That Song's Annoying, But Oh, So True.

It blows my mind how small this town is. The whole LOST/Seven Degrees of Separation thing is entirely possible. Especially here.

Let me tell you a very windy story. Bear with me.

The very first time I toyed with the idea of moving to Nashville was after the first time I worked the merch table at a Jeremy Camp concert in Abilene, TX. I made friends with Danny L., the merch guy, and ended up helping him with several shows over the next few years.

Danny L. was my first show, Dayna was my fourth. She was the WorldVision rep at a Nichole Nordeman show. Very sweet girl, passionate about Africa, and at the time, she was about to begin managing a new artist; a friend of hers named Harrison Hudson. She was also a resident of Nashvegas. Everyone I ever spoke to about moving to this place made it seem like the place to be. Talking with Dayna also inspired me to seek out an internship with WorldVision—which would have taken me to Federal Way, Washington rather than Nashville. Nevertheless, I started researching the interview process.

But then there B-Haley. He was my fifth or sixth show… I think. B-Haley is Tobymac's drummer. After hangin out with him and Jesus after WinterWonderSlam in 2005, I was re-convinced I needed to at least visit Tennessee.

So I did. On Spring Break, B-Haley took Kish, Holly & I by the studio—where we met Toby, David Mullen and a new artist named Nate Huss (who's album was later produced by my friend Jamie Moore). After hearing from David two weeks before graduation, I terminated my application with WorldVision to jump in to life at the Co-Op Studio, which is where I ended up spending the vast majority of last summer.

(On that Spring Break trip, at the Flying Saucer, the girls & I met a guy named Steven. He and Kish exchanged numbers and we bumped into him several times after moving here, nearly six months later. Two weeks ago (at a Luna Halo show, where we were out supporting our boy Barlowe), we ran into him again and he was able to get Kisha into the venue even though it was packed AND we were out of cash. Crazy.)

Now that I've been here a year, things have evolved. I've sorta kept up with Danny L. and I ran into him at the Flying Saucer about a month ago; he and Jeremy Camp recently parted ways and Danny L. now does merch for Switchfoot (my favorite!). A guy named Adam, who used to frequent my Starbucks and also used to work at a different Starbucks in town (alongside a friend of mine (Daniel Allen) from the MLBC youth group), is now doing merch for Jeremy Camp.

Adam is also friends with my Aussie mate, Swanny, who hangs out with my girl Stephanie Smith (who is signed with Gotee and sings the song "Superstar" that was on my myspace profile forever). That song was also produced by Jamie Moore, who runs in the same crowd with a guy named Kadar, who I met at a different Luna Halo show.

So last night while I was out with Kish, Holly, Swanny & Stephanie, I ran into Kadar & his friend Danny (NOT Danny L.) at the Flying Saucer, only to find that Kadar is on tour drumming for Nate Huss and Danny is a guitar tech for Relient K (who are also Gotee kids, AND about to go on tour with-- guess who? Switchfoot. Of course. :) ) P.S. Danny also guitar tech-ed for Casting Crowns when they came to ACU with Nichole Nordeman in 2005. I was working the merch table at that show too.

So last night at the Saucer while talking to Kadar and Danny, the conversation turned to my future aspirations. I mentioned my heart for writing, for Spanish and for impoverished children. Mentioned that I almost moved to Washington to work for WorldVision, inspired by a girl I met on the concert circuit in Abilene.

While I was talking to Danny & Kadar, a guy came up and sat down to talk to Kadar. Shortly after, a girl came up to say hi to the guys, and I started thinking-- she looks really familiar. It takes me a minute, but it clicks.

It's Dayna. From WorldVision. And the guy with her, talking to Kadar? Harrison Hudson.

I'd talked to her on myspace since I met her in Abilene, but never consistently. But when I reminded her, she totally remembered and was shocked and gave me a huge hug and introduced me to Harrison.

Unbelievable. :) I love stuff like that!

Not to mention it makes those LOST connections seem a lot more probable. :)

In short:
The world is tiny.
Shows are a great place to network.
And if you spend enough time at the Saucer, you will run into everyone you've ever met.