Tour Blog — Day 10

I have been in an adult body for so long that sometimes I forget what it is like to be a teenager. Personally, I was a nut. I would have been the kind of kid on tour that I now have to grit my teeth a little to put up with. We don’t really have many of those on tour this year. I would have been the one that the sponsors are barking at to be quiet on the bus. I very well would have considered bed check more of a loose suggestion that applied to most everyone except me. Remembering that serves to keep me humble when I feel my blood pressure rising when a dopey kid does something… dopey… I’m not dogging on them, actually, this year we find ourselves with a particularly well-behaved slate of kids.

I now have the perspective necessary to understand why rules are rules and not suggestions. I try to challenge myself to remember that many of our singers are still learning that lesson. It’s very rewarding to see our singers “get it”. I think of my buddy Otto Swope. I hope you have been following his dialogues on YouTube because you will see someone who has really grown. Really, go back some of the early performances this year and see what his dialogues were like and then go watch the one from yesterday morning. Holy Moly. You can just see how much more confidence he has. I am EXTREMELY proud of him.

Alrighty Joseph, that’s enough of that.

For those of you that are a little confused, I’m Sophie Mendenhall, and I thought I’d give you a break from old-man-Joseph’s monotonous writing. I’m just joking; he’s one of the best writers I know, and New G is incredibly lucky to have him. In all seriousness though, he’s right. This tour and the people on it help us grow and change in ways that are unfathomable even to us singers. By this time in the two-week span, you can look almost anywhere on the risers and see improvement from Day 1. As a leader, that’s a big reason why I do what I do. When I see people like Otto get up there with a newfound confidence in themselves, there’s a sense of pride and fulfillment knowing that he will use that for the rest of his life. New G does that – it leaves a lasting effect on people that can’t be pushed away. If you haven’t figured that out yet, just talk to a singer or sponsor – you’ll notice. Okay, I suppose that I’ll let Joseph get back on track. Thanks for listening to me yap. (:

Give.. Me… THAT… BACK!!! I am not old!

By this time in tour the kids tend to forget who’s the boss around here and start yanking computers away from you mid-sentence. Sheesh. What was I saying? Oh yeah, people grow on tour. Another great example of that is Chloe Debee. She’s always been a good singer, but when she first started in the group you could tell her voice was a little kiddish. But did you watch the live stream we did tonight here in Helena, MT? Oh my goodness. I am a little scared that we’ll lose Chloe because she’ll get a recording contract or something.

What I really love seeing is kids coming out of their shell. Blake Schneider is a great example. I couldn’t really tell what he was like when he was first in the group and now he’s regularly trying to prank me at room check. Or, Kallie Greife and Jolie Oliveira, some more of those Oregon recruits courtesy of Emmalynn Debee and Eden Allen. Like many first year singers they barely talked the first couple of days and then BOOM it’s like they flipped a switch and Kallie was just trying to catch me on hot mic saying something embarrassing. And then there is Faith Atkins, who, when we first started I didn’t even know if she knew how to talk. She does. She knows how, for sure.

Things like Bus Olympics will go a long way to getting someone out of their shell. Bus surfing is a prime example, which was moderated by Gracie Nowling on Faith bus today. Fortunately for us sponsors the mic stopped working midway through bus surfing, so we were spared Gracie yelling in the mic. But we were not spared Sam the bus driver getting in on the action and giving the surfers a quick little swerve to knock them all down.

Well, we are putting day 10 to a close. Tomorrow we are white water rafting back up in Missoula – interestingly the third time we will be in Missoula this tour.

5 more days!!!! See you all soon,

Joseph