Hello to all of the “we check in on the crew blog sometimes because we are sort of interested in the behind the scenes tech gear world of the mm crew” people!! (whew!)

It has been a while since anyone from the MM crew has posted so I thought I would drop in and let you all know we are still alive and we are still here serving behind the scenes. The reason for so little posts?? Possibly the lack of shows has led to very little content for us that might be of interest to you, or it might be because all of the crew are investing time elsewhere when we are off the road.

My newborn son just turned a month old.

Marlon (WOODS!) is planning a wedding.

Joel has kids, one of which is a teenager now.

Ryan is busy designing future shows and also has a daughter.

Danny is trying to sell one of our buses.

Bobby is making the move to get off of the road permenatley by investing time into his audio company.

It seems that we need to hear from the PEOPLE! What do you want to know? What might be of interest to you? There has been a comment from someone on a “reality” series on “The Life Of A Crew Guy.” Stuff like that may be video gold…..or may not. We can talk about gear stuff, techy stuff, family stuff, theological stuff, band facts, etc.
ASK THE CREW AND WE WILL LET YOU KNOW!

Blessings,
wes

We just got home from a run of three shows. Ella and Natalie picked me up from our little bus depot here in Irving, TX. As we were driving home I asked Ella what she wanted to do about dinner and she said…”we should get Chick-Fil-A and eat it in the trunk of the car”. I said…”sounds great”!

I highly recommend eating a meal with your family in the trunk of your car. It’s one of life’s special moments. Just be careful if you own one of those smart cars!

Ryan

Okay, so this one is for all the “gaming” nerds out there……guys like me! My wife and I are expecting our first child in a few weeks and she told me today that she was going to buy me a “dad” gift.

So my question to you all: which is better, the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360? Which one would you buy and why?

Let the debate begin………

-wes

Barry here. Wes is soon to be a new dad so we had a co-ed daddy party for him. The evening started with an hour of Whirlyball (think bumper car lacrosse)oh, and thats Wes scoring a goal. Quite the athelete.

Then on to dinner where we had a contest to guess the girth of his stomach and then a race to see who could change a diaper the fastest. Wes didn’t win but will have plenty of practice before long. Congratulations on your 1st!!

For all you keyboard freaks out there….this is day one of “Jim’s gear.” We will need multipledays on this one…..simply because he has a lot of junk up on that riser. Enjoy!

This is Jim’s Hammond B3 organ which is played through a 122 leslie that stil has all original drivers. The organ has an effects channel insert that is tube based. The tubes are12ax7’s, He also delays this sound through a Line 6 Delay pedal that you may also see on a guitar pedal board. On top of the organ is a Roland V-Synth with a built in touch pad (similar to a Kaos pad) so he can assign different effects to sounds.

-wes

-wes

Hey guys……so apparantley, up to this point, the rest of the MM crew has had a problem with contributing to this portion of the MM blog site. For whatever reason this has turned into an mm crew “wes” blog with the occasional (one) post by Ryan. So, I propose that our Road Manager Joel blogs about what his week will be like in Nashville (GMA week) as he walks side by side with the band. He will be with them at every little interview, lunch meeting, coffee sitting, showcase, etc., and can give you all some insight on what the band will be doing all week. So…….throw those questions at him people……Joel??

-wes

So people have been emailing and commenting, asking us to talk about what a day in the life of a crew guy is like. Well, when we are home with a lot of time between shows, we all have to find ways to pass the time. Usually its taking care of those “honey-do” lists like yard work or house chores, or for some its spending time with their own kids. For me, its spending time with friends and family; fellowship at the coffee house, or lunch with someone different every day, and then at night its working out or playing basketball or going to the ball game.

HOWEVER, for the last three weeks….and three more to follow……. my wife and i have been attending a “Prepared Child Birth” class for two hours every Tuesday Night. I know I have mentioned it before, but we are expecting our first boy to come into the world in June…….WOOOO HOOOO.
So the “guy” in me says that THIS IS THE BIGGEST BEATING EVER……..they didnt do these classes 100 years ago and babies were still born! Why in the world do we have to spend money for some nurse to tell us that my wife will feel pain, that I will pass out, and that ultimately a baby will be born!?!?!

Well, I always try to not be a typical “guy” in my marriage, and even though I did go into this thing with a negative attitude……..it has been absolutely AWESOME! Very informative. Very helpful. We actually look forward to the advice from the nurses, pediatricians and other parents in those classes……..not to mention the “yoga” like breathing techniques that relax me to the point of nearly falling asleep.

So, how many parents out there have the most ground breaking advice they can give to a first time dad????? Love to hear from ya!

Hanging at “The Petting Zoo” on an old Russian troop transport , from the Cold War era. Thanks to the Air Force for all you guys did for us while we there……even though it fails in comparison to what you all do EVERY day around the world for our freedom.

After the show on the base, we went to Mirage Hotel to see the Cirque Du Soliel show LOVE. It was one of the most incredible displays of acrobatics, art, production….and of course the MUSIC! Love the BEATLES!

wes