Braille..... from Philadelphia

Hello.  I got a long drive today so I'm going to keep this short.  I rocked three shows in Pennsylvania over the last three days.  It started out in Washington - which was a show at my cousin Andrew's church.  One guy drove like two and a half hours to come and see the show.  Crazy.  Another guy drove from 30 minutes away.  It was hilarious because the youth at the show were playing some games before the concert - and the two guys who drove to see some Hip-Hop got recruited to play some broom ball.  haha.  It was like hockey with brooms.  You never know what your getting yourself into when you come to a Braille show.

Nikki decided to stay in Washington, PA for about a week because she has a lot of family there that she doesn't get to see very often.  So I'm doing the next 5 or 6 shows on my own.  I miss them already, but I think it will be refreshing for them to stay in one place for awhile.  I did a show in Pittsburgh and that was a memorable night.  Shout to Destro for setting the gig up and shouts to all the local homies like Conduct, Set Surgeon, Calm, Mike and many more.  The Pittsburgh show ended up being pretty comical towards the end.  I fumbled my lyrics for "Shades of Grey" - which doesn't happen often - and ended up dancing for awhile and joking with the crowd.  We all had a blast.

Last night I rocked in Philadelphia.  Shouts to AOI, The Hustle Band and Vitamin F.  The local talent was all rocking with bands, so I was the only solo artist.  Muze One, Victor (the macho twin from Holy Culture Radio), Phanatik, DJ Essence, Tekson and others from the Extreme Tour (it was a surprise to see them, cause they just happened to be in the area, but they come from Texas), Shai Linne and many more were in the place.  Although the crowd was small, it was a very meaningful group of people and it was an honor to share what I do with all the Philly homies.  After the show I went to DJ Essence's studio.  Official was supposed to come through with some beats, but he had other engagements so me and Essence made a song together right on the spot.  It turned out really fresh.  That joint is going to be exclusive for a mixtape coming out soon.

Anyway... I'm on my way to Buffalo.  Just wanted to give a quick update, it's been a busy week for sure.

Braille.... from Washington, PA

So here I am in a Panera Bread again.  Haha.  This last week has been an adventure.  We drove from Rockwall, TX strait to Chicago, IL.  Look at a map, it's a long drive.  We stopped half way somewhere in Missouri.  We were staying at a Comfort Inn and Gabriella wanted to play instead of sleep after such a long car ride.  The next morning we continued on our drive and arrived in Chicago about 20 minutes before the concert started.  Gabriella was restless after spending two days in the car.  Nikki couldn't really stay at the show, because Gabriella needed some alone time before being surrounded by tons of youth.  

I performed at a spot called The House in Chicago and they were doing a Stop the Violence special.  It was an honor to be part of the event.  They were offering free AIDS testing to the community and spoke about some of the violence issues happening in the city.  Many young people loose their lives way to early from un-necessary gunfire.  We can't blame any ONE person for these social ills, but we all can play a roll in helping to bring PEACE.  Before I performed I had to run to my van to grab some CDs.  The neighborhood we were in didn't have many white people.... and while I was walking I crossed paths with a black guy.  (please excuse my use of "white" and "black" because I know they are very bland terms).  Anyway... I said "what's up" as we passed and he reached out to shake my hand.  He said "that's right, we gotta stop this racism stuff".  It was a short moment, but it was definitely significant.  Unfortunately, there is still racism happening in the U.S.  I don't witness it very often, but every now and then I'm reminded that it still exists.  In some areas two people of different colors shaking hands is no big deal, but in some areas it's still very rare.  I've always been friends with people from all different nationalities, racism has always seemed ignorant and pointless to me.  I don't judge people by the color of their skin.  If someone does me wrong... that's between me and that person.  I don't hold it against their community, their skin color, their race or their family.  The history of the U.S. is littered with hateful things that have taken place... .a lot of racism and separation.  In some communities you still see the effects of things that happened 30 or 40 years ago.  It's painful and I definitely want to play my role in loving both sides of the fence and help bring healing.  While walking around this neighborhood in Chicago, there was a lot of broken glass on the concrete, kids running out of buildings at full speed, broken windows with boards.  I'm really thankful for The House and the work they are doing to bless the community and invest time in the youth.  I was glad to be a part of it.  Shouts to Pastor Phil Jackson!!!

I also met another guy at my show in Chicago who took a Greyhound Bus from Michigan just to come and check it out.  At a few of my shows people have come from long distances to see the concerts, give me words of encouragement and just build.  It's been incredible.  The next day me and the family celebrated Mothers Day in Indiana.  We had a Jacuzzi room at our hotel... and although me and Nikki didn't get a chance to soak in the tub together - the Jacuzzi was the perfect size swimming pool for little Gabriella.  haha.  My show in Indiana was also very significant because it was a mothers day event.  The crowd was small but I was able to share the stage with YSG Timothy (who I've talked with via email in the past) and some other artists from within the region.  Props to DJ Rhino for setting it up and blessing the Mothers who were in attendance.  It was a real fresh night.  After the show I took my wife out to eat so we could close out Mothers Day with a bang.  Earlier in the day I also took her shopping for some new clothes - .... I still think shopping in the mall is more exhausting then rocking a show.  haha.  While I was in the mall I picked up a June issue of The Source magazine.  They did an interview with me in the "Under The Radar" section and also reviewed my record.  I used to cut out pictures from The Source and hang them on my wall when I first started rapping.  It was an honor to finally be featured in that magazine.  www.rapreviews.com also reviewed my record this week - so it's been a pretty exciting time.

Nikki...from DALLAS!

Hey All!!

  

  We are here in Dallas now, I have to say I was looking forward to this portion of the tour! I am finally getting a little girl time!!! As Bryan said we got to visit with some close friends while we have been here. Its very exciting for me ! 

 One of the benefits to being on tour is that you get to visit so many people from your past, catch up on old times and just chill. Today the weather is so nice! Its sunny and not humid at all, usually when we are in Texas its so humid, and when i walk outside i just feel damp. I HATE THAT FEELING!  Also, your face gets all shiny no matter how hard you try to stay fresh. Guys, you might not relate, but girls you know what I'm talking about!

 The visit with my family went great, i was able to see all my family, and they all met Gabriella for the first time. They loved her and she warmed up to them  right away. I almost did not get to see my Uncle that i wrote about in my last blog and i was really upset about it. At the last minute it all worked out and I was thankful! He is just trying to get better. I was able to encourage him as much as i could. Him and Bryan got to talk about music and Bryan gave him a CD. My uncle was so excited about this! He is so proud! I was glad to be a light in his life if only for one hour. Keep him in your prayers.

  We are heading to Chicago after Dallas, then all over the east coast. I am really stoked to go to Boston in particular! I have always wanted to go there, i love history and there is so much of it in Boston. Bryan gave us a day off there so we could see the sights :) 

 Gabriella has been having a high fever for the last 2 nights. I am going to see if it happens for another 2 nights, and if it does we are going to take her to the doctor..she is fine during the day but once night time hits she gets cranky and gets a fever. No other symptoms! If anyone has any advice about this feel free to let me know! I am not to good at playing doctor :) Well, Gab is taking a nap right now and i need to do some other work online, i will be writing again soon, thanks to everyone who reads this and leaves comments it encourages me! love all of you! 

Braille.....from Dallas, TX

It's thursday morning and I just realized it's been a week since my last post.  I just finished a show last night in Irving/Dallas.  It was super fresh.  We had a great turn out, plus some of my close friends such as Sivion, Malachi, Marissa, Keith Hill and others were in the house.  All of my shows over the last week have been incredible - from Flagstaff, Albuquerque (two shows) and Dallas.  I had a day off in Albuquerque so I spent about 5 hours in the studio recording guest appearances.  So far I've dropped 7 guest verses during the first two and a half weeks of this tour.  I still have a handful of songs left to record so I need to find at-least one more studio to hit up before the end of this month.

Last Night we stayed with our good friends Luke and Jen.  Luke's farther, Larry Huch was the pastor over the church I was attending when I first met Nikki.  The church was based in Portland, OR but relocated to Texas about 3 years ago.  Whenever I'm in Texas, I'm usually doing an event with Luke.  Our families have become really close friends.  Another married couple that we are close to recently moved to Texas as well.  Malachi, Marissa and Natalie!  Me and Nikki have people from all over trying to convince us to move.  haha.  Right now we live on the road!!!!  But it's fresh having close friends all over the U.S. (not to mention all over the world).  We still anticipate settling down in Portland once this tour is over.  The Northwest still feels like home for us, plus most of our family lives there so we want to be close to them.

Gabriella has been doing great!!!  That picture of her laughing in the car was from one of our 6 hour car rides.  I was singing a song about "stinky pants" and she was laughing really hard.  She always falls asleep in Nikki's arms at my shows.  haha.  It's cute, but our baby is getting heavy.  We need like a mini portable bed that we can bring to the concerts.  We have been sleeping in a different bed pretty much every night.  Some nights we stay in hotels and some nights we stay with friends.  All three of us (me, Nikki and the baby) cuddle up in one bed together.  Needless to say, I've been waking up every time the baby moves.  It's hard to get a full night of sleep sometimes because Gabriella has been rolling around a little bit.  Her temperature has also been a little high - so we are keeping a watch over that to make sure she is okay.  I'm typing this early in the morning.... we are learning how to post pictures with our BLOGS!!!

Nikki... from New Mexico

Hey everyone...

   Its been a while since I have been able to write. Things got kinda hectic for the last few days. From Cali. we headed to Phoenix Arizona, and stayed the night. Since Gabriella enjoyed playing in the water at Disney Land so much we decided to find a hotel with a nice pool and take her swimming. The last time I took her swimming was last summer when she was still a little baby! So this time it was really exciting. She was not sure about the huge mass of water at first. We told her it was a big bath, then she was OK! She splashed and played like a "fishy." 

  From Phoenix we went to Flagstaff...Flagstaff is in the mountains in Arizona so it stays much cooler, which was super nice. I took advantage of the nice weather to clean out the van! This was the highlight of my day. I love keeping things clean and organized. I try not to be to anal about it! We did not have  time to fully clean it before we left Oregon. So we unloaded the WHOLE van, and I cleaned the heck out of it! Afterwards I felt very refreshed, that might sound crazy, but when you are basically living in your van (haha) you look forward to cleaning it! 

      Bryan had a show at a local youth group. Everyone at the show was so nice and were super stoked to see Bryan! Once again we were able to meet some new friends there. We stayed with someone from the church and the house was so comfortable. I swear the bed we slept in was like sleeping on air, I felt like i was floating and slept like a baby. Gabriella also conked out when her head hit the pillow! The next morning we woke up and headed to New Mexico. That's where we are now. We did a show at the Victory outreach church. Bryan has known one of the pastors there for about 8 years. Its always nice seeing familiar faces! And everyone there is so hospitable, I know I say that about everyone we stay with, but we are  so fortunate to know so many genuine people through out the USA. People that support us, truly support us and understand what we are doing traveling as a family spreading the word of God. Most of you reading this are those people! :) Thank you!

   Today Bryan had to do some recording and the couple that owns the studio we really got along with. So me and Janette took the day to hang out, do some shopping and watch a movie! It was a fun day doing something out of the ordinary. Just a nice day to relax! There was a kitty at their house and Gabriella loved it! She would get her face a couple inches from the kitty's and talk to it! She told it all about Mickey Mouse and Paci's (Pacifiers). It was the cutest thing. She would not touch it though! I would try to get her to pet it and she would just point and say "kitty,kitty,kitty!" This is our last night here in New Mexico tomorrow we are attending the Victory Outreach Sunday morning service. Then heading to Levelland TEXAS!!! Where my moms side of the family lives. After my family moved from Texas to Oregon we would go down there every year for Christmas. But since i got married and moved out we have not been able to make it down to often. So I rarely get to see them all. They have never met Gabriella, so I am excited for them so see her in person! I am also going to see my uncle Michael. I have not seen him for about 8-10 years. He has been in jail for a long time. Mostly for drugs etc. He is a good man, and its unfortunate he had to go through what he did. But i continue to pray for him. Well, now he has cancer and is very sick, so I am not sure when the next time I will see him is. If ever. I am going to try to be a light in his life. He always was fun to play with during Christmas when i was a little girl. I would appreciate your prayers for him to!  And for other family members I have going through different issues. Hey, we can all use prayer right? Well I am going to sign off now! My grandparents do not have Internet and probably don't even know what it is hehe. So i am not going to be able to write for a couple days at least. The next time I will be writing is from Dallas Texas! Where some super close friends live! So we are anticipating that for sure!!! love all of you and be blessed!!!

Braille..... from Phoenix

Well, Nikki already told the story better then I could - so instead of telling everyone about Disney I decided to just post a picture.  It was a memorable day for sure.  One of my favorite parts of the day was running through sprinklers with Gabriella.  She has been making me laugh so much lately.  At night it's been taking us 2 or 3 hours to put her to sleep - but the whole time she cracks us up with silly games and funny things she says.  Nikki also talked about my show at "The Movement" - and honestly it was one of the most refreshing mornings I've had in a long time.  I sold around 75 CDs, which is definitely one of my top selling shows of all time.  Overall though, the people were very encouraging and excited to "serve".  

The family we stayed with in OceanSide was the Hancock Family.  My good friend Scott runs a company called The Glue Network.  www.thegluenetwork.com.  It was great to spend time with his family and their baby girl London.  After Disney, I ran over to the Cerritos Allstars radio show for an interview and freestyle.  I was the only MC in the house, so I freestyled pretty long.  haha.  Maybe to long, but it was a lot of fun.  After the radio show I drove over to Hollywood for the CunninLynguists show at the Knitting Factory.  They were gracious enough to let me take stage and rock a song right before Substancial took stage.  I performed "The IV" with as much energy as I could and it went over really well.  My L.A. show got canceled, so it was good to at-least perform one song for the local heads.  Today we are driving from Phoenix to Flagstaff.  Last night we took Gabriella swimming at the hotel, and tonight we are rocking another show!!!!

Nikki..from Anaheim Cali.

Hey everyone!!!

   So...We are still in California but alot has happened here! I feel like we have been gone much longer then we really have. But tours are just like that, you will feel like you have been gone forever yet time flys. We were in the San Diego area for a couple days and stayed with some really good friends of ours. They have a daughter a little younger then Gabriella. The 2 of them enjoyed playing together! It was nice to be around another mom for me also. We were able to share storys, and give advice! 

  Its been hard for me to get used to the heat. It was not even that hot today (prob. in the high 80's) but I need to get used to it because the summer has just begun! I have come to realise what an Oregonian I am! I tend to enjoy cooler weather over the hot humid weather! Am I crazy? Well, It has been fun dressing Gabriella in all her cute summer clothes, like I have mentioned before. So dont get me wrong I dont hate the sun that much...Okay enough of all that...

  If you know my daughter, then you probably know about her true love for Mickey Mouse. You cant be with her for more then 5 minutes without her mentioning him or singing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song. So me and Bryan were talking the other day and we had this idea to take her to DisneyLand. So we went today! And she had a blast!!! Her day was filled with so much Mickey, but i dont think she got tired of it...she was able to meet him personally and give him hugs. She even got to see her favorite Mickey Mouse show live on stage. She danced alot of the time, or just zoned out! It was so cute because when she first met him she was acting so shy. She did not freak out or jump for joy like i thought she might....she just smiled a flirty smiled and petted his nose. Then gave him a hug. Her reaction was exactly like HER. She is  gentle and loving :) 

  Bryan performed at a church on Sunday morning called "The Movement" Its one of the coolest churches I have been to. I just felt at home there. There were so many young couples with babies Gabriella's age. The people were so giving. They loved Bryan and really enjoyed his songs...they were very suportive. It was refreshing to visit a church like this one. Every now and then you need a little jump start and that what they gave me!  I really felt God there, and I know he is working in the people there. If you are ever in the Ocean side area you shoulc check it out! 

 We are heading out in the morning to Arizona, its about a 5 hour drive. Im excited to move on with the tour and experience some new things with Gabriella. I will write again soon! :) 

Im so excited to see the comments on my last blog! It makes me feel special haha. Well, the beginning of the tour has been so great. Our lives went from being hectic and crazy, to suddenly being calm and relaxed. I feel like yesterday I could finally take a breath of fresh air! Our house sold in the nick of time. And we finally have everything packed and we are on the road again...the first show was in Redding Cali. the weather is so beautiful! I am enjoying finally getting to dress Gabriella is her summer clothes. She is such a cutie in her little jean shorts! Anyways, back to the show...I made friends with the promoters wife. She was so sweet! She had 4 kids and each of them was about a year apart. She is super mom for sure! As we were chatting she told me she could feel such a gentle spirit from Gabriella. She said she could feel something special radiating from her, she went on to tell me that she felt God has something very special for Gabriella's life, and that she will do great things. It was really cool to hear this. Of course in my own mind I think Gabriella is special and one of a kind. But hearing it come from an outsider who  does not even know her, and who is a strong women of God, it was just really cool for me as a mother.  Well, today we are heading to Sacramento then on to LA where we are meeting up with some close friends. We are still here in Redding and Bryan is feeding Gabriella breakfast while I am writing my blog hehe. I have already begun to realise that this tour is going to be a special one. The fact that me and Bryan and Gabriella get to be travelling as a family is an amazing experience. 

Well I better get ready now...I need to give Gabriella a bath and get her dressed for another sunny California day! 

Braille.... from Redding

Hello!!!  I'm going to keep this short because I'm sure me and Nikki will share some of the same stories.  April 23rd was our last day in our home.  Our house has sold and now we are living on the road.  We had most of the house packed but when your on a deadline it feels like a never ending job.  I spent the whole day packing, then drove to Portland to open for Cunnin Lynguists, then got back home and kept packing until 2:30 in the morning.  It felt crazy unplugging all my studio equipment and putting it in boxes.  This is the studio (home studio) where I recorded all the vocals for "The IV Edition".  So yeah, it was a little bit sentimental.  We had to leave the next day (April 24th) at 9 AM but we were running late.  Nikki had all the bags packed and organized - so I loaded them into our Van and we hit the road.  It was a 6 hour drive to our first show in Redding, CA.  The drive actually felt like a breeze.  Time flew by really fast.  This was my first time doing a show in Redding, and the turn out was pretty small but we felt really refreshed and encouraged from the whole experience.  There was one guy who heard of my music from the Transworld Skate Video which featured the song "keep on".  He brought a couple friends, and Jeff (the promoter) invited a lot of his friends out as well.  Most of the audience was "families" with kids.  Haha.  I was performing in a gym and the kids were running around the whole time.  Since I wasn't standing on a stage, Gabriella would run up to me while I was rapping and come dance with me.  While I performed "Blessed Man" I held her in my arms and it was really cool.  She didn't want to leave but I couldn't hold her for every song.  haha.  We stayed with Jeff's brother in law Eddie and he showed us great hospitality.  He went grocery shopping and brought us like 4 bags full of stuff.  haha.  Animal crackers, juice, cereal and stuff.  It was an unexpected blessing and we are very thankful for it.  Nikki will be on tomorrow to share more.  peace

Nikki...From Nashville!!!

Hello everyone!!

  This is my first official tour blog...I'm really excited to be keeping this blog.  I love to travel with my husband, and have been on many tours with him. But this is the first time I have been able to share how it is as a wife and mother on the road! So yeah, super exciting. Just a warning..I will be writing how I talk...meaning I might not use all the "proper" grammar etc. hope that's OK!! So, Nashville has been great. Bryan and I flew here from Portland. We are here for the GMA's. Bryan had a showcase the second day we were here, it went so good! We have been running around doing various things that Bryan needs to get done...business stuff mostly. We left our daughter with my parents back in Salem, because we will only be gone  4 days...i miss her so much! We were in an ice cream shop and I heard a baby giggling..it sounded just like her!!! I turned around quickly and then remembered i was in Nashville, and Gabriella is safe at home with Grandma. So yeah, i miss her! I will be seeing her tonight though. We are flying out today, our time at GMA has come to an end. What I liked most about the trip was the fact I got to see everyone I have ever met in my previous travels! Bryan and I started touring the second year of our marriage, then stopped once we had Gabriella. I was 18 when we went on our first tour. So seeing all of our old friends has been wonderful...i was able to get in some good conversations with everyone and catch up...Last night was our last night out here...we went to a revolution art show and hung out with friends. As soon as we get home we are un-packing and re packing and heading out the 24Th for California! Then we will all be on the road for 3 months...more entertaining blogs will be coming soon!!! This  one is a little slow moving, i am in Panera Bread and thought I would type up a quick entry to start things off.. :) keep checking up on us though , we will be putting up some pics and video blogs to!!! be back soon..