Vlog Day 46 - World Garden

I drove the 8 hours from Nashville to Bentonville, Arkansas today - stopped in Memphis for lunch, which I discovered was not conducive to a streamlined drive. Did you know that on half the streets in Memphis (maybe more) you can't turn left? This means that turning left involves intense circumlocution and lots of extra time. But all's well that ends well.
In Bentonville I played at World Garden Salads, a new soup and salad place that just started last fall and has a really neat focus. Through their sales they provide funding for orphanages around the world - a seventh of what they make from their soup and salad bar goes to seven different orphanages, so when you eat there (and the food is really good) you are making a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of children who otherwise would not benefit. Their food is great and they roast their own coffee - which is also phenomenal.
Rick and Mark's vision is to provide a fair-trade network for coffee growers and farmers both locally and worldwide that also benefits those who normally go without. They want to extend their food and craft resources to many different countries by purchasing coffee, tea, and spices directly from farmers, and crafts directly from artisans or through other trade resources such as Ten Thousand Villages. It is a really unique idea and one that really is working and making sense. World Garden is now beginning to think of franchising. You can hear directly from Rick in the video below - pardon the excited girls in the background. =)

The Reese Project @ the Hannah Garman Benefit

Saturday night I played at the Hannah Garman Benefit in Mounty Joy - it was a great time, and hopefully raised a decent amount of money. My friend Phil came along for the ride - we had a great conversation on the way there (and back, incidentally) about spiritual maturity and music. We had some time before my set, so took a tour of Bube's Brewery where the event was held. Pretty cool stuff - some great ghost stories and history of the place.
A few people performed and then I got up and played a few songs. Phil said that by the second song people were locked in to what I was doing, which was pretty cool. It's interesting how you know whether your music is connecting by how much people pay attention - another topic I could probably post on at another date. Got to meet @shanellelee, @kriscantshutup, and @jbairy - @kmueller62 was there too.
After me, The Reese Project got up - a jazz quartet that really blew me away. My friend Aaron Walker plays drums for them (and also for me on occasion) so I knew about them, but had never heard them live. It was slammin'. Tom Reese on flute, his wife Laurie on cello, Bobby Brewer on guitar and Aaron on drums. All really skilled players who make room for each other - you can check out their website for more info. The energy was palpable and they were all synced in to what was going on musically. It was pretty sweet. The songs on the site don't do justice to their playing though - the only way to really hear what they do is to go see them live. You won't regret it.

Hannah Garman Benefit Concert Tonight

I'm playing at a benefit concert tonight @ Bube's Brewery in Mount Joy. Since friends of mine have done so better than I could, please check out their Blogs about the event. Jess and Daniel and Ken have great things to say.