Lovin' Louisiana!

Well we are in Monroe, La. today, as the Third Day tour continues. I think this is show #8. Revive is on stage right now warmin' 'em up real good. We've had a couple great days off in St. Louis where we hooked up with the December Radio guys and thoroughly enjoyed some Macaroni Grill together! Good times. We hung out in a couple malls, saw a movie, kicked December Radio's tail in a couple games of bowling. You know, the usual. Ok so we didn't actually beat December Radio at bowling. We split the teams up so it wasn't band against band, but if it had been DR vs. SR, Sanctus would have prevailed for sure.
Alright, due to lack of time before we played I was forced to put my lil' blog on hold and finish it later. So now the show is completely over. It was a great night. Fun crowd to play for here in Louisiana, but the best part came at the end of the night.
You see some of the locals decided they were going boil us up a big ol' tub of cajun crawfish! I've got to be honest, being a white dude from Northern Ohio, I didn't really know what to think about it at first. The sight and smell of those things almost talked me out of trying them, but I'm glad I got past that and gave them a shot because cajun crawfish are officially amazing in my book! Basically you grab the crawfish by it's head and it's tail and you twist it in half. You throw the head away and suck the meat out of the tail. Now in Louisiana they boil the crawfish in these special cajun spices that make it quite spicy but yet really tasty! Definitely good stuff.
Tomorrow we play in Metairie which is right outside of New Orleans, so who knows, maybe we'll get some more cajun goodness tomorrow. I surely hope so.

Risen Drums Rock!

So this morning I'm going to brag a bit. I'm not usually one for tooting my own horn, but this is pretty stinkin' cool! It actually doesn't have anything to do with me, not in the sense of like I did something great to do deserve it or anything. This is actually more me bragging on one of the most generous people/companies I've ever met, I just get to be the blessed recipient, Risen Drums are the ones that are so cool!
I've been endorsing RD for about a year and a half now, have had an amazing drum kit that they gave me at cost that has served me quite well both live and in the studio. In fact I used that kit exclusively to record our latest record, "We Need Each Other", and it sounds great if I do say so myself.
I happen to call Keith Anderson, the owner of Risen Drums a couple of months ago to let him that we just got hooked up with the Third Day tour and that I would maybe want to get another kit for that tour. Keith decided that he wants all the Risen guys to have at least two kits on hand at all times so he agreed that I needed a new kit but then also took it a step further and declared that I was going to be receiving this kit free of charge! Yea, I about pooped my pants when he said that. I couldn't believe it! So here are pic's of my very beautiful new Risen Custom Drums and this is my tribute to the most generous and amazing drum company in the world! Risen Drums Rock!
Mark

p.s.
O' yea, for all you drum nuts out there, the spec's are this:
All 6 ply maple shells, all wood hoops, except the snare which is 8 ply with a wood hoop on the bottom and a triple flanged steel hoop on top.
Kick 18"x24"
1st Tom 9"x12"
2nd Tom 12"x15"
3rd Tom 15"x18"
Snare 7"x14" and features a Trick throw off
Kit custom painted by Risen and front kick head created by Drum Art (www.drumart.com)

Love your neighbor as yourself...

Hello ladies and gentleman! I hope this little blog finds you all doing well. I had a funny experience the other day; I woke up, looked out the window and saw that there was about five inches of snow on the ground and it was still coming down. Naturally caused it to be a bit of a lazy morning around the Graalman household but eventually I got out there with my new snow blower that I got at The Anderson's. (If you ever come to Toledo for any reason you have to go to The Anderson's because it's a great store!) Anyways, once I got out there I tore that driveway in half! Also, for the record, I cleared my neighbor's driveway for her as well.
Not long ago there was a link posted on one our blogs that took people to an interview I had done where I was asked to give six different examples of ways that we could "love our neighbor". One of the things I put down was, "15 inches of snow just fell, you have a snow blower, your neighbor doesn't. Need I say more?". Well the other morning as I was clearing my driveway and looking over at my neighbor's driveway and thinking about the fact that she's a single mom with two kids I realized that I needed to do it or consider myself a hypocrite. I honestly do desire to show God's love to people in practical ways so I did it. I've got to be honest though, I didn't think she was home, I thought she was at work. Now my neighbor is an excited, loud, outgoing, African American woman. I am a shy, quiet, reserved, white guy. I was right in the middle of clearing her driveway when I hear this voice that was so loud I could hear it over my snow blower! I looked up and my neighbor was standing in her front doorway screaming at the top of her lungs, "O' GOD! O' GOD! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!
I was just glad that the cold outside was making my cheeks red already because she made me blush! I felt a little embarrassed and kind of awkward almost as if I was 12 again. It did apparently bless her though, so hopefully The Lord will be able to use my shy awkwardness for His glory and plant some seeds in her heart.
Her son David, who is a month younger than my son Ben, then proceeded to come outside once he realized that Ben and I were out there and the three of us then built a small snow man. Good times had by all! The End.

Do people really buy this stuff?

Ok so I've been out on the road this week with my Sanctus brothers doing all sorts of promo stuff for the new record and it's been quite the journey to say the least. I'll probably write more about it later but for now, I'm going to ask a simple question; do people really buy this stuff!?!
You see due to the nature of our job, being on the road traveling, we tend to stop at a lot of truck stops and gas stations to fuel up, use the rest room and grab a snack or beverage. What never ceases to amaze me though are the extremely tacky and very strange "knick knacks" that are almost always for sale at these places. For example: The strange stuffed dog with his buddy the friendly Hill Billy. I guess if I was a Hill Billy myself and happened to own a dog that resembled this one then maybe I would consider picking up these lovely items, but I still kind of doubt it.
Then there is the Grim Reaper version of Skeletor, (everyone remember He-Man?), hanging out with a happy little Southern Frog gentleman. Somehow they just don't seem as likely friends, yet here they are, side by side. Rather unbelievable if you ask me. Finally we have Jesus and the Angels on the top shelf, which at first seems appropriate, but then you realize they're standing next to an old outhouse and then it all feels borderline blasphemous. Well like I said earlier; tacky, very tacky.
So what do you think? Do people really but this stuff!?! Would any of you buy this stuff? If you would, are you still willing to admit it now that I've completely made fun of it? I'd love to know your thoughts on this strange phenomenon!

We Need Each Other...

Well, our new cd came out today. It is truly one of the strangest experiences ever to release a cd out into the world and then wait to see how it will be be received. Especially with this one in particular as we've spent the last year writing and recording, re-writing and re-recording, to make sure that this will indeed be the best Sanctus Real record yet. I truly believe that we've accomplished that goal, but there's still that "test of time" to see wether or not those who go out and buy the cd love it as much as we hope they will. The "test of time" causes one to become anxious for reaction, but yet, also causes a sort of anti-climatic feeling as well. You go through this big countdown and then BOOM! The record drops, you're excited about this, but the fact of the matter is you still won't know if it is going to connect with more people than the last one did for a couple of years! So I guess my hope is that by 2010, we'll be able to look back at today and say wow, that record really had a huge affect on people and has completely changed everything in our little world. Truth be told I guess only Jesus can make that happen or not so I probably shouldn't even worry about it. It really doesn't matter as long as God does what He wants to do with it. Anyways, hope you dig the new cd.
Mark

Thanks K-LOVE for my family's first cruise!

So yea, we just got back a few days ago from the K-LOVE Friends & Family Cruise 2008! It was an amazing time I must say. I'd never been on a cruise before, nor had my wife Susan and of course our son Ben hadn't so it was quite the experience. It was Ben's first time ever seeing/swimming in the ocean as well so it was an extra cool trip for us. Not to mention Ole' Sanctus Real rocked it pretty good if I do say so myself. We had a great time playing for all the people on board, I think we all went home feeling like we made a lot of new friends. I'll post some pic's on here for you all to enjoy, there's one of Ben walking into the ocean water for the first time, one of him and Susan posing with some Red Macaws, (did I spell that right?). There's also a cute shot of Ben and I passed out in our state room. Hope you enjoy these and I hope you decide to save you pennies and go on this cruise next year because it's definitely worth it! Be blessed ya'll! Oh, also a quick reminder that the new record, We Need Each Other is in stores everywhere one week from today!

My Favorite Little Person In The World Is Sick...

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2008
So yea, about a week ago I was really sick. It hit me like a freight train. I felt great all morning and then at about 2 pm I started feeling a little weak and strange, like I was getting a cold, and then by 4 pm I felt like I was going to drop dead. Fever, cough, running nose, no energy, you name it I had it. The following day I was supposed to drive to Nashville to record some drums for a producer named Mark Townsend. Well by the time I got to Nashville I couldn't even talk because my throat was so sore. Mark and I communicated through sign language and the drums got tracked, I drove home and about two days later felt almost human again. Well I left this weekend to do some SR shows and the day after I leave my wife Susan calls me and she sounds horrible! She totally has what I had, but it's worse for her; she's pregnant and has to take care of a two year while I'm away. She is a super trooper though and pulls it off with style and grace. I get home yesterday at 3 am, we all get up around 9 am & guess what!?! Ben is totally sick now! This is why I'm writing this at 3 am. Ben's been sick all day and he just came into our room with his fever even worse than earlier. We just gave him some children's tylenol to break the fever and I gave him my spot on the bed so he can be near his Mommy. So I'm out on the couch praying that Jesus will heal my favorite little person in the world. If you you happen to read this any time soon, please say a prayer for the Graalman household too, that God would just touch us and make us all better. In this I'm going to attempt my first blog photo. It's a pic of Ben on a happier day playing with his "Thomas The Train" Set we got him for Christmas this year. Hope it makes you smile. He's such an awesome kid, I really pray he feels better tomorrow!