think musically, I was playing things better than I have in a while. And it gave me hope to know that I can play with anyone, not just folks that I play with all the time (which I REALLY ENJOY DOING! - wouldn't give that up for anything....unless Jared Anderson asked me to play). I am going to keep pushing forward, and taking gigs with folks, because it is important. I love doing it and know it is what I am meant to do.

By the way, let me just let you all know. Daniel led the band. Did a fantastic job - a very talented musician, but also a great leader. He led the band well, as well as the students, and that's really important. His style and flow was really good too! Very good stuff. Dave did a great job on electric. He played some new stuff, so at times he was frustrated, but he shrugged it off and did a great job. A guy named Matt play bass and sang back-up. I have a feeling I will be talking about Matt for a while - a guy with some tremendous talent. A drummer's dream is to have a solid bass player to play with - and I have been blessed to play with a bunch of good bass players. Matt has an incredible voice too. He added some amazing depth to the musical landscape, if you will. Heather did female vox - great great stuff! She added a whole heck of a lot. And last but not least, Tim did all the sound detail. A brilliant engineer...got a heart to do it and the know-how. He made it sound good (and he's a mean blues guitarist too!). I met a bunch of other folks that I would have loved to connect with a bit more, but, hey, there's always next time...

Peace!

Home At Last

I just got in from Livingston...

Amazing gig...great stories....better time...

I will sleep and tell them tomorrow.

Half-way

So, this week was a toughie...but I've known it was going to be since the beginning of the month. Let's just go through a run-down:
Monday - studying my pants off (not literally - but it might have been funnier that way) for Poli. Sci. test - youl'll see why later. I spent a lot of the day at the church trying to get our wireless internet to work.
Tuesday - drum lessons in the afternoon at the church, still working on the internet. At 8:30, we had a practice for the Clear Lake gig. The rest of the guys didn't show up until 9:15ish. Rehearsed until midnight and then took about an hour to tear down and load the trailer. Fun times. Stayed up until 3:45 studying for Poli. Sci.
Wednesday - woke up at 6:30. Studied geography and more political science. Took my tests at 9 and then came home to do laundry and get ready to head to Clear Lake at 1. Played the gig and got hom at about 2am.
Today - woke up really late. I have studied some for my history test tomorrow and have finished laundry. I am heading to the church this evening and working with our newest drummer, Josh. He's going to fill in for me this week...thank goodness. Going to visit my family this evening and come home to polish cymbals and hardware and get ready for the next gig this weekend.
So, Clear Lake gig went well. We played for about 30-40 kids, which was a pretty slim crowd...but, that will change. Clay's only been there for a little while, so I expect the next time we play that it will be a much bigger crowd. It was there "SawYou@thePole Rally"...pretty neat to be a part of one of those. Clay took us to a great restraunt after the service and we got on the road shortly after. I got home and relaized I had dropped my house key somewhere in the process during the day. Don't know where, but it's gone... Found a way into the hosue and we asleep by 3.
Livingston gig is Friday through Sunday. Nervous, but it will be fine. I am playing on their drums...a sweet Gretsch maple kit. Very excited about that! Will keep you posted on how that goes.
Peace!