We Bought A VAN!!!!!

For months now, James and I have been looking online at vans and vehicles to "upgrade" our bandwagon.

The Suburban (All 3 in fact) have served us well and have gotten us through safely (which is pretty impressive in certain cases!!!) But now, with the addition of a 5th band member approaching, and the possibility of sometimes taking along a merch and/or roadie... we need a bigger vehicle.

Just like any business... we have to grow and upgrade as the business grows. :)

We have been thinking we were gonna get a 15 passenger van all along... but tonight... out of nowhere... a CHEVY 12 passenger appeared on the lot at the Car Max down the street that met every other criteria we had (and more). It was so new, they hadn't even posted pics on the online listing.

It's been a bit more difficult finding vans on the lots around here. There are just SO MANY churches, which snatch these vans up like hot cakes! These are the ultimate church-bus. I've ridden on quite a few in my day :)

Sooo.... we ventured to Car Max (after having a few disappointing let-downs earlier in the day on dealership lots). And there she was. Silver - almost the same color as the Burb... with a GIANT DVD screen... only 50,000 miles on her (which we'll double in 6 months), a the right aura about her. :)

She needs very little work - mostly just that third bench put in the back. Most of them come with one, but this one must have been custom ordered NOT to have one. But our great friend, mechanic, anything-car-related extraordinaire, Keith, in Columbia is gonna help fix us up right away!

Here's the "Oh My Goodness!?! Are we really doing this???" look in the car-buying office.


WE DID IT!!!!


And Scott!!! Our new friend who helped us with every step!!! I must say... Car Max (and of course, Scott himself) make the whole car buying thing way less stressful. I hate the "I need to go talk to my manager" skit at dealerships. And I hate haggling. So Car Max is great! They do lots of inspections... there's time to take it back if you don't feel like you got what you thought you were getting... and they are already at the lowest price point they can give. So you can actually talk to your sales representative and not feel like you shouldn't give away too much information in case he can use it against you later...
I loved the Car Max experience! And Lord knows we'll put it to the test right away!


I am so unbelievably happy with this purchase. It's really weird to retire to 'Burb to be our personal vehicle! But it is time. She's starting to show her miles... which isn't a problem at all for our personal use! We can handle the little fixes and repairs that will be necessary when it is just for ourselves. But we wanted to make sure we were proactive so we wouldn't get stuck with having to make a car buying decision in 24 hours... which we've had to do a few too many times already in this life!

So.... WHEW. Wow. I am thrilled and overjoyed. We'll start getting to work on her and she'll be ready for her induction trip.
Nashville ---> Iowa ---> Texas ---> Louisiana ---> back to Tennessee. :)

I haven't actually seen her in the daylight yet. But I'll be sure and get a full size pic of her tomorrow in all her glory!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY!!! I can't believe my 1st niece is now a teenager. I was 15 when she was born... and now she's 13. CRAZY how time flies!

Barney Fife and Gomer Pyle Danced With Me On Stage Tonight!

It's closing time at the fair :( We had so much fun this week. It was FINALLY a beautiful day out at the Georgia National Fairgrounds. It was still chilly, but it was a million times better today because the sun was out! :)

We made so many great new friends this week. Our friend and dressing room mate, Carrie McQueen, is a fabulous stilt walker and juggler. And her precious puppy, Gypsy (because she was on the road with Carrie 2 weeks after she got her!) was such a sweet puppy. She kept us entertained! And she LOVED James. When he took a little break on the floor... she decided to do the same :)


And LEON!!! Leon Jacobs, the NICEST man in show business. He and I would alternate playing shows on the Georgia National Stage. He plays keys and is just fantastic! And THEN he would run sound during our shows. Everyone constantly had such great things to say about our sound. As one guy said... "Leon goes from song to song. Most sound guys go from sandwich to sandwich" :) I love that! But he was VERY attentive and did an amazing job.
We LOVE Leon. And Chris loves him a LOT. As you can see.


Chris actually got up and did the Tina Turner dance during Leon's last set :) We were all doing just about anything to keep warm. But I have a sneaking suspicion that Chris would have done it anyway ;)-

In the last show of the night, Leon got up to play a song with us, Barney Fife AND Gomer Pyle got up on stage and sang and danced with us!!! I will NEVER forget that!

We had some awesome people out at the show, too! These kids gave me the bear I'm holding!!! They won it and then gave it to me :) So he sat on my amp for all of my shows.


Lucy came to the show yesterday, and then came back again today! She used to play the violin. She was in Germany and had a violin teacher from Holland :) She told me to ask Barney if St. Pete gave him his bullet back when he got to the Pearly Gates. :)


And these guys were AWESOME! They came to a couple shows tonight and wanted their hoodies signed :)



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Opening for Josh Gracin!!!

Our very first college show 2 years ago was in Elmira, New York, and it was an opening slot for Josh Gracin. After touring colleges and universities pretty solid ever since.... we were asked to open for him again. This time at Mansfield University in PA - only 45 miles south of Elmira. How crazy is that?!?

The show tonight? AMAZING. It flew by. The audience was packed. People were screaming uncontrollably. I felt like I was a headliner in my own little 30 minute opening slot. (which is SUCH a quick set for us!)
You want to know the craziest part? Not only did I FEEL like it was an incredible show... but I spent more time at the merch table than I ever have before. It was a solid line the whole time. How long? 2 hrs and 39 mins. WHAT!?!?!?! I could not believe how amazing these people were. I went to the table to start signing autographs and take pics after my set. I missed Josh's ENTIRE set... plus stayed until they were hauling sound equipment off the stage. But I promised to get to EVERYONE. And I did!!! It was SO FREAKIN AWESOME. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the response to our set. People were so kind, when I was just happy for the opportunity.

And OH the food. The food was astounding. NOT ONLY did we have plums from Chile in our dressing room (which made one Chilean guitar player in my band very happy) but the salmon and the couscous. Perfection!!

We had LOTS of protection tonight :) (And good-looking protection I might add!)




I had an interview for tv and 2 newpapers before the show. :) Here's all the interviewers:




These girls asked me to sign their biology notes.


I must have looked at them a little funny because THEN they explained. They told me that they came to the show instead of studying for their exam.... I hope they do well on their exam because if they don't I would feel HORRIBLE. (I couldn't even pronounce the study points next to where I signed)


I signed a bunch of normal stuff tonight - you know - hats, t-shirts, ticket stubs. But this was the first time I ever signed cowgirl boots!!! And BOTH girls had me sign their boots. Adorable.


These ladies were at the Elmira show, too!!! We were all really excited about that.


SO I could go on and on and on with stories of everyone I met at the merch table. But I need to sleep in a bad way, so I am gonna move on to the after party. Everyone was going to a bar down the road called Changos. I was exhausted but I really wanted to hang out. Plus, I felt horrible - I never got to even see Josh or thank him for having us as an opener. Well... Josh and his guys were all going, too. And Josh had told Miguel the same thing - he felt bad that we didn't get to talk.

So we headed to Changos


When we walked in, 2 guys were singing and playing acoustic guitars ("Don't Stop Believing" I might add). As we walked into the bar - they announced "Natalie Stovall has entered the bar" and Oh MY, Y'all. The whole place started cheering! Talk about making a girl feel good!!! And then the first girl I saw was ALREADY wearing the Peace, Love, Fiddle tee she had JUST bought!!!


A few minutes later Josh walked in. And we FINALLY got to talk!!!! I think he's my new BFF. :) (Don't worry Farm Boy... no one will ever be my FFBF but you.... there's a BIG difference) He is really a great guy. He puts on a heck of a show and he was so great to talk to. We bonded over the industry and the business and just making things work. He was incredibly sweet about my band. So yeah. I love Josh Gracin. We all do. Actually, Miguel and James are downstairs in the lobby with Josh and his band right now... they weren't ready for the party to stop!!!


We had a rough time leaving. But I knew I needed to go.... we have another 7 hour drive to Boston tomorrow and it's another big day. I'm singing the anthem for the Celtics. And even though it is only one song - it is one HARD song to sing. My voice is pretty swollen just from all the non-stop talking, interviewing, and show-puttin tonight. (I WOULDN"T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!) But I knew I needed to go. It's almost 4am right now... normal... but sucks when you have to get up at 7.... AGAIN.

We all tried to leave about 17 times. This was what happened when I was trying to leave.


Since that didn't work so well... James had to take matters into his own hands.



Good times. Although.... I am still not sure how Josh beat us back to the hotel. He was still inside when we left??? But he was inside the hotel when we got here. Hmmmm... He's magic.

This was even more than I hoped it would be. I had an overwhelming amount of friend requests on facebook when I opened up my laptop. What a great feeling. We're moving on up, ya'll. And it is all thanks to YOU. So THANK YOU for letting me get to do what I do. I will forever be grateful. And I will always stay until the last autograph is signed.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie