Guerrilla Marketing

The drive to our show today was SCARY. REALLY SCARY.

Jeeves decided that it was a good idea to take us on a little tiny dirt road. It wasn't even a gravel road. It was a muddy, winding, narrow HORSE TRAIL. Seriously. It felt more like a horse trail than a road. And we were scared. James was so stressed out, I think everyone was scared to talk to him. But we went around one curve, and he thought it *might* be just wide enough to turn around.

THANK GOODNESS IT WAS!!!! Miguel jumped out and helped us turn around, Tim found the best route according to google maps on his phone, James drove and maneuvered like a champion, and I held on for dear life.

Jeeves, our GPS, had good intentions. I am sure according to a map... it was the shorter route... but ummm NOT cool, Jeeves. NOT cool.

The show, however? WELL worth the 20 hour drive! The students in charge of the show asked me if I would go through the dorm rooms with them and try to drum up some more excitement for the show. I've never felt more like a moving billboard. :) The guys walked through the hallways, BANGED on the doors, asked guys if they were coming to the show, and then pointed at me :) It was funny.

Whatever the reason... the free food.... the fact that they put my picture on all the napkin dispensers in the cafeteria... our guerrilla style marketing.... I don't care what it was! It worked!! The show was AWESOME. They were up and clapping and dancing at the front of the stage from EARLY on in the set. And it felt like old times at Sam Hill's when they started asking for "Sweet Child of Mine" Plus, after the show, one of the guys really wanted to hear "Amazing Grace" on the fiddle. So we had an "after concert" :) I played Amazing Grace as students gathered around, and then they asked for an Irish Jig. I don't think I have played the "Irish Washerwoman" since St. Patrick's Day my freshman year of high school. But it was revisited tonight!

The river next to the school is a popular white water rafting area. It was BEAUTIFUL. This is where we stopped to get gas on the way... just sayin...


YAY!!! I <3 WVU Tech!


The Jamaicans at WVU Tech


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

University of Wisonsin, Parkside Arts Alive!

Tonight we played at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside. We played in a gorgeous theater as a part of the Arts Alive! Series. They really did a fantastic job putting on the show. I am so disappointed I didn't get any photos of the theater to share with you. I have been searching online to try to find some, but no dice...

The stage came right up to the front row, and the bottom level sat 500 people, which was packed out. It still had this very intimate feel even though it held a lot of people. The stage itself reminded me of the "Austin City Limits" Stage. We played 2, 45 minute sets, which was fun because it was just a bit different than our last few shows. Lately they have all been 1, 60-75 minute set. It's always fun to have a little change in there! I was worried about being too loud because they told us that they were trying something new with us. This crowd isn't accustomed to "loud" music. :) (It's funny to me that... little country girl is considered "loud music" but Lord knows.... we love to cut loose when you give us the chance.) We had our amps turned down, and even put a road case in front of Miguel's guitar amp so that it would stifle the stage volume that bleeds out into the crowd. That just gives the Front of House sound man a little more control over how loud everything is out in the audience.

The crazy thing is that, even with all of that, we still had a few people that were holding their ears during the first set. I get so stressed and worried looking out and seeing that. It makes it so hard to play. I don't want anyone hurting!!!! And all I can focus on are the poor people holding their ears. But of course, at the same time, I don't want to lessen the show for the other 496 people that DON'T think it is too loud. So I made some adjustments on the fly to the first set... (God Bless the guys for always just following me!) made sure we skipped anything that was a little on the louder side... and it all worked out!

The sound guys, the band and I all had a little pow-wow during intermission. They brought the sound down in the house and we tried to be even more conscious of our own levels on stage. And the show didn't suffer a bit! We were still able to play everything we had planned on and the young 'uns AND the not-so-young 'uns ALL had a great time!!!

You know, all the craziness and unpredictability... that is the beauty of live shows. AND the beauty of playing such a wide variety of venues and events. Tonight was a LOT different from a bar set. I was able to take my time and tell the stories of each song. This theater and the stage set-up really lent itself to allow me to have more of a dialogue with the audience. I LOVE being able to do that.

Tonight was a really big night for the band, too. Last year in Feb, we were heading to Wisconsin when we got hit on the interstate.... we never made it... So to make it tonight, and actually play the show... well, that was a big deal!!!

As we were loading in - we saw 5 deer just hanging out on campus!!! It was so beautiful!



These 3 guys were JAMMING OUT in the front row right in front of Miguel the WHOLE night. It was awesome :)

I like Zombie-Hoot in this picture. :)

The boy on the left? He's a cello player. His sister? She plays the violin. :) They both take Suzuki lessons which is how I started!!
How fun to have a sibling to play with!


Happy Anniversary!!! :) Shhh... don't tell Ramon, but he is getting a cd!!!


DATE NIGHT!!! First night out alone without the kids. :) They have a 6 month old and a 22 month old. PHWEW!!!! Yeah, I'd say they were definitely in need of a night out!!!!


LOOK at that cute little guy on her backpack!!! I LOVE him! :)


Emily just got cast in the Music Man!!! YAY!!! Congrats sweet girl! And she still had homework she had to go home and do after my show (it was about 9:45 at picture time). The life of an artist!!! Brings back memories...


I have to say a HUGE thank you to our sound guys again. One of our easiest sound checks ever. John, you have got to be one of the nicest and most accommodating sound men in the world. You're so fun to work with! And thanks is GREATLY due to Dwight who REALLY took care of us tonight. Thank you for the chicken parm, bringing us to Wisconsin, unbelievable amounts of kindness, and even escorting us to our hotel! (since Jeeves failed miserably tonight at that one) For anyone who is confused - Jeeves is our GPS unit - he has a British accent, so he is our "Jeeves".


And can I just say? Thanks for reading! Hope to see all the Indy folks out at the Rathskeller tomorrow night! WOO HOO!

Peace, Love, Fiddle

Driving to Vermont

Today we have driven and driven and driven....

We had a minor detour when our GPS, Jeeves, (we have it set to the British voice) decided to try to route us through Canada AGAIN!!!! We had agreed on a route at the start of the trip, and for some odd reason, without notifying us, he decided to change our route to take us OUT OF THE COUNTRY. Why in the heck would a GPS that asks you if you want to take toll roads or not.... NOT ASK YOU IF YOU WANT TO CROSS INTERNATIONAL BORDERS!?!?! Plus, it was going to ADD hours onto the trip. So strange. Luckily, James noticed that we were a little too far north in Michigan than actually made sense. And we got back on track and only lost an hour and a half or two.

So we are still driving. We are going to stop in a little while around 3:30am or so. That way, we'll only have 6-7 hours left tomorrow.

Maybe on our way out of Vermont we'll have time to stop at the Ben and Jerry's factory. That would be yummy. And one of the best things ever.