Christine Hand: Blog

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.

We had so much fun last night playing at the Open Mic at Opening Bell Coffeehouse in Dallas. We shared the stage with some awesome performers, including Tito Ortega, Arlis Moon, and Up From Under. All of these people are on MySpace, so check them out! In addition to these guys there were many more excellent performers, not to mention the super-human ability of our barista, Nate, who not only introduced all the performers, ran the sound equipment and whipped up excellent cappuccinos and lattes, but also closed out the evening of music with a great song of his own. If you are looking for a fun, quality open mic, go to Opening Bell Coffee (www.openingbellcoffee.com) in Dallas.

I wanted to invite you all to become part of ourstage.com, an online community for musicians and filmmakers. Each month, prizes are awarded to the winners in each music and film category and overall. Judging is done by members, who can either be contributing musicians or fans. Best of all, ourstage.com is cheater-proof. Their system of judging means the winners are chosen fairly!

Click on the above link for more information, and contribute to my score by voting in the acoustic, christian/spiritual and pop categories.

Just wanted to drop in and say what a great show we had last Saturday night at Apostle Credo Coffeehouse. At such small venues, it is often either feast or famine when it comes to audience size. But last Saturday was a good-sized crowd for the room and fellow singer-songwriter Dylan Sauers and I enjoyed the supportive atmosphere. Also, our new set up of Adam on electric lead guitar and my dad on bass was lots of fun. It gave a new bluesy feel to some old favorites. We may try this set up again on Feb. 8th when we play at Just Off Main Coffeehouse in Grapevine, TX. We would love to see you that night. Admission is FREE and the atmosphere is excellent for listening to music. Just go to the calendar page for a link to directions and more information about Just Off Main. Hope to see y'all soon!

In celebration of Christmas and the New Year, I am offering a FREE download of the song, "The face of all the world" from my album, "More than Make Believe." Just go to the music section to download the song for FREE! Like what you hear? You can download all the songs from "More than Make Believe" and "Rending the Veil" on iTunes as well as several other music download sites. Or, if you prefer the old-fashioned approach, click on the "buy" link to go to a page where you can purchase the CDs.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

On June 23rd, 2007 I married Adam Drew Jones. Some of you may know him as the lead guitarist and mandolin player on my last CD, "More than Make Believe." So, even though my "official" name is Jones, you can still find me playing and recording as Christine Hand.

Last Friday I had my first full-length gig since being back in the states. It felt great to be playing again. Artistic Blends is a great coffeehouse and it was recently featured in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, so I hope that more people will take notice of this unique and very welcoming venue. I had a wonderful time playing all the old songs and trying out some new ones. This Friday I'll be at Apostle Credo coffeehouse (www.apostlecredo.com). I've been playing at this place for a long time and the people there are wonderful. The show starts at 8 and I'm sharing the stage with Dylan Sauers and southern gospel duo, Faithful touch. It should be an evening full of variety and fun. That's all the news I have for now!

It's great to be home! Now it's time to get that gig calendar full. So, if any of you know of a place I can play, please email me at chand@christinehand.com

I am coming home to Texas tomorrow! Hooray! My adventure in England was wonderful, but I am happy to be coming home. We finished off our time in Thornaby with a big concert which was such a hit, that we are planning to put together a similar show for Texas. I'll keep you up to date on how that goes. Be sure to come see me play this Friday Night at Hulen Street Baptist Church. I"ve got a couple of new things and plenty of stories. I'd love to see anyone there. There's a bit more info. on the calendar page of this site. Goodbye for now! See you in Texas.