Atlanta-Bound

So I'm wrapping up another few days at home to head back out on the road. Tomorrow, however... is very different!

I am driving to Atlanta, picking up James at the Atlanta airport, and then we are headed to the APCA National Conference. But not to perform!!! :)

I was invited to the awards banquet that is taking place tomorrow night because well... the awesome nominations we received this year!!! We are nominated for Best Band and Best Performer. I still can't believe it. And I can't believe that we are actually able to attend. I have been nominated in other categories in previous years, but I have never been able to attend the awards banquet because of our schedule on the road. We just happened to have this week blocked off for me to write!!! I am pretty excited about going to see everyone that I have worked with over the last year that attends APCA. It becomes such a big family; the agents, the students, the artists... And these conferences are actually some of the only times I get to spend time with my own agent, Ari. That's always a good time. :) Oh, Ari.

And Ari was actually nominated for Best Agency!!! So really, we are all just stoked about the recognition. The students and people involved in campus activities are the ones that vote on these awards.

I also found out that I am nominated in the other college association I work closely with... NACA. I am nominated for Best Female Performer and Best Music in that one. CRAZINESS!!!

Wish me luck!!!

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

Stevenson University and Monmouth University

Ahhh. Days off are great. We have been going non-stop for so long, that today has seemed well... way too easy! We slept in, ate at an awesome diner in New Jersey, ran some errands, drove 3 1/2 hours to Reading PA, checked in, and went to dinner and to the Wolverine movie. I have been looking forward to that movie for so long - it was really good. Had to hide my eyes a bit :) But that's pretty normal.

I am SO glad that I have a chance to catch up on the last 2 shows. It feels really weird to be behind!


Saturday was awesome because we woke up in PA, played a show in Maryland, and slept in New Jersey :)

We played at Stevenson University in Maryland. And yet again, they had to move the event indoors. The rain has really put a damper on the Spring Festivals this year. But it never stops the shows! We don't care where we rock out - indoors or out. It's always a good time.

It wasn't raining when we got there, though. That always helps with unloading :) They had a HUGE inflatable obstacle course and then they had something I have never seen before - an inflatable boxing ring!!! The "gloves" you wore - they were GINORMOUS!!! I was bummed I didn't get to put them on and get a picture. But we usually don't have a lot of time to participate in the activities between set up and show time.

They also had a station where you could "build your own stuffed animal" - kind of like "Build a Bear" only with rhino's, mustangs, all kinds of interesting things.

One of the Dean's of students and her daughter came to the show. That always makes me feel cool!


My merch girl!!! She was such a big help!


And the girls who worked tirelessly for us and the entire event!
Carrie and Abbe


Sunday we played at Monmouth University.

I have passed by Monmouth so may times!!! My friend and co-writer, Gordon, lives in Long Branch. We pass by Monmouth to get to his house :) Well... when we go to get Quiznos, that is. So I was really looking forward to this one because I felt like I had been there before.

But alas, the rain caused Monmouth to have to go to the indoors as well. They had inflatables upstairs in the student center - TONS of different stations, and then the stage with all the bands was in the cafeteria area where all the free food was. Free food is a GREAT way to get students to the show! They had Pulled Pork BBQ, deep fried oreos, home-made lemonade... well... I could go on an on about the food. But on to the show!

Gordon and Jess, his girlfriend came to the show. It was the first time Gordon has seen the band play live! It was so great to see him and Jess, and I was REALLY excited they came to the show.

Stealing Jane and the Josh Cramoy Band also played at the show. They were SOOO good. I knew some of the guys in Stealing Jane, and Josh Cramoy and I are booked by the same agent. I was asked numerous times if the trombone player from Stealing Jane was Miguel... they had the same hair :)

The students at Monmouth were unbelievably helpful with loading and unloading our equipment.

And these girls - the twins - were a huge reason that we were brought to Monmouth!


My front row girls singing along the whole show:


So were these girls!


And Ari, my agent, showed up RIGHT after we finished the show. He and his wife Stacy came by. I feel like I have so much family up here in Long Branch - between my agent and Gordon. :) It's awesome.

Tomorrow we play in Reading, PA. We're already here, so that automatically makes tomorrow seem like a breeze!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Whoops.

We were all just laughing so hard!! That was so funny.

We walked into the hotel a back way. We had come in the front earlier. So I guess we were a little turned around. Once we got up to third floor, we all looked at each other to see who remembered what room we were in. I thought it was 316. Miguel thought it was 317. It's 2:30am... Hootie and I both very quietly tried our keys in 317. No go. Red light.
So we then very quietly tried our keys in 316. Nope. Another red light. Then we all burst into laughter. :) Where the heck is our room???

Hootie said, "Wait! I know I put the 'Do Not Disturb sign up" and then someone said, I think it was 307??? So we walked all the way down the hall, around the corner.... and THEN things started looking familiar. There was a 'Do Not Disturb: sign on 307, and Hallelujah! Our key worked! :) Whew. Sooooo funny.

I'm surprised that hasn't happened more! I mean, we stay in a different room every night. But usually one of us remembers where we are!

Tonight we played at Wild Wing Cafe in Asheville, NC. It was another REALLY good show. (other than Halloween, which was INSANELY PACKED) It was the most packed show we've ever had there before. There were quite a few repeats, but a whole lot of newbies at this show. It's fun at a sports bar during March Madness :) Everyone is SO hyped up for the games, and then we just get to be the afterparty :)

We had a few mishaps, though. As James was setting up his drum throne - he noticed it was busted. So he ended up having to play in a folding chair with the rug I normally use folded to give him a little more height.

Miguel had a rough night, too. His guitar amp kept shorting out. I modified the set a little bit to try to cover. We ended up playing all of "Never Call Me By My Name" without guitar. But at least I can play fiddle on the whole thing since Hoot sings it!

He checked all the electrical hook-ups, they were all fine. So he figured it was the amp itself - he even switched some tubes inside the amp... but it kept happening the whole night.

At the end of the night, he plugged his guitar into my amp, and YUP!!! It's his guitar. At least he knows the problem. We're about to go on a band "spring break" so he'll have time back in Nashville to get it fixed!

But other than the technical difficulties, it was a great night!

At the very beginning of the night - before the show had even started, this little boy named Tyler came up to me and handed me a crayon and piece of paper (that he had already drawn all over). He asked for my autograph :) I autographed the paper, and then I asked him if he wanted a poster. He was really shy, but when I asked that, he nodded so big that he shook his entire body!!! :) So sweet.


Fred is one of my favorite bouncers. He always takes such good care of us. And he definitely did his job tonight. One guy had to be taken out of the bar for taking a swing at another customer (scary). And another poor guy passed out sitting up at his table during "Devil Went Down To Georgia". I had a hard time concentrating on the song because people were slapping him in the face trying to get him to wake up. It took them a good 20 minutes to get him back to a point where he was coherent. I had NEVER seen that before. I thought Fred was gonna have to carry him out of the bar!


These guys got SOOOOO excited when we sang David Allan Coe. He was playing next door at the Orange Peel tonight, so I sent it out to everyone who couldn't go to the concert, but came to see us instead :) I don't even think they noticed there was no guitar on the song - they were singing too loud!!! One of the guys even stole one of my posters off the wall and had me sign it :)


I LOVED this couple!! They were so complimentary of my originals, and they said they liked them more than the covers we were playing (and they knew EVERY WORD to the covers we played tonight). So yeah, these 2 rule. :)


The guy to the right of me asked me when I was playing Ft. Bragg. :) Ummmm... can you say coincidence!?!?! Ft. Bragg booked us 2 days ago for next year!!!


Hootie sang "Free Falling" tonight. A bunch of people wanted to buy cds and t-shirts, and we had already done all of Hoot's songs in the set. I called "Free Falling", cause I figured they could vamp on the intro. But Hootie started singing, which I had never heard him sing that one before!!! And it was a good thing, cause it took me the whole song to take care of everyone!!! :)

And in other news, my agent kept texting me today. We had 63 forms today (basically bookings) - 34 schools and 29 military bases, and it is only day 2 of the conference. Ya'll, that is NUTS! He said it was more than double of any other act so far. That blows my mind!!! I don't know what was so different about this conference. But everything just came together. And the military is being so great to us. They are already talking about shows that I am bursting to talk about. But I'll wait until everything is official. It's so great to know we'll have work for another year. We were nervous going into this conference because we know that everyone is suffering budget cuts, and you just never know.... But we have shows on the books now until July 4, 2010. And I know Ari - this is only the beginning! He'll get on the horn. In our experience with past conferences - most of the booking happen later anyway. So yeah. Life is WONDERFUL right now. But now I need to go finish all these new songs so we can get a new project recorded. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And the right hotel room.
~natalie