Speaking of her brother, a couple of years ago I recorded my son singing "Choices", by Jarle Bernhoft. If you don't know who that is, then you are missing out. He is pretty awesome and has an amazing voice. I found out about him through my sister. She was watching Ellen one day and saw him on there and because she knew I would like him, sent me links to a couple of videos of him singing. I watched them over and over again because I just thought it was pretty cool how he was his own band. Well if you know me, you know that I love music (I mean my daughter's name is Lyric) and I have passed that on to Nehemiah. He loves music. He loves it more than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes and that is a BIG deal. I discovered early on that Peanut picked up on music rather quickly. As a matter of fact, before we found Bernhoft, he was was singing Adele songs and knew her album 21, from start to finish. When I started listening to Bernhoft, Peanut didn't have a guitar. He would use a drumstick as his guitar so I decided to buy him a lil' one and from there we had a little star in the making. He would ask to listen to Bernhoft so I obliged and turned on YouTube, but soon he didn't even need the videos and would sing the songs on his own. I noticed he did it a lot and every now and then I would record him in little clips but one day I recorded him singing all of Choices and this is what he did...….
I was cracking up because it was hilarious. I also found it amazing that since he didn't have his own microphones he grabbed what looked like microphones to him. Peanut has always been pretty entertaining and I always got the, "You should put some videos on YouTube of him" statement, but I just didn't think to because who would actually look at it. However, this time I decided that maybe I should and if no one saw it then on well, but someone did see it, someone I never expected. I woke up a couple mornings after posting the video and when I turned on my phone I kept getting all these alerts that people commented on the video and I noticed that people kept saying Bernhoft sent me here and I was confused. I went on Facebook and saw in my news feed that Bernhoft, himself, posted Peanut's video on his page and he tweeted the link as well, see........
I could NOT believe it!!! I went to church and told everybody and showed them the video and of course they thought it was awesome. Later that day I posted on Bernhoft's page that it was my son who was in the video and guess what?? he replied back and said Peanut was a rock star and hoped to meet him one day. I mean how amazing is that??!!?? I just hoped one day we would be able to see him in concert.
A couple years had gone by and every time Bernhoft was on tour, it was too far away for us to meet him. The best we ever got was an autograph from him when our friends saw him in Seattle and he still remembered Peanut. I was sooooo jealous that my friends got to meet him, but happy he remembered Peanut. A few months go by and we found out that Bernhoft added more tour dates and he would be in Ann Arbor, MI which is not far from us. My husband and I were like, WE HAVE TO GO!!! The only issue was, I just had a baby and we had no clue who would be able to watch the kids. I contemplated taking Peanut with us to the concert, but he is only 4 so who knows how that would work out. I mean he loves music, but he is still 4 and the concert wasn't until 8pm. Then I rememberd, a wonderful, sweet girl by the name of Claire. Claire was in our youth group at church (my husband and I are youth leaders), she graduated last year and now goes to school in Ann Arbor and she use to watch Peanut before and I knew she was great with babies so I took a stab in the dark and asked if she would be available that night and SHE WAS!!! This made us very happy, but we still didn't know if we should take Peanut to the concert. So I took another stab in the dark and messaged Bernhoft on Facebook. I mean, he wrote me back on my post a couple years back so maybe he might respond to my message......maybe....please respond. I asked if there was any way Peanut could meet him before the concert because I had a feeling he wouldn't sit through that whole concert and OH MY GOODNESS, he wrote back and said Yes!!! He said, "That'd be awesome and I'd love to meet up". He invited us to sound check!! When I read this, my jaw dropped!! I immediately told my friend Katie and she was very jealous and happy for us then when PJ came home I told him because I wanted to see his face and he said, "For real??, that dude is cool in my book". I mean he was already cool in our book when he posted Peanut's video, but this was taking his awesomeness to another level lol.
A couple years had gone by and every time Bernhoft was on tour, it was too far away for us to meet him. The best we ever got was an autograph from him when our friends saw him in Seattle and he still remembered Peanut. I was sooooo jealous that my friends got to meet him, but happy he remembered Peanut. A few months go by and we found out that Bernhoft added more tour dates and he would be in Ann Arbor, MI which is not far from us. My husband and I were like, WE HAVE TO GO!!! The only issue was, I just had a baby and we had no clue who would be able to watch the kids. I contemplated taking Peanut with us to the concert, but he is only 4 so who knows how that would work out. I mean he loves music, but he is still 4 and the concert wasn't until 8pm. Then I rememberd, a wonderful, sweet girl by the name of Claire. Claire was in our youth group at church (my husband and I are youth leaders), she graduated last year and now goes to school in Ann Arbor and she use to watch Peanut before and I knew she was great with babies so I took a stab in the dark and asked if she would be available that night and SHE WAS!!! This made us very happy, but we still didn't know if we should take Peanut to the concert. So I took another stab in the dark and messaged Bernhoft on Facebook. I mean, he wrote me back on my post a couple years back so maybe he might respond to my message......maybe....please respond. I asked if there was any way Peanut could meet him before the concert because I had a feeling he wouldn't sit through that whole concert and OH MY GOODNESS, he wrote back and said Yes!!! He said, "That'd be awesome and I'd love to meet up". He invited us to sound check!! When I read this, my jaw dropped!! I immediately told my friend Katie and she was very jealous and happy for us then when PJ came home I told him because I wanted to see his face and he said, "For real??, that dude is cool in my book". I mean he was already cool in our book when he posted Peanut's video, but this was taking his awesomeness to another level lol.
So the time had come. November 18th was here and we were very excited to be meeting Bernhoft and going to his concert. Bernhoft let me know sound check would be at 5pm ahead of time so after getting some lunch we headed to The Ark venue. We were trying to find somewhere to park so I messaged him to let him know just in case he was wondering where we were since it was past 5. When we finally made it to the door, of course it was locked. I started to look up the number for the venue and BAM, Bernhoft messaged me and said to come to the back entrance and even gave me his phone number to call him (don't worry Bernhoft, I will never prank call you or give your phone number to anyone, I hate when people give out my number and I ain't even famous, awesome, but not famous so I would never do that to you). I called him, he led us to the door and I went to open it and there he was, Jarle Bernhoft!! I went to give him a handshake and he said "No, no, hug, hug". Oh man what a cool dude!! He saw Peanut said hello and told him he was his hero. As a mom, that was just awesome to hear. So I'm sure you all are wondering what Peanut said back to him, right?? Well, he said, "Carrot sticks, Bernhoft, carrot sticks!!" Yep, that's what he said. Hey, Peanut might be one talented kid, but he's still four. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about how this would all go down because he is still four and it wasn't like he asked to meet Bernhoft, I just thought it would be cool, like a full circle moment lol. As a matter of fact, leading up to see him Peanut wasn't too happy that he had to stop playing Pac Man to go see Bernhoft, but once he said "Carrot sticks" everything was all good. We went inside the venue and Bernhoft was soooooooooo nice. I mean, very down to earth. He asked us if we wanted anything to drink/eat. He talked to Peanut and played with him and I mean he played with him. Peanut kept acting like he was falling and he would catch him. He pretended to play the drums with him and even got on the floor and kicked each other's feet, see……
He has a son of his own, so I think he knew what to expect, but I think he would have still been the same with Peanut had he not had one. He said he could tell by watching the YouTube video that Peanut had great musical ability and told us that playing with Peanut actually lifted his spirits because the cloudy cold day had kind of put him in a little funk. I forget what he said they call it in Norway, but I will just say he had the weather blues lol. He asked if I sing and I just mumbled a lil bit and he kind of laughed at that. Hey, I didn't know if he was gonna put me on the spot. I mean I know I have a voice, but it doesn't even compare to his.
After talking for a little while, it was finally time for sound check and he went on stage and Peanut and I sat in the front row and watched and listened. It was then when it finally registered to Peanut who Bernhoft was. Peanut use to watch the Fresh Beat Band all the time so I got tickets to the concert and when we went he didn't understand why the band was not on the t.v so it took him a while to get it, so when Bernhoft started playing songs he knew and right in front of him, his face totally changed and he started singing the songs with him. We were playing the drums on the table and singing out loud. Part of me wishes I would have brought his little guitar so he could "play" too, but it's pretty much broke so I decided against it. It was sooooo cool. I mean, we pretty much had our own little concert. He played through at least 5 songs.
I just sat there thinking, man this is awesome and I would look back at PJ, who was holding Lyric a few rows back, and he would just nod his head and smile because he knew how cool this was. We could have stayed there all day, but it was getting close to 7pm and we had to have the kids back at the hotel for Claire to watch, so before we headed out Bernhoft played "Shout". That's one of Peanut's favorites so he started to dance and I danced with him and then Bernhoft told us to come up on the stage so this is what happen, (if you listen closely you can hear him saying Peanut in the background of the song)
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| So happy |
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| Peanut took this picture |
I just sat there thinking, man this is awesome and I would look back at PJ, who was holding Lyric a few rows back, and he would just nod his head and smile because he knew how cool this was. We could have stayed there all day, but it was getting close to 7pm and we had to have the kids back at the hotel for Claire to watch, so before we headed out Bernhoft played "Shout". That's one of Peanut's favorites so he started to dance and I danced with him and then Bernhoft told us to come up on the stage so this is what happen, (if you listen closely you can hear him saying Peanut in the background of the song)
Man, that was just soooo much fun. We decided it was time to go sadly we said goodbye while sound check was still going on.
We were heading out and around the corner came Bernhoft saying a better goodbye I guess lol. He told Lyric he was sad he didn't get to hear her vocal ability and then said goodbye to us again. Man, he's cool!!
We were heading out and around the corner came Bernhoft saying a better goodbye I guess lol. He told Lyric he was sad he didn't get to hear her vocal ability and then said goodbye to us again. Man, he's cool!!
That was such a great experience, and we hadn't even been to the concert yet. We dropped the kids off back at the hotel and turned around to go back to the venue for the concert. The opening act was a band by the name of Miracles of Modern Science and they were pretty good, better than I expected. I enjoyed their set, but all we really wanted to hear was Bernhoft.
It was finally time to hear him play and he came out all smiles and ready to jam, yeah that's right, jam!! He started off with a new song called "Wind you up", and then proceeded to play familiar songs. He was/is awesome. After a couple more songs he played a new one called, "I won't let you go" and man that song right there, was mmmm mmmm mmmm good!!! So much so that I shouted "Sang It!!!" while he was singing. He has such a rich, soulful voice and everything about it seems sooooo effortless. I know people tell me I can sing, but no this brotha, yes brotha', can SANG!!! Oh man, it would be awesome to sing a duet with him. There isn't a studio version of that song, but I hope when he records it it sounds just as simple and soulful as it did when we heard it live. Those type of songs don't need all that extra stuff, just his voice and the guitar. Of course after that song the crowd erupted in cheers and applause because it was AMAZING!!! Bernhoft continued with more familiar songs and in one of them I even got a shout out. He covered "Shout" by Tears for Fears and in part of the song certain keys are played and I sang them because I thought they were coming, but he played something different and everyone could hear me, including Bernhoft, and this happened……
Go to minute 2:35...
It was finally time to hear him play and he came out all smiles and ready to jam, yeah that's right, jam!! He started off with a new song called "Wind you up", and then proceeded to play familiar songs. He was/is awesome. After a couple more songs he played a new one called, "I won't let you go" and man that song right there, was mmmm mmmm mmmm good!!! So much so that I shouted "Sang It!!!" while he was singing. He has such a rich, soulful voice and everything about it seems sooooo effortless. I know people tell me I can sing, but no this brotha, yes brotha', can SANG!!! Oh man, it would be awesome to sing a duet with him. There isn't a studio version of that song, but I hope when he records it it sounds just as simple and soulful as it did when we heard it live. Those type of songs don't need all that extra stuff, just his voice and the guitar. Of course after that song the crowd erupted in cheers and applause because it was AMAZING!!! Bernhoft continued with more familiar songs and in one of them I even got a shout out. He covered "Shout" by Tears for Fears and in part of the song certain keys are played and I sang them because I thought they were coming, but he played something different and everyone could hear me, including Bernhoft, and this happened……
Go to minute 2:35...
Yeah that was pretty cool and hilarious. The concert was starting to come to a close and he finished it out with "Fly Away" and then it was over. He took his bow and waved goodbye, but we all know that if you cheer loud enough the artist will always come back and he did. He played two more songs and one was "Sunday". That's probably one my favorite songs of his, it use to be the top one but now that I've heard "I can't let you go", it is in the top two.. I was happy he sung it because he wasn't planning on it and I asked him at sound check to sing it so when he hadn't sung it yet I thought he forgot, but he sung it and I was happy happy happy. Well, after that it was really over. I didn't want the concert to end but I knew it had to end at some point. We stayed a little bit after to get a picture with him and thank him again for the sound check treat and of course I wanted a silly picture so this is it.....
Oh and PJ took one too...
Finally, we left and made our way back to the hotel or should I say reality lol. We got back to the hotel and to my surprise, Peanut was sleep, yes, sleep. He never falls asleep with a babysitter and Lyric was sleep too!!! That my friends is what you call, a good night!!!
Needless to say our Bernhoft experience was awesome, amazing, fantastic, incredible, terrific......you get the point. I'm so thankful to Bernhoft, to Claire for watching the kids, to my son for being so talented, to my sister for introducing me to Bernhoft and to Ellen for having Bernhoft on her show. That day will go down in history as a pretty cool day for my family.
Lastly, probably the funniest thing about this whole experience is that after the concert is my husband decided to keep saying how amazing it all was, as if he had been trying to play it cool all day and finally had to let it out. Oh and after we got back home Peanut kept asking where Bernhoft was and even told me that he was not Peanut, but Bernhoft. He wanted to listen to him and sing like him even more now because of the experience which makes me wonder if there's another video up his sleeve......
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