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Geof Morris once referred to him as “Andy ‘It’s really sad that the only thing that the only song of mine that the .net knows is that silly Roast Beef song I did’ Gullahorn”. And up until Saturday, that was pretty much all I knew of him.

(In case you’re wondering, Roast Beef is a silly song Andy wrote about Andy Osenga’s missing (amputated) toe. It is pretty funny.)

Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting Andy Gullahorn when he came as part of the Behold the Lamb Christmas tour to Cedar Rapids. My first impressions were these:

1. He’s tall. Almost as tall as me. That sounds like a funny observation, but compared to the other guys on the tour, who are mostly all short, Andy seems like a giant.
2. He’s a heck of a guitar player.

Then I got to hear him in concert, and I discovered two more things:

1. He’s really funny.
2. He’s a heck of a songwriter, too.

The first song he did was a little piece of satire entitled Holy Flakes. It had the place laughing through the first two verses, and then suddenly quiet when the third verse revealed the moral of the story. I was thrilled. I can’t think of the last time I’ve heard a song so funny and yet so pointed at the same time. The second song he sang was Freedom. It’s a more serious piece, but a masterful bit of songwriting.

When the concert was over, I beat a quick path to the CD table, and purchased both of Andy’s CDs. (My purchasing choices were made a bit easier by the fact that I owned nearly every other CD they had for sale that night.) I don’t think I’ve listened to anything else since Saturday night. The songs are spare, not a lot of fancy production or instrumentation, but the lyrical content is right on. A song like Beginning of the End resonates with me in ways I find hard to describe.

Last Saturday provided me with many wonderful opportunities. But near the top of that list was the chance to become familiar with Andy Gullahorn. You may now count me as a big fan. Oh, and if you get the chance, go visit his website. You will see the humor shining through. :-)

So Saturday night was the Behold the Lamb concert in Cedar Rapids. As you know if you read my previous post, I was the runner for the day. And what a day it was. There are so many aspects I want to write about that they’d make for one absurdly long and multi-faceted blog post. So, I’ll try to split it up a bit.

Let’s start with the basics. I showed up at Kennedy HS about 10:15 Saturday morning to help unload. Pretty much all the gear had been carried in from the bus, but the sound guys were just starting to unload. There were a bunch of people to help unload, though, so it went relatively quickly.

My first run of the day was pretty simple; I took the bus driver (I think his name is Perry?) and Chris Biggs (the sound guy/road manager for the tour) over to the hotel to get everybody checked in. Then the next trip to the hotel was Andy and Jill (Phillips) Gullahorn. Then there was a trip with Andy Peterson, Andy Osenga, Garrett Buell, and Cason Cooley. Then there was a trip with Derek and Sandra (McCracken) Webb. Ben Shive was in there somewhere, too. OK, so I’m name-dropping out the wazoo here. It was just a treat to get to meet all of them and chat a bit.

Later on in the afternoon, as the snow started falling (we got 4 inches of snow that afternoon… fun times driving), I got to drive and go along with Andy P, Andy G, and Jill as they visited the woman who was the inspiration for AP’s song The Queen of Iowa. It was a powerful time. I’ll write a separate post later.

I thought that perhaps by the time we got to the actual concert, it would be anti-climactic. Boy was I wrong. The first half of the concert was time for solo songs. They sang:

Andy O - If I Had Wings, Early in the Morning Andy P - The Queen of Iowa, Let There Be Light Andy G - Holy Flakes, Freedom Derek - A New Law, Lover Jill - I feel horrible about this, but I can’t remember which songs she sang. One of ’em was “so new I haven’t learned the guitar part yet”, so Andy G played it for her. Sandra - Where I’m From, and I don’t remember the other one

During one of the car trips, Jill noted that one of the things she thought was so cool about this tour was hearing how even though they had many of the same musical influences, each of their songwriting styles is still distinct and plays out just a bit differently. That was quite clear at the concert, hearing these songs. I’ll write more about them later, too.

So let me wrap this post up. After the show was over, I helped load stuff up, picked up the bus driver from his day’s sleep at the hotel, and somewhere in there managed to get almost everybody to sign a concert poster which now hangs on my cube wall at work, right next to the Share the Well tour poster that I got signed at a concert last year. They will continue to bring back memories of great days and concerts.