A Prayer of Thanks

There's nothing like playing for a ginormous, packed club! We played at The Country Club in Augusta Georgia tonight, and it was a BLAST!!! We had people dancing, singing along and giving us energy all night. The guys at the Country Club really do it right. They have a really fun stage, great lights, great sound system - it's an awesome venue.
Thanks to everyone who came out from our previous shows in Augusta - and especially all the soldiers from Ft. Gordon!!! God Bless our Troops!
Plus we made lots of new friends tonight, too :)

I'm so happy that the last 3 days have all been really amazing shows. We needed it. It's been a tough week personally for everyone. Especially for our grandparents. Miguel's grandpa passed away yesterday. His grandma passed away just a couple of months ago. They were both diagnosed with cancer at the same time a while ago. But thank the good Lord they aren't in pain anymore. But it is so hard to be on the road and not be able to get to Chile for him to be with his family. He's been trying to make it work, but it's just not gonna be possible. But his mom may get to come up here soon instead, which would be incredible.
We've had some more bad news about grandparents, but we don't know enough yet for me to feel comfortable to talk about it.

More than anything this week has been such a good reminder for us to be thankful of all we DO have. We've all been faced with circumstances that make us stop and think. I am so thankful for the time I've already had with the ones I love... and the time still remaining. We've created such a close family here on the road. I am so thankful that I get to travel with people that I truly love. It would make times like this a lot harder if we weren't already so close with each other. Tonight, I will be saying a prayer of Thanks for every moment I get to spend with my friends and family. I love you ALL. You know who you are.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

APCA... 2 Years Ago

Whoa.

I got a google alert for a new video posted and I figured it was from a recent performance at a show. :) Buuuuuuuut NOPE!!! It is from almost 2 years ago. This was from our first National APCA (Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities) Conference. My.... how far we've ALL come :) I forgot about this hairdo! I LOVE doing my hair like that but just haven't in a while. :) This was one of Hootie's first gigs with us.... his hair is so shaggy, I'm still playing my wood fiddle, Miguel has REALLY short hair, Charlie was still with us, James still wore his Red Sox hat onstage, and we just start "Devil" outright without any kind of intro!!

This is one of those conferences where we only have 15 minutes and I LOVE our song selection :)

We JUST did this conference again about a month ago (you're only allowed to do the national conferences every OTHER year). We had one of the best conferences we have EVER had at this last one. And it's pretty eye opening to see how we approached this show 2 years ago compared to a month ago. I have to say that I am so happy that my "best" song is no longer a ballad. :) I love "If I Run to You Now' but it sure helps to have more of an uptempo song when you only have 15 minutes for the whole set!

Enjoy this blast from the past! I sure did!


Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

Birthdays are awesome.

Today didn't begin all that different from most days. I woke up in a hotel in the middle of Nebraska, we had an 8 hour drive, I did a radio interview in the car with a station in Wisconsin... and THEN we made it to Iowa. We got to James' Aunt Deana's and a whole bunch of the family was there to surprise me. WHAT AN AWESOME SURPRISE!!!!

Let me back up and talk about the first part of the day.

I had an interview with Justin Brown at WJVL - Janesville, Wisconsin.



We are playing at the Janesville Performing Arts Center tomorrow night and Justin was so great to have me on his show today! He recorded the interview and put it up on their website :)

You can go listen if you'd like! Click here for WJVL interview

I was so nervous my signal was going to get splotchy on the phone. We needed to keep trucking, but we had good service, so I was just hoping that wouldn't change!!! Whew... we made it the whole 5 minutes :)

And then... at the next stop... we went to (surprise!) Subway for lunch. While at Subway, I found out that I came in runner up for "Best Female Performer" in Campus Activities Magazine!!!! YAY!!!! How awesome is that?? So exciting! I was up against all these comedians and people that are constantly on VH1 and Comedy Central. So I am pretty stoked to be in this category! I still haven't found out who won. But they said they have attached all these fancy schmancy "silver star logos" to my name now :) Movin on up, y'all!!! Brick by brick.... inch by inch.

So at this point.... it's already a great birthday. I was really feeling the late night when I woke up, but all these fun things to do got my adrenaline pumping :) Well... and the Subway... umm.. and the cookies from Subway...

So we are staying with Uncle Tim and Aunt Deana tonight in Iowa City. They have become the official Aunt and Uncle of the band since they are always putting us up in their house!!! We walked in and so many people were here to celebrate!!! James did good :) I LOVE surprises and I had NO IDEA anyone else was going to be here. How fun. There is nothing better than getting to see family on your birthday and especially when you're on the road and not expecting it!!! I love my family. Getting married is awesome. My family tripled this last June. :)- And I LOVE it. I like for it to be "official" because James' family has felt like family to me since before we even started dating... back when we were just "in a band together."

They had food and a cake and more food.. and more food to take with us..... You'll NEVER go hungry in this family - that is for sure!


Aunt Traci told me that she made my recipe of Tortilla Soup this last week!!! Made me SO happy.

I was determined to get of picture of EVERYONE. I (well.... James...) found the timer on my camera...
Take 1:


oops.

Take 2:


MUCH better. :)

Deana had a cake made from a lady in town that is starting a new business. She is from Peru, so we all KNEW it would be good. Miguel has told us a LOT about Peruvian food and how amazing it is... he's not lying. This cake was amazing.


(James is talking in his sleep right now... it's gibberish... but it's funny)

You know what was so great about today? It wasn't a glamorous or big crazy birthday. There weren't any big gifts or grand presents. But it was a day filled from beginning to end with texts, phone calls, wall posts, emails, voicemails, comments, twitters, surprises and hugs from people I love, and it made me so thankful for all the wonderful people in my life. I am on the road living my dream and doing what I have always wanted to do. I am watching this dream come to life in bigger and better ways every day. Who could ask for more?

Cinnamon (my sweet puppy) even sent me card. It's pretty great.... not gonna lie.
Click here to see Cinnamon's Birthday Card to me.

It's funny how birthdays start to change. Miguel asked me last night if I was ready to be 27. My first response was "Can we just not talk about the 27 part?" I KNOW 27 isn't old.... But when you're little... you think 27 is "grown up". Heck you think college is "grown up" therefore, you think (or at least I did) that you'll be in this big glamorous place in life. But 27 is just getting started. And that's the beauty of country music. Most of the people I look up to weren't huge stars at an early age. In the pop world - there is a lot more pressure to "hit it big" by the time you are a teenager. But the country world tends to be a bit more realistic! I am just now starting to figure things out in my writing and in my musical journey that I would have NEVER had to offer at 16. And I am LOVING the journey I am on. I am married to an incredible man. My family is so supportive and loving. My friends... some of the most understanding people in the world. And I have fans that love my music and are almost more impatient than I am for my next record. It's an amazing thing to see my dreams coming to life. And I think 27 is going to be a HUGE year to me. I don't know why it initially sounds SO much older than 26. But maybe it is just because there are so many HUGE things on the horizon. So here's to NEVER STOP DREAMING - whether you're like my Granny and only "2 years from 100", just getting started or somewhere in between.

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

Y102, Slaymakers, and Cunningham's Journal

Ughhh. This internet is sooooo slow. I have been going back and forth between wifi, plugging in the ethernet cable, and using our mobile internet card. Ummm... been trying to get at least ONE to work. The Sprint card seems to be working the best now. It's just frustrating. Especially when the hour you are tryin to get things to work is 3am. It is now almost 4 and I am JUST now on the page to write this. Good LORD, Bet Western. COME ON! ;) Oh the things we get frustrated about these days... boo hoo... my internet is slow....


We are in Keanery Nebraska (sung to the tune of "Even Alaskaaaaaa") I really wanted to change the last line of "Even Alaska" to "Even Nebraska" tonight. But I didn't think anyone would get it. I totally would have if Jenn had been here. (Miguel's wife). SHE would have gotten it! Right?!

Speaking of...
Have I mentioned all the connections we have to Kearney? I think I have... but here's a recap. Jenn went to school here in Kearney. And now her sister goes to school here. Her entire family lives in Nebraska... only a few hours from here. She's from Atkinson. And Ella (Miguel and Jenn's precious little girl) was born in Atkinson.... I found out today that Ella was born in the same room that Jenn was born in. Whoa.

And completely coincidentally, Bridget, Joe's girlfriend, also went to school here in Kearney. And she is from Broken Bow. But her family is still here in Nebraska. Nope. Jenn and Bridget didn't know each other while they were here. They met in Nashville. Crazy right? Both our guys are with women from Nebraska.
So it was very fitting we played here tonight. But it was strange that Jenn and Bridget's friends and family were all here but THEY weren't...

Billy Wolf had us on the 5 O'clock Stampede on Y102. What a GREAT station!!! Billy was so fun. We talked for a bit... Miguel and I played "Standing My Ground" live in the studio... they played "Best Years" on air... we talked some more.... and then we played "Angel". "Angel" is Billy's favorite song on the myspace page, and it was really cool to hear that. He didn't even know the story behind it and it was still his favorite one!!!

They had been advertising our show all week - we were the "after party" for the Oak Ridge Boys show in town. :) They were playing at the event center and the radio station kept telling everyone to go to Cunningham's afterwards to hear us a keep the party going. That was pretty fun.

Thank you for everything Billy!


Miguel and I playing a little diddy.



The show was SO MUCH FUN. We played 2, 75 minute sets. The first set everyone was so laid back! It was crackin me up. They all seemed to be enjoying it... but they were all just sittin and starin at the stage. One couple got up and danced on "Days Go By" but that was it! We even gave em "Love Shack" and they wouldn't get out of their seats. :)

But Lordy... after we took a break and talked to everyone.... and maybe just maybe a few drinks later for everyone.... THEY WERE UP AND DANCING the second set. It was AWESOME. Plus, Jenn's family - including her brother Jesse who was turning 30 - tripled the amount of audience noise once they got there. It made me so happy.

Jesse (Happy 30th!!!) is the easiest to spot in this picture! And Ki, Jenn's mom.... ummm she had NO TIME for the picture... she must have still been doing her "Funky Music" dance....

I really wanted Miguel in that picture but we couldn't find him.... He was probably in the back of the bar with people bowing at his feet saying "we're not worthy" because of his face-melting solos.

I didn't hear about this until later. I had gotten Jesse up while we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and we gave him a drum stick to play with James'. Apparently he had a little trouble with the stick. He tried to play a cymbal, but he threw the stick instead. Awesome.

Ok. I finally got Ki to take a time out from her dancing.


I got to meet Bridget's brother, Geoff! I already knew Colin her cousin, (we go WAY back.... back to Sam Hill's!) but I had never met his twin brother Riley!!! YAY! :)
All of Bridget's men.


Kirk! This guy was so great. He was in town for the night from Vegas. He was in Kearney looking at some major properties and just ended up at Cunningham's. He kept yelling at the owner "Whatever you're paying her.... it's not enough" I thought he knew the owners and was just giving them a hard time.... He didn't. They didn't know each other. Nor did he have a clue what they were paying us :) I just thought that was funny.



This bar was really great to us. And they kept talking about their outdoor stage in the summertime. It sounds incredible... They have a big Bier Garden outside. And I was really excited when we first walked in because I saw that our good friend Scott Holt is playing here in just a few weeks!!! Another Columbia, Tn native! It was fun to see both of our names on the schedule. :)

I played until about 5 minutes after 1am. I wanted to go a bit over our contracted time to play (we were just told set lengths - no specific stop times). But in Nebraska.... bars close at 1:00am!!! I had NO IDEA!!! I felt terrible. The bartenders and bouncers had their work cut out for them when we stopped playing. The bar was really full and they had to get EVERYONE out. Whew. Stressful. I'll definitely know for next time!!! I wouldn't have played that long at all if I had known. I don't think we have ever played a bar gig in a state where they close at 1:00am. It is usually 2. Oh well. You live, you learn. (Haha... they were playing "You Live You Learn" by Alanis Morissette when we got there today) And both of the bar owners didn't seem to be a bit annoyed by that, which was awesome. But it is hard for me not to stress about stuff like that. Cause I know what a nuisance it is for the staff.

I hope we get to go back there. It was such a fun night!

But it is 5:00am now. You think it's time for bed? Yeah. Me too.

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and Cunningham's Journal,
~natalie

My Meeting with F.R.E.A.K.

I just had an great meeting with FREAK. :) He's produced tracks for 50 Cent, Jay Z, and tons of other very well known artists. AND he's a country fan!!! :) He's even working with Brad Paisley for a future project. So who knows.... maybe someday I could get some awesome remixes of my music done! You just just never know what each relationship in your life can lead to.
Here's to "thinking outside the box" for 2009!!!!!

(It's COLD here in New York! I'm in my snuggly sweater)

Natalie Unplugged

Today is the first episode of "Natalie Unplugged" ;) This is a chance for me to share songs with you at their birth!

It's so funny because as a writer - you write lots and LOTS of songs. And not all of them are ever heard. (sometimes with good reason! HA!) Even some of the songs that I love singing and playing still may never make it to an album. (At least, you hope you write SOOOO many great songs that you have the luxury of being very picky) There's always a lot more that goes into picking songs for an album than just "liking" them!! ;)
But the beautiful part? I don't have to decide right away if a song is going on my next album! And I can just share these with ya'll - and you can let me know which ones speak to YOU. Who knows? Maybe YOU'LL be the ones deciding the track list for my next album :)


Featured in this video is my co-writer for this one, Mr. Charlie Hutto :)
Many of you will recognize Charlie as he was in the band for almost a whole year. We met at Berklee and have been playing in bands together.... well... since Berklee!

My First Radio Spot!

This is my first real radio spot!!! They are running this on the radio in Indianapolis for our show at the Rathskeller this weekend!
Just click on the "video" below to hear it!

Cody got voted off :(

I'm so bummed!!!! Cody Linley got voted off dancing with the stars :( BOOOOO...

When I was in 7th grade, I was invited to go Los Angeles for pilot season by an agent. My mom and I moved out there with my acting coach, her two kids, and another kid from my acting class for oh about 2 months (which was about how long that season lasted). I had a bunch of auditions, but not nearly as many as my boyfriend, Chad. Apparently there was a lot more work for guys our age than girls that season. But I did get to audition for "D.J.'s first girlfriend" on Roseanne :) We lived in Oakwood apartments right around the corner of the Burbank Studios and I went to school at this place that was specifically designed for actors that needed a flexible schedule. Janet Jackson and Tiffany Amber Thiessen graduated from there. :) It was one room, and it was kind of a do-it-yourself place. You were given assignments and the teacher was there in case you didn't understand something. No tests. Just homework. The kid from "Rookie of the Year", the little girl who played "Icebox" in the "Little Giants" (she my best friend there), and then the little boy who played "Alfalfa" in the "Little Rascals" all went to school there with me at the time. I didn't ever get any work. My agent kept working with me to get rid of my accent..... That didn't go so well. I'm pretty undeniably southern. Ain't no gettin roud that' un, y'all. But Mamma and I had the time of our lives. I used all my own money from working at Opryland to pay for the whole trip. And I was 12... It was so awesome.

So back to my point.... CODY!

My acting coach was incredible. Her oldest son, Chad, was my first "going steady" boyfriend :) And his little brother who was 4 at the time was... Cody Linley! I haven't seen either of them in years - other than seeing Cody in movies and on Hannah Montana, but I was SOOOO freaking excited when he got on "Dancing WIth the Stars"!!! He has done SOOOO well. And well, Julianna Hough is his partner, so he's been in pretty amazing hands.

But he sure did a great job! I am proud of him, but so sad he won't be on the show anymore! Oh well. I am sure Mamma will go see him on the tour. It was fun to see Catherine - his mom and my acting coach in the audience every week!


Look at what a cutie he has turned out to be. :)

Boooed off the stage :(

Yep, after years of playing "Devil Went Down To Georgia" I attempted it for my debut on guitar hero.... Boooed off the stage before I could even get to the heart of the song. So sad.