University of North Florida Homecoming Hoedown

Tonight was the University of North Florida's Homecoming Hoedown!!!!

We had so much fun playing for them - they had free food, a mechanical bull, and a gorgeous audience! The girls were all dressed up so cute! It was awesome.


The guys weren't bad either :)


Surprise! These guys were showing the love!


They demanded an encore, and then AFTER the encore they starting chanting "Nat-a-lie! Nat-a-lie" Fort Benning style. :) Just awesome. If you had told me that kind of thing would happen back when I was an unsure and self-conscious teenager... not sure I would have believed you.

From left to right: Lynn, Wendy, and Laura who took care of us ALL day long!!! They got us food and even had our dressing room stocked with Vanilla Coke!!! That has NEVER happened before! Thank you to everyone at Osprey Productions for all your hard work. The event today was so professional and well done.


And LIZ!!!! Elizabeth Etherton is one of my dearest friends in the world. We were best friends in high school, we were in each other's weddings, and we always pick up right where we left off. We can go months even over a year without talking... but it never seems like we have been apart. She and her friend came to the show, came out to dinner with the whole band, and then I got to go hang out at her place and catch up into the wee hours of the night.


Great night, great show, great friends. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

America's Next Great Star

I'm sitting in the back of the van... watching John Mayer on DVD heading SOUTH!

We're driving through Atlanta at the moment. Even though we've had the week off... this is the third time we've made this drive in a week! On our way back from Ft. Benning.... I popped down here and back yesterday.... and then we're passing through on our way to Jacksonville. Sometimes I sit back and look at my life from outside myself and just smile. I always wanted this. It's been way harder than it is now. Parts of it may get easier some day. But whatever form it takes... I just want to keep these wheels a rolling and never stop this train. :)

On Saturday night after I accepted my awards at APCA, I was asked to be a judge on America's Next Great Star. Think American Idol/America's Got Talent... but one that comes to you! Campuses can hire the show, "The Live Entertainment Experience" and audience members get to participate. After the judges select 3 top acts, the audience gets to text for their favorite. They do the WHOLE show - from auditions, to interviews and testimonials that they air as the person is walking on stage to perform... multiple camera angles shown on the projectors during the show... It's really a cool thing.

The student that won APCA's won $250, their tape will be sent to "industry professionals" in Nashville, New York, and L.A. The winners of the campus-wide tour have a chance to win $15,000.

It was so fun being a judge. And it was HARD! There were some VERY talented students and participants. I loved being a part of the show, and I was so glad they asked me to judge.

It was fun because they actually got to play with a live band. It's a band that was showcasing at APCA and they do "live band karaoke". The students had to pick from a list of songs (just like Idol) but they actually got to play with a live band! So cool.

I highly recommend the show. Campus advisors were asking me questions later... and they really do a great job of capturing the entire experience. I'm a fan!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I ♥ Fort Benning

Our last show was on Saturday for the Trainees at Ft. Benning. If you saw the Tour Diaries uploaded from this week, then you saw a bit of footage.... but I have yet to try to put it into words. :)

We've played at Ft. Benning before. The first show we played there still ranks as one of my all time most memorable and favorite shows. The guys were chanting my name at intermission, and they were one of the best crowds I have ever played in front of. And there's youtube footage to prove it. ;)

This time they were putting on a similar event. But they had to move the event indoors from the field where we were supposed to play. The snow that pounded southern Georgia last week caused a lot of shifting of well.... just about everything. They had to split the big giant event into two smaller events. We were playing for the "I. A.M. Strong" Tour which is an uplifting entertainment tour emphasizing the "I. A.M. Strong" message of sexual harassment and sexual assault prevention.

The I. A.M. acronym stands for Intervene. Act. and Motivate.

The tour is headlined by Leigh Jones and she was such an inspiration to watch and talk to. I was honored to be invited to be a part of this event!

I can't tell you how powerful it is to be in a packed room with this nation's finest. To have the opportunity to provide entertainment for them is a gift, an honor, and a pleasure. And those boys sure know how make a girl feel welcome :) It's an incredible feeling to stand on stage in front of the men (and women... but it was all men at Ft. Benning) that protect, sacrifice, and serve this unbelievable country. And I don't think I have never been called "Ma'am" that many times in one day!!!

One of my favorite memories of the whole show was right afterwards. I had to quickly help clear the stage, but then of course, I ran out to talk to the guys and sign autographs. They were all in full Army fatigues, but the guys working the event also had on orange vests. They had all put on their "I. A.M. STRONG" t-shirts that were given out at the event. And one by one. Each of those fine boys lined up, opened his orange vest, nodded and said "Ma'am" as I signed their shirts. Ahhhhh. I could get used to that!!! :)

And standing there with them after my show... I listened to the message of I. A.M. STRONG from Danny B - a soldier who is an incredibly talented rapper. He knows how to get those guys to pay attention and he got them ALL RILED UP!!!! It's such an eye opener to be in the room with those men. They have so much love for this country and their brothers. To get a glimpse into that is something I could never put into words.

Plus I feel an even stronger connection and pull to Fort Benning because that is where my own Daddy trained. Even though I wasn't even a thought yet, I feel so much pride when I am there.

As if getting to play for them isn't enough... they gave each of us the Fort Benning coin!



And here's a little more about the purpose of the I. A.M. STRONG tour.

The entertainment tour was designed to help military communities realize:

* When I recognize a threat to my fellow Soldiers, I will have the personal courage to intervene and prevent sexual assault. I will condemn acts of sexual harassment. I will not abide obscene gestures, language or behavior. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I will intervene.

* You are my brother, my sister, my fellow Soldier. It is my duty to stand up for you, no matter the time or place. I will take action. I will do what's right. I will prevent sexual harassment and assault. I will not tolerate sexually offensive behavior. I will act.

* We are American Soldiers, motivated to keep our fellow Soldiers safe. It is our mission to prevent sexual harassment and assault. We will denounce sexual misconduct. As Soldiers, we are all motivated to take action. We are strongest together.

'nuff said.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

TOUR DIARY #3 Parts 1 AND 2!!!!

New Flip cam means..... NEW TOUR DIARIES!!!! James may be somewhere else.... but he's been reliving Augusta all day in editing :) Enjoy!

Part 1:



Part 2:


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

APCA Nationals!!!

I'm in a bit of a haze right now. We all got very little sleep last night.... And it's been a looooooong day. But it is one of those exhausting days that makes you feel so good - the exhaustion is how you KNOW it's been a great day.

We drove to Atlanta this morning (left at 6am.... and this is a group that usually goes to bed around 5am....) well... I say "we". JAMES drove. Sometimes I don't know how he does it. But he always does on the most important days - especially when I need to sleep to rest my voice.

We played at APCA Nationals tonight. We were the closing act for the opening showcase. And WHAT A CROWD!!!! The showcase was in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton in downtown Atlanta, and the place was packed.

Not gonna lie.... I felt pretty cool when I saw the line-up for the showcase. :)

The whole thing was incredible. The first guy was the most energetic man I have ever seen. He had a HUGE conga line going, then he had the entire audience singing "Summer Lovin" - it was the best way to start of the show. He got everyone pumped up for the rest of the entertainers!

Louis Ramey from Last Comic Standing was the first comedian in the showcase. He was HILARIOUS!!! I love this guy.


The next act was a singer songwriter who went out with just his guitar. His name was Austin and he had a ridiculous voice - impressively high for a guy. And then Alexandra McHale was on. We did a show with her in Philadelphia last year at St. Joseph's University, and she and I were both nominated for "Best Female Performer" in campus Activities magazine this year. She's a regular on VH1's "I love the 80's" and she is very funny.

Then this really inspiring and beautiful poet named Shanelle performed. And then it was our turn. In these showcases, you have exactly 15 minutes to get out there and show your stuff. :) And we BROUGHT IT tonight. I felt like it was the best showcase we've ever had. And this was a really important one. Not only were tons of schools here, but LOTS of military representatives were there as well. We knew it was an important night and we left everything we had out on the stage. I always like to be as far in front as possible - but tonight that meant I had to sacrifice having any kind of monitors. It wasn't that big of a deal. I could hear just enough from the main speakers out front to know what I was doing, so I just went with it. A big group got up and did the electric slide during "Beat It" in the medley :) It made me so happy.

After the show, they have what they call a "marketplace" where all the artists and buyers get 1 hour to meet and talk. And the people who are interested in booking on-site fill out "Strong Interest Forms". And then there are tons of other booths and activities going on in the marketplace... it's not just for the performers and their agents. Tonight I saw "make your own chapstick", inflatable laser tag, and yes.... a monkey. Well. I didn't get to see the monkey which made me sad. But Hootie and James did!!!





I made a whole bunch of new friends and got to hang with a ton of old friends!!! When I first got to the booth, there was another artist standing there. I recognized him, so I figured (since he was with my agency) that we had performed together before. And THEN I realized - NOPE. We haven't ever performed together. It was Dan Evans from the Biggest Loser!!! I LOVE that show. He and his mom were on it together. Dan just signed with my agent, so he came to the conference to check it out and see what it is all about. It was so cool to meet him and his brother!


Lori and Elizabeth from USAO in Chickasha, Ok came and sported their "Natalie Stovall" t-shirts!! It made me so happy when I saw them :) this is the shirt that Elizabeth brought to our show because she had forgotten to have me sign last year when we played at USAO. :) I love these girls.


This lady hired us to play at Ft. Benning in Georgia. That still goes down as one of my all-time favorite shows. We played for the soldiers who were about to finish up boot camp. My Daddy did his OCS training there, so he and Mamma got to come to the show. Man, that was an awesome event. You can check out a quick clip of the soldiers singing LOUDER THAN ME on the beginning of "Devil Went Down To Georgia" It was 100º that day. whew. Ft. Benning Video


Look at those HATS!!!! I want one.


And then we ran into some friends from Berklee. Their agent had actually asked if he could borrow Hootie's bass stand for a band that needed it in the showcase after us. But we had NO IDEA that we knew the guys in the band!!! How fun :) It's just been like a big ole Berklee Reunion this week.


So yeah. It was a GREAT night. We got more strong interest forms than we've EVER gotten in one night. There are some really amazing opportunities on the horizon, and if ANY of them pan out - well... then we're gonna have some wild adventures in the near future!

I have SOOOOO many great pics from tonight. I've already posted them all on my facebook page, and I will have them up on my myspace page in the next couple of days. I'm speaking on a panel about how to make college events a "win, win, win" for artists, agents, and schools, bright and early tomorrow.... no rest for the weary. But I am excited. It's fun to be successful enough at something that someone actually values your opinion.

The best thing about tomorrow though has to be that Greenville is only 2 hours away!!! Do you know how EASY of a drive that is?!? Good Lord I am excited.

Peace. Love. Fiddle. and Awesomeness On The Way.