New blog. jamie

In 2000, I released a collection of demos, bundled with the previously released "The Beautiful Ep", creating a new release entitled "Peppermint Daisy Music".

Almost 9 years later... I have the courage to say... I'm sorry.

The collection was a mistake! The production quality was far too low to be a commercial release. The songs were in a development stage and I don't know if you've noticed, but they have had no life beyond this album. Factory seconds if you will.

So why was it released?

Ok, being brutally honest, I needed some income.

The post Guardian years were extremely lean. In fact, it wasn't until mid 2005 that I finally got some stability back. I likely could have made more working at Taco Bell full time than I did chasing music during that period. Don't get me wrong, I had some great moments along the way, but certainly not enough to sustain a family. In hindsite, I was selfish. But I always had Heather's support. Even when I truly didn't deserve it. She's a remarkable, forgiving and encouraging woman.

Ok, back on track...Peppermint Daisy. I have gotten e-mails over the years from people who say they enjoyed the rawness of that disc, but I still regard it as bottom of the barrel commercial product. It served it's purpose, I got paid. But I sacrificed my integrity for a check.

Never again!

I promise.

God gave me a gift. If I can't honor Him through excellence with that gift. I need to re-evaluate.

jamie

PS- If you really must have this collection, I have noticed that it's on about every torrent site out there. Don't waste your cash on all those ebay items with my name on it. I don't receive a penny from them and the quality is low. Stick to the Guardian, London Calling, Adriangale and Crunch releases. Songs For Heaven & Earth/Dios De Amor was also a low budget recording, but I still stand behind that work.

iamsecond.com

This website is moving me to tears tonight.

Praise God.

So far, every testimony has hit me hard, but this bit jumped out at me:

"I don't think I ever really met Jesus until I stepped out of my church persona....and became just another desperate, broken man. That's when He really became real to me..." - Nate Larkin

Please tell a friend about this site. A lot of people need to shake their "church persona" and exchange it for a true relationship with Christ! Let us all be reminded of how amazing God's grace really is.

peace-

jamie

This past weekend, Guardian had the pleasure of playing in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An amazing event for a good cause that put us before an estimated audience of 80,000.

I could go on and on and on about the trip. It was stellar from beginning to end. Christian and I had a bonding time together. It was great to hang with David Bach and Karl and Hunter Ney. And it was huge pleasure to get to know Jamey Perrenot- he played guitar on this date. Jamey was an instant hit with us and the Guardian fans. You may recognize him as he has played extensively for LeAnne Rimes and most recently, Taylor Swift. Look for Jamey to be a part of Guardian's near future.

Near future? What?

Yes, we had a major brainstorming session this past week. I believe we have found a way to satisfy Guardian fans and ourselves while still being able to function with our current, non band lifestyles. I will give more details soon but I assure you. It's going to be GREAT! We all realized how badly we have missed it. Also how loyal the Guardian fans have been globally. It's humbling and inspiring.

Here are some pics:

The view of the crowd from the top of the stage. This is just the left side! (Photo from Eugenia)

Jamey Perrenot meets the Guardian fans of Argentina!

That's me on the left..David Bach on the right. Having a blast!

Karl Ney brings the beat!

Left to Right: Jamey Perrenot, Hunter Ney (Karl's son), Karl Ney, Jamie Rowe, David Bach, Christian Rowe  (My Punky). End of show pic- We're surrounded by some amazing people!

Earl Anthony Wayne - The USA ambassador to Argentina came to meet with us before the show. His wife Paula was sweet as well. I'm always intrigued at how a bonehead, mid-western goof like me can always seem to gel with the movers and shakers of the world.

The set list. We signed this for our translator Pablo. He was fantastic!

I have a decent amount of video footage that I haven't been able to edit yet. But I found some cool fan shot clips on youtube. I love this one as you can hear how loudly the audience was singing along!

That's my recap of Argentina.

I do want to take a moment to congratulate my London Calling/The Ruled bandmate Jeff Shipp and his wife Amy on the birth of their son Gannon! They will be great parents no doubt!

I also want to say that I heard the advance of Israel Houghton's new album '"The Power Of One" and I think it's a landmark recording for Christian/Gospel music! March 24th release date! Check it out!

I need to get in shape. For appearance AND health reasons!

Much love to all of you!

jamie

Follow me on Twitter

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I haven't given an interview in awhile. But the Canadian site JTALK just published a brief one. More about life than music.

Check it out here

or go to http://www.jtalk.ca

Peace y'all.

jamie

Hello everyone, I hope this week has been a good one for you!

I'm sitting here in my living room with the windows open. The cool air of fall is such a welcome change of pace. Christian and Kaitlyn are performing with the High School Marching Band right now. Heather and Madelyn went to watch. I opted to stay home and try to make progress on a number of fronts. Most of which, I'm sorry to say, are beating me at my own game.

Work=1 Jamie=0

Good thing I love what I do. It makes weeks like this easier to deal with. But if I told you that I never had an "I wish I worked at Target and could earn a decent living" thought this week. We'll... I'd be lying.

I still find myself pining to be a full time recording artist from time to time. But I just don't think that's realistic at this point in my life. I watch music sales dwindle on a daily basis and see bands canceling tours because they can't afford the gasoline without tour support from the label. It's a mess. Fortunately, I still have an audience from the Guardian days who are constantly sending emails of support asking if I'm ever gonna' release something new...or the daily question: Is Guardian going to reform?

Well, I can tell you the Guardian machine has had a number of false re-starts over the past few years. Enough that It's killed most of my excitement. I'm super stoked about the Argentina show in December...Playing with the guys I spent an entire decade with, playing the Guardian songs that folks have been waiting to hear, getting a dose of international travel to offset the often uninspiring surroundings of Southwestern Indiana. But beyond that, I just don't know.

I have many things I'd like to do. One of which is to record a modern worship collection. Something not too far removed from artists I am privileged to work with - Lincoln Brewster, Hillsong United, Paul Baloche, etc.. I'd like to write half the record myself and make the other half worship songs that I love. I'd also like to involve my wife as an equal in the project. It's always in my heart to do, but life is different than it was 10 years ago. Mortgages, SUV payments, general expenses of raising a family of 5, so many things now have become front and center. Earlier this decade, I struggled severely financially. I don't want to be there again.

It's funny, I can give you all those reasons not too, but at the same time I'm thinking, I should just crack down, get Karl Ney to play drums, grab a couple friends from Tree63 and others and just make this record a reality. Who knows.

I love blogging. It only takes about 10 minutes and usually when I sit down to write, I don't have a specific topic. I just write what flows and then sit back and think "hmm"..where did all that come from. Much like songwriting I suppose.

But a blog doesn't make you want to jump around the room playing air guitar and looking delightfully foolish now does it?

:-)

Much love to all of you who read my rants, thoughts, and nonsense!

jamie

Here are some pics:

I took this pic of Heather this week.

Here is one Pam and Kevin Luttrell took of Kaitlyn.

This is me back in the early 90's with my fashion disaster of socks with sandals in Auckland, New Zealand.

Thursday night "hot wangs" with Pastor Steve and Janet is always a highlight of my week. This time Andy came too!

Okay, back on track. I wanted to pass on this excerpt from an article I read about the modern attention span. There's some good info here….read on!
Peace-
jamie


The part of your brain located between the medulla oblongata and the midbrain is something called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS is something like a filter between your conscious and subconscious. It's involved in primitive functions like the ability to be awake or asleep, and the ability to direct attention toward certain stimuli.
"The job of the RAS is to filter and screen all incoming stimuli and 'decide' which stimuli should merit the attention of the conscious," writes Dr. Kathie Nunley. There is a hierarchy at play that determines what our brains decide to pay attention to. Physical needs come first, but after that our brains tend to gravitate toward novel experiences. Our shortened attention spans can be blamed on the heightened pace at which we encounter these novel experiences in today's media saturated world.

"At one time a young child could master or learn his surroundings and they remained relatively unchanged. A toy or two, a dozen people, a home sparsely decorated. Even the world outside the home had relatively limited novelty to offer after the first few years of ones' life. This allowed the RAS and attention to be drawn to other things, primarily self-made choices and more complex types of thinking and learning of abstract concepts," says Nunley.

Today, though, television, the Internet, and other external stimuli "have trained our minds to perceive and interpret quickly and be ready to accept the next presentation." That's why we have trouble reading long articles — our brains are ready to jump to the next stimuli before we've fully absorbed the first.

(Note, newer research has presented more complex models of how we pay attention to things, but they're really beyond the scope of this blog post.)