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

Have You Heard?

The ONE thing in which all Americans can agree with the President:


If you don't know anything about what happened... you can follow the link below to watch a video on how Kanye West takes the mic from Taylor Swift WHILE she's giving her acceptance speech.
Kanye interrupts Taylor

A few years ago he had an outburst on live television during Hurricane Katrina. He proclaimed that "George Bush doesn't care about Black People." And now the first black President is calling him a jack ass. Oh Kanye. When will you learn?

I can't imagine how Taylor felt. I heard reports that they had to use her "previously recorded tape" of her live performance because she was crying so hard backstage. I would have been, too! But the one positive thing... even MORE people know who "Taylor Swift" is now!

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And FEMALE COUNTRY SINGERS WINNING VMAs!!!
~natalie

Winter/Spring 09 Tour Passes

Tonight MORE than made up for any crazy "technical difficulties" and headlocks with people screaming in my ear that went on last night!!! The place was packed out. Lots of friends and family came to the show, as well as LOTS of newbies :) I love playing at the Jack. It's like going out of town without actually going out of town. :) The majority of people are usually from the business conferences that take place at the Opryland Hotel. So it is actually pretty rare that people are in the Jack who actually live in Nashville.

I can't tell you how many times we have showed up in some random city and people are at the show because they saw us at the Jack!!! It is so cool. And tonight, there was a couple from Maine that plans on being at our show at Bates college in Lewiston on Thursday! It is so funny to think that I met someone in Nashville on Saturday who may be at our show in Maine on Thursday!

So I have to show something off a little bit :) I am really proud of it! (James has been working hard on a lot of fun projects.) And we now all have official Winter/Spring Tour Passes. : ) I know you can just look at the schedule on one of the many websites (NatalieStovall.com, myspace, facebook, reverbnation.... all the goodies) But this one is just so fun and colorful! Check it out and to see us if we are playing at a town near you!

If you click on the actual poster - it will come up much bigger in another window.... you know... so you can read it.



Hope to see you out on the road!

~peace, love, and finally got the fiddle working again. :)~

New Year's Resolutions and a Thank You from Africa

First of all let me say THANK YOU. I have heard from so many of you about the Raining Season blog I posted yesterday. And many of you have already said you will donate to the cause. The girls said the first thing they did yesterday morning when they woke up in Africa was read my blog. That BLOWS my mind. I didn't eve realize they would be able to see it. But all of your comments, help, and prayers only strengthens them to do even more good. So keep it coming and THANK YOU from The Raining Season in Africa!! I know that it sure has inspired me even more!

Tomorrow I begin a week of writing with Gordon Brown. He and I have an incredible musical relationship and I am so excited to see what will materialize from this next round of writing! :) I am already excited to share the music with you and we haven't even written it yet! (It reminds me of the scene in Pretty Woman when Vivian tells Edward "Thank You" in the elevator on the way to the opera before they have even started the date!) And yes, I just referenced "Pretty Woman" I'm a dork, I know :)

So it's been a few years since I have actually written down New Year's Resolutions. That's just unacceptable! :)-

Natalie's New Year's Resolutions:

1. Write hit songs.

2. Blog EVERY day :)

3. Write MORE hit songs. LOTS of hit songs.

4. Work out.
Yep, the typical New year's resolution. My sister, who is a personal trainer gave me some workouts that are hotel room-
friendly for the road. So now there is NO excuse. I love working out and running... I've just gotten out of the habit.

5. Write beautiful, inspired, meaningful hit songs.

6. Respond to emails/phone calls immediately after I get them.
I get into this thing where I would rather sit down and write emails when I can REALLY respond. It happens on myspace,
facebook, and especially with work. But by the time I have time to get to them.... there's a million other things that need
more immediate attention. My intentions are good... but..... too many times, things get lost in the shuffle. It makes me
sad. So NO MORE!

7. Ummmm.... can you say #1's??

8. Use my time more efficiently on the road.
It sure is easy to get into bad habits on the road. EVERYTHING has to be adapted, so the things get put off. But I am
learning (and also just being more conscious lately) of how I can make normal stuff work better from the back of my little
nest in the Suburban. :) It sounds simple... but it sure is easier to just play games on my iphone than actually sit back
there and act like I am "in the office"

9. Eh emmm..... Billboard, chart-topping, Number ONES, people!

10. Do more for those in need.
If you can't tell from my blog yesterday, I am so inspired by the Raining Season. And charity work has been heavy on my
mind lately. There is SO MUCH MORE that I could be doing. I already have a bunch of ideas stewing!

So yeah. Now you guys can hold me accountable since I am sharing this with the whole world! :) I am really excited about this year though. I have lots of good creative juices flowing. And I feel a lot more renewal happening within my own life than I normally do around this time of year.

It is very easy to get caught up in this crazy record industry world and listen to what you are told. EVERYONE has an opinion. But I am not the person who will ever be content with doing "just enough". I don't just want the next big hit as a country artist. I want the next HUGE career. The type of career where your songs mean something. The type of music that is inspired. Too many times in country radio I hear songs that may be good songs, but they could have been sung by anyone. And no matter how hard I try, I can't for the life of me distinguish who the artist is.

But I am ALL about dreaming BIG and reaching for the sky! It's what we sang about each and every day in the Kid's Club show. And I KNOW that we can all do ANYTHING we put our minds to.

This is such an exciting and rejuvenating time for music. The internet allows us to connect with people in such a HUGE way! We can connect with people in a way that has never been possible before. And it forces ALL of us musicians to work harder and persevere. I can tell you right now, that there is no disillusionment in my mind to where I expect a record label to sign me and do all the work for me! It is up to ME to get my music out there. And in utilizing every tool I can find.... eventually people will come on board that can help me take it to the next step whether that's a record label or my own version of that. But I'm just saying that I don't expect anyone to do it for me. That is for sure.

So here's to dreaming big, inspired music, doing what we love, and helping those in need!

2009 Here I come!