Taking November Off

Well people, we're taking November off through Thanksgiving. In light of the fires in SoCal (where the rest of the tour was going) and the reality that more time off for vocal healing is better, I believe this is a wise decision. Plus more time at home with our families over some major holidays and the chance to sit quiet before God and let Him speak to us (you might be surprised how "noisy" it can get when you're "working" for God... sometimes you forget to sit and listen... or at the very least, just be quiet). I'm enjoying family time and quiet time.

So, we wish you a Happy Halloween (if you're so inclined) and a Happy Thanksgiving (as you should all be inclined). If anything interesting happens between now and then, I'll let you know!

Joe
Three Cord Wonder

Cancelled Shows - Part Two

Bad news, we had to clip a few more shows off the tour on account of my hoarse voice. I'm very sorry. It's frustrating. The upside is that by taking more time off, I should heal up to be able to finish off the rest of the tour dates (including the soon to be released West Coast dates). And with meds, training, and a lot of rest, I should be back to 100% in the next couple of months.

I think a few people might be wondering "so why did your voice bug out?"

I'll try to answer that according to the vocal docs explanation...

Basically, the biggest issue is that we went from playing a handful of show dates in the Spring and Summer to diving right into a full time schedule in mid-August. Essentially, I wasn't vocally prepared for the jump. To compensate for my lack of vocal strength, I would do something called "yelling on pitch," which is basically what it sounds like... yelling on key with the songs. On top of that, I've been singing wrong, breathing wrong, not warming up, not cooling down, and a whole host of "singing no-no's" that led to this vocal exhaustion.

Some contributing issues include allergies and acid reflux at night.

Add it all up and we're lucky that I didn't develop something called "Vocal Cord Nodules" (which can be really devastating). The "damage" I have done is very temporary and easy to fix, but it requires a bit of time... and until I get that time this December, I need longer breaks between sets of shows.

The good news (other than having no permanent damage) is that I am getting the vocal training I need... so apparently, I'll actually start singing better than I have been. Which is very cool!

So that's the scoop! See ya on the road.

Joe
3CW

Idaho Rocks!

Show us your rock'n'roll face!

Potato Metal Jesus Freaks!

Pocatello's own Crucial 777 rocks the crowd with their own blend of metal and hard rock. My cell phone was sufficiently rocked! Way to go, brothers!

Cancelled Shows - Please Read

I regret to announce that we have cancelled the next five dates on the tour:

October:
10 - Douglas, WY
11 - Rock Springs, WY
12 - Ogden, UT
13 - Ogden, UT
14 - Layton, UT

Last Friday in Fargo, ND, my voice started to really weaken and in Gillette, WY, we were only able to do 5 songs of our set. While I tried to take special care of my voice during our break time and we all spent a lot of time in prayer, I woke up today unable to sing. It's very frustrating. In seven years of performing, I can list the shows we've cancelled on one hand. So to have to cancel as many shows in one week as we have in seven years is really humbling.

To all of you who were planning on being at one of those shows, please accept my apologies.

For the Ogden/Layton fans, please be aware that we are scheduled to play in the Salt Lake City/Sandy, UT area (just under an hour away from you) on Thursday, October18.

Please pray for me as I go seek out some professional and medical advice. I would like to resolve this situation.

Joe
Three Cord Wonder

Iain, Sound Artist!

Iain tests the sound system in Fargo, ND. We are lucky guys to have someone with his caliber of talent as a part of the band. When we say he is the most important of any of us, we are serious! Nest show you make it out to, thank him! He makes the show more than we do!

A bunch of students decided to mob 3CW because they thought the tickets they bought were for a real band. Boy, were they wrong!

Battle Swings and Old Friends

Tonight was a lot of fun! From "Battle Swings" (see the video below) to playing in a crazy cool Igloo shaped church in Kearney, Nebraska, and Gyros from NIck's Gyros... mmmm... good stuff! This was a really great way to kick off the tour dates. We got some great video that I'm hoping to get up online in the coming days. We'll see... I'm still really new at video blogging.

I especially enjoyed the chance to sit down with Kris, the youth pastor at Grace in Nebraska, and an old friend from his "After The Order" days. We shared some fun laughs together as we remembered crazy times like the "Festival turned Monsoon" where we scrambled under tarps trying to tear down the sound equipment. We also got to share some of the great things that God has been teaching us as of late... so much so that we forgot to help tear down... oops! I remember that now... Kris and I could get into deep conversations about spiritual things and completely forget ourselves. It's fun to have friends like that. That happens a lot in the band, too. We'll start talking about stuff we're passionate about (generally God, our families, the band, ministry in general) and time will fly by. Which is nice for long road trips.

Anyway, Josh took some pictures of the church and some other funny moments so hopefully he'll have some of those up in the next few days. In the meantime, when you think of us, please pray for our safety and the safety of our families.

Thanks much! See you on the road!

Joe
3CW

Battle Swings!

Pandemonium breaks out when Three Cord Wonder realizes they have nothing else to do while waiting for the show to begin. The result of this unfortunate amount of free time? The incarnation of the future's method of conflict resolution... BATTLE SWINGS!

Rent "Rocky Balboa" Tonight!

So, I'm not much of a "sports movie" fan. Never really have been... there are inspiring moments in the good ones, but it's not really my deal. I know plenty about sports, can play 'em (not well, but enough to be a challenge at the church picnic!), enjoy watching a football game now and then (mostly to cheer for my favorite team... The Referees!). On that note, I'm not much of a "music movie" fan either, but I digress.

Having paitned that picture of myself and my "ho-hum" attitude towards flicks about sports, I say most emphatically that you all need to see "Rocky Balboa." It's been available to rent for a while now and if you have those cool RedBox $1 DVD rental stops near you, it should be there. It's easily one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's totally "anti-Hollywood" in the sense that the guy is faithful to his wife (who's been dead for a couple of years in the movie), doesn't curse (rated PG for some cool cinematography in the way they show the punches), and takes care of people in need without taking advantage of them. Best of all, it has not one, but SEVERAL inspiring monologues and moments in the movie. And the ending is perfect!

I wasn't a big Rocky movie fan. I think that Rocky fights Mr T in the second movie (I think) and the only one I think I saw was Rocky V where he fights the massive Russian dude. "Rocky Balboa" is an amazing movie. I'm glad they didn't call it "Rocky 6" or "Rocky Reloaded" or something like that. The movie really does stand alone and it stands as an amazing, inspiring, and encouraging movie, unlike the majority of what is available in theatres. And it's clean. That alone makes it worth seeing!

So, if you're looking for a great movie, "Rocky Balboa" is your movie. You'll walk away wanting to be a better person and empowered with the reminder that, in Christ, you can be!

Joe
3CW

One For The 3CW History Book

To start, I would like to say that we've had some pretty awesome shows lately. Some have been huge turn-outs, some have been intimate gatherings, but with the exception of a couple where I think I did really poorly (tired voice = bad, off-key vocals), it's been a wild ride.

Tonight takes the cake.

We played for the Middle School Fuel midweek event at Crossroads Church in Loveland, Colorado. The event started off kinda rocky, particularly for me. When we got to the event, we were getting setup when I bashed my head (really hard) into a hanging speaker. I'm just recovering after 9 months from a similar injury that wasn't nearly as hard as the hit I took tonight. I plan on seeing the chiropractor tomorrow just to make sure I'm okay before this upcoming tour. The big difference is that we got ice on my head and neck right away and I took two Aleve to help with any pain and swelling. Also drank LOTS of water. And will see the chiropractor tomorrow (I hope). The last time something similar happened, I just let it go and didn't do anything about it until my body and mind went nuts (no joke, I'll have to share that story with you someday).

Anyway, took a serious hit to the head, but then took a serious hit to the band. As we were sound checking, the youth pastor looked over at Iain and I (I was sitting at the sound board) and asked if we could turn it down a little. We honestly thought he was joking. You see, we didn't even have the main speakers up yet, just our amps and drums, and we pride ourselves on being one of the quieter bands you're going to hear (we care about your ears!). It's loud, but unlike most, we take care to keep it as lower than the norm. We were all so thrown off by the request and didn't exactly know what to do... well, Ben came up with some good strategies to help reduce the sound, but I was freaked. Partly because I hit my heard, but partly because I thought "uh oh... what did this church think they were getting when they invited us in?" Truthfully, we were afraid that the volume would still be too loud no matter what we did, or that the sound would be just awful, or that maybe they didn't really want us to be there, or a whole bunch of other "uh oh" thoughts, and that this was probably the last time we'd ever be invited.

I just felt a tension all night that I couldn't shake. Even Ben and I started argue a bit.

And then God moved on Josh in a powerful way that changed the rest of the night. All of a sudden, Josh goes "I'm getting that feeling I was getting last week... we're getting attacked spiritually and I feel like God wants me to pray."

James 5 says that the prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much.

Soon after that prayer, things starting coming together. And we ended up having one of the best shows I can remember. The crowd was crazy into the whole set, the energy was high, and we were all having a blast!!!

AND THEN, the coolest part of the night happened. At the point where I normally share from one of our quiet times, I felt like God said "not tonight, Joe... tonight, just give them the Gospel, straight up... John 3:16 style." And that's what happened. Iain gave me his Bible and that was the subject. It wasn't a long talk... maybe 5 minutes... and there was prayer... and like 12 students raised their hands saying they had just prayed to commit their lives to Jesus Christ for the first time.

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the best part of the night... and the best part of the series of shows we've done in the Rocky Mountain Front Range these last 6 weeks. It was intense... it was beautiful. It was unreal. And it was exactly what God wanted. And it was the best part of everything. As Ryan, the youth pastor said after the set, making that commitment is the single most important thing anyone can ever do. He's right. It really is.

And as a Christian, being a part of someone's spiritual birth is about the coolest thing in the world. In fact, Jesus said that there is rejoicing in Heaven when even one person goes from being "lost" to being "found." So, if one causes a party, I'm pretty sure Heaven is having the coolest rave you could imagine.

I had the chance to talk to some friends of ours after the event who expressed their sadness that so many Christian bands start off so gung-ho about their faith and then with more success, seem to back away from their former boldness... it stops being about reaching people for Christ and starts being about "ambiguously making an impact." Nights like tonight remind me of what I already know everyday... we aren't that band and we never will be. We couldn't survive and NOT talk openly about Jesus Christ and our relationships with Him. He is central to the band's existence and to our very lives. And at the end of the day, we're not trying to make the world a better place as an end in itself... the world is going to burn someday and be replaced according to Scripture. We're trying to reach as many people as we can with the life-changing, soul-saving Good News of Jesus Christ.

We would be miserable if we stopped doing that, because as the Apostle Paul once said... "I am compelled to do it; I feel like I almost have no choice in the matter" (JPT - Joe's Paraphrased Translation...).

Anyway, it was a perfect way to end this set of "local" shows ("local" as in Rocky Mountains), and to transition into this upcoming Western USA tour.

Speaking of, please pray for us... pray for our families, for us, and for all of our safety.

Thanks!

Joe
3CW

P.S. With the upcoming tour, we're going to try to keep up on our updates from the road. So... starting the middle of next week, make sure you're checking in on us every couple of days for updates, pictures... and maybe some video... from our time on the road. Should be fun!

On the road again...

While Ben drives, Iain sleeps. Ah... Life on the road!

Steamboat Springs rocks!

I really wish we didn't forget Ben's camera. I would love to show you footage or even some stills from our crazy new friends in Steamboat Springs. We got a couple of messages from some students saying that it was one of their biggest youth group nights ever. Seems like crazy cool kids from all over Steamboat, Craig, and the surrounding mountain towns came out to celebrate.

We got a chance to play with Nate Allman (www.nateallman.com) again, and as usual, he did a fantastic job. He's got some great tunes you can check out on his site and myspace page.

Our favorite part (well, other than rocking out with a bunch of wild fans who knew the songs... which was cool considering it was our first time in Steamboat) was getting to hang out with the staff. From Chris, the sound guy extraordinaire who drove me around Steamboat looking for a power supply for my computer and telling me crazy stories of major bands he's mixed for, to Jake, the youth pastor/former CU football player who still looks like he could take you out with his pinky, but is an amazing servant and shared his broken heart for the teens in the area, to Nick who has the best laugh in the world and is as good at telling his own funny stories, and his future-rock-star wife Amy who was a tremendous encouragement to me, along with the host of interns and assistants who love Jesus, their students, and music... man, it was a great time.

Top it all off, we got to stay at the Hampton Inn in a 5 bed, 2 bathroom suite and hot breakfast this morning... yep, it was awesome!

But as always, our favorite part was hanging out with the staff, students, and music fans that came out. And God did some great work that night! It's always our greatest honor to get to be a part of what HE is doing, not us.

Alright, off to Green River, Wyoming in a few. I'm stoked!

See you next time, Steamboat!

Joe
3CW

Lake Evergreen

Conclusive Evidence that Joe from Three Cord Wonder is NOT cool...

I realize that most band guys spend a lot of time (and money) making sure that ridiculous photos of themselves do not fall into the hands of the general public. Publicists, management, even lawyers are brought in to quell the number of paparazzi shots of celebrities and leaders the world over. You're probably thinking "so why are there still a ton of photos in the tabloids at the supermarket?" Honestly, the answer is that there would be a whole lot more if it wasn't for this army of protectors that prevent the dissemination of such contraband.

Yep...

But not with us. Nope... at Three Cord Wonder, we have no reason to make you think of us as something better than you. We're not. We never have been. We never will be. In fact, we celebrate the fact that we are just like you... and to some degree, inferior to you. Probably hard to believe that a band would say that. Most bands want you to think they're the greatest thing ever. Not us.

And to prove conclusively that we are lame-wads, we present:

EXHIBIT A - My Rear End Concert Sweat Spots!











Next time you feel depressed about yourself, just click on the picture, look at the sweat spots, and be reminded of how much cooler you are than your favorite lame band... Three Cord Wonder.

We're here for you!

Joe

Happy Fall Season!

Picking apples with my daughter! Happy Fall Season everybody!

You Rock!

Denver, thanks for making a memorable night!

Show Pictures 4

So make sure that if we are in town, come see us.

Show Pictures 3

We all had a great time! If you weren't there, you missed out!

Show Pictures 2

They had a great time, too!

Show Pictures 1

They had a great time at the show!

Will Stop Working For Food!

Okay, I just wanted to post a quick, funny story from last night. We performed for Cherry Hills Community Church's youth ministry carnival yesterday and had a great time. Probably the first time that we played a concert surrounded by inflatable games and DID NOT go play against each other on them. I feel a little cheated...

But anyway, after tear-down (yep, we're the band that sticks around for tear-down as did "Justus" the opener band, way to go guys!), we helped Matt and John (the high school staff) put away the stage and push it down the quarter mile stretch from the youth ministry wing to the worship center wing. It was heavy and hard to push. Half the time, I think Iain was just leaning on the stage, rather than pushing.

But anyway, we had finally got it to a great momentum when all of a sudden, Matt jumps out and throws a handful of candy on to the stage pieces. Right then, we all stopped pushing the stage and dove for the candy. It was like sled dogs to the meat, ants to the dead bug, pigs to the mama pig. John, the intern, said he had never seen anything like that before. Matt didn't expect us to stop pushing the stage just to eat candy. He figured we'd keep pushing and have the candy AFTER we got the stage put away. Matt underestimated the power of the 3CW appetite.

It just goes to show you... you don't put edible things in front of Three Cord Wonder while we're working on something else. We know, we know, most rock bands look like a bunch of guys who haven't eaten in days. But look at the pictures of us... in fact, we were at Dave's Famous BBQ while we were in Manhattan and Ben confessed that he thinks he has that physical problem where your brain doesn't tell you that you're full and you just keep eating. Josh just nodded while he piled down some more fries and BBQ meat. Iain's metabolism causes his food to disintegrate upon hitting his mouth, and Adam and I, the smaller eaters of the group, can each plow through a whole pizza by ourselves and have room enough for chips and a couple of soft drinks.

In an age where the vast majority of male rockstars have girl pants, girl hair, and girl appetites, we're proud to be the band that sports baggy shorts, short hair, and "mountain-man" appetites. Don't get us wrong... we like girl pants, girl hair, and girl appetites... we just like them on girls!

Save some room at your table for us!

Joe
3CW

Middle School Youth Group Rocks!

My middle school girls love me so much! Everyone go to youth group or church tomorrow! - Joe

I'm just glad they aren't very big...

Don't forget to pray... Just like the Praying Mantis that tried to crawl up my leg and then proceeded to attack my phone while I leaned down to take a picture of it.

August's Big Denver, Colorado Show!

We've got a lot of great shows coming up in August and September. In fact, we start our busy schedule tomorrow and it continues through September 23. We're very excited about every show, but I want to point out one show in August that is of special sentimental significance to us and the one that all of you within a couple hours of Denver should try to get to if you could only choose one.

On Friday, August 31st, "The Garage" says goodbye and will be closing its doors. Lead promoter and MC, Jackson Marring, told us that he was sensing God leading him in other directions with his life and he wanted to do the last show with us. This is an especially big honor as we were one of the first artists he booked (maybe THE first) for "The Garage" during his tenure. So to be there for the beginning and to be there for the end is especially significant to us.

Kinda makes me feel old, too.

Anyway, show starts at 6pm and goes until 10:30pm or 11pm. We're headlining the show and we're playing a full set (hard to believe, I know). And it's only $5. We would really love to see you there. I know Jackson would love to see you there as well. Especially if any show at the Garage ever had a significant impact on you (whether we played it or not), I really think you should go out and show your support. (Go to The Garage's MySpace page for more info).

Besides... there is that whole "other guitarist" thing going on with us... and last I checked, we really haven't said much about that and probably won't until that show.

...

Joe
3CW

P.S. Don't forget to txt: 3CW to: 33669 to get on our mobile fan club. It's free, it's fun, and you can take 3CW with you wherever you go now. It's the only place you can get a "The Best I Have To Offer" or "Made Perfect" ringtone... FOR FREE!

Demand Three Cord Wonder

Okay, okay, so I promise we'll start having some non-promotional-type stuff on this blog soon enough. In the meantime, do us a favor and go "Demand" us. Yep, we could use some idea of where all of you are... I mean, we know where you are... you're all over (the USA and the world)... but we could use some specific ideas of WHERE EXACTLY you are and "Demandit" helps us figure that out. Seriously. It's free, it's quick, it's really easy. So do it... and maybe on the next tour, we'll be coming near you!



Do it! Do it now!

Joe
3CW

Mobile Fan Club

Hey guys,

 

Did you sign up for our Mobile Fan Club yet?  You should!

 

You can get free wallpapers for your phone, ringtones, tour date reminders and a bunch of other stuff.  Right now, we've got clips from "The Best I Have To Offer" and "Made Perfect" available for FREE!  I have "The Best I Have To Offer" on my phone and my wife has "Made Perfect" on hers.  It's fun!

 

Try it out.

 

txt:  3cw

to:  33669

(no subject)

 

And you will get a message back asking you to sign up for the club.  It's easy (I think you reply "y" to the message you get back).  Then you will have free and unlimited access to any exclusive content we put up... which will be more and more in the coming days.  So, go do it... and tell a friend about it, too!

 

Talk to you soon!

 

Joe

3CW

 

P.S.  We're working on another deal where you will be able to call in and leave us voice mail instead of just email and MySpace messages.  There is even a rumor that we'll be able to respond right back to you that way.  More on that once we figure it out.  Okay, now go sign up for the mobile club.  txt: 3cw to: 33669

Three Cord Wonder's New Blog

Right! So we have a new blog. And pretty soon, it will have some entries. I'm pretty jazzed about it. We'll be able to post regular posts, email posts, pictures from our cameras and mobile phones, video from our cameras and mobile phones... it's crazy! It's an exciting time to be alive with this kind of technology.

So, other than the obvious plethora of technological posts, what kind of entries can you expect here? Well, comparatively speaking, while you'll read little bits of news on the UPDATES section at ThreeCordWonderDOTcom, the blog is going to be a combination of news, opinion, and journal. We'll post photos and video from shows (that is, if we remember to take them), share cool stories from the road, personal experiences, and (best of all) talk about our faith.

And we definitely want your thoughts, response, and stories, too. So feel free to comment on anything you read here.

Alright, back to work finishing up everything and then we'll start posting more regularly here. Have a great day!

Joe
3CW