Jason Gray and people in Bowling Green, KY

I haven't talked about him nearly as much as my greatest musical obsession, but my second biggest musical obsession is Jason Gray, labelmate to my aforementioned greatest musical obsession, the band downhere. I got to see him Monday night in Bowling Green, KY.

I of course want to write down my thoughts about JG and the night, but I'm probably going to jump around a lot rather than try to structure them. It'll be a fairly good unedited glimpse into my brain.

The drive one way took about an hour and a half, so of course my brother and I had music playing the whole time. And what was the first thing we listened to that took up most of the drive there? Grits. Their album Dichotomy A, to be specific. Considering the vast musical difference between Jason Gray and Grits I thought it was funny that we chose that particular album to get pumped up for a Jason Gray concert.

JG is a funny, funny man. He never ceases to make me laugh. This time was no exception. I came close to tears a couple of times.

This was only my second time to see him. Kinda hard to believe considering how big of a fan I am. Like the first time I saw him, he was expecting me. But unlike the first time, he recognized me! My brother and I were standing off to the side for a while after the show and then queued up at the end of the line once it had gone down a bit, and as soon as we made it up to him he said, "Hey! You made it!" I was surprised.

Another difference in this time and the last time was the number of songs he played. He was only the opening act the last time I saw him, and therefore played a scant three songs. But this time we got to hear almost a full two hours. And this show was free, as opposed to the nearly $40 I paid for my brother and I to go last time. So all in all, it was indeed a better value.

I have made a pact with myself that if I think about sitting in the front row at all, if I can I am going to do it no matter what. Not one person was sitting in the front row. I didn't notice that until my brother and I had sat down in the middle of the third row. I briefly considered moving, but decided to stay since we were already there. The place we were sitting was good, but I would have liked the front so much more. I do that a lot, not sit in the front and then wish I had. We'll how well my resolve holds up.

This concert was a part of a short tour to promote his new album Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue, which releases on Tuesday, September 1st. In these last several weeks leading up to the release, he's been posting songs from the album onto the Internet for people to listen to, and I have been listening to them a lot. Enough that I could sing along to every song, when most people there hadn't heard any of the songs before. And apparently people noticed, because the next day, I had a new friend request on Facebook from someone I didn't talk to but do remember seeing at the concert. She sent me a message that read, "I saw you at the concert last night and you knew every song! Wow!" And then last night, we Facebook chatted and she said something to the effect of, "we were just talking about you," "we" indicating that there was someone else at the concert with her who too noticed my mouth moving, and remembered me enough to talk about me. Wow. And they must have overheard me telling someone I was from Tennessee, because she said they were impressed that I drove so far. (Side note: 1) For Jason Gray, I would travel very long distances, and 2) an hour and a half doesn't qualify as a long distance.) Um, people I've only seen once and have never spoken to in person, who live in a different state than the one I live in, were talking about me. Again, wow. (I imagine this to be what it feels like to be famous.)

Since I am so familiar with his new songs, I kept trying to anticipate what song he was going to play next based on what he was saying. Before most of the songs, I turned to my brother and would whisper a song title. I guessed wrongly only once. I'm good like that. I think my brother may have been slightly annoyed/amused at all my whispers.

I am eagerly awaiting the day when I can get Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue, and I recommend that everyone check it out. I may blog more about the album and the songs once I own them. There's a lot of good stuff to explore there.

The moral of the story is, I had a blast Monday night and JG is one of the greatest things since sliced bread. The end.