Top o the mornin to ya

Mary Baldwin and My Band of Rockers

Yesterday at the show, the sound man was giving us a hard time because I said I play country. He told me to put my pedal board AWAY and then started in on my band. I said, "What's not country about my band?"

He said, "Look at your drummer! He's a ROCKER!"

James, of ALL the guys, was getting a hard time about being a rocker. So funny.

But then James said, "Well. It's ok because we play both country AND western."

Soundman, "Ok. Well any guy who's seen that movie (Blues Brothers) is alright with me.

Today we continue into a deeper part of country and gospel world into the hometown of the Statler Brothers! I swear - everyone in the audience today had personal stories about them. The best part? They sound like some of the nicest guys in the world!

The school today was Mary Baldwin College - an all girl campus. And MAN! We had some troopers!!!! A lot of the girls sat WAAAAY up high on the hill because there was shade there. And then there were a few trees scattered about that had clumps of girls. But there were a select few groups that toughed it out with me and the boys in the sun - those are the hard core fans! :)

These girls were SOOOOO sweet! They wrote me letters during the show that told me about which songs meant the most to them and how great of a time they had. They gave me pictures and all kinds of things. They were giving ME gifts!!! So incredible. Today was their first day of classes, so they were all in a celebratory mood. School is still so new and exciting right now for everyone we've been playing for the last couple of weeks. *sigh* :)


The Baldwin Program Board was soooo great! They made pink slap bracelets for the event! I don't think I've worn a slap bracelet since 3rd grade. And even then, I never had one with my NAME on it!


More sweet girls. I wasn't able to get many pics with my camera - but I've already seen quite a few popping up on facebook.Just how I like it! Dedication!





Tomorrow we head home and I get to see Granny!!!! And Cinnamon!!! Yay!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I ♥ Elon University!

What another incredible show tonight!!! You know its a good un when they rush the stage and start dancing, clapping, cheering, and the cell phones are all out taking photos and capturing video!

As soon as I got off stage, I ran down into the middle of the student orientation leaders that were all at the show, and we sang the ENTIRE song of "That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania. It pretty much rocked my world.
Finding me in this picture is about like playing "Where's Waldo?"


Plus - the Student leaders gave me a pin that says "Whatever It Takes" because that is their slogan. They now have a themesong :)

The Student Union Board or "SUB" as the cool kids call it, were SO on top of their game!!! They were WONDERFUL to us, had an incredibly organized event and made the show SOOOOOO much fun! (And they brought me eggplant parm after the show... It doesn't get much better than that!)


The girls gave me sunglasses with hot pink side that say "SUB" on them. Yeah. I'm with the cool kids now. Don't be jealous :)


And Big Mamma Roberts was screaming "This is MY sister! This is MY Sister!" during this photo. Then we sang "Devil Went Down to Georgia" at the top of our lungs after she told me how proud of me she was. I just met Big Mamma. But I will NEVER forget her :)


We arrived at the hotel in VA at 4am. But did we go straight to bed? Nope. We finished the first season of LOST. We have the DVDs now and we were in the middle of the season finale when we pulled up. I am proud to say that Panther is hooked. And it's just like old times. Lost may not still be on tv, but it still dictates the schedule of this band. :)

Here's just a few more of the friends we made tonight.
GAGA! She had a laugh EXACTLY like my niece Shelby. :)








Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

A Hungry Woolly Mammoth

My Mamma sent me this email. And it made me happy :)

Cinnamon is such a sweet girl to share her bounty with her woolly mammoth. She brought him downstairs and when we looked up, this is where she had placed him! Love it!!!



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~nat

Francis Marion University

We just checked into our rooms in Elon, NC and our rooms smell like Fruity Pebbles!!!

I'm ok with that :)

I think this one thing makes me happier than the waffle house waitress we had tonight has ever been about anything. I felt sorry for her. I feel the need to give her a "bless her heart." But our meal sure was yummy and worth the effort on her part! It's hard to screw up eggs and waffles :)

We played at Francis Marion University today and their housing looked like church camp! Their whole campus was so woodsy and beautiful, but it felt (and smelled) way more like a really nice camping retreat than a college campus.

*Sidenote
I'm having to work extra hard not to get cheese remnants on my computer while blogging right now. I'm eating baked cheetos. Even though I already brushed my teeth and I'm under the covers in bed.

As we were setting up today, it started to downpour on us. The rain only lasted for about 7-10 minutes. But we made the call to move indoors. Cause you know... that whole water + electricity thing.
But then, I don't think it rained at all again. Ahhh well. Better safe than sorry!!

My internet seems to once again be protesting the uploading of photos. So I guess it'll have to wait until in the morn.

If you think of it, say a prayer for my sweet Granny. She turns 100 on Sept 4 and she fell and broke her arm today. In 100 years of living, she just broke her first bone. I can't wait to get home and see her.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Coastal Carolina Awesomeness

Wow. That was an awesome show we just had! We played at Coastal Carolina University. They have a beautiful auditorium, GREAT program and wonderful people to work with. From top to bottom, everything was run so well and MAN!!! I wish we could have those lights at every show. We were in a huge auditorium and the lights and sound were phenomenal.

We are in this place where I am having a hard time deciding on the set list. We have way more songs to play (that I am feeling great about) than we have time in the show. That's truly a first. It's a tricky thing to play for audiences all the time that have never heard you before. It's a completely different art than playing for people that already know and love your music. So yeah... it's a GREAT feeling to have MORE songs than we can play in a normal set that I feel so good about. :) Things are lookin up for ole Liz Lemon. ;) *30 Rock reference there...

The one disappointing thing that happened: this guy comes running in after the show - we were signing autographs and selling cds and taking pics - and he says, "Have you started yet?" I said, "Well, we're already through!" He, his wife, and another couple they brought, drove 3 hours to see the show, but didn't know what time it started and missed the whole thing :( I gave them the new cd - I figured it's not quite like seeing the live show, but at least they'll have new music to listen to on the way home.
They saw us a couple of years ago in Cape Carteret, NC at the only bar that we have played in all these years that had to skip out on a check. They went bankrupt about 2 days after we played there :( I still have the check that I can't cash in my wallet. It's a nice reminder of humility.



Peace. Love. Yearbook. :)




Porter!!!










These girls came up to me and said, "You write with Ruth Collins, right?" They interned in Nashville at Ruth's management company this past year :) So awesome!


First time signing a volleyball... EVER.


James' new show outfit.


I had to get in on the fun :) These were just left on the merch table in the chaos after the show!


Our photographer, Julie!


The front of house crew


Coastal Activities Board!


So much fun tonight. Thank y'all for making it such a great event!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Pei Wei By Way of WKU

It's so fun to play close to home! We played in Bowling Green at WKU
at their huge Freshman Welcome/Orientation event.

We played there last semester, so it felt so familiar. To add to it,
pir good friends SafetySuit and Sonos were also playing the event!!!

Mamma and Daddy and Jessie all came... It was so fun!!!

It was a gorgeous day, too. Kids were out playing frisbee - the stage
was right across from the stadium... It was very much a college show :)

We ended up needing to drive through Nashville on our way to SC, so we
all: Mamma and Daddy, & Jessie all met at Pei Wei in NashVegas. Plus,
Miguel's girls all got to come!!! It was such a great unexpected
dinner in town!

We have another really long drive tonight. We arrived this morning
around 5:30, and got to sleep a few hours. But tonight we're driving
through the night to South Carolina. However... We received the full
series of LOST today. And it wouldn't be right if we didn't have a
full 10 hours ahead of us to begin the wonderfulness that is LOST. :)

So as I write this, Panther is seeing the first flickers of LOST. He's
about to be a changed man. And Joel has only seen the first 3 Seasons.
So he'll be changed in the next couple of weeks, too. :)

Alright. There's Lost to be watched. :) Pics will follow when my
computer drinks it's battery juice... In the next hotel... Eventually...

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Sent from my iPhone

My Djiboution Snack

This smushed granola bar has traveled from Djibouti, Africa... across
oceans, continents, and throughout many states to be eaten today in
Toledo, Ohio. It may be the most worldly granola bar... Ever.

University of Toledo

The University of Toldeo had a small but mighty crowd tonight for us. They were SO awesome. In between songs they were shouting out, "Why aren't you on the radio?" *nothing but smiles*

We had a great show. My fiddle wasn't working again at the beginning - so much of our gear keeps malfunctioning!! But I managed to switch some chords around and get it going. All part of the game!

And I've been feeling really good about all the new songs we're playing. We played "Step By Step" tonight for the first time with Joel. It's fun having that one back in the show :)

Now we're driving to Bowling Green, KY. As in keeping with the theme of the last couple of weeks - we were 2 hours away from Bowling Green yesterday... but now we're 8 hours away. Ahh, the road life.

Here's our fun peeps that came to the show!


Sweet Kaitlyn!






Our Protector :)


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Full Band Blog

So....

The band and I went to a chinese restaurant tonight...

...not as good as Red Robin... Which we found 2 minutes after going to the Chinese Crown Buffet. Oh well, they tried hard and we were totally sweet, but they can't compare to Red Robin, my one true (restaurant) love on the road :) Plus I've never found a bug in my food at Red Robin...

Anyway, we drove from Williamsburg, KY to Toledo, OH Today -- Long drive but we had Freaks and Geeks to keep us company :) Bill cracks me up! I just want to be friends with him.

Here's the pics I couldn't upload last night...
University of the Cumberlands!






Thanks for holding my "diva" lights!




Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Lookin Good :)

Jerome Bettis and Trailer Swift look pretty good up next to the big boys, eh?
Just a little wishful thinking (as in... opening slot) in the parking lot outside the Huddle House in Williamsburg, KY!

We were back at the University of the Cumberlands today. It felt so familiar pulling up to the Cumberland Inn last night. We were just here in November. And it was a GREAT show. The first time it was in the Chapel. Tonight it was outside on a PERFECT evening for a show. Full moon, 75 degrees, caramel apples were present, and tons of college students who haven't started classes, yet! The internet is NOT cooperating, so I'll have to hold off on posting all the fun pics from the night. But I'll have em up tomorrow! :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Please Vote For Janet's Oil Spill Idea!!!

My beautiful friend Janet Ivey of Janet's Planet not only produces, writes, and stars in an educational and entertaining tv show for children... she's also found time in her busy schedule to come up with an incredible idea.



Pepsi Refresh Project is giving away millions to GREAT ideas. And Janet's should get picked! All you have to do is go to the website and vote for her. Right now she is in 42nd place out of hundreds!!!

Here's her idea:
Produce two hour documentary that follows clean-up efforts of the Gulf Oil Spill thru 2011

Goals
To follow the clean-up effort and document success and failure

Overview
Begin documenting and filming the clean-up efforts in the Gulf, cataloging footage from the beginning of the spill thru 2011. The documentary will follow the people affected by the spill, the environmental effects and where the impact will be a year to the date of the spill, May 1/2 of 2010. The goal is to tell the stories of the people, the countryside and the animals who would not otherwise have a voice.

How will the 50K be Used?
$ 30,000 To produce documentary
$ 10,000 Editing Costs
$ 10,000 Post Production and Marketing to PBS

Vote for Janet's Gulf Oil Spill Idea HERE!

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And Great Ideas!
~natalie