We thought April was a big month for Final Greetings, and then May came along. We've been busy all month with amazing opportunities and fun times with all the people we have met and revisited these past few weeks.
We started out the month in Folsom, CA at Harbor City Church with their youth group. We were at an event called Tent City, an overnighter held both inside and outside the church as we rocked out to music, played video games and board games, built campfires and stayed the night in tents. Over the weekend we got to spend time with Jamison—a former Cadence Please member—and his wife Shannon, along with our sister band Good Friday! #friends
After our visit in Folsom we went to the A Jesus Mission office in Modesto, CA! We spent a night leading worship at the home church, then hung out with all of the local AJM members over ladies' night, game night and again at the home church the week after that. It was such an encouraging time for all of us to visit with everyone, help get the office ready, and to spend time booking and prepping for our next leg of tour.
While in the Modesto area we also visited Gateway Community Church. We had so much fun spending time with the people there, and saw a man give his struggles and addictions to God. It's an amazing testimony that we got to be a part of, and we were so blessed by it. #testimony
And finally, what we've all been waiting for, OUR EP RELEASE! Our 4-song self-titled album released on May 17th, and we couldn't be happier with how much people are enjoying it. We have over 120 monthly listeners on Spotify, 18 of which are outside of the US! Each song has over 400 streams individually. Haven't gotten to listen to it yet? You can find us on iTunes, Spotify and several other streaming services. Just search "Final Greetings" and look for the art above. #originalmusic
We stopped in Southern California for a night to visit some friends who are in the band Small Giants before driving to Phoenix, AZ to visit family. We got to spend time with Sam's sister Chelsae and her husband Kyle and two boys, along with Alissa and Garrett's brother Josh and his wife Sarah, along with Sarah's brother Jeff. It was a great couple days of catching up with everyone. #family
Next we stopped in Springerville, AZ to visit Calvary Chapel Round Valley. It was so great to return to the church that blessed us by donating their van nearly 10 months ago and to share what God has done since then. The Vance family was so kind to host us, and we worked hard on continuing the remodel of their church. We led worship for a Sunday morning service before holding a hotdog cookout and concert later that afternoon. The week was filled with great conversations and great food. #wegainedweight
We ran across the state border into New Mexico for an afternoon to put on a rock show for Quedermo public school. We had kids from 5-18 show up to celebrate their last day of school with music. They had a lot of fun rocking out with us, and we got to take some pictures with them. The kindergarteners fell in love with Kyle and needed a picture with him. Through that concert we became excited to try visiting more and more public schools as we travel. #lovedthem
Then we made our way up to Utah. Our first day there was a lot of fun! Sam, Kyle and James led worship at the Altars of Praise event held at Crossroad's Ogden campus and got to interact with people in the community. Garrett and Alissa visited the Lienhard family that afternoon and share stories of being on the road. Then that evening Final Greetings shared dinner with the Larsen and Lafferty family at our host home. It was a lot of fun to share food and laughs later on as we played tag with the neighborhood kids. #visits
Then we were able to play at the Uintah campus of Crossroads Church that Sunday and visit old friends we'd made over the last year. They were so encouraging to everyone, and we also got to see Garrett and Alissa's nephew Forrest dedicated that morning. We were invited to a young adults bbq night later that evening, where we had a blast eating hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies and ice cream bars. #church
We also had the unique opportunity to go horseback riding with a man named Roger. He generously had us over for the afternoon and let us give his horses their first workout in a while. We had a lot of fun cantering around the course. James also was able to ride a horse for the first time! He did great, and wants to ride more next time we're in Utah. #horses
While in Utah we had the unique opportunity to hold a rock concert at a residential treatment center for girls. Though we were a little nervous at first, it ended up being an amazing experience. Everyone there was so excited to hear our music and wanted to spend time with us afterwards. We had great conversations with all of the young girls, and we were able to encourage them and show them how kind and loving God really is. Though we weren't allowed to take photos with the girls, we will remember them for a long time. #stories
The next night we visited Crossroads Youth Group for a fun time of rock music and worship. All of the kids had a blast, and we enjoyed sharing our music with them. They were dancing around the entire time, and it was really cool to see them just as into the worship music later on in the evening. We had some great conversations with a few of the students and were able to reconnect with some we had met before. Sadly that night, Garrett's kick drum had a little mishap during one of our rock songs. We'll be retiring it soon, and it shall be missed. #rip
While in Utah we also visited a local coffee shop called Futures. We got to hang out with the owner, Paul, and he was so excited to hear our music that he played it on loop in the coffee shop for a couple hours. We look forward to visiting his shop again in the Future(pun intended) for some more great coffee and fun jokes. #hesawesome
Thank you for following our journeys, and for supporting our music! We're excited to share about the month to come.