I've been a fan of Caedmon's Call for about 10 years now -- since I first saw them in a middle school auditorium in Richmond sometime around 1996 or 97. I got to meet them all shortly thereafter when they were back in Richmond and hanging out at a Christian bookstore downtown. Well that was many years ago and they're much bigger now, and much of the band has changed. But I still like them. So I was excited to find out they were the worship leaders for the conferences I mentioned in my last blog.
At the Orlando conference my colleagues Becky and Netty decided to ask them out for dinner once the conference had wrapped up. They approached Garret but he said he wasn't sure what they were supposed to be doing next. I saw them later on out in the parking lot and talked to Danielle and Andy Osenga (the guy that replaced Derek Webb) but they said someone was bringing dinner for them. I think they were just being polite, but that's OK.
Nevertheless, despite getting denied twice, another colleague (Lauri) and I decided to seek them out again in Denver. Well, it never happened. We got busy and had dinner plans lined up already so we didn't make any effort to seek them out. So it's Sunday and we're dropping off our rental car when who should pull in behind us but Andy Osenga! Well he climbs on the airport shuttle with us and I start talking to him. Lauri, who is normally quite personable and outgoing, apparently clams up when around celebrities, so she sat there like she was having her portrait painted! I, on the other hand, have much more experience with celebrity (e.g. encounters with Ray Charles and Stephen King, among others) and don't hesitate much to engage them in conversation!
So we talk all the way to the airport and I find out that a) Danielle wasn't there because her youngest was sick, b) Josh Moore didn't make it because he lost his passport and driver's license and wasn't going to be allowed to board the plane and c) his pre-Caedmon's catalogue (including a fine song called "The High School Band" which he did at both conferences) is available online. He said the url is www.iloveandy.com (I didn't ask how it got that name), but that link doesn't work. Try www.andrewosenga.com instead.
Well we went our separate ways then because Lauri and I were headed to Cleveland (and then onto Orlando) and Andy was heading home to Nashville. We do the check-in and security thing (dumb people made me take off my sandals, which are entirely made of rubber and plastic) and settle in at our gate. Just as boarding is getting started a guy sits down next to Lauri who ... wait ... looks a lot like Cliff Young. I'm not sure though because a) we're sitting at a gate going to Cleveland and I know he lives in Texas, b) there's more gray in that goatee than I would have guessed and c) he's reading Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" and, yes, I really had this stupid thought: Do Christians read Dan Brown? (Yes, they do, by the way. I'm personally planning to read "The Da Vinci Code" to see what the fuss is about.)
So I come up with a plan. I take off my black sweatshirt to reveal my newly purchased Fusion t-shirt (that's the name of the conference ... www.fusionconferences.com). Sure enough, he sees it (we'd already made eye-contact twice -- maybe he recognized me?!?!) and asks if I was there. So Cliff and I talked for a bit while Lauri did her best impersonation of a statue. Found out from Cliff that Danielle just turned 30 (he had a huge binder full of emails from friends and fans) and that one of the next Fusion conferences will be in Washington D.C. I couldn't get that info from any of my friends with rightnow, who put on these conferences, but I got the inside scoop from my man Cliff.
So forget dinner ... I'm planning on drinks at some local D.C. bar with my friends Cliff and Andy! Next thing you know we'll be doing Christmas together.
Any celeb encounters you'd like to share with everyone?
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