friend / musician / book plug

I think I'm allowed to do this without being too much of a cheese curd, because I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to call Tara Leigh Cobble my friend. Legitimately, I mean.

You know...I could call Harry Connick Jr. my "friend", since I'm pretty confident that if we ever met, we'd get along well...but we haven't, so that's not really legit (for Dennis, I guess I could say HCJ and I are "pre-friends"). But I've spent a good amount of time with TLC, and she is super cool in that real person way...not in that "I'm so glad I get to legitimately say I REALLY KNOW a real live rock star" way, you know?

Anyway, I met TLC thanks to my friends Mike and Basim a few years ago, and used to get to see her when she was coming through Houston on tour. Now that I live on the other side of the pond, I hardly ever get to see her.

BUT, and here's where the reason for this little plug comes in, I got to hang out with her for a few days in Atlanta last week (more on that later), and I finally managed to buy a copy of her new book - Here's To Hindsight. I read it on the plane home, and I enjoyed it more than a lot of other books I've read in recent past. Not because it's the most well-written piece of material in the known universe...but because it's real. No hype, no fluffy marketing, no promises to change your world in the preface, introduction or endorsements...it's just the story of a girl who can't NOT do what God has put in her heart to do. And it's clear from her transparent style that it's not always easy, and she doesn't always love every single second of her life...but there's an underlying and overpowering driving force that compels her onward, and that's where her joy is found.

I highly recommend this little read to anyone who wants to curl up with a book that will let you explore the possibility of abandoning all for the sake of the "one thing" God has planted in your heart. And while you're at it, it will give you a new-found appreciation for all those "starving artists" who roam the highways and rest stops outlining the U.S. of A.

You can get your copy from her website, from Grassroots Music or from Amazon. Incidentally, while you're at it, you should pick up a CD or three. They're good. I promise.