"It is time you learn some about the game of baseball" -A story about baseball, the Indians, and a bond between grandfather and grandson

This time of year is such a special time for me! Spring is officially here, at least by the calendars standards, not necessarily by what the weather is actually outside, and that means baseball season is about to begin. Growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH, I began playing T-Ball at age six, not really because I had any interest in it, but because my parents wanted to find something else for me to enjoy doing besides listening to music, which was the main thing I wanted to do when I wasn’t in school.

That was the summer of 1993, and if you know baseball history at all, you know that the Cleveland Indians at that point in time had been, to be brutally honest, mediocre for almost forty years. Thus I knew nothing about baseball, the Indians or anything sports related at that point. I didn’t know the positions or anything and my coach, who was a very patient man, would always have to tell me where to go on the field.

I continued to play T-ball every summer through 1994, and 1995, when I was eight and could only play one more year. As any fan of baseball knows, the summer of 1995 was kind of the greatest summer the Cleveland Indians have had to this point in my lifetime. They would go on to win 100 games in a strike shortened 144 game season, and that summer I still didn’t know anything about baseball. Enter my grandfather, who loved the Indians, and baseball more than any man I have ever known. I will never forget one summer day in June when he called me aside in my backyard after one of my T-ball games had ended.

“Jimmy” he said (because that was what my grandfather called me at that point, later on as I got older it became “Jim”) “It is time you learn some about the game of baseball, like where each position is on the diamond, so when your coach says ‘go play shortstop’ you know where to go on the field.”

“Grandpa, I really don’t need to know that because Coach Ron always just tells me where to go” I responded.

“Trust me on this, as you get older here you ‘ll want to know. Why don’t we start by having you watch the Indians games with me sometimes” he said gently (that is another thing about my grandfather, he had patience that is truly unparalleled)

“Well, it is kind of boring” I said “But I can do that for a little bit some”

Over that summer of 95 I was true to my word and watched snippets of games with my grandfather and he patiently answered any question I had about the game. By the time autumn rolled around and the Indians entered the playoffs for the first time in 41 years, I began to actually enjoy watching the games, and remember feeling quite devastated when the Tribe lost the World Series that year to the Atlanta Braves.

You baseball historians out there would know that the Indians had a sellout streak that reached from June of 1995 to April of 2001, so my grandfather and I didn’t get to go to many games together. The company my Dad worked for had season tickets, so he once or twice a year would be able to get tickets to a game. He managed to get four tickets in June of 1995 and he, my mom, me and of course my grandfather came with us to my first Indians game. The Tribe won 11-0 that night over the Baltimore Orioles, and I remember how much my grandfather was enjoying his first trip to Jacob’s Field.

From that point on, my grandfather and I would forever share a bond over the baseball. He was the one who invented the ‘sockball’ which any of you who have been at the summer holiday gatherings my parents and I have hosted in recent years, are familiar with. They are basically rolled up socks that you can hit around with an aluminum bat in your backyard without having the threat of breaking any windows or body parts with a real baseball. In order to help me develop my baseball skills growing up, my grandfather figured this out, and made the first ‘sockballs’ I owned, to help me practice! I then complimented his creation with one of my own, the game of ‘sockball’ in my backyard, complete with strange ground rules for when the ball gets caught in any of the large trees in my backyard, and a home run porch: the garage roof!

Our Indians bond also grew, as since games were sold out and my family and I didn’t have cable until 1999, the next three baseball seasons from 1996-1998 I would often spend summer evenings over my grandparents house to watch the games that were not on free TV sitting on the coach next to my grandfather who would sit in his recliner and continue to tell stories about baseball and the Indians to me, filling in my increasing interest in the history of the Cleveland boys of summer. He always had such an excitement whenever he told me about Tribe legends such as Lou Boudreau, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, and Satchel Paige.

One other occasion during the sellout streak, I won two tickets from a roller rink I often attended growing up. I immediately knew I wanted to go the game with my grandfather. So on May 11^th, 2000 we headed downtown on the rapid to see the Indians square off against the Kansas City Royals. It was a rainy Thursday evening and the game was delayed at the beginning. However, by the time we got to our seats, the grounds crew was coming out to take the tarp off the field! We watched as the players warmed up and settled down to watch the game. Indians slugger Manny Ramirez would slug a grand slam home run in the first inning as the Indians were on their way to a 16-0 rout of the Royals, leaving my grandfather and I with more great memories to talk about and share over the years.

Once the Indians sellout streak ended and I grew older into high school and college and beyond, my grandfather and I would go to many more Tribe games together, and also would watch them on TV together when we would have the opportunity. Even when we weren’t at the game or watching together, the moment something amazing and exciting would happen it was always a race to the phone to see who would call whom first!

On September 29^th, 2010 my mom and Grandfather decided last minute to go down to the final two games of the season. Yes you read that right, it was a double header, and one of the twi-night variety, meaning the first game started at 4pm and the second game would start 20 minutes after the first one ended. You could see both games for the price of one ticket! I had dreamed of doing this for years and we decided to seize the opportunity and go! The Indians would win both games that evening, which included a very exciting 4-3 win over the Tigers and Justin Verlander in game two, in which Jason Donald executed a perfect suicide squeeze bunt on the sixth inning to bring home Michael Brantley with what proved to be the winning run! It was a truly amazing time that was everything I dreamed attendance of a double header would be! I didn’t know it at the time, but it would also be the last game my grandfather and I would attend together.

That following summer of 2011, my grandfather’s health began to decline and he didn’t have the energy to go down to the games in person anymore. However, we still watched the games at home together and one particularly stands out in my memory. It was July 7^th, 2011 and the Indians trailed 4-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. My grandfather was over at my house, and at this point having trouble with his lungs, and thus not driving very much on his own. I was set to give him a ride home, but my Mom said ‘you might as well wait until the game is over’ and so we kinda just all agreed and sat back down. I have since been forever grateful for my Mom suggesting that for what would happen shortly afterwards!

Incredibly the Indians staged a stunning rally! Before you knew it, the Tribe was trailing 4-1 and had the bases loaded with one out and their best, though often injured power hitter, Travis Hafner was up. On the first pitch Hafner crushed a belt high fastball that sailed well over the right field fence for an unbelievable walk off grand slam home run netting the Indians a 5-4 victory!!! As we all screamed and yelled with zealous enjoyment I remember looking back at my grandfather who had stood up from the couch with his arms raised exclaiming  ‘oh my goodness, he did it!!!!”

That would be the last incredible win my grandfather and I would watch together, as in November of 2011 he would go on to join my grandmother in Heaven. We are now on the cusp of the beginning of the second baseball season without my grandfather. The Indians have finally decided to start spending money again adding such star power as Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, not to mention hiring the managerial genius that is Terry Francona! Thus, while I find myself excited beyond belief for this season to start, I can’t help but feel a bit sad that my grandfather isn’t here to enjoy what is poised to be one of the most exciting seasons of Indians baseball since the 1990’s.

Just think if it hadn’t been for the patience of my grandfather back in that summer of 1995 to patiently teach me about the game of baseball, I may never have grown to love it as much as he did, and thus never had the incredible bond that God allowed me to have with him. So tomorrow as the 2013 Indians season kicks off and all throughout this season, I will forever have my grandfather on my mind as the Indians play each game, knowing that without his patience I may never have received one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given me: a love for the game of baseball!

                                             

On Movie Viewing And Purity: An Editorial

“I have made a covenant with my eyes” –Job 31:1a

As a gigantic fan of movies who also happens to be a Christian, I have analyzed and thought about the movies I watch. The question I am sure you are asking at this point is: as a Christian then, what are your thoughts James, on R rated films? Or  what about PG-13 films? As a Christian should we avoid them altogether? Do we take it on a film-by-film basis?

Personally, I think that the above verse I opened this blog with applies to movies and particularly how the Christian film fan should weigh in on whether or not they should or should not see a movie.

There are some great online resources that allow you to know specifically how much sexual content, violence and fowl language a film contains. They rate the movie in each of these categories on a scale of 1-10 and/or also list specifics in each category, all while attempting to not spoil the actual movie. Websites such as www.kidsinmind.com and www.pluggedinonline.com are sites I use as my guide before I go see any movie, not just an R rated one. Following are my thoughts on how one should choose from a Biblical perspective, whether or not to see a movie based on the three categories of violence, language, and sexual content. 

Violence

I personally find myself the least concerned about this section. When I get angry, I never struggle with thoughts of murdering or shooting the person I am angry at. However, if you find this is an area you struggle with, I advise that you may want to limit the amount of violence in films you allow your eyes to see. Paul tells us in Ephesians to “be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26a) and this includes the thoughts in your heart (Matthew 5:21-23). Thus, I would say that if you struggle with violent thoughts, part of keeping a ‘covenant with your eyes’ would be to not expose yourself to violent images that are present in some movies.

Language

In the book of James, he tells us that the tongue is impossible to tame (v. 8) and that we both bless and curse with the same tongue (v10) and that is NOT okay. Therefore, since so many people struggle with cussing when they are angry, and so many of us are easily influenced by what we hear, it is probably a good idea for us as Christians to be careful how much foul language we regularly expose ourselves to in the movie theater. There are of course various degrees of how much each of us can handle. Some people struggle with uttering foul language when they are angry more than others. To those folks, I would say it is very important that you keep your intake of R rated F-bomb laced cuss fests to a minimum, but as a general rule for all of us believers, I would say moderation is key here, especially if you are prepared and going in to the film knowing there will be foul language.

Sexual Content

This one I think is the one that requires the most caution for the Christian viewer, especially those of us who are guys! Because God has wired us to be very visually stimulated when it comes to attraction and desire of the opposite sex, watching graphic sexual scenes in films where nudity is present seems to render it impossible for guys not begin to have impure thoughts. Jesus taught that ‘everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has committed adultery with her in his heart” and Paul strengthens this further in telling us to ‘flee sexual immortality’ (1 Cor. 6:18). Therefore, I can deduce that watching films with graphic sexual content should definitely be avoided, unless, somehow and person can say they feel no lustful thoughts whatsoever when watching it, and that my friends seems truly impossible to me! If you really want to see a movie that you know has one scene with nudity in it, wait until the film comes out on DVD, rent it and skip over that scene when it arrives. I have done that on several occasions.

Summation

So basically if I could sum up my thoughts on being a Christian and a huge fan of film, I would say use the resources I have mentioned to weigh in on what you will be exposing yourself to before entering the theater, and then decide, knowing the areas in which you struggle, whether or not it will cause you more harm than good to see such films. Therefore I personally make my decision on each PG-13 and R-Rated film on a movie-by-movie basis. Our eyes are very powerful mediums in which our brains take in information, and it is important to always bear in mind once we have seen certain images, they can take a long time to be erased from our minds, and some may be permanent! This is how I decide on what movies I allow myself to see, and how I take Job’s commitment to ‘make a convenient with his eyes’ and incorporate it into my own life. 

Secrets Of A Storyteller: How To Tell Better Stories

I have recently discovered that telling a great story is actually an art form. Not everyone is good at it.  In my family both of my grandfathers were awesome storytellers, so as I was growing up, I studied the way they would tell stories, and how they would use such an incredible amount of enthusiasm in recalling events from their past. Many friends have told me that I am a good storyteller as well, so I thought it might be fun to give you five ideas for improving your storytelling ability.

1. Be enthusiastic

Telling a story should be fun for you! Let your friends and family know that what happened was, cool, unique, fun, and that you are actually reliving it in your mind as you tell them about it. Using hand motions and pantomimes are also a huge plus! If you are describing the size of something use your hands to show it. If you are speaking about a conversation that took place over the phone, pretend to be actually talking on the phone, complete with a hand held up to your ear!

2. Be detailed!

One of the great parts about the art of storytelling is that people actually doubly enjoy hearing it if you include more details about what happened. Seriously, if you remember things like the weather outside at the time, and the song you were listening to on your iPod the morning of the event took place, it adds a lot of flavor to the story. Remembering the exact date and time that the story occurred is also a huge plus!

3. Use different voices

If you story involves dialog between you and another friend, family member, or even a complete stranger, be sure to use a different voice inflection for when you are telling your audience what the other person said on their end of the discussion.  This allows your audience to keep track easier of who said what, and how each person reacted to what was said.

4. Know how to build suspense to a climax

This goes hand in hand with being detailed in telling your stories. The more background information you give, the more build up you have to draw your audience into your tale. Take them along on the journey with you, as you describe an event or conversation you had. Then as you build up to the crux of your story, they will be captivated and waiting to hear what happened next!!

5. Be sure to give God the glory when it applies

“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105) 

Our life stories should reflect that, thus it is important to tell others when God intersects our paths and becomes a huge part of our stories, as He has a way of jumping in to our lives and writing and re-writing the stories of our lives in ways we could never imagine or dream! This always is a way of encouraging your story hearers, that God can intervene in the stories of their lives as well!

So there in a nutshell are some ideas to tell better stories when one pops into your head over lunch with a friend or at a party when many friends surround you. Never be afraid to share a story, you just may encourage someone right at a point in their own life story that they need it! 

On Setting Goals, and Trusting God: A Reflection

New Year’s resolutions have never been a big deal to me. In fact I have never once made any. However, this year I decided to not make a list of resolutions per say, but a list of things I want to do and accomplish in this new year of 2013. Well we are now almost three months in to the year of 2013, and I actually managed to do and or watch God do three of things I had on this list already. What follows are six things from my list, and specifically the ways in which some have been checked off already.

1. See “The Lord Of The Rings” film trilogy.

I know what you are thinking. You never saw those? They’re like ten years old now!! But I actually saw the first film (“Fellowship of The Ring”) back in 2002 when I was in high school and didn’t like it at all. But so many close friends always talked about how great these films are, so I said to myself on New Year’s Eve, ‘alright, this year I will see them all!”

So when a good friend of mine announced she was hosting a Lord of the Rings marathon at her apartment at the end of January, I jumped at the opportunity to knock out this item on my list all at once! Things got a bit more tedious when I arrived at the said gathering and was told we would be watching the extended editions of each film! That is almost twelve hours of movies friends!!! However, I survived and by golly, loved all three movies. In fact, I was blown away! Finally I now understand why everyone always talks about them so much!

2. Attend a movie in the theaters by myself.

What? I am sure you are asking that!!! Seriously James? That is one of your goals for 2013. Yes indeed, last year I had at least three different close friends tell me they on a fairly regular basis go to movies by themselves and have a great time! My mom even told me the same thing, as she had done it before too.

I have for the past few years now, become a huge movie buff, and thus become very attentive to current films and their respective release dates from the months of November to February, knowing that this is when the Academy Award nominated films are generally released. Then, when they are officially announced come late January, I make more of push to go to theater almost every weekend to see as many as possible.

This year, one of the films I really wanted to see was “Silver Linings Playbook” and so I decided that I would make this my film to see by myself.  I pulled into the Regal Cinema in one of my local surrounding suburbs one Friday evening and walked up to the ticket counter.

“One for ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ please” I smiled and said to the gal behind the ticket counter.  She printed out the ticket, took my cash and I was set to head into the theater, after a quick bathroom break of course!

Once inside the theater I surveyed my potential seat options. The previews had already started so it was dark, but I immediately realized there was a group of ladies probably in the mid-50’s, early 60’s sitting together in a group on one side of the fairly small theater, and on the other side what appeared to be about three couples on dates, with one empty row separating them all. I quickly chose the empty row and plunked down for a fine two-hour story, well acted and with a kind of surprising ending.

Needless to probably say, it was an enjoyable experience, and one I will probably do again sometime soon!

3. Find a House to rent with four other fellas from church

This one by far has had the most of God’s intervention and hand upon it. Me and four good friends from church are going to be moving into a house in south Parma over the course of March-May this year. It took a full month’s search throughout many Cleveland area suburbs and many houses were either too far out of our price range or in too bad a shape for us to even consider moving in.

Enter the house in Parma, which is actually five minutes away from where I live now with my parents. A good price for rent each month, spacious and in a big neighborhood with plenty of parking for hosting small groups, parties and various other friend filled escapades. Yet, there were some legal matters that needed to be ironed out before we could in fact put our deposit down. Thankfully my one friend and future roommate happened to meet a realtor who was not only a fellow Christian, but was more than willing to walk us through the whole process!

So as of last week, we five fellas are going to be living together come May! Excitement abounds enthusiastically in my heart over this!!!

4. Have an epic adventure this summer!

Obviously this one hasn’t happened yet, as it is only February, but I truly want to have some kind of amazing adventure around town with many of my close friends this upcoming summer! I feel with God providing the house for four of my friends and me to rent, and all five of us officially being roommates come May, as summer is just at the cusp of blooming, that this epic adventure will involve them, the house, and many other close friends from church in some way! We’ll see!

5. Find a full time job in some form of marketing or sales

While many of you know my background in in education, I find myself desiring to do something in marketing/social media/sales. I find this enjoyable in the capacity I have functioned in it through my part time job, and think I could have a future knack for it somewhere full time. So business cards have been printed and online applications have begun to be filled out! Once again, I will see what God does with it all!

6. Write more. Period.

This is the first blog post I have written since last summer, and it is totally different than my old format of finding music, movies and books that speak God’s truth to us. While I plan to still try and slip some of that in periodically, my goal in writing more often is that I will now allow myself the freedom to write about whatever I want, whenever I want, even if it is just a list I have created as goals for this new year!

Between my work for The Music Moles and now my rebooted personal blog here, I want to flush out my thoughts more often and put them down on paper, while still allowing the light of Christ in my life to ‘wash the darkness away’ as I share the story of my life and what God is teaching me and showing me throughout my walk with him.

So hopefully there will be more regular posts from me again. Join me on my journey if you so choose.

"A Broken Man" who knew the true "Treasure Of The Broken Land" -Remembering Mark Heard 20 years later

 

It is so hard for me to believe that as we prepare to celebrate the 4^th of July this summer, we will also be, albeit unknowingly for most, commemorating the 20^th anniversary of Mark Heard’s final concert at the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. Criminally under known and under appreciated at the time, Mark Heard had just finished recording and subsequently releasing “Satellite Sky” in June of 1992, and had planned to go on tour as well as looking forward to the prospects of signing his first ever major record label distribution contract later on in the summer.

All that was in the back of Heard’s mind that hot summer mid-western Independence Day night in 1992 as he took that stage for a midnight concert. No one knew then that as the show was drawing to a close Heard began suffering a heart attack! Upon finishing his set he was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with having major artery blockage, something he planned on having treated upon his return to California. However, this would never happen as Heard would have a second more serious heart attack just hours after his initial discharge from the hospital, leaving him in a coma, that which he would never recover as he died on August 16^th, 1992.

Just a little over ten years ago, a young man was nearing the end of his freshman year of high school, and really struggling with the state of the American Church landscape, and what he was hearing out of the Christian Music Industry. Too much ‘life is always great with Jesus” which he saw as not lining up with reality at all; especially in the wake of the worst Terrorist attack in his lifetime which had of course occurred that previous autumn.  Despite his anger and frustration in all this, the young man decided to research deeper in the history of Christian rock and roll and fortunately discovered this gentleman by the name of Mark Heard, who had three albums appear in the Top 100 Albums in Christian Music book he had checked out from the local library. In June of 2002, this young man managed to track down a cassette tape copy of the aforementioned “Satellite Sky” album, and his Faith would begin anew at this point, and to this day he has never looked back!

Now you may have figured out already, that the young man in the second part of this story is in fact, me, and yes this blog post will once again be a little different than what you are used to from me. These are my thoughts/reflections on a man and an album that had an incredibly profound impact on my Christian Faith when I was 15 years old, an impact he had ten years after his time on earth was way too soon completed! 

On “Satellite Sky” Mark Heard wove together 15 amazing songs that expressed both disenchantment with the way culture was continuing to sink further and further away from the Christian values that had still mostly shaped it a mere forty years earlier, and the unfettered hope of the Gospel in the midst of such a mess.

Heard was writing things like “they have captured our siblings/they have rendered them mute/disputed our lineage and poisoned our roots/we have bought from the brokers who have broken their oaths/and we’re out on the street with a lump in our throats” (from “Orphans of God’) Initially, I simply had no idea what Heard was talking about, but as I listened closer and more often, I realized he was in fact describing how secular thought on both the origin of the human race, and God’s existence, have put Christians in a position of mockery instead of a position of respect. Heard unflinching was honestly saying this and was without a doubt angry about it! Such bold writing like this wasn’t anywhere in Christian Music at this point in time. He didn’t stop there, elsewhere he described the “Long Way Down” culture was spiraling as they removed God from the forefront, he spoke of being “A Broken Man” over such cultural shifting, and how his generation was so often “Lost On Purpose”.  He also put an interesting spin on Original Sin with “We Know Too Much” which I have come to interpret over the years as a allegorical look at the result of the fall of man recounted in Genesis chapter three.

Yet amongst all this despair, Heard balanced it with the hope he had in Christ on songs like “Hammer & Nails” where he boldly proclaims “Your love never can fail to pierce me” and declaring how one way to attempt to reverse such hopelessness is to live out and communicate1 Corinthians 13 in practical ways (“Love Is So Blind” and “Language of Love”).

However, one of the most powerful songs on the entire album was the incredible six minute closing track “Treasure of The Broken Land” where Heard reflected on the death of his father, and the sadness he felt over no longer being able to see his father and converse with his father on a regular basis, or as he said ‘all that remains is the aftertaste of circumstance that can’t pass this way again”

Yet among all this Heard longed for the promised hope of the bodies of all Christians one day being resurrected upon Christ’s return to establish his Kingdom on earth. He also gave us a reminder to use our time with one another wisely as he sings a line that has forever impacted my life with "Nobody gets a second chance to be the friend that they meant to be”

Some days I still am in awe of how the events of that summer of 1992 occurred. Heard released this incredible statement of an album in ‘Satellite Sky” in June, and by August he was in Heaven with both his earthly and Heavenly Father. As I have listened to this album many, many, times over the years, I always have this sense that Heard somehow had an indication this would be his final project. If not, it sure seemed that way, as I can’t think of a more honest portrayal of life in a fallen world, and best manner in which we as Believers should cope!

I can honestly say that outside of the Word of God itself there have been few greater impacts upon my Christian Faith as the songs on this album. No matter what I am feeling whether deep despair or overflowing joy, these songs have ministered to me.  As the rest of the country commemorates another July 4^th, I commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the release of my all time favorite Christian album, and the life of the man who wrote and recorded it. One day in heaven, I hope to be able to share with Mark Heard how much his music impacted my faith, and how thanks to him I was able to begin the growing process of my continuing Faith in Christ. For now, I have shared it with all of you. 

Happy Summer: Here's a List of Summer Albums For You

Okay all, this is not a real post this time, but a list. More specifically a list of 65 for so albums that make me think of spring/summertime in honor of the official launch of summer yesterday! I posted this on my Facebook back in March and have added and critiqued it slightly, as more albums came to mind. You will notice a wide variety of current new albums making there way into my summertime subconscious, and albums that have been riding around in my mind for years this time of the year, as the weather warms up! Enjoy, and look for a new real post from me next week, as I prepare a memoir/testimony about Mark Heard, a man whose "Satellite Sky" album (which is on this list) forever altered my Faith in high school.

Spring/Summer Albums

Vigilantes of Love - Summershine

Making God Smile-Silent Planet Records Brian Wilson Tribute

Bruce Springsteen-Darkness On The Edge Of Town

The Beach Boys- Pet Sounds

Owl City- All Things Bright And Beautiful

Guns N Roses- Appetite For Destruction

Starflyer59- Leave Here A Stranger

The Lassie Foundation-Pacifico

Big Tent Revival- Open All Night

Josh Garrels- Love and War and The Sea Between

Rich Young Ruler-S/T

Mark Heard-Satellite Sky

Poole-Alaska Days

Oasis-(What's The Story) Morning Glory

Mae-The Everglow

Coldplay-Viva La Vida

Copeland- Beneath Medicine Tree

The Ataris- So Long Astoria

Farewell To Juliet-Echoes Of Laughter

Joe Chrismas-Upstairs, Overlooking

All Sons and Daughters-Season One

Satellite Soul-S/T

Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue

Death Cab For Cutie- Transatlanticism

Over The Rhine-Ohio

The 77's- Sticks And Stones

Fair-The Best-Worst Case Scenario

Anberlin-Cities

Reliant K- Two Lefts Don't Make A Right (But Three Do)

Daniel Amos-Horrendous Disc

Bleach-Static

Tonio K- Ole

Last Winter- Under The Silver Of Machines

Denison Witmer- Philadelphia Songs

Lady Antebellum-Need You Now

Lost Dogs- The Lost Cabin And The Mystery Trees

The Foo Fighters- There Is Nothing Left To Lose

Matt Redman- 10,000 Reasons

Needtobreathe- The Outsiders

Fountains Of Wayne- Traffic And Weather

Burlap To Cashmere- S/T

Switchfoot-The Beautiful Letdown

Ben Folds-Songs For Silverman

The Innocence Mission-Befriended

Band Of Horses- Everything All The Time

She & Him-Volume Two

Sleeping At Last- Keep No Score

Passion- White Flag

Geoff Moore & The Distance- Home Run

Third Eye Blind- S/T

House Of Heroes- Suburba

Jay Michael-Vices or Virtues

Audrey Assad-Heart

Sixpence None The Richer-S/T

Lovedrug- Wild Blood

The Choir-Circle Slide

The Throes-Amerafriasiana

Wilco- Sky Blue Sky

Guster- Keep It Together

Dryve-Thrifty Mr. Kickstar

Daily Planet- Hero

The Swift- S/T

Amy Grant- Behind The Eyes

Waterdeep-Everyone's Beautiful

Caedmon's Call-S/T

So hopefully you've got some new album suggestions to become the soundtrack to your summer this year :-)