The time has finally come!  We’re back out on the road!  I’m beyond excited to be on tour again.  The shows have been going great.  We kicked things off in Baton Rouge, and y’all made us feel right at home for our first time in town.  The production has gotten substantially bigger for this tour, which adds to the stress factor a bit, but the payoff is definitely worth it.  It’s amazing what a few lights can do for a stage show, and our crew is doing a great job of working everything in.  We hit a bit of a travel snaffu on the way to Dallas when had a tire blow out on the bus.  The great thing about renting a bus this time around is that when that happens…none of us have to get out there with a tire iron and man-up.  It’s all taken care of.  That’s a very comforting thought for me.  We made it to Dallas slightly behind schedule to play the House of Blues on Thursday.  It was our first time headlining the big room there.  This time the crowd was THREE TIMES as big as our last Dallas show!  We are constantly blown away by how y’all are coming out to support us.  The energy was through the roof for the entire show.  That was hands down my favorite Dallas show we’ve ever done.  Thanks Big D!  Last night in OKC was another surprising turn-out.  Seeing that many people in a place we haven’t really played before is a testimony to how phenomenal our fans are.  Y’all get into us, and then you get your friends into us.  That’s what I LOVE about NEEDTOBREATHE fans.  I had an unfortunate mishap loading-in to the venue yesterday.  A rather heavy piece of our new light show decided to land on my big toe.  I shook it off and fought through sound check, but when it started turning several shades of nasty I figured I should do something about it.  Luckily a lovely woman at the Diamond Ballroom named Terry was a nurse when she wasn’t selling concessions, so she took a look at it for me.  I won’t get into the gory details, but it did involve a lighter, a paper clip, and LOTS of gauze.  With my big toe looking much healthier today, I’m ready to take on Houston!  See y’all in a couple hours!

- Joe