Up Til Dawn for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital

We played the most awesome event tonight at Western Kentucky University.

It was "Up Til Dawn's" Benefit for St. Jude Children's Hospital. The students have been raising money for St. Judes all year and are already over 100,000 in money raised!!! Everyone that sent out 25 letters to help raise their money, got admittance into the event. It started at 10, they had food, games, inflatable laser tag, basketball courts, coloring stations, (us :) - the music), and everyone was dressed up in either sorority colors, animals, or other fun things. (I never really got the story on the dressing up part - but who needs a reason?!?)

Brooke, this sweet little girl, was there with her Daddy. She had a brain tumor that was cancerous at 18 months old. The doctors told her it was inoperable, but St. Judes said - we can fix this. They did. It took 2 surgeries, and then last year, she had some more cancer come back. But again she is healthy! She goes in Monday for more scans to make sure the coast is clear - so we all need to think about sweet little Brooke on Monday. She has defied all the odds!!! I was a little worried about being able to sing after hearing her story and listening to her Dad speak and thank these kids for all they are doing. But luckily, the students got up and did a really silly dance to Disney songs which helped lighten the mood back up!

It's called "Up Til Dawn" because even though it is a celebration of all their hard work - it is representative of how much these kids have to go through. Many times they are up all night because of their treatments. So the students stay up and hang out until 5am as a tribute to these amazing children!

Needless to say, this show was a GREAT one to be a part of.

One of these girls said, "I've never met someone who plays a fiddle! I'm telling my mom!" :)


Cecelia was such a big help all night long


Up Til Dawn Crew!


Nemo's and turtles (Yes, the Nemo's even have a torn sleeve as their "wounded fin)


Late Night Waffle Housing!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

A Salute To Hoot

After 2 glorious years on the road together, Hootie is flying the nest to live life... well... NOT on the road :)

Hootie first joined the band in February of 2007. He, James, and I were at Berklee at the same time, but we did not know each other while we were at school... not until he answered our Craig's List add and auditioned for us in Nashville!

Hootie was quite the impressive candidate for the band. He was eager, excited, a SLAMMIN player, great singer, and has an incredible ear, so he learns very quickly.

And the poor guy... his first few gigs with us were QUITE the introduction to the band. I was really sick that weekend, but I made it through the first show. The second night... I completely lost my voice and could NOT sing. So the guys were left to their own devices... Charlie and Hootie were both singers, so between the 2 of them, they could cover 4 hours. But it was his second night with us!!! Yeah. I'm sure he was thinking "What the heck have I gotten myself into??"


The Story of "Hoot"

While in our first rehearsal with him, Charlie asked, "So, do you have any nicknames? What do people call you?" To which Joe responded, "Well, my last name is "Huettner" so people have called me 'Hooters'"

James immediately said "Why did you just tell me that? That's your name now, dude."

Over time it morphed into 'Hootie'... probably because I really felt uncomfortable calling him "Hooters"... you know.... every time all I thought of was orange shorts and busty women.

Hootie's come a LONG way since he first joined the band. He was engaged when he joined... he didn't put gel in his hair... he was a lot quieter...

Spinnaker was his FIRST trip on the road with us... which I shall call the BEFORE picture. (Click on it to enlarge)


There's also video evidence of this first trip! It was Spring Break and it includes Hootie's roll away bed that came with women's panties in it :)
At about 3:10 into the video.... you can see the discovery of the panties. It's quite priceless. Watching this video soooo just took me down memory lane!!



This is one of my favorite pics of him from Elizabeth City, NC when we played the Coast Guard Base last summer. This would be the AFTER pic :) After the band become his life...


Things I Will Miss About Hootie:

His "Raptor"
He would become a raptor and sneak up behind me... you know... like a raptor... claws and all... and scare me in a gas station... or wherever.
This would be Hoot raptoring ducks in the Gardens in Boston:


His endless wealth of knowledge for comic books... what will I do when the next comic book movie comes out!?!?!

His inability to be normal in a group photo:


Discussing LOST. Well... who am I kidding... that will NEVER stop. We already text about Lost...

Emo Hoot:



Singing With Hoot:


His organization. This kid would have his suitcase unpacked with everything where it needed to go before I usually had opened mine!

And well... just HIM!!! He is one of the sweetest and most likeable guys. His laugh is infectious, and his sense of humor is definitely one-of-a-kind!

I sure am gonna miss this guy!!!

We love you Hootie. Good luck in EVERYTHING you do.



Peace. Love. Fiddle. Hootie.
~natalie