Aimee and I left our neighborhood in Minneapolis last week before the crab apple trees blossomed to enjoy the dogwoods of southern Illinois and St. Louis. We returned home late Monday night. My trip to the post office yesterday revealed that the trees on the parkway were in full bloom! Next to the front steps of our house there's a bleeding heart flower we planted and a number of native plants along the walkway. Most were the gracious gifts of our neighbors. They survived the winter and bloomed while we were away so that the walkway is adorned by red prairie smoke and the steps by pink and white bleeding hearts. In time, the orange and yellow day lilies and the blue spiderwort will show their colors. We may miss those blossoms as our summer fills up with performances, so I committed a few moments to stillness and enjoyed the blooming, bleeding heart this afternoon.

We spent this past week driving 1,200 miles, leading four worship services, performing three concerts, participating in a songwriters’ conference, reuniting with family and old friends, and meeting new friends. We’ve been reading Madeleine L'Engle's "The Irrational Season". A line we read on the drive has stuck to me throughout this week: "We've been promised freedom. We've not been promised independence." The more I travel, the more I know this statement is true. I might even go one further and say that true freedom only comes to those in community. Freedom and community are, at least, connected in a way that cannot be separated without greatly diminishing them both. What are your thoughts on this? I would really like to hear your thoughts. We've experienced a lot of freedom because of the communities who host us and our music. Thanks for being part of our community.

We started this little pledge drive on kickstarter.com 28 days ago and $3,560 has been pledged so far! As usual, we are honored by the great generosity of people. That's 51 percent of our $7,000 goal! There are 12 days left, and I want to take a moment to spell out exactly how this whole pledging process works... Folks use their credit card to make their pledge on our kickstarter page; http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103349008/new-music-for-worship-by-tangled-blue is the address for our page. The credit card used is not charged on the day the pledge is made. The pledge amount is charged on May 10th (the day our pledge drive ends) via Amazon.com’s secure network only if we reach our goal of $7,000. One of the reasons we chose kickstarter is because the pledges are only turned into dollars if we meet or exceed our goal. If we haven't reached $7,000 in pledges by May 10th there won't be a project to fund. I think this is a good thing. Our goal of releasing at least two new recordings in the next 20 months isn't realistically achievable without financial support. Though $3,560 is no small amount of support, we'll need the full amount to bring this music into full bloom.

There is a season for everything, and we've had a lot of music springing up in us lately. If we don't meet our goal on May 10th we won't stop working on these new songs. You will get to hear them eventually, but we would like to share them with you in this season. If every credit-card-carrying reader of this newsletter pledges $10 between now and May 10th we will exceed our goal of $7,000! For folks who pledge we've set up a few rewards. These rewards are set at the same price points as they would be if you were making a purchase of our music. A $10 pledge has a reward of all of the songs in our next recording in MP3 format. A $25 pledge has all of the songs as MP3 files and a signed CD. Go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103349008/new-music-for-worship-by-tangled-blue for a complete list of all twelve rewards. I've also posted two video journals of songs that may go on the new recordings to our kickstarter page. Simply click on the updates tab on our kickstarter page to view the videos, and let me know what you think of the new tunes. I plan on posting a couple new songs to our kickstarter page in the coming week, so check back to hear more of what we're working on. One last note on this pledging thing... we've heard from a few folks that they want to pledge but they don't use their credit cards online. If you would like to pledge with a personal check please print our pledge form and send in your pledge in the coming week. The address for the pledge form is http://tangledblue.com/pledgeform.pdf

We've added a couple new performances in the coming weeks. Aimee and I will be performing as part of a larger group at the Minnesota state capitol next week, and we have some great shows planned in South Dakota. I'll end this newsletter with a full list of our upcoming performances and worship services we will be leading. Thanks for listening. I hope to see you soon.

Under the Mercy,

Joel

joel@tangledblue.com

Upcoming Performances and OPEN dates

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Thursday, May 6th, 2010
MN Capitol National Day of Prayer - 11:30am
Minnesota State Capitol

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Friday, May 7th, 2010
Private concert in Sioux Falls

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Saturday, May 8th, 2010
Thank You Concert - 7:00pm
Univ. of Sioux Falls McDonald Center - Java City (lower level)

After eight years and 400,000 miles traveled we want to say "thanks". Admission is free. Your support is always welcomed. If you would like to help make this concert a success please invite your friends and consider pledging toward our next recording project at kickstarter.com by May 10th.

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Sunday, May 9th, 2010
Worship in Sioux Falls - 10:45am
Memorial Lutheran Church

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Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Concert in Robbinsdale, MN

Details will be posted soon!

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Friday, May 21st, 2010
Community Grill Out and Concert - 6:30pm
Peace Lutheran Church

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Sunday, May 30th, 2010
Worship in Inver Grove Heights - 9:30am
Emanuel Lutheran Church

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Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Worship in Edina - 10:45am
Cross View Lutheran Church

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Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
OPEN in North Dakota
mailto: info@tangledblue.com
We are looking to schedule a performance in North Dakota. Contact us if you would like to schedule a concert in your home town!

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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Concert Dickinson, ND - 6:30pm
Redeemer Lutheran Church

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Friday, June 11th, 2010
Thank You Concert - 7:00pm
Boneshaker Coffee Company

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Saturday, June 12th, 2010
OPEN in North Dakota
mailto: info@tangledblue.com
We are looking to schedule performances in North Dakota from June 12th through June 17th. Contact us for more information!

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Saturday, June 19th, 2010
North Dakota District Lutheran Woman's Missionary League Convention
http://www.nd-lwml.org

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Thursday, June 24th, 2010
North Dakota District Youth Gathering
Jamestown College

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Sunday, June 27th, 2010
Disciple Project 2010
Texas Lutheran University

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Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Worship in Plano, TX - 9:45am
Resurrection Lutheran Church

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Sunday, July 11th, 2010
OPEN in the southern states
mailto: info@tangledblue.com
We are looking to schedule concerts and lead music in worship services in OK, TX, and LA from July 5th through July 16th. Contact us if you would like to host Tangled Blue in your community!

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Sunday, July 18th, 2010
Youth Gathering in New Orleans, LA
We will be performing at the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod National Youth Gathering on July 18, 19, and 20. We will post more details soon!

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Sunday, July 25th, 2010
Guest Artists @ Outlaw Ranch
Outlaw Ranch

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Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Concert in Rapid City, SD - 7:00pm

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Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
Concert in Littleton, CO - 7:00pm

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Sunday, August 15th, 2010
OPEN in August
mailto: info@tangledblue.com
We are looking to schedule concerts and lead music in worship services in August. Contact us for more information.

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Sunday, September 12th, 2010
Concert in South St. Paul!
Concordia Lutheran Church

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Saturday, September 18th, 2010
Jr. High Youth Retreat
Lutheran Lakeside Camp

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Thursday, October 21st, 2010
North Dakota District Youth Gathering
http://ndyouthonfire.org

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Hello friends,

Just a quick note with some thoughts, a question, and few new upcoming concerts. I woke up this morning thinking about some of the music and relationships that have moved me, so I started this list. I was tempted to paw through our CD racks downstairs to jar my memory, but decided it would be a better exercise to simply list the musicians who come to mind. Here are the first forty in the order that they came to my mind...

Rich Mullins

Night Ranger

David Wilcox

Bruce Cockburn

King’s X

Lost And Found

U2

Aaron Strumpel

Tracy Howe

Charles Wesley

Over The Rhine

Storyhill

Billy Crockett

Pierce Pettis

Jonathan Rundman

Phil Madeira

Ashley Cleveland

Buddy Miller

Julie Miller

Toad the Wet Sprocket

Glen Phillips

Antonio Vivaldi

John Mellencamp

John Gorka

Cloud Cult

Collective Soul

Peter Gabriel

Prince

Paul Simon

Fleming and John

Lenny Kravitz

Bill Mallonee

Death Cab for Cutie

Bruce Springsteen

Martin Sexton

Kurt Elling

Everything but the Girl

The Choir

Blaine Howard

Harry Belafonte

If you were to make a list like this who would be on it?

As we’ve been preparing for this next recording, We’ve been thinking about how we can thank folks who pledge toward our goal of two new recordings in the next 20 months. We’ve decided to schedule a series of “Thank You Concerts” for folks who pledge via our kickstarter.com page. These five concerts will be open to anyone who pledges $10 or more... honestly, I can’t imagine turning folks away from an evening of shared experience. We will open these concerts to everyone, but your support is always welcomed. The dates and locations are at the end of this message and I will be posting more details as soon as they’re set. It will be helpful to know in advance if you can come so that we make sure there’s enough room for everyone. If these shows aren’t close to you, we’d love to organize a concert in your area. Contact us for more info.

As you may know, pledges toward our goal at kickstarter.com are not processed unless we reach our goal, so these Thank You Concerts may be completely free if we don’t reach our goal by May 10th. That’s OK. We make music because this is what we are called to do. With eight years and 400,000 miles of your support behind us and many more ahead, it feels like the right time to say “thanks”.

Under the Mercy,

Joel

joel@tangledblue.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103349008/new-music-for-worship-by-tangled-blue

Thank You Concerts:

Friday, April 23 - St. Louis, MO - more info. will be posted soon at tangledblue.com and http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113516565340653

Saturday, May 8 - Sioux Falls, SD - more info. will be posted soon at tangledblue.com and http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115892525089428

Friday, May 21 - Minneapolis, MN - more info. will be posted soon at tangledblue.com and http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116055051744484

Friday, May 28 - Eau Claire, WI - more info. will be posted soon at tangledblue.com and http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116240555054490

Friday, June 11 - Bismarck, ND - more info. will be posted soon at tangledblue.com and http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116029545075146

Hello,

I am writing to you from somewhere in the middle of somewhere. It’s mid-morning on Easter Saturday. Half way between the time when the sun refused to shine and when the Son will rise again. This feeling of being somewhere in the middle of somewhere, this Easter Saturday-ness is a place I’ve been found in often these days. It seems that tomorrow can’t come soon enough. As often happens a song from my youth comes to mind (August of 1986 to be specific... I was twelve): “Oh, we’re half way there; oh, livin’ on a prayer...”

I know that there is work to do here, today, but I am eager for tomorrow. Some of the work coming today will be really fun: I’m scoring a four part vocal arrangement of a song for worship services at Trinity Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, WI. Some of the work is boring and a bit tedious: doing the dishes. Part of me is really looking forward to the day (dishes and all), and another part just wants to forget about the dishes and watch the “Fringe”. Where do you find yourself today? Are you feeling, like me, that we are, together, this whole world on the verge of something big? I mean, life changing, Easter-y, kinda big! “...take my hand, we’ll make it I swear. Oh, livin’ on a praye r.”

Well, thanks for listening to me wax a bit nostalgic in that opening. Aimee and I are well. The trees are starting to bud around our Minneapolis home. It’s been in the 70’s this week so we grilled out four times. We had a meal with each of our neighbors and enjoyed the kind of conversation that comes with an open sky and warm air.

April has us leading worship music in Eau Claire, WI and Webster Groves, MO and May is bringing with it house concerts in South Dakota and more worship music around the Minneapolis area. We still have a few open spaces between now and when our summer tour takes off in June. Let me know if you’d like us to come and share some music in your community this spring.

The big news I want to share with you is that we’ve started to work on our next recordings! We will be cataloging the recording process in a more intentional way this time around and will be creating some video diaries of the songs as they come into being. We’ve already posted the first introductory video, and will post the first song video in the next day or so. We are utilizing a service called kickstarter.com to help us raise the funds for these new recordings and place these videos online. Our goal is to put a new video journal online every couple days throughout April. Here’s the address at which you’ll be able to find all of the new video journals: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103349008/new-music-for-worship-by-tangled-blue

Making plans about how these new songs will be recorded, has made us also look back on how we got here. For eight years you have supported us with your encouraging words, and with more than words, sustained our livelihood by purchasing our music for your own collections and inviting us into your communities to perform our “folk and roll” blend of caffeinated hymnody. Thank you! We are, once again, as always, going to need your help to make Tangled Blue - version 2.0 happen. We have four distinct recording projects in the works, and a goal of releasing at least two of them in the next 20 months. This is a huge (never before achieved by us kinda) goal. We’ve never been able to complete a recording project in less than two years, but I’m confident that with your help we can get these new recordings out with both quality and speed. All of the details are on the kickstarter.com page I posted above, but there’s one detail I want to especially mention. Our kickstarter.com page has tools set up to easily send info. to your facebook page or send an email to your friends with a link back to us. If you and your friends are moved by the songs we are posting on kickstarter, I am confident we will be able to meet our goals.

Thanks for walking with us. We are looking forward to the conversations these new songs will bring. We hope to see you soon!

Under the Mercy,

Joel

joel@tangledblue.com

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103349008/ new-music-for-worship-by-tangled-blue

http://www.tangledblue.com

PS - Upcoming Tangled Blue Performances and Open Dates can be found at tangledblue.com

It's been far too long since I've sent out a proper update, and this shouldn't be counted as one. It's 10:44 on a Sunday night and my eyelids are already heavy. We've had a good day of church, family, and football... made me feel almost normal, like I hadn't spent the majority of the last three months crisscrossing the country. We were in central and western New York for the first half of October and watched the leaves change as we drove some new roads to new destinations. There's something about Fall that draws my pen to paper more than the other seasons. As Aimee napped in the passenger seat I would take in the brilliant burning hillsides and let the words knock around until a pattern would start to take shape. Maybe the best of these driving/writing hours yielded this simple idea: Home is nowhere near, but Home is somewhere here between your hand in my hand.

I've been thinking a lot about community lately. How it is a necessity for us. How we've found it with new friends and old friends alike. Thanks for being part of this strange non-geographic, in the moment, on (the road) again, off (to the next) again, community that's supported us over these 380,000 miles. We have a few shows left in 2009 and a few open weekends. If you would like to host us in your hometown, we'd like to come.

I hope to see you soon!

Under the Mercy,

Joel

joel@tangledblue.com