Palm Beach State Show #4!

Today was another day at Palm Beach State - although this time we were back at the Lake Worth Campus. It was a bit chilly... in the 50's for the show... but after this weekend, that didn't seem so bad.

But somehow, even though we were under a covered stage and the sun was behind the clouds for most of the show... James' head STILL managed to get sunburned! Poor thing. He always gets sunburned even when it doesn't seem possible.

The show went really well... it seemed like it was gonna be stressful when we started. A very upset teacher came out venting about how he had students taking an exam and there just COULDN'T be music going on. Things like this happen a lot at campuses. And it puts everyone in a tough spot. I mean... we need to fulfill our contract, but obviously we don't want to be a bother to people! So we just told him, we would not soundcheck or make ANY noise until we were scheduled to start playing and do whatever we could to help. But there isn't much else we can do because those things are not our call. They have to be taken up with someone in charge.

BUT!!!! It all worked out great! No one seemed to have an issue once we started playing, and we got nothing but happy responses from crowds and teachers. One teacher came up to me on a set break and said "I HATE country music. But I love you guys! Can I buy a cd?" ; )~ LOVE IT!

All the clubs and organizations at the school were set up and having sign-ups at their booths. Plus there was free food and a beautiful court yard to enjoy. Plus us!

And I broke my mic clip during the show!!! What is it with me lately? I keep breaking very unlikely things.... locks... mic clips... I had to jump off the stage and find another one because my mic wouldn't stay in the stand anymore!


I got a lesson in being prepared :)


I just noticed that guy in the background has a UNICYCLE!


Zach's loading out skills are impressive!!! He fit his ENTIRE bass rig on top of David's Amp!!!


Signed up for my twitter WHILE at the show... I love technology.


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Are You a Band?

The elevator at this hotel smells JUST like the hotel elevator at the Light House Inn in Gulf Shores - where we always stayed when I was a little girl. Isn't that amazing how our brains can remember a specific smell from 20 years ago?? Crazy!

We headed out to Palm Beach State (formerly Palm Beach Community College) this morning for our show. They weren't quite ready for us, so we headed out to grab some breakfast. The guys ran into Einstein Bagels but there was a Starbucks across the street... and they had breakfast sandwiches... so I couldn't pass it up.

The girls at Starbucks were so sweet! I was all done up for the show, and they were all asking me where I got my jewelry. And then as we were leaving, the barista ran outside and up to the car. We stopped and rolled down the window - she said "We have a bet going inside the store. Are you guys a band?"
:)
I guess when you see a girl in ripped up jeans, big hair, and sitting with 4 guys, driving a van with a trailer... your natural assumption would be = band. But the fact that she ran all the way outside... is... AWESOME. She's already found me on facebook. I'll have to go back there tomorrow to see her!

Our show went great. We love PBS in Boca. Mark is so sweet to us. We were just there last semester, and it is so great to already be back! They had a huge banner hanging in the student center when we arrived.


And after the show - a big ole jam session broke out! Mark, who hires us to play, is an excellent bass player. He and a couple students started playing, then David joined in, and well... they entertained us! I could get used to that! Entertain... then be entertained.


James' bass drum head split right down the middle... so we had to go find a music store to get a new drum head. After a few more errands... and a bit of rest... it was time for:

VIVA CHILE!!! Mmmmm Mmmm Mmm. Miguel discovered this restaurant last time we were here. It is sooooo yummy. We had a wonderful meal, and Miguel's cousins met us there! I had the Pastel de Choclo. Mmmm it's like putting chicken, meat, and onions, baked in sweet cornbread. And of course we had some empanadas!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

TWO MORE AWARDS!!!!

We have been in the car all day All day! :)

And after ...

"Dumb and Dumber"
"The Big Lebowski"
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall"
Miranda Lambert's "Revolution"
And
Tom Petty's Live "Anthology"...

...we are in Boca Raton, Florida. It is amazing you can drive for 12 hours and still be in the same state. :) Especially when you aren't in California or Texas! But going from the Northwest part of the pan handle down to the southeast part of the panhandle takes a while! There are so many Dunkin Donuts down here!!! I think it is because of all the snowbirds from the Northeast... they have to make them feel like they are at home. it is pretty awesome.

So for those of you not on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or Reverbnation who read this blog....

I have some more very exciting news! (I've posted a status on the aforementioned places)
I won TWO MORE AWARDS!!!!

Campus Activities Magazine posted their Awards for the year and we won:

Best Female Performer
and
Best Music

SO EXCITING!!!

I can't believe all this! It's just amazing. So yeah. That news rocks my world. :)

Good stuff is a happenin, y'all!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMMA!!!!!!
~natalie

Hurry Up And Play Michael Jackson!

This is the blog I tried to post the night of the crazy thunderstorm!!! It's the first time I've had internet since then... I had to come all the way to California to get it ;)

Today I was contractually obligated to "sing my way into the hearts of the students". Seriously. That's what the contract said.

At both shows today, we were the entertainment during the big club/organization sign-ups for campus.  The first one was Miami Dade Kendall and it was a giant party in the cafeteria! We had a blast at the show. Everyone was dancing and jumping around and made it seem like a night-time stadium show :)

The second show was at Palm Beach Community College in Lake Worth, FL. It was a little crazy because our first show ended at 1:15, we got packed up and out of there within an hour. It took about an hour and a half to get to the next campus. They wanted us to start at 4:00, but we didn't get there until 3:45 going as fast as we could! They knew there was no way for us to get there on time and it even stated in the contract that we could start at 4 or as soon as we got there :)  I felt bad because our sound guy, Milton, wasn't actually a sound guy. He was the tech guy on campus that was the "most able" to run the sound. Don't get me wrong, he did a great job. But there were a lot of problems getting rid of feedback, getting the vocals and instruments balanced so you could hear everything, etc. Those things are difficult for ANY PROFESSIONAL sound man! I mean, when you're in a hurry like we were today, the event coordinator is yelling at you to get started, and you don't even have everything plugged in yet... it is REALLY stressful. I was VERY impressed with Milton though. He worked with us every step of the way.

The event coordinator kept requesting that we hurry up and do Michael Jackson. I LOVE me some Michael, and if you've seen our show, you know that we do a bit as part of our finale. But even after we'd played some, we got more requests for MJ! I'm a little blonde fiddle player, people!!! I can rock out with the best of them... but it's hard to pull off Michael Jackson well with a 3 piece band, big blonde curly hair and a fiddle. But they asked for encores! So I guess we did alright ;)

We capped off the night at a Brazilian Restaurant (I'm not even going to try to butcher the name for you). We found one that was playing the Chile vs. Brazil soccer game!!! Miguel hadn' gotten to watch one in forever. It was so fun, but we were the ONLY ones in the place cheering for Chile. Had to be a little careful on that one ;)

This sweet guy had $10 he was supposed to spend on getting his hair cut... but he bought a cd instead! Nice.

More awesome peeps!







Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie