Single Marine Program Brochure

So this is pretty cool....

:)

Last night after the awards ceremony, Ari (my agent... eh emm... Agent of the Year) showed me the new flyer that was made for the Single Marine Program. The Single Marines brought us out to play at Quantico last year, which was an INCREDIBLE show. We had a blast, and took tons of pictures. And they voted for our picture with them to be in the center of their brochure!!! It goes out to all the Marines to let them know how awesome the Single Marine Program is. They put on tons of events and create great opportunities for the Marines. And I love them because they brought us out to play a show!! :)

The front and partial inside flap:


The smack dab middle of the inside of the brochure. How cool is that!!??!


We made it home to Nashville safely, and I even squeezed in a late night writing session with Gordon Brown and Corey Wagar - who are in town from New Jersey writing and recording music. And tomorrow we leave for Jacksonville, Florida!! I hope this weather continues. Today was GORGEOUS.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I Played The Stone Pony Tonight!

Tonight was AWESOME.

I played fiddle for an incredibly talented and OH SO YOUNG (she's only 16!!!) artist named Corey Wagar.

Guess WHERE this was!?!?!?

The FIRST ever country show at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ!!!!! (Which was SOLD OUT! Heck yeah!)


I have heard so much about this club... it's kind of like Tootsie's in the Rock N Roll world... Bruce Springsteen is known for jamming with the local musicians there... Jon Bon Jovi, Elvis Cotello, Joan Jett, Stevie Ray Vaughn... all kinds of cool people will grace the stage with their presence between gigs in New York and Philadelphia.

And I got to play at their first ever country show tonight!!! My friend, Gordon Brown, that I write with a lot, had put together the band for Corey. He knew James and I had planned on coming to the show. He sent me one of her songs today. I learned it, we hopped on the train, and I got to play it with them! They also brought me up for the encore... A little "Gunpowder and Lead" action :)

I think James must have captured this little clip of "Gunpwder and Lead" :) It isn't very long... but it gives you the idea.


It was so much fun! And Corey's song that I played with her "Me and My Girls" was so cute... and come to find out, she wrote it with Jamie O'Neal! I LOVE Jamie O'Neal! I was obsessed with "Shiver" in college. :)

Here's Gordon - my wonderful friend and co-writer


And of course Corey (Click her name to visit her myspace!)


I love this picture of Gordon and me... even though it's a bit dark :)


It was so cool to be a part of tonight. Corey is incredibly talented... and oh my word... she's only 16. I can't imagine where all she will go from here. So cool.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

College Eel at Eastern Connecticut State University

We left DC at 9am. At 7pm we pulled into our destination. That was a looong day. We even ate lunch in the car... to go. The traffic was ridiculous in Ct. From the second we got over the George Washington Bridge, it was just a nightmare.

But we were still at Eastern Connecticut State University with plenty of time to load for the show. I had to get ready like a speed demon in the ladies bathroom... I'm used to that, but I usually have a little more time than 15 minutes. It takes me about 15 minutes to brush this mane out half the time ;) Isn't being on the road glamorous?

Gordon Brown - one of my FAVORITE people and co-writers in the world lives in NJ. His niece goes to school at University of Connecticut (which we are playing tomorrow), but she and her boyfriend came tonight! It was so good to meet her. I feel like Gordon is family - therefore any of his family feels like family :)
Here's Mandy!


This was one of my favorite audience members! She was so cute singing along right up front!



This is Chris, he's the entertainment director for the Campus Activities Board. He took REALLY good care of us. I had a yummy buffalo chicken sandwich from that Mondo's SUBS place behind us :)


They had a bunch of activities going on after the show - they had a roaming magician, you could make your own bags, chia pets, and Transformers 2 was playing in their really nice theater they have in the student center. We were all hanging out eating, and Michael Kent, the AWESOME magician came up to us and showed us some card tricks. I was blown away. I have NO idea how he was doing it. I even wrote my name on the card - and it was showing up in his shoe.... would appear out of nowhere. His sleight of hand was truly remarkable. It was so cool to meet him! (And he's hilarious, too. VERY good at what he does. He was like Dane Cook, but way cooler because he does magic.)


And yet again - Chris was being adventurous in his eating. On our first trip he ate "Mall Eel". As in, eel sushi in a mall food court. That is WAY braver than I would ever be. Tonight, he tried "college eel". I'm not sure why they took this picture. But Chris said something that made Miguel really uncomfortable right as I pushed the button. I don't want to say what... but yeah.


That's our day in a nutshell. Hope you had a great day. Here's to a two-fer tomorrow. UConn and New England College.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Stevenson University and Monmouth University

Ahhh. Days off are great. We have been going non-stop for so long, that today has seemed well... way too easy! We slept in, ate at an awesome diner in New Jersey, ran some errands, drove 3 1/2 hours to Reading PA, checked in, and went to dinner and to the Wolverine movie. I have been looking forward to that movie for so long - it was really good. Had to hide my eyes a bit :) But that's pretty normal.

I am SO glad that I have a chance to catch up on the last 2 shows. It feels really weird to be behind!


Saturday was awesome because we woke up in PA, played a show in Maryland, and slept in New Jersey :)

We played at Stevenson University in Maryland. And yet again, they had to move the event indoors. The rain has really put a damper on the Spring Festivals this year. But it never stops the shows! We don't care where we rock out - indoors or out. It's always a good time.

It wasn't raining when we got there, though. That always helps with unloading :) They had a HUGE inflatable obstacle course and then they had something I have never seen before - an inflatable boxing ring!!! The "gloves" you wore - they were GINORMOUS!!! I was bummed I didn't get to put them on and get a picture. But we usually don't have a lot of time to participate in the activities between set up and show time.

They also had a station where you could "build your own stuffed animal" - kind of like "Build a Bear" only with rhino's, mustangs, all kinds of interesting things.

One of the Dean's of students and her daughter came to the show. That always makes me feel cool!


My merch girl!!! She was such a big help!


And the girls who worked tirelessly for us and the entire event!
Carrie and Abbe


Sunday we played at Monmouth University.

I have passed by Monmouth so may times!!! My friend and co-writer, Gordon, lives in Long Branch. We pass by Monmouth to get to his house :) Well... when we go to get Quiznos, that is. So I was really looking forward to this one because I felt like I had been there before.

But alas, the rain caused Monmouth to have to go to the indoors as well. They had inflatables upstairs in the student center - TONS of different stations, and then the stage with all the bands was in the cafeteria area where all the free food was. Free food is a GREAT way to get students to the show! They had Pulled Pork BBQ, deep fried oreos, home-made lemonade... well... I could go on an on about the food. But on to the show!

Gordon and Jess, his girlfriend came to the show. It was the first time Gordon has seen the band play live! It was so great to see him and Jess, and I was REALLY excited they came to the show.

Stealing Jane and the Josh Cramoy Band also played at the show. They were SOOO good. I knew some of the guys in Stealing Jane, and Josh Cramoy and I are booked by the same agent. I was asked numerous times if the trombone player from Stealing Jane was Miguel... they had the same hair :)

The students at Monmouth were unbelievably helpful with loading and unloading our equipment.

And these girls - the twins - were a huge reason that we were brought to Monmouth!


My front row girls singing along the whole show:


So were these girls!


And Ari, my agent, showed up RIGHT after we finished the show. He and his wife Stacy came by. I feel like I have so much family up here in Long Branch - between my agent and Gordon. :) It's awesome.

Tomorrow we play in Reading, PA. We're already here, so that automatically makes tomorrow seem like a breeze!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

What a Bummer

My heart goes out to anyone who has migraines. I have had intense headaches before, but the word "headache" is an insult to migraines. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure what I had earlier.... but it was one of the worst and most disabling headaches ever. I can't imagine experiencing something like that more often... it makes you miss out on everything. I am starting to feel normal again. I only have the remnants of an annoying headache still. The nausea and "hurts to open my eyes" feeling has subsided. Praise the Lord!!

We had plans to go to dinner with one of my dearest friends and co-writers, Gordon Brown. Gordon and his girlfriend came to our show today, and we were all planning to eat and then Gordon and I were going to get some writing done. I got dressed, but that took me 30 minutes... and I finally gave up and went back to bed. I was so disappointed. But tomorrow we have the day off. So I will catch you up on the last 2 shows then. And hopefully Gordon and I will have a chance to get together tomorrow before we head out of town. For now, I am going to lay down and rest some more. My husband brought me a flaltbread, and not one, not two, but THREE of my favorite drinks to choose from. :) (SoBe Green Tea, Green Tea Ginger Ale, and Nantucket Nectars Orange Mango) That already made me feel better. Tonight has made me so thankful for all that I have.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

It's a good Good Friday

I went to write with Gordon today and it was SOOOOOO good to see him. There's never enough hours in the day when we are writing together :) But today was great because it gave us a chance to reevaluate everything we worked on earlier this year. I still have so many unfinished songs with him.... that's not unusual for me though :) I usually have a whole stash of songs I am working on that I finish at the most random times. I can try and try with all my might to finish some songs.... but with certain pieces of work - I just have to wait for the inspiration to hit me.

That's how I wrote most of the songs for "Late Night Conversations" - I had an entire digital recorder filled with ideas. And over time I finished them one by one. And the strongest ones ended up making the record.

We finished one today that I am thrilled about! I can't really talk about it yet, but you'll hear it soon enough. :) And then we have 4 others with really great starts. I'm smiling so big right now cause I am hearing them all in my head at once. They are just little infants right now... I can tell what they will look like for the most part... they just haven't fully developed yet :)

SO I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I had to cut us off to catch the last train back into the city. Gordon and I were texting lyrical ideas of one of the songs to each other. But there was an inebriated Italian fella, Fabrizio, that really wanted to talk. His English was a bit broken... which he kept apologizing for... but his English wasn't really the reason he was hard to understand.... It was probably all the wine with dinner.... if I were to guess...

He came to this country to "have experience", which he explained ummm... a few times.... and then a few more...

I can't possibly attempt to explain what he was talking about (nor could he) but the one thing he was sure of..... I have "eyes like fox." He said that over and over again. He REALLY wanted me to know that. He wanted to make sure I go home tonight and look in the mirror to check and see if "Fabrizio is full of BS or Fabrizio tell truth". He nearly missed his stop because he kept putting his hands around his eyes to make the shape of glasses and was yelling "YOU. Eyes like fox!!! Like FOX! You see! Look in mirror!" And THEN once he got OFF the train he ran to the window where I was sitting and was screaming it from the outside... and putting his hands around his eyes again. And then making the shape of a pregnant belly. (That was a whole other story... he thinks I am smart like fox and won't have "The children" until I KNOW... cause I have eyes like fox... ) Yeah. I don't really get it either. The train attendants kept staying close by. And after he got off the train one came over to me and said "We should have put that on youtube." I actually recorded a bit of the conversation onto my iphone because it was cracking me up.

But apparently I have "eyes like fox" so I guess that means don't mess with me?

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Fun Stuff to Wake Up To

I love this world of internetin' and blogging. Not only do I get to post my own thoughts and pictures about each show and adventure on the road, but I get to wake up every morning and see what others have posted. I wake up to new pictures, videos, comments, and messages every day. It is one of the most rewarding feelings! There have been all kinds of fun things posted lately, so I have to share with you some of my favorites...

An incredibly talented photographer named Danielle Barden and her husband Jared came to the Josh Gracin show in Mansfield. I am so thankful they did!!! She posted some incredible pics of the show the next day, and I have been using this one as my main photo on facebook and myspace the past week. :)



She also wrote a blog about the show which includes a lot more pictures here:

Danielle's Blog

If you are in the Mansfield PA area and need beautiful photos taken - you should call Danielle! Her portfolio is really impressive. Thank you for letting me use your awesome photos Danielle!!!
Barden Photography Website


And THEN I saw ANOTHER blog posted by a Barden. :) Her husband posted one because he uploaded some videos from the show. :)
It is such a cool thing to see the show from the audience perspective!! Here's the cool vids he posted:

This is a clip of Miguel and me playing a bit of Freebird :)



Oh you "Devil" you.


And this one is another that showed up that I thought was pretty cool. :) I think someone from the school posted this video.


We made it to New York tonight. I am heading out to Long Branch tomorrow to do a bit of writing with Gordon Brown... no... not the Prime Minister... but this Gordon is JUST as cool! He's one of my favorites to write with! So help me channel good songwritin vibes for tomorrow! :)

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

LIVE VIDEOS!!!!!!!

The day has come :)

We got the live videos back from Dallas today!!! These were shot in by our good friends at Frozen Fire Films. They are SO good at what they do! These are 3 of my newer songs that will be on the next album as soon as we get back into the studio. :)

And for everyone on the email list - you will have exclusive access to download these songs! So be checking those inboxes. I will give more details on how to go about that as soon as we have that set up! But I couldn't wait to share these videos with ya'll!

Standing My Ground


Even Alaska


Whatever It Takes



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Finally! Lyrics!!!

We finally wrote some lyrics!!! YAY!!!
We finished the song that we had started yesterday :) It was an interesting process for us though... it didn't really go the way we expected....
This was the song that I described to you last night as " an Olympic theme.. a song about miracles and overcoming obstacles" Well... it started there and about 5 or 6 choruses later it turned into something much more personal.... a situation that has been weighing on my mind lately. Who knows if it is my next huge smash hit (I love that I said my "next" smash hit.... as if to imply I have ALREADY had a smash hit....) But that doesn't matter because it now serves a much higher purpose. One of my best friends has gone through such a painful time in her life and so many of my thoughts have been with her this week. And I feel like I was meant to write this song today.

Hopefully we feel as strongly about it after we've slept on it. I got so wrapped up in the emotions of writing this song that it's a little difficult to look at it objectively right now.


And for something completely out of left field.... I found out that my nephew, Cameron:




thinks that when kids grow up, adults get younger... he thinks that when he is an adult, his parents will be kids.

I find that absolutely FASCINATING.

Peace, Love, Fiddle Y'all!

New Year's Resolutions and a Thank You from Africa

First of all let me say THANK YOU. I have heard from so many of you about the Raining Season blog I posted yesterday. And many of you have already said you will donate to the cause. The girls said the first thing they did yesterday morning when they woke up in Africa was read my blog. That BLOWS my mind. I didn't eve realize they would be able to see it. But all of your comments, help, and prayers only strengthens them to do even more good. So keep it coming and THANK YOU from The Raining Season in Africa!! I know that it sure has inspired me even more!

Tomorrow I begin a week of writing with Gordon Brown. He and I have an incredible musical relationship and I am so excited to see what will materialize from this next round of writing! :) I am already excited to share the music with you and we haven't even written it yet! (It reminds me of the scene in Pretty Woman when Vivian tells Edward "Thank You" in the elevator on the way to the opera before they have even started the date!) And yes, I just referenced "Pretty Woman" I'm a dork, I know :)

So it's been a few years since I have actually written down New Year's Resolutions. That's just unacceptable! :)-

Natalie's New Year's Resolutions:

1. Write hit songs.

2. Blog EVERY day :)

3. Write MORE hit songs. LOTS of hit songs.

4. Work out.
Yep, the typical New year's resolution. My sister, who is a personal trainer gave me some workouts that are hotel room-
friendly for the road. So now there is NO excuse. I love working out and running... I've just gotten out of the habit.

5. Write beautiful, inspired, meaningful hit songs.

6. Respond to emails/phone calls immediately after I get them.
I get into this thing where I would rather sit down and write emails when I can REALLY respond. It happens on myspace,
facebook, and especially with work. But by the time I have time to get to them.... there's a million other things that need
more immediate attention. My intentions are good... but..... too many times, things get lost in the shuffle. It makes me
sad. So NO MORE!

7. Ummmm.... can you say #1's??

8. Use my time more efficiently on the road.
It sure is easy to get into bad habits on the road. EVERYTHING has to be adapted, so the things get put off. But I am
learning (and also just being more conscious lately) of how I can make normal stuff work better from the back of my little
nest in the Suburban. :) It sounds simple... but it sure is easier to just play games on my iphone than actually sit back
there and act like I am "in the office"

9. Eh emmm..... Billboard, chart-topping, Number ONES, people!

10. Do more for those in need.
If you can't tell from my blog yesterday, I am so inspired by the Raining Season. And charity work has been heavy on my
mind lately. There is SO MUCH MORE that I could be doing. I already have a bunch of ideas stewing!

So yeah. Now you guys can hold me accountable since I am sharing this with the whole world! :) I am really excited about this year though. I have lots of good creative juices flowing. And I feel a lot more renewal happening within my own life than I normally do around this time of year.

It is very easy to get caught up in this crazy record industry world and listen to what you are told. EVERYONE has an opinion. But I am not the person who will ever be content with doing "just enough". I don't just want the next big hit as a country artist. I want the next HUGE career. The type of career where your songs mean something. The type of music that is inspired. Too many times in country radio I hear songs that may be good songs, but they could have been sung by anyone. And no matter how hard I try, I can't for the life of me distinguish who the artist is.

But I am ALL about dreaming BIG and reaching for the sky! It's what we sang about each and every day in the Kid's Club show. And I KNOW that we can all do ANYTHING we put our minds to.

This is such an exciting and rejuvenating time for music. The internet allows us to connect with people in such a HUGE way! We can connect with people in a way that has never been possible before. And it forces ALL of us musicians to work harder and persevere. I can tell you right now, that there is no disillusionment in my mind to where I expect a record label to sign me and do all the work for me! It is up to ME to get my music out there. And in utilizing every tool I can find.... eventually people will come on board that can help me take it to the next step whether that's a record label or my own version of that. But I'm just saying that I don't expect anyone to do it for me. That is for sure.

So here's to dreaming big, inspired music, doing what we love, and helping those in need!

2009 Here I come!