Poor Chicken

Animals I saw today on the side of the road:
Skunk
Squirrel
Bird
Armadillo
Possum
and... a first.... a Chicken. Yup a chicken. Hmmm... why DO you think he was crossing the road?

Also... Animals in the "still living" department: a pack of dogs - mamma and pups
And the most majestic horse running in a field through the snow... looked like a movie scene.

Animals in the gas station?


Yup.

Hootie quote of the day:
We went to a Mexican restaurant across the street from our hotel. Hootie sat down at the table and said, "That bathroom?? Well.... I felt like my nose just tried to eat an orange."

We have so much fun. But when Hootie gets out of line....


We left Conway, Arkansas this morning and our plan was to drive to Topeka, Ks. Within 2 hours the temperature had dropped 20 degrees and it started snowing. Not a crazy snow... but a steady one. We passed 3 wrecks... and had just decided to start calling hotels to get out of it... and then we saw the traffic up ahead was STOPPED. We could see a semi and a car on fire. It was awful... we sat there for over an hour... just watching ER vehicle after ER vehicle making it's way to the accident. They interviewed a lot of people on the news later and they were all talking about how they were going so slow, but still hitting patches of ice and sliding off the road. We are so lucky to have a couple of days to get to our next show... we are taking full advantage and playing it safe. Y'all. Be careful out there. The roads didn't even look slick, but they were. Said a lot of prayers today....

We need to get all the way to Topeka tomorrow, though. We have an early morning on Monday - we have a radio interview on 94.5 WIBW, a tv show performance, and a show at Washburn University. It's gonna be a VERY good day :) I am already excited.

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and Staying Safe,
~natalie

Hendrix College

We left from Nashville this morning to head out to Conway, Arkansas. I've been here before!!! Back when "If I Run To You Now" was getting airplay, I did a little radio tour with a bunch of stops in Arkansas. I realized during the show tonight (and shared with the students) that Arkansas was on of the states that had the most stations playing my song. :) So yeah, I love Arkansas.

We got there and I was having trouble helping James look for the building we were supposed to find because I was so caught up in how beautiful their campus was. It was exactly the kind of campus I always pictured in my head of "college". It looked so inviting. It's funny though. I had always envisioned a big "Campus" and then I ended up going to a school in the middle of Boston that had no campus.... just random buildings on the street. :) But who am I kidding? I loved that, too!

This was another school where the students were there and ready to help from the moment we pulled in. They were all lifting and helping us get all of our gear out of the car. This is the social committee - everyone who helped bring us to Hendrix, put on the show, and took great care of us!


This is Lydia and John. They were our main contacts for the evening. They had one of the best intro's for us EVER. I'm not even sure what all they said, :) but they had everyone laughing before we went out on stage. What a great way to get a show started!


You would have thought this crowd was in a packed arena. They were so energetic and excited from the first note. I could see these girls in the front row singing along to every word of "Whatever It Takes". I LOVE that. :)

After we took our picture, they were telling me how they go to the "VFW" all the time and sing "Fancy" in Karaoke. The "V" as they referred to it :) is the only place in town to have a drink! How great is that? I would love to visit their VFW. The ones I have gone to are more of a "Taco Night" establishment. Not beer and karaoke! Don't get me wrong.... those are some of the best tacos I have ever had... but come on... they call it the "V".

And these girls all jumped up from their seats at the beginning of the show, came down front, and danced the WHOLE time. It was the best. That was my favorite (shhhh.... don't tell).
   

Happy Birthday Jake!!! Jake was at NACA and he was one of the guys responsible for bringing us to Hendrix! He said "I never thought I would ever hear 'Fancy' live.... EVER" So I am REALLY glad I did "Fancy" tonight. :) Apparently it isn't only MY favorite song! This crowd went NUTS for it. And ummm.... Miguel helps out with his freakishly face-melting solo at the end...


FIDDLE PLAYERS!!!! Both of these guys play the fiddle. This is Patrick on the left and Louis on the right. Louis actually went to Mark O'Connor's fiddle camp last summer. I have always wanted to do that. I'm jealous!!! And Patrick is in High school. I would have never known. I just thought he was in college. But he is visiting Hendrix to see if he wants to go to school there.
These guys also informed me that there is a guy in the top 12 of American Idol from Conway, Arkansas! I had no idea. I haven't seen ANY Idols this year... well other than a couple of auditions.... we're always driving when it is on. But I thought that was cool. :) They were really proud.


She was also just visiting from high school. And she came to MY show!! :)


I love what I do so much. And I keep being surprised and excited by each show. That is what is so great about live shows. Even on nights when we do the exact same set, it is NEVER the same. Different audiences bring different things out of us. And when an audience is as energetic as the one tonight - it just makes our job so easy. It definitely isn't about the size of a crowd - it's about the "might" if you will. :)

Topeka - here we come!!

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and goodnight from Arkansas!
~natalie