Q&A
Jason Jeffrey Gray
1.18.1972 (I expect gifts now that you know this)
My lovely wife: Taya
Our three sons
twin boys: Kipper and Jacob
Youngest: Gus
Our pets have all passed on, but Buster and Bucky were as good as family while they were with us. We buried their ashes beneath the apple tree in our backyard.
We used to have a pet beta fish who we named Peeve. Also, people who talk, chew loud, or generally make distracting noises when you're watching a movie. And, I don't meant to sound rude or ungrateful, but people who ask me to sign their shoes. It's like, "hey, let me take the dirtiest, smelliest thing I have on my person, hand it to you, and ask you to sign it" Ewwww.....
I'm not going to tell you...
Taylor 714CE, Alvarez Yairi, Dusty Strings hammered dulcimer, my homemade lap dulcimer (made it myself), Gibson Les Paul electric. I also generally use Elixir guitar strings.
Aside from all the bean spraying, rock picking, and hay bailing I did every summer, the first job that really mattered (you know, like where I had to comb my hair and shower before showing up) was at Embers Family Restaurant.
Too many to mention... but I'll always have a special place in my heart for these three: for a drama: the The Shawshank Redemption. In the comedy category: O Brother Where Art Thou. Spectacle: The Lord of The Rings. Nacho Libre is quickly becoming another family favorite. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Magnolia, and Waking Ned Devine are up there, too. Eternal Sunshine is like marital counseling, Magnolia is a difficult movie, but one of the more redemptive films I've seen, and Waking Ned Devine is just... delightful.
Clint Howard (look him up at imdb.com). Actually, I was told the other day that I looked like Kevin Bacon. Only I can't dance...
Well, we don't have cable anymore. But favorite TV show of all time? Probably Northern Exposure.
"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." - Frederick Buechner
One of the cool things about what I do is that I get to see a lot of the country. I think my three or four favorite cities are St. Augustine, FL, Chicago, IL, Nashville, TN, and Seattle, WA. But home is truly what I love the most since I never spend enough time there.
My Ed Grimley "Action Figure" and my Roger Wagner print of "The Harvest Is The End of The World and the Angels Are The Reapers".
Paul Simon - Surprise
Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome
Daniel Lanois - Belladonna
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Regina Spektor - Far
Over The Rhine - Drunkard's Prayer
U2 - No Line On The Horizon
Jill Phillips - Wrecking Ball
Randall Goodgame - The Hymnal
Mark Heard - Satellite Sky
Over The Rhine - Ohio
Rich Mullins - Liturgy, Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band
Charlie Peacock - West Coast Diaries Volume 2
Paul Simon - The Rhythm of The Saints
At The Foot of The Cross Vol 1 & 2, Various artists
Daniel Lanois - Shine; Acadie (producer of some of the best albums of U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.)
Pierce Pettis - Chase The Buffalo; State of Grace
Peter Gabriel - Secret World Live
John Hiatt - Crossing Muddy Waters
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
That's always changing, but Mark Heard is a constant. Andy Gullahorn (Jill Phillip's husband), Andrew Peterson, and Derek Webb are my most recent favorites. Writers who influenced me early on were Rich Mullins, Pierce Pettis, Paul Simon, Peter Mayer, and Bill Mallonee. There are so many great writers! But hardly any of the great ones get radio airplay... do yourself a favor and hunt down music by these artists.
"Shine" by Daniel Lanois; "Holy Is The Lord" by Andrew Peterson; "If God Will Send His Angels" by U2; "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen; "God Believes In You" by Pierce Pettis; "Come Talk To Me" by Peter Gabriel; "Nobody #1" by Over The Rhine; "Orphans Of God" by Mark Heard; "Here In America" by Rich Mullins; "Take It When I Go" by Tom Waits
Just about every song by Paul Simon, Mark Heard, and Andrew Peterson. But I've been thinking about a lyric by Daniel Lanois that to me embodies the mystery of God and faith. It's called "Shine" and the lyric is: "they have spoken of the river forever bending inside the fever of the saints who walk all night with no domain / In the end the thing that keeps them walking is your shine / your shine when they wear no coat / your shine when the feeling's low / your shine when they labor to the new day..." I don't know where a lyric like this comes from, but I wish I could tap into the source...
A few others? I think a lot about Sara Grove's line: "This is grace: an invitation to be beautiful". There's a Tom Wait's line that's been moving me, too: "In a land there's a town / in the town there's a house / and in that house there's a woman / and in that woman there's a heart I love / I'm going to take it with me when I go..." And I love Over The Rhine's: "The last time I saw Jesus / I was sipping bloody marys in the south / in this bar in New Orleans / trying to rinse a bad taste from my mouth..."
I'd rather talk about the songs I love.
Secrets In The Dark: Collected Sermons - Frederick Buechner
The Pacific - Mark Helprin
The Year Of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs
My Name Is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok
Walking On Water - Madeleine L'Engle
God's Politics - Jim Wallis
The #1 Ladies Detective Agency series - Alexandar McCall Smith (I know, it's a goofy name for a book, but you really should check out this great series)
Christ The Lord Out Of Egypt - Anne Rice
Born Standing Up - Steve Martin
Desert Island Books:
How to get off a Desert Island.
The Message - Eugene Peterson
The Son of Laughter - Frederick Buechner
The Return of The Prodigal Son - Henri Nouwen
The Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
The Lord of The Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Soldier Of The Great War - Mark Helprin
Orthodoxy? The Romance of Faith - G. K. Chesterton
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Frederick Buechner;
I was in the supermarket checkout late one night with my wife. Distracted by tabloid headlines, I didn't see the line advance without me. I reached to Taya and put my hands around her waist and pulled her close to me. When I noticed that she was trying to get away from me, I looked down and was surprised to find it was not Taya at all, but rather a (frightened) elderly lady even more surprised than myself. The worst part was that I couldn't just discreetly slip out to my car and put some distance between us, but had to go down and bag our groceries right next to her. We had a lot of groceries that night.
4 times - but once was because an ambulance ran us off the road...
My long fingernails are for guitar playing and should not be considered an indicator of poor personal hygiene.
Isa. 49:16.
I don't know where to put my hands
anything my wife cooks... ;-). Besides that, Chino Latino in Uptown Minneapolis makes some of our favorite food - they combine foods from the hot-zones: Mexican, Thai, Indian, Asian... it all comes together at Chino Latino.
Taya and I love to find some kind of interesting cheese that we put on flat bread with some hummus, it's especially good with a light and sweet glass of wine. Does that sound pretentious? We don't care - we like it.
Vanilla
Italian
Tiramisu (my wife's is unequaled)
White Velvet Mocha from Espresso Vivace in Seattle.
Chino Latino in Minneapolis, Wolfgang Puck's in Orlando, FL, and The Peak City Grill in Apex, NC
Just about anything from Applebees
I'd like to let God's grace be the footing for my confidence. (and to have my wife's metabolism)
my unique approach to organization...
I like that Michael Card has a motto hanging in his studio that says? "Let the excellence of your work be your protest." I just want to give the best I have in me at any given time. I like how C.S. Lewis put it in Mere Christianity? "the proper motto is not, 'be good... and let who can be clever,' but rather, 'be good... and don't forget this involves being as clever as you can.'" But beyond that, I have a real desire to serve with my music. I used to make music on my own terms, for myself. But more and more, I want to make music for others. I hope to make music that is true in its complexity and yet can serve everyday people who find themselves in a similar journey.
Write a screenplay
Meeting my three boys, Kipper, Jacob, and Gus (I know it's sentimental, but it's true.) Taya and I also got to meet the first girl we sponsored through World Vision. Her name is Otillia and we went to her village in the bush in Zimbabwe. She's beautiful. I've also been blessed to meet and become friends with many of my heroes.
I'd love to visit Ireland and other parts of Europe
To go to Italy, Greece, or anywhere with beautiful water and snorkeling. But just staying home for two weeks in a row would be nice, too
Socks (except with flip flops)
Music. I thank God for my iPod. That and good coffee.
When I can't sleep at night, I love to come downstairs and play video games on my boy's Wii in the middle of the night.
I'm a movie buff and a book hound. I'm always interested in learning new things - I don't like reading or hearing things I already know, I like to be surprised and challenged. I also love trying new foods. If I had more time for a hobby, I'd love to own a Kayak and go hang gliding. I should clarify that I'd enjoy these as separate activities. I have no desire to go hang gliding in a Kayak.
A little known fact about me is that I'm an expert at blowing balloons up with my nose. Two at a time. I'm serious.
Surrender to grace and be filled with wonder.
All Things Jason Gray