What They’re Really Like, Vol. 2: Jason Gray

PermalinkBlog, View all 14 comments

I met Jason years ago at a World Vision conference. I had a great time getting to know him. I listened to his music, and had one thought. “This guy is really great; it’s too bad no one will ever sign him because he stutters.” I thought no one would be able to look past that one issue. Fortunately I was wrong. Some other friends of mine at Centricity Music heard Jason’s music and brought it to the world’s attention. And his huge record Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue finally got the attention it deserved, especially the smash hit, More Like Falling In Love. The fun part about writing these blogs is that I can use phrases like “huge record” and “smash hit” that would make Jason very uncomfortable.

You need to see Jason in concert. Because one of the things you would not know about Jason just from singing along with the radio is that he is a great storyteller. It is wonderful to see how God has used what man saw as a weakness as a way to reveal the glory of God. He weaves his own story, his encounters with God and life, through his music. He definitely takes you on a journey.

Another thing you wouldn’t know about Jason is that he’s a great husband and dad. We had only crossed paths professionally until a couple of years ago, when he brought his family to GMA. It was so great to see another side of him. As everyone else is posturing so that the industry will see the most impressive side of them, Jason is wrestling with his kids in the eating area. Having a conversation with most people there consisted of trying to get one point across while they were scanning the crowd for someone they needed to talk to more. But Jason was present in that moment. He talked to me. He wanted to hear some of my story and was willing to share some of his. The only thing that took his attention away was his kids, as it should be.

I haven’t gotten to know Jason as well as I would like to. I am looking forward to having that opportunity. You can get to know him better by listening to his brand new album, A Way To See In The Dark. It has some killer songs on it. Just promise me you’ll read the lyrics to The Other Side while you listen to it. I don’t want you to miss anything. Incredible verses. And man, there is some serious wisdom about fear in two songs, No Thief Like Fear & Fear is Easy, Love is Hard. I Will Find A Way will crush you. Make sure you don’t have anything to do after listening to it. It takes some time to recover. And I’m sure you’ll all hear a lot of Remind Me Who I Am on the radio soon.

You can find Jason online at jasongraymusic.com. You can follow him at @jasongraymusic on Twitter. You can pray for his wife and kids. You can go buy the new record, or pull out one of the old ones and give it a listen.

Thoughts? Favorite Jason Gray lyric?

Todd

Five Minorly Major Announcements

PermalinkBlog, , , View all 2 comments

First, my friend Nathan Lee who I’ve been ranting about all summer leaves on tour today. His music is awesome and this tour idea is awesome. He leaves this morning on the 40 Day Risk tour. He will be in 40 cities over the next 40 days, but has nowhere to play and no one to come. He is totally trusting God to provide. Check out his records on iTunes or somewhere else. The new one is Risk Everything and the piano one from earlier this year is West Tisbury. Both awesome. You can keep up with the tour at www.40dayrisk.com. He starts tonight in Knoxville, TN. Pray for him and go see him if you can. You can follow him at @nathanleemusic on Twitter to find out where he’s playing in each town. And you can financially support the tour through a paypal link at www.40dayrisk.com.

Second, another friend Jason Gray has a new record coming out today, Everything Sad is Coming Untrue. Jason is an incredible songwriter and a true man of God. And let’s be honest, that’s an awesome album title. It’s way better than Need. I’m really looking forward to listening to it. Oh, and the cover is awesome. So you can find it on iTunes as well, and probably at your local Christian bookstore. Or you can order at jasongraymusic.com. There you can get all the bonus packages.

Third, Ted Dekker’s new book, Green, comes out today. It’s the fourth book in the Circle series.  Check out Teddekker.com

Forth, Derek Webb’s new record that I’ve been raving about releases today. It’s called Stockholm Syndrome. www.derekwebb.com

And lastly, you can pre-order my new record. Comes out Oct. 6. Today starts the official pre-sale. Right now, you can still get a free digital download of Do You See What I See, our Christmas record when you order. But that should go away sometime today. http://buzzplant.com/toddagnew/splash/ That’s the order page. ah, I’m so professional.

Thanks.

Todd