Quiet on the Home Front

Haven't really been posting here much lately, mainly because I haven't been doing much in the way of music stuff.

I don't know when I'll be out gigging again, but in the meantime I'm still leading music at the First Baptist Church of Wood Dale every Sunday. Anyone is more than welcome to stop by.

If you'd like to have me lower the class of your establishment by bringing my circus act, give me a holler. I'd be glad to dust off the old guitar and give it a go.

I'll be around.

Hymn Sing this Friday

Another Hymn Sing is coming up this Friday, May 29th, at the First Baptist Church of Wood Dale.

What's a Hymn Sing, you ask?

It's actually kind of cool...something I haven't seen done since I was really young. Everybody grabs a hymnal and shouts out a hymn number. The pianist, Celeste Sebastian, and I then lead the congregation in the song...whether we know it or not. I enjoy it because it really keeps me on my toes and forces me to be a better sight-reading vocalist.

We also have special guests who do two sets throughout the evening. This time around our guest is Narrow Path.

FBC Wood Dale is located at:

292 Oak Meadows Drive
Wood Dale, IL
(630) 766-9365

I'm expecting a great time this Friday. Hope you can make it out.

Cancelled Shows

Quick update:

Due to circumstances beyond my control, the Decatur and Taylorville gigs I had scheduled for next week have been cancelled. Hopefully I can get Sliderz and Bailey's back on my calendar soon.

I'll still be attending the Benefit for Rick Roy this Sunday, though. Wouldn't miss that for the world.

Back to Central Illinois

I had a great time this past weekend running around in the middle of the state making some music. Got to reconnect with some old friends and make a couple of new ones.

I was also reminded just how much talent this state has. There are some amazing country artists in Illinois...young, old, and in-between.

In a couple of weeks I'm going back down there for some shows in Taylorville and Decatur. Check my Myspace for details.

Also, because I'm an electronics junkie, I picked up a GPS system for the car. I don't know how I was a travelling musician without it....I love it.

I'm such a geek.

Shows This Weekend

Couple of things going on this weekend, and they're mostly Gospel shows.

Saturday night there's a Hymn Sing at my church, FBC Wood Dale. Starts at 7:00 pm. I'm hosting and our special guests for the evening are the Calvarymen.

Sunday, after church at FBC, I'm heading down to try and make a quick appearance at the ICMA Spring Showcase. Don't know if I'll be singing or not, but I do know that I'm looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting some new ones.

After that, I'm heading over to play the Cowboy Church at the First Christian Church of Farm City, IL. Dinner at 5:00 pm. Service at 6:00.

Busy weekend coming up with a lot of driving. If you make it to one of the events, please make sure to say hi.

Covers

Putting together some set lists, and I need some cool ideas for cover songs.

Anybody got any?

Gamer Geek Post

I've come to the conclusion that perhaps I need to create a WoW-related blog. Both my wife and I have started playing again, and the happenings in our crazy little guild could probably provide me with enough information for about 3 additional blogs. Stay tuned for that.

On a related note, one of my favorite WoW blogs is closing down.

BRK/Daniel, if you happen to read this, you'll be missed.

On a music note, I've got a flurry of shows coming up in the next couple of months. There's a lot of stress happening in the JB house at the moment, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to take out some aggression on stage.

Renovation

So it seems that the Batcave will be renovated, waterproof, and ready to use by Thursday. That's good, because I have quite a bit of work to do.

I'm trying to maintain some songwriting momentum so I can keep pumping out new material, I need to chart Colleen Wild's songs as I'm now her "official" accompanyist, and I also have my own gigs coming up.

On a side note, if you live in Illinois and are a country music fan/artist, please check out the ICMA. Membership is cheap and the benefits are great. The crappy economy is hurting this great organization that has given so many opportunities to myself and others. Most of the action happens in Central IL, but there is a Southern IL chapter and I'd love to see more activity up here in the Northern third of the state. Let's take country back!

Holy 2 Inches of Water, Batman!

My little slice of Illinois was hit with a good deal of rain this past weekend, which led to a flooded basement. Unfortunately for me, flooded basement = flooded Batcave. Mercifully, all of my instruments which are not in cases are hanging on the wall.

The bad news is that I'm prevented from having a kid-free place to work on some music. The good news is that Colleen texted me with a charity show opportunity that I'm very excited about. Once the deal's finalized, I'll be posting about it.

In the meantime, stop by and see me on Myspace, Facebook, and www.jasonbenefield.com.

News from the Batcave

Haven't posted in a bit. Our youngest, Ruby, ended up in the hospital over the weekend with pneumonia. She's out now and feeling better.

What's the Batcave, you ask? It's my den of musical inspiration. A couple of houses ago, we had an upstairs room that was originally intended to be my music room. I called it my Fortress of Solitude. However, it quickly became an all-purpose office of sorts and a computer room. After that, Ruby was born and it became her nursery.

When we moved into our current house, my lovely wife Lara was determined to give me a place to play and write music free from the distractions of a house full of kids. As a surprise Christmas gift, she designed a beautiful music room for me in our finished basement. I couldn't have been happier when she unveiled it.

Lara said, "Now you finally have your Fortress of Solitude."

After thinking about that a second, I responded, "No, since it's in the basement and all my 'gadgets' are in here, this is my Batcave."

So what's happening in the Batcave? Quite a lot.

I'm booking 2009 and I have some gigs coming up. If anybody knows of any cool places where they wouldn't mind seeing a JB gig, please let me know. I'm always looking for new venues.

I'm also writing new songs and finding some cool covers that I can put my own spin on. I'm really excited to get back on a stage.

Stay tuned. Same Bat-time, same Bat-blog.

Ramping Up

Some really exciting things are happening in the JB camp. I'm working on some new material (and, in some cases, rewritten old material that never saw the light of day), which is a pretty big deal considering I've been fighting writer's block for a very, very long time. Colleen Wild and I had the first of many writing sessions this past weekend, so I'm very excited about what may come of that.

I've been trying to find some new places to play and reconnect with old venues so I can get back out and play some shows. It feels good to be back in the game.

For those of you who don't know, I've been on a hiatus due to my daughter's condition. She was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, and she's already had more surgeries than most adults I know. Things are slowly settling down, however, and it's about time she got a chance to see Daddy doing what he does best.

Elsewhere in the JB camp, my stepdaughter Alayne enrolled in the Rock Academy of DuPage. I can't wait to see her tear it up. I swear that kid was born to be a rock star. The Rock Academy is an awesome place. It gives kids the opportunity to learn what it's like to play in a band and collaborate with other musicians. If you have a pre-teen/teenager who likes to play music and you live in the Downers Grove, IL area, check it out.

Check back for more updates. Exciting things are happening.