i am an austin, tx based photographer, musician, & activist. this is my story: faith, hope, love, life, family, adoption, ministry, & social justice. the need is the call. what you see is what you get.
Matt McClosky & his band absolutely killed it last night at MoMo’s in Austin, TX. If you haven’t heard Matt’s new CD, These Times Won’t Last, then you need to go to his website today and download it for free. Be sure and throw the guy a donation…he & his wife just had another baby. If you live in Austin then you need to come see Matt live at MoMo’s next thursday at 10pm. There is a $5 cover. My boy Jimmie Ingram is playing lead guitar for Matt, and let’s just say…it gets pretty nasty in there. Straight Rock n Roll Austin, TX style. You will not be disapointed.
as you know we’ve all been quite overwhelmed by the response to the record on here, twitter, facebook, and iTunes. thank you guys for purchasing the record the past few days!! it’s been a direct result of online community, word of mouth, and grassroots movement. so, we need your help in getting the word out to your circle of friends. if you have connected with the music and believe in the message, we’re inviting you to join us on a sort of BLOG TOUR. we’ll come to your blog, set up our gear, and play the songs. we’ll bring ice cream and snow cones, and you provide the chips & salsa. ok, seriously though…
here’s a button you can place on your blog/web… if you want to write a little blurb about it, great… let us know when you do, and we’ll post a link to your blog entry… it’s “blog love,” as they say…
ALSO, we will be giving “There is a Fountain” as a FREE digital bonus track to every blogger who joins us on the blog tour.
We are excited to announce that the new Aaron Ivey record released this week. It’s been an amazing experience getting to record this album in our hometown of Austin, TX. We are being blown away from the great response to the new record. It released on iTunes yesterday, and it went to the #1 spot in the Christian Genre & #73 overall. Unbelievable! You guys made this happen, and we are thankful for that.
all of the glory goes to God with this record. It has been an incredible season of God re-birthing a fresh heart for the local church, missions, and leading worship. Leading worship on a weekly basis & being under strong biblical teaching at The Austin Stone has been an incredible time for us. It has challenged us to step up our game as pastors, worship leaders, husbands, fathers, and friends. You can’t help but to be challenged and changed when living in real community with other people. This record has been a result of this wonderful journey God has had us on this past year.
The new website & online store launched today. You can check out the new record at AARONIVEY.COM & you can buy the record on iTUNES. Thanks again for creating a buzz about the new record through Twitter, Facebook, & your blogs. We have released this record on an independent grassroots level. It is people like you that have helped spread the word about the record, and helped make this possible. So thanks for continuing to spread the word.
This is the record cover shot that I got during my photoshoot with Aaron. I’m excited about this photo. I really feel like it captures the mood & theme of the record. I will post more of the photos from the shoot later on this week.
Strobist: Sunpak 120J / high camera right / 20 degree grid spot
Gregg & Jen are an awesome couple that go to The Austin Stone. They recently found out they are having a baby, and they wanted some family photos before the baby came. Here are a few from that day.
this was a quick outtake from the photoshoot I did of Aaron for our new record. the boys came running into the studio, and wanted to be in one of the photos…this is what we got. they are rockstars in the making.
It seems to be the trend for this blog to go 10 or more days between posting. That’s really horrible in the eyes of avid blog writers and even readers, but I’m ok with that. It has been crazy how little time I have for extra-cirricular writing since I started my job at The Austin Stone. Honestly, that’s a good thing for me.
I have come to the conclusion through the last year of life that it was way easier for me personally to sit and write about everything under the sun when I didn’t have anything else going on in my life that I was investing in. It was easy for me to sit and complain about things not being done correctly. It was easy for me to sit and point out the problems of the church, but never really do anything to fix the problems. It was easy for me to talk about the many needs of the world, and not really do anything about it. I mean I have done some things to try and make a difference in the world, but in all honesty my past actions didn’t really match the words coming out of my mouth. That was a sobering and convicting thought once I really got my head around it. I knew some things needed to change.
It’s been different for me & Maris over the past year though. I have seen a move from more talking to more action and that excites me for my family. It has been a super busy year serving at the church, and that has been refreshing for me. This past year has stretched me as a follower of Christ, as a husband, as a father, and as a friend. It has been a year of healing and year of moving forward. I have experienced life in a Church that really gets the gospel, and that gives me hope that real change can come through the local church once again…the way it was intended in the first place.
I have learned in the past year when it comes to blogging or the lack thereof in my own personal life: it is more rewarding for me to actually be out living life than to sit in an armchair merely writing about it. I think that’s why my posts have been so lacking these past six months. Hopefully I can get back into the practice of writing daily or even every other day. I have many things stirring in my head, and I need to get them out some way or another. We will see how that goes.
I can’t believe summer is here again already. It seems like it was just yesterday we were finishing up last summer. It seems like it was just yesterday that we had the twenty six foot Uhaul filled with the Ivey & Bush family belongings headed to Austin. Wow…how time flies when you’re having fun.
It’s been an amazing nine months since we moved to Austin. In the past nine months our precious Son, August, was born and we were blessed to be chosen to be his parents. This little guy has totally turned our world upside down in a great way. This wonderful little boy has totally won over the hearts of both of our families. He is a rockstar at The Austin Stone, and I’m excited to see the influence he will have on families who are praying about adoption. August is a special boy, and I can’t wait to see how God will use him in the future.
In these last nine months I lost one of my lifelong heros to cancer. My Pa passed away December 1st, and I’m not sure if I’ve gotten over it yet. I miss him dearly. He along with my dad have been the biggest influences in my life on what it means to be a real man. I rode shotgun for Pa all through middleschool and highschool. We worked cattled, built fence, hauled hay, and anything else farm living brings your way. He has and will continue to influence my life and family. He will be forever missed.
In these last nine months I have had the awesome opportunity to come on staff at The Austin Stone. It’s a job that continues to blow me away with how perfect it is for me. I get the chance to work on the local missions side of things. I also get the opportunity to use photography to tell the stories of what is happening missionaly in Austin. It has stretched me in so many ways, and I am so thankful God has me here.
In these last nine months I have also found a love for the dominoe game called Texas 42. If you don’t know what it is…hang around me long enough, and i’ll tell you about it. I’m sure my friends are tired of me talking about it. Texas 42 was a game that i always saw my Pa & our family playing growing up. I always tried to learn it, but I could never get my mind around it. I finally learned and I love it. I purchased a 40 year old set of dominoes off of ebay that are like the ones my Pa had for so long. I carry them in my backpack wherever I go. Playing 42 is a family tradition that I want to keep alive. Playing this game brings back childhood nostalgia. Maybe that’s why I love it so much.
Summer is here again, and before we know it a year will have passed since we moved to Austin. It is crazy how fast this year has gone by. It has been an amazing adventure, and I wouldn’t trade any of it. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds for us.
Our good friends at Student Life made this video to tell the story of Compassion International’s work in Haiti. It’s an amazing video. A must see. Feel free to repost this video to help spread the word about the amazing work that Compassion International does.
The following STORYFRAMES have already been posted below in the blog, but we have had requests for the STORYFRAMES to be available in an online video format. Having them in an online video format allows you to share these stories by posting them in blogs, facebook, twitter, and any other social networking site you might be apart of. We will continue to do this as more stories are revealed. Please feel free to share these stories of people living on mission for God.
we are super excited to announce that the new record, ‘between the beauty & chaos’, will be releasing June 23, 2009. it has been an incredible experience working on this record. there have been countless hours of work put into this by many people. jimmie has tracked guitars at 3 different studios. aaron has spent the last two months of his life playing, producing, editing, singing, on this thing. it’s been an incredible joy to make music with some of my best friends. you can read aaron’s experience here.
i’m excited about the songs God has given Aaron for this record. there are songs meant for corporate worship. there are songs meant to shed light on justice, missions, adoption, and how we can be the light to a broken world. there are songs meant to show the body of Christ that we are to live sacrificially on a daily basis. we are to live, serve, & give in such a way that people will turn and worship the one true God. We are to live in such a way that people will see & experience The Kingdom of God.
my biggest prayer is that God will use this record to connect with people who live everyday of of their lives ‘between the beauty & chaos’.
