SMRT

Sleep Deprivation + Using My Husband's Computer to work = bad idea.

I feel blonder than normal at the moment... Like not my natural color blonde... more like bleached white....

I was trying to be all productive just now... feeling really good about all the work I've gotten done today. (Man. It's amazing what you can get done when you wake up EARLY).

This evening I accidentally discovered facebook chat. It's just like ichat or aim but, it's within facebook so it shows you all of your friends that are logged in. That was fun to discover. :) I talked to friends I have made from schools all over the country. It was pretty cool. It inspired me to do a little extra promotion for my Virginia Wesleyan show on Friday.

Hmmm.... But my computer was dying... so I stole... I mean, borrowed James'. Amazingly, he wasn't on it. That poker on the iphone... had him cornered! So in my laziness, instead of getting up to dig out my charger and find an outlet... I just picked up my husband's.

This is where it all went downhill. I had started inviting people to the show about a week ago when we were in Boston. And when I picked up James' computer, he was already logged into facebook.... but I didn't really THINK about the fact that I was in HIS account. Not my own. Soooo I mosey on over to the event for the show and start inviting more "maybe attendings". (We played this show last year. It was so fun and I am REALLY excited to go back) I kept thinking people looked familiar, but I figured I recognized them from last year. I knew my account would tell me if I had already sent them a message.

Riiiight. I HAD sent them messages. But James hadn't!

So not only does "Natalie Stovall" look suspiciously like a dude who plays the drums.... I invited some of them TWICE. Once from MY profile... once from James'.

Good one Nat.

So anyone who is thoroughly confused when they go into their facebook profiles tonight... I apologize. I was only excited and trying to let you know about the show. And though my husband REALLY wants you to come to the show, too.... he would prefer that I stop impersonating him while using my name to invite people.


Other than that? GREAT Day. We got Hoot Back. Jenn and Ella made it back home to Nashville safely, and we are already in Maine. We aren't too far away from our destination, so we won't have to drive too far tomorrow.

But judging by the recent events... I should probably work on that whole "going to bed thing" before I post a blog in all Chilean slang or something.

Wait. But that would be pretty cool... I WANT that to happen. Miguel? Go in and translate all of this to make me look cool. Ok? Thanks. I mean Gracias.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Feature on Today'sCountryMusicVideos.com

Pretty Exciting stuff!

www.TodaysCountryMusicVideos.com

Thank you so much!!! That was another really fun alert to wake up to :)

Today was definitely a day of rest and thankfulness. It was a beautiful (and a bit chilly) Easter Sunday in New York City. I woke up this morning to a Brunch complete with a chocolate bunny by my plate.

Tomorrow... we leave NYC, drop off Jenn and Ella in Philly, pick up Hootie in Boston, and head to Maine. :)

Peace, Love, Fiddle
~natalie

Running Down A Dream

Today was a really good food day :)

We ate lunch at Red Robin my FAVORITE!!! It was on Stephen King Dr. - creepy....
And tonight we ate at a Boston Market! I am so bummed they don't have any in Nashville anymore. That place is SO good. I used to stop by the one next to my apartment in Boston when I needed good veggies but didn't have time to cook them myself. :)

We left Maine this afternoon at check out and just decided to drive until LOST came on. It is the first time we have all gotten to watch Lost when it actually comes on tv so far this season! :) It was nice not to have to rush anywhere today. We only have to drive 5 hours tomorrow to get to Arcadia for our show. That is so nice!

We watched the first disc of "Running Down a Dream" the Tom Petty documentary. It is SOOOO inspiring. Tom and all the "Heartbreakers" and many others are interviewed and talk about their journey from day one. Stevie Nicks says repeatedly that if she could have, she would have left Fleetwood Mac and joined The Heartbreakers. :) It adds a whole new level of inspiration to be in the back of the Suburban actively running down my own dream while listening to the artists I look up to. Listening to Tom Petty talking about what all he had to do to get where he is today... well.... it's good fuel! Literally.

When he is asked who his influences are, he says "The Radio" (and the 60's) which made me feel so normal! I always felt a little "uncool" to say that as a musician. (I have gotten over that now), but back when I was at school at Berklee, it felt strange to admit how much of a radio listener I have always been. I guess partially because it made me sound like "just a singer." And not to perpetuate stereo-types, but Berklee is full of ridiculously good musicians; it's kind of like the academic side of music to be in school there. And there was a certain respect that seemed to come with being into hardcore jazz and anything with an odd time signature or as many blue notes as one can fit... While I appreciate music that I have to "think" about while I listen to it - well... that stuff just doesn't move me like a "pop" song. How ironic is it that it isn't "popular" in certain music circles to admit that you like "popular" music? Hmmmm....

I must admit... I am pretty stoked about the fact that it is only midnight. I haven't gotten in bed before 4:30am or later the last few nights. Too much to do!!! But my pillows at this Comfort Inn are calling. Don't wanna leave em hanging.

NIGHT NIGHT!

~natalie

Husson University: Bangor, Maine

Favorite conversation from the car today:

I was driving and I asked if anyone else was hungry or ready to eat.

James: "Sure, I could eat"

Miguel: "Oh yeah, I could eat"

Hootie: "I have a mouth"

Yup. That's Hoot. :)

Last night when we got back from our very short venture into Boston (I had just enough time to get a Nutella Smoothie.... really my only request when we get into the city), there were two little girls waiting on a "concert". :) We were staying at Paul's house (my manager) for a couple nights in Newton. And his sweet little girl Gracie and her friend, Madison, who is VERY musical, were wanting a show! We were all set up in the living room from rehearsing the night before and earlier that afternoon. So really, it was a great opportunity for us to run through our new songs with an audience! It was perfect. :) Gracie and Madison both grabbed some guitars (I believe Madison brought her own) and "jammed" with us!



Today we drove to Bangor, Maine. I had some friends from Bangor at Berklee, but I have never ventured that high up into Maine until today! As soon as we crossed over the border into Maine, something seemed to change. It felt like I stepped into a painting of every New England winter scene I have ever seen. The rivers and ponds are completely frozen with the rocks covered in snow and ice. And the landscape is so distinct. It's just beautiful. I really am getting to see a lot of snow on this trip!!!

Husson University was a huge success tonight. Our show was packed with a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience. And I think we had the largest sound crew we've ever had!!! It was actually a class of students from NESCOM (New England School of Communications) and they picked our show as one of their projects to run. My attention was immediately caught by the mic on my stand. They had a Neumann KMS 104 on it!!! Ok. I know that is probably gibberish to most of you, but that is a REALLY REALLY nice live microphone!!! And I have NEVER played a show where they have supplied Neumann's! I have one myself, but I have never used someone else's before. Crazy. And the board they had - they purchased after it had been used in the Beijing Olympics. So yeah we got spoiled rotten with equipment tonight. The students did a great job, too. They were each taking turns riding the faders during the show. And I believe they are sending us a recording of the show as well. We've been on a streak of the sound guys recording our shows for us lately! It's really great "tape" for us to listen to... Kind-of like watching "tape" in football.... it's good studying for us!

Here's our Largest Sound Crew EVER.


Becca Loebe and Jenn Grinels came to our show!!! Becca went to Berklee and we have been running into each other on the college circuit randomly for the last few years. She is one of the sweetest and most genuine girls in the world. And she is a fantastic folk singer. So heartfelt. And Jenn. Wow. Tonight was the first time I ever met her, but I really want to see her live now, too. Her music is SO great on her myspace page.
Becca and Jenn both played an afternoon show at Husson, and then they went to the University of Maine to play a show tonight. THEN they drove all the way back to Husson to catch the end of our show. Such sweethearts!!
Go check out Becca:
http://www.myspace.com/rebeccaloebe '
And Jenn:
www.myspace.com/jenngrinels




After we talked for a little while, Becca said "Oh! I have a present for you, Natalie! I was looking at you onstage and thought - 'she just doesn't look like she belongs here'" (You know, southern girl up in Maine). So she gave me some hand warmers to keep me all warm and cozy in the Northeastern Frigidness. I'm just glad I wasn't here when it was -45 a few weeks ago!

The top one is in English and the bottom one is in spanish - so I guess the top hand-warmer is mine and the bottom one is Miguel's :)

Greg!!! He was the man in charge tonight who took VERY VERY good care of us. Plus, he had on an Anchorman shirt which made me want to be friends with him immediately.


Courtney!!! She was our contact at the school. She was SO sweet from the beginning. She gave us directions all day, helped me take pics at the merch booth, and stayed until the very last piece of equipment was loaded. And yeah. She has a nursing exam in the morning. We didn't get out of there until after midnight. Courtney's a champion!


These girls grabbed their front row seats well before sound check. They were right up front all night, singing along and making me feel so great!


Let's just say... I felt pretty safe at this show


These girls were CRACKING me up. Rachael, on the far left, came up to the table and said "Ok, we've scrounged enough money together to buy a cd" She had coins and dollars and it was adorable. So all 4 of them were sharing the one cd. I love it!


They made such cute shirts for this event, too. It was the big concert in the middle of their "Winter Week". I love when we get t-shirts at schools. It's such a great way to remember where we played. And I REALLY like it when they put us ON the t-shirt. Although, James and I have been "matching" a little too often lately. :)~ We never mean to, but we keep wearing the same shirts for bed. If you saw how much we have on the same outfits, I am not sure whether you'd find it endearing or creepy. We can't decide, either.



You know what is so cool? Before I even got back to the hotel - there were already pics of the show uploaded to facebook from people who were there tonight. I love the internet. It really blows my mind!
I have to thank Cam Smith for providing this next photo!



And I have to thank everyone who came out tonight. The show was packed and it was a very appreciative audience. They even got us to do an encore!!! It was so much fun! I made everyone get out of their seats for the encore, though. There is NO WAY you can sit down for Journey! :)

Thanks for EVERYTHING tonight Husson! I hope to do it again sometime!!!

Peace, love, fiddle and yee haw!

~natalie

Jesse Sampson

Meet Jesse Sampson!



This is the child that James and I sponsored through the Raining Season.
$130 means this handsome young man from Sierra Leone, Africa gets tuition for school for an entire year, books, a uniform, and a meal per day!

And this right here is the greatest part of the Raining Season. With this organization, you can keep up with what they are doing on each mission trip through their blogs and posts. And you KNOW that your money is going towards truly helping those in need.

For more info on the Raining Season:
www.therainingseason.org

And now.... I sleep a little bit before a long drive to Maine tomorrow!!!

Night y'all.
Peace, Love, Fiddle

Winter/Spring 09 Tour Passes

Tonight MORE than made up for any crazy "technical difficulties" and headlocks with people screaming in my ear that went on last night!!! The place was packed out. Lots of friends and family came to the show, as well as LOTS of newbies :) I love playing at the Jack. It's like going out of town without actually going out of town. :) The majority of people are usually from the business conferences that take place at the Opryland Hotel. So it is actually pretty rare that people are in the Jack who actually live in Nashville.

I can't tell you how many times we have showed up in some random city and people are at the show because they saw us at the Jack!!! It is so cool. And tonight, there was a couple from Maine that plans on being at our show at Bates college in Lewiston on Thursday! It is so funny to think that I met someone in Nashville on Saturday who may be at our show in Maine on Thursday!

So I have to show something off a little bit :) I am really proud of it! (James has been working hard on a lot of fun projects.) And we now all have official Winter/Spring Tour Passes. : ) I know you can just look at the schedule on one of the many websites (NatalieStovall.com, myspace, facebook, reverbnation.... all the goodies) But this one is just so fun and colorful! Check it out and to see us if we are playing at a town near you!

If you click on the actual poster - it will come up much bigger in another window.... you know... so you can read it.



Hope to see you out on the road!

~peace, love, and finally got the fiddle working again. :)~

Hoods and Back Doors Flying Everywhere!

It was a good day today :)

I finally fell asleep somewhere around 7am. Didn't sleep very hard because I was so worried about waking up on time. :) Got up at 9:30 and headed to my writing session. On the way there.... my trunk flew open on my jeep... It's a Cherokee so the "trunk" is really just a back door. I was driving down the road and all of a sudden I could hear the cars and semi's WAY too loudly :) It's happened before... and gear has fallen out in the middle of the road... but thankfully, there was nothing in it today. I safely was able to pull over and get it latched quickly. Thank goodness I had already gotten off the interstate!

What happened was:
When we got in early this morning - I tried to open the back door to load the sound system into it. But the door was frozen shut. We realized we were probably taking the sound system on the next trip so we decided to leave it in the trailer. When I tried to open the door, it must have come unlatched... just enough. Even though I body slammed it (I was suspicious of it opening since it's happened before), and LOCKED it.... that all proved futile this morning while I was driving. Apparently my body slam isn't quite as ferocious as one might think. Once the door unthawed - it was open for the whole world to see!

That's much better than the night the hood flew up and covered my entire windshield on the interstate. I had given James' car a jump and I guess I didn't slam the hood down all the way. Once I picked up speed and the wind caught underneath it.... the hood flew up, rendering me completely blind to the road. I couldn't even see to get over. I was in the right lane though, and James helped talk me through getting to the shoulder. It all happened so fast. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I was on the way to a show that night, too. I was so shaken when I got there. Man, that was JUST the beginning of that night. But that's a whole other blog :)

So today was my first writing session with a lady named Angela Lauer. I am a big fan of her writing and we had such a great first day together! We have a lot more sessions on the books, so I'll have a lot of music to share with you soon :)

I came home and did an interview over the phone for our show at Bates College for next week. I am excited to go play in Lewiston, Maine! My very first guitar player at Berklee - Mr. Nate Telow is from Lewiston. He was in Green Line South and lived at my house with the band the first summer we played around Nashville. He has gone on the be the Massachusetts State Body Building champion!!! He used to train me back in my "buff days"... :) So I have been to Lewiston before, but never played at Bates!

And then I did a very monumental thing. I went to the grocery store!!!!! WOOO HOO!!! We are here for a few days, so I actually got to go get food to cook at home. It's such a rare occurrence. It makes me feel all normal and stuff. :) But alas.... it's 3:30 in the morning... and I am just now thinking about bed. So I guess I am back to being all weird and musiciany. But who am I kidding? I like it that way. :)