Restaurant AVA

Today. We ate.

That's the best description of what happened.

Hanging out with Randy P. is awesome - he has such awesome friends. His friend, Randall Copeland is a chef in Rockwall, Tx. Randall came to hang out with us last night and invited us over to his restaurant today for brunch. Well... we all slept in and brunch was over by the time everyone was up and moving at the same time. But Randall didn't care!!! He still invited us over even though Restaurant Ava was closed until dinner. He created PLATE FULLS of food and brought it all out, and even created a special vegetarian dish for David.

IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Absolutely incredible.

Scrambled eggs with brisket, hash browns, and all-over scrumotiousness, gourmet burgers, pulled pork with slaw (which I NEVER like the slaw but this was soooo good), fries that are WORTH eating (I can usually say no to fries... but not these) butternut squash ravioli, salads...
This is actually after we had already dove in and eaten a bunch...


It was just the coolest experience to be in this restaurant when no one else was, eating unbelievable food and hanging out with the chef himself asking him questions and talking.

So yeah. We were stoked. And none of us have been able to eat for the rest of the day because we ate way too much at lunch!

The best part... Randall kept thanking US as we were leaving!!!

Ummm... NO. THANK YOU Randall and Restaurant AVA!!!!!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Fantasy-Mexico-Land

So I don't really know what it up with my blogs lately - I sent a whole description that did not post along with the pic below of Mi Tierra Cafe :)

So here goes again:

Last night, we started heading North after the show, but we were all starving. We were really just looking for the first place that was open since it was after 11pm. We saw this lively Mexican restaurant and thought we'd give it a try. There seemed to be lots of action in the parking lot, and from the outside it looked like a typical Mexican place. But when we walked inside - it was like we stepped into a whole other dimension - a Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe Closet if you will...

There was a giant dessert/pastry bar when we walked in, which delayed Miguel and me for a few minutes. To the right was a giant bar that was hoppin with a mariachi band and lots of "happy" people :) To the left... it seemed endless. Room after room all decorated with a different theme.

We were in shock because we expected a "Waffle House" of you will... (I love me some Waffle House now, so I say that with affection) but our expectation was more of a stereotypical late night joint. Not a beautiful, looked like you just stepped into Fantasy-Mexico-Land.



In other, not as fun news... we had to cancel our show for this evening. It was really frustrating. We started the drive last night, and were pretty confident that we could make it to Canyon (which is up by Amarillo - NW Texas). But they have suffered really bad snow and icy conditions over the last few days like so much of the country has this week. All the traffic maps and advisories online said "DO NOT TRAVEL". We went as far as we could go until we had to make the decision whether or not we could go any further. (It was a 9 hour drive total) The roads from San Antonio to Amarillo are state highways - not even interstates... and their ability to properly treat the roads is... well... take a guess... they never have snow there... so they don't have a lot of means to get RID of the snow that falls once in a blue moon. If that storm had happened in Wisconsin, it would have been a no brainer - those roads would have been clear becuase they have the infrastructure to salt the roads and melt the ice quickly - just like they had in Iowa a few days ago. It was only HOURS after a HUGE storm had passed through causing hundreds of cars to spin off the roads. But they have so many salt trucks at hand, they got the problem taken care of quickly.

No one ever WANTS to cancel a show. It's not fun for anyone involved. The school had actually started calling us a couple of days ago, and we just thought they were being overly cautious. But once we saw the roads, we couldn't make it. I just WILL NOT put my band in that kind of danger. None of us felt good about it, and everyone weighed in on the decision. It was difficult because management and agents were really leaning on us to push through. James, as tour manager was being so unbelievably diplomatic about the whole thing. I was actually the one who was all riled up. We've already been in one major accident due to snow and ice on the road, and the outcome was one that most people aren't lucky enough to live to tell about. So yeah... I may be overly sensitive on this issue.

But something way down in my gut was telling me NOT to go. And we were all spooked from hitting a patch of ice and sliding last night. Plus something crazy is going on in the universe right now! My little hometown of Columbia Tn got over 7 inches of snow yesterday, and we've NEVER gotten that much snow. So something is up. It sucks we couldn't go. And even though there is even MORE paperwork involved and no one gets paid, and there was no show... I am 100% confident we made the right choice.

So today wasn't exactly what I would call a fun day. There were MANY phone calls that began early in the morning about the whole thing. And James had a tough job on his shoulders trying to convince everyone that we were making the right decision. But once we realized we weren't headed to Amarillo, we started heading back towards Dallas - where our awesome friend Randy Peterson lives. We got here around 10pm tonight, headed to dinner, played some shuffle board, darts, foosball, rock band, and mario kart. :) So the majority of the day was unpleasant, but the evening turned out to be great. We love Randy and Stacie P! The new band isn't REALLY the new band until they stay at Randy P's house! It's part of the induction into the band, really. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Mi Tierra Cafe

What a Week

What a whirlwind of a week thus far. I feel like we got behind with that crazy drive from Iowa to Texas, and just haven't quite caught up since then. We've been pressed for time ever since we left for Iowa. Some of that has been weather, most of it is unbelievably tight scheduling combined with exhaustion.

However... it has been wonderful all at the same time.

Tonight we played at Our Lady of The Lake University in San Antonio, TX. An awesome rock band called Nothing More opened for us and WOW. What a wall of sound they create!!!

But I have to say... something feels different. I finally feel the set and the new songs coming together in a way that I have always hoped for. I still have lots in the works (And always will) but we are finally reaching that point where I am excited to play every single song in the set... I'm not just trying to "get through" some of them to get to the ones that I KNOW will land with an audience that doesn't know me. It's just a wonderful feeling. :)

And this new band. Good Lord. These guys are so good. I am so excited to show them off every night!!! And tonight was no exception. :)

UPC!!! The University Programming Board that worked so hard to put on this event!


My picture uploader is being way too slow, but the rest of the photos will be up on facebook ASAP!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The Country Girl in the Metal Bar

We played an INCREDIBLE show tonight at Scout Bar in Houston, TX. We
are actually staying at "Motel 6 NASA" on NASA Blvd. Craziness!

I don't really know how it works... Little
Country girl being booked at a metal bar. It is NOT a room full of
country fans. But the reaction to the show was electric. We were all
so pumped up on stage and the guys really put on an awesome performance.

Here's some of the highlights of the evening:

A friend from high school, Ryan Cantrell showed up!!! I didn't even
know he was in Houston, but he's all
grown up and an attourney now... It was SO good to see him and catch
up! We always did the musicals together :)

One girl told me that I made her want to "switch teams". Hilarious.

The audience went nuts after the last song and demanded an encore!!!
And THEN later we were told that has never happened before at Scout Bar!

The Big Lebowski came on in the Green Room and later we all
unknowingly had ordered White Russians. ALL of us.

Lots of metal heads are now officially converted to accept country
music :) I've done my job. Even if it was just tonight... That was
awesome.

We went to Ihop afterwards and got a 20% discount when they found out
that we were the band at Scout Bar.

This Motel 6 has faux wooden floors. I don't believe I have ever
stayed in a hotel room that wasn't carpeted.

It is now 5:15am and my eyes are closing as I am writing this...

Goodnight!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
natalie

Sent from my iPhone

Fiddle With Me... I Mean...

I am sitting on a bed. A REAL bed. I can't wait to sleep in this bed which is going to happen really soon. :)

James is a champion. He drove the first shift - almost 8 hours, I drove the second shift - around 6 hours, and then he finished it off for us. We've pretty much been thrust back into touring in the most intense way possible. Everybody has been so exhausted, yet we have all remained in high spirits and are just excited to be together. Ahhh the honeymoon of a new band :)

The show tonight was so great! David opened for us and the kids at Tarleton State University were out dancing, 2-stepping, and being awesome from the first note. It sprinkled a bit RIGHT before I went on stage... but thank goodness the weather held out and didn't rain on us!!! I was so excited!

We did a few new songs and they went really well. I can't tell you how great it makes me feel when everyone dances to my music! And people made signs!!! The name of the event was "Fiddle With Me"... which lent itself to ummm... eh em... quite a few jokes from some of the male students. They had signs that said "I'll fiddle with you" and "Let me rosin up your bow"
But this was my favorite sign:


In other unrelated but very exciting news... I pulled down the passenger's seat visor to check my make-up in the mirror and discovered a monitor for the DVD player!!! We had NO IDEA! Miguel has been straining his neck the whole time to try to see the movie in the back. But no more!!! Now he can watch along with everyone else! SO FUN!!!

Have I mentioned how excited I am to go to bed? I'm gonna do that now :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

First Show. Done.

I <3 BASF. :) What a great way to start off the year! It was exactly
how we started it off last year, too :)

We just got in the van and it's 2:00am. We loaded out as quickly as
possible, but this was the earliest we could get out of there. We have
to be in Stevenville TX by 4:00pm and ummm Jeeves says that if we
don't stop at all we'll get there right on time.

We'll see how that one turns out.

We've made good time so far, so I think we'll be fine. But we've run
into really bad weather a few times today.

The interstate was closed for hours this morning in Iowa. And the
entire trip was just a sea of automobile carcasses. It looked like a
graveyard. We wished we had started counting because you couldn't go
an entire mile without seeing a car that had spun off. And lots of
them were giant semis and trailers. Ughh... it was pretty despressing.
But most of them were upright, so I hope most people are ok. We found
out it was mostly due to the wind that came with the snow... It was
basically a white out and cars couldn't see a thing in front of them.

We were so thankful that we ended up having to rehearse yesterday and
didn't leave TN until way after we wanted to. It may have saved our
lives! If we had gotten in earlier, we
might have been tempted to keep
driving and not stop when did. But we defintely JUST missed the storm
on both ends...

Somebody's watching over us.

Gonna try to catch some zzz's in this ole back seat :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
Natalie

Sent from my iPhone

Ummm... There's a Sunrise In Our Bathroom!

Surprise, Grandma!

Sorry about the delay on fixing the crazy photo from yesterday!!! I actually stayed up an extra 45 minutes last night trying to get it to reload... but I didn't have reliable internet, and it wasn't about to cooperate. At about 3:30am, I just called it. I was hoping it was just my computer that loaded the pic funny... but I don't think anyone could see it. It is now loaded properly if you want to peruse yesterday's blog :)

Well... for anyone who cares to know... Mt. Pleasant, Iowa is exactly how we left it in the middle of December! Cold, VERY snowy, and icy roads. We made it all the way here to Mt. Pleasant tonight which is awesome because this is where (James') Grandma lives! James is gonna surprise her in the morning and go have breakfast with her.

I wish I could go, too. But I am having some vocal issues that started on Thursday. Some of it is the sheer amount of rehearsal, and some of it is just beyond anything I can do about it... our bodies are so intricate! But I have to take care of it as much as possible. It is funny that I have started the year off with vocal rest, and we have yet to play a show. Ahhh.... the sign of a working singer! :)

The new van is GREAT. It feels quite sturdy and massive on the road. That is a very good feeling. I still tense up no matter what when semi's pass because of the accident a couple years back, but that probably won't ever completely go away.

The day actually started with snow on the TN River!!! It was so beautiful and a little freaky since it was in the 50's yesterday! We rehearsed for about 4 hours today before we left, and saw so much beautiful snow. None of it was sticking, luckily. SO really, we got the best of both worlds... we got to enjoy it without having to deal with the consequences.

Well... time to keeping resting the ole instrument. Big first day tomorrow!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Here I Go

David mentioned the first night that he had a "surprise" for me when we got to our Whitesnake song. It worked out perfectly because we ended up working on "Here I Go Again" as the final song to learn before we just started running through everything we have worked on all week. Right before we started the song, he ran up stairs and told me to close my eyes.

I was so excited, I ran upstairs to "complete the outfit" which actually took about 5 second of teasing and hair spray. :)

You don't get much more rock and roll than an original Whitesnake t-shirt that's ripped up!!! David bought it at the concert when he was 13. He went to see Motley Crue and Whitesnake was so good, he bought THEIR t-shirt!

So I looked very appropriate for our run-throughs tonight. :)

Between the pick sliding contests (that should never take place, EVER again).... Zach's eyes that get big when he gets really excited about what he is playing, David's rock stance where he hunches over when he gets really into it, Miguel's lightening fast fingers, James' pink drumset, and THIS INCREDIBLE TN RIVER HOME TO REHEARSE IN, we are ready to go!

Well... almost. :)

We didn't get quite finished with all of our run through's today. We got to a point where we just couldn't mentally or physically (all of our voices are gone) continue. So we are gonna get up and finish rehearsing in the morning before we begin our drive to IOWA. But we have had 4, 12 hour rehearsals in a row... plus we started with a 4 hour one. So no one can say we slacked off!!! I can't believe that tomorrow we head back out on the road. Wow. It's time. I am so unbelievably excited to start playing all of this music. We have added so much. And we have made Orange Blossom Special an entirely new song. I will be SO EXCITED to play that song every night. And that is saying a lot because I have played some version of that song since I was 10 years old!!! So to have a completely new excitement for the song just makes me giddy.

So from the last night at Port Stovall...

GOOD NIGHT!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.

~natalie

Carrot Cake to Ease the Pain

Let me just say...
This band is incredible. James, Miguel, and I are so excited about the
way things are going. We knew these guys were talented and that they
could hold their own. But you never truly know what the chemistry will
be like until you really get going. This retreat at my parent's TN
River house is just the best way we could have ever started out the
year. We are workin our tails off with rehearsals, but we're having a
blast the whole time. We're all worn out, but it's the good kind. I
can barely talk, our fingers all hurt really bad, but it's like the
soreness after a great work out. It's the after effects of 12 hours
of learning and creating music together!!!
Plus... The neighbors are here for the weekend. We were really
concerned about driving them nuts. James went to talk to them today...
They are next door and we can see them through the window. But Phil is
a guitar player and singer in Memphis and just one of the nicest guys!
He told us to turn it up and his wife made a carrot cake for us!!!!!
Soooo sweet!! Best next door neighbors ever.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. We still have a lot to learn :) so
it'll be another great day!

Peace Love Fiddle
Natalie

Sent from my iPhone

The Donut Thief

This morning Miguel called his wife, Jenn, to check on Ella (their sweet little girl) and see how their day was going so far.

Jenn had bought donuts to take in to the cleaning staff at the chiropractic clinic where she works.... because she is just that awesome. But when she got there, she opened the box and it looked like this!


She was so confused... and then it dawned on her...

Ella had snuck a bite out of each donut in the back seat before she got to her destination!!! I love that Ella was smart enough to know she wasn't SUPPOSED to be eating them. And was sly enough to get a little nibble of each kind... as if her mother would never know. :)

Adorable.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

After 12 Hours of Rehearsal...

The guys found the Nintendo 64. :) Classic. Golden Eye.
We rehearsed until we couldn't rehearse anymore. Started at 1pm, and
quit around 1am. It's going great. And it's always fun to add new
players to the group. Each new player adds such a different dimension
to the band. Oh. And Miguel cooked dinner for us tonight. :) It was
awesome!!!! Bands retreats rock. This needs to happen more often.
Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Port Stovall LIVE

Today, we picked up our new band with our new vehicle, drove to my
parents' new lake house on the TN River, and started rehearsing the
new songs (with my new fiddle).
I'm not sure a band has ever been more careful loading in gear
before!!! And we were all exhausted, but once we got set up we were
all so excited to get started that we played until midnight.... And
THEN took a break to cook and eat dinner. It's almost 4am and I am so
ready for bed. Tomorrow we're really gonna dig in to the new stuff. So
excited.
Have a great day!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The Night Hawk Made It's Live Debut

I AM OPENING FOR GRETCHEN WILSON ON FEB 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We found out today :) Can you tell that I am excited?? We're playing at the Country Club (not the golfin' kind... the line dancin kind...) in Augusta, Georgia.

WOO HOOOOOO!!!

Here's the link for the info if you want to come!
http://www.augustacountry.com/events.cfm

In other news :) The guitar I won when I was 12 years old, made it's debut on stage tonight! I won a Gibson Night Hawk (they didn't make them for real long... but they are great guitars) in a contest sponsored by Vietti Chili and Oscar Meyer. Irlene Mandrell hosted it, and I sang and played fiddle. It was aired on tv and people voted by writing their favorite entertainer on the back of a Vietti Chili or Oscar Meyer label and mailing it in. There was no limit to how many times you voted...

We ate a LOT of Vietti Chili that year. :) I think we were eating cans for over a year after that contest.

What is it with me and random food sponsored contests?

Anyway... I won a Gibson Night Hawk, and a dinner cruise on the General Jackson with Irlene Mandrell :)

I played the Night Hawk a bit... but I never took to guitar very much. I'm a fiddle girl. Can't fight it. My brother played it a little bit. And Ben has used it on records in the studio for the last few years. But David is gonna play it on the road with us. And tonight, it made it's love debut!!! 15 years later!!! Isn't it funny how things like that happen?

Look how pretty she is!

And David looks pretty snazzy, too. That's Zach, our new bass player, on the right.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The Monkey And the Restless

WHAT?!?! It's time to go back on the road??? REALLY?

That's a great thing. But I really feel like I just blinked and the holidays and this big ole chunk of "time off" was over.

We have gotten SOOOO much done. But there are still many loose ends that haven't gotten tied up just quite yet... i.e. our new trailer... we ordered it a while ago, but with the holidays... they have just now put it into production... so it won't be ready for this first trip. Not a big deal. But that also means there are other things that we can't take out on the road with us because our original trailer is too small for anything extra.

But no matter!

James and I went to Costco today and bought SOOO much stuff for the band retreat this week.

We are excited. The band is heading down to Port Stovall on the Tennessee River. We are locking ourselves in to rehearse the new material for this year.

Since Miguel joined the band 3 years ago... we have not had a full on rehearsal with sound equipment. How crazy is that??? So this is a big deal!!! I remember the days where ALLLLL we did was rehearse... and never gigged. Now we are the opposite. We gig so much, we never have time to rehearse. We learn new songs by running through them acoustically in a hotel room somewhere, run it at soundcheck and hope for the best!! This is going to be such a treat. (And great bonding time with the newbies!)

Cinnamon just found her Christmas hedge hog and is going crazy right now playing with him. He makes an awesome grunting noise, which drives her nuts. The Vet prescribed her an antihistamine today because she has been wheezing and sneezing non stop the last few days. Who knew a dog could take an antihistamine?! So cute!

I don't want to leave her. :( She's the one thing that makes me sad to leave. But that's why we're working so hard. So I can take her on the road WITH us!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Happy Birthday Jenn!

I'm Cooler Than I Thought!

I have been to so many shows in town this week!!! It has been a very musical week :)

One of the shows I went to was at 3rd and Lindsley - Eric Paslay (who I've written with), Rachel Loy (who I went to school with) and Dave Pahanish. Oh! And a surprise and stunning appearance by Miss Sarah Buxton, who was phenomenal.

Dave Pahanish is an awesome songwriter that emailed me on myspace a few years ago. I still remember when he was about to "make the move" down to Nashville and was asking us natives for advice on the real estate market. He has since done VERY well for himself. He has had songs cut by Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Jimmy Wayne, Emily West, and Toby Keith!

I sang on some demos and played fiddle for him a couple of years ago (back when I was still in town a little more often) . And I didn't remember this... but I played fiddle on the demo for "This American Life" which you can hear on his myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/davepahanish

Finding this out made me feel REALLY REALLY cool. Know why? "This American Life" is a song that Toby Keith cut... although you may know it as "American Ride." He wanted to change the "Life" to "Ride" and it became the title track for his latest album!!! I didn't know I was cool enough to have played on a demo that became a Toby Keith song! :)

Here's the ole Toby Keith video: Enjoy!!!


BTW: Dave, Eric, and Rachel put on a GREAT night of music! I saw friends I hadn't seen in a long time, and I enjoyed a true Nashville evening of outstanding songwriters and performances. If you get the chance to see ANY of those performers... GO!!

Peace. Love. FIDDLE!
~nat

Little Nat Fiddlin Pic

This was posted on facebook today from a friend. :)

Thanks Bryan!!! Bryan's mom - Mrs. Bone, used to ask me to come in and play violin and perform for her 4th grade class. :) I was working at Opryland at the time... and I jumped at the chance to perform for anyone who would listen.

So here I am... 4th or 5th grade, myself :)



Check out those stirrup pants. That was the hotness!

Peace. Love. And Itty Bitty Fiddles.
~natalie

Be Sure and Tell Mimi It's Your First Time!

Have you ever been to a Mimi's Cafe??

If not, YOU SHOULD GO!!!

I went to breakfast with some of dearest friends in the world this morning... and we met at the Mimi's in good ole Hendersonville TN. I had never been before. After I finished my meal, my friend, Sarah, whispered something to the waitress and they both looked at me. It felt like she was telling her it's my birthday... but that's not true... plus it was breakfast time. Not exactly "free hot fudge Sunday" time.

A few minutes later THIS happened:


I got 4 free gourmet muffins!!!
I was so excited!!! Well played, Mimi's! It did exactly what it is supposed to do. Those 4 muffins have caused me to tell at least 10 people, plus blog about the restaurant. I have seen Mimi's Cafe on the road but didn't know anything about them, so we've never stopped at one. They serve breakfast all day and have just a good ole American menu. It felt to me like the love child of Ruby Tuesday and Cracker Barrel. (And Maybe Panera as a distant younger cousin)

Mmmmm Cracker Barrel. I'm not even hungry but Cracker Barrel always sounds good. And now so does Mimi's! The muffins are pretty spectacular. They are a great way to hook someone and get them to come back to the restaurant! Plus I want to try the corn chowder everyone was talking about.

So, go to Mimi's! And tell em you're a first-timer!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Opening For Justin Moore!!!

As we're gearing up to head back out on the road... we are looking toward some of the bigger shows coming up. I just wanted to go ahead and share this flyer with everyone for our upcoming Chicago show in March. We get to open for Justin Moore!!! If you know peeps in Chi-town - PLEASE tell them about the show. :) Joe's is a GREAT bar and this is our first time in. We want to make a good impression so we can go back!!!




Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Keepin It Real

I love working in this biz. Every day is so different. And within the same day, you have to be a business exec, creative person, accountant, web promoter, and part of the "job" is going out to other people's shows :) Man. It's a rough life. :)

I had my first co-write with Emily Shackleton today. What a great way to start the day! She's a fellow Berklee girl, although she started the year after I graduated. Last year we did a song writer's round together for the Berklee trip that comes down for spring break every year, and that is when I fell in love with her music. She is an extremely gifted writer, singer, piano player. And we wrote a great song today called "I'll Be a Fool For You"

She was PUMPED this morning. Her husband who's been out of work for over a year just got offered a dream job this morning! AND yesterday she found out that one of her songs is getting cut by an Australian country artist named Stephanie Brownlee. And she's already shot the video for the song!

The song is called "Keep It Real" and it is adorable. Here's the video!


I am so excited for her! Emily works her tail off. And I am looking forward to writing with her again. First writes can be the most difficult, but you wouldn't know it from today. It was easy as pie! (What a strange expression... pie ain't all that easy).

Off to meditate on song ideas for tomorrow's write!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Introducing the New Band Members!!

Sooo....

I have alluded to the fact that new guys were coming on board over the last little bit, but I haven't said much because there were no "final decisions" made.

Today, that has all changed!!!

We have known for a while now that David Newbould would be joining Team Stovall. David will be coming on board as an opening act/ rhythm guitar/ vocalist in the group! We are THRILLED to have such a talented guy along for the ride. :) He's a fantastic artist - singer/songwriter/guitar player/overall awesomeness and in fact... you should head on over to his website when you have the time and take a look at HIS stuff!!!

http://www.davidnewbould.com/

He originally hails from Canada (thus furthering the borders of this international Stovall band) but he recently made the move to Nashville from Austin, Texas. We even figured out that Dave Madden - my first keyboard player... plays keys for David in Austin!!! Oh what a small world it is!


And the the part we haven't known until today - our new bass player!!!
Introducing Zach Morse (no kids... not Zach Morris... though I'm a little TOO excited about introducing him to Mr. Belding) from Cheyenne, WY (a new state to grace the Stovall Team). Zach has a very rich, deep voice which I can't wait to hear more of. He's a killer bass player. And he's got crazy curly hair to DIE for! :)

You can get a sneak peek at his myspace site:
http://www.myspace.com/zachmorsebassist

We had spoken to Zach, gotten GREAT recommendations from friends about him, and stalked him a little on youtube. Shhhh. We had a great feeling about him, but you can't exactly offer someone a job without meeting them and playing with them first. Well... you can. But, you know. So we got together with everyone today, played through some songs, dug the vibe, offered him the job, and thus now we have a full band again!

Whew. I can't even begin to describe what an incredible feeling that is. New Van, new band, new sound system, new songs, new sets, new fiddles... Whoa. I didn't even realize all the newness until I just typed it out!

Miguel, James, and I couldn't be happier with how 2010 is starting!!! Let's keep it a'rollin!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

We Bought A VAN!!!!!

For months now, James and I have been looking online at vans and vehicles to "upgrade" our bandwagon.

The Suburban (All 3 in fact) have served us well and have gotten us through safely (which is pretty impressive in certain cases!!!) But now, with the addition of a 5th band member approaching, and the possibility of sometimes taking along a merch and/or roadie... we need a bigger vehicle.

Just like any business... we have to grow and upgrade as the business grows. :)

We have been thinking we were gonna get a 15 passenger van all along... but tonight... out of nowhere... a CHEVY 12 passenger appeared on the lot at the Car Max down the street that met every other criteria we had (and more). It was so new, they hadn't even posted pics on the online listing.

It's been a bit more difficult finding vans on the lots around here. There are just SO MANY churches, which snatch these vans up like hot cakes! These are the ultimate church-bus. I've ridden on quite a few in my day :)

Sooo.... we ventured to Car Max (after having a few disappointing let-downs earlier in the day on dealership lots). And there she was. Silver - almost the same color as the Burb... with a GIANT DVD screen... only 50,000 miles on her (which we'll double in 6 months), a the right aura about her. :)

She needs very little work - mostly just that third bench put in the back. Most of them come with one, but this one must have been custom ordered NOT to have one. But our great friend, mechanic, anything-car-related extraordinaire, Keith, in Columbia is gonna help fix us up right away!

Here's the "Oh My Goodness!?! Are we really doing this???" look in the car-buying office.


WE DID IT!!!!


And Scott!!! Our new friend who helped us with every step!!! I must say... Car Max (and of course, Scott himself) make the whole car buying thing way less stressful. I hate the "I need to go talk to my manager" skit at dealerships. And I hate haggling. So Car Max is great! They do lots of inspections... there's time to take it back if you don't feel like you got what you thought you were getting... and they are already at the lowest price point they can give. So you can actually talk to your sales representative and not feel like you shouldn't give away too much information in case he can use it against you later...
I loved the Car Max experience! And Lord knows we'll put it to the test right away!


I am so unbelievably happy with this purchase. It's really weird to retire to 'Burb to be our personal vehicle! But it is time. She's starting to show her miles... which isn't a problem at all for our personal use! We can handle the little fixes and repairs that will be necessary when it is just for ourselves. But we wanted to make sure we were proactive so we wouldn't get stuck with having to make a car buying decision in 24 hours... which we've had to do a few too many times already in this life!

So.... WHEW. Wow. I am thrilled and overjoyed. We'll start getting to work on her and she'll be ready for her induction trip.
Nashville ---> Iowa ---> Texas ---> Louisiana ---> back to Tennessee. :)

I haven't actually seen her in the daylight yet. But I'll be sure and get a full size pic of her tomorrow in all her glory!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY!!! I can't believe my 1st niece is now a teenager. I was 15 when she was born... and now she's 13. CRAZY how time flies!

Fiddlin Around

Tonight I started practicing for the new songs that we're adding to the sets. WHEW!!!! My fingers haven't been this sore from fiddlin in a while.

It's fun because my new fiddle takes a bit of getting used to with that extra 5th string. I've never had a 5th string before! But it means ALL the strings are closer together, so I have to work on keeping my playing clean even more than I normally do. (a constant struggle anyway)

I always like to learn the solos on the record first and then I can make them my own, once I can play the original. It's a really good way to build chops... which I can always use more of! But man! The "Callin On Baton Rouge" solo is not as easy as it sounds! It's trickier than I thought it would be. All the notes are so close together and quick, and now I am determined to learn the original. I can ply anything I can sing. That's my rule - if I can sing it... then that means I can hear it in my head... therefore I can figure it out on fiddle. But it took me a while! I can play it now. I just don't have it perfect, yet. But tomorrow it will be so much better. (I think... eh em, let's hope)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Surprised Kitty

Even though I am SURE he's already seen it...

I dedicate this video to my 2009 Peace Love Fiddle Commenter of the year: Natalie's Favorite Farm Boy Fan



It never gets old :)

Speaking of things never getting old.... My sweet puppy hates being cold and/or wet. She's a little Miss Priss. So she will leave one foot off the ground and hop on the other three if the grass is wet or snowy... as if that actually does anything or keep her from getting any less wet. Even so... it makes me smile every time :)

She spent the day playing with her awesome Christmas hedge hog that makes grunting noises. Love it.
Santa has to hunt these days to find an animal she doesn't already have. Poor little deprived puppy dog.

THERE'S STILL SNOW ON THE GROUND!!!!! Which equals complete happiness from this chick. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Even Alaska

So the new cd may be held up by legal mumbo jumbo at the moment...

But I can at least show you some inspiration for one of the songs. I wrote "Even Alaska" with Nathan Chapman (ridonkulous producer, writer... has produced all of this little girl's stuff you may not of ever heard of: Taylor Swift) and we wrote this song RIGHT after I got back from my honeymoon trip to... ALASKA.

When I think about Alaska... this is usually the first reference in my head:


I took this picture from our balcony. :) The captain took our ship down a little inlet to show us a really good view of a glacier and this was at the very end. This glacier was one of the biggest we got to see the whole trip. Those places that look like tire tracks (like someone took a gargantuan 4-wheeler and went over it) is actually where 2 glaciers have fused together. So this is actually 3 glaciers that have, over time, fused into 1 mega-glacier. They are so beautiful. Baby blue. And I can't even describe how big this is. As photos tend not to do... this does it no justice. It was so unbelievably huge and without the perspective of how far away we were... it only looks mildly impressive on here. :)

I have a lot of snap shots in my head that I run through every time I talk about Alaska, or introduce the song. But this is one of the ones I always go to first in my head.

I can't believe it is STILL snowing in Tennessee. The accumulation doesn't really show much for it... but that is ok. It has been steady and beautiful. And I love every second of it.

Peace. Love. And Snowy Fiddles.
~natalie

Tortilla Soup Recipe

I posted this recipe a while ago, but a friend of mine was looking for a good one today so I figured it was time to repost. This is my FAVORITE!!! And has been a band favorite over the years. :) Perfect for a snowy day like today.

I usually make a double recipe.

Tortilla Soup:

1 lb ground hamburger or ground turkey
1 packet of Taco Seasoning
1 can Corn
1 can Kidney Beans (I usually make a double recipe and do 1 can of dark red and 1 can of light red kidney beans - that's the best!)
1 can Black Beans (I usually only put in 1 can for a double recipe.... just started adding those in. They are really good in there!)
1 8oz can of Tomato Sauce (I prefer Hunt's)
1 Large can (28oz) Diced Tomatoes (Again I like Hunt's for this recipe)

I LOVE making this with Ground Turkey - it's not quite as heavy for an already very hearty meal. And many times I will buy the packages that are a little over a pound to get more - you can't have too much meat!

Cook meat and season with Package of Taco Seasoning. I also season with red pepper flakes and Tony's Cachere's Creole Seasoning. It all depends on how spicy you like it.

Dump the rest of the ingredients into a large pot - including the juice from the cans. DO NOT DRAIN the cans. Add in cooked, seasoned meat. The impatient or pressed for time can eat as soon as it is hot. But of course, it is best to let the juices simmer for a couple of hours. It is GREAT left over, so don't worry about cooking too much. I would say one pot serves around 4 people.

I serve with shredded Mexican Cheese, put a dollop of sour cream in my bowl and tortilla chips. I usually eat half of it with a spoon and half of it like a dip with my Tostitos. But that's just me. :)

This is such a fun recipe to play with! So have fun and happy eating! Let me know if you ever make this meal. :) It will make me proud!

Peace, Love, and Tortilla Soup
~natalie

Cinnamon Likes Getting Her Teeth Flossed

I would have NEVER thought to floss my dog's teeth...
But I guess that's what "Mamma's who are hygienists" are for. Right?




Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The Calmly Frightening Cab Driver

Two nights ago I rode with the least aggressive cabbie I have EVER seen. I noticed right away that he wasn't trying to run everyone over like all the other times I've ridden in a cab in NYC.

But every time we would come to a stop, I would see the light turn green and he wouldn't budge. Now, it was 2am so there weren't always people right behind us. But soon enough, someone would pull up and LAAAAAY on the horn.

It happened at almost every light. (And there's a lot of lights between Penn Station and the UN) And the thing was... he wasn't looking down or around the car. From my angle in the back seat it looked like he was looking straight forward, which made it all the more confusing.

Do I say something? Or clear my throat? I mean... ummm... green light, go. Anyone?

Especially someone who drives for a living?

So about 6 blocks from Ma's apartment... I could see his reflection in the rear view mirror. Again... green light... nothing... HOOOOONK... and he goes.

HE WAS CLOSING HIS EYES AND TAKING A NAP AT EVERY LIGHT!

How's that for safety!? Made me feel REALLY good. But at this point we were so close, and I knew we only had 1 more light to go through, so I bit my tongue... agonized over "do I tip him horribly because he's falling asleep at stop lights? Or do I tip him really well because Good Lord I feel sorry for the guy. That is one sleepy dude." (That was pretty much my exact internal monologue) So I split the difference, tipped him average, and RAN.

Not sure I'll ever again experience such a calmly frightening cab ride!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.

~natalie

Sha Na Na!!!

My plan tonight was to get onto the 12:23am train back to NY. It's
5:19am and Gordon, James, and I JUST got done with a song that hit us
out of nowhere at oooohhh 11:30pm. :)
It was RIDICULOUS. I have never written a song like this one before.
Again... Like I said last night, it's the best song EVER. :) you know,
in my humble opinion. It is so sad and heartbreaking but in the best
way possible.
Oh, and I think it was song #5 of the day! We went to Corey Wagar's
and wrote 2 new songs for her which was such a cool experience. It's
really fun to write a song for someone else. I'm never writing in that
mind set. Even when I write with other artist friends, we never know
which one of us may end up with the song. So it was cool to write from
the perspective of a high school girl. Took me right back :)

Well, I hear that train whistle blowing!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle
Natalie

Sent from my iPhone

Thoughts From Late Night At the Jersey Shore

Staying up writing songs until 4:30 in the morning. "Work" doesn't get
any better than this!

When Gordon and I are working, our biggest problem is that we can't
stop creating...
Tonight for example, as we were working on the lyrics to a song (the
longest and most tedious part of the process) we started 3 NEW
songs... Makes progress slower for now but pretty awesomely ridiculous
for the long run.

As we're creating, I always think every song we're working on is "the
best song ever" :) which I guess is a good thing. I never go into one
of our songs thinking "well, this one's good but..."

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
natalie

Sent from my iPhone

Kahlil Gibran Reading

Today Gordon received a quote from a friend that was a Kahlil Gibran quote. James and I had this poem read at our wedding. One of my dearest friends in the world, Janet Ivey read it to us at one of our wedding showers, and we both loved it. So then we asked her to read it in the wedding.

I just love this passage, so I wanted to share it with you all. Enjoy.

On Marriage
Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.

~natalie

Best Year Ever

So to start out the year in the best way possible... Gordon and I have
12 songs that we have already started and are really excited about.
It's a bit overwhelming!! (In the best way possible of course) Sifting
through our ideas has taken nearly 2 full days. But it feels really
good to know what all we have and to prioritize it in some way.

Tonight we didn't actually start writing until about 10 because of all
the sifting. (which is why it is now 4am). But we are so close on a
song we started on New Year's Eve.

While James and I were on the train on our way out here that night,
Gordon was struck with inspiration. When we walked through the door,
he grabbed me and we ran into the kitchen and knocked out the chorus.
Meanwhile, James and Gordon's family and friends were all waiting on
us in the next room. But we couldn't leave for dinner until we got
this thing hashed out. And thank goodness!! That's pretty much all
we've worked on tonight. I am so excited about this song. I don't even
want to share what it's about until we get it finished. (that feels
premature)

But yeah. Best year ever. Let's keep it that way :) woot woot!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
nat
Sent from my iPhone

New Year's Resolution: √

365 Days ago, I made the daunting New year's Resolution to blog every single day in 2009.

Last night, I accomplished that goal!!!

I even blogged more than once on some days :)

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who reads, skims, visits, comments, and prints out my blog (mostly just Aunt Deana on the printing) every day!!! It has been so rewarding to see how much our readership has grown over the last year!

I think an Official Award needs to be given to my most specialist, Shadiest, Groviest (not to be confused with grooviest) of blog commenters.

The 2009 Peace, Love Fiddle, Blogger Commenter of the year is.....

....drumroll please....

"Natalie's Favorite Farm Boy Fan"!!!!

If you haven't... you need to pay attention to his comments on this blog. I check EVERY DAY to see what he has said on the day before... and his comments are so incredibly creative and witty. I think the way his mind works and the way he uses language is SO entertaining. It is such a high light of my day to see what "Natalie's Favorite Farm Boy Fan" has to say... about what I have said... :) He's even been known to go under cover from time to time. :)



So thank all of YOU for reading and giving me motivation to KEEP ON BLOGGING!

I promise to keep it up for 2010. We are on such a beautiful ride, and I want to share it with anyone who wants to be a part of it with us! There's SOOO much to come this year. New music, our first official Europe Tour will be this year, new website, new band members, and OF COURSE new and unpredictable adventures out on the road!!!

And to my Farm Boy Fan... THANK YOU for declaring it the year of the Nat. Today was a day filled with creative energy... it snowed.... and I ate almost an entire can of black eyed peas... it's off to a VERY promising start!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Happy New Year!!!

The Rockefellar Center Tree Unlit... One of the saddest sights I've
ever seen.
But no matter. This has been the most incredible night ever. 2010 - is
gonna be amazing!!! Hope you feel the same! Bring it on. I'm ready!
Happy New Year!
Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie