Restaurant AVA

Today. We ate.

That's the best description of what happened.

Hanging out with Randy P. is awesome - he has such awesome friends. His friend, Randall Copeland is a chef in Rockwall, Tx. Randall came to hang out with us last night and invited us over to his restaurant today for brunch. Well... we all slept in and brunch was over by the time everyone was up and moving at the same time. But Randall didn't care!!! He still invited us over even though Restaurant Ava was closed until dinner. He created PLATE FULLS of food and brought it all out, and even created a special vegetarian dish for David.

IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Absolutely incredible.

Scrambled eggs with brisket, hash browns, and all-over scrumotiousness, gourmet burgers, pulled pork with slaw (which I NEVER like the slaw but this was soooo good), fries that are WORTH eating (I can usually say no to fries... but not these) butternut squash ravioli, salads...
This is actually after we had already dove in and eaten a bunch...


It was just the coolest experience to be in this restaurant when no one else was, eating unbelievable food and hanging out with the chef himself asking him questions and talking.

So yeah. We were stoked. And none of us have been able to eat for the rest of the day because we ate way too much at lunch!

The best part... Randall kept thanking US as we were leaving!!!

Ummm... NO. THANK YOU Randall and Restaurant AVA!!!!!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Picture of the day:


This pic is from SFA in Nacogdoches, TX - just popped up on facebook. :)

Nacogdoches, TX Knows How to PARTY!!

Today was a blast. We played at Stephen F. Austin University at their Springfest. And MAN! They know how to put on an event! It was a huge outdoors festival - they had Mud Volleyball, inflatable games, BBQ, 4 different bands TONS of people - students, kids, adults, and SOOO many sweet doggies were out, too. :) It was BYOB and seriously just a freakin blast!

The bands were:
Josh Abbott Band
Rich O'Toole Band
Me :)
Casey Donahew Band

They are all really successful Texas bands. It is so awesome how Texas has a whole other level of appreciation for independent country music. You can sell out arenas and ONLY be known in Texas as an artist and only be played on Texas radio. Crazy, right? These kids knew every word to all of their songs - it was so great. And they welcomed us with open arms! It was REALLY fun to be put in the middle of all those great bands.

I had more fun playing today than I have in a while - which is saying a LOT because we have had a lot of great shows lately. But you know, it's all about the crowd. If they are giving me love, then we are all giving it right back. And then they give more, and then we give more, and it keeps escalating. The first few songs started out with only a few people up front... but the more we played, the more they came running!!!

When we were hanging out listening to Rich O'Toole - I was watching the crowd a bit. This one girl set her purse down on the ground and started pulling stuff out of it. I wasn't thinking about it at first - but normally, you'd see a girl pulling out a wallet or sunglasses or cell phone, right? Well, not this girl! She pulled out a beer, and put it in a koozie... and another beer, umm and another... and another... girlfriend pulled out 6 beers and koozies. It's all she had in there! And THAT my friends, set the tone for the day :)

You know... just hanging out with my friend the crawfish


This guy was getting the entire crowd dancing!!! And I even got to join in on Miguel's solo during "Fancy"!


Can you tell who played mud volleyball in this pic? Ya'll, the mud was up to their KNEES. It was ridiculous. There were so many people running around all day long that were completely COVERED in mud :)


My awesome Merch girl!!!


Signing the jeans. Oh yeah.


Casey Donahew was so great. They put on one hell of a show. :)


These students were incredible today. And this isn't even 1/4 of the kids that were helping out. They were so organized and there were a LOT of moving pieces to this event. I couldn't count how many games and booths there were. But they had everything under control and made us very comfortable all day.


I love Nacodoches - plus it's fun to say :)

Next stop.... Penn State in Altoona PA

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

University of Texas San Antonio

I am sitting in the front seat of the Suburban, it's nearly 2am, we're watching "Lord of the Rings" (well... James and I are listening and Hootie and Miguel are both sleeping through it) and my belly is full of Jimmy John's. God Bless JJ's for staying open until 3am. It was sure a life saver tonight! And it wasn't the first time!

Let me start at the beginning of the day to catch you up :)

We left Randy and Stacie's place this morning to head to San Antonio. I hated to say goodbye to their 3 dogs and 3 cats. They have some of the best pets ever - so sweet and friendly. We ate at a Schlotzsky's Deli. The guys had never eaten there - but I think we definitely discovered a new restaurant to add into the frequent rotation! MMMMmmmm.

We hit quite a bit of traffic in Austin.... which we expected.... but then we hit more.... and more.... We were pulling into campus RIGHT on time, but who knew that UTSA has TWO capuses in San Antonio? Ummm.... not us! So once we thought we had arrived, we figured out we had gone to the wrong place - crazy confusion with the street names and GPS. It was all good though. We still had PLENTY of time to get to our soundcheck. PLUS the soundcrew was incredible! They were there to unload the entire trailer, and they already had the entire stage set up. They put a LOT of work into this show. First to arrive and last to leave - these guys always have the longest night in the biz!

They got a great recording of the show and let me listen to a bit of it. They're gonna send it to us later :) Can't wait!

The stage was awesome. UTSA has a beautiful campus, and the festival they had going on was so much fun! Candy apples, and popcorn RIGHT in front of the stage (the aroma was amazing the whole night)

WHOA interjection: we JUST passed the Schlotzsky's in which we ate this afternoon :) Crazy.

Back to the gig. The entire quad had games, balloon animals, food, goodies, and then our big ole honkin stage. The whole area was packed the whole night. It looked more like a street festival than a college event. It was REALLY cool.

Here's the AWESOME group that put on the show!


These 2 sisters were 'cuttin a rug' the WHOLE show. They even recruited other kids in the crowd to dance, too. :)


Speaking of dancing.... I LOVE being in Texas. There are ALWAYS dancers here. People were two-stepping, line-dancing, swing-dancing, ummm... freestyle of course, too. And one kid was even doing some crazy gumby-like, almost break dancing during part of the show. The photographers went CRAZY on him :)

I had my first "Street sign" signing! It says "Mercer St." on the back... which is coincidentally her last name... probably why she bought it... you know, if I were to GUESS a reason. :)


These guys sat in front the WHOLE show. And they even busted out a lighter during "Angel".


A REAL LIFE college student :) I just love that this guy had his backpack on the whole time, and had his book in hand for the pic!


So UTSA was gorgeous, the breeze was constant so it wasn't too hot, and the people were wonderful.

On to TYLER! Only 3 hours to go!

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

Live Video Taping, The Well, and WHEREVER YOU ARE!

I am back home in Tennessee and it will be the first night I have slept in my own bed since the New Year began! Pretty happy about that :) But I'm definitely not complaining!!!! This year has begun with such an energetic start, and I don't plan on slowing down. If we can keep this pace up... well... then all the huge things I am dreaming about are just at my fingertips!

After receiving such a warm welcome at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, we headed on to Dallas.
We were filming some live videos in Dallas at a club in Deep Ellum. The guys at Frozen Fire Films do such incredible work, so when the opportunity presented itself, we JUMPED at the chance to be a part of this taping! I am really excited to see the footage, but it'll take a few weeks before we can see any of the film.
But here's a sneak peak at some still pics that Randy Peterson took during the filming. :)









They were also shooting video for another up-and-coming artist named Katie Mariah. Katie is from Oklahoma and is getting ready to release her first cd! That is THE most exciting time for an artist and I am so excited for her. She and her band sounded SOOO good at the show. You can check her out at:

http://www.myspace.com/katiemariahmusic

She has an adorable video about her very first radio interview.... I wish I had captured my first one on tape! How cool is that?!?
Plus you can listen to a few tracks off the new cd on her myspace page!

We had another show later that evening at The Well Coffee Lounge in Royse City Texas. (This is the one that I posted the article about yesterday) Now, I had NEVER played in Royse City before, and I had never been to this venue before. We knew going into it that we wouldn't be able to set up our FULL stage. I mean, James only set up a kick and snare... and we all turned our amps way down. We never want to blast anyone out of their seats - especially in a more intimate environment.

So we start unloading our equipment and we could barely get in the door the place was so packed!!!! There ended up being over 75 people there! Which was PACKED OUT in that place!!!! It was just the best feeling. :)

It is SO much fun to play to an audience like that. Every show we play right now is so different. And this one just made me feel like I was in someone's living room... I mean, a pretty large living room... but you get it. Most shows we play are not this intimate. And though I am a ham and I LOVE a GINORMOUS audience, there is something so special about playing this kind of show. I was really able to talk to everyone and see their facial expressions and hear what they were yelling out to me. We played two, 45 minute sets, and I just told so many stories about my songs. It was a delight to play there. And the people all just felt like family. Texas is so similar to Tennessee and even though I didn't know anyone there, I felt like I was playing at home.

This little one - Evan aka MR. PERSONALITY!!!! He was getting DOWN To "If I Run To You Now" so I felt like I needed to give him something that was a little more "dance friendly" :) I dedicated "Orange Blossom Special" to him and he clogged and just did his own thang the whole song!!



This is Zach, the creator of "Zach's Wellnini" - only the most amazing Panini I have ever tried!




And this is Jen - one of the owners of The Well (the other is her sister, Kari)




And before I leave you for the evening, I must share one of my favorite moments from stage at this show..... We played "Wherever You Are" and after the song was finished, I said "that one went out to everyone in a long distance relationship". And Hootie leaned into me and said "You just have to sing it REALLY loud". I didn't even realize what he meant or get that he was making a joke at first... But once it sank in - I couldn't stop laughing. I turned around a couple of times and almost shared it with the audience, but the moment had passed, plus I couldn't speak anyway cause I was laughing so hard. Don't know why that cracked me up so much....

You have to sing it really loud so the other person can hear you.....

And so since then he'll just come up to me and scream "WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!!!!!" :) Oh Hoot....

Cool Article Write up in Royse City, TX

Rising artist shooting video during Royse City concert

Friday night show at ‘The Well’ free and open to public

David Wilfong
Royse City Herald-Banner
If you’re an up-and-coming country music artist and you take the time to perform shows for American soldiers at Fort Benning...that’s commendable.

If you have been invited to sing “God Bless America” for the President of the Untied States at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner...that’s impressive.

If you can figure out a way to insert Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” into the middle of a Charlie Daniels song and actually make it work...well, that’s darn near musical genius.

That is one feat actually accomplished by a young lady who will be performing in Royse City on Friday night.

Natalie Stovall will be stopping in town for a free performance at The Well, Royse City’s relatively new Main Street java joint.

Her sound is described as “a little bit Dixie Chicks, little bit rockin’ and a whole lot of party fun.”

A quick perusal of videos available on YouTube reveals that this is an energetic young performer with a lot of skills, a lot of personality and a more than a bit of that distinctly southern, infectious “girl-next-door” charm.

Her resume goes back quite a ways. She can boast of having performed as a child on the Oprah Winfrey show and spent some of her formative years as a young performer in Opryland.

She wraps all of her experience and drive into the mantra “Peace, Love and Fiddle!”

Stovall will be taking the stage at The Well Coffee Lounge at 7:30 p.m. She will be playing songs from her upcoming CD as well as some classic originals and covers.

Natalie has played for the past several years at college campuses, military bases and various venues in the music scene coast to coast.

She ended last year’s tour in Florida by opening a show for the legendary Doobie Brothers. After a year of playing larger venues, Natalie said she is excited “to get into a small, intimate setting where she can connect with her audience.”

The concert in Royse City will be a filming opportunity for Stovall as she is working with Frozen Fire Films producer Brad Davis.

Davis, a resident of Heath, works out his second passion for music through Wayrock entertainment; bringing music shows to the Ray Hubbard area.

It might be good to up one’s stock by attending this Friday’s show. After all, Stovall asserts that, “I think people who come to my shows automatically qualify as the coolest people ever!”

Fate

My fate is that way. Apparently, it is a little under construction.