New Songs

We rehearsed new songs today!!!

Something about staying at Paul's :) It gives us a chance to work on new material. We rehearsed the song I wrote with Pat McLaughlin "Step By Step" and another new one that I wrote with Charlie Hutto "The Sound of Goodbye". Y'all already know how I feel about "Step By Step."

But "Sound of Goodbye"? I am SO excited. I have always wanted a song that sounds like this one. It gives me a chance to be a little more sassy... which I dig... a lot. So yeah. I am pumped to start playing these live. We'll see how the response is to them. But I have a really good feeling. As long as you guys like them, too, then I think we may have enough songs to book the next recording session!!! We're FINALLY gonna get to record a new album. I can't TELL you how good that feels.
People have been asking me about a new one since the day the first one was released. :)

The last few days have been packed. And I can't get over the response we had from the Josh Gracin show. My facebook and myspace pages have been overrun with pics and uploads from that show. I can barely keep up with responding to the comments and requests! (Which is a GOOD thing) I love it!!! Everything just seems to be on a new level lately. And it is so fun to see the progress we're making! :)

It sure makes watching the ACM's fun. :) James, Paul, and I were sitting in the floor putting together packages for military bases and colleges that requested them... It's a LOT of fun to work on booking gigs while I watch an awards show that I dream about being a part of. Makes me feel like I am physically doing everything I can to get there!

And CONGRATULATIONS to Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift, and Scott Borchetta for Album of the Year!!!! I can't believe one of my co-writers just won ALBUM OF THE FREAKIN YEAR! Amazing.

Tomorrow? I'm getting a nutella smoothie at The Wrap!

Peace. Love. Fiddle. YA'LL!
~natalie

Writing with Pat McLaughlin

I wrote with Pat McLaughlin today!!!!! I feel SOOOO freakin cool. I LOVE his music and his feel and his groove and his guitar playing... and... and.... SO I was PUMPED when this appointment hit the books. I have seen it on there for weeks now, and I was anxiously anticipating this day. I had some ideas going in, but nothing too specific.

We started with one idea... which led to another... which took us somewhere completely different, and then by the time we got to the one we actually wrote we had probably started 10 different songs.I LOVE writing like that. That's how you find the magic :) We continued bouncing ideas off one another until we eventually ended up on this whole "Step By Step" thang. I LOVE it!!! We recorded a quick video of it to share with everyone. Don't mind my "waking up" the computer in the middle of the song so the screen wouldn't go dark :) And the image is reversed, so it looks like I am a left-handed fiddle player!!! It freaks me out a little....

ENJOY!



Not bad for the first time writing together, eh? :)
When we finished recording he said, "I wasn't ready for that 'amazing' adjective in the beginning there...." :)-

Step By Step we'll all get a little Peace. Love. and Fiddle.
~nat

I'm Gonna "Shine"

On my way to JJ's to get my fruit tea today, I heard Jo Dee Messina's new single, "Shine" on the radio, and I got SOOOO excited!!! I had the sun roof open (I ALWAYS wanted to have a sun roof, and there happened to be one on this last Suburban we bought.... so I still get giddy when I get to use it!), the windows down, my puppy with me, and "Shine" blasting.

Now, the reason I am so excited? Not only is it a great song, but my fellow Berklee alum and friend Megan James wrote it!!! It makes me so proud!!!! Megan and I used to do shows together at Berklee, and it is just so stinking cool that she has the FIRST SINGLE on the new Jo Dee album. She and Clay Cumbie wrote it together. And if you like the song - then you HAVE to call the radio stations and request it!!! I told her that I heard it today, and SHE hasn't even heard it yet. So let's make sure she does! (I have no doubt it is gonna be a hit).

I went to visit Granny today. She LOVED the maple candies I got her in Vermont, so this last time we were there I got 4 more bags of them. She was so excited!!! Have I mentioned how amazed I am with my Granny? She never acts as though she is 98 (excuse me, she corrected me today.... she's 98 and 1/2!). And sometimes she prefers you to say she is only 2 years from 100 :) She always says "cause THAT sounds OLD" I love that. As if 98 isn't impressive enough....

One of her favorite stories to tell me is about when I was a little bitty girl. She took care of me a lot when I was little. She LOVES talking about the things I used to do that made her KNOW I was born to be an entertainer. She said I was about 3, maybe 4 at the time and we were getting ready to take a nap. She asked me to sing some song I always sang (probably "Jesus Loves Me" or "Twinkle Twinkle".... you know.... one of the usuals) and I said "No. I am gonna sing my own song." And I made up a song and sang it for her. :) Yeah. I remember making up songs when I was a kid. My favorite phrase to use was "It's plain to see" which is why I laugh every time I hear that phrase used now. There's nothing wrong with it, but I can't bring myself to ever use that phrase in a song, cause it just seems silly to me.

I am writing with Pat McLaughlin tomorrow. Can you say EXCITED!?!?!? Pat is INCREDIBLE. I still have yet to have a SEAT at one of his shows - even when we go over an hour early... cause it is always so packed. This is my favorite quote about Pat on his website:

"Groove and Soul, slink and stutter, groove and soul, wisdom and pain, groove and soul."
Peter Cooper, The Tennessean

He written for Bonnie Raitt, played for John Prine.... So yeah, writing with one of my favorite writers tomorrow. It's gonna be a good day. :) I have no idea what we'll write, but I can promise you that it won't have the phrase "It's plain to see" in it :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.