Single Marine Program Brochure

So this is pretty cool....

:)

Last night after the awards ceremony, Ari (my agent... eh emm... Agent of the Year) showed me the new flyer that was made for the Single Marine Program. The Single Marines brought us out to play at Quantico last year, which was an INCREDIBLE show. We had a blast, and took tons of pictures. And they voted for our picture with them to be in the center of their brochure!!! It goes out to all the Marines to let them know how awesome the Single Marine Program is. They put on tons of events and create great opportunities for the Marines. And I love them because they brought us out to play a show!! :)

The front and partial inside flap:


The smack dab middle of the inside of the brochure. How cool is that!!??!


We made it home to Nashville safely, and I even squeezed in a late night writing session with Gordon Brown and Corey Wagar - who are in town from New Jersey writing and recording music. And tomorrow we leave for Jacksonville, Florida!! I hope this weather continues. Today was GORGEOUS.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I Played The Stone Pony Tonight!

Tonight was AWESOME.

I played fiddle for an incredibly talented and OH SO YOUNG (she's only 16!!!) artist named Corey Wagar.

Guess WHERE this was!?!?!?

The FIRST ever country show at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ!!!!! (Which was SOLD OUT! Heck yeah!)


I have heard so much about this club... it's kind of like Tootsie's in the Rock N Roll world... Bruce Springsteen is known for jamming with the local musicians there... Jon Bon Jovi, Elvis Cotello, Joan Jett, Stevie Ray Vaughn... all kinds of cool people will grace the stage with their presence between gigs in New York and Philadelphia.

And I got to play at their first ever country show tonight!!! My friend, Gordon Brown, that I write with a lot, had put together the band for Corey. He knew James and I had planned on coming to the show. He sent me one of her songs today. I learned it, we hopped on the train, and I got to play it with them! They also brought me up for the encore... A little "Gunpowder and Lead" action :)

I think James must have captured this little clip of "Gunpwder and Lead" :) It isn't very long... but it gives you the idea.


It was so much fun! And Corey's song that I played with her "Me and My Girls" was so cute... and come to find out, she wrote it with Jamie O'Neal! I LOVE Jamie O'Neal! I was obsessed with "Shiver" in college. :)

Here's Gordon - my wonderful friend and co-writer


And of course Corey (Click her name to visit her myspace!)


I love this picture of Gordon and me... even though it's a bit dark :)


It was so cool to be a part of tonight. Corey is incredibly talented... and oh my word... she's only 16. I can't imagine where all she will go from here. So cool.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

College Eel at Eastern Connecticut State University

We left DC at 9am. At 7pm we pulled into our destination. That was a looong day. We even ate lunch in the car... to go. The traffic was ridiculous in Ct. From the second we got over the George Washington Bridge, it was just a nightmare.

But we were still at Eastern Connecticut State University with plenty of time to load for the show. I had to get ready like a speed demon in the ladies bathroom... I'm used to that, but I usually have a little more time than 15 minutes. It takes me about 15 minutes to brush this mane out half the time ;) Isn't being on the road glamorous?

Gordon Brown - one of my FAVORITE people and co-writers in the world lives in NJ. His niece goes to school at University of Connecticut (which we are playing tomorrow), but she and her boyfriend came tonight! It was so good to meet her. I feel like Gordon is family - therefore any of his family feels like family :)
Here's Mandy!


This was one of my favorite audience members! She was so cute singing along right up front!



This is Chris, he's the entertainment director for the Campus Activities Board. He took REALLY good care of us. I had a yummy buffalo chicken sandwich from that Mondo's SUBS place behind us :)


They had a bunch of activities going on after the show - they had a roaming magician, you could make your own bags, chia pets, and Transformers 2 was playing in their really nice theater they have in the student center. We were all hanging out eating, and Michael Kent, the AWESOME magician came up to us and showed us some card tricks. I was blown away. I have NO idea how he was doing it. I even wrote my name on the card - and it was showing up in his shoe.... would appear out of nowhere. His sleight of hand was truly remarkable. It was so cool to meet him! (And he's hilarious, too. VERY good at what he does. He was like Dane Cook, but way cooler because he does magic.)


And yet again - Chris was being adventurous in his eating. On our first trip he ate "Mall Eel". As in, eel sushi in a mall food court. That is WAY braver than I would ever be. Tonight, he tried "college eel". I'm not sure why they took this picture. But Chris said something that made Miguel really uncomfortable right as I pushed the button. I don't want to say what... but yeah.


That's our day in a nutshell. Hope you had a great day. Here's to a two-fer tomorrow. UConn and New England College.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Stevenson University and Monmouth University

Ahhh. Days off are great. We have been going non-stop for so long, that today has seemed well... way too easy! We slept in, ate at an awesome diner in New Jersey, ran some errands, drove 3 1/2 hours to Reading PA, checked in, and went to dinner and to the Wolverine movie. I have been looking forward to that movie for so long - it was really good. Had to hide my eyes a bit :) But that's pretty normal.

I am SO glad that I have a chance to catch up on the last 2 shows. It feels really weird to be behind!


Saturday was awesome because we woke up in PA, played a show in Maryland, and slept in New Jersey :)

We played at Stevenson University in Maryland. And yet again, they had to move the event indoors. The rain has really put a damper on the Spring Festivals this year. But it never stops the shows! We don't care where we rock out - indoors or out. It's always a good time.

It wasn't raining when we got there, though. That always helps with unloading :) They had a HUGE inflatable obstacle course and then they had something I have never seen before - an inflatable boxing ring!!! The "gloves" you wore - they were GINORMOUS!!! I was bummed I didn't get to put them on and get a picture. But we usually don't have a lot of time to participate in the activities between set up and show time.

They also had a station where you could "build your own stuffed animal" - kind of like "Build a Bear" only with rhino's, mustangs, all kinds of interesting things.

One of the Dean's of students and her daughter came to the show. That always makes me feel cool!


My merch girl!!! She was such a big help!


And the girls who worked tirelessly for us and the entire event!
Carrie and Abbe


Sunday we played at Monmouth University.

I have passed by Monmouth so may times!!! My friend and co-writer, Gordon, lives in Long Branch. We pass by Monmouth to get to his house :) Well... when we go to get Quiznos, that is. So I was really looking forward to this one because I felt like I had been there before.

But alas, the rain caused Monmouth to have to go to the indoors as well. They had inflatables upstairs in the student center - TONS of different stations, and then the stage with all the bands was in the cafeteria area where all the free food was. Free food is a GREAT way to get students to the show! They had Pulled Pork BBQ, deep fried oreos, home-made lemonade... well... I could go on an on about the food. But on to the show!

Gordon and Jess, his girlfriend came to the show. It was the first time Gordon has seen the band play live! It was so great to see him and Jess, and I was REALLY excited they came to the show.

Stealing Jane and the Josh Cramoy Band also played at the show. They were SOOO good. I knew some of the guys in Stealing Jane, and Josh Cramoy and I are booked by the same agent. I was asked numerous times if the trombone player from Stealing Jane was Miguel... they had the same hair :)

The students at Monmouth were unbelievably helpful with loading and unloading our equipment.

And these girls - the twins - were a huge reason that we were brought to Monmouth!


My front row girls singing along the whole show:


So were these girls!


And Ari, my agent, showed up RIGHT after we finished the show. He and his wife Stacy came by. I feel like I have so much family up here in Long Branch - between my agent and Gordon. :) It's awesome.

Tomorrow we play in Reading, PA. We're already here, so that automatically makes tomorrow seem like a breeze!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

What a Bummer

My heart goes out to anyone who has migraines. I have had intense headaches before, but the word "headache" is an insult to migraines. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure what I had earlier.... but it was one of the worst and most disabling headaches ever. I can't imagine experiencing something like that more often... it makes you miss out on everything. I am starting to feel normal again. I only have the remnants of an annoying headache still. The nausea and "hurts to open my eyes" feeling has subsided. Praise the Lord!!

We had plans to go to dinner with one of my dearest friends and co-writers, Gordon Brown. Gordon and his girlfriend came to our show today, and we were all planning to eat and then Gordon and I were going to get some writing done. I got dressed, but that took me 30 minutes... and I finally gave up and went back to bed. I was so disappointed. But tomorrow we have the day off. So I will catch you up on the last 2 shows then. And hopefully Gordon and I will have a chance to get together tomorrow before we head out of town. For now, I am going to lay down and rest some more. My husband brought me a flaltbread, and not one, not two, but THREE of my favorite drinks to choose from. :) (SoBe Green Tea, Green Tea Ginger Ale, and Nantucket Nectars Orange Mango) That already made me feel better. Tonight has made me so thankful for all that I have.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie