Blog Delay

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Well, I’ve put off blogging because I was trying to finish this one particular blog. But I haven’t. And I shouldn’t put you off any longer. So instead I’ll just tell you about the last two great weekends I’ve had.

First, I went to Wyoming. Casper, specifically. I taught in a songwriting workshop and played a solo acoustic show. It was really wonderful. We spent all day talking about Christ and how to celebrate Him in music. The people were very kind and willing to follow along whether or not I actually knew what I was talking about. We ended up talking a lot about purpose. That why you’re writing determines a lot of what you’re writing. And come to think of it, that’s probably true a lot in life as well. Then the day finished off with a solo acoustic show. We had a great intimate atmosphere. Since there had been quite a bit of difficulty getting there, we had to skip one section of the workshop, the Q&A. So instead I put it in the middle of the concert. It actually turned into a really special time. And I had the chance to talk about the Christmas record in the middle of August. The merch table sold out of the Christmas record that night. Unfortunately I had only brought 3.

My family spend a few days the next week with the cell phones off, vacationing. Nothing completes a vacation like the Lazy River. Unfortunately, we had one family member with a stomach bug. Still a good trip though.

Then this past weekend I was in Mississippi. We had a DNow with a bunch of students. It was a great time. We played volleyball for maybe an hour and a half before the first service. So I showed up all sweaty. Very impressive and professional. The worship band was the Joy Whitlock Worship Extravaganza. Okay, that’s not really their name, but I think it has a nice ring to it. They did a great job. Joy says she’s not a worship leader, but I think there is some real potential there. She’s real, and she loves Jesus. Two very important parts. I fell in love with one of the songs they did, None But Jesus. I thought maybe she wrote it, but it turns out it’s a Hillsong United tune. Off an album I already own. Oops. Anyway, it’s a great song. I was the speaker for the weekend: one message Friday, two Saturday, and one Sunday at church. It was a great weekend.

Thanks to everyone who was a part. I’d love to hear what God did in your life during our time together and since.

Todd

TODD AGNEW ANNOUNCES FALL TOUR WITH POCKET FULL OF ROCKS

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Todd Agnew announces his Fall 2010 headlining tour, “An Evening Of Worship With Todd Agnew and Pocket Full of Rocks”.  Pocket Full of Rocks is a 5-piece worship band that just released their third studio album More Than Noise in March of 2010. The tour kicks off in late September and will run through mid-November. For a list of dates, info and tickets, visit https://www.toddagnew.com/tour.

Restaurant Review – Kokom

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Okay, I know reviewing a restaurant in India is ridiculous, but I can’t help myself.  It was amazing.  And what if someone who reads this blog happens to end up in Chennai looking for somewhere to eat.  I would kick myself for not having mentioned it.

The restaurant is called Kokom.  It is located in the MRC neighborhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.  They serve food from the southern coastline of India.  The basic idea is you have some sort of base, a sopping up material.  It’s like a bread but very different.  I think many of them are rice based.  Let’s go ahead and admit now that I’m an idiot.  I don’t know what anything was called.  I don’t know what was in it. But I do know it was awesome.  So, you usually order the base (the dipper) and also a few of the gravies.  One of the best was a chicken stew.  But it wasn’t even my favorite, just the one I remember the name of.

Anyway, everyone there was friendly.  The place was beautiful.  And most importantly, the food was incredible.  I might have to go back to India just to eat there again.  Okay, that’s not true.  But it was really good.  I’ll check in with some of my new friends that ate with us that night and see if anyone knows the name of anything that we had.  Because otherwise, you’ve read this whole thing and have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about.

But at least I’ve done my job and passed along the news.  So just in case you’re ever in Chennai, India.  Remember the name…  Kokum.

TIll our next meal,

Todd

Returning From Camp In India, Pt. 1

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I couldn’t think of a catchy title that would make you want to read about my trip to India. I couldn’t come up with a clever phrase that would somehow encompass a weekend of Christians training themselves in a land where they make up less than 3 percent of the population. I couldn’t find the words to describe God moving among a people who are unashamed and devoted to Him. So I apologize for the title, but I believe the story that follows will both challenge and encourage you.

About a month ago, I was playing a show in Plano, TX. Afterwards, a guy walked up and told me he had already been out to his car about to leave. But God had told him to come back in and invite me to go with him to India. Naturally, I am usually a bit suspicious when people tell me that God has a message for me. But God didn’t send a message for me, He just instructed Aaron to invite me. So I politely declined, saying that I was busy through July but would he email me and tell me more about it because I would like to pray for the trip. He had told me he was going to India to participate in a Christian camp for students. It sounded really interesting and I did want to know more about it.

Fortunately, he actually did email me. And invited me again. He said he understood I was busy but he really felt led to invite me. Now, that starts to mean more when you get to know Aaron and realize that this isn’t something he does all the time. He is not often led to approach people he doesn’t know and invite them around the world. But this time he listened. And extended the invitation again. So I looked at my calendar and surprise, it was the one weekend I was home. But I was supposed to lead worship at my church. So I called the church and found out that the worship leader I was supposed to replace was actually going to be back, so they were hoping I wouldn’t mind not playing that Sunday. So suddenly I was free. I talked to Jenny (my wife) and she said, “Well, you can’t NOT go.” After correcting her double-negative, I agreed that it was something that must at least be looked into. So I emailed Aaron back. By this time, Aaron had had a death in the family and was unavailable for a few days. So I assumed this was going to fall through. Then suddenly he emailed me back and we had about 48 hours to figure out the travel details. They all came together and I went to an office here in Austin that was able to quickly arrange for a visa for me. I was going to India.

Now if you had asked me a month ago, which major nation in the world do you know the least about, the answer would have been India. I knew nothing. Hinduism and something about cows. The sum total of my knowledge. But now I was going. And the camp already had a worship band. They wanted me to teach. Two session on music and two session on addiction.

So I got on a plane and went. I left on Wednesday at noon and got there Friday morning. I’ll tell about the camp tomorrow…

Todd

Returning Home

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What a great week. We really enjoyed being with Meredith Andrews and Pocket Full of Rocks. Great nights of worship. If you get the chance to worship with either one of them, make sure you go. And a ton of thanks to Jody and David from Pocket who sat in with us during the week.

So we finished up with a great night in Ft. Smith AR. I heard they had to turn people away. I’m really sorry about that. We’ll have to come back soon.

Anyway, afterwards, as everyone got in the bus to head back to Nashville. I got in my van to head home. I drove for a while and then spend the night in a hotel. I woke up the next morning, got back in the van and started driving. A few hours later, I had that horrible feeling you get in your stomach when you pass a police car and it pulls out behind you. I mean, I wasn’t speeding, but still… My stomach was plummeting. And sure enough, the lights went on and I pulled over. I sat and waited as he walked up to the van. I handed him all my info, and he told me why he pulled me over. Apparently I had crossed the fog line, also known as the solid white line on the edge of the highway. I was slightly confused, due to the fact that pretty much every driver on the highway does that approximately once every 90 seconds. But I’m not one to argue with a trooper. Then he began to ask me all kinds of questions. Where am I coming from? How long have I been gone? What do I do for a living? Where did I stay last night? I mean, he probably asked 40 questions. I really felt we were getting to know each other well. Then he went back to his car.

I sat and waited. He came back and asked me to step around back to talk with him. When I got back behind the trailer, I saw that another trooper had pulled up. Now it was his turn to ask lots of questions. This guy was a pro though. He had probably over 100 questions. What’s life like on the road? What kind of music do I play? What hotel had I stayed in? Why did I only have one suitcase for so long of a trip? Had I ever used drugs? Did I have anything in the van or trailer that wasn’t supposed to be there? Did I have anyONE in the van or trailer that wasn’t supposed to be there?

I finally just opened the trailer. He didn’t ask me to, but I figured his curiosity would be better sated by actually seeing rather than playing 20 Questions. Then they asked about the guitars. And the amps. Had serious questions about the keyboard case. Then we talked about the CD boxes. And the merch boxes.

And then, just like that, we were done, and they were telling me to be safe going home. They were very kind and professional. It was just weird. I was grateful that I wasn’t in trouble for anything, and I offered them each a CD. Of course, I didn’t think about the fact that it could be considered a bribe, until the second trooper explained that they could not take a gift on the side of the road. Maybe in the middle of the road, but definitely not the side. Then he asks me how much they are, and I said $10. He pulled a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and bought the CD.

It was a strange way to make a sale, but I’ll take it.

Todd

PRT Tour Update #2

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We had a great second weekend of tour. We started in Cleveland, GA, at Truett-McConnell College. We played in an un-airconditioned gym. In Georgia. Not exactly ideal conditions, but we had great people at the show. We had a wonderful crowd that stuck it out through the heat. Then we moved on to Columbus GA, where we had another good crowd that was augmented by a great group of Dnow students.

Saturday we had an amazing day in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was a block party. They had blocked off a street and set up a stage. We had a huge crowd full of amazing people. It was really a wonderful night. We feared the rain all day but God held it off. Then in between our second and third songs, fireworks started going off. I was going to wait and let people watch, but they were ready to worship. It was really a great night. And we had Mellow Mushroom on the bus.

We finished Sunday in Spindale, NC. I know, I had never heard of it either, but it turned out to be a nice little town in Western NC with a bunch of great people who came out to the show that night. We played in a beautiful theater. And then we headed home.

We’ve had a couple days off and are about to head to Florida for the weekend. We start Thursday in Graceville, just south of Dothan AL. Then we hit Tampa, Jacksonville, and Orlando. So to all your Floridians, we’d love to see you this weekend.

Till next time,

Todd

Radio Tour: The Middle

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Well, we made it through the first week. Mark Giles of Hit Radio Promo has been with me all week and that has been a great new friendship to build. He is a true servant. It has been an honor to partner with him this week. The rest of the week has not been as easy. Well, actually the visits themselves have been great. I finally visited KLOVE. I know, I know. They have been such a huge part of our ministry but I had never been to Sacramento. But I got to hang with Lisa and Eric on Monday morning and that was great. I played a few songs live, debuting the new single, Joy Unspeakable, and one other song from the new record, Did You Mean Me.  Getting to Sacramento was not as easy. I left after church on Sunday, made it to Phoenix fine, and then got stuck for many hours. I should probably apologize for the Twitter onslaught that occurred while I was in the airport. Some were funny, some not. But it helped pass the time. But I finally got to CA and had a great visit. Tuesday we started in Tulsa at KXOJ. Again, they have been a huge support for us and actually added the new song the first day it was out. So that was awesome. I always love hanging out with Craig. And Heather is awesome too. Then we rushed to the plane to head to Florida. We did the Tampa scene on Spirit FM with Jamie that afternoon and I totally botched one of the new songs. Live. On air. You must be so proud. Then we actually got to go to dinner with some of the Spirit crew so that was great. Then it was off to Orlando. We started Wednesday at Z88.3 in Orlando on air with Tyler and Ellis. Played Grace and Joy live. Then I got to spend some time with the staff and played a few songs including I Need No Other from NEED. I don’t know why we’re always capitalizing NEED but we are, so I guess it has become part of the brand. Then it was back to Sarasota to see the folks at The Joy FM. They were awesome. We were doing lunch and they had suggested ordering Greek salad instead of pizza. I had my doubts but it was wonderful. I got to hang out with their whole staff and shared a bit about getting married and the story behind Joy Unspeakable, which I don’t have to tell you because you probably saw the video already. Then I did some on air stuff with Bill. We did miss Carmen and Dave, but we’ll catch them next time. Then we headed to the airport to head to NYC and here’s where it started to get sketchy. We had all kind of delays, but I chose to grant grace to my Twitter followers and not abuse them again. So we finally got in to our hotel in NJ at about 2:30, I think. We landed just hoping that the car rental place would still be open. It was. We made it to the morning show with my friend Johnny Stone on Star 99.1. I was dragging but glad to be there. It was a good morning and then we headed downtown to Beliefnet. We left that interview with the sole purpose of getting a slice of real NY pizza. We achieved our goal. It was awesome. Then we headed to the airport with no idea what lay in store. We arrived, hoping to bump up to an earlier flight to catch up on some rest. The girl’s response was “I was hoping you were going to say, ‘I’d like to go tomorrow, and get two free passes.'” We told her that wasn’t an option for us. Apparently due to the weather that almost kept us out of NY the night before, they had cancelled about half their flights and all those people were trying to get on our flights. Anyway, we had seats and it was only delayed half an hour. So we get inside and settle in to the airport hang. Charged the laptop. Read some. Listened to some book on tape (well, book on playlist) and sermons. Listened to two of my favorite new records, Derek Webb’s Stockholm Syndrome and Nathan Lee’s West Tisbury. Then I walked up to check on the flight and it had been delayed another hour. Now we would land pretty much at the exact time we were supposed to take off on our connecting flight to Minneapolis. So we waited. At the appointed time, we went to our gate. And waited. Right as we were supposed to be taking off and there still wasn’t a person at the gate, we started to wonder. Then the screen changed to say departure time was pushed back another two hours and 15 minutes. Now we definitely miss the flight. As we were standing there, I thought I noticed that the flight number was wrong. Just by one number, like it used to say 267 and now it said 237 or something like that. I pondered. Then I walked to the main screen again and sure enough our flight had moved to another gate. I run down there, digging my phone out of my pocket. I make it just in time, hand them my boarding pass and call Mark to tell him. I get to my seat. When he finally gets on, he says they had already shut the door, but let him on. We were grateful for that. So we fly to Milwaukee. When we land, I can see the other gate like 20 yards to our right. So I run over there and somehow we make the connection. So we make it to Minneapolis. We were staying right near the airport so we went in and crashed. We got to sleep a little later the next day and then went to visit KTIS. They were incredible. I don’t know how I had missed visiting them before, but they are awesome people and really do radio well. I hope they play good music. I didn’t really get to check that out. But they’re wonderful people. I really enjoyed the visit with Dave and Pam, and then getting to hang out with their whole staff. We talked about foundations from 1 Corinthians 3. Then we had lunch. They ordered pizza from this amazing place. I wish I could think of the name of it, so I could give props where they are do. But it was awesome. And I really appreciate Chaz showing me around the place; it’s really amazing. So now it’s finally time to go home. I check to see if I can catch an earlier flight but I can’t. So surprise, surprise, I’m in the airport again. I wait for my flight to Dallas. It went fine. So now I’m literally 4 hours from my house, driving time. But I just have one more flight to catch and I’ll be home. I run to TGI Friday’s there in the airport for a Santa Fe salad, quite good. Then I notice it’s getting really close to boarding time so I run down to my gate. I get there and it’s empty, always a bad sign. I find out it’s been moved 10 gates down, so I run down there to find everyone sitting down, again a bad sign. It’s been delayed an hour. Then it was delayed another hour. So our flight finally takes off at 1AM! One! It’s already the next day. But we make it. And get to Austin at 2. I grab my luggage and am glad the airport shuttle is still running to long term parking. Sam had flown to Memphis and left me a message about where he left the keys. However, apparently Sam gets driver side and passenger side mixed up. So I spend another 15-20 minutes looking for the keys. I finally get to my house at 5 minutes till 3am. Glad to be home. And now we’re doing it again this week. We’ll start here in Austin, Wednesday morning on the River. See you then.

Todd

The Big Radio Tour

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Well, we’re off. Doing the second official Todd Agnew radio tour. The only other time I’ve done this was for My Jesus. Apparently most artists take time out each record, if not for each song, to travel around and talk to radio stations. I guess bringing doughnuts is a commonly held theory on how to get a station to play your song. I don’t know if we’ll be doing that or not. So anyway, the label asked me if I would do it, since I’d been off the radio radar for a while. My summer camp schedule had already wrapped up, so I said Yes. A little work can’t hurt me. Traveling around and talking about myself is not a favorite hobby, but as they taught at my church a couple of months ago, all conversations can be turned to Christ. So we’ll see how it goes.

We started this morning with KLOVE. Oddly enough, I had never been to KLOVE so it was good to get out there. I hung out with Lisa Williams and Eric Allen this morning, and I think a good time was had by all. I played Grace, My Jesus, Joy Unspeakable (the new single, and the reason for all this fiasco), and our conversation led us down some paths that ended with debuting Did You Mean Me off the new record as well.

Right now, we’re on a plane heading to Tulsa where we will start at KXOJ tomorrow morning. They have been a huge support to us over the years so it will be good to hang with them. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll be in Tampa, FL. I’ll be on WBVM at 5pm if that’s home for you. Wednesday will start in Orlando with Z88 at 8am. Then we’ll head to Sarasota.

Thursday morning we’ll be hanging with my friends Johnny and Stacey at Star 99 in NYC. Oh wait, Stacey’s going to a wedding, so I will be hanging with my friend Johnny at Star 99 in NYC. I think it’s 7-9am. Two more interviews in NYC then off to Minneapolis. We’ll finish there on Friday and go home for the weekend. I have no idea what we’re doing next week.

But this week is full and hopefully we’ll cross some of your paths, hit some of your home radio stations.

Todd