Wedding post #1

It has truly been an eternity since I've been able to just be online other than borrowing someone else computer for 5 minutes. My Computer went down on me a few months ago as the last post will show, and since then I have been checking my email and facebook from my phone, but that about the extend of what I can do. However I just got Married!! My wife has a computer that I am on now finally post this blog from. Enough about this.I got Married! Melissa and I got married just over two weeks ago now on Dec 6th. The wedding turned out lovely, and a good amount of our closest family and friends attended. It was held at The Village Chapel in Nashville which is a really cool old church. Here are some pictures of us from the big day! A Huge thanks to our friend Tec Petaja for being the best photographer ever! And of course TOMS shoes were well represented by me and my guys.

Pictures from Extreme Makeover and TOMS shoes

Dan and I just got finished dropping Carlos from TOMS shoes off at the airport. He is a seriously rad guy. He came out on the road with us for the first few shows of the tour and he freaking rocks. Great guy.

Here are a few photos from the event we did with Extreme Makeover:Home Edition yesterday. It was huge!! 5000 people came to support the Frisch family from Toledo. So cool!
We did a song with Paul(one of the designers from the show) and it was a lot of fun. The cast and crew were all very nice people. We had a great time!

YOU CAN STILL HELP THE FAMILY THIS WEEK BY CLICKING ON THIS

TOMS Shoes

So I haven't been bloggin down a dream lately because my computer broke about a month ago and now I have very limited access to the blog. Bummer!
Here's what you should do right now though. Check out TOMS shoes
We are so honored to have partnered with this amazing company that actually gives a pair of shoes to a child in need when you buy a pair!! How cool is that?!
Not only do you get the most comfortable shoes that you've ever worn (I haven't worn anything else for the past four months!), but you literally change and possibly save a childs life!! Its true...a child can literally die from not having shoes!
If you want to buy a pair use sanctusreal as the promo code, trust me. go here now
Go check it out, they are some of the nicest, most good hearted people too!
I'll be back as soon a I can,
Pete

what a crazy feeling

So its almost been a week now that I've been engaged. Its so crazy. I had to leave out of town the day after I proposed so it wasn't until Saturday night when I got home that I really got to introduce Melissa as my fiancee, then it really sunk in that I'm getting married. It was really fun going to Target yesterday and walking around with a scanner and zapping things that I wish I could have for married life. Some of the items are obviously ridiculous and no one will get them, but hey, if you're gonna dream, dream big....right? HaHa. Here is an unofficial engagement photo of my future bride and I the night of the big question. Hopefully soon we'll have some sweet engagement photos to show all of you. By the way, I'm getting married on December 6! Crazy, its going to be a busy 4 months.

Engaged!

I just got engaged tonight and am so stoked!

Go buy this record now!

These guys are amazing and based out of Nashville. They are friends of mine and they are really really good (especially live, but their music is amazing recorded too). Go to their myspace. Go buy their new EP! Go see them on tour this summer and fall opening for Paramore and Phantom Planet. Become a huge fan. I'm not kidding.
(ps. photograph above by TEC PETAJA)

When I hear the praises start....

This week I was able to pay respect to one of my favorite people of all time, Keith Green. As far back as I can remember I have known his music. For those of you who are not familiar with Keith, check this out. He passed away with two of his children very tragically in July of 1982 in a plane crash (my dad actually was able to attend the funeral at the Last Days Ministries ranch). I was born in October of 1982 so my parents were very into their Keith Green records at the time. So like I said his music has very much been a soundtrack throughout my life growing up.
We played at Teen Mania headquarters in Garden Valley, TX on Tuesday, which used to be Last Days Ministries and the property that Keith and his Family lived on and where the plane crashed. Our friend Adam from Teen Mania took us to the cemetery a 1/2 mile away where Keith and his two children were buried. I know this is kind of weird and morbid, but it was a big deal for me to be there.

Saturday in the park....

Today, Melissa and I drove to a park someone told her about called Burgess Falls. Its only an hour and a half east of Nashville and its pretty much amazing as you can see from the pictures.

If you at the top corner of the water in the photo above you can see a little tiny guy swimming next to the waterfall. He wasn't actually tiny but thee waterfall was just huge.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers...

...are amazing! Yes I went to see them last night and it blew my mind. Here is a YouTube clip I found from the show of my personal favorite TP song...even though its hard to pick a favorite. It was seriously so good. If you can go see this tour you really should.

Bloggin down a dream

less than one week till tom petty...............!

Camp Electric

Right now in Nashville there is a really cool thing going on for young musicians. Its called Camp Electric and its a 5 day camp for musicians from junior high and high school. I am stoked to be an instructor at the camp and yesterday was my first class. I was so nervous. I am totally not a teacher and had to stand up there for two hours in front of my class of 30 kids and somehow give them amazing advice on being a musician and playing in a band. Its was a lot of fun though, and I got to teach the class a few Sanctus Real riffs on guitar. If you are a young musicians you should really check this out for next year because it a ton of fun. I'll try and post some pictures in the next couple of days. well...I'm off to my class now.

Being in a band isn't always that Glamorous.

Well I just got back home from a couple shows this weekend. We played at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom last night and the day before that we were at Atlanta fest which was at Stone Mountain, Georgia this year. As you can see from the photo, loading our gear in to Stone Mountain was not very easy, but we always do our best to get to our shows and don't give up very easily. We're probably the hardest working band in christian music. haha.

expensive gas, sweet bikes

So I cleaned up my Green Schwinn Speedster and got it ready for the summer. My roommate just got a sweet new Electra bike that rides like a dream.
I decided to do a little bike photo shoot. haha. I'm really excited about riding my bike. The weather is pretty good right now so I think I go for a ride....
...who knows maybe I'll see Robert Plant.

Goodbye Colorado for now...

How freaking beautiful is this state?! I took this photo right before we closed out our week long run in Colorado. We had a great time out here making new friends and eating lots of doubletree hotel chocolate chip cookies. This is seriously a great state and I love coming out here.

I lose my touch..........did you ever have a touch to lose?

I'm pretty much not good at bowling anymore. 7 years ago I used to average 150+, and sometimes I even broke 200. Now after not practicing for years, my spin is inconsistent and I just bowled a 48! I've never bowled that bad...ever. So sad. Just trying to be honest and open here. Maybe its the altitude. Let's hope.

a blast from the past...

So as some of you may or may not know I had a band in California for six years called johnnycomelately (not to be confused with the new band on america's got talent called jonnycomelately). Actually, the way I ended up in sanctus real was through knowing the bleach guys and touring a lot with them. Anyways, many years ago we got booked to do a week of shows in California with Bleach and this new signed band called Sanctus Real. I had listened to some of their independent record online and was looking forward to the shows. Unfortunately the day before the shows Mark got sick and they had to turn around and head home to Toledo. So fast forward to the present, and I'm home in Bakersfield visiting last week and my brother finds this old poster....
Pretty cool huh?
Another fun fact. I've played in all of these bands at some point. johnnycomelately(1999-2005), marco(2004-2005), bleach(3 shows in 2005), sanctus real(2005-present)

Colorado Springs and Delish Fish!

We are in Colorado Springs today playing at Mr. Biggs family fun center. I've decided that we need to do a whole tour of places like this because all day before the show you can do a numerous amount of activities including: bowling, go-carts, batting cages, laser tag, and video games. Keith, the promoter of todays show, heard us on total axxcess saying that our band loved fish tacos. So he had a buffet line of fish taco ingredients for us in catering! Not only that, but they were mahi mahi fish tacos on top of that. Pretty awesome. Also our friend Dale came out to hang out. He works for Westone In-ears. If you ever need In-ears you have to try Westone cause they are amazing.

claustraphobic in colorado

so its really difficult to type because i'm super cramped in the back seat of a ford excursion next to chris right now. We just landed in denver for some shows and the runner picked us up in this huge suv. you would think that would be big enough right? wrong. not for six guys, a bunch of luggage, gear, and one huge dan gartley bass case. so needless to say its pretty miserable right now and will be for the next two hours or so. We should be ok as long a we can keep our propped up legs from falling asleep for good and gear from sliding onto our heads. bye for now, hopefully we survive this ok.

Good Times Bad Times

So the rumor is that Robert Plant is living in East Nashville(my neighborhood). It's my mission to find him and shake his hand. That would be so legendary. Besides the fact that he is a rock legend, his new project with Alison Krauss is really really good. Check it out. A friend of mine saw him at Bongo Java here on Sunday. I don't like Bongo that much, I'm a Portland Brew guy, but I found myself there buying coffee today just because I thought I might see Robert Plant. This is sad, but I'm going to meet him someday and its going to be awesome. Everyone has said he is really friendly. We'll see...

I love my car.

This one goes out to my freakin' awesome 1990 Volvo 240 Wagon. Its a really great car and I love it. That's all.

Going back home to the west coast.

...Well I actually already went there but that is still a good line from a Coconut Records song. So I took my girlfriend out to California to meet the family and hang out for a few days. It was great to see everyone out there, and the weather was fantastic. Here are a few pics from the trip:

She's happy because she got to try some In-N-Out burger! I don't really own shorts so this is the best I could do.
Pedro's has great fish tacos and burritos! It in San Clemente, Ca.
I took her to see Hollywood and figured since I was there I might as well get a picture of the TP's star on the walk of fame. Which in case you didn't know in less than a month Chris, Dan, myself, and our ladies are going to see him play in Cinncinati! I can't wait.

sorry I don't blog enough.

NEW GUITAR!

So I just got an endorsement with PRS guitars(Paul Reed Smith) which I am really excited about! They are an incredible guitar company and I'm very honored to be played such great guitars. The great news is that I got my first one yesterday(I would have posted this then but I couldn't put the guitar down till today). Its a vintage cherry SE one, and it plays and sounds amazing! Plus, it looks freaking cool! If you play guitar or want to buy one thats great and really affordable, I suggest you check out the SE line. http://www.prsguitars.com

Make sure your clock is set to the correct time

Yesterday we missed a show in Syracuse, NY to play a show in Sacremento, CA at Aquire the Fire. I was very excited to come to my home state and get some In-n-out burger (which I did two times yesterday by the way). We flew at 6am, and after stopping for a little bit in Chicago, we arrived in California, and ate In-n-out (yes!).
The show went ok. The crowd was great, but because we were so rushed to soundcheck we had a pretty sloppy show. After the show I persuaded our runner to swing me by for another burger. There was a Taco Bell across the street that I saw some of the Kutless guys leaving from, but of course I denied the Bell and went for the Double-double w/ grilled onions.
This morning we had to get up at 3:30am to get a ride to the airport....puke! So since Dan and I have a reputation of sleeping in, I set the clock alarm, wake up call, and phone alarms for 3:30 just to be safe. Sure enough when that time came the desk alarm went off and I got in the shower. When I got out and woke up Dan, he looked at his phone clock and said what time is it. It was 2:39!!!!!! The desk clock was an hour ahead! no!!! Depressing......
Now I'm about to board a plane at the Sacremento airport getting ready to head to Ohio for the last show of the Third Day tour.
Talk to you soon.

Internet in our Van!

Chris just bought a wireless at&t modem for our van. I'm blogging from our van on the ohio turnpike right now. van and trailer just got a whole lot better.
ps...sorry i haven't blogged for almost a month. I promise to do some make-up blogs.

pete

third day

well the third day tour is in full effect! today was the third day actually. haha. i'm so funny. we played a really cool theater in columbus, georgia. we are having a great time! everyone is really cool on the tour. right now i'm at a great coffee shop across the street called fountain city. great espresso! dan is sitting across from me.

New old gear, sings to my ears.

So after the last run of shows I got some killer deals on a couple pieces of gear. I have been looking for an old Guild acoustic for some time now (ever since I used one on "Lay Down My Guns") and after searching I found a sweet 1974 Guild D-25 (thanks to Ethan for the Craigslist tip and to Matt for picking it up for me). Its very beat up, but might just be the best sounding acoustic I've ever played.
The other cool thing I got is a 1949 Gibson BR-9 lap steel. I borrowed one for the new record ("Black Coal" solo and "Half our Lives"), and have been looking to buy one since. I sounds great. I had to replace the tuning keys, but other than that its ready to rock.
We start rehearsals this week for the Third Day tour. Its gonna be sweet! Hope to see some of you out there.
Pete

Tom Petty!

Freaking rocked it last night! those guys did so great! i'm also stoked that i was able to get my tickets for his july show in cincinnati, i can't wait.

key west, mexico, and free ice cream

Well the cruise is all done and now I'm sitting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport waiting for my flight back home to Nashville. It was such a good time! We played three shows. My highlight was getting to play a new song off our new record called "Half Our Lives", I play lap steel on that song so it was a lot of fun for me. I highly recommend a cruise for a vacation. The food is all included (which was amazing) and you can eat free ice cream anytime you want! How sweet is that.
One of our stops was Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. We got to go to a beach resort for the day. It was sweet! These are some photos from that day.

Also when we were in Key West, Florida my brother and I made a stop at the southernmost point in the U.S., nice..
I will post some more photos when I get home. Right now I'm downloading the season premiere of LOST and I don't want to slow down the bandwidth. haha. more to come.

cruisin'

so tomorrow we leave on a cruise for the week! we are playing on the klove music cruise and i'm very excited because my brother is coming with me. its gonna be sweet.
see ya guys. i'll have lots of pictures to post when i get back

There’s a southern accent where I come from…..

I’m writing this entry from our van on the way to our first of four shows this weekend. Today we play a show in Ocala, Florida. The Whiplash picked Dan and I up in Nashville yesterday and we drove all the way to Valdosta, Georgia last night. Matt, Chris, and Mark are flying right now from Detroit to meet us in Ocala. I was slightly jealous that they were flying instead of driving with us, but then I didn’t care anymore once I realized that we were driving through Gainesville today, the hometown of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers! I was stoked. So as we drove through I put on a little Tom Petty soundtrack to listen to. First I put on “Hometown Blues” and then closed it out with one of my favorites, “Southern Accents”.


Then a great thing happened when we found the “hecho en Mexico” coke at a gas station in Ocala. If you’ve never had coke made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup then you need to.

houston, we have a blogger.

I’m sitting several thousand feet in the air, in a window seat on flight number 614.



I thought I would write an entry for bloggin’ down a dream since my sidekick Chris does not seem to be up for conversation.


Matt, Chris, and I along with Grant Hubbard from the radio team at EMI are on our way to Houston to promote our new record (which comes out February 12th in case you didn’t know). Our first stop is KSBJ Houston, and then later this evening we will travel to Dallas for dinner with KLTY and an early morning stop at KLOVE tomorrow morning. It should be a pretty good time. I didn’t eat any breakfast so I’m hoping that guy behind me will hurry up with his basket of snacks and give me one. I’m starving!

I think I’ll take a nap. Goodbye for now.