June 30th show
Square Peg Alliance concert featuring all members! here’s the info:
June 30
7:00 PM
Grace Community Chapel
7661 Mexico Rd
St Peters, MO 63376
(636) 970-1311
Tickets $5
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Jun
22nd 2009 Jun
1st 2009 Fall ‘09 Concerts.We are currently scheduling concerts for the Fall touring season. We’ve got dates open for September, October and the first part of November as we are looking to schedule performances in colleges, churches, conferences, coffeehouses and even house shows. Interested in having Jeremy share his music in your town? Email booking@jeremycasella.com for more information. Jan
4th 2009 12 things I learned in 2008.
2008 was quite a year for me. Our family moved into a new home and we spent the first few months doing major renovation and then the rest of the year trying to settle in. Work-wise, I spent most of my time in the recording studio producing for other artists and co-ordinating Worship & Arts for a church plant of the Nashville Presbytery with a few gigs here and there.
Overall, two words sum it up for me: Patience and Perseverance. Here’s the run down of the 12 things I learned in ‘08:
1. Measure twice, cut once– a great thing to remember in carpentry and life in general.
2. Giving changes me. It’s not my money and giving some of what I have away keeps my heart and head in tune with reality. It feels like the more I give, the less control money has over me.
3. Running is still a great way of getting rid of stress, but just make sure you get the right shoes, even if they cost more…and never underestimate what a run will do to get you out of a funk.
4. Artists reflect the world that is and create the world that ought to be.
5. Publix, though a tad more expensive, is vastly superior to Kroger.
6. Two very cool things happened to me this year: #1. Fat Tire (my favorite beer in the entire world) is now available in Tennessee. #2. I’ve discovered an amazing beer called Old Chub. Thank you to Cason Cooley, Paul Moak and Matt Slocum. I am a changed man.
7. Celebrate the people you love. My friend Billy Cerveny celebrated his 40th birthday last fall with a gathering of family and about 20 close friends. It was a great evening full of laughter and stories of how much we all love Billy and what a gift he is. It was beautiful and I was moved to tears a few times hearing folks speak (right in front of him) about how much they loved him. After everybody got to share, a bunch of artist people (myself included) got up one at a time and each performed a cover of their favorite Cerveny song. I chose “Heaven Knows” and sang it basically unplugged because my old J-45 didn’t seem to want to plug into the PA. It got me thinking about funerals (hang with me here…) and how we all share about the person once they are gone, instead of blessing them with the knowledge of how much they are loved while they are with us. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to tell people how much I love them.
8. I can’t stand Jack Johnson. He’s like an island version of Kenny G.
9. Though technically it didn’t happen in 2008, I nonetheless have been quite anxious for U2’s new album No Line On The Horizon which comes out on March 3rd, 2009. This is huge for a number of reasons–and U2 is always important in the scope of one’s yearly reflection– First, this will undoubtedly be the best album of 2009. I’ve got a feeling it will rank among The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby… maybe higher! (deep breath of anticipation) Second, the other day my friend asked me my favorite records of 2008-ish and I gave him the obvious list– Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, Robert Plant & Alison Kraus’s Raising Sand and Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago but honestly– all of these records just point to the real and present vacuum in 2008 (and whatever other year for that matter) that is created by the passage of time between U2 albums. Absence makes my heart grow fonder– so bring it on guys.
10. 2008 will surely go down in history as the year The Truman Show ended for the US economy. The drunken-spending-fest fueled by low mortgage rates and endless consumer credit card debt has come to a giant halt. 2009 will be a year of continued re-adjustment for many many folks as they learn to live within their means again or even for the first time. And just for the record, everything I was ever told about “needing” a credit card was wrong. Forget what the culture tells you. Think for yourself and live debt free. It’s not always easy but it is more than worth it.
11. Perseverance - seeing things through to the very end while renovating our 110 year old house this year. We have some great plans for this old bag of bones but it will take a few years to get there. Kierstin constantly reminds me that it is worth it. I agree with her even though I refuse to admit it, because I tend to get overwhelmed with tasks to complete. We’re making good progress though and I hope our family enjoys this place for many years to come. We’ll plant a nice garden this Spring and get some new trees in the ground as well. I’d also like to add a hedge or two of Rosemary. It’s hardy and beautiful– like this old house! Oh and I also hope to add a wood stove to our living room this year, but we’ll see.
12. Patience - holding steady during the renovation process, staying focused on the goal and moving towards completing all the projects we had going– new drywall, hardwood floors, light fixtures, tile, etc etc… quite a long list. I’m actually tired just having typed that out…
And so, looking forward into the new year, I am busy writing and recording for various projects I’m involved with. A hymns collection, an EP for a great new artist named Esther Ellis, and possibly 10,000 Angels EP Part 2.
I’ve been experimenting with beats and sounds trying to feel my way forward into new creative territory. When I have something to report I will surely let you know. I’ll know when I get there. So far it’s just building on itself. I loved RCVRY but want to push forward and lean into things a bit more. Grow and reach a little further. I want to add joy into the mix of truth and beauty for my music. Joy is sort of elusive I think. You can’t fake it. So we’ll see where it all goes…
Happy New Year, friends.
Oct
8th 2008 Prayer for election ‘08.Ring them bells St. Peter
where the four winds blow, Ring them bells Sweet Martha,
for the poor man’s son, Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf, -Bob Dylan Oct
6th 2008 Fleet Foxes. Just got this new record from Fleet Foxes. It’s worth your time…melodic, confident and dynamic. It was recorded here in Nashville and is kind of a mash-up of 60’s Brian Wilson and The Shins with a dash of Kings of Convenience. Goes great with the weather. Sep
30th 2008 Currents.
The time has gotten away from me. I’ve been meaning to sit and write but have been a bit hindered by various projects I’m involved with, as well as a brokenspacebar which makes blogging a tedious typing affair. But here’s an update: Work & Grace Touring Currents Listens Podcasts Reads Cereal Sep
30th 2008 Jul
23rd 2008 Doors.
Todd Bragg is coming over this morning to help me hang three doors in our new old house. Two bedrooms and one closet will finally be covered at long last by noon today. We started living here in March after renovating in January and February. I’ve done a good bit of the work myself and I’ve learned so much in the process about so many things– patience, craftsmanship, diligence, vision, courage, discernment, patience, craftsmanship, patience, rinse….repeat. I am amazed at how easily I am annoyed or frustrated. It’s pretty ridiculous. Even with plenty of sleep –it still doesn’t take much to knock me off my horse. Working on this old house has taught me that we all need each other and that indeed no man is an island. It really takes two people to hang a door. They are heavy and somewhat cumbersome being that they are made of solid-core hardwood and split jambs. It takes two to handle them. Two to make sure it is level and plumb. Simple and obvious lessons but they are just as true as gravity or sunlight. Patience and diligence. Vision. Feels like I’m making a record. “Try to write it down while I still remember it…” (Lanois… “Lotta Love To Give”) because I know that after today we’ll be that much closer to being done with the more major projects on our house and will cease to live (and stare) at the daily reminders of work to be done and the need for vision to get to where we need to go. Lord, make me patient and wise. Jul
16th 2008 Middle of the summer.
current listening: John Mellencamp - Life Death Love and Freedom In other news: I’ve been writing new songs, producing tracks for other artists, reading a great book by Umberto Eco and hanging doors & trim in our 100 year old house. I’ve also been running, drinking sweet-tea, cutting back on beer (boohoo) and enjoying life with my gorgeous, awesome wife and my energetic 18 month old son. Life is good, people! Jun
4th 2008 Miscellaneous thoughts in bullet form.
• I am really excited about the new Coldplay album. I love how serious they are about what they do. Also Brian Eno produced it which means a feast for the ears. • I bought new running shoes yesterday. New Balance– $50. It was time. My old shoes were shot. Yay for new shoes! • Op is back! What!? You don’t remember Op!? Well let me refresh your memory…the year is 1989. The style of dress in the summer (at least in my small universe growing up in Pittsburgh, PA) for folks my age consists of two things: Ocean Pacific shirts and Jams shorts. (It was awesome and why oh why did we ever change?) Well like all great ideas…Op eventually got bought out by the “man.” And now the man sells Op shirts at Wal-Mart for $13. So I picked myself up a sweet striped Op shirt and beamed with pride as I wore it last night. Long live Op! I might try to find some Jams now so I can thoroughly embarrass my wife with my retro wardrobe. • I’m kicking around the idea of launching my own podcast later this month. It would be about 20 mins long and run twice a month throughout the summer. It would consist of conversations with folks I know (a lot of them are very interesting artists, producers, engineers, theologians, musicians, poets and thinkers) so I thought it would make for a great listen. What do you think? Would that be interesting to you or not? Just fishin’. • Kierstin and I visited the Frist Museum to see the exhibit Monet-Dali. It was wonderful. They had works by Renoir, Picasso, Van Gogh and others. We stood close to them and studied the canvasses. You get close enough and you can see the craft– the math of things. You stand back and the sum is magical. I want to read up on Renoir and Van Gogh to get a sense of what their lives were like and what made them tick. Having Kierstin there with me helped a lot because she knows so much about the works overall. Very inspiring. • I’ve been writing and working on new songs. They are focused in on themes of true freedom, beauty and a whole lot of joy. I love how they make me feel. Joy is something I’m really trying to wrap my mind around and inject into the veins of my music. There’s an electricity to it that is undeniable and impossible to fabricate. It’s either there or it’s not. Or maybe I am the elusive one. There are so many colors out there that I’m seeing now and writing songs feels like painting these days. I feel the total freedom to jump and trust the process. Faith is the parachute. |
