What a Downpour

Tonight we drove through some Biblical rain - I'm talking brighter than stadium lights lightening... torrential down pour kind of rain. I had the hazards on and was going about 30 in a 55 for quite a while. Whew. That makes me feel like I just worked out. It is mentally exhausting. And I'm not usually the one driving through that kind of stuff - it's typically James. I don't know how he does it sometimes!!! One day, y'all.... one day, we'll have a driver... a PROFESSIONAL.

We were watching the Tom Petty documentary tonight - Running Down a Dream :) Sound familiar? Yeah, every time we watch it, I get so much more out of it. One of the things he was talking about that stood out tonight was when he said:

"At first you can't get the gigs. Then, after a while, You can't get OUT of the gigs"

He was talking about how much they were on the road there for a while when things were really picking up. And just how hard you have to work to get it all off the ground and running. It's comforting. When I look at guys like that who have had legendary careers... telling stories about exactly what all we are going through... hoping to get to where they are now... I feel like I am doing the right thing. We all end up with different versions of the same stories. Which is really pretty cool when you think about it.

So here's to Running Down My Dream. (I'm raising my water.... cause it's all I got)

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