Jealous of the Angels

Tonight I had one of those exceptional experiences - where I was so thankful just to be in the room.

My good friends Jenn Bostic, Charlie Hutto, and Travis Thibodeaux (along with 2 other writers I didn't know) played a show at the Bluebird Cafe. But somewhere between the clever hooks and summer drinking songs, Jenn got up to play a song that made the room feel like it had frozen in time.

When she was 10 she was in a tragic car accident that killed her father. It was one of the main things that pushed her into music. I know that she still has a hard time talking about it. So it was a surprise to hear her talking about it on stage. But I soon understood why. I don't remember ever crying that hard at a song in public. It was beautiful. It was so honest and genuine. It felt like the whole room was holding their breath those three and a half minutes because no one wanted to miss a word.

I found a video of her singing it on Youtube that I want to share. I can't wait for her to record this. And if you ever get the chance to hear her sing it live - GO. She plays in Nashville, Boston, Minnesota, and Colorado most often, but she tours everywhere.

She tells a little more about the story in this video and then sings "Jealous of the Angels"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGL5hY-B0vk

I can't imagine it's an easy thing to sing this song - ever. She got quite emotional trying to play it tonight which only made it more moving. It's so inspiring and reminds me that as artists we have such a responsibility to get down to the most honest place possible. When you can do that - truly dig into that brutally honest place that normally you don't even want to admit out loud - you can write songs that can move mountains. Not all songs need to be that way. But I hope and pray for that kind of honesty in my writing. And I am so proud of her for reaching that place.

Here's her website which has much more music from her recently released album, "Keep Looking For Love". The album is fantastic, and was produced by one of my favorite co-writers (and great friend) Mr. Charlie Hutto.

http://www.jennbostic.com

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Running Out of Eggs Is Awesome

You know when you run out of eggs and it's annoying cause you thought you had more?

That little event - running out of eggs - made me SO HAPPY TODAY!!!! Do you know how long it has been since we have run out of something because we ATE it all??? You know.... instead of throwing it out because we were only here long enough to eat a little bit and then it was out of date by the time we got back. Yeah. That feeling of not wasting our food was AWESOME.

I have spent the last few hours going through all my songwriting ideas I have jotted down, or memos I have recorded on my phone. I can't believe how many great ideas I have that are just sitting there!!! I really thought I would be able to write more on the road this year. But with everything going on, it just rarely happens. At least so far that has been the case. The addition of some of our new band members for next year may change all that! WOO HOO!!!

But I am pumped to get back into the swing of writing. My good friend Jenn Bostic and I are writing tomorrow. It is our first time writing together. She is an incredible singer and songwriter. When I was at Berklee - I was the "country" girl that sang all the country songs in the showcases. After I graduated - Jenn arrived and she was the token "country girl" :) So tomorrow... the "Berklee Country Girls" UNITE. Watch out.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~nat

PHOTO SHOOT DAY!!!

YAY!!!! :)

Today was so much fun. Ridiculous, glamorous, hard work, pampering, and FUN FUN FUN!

We hired miss Amanda Van Sandt to shoot and Lorena Lopez for hair and make-up. Lorena had not 1 but 2 amazing helpers - miss Shaina for hair and Katie for make-up.
Here's Lo and Shaina workin on me :)


I want to work with BOTH of these ladies as much as possible. I have done many shoots before, but only a couple for myself... And I have NEVER been this happy with my hair and make-up. These two ladies are unbelievably talented individually, but put them together? Dream Team.

My good friend, miss Jenn Bostic, got her photos done for her album with Amanda a few weeks ago and I FLIPPED over the shots. James and I both knew immediately we needed to work with her and that she would be PERFECT for this record.

Amanda has worked with a lot of my friends - Kingbilly, Alana Grace, Kree Harrison plus some Huge stars here and in NY and LA.

Lorena... ummm.... where do I start? Britney. Eminem. P. Diddy.... I thought this video was fun on her website. It's just a tiny example of the hair and make-up design she has done:


And we got to shoot in the HUGE white house that you see driving down I65 at Peytonsville Rd... the one with the buffalo!!! The one I have admired since it was built... I would drive by it EVERY DAY on the way to school in Franklin. I feel like I've said this a lot lately... but again, today... I felt like the coolest kid in school.

We did a bunch of different outfits and I am freaking out to see all the shots!! (And we just wrapped a couple of hours ago.) A day like today makes the record feel like it's REALLY happening and coming together. And tomorrow... I put vocals on the final song!! WOOT WOOT!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Last Night in Nashville for 6 Weeks!

I had SUCH a long list of things I needed to do this week while I was at home.

I got the most important ones going.... you know... writing music!!! :) I am walking away with 3 songs finished and many more in the works. But ALL the other little things... :) they took a little back seat...

It's ok though!! I mean, really?? This week: Thursday I am opening for Josh Gracin in Mansfield PA. :) Friday I am singing for the Boston Celtics at a home game, and Sat I am playing at Cafe 939 in Boston - basically at Berklee. :) What a fun way to get this last leg of the tour rolling!!!!

Before I get back to doing laundry, packing, and realizing all the things I meant to do this week that never got done.... I have to give a shout-out to my good friend Mr. Charlie Hutto. We wrote yesterday and I finally got to catch up on all of his good news!!!

Just to remind everyone how I know Charlie: we met at Berklee, played a bunch together at school, and then when he moved to Nashville - he was in the band for a long time until we started going on the road full time.

Along with being an incredible songwriter, upcoming producer (he just produced another good friend, Jenn Bostic's record), and fantastic guitar player....
He is the Band leader and the "Riley" part of Williams Riley Band. :)
The Williams Riley Band just added their new single "I'm Still Me" to radio this week. And the video was added to CMT today!!!

Williams Riley Band   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

They added the song on the same week as Keith Urban and Brad Paisley's new singles were added... that makes it even MORE difficult to get airplay as a new artist. But we can all help by requesting and spreading the word!!! :)

I'm just very happy for Charlie. They are having a blast on their radio tour right now - and we're gonna be zig-zagging along each other's paths up in the Northeast this week. :)

Hope to see y'all out on the road! We're driving to Rhode Island tomorrow. Well... getting a head start at least.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Berklee Spring Break Trip Show!

Every year Stephen Webber and Pat Pattison, 2 professors from Berklee, put together a Nashville trip for Berklee students. They come down to Nashville during their spring break, and they get to go to all kinds of workshops. It is an incredible opportunity for the students. I remember going to hear Wynonna talk to us for about 2 hours on one of the events I went to. It was so cool. And Ricky Skaggs always invites the students out to sit in on a session. And tomorrow morning they are getting to see Delbert McClinton (one of my Daddy's favorites!!!), Gary Nicholson, and a bunch of players in the studio.

And every year they put together a show with alumni in town. I happened to be in Nashville this one night on our way to Atlanta from Stowe, so I got to be a part of the show!!! It was REALLY fun. The students are so great. Miguel and I just did an acoustic set of 3 songs with a couple of other songwriters. I am AMAZED when I look around at the amount of talent in the room at one of these events.

Half the kids in Kingbilly are from Berklee and they are ALL OVER GAC right now, Megan James just got a Jo Dee Messina cut which is her first single on her new album, most of the kids have Publishing Deals, are cutting a record, or they are touring. It makes me so proud to say I went to Berklee. As cheesy as that sounds. I don't care. I loved every second of going to school there.

Jenn got to come to the show!!! I miss her so much. But of course she couldn't really see Miguel from where she was sitting. Oh well, she got to "hear" him play live tonight :) Step in the right direction..... It's better than her WHOLE FAMIY being at the show while she just has to sit at home in Nashville and listen over the cell phone :(


Berklee girls!!! Not a very common occurance... there's not many of us!!!!


John saw it in the Scene!!! I didn't even know it was a public event or I would have invited people to come!!! (Sorry FFBF!)


Jenn took a little pic of us doing our thing.... she made quite an effort to wiggle her way to the front, so I am posting this picture!!!


Yeah.... we had to show off our Shamrocks! Thanks Jenn!!! Is that a halo above Amy's head?!? Whoa.


And I met Jeff Cook tonight from Alabama! (The fiddle/guitar player) I had just walked in and there weren't a lot of people there yet. I was talking to a friend and this man taps me on the shoulder and asks "Is that a fiddle?" (On my shoulder) I said, "Yes it is" :) And then he introduced himself. Isn't that awesome? Jeff Cook came up to ME and introduced himself. I love Nashville.

Peace. Love. and Gotta have a fiddle in the band!