So here’s the deal… In honor of my Big Date with my daughter Emily this Friday, I’m giving away an mp3 of my song “Don’t Cry (Goodnight Emily)” that I wrote for her when she was a baby.

Click HERE, enter the code SCOTTFREE4FEB and download your free song! Let me know what you think…

The song was on my first solo CD “All I Know” but this version was from a couple years earlier when I was still with the band The Nobodys (the Christian band, not the punk band)… If you’re curious, check out this REVIEW from a British magazine (with song samples).

Hey everyone, I’ve kind of been taking a break from this website lately, but now it’s back to work!

One of the fun/challenging/frustrating/joyful things about being an independent artist is that you wear many, many hats.  The challenge becomes making sure that the most important things get priority, and this is where I tend to stumble. I’m usually juggling a dozen things at once, and my family is often quietly waiting for me to set everything else down and give them my full attention.

My “hat list” (excluding my Worship Pastor hats):

• Booking agent (scheduling shows and church services)
• Marketing director (publicity, website management, social media, etc.)
• Songwriter (or, in my case, alleged songwriter, since I rarely make much time for this)
• Band leader (hiring/firing, travel agent, road manager)
• Radio promoter (actually, I hire people to do this, but I’m very hands-on because I’m a control freak)
• Record producer (didn’t record at all in 2011, but I plan to this year)
• Plus there’s family stuff (karate and dance and 4-H and chopping wood and home maintenance…)
• Etc. (there’s probably more but I’m out of time).

The truth is, most of us wear many hats. You might be a mom who also writes a blog and who works at a grocery store and breeds Labradors on the side … plus you teach Third Grade Sunday School and help out at church youth group on Wednesday nights.

So if I were the “New Year Resolution” type, mine would be to be even more purposeful about spending time with my family. How about you?

I’m about to take the kids out for some last minute shopping this afternoon. I need a Code Word for “Remember, we’re not looking for stuff for us, but a gift for Mom.” Suggestions? I’m leaning toward “Bumbles Bounce” or “Attaboy, Clarence.” Comments, please!

My son Josiah and I had a “guy’s night out” last Friday – which of course meant pizza and arcade games. Our local pizza joint has exactly two (2) working arcade games – small town, you know – but it was still fun.

Usually I give Joey just a few quarters (I’m pretty cheap), but since I took his sister on a relatively expensive date last week (Olive Garden and a movie) I let him have a lot more quarters – and he had a blast.

There was another little boy there enjoying the games too. Most of the time this kid was “playing” a shoot-em-up game without putting any quarters in. And although he eventually got his hands on a few coins, he very quickly blew through them.

The funny thing was that I think he liked pretending to play the game just as much as he did actually playing it. (continue reading…)

I have the song “Beautiful Day” by U2 looping in my head today… And it is an absolutely perfect July 4th. Warm (even hot – finally!!) and sunny. I’m getting ready to mow the lawn while listening to an audiobook. Then there will also be grilling and blowing stuff up. Could it be any better?

Oh – and we’ll be making goats-milk ice cream today for the first time. Emily milked her goat Suzy and froze it, so that should be interesting… (Emily froze the milk, not the goat. Just to be clear).

We have a winner! Emily has agonized over the names (there were over 100 submitted) and she has come to a decision… The winning names are…

… “Ping” and “Pong,” submitted by CarolBeth! Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas! We had a great time (and a few laughs) looking over your suggestions. And congratulations, CarolBeth – I’ll contact you soon to make arrangements for your prize (free CD or DVD).

Yesterday, a new baby goat named Taz was born at the Riggan Ranch (that’s him to the left).

You may remember that last week I wrote about our two new baby lambs. I decided to hold a naming contest, but then Easter Weekend happened and I completely forgot to wrap up the contest and have a winner declared. Better late than never, right? If you haven’t submitted your suggestion, click HERE to leave a comment. My daughter Emily will judge the competition and I’ll announce the winner by noon on Friday (tomorrow). The winner can choose any of my CDs or DVDs as a prize.

Don’t forget to submit your name suggestions (for the lambs) by clicking HERE!

A few thoughts about Easter and The Lord of the Rings…

There’s a part near the end of the third book (“Return of the King”) that strikes me so powerfully. The character of Samwise Gamgee encounters a dear friend whom he had believed to be dead, and with profound simplicity asks the question “Is everything sad going to come untrue?” (continue reading…)

On Monday, my son’s sheep (Cutie) had two babies (Joshua and Jericho). Just a couple of hours ago, my daughter’s sheep (Anabelle) had her two babies, which are unnamed so far. Click the “More” button to see what they look like (hint: they look like lambs). Any name suggestions? I think I’ll make a contest out of this… I’ll have my daughter be the judge. The winning entry will get a free CD or DVD (your choice). (continue reading…)

The kids and I just finished watching The Lord of The Rings (Fellowship of the Ring – Extended version). It was their first time, and they loved it. Epic in every way. Beautifully filmed and designed, mostly great acting (I still scratch my head about the choice of Elijah Wood for Frodo) and themes of loyalty and friendship, love and honor, kindness and sacrifice.

So what about you? My wife is pretty creeped out by Gollum, so she’s not a fan. Do you love LOTR? Hate it? Indifferent? Take the poll below and let’s see what y’all think! (continue reading…)