Daybreak's Blog on DaybreakQuartet.com

Christmas Sale -- Again!!!

2011-11-25T09:43:00.001-05:00

It's Back -- we had such a good response from this offer last year, that we wanted to offer it once again.

The Daybreak Quartet is having a Christmas Sale. Just wanted to let you know via our blog that we have some Christmas Specials available in our online store right now. You can visit our Online Store by clicking the link.

Here are a few specials that are only available via this blog and e-mail.

Daybreak Quartet Acapella Catalog (32 .mp3 downloads) -- just $10.

Daybreak Quartet Collection 1995-2004 (over 80 downloads) -- just $30.

Entire Daybreak Quartet Catalog (over 110 downloads) -- just $40

All other CD downloads are either $5 or $7.50 and can be purchased through our Online Store.

If you would like to order our regular CDs, they are each on sale for $10.

Thank you for listening to our music (and reading this blog). We hope that our ministry will be a blessing via our CDs this Christmas season.

God bless,

Nathan and the guys

Nothing much new...except for a new singer!

2010-07-15T11:12:00.005-04:00

For any who have been following this blog, I'm sorry that it has been boring and un-updated. I keep telling myself that I'll do better, but I lie to myself too. What's the point, right?

So, here is some news worth writing about. Two weeks ago, Jon Tharp moved down from Peoria, Illinois to begin singing with us. We met him through our mutual friends, the Ball Brothers. In fact, he used to sing with them (until they realized he wasn't an actual "brother" and kicked him out...j/k, I think). God has opened many doors to make this move happen and we are excited knowing that there are many exciting days ahead.

The only problem with Jon is that he's not a tenor. We've been looking for a tenor for over a year now and have had some great guys filling in, but we're still looking. No, Jon is a baritone. For the last 12 years, I've had the privilege of putting up with my brother Jason (the only original member left in the quartet). He has been singing with the group now for 19+ years. Jason sang his last concert with us two weeks ago and is coming off of the road especially to help his two daughters who have a brittle bone disease called OI (osteogenesis imperfecta). I know that his family is glad that he will be home on the weekends.

So there's our big news for now. We have a new baritone joining the group (and we're still looking for a tenor, so if you know a good one, let him know about us). We'll add a picture of Jon to our site soon.

We just finished up a 4-day trip to Illinois, which included Jon's home church in Tremont, Grace Baptist Church, where many friends and family showed up to make sure he didn't forget his words. He did a great job, and I know that you will be excited to meet him and hear how he sounds with the group when we're in your area.

God bless,

Nathan and the guys

Forgotten Blog

2010-02-05T00:52:00.002-05:00

I have forgotten to blog...for a very long time. I'm sure a lot has happened since I last blogged, but I can't remember much of it right now (it is going on 1am as I am typing). I do want to let everyone know about what is coming up for the quartet, though.

This month, we will be at our home church, Pinecrest Baptist Church, with The Jonathans on Wednesday night, February 17th. If you are close enough to make it over, I think you'll enjoy it. Parker Jonathan who sang with the Kingsmen for almost 15 years is now singing with his wife Paula and lead singer Eric Dunson. They are based in west Georgia.

Just a couple weeks later, we will travel to Tokyo, Japan to be with several military churches. We are honored to be invited to travel around the world to sing about what God has done in our lives and share with others what He means to us. We will be in Japan for one week, then we will return to Los Angeles for one weekend before we return home. Please pray for us and especially for our families as we are away for this extended period of time.

We're looking forward to another great year. Take a look at our Itinerary to see if we're going to be near you. If we're not, then get to work and find a place for us to come sing... ;)

God bless,

Nathan and the guys

Labor Day Weekend!!!

2009-09-07T23:29:00.002-04:00

We survived another weekend on the road, which we are always grateful to do. We traveled up to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas for this weekend that has been scheduled for well over a year. However, we got a call on Thursday night at 10:30pm asking us if we were available in McDonough, Georgia for a Benefit Concert on Friday night at 7pm. We were planning on leaving at 10pm that night as it was, so we readily accepted, especially because of the one it was for.

Stephen Garrison is a good friend of the quartet. He grew up in our home church, Pinecrest Baptist Church, now located in McDonough, Georgia. At the age of 9 he was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy and has been bound in a wheelchair for over half of his life. He just turned 21 this past year and he is always a blessing and an encouragement whenever we get to see him. We're sorry that Stephen couldn't be there for the event, and we missed him, but we had a great time singing about our Lord and for one of his most faithful followers...Stephen. We love you Stephen and we hope you are feeling better very soon!

We left for Pennsylvania around 11:30pm and arrived in Allison Park at 1pm...for a 2pm afternoon singing. Thankfully, we did not have to set up any equipment, which always makes for light work. We are definitely most comfortable with our equipment but Calvary Baptist Church facilitated us very well, and we will be glad to not set up our equipment next time we go there.

The teenagers in the church put together 2 Gift Baskets loaded with some fruit, some Snapple tea, and way too much chocolate and chips. We will remember them for months to come as we continue to eat what they gave us...yes, it was that much. Dennis and Jeremiah (our fill-in tenor, currently) had a great time schooling the teenagers in the art of foosball (during Sunday School, of course). I think the final score was 11-1, then the Youth Director showed up and spoiled the fun...j/k.

We got to be with Calvary Baptist and Pastor Barry Murray Sunday morning as well, then we headed up to Slippery Rock Baptist Church in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania for the evening service. This was our 3rd or 4th time we've been with them, and we had a great experience once again. Part of the service consisted of a phone call between the pastor and one of their missionaries in Africa who is 69 and helping in every way that she can. It was 3 o'clock in Africa and they had to call her 5 or 6 times because the connections wasn't working correctly...I hope she got back to sleep.

We arrived back home this afternoon and got to spend the rest of the day with our families, which is always what we look forward to when we're on the road. It's hard being away from our families on Saturdays and Sundays when most families are together enjoying their free-time and going to church. God has blessed this quartet with an amazing ministry, and I'm very thankful for that, but I want to thank my family especially for the sacrifice that they make every weekend when I'm not with them. I hope that I can make it up to them someday.

Don't forget...no white pants or shoes allowed the rest of the year...might not be a bad idea to just ban them entirely!

God bless,

Nathan

Dodge City Weekend

2009-08-09T17:17:00.003-04:00

I should have posted about this much sooner, but everything has been getting busy lately. I want to give you a recap of our final weekend in July. It was a great weekend, but it definitely had some downs in addition to the many ups.

We began our trip heading out to Corinth, Mississippi to be at Brigman Hill Baptist Church for the finale to their week of Vacation Bible School. As some of you may know, our tenor of over four years left to sing with another group, so we've been using some past singers as fill-ins while we're looking for the right person to fill the position. This weekend, Jeff Schreiber (member for over 6 years) was able to fill-in for us, but he had to fly into Birmingham from Louisville. Well, he missed his flight due to traffic, so I started to panic for a few minutes until we found out that he would still make it in at the same time due to connecting through Atlanta. He was still able to get on the same flight from Atlanta to Birmingham. (Now that I think about it...why didn't we pick him up in Atlanta? I'll have to get back to y'all on that one.)

We made it into Corinth and had a great concert with Pastor Chris Estep and his wife, Beth, who grilled us some of the biggest steaks we've ever seen. They know how to guarantee that we'll come back when they call us. When the concert ended that Friday night, we drove through the night to Kansas City where we spent the day with Dave Thompson and his family. We hadn't seen them in well over a year, so we enjoyed sitting around the breakfast table and getting reacquainted. Their kids are extremely talented and have a great heart for the Lord. That day was uneventful (I think) and we had a great concert that evening with the Sudanese Refugee Choir. I can't imagine what these people have been through, and all because they are not ashamed of their faith in Jesus Christ. Would we still proclaim our belief in our Saviour if there was a chance that we would be killed? How many of us proclaim our belief now...when there is no risk?

After the concert ended, we drove through the night and arrived at 3:30am in Liberal, Kansas. We got a couple hours of sleep and then arrived at Fellowship Baptist Church around 8am. Again, I think everything went fine that morning. We met up with Greg Howlett (www.greghowlett.com) and as always, enjoyed being able to have him play for some of our songs and hearing him play his solo songs. If you still have not heard his music, go to his website and find out more about him.

Sunday night, we were in Wichita, Kansas. Greg had a solo obligation at one church and we were at Heritage Baptist Church. Pastor Larry Olson was a joy to meet and we had a great time with his people and with his family after the service. That evening, we actually got to sleep in a bed. Lance Cummins, one of our former lead singers, is the Worship Leader at New Spring Church, and he opened up his home to us. It's always great to see Lance and his family and we enjoyed eating at Cracker Barrel the next morning with his family and some other friends from the Wichita area.

Finally, now to the part where the problems began. If you've read some of my previous posts, you will know that we have been to Dodge City, Kansas many times before and that we've had some sort of mechanical issue or flat tires or inverted trailers every time we head that way. The only exception to this fact was last summer. We traveled to Dodge City and back without any incident whatsoever. That of course was made up for when our trailer flipped on our way to Dodge City this Spring. Well, we drove over to Dodge City for the annual Dodge City Days and as we pulled into town we noticed a problem. Our van would not accelerate properly as we would stop and go at the lights through town. It would hesitate and then finally get around to moving each and every time. We had allowed for some extra time when we got into town, thankfully, and Dennis and I headed down to the auto parts store to see if we could find out the problem. Well, we though it was the fuel filter, so we purchased one and I sent Dennis under the van to replace it. (I'm not even close to being mechanically minded, so he was the better choice) After 30 minutes of laying under the van on the hot concrete, we finally figured out that the fuel filter was unaccessible. In fact, when we Googled it later, we found out that it is in fact unserviceable. Convenient, to say the least. Well, we had another repair shop come out to look at the van and drive it and they couldn't make the van repeat the problem. We thanked them, paid them and prayed a lot. We finally got around to the concert...almost!

30 minutes before we were supposed to start, it began storming. It seems to always rain when we come into Dodge City, and this was no different, except that it was harder and windier than usual. Well, there has been an issue with the roof in this $40 million building leaking, and the only place that it leaks is right above the stage...and right above the laptop we use to play our soundtracks. Dennis, who owns the laptop we were using that day, got some towels and mopped up the water on the keyboard and screen and checked it out to make sure that it would work. It seemed like everything was fine, until our second song, when it just turned itself off. There were 800-900 people at the concert, so Jason began to do what he does best....talk! I went out to our van, got my laptop and brought it in. By the time I had come back in, Dennis had gotten his laptop working again, and began to sing another song...until the inevitable happened and the laptop died again. I know you're thinking that we were probably laughing about this and praising the Lord, but we weren't! We were frustrated (can I get a witness?). We finally hooked up my laptop and got something working for us to be able to finish the concert, but I think we did more acapella in that evening than we did the rest of the weekend.

After all was said and done, it was a great evening and many people expressed their appreciation, testimonies and condolences for the laptop. God even provided for the laptop to be replaced through some friends of our ministry who we will never forget. (Dennis surely won't, since he almost cut off two of his fingers at their house earlier this year). When we left Dodge City, we prayed that our van would make it home and we headed to Wichita, where we dropped off Greg to fly home. We then headed to Kansas City, where we dropped off Jeff to fly home. Jason, Dennis and I then drove the rest of that day to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where we ended up singing the next night for Impact, a youth conference that had over 2000 teenagers in attendance. There was definitely some energy in that room.

We finally made it home in the middle of the night on Wednesday night, 6 days after we started out on the road. Our van made it, and it is still running...just fine. It is a little dirty though, so we should probably wash it.

You know what, when I began writing this post, I thought that the weekend had a lot more things go wrong than actually did. I guess Satan likes to make such a big thing out of a little thing that our focus gets lost. I'm in the Chicago area as I'm writing this, and I just heard Pastor Bruce Humbert speak on "Making Something Out Of Nothing". God made the world out of Nothing; without Christ, we can do Nothing...we are Nothing. I would rather allow God to take the Nothing that I have and use it than to let Satan have anything to make into an obstacle in my life. So, in looking back, we had a great trip that weekend.

I hope that your life can be used by God for Good and that it won't just be Good for Nothing.

Nathan

HYMNS -- Download it FREE!!!

2009-07-10T12:05:00.003-04:00

Yes, it's true! We are giving away free downloads of our latest CD, HYMNS. Our goal is to put great music (great music? just download and decide for yourself) into the hands of as many people as possible, and to introduce them to The Daybreak Quartet.

Just click on this link -- FREE DOWNLOAD! You will be directed to a page that will provide you with details about how to receive your free download of the entire CD and pass the offer on to others.

This offer will end on July 24th, so make sure to let your friends and family know about it as soon as possible.

God bless!

Nathan and the guys

"HYMNS" IS AVAILABLE!

2009-07-02T10:36:00.004-04:00

Yes...it's true. We finally have Hymns in our hot little hands. I got to spend all of Tuesday evening stuffing envelopes and then I spent over an hour at the local Post Office watching one guy weigh, stamp, scan and attach postage to the orders we were sending out. Thank you again to all who pre-ordered Hymns.

I am excited about this CD. It is a tribute to Dr. Gary Prisk. Jason and I could not have asked for a better father and I have never come across a spiritual example whom I would want to emulate more. He started and pastored a church in Oak Harbor, Washington for 32 years before his Homegoing in 2006. He loved the Hymns for their message and timeless themes. It was a rare occasion when he would sing in public (our musical talent, if we have any, came from our mom), but I'm sure he's now singing all the time.

I hope that you will enjoy this latest CD from the Daybreak Quartet. There are some clips available on our Fan Page on Facebook. Just click on the Boxes tab and the Player is on the right-hand side.

Until next time...God bless!

Nathan

Scotland and British Customs

2009-04-30T02:40:00.002-04:00

Hello from bonnie Scotland,

We arrived safely into Aberdeen, Scotland yesterday at 1:30pm after flying out of Atlanta at 9pm Tuesday evening. Our flights were uneventful, but Customs in London was not. Here's the story:

As we walked up to the Customs agent at Heathrow Airport in London to give her our passports, she asked about the purpose of our visit to the UK. We told her that we were attending a convention in Scotland and she asked for what purpose? Well, to sing of course. This started off a series of questions that ended with her confiscating our passports and heading into the backoffice to make more inquiries about us and the convention we are attending. 20 minutes later, she returned, gave us our passports and let us know that if her supervisor had not allowed us to enter the country, our European trip would have been cut short on day 1. Praise the Lord that it did not.

After we landed in Aberdeen we found out that we very easily could have been required to return home because the rules changed for visitors entering the country to sing. Secular artists who have been coming into the UK for years to perform were recently sent back to the States because they didn't have the required Visa. The committee for the Gospel Music Convention was not made aware of the changes in Immigration Law but are now well aware and will be prepared for those entering the country for the 2010 Convention.

All of the American groups have arrived safely...the Ball Brothers and the Dills. Allison Durham Speer who was scheduled to be here was unable to come due to bronchitis. Please pray for her to recover from this quickly. The European groups are arriving today, and we'll kick off the convention tomorrow evening. It's going to be a great weekend. You can find more information at www.gmcscotland.com.

We are headed to Loch Ness today, and hopefully we'll have some pictures to post on the blog in a day or so. If we see Nessie, we'll do our best to get a close-up and have Dennis pose in the water with her. I'm sure he'd do it, too.

That's all for now, but we'll keep you posted as we continue our trip in Europe.

God bless!

HYMNS now available to order online...

2009-04-11T01:55:00.005-04:00

After months of hard work, we're ready to start taking pre-orders for our new CD "HYMNS". We had a great time working with Tim Parton (www.myspace.com/timparton) and Greg Howlett (www.greghowlett.com), both good friends and incredible pianists. Greg has been traveling to select dates with us, so contact us to find out if he'll be coming with us to your area. (I think he's only sticking around long enough to go to Scotland with us next month, but we'll see.)

Here is a list of the songs that we have included on this recording.

1. Where Could I Go
2. This World Is Not My Home
3. The Lord's My Shepherd (inspired by our 2007 trip to Scotland)
4. When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
5. In the Sweet By and By
6. Safe Am I
7. The Old Rugged Cross (piano solo by Greg Howlett)
8. Near the Cross
9. Mansion Over the Hilltop
10. Jesus Saves
11. On the Jericho Road
12. Constantly Abiding

You can visit our Online Store to place your order. We're offering discounts on purchases of 3 or more copies of "HYMNS", so get some for your friends.

Finally, for the first 100 orders, we will personally sign the CDs that are sent out. I know...whoop-dee-doo right? Well, you can request that we do not sign it if you want to do so.

May God bless you this Easter weekend!

Nathan and the guys

Trailer Update

2009-04-07T01:00:00.002-04:00

Thank you to all who have asked about our equipment and our trailer in the last week. We did make it home to Atlanta, and the trailer did stay connected to the hitch on our van the whole way home. The tarp even stayed on, thanks to bungee cords, straps and duct tape.

We got the estimate back from the trailer repair shop and it will cost more to repair this trailer than to purchase a new one. Interesting...but we know that God will provide. We've already figured out how to make it through the next month or two without a trailer.

Our equipment will be getting a thorough inspection this week. Some of our equipment cases show definite signs of a struggle inside the trailer when it flipped, so we'll make sure that all of the electronics are still working correctly. Also, we might have to have a "cracked-case" CD sale...actually, I was surprised at how few CDs were damaged. I honestly think that we've had more CDs broken when we've received them from UPS or FedEx than we did when we pulled them out of the trailer. God does care about the little things, doesn't He?

Until next time,

Nathan and the guys

Change of Plans...

2009-03-28T13:34:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to update you on our status in Oklahoma and Kansas. The Last Supper Drama in Dodge City has been postponed to tomorrow night, and it looks like the roads will be clear enough for us to get there later today. Please keep praying for our travels and our safety as the roads may still be icy as we are traveling today, tomorrow and Monday.

Nathan and the guys

Safe...Praise the Lord!

2009-03-27T23:58:00.005-04:00

Well, the Lord protected us this afternoon for sure. We left Atlanta last night at 11pm and headed for Dodge City, Kansas. We had planned to stop in Wichita to visit Lance Cummins, a former member of the quartet, but because of ice and a blizzard, we made the choice to head straight for Dodge City instead. While driving up Hwy 280, just south of Woodward, Oklahoma, our van began to slide on ice and as we fishtailed, the trailer disconnected and when the tongue caught the road, it flipped onto its roof.

Contrary to what the images show, it did not flip over our van and land in front of us. We did back up to try and protect it from further damage by keeping our flashers on. This trucker almost got it anyways. After an hour and a few more minutes, a wrecker finally got to us, through the blizzard, and flipped the trailer back onto its wheels.

Currently, we are in a hotel in Woodward, Oklahoma. Our trailer is at a shop waiting to be fixed tomorrow morning. We will be checking the weather tomorrow to see if we will be able to make it to Dodge City for the Last Supper Drama at the Dodge City Civic Center. We've had several offers from some of the folks in Dodge City to come rescue us in their 4x4 trucks, so I'm sure that we will make it there.

We'll keep you updated on the status of the trailer. We were able to get our clothes out of the trailer and they're now drying in our hotel room. We'll see if the equipment works on Sunday.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as we travel from place to place.

Nathan and the guys

Pray for us

2009-03-21T23:44:00.002-04:00

Hello out there...

Well, we just purchased our tickets for our trip to Scotland, Belgium and Germany. On April 28th, we are returning to Scotland for the Gospel Music Convention (www.gmcscotland.com). We were invited to be a part of the 2007 Convention, and we are thrilled to be invited back. Also returning will be Dynamic, an acapella vocal group from Stockholm, Sweden. They are seriously talented.

We will also be traveling to Belgium and Germany immediately following the Convention to be with some military/missionary churches from May 4th-7th. Please pray for these meetings especially that we would be an encouragement and an effective witness. We already know that one of the meetings has the potential to be a major event, and we know that every meeting will be an opportunity for God to move.

Until next time,

Nathan and the guys

Stay Up-to-Date with the Daybreak Quartet and share with your friends via Facebook, Myspace, Blogger, TypePad, etc.

2009-02-14T21:08:00.001-05:00

Back in the Studio

2009-01-22T23:15:00.002-05:00

We're back at it again...in the studio...punishing our voices to try and get everything perfect for the new recording. It will be available in April, so when you get your copy, you can tell us if we spent enough time on it.

It is 11:50pm and we are in the middle of our third song of the day. We started at 10am. We'll be sticking around overnight and we hope to get another 3 or 4 songs done tomorrow. We're planning on having 12 or 13 songs on the project, so we should be done after a couple more days of recording.

Also, we're pretty excited about going to Acapulco, Mexico on Monday for the Mt. Abarim Mission Board's 43rd Annual Field Conference. Our wives will get to go with us, so hopefully we'll get a few hours to relax and enjoy the sunshine. We will return on Saturday and be home in our own churches for Super Bowl Sunday.

Embracing what is right!

Nathan

Blessings

2009-01-19T00:18:00.002-05:00

Pinecrest Baptist Church, home to 3 of our members (Jason, Nathan and Dennis), is right in the middle of 40 Days of Blessing. This reminder to focus on others and not on ourselves has been yielding some amazing testimonies from our members and has opened my eyes to what I can do for others when I allow myself to be available. How many times have you turned down an "invitation" to be a blessing to someone else because it would interrupt your plan for the day? I have to say that I am guilty of that mentality, but when I really started looking for opportunities to "bless" others--or more appropriately, allow God to bless others through me--they have been everywhere. Do you know what happens when you strive to be a blessing to someone else? Acts 20:35 states: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" and I believe it, because I have been a recipient of that blessing. Take some time to think about how you can be a blessing to someone today. A phone call or a note is all it takes to help someone make it through the rest of their day. I promise...if you try it, you'll like it.

Nathan

Live Across America -- Download it now

2009-01-09T23:35:00.003-05:00

We have been offering our latest CD, Live Across America: Pre-release version, on our table for the last few months, and we want to make it available to you via .mp3 download at this time. We will fully release the final version and have it available for purchase on our website at The Online Store soon, but please take advantage of being able to have the songs immediately instead of waiting for them to come to you through the United States Postal Service. Please let us know if you want more of our songs available via .mp3 download and we will be glad to do so.

You will not see the player in some locations this blog will post. If that is the case, please visit The Daybreak Quartet Blog.

An actual article!!!

2009-01-04T02:24:00.003-05:00

I just came across an article that was written after our annual concert for Presbyterian Manor of the Plains in Dodge City, Kansas. As you can read in the article, it was our 10th year there (we'll be going back this year again in July) and we have a great time every year. To read the article, click ***this***. We will actually be in Dodge City twice this year. In March, we will be participating in the Living Last Supper Drama at the Dodge City Civic Center. We will provide a mini-concert before the program as well as all music throughout. If you can make it, you will find more details on the Tour page of the website.

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Winston-Salem, North Carolina about to go to sleep. We'll be singing in two churches tomorrow and then we'll head back home, through the night.

God bless,

Nathan

In the Studio

2008-12-31T00:30:00.001-05:00

I am riding home at 12:19am on New Year's Eve. We just left the studio where we finished 4 songs for our new project.

Saturday we worked with Tim Parton to arrange and track 8 of the songs we will include. The other 4 or 5 songs will be provided via our quasi-member Greg Howlett (who accompanies us at many of our concerts around the Southeast).

The quartet got into the studio at 4pm on Monday, recorded until 2am and decided to just sleep at the studio instead of driving the 90 minutes back to our homes. This was done to allow us to get an early start Tuesday morning...so bright and early we started...at 10:30am.

Anyway, we are excited about our new project. I will include more information, and possibly some clips, very soon.

Have a Happy New Year!

Nathan

Back from the Cruise

2008-12-15T14:28:00.001-05:00

So, we made it back from the cruise, and we only brought back a few more pounds to show for it. Thank goodness it was only a 4-day cruise. Everything I was told about the food on board the ship was true. There were some excellent menus each evening to order from (as many appetizers, entrees and desserts as I wanted) and during the day, in fact around-the-clock, we could stop in to the buffet and eat some more. Again, I'm glad that I only had 4 days to try and control myself.

Now, to the real reason we went on the cruise. HOPE Ministries, out of Hickory, North Carolina, set up the cruise and had over 140 friends travel with us. Each day we got to spend time in worship and studying some end-time prophecy that was a very hot topic for many attendees. A couple of pastors who were with us also gave some excellent challenges concerning the family, communication and God's mercy in making a way of escape. Over the weekend, there were 5 professions of faith reported among crew members on the boat who came in contact with members of our group who shared their faith. There is never a time when we as Christians should take a vacation from our faith, because God is always placing people in our path that He has prepared for that moment.

We boarded the ship, the Carnival Fascination, on Thursday and set sail around 4pm. We spent all day Friday at sea and arrived in Nassau, Bahamas on Saturday morning.

My wife, Sara, and I spent the morning strolling the streets and visiting the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle. We were also quickly informed as to who owned the multi-million dollar properties along the water, ranging from Oprah to Michael Jordan. On Sunday we spent a few hours in Freeport, Bahamas and then left port for the quick trip back to Jacksonville, Florida and our point of debarkation. Along the way, I placed second out of 16 in the pingpong tournament (admittedly, a few of the players I beat had downed a few beers, so I can't claim too much success), the karaoke contest on board was won by those who came with the HOPE Ministries cruise group (again, singing against some contestants who had downed some beers, but still much better singers), and once we arrived back on land, we had to force our minds to realize that the land was not moving below us, so we could confidently put our foot down without trying to balance ourselves...that is a weird feeling.

I had a great time, as did the others who attended. We will be making announcements of plans for more cruises to come, so please check back from time to time and come along with us to a destination that interests you.

God bless,

Nathan

Merry Christmas

2008-11-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hello and I hope you have recovered from Thanksgiving dinner. I know that I have...barely. The quartet is gearing up for some Christmas concerts throughout Georgia this December and a cruise to the Caribbean next weekend. We have not been on a cruise before and we are hoping that none of us have an adverse reaction to the rhythm of the ocean. We are cruising with the HOPE Ministries team and 150 supporters of the ministry from around the country. We leave on the 4th and we have the incredible opportunity to give a concert that will be open to the entire ship on the 5th. We will present the Gospel during this time, and are praying that God will work in the hearts of those attending and that their lives can be changed. Also, our wives get to go with us, so maybe they'll start to forgive us for all of the other weekends we have to be away from home.

We're looking forward to another great year in 2009. We get to go back to Scotland, which was a highlight of 2007 for us. We're also returning to some of our favorite places around the States and are excited to see some familiar faces. If we're not coming to a church near you, please contact us and indicate where you would like to come and see us.

Finally, we wish you all a Merry Christmas (if we don't post again before then) and a Happy New Year!

New Album

2006-08-01T09:55:00.000-04:00

OUR NEW ALBUM IS HERE! We finally have the new CD "not so far away" in our hands and we are enjoying singing the songs and being able to let people know that they can actually get them on CD. This project features our new tenor, Joel Wood, from Columbus, Georgia, on “The Stone Was Rolled Away”. We have to break in the new guys slowly otherwise they get a big head! That’s when they leave to sing with another group, so we’ll try to hang on to this one for awhile. Anyway, we will have the site updated soon so that you can order the CD online at www.daybreakquartet.com. In the meantime, please call the office at 888.335.3816 to order. To hear some of the songs, please visit our music site at www.myspace.com/daybreakquartet.

We are driving back from Dodge City, Kansas as I write this. We had a great weekend. Gospel Mennonite Church in Sublette, Kansas fed us watermelon and fried bread on Saturday night before we sang to their packed out church. The fried bread that the Mennonite ladies prepared was awesome. It is a German recipe and only has a German name. We asked everyone what it was called, but they could only tell us fried bread. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Sunday we were in Dumas, Texas at Bible Baptist Church. They are in the middle of renovating an entire shopping center. Their auditorium will occupy the space that was once filled by a grocery store. They hope to be into their new auditorium by December, and so next time we’re there, we’ll look forward to being in there.

We got to spend the entire day with this church which meant we were able to go back to our hotel and crash for the afternoon. We were especially thankful for this because we left Atlanta on Friday night at 9pm. We drove 19 hours to Sublette, KS, sang our concert and then drove to Dumas, only 3.5 hours away. We really enjoyed the opportunity to sleep that afternoon.

Monday afternoon we stopped in Minneola, Kansas at a Long-Term Care home to sing for the residents and others from the community. This is the fourth year that we have done this, and we enjoy stopping in to sing for those folks.

Monday night we were in Dodge City, Kansas for our 8th year. Dodge City Days is a 10-14 day festival that includes concerts, fairs, and a professional Rodeo competition. We have been able to be a part of this festival for 8 years and have never seen anything else that goes on, because we get there in time to set up for the concert, then we head back home after the concert is over. Maybe one year we’ll be able to hang around a little longer.

We sang with Barry Ward at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a new Catholic cathedral in Dodge City. Barry is a singing cowboy who has performed around the country and even on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He’s a great guy who performed last year. This time he brought some other players and a backup singer. They do a great job. His website is http://www.barrybearward.com/.

Well, next week we’re headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee then to Chicago. We’ll be with Alan McGuirt, our former lead singer in Chicago so we’re looking forward to that.

Until next time, and knowing me, who knows when that will be, God bless.

Nathan

Car Alarms

2006-07-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

Car alarms...they're supposed to work aren't they? Well, ours apparently did not, because while we were eating lunch in Dallas, Texas our laptops and a few other personal belongings decided to leave us. We're pretty sure they had some assistance because the lock on the side door was most definitely broken from the outside. These things happen, eh?

Well, besides all that, we had a great 4th of July weekend. We were in Texas on Sunday the 2nd and then we traveled to Hickory, North Carolina to be with the Kistlers and HOPE Ministries for two nights. We had a great time seeing friends from around the country. Tuesday, the 4th, we finished the concert evening outside singing "God Bless the USA" and as we began to finish the song, the fireworks began to go off behind us. It was an incredible feeling. I must say that we are so blessed to live in this nation. We have so many freedoms that other people only dream of. Let us not take these for granted because some of the freedom that we enjoy as Christians is being attacked from many different sides. We should never be ashamed to be a Christian and to stand up for what is right.

On the 9th we got to stay fairly close to home. We were in Gainesville, Georgia at a new work in the morning. First Baptist Church of Lake Lanier meets in a school and has a great bunch of people. We thoroughly enjoyed being with them and hopefully being an encouragement to them as they were to us.

We traveled across the border to Anniston, Alabama for the evening service at Saks Baptist Church. We have sung at this church many times over the past six or seven years and we always look forward to going back.

It's past my bedtime now, but hey, I've posted to the blog. This might be a fluke, so I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions about members of the quartet and you would like them answered, send them to me as a comment. I'll see what I can come up with.

God bless,

Nathan

Monthly Blog?

2006-06-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

Wow...I'm really bad at this thing. I hope that you haven't been checking back on this thing every day just hoping for another glimpse into the lives of the Daybreak Quartet, because honestly, that would be pretty sad. I'm sure that you all have full and accomplished lives and so I won't worry about any of you anymore...not that I have, seeing how I haven't even written to you in weeks.

So, many things have happened since I last posted. The most unexpected being the sudden death of Jason's and my dad. We got a call on Memorial Day and flew up to Washington State on Wednesday to make preparations and to be with our mom. He was an incredible man and an even greater Christian. He founded Bible Baptist Church in Oak Harbor, Washington and pastored there for over 31 years. He set a great example for his children and we look forward to seeing him again one day. We set up a website for information about him and his ministry at www.pastorpriskshomegoing.org.

We returned to Georgia Sunday the 11th of June at Bethel Baptist Church in Richmond Hill, Georgia just outside of Savannah. We had a great time and enjoyed the fellowship of Pastor Carlton Cooper who we only met last summer at a preacher's conference.

For those of you who haven't been to one of our concerts, we like to take requests for hymns and then attempt to sing atleast one verse and chorus in four-part harmony. Usually this time of the concert goes well, but the members of Bethel Baptist were ruthless. I do believe the request time turned into "Stump the Quartet". I don't think we knew half of the songs that were requested. Oh well...you win some, you lose some.

I hope that everyone is not too upset with the random postings on this blog, but if you are, then ... ok.

Nathan

It's been so long

2006-04-28T23:15:00.000-04:00

Well, I've done it again. Just like my New Year's resolutions, I started something and then started slacking off. I will try to do better if you will give me another chance.

We've been busy. We were in Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Georgia again, Louisiana and then Pennsylvania. The Lord has blessed in each of our trips and granted us safety. While in Illinois, at 2am on Saturday night/Sunday morning, something ran in front of the van. I'm pretty sure it was a coyote, but it didn't stick around to make sure we were alright. He left a dent in our front fender and said 'see ya later'. We made it out just fine, and I think that Joel has stopped crying for the animal now...(j/k Joel, I won't tell them you cried).

That trip to Illinois was a long one. For me, it started two days earlier than for the other guys. I drove up to Oshkosh, Wisconsin with the Capitol City Opera Company to perform Mozart's Cosi fan tutte on Friday night, then we were in Schaumberg, Illinois to perform again on Saturday night. Jason attended the performance in Schaumberg and almost stayed awake through the whole thing...since he had been on the road for over 14 hours, I'll give him a break this time. Immediately following the performance, we left for Rock Falls, Illinois where the quartet was singing the next morning. Ben Pruett, who performs the tenor role in the opera production, came along with the quartet as well. He is actually the lead singer for Master's Voice out of Aiken, South Carolina, and we had a great time.

Harvest Time Bible Church, which is where we were the next morning, was very welcoming as always, and we thoroughly enjoyed having lunch at Pastor Meeks' house again. He is a great guy and an incredible preacher.

That night we were in Richton Park, Illinois at Sauk Trail Baptist Temple. Alan McGuirt, former lead singer for the quartet, is a member at this church and we were very glad to spend time with him and his family. In fact, we will be back at Sauk Trail in August for an entire weekend. Alan will probably get sick of us being there for that long, but we won't let on that we've noticed.

We get to take this coming weekend off and I'm so very glad that we do because next Thursday we will leave for an 8-day trip. I enjoy singing and meeting new folks, but I miss my family incredibly when I'm gone. I will also enjoy spending time at my home church, Pinecrest Baptist Church, in McDonough, Georgia. We will actually be having the cast party for everyone who was involved in our Passion Play that took place Easter Weekend. The performances went very well and we many people indicated that they had made salvation decisions after each performance and a brief gospel presentation by our Pastor, Roy Mack. The results have always been incredible to see from this presentation. So many great families are a part of our church today because they were introduced to our people and our church through our Passion Play and its outreach.

Ok, it's getting late, and I need my beauty rest. I promise I will do better to post messages here.

God bless,

Nathan

I hate blogs

2006-03-16T08:51:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I just wrote a post that took me over half an hour to compose. I clicked on the spell checker and it deleted the whole thing, so this blog will probably be a little bit shorter.

Two weeks ago we were in Texas.

Sunday morning was at Worth Baptist Church in Ft. Worth. It was their 52nd Anniversary.

Paul Gaymon is their music/youth pastor. He let me stay with him last year when I flew into Dallas to meet the guys for the weekend.

Sunday night we were in Weatherford, Texas. David Wood, Joel's older brother, is the new minister of worship.

Last week, on Thursday, we bought a trailer.

Saturday night, we were in Albermarle, North Carolina...home of Kelly Pickler, American Idol finalist.

One teenager in the church was wearing a "PICK PICKLER" shirt. He actually voted for her last week 250 times.

Sunday morning we were in Charlotte, NC at Harbor Baptist Church. Daron Osborne, former tenor with our group, is the associate pastor. 20 souls were saved that morning.

Sunday night we were in Burlington, NC at Baptist Temple of Alamance County. David Carter, associate pastor, is heavily involved with HOPE Ministries who we work with as well. Also, Merrick and Becki Buffaloe, friends from HOPE Ministries came to see us there.

I hope that this posting wasn't too long or boring. If anyone wants to send comments, please do!

God is good and has provided us with many blessings. I hope that He is making Himself evident in your life each day, and if you don't think He is, just know that He is working everything for good.

God bless,

Nathan

Headed to Texas

2006-02-28T14:23:00.000-05:00

After a weekend that allowed us to stay close to home and sleep in our own beds, we will head to Texas on Saturday morning. We will be at two churches.

Worth Baptist Church
Ft. Worth
Sunday morning

Victory Baptist Church
Weatherford, TX
Sunday evening

Our tenor's brother David Wood is the Music Minister at Victory Baptist Church, so I'm sure that we will learn many more things about Joel he doesn't want us to know. I'll do my best to share this information with you, the reader.

We have been with both of these churches a number of times, and we always enjoy returning to see familiar faces.

This past weekend we were in Jonesboro, Georgia and then in Macon, Georgia on Sunday night. Pastor Rusty Smith at Mikado Baptist Church preached a great message on Sunday night and encouraged us to be mindful of the importance of a good name. A good name can't be taken from anyone, but it can easily be destroyed and given away by each person.

My brother Luke and his family were also able to come to the service on Sunday night. They only live 1.5 hours away, but it's amazing how little we see them. Luke is a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and is currently the assistant to the Commanding Officer on Robbins Air Force Base in Warner Robbins, Georgia.

Until next time, God bless.

Nathan

Blogging Suggestions?

2006-02-28T14:13:00.000-05:00

Dear friends,

This blog can be very useful for all involved. I would like to receive suggestions from those who are viewing this blog to know what people are interested in. What do you want to know about the quartet? Are the blogs boring? Please let me know what you think. You can Comment on any blog and I will post those that are appropriate. I will also respond to questions asked as well as discuss areas that are of interest to the readers.

Happy blogging!

Nathan

Ice Dancing Is a Sport?

2006-02-19T21:14:00.000-05:00

Hello friends,

Isn't it amazing how the Olympics can elevate an ordinarily seldom-watched sport to international significance and turn something like throwing a 45-pound rock across ice irresistible to watch? I am amazed.

Well, I survived last weekend. I had a few close run-ins with some Steeler fans, but I think they will eventually come to see the truth about the Super Bowl. All kidding aside, we had very good services and a great time with folks at both churches on Sunday. I love to meet people, but especially other Christians. We already have in common the most important thing in our lives, so everything else can be worked out.

I mentioned before that we were in need of a van...well, we were able to get a new van on Tuesday. It is a 2005 GMC Savana conversion van, and we are blessed and happy to have it. Now our trip to Ft. Worth, Texas in March won't be unbearable. I don't think that Dennis would want us to use his minivan again anyways. I will try to find a way to post some pictures of our new van to this blog in the future.

Three of the quartet guys, including me, are in preparation for our church's Easter production The Neverending Story. It is written by a member of our church, Pinecrest Baptist Church, and effectively encompasses the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is performed at the Clayton County Performing Arts Center in Jonesboro, Georgia the weekend of Easter (Friday and Saturday night). All proceeds from ticket sales and advertising go to the Rainbow House which is a home for battered and abused children in Jonesboro. If you would like to come, please call our church at 678.432.2015 for ticket information. Dennis will be playing the role of Thomas the Disciple, Jason will be Peter, and yours truly will be Satan. I don't know why I ever agreed to the role, but everyone seemed to think that I would be perfect for it. Should I be flattered? Don't know.

Well, I will see you again next time.

God bless,

Nathan

Steelers Country

2006-02-11T23:15:00.000-05:00

Hello again,

This was a hard week for me. As many of you know by now, the Seahawks were discriminated against in their first ever Superbowl appearance. They played well, but their opponents were too much for them. I have to hand it to the referees, their strategy worked in the end. So that is why I have decided to go to referee school...so one day the Seahawks WILL win!

Ok, back to the real world. I'm in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania tonight. It was a long trip to get here. I left Atlanta on Thursday morning and drove in my car to Livingston, Alabama. I had two performances with the Capitol City Opera. They went well. I think my trademark is fast becoming my ability to make early entrances when nobody is supposed to be singing. In Friday's performance in Demopolis, Alabama I almost made it to the end without a major flaw (many minor flaws however), but in the final act, only seconds from the end of the show, I maintained my reputation by blurting out my part when I wasn't supposed to be singing. If you're going to do something, you might as well do it loudly, right? Anyways, after the end of the show, I immediately left for Nashville--4 hours away. I met the group at 3am, and we continued on to arrive in Slippery Rock at 3pm.

So enough about my ability to have incredibly tiring weekends. Update on the van...still don't have one. Dennis' minivan was our vehicle of necessity this weekend, and it is rather comfortable actually. Please pray that before my post next weekend we'll have a new conversion van.

Tomorrow morning we'll be in Butler, Pennsylvania at New Testament Baptist Church. We have not been there before and I am looking forward to meeting new friends. We will be back with Slippery Rock Baptist Church tomorrow night and then we'll make our way back home.

Until next time, God bless!

Nathan

First Posting--February 4, 2006

2006-02-04T23:29:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

This is the first post of the Daybreak Quartet's new blog. Don't know what a blog is?...well, neither do I actually, but it seems to involve reading and writing. Hopefully you will stop by every now and again to find out what the quartet has been up to. Right now, I'm in a hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We sang for a Valentine's Banquet where Tim Lee, decorated Vietnam veteran, was the speaker. We will be with the same church, Calvary Baptist in Red Bank, in the morning, then we head to Bremen, Georgia for an evening service before we return home. Once we return to the office, Jason's family and I will be watching the Super Bowl (which he has recorded on his DVR) from the kickoff. We will only be about 4 hours behind the actual event. The Seattle Seahawks have finally made it to the big event and since we grew up in Washington State, we were always fans of the 'Hawks (not the Atlanta ones, though, just to clear up any misconceptions). I hope they win this one!

Tragedy struck on the first day of 2006 for the Daybreak Quartet. Our 1996 Chevy conversion van, with only 236,000 miles, decided that it wanted to throw a rod while we were in Melbourne, Florida. We were close enough to our evening concert that a member of the church was able to pick us up. The van however has been left for dead. Being 8 hours away from home and having no transportation, Dennis called his wife to try and work out a way home. A member of our church offered their Ford Expedition for us to use. Dennis' wife immediately left Atlanta (at approximately 8pm) and arrived in Melbourne at 4am. As soon as she arrived, we checked out of the hotel rooms a church had provided for us, and arrived home only a few hours later than scheduled, although without a mode of transportation for future travels. Needless to say, we are still in the process of locating a new vehicle to take us from concert to concert. We drove to Chattanooga in Joel's Chevy truck this weekend. Next week we'll use Dennis' minivan. After that, we don't know. But God will provide. He always has and He always will.

We hope that everyone has experienced a good beginning of 2006 and may God bless you.

Until next time,

Nathan Prisk