Cafe 939

These days a lot of places feel like home...

The Suburban

Hotels

Toll Roads

My manager's house

Waking up in strange places is one of the most consistent things in my life right now :)

But there's something so unbelievably nostalgic about walking up and down the streets of Boston. We were walking back to the car tonight at about 2am. We were around the Berklee neighborhood. And there were TONS of people on the streets. I had forgotten how packed the streets are on a Saturday night. Everyone is out. And most everyone is college age. And it felt like home.

And even though I had never played in this venue before tonight, nor did it even exist when I went to school there - it felt so normal. The place was packed. But the weirdest part about the show was the fact that everyone sat on the floor. That was a first for me. It kinda felt like a really rocked out story-time. :)

It was Cafe 939's birthday so they were having a big bash. The first act was Liz Longley and her band. And WOW. She was unbelievable. Seriously. Her songs. Her voice. Her writing. Her band. Her arrangements. All Fantastic.
And then we went on, did our thing and had a blast as usual.
And then Gina Cimmelli went on after us. I didn't really get to hear much of her because I was talking to everyone who came to my show and thanking them all. She was adorable and the one song I did hear was her "happy" song and she totally played a kazoo solo. It reminded me of the Popeye song "He Need's Me" - which my roommates performed at a 'Love is Deaf' Valentine's Day concert... so I have heard it a lot recently.... while they were practicing.. :)

Here's Liz and her band:



These girls were at our show at the Matterhorn. And they told me they wore their scarves for me!!! YAY!!!



This couple was so sweet. They sat right in front and I figured they were Berklee students. They both look like musicians to me :) But I found out after the show that they are just country fans. She saw my add on facebook for the show and they decided to come! We recently tried buying adds for a few of the shows... and we have been curious to see if they work. And they totally DO!!!! Also.... he goes to the Harvard Business School. I just met some guys at the Matterhorn who go to the Harvard Business School. I still had the pics in my camera so I showed them to him - he totally knew them!!! How funny is that? Wow.


Kristen and Sadie!!!
Kristen and I met a few years ago but she has never gotten to come to a show. It was SOOOO good to see her. And she had ordered a cd online the day I released it. So she brought it to the show and I signed it for her. I hadn't seen one of the original cds in a LONG time!!! So cool!!!


And then we got to go hang out afterwards with Jorge and Valentina!!! Jorge is one of Miguel's friends from Chile who is currently going to Berklee. And Valentina, his girlfriend is probably one of the sweetest people alive. We always have so much fun with them!


And then... 1:30am on a Saturday night at Berklee???? SUPREME'S!!!!!! Just like old times :) I went and got my steak and cheese with mushrooms.... James got his spaghetti with meatballs... College all over again....

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Stowe, Vermont

What a weekend!!!

I can't say enough about how beautiful Stowe is. We could see a bit more of the landscape this time instead of just piles of snow :) But I like the piles of snow too... SOOO different from Tennessee.

The show on Friday night was really fun. It was a good crowd and a really good show on our part. There were a few key dancers on the dance floor that NEVER stopped. They kept the party going the whole evening.

The first person that came up to me was a very sweet girl who said "Are you Natalie?" I said, "Yeah." She said, "I heard you have a Chilean in your band!" And I eagerly pointed at Miguel. She was off!!! Miguel is quite popular in Stowe :) There are a lot of Chileans and Peruvians that work at the ski resort - and their housing is across the street from the Matterhorn! There was a whole group that came to support him.


John had the coldest job in the bar. He was our doorman both nights, and brrr. But at least it was 30 this time rather than the -15 we experienced last time - THAT was REALLY cold for him.


Saturday was quite a day. We had 2 shows. One was up on the mountain and then the night show was at the Matterhorn again. We were a bit concerned with the first show. Naturally, I was a worried about singing for 8 hours in one day.... they were both long shows. But even more so - we had to tear all our gear down at the club, load it into the trailer, drive 1/2 a mile up the road.... (and then the logistics of getting into the ski resort.... WHEW! Absolute chaos.), set up everything, do the show, tear down, reload the trailer, and then go unload and set up and do a whole other show.

We had NO idea what the show was going to be like at the ski lodge. We have a few days in April where we will have 2 shows in one day, but none of those will be 4 hour long shows.... So this was the day we were all the most apprehensive about. You know what, though? Everyone there - Everyone - helped out so much. Paul was a freakin workhorse. And everyone at the lodge was pitching in. We had a long way to load in all the gear - up an elevator through some curvy hallways and then through the dining area to the stage. But it didn't FEEL that way. It is amazing how when a lot of people pitch in to help - the work gets done SO quickly. Everyone's hospitality made the whole situation SOOO much better.

So the ski lodge? Gorgeous. It was GINORMOUS. (yes, that is an actual word people. Well, not really, but it should be) It was this really open room with food, a bar and glass widows all the way around so you could see the mountains outside. I have never played a gig before where I watched people skiing during the show!!! That was pretty cool, I must admit.

The show was from 2-6 (although set up took longer than usual, and we got a late start. But everyone was cool. Normally that would STRESS me out - but it was obvious we were working as fast as possible). And there were so many kids there. We had one group that pulled their chairs right up to the front of the stage. And did they sit in them? NOPE. They STOOD in them and screamed "You're AWESOME" and "You Rock" the whooooooole show. It was pretty amazing. Needless to say, our show was a bit different from a bar set or a typical "Natalie" show. I tried to incorporate the kids as much as possible. Especially since they were such a great audience!!!

These were the main front row girls who attracted MANY MANY more throughout the set. And I signed the one little girl's pink cast which she is showing off here. :)



This little boy was adorable!!! He was so shy when it came time to ask me... But he wanted me to sign his ski helmet. THAT was a first!!!


Signing ski boots was another first!




Ava wanted me to sign her hands. "Natalie" on one palm and "Stovall" on the other palm.


Then ALL of them wanted it:


Miguel gave a guitar lesson:


And James let a British chick play his drums:


There was a birthday party with about 200 people there too. It was Jim's 50th birthday! But Jim had a guest who was not prepared for the music. She came up to the stage and yelled at us - said she had to listen to us for TOO LONG (She was ANGRY) and wanted us to turn "all the way down"! I tried to be polite, and said "Ma'am, we only have 2 songs left, and then we're done." That did not matter. She kept yelling. But the song had already started. And no matter how much I tried to reason with her... she wouldn't listen. Even though it was 5:50!!! I wish stuff like that didn't get to me... but I found myself trying to sing "quieter". Ugh. Can't win em all. But the rest of the ginormous room seemed happy. :)

We finished the show, I signed some more interesting things - the inside hoods of jackets, tags or shirts.... you name it. Then we packed up and headed back down the mountain to the Matterhorn. When we got there, Gerry had his horse "Annie Oakley" tied up at the post. As soon as I got out of the car, he announced to everyone in the parking lot (he had been at the show the night before) "There's the singer!!! Natalie, come on. I brought Annie Oakley down for you to ride" I was SO excited he was gonna let me ride her!!! I shared one pic a couple of days ago. This was me right AFTER the ride.



Hootie got a turn, too. Right before he got off of her, she did a full body shake, and nearly shook him OFF! It was hilarious.


The show was AMAZING. It was PACKED just like last time. And I was really excited because there were a lot of people who had seen us there in January that came back this time!!! That always makes it fun.


This guy had me sign his shirt last time :) So he wanted to keep the Tradition alive I guess!!!


I had never met a world famous dog trainer before! But this is Alex and he's the trainer of Ashley Whippet. It is quite an amazing story - he and his increible dog Ashley have been on the David Letterman Show, The Today Show, you name it! Ashley has caught a frisbee on it!


It was the first time a fan has ever made and brought chex mix to a show for me!!! And mmm. mmmm. mmmmmm. He makes it with Worcestershire Sauce - just like my Mamma does!


These guys were all from the Harvard Business School. Pretty cool, huh?


Look at how much fun they are!!!


The Matterhorn did not disappoint. It was so incredible last time, that I didn't want it to be a disappointment this time. They had told us the season was winding down and it might not be as crowded, but it was AWESOME!!! It's just such a great bar. They have amazing food, enthusiastic clientele, and they even have Woodchuck on tap! HECK YEAH!!!! It's just good people, you know?

So after an amazing show, we are getting ready to head back to the hotel at 3am. James gets in Paul's car, and then Hootie, Miguel, and I are taking the Suburban. But as we are getting in the car, there is OBVIOUSLY a party going on inside the building we are next to. Miguel said, "OH!!! That must be the party they (the Chileans) were telling me about!" We walked in to see what was going on and we saw all these people who had been at the show. Everyone was dancing and getting down to Reggaeton (which was new to me!) and people were just having a good ole time. It was really fun. We couldn't stay because it was so late, but I wanted to!!! They were having so much fun. Ahh. Vermont is just filled with good people.

Driving back to Tennessee was looooooooooong. But good. And I love it here. Home is a good place to be. If only for 2 nights. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.

Mt. Ida College!!!

Mt. Ida college was a lot of fun tonight. I love ANY excuse to go to Boston and ESPECIALLY when that "excuse" is playing a show! Plus, Hootie's sister Hannah went to Mt. Ida, so we already knew all about the school before we got there! (Thanks for those directions, Hannah... we needed HELP!)

The show tonight was in this cool student area called the "Shaw Living Room" and it reminded me of the shows we used to play at the MIT Sig Ep house.... you know... "back in the day" :)

They pretty quickly turned this very old, dark wood living room area into a concert hall. You take all the couches out, hire a sound crew and put a band on stage, and it looked like the room was meant for live shows!

Miguel and I were pretty excited. There is this one little part in "Freebird" that we have not been playing perfectly together - it was only a couple of notes but EVERY TIME we play the dang medley, I would get frustrated cause I would think "DANGIT!! I forgot to talk out this part with Miguel again" Well, we remembered in the car tonight on our way to dinner. And of course, he was going through the same thing - just kept forgetting to bring it up. So we worked it out quickly before the show, and got it perfect tonight! Whew. That felt so good.

After the show we made lots of new friends, but we had quite a few old friends show up as well. :)

I met Wayne (tallest dude in back) a couple of weekends ago at the Matterhorn in Vermont. He brought 5 of his friends to the show tonight!!!! They were rocking it out in the "balcony" :) I was so glad they were able to come! It's just amazing that we met first in Vermont and then he was at our show in Boston. I love being on tour :)


These guys were from Saudi Arabia! And tonight they were at a country concert at their college in Massachusetts. Sure seems to make the world small, huh? I wish I had caught their names - twin brothers and a friend. :)



Brittany (blonde on left) and Doug took such good care of us tonight! And Doug ended up buying 3 cds because none of his friends had any money. Welcome to college.


These guys liked the "free hugs". They came back for seconds.


Mr. Nate Telow and his beautiful "honorary southern" girlfriend Lisa! Nate was my VERY first guitar player in my VERY first band, Green Line South. He was part of the band the the first summer when all the guys moved into my parents' house and we played shows all around Nashville. Good Times! Oh, and did I mention that he won the Massachusetts State Body Building Championship??? Amazing.


Miguel's friend George from Chile (who now goes to Berklee) and his girlfriend came out!!! We all went out for a drink with Paul, my manager after the show. We dropped George and his girlfriend off at the T but after we left, he called Miguel to say that the Train had stopped running for the evening. We were already almost to Paul's (where we had to drop the trailer) so then we came back to the T to pick them up, and now they are sleeping in Miguel's room tonight!!! It's like a Chilean slumber party next door :) I love it - I could hear Miguel's laugh through the wall!!!!


No one came to see Hootie. :(

(He's probably just missing Bridget)

And just because I can...


I leave you with the last shot of the evening.... My pirate husband.

peace, love, fiddle

Our Weekend in Stowe!

If you ever go to Stowe Vermont, it would be hard not to end up at the Matterhorn. It's this great little bar right next to the mountain with incredible food (the sushi is amazing!), live music, and an "everybody knows everybody" kind of feel. It's great because most of the people are from out of town and are just there skiing - but EVERYONE knows Charlie - the owner.


Charlie is the one in the Black shirt. :)

It reminds me of Sam Hill's in Columbia, TN. (My favorite bar in the world) EVERYONE knows Peter, the owner of Sam Hill's. And if you don't, you will before the night is over. :) So I felt right at home at the Matterhorn. Well.... except for the -12 degree weather.

It's amazing how quickly we adapt, though. When we were loading our gear to leave on Sunday afternoon, it was 14 outside. And I was thinking, "Wow, it isn't THAT cold today".


I had a lot of "Firsts" at the Matterhorn. :)

My first time in Vermont.

My first time to play 2 full shows in one day at the same bar! We played happy hour from 4:15-6:30 and 9-12:30. WHEW!

My first time to experience -12 degree weather.

My first time to watch a snow storm from stage.

The first time I have ever seen liquids explode from a can because of the cold. (oops. we left some sprites, waters, red bulls, and cokes in the car that were left over from our Greenroom in Peoria. I didn't know the difference!!!)
This is Hootie licking his frozen Propel....


My first time to witness a volleyball tournament in the snow.


My first time drinking out of a mug that had just been carved out of a block of ice.



My first time to help give away a snow board from stage. (Jagermeister gave one away Friday and Heineken gave one away Saturday during the Happy Hour Show)

My first time witnessing a "frozen t-shirt" contest. The way Heineken gave away a snow board was by the frozen t-shirt contest. They got 8 volunteers and handed them shirts that been dipped in water and then frozen.... the first to get a shirt on over their clothes won! It was really entertaining!

The first time we've ever stayed in a hotel where Miguel and Hootie had to sleep in bunk beds! HA! There was one full bed for James and me and then bunk beds for the guys. It was such a cute little "mountain lodge" room. :)

The first time I couldn't hear myself at all in the monitor during the last set because the crowd was singing so loud.


My first time at the Ben and Jerry's factory :)


So yeah. It was a REALLY REALLY fun weekend. Driving into Stowe just looked like Santa's village (as described by Hootie). They tried to open a Walmart and a Dunkin Donuts in Stowe and it was voted down by everyone. That's how cool and quaint this town is! I would love to try ALL the restaurants. They all look so good!

I shall leave you with a few more fun pics from the evening. ALL of them can be seen at:
www.nataliestovall.com

This is sweet Ava. She's Charlie's daughter and she made me the sweetest picture that says "You are a great singer!" Isn't she beautiful?



DAVE-O!!!! Go Red Sox!!!




These girls thought that Hootie looked just like Agent McGee from NCIS. :) And they wanted us to play a Pussycat Dolls song.... but we didn't know that one :)


These two got engaged at the Matterhorn a year ago. They had a huge party with 50 of their friends. They were all divided into teams that were competing all weekend. I was told that whichever team could convince us to come back to their lodge after the show WON. Awesome. :) But after 3 shows in 2 days, needing to load gear in 0 degree weather and a 22 hour drive ahead of us... we didn't quite make it to their cabin. But I thought that was pretty funny :)-




And this was a group of Chileans!!! They are in Stowe working for a few months in a foreign exchange program! They were all VERY proud of Miguel!



I think we ALL have come away from the Matterhorn with a BUNCH of great stories. Many I have shared. And as usual... there are quite a few that I can't ;) But I think it is safe to say that none of us will forget our first weekend in Vermont!

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and Ice Cream

~natalie

Peace, Love, and Ice Cream

Everyone that we talked to this weekend calls Stowe "The Aspen of the Northeast".

It is the home of Ben And Jerry's. And it is also home of the Trapp Family Lodge... as in the "Sound of Music".

We went to the Ben and Jerry's factory to take a tour, but it was going to be 45 minutes before the next tour AND they weren't making ice cream today. Plus, we'll have a bit more time when we come back to Stowe in March. In a 22 hour drive - we just don't have 45 minutes to sit around and wait! But our next trip up there.... we are going to do the tour (it looks like it will be AWESOME). And I hope to make it to at least go skiing one day while we are there, too. More on all this later. Now, it is bed time. :) We're somewhere a little past Rochester New York.

I was pretty excited about the "Peace, Love, Ice Cream" sign. So much that I bought a shirt!



~natalie