Sanctus Real

Sanctus Real at the Grammys. Sad Matt couldn't be with us. He opted to stay home with his family

We were extremely surprised and humbled to be nominated for a Grammy award this year. It’s still surreal to me that our little corner of the musical world would ever collide with something as prestigious as the Grammys.

It was an exciting day. We wore suits. We walked on the red carpet. Mark met Questlove from The Roots. We all received gift bags with hair products in them. The morning started with Chris picking up the rental car…a fabulous Toyota Sienna. For those of you without children, this is a minivan. It was white. It was a lot like the eggpod that Lady Gaga arrived in actually; except we had 8 people to cram in, and I’m pretty sure hers was a single seater.

Arriving at the red carpet

Mark with Questlove

Our category was presented during the pre-telecast portion during the afternoon. This is when most of the awards were announced. Israel Houghton won our category. At first we were a sad when our name wasn’t called, but then we honestly expected to lose to either Tobymac or Steven Curtis Chapman anyway, so not much was different on our end. After a brief moment of sorrow, we were able to relax and enjoy the rest of the day.

Panorama of the Staples Center, taken with my phone

The nighttime telecast was incredible. I have to be honest and admit that besides Mumford & Sons, my favorite performance of the night was CeeLo Green and the Muppets. They won my heart with all their bright colors. Also as a classic rock fan, watching both Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger perform in a single night was a milestone.

Mumford & Sons, Avett Brothers, & Bob Dylan

CeeLo Green & The Muppets

The next day, we drove out to Bakersfield to visit Pete’s family. We made quite an epic pit stop on the way.

Anyone recognize this house?

Where's the Toyota pickup truck?

Yes, it’s Marty McFly’s house from Back To The Future, and it looks almost identical to how it did in the movies. It’s possible we were as excited to see this house as we were about anything else that happened on the trip.

Eventually we made it to Pete’s parent’s house, where we stayed the night. It was great getting to hang with the Prevosts.

The next morning we began our trip to Oregon, which I’ll talk more about in a couple days :)

Until then,

dan