Happy Birthday El Guapo!

Last night when we arrived at the hotel... Panther realized that he FORGOT his suitcase. Yup. Left it in Nashville.

So for now, this is Panther's suitcase:


We ACTUALLY got to play the show!!! YIPPPEE!!! And it was a Great show. I was soooo nervous about singing Devil tonight. How many times have I sung that song? But yeah - the last night at Schooner's I totally blanked on the last verse and did not recover well. But everything was back to normal today. :) Articles online have already been posted!


Except for the fact that Miguel and I BOTH had issues - in the middle of the medley, my fiddle just STOPPED working. Kaput. I quickly scrambled to tune my other fiddle up to the right place and fell back in with the guys. Plus, Miguel's pedal broke before the show.

But NO WORRIES!!! Dr. Cancino set up shop in the hotel room tonight, after a quick purchase of a soldering iron, and got us back up and running! I would have had no clue. I am so glad he knows how to do that kind of thing! Otherwise I would be down to one fiddle tomorrow!



But the show went great. We made TONS of new friends in Greenwood. Plus it was David's birthday, along with 3 other audience members. We had an awesome birthday dinner for David afterwards. Since Ruby Tuesday doesn't do any major embarrassing song for birthday boys - they made him stand up in his chair (we were the only table in the restaurant) while we all sang Happy Birthday. David did not disappoint - he did the El Guapo dance IN THE CHAIR (from 3 Amigos). Made us all VERY happy.


Our new friends :)
Kathryn and Joey - Two of the SWEETEST kids ever. So cute - Joey REALLY wanted me to see that he was already wearing his Natalie Stovall button :)


And Hack!!! The MAN.


Just a few more of our new friends in Greenwood, SC!








Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I'm Going Global

Chile supports Peace. Love. Fiddle.



Do you?

This drummer probably would. :) If you haven't seen this video yet (tons of people have been posting it on facebook) you need to watch it. WOW is seriously all I got. This gets me all giggly. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItZyaOlrb7E



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Following Our Yellow Brick Road

This morning James and I got the most disturbing wake-up call of all... THE FIRE ALARM.

Ugh. Throw on warm clothes (it was in the 30's this morning in NY!!!!), grab the fiddles and computers, and run outside.

Good thing to know we would have no band right now if the fire had been any worse... Matt was in the shower. Panther thought he heard it, but David assured him it was just his alarm... Still not sure exactly how that one worked. (???) Turns out someone threw their ash tray in the trash can and the trash caught on fire. OOPS.

After a little Starbucks to jolt the ringing out of my ears... I was ready to go for our show at Jefferson Community College in Watertown, NY. It's Chilly up here!!! And Miguel isn't even with us ;)

It was another great Spring Fling with crazy inflatable jousting, laser tag, caricatures, free food and balloons! They had an awesome tent set up for us. But once we got the stage set up... well... this was one time where it was advantageous for me to be short!!! The front of the tent almost hung down in my face! Almost... :) But then we taped it up and you could even see David's face!

Big thanks to Adam Pate for my new favorite artwork hanging up in the trailer! Seriously took him less than 5 minutes!


And thanks to Mary and all the students that brought us here!!!




Our awesome sound guys - Mike and Tom!






After the show... we found... TERIYAKI!!!!!!!!! It wasn't Seattle. we have still yet to find ANYTHING that lives up to the teriyaki phenomenon that exists in Seattle... The search will never end.


Umm. First door we saw when we walked into the hotel for tonight. I really wish we were staying in that room.


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Baby Sol is Here!!!!

Sol Elizabeth Cancino was born today, May 3 (on her due date!) at 3:30pm. My sister said it best, "What a blessing in the middle of such a mess." As most people deal with loss and heartache today around Nashville, the Cancino's have such a blessing in their hands!

She's 6 lbs. 6 oz. 19.5 inches and BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!


We are so excited and happy for Miguel, Jenn, big sister Ella, Abuela, and their whole family!!! Miguel is taking a few weeks off, as he is on full time Daddy Duty! We had a GREAT rehearsal tonight with Matt Hauer, who is filling in Miguel's spot on the road. Matt really knew his stuff when he came in, and I am looking forward to playing with him again. We went to Berklee together and played in bands for other people together - but this is his first time playing in MY band :) Gonna be a good run.

Thank you for the beautiful prayer you posted, Farm Boy. We are all praying for those in Nashville going through such a difficult time. But I will say that our beautiful state is living up to it's "Volunteer" nickname!! The kindness and giving of strangers is overwhelming!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Sleep Remoting, S Polytech State University, and CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE!

I hope Miguel doesn't mind me posting this pic :)
David posted it on his blog with the following caption...
Miguel illustrating his dedication to his van DVD remote obligations:


Miguel has always been the best at operating the DVD player. He'll fall asleep, and wake up JUST to fast forward through the theme songs at the beginnings of episodes. :)


Today we got a do-over!!!! We played at South Polytech State University in Marietta, Georgia. We were supposed to play there last August... We were all set up and ready to take the stage. They had a HUGE production with major lights and staging, and multiple bands... and THEN the thunder and lightening came and washed away any chance of a show. :(

But they brought us back at the END of the year today (they only have two weeks of school left!) to play. And we ACTUALLY got to play!!! I was waiting backstage after David's set for him to introduce me... I looked down and saw a 4-leaf clover! Just like Mamma always does. She has a talent for looking down and finding them without even trying.

The luck wasn't for the show, though. I know that much. :) My wireless mic went out a bunch during the first song. I couldn't tell if it was my monitors or my mic at first. But I figured it was my mic when Panther pushed his mic stand up to the front of the stage for me, and bent it down to my height! He was ON TOP OF IT! :) Turns out the mic had interference... which is something we hadn't had to deal with yet. But we got it worked out after the show. During the show... I used Panther's mic and he and David had to go all "Springsteen" for the rest of the show and share David's mic for all their background vocals. :)

The students took us to the Marietta Diner after the show. I have been dreaming about this Diner since last August. Justin and Miguel walked to it last year at 4 in the morning and raved about how awesome it was. (Plus it was on the Food Network as one of the top 10 Diners in the country.) We tried to go the next day, but it was so packed we couldn't park our trailer!!!
OH. But tonight? The students took us and it was amazing. I got my favorite - eggplant parm. And then. Oh then.

CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE!!!!

I fell in love with Chocolate Chip Cheesecake in Boston at Mike's Pastries in the North End. But no one has it. Seriously. No one. Not even the Cheesecake Factory. They have every kind imaginable! But not chocolate chip. But tonight? HEAVEN.


The whole crew!!! BAND on one side of the table + S. Polytech CAB on the other = BEST TABLE IN THE DINER!


So glad today worked out with NO RAIN!!!!

Our awesome new Chinese friends!


Ian!


Thanks for the great pics, Ian!




I'm starting to get a tan on my face and arms from all this gorgeous sunshine! I love it!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Recording, Shows, Muppets, and Queen

So much got done today!!!

We (David, Miguel, and me) did some acoustic demos with Ben Strano at Hat Factory Cinco today. I just needed to get some recordings of some of the new material we have started playing that there are no recordings of yet! That was so easy... and fun!

We ate lunch at Siam Cafe which was voted Nashville's Best Thai Restaurant of 2009. And it is the type of place that I probably wouldn't have gone into just by the looks... not unless someone could vouch for it. It's not that it looks gross or anything, but it is tucked away in an unlikely neighborhood... but once you get inside it is cute, the smells are amazing, and I think it is my favorite dish of chicken fried rice. :) Plus, the waitress that is there always gives us (but mostly Ben) a hard time! She's got a very thick accent, but she says things like "I hope it's raining when you leave so you get wet when you walk back!" And then just laughs and laughs all the way back into the kitchen. It's pretty spectacular.

I then came home, got all rock-starred up and headed down to the Rutledge to play an acoustic set for the Berklee students. The Berklee Spring Break Trip is in town this week. They have already gotten to partake in clinics with Alison Krauss and Vince Gill!!! Every year they get a bunch of alumni together to do a show for the kids... just to give them a taste of Nashville! It was so fun - and it is always great to get to catch up with all the Berklee kids and teachers. They kids are so gracious and it feels good to be a part of such a great community. David played with me tonight and he sounded SO good. He is really a talented guy and we are so lucky to have found him. He is a fantastic acoustic player and made me sound great tonight. Thank you David!

And before I head to bed and snuggle with Cinnamon...

I must share a video that was just shared with me. :) It is of one of the BEST versions of one of the greatest songs of all time. Enjoy as the Muppets give you their version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody!



My favorite part is definitely Animal when he keeps saying "Mamma". What's yours?

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
MAMMMMA!!!!!

~natalie

The Chicken Dance That Makes Us Happy

Ya'll know we watch Tv Seasons a lot to pass the time in the Van...

Arrested Development is a show that only lasted for 2 1/2 seasons. It was hilarious, critically acclaimed, and won TONS of awards. But for some reason, at the time it was on, they just couldn't get the viewership they needed to keep it on the air. I remember hearing about it when it was on... but it wasn't until James bought the Seasons that I started watching it.

We've re-watched it EVERY time we have gotten a new band member :) James, Miguel, and I have seen it MANY times.

I HIGHLY recommend it!!! The writing is fantastic and the actors are hysterical.

Here's something that has kept the whole band laughing continuously for the last week - we keep going back and re-watching this scene. :) The " terrible chicken" impersonations are a reoccurring theme throughout the entire series...

We've reenacted it many times. :) LOVE IT!



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Miguel's Family is ok!

Everyone in Miguel's family is ok!!!!

He was finally able to get through to his dad who had already talked to his mom. Everyone seems to be fine. His dad said the shaking lasted 3 minutes and he felt like the house was coming down. But Santiago, even though it shook, is pretty well structured for earthquakes, whereas Haiti is not at all.

It's still devastating. But it isn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The Donut Thief

This morning Miguel called his wife, Jenn, to check on Ella (their sweet little girl) and see how their day was going so far.

Jenn had bought donuts to take in to the cleaning staff at the chiropractic clinic where she works.... because she is just that awesome. But when she got there, she opened the box and it looked like this!


She was so confused... and then it dawned on her...

Ella had snuck a bite out of each donut in the back seat before she got to her destination!!! I love that Ella was smart enough to know she wasn't SUPPOSED to be eating them. And was sly enough to get a little nibble of each kind... as if her mother would never know. :)

Adorable.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Our Brains Are Trying To Make Our Hearts Healthy

The first thing that happened:

Daddy left out the butter for the stuffing... BUT He realized with PLENTY of time to get it in there before it cooked. And it is pretty fantastic :) (I snuck a bite)

And THEN:
I left out the butter in my chocolate chip walnut pie... And when I realized it, I opened the oven to find that the pie had been spilling out over the sides of the crust for the 15 minutes it had been cooking. I had been bopping around saying "This pie is gonna be AWESOME" and was all pumped... and then I was ROYALLY deflated... for a number of reasons. Mamma and I turned the oven off, waited for it to cool, we scrubbed the pie goo that had baked itself to the bottom of the oven and the grates... Mamma kept saying "this is how you learn!"... and I tried with a last ditch effort to salvage what I had by stirring butter into the already partially cooked pie.

Well, we got the oven cleaned, and I somehow... some WAY... SAVED THE PIE! It's AMAZING. A-MAZ-ING. So, hmmm... There's a good lesson in there somewhere. I really thought I had completely screwed it up... and thought I was gonna have to make ANOTHER run to the grocery to start over. But NOPE! I didn't give up, and it worked out for the best in the end. :)

I didn't forget the butter in my next pie.

We celebrated today at Miguel and Jenn's (before my kitchen debacles began) and now we are preparing for the Ft. Stovall Thanksgiving feast that will be celebrated in the morrow. :)

Hope everyone had a GREAT Thanksgiving. And even if you don't have more Thanksgivings to go to... I hope you enjoy those turkey sandwiches!!! Aren't those the best??

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

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

Santa Needs a Swimsuit

It's been a LOOOONG day of driving. And I think I drove a stretch of interstate I've never driven before! We drove through Chattanooga and up to Knoxville. When you're coming from Nashville to get somewhere - you either go through one or the other... you never go through BOTH. It was weird.

But we got to stop at our favorite exit of the last 6 months - Hattiesburg Mississippi - for lunch! We have eaten in Hattiesburg way more times than we've eaten lunch at home since the summer!!! And we've never even played a show there! It's so funny how sometimes we get routed in ways where we keep stopping at the same place around the same time of day. McCallister's is usually our restaurant of choice. :) Some of the locations still have chocolate spoon cake!!!! MMMMmmmmm.

You something that's funny?? We were sitting in Red Robin (mmm Red Robin) tonight and Christmas songs were playing. I had this realization that I bet Christmas songs in America sound really funny to Miguel. It's summertime in Chile right now! He said that he always feels sorry for Santa Clause - when he has to make appearances outside... that red suit get HOT.

Snow, sitting by the fire, hot chocolate, bundling up - American Christmas songs all have SO much of that in them! And for Miguel, well... it's going swimming and suntan lotion and short sleeves.

It's all about perspective. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

University of Texas Tyler AGAIN :)

I think it was actually warmer today than it was when we played there in April!! :) I was pouring in sweat today... umm... to put it in Miguel's words "I can't get it right!"

Cute pink knee socks with my boots were a bad choice today.

We both packed so warmly for this trip because we have been FREEZING the last few weeks. Then we get to Texas and it's in the 80's all week. However, we will end this trip in Iowa... so we know we'll be happy then with our coats and sweaters! :)

Today Jennifer lured students to their "Tunes at Noon" show (which... well... we were providing the "tunes" for) by giving away free pizza. It's amazing how many more students we had at the show THIS time when they had free food! However. Our saga with bees continued :) We had bees swarming around us on stage the whole show. I only missed one line of singing because of them... there was one way too close to my mouth and I couldn't risk a stung tongue. :)

Jennifer AGAIN took such great care of us. We love her. And the construction guys that were watching us through the window on the second floor of the building across from the show!


Thanks for another great show!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Randy and Stacie are THE BEST

What an incredible day!!!

We are staying with two of our FAVORITE people in the world - Randy and Stacie Peterson while we are here in Dallas for a few days. This would be our 3rd time crashing at their place this year :)

When we arrived last night, James and I immediately went to "Our Room" to put our stuff away and I was surprised with just about the sweetest thing EVER.



AND



A framed picture (that I haven't even printed out yet) of my husband and me on the table, and a collage of Cinnamon on my night stand!!!!

These really are some of the best people in the world, and that is only a tiny example of why!

Randy had FOUR tvs set up in the game room, along with computers for Sunday Football. We haven't gotten to see a single game this season - been driving and/or playing every Sunday. But today we caught up by watching ALL of them! GO PATS AND TITANS! Plus, we spent the evening playing Rock Band and watching live concerts. And let me just say, Miguel is a REALLY GOOD SINGER! That boy needs to be singing harmony parts :)

Hope everyone else had as wonderful of a Sunday as we did. James and I even got a bunch of work done and Miguel spent part of the day practicing. So yeah. Relaxing AND productive. The BEST.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~nat

APCA Northeast

So, I have to share this. Mamma showed Granny the picture of Kaleigh's tattoo today, and Granny said that it made her feel like a celebrity! :) I though that was awesome.

We had another great conference today at APCA Northeast in Verona, NY. It was the first time we've played a showcase where the exhibit hall/marketplace (which is where all the agents' booths are) was in he same place as the showcase room.

Doing 15 minute showcases is always such a weird thing. At least for us artists. It's a lot of fun now that I feel like we have gotten more of a hang of it. After showcasing at different regions over the last 3 years, we have really started to get a better rhythm with it.

But you've only got 15 minutes to go out, impress impress impress, and then you're DONE. Well... and then you go stand in your booth and hope and pray for bookings. There's a LOT of hurry up and wait between soundcheck, the actual show, and then your time at the market place. Normally I get a HUGE adrenaline rush, and the whole thing is over before I know it. But for whatever reason today, I felt like I was in slow motion. Everything was moving at the same pace, but the whole atmosphere was different. You just never know!! That happens sometimes with regular shows, too. But it was a unique experience for me today. Miguel said he shared in that experience with me, today.

The booth was CRAZY today. I hope they don't ban me from giving out cookies. The carpet looked as though I had thrown cookies down on the floor and stomped on them. The booth was absolute chaos the entire marketplace. :) The way I like it!

We are staying in a crazy Comfort Inn in Mansfield, Ohio right now - It has "Splash Lagoon" in it. It's basically a really awesome indoor and outdoor pool with waterfalls and slides and stuff. The crazy thing? We've stayed here before. And last time we checked in really late and were just gonna have to get up and go in the morning. One day, I will go play in the Splash Lagoon!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Shepards Pie. Get in My Belly.

My belly is so full of Shepards Pie and Bread Pudding. MMMMmmmm Mmm. Ballydoyle has an INCREDIBLE Irish menu. I wanted everything on it!

We played an early show tonight -from 7-9 because they were having the finals of their Battle of the Bands. The first set was mostly a dinner crowd... more low key. The second set? Musician after musician after groupie-of-musician walked in.. mostly high school age. I felt like I was back at Berklee!! It was really fun. They were way into it and a great audience.

One of the great things about playing early is that the young 'uns get to come!

This is Aaron and his boys Jacob and Lucas. We've played for Aaron in Peoria at a BASF convention earlier this year. His boys don't normally get to come to shows! But tonight was an exception. And Jacob is about to start playing guitar. He's off to a good start with Miguel-mojo. Miguel gave him a guitar pic from tonight.


Tamara surprised us!!!!!!! Tamara is James' mom and my mother-in-law, and we had no idea she was coming. I mean... there were clues, but I really didn't put it together!!! It's so much fun when she comes to shows. Plus, she's caravanning with us tomorrow and coming to the Rathskeller! :) So excited.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I Got To Go Home Today! For 30 Minutes!!!

I AM SO TIRED OF BEING IN THE CAR.

Yesterday morning we were in Laurel, Mississippi. We left that morning and drove 6 hours to our gig in Louisiana. We played our gig, got in the car and drove 5 more hours... Spent the night somewhere else in Mississippi... left this morning and have been driving ever since. It is 2:30am and we still have 3 hours left. Ughh.

We stopped in Nashville for less than 30 minutes tonight. I stopped by my apartment and grabbed a sweater. Miguel and James had to swing by Guitar Center for a couple of things to make it through the rest of this week. So Jenn and Ella met Miguel at Guitar Center to give him some extra clothes, too. We all were under prepared for the cold on this trip!!

And then we struck out about 10 times in a row on trying to eat somewhere. We were trying to stop quickly so we plugged in a Dunkin Donuts into the GPS. But it turned out to be a gas station that happened to have a DD coffee dispenser. So then we tried the Arby's down the road. Closed. Called Jimmy John's we ALWAYS go to in Louisville. Closed. Got off at the next exit with a Subway/Gas station... CLOSED. Got off at the next exit because there was a Dunkin Donuts sign on the board. Never found it. Pulled into the Wendy's. Closed. 4 more exits later we found a Subway open. Good Lord. It's frustrating because with all that time driving in circles we could have just eaten with Jenn and Ella in Nashville instead of trying to grab something quickly.

So it's been a long couple of days of traveling. Every time we pass a tour bus I just sigh. And dream. :) Really... it's not even the bus that would make me all giddy. Just having a driver would change mine and James' lives! But this is what we have to do for now.

"Whatever It Takes" right?

Peace. Love. Fiddle.

~natalie

Filling Out The Fancy

I feel like I am in a movie walking down the hallways of this hotel. :)

There are so many performers coming and going... in and out of the rooms... you can hear The Drifters laughing and talking in their rooms. It's like a scene out of "Ray". :)

The guys are all hanging out with some of the other performers at the bar at the Holiday Inn. It's funny to have to go from one hotel to another to grab a drink! But I didn't want to get in the smoke... so I drove the boys and will just be their DD tonight.

We got to play today!!! We played the first 2 shows, but thunderstorms rolled in right before our last set. So we just had to pack up and go home. But during the first show... Miguel broke a string during "Fancy." No big deal. Happens all the time. So he picks up his other guitar and keeps playing. THEN he breaks a string on his OTHER guitar almost immediately. That has NEVER happened to him before! :) So he quickly ran behind his guitar amp and put another string on. I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't want to draw any more attention by looking... So Chris, James, and I played most of the song by ourselves. It turned out really great! Chris did an awesome job filling it out as much as possible on bass.

But Miguel got his string back on JUST in time for his solo :) And as always, rocked it out!

Well, peoples on the interwebz, I am ready for sleeping. Or maybe napping until I pick up the boys... and then sleeping. I like quiet time. I haven't been alone in a LONG time.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Daddy Bought a Boat! Miguel Bought a House! I saw a Monkey!

What a day!

I saw a Monkey in Starbucks. The people in front of me were carrying the little Chimpanzee in a pink baby blanket. She was beautiful. But it was very strange. I wanted to hug her... But I restrained myself.

Daddy bought a boat :) War Eagle.
Can you see it??? I don't know... It's kinda tough... ;)~



And Mamma has already picked out a lake house to go with the boat :) I love my parents. They still to this day will scour the town to find the cheapest gas... they've always been the epitome of "frugal". They've been saving their entire lives to get to this point - where they can drive to Virginia and buy a boat. And look at lake houses. They are also the reason James would make fun of me in college because I wouldn't buy the crackers at the corner store because they were $.35 more than the ones at the grocery store.

Miguel was pulling a bigger trailer than we have tonight! We helped him pack that thing FULL with stuff tonight. He and Jenn and Ella are moving into a new house right now! So fun!!! They are almost completely out of the apartment. But of course, we have to leave again in the morning. Poor Miguel! He's only had two days to get most of his stuff moved. It's been an intense process. I know he'll be glad to get home for more than a day or 2 at a time. But of course that won't be until Thanksgiving.

Wow. I just looked at our calendar and I didn't realize how much we are gone in the next month and a half. We are only home for 3 days total between now and Thanksgiving. Ha! What a life.


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

A Prayer of Thanks

There's nothing like playing for a ginormous, packed club! We played at The Country Club in Augusta Georgia tonight, and it was a BLAST!!! We had people dancing, singing along and giving us energy all night. The guys at the Country Club really do it right. They have a really fun stage, great lights, great sound system - it's an awesome venue.
Thanks to everyone who came out from our previous shows in Augusta - and especially all the soldiers from Ft. Gordon!!! God Bless our Troops!
Plus we made lots of new friends tonight, too :)

I'm so happy that the last 3 days have all been really amazing shows. We needed it. It's been a tough week personally for everyone. Especially for our grandparents. Miguel's grandpa passed away yesterday. His grandma passed away just a couple of months ago. They were both diagnosed with cancer at the same time a while ago. But thank the good Lord they aren't in pain anymore. But it is so hard to be on the road and not be able to get to Chile for him to be with his family. He's been trying to make it work, but it's just not gonna be possible. But his mom may get to come up here soon instead, which would be incredible.
We've had some more bad news about grandparents, but we don't know enough yet for me to feel comfortable to talk about it.

More than anything this week has been such a good reminder for us to be thankful of all we DO have. We've all been faced with circumstances that make us stop and think. I am so thankful for the time I've already had with the ones I love... and the time still remaining. We've created such a close family here on the road. I am so thankful that I get to travel with people that I truly love. It would make times like this a lot harder if we weren't already so close with each other. Tonight, I will be saying a prayer of Thanks for every moment I get to spend with my friends and family. I love you ALL. You know who you are.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie