Metro Spirit Article

Metro Spirit Article:

On the road
Natalie Stovall may not be a household name, but that may all change soon enough for this all-American girl

BY ALICE WYNN

AUGUSTA, GA – One wouldn’t think that winning the title of Silliest Kid in America would lead to bigger and better things. But for Natalie Stovall, that’s exactly what happened. Of course, she was no stranger to the stage.

“I started playing the violin when I was four and, when I was about 10, I auditioned for the Opryland Kids Club, which was a show out at the Opryland theme park, and I played my fiddle for them and they were like, ‘That’s great honey, but you have to sing in this show,’ and I sang ‘Happy Birthday’ for them and I got the job,” she said from the road en route to Pennsylvania.

Winning the Silliest Kid title, which she won by doing a “crazy ventriloquist baby crying thing that I had learned backstage at the Opryland show,” led to an appearance on Oprah, followed by other talk shows and radio spots, which prepared her for the road ahead.

“It was a really incredible experience to get as a child performer and only helped develop me and get me ready for doing it all the time now.”



During her second year at the Berklee College of Music, Stovall formed a band that would move to Nashville during the summer, staying at her parents’ house while touring around Tennessee. After graduation, Stovall and her drummer James, who last year became her husband, moved to Nashville and found some musicians to tour with. They have been at it ever since, and have spent the better part of the past two years on the road.

“It’s part of making it happen for myself as an independent artist,” she explained. “I don’t have any record label or anybody writing the checks for me, so I gotta go out and do it myself. It can be very hard and it can be very stressful, but it’s been pretty amazing to watch. I write a blog every day and the traffic keeps coming from doing it and really being on the road, and that’s what’s rewarding about it.”

A country girl at heart, Stovall cites Keith Urban, Shania Twain and Garth Brooks as some of her favorites.

“I always really love to watch the people that put on really amazing live shows,” she said.

“That’s kind of where I get going is watching people that really put a lot of time and energy into their live material. That’s where I draw a lot of inspiration from.”

Her shows, although rooted in country, mix things up a bit, with covers such as Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Guns n’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” And because she plays the fiddle, Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” is a given. In fact, she included the song on her upcoming EP, “Standing My Ground.”

“We put it on the record to give everybody a little something from our live show,” she said.

For her first record, “Late Night Conversations” released in 2006, she wrote all of the material. But the new record enlisted the help of co-writers, including Taylor Swift producer Nathan Chapman.

“It was a totally different venture for me, but the more that I started co-writing, the more I really, really liked that environment for writing because it allowed me to kind of take these ideas I always had and bounce them off someone else,” she said. “It was just fun because it gives a different perspective for the new record and I’m just really excited to release it.”

Natalie Stovall
The Country Club
Saturday, October 3
Doors, 7 p.m.; music, 9:30 p.m.
$5, guys; $3, girls
myspace.com/nataliestovall
augustacountry.com

Too Many "Natalie's" for One Bathroom Stall

One of the harder things to do as an artist, is to play original music during long sets at a club. I've gotten spoiled lately by doing only college/ Performing Arts Center shows. Club shows are very different from a show where you get to just be an artist... At colleges I get to do all my own music. But at a club (until you get to a point where you ARE the draw) You have to create such a balance. Most people come to a club to hear songs they already know... so if they don't KNOW your songs, you run the risk of disappointing your crowd. And it is much easier to keep people on a dance floor when they KNOW the music.

I have always tried to balance that by playing a few of my strongest originals here and there... in between all the recognizable covers... and usually earlier in the night (before everyone is crazy and just wanting to dance and sing as loud as they can).

Every time I get a new batch of songs rehearsed with the band, I get so excited to play them for a crowd. That's the TRUE test.

But tonight, every time I did an original, there was a noticeable difference in the crowd response. It lets me know I am headed in the right direction. If I can get a room filled with hundreds of people who have never heard me play before to respond almost as strongly to my stuff as they do to a Shania song.... I am doing something right! It hasn't always been that way. But the progress is visibly different to me. And THAT, my friends, feels wonderful!

The show was REALLY REALLY fun. We were all able to cut loose and let it all out on stage. The stage and lighting and sound was AMAZING.... so that always inspires a more energetic show. When we first walked in, I thought that Georgia must have switched over to the "no smoking" law. The club didn't have any remnants of smoke in it. It wasn't until I noticed the ash trays that I figured it out. Well, until the doors opened and everyone started smoking.... THAT was a big clue ;) But it's just ventilated that well! It was one of the cleanest clubs I've ever seen... And every bathroom stall in the ladies room had a full length mirror on the back of the door. Hmmm... I guess in case you want to watch yourself pee?? But yeah, I was surrounded by "Natalie's", which was a tad umm, let's say, Strange. There were posters on the walls with my picture... plus the mirror.... too many Natalie's for one bathroom stall!

Before we even got started, Chester walked in and brought me a picture from the last time we were in Augusta. He came to our Coyote's shows. What a great surprise!


Brandi and Chad were celebrating their 6th Anniversary!!! We played "When You Say Nothing At All" for them and afterwards they told us it was their wedding song. I LOVE it when that happens!
Plus Bradi was down front dancing and singing all night long!


The Bachelor and Bachelorette - Chris and Kaelin
They had a huge party up in the VIP section right next to the stage.


21st Birthdays!!!



God Bless our Troops!! And we had a lot of them at the show! The one with the tags is stationed at Fort Gordon which we are playing on June 6. YAY!



And I will leave you with my favorite audience member of the night. I don't like to play "favorites" but this guy was amazing. he was down front and dancing from the first song on. He had the most infectious smile and was a sweetheart. :)



Yay for The Country Club!!! Can't wait to go back there :)

I have now officially been up for 28hrs. We had to drive back right after the show to get Miguel to the airport. He gets to go home to Chile today!!! YAY!!! But oooohhh how I am about to sleep!!! My husband and puppy have already crashed. And now, so will I :)

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

So Many Songs

Finished another song today!!! I feel so accomplished. Sorry we didn't have a chance to make a video, but I am SURE you will hear this one soon enough. :)

I got back together with Angela Lauer and JoAnna Janet today. They are so much fun to write with. And thank goodness, Angela didn't have any contractions today!!!! Whew. She had a few rough kicks... but at least she didn't go into early labor. :)

The song we wrote is definitely gonna be a guilty pleasure song. It is so much fun - and I have to add one name to the decription I gave yesterday. I think it is a cross of Poison/ Bonnie Raitt/ and Shania Twain. YES! How great is that???

It's called "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" :)

After writing with those fine ladies, I headed over to Miguel's. He and I have been talking about coming up with some cool fiddle/guitar riffs. We have been playing so much more together in the shows and I can't speak for him, but I am having a BLAST with it. I LOVE it when the fiddle is doubling a guitar riff. There is something so cool and different about that sound.

But at this point, the majority of the fiddle/guitar stuff happens during our big rock medley we do (Black Dog, Back In Black, Ants Marching, Beat It, Are You Gonna Go My Way....)

So now I want to have MY OWN songs with that kind of hotness! :) I think we've stumbled onto something so cool. And it adds the flavor to my music that I think I have been missing for a while. I am a rockstar in my own head (Aren't we all?) and now that I am playing a lot of the same stuff Miguel is - well... let's just say that REALLY maks me feel like a rockstar. I mean Have you SEEN this guy play guitar?? Yeah. I am hoping his face-melting playing rubs off on me a bit...



The cool thing today was that he had come up with a really hot riff (whew - took me a few tries to get it right on the fiddle!). We played it a bunch and then he continued to share the other stuff he had come up with. And then out of nowhere I FLIPPED OUT! I was like "Whoa. Play that again." He played it again and I have to say it was a little Twilight Zonish...

Let me back up to explain:
I started writing a song in the dressing room at the Kenosha Wisconsin PAC show. It was one of those times I was curling my hair and divine inspiration struck. I started singing a song out of nowhere, and had to record it on my phone. (Quietly so all the stage hands getting our stage ready for the show wouldn't hear my goofy butt singing into a cell phone alone in my dressing room). I even came up with a little fiddle riff. Turns out the riff was cooler in my head than on the fiddle when I actually tried to play it. But I still loved the rest of the song ideas.

But TODAY I realized that the riff Miguel was playing fit PERFECTLY!!! The song was the same feel - it was the same key AND it was the perfect musical attitude for what I was envisioning. Ahhhh. Stars are aligning, ya'll.

Plus we started 2 or 3 other songs. I feel like I had SUCH a productive day! And I can't WAIT to work on all of these songs!

I've lost count of how many unfinished songs I have right now. But that's how I work best. I'll start churning them out, and we'll have TOO MANY for the new record :) How awesome would THAT be??? That's always the hope...


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie