House of Heroes

I want everyone to check out the new House of Heroes record when it releases Sept 23. I will remind you again when its close- but this record is great. Go check out a show- they will be on the road with Relient K this fall.

I play piano

Yeah, I don't mean to brag or anything, but I am no slacker at tickling the ivory. I taught Kadar the 2nd part to this jingle my mom taught me when I was a little girl... check it out ;)

Philly

We spent a day in Philly last week, and walked nearly 3 miles in the downtown area. We still had to play a show that night, but it was totally worth it. Emily didn't know I was filming when she asked the important question "Do you want any mayonnaise or ketchup with that?" ;)

Its over for now...

Well, it is time to rest. I am done now- I don't have another show for nearly 3 weeks. I have mixed feelings, but I know its time to rest. Thank you Emily, Kadar, Ruben and Loren for the community the last 2 weeks, and to Nathan and Albert for this weekend. I appreciate all of your gifts, talents and efforts. Thank you all for taking such good care of me and for supporting me in this.
We have an 11 hour drive tomorrow, and then its back to Starbucks for me. It will be a wake up call, and it will be a challenge although it will probably make more money for me than the last few weeks have ;)
Blessings
S

Feedback Conference

I was blessed to spend a day with my family in Texas before picking up Albert and Nathan from the airport for the Feedback Conference. Kadar and Emily were with me, and we got to laugh. I love my family. It was a great day off, I slept in, got a massage, and watched a movie, then had dinner with my Aunt Kathy, Rachael and Thomas and Cherie and Jeff.
Currently, I am at the Feedback Conference in Dallas, TX. I'm listening to Charlie Peacock speak. He is amazing. He is brilliant. These last 4 weeks have re-ignited a passion for music in me. It wasn't because there were packed audiences, or great sound systems. Sometimes I played for 7 people, humbling- yet a blast nonetheless because I love to do what I do. And I am blessed that I have been given the opportunity to do what I love. No, I don't aspire to play for 7 people for the rest of my life, and there have been better shows on this tour too, but I am loving this journey as a whole. The good and bad together. I don't want to skip this step in the journey. I want to embrace it, and live fully in the struggle, while maintaining a hope for the future.
The struggle comes and goes- yesterday was a struggle. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't turn my brain off. It's hard to be a "boss" sometimes, its hard to run a business, its hard to stay above water financially, its hard to balance relationships at home with the road, its hard to balance what I love to do with what I have to do in order to do what I love. Ahhhh. And yet, sleep came, and it is a new day. Each day has enough worry of its own, and so I surrender each day to the authority of Christ. He is authoring this story, I'm honored to be part of it. He provides, I just look forward to the surprising ways he does so.
I love Him.
So there you have a glimpse into the mind of Stephanie Smith
S

Goofing off in the greenroom

The Switch Kids and my band were goofing off while our good friends EleventySeven were playing the other night at a sweet 16 party. It was the coolest sweet 16 party I've ever attended, and I am 24. This girl's dad organized the tour to come in one day early, rented out a dance studio and so.... we danced ;)

The End Of The Electric Q Tour

The Switch and Eleventyseven are wonderful. They are generous, crazy, spontaneous and humble. Please check out their stuff and support them. After doing life with them for the last week or so, 18 hour drives, little to no sleep, poor sound systems and broken vans- I can honestly say they are the real deal. So blessings to them!
In other news, I am in the back of the van right now, and we are driving on some rural Colorado roads. Its..... interesting. Bumpy, sickening, and things are falling on me- like merch boxes. I've watched a season of Arrested Development, Arctic tale, Fear, and I'm trying to convince the guys to watch Mariah Carey's 1993 Live in Madison Square Garden DVD again, but I may have pushed my luck the 1st time ;)
Anyway, I am loving the road. I know it will get old someday, but I love this. I do miss home and community, friends and relationships and I am so thankful we have a super heroes party coming up when Emily and I get home- but I praise Jesus that He saw a little girls dream, and He is making it come true. How humbling.
S
Here are some pictures from out last few shows:

How Will I Know

We figured out a cover during soundcheck the other day. As a little girl. I listened to a lot of whitney houston. These sweet lil poptarts figured out her first single "How Will I know" and I am happy ;) The guys take an 80's pop song and make it rock.
This tour has been draining and testing in many ways, but everyone has been so wonderful, I don't have a single complaint. I am so blessed by the servents hearts in these guys and their endurance driving 18 hours at a time and playing on crummy sound systems. I knew I would have to pay dues in this industry, but I am so humbled, and feel so blessed and encouraged that there are talented and humble musicians who will pay those dues with me.
-S

The Electric Q Tour!!!

I am having a blast. I love to play music. I am so thankful for the opportunity to do it. We are out on tour with EleventySeven and The Switch. Great guys, and of course my band is great too, and I have Emily, Praise God I'm not the only chick out here ;)- it all just equals great! Check out some fun videos I posted recently. There will be plenty more to come- I still have 8 more shows to go ;)
Blessings!

Oh Greenwood, IN

Yesterday the SKG tour was in Greenwood, IN. We had a chaotic morning driving through Chicago traffic, I-65 detours, and time zone changes we were unaware of, and therefore arrived late at the church for setup. But we had all hands on deck and finished set up in an hour! The event was great, and I slept so well last night ;)
And tomorrow we will be in New Philadelphia, OH and our promoter Mandy filmed her daughter singing my song LOL- Check it out, this is amazing! I am super impressed!
S

Maddy singing Stephanie Smith

Flying to Springfield, IL

My band and Emily drove through the night again home to Nashville, and I stayed in a hotel in Buffalo so I could fly out in the morning to get to Springfield, IL for the next SKG event. I had a 730am flight, so I went to bed early. At midnight, I got a phone call from a 1-800 number, and I groggily answered it. It was an automated voice recording telling me that my flight had been canceled. After informing me it said "Thank you, you may hang up at any point." I was so confused. I hung up and was tempted to just go back to sleep, but I knew I had to figure this out. I called the number back, and went through a frustrating half hour trying to get someone alive with a brain on the phone. Finally, I get ahold of a man and he was trying to tell me I was going to Texas?! I was more confused than ever- but we figured it out. I got the LAST seat on the only other flight going to Chicago, then onto Springfield. I'm sitting in the Chicago airport right now, hoping that everything goes as planned to get me to the SKG event tonight- but so far so good.
I sat in between a sweet woman from Rochester, NY and a nice man from Buffalo, NY on my flight to Chicago. All 3 of us held conversation from take off to landing, and I really enjoyed it. People have stories, and it is fascinating. Airports are a great way to people watch, and they force you to be in close quarters with strangers. We keep such a distance in America, we need our personal space, but airports and airplanes are the only place where it is acceptable to be in such close proximity to others. I think its refreshing when people take advantage of that. Get to know someone's story.

Kingdom Bound!

Kingdom Bound!
I played Kingdom Bound music festival yesterday outside of Buffalo, NY. It was at Darien Lake Amusement Park and we had a free pass into the park. I was around roller coasters all day, but didn't get a chance to ride ONE! The guys rode one while Emily and I set up merch, and we all decided that we would go for one ride- the Superman- after our set, interviews, signing, and dinner. So after a great show, great crowd, great response, we head to the ride... the wait is 90 min, and we decide its not really worth it, after all Niagara Falls is calling. So, we pile in the van, exhausted because it had been a long day already- the guys had driven through the night to pick me up in Pittsburgh at 5am and make our way to NY where we played a full set, and walked around an amusement park all day. But everyone had told us that the Maid of the Mist is totally worth it, so we set out for the falls.
Once we got there, figured out parking, and walked in the right direction, we arrive at information at 7:55pm just in time to miss the last ride at 7:45pm. Its those times that hurt worse than missing it by an hour- or even a half an hour! Ah 10 minutes! I thought about all our lalligagging that probably wasted more than a 20 minutes of time getting there, and how we could have made it!!!! Oh well. We walked around and got some pictures and enjoyed it just the same. It was just before sunset and in my opinion, the best time to see it. God's creation is absolutely magnificent. Check out some pictures I posted. There are more on my Myspace, go to www.StephanieIsAGirl.com to check out pictures from Kingdom Bound and Niagara Falls!
Blessings!
Stephanie

SKG Tour

I am back on the road with the SKG tour, we did our first show last night in Jeanette, PA. Today we had the day off in Pittsburgh and went to H&M. I was with 4 other women, and I must admit- I got a little shopped out. I'm over it. Plus, I don't really have any "spending cash" so I was limited in my purchases. I did find a shower display set up in the middle of the mall, and made a microphone out of it.... see picture ;)
For dinner, we went to our promotors friends house and played with their labradoodle and ate great food.
My voice is feeling really rough right now, so we're playing a game. The game is this: I blow on a bottle and make a whistle for however many sylabols the phrase I'm thinking of has, and the girls "interpret" what I'm saying. Its rather humerous.
Anyway- Thats the latest.... Come check out an SKG event if you're close by- Or look for me on the Electric Q tour with EleventySeven and The Switch!
Peace
S