Dallas Does Willie Nelson

Hey everyone! You won't want to miss our next "Dallas Does" tribute show, as we pay homage to the wonderful music of Willie Nelson. Artists include:

Karyna Micaela
Christine Hand (me :))
Zach Balch
Garrett Owen
Craig Langford
Adam O'Dell
Jaime Saso
Nate Bellatti

We'll start at 8 pm at Opening Bell.

More info, here, or see the calendar page on this site for the address and details.

Dallas Does Elton John

This Saturday, May 31, at 8 pm, we will be joining a wonderful roster of talented local artists all paying tribute to the music of Elton John. The show is at Opening Bell Coffee in Dallas, and if you ask me, the chance to re-create the wonderful "Tiny Dancer" scene from Almost Famous is worth the price of admission.


Hope to see you there!

--Christine

Thankful

It's been a week this concert, and I'm still living off the high of the fun music, the friendly faces, and the deep sense of connection with the audience, with the music, and with God that I felt as we played this show.

So, thanks. Concerts don't happen without people to attend them. Art isn't really complete until it's shared, and, in that sharing, new meanings and layers are added to that art. This idea is especially true with live music. Any given performance could vary wildly from night to night, and a huge source of that variation is the energy the performer receives from the people in attendance. Last week, we fed off your amazing, supportive energy, friends, and it made for a great show.

Special thanks to Nick Mungia for playing drums with us; to Terry Fansler, David Naugle, and Philip Mitchell and to Dallas Baptist University for hosting and making the event possible; to the band for their hard work and practice; and to our faithful companions -- my mom and nephew -- for giving of their time and energy. You all rock.

--Christine

5 things to look forward to at this Friday's concert

1. Cookies and Coffee. (Probably. I mean, there have always been cookies and coffee in the past...)

2. Original songs based on Shakespeare, The Bible, and Bob Dylan.

3. Psychedelic keyboard solos from the one and only Ed Hand.

4. A scenic drive through DBU's tree-lined campus.

The concert is in Piper Hall, inside the Global Missions Center, circled on the map.

5. Covers of songs from The Beatles, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, and The Hymnal.

See you there!

Paideia Concert Announcement

I'm so pleased to announce that my first concert of 2014 will be this one, at my alma mater, Dallas Baptist University, as part of the Paideia College Society Conference.

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this concert. My experiences with the people in and events of this group have done more to shape my view of the world than any sermon or book ever has, and I have prepared a very special evening of music for this concert, which will be full-band (with a drummer). Not only is it free, but there are usually snacks and coffee, so I highly encourage you to attend!

Dear Blogging World

At the start of 2013, I took a year-long hiatus from blogging to focus on finishing my dissertation and graduating. It worked! I write to you now as Dr. Jones, with a year full of meaningful accomplishments behind me.

Because I turned 30 this year, I also renewed my driver's license this year for the first time in several years. That means that the year 2013 has been looming over me as an important year for a while, and setting 2013 as the goal year for my Phd graduation made the year seem even more special. As a result, this new year, 2014, feels newer than a lot of recent Januaries have. It's the first New Year of my thirties, my first New Year in a while when I have not been a student, and my first New Year as an official director of music ministry at Highland Baptist Church. It's also the first year I've been able to finally read Harry Potter. The year feels fresh and there are a lot of unknowns regarding my future employment and what to do with my time now that I'm no longer writing a dissertation. But one thing I do know is that I want to return to blogging. I've missed these simple posts, if only for the documentation of my cats and the lovely bits of life that have floated across this screen.

In an effort to focus more on blogging, I am moving my blog from christinehand.com to a new site, http://thebeautifulextras.blogspot.com/. I will still be using this space as my music website, where I will keep you updated on my concerts and other musical goings-on. But since I wanted to write about lots of different things without feeling like I was ignoring my music, I decided to move my main blog to a separate site. For my handful of followers, please start following me there.

There are many more things to update you on, including some words about the theme of my new site, but this is enough for today -- I still have a couple of Harry Potter books to read.

Happy New Year

--Christine