Campus Activities Magazine Awards, Nashville Show...

It's Sketchy motel night!!!

We called about 15 different places tonight close to Bossier City where we are playing tomorrow and everything is sold out.... so we are in the kind of motel that I usually avoid at all costs. But it's not too bad.... there were black hairs all over the towels in the bathroom... but this is WAY better than having to sleep in the van!

Two bits of GREAT news I have to share before I brave the sheets of this bed. :)


We have our first Nashville show booked in over a year! We are playing at 3rd and Lindsley on March 9. WOOO HOOOO!!! I am PUMPED.


And 2ndly...

We have been nominated for TWO of the highest honors by Campus Activities Magazine this year!!

Best Band
and
Best Performer

The Performer award is the biggie because it includes comedians, musicians, lecturers, singers... any kind of performer.

Student Activities Members at Colleges (the people that hire us, choose us, and put on the events) are the ones that vote for these awards.

So yeah. I am excited!!! It's such an honor to be nominated among the thousands of options these colleges have!

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 almost got in a bar fight tonight

Seriously.

It was ridiculous.

I haven't had someone up in my face like this since public school in 8th grade when Dusty Vance heard that I didn't like him dating my best friend. It was the only time I ever ended up in the principal's office because he got up in my face and threatened me in the hallway and a lot of people witnessed it. I had to give my version of the story to the principal. (Dusty told me he was gonna bash my head in).

We played TWO shows today. We opened for the Carter Twins at UConn - it was AMAZING. And THEN we drove to Henniker, NH to play for New England College. BOTH shows were amazing for different reasons. That's unusual, we don't always get to play 1 or especially 2 awesome shows in 1 day.

So then we went to check into our hotel, and headed across the street to the "Chinese Restaurant and Pub" (I kid you not) to have a drink. Tomorrow (so at midnight) it is James' birthday. Plus Paul (my manager) is with us, plus it's been a long, hard week.

So.... this very inebriated woman (that we had actually been cheering for her unique dance moves) came up to our table out of no where to ask us some very important questions. She was a little intimidating... I mean... REALLY intimidating. Like, maybe steroids? And she said more than once, "I've lived and I've died" (hmm?) and then she wanted to know "What does money mean to you?" Chris would try to divert her attention, so then she'd yell at him and say "I'm NOT talking to you!!!" And then keep on with her "What does money mean to you?" She would go from Paul, to James, to Miguel. And THEN it went to "What does Life mean to you?"

Well, then out of nowhere and for no real reason any of us could come up with... she start pointing at me and saying pretty aggressively "I don't like your demeanor". I looked at her - shocked. I mean, there were a few moments, where I was worried she was going to throw up on Paul or my husband by HER demeanor... so maybe that's what she was picking up on. But she started shouting at me and kept saying "You're Demeaning ME!" which... ummm... isn't English.

Another girl, Tiffany, even got involved. Tiffany and I hadn't met yet, but she vouched for me and kept saying we're good friends, and said I was a Barbie doll and wouldn't be "demeaning" her.

Whoa.

I didn't know what was going on. I think I was just scared and confused the entire time. There were a few times I thought she was gonna jump across the table at me. When I shook her hand earlier, she almost broke all the bones in my hand, so I really didn't want to feel something (like a punch) where she was trying to hurt me. But, also, I had 4 guys at the table with me. And... well.... come to find out later.... the ENTIRE bar that she had already insulted for no apparent reason. So if she had even tried to lunge at me, it would have been very unfortunate for her.

But there were a few minutes where I was legitimately scared! Whew. Close one. Paul, Tiffany, and I are all good friends now, though. I don't know where Tiffany came from, but she really helped me out tonight!

Too Many "Natalie's" for One Bathroom Stall

One of the harder things to do as an artist, is to play original music during long sets at a club. I've gotten spoiled lately by doing only college/ Performing Arts Center shows. Club shows are very different from a show where you get to just be an artist... At colleges I get to do all my own music. But at a club (until you get to a point where you ARE the draw) You have to create such a balance. Most people come to a club to hear songs they already know... so if they don't KNOW your songs, you run the risk of disappointing your crowd. And it is much easier to keep people on a dance floor when they KNOW the music.

I have always tried to balance that by playing a few of my strongest originals here and there... in between all the recognizable covers... and usually earlier in the night (before everyone is crazy and just wanting to dance and sing as loud as they can).

Every time I get a new batch of songs rehearsed with the band, I get so excited to play them for a crowd. That's the TRUE test.

But tonight, every time I did an original, there was a noticeable difference in the crowd response. It lets me know I am headed in the right direction. If I can get a room filled with hundreds of people who have never heard me play before to respond almost as strongly to my stuff as they do to a Shania song.... I am doing something right! It hasn't always been that way. But the progress is visibly different to me. And THAT, my friends, feels wonderful!

The show was REALLY REALLY fun. We were all able to cut loose and let it all out on stage. The stage and lighting and sound was AMAZING.... so that always inspires a more energetic show. When we first walked in, I thought that Georgia must have switched over to the "no smoking" law. The club didn't have any remnants of smoke in it. It wasn't until I noticed the ash trays that I figured it out. Well, until the doors opened and everyone started smoking.... THAT was a big clue ;) But it's just ventilated that well! It was one of the cleanest clubs I've ever seen... And every bathroom stall in the ladies room had a full length mirror on the back of the door. Hmmm... I guess in case you want to watch yourself pee?? But yeah, I was surrounded by "Natalie's", which was a tad umm, let's say, Strange. There were posters on the walls with my picture... plus the mirror.... too many Natalie's for one bathroom stall!

Before we even got started, Chester walked in and brought me a picture from the last time we were in Augusta. He came to our Coyote's shows. What a great surprise!


Brandi and Chad were celebrating their 6th Anniversary!!! We played "When You Say Nothing At All" for them and afterwards they told us it was their wedding song. I LOVE it when that happens!
Plus Bradi was down front dancing and singing all night long!


The Bachelor and Bachelorette - Chris and Kaelin
They had a huge party up in the VIP section right next to the stage.


21st Birthdays!!!



God Bless our Troops!! And we had a lot of them at the show! The one with the tags is stationed at Fort Gordon which we are playing on June 6. YAY!



And I will leave you with my favorite audience member of the night. I don't like to play "favorites" but this guy was amazing. he was down front and dancing from the first song on. He had the most infectious smile and was a sweetheart. :)



Yay for The Country Club!!! Can't wait to go back there :)

I have now officially been up for 28hrs. We had to drive back right after the show to get Miguel to the airport. He gets to go home to Chile today!!! YAY!!! But oooohhh how I am about to sleep!!! My husband and puppy have already crashed. And now, so will I :)

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

New Songs

We rehearsed new songs today!!!

Something about staying at Paul's :) It gives us a chance to work on new material. We rehearsed the song I wrote with Pat McLaughlin "Step By Step" and another new one that I wrote with Charlie Hutto "The Sound of Goodbye". Y'all already know how I feel about "Step By Step."

But "Sound of Goodbye"? I am SO excited. I have always wanted a song that sounds like this one. It gives me a chance to be a little more sassy... which I dig... a lot. So yeah. I am pumped to start playing these live. We'll see how the response is to them. But I have a really good feeling. As long as you guys like them, too, then I think we may have enough songs to book the next recording session!!! We're FINALLY gonna get to record a new album. I can't TELL you how good that feels.
People have been asking me about a new one since the day the first one was released. :)

The last few days have been packed. And I can't get over the response we had from the Josh Gracin show. My facebook and myspace pages have been overrun with pics and uploads from that show. I can barely keep up with responding to the comments and requests! (Which is a GOOD thing) I love it!!! Everything just seems to be on a new level lately. And it is so fun to see the progress we're making! :)

It sure makes watching the ACM's fun. :) James, Paul, and I were sitting in the floor putting together packages for military bases and colleges that requested them... It's a LOT of fun to work on booking gigs while I watch an awards show that I dream about being a part of. Makes me feel like I am physically doing everything I can to get there!

And CONGRATULATIONS to Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift, and Scott Borchetta for Album of the Year!!!! I can't believe one of my co-writers just won ALBUM OF THE FREAKIN YEAR! Amazing.

Tomorrow? I'm getting a nutella smoothie at The Wrap!

Peace. Love. Fiddle. YA'LL!
~natalie