Happy Earth Day with UNT and TWU!

I spent more time outside on this gorgeous Earth Day than ANY other day so far this year. It was one of the most "Earthy" Earth Days I have ever had!!! No free ice cream... still... but a WONDERFUL Earth Day none-the-less. (I used to always tell myself I would go to Ben &Jerry's in Boston on Earth Day because they give out free ice cream that day.... but I never did make it!)

We began this beautiful day at 6am when we left Commerce to get to Denton. We began loading in at the University of Texas at 9am. This was our second time at UNT. They were having a huge Earth Day celebration -lots of booths and things out on the quad. And y'all - it is HOT in Texas!!! I was wearing a coat last week in Maine... no coats needed here! The stage was in a beautiful spot, but there wasn't a cover for it.... so this little fiddle playin' white girl got BURNT UP! I actually burned myself once on my instrument, too. I had put the fiddle down to sing a song, picked it up for the next, and the chin rest was so hot it burned my face!!! CRAZY!


This is Brandon - he gave the BEST intro for us last year... but he was in class when the event started so he didn't get to today. I missed him :)


This lady was so sweet. She was visiting the school to pick up materials for her daughter who wants to go to UNT after High school :) We had a good chat.


And seriously?! This was the SMALLEST SNAIL I HAVE EVER SEEN! It was on my fiddle case - definitely had a hard shell. We put Miguel's guitar pick next to it so you could see how tiny it was! And you can see it's awesome trail... that trail took him at least 20 minutes :)


SO after the show at UNT we had to quickly pack up and head to the next gig!! We played UNT from 11-1. And then our load-in was at 3:30 at TWU. So we had just enough time to run by Jason's Deli (love that place) for lunch.
Texas Women's University was another outdoor Earth Day/Spring Fling/ Home Week event. They had EVERYTHING!!! Inflatable obstacle courses, inflatable gladiator games, one of those harnesses so you can flip around on a trampoline, and a PARADE!!! It was so cute. All the different clubs and organizations had decorated golf-carts. And they gave out prizes galore to the winners in the parade. SO MUCH FUN!
We played at the end of the event, and it was a great show. But by this point.... I had turned into a lobster. I was REALLY red. Even Miguel burned a little bit today.... and he's CHILEAN! So you know it's bad! Even thought we played from 6-7 - the sun was still really bright. SO I decided to wear my hoodie onstage to cover my arms. I know I'll be thankful later (you know, for not layering myself ONE more time with that lovely bright red sunburn), but it sure was UNBELIEVABLY hot!!! :) Oh well...

At least my arms match my shirt :)
These girls were AWESOME! They knew all the words to "fancy" including the back ground parts. It was impressive!


These kids were CRAZY during the show. I loved them. They were all singing and dancing and we hung out and talked a while after the show.


We all had problems with our instruments. Instruments + direct sunlight for extended periods of time does NOT = a good thing. As I was trying to start "Even Alaska" the D string popped on me.... so I just detuned the white one and retuned it back up for the next song. But then my bow... my poor bow...
Good thing this was an extra and not my nice one!


And let me just say - Stacie and Randy are the most incredible people in the world. We are staying with them tonight in Dallas and they always take such amazing care of us. Stacie even bought wash cloths because I was asking about them the last time I was here. We all played a little shuffle board earlier.... that game is AWESOME. I had never played before but I loved it. James and I got beat by Randy and Miguel... 2 out of 3... but it was CLOSE! ;) Randy's almost a freakin professional!

It is so wonderful to stay with friends and family on the road. We don't have the luxury of being able to do it often. But that's probably good because we sure do appreciate it when we get to!

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and Shuffle Board.

Texas A&M Commerce and The Red Chair in the Street

We played an afternoon show at "The Club" on Texas A&M Commerce's campus today. It is a BRAND new facility for students and is a really cool place. They have a stage built in complete with lights and sound... cafes and little stations for food. And today there was a huge high school bilingual competition going on. So there were hundreds of kids just hanging out! It was really fun. They had ALL kinds of competitions... music... plays.... poetry.... pretty cool stuff!
The show was great, and Rick, our wonderful contact who took GREAT care of us, introduced me to some new green tea with Goji berry that I LOVED! MMmmmm.

Kathrin is an exchange student from Germany and was one of the judges for the (take a guess!) German competitions.


Fellow musicians :) They were competing in the music categories... in spanish! And they totally rushed the stage and did the "We're not worthy" bows during "Devil". I <3 them.


My first wallet signing. :) It was a fancy one too! I may need to reevaluate my big ole ugly wallet... hers was adorable. And now it says "Peace, Love, Fiddle" YAY!


Another one of the awesome guys taking care of us all day. He was running sound, loading and unloading equipment, making sure we had everything we needed. He was all-around awesome!


Some actual college students!!! :) There were a lot of students at the show, too. But the high schoolers made up most of the crowd.


And AFTER the show.... we headed on to Frozen Fire Films in Dallas to do a photo shoot. It was SO much fun!!! We did this one shot in this awesome red chair...
Travis, the photographer, said "What if we did some shots in the red chair in the middle of the street with the skyline in the background?" We were all game... but it was a TEAM effort! There was traffic... it was a little crazy. We were having to do it when the traffic was stopped at a light. Stacy was on the corner making sure nothing unexpected was coming, Randy had the reflector, Travis had the camera, Miguel had the chair, and James was helping me with the fiddle and the video camera!!!
We'd run out - Miguel would put the chair in the street, we'd get a few shots and then have to strike it all to let the cars pass.... and then we'd do it all over again until we got everything we needed. It was like an action movie :) Well... not really.... only in my head.... but it was really funny.... AND exciting. I loved it.

I can't wait to see all the pics - especially the ones in the street! We bought a hard drive tonight at Walmart to download them all tomorrow. The files are huge so it will take a TON of space. These guys do such great work though. It will be REALLY nice to have some new pics!

I have to get up on 3 hours for TWO shows! :) Life on the road!

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and GOODNIGHT!
~natalie

7 shows in 5 days

Today?

We have been driving to Texas! We found a Jimmy Johns in Jackson, Tn which made us all very happy. That makes 3 days in a row for me + Jimmy Johns. Yesterday, I had Jimmy Johns DELIVERED! That's the best :) The +avocado is KEY to any sandwich at JJ's.

This week we have 7 shows in 5 days. Whoa. That's craziness. But the GOOD kind of craziness. I am excited. We have this week jam-packed. Tomorrow we have an afternoon show at Texas A&M in Commerce, TX. And then afterwards we are heading over to Frozen Fire Films in Dallas to do a photo shoot!!! FINALLY! I am getting new photos done :) Plus on Friday, we open for the LOS LONELY BOYS. YAY! That is one of our two-fer days :) We play two shows on Wed & Fri.

Whoa. Hootie just laid down on the floor... and I was REALLY confused. Turns out, he's doing stretches for his back. But I thought he was just opting NOT to sleep in the bed! The other day when we arrived in Providence at 7am, we had 1 room with 1 King size bed.... We had to leave at 9 so we weren't gonna get to sleep for all that long.... but we all wanted to nap a bit. Hootie and Miguel immediately took the floor :( Made me feel bad. And James just left! The man who had been driving the ENTIRE night.... just disappeared... we all thought he would come back and get in bed, so the guys just stayed on the floor. But nope. James went and got caffeinated and walked around downtown Providence. He figured sleeping for an hour and a half was much worse than not sleeping at all. I completely understand, but.... I just wanted to sleep. So I ended up sleeping in that big ole bed by myself. I would have slept just as well on the floor though, too. We were all pretty out of it!

Thankfully, by the time we got back from our show, we were all able to check into our separate rooms. And whew. That was one of the best night's of sleep I had in a looong while.

I saw this: in the bin at the gas station today!!!
(For anyone who may not know... "If I Run To You Now" is played in this movie.)

It made m so happy! I think it is the first time I have seen it without looking for it!


We've been watching the Sopranos in the Suburban... and we only have 1 1/2 episodes left in the whole series. I can't wait to see what happens!!! I've heard mixed reviews about the ending.... either you HATE it or you LOVE it... apparently there's very few "in betweens". I'm sure I'll have more to say on that later. But I just love how well written that show is. I NEVER thought I would like it. I figured it was all about killing and beatin people up. But there's SO much character development that I can tolerate the violence. I mean, it IS the mafia... so there violence has to be there... but it's not ABOUT the violence. I have to look away.... A LOT... but the rest of it... well, it's so good.

See you tomorrow from Texas!

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie