Lyrics from the 2006 song titled "Moments" written by Annie Tate/Sam Tate/Dave Berg recorded by Emerson Drive.

Those words tore through me this past Saturday night when E.D. performed it at a charity event for Breast Cancer that my wife and I attended.

Not only because I have a big brother that the song could've been written for, but because this is a huge problem in America. We spend billions (BILLIONS) per month for a patch of dirt in the middle east that hovers over an ocean of oil while our own countrymen and women starve on the streets and sleep in cardboard boxes EVERY night!

These people are not throw away items like trash we can't get nickels for from the recycle center. They are people, flesh and blood, people who've had moments in their life and find themselves down on their luck at the moment. They shouldn't look at us and feel ashamed, we should look at them and feel ashamed that we can't do more in this the greatest most powerful country on the planet!

I didn't get as many pictures as I normally would have for two reason, 1. I was selling raffle tickets (Vangundy & Son's Jewelry store had donated a 1ct Hearts On Fire diamond pendant & you could buy raffle tickets to win it) & 2. My mother in law told me that I was not allowed to take pictures of Emerson Drive per their contract. *insert sad face here* But I respected that because they were here for a great cause and it's about saving people's lives, not about my pictures.

That said...

There is actually a new album coming out this summer I believe, they had just finished it 4 days prior & played for us some of their new tracts. Just getting better with every album!

Their violinist was quite excellent & super smiley! I believe he smiled like this the whole way through the concert. It's nice to see entertainers that you can tell really love what they do.

There are some bands that sound great on CD, and that's where they should stay, in the studio.  Emerson Drive is not one of those bands. They sound exactly the same from the stage as they do from my Ipod. I was seriously impressed.  They were patient when the crowd of middle aged sloshed women started acting stupid, and were extremely gracious & humble. I would definitely recommend seeing these guys in concert it's a great time!

All the band members were very cute men, (short but still cute) I loved that the keyboardist & the drummer made faces at each other all night. We had great seats, right up in front. This was the last song & everyone rushed the stage (not our table) and with all the cameras & phones flashing off my MIL gave me the thumbs up & I snapped a few pictures myself. Only a few because the strobe was way bigger than any of their little power shot cameras and it was DEFINITELY noticed by the band O_O Sorry!

The family & I were lucky enough to be gifted with meet & greet passes to have our picture taken with the band. It was quite neat! I felt like such an extreme dork, what do you say to people you admire & enjoy their work but don't KNOW?  Try it, it's a little weird. But they were very humble & quite gracious. After the concert they stayed & signed autographs for EVERYONE who wanted to. How crazy is that? Granted we were not a large venue, but it was quite impressive for a band to do that. 

Megan is much more adventurous than I am. He is wearing one of the Gold Dust Gala hats. :D

All in all it was a wonderful event. We all had such a lovely time!  Matt, unfortunately, did not get to take his picture with the band because he was recruited early on to do security. He used to do that all the time in high shool and college for big time bands.   That's what happens when you are a big man I guess :D

We didn't end up getting home until about 2am. Afterwards we went out for cocktails with the Vangundy clan and terrorized a poor college student who was waiting on us.  I have to say, My Florist in Ventura would not be on my list of places to go again. Order desert. That's the only thing that saved that restaurant.  DO NOT order Chips & Salsa. The "Chips" are hardened, baked, overly hot (NOT spicy, just HOT) pieces of baguette and they seem to come with EVERYTHING. These things literally burned the skin off our fingers. Order desert! :D

WGNE & Emerson Drive Team Up For Charity

RENDA BROADCASTING Country WGNE (99.9 GATOR COUNTRY)/JACKSONVILLE is partnering with MIDAS RECORDS group EMERSON DRIVE to help the kids at ST. JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL.

The boys recorded a special acoustic version of the LIFEHOUSE song "You and Me," recently; it's available exclusively for download at www.999gatorcountry.com for a $1 donation to ST. JUDE.

Click here to hear a sample of the song and here to download.

Emerson Drive was a recent guest of the Big 98 WSIX in Nashville.  The band performed six songs acoustically at the station's Full Throttle Garage and answered questions from the invited listeners.  Two of the songs are going to be on the next album.  Check out "Extra Mile" by clicking

The rest of the tunes are here.

Emerson Drive is still in the studio working on the album tentatively scheduled for a Fall release.

Also, congratulations to my good friend Mike Wrucke who co-produced the Miranda Lambert project which is up for Album of the Year and her song "Famous In A Small Town" which is competing for Single of the Year. Nice work Mike!

Go here for a complete list of nominees.

Emerson Drive visits the cast and crew of GAC Nights.

Since a single photo may not be enough to capture the true essense of the Emerson Drive lead singer, here's a special video displaying that Brad not only has the looks, but also some wicked boot repair and sales skills.

Photo Credit: Tony Phipps 

Midas Records’ GRAMMY nominees Emerson Drive strike a pose with fellow nominee, Big Machine recording artist, Taylor Swift at the Nashville GRAMMY Nominee reception. Emerson Drive are nominated in the category of "Best Country Performance By A Group or Duo with Vocals" for their #1 hit "Moments." 

Pictured L-R: Emerson Drive’s Dale Wallace, Taylor Swift, Emerson Drive’s Danick Dupelle, Brad Mates and David Pichette.   www.emersondrive.com     www.myspace.com/emersondrive

And if you thought Naruto and Emerson Drive didn't have anything in common. Well my friend, think again!

Emerson Drive has been nominated for #1 Digitally Active Duo/Group on the CMT Video Music Awards.  The nominees and ultimate winner are determined by calculating the number of digital streams the act had over the last year. 

The numbers:   3.8 million total streams and over 2.3 million total profile views on Myspace!

E Drive is also up for a prestigious Grammy Award for Best Country Performance By A Group or Duo with Vocals for their 1 hit "Moments".

The guys have launched a video blog from their travels on the road.  Keep up with them here.

So, let’s get this thing going.

From then on the night was packed full of accomplished singers and songwriters. Some of the performers were, Paul Brandt, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Brad Johner, Aaron Pritchett, Shayne Yellowbird, Jason Blaine, Emerson Drive, George Canyon, Doc Walker and Jonny Reid. Overall the night was a great time. Everyone should take in something like this whenever they have the chance.

Other people that we saw that night were the RoadHammer, the Cruzeros, Sean Hogan, Prarie Oyster, The Wilkinsons, Charlie Major, Mike Holmes, Joel Stewart, Jimmy Rankin, Paul Macguire, Ashley Kranz and Patricia Conroy

And if that wasn't enough, we even got to see Dog and his wife. That was one big night.

I may be stepping on thin ice here but I think that this was better than Craven. Yup it was.

-  Joni Mitchell won the Grammy for best pop instrumental performance for her album, Shine. She was also honoured as Herbie Hancock won for his album, River: The Joni Letters, which she is featured on.

-  Michael Buble won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album for Call Me Irresponsible but unfortunately lost to Justin Timberlake for best male pop vocal performance.

-  James Ehnes, a violinist from Manitoba, won best instrumental soloist in a performance with an orchestra for a performance with the Vancouver Symphony.

-  The Band was honoured for Lifetime Achievement.

Canadian nominees who were unsuccessful at the Grammy's include Nickelback, Feist, Arcade Fire, and Emerson Drive. Although Canadians were in tough this year, the artists successes thus far is only an indication of what is to come in the future.

The following is Feist's performance of "1234" from the 50th Grammy Awards Ceremony.

Even so, there is something in Country music that goes to the heart of the "good life". Take, for example, the latest video from Keney Chesney called "Don't Blink". This and other songs like Rascal Flatts "Everyday Love", Phil Vassar's "Another Day in Paradise" and Emerson Drive's "He Was a Good Man" and another Chesney song "The Good Stuff" lift up ordinary family life and show it as something noble and good.

You also can find plenty of praise for living a simple life in songs like "Boondocks" from Little Big Town, "Sweet Southern Comfort" by Buddy Jewell"Amarillo Sky" from Jason Aldean, "Red Dirt Road" from Brooks and Dunn, "My Town" and "Something to be Proud of" from Montgomery Gentry.

Now, I'm not as familiar with other genres of popular music but flipping through stations I rarely hear non-country songs that sing the praises of living a good life and loving your wife and kids. Am I wrong, or is there something about the roots of Country that makes such songs natural? Any other great songs that deserve mention here?

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