Christine Hand: Blog

Our show this Saturday at Harvest House has been cancelled. I hope we will reschedule in the future, so keep your eyes open. Thanks!

This Thursday night I will be playing solo at Opening Bell Coffee. This may be your only chance to hear me like this! If you're interested in coming out and showing your support, please check out the calendar page for info.

I just wanted to write a quick note of thanks to the good people of Just Off Main for providing a fun time at last night's show. We will be back there on Dec. 12th for A Very Special Christmas Show! Details to come, soon! Thanks, again!

So, tonight I had to play an open mic on my own, because my husband, Adam was in class. As wonderful as class is for nerdy people like us, we were both quite sad that he would have to miss the marvelous Free Dallas Music open mic. Now, I'm glad I had the opportunity to go solo, because it gave me a little confidence boost. I absolutely love the way my husband and I work together on stage -- when it's a trio, with my dad, it's even more fun. Still, I think this experience was good for me. I got nervous for the first time in a while. I tried out new material. Overall, it was a great night.

For the full trio experience, come out tomorrow night for our show at Just Off Main Coffeehouse in Grapevine, TX. It's going to be a blast, and the show and drinks are free!! (although donations are certainly appreciated). I'd love to see some of your smiling faces in the crowd!

Ah, it's that time of year again. New notebooks and pens. New books. New fall clothes that are entirely inappropriate for the Texas August heat. Football. Seeing friends and professors after the summer. I love back to school time! Yes, I realize I am a huge nerd. I have always loved back to school, and if I get to teach after I graduate, I probably always will love it. This weekend we get to get right into the spirit of back to school, since we are playing music for a "5th quarter" after the first football game of the year in Santo, TX. This just adds to the excitement I already feel about starting my classes this fall -- especially the Shakespeare class. Then, if all goes well, I will walk away with a Master's degree in December. Hooray for back to school!

So, I just got back from Crooked Tree Coffeehouse, which is where I'll be playing this Saturday night. It is a great place! The furniture is eclectic and the color scheme is cheerful. The people are friendly, and, perhaps most importantly, the coffee is good. Plus, they serve it in these fun mugs. Also, there is free wi-fi, made easily accessible with bar-style seating that is conducive to plugging in the laptop. The location is good too -- just off of McKinney in Uptown, not far from West Village (http://www.westvil.com). In fact, you could easily park in West Village, enjoy some shopping and awesome food (My personal favorite is Tom Tom Asian Grill) and then walk to Crooked tree, a few blocks down, for my show Saturday night, which starts at 9:00 pm. I really like it and am so excited to be playing there!

Of course, if coffee isn't your thing, and you need a place to relax before going back to work on Monday morning, you could come to The Absinthe Lounge in Dallas on Sunday night, starting at 9:00, for some good music served up by us, and a really fun, bohemian atmosphere.

I would love to see you! It's your last chance before school starts, so come see us, for a final bit of summer fun!!

I had a busy and satisfying weekend. We had two shows, Friday at Seekers Coffeehouse in Hurst, and Saturday at Eurotazza coffeehouse in Ft. Worth. We played well, met some great people, and overall, had a really great time. Plus, the Eurotazza "Meaning of Life" brew of coffee is one of my very favorites!!

Also, Friday night at midnight, after our Seekers show, I stood in line with many teenage girls to get my copy of Stephenie Meyer's fourth and final installment in the Twilight series, "Breaking Dawn." I finished it yesterday, and it was wonderful! I won't give anything away though, because I know there are still many who haven't read it yet.

Anyway, this weekend was great, and I just want to say a special thank you to the coffeeshop owners and baristas, as well as the lovely people who came to see us. Thank you!!!

We had a really great time last Friday, playing at White Rock Coffee in Dallas.

The coffee is really good.


Seriously. It's good coffee.

So, thanks to those of you who showed up, and for the excellent folks at White Rock Coffee for having us!

If you missed the show, you are in luck, because we're playing another one this Friday at It's A Grind Coffee in Frisco.

We start at 7:30 and play 'til about 10:00. Come anytime in between for your coffee fix along with a great, free show!

See you, then!

Exercise your right to vote by going to ourstage.com and voting for my song, "The Face of All the World" in the folk section. I'm currently in the quarter-finals!

Thank you for exercising your rights as a concerned citizen!

Last Thursday we played our first real show at Opening Bell Coffee -- a venue that has been on my personal list of places to play for several years. The show went really well, and I'd definitely like to thank all who came, as well as the fantastic people of Opening Bell who made the evening so wonderful.

Also, today, I celebrate my first year of marriage, and I think to myself -- It's been a great year! Our marriage is wonderful, we have shelves abounding with books, two cats that we love, and Adam's excellent job situation has put us in Dallas, where opportunities to play gigs like the one last Thursday abound. And that is only the beginning of the blessings. I am very thankful today.

We've been going to a lot of open mics lately. A coffeehouse in Hurst, called Seekers has a great one. Last night was our second time to attend, and, unbeknownst to us, this open mic was a contest, called "seekers idol." Well, we walked away as one of the top three winners, which puts us in the running for the grand prize: $50 and an opening slot for one of the main acts. If you'd like to see this happen, please join us on Monday, June 30th, so that you can vote in the finals.

My favorite part of the evening was that we didn't play any songs with traditionally Christian lyrics, or talk about faith at all, but after the evening was through a man came up and told me that my singing reminded him of Eric Little in Chariots of Fire, who ran because he could "feel God's pleasure" when he ran. That made me feel hopeful that we are doing something right -- that love songs, even sad ones, can reveal the hope and light and creativity of Christ to the listener.

This Saturday's show at Harvest House in Mount vernon has been cancelled and will be rescheduled for sometime in July or August. Sorry about this! Please keep checking the site to see when we reschedule.

Our gig Saturday night at Labyrinth Walk Coffeehouse was amazing! Thanks to everyone at LWCH for making the evening so enjoyable for us. The audience was fantastic, the fair-trade coffee delicious, and the Malvinas, with whom we shared the stage were excellent. This was an evening we will not quickly forget! Those of you who missed the show should be sure to come the next time we play there -- it is a venue not to be missed.

Last week I celebrated my 25th birthday. It was fun -- good time spent with friends and family. As usual on my birthday, I started thinking about my life, what I've accomplished, what I'd like to accomplish. Sometimes this is depressing. But the truth is, I am very content with where I am now. Contributing to this contentment is a sense of artistic growth.

About a month ago I played my very last show at Apostle Credo Coffeehouse, which has been an important venue to me since I started performing my own music about a decade ago. Because it was a special show, I decided to make the concert a trip down memory lane, choosing something from every important phase of songwriting during that 10-year period. The process was fun and extremely rewarding, as I realized how utterly blessed I have been -- not only to be able to write, perform and record my own music -- but also, to have experienced the things I have that led to the writing of those songs. Performing that concert was almost like my life in review.

Now I am in a new phase. A Dallas phase. This weekend we have a real gig in Dallas, at Labyrinth Walk Coffeehouse. All the details can be found on the calendar page of this website. I would really love it if you would come to the show, as I embark (God-willing) on another quarter-century of life and music.

Hey everybody! I just wanted to let y'all know that I am performing tomorrow night from 8-10 pm at a Starbucks in Arlington. The address is 1201 W. Arbrook. It's at the corner of Cooper Street & is across from the Parks mall. I would really love to see you guys there! Here's a link to a map: <http://www.starbucks.com/retail/find/storedetails.aspx?sid=681&coords=arlington%20tx|32.72543625353717|-97.10618499999998|11&fs=1>

A while back, I wrote about a website called ourstage where a fair system of judging makes it easy to let the best artists rise to the top! Today, I am encouraging you, once again, to JOIN! My song, "Echo In My Ears," has made it to the quarter-finals in the Christian/Spiritual category, and if you join today, you can help me make it to the top.

Here is a link to Ourstage.



Also, I would greatly appreciate it if any of you who join would also join my "fan club" on the site.

Thanks!!

This weekend we had the joy of performing our second concert at Harvest House Coffeehouse in Mt. Vernon, TX. This tiny coffeehouse is a product of the mutual cooperation of all the churches of Mount Vernon, who wanted to create a fun environment for kids to hang out. Well, since we played there last November the place has definitely grown. The coffee house was full of teenagers and a few adults and we had a really great time playing to such a fun crowd.

Also, props to the baristas: I have been searching for an excellent cappuccino outside of Rome ever since I tasted one in Italy, and so far the only place that has come close in my opinion is Eurotazza coffeehouse in Fort Worth. Imagine my delighted surprise when I ordered a cappuccino in this tiny Texas town and discovered a cappuccino to rival Eurotazza's in its smooth, delicious flavor.

We coupled the trip with a weekend spent with the in-laws in nearby Paris, TX. In all it was an excellent weekend of relaxation, good music, good coffee and good time with family.

This weekend we'll be at Advent Lutheran's monthly coffeehouse, "Six Strings and Coffeebeans." This is a great place, conveniently located on South Cooper Street in Arlington, TX. We'd love to see you there!

I'm writing again. Maybe it's the advent of Spring -- I don't know, but it feels good. That's all I wanted to say -- so look for some new songs to be posted here in the near future!

This weekend was the 11th annual DBU Paideia Conference. This is basically an event for nerds to get together and read their academic papers to each other. Since I am a nerd, this is my cup of tea. This year, I read a paper entitled “Bob Dylan and the Linguistics of Change.” The paper was well-received and a merry time was had by all. However, the true delight of the weekend was the keynote speaker, Grammy award winning songwriter, producer and writer Charlie Peacock, who let us listen in on his musings about life, faith and music, and treated us to a secret concert on the final day of the conference. There were also concerts by newcomer Jordan Lawhead and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. Jordan held his own next to Jon, handling some unexpected events on stage with grace. His songs were evocative and enjoyable, and the closing song, “Ocean” was an island delight, complete with ukulele. Jon Foreman was excellent. His new tunes from his solo projects reveal a marvelous range of musical and lyrical content. He has quickly shot to the top of my list of favorite songwriters.

In all the weekend was a refreshing, inspiring time for me. I was so encouraged to be a bold, brave, imaginative, creative person – as God has created me to be. Here are some websites where you can find out more:

www.charliepeacock.com

www.jonforeman.com

www.jordanlawhead.com

www.dbu.edu/Naugle/paideia.htm

The last time I wrote, I talked about how great the open mic is at Opening Bell Coffeehouse. Well, I also found out about another one that proved to be fantastic! This one is held the first and third thursday of every month at the huge half price books on Northwest Highway in Dallas. Find out all about it at their myspace page: myspace.com/freedallasmusic. I am so glad to be part of such a fantastic community of musicians here in Dallas, TX! Here's a picture of us at the open mic. See more pics from the evening by clicking on the link from the "cool sites" page of this website.