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

Opening For Gretchen Wilson!!

We dropped James off this morning at the Atlanta airport at around 4:30am, and then pressed onward towards home. It started snowing right as we hit Monteagle Mountain, and didn't stop until I got home. I know this all of this unexpected snow has caused many problems and frustrations for lots of people. I know it makes it difficult for this part of the country where we aren't prepared for it. But at the same time, there is something so magical about all of this beautiful snow gracing us over and over and over again in places where we don't normally get to enjoy it!

Even on that awful drive from Augusta to Ft. Benning where the roads were almost as bad as the ones in Texas (where we had to cancel a couple of weeks ago)... it was so beautiful and majestic and storybook-like that it feels like the Universe is telling us all to pay attention. These things are what we make of it. And yes, it can be a harsh reality. But it can also be a wonderful reminder of God's beauty. So I say a prayer tonight for all that have endured hardships and loss due to this crazy weather. And I also give thanks for being surrounded by so much beauty!!!

The Gretchen Wilson show was SOOOOOOOO much fun. It was a bit disappointing that we had to do it without monitors. I kept switching my earplug from my ear to my back jeans pocket... depending on which thing I needed to hear more - my voice (earplug IN) or my fiddle (earplug out). But ideal situations rarely happen. And I was so excited that very little could have disappointed me about the show. The room was packed and the snow did NOT keep people away.

I met Gretchen in the bathroom before the show and we talked for a while about the snow and the possibility of cancellations, and then she told me about their make-shift sleds they made last week in Tennessee. I could feel my heart beating harder than normal, and I told her how cool it was to be opening for her. After we finished talking, she walked out and told someone outside "I just met Natalie in the bathroom". It was so funny! Before I could even tell the guys I talked to her, she told someone ELSE that she met ME!!!! :) That was awesome.


The show itself was awesome. The crowd was electric, and they were so gracious! I know most of them were there to see her, but they sure did make me feel the love! And we put on a great show for them. I couldn't hear my fiddle at all and at one point I looked down and saw that my E string was a D#. Not cool... but I tuned quickly and that was really the hardest part of the show. I did start getting out of breath during a few songs because my adrenaline was pumping so hard and I was putting so much into it, that my body couldn't keep up. :) That's the way it should be! It's such a high!!!
Lots of pictures have shown up on facebook... I just grabbed these two quickly... Thank you Melanie Carver for posting!



My best friend, Sarah, drove all the way down + a surprise guest to come to the show. They got stuck in traffic in Chattanooga and Atlanta, AND it snowed so hard they had to go 45 most of the way. They got there about 30 minutes after my set ended. :( After all that. But we got to hang out the rest of the night... I hated they couldn't see the show, but it was amazing to have them there. The surprise guest was my former bass player and wonderful friend Amy Sporleder!!!! Amy is now playing in Sarah's band. I still can't believe they made the long trip down there!


There are pics of Gretchen and me somewhere, but I didn't get any on my camera. I will acquire them soon, I am sure. But this is us at the merch table. Gretchen and her merch guy were both VERY gracious and let me continue selling my cd's and t-shirts throughout the night. Even when she was in the booth signing.
Here we both are signing stuff - I think this was one of the times where the audience member wanted me and her to both sign a Gretchen t-shirt:


At one point, she poured a BIG shot of Jack Daniels for herself, her merch guy, and then handed me one. When Gretchen Wilson hands you a shot, you take it. And I did. :)

A few people had her sign my shirts and cd's which was so funny to me :) Awesome, and funny. And then Sarah had me sign her Peace Love Fiddle Tee and then got in line and had Gretchen sign the other side. I liked that. :)


So the night was amazing. I have some incredible fans in Augusta and surrounding areas that showed up. We've played there at the Country Club twice before, we used to play at a bar called Coyote's, and we played at Fort Gordon last year in May. There were people from ALL of the aforementioned places. Michelle, who made a blanket during my Fort Gordon show and had me sign it last year, brought me roses AND made me a scarf which was so beautiful!!! It was just so great to have some real fan support at the show. And I can't wait to play in Augusta again! I love it there!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Let's Take Our Love To Mexico...

We can see Mexico!!!! Seriously - the buildings right across the way are in Mexico. It's pretty sweet. The people here in South Texas, and I mean REALLY South Texas, have so much pride for this area. They have been unbelievably welcoming to the guys and me, and they have gone WAAAAY above and beyond to help us and put on a great event tonight.

Texas is always great because it is this unique cultural pocket in the world that has a feverish excitement for INDEPENDENT country music. And even though everyone has always said it is impossible for girls to break into the Texas market... and most Texans hate "Nashville" (as in the kind of country music that comes out of Nashville) I haven't felt that way AT ALL!!! I have felt nothing but love from Texas!!! And I have given nothing but love back, which I will continue to do over and over again!

And coming this far south has been so much fun for us. The students at UT Brownsville are AWESOMESAUCE!

They were champions with load in and load out - we couldn't pack up fast enough after the show cause they had everything on the elevator so quickly!

And the show.... oh my lord.... so many cameras and cell phones a flip cams. These kids rushed the front of the stage EARLY in the set and gave us SOOO much energy. The guys and I had a GREAT show because the audience was so great. One girl, Roxy, found me before the show because she came to the show last night at UT Pan Am AND came tonight!! That rocked my world. Tonight was the kind of night we live for as musicians. We've already had quite a few of those on this trip, too - which is just incredible!

Let's keep this ball rolling! :)

The Sigma Psi Delta girls!


Fei!!! Even though we are in America, and can see the border of Mexico, Fei is here from China! :) (It was his first country concert)


The awesome student group that put this whole thing together!!


Signing the chucks!


My first Belt signage!


They found us loading the trailer after they went back and got their white chucks! She had us all sign both of them!


The GIANT basket of Mexican Goodies they gave us!


Us devouring the giant basket of Mexican goodies in the hotel room!


And we even got a private tour of the school at the end of the night which was REALLY cool. They have a gorgeous campus and really awesome facilities. It makes it so much more personal for us to really get to see the campus like that. And this campus looks more like a luxury resort than a college! It's so beautiful!

Another wonderful night down. :)

Do I really have to go do normal people stuff like pay bills right now? ;) Night y'all.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I LOVE NCTC!!!

You know how I told you the show last night was AWESOME??

Well.... here's a video to prove it! It showed up on NCTC's youtube page today!!!! Thank you so much for editing this and putting it up online! We love you guys!



My favorite part of that is "I used to play the drums, so I like THAT GUY!" :) That dude was awesome.

We had a looooong drive through the night after our show last night to get to our Houston Community College show this morning. But we made it!!! And after napping, ordering in Chinese, watching LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a full night's rest, we'll be ready to take on University of Texas Pan America in Edinburg tomorrow!!! :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

NCTC Rocks My Socks

Our 3rd show at North Central Texas College and it gets better every time!!! :)

We played at the Gainesville campus tonight and it was a packed show...

Jaci Butler and one of "Those Guys" showed up!

We got a standing ovation...

These sweet 2 little girls were dancing and twirling the whole time :)

The kids rushed the stage for "Devil Went Down To Georgia"

We signed guitars... lots of guitars! :)

People showed up sporting their Team Stovall and Peace Love Fiddle Tee's from previous shows!

A poster advertising the show had "OMG" written in gold puff paint... don't those 2 just go hand in hand??



And now we are driving overnight again to Houston. I just switched off and let James take over the wheel. I have some GREAT pics from tonight, but they aren't cooperating with "Van internet" Puff Paint seems to be the only winner... :) So I'll have to load the rest later.

But I want to wish Autumn a VERY Happy Birthday!!!! Thanks for coming to the show tonight.

Fantasy-Mexico-Land

So I don't really know what it up with my blogs lately - I sent a whole description that did not post along with the pic below of Mi Tierra Cafe :)

So here goes again:

Last night, we started heading North after the show, but we were all starving. We were really just looking for the first place that was open since it was after 11pm. We saw this lively Mexican restaurant and thought we'd give it a try. There seemed to be lots of action in the parking lot, and from the outside it looked like a typical Mexican place. But when we walked inside - it was like we stepped into a whole other dimension - a Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe Closet if you will...

There was a giant dessert/pastry bar when we walked in, which delayed Miguel and me for a few minutes. To the right was a giant bar that was hoppin with a mariachi band and lots of "happy" people :) To the left... it seemed endless. Room after room all decorated with a different theme.

We were in shock because we expected a "Waffle House" of you will... (I love me some Waffle House now, so I say that with affection) but our expectation was more of a stereotypical late night joint. Not a beautiful, looked like you just stepped into Fantasy-Mexico-Land.



In other, not as fun news... we had to cancel our show for this evening. It was really frustrating. We started the drive last night, and were pretty confident that we could make it to Canyon (which is up by Amarillo - NW Texas). But they have suffered really bad snow and icy conditions over the last few days like so much of the country has this week. All the traffic maps and advisories online said "DO NOT TRAVEL". We went as far as we could go until we had to make the decision whether or not we could go any further. (It was a 9 hour drive total) The roads from San Antonio to Amarillo are state highways - not even interstates... and their ability to properly treat the roads is... well... take a guess... they never have snow there... so they don't have a lot of means to get RID of the snow that falls once in a blue moon. If that storm had happened in Wisconsin, it would have been a no brainer - those roads would have been clear becuase they have the infrastructure to salt the roads and melt the ice quickly - just like they had in Iowa a few days ago. It was only HOURS after a HUGE storm had passed through causing hundreds of cars to spin off the roads. But they have so many salt trucks at hand, they got the problem taken care of quickly.

No one ever WANTS to cancel a show. It's not fun for anyone involved. The school had actually started calling us a couple of days ago, and we just thought they were being overly cautious. But once we saw the roads, we couldn't make it. I just WILL NOT put my band in that kind of danger. None of us felt good about it, and everyone weighed in on the decision. It was difficult because management and agents were really leaning on us to push through. James, as tour manager was being so unbelievably diplomatic about the whole thing. I was actually the one who was all riled up. We've already been in one major accident due to snow and ice on the road, and the outcome was one that most people aren't lucky enough to live to tell about. So yeah... I may be overly sensitive on this issue.

But something way down in my gut was telling me NOT to go. And we were all spooked from hitting a patch of ice and sliding last night. Plus something crazy is going on in the universe right now! My little hometown of Columbia Tn got over 7 inches of snow yesterday, and we've NEVER gotten that much snow. So something is up. It sucks we couldn't go. And even though there is even MORE paperwork involved and no one gets paid, and there was no show... I am 100% confident we made the right choice.

So today wasn't exactly what I would call a fun day. There were MANY phone calls that began early in the morning about the whole thing. And James had a tough job on his shoulders trying to convince everyone that we were making the right decision. But once we realized we weren't headed to Amarillo, we started heading back towards Dallas - where our awesome friend Randy Peterson lives. We got here around 10pm tonight, headed to dinner, played some shuffle board, darts, foosball, rock band, and mario kart. :) So the majority of the day was unpleasant, but the evening turned out to be great. We love Randy and Stacie P! The new band isn't REALLY the new band until they stay at Randy P's house! It's part of the induction into the band, really. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Introducing the New Band Members!!

Sooo....

I have alluded to the fact that new guys were coming on board over the last little bit, but I haven't said much because there were no "final decisions" made.

Today, that has all changed!!!

We have known for a while now that David Newbould would be joining Team Stovall. David will be coming on board as an opening act/ rhythm guitar/ vocalist in the group! We are THRILLED to have such a talented guy along for the ride. :) He's a fantastic artist - singer/songwriter/guitar player/overall awesomeness and in fact... you should head on over to his website when you have the time and take a look at HIS stuff!!!

http://www.davidnewbould.com/

He originally hails from Canada (thus furthering the borders of this international Stovall band) but he recently made the move to Nashville from Austin, Texas. We even figured out that Dave Madden - my first keyboard player... plays keys for David in Austin!!! Oh what a small world it is!


And the the part we haven't known until today - our new bass player!!!
Introducing Zach Morse (no kids... not Zach Morris... though I'm a little TOO excited about introducing him to Mr. Belding) from Cheyenne, WY (a new state to grace the Stovall Team). Zach has a very rich, deep voice which I can't wait to hear more of. He's a killer bass player. And he's got crazy curly hair to DIE for! :)

You can get a sneak peek at his myspace site:
http://www.myspace.com/zachmorsebassist

We had spoken to Zach, gotten GREAT recommendations from friends about him, and stalked him a little on youtube. Shhhh. We had a great feeling about him, but you can't exactly offer someone a job without meeting them and playing with them first. Well... you can. But, you know. So we got together with everyone today, played through some songs, dug the vibe, offered him the job, and thus now we have a full band again!

Whew. I can't even begin to describe what an incredible feeling that is. New Van, new band, new sound system, new songs, new sets, new fiddles... Whoa. I didn't even realize all the newness until I just typed it out!

Miguel, James, and I couldn't be happier with how 2010 is starting!!! Let's keep it a'rollin!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

We Played a Metal Club Tonight: Scout Bar

We could not have played two more different venues in the last two nights.


Last night - an old KY barn... where Crystal Gayle and Clint Black play shows... dinner crowd... James played with hot rods... we played with our amps WAY down... had to adjust the set list to a more "low key" show.

Tonight?? We played a metal bar that has Hoobastank, Hinder, HUGE stage, lights, amps rattling, mohawks in the crowd.

I LOVE how we never know what we are walking into. I was a little concerned that I was a bit too "country" for this venue, but the club has been trying something different on Thursdays. They have a house band called Obsolete August that plays the first and third set... and they have a guest touring band (of all different styles) on the second set.

The crowd was SOOOOO great!!!! We had a really awesome show. So much fun to play and the crowd was really electric. They were so excited that I had 2 t-shirts stolen. As frustrating as that is... I guess if people wanted them THAT bad... that they swiped them right off my table while I went to the ladies room.. well... I just hope they WEAR them! Spread the Peace. Love. Fiddle!!!

Here's some of our new friends :)
I LOVE the Thumbs up guy!






The guy on the left is "Laser Rocket Chapman" He had me sign his cd that way. And he bought a t-shirt for his friend and he had me sign it: To: Laser Rocket Chapman's Friend




Obsolete August - They got me up to sing backgrounds on some Stevie Ray Vaughn and Radiohead.
 

By the way. We were 2 blocks away from NASA. CRAZY.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

Tonight we played one of the cutest and most unique venues - Dosey Doe's right outside of Houston, TX.

Best Sign Ever.


It is a Dining/Live Music Hall that is a 150 year old barn from Kentucky. Hand Hewn (cut by axe instead of saw). It is made entirely of 300 year old growth Oak and Birch. The process of taking the barn down, re-raising it, and finishing it out took them two and a half years!

It's adorned with all original signage, artwork, photos, general store wares, antiques, leaded glass windows, and milk glass (school) lights all from the late 1880’s to mid 1900’s. And the green room for the band is actually the master bedroom from the farmhouse! :) So cool.

They also made sure it sounded great for live music!!! They have had all kinds of incredible musicians there - Clint Black, Crystal Gayle, Hal Ketchum, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Billy Dean... the list goes on and on.

And the food. OH the food. Their chef has won all kinds of awards, been a chef at many of the top restaurants in Houston. Now he has designed a menu just for Dosey Doe's. Tonight I had the salmon. After I had eaten it and raved about it, I found out that he just won Houston's Iron Chef with THAT Salmon recipe!!! SO COOL!!!

Susan Hickman - the hometown artist that played tonight, too!


Awesome audience members!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

What a Whirlwind of a Week

Man. Texas was a blast. I am now home in Tennessee for a few hours. But this whole last week feels like a blur. We were working at such a fast pace and it never stopped! We got home tonight around 11 and leave tomorrow for PA :) It is so great to get to do laundry and sleep in our own beds for a night!

I can't believe how allergic to Texas I was this week! And that's coming from a Tennessee girl!!! (The Tennessean's understand to what I am referring) But almost as soon as we crossed the state line... my eyes started to clear up. Whew. Something in the water or the pollen did NOT like me there. And it makes me sad because I love Texas. It won't stop me from going back.... Probably the fact that we did 6 outdoor shows didn't help the whole "pollen" thing. But yeah, that was crazy.

You know something that is funny? We sold less merchandise (cd's t-shirts, posters, etc..) in all 7 shows than we sold at almost every single show the last few weeks. It's not something I am upset about - just an observation. As an artist - the cd's and t-shirts we sell are our lifeline. So naturally, it is something we pay attention to. The enthusiasm of the audiences weren't down a bit. And I signed just as many or more t-shirts, cups, and scraps of paper this week than I usually do. But not nearly as much was purchased. It's so intriguing how things like that can be drastically different from show to show. But that's the fun of it :) If it were easy, everyone would do it!

Time sure is flying. I can't believe we only have 2 weeks left on this tour. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were putting the Tour posters together and gearing up for Winter driving! Now we're all sunburnt and the suburban is back to full on AC mode.

It sure is fun to look at this tour poster and think about where all we've been and how far we've traveled together!


Hope everyone is having a happy Monday! See you somewhere on the road.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

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

Virginia Wesleyan College

We played Virginia Wesleyan tonight. This is the second school so far that we have returned to for a 2nd show! They had a huge Seafood dinner for everyone along with a DJ and well.... US! SO fun :)

It was a GORGEOUS day. Couldn't have really gotten any prettier. Not a cloud in the sky. 70 degrees. Yeah. Awesome day for an outdoor event!!! It was the PERFECT day to model my new clothes I got in Providence on our sleepy shopping spree :) I usually don't like to shop... I either don't find much I want or I refuse to pay the ridiculous price tags on the things that I do want... BUT NOT IN PROVIDENCE!!! We found a Delia's in the mall... which I had never seen an actual store of! I used to get the catalogues as a kid.... but never seen a store. So I sported my "ManEater" graphic tee along with my fun crazy jeans :) Sorry to be so girlie right now... but I was REALLY excited!

These were the girls that took care of us ALLLLLL day and night!!!


This was one of the Deans!!! I love that she came out. She's a big country fan. I actually met and talked with the President of the school for quite a while at soundcheck. It is always so cool to get to meet the President and Deans of a renown School like Virginia Wesleyan College!


This is WAC - they are the group of students that put on this event :)

I am proofreading and just made myself laugh out loud.... sounds like I am getting all ghetto on y'all. "This is WAC! Fo Shizzle"

And here we are in my favorite GIANT CHAIR!!!!!! I was SOOOO hoping these huge chairs would be back this year. I love them.


This is Scott. We have been talking back and forth for WEEKS now on facebook about this show. He was gonna rally the front row lawn chair peeps... he ended up being stuck in 4 hours of traffic and being late.... but he made it for most of the show!!! It was really cool to see him after talking and corresponding so much. Felt like we were old friends :) I love facebook.


These girls ran my merch table for me during the show. They were SO sweet. I had no idea they were gonna be there, so we didn't get to talk before the show. They had to find everything out themselves.. Me and my 3 crazy bags of merchandise.... But they figured it all out and were so helpful!


Hannah and Carter were Adorable. Hannah plays piano... but "when she's done with that, she's gonna start playing the violin" :) Pretty cool, huh? She's got a plan! Obviously - there were a few cameras going here. FOCUS NAT!


I love what I do. And I love when we are asked back to a campus to do "what we do" a second time around. We had a lot of fun today. I just love being outdoors. It's good for the soul.

Now we head to Texas. But instead of staying in random hotels the next 2 nights... drumroll PLEASE!!! We get to stay at HOME in Nashville!!! LOVE it when it works out that way :) Miguel and I were trying to figure out if he left his car at our apartment on this last trip... but neither of us could actually remember leaving Nashville. That's funny...

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

P.S. We ate at Red Robin for dinner. Just like we did last year... but there was no carnival in the parking lot next door like last. But it mattered not, for Red Robin IS off the Hizzle!!

MMMMmmmm Cookies

It is officially 4 am and I am one exhausted but completely satisfied little girl. I will tell you all about today's events during my 13 hour drive tomorrow. But I must say - if this week is ANY indication of the rest of the year, it is going to be the best year of my life. And I've had a lot of really good years so far.

But before I abandon you for the comforts of a warm bed on this cold Texas night.... I must leave you with my favorite wall decoration from the Coffee House we played tonight. It was conveniently placed on the wall in front of the toilet. :)



You should have seen the size of the chocolate chip cookie I ate tonight - it was the size of my head.

Peace, Love, Fiddle, oooo and chocolate.

King Ranch

Our show tonight was a PERFECT way to start off 2009 on the road! But I can't talk about it until tomorrow. :( I left my downloader doo-hickey (you know, the thing that gets the pics from my camera to my computer) in the back seat of the Suburban. And ummmm.... I just kinda injured myself working out in the hotel room. I mean, not badly. But I feel like such a dork. I was just doing leg squats, but something in my leg wanted to stay in the same place, even though the rest of my body went to the side.... not good. So anyway, all that to say, I am staying put and will blog about the show tomorrow.

BUT! on the way there.... we passed this GINORMOUS cloud of smoke - half yellow and half white, and the smell.... good lord. Yeah, it looked like a tornado. And in searching about what the heck was going on (maybe a huge, but controlled brush fire?) James figured out that it took place on one of the largest ranch in the world - called King Ranch. We never figured out what was going on... but it looked cool. Smelled? Not so much.




Oh and this next story.... I have to share. :) Not good for the dinner table. Wait... I did share it at Chili's tonight. But everyone was done eating... so that doesn't count. Right?

Nah.

So, we walked into the gas station today. James and I were both headed back towards the restrooms, and this guy came up behind us... apparently we weren't going quickly enough for him. He said, "sorry guys. I'm on a mission from God!" and pushed us out of the way and barreled into the bathroom.

Awesome.

I love people. :) Especially people without any inhibitions.

Oh! And they left us a twix and milky way on the bed with a sweet letter welcoming us at this Comfort Inn. Best Comfort Inn EVER.

peace, love, fiddle

~natalie

New Trailer!!!!

We got a new trailer today!!!! So.... as an homage to our first trailer...
I give you the "officially retired" Homesteader Runner Challenger:



Look at that boy... You can tell he's been through a wild ride! Yeah... we only had him for 21 months, but he withstood over 100,000 miles, 3 suburbans, 32 states (I actually just wrote them all out and counted!), 2 countries (that one time we "accidentally drove through Canada.... but that's a WHOLE other blog), ending up in a ditch after being bashed in by a semi, and most recently a blow out on the highway... Pretty amazing to think of all the things we went through with this trailer.

And now we have a beautiful new (well... used, but new to us!!!!) trailer that has..... drumroll please... TRAILER BREAKS!!!!! We REALLY needed to get them before we head up to Vermont next week in the crazy winter weather!

I don't think there are words to describe the feeling of being able to open and close the new trailer door. Seriously. You think I'm kidding. But for almost a year, the door has been so jacked up that we had to use a huge belt strap that went all the way around the trailer to reinforce the door.It took all 4 of us to secure the thing for James to actually tighten it around the trailer. We were so accustomed to just "assume the position" when the door needed closing. And the most frustrating part for me was that my hands were too small to deal with the belt strap on my own. So I ALWAYS needed help (if I didn't want it to take 20 minutes JUST to open the door) with getting the trailer open. I don't like that. I want to be able to get things done myself. And I don't like feeling like a "girl" when it comes to things that have to do with this business... I can load in just as much gear as the next guy. It may take me a few extra trips.... but it'll get done! That is, unless the door to get to the gear is closed with a heavy duty belt strap... not cool...

And since I already took the time to write them out.... and I am pretty amazed when I look at the list.... I am going to copy and paste now the states that have seen us on the highway henceforth:
Fl, Wi
Ga, Mi
Al, Pa
Ms, Md
La, De
Tx, NJ
Ok, Ct
Ar, Ri
Tn, Ny
Sc, Ma
Nc, Va
Ky, Mo
Ks, Co
Ne, Ia
Il, Wv
Oh, In
Ontario, Canada :)

That blows my mind! We've done lots o' travelin the last year and a half! Wow. We leave for Texas in the morning.... and when we get back from our Texas trip, we'll actually be adding a few new states to the list once we hit New England. This trailer is getting broken in pretty quickly! Texas to Vermont... think of ALL those states :)

And to completely derail from this topic:
I went to see Ruth Collins tonight at 3rd and Lindsley. She put on SUCH a good show. If you don't know her as a solo artist, you may know her from "Can You Duet" on CMT. She was part of Wild Honey. :) Ruth and I go way back... to college :) And then she and James were roommates until this last May. Cause, you know... he got married and stuff in June :) And she sang a song we wrote together called "Lottery" tonight. It was so fun to hear a song I wrote from the audience. Actually, I think that may be a first for me! Whoa! That is crazy!
She is one of those people that just has an innate ability with melody and lyrics. She is such a talented writer and artist and I am SURE you will hear big things from her.
Check her out!
www.myspace.com/ruthcollins


peace, love, fiddle y'all!

Natalie Unplugged

Today is the first episode of "Natalie Unplugged" ;) This is a chance for me to share songs with you at their birth!

It's so funny because as a writer - you write lots and LOTS of songs. And not all of them are ever heard. (sometimes with good reason! HA!) Even some of the songs that I love singing and playing still may never make it to an album. (At least, you hope you write SOOOO many great songs that you have the luxury of being very picky) There's always a lot more that goes into picking songs for an album than just "liking" them!! ;)
But the beautiful part? I don't have to decide right away if a song is going on my next album! And I can just share these with ya'll - and you can let me know which ones speak to YOU. Who knows? Maybe YOU'LL be the ones deciding the track list for my next album :)


Featured in this video is my co-writer for this one, Mr. Charlie Hutto :)
Many of you will recognize Charlie as he was in the band for almost a whole year. We met at Berklee and have been playing in bands together.... well... since Berklee!

The Suburban Chronicles: Mud-Wrestling Incident

We played a show at Amarillo College back in April and after the show, this girl came up to me and said "Hey, you should mud-wrestle me!" I told her I would love to but I really didn't want to get my performing clothes dirty and I didn't have anything else to wear. (All of our bags were already at the hotel so I thought I was off the hook!) Immediately this one guy said - "I've got basketball shorts you could wear!" And the college had just given each of us a t-shirt. So I had kinda committed without even meaning to!! But as soon as I realized that I was REALLY gonna mud wrestle this girl... I realized that she looked like she had already taken some people down..... and I was smaller.... and I was about to get killed....
But hey! I think I put up a pretty good fight. Notice how she says "She won't go down!" towards the end. I am really proud of that part - cause girlfriend just TACKLES me at first and I was NOT ready for that!!!