Gabe laughingly responds, "We did 200 dates last year, so we really learned to love our van! We loved the smell, the driving, and the road camaraderie that goes along with it. We get to meet some really cool people, and that energizes us, keeps us going. The end of a show can give you a spurt of energy that leads into a time of worship, and it rejuvenates you so you're ready to go out again."
The guys like to mix it up a bit too, sometimes playing one night at a bar or club, and a church the next morning. They're equally comfortable in a college, a coffeehouse, or a bookstore for an acoustic engagement. "We like that," Gabe says, "because it gives us a chance to meet somebody new and hopefully impact that person with what God's given us. Maybe it's encouragement through a song that means something to them right at the moment. So we try to be as relevant as possible. Actually, our album is called "Uncommon Days" (see review here) because the times we're living in are so interesting; they provide so many opportunities to reach people. I think of David and his psalms and all that they mean to me. I thought of them often when I used to work at a gas station. Sometimes at night I was pretty sure I was going to be robbed, and those psalms came to mind and helped, even though they were written so long ago. That's what I was going for when writing the songs on "Uncommon Days," he adds. "They're little prayers, cries for help, exclamations of joy, worship tunes."
C'mon back for Part 3 of our Circleslide Interview for more of Gabe Martinez's journey.
