Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Notes From Underneath the Mistletoe

‘Twas the night before Christmas…sorry couldn’t resist. So, Christmas is my hands-down favorite holiday. You are allowed to binge on food without people looking at you like you were one of the animals present at Jesus’ birth, you get to curl up by the fire and watch holiday movies and tell everyone what you’re thankful for, and it’s the only time of the year where you can pick up eggnog at the grocery store.

 A big part of the Christmas season to me, is sitting down to watch my favorite Christmas movies. Tonight, Shan and I will chill out in front of the TV to watch Home Alone 1 & 2, Gremlins, Christmas Vacation, and of course Die Hard. We (the Easter family + Shan) all sat down to watch Home Alone 2: Lost In New York the other night, it was Maura’s first viewing and it was fantastic to see the light, yet slight worry, in her eyes whenever Harry or Marv were injured. Another bonus, for me, when it comes to Home Alone 2, is I get to hear one of my favorite Christmas songs in the middle of the movie…..Enjoy.

 

 

 

Aside from becoming a vegetable in front of the television, we will exchange gifts with my uncle (Mom’s brother) and cousins, Shan’s family, and Greg & Char. Funny thing about our gifts for everyone else, we got them yesterday. As you can tell from that little factoid and from keeping up with my blog, I’m a world-class procrastinator.

 So, that’s about it for my plans for the evening. On Christmas day, we'll spend some time with the Lewis side of the family here in Lincolnton, then on the 26th, we’re going to my grandparents’ house in North Carolina. It’s always fun to see them, we’ll exchange gifts, maybe go to a movie, play a few board games, and then we’ll head home.

 I know a lot of you are wondering, Mom is doing very well, she is done with chemo and she is feeling a lot better. This was a tough year, but I know it has made us all stronger.  It was bad, don’t get me wrong, but in a way, I’m thankful that I experienced that no one is untouchable, any of us can be caught off guard by life’s inconveniences. We just have to work through them and know that we’ll be stronger on the other side of them.

 I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and to those of you who are going through tough times this Christmas, hang in there, you have people praying for you and thinking of you, whether you know it or not.

 

Merry Christmas,

ME

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

He's Heeeeerrrrrrreeeeee.......



Hello again,

 

When I started this blog, I had no idea how difficult it would be to keep up to date. My current college schedule doesn’t make updating any more convenient. We just finished up on the Gaither west coast tour, it was a blast but it that kind of a run will really wear you out, I got to do a lot of really cool things over the past two weeks though.

 Shannon, Morgan, Shawn, and I got to go see the Beatles Cirque Du Soleil LOVE show (pictured above), in one word it was simply scrumtrulescent (so amazing a word had to be created). We also got to spend a day in a cabin out on Lake Tahoe, play around in Disneyland, and hang out in Vegas for a day. It was an awesome trip but like I said, tiring.

 I know a lot of you want to know how Mom is handling her treatments. She is doing very well, We only have one more treatment left! This has been a tough phase but it’s almost over, and I can honestly say it has made each of us stronger. She wants me to thank everyone for their prayers, they’ve really gotten us through.

 Let’s see…What else has happened since we last spoke? Like I said a few posts ago, we are listening to songs for our new album. We are going to start tracking on December 17th in Nashville. I’m really excited about this new record, it has a lot of heart and soul put into it already.

 We’re fixing to start our vacation time, we normally take the latter half of December off for personal time. It gives us a nice little break until the new year has started. The vacation let’s us kick off the new year refreshed and ready to play. I’m going to go down to Orlando for a few days with some close friends, I think we’re going to go to Disney and Universal. After Vegas, I may try to catch another Cirque show.

 Well, I think that should catch you up a little bit. Keep commenting and checking in for updates, I’ll try to get better at this thing. I haven’t forgotten about the questionnaires, I’ll try to get Morgan’s up ASAP.

 Take Care,

ME

 

P.s. I’m 20 today.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Another Little Break...

Sorry I haven't logged on recently, I'm starting a new class and the schedule is a little hectic. I'll try to post a full blog this week giving you updates on Mom and everyone else.

Until then,

ME

Thursday, September 25, 2008

I'm Baaaack...


First I want to say, there was a mix-up a few weeks ago with the comments. I selected about four of them and instead of clicking "approve" I clicked "reject", rookie mistake. So just letting those people know, there wasn't any reason why your comments weren't approved, other than it was my mistake. Sorry about that.


So, NQC.... If you ever wondered how Superman felt after being exposed to kryptonite, go to NQC as a part of a group. You come home feeling beaten, and don't ask me why. I would think it'd be a pretty easy week, set up once, perform short sets, work the table for a certain shift and that's it. But for some reason, you feel like you lose a few months in that one week. 


So I'm going to do a little questionnaire every few days, to help everyone get to know our group on a more personal level. I'll start with my own:


Name- Madison Allen Easter


Birthday- 11/26/1988


Interests- Playing guitar, reading, watching movies, and talking to anyone about anything.


What is your occupation with Jeff & Sheri? Guitarist


Favorite Movies- That Thing You Do!, This is Spinal Tap, Tombstone, The Shawshank Redemption, Batman (1989), Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Office Space, anything by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Mallrats, etc.), any Quentin Tarantino flicks, Almost Famous, Tommy Boy, The Shining, Goodfellas, any Tom Hanks flick, Fight Club....there are way too many to list ALL of my favorites. After all, I AM a movie buff.


Favorite Albums- Diorama - Silverchair, Continuum - John Mayer, Big Ones - Aerosmith, The Life of Chris Gaines - Garth Brooks, Hot Wired - Brent Mason.


Favorite Artists- John Mayer, Bruce Hornsby, Brent Mason, Peter Cetera, Don Henley, Richard Marx.


Favorite Books- The Bible, The Shining, The Long Halloween, The collective works of Edgar Allen Poe, The Screwtape Letters.


Favorite Waste of Time- Watching TV/Movies and playing video games.


Favorite Pizza Toppings- Pepperoni, I'm a simple fellow.


Favorite Television Programs- Heroes, The Office, Arrested Development, The X-Files, Friends, Dexter, Family Guy, Boy Meets World.


What type of car do you drive? Lincoln Blackwood and a 1968 Camaro.


How many vehicular accidents have you ever had? 0


What was the last movie you saw in theaters? Tropic Thunder


What was the last concert you attended (leisurely)? Matchbox 20 and Alanis Morissette


Top 3 websites you check every day- Joblo.com, Engadget.com, Superherohype.com


Most embarrassing moment- I have a new one almost every night, but there's one that really sticks out though. We were doing a show in North Carolina a few years ago, I had a brand new PRS guitar with a little cheap-o strap. The guitar is a very heavy one, so when you add that factor to the cheap strap, the outcome won't be a good one. The strap gave way in the middle of the set and the guitar fell to the ground and knocked a nice little chunk out of it.


Favorite part of traveling- Meeting new people and seeing my friends from other groups.


Something fans don't really know about you- I'm a HUGE movie buff! You name it, I've seen it at least once. I'm also a giant Batman buff.


If you could have any other job, What would it be? I'd honestly love to be an English teacher if music had no part in my life. 

My DVD collection. I have about 350, I'm still working on it though.

So that's it, I'll probably get Morgan and Kyle to fill out their questionnaires later this weekend. We are in Mt. Airy, NC for Mayberry Days this weekend. I can't believe it has been a full year since we shot that video! That show is always a blast, I love doing the "We Are Family" shows, it's so much fun to play as one big group. 


I know all of you are wondering about Mom, she has gone through her second round of chemo and she is doing fantastic! This is all going much better than I expected. I don't mean to make it sound like a "nothing" thing, it's still difficult, but we're handling it well.


Keep the comments coming, they're always a fun read!


Take care,

ME


Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I'm Still Here

Don't worry, I am still here and I am going to write a full blog in a few days. I am simply whipped from the NQC trip. I've been home for a day or so and I'm just starting to get my head straight. 

I got to meet a few of you at NQC, some of you are people I've known for a while but I had no clue that you had even found this page. It's still pretty cool, to me, that so many of you are reading this stuff. Thank you so much!

Until next time,

-Maddy

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

A Few Hours Home

We are home today, but just long enough to wash a few loads of clothes and get our bearings straight. 


We performed at Silver Dollar City on Monday and Tuesday, those shows are always amazing. I am taken back every year when I step on to that stage and see how many people have come to hear our music. At one moment, I, literally, had my breath taken when the crowd showed their support for Mom by giving her a standing ovation, I mean here are thousands of people standing and applauding, letting us know that we are not alone, that is a feeling that can't be described through words alone. I don't know if any fan of any genre of music will ever, fully, understand how big of a role they play in the lives of artists. 


Mom's immune level is really well according to her blood tests.  Days 7-10 are when levels typically drop and hers started to drop a bit, due to the chemo, at the same time that Maura developed a little bit of the croup. The croup can manifest itself as laryngitis in adults, so Mom sounded a bit "froggy" during the last few shows. She said she was feeling no pain, she just sounded rough, she's feeling all better now but it did let us realize how easily it is for her to catch something, so we have been overstocking the bus on anti-bacterial hand washes. 


In other Jeff & Sheri news, we have started listening to songs for our new album. That is a bit of fun because of all of the varied opinions coming together at once. Mom has more of the 70's pop taste, where Dad's is a more classic country taste, making the two blend is really fun. I'm really wanting to take this album back to the old Jeff & Sheri sounds, the more acoustic driven sound, very similar to where they started. My favorite Jeff & Sheri album is Silent Witness, I've constantly been listening to that one for some inspiration on where to take this new sound. When we start cutting tracks, I'll start posting videos to the blog to keep everyone updated on as much of the album-making process as possible.


As far as my personal life, I started college this past week. I decided to take a year off from school to just have some free time, you know, to read books that I want to read instead of books that I have to read. I really enjoyed it, but now it's time to get back to being a student. It's a little difficult getting back into the swing of things, but one of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Aritstotle, "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet". While it is very difficult for me now, I know that it will be well worth it when I am finished. 


NQC is coming up next week, I'm looking forward to catching up with some friends that I rarely get to see. I'm also looking forward to catching up with some of you that have been keeping up with this blog.


Keep in touch and take care,


-ME


Friday, August 29, 2008

Time Keeps on Slipppin, Slippin, Slippin


So this morning, I woke up in Birmingham, AL. Yesterday I woke up in Indiana. You get used to, magically, waking up in different states every morning. We spent a good bit of the day at the galleria in Birmingham, Mom loves a good mall when she can get one. We usually go to grab a bite to eat before setting up, but we just went straight to the church today. 


Whenever we arrive, we will go inside and check out the particular building, see what type of sound we will be dealing with. We start setting up, Shawn and I are in charge of speakers, my guitar rig, product, Dad's mixer and keyboard. Once we have set up, about 30 min. after we have gotten there, we do a sound check. By this time, it's about time to shower, you may have a few minutes, on a lucky day, to grab a sandwich and watch an episode of The Office. 


The shows over the past couple of days have gone really well. We have started staging a new song for Morgan. She is doing very well on it, we, as a band, are still working out a couple of kinks, mainly just deciding on a particular intro. Morgan is doing it really well though, she is really growing as a singer. 


We have a concert tomorrow, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, we will be home Wednesday, then we leave Wednesday night and will be gone until the 15th. So we are in the middle of a busy cycle, to say the least. But I'm pretty excited because after we get back from this little run, my favorite television seasons start. I'm particularly excited for Heroes, The Office, and Dexter, but I'm going to have to wait until January for Lost.  As you can tell, I'm a nerd when it comes to my TV, unfortunately, I still don't have satellite. Kyle and I moved into a home that we renovated back in March. The house was one of Pop Lewis' first homes, he used to say that it was an old house when he moved into it in 1905, so needless to say it was a bit of a task to restore. I'll post pictures soon.


Well, I can't think of much more to catch you up on. I did have an idea for a new weekly blog, I'll introduce you to different members of our group that some of you may not know yet, but they are without a doubt just as important, if not more, to our ministry. I'll basically just tell you all about them, their favorite things about being on the road, being at home, and a few other tidbits about themselves.


Again, thank you all for your comments. 


Hope to see you at one of our shows soon.


-ME 

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Just in Time to Get on the Bus




I want to start off by thanking everyone that commented here and on the post I created on sogospelnews. Like I said in the last post, you'll never realize how much words of encouragement help. 

We leave tonight, which usually means that I'll do absolutely nothing productive until the hour before we pull out of the driveway. I never pack, I will honestly just grab a handful of clothes that I washed this week and get on the bus. I realize this won't be the most interesting blog that I will write but it is something that happens once a week, so in order to get the full Jeff and Sheri experience, you have to go through the preparation.We normally leave the night prior to a concert, it just gives us a full day wherever our destination may be. The night that we leave, for me, normally goes like this: 

About 2 hours prior to leaving, I go to get the groceries for the bus. Basically, I just buy the same stuff every week. Fruits, vegetables, chips, soups, sodas, waters, Ramen noodles, and Chef Boy R Dee ravioli, all key ingredients to a wonderful "road" diet. 

By the time I get back from the grocery run, we are about 30 to 45 minutes away from pulling out. I'll put all of the groceries on the bus and then load up my clothes and any equipment I took off of the bus during the week.

Once that is finished, it is just a matter of parking my truck and getting on the bus and waiting on everyone else, or vice versa. 

After everyone has made it onto the bus we have prayer.

Then it is time to start a weekend.

Keep in mind, I have one of the easiest lists of anyone else getting on the bus. Mom normally has it pretty bad because she is packing the briefcase, suitcases for her and Maura, and making sure that she has all of her casual and dress clothes along with a weekend supply of diapers, ahh the surprises God can bless us with. Mom had her first chemo treatment on Monday, she is doing pretty well. Other than a couple of bouts with nausea and headaches, chills and fever she's been her usual self with lots of energy.

Well, that's about how it goes on the nights that we leave. Not extremely interesting, but it's just another part of traveling. It's pretty hectic but once we all get on the bus and get settled Mr. Michael Scott and other Dunder Mifflinites of The Office, or Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Monica, and Phoebe help keep us entertained during the long hours of just riding from state to state.

Monday, August 25, 2008

First Time Blogger

So, this is my first time writing a blog. It'll probably take me a while to get used to this kind of thing, but I'm sure after a while, I'll get the hang of it.

I'm mainly writing this blog for fans of Jeff & Sheri, just to give an idea of what it's like to travel on our bus and live the way we do. This blog will really help occupy my time for the next few months, we leave out Wed. and won't be home until the end of September. Then in November the Gaither tour has its west coast run, and that will take about two full weeks. It's a hectic time for us right now, Mom started chemo this morning and it's going to be a rough three months. She is definitely the strongest woman I've ever known in my life. The way she has gone through this entire ordeal without the tiniest shake in her faith has literally astounded me.

Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in July. We were performing at a Fourth of July concert in South Carolina when the call came in, the bus was silent, and then the news came. I had a tough time that weekend, I didn't fully understand how you can get that news and within a few short hours go on stage and sing to people, "Life is Great, and Gettin' Better". I won't lie, I was in a terrible mood for about a week, I felt as if I had been beaten with a sledgehammer. I didn't want to talk to anyone, even though that would have helped. I didn't want to eat, sleep, perform, or even acknowledge what was going on. I almost thought that if I ignored it, the cancer and all of the pain would just go away.

Since that time, we've received hundreds of letters from people just like us. That is what's helping our family through this the most, hearing from fans that we are not alone. I have found out in the past few months that every single one of my friends has battled cancer at some point in their lives, whether the carrier was a parent, family member, or even themselves. These stories have been my biggest source of encouragement. Knowing, that we are in good company seems to subside the pain.

Even though I was in a dark place, and was hurting every second of the day, Mom never once let me down. She is a fighter, she will beat this thing to a pulp. She has only missed one weekend, due to her mastectomy, and since then she has gotten on stage every night and meant every word she has sang. Her faith is, without a doubt, the strongest of anyone that I have ever met. When she gets on stage, she means it when she says that, "Life is Great, and Gettin' Better". We all have a new perspective on every single one of our songs, "Praise His Name" is a new personal favorite.

Mom had a scan a few weeks back that checked the rest of her body for cancer, all of the tests came back negative. We are going through the chemo as a precaution, just to make sure that we fight it with all we can.

Reading back, my post seems very heavy, I'm honestly not that big of a downer, I just needed to vent that little bit, to let everyone know exactly what has been going on. Now that I have caught everyone up on the prefatory matters, I can take it day by day explaining fun and interesting things to all of our fans.

I'll try to keep everything as up to date as possible.

Take care,

-ME