Nerf Target Practice At the University of Michigan, Flint

We played at U of M Flint tonight. We did our part with the rocking. The theater was beautiful. The students were SOOOO helpful and awesome. And my favorite part is always getting to talk to everyone afterwards.

But tonight was more active and chaotic than normal... Only because the students handed out nerf guns and foam darts to the guys while I was signing autographs and taking pictures. And OH GOOD LORD!!! It was hilarious. We were all getting hit and dodging... there was tons of laughter on top of the normal amounts of hugs and talking an laughing. It was pretty awesome. :)

But we learned that once you hit Miguel... you're never getting your darts back. And if you give him a chance to get your gun... yeah... it's gone. He had TONS on top of his amp while we were packing up... and if you went near them, you felt Chilean nerf gun wrath!



THANK YOU to all of CAB for being so great all night!!! I LOVE my Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the fiddle AND my signed shirt! Those were awesome. (I love James pointing the darts at Miguel in this one)


Our sweet new Chinese friends!!! Thank you girls!! Your enthusiasm is contagious!


And girl, your comments on "Angel" made ME cry. :)


Thank y'all for making the show so fun!
















After the show, all the normal later-night options for food were already closing because it was 11:00... We weren't finding much on our iphones, but the ladies at the front desk recommended a Diner that we hadn't seen in searching with technology. BEST PANCAKES I'VE EVER EATEN. Seriously. The guys all agreed. We all want to go back tomorrow, but we saw a pasties restaurant earlier today that we want to try, too. Everyone has always told us to try pasties... especially when we head up to Marquette... but we've never been able to. So tomorrow, we are really trying to finally find out what the heck these pasties are all about!

Lesson to learn tonight - if you are ever in Flint Michigan - go to the Star Lite Diner and well... get the pancakes... the goulash was excellent... the omelets were excellent.... but mostly the pancakes!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

EUREKA!!!

Yup. Eureka College is where we played tonight in Illinois - where EVERYTHING has Ronald Reagan's name worked into the title - streets, rooms, museums, trails, gardens... They have over 10,000 personal and public items donated by President Reagan to the College - his own alma mater.

We are staying at the President's Alumni and Guest House on campus. It is so cool!!! It smells just like Grandma and Grandpa's farmhouse in Iowa - it's very similar in feel. We each have a bedroom, and the student's brought some amazing food from a local Italian place. Oh Lord... I am STUFFED!!! We have all had so much to eat and there is still plenty left over. And I think we all ate both before and after the show. :)

No fiddle woes occurred today!! Yay!!! After breaking a bridge on one yesterday and the bridge collapsing on another the day before... I am starting to get nervous when I pick up my fiddles... But today things seemed to be back to normal. I gave them all a little TLC today, too, with a little cleaning and tweaking. Whew.

The students were really helpful and sweet today, and that always makes the experience so much more pleasant!!! Thank you to everyone here at Eureka for making it such a great show!


Let's hear it for the boys!


The other fiddle player in the audience :) Check out her awesome tee.






Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Great Article for and Awesome Video from Nino's

Hey y'all!!! We have had an awesome day of rest this Sunday in Springfield Illinois. This article came through the other online and I thought I would share! It's always fun when these show up online. :)

Here's the link if you would rather go to the actual article...

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/03/nashvilles_natalie_stovall_mix.html


Nashville's Natalie Stovall mixes old country, pop
By Rebecca Bakken | Special to the Kalamazo...
March 25, 2010, 1:00PM


KALAMAZOO — Natalie Stovall began writing music when she was 11 years old, but didn’t tell anyone about it.

This spring, she will release her second record, and having opened for Gretchen Wilson, Little Big Town and The Doobie Brothers, she is well prepared for her upcoming concert at Western Michigan University’s Bernhard Center Wednesday.

“I always knew it was something I wanted to do,” Stovall said of songwriting during a phone interview while on the road with her band in Chicago.

Though she got her start as a child singing and playing the fiddle in the Opryland Kids Club at the Grand Ole Opry, she didn’t quite bloom as a creative artist until beginning school at Berklee College of Music in Boston. While there, she often drove back to Nashville, Tenn., to perform shows. It was the beginning of life on the road for Stovall.
“I really do write about my own life,” the 28-year-old singer said. “I write at my best when no one else is around. On trips back and forth to Nashville I wrote my first album.”

The Columbia, Tenn., native now resides in Nashville, where she knows she belongs after getting a taste of the East Coast.

She awaits the release of her second record, an EP titled “Standing My Ground,” a follow-up to her 2006 record, “Late Night Conversations.” Though she works well as a solo writer, Stovall worked with others on the new album and said it was a good experience to have other perspectives in the room.


“I really enjoy writing with other people because it gives you a sounding board,” Stovall said.

Stovall said she’s looking forward to using her Kalamazoo audience as a sounding board as well, because performing live is the best way to see which songs are popular and which ones need work.

“It’s really one of the best ways that I’ve been able to get out there and see how my music is resonating with people. It’s kind of an old school mentality,” Stovall said.

Her musical influences include country artists, such as Garth Brooks and Shania Twain, said the self-professed “radio girl.” At the WMU show, she’ll sing her version of “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” some originals and a cover medley with “everything from Zeppelin to Michael Jackson.”

Though country-influenced, her songs have a definite pop quality.

Her single “Whatever It Takes” tells a fairytale romance story with a strong female heroine. The strong female theme is driven home by her powerhouse voice during the chorus as she promises to save her love.

Her cover of “Devil Went Down to Georgia” is a regular at her shows, showcasing her fiddle talents in the Charlie Daniels classic.

IF YOU GO
When: Wednesday

Where: The East Ballroom of Western Michigan University’s Bernhard Center, 1903 W. Michigan Ave.

Time: 9 p.m.

Contact: (269) 387-2112

Cost: $1 for students; $2 general admission

And another surprise that has shown up online - a few videos from our Nino's show in Findlay Ohio!!! These are great vids from one of our favorite bars to play. Thank you to Brian Snyder and Reflections Films for taking the time to film and put up these videos!!

Here's a link to "Rip It Up"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk0U1YB243Q

And here's the video for all that can see it!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

University of Illinois, Springfield

We only had to drive 3 1/2 hours today - plus we GAINED an hour back into Illinois. SOO awesome!!! It helps so much when it is a short drive... all the way around. Just enough time to get some phone calls, emails, a short nap and some 30 Rock into the drive!

We played at University of Illinois, Springfield tonight. They have a great room where they set up a whole lighting rig and stage with couches and nice chairs... all in a dorm building!!! You definitely didn't feel like you were in a dorm when the show was going on. The Student Activities was offering hot chocolate and coffee for students... and... well... US!

David opened the show and even played a beautiful new song I hadn't heard, yet. And then we had an awesome set. My fiddle bridge collapsed on my new fiddle, though. That wasn't so awesome... I thought the E string broke again - which I have had some issues with... and it's been in the shop for. But tonight, the bridge just collapsed! SO STRANGE!!! That has NEVER happened before. Thank goodness I always have a spare now. I play 3 different fiddles in the show these days. :) It happened during the solo in "You Know Nothing" and so I had to finish out the song and then just switch to another fiddle.

Thank you to Ricky, a soldier who saw us at Ft. Gordon last May, for coming out tonight! Sorry I didn't have my camera yet to get a pic of us. :(

Here's everyone that helped put the show together!!! They had posters up all over campus, facebook events, and a clip of us playing on their college tv station. :)


My new friend Kristin! She liked my "big country girl hair" :) And we sang "This One's For the Girls" together after the show because it's one of her favorite songs.


This guy was part of the committee that brought us to Western Illinois (where we opened for Gloriana), but he couldn't be at the show... He had to fly to Oklahoma for an interview that day. So he drove down to UIS tonight (where his girlfriend goes) to see the show!







Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

We're on the news!! Sort of... ; )

Tonight was another wonderful night at The Rathskeller... Cool venue, great food, a club owner that has one of Steven Tyler's microphone stand scarfs... What more could a country girl ask for? ; )

In other exciting news today... I logged onto my facebook page today and saw that someone had uploaded a video from the Gloriana show the other night. (While we were playing I saw a guy down in front of the stage with a fairly industrial looking video camera, and now I know why) :)

Robert, I found out after some Facebook investigating, is a recent Army vet who is enrolled at WIU for Broadcast. He put together a news story about the show on campus (Maybe for class, maybe for campus news... That I don't know) But what I do know is that he did an awesome job and that it was really fun to watch, so I decided to share with all of you. :)

Now, it's a Facebook video so I can't just include it in the blog like I can with videos on YouTube, but if you click on this link you should be able to see it. (with any luck...)

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=378309560698&ref=mf

Isn't that cool?!? Good luck Robert! I hope you're able to make many more!

Anyway, as always thank you Dan and the rest of Indianapolis for showing us such a great night!

Until next time...

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And delicious tuna sandwiches at nice German restaurants...

~natalie

LOVE YOU Karen and Pat for always bringing a crowd!!!

Farm Boy, Nino's, and Snow.

First of all...

Farm Boy. I love you and your way with words. I don't say it enough. I know I don't always respond, but I ALWAYS read your comments. It is still the first thing I do before I sit down to write my blog for the night... I look to see what my favorite Farm Boy Fan has said. (For those of you who get to the blog through facebook or other means... you don't see his comments. You have to actually got to the http://www.peacelovefiddle.com to see the comments. But believe me, they are worth it!)

On to TONIGHT. NINO'S!!! Our favorite bar in Findlay, Ohio! (And one of our favorites in the country). Nino, Rob, and the guys at Nino's are just so great to us!! they ordered in some of the best pizza for us :) And the crowd was awesome. DEFINITELY not a Thursday night crowd... more like a Saturday night crowd ON a Thursday. : )~

Umm... IT SNOWED on us. We drove 8 hours today... well... we left at 8am... lost an hour and arrived right at 7pm in Findlay. It rained on us the WHOLE trip... that is, until we crossed the border into Ohio. Then it started snowing and even accumulated on the car. The roads are like an ice skating rink.... We all were sliding around the parking lot. And Panther even bit it pretty bad outside the hotel. Poor thing :( But he's ok. He's the Panther. He can handle it :)

Mark and Janice came!!! They took off work tomorrow and drove 2 and 1/2 hours. I just love them. Seriously. Sweetest people in Ohio.


My Ohio Cowboy, Kyle, who I met when we played at the University of Findlay this time last year... then again the last time at Nino's and then tonight he brought tons of friends!


Having some fun with my new friends :)




Lindsey - what a sweetheart. Love her.


A late night jam session even broke out after the bar closed - Rob fell in love with my Night Hawk that David plays in the shows. :) He sat in with a guys on some Rolling Stones, Nivana, Van Halen, and Stevie Ray Vaughn... Oh Yeah.


Peace. Love. and More Snowy Fiddles!
~natalie

We Opened For Gloriana Tonight

And it was AWESOME!!!! They put on a GREAT show. And we had a blast warming up the crowd for them! The stage and lights were really impressive, and it is always fun to be a part of such a big show.

I have to give a shout out to Big Country 103.1 out of Burlington Iowa for having us on today!!! We did an acoustic version of "Standing My Ground" and talked for a bit. And then I got ready for the show! The last two nights I have been using my wireless in ear monitors... WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT'S MAKING! I still don't have them perfect... but oh wow. I can hear my voice! IT'S AWESOME.

The show was so much fun. Huge stage. Electric crowd - they were loud, rowdy, and giving us soooo much love! Exactly what you want from a crowd! So of course, we made lots of new friends! Here's just a few...





A little arm signage :)






Cell phone Signage!!!
















Plus, Ari, may agent, came!!! He flew in for the show and is already heading back to New Jersey. It's fun when he shows up :) I think this may actually be the first FULL set of ours he's ever seen!



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Aurora University. Game On!

We played in a BEAUTIFUL room tonight. It was the school's theater and it sounded SOOO good. Not to mention our awesome sound guys, which you know, helped tremendously with the whole "sounding good" thing. :)

I love when we play in Aurora, Illinois. I overuse Wayne's World quotes the whole week. :)

The show was great, and the night even ended with fan mail left on the windshield of the Van! Danny and Briana left us the sweetest note about how much they enjoyed the show and how hot James is :) LOVE IT! It was a great way to end the night!

Look at all of our new friends:












Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie