Archives for May 2008

The first time I walked in our house, I eyed the sunken living room with wide steps on two sides, then looked at my husband and said, “If we buy this house, I want someone to come play the guitar in the living room. And I want for people to sit on those steps and sing. DO YOU THINK AMY GRANT AND VINCE GILL WOULD WANT TO DO A SHOW HERE?”

And we laughed because, well, I am insane.

But a few weeks ago, Emma Kate forwarded me an email she’d received from Trent Monk. Trent was hoping to line up some “living room concerts” in between bigger shows, and Emma Kate immediately asked him if he might like to play at her church instead. She was ecstatic when he said yes.

After I read EK’s email, I could not stop thinking about the whole living room concerts deal. And I also kept thinking about my love for Monk & Neagle, my iPod that is chock-full of their songs, and my deep desire for someone to play the guitar and sing in our living room. So I made the biggest no-brainer decision ever and emailed Trent to see if he’d like to do a show at our house.

(After talking with my husband, of course.)

(Because as a general rule it’s probably not a great idea to stage a real-live concert in one’s home unless all family members are on board with that particular proposition.)

So Trent said yes and David and I were thrilled and LO AND BEHOLD, about three weeks later, Trent showed up at our front door with his road manager Danny, and I promptly escorted them into the kitchen and fed them lots of lasagna. Then they set up everything they needed, and some people came over, and WE HAD OURSELVES A SHOW, Y’ALL.

WHILE I SAT ON MY LIVING ROOM STEPS AND SWAYED.

THE DREAMS, THEY DO COME TRUE.

It took Alex a little while to make sense of the fact that the guy on the Monk & Neagle CD in my car was the same guy who was sitting in the corner of our living room playing and singing his heart out, but once that five year-old mind put all the pieces together, he was ABSOLUTELY FASCINATED by the whole experience.

I’m telling you: his smile was approximately six miles wide.

In fact, after Trent finished the first song, “Into Orbit,” Alex apparently decided that he wanted to make the very most of his concert-going experience, because he raised his hand, stood up, walked into the middle of the living room and said, “Monk? Monk? Will you sing ‘Beautiful You,’ please?”

And Trent Monk did exactly that. While Alex sang along.

I totally cried.

A few songs later, Trent sang “More Than That,” and it was pretty incredible, my friends.

We had such a good time.

The day after the show Trent and Danny rolled out of their respective beds around the crack of noon, and they drank some coffee and checked their email and watched that week’s episode of “The Office” with us. Afterwards we sat around and talked a good bit about life and faith and grace and whathaveyou – then Trent and Danny loaded the truck so they could drive to their next concert.

We were sad to see them go. They were, in a word, delightful.

If you’d be interested in having Trent do a living room concert at your house or church, you should definitely get in touch with him (email me if you’d like contact info). He’s fitting in these kinds of shows wherever he can, and all you have to have is 1) some space where people can sit or stand 2) a bucket to take up a love offering (we used an Easter basket because we are very fancy) 3) a small table to set up some CD’s 4) another small table for Compassion packets and 5) a place for Trent and his road manager to stay.

And if you can help round up a crowd of folks to hear Trent play his music, all the better.

No doubt about it: you will have a blast.

Promise.