Offering: News/blog

I can’t believe how amazing Watermelon festival turned out to be!!! (And what a crowd)!!
For all of you who don’t know what Watermelon festival is let me fill you in. Watermelon fest is a time for people of all ages to gather together in Carytown, eat watermelon, shop, listen to music, and have a great time! Offering played under a little tent from 2 to 3 and boy did people respond well! People would stop what they were doing and stand in the middle of the street to hear us, (good thing the roads were blocked off)! The people there really responded to us as a band and they really seemed to enjoy the music we played. It was such a blessing to play at such a wonderful event!

Jonathan
Violin/mandolin player for Offering

Mark your calendars for Christmas in July! Now that the Fourth of July is behind us, it's time to start thinking about Christmas in July - Offering's third annual marathon Christmas concert/food drive benefiting the Central Virginia Food Bank. Friday July 25 we'll play at the Braves, and Saturday July 26 from 1-10 pm at the Positive Vibe Cafe. Come enjoy great Christmas music, help people in need (bring peanut-butter and caned tuna, specifically), and if you are able to join us on Saturday - support the Positive Vibe Cafe!

Offering is opening up for British internationally touring and charting band Delirious? (yes, that question mark is a part of their name!) at the National in Richmond this coming Saturday, June 28, at 8 pm.

This weekend we are heading back to our friends in Staunton, VA - about 2 hours from Richmond - to play a local Memorial Day Arts Festival, an evening concert in the park, and a Sunday morning worship service. We're excited! Road trips=fun!

The dates for Arts in the Alley - Offering's newest community project - are now set: August 23-24 of this year.

During Arts in the Alley a group of Richmond-based artists will dedicate time to clean and revitalize Walnut Alley in downtown Richmond (trash clean-up, painting walls, weeding, cleaning, etc.). Shortly following, a celebration/arts festival event will take place in the same alley including live music by several bands, dance performances, as well as an actual art gallery, children’s art activities, and mural painting.
Our goal is to contribute in a practical and energizing way to the revitalization of our city, and participate in the building of a positive community within the city of Richmond. This also provides a way for promising artists, who might not have other venues at their disposal, to display their talents.

Stay tuned for more information!

It's hard to believe (for us at least) that it has been four years since we recorded our first CD (for us, it seems like yesterday - the youth room at WEAG, lots of candles, lots of cables, Pat Bragg talking in our heads through our in-ear monitors, and at the end, a live worship CD). We just ran out of the second 1000 of that CD which meant we had to order the third run. Those numbers may not sound overwhelming, but when you realize that of all CDs released per year something like 90% sells 100 copies or less.... 2000+ suddenly does not sound so bad!

In a few weeks Offering will be hosting and playing the second annual Rock 4 Life concert together with the Thomas Dale High School Orchestra. This year's concert will benefit AIDS relief in Africa, and the students have been working for months on the arrangements, advertising, logistics, and lots of other stuff. On the program are songs like KT Tunstall's Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, U2's Beautiful Day, and Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer.

A few weeks ago, our photographer (DJ Glisson) came out to two of our shows and took a ton of really, really great pictures (of course it helps that DJ is a really, really great photographer). We'll start using the pictures soon, and sometime later this year we'll have an official photo shoot for new official band pics.

So we’re playing at Fort Lee Army Base this past weekend - we play for the soldiers there once every three months or so, and it’s always a great experience. Last week was interesting though - to say the least. Our guitarist/singer lost her wallet the day of the show. And you need a driver’s license, or at least a picture ID, to get on a military base. She brought her passport, but mistakenly grabbed the expired one. So at five till seven (concert starts at seven) I get a frantic phone call: she cannot get on base. Our keyboard player is not going to be there that night, and I do NOT play guitar well enough to carry a concert (worship I can handle, concert: not so much). So I beg a sergeant who knows us to intercede on our part, while Greg, our drummer, and myself get going (the soldiers have a limited time they can be at the coffee house, so we cannot wait too long). We scrape through the first two songs, and halfway through song #2 get the thumbs-up sign from the back: Kim and Dan (our bass player) are on their way in. I have seldom been so happy to see band members show up! By the time we took our first break my heartrate is finally down to normal again. All a part of life on the road :).

I have been reading an amazing and sobering blog the past few weeks - a young Australian woman who is losing her battle with colon cancer. She writes openly and honestly, and it moves me. Here's the link. Her name is Jen, she is a single mom. Say a prayer for her.

I am sitting at Common Groundz Coffee, where we are playing tonight - it is pouring down rain and instead of heading back home after a lunch meeting I figured I would go straight there and stay through the evening. So I am sitting on a super-comfy Ikea couch, drinking a snickers-latte (I am not kidding), and working on my laptop. This place is supercool - the bathroom walls are made of blackboard, and there's colored chalk sitting in a basket - needless to say you don't need reading material :). There's a huge bookcase with lots of topics represented. Lots of games under the coffee table. Music with an edge playing (interesting mix between world music, techno, and emo). I am loving this place already, and as icing on the cake we get to play here tonight!

I started using Twitter today, and I can see why this could be addictive. I have had an account for a few months but had never done much with it - I guess I did not quite catch what was so attractive about the entire thing. Basically, with Twitter you send out frequent, short messages ("tweets") that let other people know what you are doing right at that moment. People subscribe to your feed, and get those messages via email, the web, IM, or text message. Sound pointless? Not so fast. For example, I convinced Mark, our cellist, to sign up for Twitter today. So throughout the day he posted things he was doing at work. Suddenly, I feel like I am much more a part of Mark's life. I know some of what he has been doing - which I would not have otherwise, since I am not going to see Mark until Friday, when we're playing a show. It's a way to be a part of your friends' lives, or of a band or an organization (lots of bands and organizations twitter).

Anyone else out there willing to try Twitter along with me? Here's what you do:
1. go to www.twitter.com and sign up for a free account
2. find offering on twitter and sign up to "follow" us (click on the link above, or go to www.twitter.com/offering) - which will allow me to find you and in turn follow you
3. twitter a few times a day about what you are doing RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT

Twittering,

Jeanine

We led worship at a local church last night, and on the piano I found a liturgy for a funeral service that was help there the day before (Saturday). For a little baby girl named Delaney. I don't know anything about her, how old she was, did she live after she was born, anything like that. But as I glanced through the liturgy, read the songs of hope and love for this little girl, I could not imagine the grief her parents must be going through. Life is precious, even when it is hard, and when it ends (in this case) before it really even begins…. Immediately before the service we were playing at there was a Baptist Mass, with three little babies being baptized. The contrast. And it made me realize once again that I really do not have answers.

Wow. A new year already. I love the start of a new year - not that the days really are any different, but it somehow just feels different. A new year, a new month, new chances, new opportunities. In some ways 2007 was a good year (lots of great band stuff happened), but personally it was hard because my dad passed away in January, which kind of colored the entire year. And, while I still (and always will) miss him, I am looking forward to 2008 and to the chances and opportunities it will bring.

Happy new year to all of you!

Jeanine

This morning, Wednesday December 5, Offering will be performing live on Lite 98 (98.1 FM) between 7-8 AM - four songs total, one in each 15-minute slot. Tune in, and let the wonderful people at Lite 98 know you appreciate them featuring us! (their phone number is 474-0000).

You can listen on the internet at www.lite98.com as well!

We just started our Christmas concert series - ten concerts in 22 days - and now that we have the first two behind us, I am relieved and feel like I can actually look forward to the rest of the series. I love Christmas music, and I love the Christmas CD we released last year, but it's always a bit of touch and go before I feel comfortable with all the music again - after all, you only play it once a year (in our case, twice - since we have an extensive Christmas in July outreach/concert series as well). But now that we're back in the swing of things...... I am looking forward to the next 3 weeks! Christmas time is here!

This coming Friday we have the honor of playing a concert for the troops stationed at Fort Lee Military Base. Through a generous donation we were able to produce a special edition of our Christmas CD, "Comfort and Joy", and we will be able to give a copy to each soldier in attendance!

We made it back from Florida nine days ago, and on Friday we're hitting the road again - a lot shorter trip this time, but a trip nonetheless - to Fredericksburg, VA, about an hour up the road from Richmond. We're playing for a retreat at the Wingate Inn (the retreat is called "Unwritten" - YAY Natasha Bedingfield!), and before we get there, tomorrow we play during Museum Shoppers Night at the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center. not much time to blog...... I'll catch up next week.

Last night we played at the Powhatan State Fair - barely remaining ahead of the rain and thunder, and having to stop early due to the threatening skies. We also started late because of sound issues. But it still was a good night. The organizer had just lost his dad this past Friday, and at his request we closed our set with "Amazing Grace". It was the moment that made the entire day worthswile, and it showed me once again the incredible impact music can have.

Grace & peace,

Jeanine

Last week we hosted our now annual Christmas in July event - two days of Christmas concerts, combined with a food drive benefiting the Central VA Foodbank. It was intense (hey, you try singing for ten hours straight with only occasional 20 minute breaks!) and it was fun! It's amazing how in tune with each other you get after playing the same music over and over for days - you really get more creative with each go-around, and it's great.

It's also amazing how you can see people impacted even during the concerts. Following is a report from one of our volunteers during the Christmas in July concert at the July 25 Richmond Braves game:

Coming across the parking lot was a line of children carrying plastic bags. A mismatch of kids, they carried their bags proudly as they followed the leader of the troupe like ducklings following their mama. As they got closer, I smiled and greeted the woman leading this "hit parade". I asked her how many tickets she needed and one by one those little children stepped up to the box and handed her the food they were carrying. She counted aloud as she placed the food into the box, "One, two, three…" right up to ten tickets. Some of the kids only had one or two cans of food, but every one of them contributed to those ten tickets.

During this time I was mentally counting the number of people in their little party. There were two adults and twelve kids. I counted out the ten tickets for their food and then asked, "How many people do you have with you?" She told me there were fourteen of them and they had driven all the way from Charlottesville to be able to donate food for this worthy cause. As she turned to go purchase the remaining tickets they needed, I thought, "There is nothing better than seeing these kids, most of whom have probably been the recipients of a food bank a time or two, being so happy and willing to give a little." I called out to the woman and with tears in my eyes, handed her four more tickets. "I think we can afford to give out a few extra," I said.

She took the tickets, smiled, and said, "Say thank you, kids."

A chorus of "Thank You" filled the air and the little troupe turned; hands empty save for those tickets they now clutched as if they were made of gold.

And that is one of the many reasons we do what we do......