Up Til Dawn for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital

We played the most awesome event tonight at Western Kentucky University.

It was "Up Til Dawn's" Benefit for St. Jude Children's Hospital. The students have been raising money for St. Judes all year and are already over 100,000 in money raised!!! Everyone that sent out 25 letters to help raise their money, got admittance into the event. It started at 10, they had food, games, inflatable laser tag, basketball courts, coloring stations, (us :) - the music), and everyone was dressed up in either sorority colors, animals, or other fun things. (I never really got the story on the dressing up part - but who needs a reason?!?)

Brooke, this sweet little girl, was there with her Daddy. She had a brain tumor that was cancerous at 18 months old. The doctors told her it was inoperable, but St. Judes said - we can fix this. They did. It took 2 surgeries, and then last year, she had some more cancer come back. But again she is healthy! She goes in Monday for more scans to make sure the coast is clear - so we all need to think about sweet little Brooke on Monday. She has defied all the odds!!! I was a little worried about being able to sing after hearing her story and listening to her Dad speak and thank these kids for all they are doing. But luckily, the students got up and did a really silly dance to Disney songs which helped lighten the mood back up!

It's called "Up Til Dawn" because even though it is a celebration of all their hard work - it is representative of how much these kids have to go through. Many times they are up all night because of their treatments. So the students stay up and hang out until 5am as a tribute to these amazing children!

Needless to say, this show was a GREAT one to be a part of.

One of these girls said, "I've never met someone who plays a fiddle! I'm telling my mom!" :)


Cecelia was such a big help all night long


Up Til Dawn Crew!


Nemo's and turtles (Yes, the Nemo's even have a torn sleeve as their "wounded fin)


Late Night Waffle Housing!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Raining Season Benefit

Two nights ago, I played the most incredible show at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville. It was put together by two of the most pure-hearted, beautiful, and talented girls I have ever met - Ezra Jane. After visiting Sierra Leone, they both became extremely passionate about helping the people of that country in any way possible. They created a foundation called The Raining Season which helps put kids in schools. It only takes $130 to sponsor a child which includes tuition, books, clothes, and 1 meal per day for an ENTIRE YEAR. Only $130 can send a child to school for a WHOLE year. I think my cross country uniform was more than $130. You know? I mean, it is crazy to think that such a small amount of money could make such a HUGE difference in someone's life.
Needless to say, they were able to put together an astounding line-up for the event because everyone wanted to be a part of this. I was just honored to be in the room, much less perform for these people. I am such a fan of everyone that was playing!!!!

First of all, Point of Grace opened the show. Yup. Point of Grace - as in 26 consecutive #1 singles, Dove award-winning, Grammy-nominated POG!!!! They sang two of their new songs from their country release and then they sang one of my FAVORITE Christmas songs. "Tender Tennessee Christmas" by Amy Grant.

After POG was a songwriter round including:
Steve Williams: "Redneck Yacht Club"
Liz Rose who co-wrote every song on Taylor Swift's first album
Brian White: written for POG, 4 Him, Jaci Velasquez, and wrote "Watching You" for Rodey Atkins with the next guy:
Steve Dean who has had #1s for not only Rodney Atkins, but a few little unknowns like, you know, REBA and George Strait and
Alabama and many others.

Yeah. And then it was my turn. By myself. :) I was pretty stoked to be included in this show with such a freakin AWESOME line-up. Wow. Miguel played acoustic for me and we did 3 songs. "Even Alaska", "Whatever It Takes", and "Standing My Ground". We had driven overnight from St. Petersburg to play this show. I slept a few hours during the day, but my voice was shot from the weekend. But I had just enough juice to sing those 3 songs. :) We lowered "Alaska" a whole step so I could sing it. By the time I got off stage...my voice was so low I sounded like Nathan Stovall... ;) But none of that mattered. It was so cool.

Wylie Rose from 103.3 KDF's morning show was the host of the evening. She was so incredibly sweet with her kind words after my set! And Ezra Jane could not have picked a more passionate and giving person to host the evening and keep it rolling.

The next songwriter round included:
Barry Dean: "God's Will" for Martina... I cried. Like I always do to that song.
Jeremy Spillman: "Arlington" for Trace Adkins
Heather Morgan: who I LOVE has had cuts with Sara Evans, Terri Clark, and American Idol Kristy Lee Cook
Julie Roberts was also supposed to perform but she was sick :(

Ezra Jane then got up to perform. They wrote a song specifically for the evening that was so beautiful. They were starting to run over time so they only sang 2 songs. I wanted more!!! I was just happy to finally hear them live.

The last writer's round included
Victoria Banks: "Saint's and Angels" for Sara Evans and "Come On Over" & "Remember That" for Jessica Simpson (A-MAZ-ING)
Rachel Proctor: had her own hit with "Me and Emily" & wrote "Where Would You Be" for Martina and "Remember That" with VB
Josh Thompson: who has written with tons of huge Nashville songwriters and had some very heart-felt and emotional songs.

I could go on and on and on about each of these artists individually. Every performer was SO talented and it turned out to be such an incredible evening. Some of the coolest things auctioned off for Sponsorships were some gorgeous Tammy Wynette earrings, a signed script from REBA including her handwritten notes, and a signed golden fiddle from Charlie Daniels! It was so cool.

They ended up getting 41 sponsorships for the kids. SO AMAZING!!! Their goal is 50 before they leave on Christmas Day. If you have any interest in this organization please visit www.TheRainingSeason.org

Spread the peace, love, fiddle!