We’re still digging into Tonic — and there is so much gold left to be found.. You know how it is… you’ve got to get to know someone before you marry them — believe you me 💯
So I’ve got two more sweet ones for you today…
🎶 “Take Me As I Am” Year released: 2o02 Album.. Head on Straight (Tonic’s third studio album) Album release date.. September 24.. 2o02
🎶 “Knock Down Walls” Year released.. 1999 Album.. Sugar (Tonic’s second studio album) Album release date.. November 9.. 1999
And just a cool little fact about me… Pretty much every song I’ve ever shared with yall on this blog — I also play and sing myself… me and my guitar 🎸
Hope you enjoy… I truly appreciate you…
This song has the F word in it.. just once.. at the 1:37 mark.. it’s not bad.. it’s quick.. 👇
Hey yall… today the spotlight lands on Tonic… They’re excellent if you ask me.. I was so impacted by their music back in the mid-90s… and they’ve stayed one of my favorites through the years.. I still perform their songs to this day… because they live deep in me. They formed in 1993 in Los Angeles.. with Emerson Hart leading the way on vocals… and they’ve always had a way of mixing honesty.. heart.. and melody in a way that just hits life right where it lives…
I’ve got two songs for you today…
🎵 You Wanted More — 1999 — from the album Sugar… (also it was featured on the soundtrack from the movie “American Pie…”)
🎵 Waltz With Me — also from Sugar 1999… a beautiful track…
Hope you enjoy… press play and let the songs do what they do…
Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?
I have many favorite places throughout my travels and missionary work in the Philippines.. Singapore.. Argentina.. I also drove 18-wheelers all across the USA for 17 years.. I’ve been to all states.. numerous times.. with the exception of Alaska.. Hawaii.. Vermont.. also got to explore some.. and I’ve lived in different states.. but with this prompt.. I’m reminded of the Hard Rock Cafe in Buenos Aires.. Argentina.. neon glowing through a foreign night.. music bleeding into the airport.. like a familiar language in a strange land.. I remember sitting there with the weight of miles in my bones and gratitude in my chest.. realizing that somehow.. in a city thousands of miles from home.. God had stitched another memory into my soul.. Another reminder that the world is wide.. but His presence is wider still…
“Psalm 62” by Shane & Shane comes from their 2007 Pages album.. and it’s built straight out of the Scripture itself—‘my soul waits in silence for God alone..’ The song carries the Old Testament language of God being our rock.. refuge.. and salvation.. set to a modern worship sound that makes ancient truth feel close.. It’s one of those songs written for seasons of waiting and uncertainty—when you need to remember that no matter what shakes around you.. He doesn’t.. I hope yall enjoy.. I’ve also included some more great videos from these guys to help you get to know them.. they are special to me.. hope yall have a great day.. I’m thinking of you 🙏
…♪→*→◎→*♪’…↓→🪨~→↗→🪨~→†↑→|→†→🕊~’
This is powerful 👇
Couch Performance 👇
Story of how they got started 👇 and some of Shane Barnard’s testimony
“”He’s the only one strong enough to lean🎶 My heaviness against the weight of all my sin🎶 Falling on a rock.. leaning on a fortress..🎶 Oh the wall of God.. Jesus.. He won’t move””
“”On God I rest my salvation🎶 My fortress shall not be shaken My mighty rock and my glorious🎶 I lay my head upon His chest.. on God I rest””
Beach or Mountains ??? which do you prefer ….?→~≈↔^/’…❓
Both places preach.. one with waves.. one with wind.. I’ve always been an outdoor sportsman.. at least I used to be.. These days work and ministry keep me busy.. but that part of me is still alive somewhere in there..
I lived in Florida for twelve years.. and I got used to the salt life.. I had a kayak.. and I’d fish the hidden corners of Tampa Bay.. mostly alone.. but sometimes with my friend Jimmy.. Bishop Harbor was my favorite.. I’d take whole weekends and just disappear.. camp on those tiny islands.. fish day and night.. no clock.. no noise.. just water and sky.. a kind of backwater solitude I still miss..
I also did a lot of freshwater bass fishing down there.. I’d bounce back and forth between saltwater and fresh.. Florida gave me both flavors.. and I never got tired of either one..
For a few years I even lived in a beach house on Anna Maria Island.. At high tide the waves from the Gulf broke about fifty feet from my back porch.. When I wasn’t working or fishing or swimming.. I’d sit out there.. play my guitar.. sing into the night.. and just watch the water drift through its moods.. In the dark I’d lay in bed and listen to the waves crash.. a steady sound that felt like the world breathing.. It was a sacred season in my life.. My roommate Nathan was there too.. a good friend.. He died of an overdose a few years later.. Good times.. memories I still smile about.. and I miss him..
But I also love the mountains.. I grew up fishing and exploring the North Georgia mountains.. Every summer.. me and my friends.. sometimes my dad or my uncle or both.. would drive ten miles off the main road on a gravel trail to get to our camping spot on the Tallulah River.. It was quiet.. beautiful.. hidden away from everything.. We pitched tents.. built fires.. fished.. talked.. laughed.. and mostly fished haha.. And yes.. I catch fish 😁🎣 Even when you don’t catch anything.. it’s still great.. but I always catch them.. I fish for people now …..t`
Up there we always ate what we caught.. trout for breakfast.. lunch.. and dinner haha.. By the end I didn’t want any more fish for a while.. but I always looked forward to going back.. year after year.. from a kid into an adult.. those mountain memories run deep in me..
So therefore I can’t choose.. I’m part tides.. part timber.. Both preach.. Both shape me.. It’d be like choosing between your mother and your father haha…
Heart of Loia `'.,°~ 