GMA Interviews: Day 1

What a crazy day so far! I wasn’t really sure what to expect coming to my first GMA week, and I think that is a good thing. Because its been a pretty crazy, disjointed day so far! After leaving at 8am EDT this morning (stopping 4 times on the way up) and getting here at 1130 CDT, I made my way to the Renaissance Nashville for my first set of interviews. I opened the day with Dreampilots, a new band from Norway. They have great hearts and amazing stories. Be sure to check out their myspace page @ . After that I had a short break and then got to sit down with Grammy nominated After Edmund. Being from their home state of Georgia, we got to talk about a lot of the things that really make Georgia home for us. Immediately after, I met Manic Drive, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Really great guys, and a lot of fun to talk to. Finally, to close out the first half of the day I got a chance to meet Michael Sweet from Stryper and Boston. We really dug deep into many different topics, from the passing of his wife, to raising kids, to the future of both Stryper and Boston.

I was pretty loaded up on caffine at this point and I needed to balance it all out with some food. After wandering around for about 30 minutes, I settled on Rippy’s Ribs on Music Row. Being that I have never been to GMA, or Nashville for that matter, I had never experienced the Honky Tonks. It is really quite an experience. After enjoying my pulled pork sandwich and onion rings, I walked back to the hotel and sat down with Rush of Fools for a few minutes informally. They are quite a crazy group of guys.

If you are easily star-struck, GMA will make you go nuts. Its a very surreal experience to see many of christian music’s biggest stars walk by you. So far I have seen Natalie Grant and Bernie Helms, Mike Weaver from Big Daddy Weave, the guys from Remedy Drive, Jonny Diaz, Dawn Richardson from Fireflight, and so many more.

I closed out my first day of interviews with Billy Buchanan, formerly of the band Fusebox. This interview was probably tied as my first favorite of the day. Billy was very real about who he is and what he is about. About 3/4 in the interview, my recorder quit out, possibly losing all of my video from the interview, although I think I can recover it.

Like I said earlier, its been a really crazy day. My camera has died several times, and  Photo Booth on my mac quit twice. But all in all, it was a pretty successful first day. I’m actually about to head from my current perch at a local McDonald’s to 12 and Porter, for the Rock For Life showcase, featuring Manic Drive and Children 18:3. More updates to come this evening! Talk to ya later!

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