Over 500 Hours in the Suburban

In my sleepy stupor this morning, I failed to realize we had just completed the last date on our Winter/Spring Tour of 2009!!!

What a ride it has been!!!

53 shows... lots of rockin'

27,209 miles... lots of driving

Over 500 Hours in the Suburban... LOTS of Sopranos

Spending day and night with Hootie.... Priceless.

Google maps only lets you put in 25 locations at a time.... I had 64... So it is split up into 3 different maps. But I figured I'd include since I had to map it out anyway to see how far it was!!! :)

1st 25: 12, 676miles 8 days and 9 hrs


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Next 25: 9,596 mi – about 6 days 16 hours


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Next 14: 4,937 mi – about 3 days 8 hours


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It's so fun to think back on all the different shows and locations we played this Tour. I have an abundance of great stories and memories on the road with these guys already, and I am just getting started!

Tomorrow is the big day!! We will record all the "basics" with the session players for the new EP!!! WOOO HOOO!!!

What an exciting time.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

7 shows in 5 days

Today?

We have been driving to Texas! We found a Jimmy Johns in Jackson, Tn which made us all very happy. That makes 3 days in a row for me + Jimmy Johns. Yesterday, I had Jimmy Johns DELIVERED! That's the best :) The +avocado is KEY to any sandwich at JJ's.

This week we have 7 shows in 5 days. Whoa. That's craziness. But the GOOD kind of craziness. I am excited. We have this week jam-packed. Tomorrow we have an afternoon show at Texas A&M in Commerce, TX. And then afterwards we are heading over to Frozen Fire Films in Dallas to do a photo shoot!!! FINALLY! I am getting new photos done :) Plus on Friday, we open for the LOS LONELY BOYS. YAY! That is one of our two-fer days :) We play two shows on Wed & Fri.

Whoa. Hootie just laid down on the floor... and I was REALLY confused. Turns out, he's doing stretches for his back. But I thought he was just opting NOT to sleep in the bed! The other day when we arrived in Providence at 7am, we had 1 room with 1 King size bed.... We had to leave at 9 so we weren't gonna get to sleep for all that long.... but we all wanted to nap a bit. Hootie and Miguel immediately took the floor :( Made me feel bad. And James just left! The man who had been driving the ENTIRE night.... just disappeared... we all thought he would come back and get in bed, so the guys just stayed on the floor. But nope. James went and got caffeinated and walked around downtown Providence. He figured sleeping for an hour and a half was much worse than not sleeping at all. I completely understand, but.... I just wanted to sleep. So I ended up sleeping in that big ole bed by myself. I would have slept just as well on the floor though, too. We were all pretty out of it!

Thankfully, by the time we got back from our show, we were all able to check into our separate rooms. And whew. That was one of the best night's of sleep I had in a looong while.

I saw this: in the bin at the gas station today!!!
(For anyone who may not know... "If I Run To You Now" is played in this movie.)

It made m so happy! I think it is the first time I have seen it without looking for it!


We've been watching the Sopranos in the Suburban... and we only have 1 1/2 episodes left in the whole series. I can't wait to see what happens!!! I've heard mixed reviews about the ending.... either you HATE it or you LOVE it... apparently there's very few "in betweens". I'm sure I'll have more to say on that later. But I just love how well written that show is. I NEVER thought I would like it. I figured it was all about killing and beatin people up. But there's SO much character development that I can tolerate the violence. I mean, it IS the mafia... so there violence has to be there... but it's not ABOUT the violence. I have to look away.... A LOT... but the rest of it... well, it's so good.

See you tomorrow from Texas!

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

Audio Technica, Princess Bride, Sopranos, and iHop

Rain Rain Rain!!! Whew. Makes for some very slow and careful driving :)

We had a little bit of moisture in the trailer last night when we were unloading. Makes us all nervous about our gear.... we were hoping to seal up the trailer better today, but it was still raining.... we'll have to wait until it is dry to do anything about it. So we stopped at a gas station and wrapped a bunch of our stuff up for a little extra protection. :) We were a sight at Love's today standing in the pouring rain wrapping up instruments and amps in garbage bags. Do what you gotta do, though!

Aunt Carol took us to bruch today at Denny's :) She's just the most wonderful lady. We always have a good time hanging out with her! It is the best when family comes to shows.

Sat in traffic for a good while today outside of Chicago. That looks like such a fun city. I have been a few times but it's always for a very quick trip... Never gotten to spend any time there. I hope to soon!

So I've been holding back on sharing something :) I didn't want to say anything until I had a chance to test it out at least once!

Audio Technica sent me a couple of vocal microphones to try out on the road!!! I am REALLY excited. For years I have been using the same ole mics, and I am ready to find something I really like. They are a great company and they have been so wonderful to work with. They have supplied ALL the mics on the Grammy's for the last 12 years. So you KNOW they're good!

I used one of the mics in the show last night in Janesville. And Hootie used the other one. We'll switch for the next show. :) It'll be hard to tell which is my favorite on the road because of ALL the factors that go into playing in a different room and a different sound system every night.

I am very much looking forward to sitting down with my sound system and playing with them. :) I KNOW my own system very well, and it will be the best way for me to gauge how each mic sounds with my voice.... Kinda like when I am looking at fiddles. I don't want to JUST play the fiddle anymore. I want to hear it through MY amp :) It's the best way to know what I will be the most happy with!

I actually got the Audio Technica mics on my birthday. We had them send the box to Aunt Deana's because we knew we'd be stopping there. It was a GREAT birthday present! Plus they sent the guys and me some SWAG. I am wearing the cute t-shirt they sent right now : )


We watched the Princess Bride in the car today. Miguel had never seen it :) What a GREAT movie. And then we went back to the Sopranos. We're already on Season 3 and we just started watching them on this trip! It's pretty addictive. It is such a well-written show. We made it to just a little past Toledo, Ohio. And y'all... we ended up at a very entertaining iHop tonight for dinner. There was NOTHING for hundreds of miles except fast food which we try to avoid. But this iHop... man.... crazy customers. One table sent 3 different things back! I felt bad for our waitress... Not quite as fun as the iHop in Jackson Tn with the bluegrass jams twice a week... THAT was the best iHop ever. Did NOT see that one coming when we walked in :)

Wonder where we'll be tomorrow night? One can never tell...

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie