BST's Blog

I don't think I've ever gone this far between blog posts since 1994. I apologize. I got hit by a blitz of shows and events. I have seriously been buried. My aunt Vicki even emailed me to make sure I was still alive. LOVE YOU, VICKI!

I plan on posting lots of pics in the coming days...of things I've neglected to post over the last month. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, here's a sampling of what's been going on here...keep in mind ALL of this has happened in less than A MONTH! You'll understand why my head is spinning.

I produced a convention for Deloitte IT...it was a massive undertaking. It all went very well though. We themed it with racing...

Shining gobos with racing themes made the room look really awesome!

Lyn St. James...Indie driver and motivational speaker

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I produced my first show at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on the Jackson Hall stage for Legacy Dance Company...

For the first act they wanted to go with a "Dancing With the Stars" kind of set...

That chandelier is 8feet tall by 8 feet wide...massive!

I snapped this one from backstage

For the second act they wanted to go more urban feeling....so I created a skyline for them with some cool props like a stop light leaning over, etc.

I love working with my buddy, Brent, at TPAC. He is the lighting designer there and it's always fun collaborating with him.

The finale reminded me of Sing Song. Somehow 250 dancers got on that stage at one time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam turned 5!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a fun summer birthday swim party with a space theme. Sheryl helped the kids make rocket ships.

I call this "kid soup" (for all you ex-ACU-ers, the boy in the front with his arms hanging over the edge is Kristen Cottier's son. Kristen and Taft Brown are great friends)

"Look at my 'wocket' ship, Daddy!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of space stuff...I also did a convention for Shoney's with a space theme...

I had our "kryptonite" flanking the doors to the ballroom. It looks so cool with the lighting.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next...actually, right on top of all of this was CMA Fest. I designed the booth (with the great help of Keith Brogden, our graphic artist on staff) for the Big Machine Label Group (Big Machine Records, Valory Records and Republic Records). Some of their artists include, Taylor Swift, Reba, Jewel, Steel Magnolia, and others.

Don't be fooled, this picture was completely staged. Our crew guys know better than to let me anywhere near the truss. I would certainly kill myself or someone else!

During CMA Fest over 100,000 people descend on Nashville to see their favorite artists, hear major concerts at the Titans stadium each night and maybe get an autograph or two. Watch for ABC's coverage this fall when they air the CMA Fest special.

The booth...Taylor looms!

The booth looked killer this year! I was so excited about it! THANK YOU, KEITH, for partnering with me!

Justin McIntosh and Kelly Rich from Big Machine. Justin is now with Reba's management company (they also manage Kelly Clarkson)

CMA Fest was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Musick Productions has recently gone into partnership with Durego Events.

Durego is an event space in the Cool Springs area. We had a grand opening and ribbon cutting event last week and decked out the place. I wanted to go with a Tommy Bahama kind of feel and break up the space by making cabanas. Mere Bulles provided the perfect food to cap it off. Thank you to Steven Smithing and the gang at Mere Bulles!

Our company is now Durego's entertainment and production partner. I will be working with Durego in producing his events as well as creating some unique and original entertainment options that will, hopefully, become the prime spot for entertainment options in South Nashville.

For more information on Durego for rental or help with your event...call me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My next event was back at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) for the Ann Carroll school of dance. They wanted to create a "So You Think You Can Dance" type of set. We took truss and lit it from within and made a really cool set for them.

The show went very well! Thank you, Eric for heading up the crew and doing a great job! And thanks again to Brent from TPAC!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We can't forget Father's Day! It was a great day!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnathan and Liz Vest are leaving us and moving to West TN where he will be a professor of music at UT-Martin. JV is one of the ZOE originals and has arranged a lot of our music for us. He's also been one of my closest friends. He and Liz will be missed!

At JV's party---Phillip Duncan, Jason McArthur and I looked like the plaid brothers.

JV and Liz are on the front row...the rest of us gathered to say goodbye and speak blessings over their family.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of family...Sheryl's sister Gail and her family have recently moved to Nashville...into our house! Chris ("Fajita") will begin as a professor at Lipscomb University this fall. They are building a house and staying with us until October when it will be completed...making 9 people in our house. Sometimes we all hear circus music in our heads, but mostly, it's a lot of fun!

Uncle Chris does a nightly tradition of telling "bed-night" stories. It's making precious memories for all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On top of all this, Sheryl has had a couple of events too. She is still doing flowers and creating masterpieces! Her last wedding was a couple of weeks ago and she used hydrangias...my favorite! It all looked amazing!

the back of my car---just one load of several

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was able to squeeze in a day at Summer NAMM. It's one of the perks of being a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammy organization). I had never been to NAMM and enjoyed checking things out. I came away with a few good ideas too!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next there was IMPACT at Lipscomb. It's a huge student camp program each summer. They wanted to create a bayou type scene. We have an amazing southern mansion that we constructed and then draped with spanish moss to make it look old and abandoned. We added the fountain, crocodile, street lamps and walls...etc. It looked great!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Along with the Durego building, Gary Musick Productions has also gone into partnership with Joshua Smith and has taken over management of the "Berger Building" in downtown Nashville. The Berger is a cool 1920's building where we'll have events and entertainment. It's already been used for music events, record release parties, video shoots, Leadership Music meetings and several wedding receptions, etc.

For the open house, we decided to go with a Super Hero theme. It just seemed to go with the building! It made it extra fun! My friend Valerie Summers was there. Val's husband, Kip, is the co-owner of Arrington Vineyards with Kix Brooks. Val used to be an agent in the music biz at William Morris so we've known her for years. Sheryl used to work at William Morris. Anyway, Val was eating lunch that day in Green Hills and saw Linda Carter. She said she just knew that we had flown her in to be Wonder Woman for our Super Hero party. If I had known she was in town I would have seriously begged her to come...I wonder if she travels with her Wonder Woman suit...or at least the wrist bands????

entry way

Amazing food thanks to The Copper Kettle

There are three different spaces at the Berger that all flow into each other.

Notice the dry ice coming out of the glasses? That was a very cool David Holloway touch!

For more information about the Berger building...give me a shout.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And, of course, there were a couple of "Daddy dates" along the way. My date with Ella was so fun. All she wanted to do was go to the mall and try on clothes...she didn't even ask to buy any of them. Then we went and sat in a swing and watched the sun go down. Precious time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time is jetting. And in a month of blinding busyness, family is what keeps me sane. They are my grounding. I am able to take a little breather here this week and catch up on some work, but also have more family time. That's just one thing I won't compromise. You don't get these days back.

Wewent to see Toy Story 3 last Sunday. It completely rocks! I HIGHLY recommend it. Take a box of tissue though. In some ways I saw our kids' life span as that movie ended...they've loved all three of the movies. Seeing the series end made me so sad. Seeing the main character "Andy" grown up gave me a serious lump in my throat. It really was so good. Our kids went home and immediately pulled out some toys that needed some TLC.

I absolutely love this picture!

This will be a fun weekend! We have Maddie's birthday party (she'll be 9 on Monday. UGH!!) and the 4th of July festivities.

As a final note, last night ZOE sang at Lipscomb University in the amphitheater. It was so fun...and perfect weather! I am thankful to still be singing with my ZOE family. We've all been taking some time to pray about ZOE and what the next phase should look like (if there is a next phase). We have decided we are all still commited in heart and we've signed on to continue this journey we've been on since 1997. YAy! More info to come!

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND, EVERYONE!

I saw these Pooh statements this week and was reminded again how much I love that old bear. There's so much to say this week and so much going on (I am really working to give my stress over to the Lord...and not doing a very good job of it) that it seemed it was best to give Pooh the floor.

These are some life lessons from Winnie the Pooh:

Lesson 1: “You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

Lesson 2: “If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”

Lesson 3: “You can’t help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn’t spell it right; but spelling isn’t everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn’t count.”

Lesson 4: “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like 'What about lunch?'”

Lesson 5: “I don’t see much sense in that,” said Rabbit. “No,” said Pooh humbly, “There isn’t. But there was going to be when I began it. It’s just that something happened to it along the way.”

Lesson 6: “Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.”

When I get a few minutes, I'll post some pictures from last weekend. I got to produce my first show at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. So fun! Have a great week, blog friends.