Wednesday 1/31/01
Tupelo, Mississippi Winter Jam gig #6
We're playin a half mile from Elvis Presley's birthplace, I stopped by on the way to the sound check, He wasn't home.

We made the mistake of not making a reservation at a hotel last night.. "we'll just get something close to the airport" I said. We had to get a two hundred dollar room at the Hilton cause it was all there was available short of the Lobby couch. We found that at 2 a. m. and left a 4:45 wake up... flyin to Tupelo... there’s only one flight in in the morning and one in the afternoon, so we're kinda dazed.

I went straight to a live Radio interview at 11:00 a.m. with American Family Radio and then slept from noon till three P.M. Man are we out of sync now. Met some old friends back stage where I was presented with an Elvis Refrigerator Magnet!!! It doesn't get better than this.

On the show I came out on the scooter and on the first turn dumped it and rolled across the floor. I hammed it up and it fit the opening lines "I'm broke down on this highway again... On my way to victory..." I thought it was a rather poignant moment. The songs once again sounded so good with the seven piece live back up band and singers.

I'm only gonna be on this Winter Jam one more night. There have been several scheduling conflicts and it is keeping me off at least 8 shows. I won't miss the boomy arenas but I'm already missing the fellowship of this tour... just cause I've been several days away. NewSong has been great hosts to me and I will finish up in Enid, Ok. in a couple of nights. It's like the Left Behind tour in that the people are committed to serving God in music and are on a "familiar road" with me... and that is understood.

I hope above all things in my life that the people I rub shoulders with in my career are encouraged by my presence or at least humored. We spend a lot of time reaching out to "the people out there"... but we are affected most by those who stand beside us in an effort. Standing side by side, it's easy not to remember the faces of God himself in the flesh... beware! I say to myself now... God is at your right hand and your left... in the hearts of those around you...do not miss him.

O.K. so there’s THAT.... bryan d

Tuesday 1/30/01
Austin, Tx.1/30/01 Left Behind gig #7
All day at the venue Shoreline Christian Center. Spent the whole afternoon playing the piano, learning old songs and new... Maybe I'm Amazed has a little timing hassle between the singers placement and the piano phrasing.. I haven't got it right yet.. in other words I can't play it and sing it at the same time. I spent some of the day getting posters of the other bands signed for some friends. As we approach the last of the Left Behind tour gigs I'm getting everyone’s signature on a tour poster for my sake as well. I may auction off the Left Behind tour jacket at some point.

I got around to exercising after the first song on the night with Shine... I have about two hours before I sing again. That down time is important to fill. They've got security guards here that stand by your door and follow you everywhere you go... it's irritating... and you know it's unnecessary... somebody thinks we're big time.... hey you know though, Clarence Gilyard, the guy that played the preacher that was left behind in the movie is here tonight... he plays Chuck Norris' side kick in Walker Texas Ranger on T.V. .

End of the first half came with a surprise... I almost missed my little section in the big finally tune "Midnight Sky"... I forgot about the tune and had to come runnin from the back of the hall. Made it just in time for my part but then forgot the first three words... This is a song with everybody singing vocal licks and I just can't find any room to do anything that doesn't sound forced. It's also not a tune that I have any affection for, kinda like "One Voice" a few years back.

I came out for the second half, as you might not know, I introduce myself to start my set... "Ladies and gentleman" I say from the darkness of the auditorium "winner of eight place in the all American soap box derby back in 1966" "please welcome "the best lookin man you've ever seen".... See I do that cause there's lots of people milling around and not everyone is paying attention at that point anyway.

"Clap Your Hands" gets people runnin though, and the place fills up quickly. Tonight the whole cast will meet to say good bye to Kirk Cameron and Chelsea Noble as tonight is their last night on the tour. For us there is one more show in San Antonio two days from now... and I will fly back tomorrow to rejoin the Winter Jam already in progress in Tupelo "Missippy".

O K for cryin out loud... There’s THaT!!! bryan D

Monday 1/29/01
Left Behind gig # 6
Houston, TX... Second Baptist?.. I can't imagine what First Baptist Church looks like then. I can't believe there are so many monster churches in the U.S.. and none of 'em have me out by myself!!!! O.K. I probably know why ... I'm not exactly "towing the company line"... but I don't mind. I surprised I've had a career with as small of venues as I play in comparison to these. Well it's not completely full on this Monday... yea so there's "only 8 thousand people here"...( what a shame)

I'm dying to sell Joyride.... I'm afraid these folks won't ever think of me again after this event, I hope it's not missed opportunity. The gig glitch of the tour I think happened tonight.... Kirk Cameron decided to enter the stage from a floor elevator that brings you up to the stage from a basement... seemed like a cool idea... but nobody had "rehearsed" it. The cameramen couldn't find him and he was on mic saying hi everybody, I'm stuck down here! Apparently the elevator was very slow moving.

I had a lot of friends at this show. I enjoyed the hang time.

O.K. So theresTHat bryan d

Friday 1/26/01
Friday night... L.A. the Left Behind movie Premier. I flew home just in time to take my wife to the Premier of this movie. Cloud Ten productions sent a two hundred foot long Limousine to my house .... the driver got to the gig thirty minutes before we did, sitting in the back seat.

We were there way early... talked to Duffy on air, he was doing a Live remote with KKLA. I sat in the theater right behind the guy that plays the "Anti Christ" in this movie... he seemed young but then if your "satan" I guess you can be any age you want. Kirk and Chelsea were there as was most of the "family" actors. My wife said she saw Tom Selleck too...( of course she would see him) I didn't notice.

Well we acted like the little tourists when we were around people we've seen in the movies... I flipped out cause I was sittin next to Corbin Burnson. He played in Major League for one, a comedy I really enjoyed. I sung Left Behind after the movie at a reception in the lobby... Bob Carlisle & Joy Williams were there singing too. I'll tell you I just didn't fit in the Hollywood scene... singing to this crowd felt odd. I didn't feel "on the ball" enough to be singing in this town. There's a lot of personal agenda's goin in this crowd.

I had a good time with my wife in a rare night out. Coming home this weekend was a wonderful thing. My oldest son came home for college too and he was home when I arrived. My sons are becoming a real joy to be around and I am deeply proud to be part of my own family. I went to my own church for a change and hung with my friends (the flo people) we watched a miserable Super Bowl and laughed at the commercials and ate too much food. It was the most fun I've had in a while at home.

O.K. so theres THAT bryan d

Thursday 1/25/01
Springdale, Arkansas Left Behind gig #5
Just another monstrosity of a church here. Nice folks, more than anxious to say hello...very organized here as well. There's probably 8000 folks here for the gig.

I'm back stage with Bob Carlisle... he's in a cut up mood. We were talking at the group meal about tattoos.. cause two of the guys in the band Jake were having birthdays (they're both 22) and they got a package of stick on tattoos..." Bob you have one don't you?" " yea.. Bob replied, " it's on my left behind"!!!

The Jake boys are so young that we have very little to talk about together. I'm enjoying the camaraderie with them though as time goes by. The Shine girls and their road manager are great to hang with back stage as well. They are from England and the humor is different, but sarcasm they understand, so we get along great. They too are all in their twenties... I can't tell you how ancient it makes me feel.

The road crew and producers of the show are constantly panicked that I'm gonna wander off. I have trouble standing still waiting to go on... I do three songs over a period of several hours. Andrew King is on the headsets yelling "where's Bryan? Where's Bryan? somebody make sure he's close to the stage!!!"

Kirk Cameron hangs with us alittle back stage... I think I'm alittle too hyper for him... but he's nice... much in the same way Steven Curtis Chapman is. Who's not on this tour by the way.

Well I've still found I can win on a tour with five other artists on the bill. Tonight I hit all the notes clean... my throat still hurts though. The response was noticably better tonight than the last three shows.

I'm flyin home tomorrow and my wife and I are gonna join Bob Carlisle and his wife at a premier screening of Left Behind in Los Angeles and then I'll watch the Super Bowl before going back to the Behind gigs.

OKaaaaay Sooooo there's THAT bryan d

Wednesday 1/24/01
Memphis, TN.... at the Hilton, wake up at 11 a.m.. drag myself down to the hotel grille. It's dinner for breakfast. Busses pull up in front to load up and take off for Arkansas. One bus is stayin here so the girls can go shopping. My bus takes Paul Dexter, and Bob Carlisle, Ken Maust, (sound guy), two Merchandise guys and a road manager. None of these guys wanna go shopping, so we spend the day watchin movies on the bus to the next gig.

This bus had the Nevelle brothers aboard last week who were on tour with BB King. There's a man and wife driver team workin this one. They keep it clean and well stocked with healthy stuff and cookies and M&M's. It's a very relaxing way to travel. Very "homie". There are t.v.'s in all twelve bunks with VCR's as well so you can watch your own movies if you like. I saw Dances with Wolves for the third time. I saw the video for Left Behind, I'm in it looking my age. Somehow I don't feel a need anymore to do videos.

I have fallen victim today to Double Dip Oreos... man , no amount of sit ups will cover this mistake. I only got in 180 yesterday, thats 70 short.

We also have satellite and we watched the "all three stooges network"; the History Channel..."all Hitler all the time" ... then there's the Discovery Channel (all about snakes and alligators from what I can tell this week).

I'm listing songs now that I can perform with a band without hiring a keyboard player. That narrows the set list when I become the key player. We're trying to find a way to do some live shows... and eliminate an airfare or two. I'm thinking about doing more of an unplugged approach at least for the Jammin Java date... I have some dates comin up in Washington State that I might bring the band to as well. We've been driving for six hours, I knew when we crossed the state line into Arkansas cause the road started to rattle my eye teeth. I've taken lots of Ibuprofen today in hopes of helping the swelling in my Chords.

O.K. so theres a day on the bus.... bryan d

Tuesday 1/23/01
Outside Memphis, TN Left Behind gig #4 Germantown Baptist Church.
We're playin in a Baptist church here that's so big it could apply for statehood I think. Kirk Cameron is on Rosie tomorrow and the show is being revised to have him come in at the top of the show. The show has been altered every night so far... kind of a work in progress. My voice is showing more signs of fatigue than I can believe. This isn't a hard gig and I'm sleeping enough on the bus . I'm changing the song selection tonight, removing Amazed and putting in a friendlier vocal tune... "Strollin on the Water".

I sing one song with Shine at the beginning of show around 7 and then I stand around until 9:30 to do one more song. It's already so late that nobody minds that I drop one of my songs. A great number of folks leave before the second half. The standing around wears me out more than doing a full concert. Don't think I made any new friends on this gig. I left early and went to bed. Maybe I'll get my voice back... we'll have a day off tomorrow.

O.K. so there's that bryan d

Monday 1/22/01
Atlanta, Ga ...Left Behind gig #3
It's a Monday night, not a completely full house but more than I've ever seen on a Monday night. I'm glad I only have three songs tonight, my voice was burned out from the unexpected chill down in Florida at Winter Jam gig #5. I got plenty of rest and drank lots of water and tea but when your voice cools down too fast after singing hard it's like freezer burn, and warm ups don't help much. I limped through... the raspy thing actually sounded pretty cool on the straight tone stuff. Couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the date otherwise. I'm gonna go to bed early on the bus tonight...............

Sunday 1/21/01
Orlando, Fl. Winter Jam gig #5... I'm at "Faith World"... it's Benny Henn's old stopping grounds...The name of the place just sends shivers up my spine. Quite a feat in sunny Florida. After a 14 hour drive to get here, help was scarce.. we drove thirty minutes from the church before we found a place to eat breakfast. No sound check tonight, we barely got stuff set up for the concert. I walk in at six forty for a seven PM show. I'm starting to feel the road burn and my voice splatters on the top end of tunes... but hey what a surprise this crowd was... there was the " presence of God " here. It is unmistakable and not necessarily just Pentecostal fervor. I've never been able to explain it but I surely can feel it.

When I introduced "Maybe I'm Amazed, I was talkin about how God will speak to you sometimes even when your not paying attention... "and when you have a heart that longs for God, sometimes you hear a gospel song even in tunes that were never intended by their writers to have that meaning"... the nods were immediate. And as I launched into 'Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time' , the response was overwhelming... at the end people rose to their feet... more I think at the reminder of Gods love for them, than a standing ovation for a performance.

It was a reminder to me as well and I felt Gods hand of approval in the moment. "This is why I keep following Jesus" I said smiling... "cause he keeps finding me!"

O.K. sooo... there's THAT! bryan d

Saturday 1/20/01
Chattanooga, Tn. (Winter Jam tour gig #4) Saturday 1/20/01

Woke up when the bus came to a stop at the next coliseum. It's cold outside and snowing a little.

When I come to my senses and gather my wits I flagged down a ride with a runner and Paul and Anointed. We're off to the local Denny's. The waitresses have cool fifties looking bowling shirts on ... all different colors. I talk them into selling me one, it's yellow and black with a Denny's Diner logo on the back... this is the perfect tour t-shirt you know. I'm gonna wear it out on the gig tonight when I come out on my little scooter.

The Newsong bus broke down last night "beyond immediate repair" is the term they used. They have to bring in another bus. So they won't be here till maybe 4:30. That means no sound check probably. I'll get lots of time to exercise this afternoon.

I over exercised today, It left me fatigued. Still played well to a more subdued arena crowd. It was great to have the record company brass come down from Nashville to see this show.

"Your songs have meant a lot to me" is something I heard from several people through the night as I signed product. The difference was that tears would fill their eyes as they spoke. Hard stories were shared by people from all age groups. One family introduced me to their 8 year old daughter who was going into the hospital tomorrow with cancer and a 40 % chance of survival.

Another 24 year old woman had leukemia. One thirty year old woman and her husband came back to the table three times to reaffirm there appreciation for my work. Clearly the valley of the shadow of death has been a long one around here. I'm sobered by the struggles and honored to have given some encouragement in some real life valleys. It's not just a performance that people are looking for at a Christian Concert.... I won't forget that.

O.K. so there's that bryan d

Friday 1/19/01
Columbia, S.C. Yea, we won tonight!.... Anointed and Sam Ward replaced Pillar and Audio Adrenaline for a few gigs. It eliminated the rude crowd in the front fifty rows.... I came on riding a little push scooter and started by saying "This is new stuff from a new album called Joyride" it was a good place to give that info. I focused on the folks in the front row and spoke directly to two or three people, that eliminated the "stupid things to say" problem. There was 8500 at least in attendance in spite of a tornado warning and severe rain storm. The flight in was real exciting as well. They got a new bus for the visiting artists (that's me) It's called the "Sea Mist"... it could be the SS Sea Mist too as it is huge!.. with big lounges front and back and a very wide isle down the middle. It should be comfortable. We sleep in sleeping births in the middle while they drive to the next town over night. We take showers and change at the venue. We are at the Carolina Coliseum tonight.

I ran the steps of this place this afternoon for my workout... that'll do it.

O.K. so there's that bryan d

Thursday 1/18/01
Second Left Behind date... Birmingham, Al I've been doing alot of "meet and greet" things last couple a days and radio interviews plus the number of artists on this event is staggering, I didn't mention the boy band Jake on the last noodle or Russ Lee or Rebecca St James...who just joined us for the first time on tour.. it takes several hours to acknowledge everyone in the room or on the bus... needless to say I'm talking too much...

My road manager, Paul and I were watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live last night and they had a skit featuring "goat boy" If you are not familiar with this character he's half man and half goat. As he talks he breaks into this hysterical Bleating like he's possessed by turrets... as we were laughing I said to paul "oh my gosh thats me this week!" We haven't stopped laughing about that . I now occasionally just start bleating like a goat when I've reached my limit.

We drove down this morning to Birmingham from Nashville on a fine bus... with too many Krespe Kreams on board. I've eaten four today... I'm hoping if I count them each officially maybe it'll slow me down. Plus I've committed to 50 sit ups per doughnut. hows that for punishment.

We are singing at Cathedral of the Cross tonight....there is something overboard about the whole religious tone to everything here... it's a little thicker than I'm used to. Of course I've been singing in ice hockey arenas alot lately.... maybe that's it.

I noticed that Bob Carlisle had two different dressing rooms one on each side of the stage... he didn't use either one of them... but hey I could tell he has a big shot reputation here...we rehearsed the show all afternoon and started the show thirty minutes late. It made for a long day and night.

During the show Kirk Cameron comes out and gives a little testimony about how he became a christian. It's a great entrance they show a video clip of Kirk as Buck walking toward a car just then it blows up and the screen cuts to Kirk standing in the hall live... it's like a magic trick almost... the star power of even Kirk Cameron pretty much Dwarfs anything in christian circles. You should have heard the screams. Little girls were so excited and I'm thinking "growing pains" has been in reruns for ten years... these girls weren't even born then. flash cameras went off for fifteen minutes.

still the whole gig, though long, is very good and there are some chill producing moments. There were at least six thousand in attendance I'd say most stood in line for autographs... mostly kirks but they had to pass by the rest of the artists to get to him... it was kind of obvious.... I signed stuff for about an hour... and quietly slipped out of the line.

O.K. sooo there's that bryan d

(by the way I did my two hundred sit ups as penance for the doughnuts.

Tuesday 1/16/01
Franklin, TN... 1/16/01 opening night of the Left Behind tour... Peoples Church... a full house... sound and lights and video screen.... the cast begins with Kirk Cameron himself from the movie, Bob Carlisle, Joy Williams, Shine, myself and a few others I can't think of.... boy I'm impressed... Cloud Ten Productions folks showed up with the producer of the movie... and two jackets for everybody in the program... one winter and one warm up jacket to go with the hat I got earlier... along with a couple of published nicety's. Free swag! O.K. cool. ( next day with "Left Behind, The Movie" plastered all over my clothes I got lots of unsolicited opinions on the movie from every one in the mall) I performed the Left Behind track for the first time with Shine... I get all the words right without Q cards. One awkward moment during the guitar solo the girls are doing "choreography" while I stand rather old and out of place... I try not to "ham it up" ... good idea.

I also had lines to read from the TelePrompTer. I was a co-spokesman during the show with Bob Carlisle...He got to do a full stand up routine, while I was asked to be the serious one... this might have been a mistake I think. They cut between songs with clips from the movie... the night works well except that I was scheduled to sing Maybe I'm Amazed in the second half and it is inadvertently cut from the show when the techs go to the wrong film clip... Kirk Cameron speaks at the end... I think in some ways this audience will be more favorable to my material (when they hear it) than the Winter Jam crowd.. I should be grateful now for a "conservative" crowd.

Friday 1/12/01
Greenville S.C. It's Winter Jam date #2 ... keep track cause the next gig is a Left Behind date in Franklin. I'll be bouncing from one tour to the next and back again. As Left Behind the movie is doing very well, so is the single I did with Shine. I felt compelled to do the song wherever radio has the song in heavy rotation, and that would be Greenville for sure. I sang it with Joy Williams during her opening set. People sang every word to the song along with us (I was told) which is sad cause I was reading the second verse off a cue card taped to the stage floor and I still gave it a "creative spin".

The Ice Rink we were in was so loud I couldn't even hear the track. I came in singing a whole measure early and I had to figure out how to get back on track before the background vocals came in, in the wrong place.

I follow Whisper Loud in the chain of events. I came on with the band and we went through a tighter than last night version of Clap Your Hands and Maybe I'm Amazed... I wrapped up with Love Takes Time tonight instead of In the Garden. Joy Williams joined me on it and it went over better than doing another song from Joyride....

I haven't mentioned my new record by name from the stage... it just seems like such a tense few moments that I kind of tighten up. I don't feel anything good while I'm on the stage in that first set... I think cause there is the realization that somehow my future success is hanging on the reception that this stuff gets.... I'm feeling empty and I'm saying cheesy little things that I'm embarrassed about... cause it's not real and not from any place I can find in my heart really. I say stupid things when trying to talk to a giant blur of an audience (8500 plus)... cause I'm not really looking at anyone in particular.

Even when I joke around sarcastically I'm at least speaking from the truth as I know it and that feels right. Nothing on stage is feeling right tonight... I think I'm incapable of speaking to a super large group of people in a way that communicates, I miss that connection somehow. I missed any sense that God was even here. I mean I don't have to get chills, but I'm approaching my future this very minute and this will determine what I will be doing later. It's like looking to God to see if he's gonna put his thumb up or down.

Seeing all the very young faces in the crowd and watching them react to the younger bands brings home in no uncertain terms that this is a whole new universe and I'm not even in it. I'm Amazed alright... amazed at how little any of them know. Things I've learned so long ago that I don't even bother to mention in my songs anymore, simple stuff really........the basics of scripture. On the tour I've already heard cliché little sermonettes. Paraphrases I heard years ago... now coming from the mouths of babes... spoken like it was really heavy stuff and brand new information too.

O.K. sooo there's that........bryan d

Thursday 1/11/01
Dothan, Alabama
The Winter Jam has six acts tonight... two modern rock, guy bands Audio Adrenelin and Pillar. Then there's the sweet young things.. girls group Whisper Loud, and newcomer 19 year old Joy Williams...then there's Newsong of course on a high from the big Christmas hit this season, and me.......

The audience again is very young... I have to remind myself that when kids talk through the whole concert it doesn't mean they don't like it... for most there has been almost no experience in how to behave at a concert. I'm used to a certain reaction from the crowd. Attentive, smiling, clapping, but not really talking to each other through the music.

The good news is that I had seven people on stage with me to sing and play "Clap Your Hands" and "Maybe I'm Amazed" most of the Newsong guys joined me as did Joy Williams... everyone of these folks can truly sing... and the power was fantastic. We did have a few miscues but hey it's the first night.

I played "Everything in the Garden" by myself... it made the talking in the audience very noticeable. Overall it was just one of those nights where you just sing to the back of your own eyeballs, smile and get off the stage. It's hard not to want to make adjustments to the set... but I don't think it would have mattered much what I played here.

Half time came and I was out front signing' stuff and missed my spot on the second half. So when they found me I came on after Audio Adrenaline... with a track of Strollin on the Water. Man it sounded so powerful... and as I left half the crowd in the front was yelling for "Pillar"... man some days were made for somthin' else.

O.K so there's that.... bryan d

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