I was out doing homework at the park the other day. A couple walked up to the lake shore with their dog, near to where two geese were minding their own business. The guy bent down and took the dog's leash off, to which the dog promptly bounded into the lake after these two geese. Despite desperately trying to call him back the couple spent the next few minutes watching helplessly as their dog swam away after these geese. When he finally determined he would never catch them, he turned back to his calling owners. I have just one question, What'd you think he was gonna do!?

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I was utterly surprised and overjoyed this afternoon when I discovered one of my favorite songs was finally available for download! David Crowder's independently released album called "All I Can Say" has up until now been safely hidden in the CD collections of those dedicated fans who've been following him from the very beginning. But now it's available to the masses, much to my glee. There are a few original versions of songs that he has since released on other albums and a few precious gems you won't find anywhere else. I encourage you to check it out!

I just posted a new song up on my Pure Volume page. You can follow the link under the music tab above to hear it. On the profile page click on the Christmas album and it's called "When God Came Near." This is one I started writing last Christmas, but then put it on the shelf for the year. I pulled it back out last month and added the finishing touches. It speaks to some of the great oxymorons of the Christian faith. Hope you enjoy it. Come out to a Christmas show sometime and you might get to hear it live!

Looking for a cheap Christmas present to give out to friends or family? How about a CD full of free Christmas music! Amazon is offering 30 Christmas songs to download for free! Some of it is worth what you pay for it, but some of it's pretty good, including one of my current favorites, Relient K's "I Celebrate The Day." So go on over to Amazon's free Christmas music downloads and see if there's anything you like! Tell your friends, or don't tell your friends and burn a CD for them instead! Merry Christmas!

If you haven't checked out Shane & Shane's new album "Everything Is Different," then you must immediately hop on over to their myspace and click the play button. It's been on constant repeat for the better part of my week. The title track "Everything Is Different" along with "I'm Alive" are not only catchy tunes, but they speak great truth about our salvation by grace alone. The album even includes a few Radio Versions at the end for the more CCM oriented. So go get a free preview online, then go buy the album. You'll be singing these songs in your sleep!

For those of you who, like me, are always looking for new Christmas music every year, I've got two albums you'll definitely want to check out. The first is Daniel Renstrom's new disc On The Incarnation. Dan's an upcoming artist from Raleigh. This is only his second release but when it came out it reached #7 on iTunes. The opening track "His Company" will be a fixture on my playlist for the next month and a half. His new spins on traditional songs are not just more of the same like you so often find, plus his version of "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" is one of the best I've heard. Mixed with a few originals, it's only 8 tracks long but definitely worth the buy.

Future of Forestry put out their Advent Christmas EP last year but I've been waiting in anticipation all year to break it back out again. It's only 5 tracks of old favorites, but for those needing a little rock twist to some familiar tunes this album is a treasure. From the melodic "O Holy Night" to the rhythmic "Little Drummer Boy," this creative rock band delivers a masterful mixture of holiday goodness. So if you didn't catch it last year, make sure this is part the soundtrack to your Christmas season. You won't regret it.

I played out at an open mic tonight at The Evening Muse, apparently the place to go for acoustic shows here in Charlotte. It was a cool little eclectic bar, nice venue. Order was decided by a lottery when we first got there. Jeremiah pulled out a number for us...#1, great. So we went first. He played djembe to a couple of my songs that he'd never heard before. It was a good time. The other performers varied from not good at all to quite excellent. My favorite was a guy from Ireland named Andrew Farmer. The first song he played was called Don't Run Away From Grace (check it out on his myspace). Then he offered a classic northern Irish bar song which was phenomenal. I wish I could've recorded it for you, it was that brilliant. Seriously, check out his stuff. I recommend it. And see, you never know what kind of free publicity an open mic gig will get you!

For those like me who are always on the look out for new music to spin, I thought I'd drop a few suggestions that I've been enjoying lately.