As you all know, I am in the middle of creating the first ever, Elijah Stephen full band CD. Right now I should be posting something about being unbelievably excited about my CD release this Thursday, but instead, I am telling you all a little bit of something different. While I am excited about the project, I am not excited about my scheduling abilities. Apparently the holidays do not accommodate CD release schedules very well. I am a little bit sad that it’s going to be late, but then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. I am always late so it’s only fitting that my CD would be also.

It’s cool though! Wipe away the frown. Since you wont be spending money on my CD, you will clearly have extra money to go out and buy the new Soulja Boy album. See! Light! Immediately! You didn’t even have to wait for the end of the tunnel. So it’s clearly a positive thing that we are delayed. And if you aren’t into good Hip Hop then maybe you’ll be able to use that extra money on some of the great movies that are out right now like Bed Time Stories. (Australia was good too).

At any rate, the project is moving forward very well and we should have it complete soon enough. The ruff mixes are already blowing my mind. Thanks for your patience and support. And thanks so much for being excited with me. You guys are awesome!

Love, Elijah Stephen-

• two worlds cd1 mp3

I love This Pic!  What do you think?  Does it “do it for you”?  Check out the rest of Celestials stuff too.

I know it’s only like a week and a half until christmas but we just got our tree up.  It’s a beautiful tree.  It’s so beautiful it could be fake.  Is it fake?  What do you think?  What’s your tree?

This has been a great year for music for me. I’m talking about the music I have been listening to. Well, it’s been a great year for my music too but that’s another blog. Right now, I’m talking about the music that is on my iPod. The music that I listen to more often than any other music, that’s the stuff.

It’s a beautiful thing that we get to have millions of minutes of music on our multiply gigabyted iPods and MP3 players but there are only a few artist that have really captivated my attention over the last year. Don’t get me wrong! I like to hit random every once-in-a-while just as much as the next guy. But that’s not what inspires me to be a better musician and songwriter.

Now, most of you are going to laugh at my list because there is not a single band on it whose greatness transcends this decade. But I’m being honest. Most musicians would probably be listing some greats like U2, Nirvana, Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, The Stones, Queen, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Elvis, AND OF COURSE, they would not be cool unless they listed Radiohead. I have not been listening to many of these guys.

Here’s my top 5 artists in my playlist with some references to my favorite songs.

One Republic
Dreaming Out Loud is the album and the whole thing is awesome. The song Mercy blows my mind. Ryan has a ridiculously rad voice.

Coldplay
Viva La Vida is one of the most artistic pieces of sonic goodness that I have ever experienced.

Phil Wickham
I love every note! I am a fan of Cannons but his self titled album is my favorite album in the world. Mystery is objectively one of the best songs ever written in my humble, subjective opinion.

Josiah James
Is it weird that I listen to my own brother every day? Not only do I have the priviledge of having unreleased music of his on my playlist, I get to hear new tunes that he writes pretty much every week. He is Amazing!

Colbie Caillat
You are probably going, “What?” I know she is a bit different from the direction that this list has gone (besides not being timeless) but I really like her stuff. I don’t even remember the album title but I listen to it a lot. I have been meaning to cover the song One Fine Wire for a while because it’s awesome. But I haven’t got to it yet.

Well, that’s my list. Do you listen to any of this stuff? Tell me a couple people that are on your playlists? I always love hearing what music is making an impact on everyone else.

Still Sick! What is it with illness? It comes. It stays. It drains your resources. An unwanted guest is what it is. I don’t ask a lot; I just want to breathe well. Is that so much to ask? I submit that it is not.

But it’s cool. I know that my church loves Jesus now. I have led worship for the last 5 weeks with a voice of (lets say) minimal capacity and everybody is still coming back and continuing to worship. Amazing. To think that it might just be God that draws people to worship and not us musicians! A refreshing reminder. It’s good to be sick.

Do you have cool ringing goodness on your phone? I don’t. If you dial me up you won’t be entertained by any catchy tune that I have downloaded. If you are with me and my phone rings, you will just have to endure whatever default noise the iPhone comes with. When you leave me a message you’ll have to do so after listening to the very unimpressive, “Hi. It’s me. Leave a message” spiel.

Yeah, I guess I’m just old school. And it’s not that I don’t want to be like all the cool people that have the catchy waiting-for-someone-to-pick-up-your-call music, or hip new Fergie ring tones, or clever voice mails (it’s totally not that). I just haven’t really got to it yet. You probably have got to it but that’s because you are way cooler than I am.

But, do you want to know what the crazier thing about all this is? Here is the proverbial kick in the shorts: My mom is all up to speed on that stuff and I’m not. (Then again my mom is hipper than most). Nonetheless, it still confirms that I must be boring and not hip to the scene.

Anyway. What’s your ring tone? I know you have something really great. Will you have something cool for me to listen to while I’m waiting for you to answer when I call? Do you have a nifty something for your voice mail message? Or are you old school too? Do tell.