Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 5)

Nashville and The Objective: Days 2 & 3

After being up quite late Sunday night (a normal occurrence during The Objective) Monday morning (5/20) came early.  We were up by 8 AM for Day 2 of meetings and speakers for The Objective.  As it always is, it was rich, inspiring, informative and encouraging.   Monday night, we joined with Glen Clark and the Family and a few other musicianaries for the “Broadway Invasion”, an outreach to those on the streets of downtown Nashville.  We set up at the corner of 2nd and Commerce St. and played music, talked about our faith with those who asked, and were able to minister to several people during our time there.   It was great to be able to help and give encouragement to those who were hurting and really needed someone to listen and to talk to.  After the Broadway Invasion, we all met at the nearby TA Truck stop for food, fellowship, more late night jam sessions and seeking to be a blessing to the wait staff and the truckers in there.  After we arrived there, Sara Medin of the band “Breakthrough” joined us at our table. She is a beautiful, talented and godly young lady who is an absolute delight to know.  She is one of several of the musicianaries we have met there in Nashville that has a very special place in our hearts.

We made our way back to our hotel around 2:30 AM, exhausted but exhilarated at what we saw God doing and in His call on our lives.

Tuesday morning (5/21) found us in more sessions, listening to more speakers and getting even more information, insight, food for thought and more encouragement.  That evening was to be part 2 of the “Broadway Invasion”, but a big thunderstorm came over Nashville  just as we were preparing to walk downtown.  We opted to stay there at Rocketown,  gathering on a large covered porch to sing and play and reach out to the surrounding neighborhood.  After our outreach time, we all headed to the truck stop again.  After hanging with a number of the people there, we joined Alan Aguirre in watching a movie in the lounge of the truck stop.  He had to leave just before the end of the movie, but we opted to stay and finish it.  However, we were so tired, we ended up falling asleep there in the lounge.  A security guard came up and kicked us out, saying we couldn’t sleep there.  We  politely left and headed back to the hotel and got some (more) sleep.

– End Part 5 –

Michal Clark (on right) and Steve at Rocketown

Glen Clark (at center) leading music on the porch at Rocketown

Beau Clark playing percussion at Rocketown

Grace Clark on the porch at Rocketown with Leila’s U-BASS.

Truck Stop Jam Session

Even the kids were jamming!

A few words from Ted Bruun

Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 4)

Nashville and The Objective: Day 1

 
On May 19th (Sunday),  we went to Rocketown (a venue owned by Christian recording artist Michael W. Smith) for the first session of The Objective 2013.   The “Meet & Greet”  started at 3:00 PM, but we arrived a little early and renewed a number of relationships from the May 2012 Objective.  When we attended The Objective in 2012, nobody there knew us.  This year, because of relationships that we’d established and nourished since then,  we were welcomed with love, admiration and respect.  It was a special blessing to see members of Glen Clark and the Family when we first arrived.  We had the privilege of meeting the Clarks at the 2012 Objective and doing some ministry with them at that time.  Glen Clark then invited us to play at the Harvest Gathering Festival in Asheville, NC in October  2012 and we’ve kept in contact with them ever since.

The “Meet & Greet” session  was designed as part registration, part mini-concert, part worship experience, and part actually meeting and greeting people we’d met previously and Objective first-timers.   Ted Bruun, the founder of The Objective and The Extreme Tour, welcomed everyone, and throughout the day we heard a number of other speakers.   The sessions lasted until about 8:30 PM.  Ted then invited everyone to meet on the steps of the Ryman Auditorium for a time of worship.   Around 9:30 PM,  a number of the Objective attendees did just that.  The worship leaders that evening were Glen Clark and the Family, and it felt right to be there with them.  After the worship experience at the Ryman,  many of us met at the TA Truck Stop in Nashville for what Ted called  “Third Shift”.  This was an opportunity to hang out, eat some good food and bless the wait staff and the truckers.  That night, and every night at the truck stop, spontaneous jam sessions happened.  Once again, they confirmed in us our calling as Musicianaries and that we were in the right place at the right time.

– End Part 4 –

 

Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 3)

Asheville to Nashville

After the gig at the Asheville Radio Café, we went back to our hotel room in Candler.  We woke up the next day (Sat. May 18th), to no electricity and no water in the room.  We went to the office at 9:30 AM to find out what was going on and heard that there was a thunderstorm that knocked down some tree branches and cut some cables.  Because the well for the hotel is electric driven, this killed the water as well as the power.  When the power came back on an hour later, we had some breakfast, loaded up and checked out of the hotel.  Next we went to a local grocery store with a café, had some coffee and pastries, and started boldly (and loudly) talking about the goodness of God and peoples’ need for Him.   We tried to go to the local library to do some computer work but it was closed.  It was 5:30 PM  at that point, so we decided to start heading toward Nashville, Tennessee while it was still light.  It ended up being a good move.   We traveled to Knoxville where we stopped for a meal using a gift card we had been given,  then kept moving down the road through a very heavy rain to a rest area.  After a brief stop there, we decided  to keep traveling to a rest area outside of Nashville.  It was a Welcome Center also, so we looked around for a few minutes.  By this time we were exhausted, so we decided to  stay there  and we slept in the “Sparkmobile” (our van) for the night.

We woke up at 5:30 AM (Sun. May 19th), cleared our heads, and headed into Nashville.  We arrived at our hotel very early, but they graciously said we could check in and they wouldn’t charge us extra.  We checked in, unloaded our stuff,  and settled in.  A couple of hours later, after having lunch in our room with some food we’d brought for the trip, we got ready and went to “The Objective”.

 

– End Part 3 –

Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 2)

Asheville

On May 16th, after playing the gig in Atlanta, we drove to Candler, North Carolina where our hotel was.  After dinner at the hotel, we worked on the set list for the next evening’s gig in Asheville (about 20 minutes from Candler), and made posts on Twitter and Facebook before collapsing in our room for the night.

The next day, we ate breakfast, got ready and drove into Asheville.  After running around the city for a short time, we drove to Asheville Radio Café where that evening’s gig was.  From the very beginning, there were problems.  First, we were originally told we were going to be opening for another artist, but it became apparent that we were going to be the only band on the bill that night.  Thankfully, we had come prepared and were ready to do 4 hours of material.  Second, the radio interview that was scheduled for 7:00 PM didn’t happen until 8:00 PM.  The interview went as well as could be expected, I suppose.  However, we were told that it would be put up on the radio station’s website along with the 2 songs that we played unplugged.  As of this writing, it has never appeared there.  We understand that there are circumstances beyond control, but we learned a few things that evening.   Asheville Radio Café was formerly known as Creatures Café.  We discovered pretty quickly that it wasn’t just a change of name and owners — there was a completely different spirit now.  We are always grateful for the opportunity to be a “spark in the dark” and to walk through whatever doors open for us.  However, we’ve learned that quite often blessing only comes after struggle, and our gig at Asheville Radio Café confirmed that.

 

– End of Part 2 –

Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Part 1)

It’s been 7 months since our 1st Musicianary Journey and we knew through a series of circumstances that it was time for our second one. These journeys are journeys of faith like the term “Musicianary” implies.  Like we’ve said before, Musicianary means “Musician Missionary”.  We believe that what we do is bigger than simply playing music. We believe what we do is a calling and a connecting with a bigger purpose that God has for us.  The 1st Musicianary Journey confirmed this, and we believe the second one will also.

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The Journey Begins

On May 14th, 2013, after a hectic couple of weeks of preparation, we set off.  Our first stop was Katy, Texas where we reconnected with a couple of dear friends and supporters of ours. We spent the night there and had the opportunity to pray with and counsel them about some difficult situations they were going through.  Afterwards, they had the peace and the answer they needed to move forward in one of those areas and enough light to take the next step in the other situations.  The next evening we set off for Atlanta, Georgia, the next stop in our journey, where we had a gig at Centennial Olympic Park.  We arrived in Atlanta at 9:00 am on May 16th, got dressed, set up, and played the gig beginning at 12 noon.  We were well received there and invited back by the promoter.  We then tore down, loaded out our gear, and headed to Asheville, North Carolina, the next stop on our journey.

        

– End Part 1 –

Spark in the Dark’s 1st Musicianary Journey (Epilogue)

So…….what did we learn from our 1st Musicianary Journey?

1.  We learned that it was possible for us to be on musicianary journies in the first place.

2.  We learned that many people don’t have a clue what a Musicianary (musician missionary) is, and they will never understand because they think we’re just trying to live some sort of American Idol rock and roll dream.

3.  We learned that some people do understand, and love and support us.

4.  We learned that this is what we’re supposed to do.

5.  We learned that by doing what we’re supposed to do God will take care of us.

6.  We learned that there will be difficulties along the way like there are in every undertaking, but… (see # 5).

7.  We learned that the difficulties ultimately don’t matter at all when you feel God smile down on you.

8.  We learned that this job is WAY too big for us, and there are many others who also need to get outside the spiritual ghetto walls they’re living in and get their hands dirty.

9.  We learned that we’re more than willing to speak to any church or group that is willing to listen to what it means to be a “Musicianary”.

10. We learned that this isn’t the last Musicianary Journey we’re going to be involved in, so……..

This post isn’t simply “Spark in the Dark’s 1st Musicianary Journey (Epilogue)”, it’s also “Spark in the Dark’s 2nd Musicianary Journey (Prologue)”.   We begin our 2nd Journey on May 14th, 2013, and we’ll be posting reports from the road here on our blog, on Facebook, and Twitter.   Keep your eyes open for the Spark in the Dark !

Spark in the Dark’s 1st Musicianary Journey (Part 7)

Sunday morning, Oct. 28th, we attended service at Calvary Chapel Asheville. After the service, we were invited to stay for lunch and were happy to do so. We spent a couple of hours with the Clarks and some of the leaders of Calvary Chapel, then went back to our hotel where we met up with Debbie and had some much needed relaxation after a busy weekend. The next day, Oct. 29th, we said goodbye to Debbie and went back to Calvary Chapel where the Clarks invited us to their home in South Carolina. We caravaned with them and stayed with them for a very rich couple of days. On Halloween, Oct. 31st, we drove back to Asheville. We encountered a few difficulties, but God was with us and that evening we drove to Pigeon Forge, TN, where we stayed a couple of days to catch up on some personal business. On Friday, November 2nd, we drove to Nashville where we renewed some relationships, attended a worship event called Meltdown and the next day (Nov. 3rd) reconnected with our mentor, Geno. After we left Nashville we got an encouraging phone call from Ted Bruun, the founder of The Objective, a movement that seeks to encourage and exhort Christian musicians to serve and minister with integrity. We then drove to Thomaston, GA where we attended a service at Providence Church with a dear friend, Pastor Charley Chase. From Thomaston, we played street music in Dothan, AL and Tallahassee, FL, then started making our way back to Texas. We spent a couple of days with our friends Dwight and Margie Williams at their home in Katy, TX before heading to our home in Corpus Christi.

– End Part 7 –

Spark in the Dark’s 1st Musicianary Journey (Part 6)

By the time the Clarks started their set, a cold front had come in and the temperature had dropped considerably.  Also, Daniele Clark’s bass had gone out and Leila rushed to give Daniele one of her basses to use.  During and after the evening’s music, there were a number of angry fundamentalist preachers screaming at the people on the Festival site and condemning the Festival and everyone playing there.  One of them gave Steve’s sister, Debbie, a very hard time.  She came back to the tent where food was being served and told Linda Clark and us about it.  Linda, a very loving woman, prayed and counseled with Debbie and showed her the truth about God’s love.  While the Clarks were doing their set, Leila gave Linda a chair massage. After the evening’s music was over and everything was torn down and packed up, Leila gave Glen a chair massage also.   It had been a long, difficult at times, and beautiful day.  We were exhausted, so we called it a night and went back to our hotel.

– End of Part 6 –

Spark in the Dark’s 1st Musicianary Journey (Part 5)

In Part 4, we saw the first day of the Harvest Gathering Festival 2012, we hung out with Steve’s sister, Debbie, who had come to be a part of the work of the Festival, and we had been told that we would be kicking off the Harvest Gathering Festival on Saturday.  

On Saturday, October 27th, Spark in the Dark kicked off the day’s events at approximately 12 Noon with a 40 minute set.  Our set list included:  “Shotgun Angel”; “Michael”; “Tapestries”; “The Prisoner”; “Dancing On Ice”; “Dance, Dance, Dance”; “Break The Calf”; and “Redemption”.  We were well received by those attending, and it was especially fun to see Linda Clark (Glen’s wife) singing along with “The Prisoner”.  At the very end of our set, toward the end of “Redemption”, we suddenly lost power and sound.  We were going to do a few more songs after that, but Glen wisely decided that was a good time to change bands.  Upon investigating what caused us to lose power, we discovered that somebody at the Festival deliberately pulled the plug on us.  Asheville, as we’ve mentioned before, is a hot bed of occult activity.  There are a number of covens in the area, so it doesn’t surprise us that the power was pulled on that particular song since it’s all about being redeemed by the blood of Christ.  After the power was restored, the Festival continued with many different bands and solo acts with the Clarks closing out the night’s music. 

– End of Part 5 –

 

Spark in the Dark’s 1st Musicianary Journey (Part 4)

In Part 3, our intrepid duo was interviewed on Asheville, NC radio station 95.7 “The Choice”, played at Creatures Cafe, and received details from Glen Clark and the Family for the start of the Harvest Gathering Festival the next day. On Friday morning (October 26th) at 9:30, we arrived at Vance Monument in Pack Square, the festival site in Asheville. By 10:30 the Clarks and everyone else had arrived to set-up for the festival. We had never been involved in setting up such a large stage before, but the Clarks were pros and we assisted as best we could in the work. I worked quite a bit under the direction of Beau Clark, an amazing musician and Glen and Linda’s oldest son. Leila worked with Linda Clark and was a courier, running errands and transporting people as needed. An organization of young men and women called “U-Turn for Christ” also provided invaluable help in setting-up. Unfortunately, there were a number of technical problems that day and the festival started at 8:00 p.m. instead of the 6:00 scheduled time. A number of solo artists and bands played that evening, and many people were fed some hot food and drinks. The Clarks take very seriously the actions and calling of Jesus to feed the poor, and many of their shows involve setting up a food tent to feed the poor and homeless. It was a blessing to be able to join with them in this beautiful work, and it confirmed a few things to us that we would be doing in the future. Toward the end of the evening, Glen came up to us and told us that we would be kicking-off the festival the next day, Saturday, starting at 12:00 noon. When the evening’s activities were over, many of us met back at Creatures Cafe to hear a band called “Miracle Made” who would be playing the next day at the Harvest Gathering. Leila and I also made some adjustments to our set-list, hung-out with my sister Debbie, and re-capped the day’s events before heading back to our hotel for the night.

– End of Part 4 –