Some news you would rather not hear, like when your accountant lets you know the tax bill for the year, or your wife is stuck in the middle lane during five o’clock traffic and the car won’t start. Then there’s the kind of news that is music to the ears.

Daddy Josh finally make the reveal!

Brenda and I have known this for a few months but have been waiting for my son and his wife to make the announcement first: they are pregnant! And yes, that makes me a grandpa!

There’s nothing more sweet than to have a new addition to the Harvill family this October; that means we will be entertaining a little one by Christmas. We are excited for Josh and Amber and, needless to say, Brenda and I are beside ourselves. I can’t wait to be that guy who bores everyone around with grand-baby pictures. Beware!

Gary and I are very excited to finally get our project out of the studio and into the world! We are putting final touches on a few songs we felt needed some extra special care before released them. We are so pumped, and hope to have it mastered by summer.

Also, I have been working on an instrumental project. It’s been a dream of mine to do a guitar record of my own. I fell in love with Earl Klugh’s music in the late ’70s when I first heard Heartstrings. I always wanted to write and perform songs that moved me like that album did. I also love the prog-rock stylings of ELP, Yes and Kansas, so I’ve written a special song called “Emerald City” in their honor.  Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t add “Amazing Grace”–the studio version of the Allman Brothers-style solo stuff I did at World Outreach Church in January of 2011.

All of these musical flavors have been percolating in my soul for ages, and now it’s my time to mix it up and send out a love letter for the guitar. It will be out soon.

Thanks for your continued encouragement of my playing, singing and writing; I am the most content while creating music. Thanks for hanging in there with my blog posts as well!

This is a shout-out to my fellow Styx fans; I’ve been one since the late ’70s. Having just watched their new blu ray, I’ll have to tell you, it puts them another notch higher in my admiration of the band.

They boldly developed a rather original tour idea for 2011: Styx performing their classic multi-platinum ’70s albums The Grand Illusion and Pieces Of Eight live in their entirety. I saw another favorite group of mine, Cheap Trick, perform via DVD, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in it’s entirety a few years ago. It was great, but it wasn’t their original material. 

Styx’ starts the show with side one of The Grand Illusion. Before the band breaks into the title cut– projected on the overhead screen above the drums–a teenage boy (circa 1978) is shown walking up to the turntable (remember those?) in his bedroom and shuffles through the stack of LPs (those too?) to find The Grand Illusion.  He takes the record out of the sleeve and places it on the turntable, lifts the arm, places it on the outside edge of the spinning disk as Tod Sucherman, Styx‘ current drummer, counts off the song. Of course, as side one ends with “Miss America,” the young boy on the video screen flips the record over to start side two, and so on…

What a great concept! My buddy Gary Sadler saw them during this very concert tour in Florida last year, and was fortunate enough to meet the band backstage. 

Tommy Shaw still looks like a kid. Believe it or not, James “JY” Young turns 63 this year…what? Dennis DeYoung left a few years back, and with Lawrence Gowan taking his place on keys and vocals, I don’t really miss him. Ex-Babys bassist, Ricky Phillips,  does a great job holding down the low-end of things, along with occasional guitar duties. Chuck Panozzo, the original bassist who left for a period of time because of an illness, makes a few cameo appearances on the 4-string throughout the show.

The extras on the disc are also pretty cool. The tour manager and the rest of the support crew are interviewed, giving an up-close look at what goes on back stage (the “G-rated” version, anyway!).

Styx fans need to snag this disc. I also highly recommend the blu ray Styx did a few years back with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra.  Both are filled with great instrumental and vocal performances. Drummer Tod Sucherman will leave you exhausted by the end of each disc…he’s phenomenal!

What a temptation it is to get to where we want to go as quickly as possible. In this age of fast cars, jets and the internet, we can–in a day–zoom all over the world and instantaneously send documents via our computers. The temptation, as I mentioned, is to get places too quickly.

 I heard a sermon yesterday by Matt Roden, a student pastor in our church. He referenced 1 Samuel 22-24 and spoke about the conflict between Saul and David. Saul was incredibly jealous of David. He knew that David would one day become king and take his place, but he held on with a death-grip to the throne. Saul had murderous intent for David and sought him with the help of the royal army. David met up with Saul in a cave as the king was relieving himself (that’s right…using the bathroom). David and his men were fortuitously hiding back further in the cave when Saul entered. The king laid his robe to the side, David sneaked up and quietly cut a portion from it–proof that he could have slayed the jealous king if he were so inclined.

What a temptation it must have been to cut off the head of Saul and carry it outside to show the royal army. David could have hurried the process to the throne, but he knew that God would fulfill that promise in due time; he showed incredible restraint. So eventually, David shows the king the piece of cloth from the garment to prove he would not harm him, even with the opportunity .

The statement from the sermon that really struck me was when Matt said, “When opportunities line-up with our prayers and passion, it is extremely difficult to show restraint.” Though opportunities seem God-intended, we must be wise and ask ourselves the important question before leaping: “What do I have to give up to get this?” Often times we find ourselves, as Matt put it, “…one decision away from losing our integrity, influence, credibility and more opportunity.”

The statement we often hear in advertising is: “this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” If we jump at every invitation, we might find ourselves falling into a hole at some point. Its better to show restraint, pray, ask for counsel, study the Word, sleep on it, call in the morning, ask your spouse, etc. There’s no short-cutting the process. If God wants us there, He’s capable of getting us there–in due time.

I could eat breakfast for every meal of the day. One of my favorite characters on TV is Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) from NBC’s Parks and Recreation. He has framed photos of bacon and eggs in his office on the show. That’s my kind of decor!

I am so excited today for two things: 1) We are meeting some brand-new friends for lunch, and 2) We are going to meet them at the Loveless Cafe here in Nashville. Loveless is one of the places to bring visitors on their first trip to Music City. It doesn’t have much to do with country music, but just about every country music star has a signed promo picture hanging on the entrance wall, often included are a few handwritten words complimenting the great food.

The unassuming sign out front is a reminder of the cafe’s beginnings. In 1951, Lon and Anne Loveless purchased the Harpeth Valley Tea Room on Highway 100, near the historic Natchez Trace, and renamed it the Loveless Motel and Cafe. The food became the highlight and folks from all around came for the excellent meals the owners cooked up. The place changed hands a few times, but in February 2004, after being purchased by a local restauranteur, the beloved eatery closed its doors for renovations and opened five months later with an expanded dining area; retail shops were made from the former hotel room spaces.

I love to visit every so often with the family. We all fill up on the exquisite biscuits loaded with butter and jam (health food freaks need not visit, nor scorn those who do…we don’t care).  My daughter Betsy was interviewed while visiting the Loveless with friends on a Food Network show a few years back. She said what everybody does: “It’s a great place to eat breakfast!” And who, like me and Ron Swanson, doesn’t like a killer breakfast as often as possible?