Hang On Sloopy

Ohio State University, Mansfield. Small Yet MIGHTIEST audience ever. :) These kids were AWESOME!!!

We played in a really cool intimate auditorium. I believe the auditorium was built to project sound - speakers, lecturers, that kind of thing. So playing with amps and electrified music provided a challenge. :) We had an extended sound check and still fought with the sound the whole show. HOWEVER... a rock show is supposed to be loud, so I guess that worked out well in our favor tonight! ;)

And the auditorium was intimate enough that the audience and I were able to talk between songs - I could hear them clear as day!! :) It was a good show. Standing ovations in the middle of the set make for a very fun night for the boys and me. :)

CAB!!! Y'all rocked our world. Thank you for everything.


Jamie!!! Thank you for helping us out so much today. AND for paying for everyone's cd's! You've got 5 I.O.U.'s coming. :)








Mark and Janice surprised us! I knew we were in their territory (only an hour from their hometown) but I didn't know if they'd try to come or not. But they did! And they came out to eat with us afterwards. We went to Cheddar's. It's a restaurant I have seen a BUNCH of times, and recently a lot of people have told us to try it out. Tonight the students convinced us to go. It was excellent! I will be going back. :) Soon.


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo!

First pasties experience: Success!!! And yes, I meant to type "pasties". It's with a short "a" sound.... gotten a lot of comments on my tweet about that one earlier :) I thought it was funny too, when we first drove to Michigan and kept seeing signs for "pasties" and in my head it had the long "a"... which would be a VERY different thing.

Pasties are like the North American version of empanadas. It's a meat-filled, individual pie. And they are delicious!!! They were popular up north for miners... a pastie can keep warm for 8-10 hours. So they were a great thing to make for the miners to take for lunch, and it wouldn't go bad.

So yeah - I got ham and cheese, and the guys got the beef with gravy... So yummy.... It took me about 3 stages to eat mine over a 6 hour period... but most meals do.

Our show tonight was so fun!! The Campus Activities Board at Western Michigan University was an excellent group of attentive and helpful students. The campus here is bigger than I expected. And they obviously know how to run and put on a show. They have Jim Gaffigan coming to perform next month!!! I am so jealous! I loooooove him. Hilarious comedian. HOT POCKETS! ;)

And after the show, we went on our normal "hunt for a decent restaurant open" but the students eventually found out that TGI Fridays was still serving. There were 11 of us at dinner... at midnight... wouldn't have it any other way!!! And somehow we ended up talking about a tattoo Panther had seen of Robocop holding a lightsaber while riding a unicorn. The best part is that he has met more than one person with this tattoo... and it led to everyone taking out their phones and searching online for the photo. Oh. I found it. I wouldn't let you down. :)


Thank you CAB!!!! We love you guys, and our new t-shirts, and water bottle, and highlighter and magnet with my name on it :) And notepad!


And Katie was our main girl all night who helped coordinate everything for us. Thank you so much!!!



I said we'd have a great show in a place called Kalamazoo! And I was right! It was awesome. Thanks y'all!














Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The Calmly Frightening Cab Driver

Two nights ago I rode with the least aggressive cabbie I have EVER seen. I noticed right away that he wasn't trying to run everyone over like all the other times I've ridden in a cab in NYC.

But every time we would come to a stop, I would see the light turn green and he wouldn't budge. Now, it was 2am so there weren't always people right behind us. But soon enough, someone would pull up and LAAAAAY on the horn.

It happened at almost every light. (And there's a lot of lights between Penn Station and the UN) And the thing was... he wasn't looking down or around the car. From my angle in the back seat it looked like he was looking straight forward, which made it all the more confusing.

Do I say something? Or clear my throat? I mean... ummm... green light, go. Anyone?

Especially someone who drives for a living?

So about 6 blocks from Ma's apartment... I could see his reflection in the rear view mirror. Again... green light... nothing... HOOOOONK... and he goes.

HE WAS CLOSING HIS EYES AND TAKING A NAP AT EVERY LIGHT!

How's that for safety!? Made me feel REALLY good. But at this point we were so close, and I knew we only had 1 more light to go through, so I bit my tongue... agonized over "do I tip him horribly because he's falling asleep at stop lights? Or do I tip him really well because Good Lord I feel sorry for the guy. That is one sleepy dude." (That was pretty much my exact internal monologue) So I split the difference, tipped him average, and RAN.

Not sure I'll ever again experience such a calmly frightening cab ride!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.

~natalie

Dalton Rockin'

I now have a new association with Dalton, GA other than carpets!!! :)

We played at Dalton State University and were supposed to be their first concert in front of their new bell tower, which is beautiful. But the dark clouds were hovering above, and with our luck lately, we all decided not to take any chances. We set up at the indoor location, which was pretty awesome, too!

I even had my own personal cheerleader in the front row! Diego!


CAB who booked us to play!

As always, there's tons more pictures up on facebook!

And I have already been sent an article from the school's newspaper about today's show!!! So COOL! (And timely :) )

DSC students enjoy Stovall's music during "Week of Welcome"

Rachel Brown

Natalie Stovall hadn’t been to Dalton before Thursday, but she drew a packed student center when she performed during lunch at Dalton State College.

The violinist-singer-songwriter from Nashville was invited as part of the “Week of Welcome” events the school’s Campus Activities Board organized for the first week of fall classes.

Stovall performed on the Grand Ole Opry as a member of the Opryland Kids Club when she was 12, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and has performed on the Oprah Winfrey Show and at the White House for George W. Bush.

Stovall said she began playing violin at age 4, auditioned for and was accepted to the Opryland Kids Club when she was 10, and has been performing in various venues ever since. She said she used to “obsess over Michael Jackson” growing up and has always been drawn to the energy of live performances.

“I guess my goal now is to be on the Grand Ole Opry again but with one of my original songs,” she said.

The 27-year-old’s band members are drummer James Bavendam of Seattle, guitarist Miguel Cancino of Santiago, Chile, and bass guitar and vocalist Tim Denbo of Indianapolis. Stovall and her band perform at colleges, clubs, performing arts centers and military bases among other venues.

Charles McKay, a student event volunteer, said he was pleased with the turnout. Organizers first learned of Stovall at a recent convention of the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities in Atlanta, he said.

Amber Hollifield, a second-year history major from Dalton, compared Stovall to pop country star Miranda Lambert and said she believes Stovall has what it takes to make a big name for herself.

“I like this kind of music,” Hollifield said. “She’s really good.”

Sophomore drafting and design major Alex Mendez said he hadn’t made plans to attend the concert, but Stovall’s energetic music and good looks made him decide to stick around for an autograph after the show.

“I got a hug from her, she signed my CD, and I was real happy,” he said.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.

~natalie

Penn State Berks

Tonight was a bit different than most of our shows, and it was a really nice change of pace. The beautiful thing about colleges is that you NEVER know what kind of show it'll be. It really keeps you on your toes! And tonight was the rare "coffee house" setting.

We played at Penn State Berks and we were a part of their "Jitter Coffee House" series. They don't normally have bands - it's usually just a single singer/songwriter act. Oh... but tonight? They had a BAND! :) We didn't play quite as ALL OUT as we normally would. James didn't set up his full drum kit... but it was fun to do a bit of a stripped down set.

We debuted 3 new songs at this show. It was the PERFECT place to do some new ones because this show had such a "storytellers" vibe. I could hear the comments the audience was making between songs, and they could hear me even off the mic. They were sitting on couches and around tables with candles... I'm not always able to talk with the audience like that. But I LOVE it when I can. One kid walked onstage after one of Miguel's solos just to shake his hand. It was awesome :)

This is CAB - the group that put the show on and brought us to Penn State!


This girl was so sweet! She had rehearsal and ran over to the show afterwards... but she missed the whole thing. So she had to settle for buying a cd :)


These guys were REALLY excited about Miguel's playing. They loved the Zepplin. :)


Some of Hootie's friends came to see him, and then took him home after the show. We have a few days off, so he is flying to Nashville to see his woman. :) VERY sweet birthday surprise for her.

Miguel, James, and I headed to the Route 61 Diner after the show. It was the only place open, but I'm kinda glad - cause I'm not sure we wouldn't have ended up there if something closer had been open late. :) This dude sitting at the counter was AWESOME. He and this other guy were talking and the whole conversation was "If I ran this county...." But look at what he is wearing!!! It's a traditional Bobby hat.... I didn't know what that was. It just looked like a cop hat from the 1930's to me :) But it's like the hats the cops wear in England. But he wasn't British... So who knows why. Maybe he just likes it. :)


Miguel's girls came up here tonight, too!!! It is so fun! They are here to hang out with us on our few days off. Jenn and Ella were here at the hotel by the time we got back from the Diner. Poor Ella was sooooo tired. But she was being really sweet and was so happy to see her Daddy. We're all headed up to New York to hang out at my mother-in-law's tomorrow. EXCITING! :) I love New York.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Texas A&M University Kingsville

We played at Texas A&M University in Kingsville last night and had one of our best shows in a long time! The audience was unbelievably enthusiastic and made us feel so welcome! It's so funny how the exact same grouping of songs can feel so different from show to show.
We played a new song that we haven't played a lot yet (The one the Uncle Corndogs Loves from Ribfet!). It's one that Charlie and I wrote called "Just Like That". I could NOT for the life of me remember the 4th line of the song. And I even sang it in sound check without thinking twice about it! I was trying to figure it out back stage before the show.... it's the line that comes before "The warmth of your touch makes me melt" so I knew it needed to rhyme with "melt". I kept trying to figure it out, and then Hootie started making suggestions for filler lines in case the original didn't come to me on stage.
The first one, which I actually used because it wasn't too bad.... for a filler...
"I'm feeling things, I've never felt" I mean.... yeah, we figured it was better than NOT singing anything!
His next suggestion, and my personal favorite "The way you look, the way you smell" :) k, yeah, not so much! LOVE IT.
I think Hootie should write ridiculous alternative lyrics to all my songs. :) Wait. He kinda already does most days in the Suburban....
So anyway, the line is SUPPOSED to be:
"You draw me in like no one else"
Da Da DAAAA! DUH!!!! Wow. Can't believe I couldn't think of that one.

We took lots of pics after the show! Everyone was so gracious and fun. I want to go back! Oh!
And Eva Longoria graduated from that school :)

CAB - the wonderful group that brought us here, took care of us, and put the entire show on. Thank you so much Nino and everyone in CAB!!!! You guys were so awesome to us!


Our awesome sound crew:


Our protector:


Some new friends next at the merch table:



A bit of Greek life that came out to the show :)
Aren't these girls adorable?


I was ok with being in the center of all these guys! (I look like I match)


So yeah. GREAT way to start off the new year. We'll have more pics posted in the slide show on myspace :)

Right now we are staying at Randy Peterson's place in Dallas. We are shooting a video in the morning and currently the guys are all upstairs playing foosball - they are getting pretty into it. We have spent the night playing a little rock band (I am TERRIBLE at the drums!) and Mario Kart.. so much fun. I'm glad hotels aren't this entertaining.... we'd never get any work done!

But now I am off to sleep... lots o' hair and make-up to get done in the morning!!!

Peace, Love, Fiddle and Good Night