My Sticky Shoe

Anyone get the title? Think "Phoebe's sexy flem" on Friends :)

Yeah. I could hit lower notes than normal tonight. Didn't help much with the high ones...

When James tries to talk NOTHING comes out. :(

But we made it!!! One more and then we'll rest up for next weekend. I can't BELIEVE how great I felt on stage tonight. I was a wreck today... but the show must go on.


So, apparently it is "former bass player week" :)

2 nights ago Dennis Haskins (Aka Mr. Belding from Saved by The Bell) and one of my first bass players in Green Line South, Adam Countryman, started texting me at 3am. They met each other at a bar in L.A. and somehow my name came up :) CLASSIC. That was definitely some good "get well medicine"

And tonight.... Davide Pezzini My VERY FIRST BASS PLAYER... EVER from Berklee came out to the show tonight!!! We think we haven't seen each other in 6 years. How crazy is that? Wow. He's originally from Switzerland, but now lives in Chicago! I'm all about the international band!


And we had SOOO many wonderful people come out tonight. THAT is what got me through the show. Our Iowa family was here - James' Mom, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and lots of friends!!! WOOO HOO!!! I didn't get pics :( It was chaos! But we played Doobie Brothers for Aunt Deana!

Sue and her crew drove in:


Fred won the prize for furthest drive.... He drove all the way from Marquette, Mi where we originally met at Upfront and Company! So when he requested Purple Rain, we HAPPILY obliged! He had to jet out, so we didn't get a pic either, but it was SOOO good to see you Fred!

Tim got to fly up earlier in the week to spend time with his brother and brand new baby niece. John even snuck away from his baby girl to come out to the show tonight!


The wait staff had an awesome contest for who could look the most country. :) They were pretty awesome:



Jessie is with us again! I don't know what I would have done without her tonight!


And this place was packed. We had SO much fun with everybody there! I <3 Ballydoyle Pub!





Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Momma's Country Burned Down

It is so good to be home. We had a BEAUTIFUL drive back to Nashville today. James and I took our time :) The guys went back with Jenn last night, so it was just James and me today. I am almost in disbelief at this weather. I keep going outside with too many layers on. It's very strange to spend so much time in the Northeast and then BAM! Come back to Nashville and it is full blown spring here!!!! The Dogwood Trees are GORGEOUS. Right now they are making me reconsider the Ginkgo as my favorite tree :) (Not really, but pretty close!)

I found out last night from a friend that "Momma's Country" formerly known as "Big Jim Country" burned to the ground a couple of months ago. That is so crazy. Big Jim Country was my very first gig!

I had been singing backgrounds and playing fiddle for lots of other people's bands at Berklee, and James said "Why don't you have your own band?" And so it began :) I called my parents and said, "Hey. Ummm.... What do you think about having my band live with us this summer so we can tour around Nashville?" And WITHOUT hesitation, they said "Sure!" The first summer it was 4 guys and the second summer it was 5. We all have such good memories from those summers. And Big Jim's was a BIG part of that.

Big Jim owned the bar, but his ex-wife, Momma, ended up taking over the bar a few years ago. "Momma" had been a bar-tender there since the place began. She used to cook us dinner when we'd play there. She was so good to us. And they were not only our very first gig, but a source of a LOT of gigs (and stories) those 2 summers. If you ever want to hear "Big Jim's" stories - we've ALLLL got a BUNCH. That place toughened me up a bit... and taught me that I should NOT be the person that deals with money when talking to club owners. (That was back BEFORE Momma owned it).

So in memory of Big Jim Country in Lewisburg, TN... here's a picture of my VERY FIRST gig.... with my very first band at Big Jim's.

Me, James Bavendam, Dave Madden, Nate Telow, Adam Countryman

And the lesson here, folks:
Do NOT use a blow torch to thaw out frozen pipes. NOT a good idea.