READ JAMIE'S SNAZZY BLOG (It's all about the new CD "SNAZZY" coming this Fall).

1-18-07

Happy New Year!

2007 is here and while I’m the type of guy who looks ahead 99% of the time, I can’t help but take minute to reflect on what an amazing year 2006 was for Go Fish.

We had many highlights. 2006 found us working with Focus on the Family and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for the first time. Both proved to be relationships that would impact our ministry in a huge way. We also continued to work with MOPS International which has proved invaluable by connecting us with moms of pre-school age children. 2006 was a year that reinforced our belief that with great partners you can do a lot more then by yourself!

Last year we had concerts in Texas, Florida, California, North Carolina, Toronto, Tennessee, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, and a ton of other places I’m sure I’m forgetting. We were privileged to sing and perform for kids of ALL ages.

In 2006 we recorded and released our Christmas cd “SNOW” and followed it up with a Christmas tour. Personally, I believe this is the best cd we’ve ever produced. Stores all over the country ran out of product and we are excited to make it more readily available this year at Christmas time. Most importantly, the Christmas tour proved to be a great opportunity to share the gospel. Not just the beginning of the gospel, but the whole thing.

Overall, if I had to pick the one experience that impacted Go Fish the most this year, it would be performing at our first Billy Graham Evangelistic Association event. It was for the Kidzfest event during the Will Graham Festival in North Carolina. We were honored to be not only the entertainment for this event, but to be the ones presenting the gospel and giving the kids an opportunity to respond to it.

Two things really stand out to me as I look back on this. First, the kids sat still and listened while we laid out the gospel. That in itself is truly amazing to me. Second, when people (including kids) hear the gospel, they will respond. This seems like a simple concept, but it’s true and often times forgotten. I so often fall into the trap of believing that I need to “sell” Christianity. What a ridiculous concept! The gospel in itself is truly powerful. All we are called to do is tell people about it and the Holy Spirit will do the rest. That’s what happened at that Kidzfest event and the sight of those kids truly comprehending the gospel and responding to it will be something I will never forget. We are ecstatic that we have 3 more of these events already planned for 2007. Thank you God!

Thanks for reading my update. We’ll chat again soon!

Jamie

10-2-06

Howdy!
Fall is here and that makes me happy! Not only is it my favorite season of the year, but this year it’s exciting for us because we’re getting ready to unveil our new Christmas cd SNOW!

There is one thing about GO FISH that drives me crazy. It’s the time between creating something new and sharing it with you guys! I’m not very patient, so when we come out with something new and we can’t release it until a certain date I get really uptight. I think it’s my insecurities as a creative person rearing their ugly head in a big way. We create something and I don’t get any feedback on it because nobody has heard it. So what do I do? I listen to it over and over each day to remind myself that yes, it is good! I actually resort to patting myself on the back. How completely lame is that?

Well, now I’ve shared how insecure I am when it comes to our music. I feel so much better! I’m going to go hug somebody now.

I recently did a little interview for a web site and thought you may like to check it out!

http://christianmusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/go_fish_interview

Have a happy day!
Jamie

7-31-06

Hello everyone!
Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. When we record, that’s pretty much my life so now that we’re done with the Christmas cd “SNOW” I’m finally getting back to the real world!

First of all, just wait until you hear the new Christmas cd. I promise you are going to love it! We are sending it down to Nashville this week to get mastered and Andy is working away on finishing the artwork as I write this.

This is easily the most time we’ve ever spent making a record. We’ve been tracking since May and many of these songs I have been writing over the last several years at Christmas time. It’s always a relief when you spend that much time and money on something to be happy with the end result. I think it ended up being a great mix of original material along with the familiar melodies you want to hear at Christmas time to get you in the holiday spirit! Hopefully you’ll all agree!

Now that the album is done, we’re busy working on the Christmas Tour! We’re doing lots of shows including a HUGE event here in Minnesota at the Target Center. I’m excited to start putting together the show especially now that we have some new Christmas music to work with. Also, we haven’t really done a big Christmas tour like this for several years so it will be fun to put together a BIG production again!
Other then Christmas stuff, we’re still doing lots of kids shows and we have the big MOPS Convention coming up in Nashville so we’re definitely looking forward to that!

Things at home are great. My boys, Mason and Parker, are a riot and we’ve been having lots of fun spraying each other with the hose and running through the ELMO sprinkler in the backyard. I can guarantee though that I’m probably the only dad in the neighborhood who has “White Christmas” going through my head while I mow the lawn!

Until next time…

Jamie

5-18-06

Hello!

I’m writing this update to let you all know how progress is going on our new “Snow” cd. We’re getting a lot accomplished but still have a long way to go! I have to say, you would think it would feel weird singing Christmas songs in May, but it’s not as strange as one might think!

The first song we did was “Little Drummer Boy”. I wrote about it in my last update so I won’t say much about that one other then I couldn’t be any happier with how it turned out. That was an important one to me since so many people have requested that song through the years after seeing us do it live.

This past week we sang all the tracks for two more songs. The first one we did was an arrangement of “We Three Kings”. The first two Christmas songs Go Fish ever performed were “Silent Night” (which you know from our first Christmas album “More Than A Story”) and “We Three Kings”. I was never really sold on our version of “We Three Kings” and that’s why we didn’t do it on our first Christmas album. After thinking about it for seven years now, I had some ideas to fix the problem spots and we finally recorded it! It turned out really well and I guarantee it’s better then it would have been if we recorded it the first time around. It’s amazing how changing just a few things can take a song from mediocre to great!

The second song we did was “Away In A Manger / Beautiful Savior”. If you’ve been to our Christmas show in past years, you may remember that we do a little 3 part version of “Beautiful Savior” at the end of “O Holy Night”. It’s always a powerful moment in our show, so I’ve been trying to figure out a way to record it. The problem is it’s too short to stand on it’s own, but we already recorded “O Holy Night” on the first Christmas album. So, we decided to do a new arrangement of “Away In A Manger” and “Beautiful Savior” fit perfectly at the end of that. It’s really a sweet arrangement and I think you’re going to love it. I always dread recording slow songs because they’re way harder and I have a hard time singing those “oohs” and “aahs” in the background the way I’m supposed to. I made it though!!!

Recording is a blast for the most part. You start out with an idea and just a few days later you have a piece of music that didn’t exist before! It’s truly amazing when you think about it. I’m not going to lie to you, I was nervous about doing another Christmas cd because so many people loved the first one. I’m not nervous anymore. It’s turning out great and I can’t wait to get back in the studio next week! Stay tuned for more updates. Also, I’ll see what I can do about getting a few clips posted of the new stuff soon.

Blessings,

Jamie

4/24/06

Hello again everyone!

Spring is here and you know what that means – Christmas music! Well, not for normal people, but for Go Fish we are in the midst of recording a brand new Christmas cd. So far it is going awesome! We’ve finished our first song “The Little Drummer Boy” and for those of you who miss the ‘pre-kids’ Go Fish, you are going to love this song!

That brings up a question we’ve been asked a lot lately. Is your new Christmas cd going to be for kids? Here’s our official answer: It’s not a kids cd, but your kids will love it! I know this to be true because my two year old has already listened to “The Little Drummer Boy” about a million times and we just got the final mix of it yesterday!!

We are gearing up for a big Christmas tour again and I’m looking forward to it after taking the last couple of years off!

Other than work stuff, life is good at the Statema house! My boys Mason and Parker are crazier then ever and there is never a dull moment around here. Mason got a little microphone and stand for his second birthday and every day he copies every one of my moves as he watches the Go Fish “Showtime” dvd. I’m not going to lie to you – it makes me unbelievably proud!

Take care.

Jamie

1/23/05

It’s been an exciting time in my world!

On December 20th we welcomed Parker Joel Statema into the family! He weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. He’s doing great and growing unbelievably fast. Here is a picture of the little guy!

Mason is 21 months old now and he’s definitely enjoying being a big brother. Although I have to say, he’s mastered the art of the words ‘me’ and ‘mine’ since Parker arrived!

Once again I have to say, I don’t know how anyone could witness the birth of a child and not believe in God. It is truly an amazing thing and I thank God everyday for blessing me with such a great family! Thank you for remembering my wife and boys in your prayers especially when I’m away doing concerts. It is appreciated more than you know.

Talk to you again soon!

Jamie

12/8/05

Hello again! This time my update is going to be about ‘sappy dad’ thing that just happened to me. As I mentioned in my earlier update, my favorite song on our new lullabies cd “Snooze” is a song I wrote for my son Mason called “Little Buckaroo”. Mason is 20 months old and is definitely the light of my life to say the least.

Well tonight before he went sleep I sang to him like I do every night. I always pick one song and then we hang out in the rocking chair and I sing it to him. Tonight I picked “Little Buckaroo” and he did the greatest thing. There’s a line in the second verse that goes “Cowboys like you always stand for what’s right” and as soon as I sang that he popped straight up, pointed to himself, and gave me the biggest smile. It’s like he totally knew that he was the cowboy I was singing about.

This probably doesn’t seem like a very big deal to most of you reading this, but it was pretty much the highlight of my day and a memory I will never forget.

Kids are so cool – especially when they’re your own! They’re a challenge, but well worth the effort when they do even little things to show their appreciation like Mason did tonight. I can’t help but wonder if God takes as much pleasure in the little things that we do to show our appreciation to Him. A simple prayer, following His commands, putting others ahead of ourselves, not telling anyone about an act of kindness only He saw, and the list could go on and on. Bottom line, to God we probably all seem like the worst colicky babies ever, yet His patience and love allow Him to actually take pleasure in watching us grow in Him.

Unbelievable.

Jamie

11-10-05

Hello everyone!

I’m a happy camper today. I just listened to the first two finished tracks from our new “Snooze” cd and they are sounding sweet! It’s such a long process from writing a song, arranging a song, recording a song, and then finally getting the song mixed. It’s hard to explain how fun it is to hear the finished product for the first time after you’ve put so much work into it.

If you’ve ever seen Go Fish in concert then you know that I have issues with standing still! I like to move around and the idea of recording a cd entirely of ‘mellow’ music was something that I wasn’t so sure about. I have to say though, I had a great time doing this project. As is typical for Go Fish, this is not an ordinary bedtime album. It’s actually a lot of fun and I think you guys are going to love it. It starts pretty upbeat and just gets more laid back as it goes along. For fans of acappella music, this will probably be your favorite Go Fish album yet.

Personally, my favorite song is “Little Buckaroo”. For a long time I’ve wanted to write a song that was specifically for little boys especially since I have one of my own and because the boys in our audience have patiently been sitting through “You’re My Little Girl” for years now. I just couldn’t come up with a good way to do it. Then one day the whole cowboy thing popped into my head and being a huge fan of Westerns, I had a great a pretty easy time writing this one.

Actually, almost all of the songs that I wrote for this album were songs that I made up while singing to my son Mason before he went to sleep. I’d just keep adding to them every night and eventually Mason would fall asleep and I’d have another verse or chorus. Now that’s what I call multi-tasking! Basically what I’m saying is, I think this cd will deliver on it’s promise of helping kids fall asleep because it’s already been working at my house for a while now!

I hope you’re all doing great. We’ll chat again soon.

-Jamie

8-19-05

Howdy. Here we are at the end of August. The Vikings are in preseason so as far as I’m concerned – life is good!

We’ve been insanely busy in Go Fish world these days. As many of you have heard via our email newsletter, our record label “Go Fish Kids” has just signed a major distribution deal with WORD Distribution. This is a pretty big deal for us as we get to keep creative control and make our own business decisions, yet we get the distribution advantages usually only offered to ‘big’ labels. Bottom line, our kids projects will finally be available in Christian bookstores nationwide and will also be made available for the first time to retailers like Target and Wal-mart!

This is yet another amazing ‘perk’ that has developed as a result of us moving into the world of kids music. These are exciting times for us as God continues to open up doors with our kids cds SPLASH and SUPERSTAR.

Personally, I’m busy these days working on our upcoming kids dvd, writing for our next cd “Snooze” (a kids cd for bedtime), and also developing a weekly Go Fish kids radio show. This morning I was reworking our original “Go Fish” song from the old “Out of Breath” cd to use as the theme song on our dvd and radio show. I’m rewriting most of it, but keeping the original chorus. It’s funny how so much of our early music translates perfectly for kids.

Being creative is what I enjoy the most, so working on all of these projects is a blast for me. It’s always fun to come up with ideas and then watch them take on a life of their own once the three of us get together. I have a difficult time calling it work!

Anyway, that what’s going down. Here’s a little poem for you before I sign off. I hope you enjoy it.

Monkey Boy

I’m looking out my window
I wonder what I’ll see?
Whoopsie Daisy, How ‘bout that
It is a chimpanzee
Man does he look silly
How goofy can you be?
Oh shoot, it’s my reflection
That monkey boy is me

Later.
Jamie

4-12-05

Hello again everyone!

I’m excited about many things these days. I’m excited about Go Fish kids, I’m excited about telling others about Christ, I’m excited that my wife loves me no matter what, I’m excited about summer approaching, and I’m excited about playing softball on Tuesday nights with my friends even though I’ve never hit a homerun in my life. All this being said, this past week I was REALLY excited about another event in my life – my son Mason just turned 1!

We had a great party and it was a blast watching him go nuts eating his very first piece of cake. As I reflect on 1 year of being a dad, I decided to share with you a few of the things that I’ve learned. So, here we go!
-Never leave a child alone with a highlighter (I just learned that yesterday!)
Always get a new diaper on IMMEDIATELY after removing the old one. (especially with a boy!)
-The love of a child is as genuine as it gets!
-I am way more of an emotional basket case then I thought when it comes to my boy.
-I never wanted a dog until I saw how excited Mason got when he saw one. (I’m still not saying I’m getting one, but I’m weakening)
-I never realized how many potential safety hazards existed in this world a year ago. Now I see them everywhere!
-I never knew that a bathtub could be such a fun place to hang out.
-God loves me even more than I love Mason. How can that be? Let’s just say I’ve never felt more loved!

I could go on forever, but you get the point. Being a dad changes everything. Happy Birthday buddy!

Until next time,

Jamie

3-8-05

I’d like to start my update off with a limerick if that’s okay. It goes like this:

There once was a girl with one eye
It looked like a huge apple pie
She loved to eat cheese
She always said “please”
I love that cute girl with one eye.

When I was in the 8th grade we had an assignment to write a limerick and to draw a picture to go with it. As school and I didn’t always get along so well, I put off doing this assignment until the last minute. In a frantic rush I wrote the first thing that popped into my head and the result was the limerick I just shared with you. Now I pretty much thought that this was a pretty ridiculous little poem and I was just happy that I got my assignment done. Little did I know it would become a sign of things to come for me.

Two months later I got a letter in the mail inviting me to attend a banquet honoring young writers in our area. It seems that my teacher had loved my poem, had sent it in to some writers contest, and it had one first place in the city of Sioux Falls, SD for my age group. They also informed me it was being sent on to the state competition. Some time after that, I received a letter saying it came in second in the state.

Why do I tell you this? I’m not really sure. I guess I just thought it was ironic that to this day I continue to make my living writing about Bruce and Burt, Big Bad Billy, and what it would be like to get free Taco Bell in church. I continue to look at these writings and go “that is so ridiculous” and yet somehow, people seem to enjoy them! Boy, am I ever thankful for that. The bottom line is this: God can use any talent no matter how silly you think your ‘talent’ may be!

Thanks for reading my corner of the web site. Talk to you later!

Jamie