The new album is highlighted in the Scoop section of the 12-29 issue of Country Weekly.  Don't forget to visit a local Cabela's store or grab  a copy online at www.cabelas.com!

P.S. My friend Randy Houser is in the same issue with a review on his album and single Anything Goes.  CW also features one of his personal Christmas stories.  Pick up a copy of the CW at your local newsstand. 

 

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Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  I know for a lot of folks this year's holiday season won't be quite as happy or prosperous as some years past, but hopefully we can all stop and remember what is good in our lives today - even if it takes a little bit of soul searching to find it. 

I know for myself, it seems easier at times to dwell on frustrations and disappointments than to see the victories.  The last couple of years of my life have been full of change, unexpected challenges, loss, and a good amount of frustration.  Each one of us has our own unique struggles we deal with each day.

I believe God helps each one of us along our own unique path in life.  Along this path are opportunities and challenges presented to us that help create who we are on the inside.  It builds our character and defines us. 

I believe the road we travel is ours to travel alone.  And if we are lucky, along the journey we will have a handful of great friends, family, and God to help us stay the course.  Ultimately though, we walk alone.

My point to this blog during this Thanksgiving time is to remember that although we walk alone, all of us are doing the same thing.  All of us are struggling with frustrations and fears, and hoping for the good times still to come. 

This holiday season there will be more people than ever in recent memory in need of encouragement, help, and love.  I hope all of us will take the time to do whatever we can to help each other on our journey.  We're all alone, but we're in this together.  Together we can make it a little easier for each other. 

Here's the chorus of a new song I'm working on that I think sums it up:

Take the hand of your fellow man

Help him along if you can

It's all a part of God's plan

We're all trying to finish the race

Struggling to find the same place

Just take the hand of your fellow man

It's all a part of God's plan

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I hope you take my challenge and reach out to someone over the next few weeks. 

 

Lance

 

To My Friends and Family…

 

 

A couple of days ago Cabela's finally got the new CD up on their website and ready for ordering.  This adds to their placement of the CD in all of their stores nationwide.  This is an amazing thing for Cabela's to do for me.  This idea started with them almost a year ago with me making a call to Bryan Stave, their head of Merchandise.  Cabela's has been approached multiple times in the past about carrying country music, but they have always turned people away.  The impression I got was they just never seemed to think it was "a good fit".  The list of people they have turned down has been impressive, including Sony Records.  The story I've been told by someone pretty high up at Cabela's was the President of Sony himself called and they still turned them down.  ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

I'm not sharing this with you to make myself look important.  Rather, I'm sharing this story so everyone understands how truly lucky I am to have this opportunity as an independent label artist.  Cabela's, for whatever reason decided to take a chance on my music.  They have made a pretty significant investment of money, time, and energy to carry my new record THE GOOD TIMES STILL TO COME.

 

The biggest obstacle independent artists like myself have is finding reputable retail distribution of their CDs.  If you're not on the radio on a regular basis, it's hard for people to fall in love with your music and care passionately about it.  Cabela's believed in me and my music enough though, that they were willing to take a chance that if enough folks could hear it….people would buy it.  This flies in the face of how the country music industry is run today.  My good friend R.J. Romeo believes this could actually be a model that changes the way new artists are introduced.  R.J.'s opinion carry's some weight, he's a music industry attorney and his family has been in the music business for three generations.  His sister works in promotions at a major label and his father is the current president of the American Academy of Country Music.  In R.J. and his father's opinion, the key to getting a great major label deal today is creating some of your own "buzz" before a label ever looks seriously at a new artist.  If you think about it, most of the new artists you see today are  people that have appeared on American Idol or Nashville Star…even if they didn't win. 

 

Cabela's has given me the opportunity for my music to start creating its own "buzz".  Cabela's has enough reach and power as a company to take my music as far as my dreams have ever dreamed.  However…I need your help.  This truly is the big cross roads in my career. 

 

It's of the utmost importance that I show them early on that people love my music enough to buy it.  This is where I really need your help.  I hate asking people for help like this, especially when times are tough and money is short.  But really, this may be my only opportunity to ever have that chance to "take the next step" with my music career.  Since this journey began what seems like a lifetime ago I've paid some dues.  I've played Waffle Houses, dance halls, old folks homes, Nashville honky tonks, casinos, big bars, little bars, and fairs….you name it I've probably played it.  I've put thousands of miles on the road, punched frequent flier miles in airplanes, broke guitar strings, hauled equipment, been told I was the best, and been told I have no talent.  Mostly though…I've made a lot of friends along the way.  Good friends that showed up and sang along at shows and made me feel like I wasn't crazy for trying to make it in the music business.  I can't tell you how many times knowing so many of you support my dream has kept me from quitting when it just seemed too tough or the odds for success too great. 

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is I share this dream with all of you. 

 

I'm a proud person, so this is the part that is really difficult for me.  I can't do this alone.  I need your help and I need the help of people you know.  To keep this dream going in the right direction I need people to buy this CD from Cabela's.  More importantly, I need people you know that I don't know directly to know about it and buy it.  I hope you consider the Cabela's CD for Christmas gifts this year, I need you to tell your friends it would make a great Christmas gift, I need them to tell their friends about it…

 

I know this is asking a lot, but it's the push that has to happen to make an impression on Cabela's to continue their efforts on my behalf.  You see, in the music business ultimately the only way a record label can tell how much people like someone's music is by how many records they have sold.  Cabela's has given me the chance to do this….but I need your help to show them they've made the right decision. 

 

This is the part of being an artist I hate.  I feel like I'm always asking my friends and family to show up, support, or buy something.  Yet, because of the incredible amount of time it takes to continue developing my skills and maintain a level of performance quality…I'm not sure I do as good a job for all of you.  I just want you to know I understand that and I hope once again you'll help me out.

 

If you want to help this dream along, please do any or all of the following:

·         Go to www.cabelas.com and buy one or more copies of the new CD.

·         Pick up the phone and call a few people you think might be country music fans and tell them about how they can support real country music.

·         Consider giving the CD away for Christmas gifts. 

·         Forward this email to your friends and ask them to do the same.  We all see those chain letters on the internet…why can't one like this asking for sincere help work?

·         Bring a friend that hasn't seen me play out to a live performance.  I'm going to start playing live a bunch more again.  Keep up on that at www.myspace.com/lancecombs

 

If you made it this far in reading the email, you're a real friend…thank you.  It means a lot to hear from you.  The encouragement means everything to an artist.  If you don't know me directly and got this off a forward, I can be reached at lance@lancecombs.com

 

Thanks you, I appreciate all of your love and support.

 

Lance

lance@lancecombs.com

www.lancecombs.com

www.myspace.com/lancecombs

 

A direct link to the page where the CD can be purchased is…

 

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0063383629695a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=lance&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

 

 

 

Tonight, President Elect Obama gave one of the all time great speaches.  As most of you know, I've been fairly vocal in my support of John McCain as President.  I believe Obama demonstrated to us tonight what makes him so appealing to so many...he inspires a belief that tomorrow will be a better day than today.

It's time for all of us to embrace our new President and look towards the future.  I'm on the record as being skeptical of Obama because of his lack of a track record.  If he continues the path he's demonstrated over the last 60 days, he will be a solid President for everyone. 

As he said in his speach tonight, "for those of you who didn't vote for me...I'm going to be your President too."  If he truly means that, and will govern like that...I believe our country will again be headed in a good direction. 

As much as I like John McCain, I believe Barack Obama offers the very best possible chance to really inspire Americans and will challenge many Americans to look within themselves and realize status quo has changed. 

God Bless America.  I hope and pray President Elect Obama is the man he wants America to believe he is.  If he is...American made the right choice tonight.

Lance 

Well, I guess it's time for me to chime in with my two cents worth on what's going on with our current financial crisis. Let me prefice this by saying it's just my opinion, but because of my background I believe my opinion has merit.  For those of you that don't know me personally; you'll have to go on a little bit of faith that I have some knowledge of this stuff.

Point 1 - Politicians are incapable of making these decisions.

I've come to the conclusion that most of the politicians trying to work this entire deal out on our behalf don't have the skills to really do what needs to be done.  Seriously, I've come to the conculsion that most of them are incapable idiots.  For instance, take a guy like Joe Biden.  For the record, I'm not using him as an example because he's a Democrat.  I'm using him because he's the first person that happened to come to mind.  I'm sure there are Republicans just like this example. 

Joe Biden has really done nothing in  his life except be a politician.  That's it.  He's lived in the fantasy world of Washington DC for the last 30 years.  He's never built a business, ran a company, led an organization, or made a decision that he directly had to be accountable for.  He gets to "vote".  He's one of 100 votes.  He might be totally inept at making good decisions, but because he's never really "flying without a parachute", we have no idea if he's truly an excellent and informed decision maker.  The only skill we know Biden and others like him posses is an ability to get elected to a job that I doubt the sharpest people in America would ever take. 

Point 2 - Why the people we elect aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Who the hell would really want to be a politician?  Think about this for a minute.  The best, brightest, and most capable people would never consider running for senate or congress.  To get elected, you go out and beg for money making promises to people along the way you may or may not keep.  Then if you're lucky and make it far enough to get on the ballot, you get to spend a few months hearing how crappy of a person you are on television and radio ads.  Oh, but you get the satisfaction of saying crappy things about the other person vying for your job.  Then, if elected, your job is in Washington DC.  Most likely far away from where you call "home".  But don't worry, before you know it you have to start the process all over again to keep this job. 

All for 160k a year.  Let's be honest...that's not much money.  I believe there are a small portion of politicians that get in to it for the right reasons, but I believe there's a larger number of them that do it to fuel their need for self importance.  I think most of them would fail miserably in the real world.  Seriously, when's the last time you saw a help wanted ad that said -

"Wanted:  A kiss ass glad hander that is capable of talking out both sides of their mouth.  Must be loyal to one way of thinking (insinuating Republican or Democrat here) whether it's right or not.  Must feel free to criticize their coworkers when things do not work out, but be willing to take all the credit with success.  Company will never ask the successful applicant to make a decision and be held accountable; because all decisions in the company are done by a vote."

See my point here? 

Let's throw a bunch of men and women in a room that probably are incapable of running even a simple business and allow them to figure this mess out.  Have you ever sat around and watched CSPAN and listened to some of these politicians talk?  It bothers me.

Point 3 - The truth about the "bailouts"

There are very few people that either...

1.  Are describing what is going on accurately. Or...

2.  Actually understand what these bail outs entail.

First, let me say.  Our country should never be in the position it's in right now.  Period.  I beleive there is only 3 things that truly motivate people in our world.  Sex, Greed, and Fear.  I think if you stop and think about that for a minute you'll find that's true.  Greed has caused the problem we are facing.  Why it happened is an entirely different blog.  Let me just say it shouldn't have happened, but the reality is it has happened.  This blog is about what's going on now.

I'm sick of hearing the media and politicians talk about this bailout as a "burden to the taxpayers".  That's the media playing the fear card to get more ratings.

As for why the politicians are saying it's a burden - I'm not sure if it's because they don't understand business well enough to know what is really going on, OR if they are just playing politics.

Folks, the government got a great deal on AIG.  For the record we taxpayers BOUGHT an equity stake in the company.  We now own 80% of it.  Purchased at a depressed price.  The time to be a buyer in business is when everyone else is selling.  Ask Warren Buffet.  He's rich because of that philosophy. 

The reason for the bailout is simple.  A tremendous amount of money is tied to real estate backed loans.  Let me explain how this process works...

You go and borrow money from a bank to purchase a home.  The loan is backed by real estate that's considered to be worth a certain amount of money.  You agree to pay the bank a certain interest rate over an agreed to amount of time.  Because of all of this, your mortgage has a certain "value" to an investor.  Your loan is then packaged up with lots of other loans and sold on Wall Street to other institutional investors.  AIG for instance, would be a company that might by notes like this.  This process is called "securitization". 

This process works because actuarians (smart math people that calculate risk) know what these notes are worth based on many calculations.  There is an accepted value to these bundles of mortages.  This value is as real to the investor as the money you have in your wallet. 

What's happening is because of past greed corrupting the process, everyone is now unsure of what these bundles of mortgages are really worth.  This was caused by overly optimistic real estate appraisals, lending policies that weren't based on common sense, and other factors.  Oh, and by the way...before we start crucifying these banks for making these loans let me say that they were all hailed as heros for making affordable loans available to the masses. 

That's another thing that really pisses me off and makes me shake my head.  These banks were criticized for being "predatory", but now it's looking like the banks should have charged A LOT higher interest rates doesn't it?  Higher interest rates help the bank offset risk.  These loans obviously held more risk than people realized.

To finish the above thought - A person I respect a great deal and is much smarter than I am about economics and fiance said something recently that I believe to be true.  He said, "Some people are just not cut out to be homeowners.  They simply don't posess the life skills to be responsible enough to own a home."  The fact is folks, nobody twisted people's arms in to accepting the loans these banks are being blamed for.  Just like nobody twisted the banks arms in to extending the loan offer. 

Anyway, back to my explanation.  The situation we are now faced with is we need someone to come in and say - hey, we believe these notes are worth "xyz".  When the notes were sold, they were sold for 100% of their face value.  (They weren't exactly sold for that...but for the sake of this explanation they were), but now we need to establish a "corrected value" of these notes.  The problem is, there isn't a single investor out there large enough to help establish that amount....except for the government. 

I've talked to trusted people in the industry that are telling me that some banks are selling off these notes for as little as 25% of the face value.  This is why the system is failing.  Nobody knows what they are worth and it has caused an over reaction.  I can tell you this, they are certainly worth more than 25 cents on the dollar. 

The governments "bailout" isn't a gift of money to these companies.  It's creating a buyer for these bundles of mortgages.  They are helping to create a new value so the notes can be traded with confidence again. 

As taxpayers, we'll own these mortgages or a portion of the companies that have own these mortgages.  Let me ask you a question.  Go outside and look around at the houses in your neighborhood.  Almost all of the houses probably have a mortgage.  If you had enough money, wouldn't you like to own all of the houses for say....50% of the amount owed on the current mortgage? 

Of course you would.  That's all we are doing with these "bailouts" that the media and the politicians keep howling about.  It also illustrates why these people shouldn't be trusted with this decision. 

I think that's the biggest injustice being played out in this whole "bailout".  The average person thinks this money is just being pissed away.  The truth is quite the opposite.  If it's not screwed up by the politicians, this will be one helluva real estate investment.  I swear on Waylon's grave to that statement.  Hopefully we can take the profits from this and pay something down on our national debt. 

Point 4 - What I would do

If it were soley up to me, I wouldn't let the politicians sort this out.  I would create an executive board of real world business people with experience in these areas.  I would also make sure the executive board's number one criteria for admission would be character.  People like Warren Buffet.  Let them hammer out a couple of different solutions and then demand the politiicans approve one or the other.  That's it...no changing.  You get one of two choices...now take your pick because we know you'll screw it up with politics if you go changing it. 

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few days with all of this.  I hope as you watch it unfold, you'll think about some of what I've said in this blog.  I hope it helps you keep it all in perspective as the politicians over complicate it and grand stand for their own puffery.  It's a serious problem no doubt, but one that can be simplified and managed if we remove politics and would just allow honest business minds to make the decisions.

Lance

 

 

7 Years Ago...

Seven years ago our country experienced fear....real fear.  The kind of fear that makes a person wonder if life as they know it will ever be the same.  Strangers hugged each other, ordinary people did extra-ordinary things, families cried, people died, and we mourned our loss as a country - but we were a country...unified by a common enemy.  Fear.

Seven years is a long time.  It's funny how we forget.  I can remember very plainly what I was doing the morning as I found out what was happening.  I remember mostly being very concerned for my Uncle Roger who at the time was a General working at the Pentagon.  I don't really remember details of much that happened after the initial shock and concern.  Mostly I just remember it all being a blur and wondering if things would ever feel normal again.  Eventually things do go back to "normal" and "life goes on".  I don't think it's good how quickly forget those feelings.  Sure, we will all pause to "remember" tomorrow, but none of us will really feel the fear we felt inside that day.  Do you remember it?  Try.

Seven years is a long time.  That was back when George Bush could say things like, "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt." and people thought it was funny and were glad he was our President.  Do you remember his 80% approval ratings?  I do. 

Seven years is a long time.  Everyone was trying to recover from the great tech stock melt-down that was wiping out investors.  But there was good news: banks were practically begging people to borrow money to buy a house or use their home equity to refinance their home. Don't worry!  Your home's value will continue to go up!  Lenders were drinking the kool-aid and so were the borrowers.  Do you remember those days?  I do.

Why Am I Writing About This?

I'm writing this blog for two reasons  The first, to explain my views on the upcoming election; and the second, to put a perspective on seven years time.

Let me first say, I've never in my life taken a public stance on anything regarding politics.  This will be my frist.  The first time I can really remember following politics was when Bill Clinton ran for President the first time.  I was against him.  I was probably wrong.  I think many people agree all in all Clinton was a pretty good President.  He made mistakes, but what President hasn't?  I think the greatest thing Bill Clinton did was inspire people to believe tomorrow would be a better day than today.  That's an important job as President...perhaps the most important part of the job. 

That being said, I think Clinton also left some messes for the next President.  I think most reasonable people agree that Clinton could have and should have done more to protect the U.S. from terrorism.  I also believe that Clinton really never did anything to create the good economy he enjoyed while in office.  Clinton was smart enough to stay out of the way and ride the tide, but the wave was about over as he was leaving office.  It really furstrates me when a hard core Democrat tries to blame Bush for the economy going south right after his first election.  Statements like that simply demonstrate ignorance and no real understanding of how complicated our country's financial workings are.

Think of our economy like a boat in the water.  A very small boat like a canoe carrying one or two people can turn directions very quickly; but it's going to take a lot longer time for a big cruise ship carrying a large number of people to make a turn and go a different direction.  Clinton set the direction for the ship that Bush became captain elect.  Don't forget that.  Almost everyone was supportive of Bush's war effort as well.  That takes money and resources.  Don't forget that either.

Am I defending the mistakes Bush has made?  No.  Do I think Bush has made a fair share of his own mistakes, especially in his second term?  Yes.  More than anything, I think Bush is guilty of coming across poorly.  He's no Bill Clinton when it comes to explaining what the definition of "is" is. 

More than anything, I'm disappointed that Bush has made government bigger and not smaller.  I'm not a Republican through and through...but that's the one Republican belief I hold closely to my heart.  I don't believe it's the government's place to run people's lives, businesses, or their morals.  The role of government should be limited, not expanded.  I feel Bush has gotten away from those beliefs. 

Who Am I Going To Vote For?

I'm going to vote for the ticket I believe will help America the most.  I believe both parties have some advantages and disadvantages in these areas. 

I believe if Obama...and that's a BIG if...is everything his supporters claim him to be...it could be a good thing for our country.  There is something inspiring about him in many ways.  I also believe it would be very beneficial for minorities to see someone like him elected to our country's highest office.  I think that could do more to fix the problems in our inner city schools, curtail hip hop culture, and inspire other minorities to turn away from violence.  A black President could pave the way for these changes more than anything else. 

What I'm not sure of though...is his agenda as pure and as much about America as a whole as he claims it to be?  This would be the reason I wouldn't vote for him.  That's why his lack of a track record concerns me.  Who is Obama really?

My dad once told me, "Son, sometimes taking the longer path in life is better.  If you have to work hard to earn your way, you'll always know who you are when you find success.  You'll be your own man and nobody can take that from you."   Maybe Obama has worked hard and has earned his right, but the concern lingers in the back of my mind that he's a product of the media age.   He's built on foundation of shifting sand, and not a solid foundation of being his own man.  I worry his popularity has grown because people he's magnetic on TV and are hoping he is what he claims to be.  We don't know for sure, and frankly, many of Obama and his wife's negative comments about America bother me.  If those things weren't a part of his record, I would probably be on his bandwagon.  Think about it though...how much more of that side of him might we have known and seen if he were running for President 10 years from now for the first time?  We would know who Obama really is. 

McCain on the other hand is far different.  He's got a track record...some good and some bad.  He's a known quantity though.  He may not be the ideal choice to many, including myself.  But I want you to think about something if you're an undecided voter trying to figure out what to do come November:

Seven years is a long time.  Remember those earlier examples?

McCain spent almost that much time as a POW. 

If you're an undecided voter I want you to think about that fact, because that's what made me finally feel comfortable in endorsing McCain.  Do I think he's the perfect candidate?  No.  Given a choice between someone that loved our country enough to serve that much time in a POW camp honorably, verses someone that on occassion has made angry comments about our country and shown the disrespect to our country's flag that's been documented...I believe the choice becomes clearer.

If nothing else, McCain has paid his dues and deserves the chance if he feels his ideas can make our country better.  I wonder if someone told Obama he could be President in 8 years, but he had to spend most of those next 8 years as POW taking beatings, mentally tortured, and separated from his family.  I wonder what his reaction would be?  I doubt it would be pleasant or honorable.   

McCain did it, and didn't even have the guarantee. 

Adversity reveals character. That's why I believe Obama needs to pay more dues before getting the chance to have so much influence over our country.  We simply don't know enough about his character.

Thanks for taking the time to think about what I have to say. 

Best Wishes,

Lance Combs

 

 

 

This is a poem I borrowed from a friend. She has gone through some similar things to me recently. It's written from a female perspective, but it could also be viewed from the man's perspective. I'm not really sure it's a ";oem" in the truest sense, but it's an amazing collection of thoughts regarding living and loving. It struck home with me, I hope it does the same for you...



After a while you learn the subtle difference
between holding a hand and sharing a life
and you learn that love doesn't mean possession
and company doesn't mean security
and loneliness is universal.

And you learn that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes open
with the grace of a woman
not the grief of a child.

And you learn to build your hope on today
as the future has a way of falling apart in midflight
because tomorrow's ground can be too uncertain for plans
yet each step taken in a new direction creates a path
toward the promise of a brighter dawn.

And you learn that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and nourish your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that love, true love,
always has joys and sorrows
and seems ever present, yet is never quite the same
becoming more than love and less than love
so difficult to define.

And you learn that through it all
you really can endure
that you really are strong
that you do have value
and you learn and grow
with every goodbye
you learn.

For me, going home is truly going home. I am reminded of this as I made the trip back to Stanberry to see my parents over the weekend because my dad is having some surgery today (he's being operated on as I write this). I wanted to spend some time with him and mom.

I really can't imagine growing up in any other place than where I did. Stanberry is a rural farm community about 40 miles off the closest interstate. When asked where we were from, my dad used to laugh and say, "well, you can barely get there from here". He wasn't exactly exaggerating. I was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. "St. Joe" as the locals call it, was where the Pony Express started it's journey westward and Jesse James was shot and killed. For years there was a sign on the edge of town that said, Welcome to St. Joseph; where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended. If that didn't make the beginning of my cowboy roots deep enough, then my dad bringing a pair of cowboy boots to the hospital as my first pair of shoes certainly did. I'm not sure I even owned anything but a pair of boots until I was at least 10 years old or so.

My parents brought me home from the hospital in a old convertible Carmen Ghia sports car. I was riding shotgun in my mom's lap (car seats weren't in vogue back in those days) when an approaching car crossed the center line and ran us off the road. The lady that was driving the other car was drunk. I guess that could have foreshadowed the wild ride that has been my life, but it also hinted at much of the good luck I would encounter during my life. All of us walked away from that wreck, even though the Carmen Ghia was totaled.

The first few years of my life were spent living in an old farm house just down the road from our family farm. Mom worked at the grain elevator in town as a bookkeeper and dad worked on the family farm (we were the largest dairy farm in NW Missouri at the time and also raised crops) and was breeding, raising, and training Quarter Horses. When I was about 3 years old we moved to town. Now, I use the term "town" loosley because "town" was 1,400 people and I still spent all of my time out on the farm until I left for college. We rebuilt an old house in town one summer and fall. It's funny, I can still remember some things from that summer vividly. We cooked every meal on an old grill and lived in a camping trailer until the house was finished. The focal point of our home was a large all brick fireplace built by one of my dad's really good horse friends. The bricks we used to build it were taken out of an old Civil War era home my father had torn down. My mom, sister and me spent what seemed like an entire summer cleaning those bricks. Chipping the old mortar off and scrubbing them so they could be used in the fireplace.

That fireplace has been the centerpiece of most of memories of home in one form or another. As a kid, once the weather got cold we never let it go out. It was a primary heat source for our house. Therefore, we cut ALOT of wood. I can't begin to tell you the countless hours I've spent out in the timber with my dad cutting wood, talking about life, and just observing nature. One of our favorite things to do was build a small little fire while cutting wood. We would cook dinner over and old coffee can turned upside down and vented. You may be noticing a pattern here...we did alot of cooking over open fires. To this day I still feel I can cook almost anything over a flame.

Back to the fireplace. It was the place we would always gather. In the summer I would sit on the brick hearth and watch baseball on TV. In the winter time we would gather round the fireplace in the evenings to visit. Family discussions were almost always in the living room by the fire. Early mornings before heading out to chore we had the ritual of warming our boots and clothes in front of the fire. At night after a long day of hunting, the fire would always be there to warm us back up after a cold day afield. That fireplace is a part of our family heritage. It's hard to explain, but we were fireplace people.

Not much has changed over the years. My parents still live in that house, the same carpet is still in the house from day one, there's only been one change of furniture in all those years and I think it's probably 25 years old now. Yes, going home for me is truly going home. I can't tell you how lucky that makes me feel. My parents continue to age and that makes me concerned, sad, and every other emotion a person probably feels. But it also makes me happy to see them as content as I've ever seen them.

When I arrived home to see my parents the fireplace burning. Mom was cooking in the kitchen and dad was proding and poking the fire to make it just right. Yes, it was good to be back home...

What Christmas means to me…

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I believe the true blessings from the Holidays come from giving not receiving.  Everyone here on myspace has given me so much this last year – I feel it's time to reflect and give back to you – my friends and fans. 

Every time I ask for your help you are there.  Each time my name comes up to be nominated, requested, voted for, or reposted for – you support me.  I don't deserve it really, but I sincerely appreciate your help.  This is my small way of doing something to show my appreciation. 

I'm not sure anything like this has ever really been done before – especially by an independent artist that's not being financially supported by a record label, but I'm going to do it.  *Laughs* - Maybe at the end I'll understand why.  I have no idea how many I will give away for sure, but at least 100 of them like I've advertised…and probably considerably more. 

Why am I doing this? 

 

Honestly I have no idea why.  It just seems like the right thing to do.  There is no hidden agenda, smoke and mirrors, gimmicks, etc.  Like I've said – I am even going to pay the shipping for the people selected. 

How Do You Get Selected????

I really only have two criteria to be considered.

1^st Post my "Ho Ho Holy Sh*t banner" on your page so your friends know I'm giving away CDs (It's located on the main page with coding to add to your page!)

2^nd Post at least one comment for the day you want to be considered.  You can post and be considered every day.  You can post as many comments as you want…but it takes at least one for that day to qualify.

That's it.  Nothing else. 

How Do You Increase Your Odds Of Being Selected????

I really don't have an exact answer to this question.  My elves and I will look at the comments each day and pick at least three to give CDs to.  All I can say is be creative, be original, be funny, be sincere – whatever you want – it's up to you.  If you're an old friend…point that out!  If you're a new friend that just heard about the giveaway tell me!  If you've sent me a ton of friends in the past point that out too!  If you don't want the CD for yourself, but someone that can't really afford one…tell me why you want it for them (just leave their name in private for later).    The point to this…it's all in fun...

No rules, no gimmicks, it's not a competition.

I'll be checkin my list twice...
and seein' who's been naughty or nice to me! 
So get your profiles ready for Santa Lance to come visit!

HO HO HO-LY SH*T

Lance "Santa" Combs

What a weekend of events! A quick recap:

We played the American Royal BBQ on Friday afternoon here in Kansas City. A special shout out to John Joiner for helping put together the lineup of bands playing there. It was great to see so many fellow musicians stopping by for a listen as we were playing. My only disappointment with the event was the fact we weren't able to stay around and listen to the music later in the day because of our schedule commitments. Thanks again to everyone for the nice words about our part in the festivities.

From there Jobi, me, and Herbal Tea packed our stuff up in the truck and headed to the casino in St. Joseph for our acoustic show. By the time we got there and got set up, we had about 20 minutes to buzz through the buffet line and eat. It was great to see so many people make a special effort to come back and see us after the last time we were there. I think everyone had a pretty good time with our acoustic show. Both nights the casino had to run people off because they had to shut the bar down at closing time. We might still be playing our Saturday night show had they not done that. One thing I would like to mention. Everyone at the Casino in St. Joseph has been super nice to us. We get pretty rowdy at times and they seem to like it. If you're ever in the mood for a change of scenery to try your gambling luck, I would consider making a trip up there. However...I did observe the oddest thing ever on a buffet line. They were serving barbequed hot dogs. I read the sign and was like, huh? I thought they meant lil smokies or something. Nope, they were hot dogs chunked up and sitting in BBQ sauce. I wonder if they were some kind of redneck delicacy??

But on to the real story...

Jobi and I in many ways couldn't be more different, but we both have the same sense of humor. Onry and fun loving I guess is how you would describe it. The same things tend to crack us up. As we are leaving the Casino we both notice this corn patch across the road. Jobi decides we should have some "souvenier" ears of corn so I stop the truck and we send Herbal across the highway to get some. I guess we forgot that there's still a ton of traffic coming and going from a casino at 2:30 in the morning. I can only imagine what people were thinking as they saw Herbal hoppin' around in the corn patch picking three ears of corn. (For those of you that may not know, Herbal is our harp player. He's this old black dude with crazy dreadlocked hair) I'm sure they aren't used to seeing THAT in rural America.

Back on the road we realize we need gas and that we are potentially hungry. At this point Jobi and I are jammin' out to some blues on the Ipod and Herbal is sawin' logs in the backseat. We haven't heard a peep out of him in almost an hour. I turn to Jobi and say hey...there's a Waffle House what do you think? All of a sudden from the backseat we hear this faint voice saying "Waffle? Waffle??" So we gas up and head to the Waffle House. This is quite the deal for Jobi and I, considering we had not been back to a Waffle House since "the incident".

For the record, this was the greatest Waffle House ever. We will leave the precise location unmentioned to protect the indentity of the employees, but let me say they were great. We put on a little impromptu concert for everyone and wound up with free breakfast, paper Waffle House hats, Waffle House visors, official Waffle House ceramic mugs, and a bag full of coffee beans to take home and grind. The customers were great, we sold a few CDs and had a great time. We all agreed, in all of our Waffle House concerts this was the best ever. As we are walking out the door with more money than we came in with and loaded down with our loot Jobi turns to me and says, "Man, I feel like I've just been to Disneyland or something and have a bunch of souveniers!"

Thanks again to everyone at the unnamed Waffle House. You have restored our faith in the great gathering place of late night partiers!