Hello Hello.
The guys from Bayside are on a list of friends who feel like family. It’s been one of our favorite parts of TWLOHA – the stories that we’ve been invited into and the friends that have become a part of ours, perhaps yourself included. Bayside has spent the last six weeks making a record in Los Angeles and i had the privilege of being there for the grand finale… So Anthony was handed a copy of the final mixes Friday night and we jumped in my little rental car to go meet some friends for dinner.
Anthony puts the CD in and i turn it up and he gives me a little intro for each song. We’re on the 405 north and the sun is low and bright against the hills. The songs are good and so i tell him and it crosses my mind that this is probably one of the cooler things ever to happen in a Dodge Caliber. We get a few songs in and it comes to a place where there’s a whole bunch of people singing. The part really stands out and so i ask him about it.
“How many people are singing there?”
“It’s actually eight, but there’s three tracks for each one so it sounds like 24.”
“Oh, wow, how did you guys pick them? Do you try to find people who can sing?”
“No, because we want it to sound more like a gang than a choir.”
i don’t know why but i really liked that answer… It made me think about the ideas behind those things, and the ways that they’re the same – both perhaps attempts at being less alone. Both made up of people and people made up of so many different things. We all fight and sing.
The friends we met for dinner were Hawthorne Heights, in town with a day off from the Projekt Revolution tour. It was really great to get some time with those guys, to talk about the tour and their new record and what’s new with TWLOHA. We spent some time talking about the Casey shirts – it was so cool to hear the HH guys say how much it means to them to see the shirts on the road every day. The shirts have continued to sell and our plan now is to invest the profit from those shirts into treatment and recovery in Casey’s home state of Ohio. Casey Calvert believed in TWLOHA because he lived with some of the issues we talk about. He wanted people to know about hope and help. This community was amazing in responding to a very real need when Casey died. Sales from the shirts literally covered the funeral expenses so that Casey’s family wouldn’t be stuck worrying about those bills. Your support helped his wife Ashley in a very difficult time. It’s exciting to think now that the initial need was met and it has become an opportunity invest in treatment and recovery in the place that mattered most to Casey.
On Saturday, i spent some time with a guy who’s been in treatment in Los Angeles for the last couple months. TWLOHA has invested over $16,000 in his treatment, and again, you guys have made that possible. This was my third time seeing him and it has been nothing short of amazing to witness the transformation in his life. i remember three months ago, his friends and family were worried for his life. i sat across from him on Saturday, and there was this new clarity and strength. Security. i’ve been thinking a lot about that last one – security perhaps an expression of freedom. Hope realized. The ability to say “i’m okay.” The ability to let go. The ability to keep going. It’s powerful stuff.
This guy is working again, two jobs at the moment. He’s working hard, he’s going to meetings, he’s finding community. He’s reading and writing, finding his own story, believing this is the middle. He’s talking to his kids again. In short, he is fighting the good fight and it’s beautiful to see.
On behalf of a lot of people who love this guy, thank you for making it possible. We’re in all these things together.
Peace to you.
jamie
PS: i am off to Santa Barbara to catch Jon Foreman at Stateside Theatre. Timmy Curran is opening, should be great. Hope to see some of you there.
New blog tomorrow. There’s a movie you need to know about.