I ♥ Fort Benning

Our last show was on Saturday for the Trainees at Ft. Benning. If you saw the Tour Diaries uploaded from this week, then you saw a bit of footage.... but I have yet to try to put it into words. :)

We've played at Ft. Benning before. The first show we played there still ranks as one of my all time most memorable and favorite shows. The guys were chanting my name at intermission, and they were one of the best crowds I have ever played in front of. And there's youtube footage to prove it. ;)

This time they were putting on a similar event. But they had to move the event indoors from the field where we were supposed to play. The snow that pounded southern Georgia last week caused a lot of shifting of well.... just about everything. They had to split the big giant event into two smaller events. We were playing for the "I. A.M. Strong" Tour which is an uplifting entertainment tour emphasizing the "I. A.M. Strong" message of sexual harassment and sexual assault prevention.

The I. A.M. acronym stands for Intervene. Act. and Motivate.

The tour is headlined by Leigh Jones and she was such an inspiration to watch and talk to. I was honored to be invited to be a part of this event!

I can't tell you how powerful it is to be in a packed room with this nation's finest. To have the opportunity to provide entertainment for them is a gift, an honor, and a pleasure. And those boys sure know how make a girl feel welcome :) It's an incredible feeling to stand on stage in front of the men (and women... but it was all men at Ft. Benning) that protect, sacrifice, and serve this unbelievable country. And I don't think I have never been called "Ma'am" that many times in one day!!!

One of my favorite memories of the whole show was right afterwards. I had to quickly help clear the stage, but then of course, I ran out to talk to the guys and sign autographs. They were all in full Army fatigues, but the guys working the event also had on orange vests. They had all put on their "I. A.M. STRONG" t-shirts that were given out at the event. And one by one. Each of those fine boys lined up, opened his orange vest, nodded and said "Ma'am" as I signed their shirts. Ahhhhh. I could get used to that!!! :)

And standing there with them after my show... I listened to the message of I. A.M. STRONG from Danny B - a soldier who is an incredibly talented rapper. He knows how to get those guys to pay attention and he got them ALL RILED UP!!!! It's such an eye opener to be in the room with those men. They have so much love for this country and their brothers. To get a glimpse into that is something I could never put into words.

Plus I feel an even stronger connection and pull to Fort Benning because that is where my own Daddy trained. Even though I wasn't even a thought yet, I feel so much pride when I am there.

As if getting to play for them isn't enough... they gave each of us the Fort Benning coin!



And here's a little more about the purpose of the I. A.M. STRONG tour.

The entertainment tour was designed to help military communities realize:

* When I recognize a threat to my fellow Soldiers, I will have the personal courage to intervene and prevent sexual assault. I will condemn acts of sexual harassment. I will not abide obscene gestures, language or behavior. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I will intervene.

* You are my brother, my sister, my fellow Soldier. It is my duty to stand up for you, no matter the time or place. I will take action. I will do what's right. I will prevent sexual harassment and assault. I will not tolerate sexually offensive behavior. I will act.

* We are American Soldiers, motivated to keep our fellow Soldiers safe. It is our mission to prevent sexual harassment and assault. We will denounce sexual misconduct. As Soldiers, we are all motivated to take action. We are strongest together.

'nuff said.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

It's Official. Miguel is REALLY Important

WHEW.

We are always prepared for it to be difficult to enter the military bases. For obvious reasons there should be LOTS of protocol involved when civilians are allowed on base.

Since we are supposed to be here, we've never had any issues with getting on. But today well... not so easy.
For some reason, the computer system would not allow them to enter Miguel's information. He's a permanent resident, not QUITE a citizen, but he has a social security number, license, and green card.... (has been here for 4 years AND is married to a beautiful corn-fed Nebraska girl) But he lost his wallet in PCB and is still waiting on his replacement green card, so he didn't have it as extra proof today. But he had his license and in Tennessee, you can' get a license without a green card...

After a couple of hours of speaking to one person and then the next, showing all the proof he had, yada, yada...

The Commanding Officer of Pax River Navy Base gave Miguel special permission to be on base today. So Miguel is WAY more special than the rest of us here!!! :)


The Barracks Bash at their BRAND NEW Liberty Center was awesome. They had planned to do a big outdoor concert, but they decided early in the day to move it indoors because there was a 50% chance of rain. And as we've learned before.... better safe than sorry!! Their new facility is great though. It was funny because the best place for the stage was where they normally show movies. So there were what I will call half-walls up to act as dividers for this part of the room. If I were taller, it would have helped. But unless you were standing in front, you could only see me from the neck up! And I noticed that when Miguel was soloing, I am sure you couldn't see his guitar... which is just funny to think about! But it mattered not to ANYONE in the room. They were full of free hamburgers and hot dogs, and were singing along!

Not sure what it is lately about these soldiers all being drawn to the ladies pink tee... but I hope this continues to happen!


Charlene is 6 months pregnant and had me sign this poster for little James to be born in 3 months!


It's a "Michael from Tennessee" sandwich!


And another TN boy who grew up in Lawrence County right down the road from me! He's even worked Mule Day before :)


TOM!!! He took care of us all day!


I kind wish I was looking at whatever he's looking at... because it looks like a lot of fun:




Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~nat

I Wanna Go Fast! I Wanna Go Fast!

Tonight? Navy Base. New Orleans. 40 Foot Slip'n'Slide. Inflatable Foam Dance Party. Dunkin Booth. And US! Playing a show!

Well... at the last minute they had us set up indoors in the alternate "rain location" cause the clouds were moving in and the rain was starting. They had JUST finished covering this awesome stage, outside, too. :( But a show indoors with no stage is a lot better than no show at all!

Even though the rain didn't exactly encourage people to come out to the Wet'n'Wild party, the crowd we had was mighty in spirit! They were 2-stepping, kids were twirling, moonwalking, breakdancing and even a cancan line formed!

Wanna see Miguel on mobile cooler chase Tim on an oversized tricycle? Yeah! I'm REALLY glad James got a video of this because I wasn't around when this was going on!! At the end you can barely hear it, but Miguel gives a good impression of Ricky Bobby... "I wanna Go Fast! I Wanna Go Fast!"


I had to get in on the fun, too!



My first "kiss" on a cd... that is :)


Kay took such great care of us! She was awesome.


Soldiers, families, and other awesome people!











Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Playing for the Troops and Families at Ft. Gordon!

Tonight was one of those nights....

... where I just keep thanking the Lord that I was given this gift and am able to do what I do.

... where I don't know what to say other than "THANK YOU".

... where I can't hear myself over the screams and cheers of the crowd.

... where the line at the merch table is 2 hours long.

I really don't think I will ever get used to soldiers telling ME thank you. It is the strangest and most humbling feeling. I just want to say SHUT-UP!!! YOU DON'T THANK ME. I THANK YOU.

You know? I mean, these families and young men and women sacrifice more than my brain can comprehend. My Daddy went overseas I was 8 years old and although I understood that it was dangerous and I knew it was a big deal... there's only so much an 8-year-old can really "get". And so even though I've experienced it to a degree, I still can't imagine what it is like... from an adult perspective.

I met and talked with quite a few wounded soldiers tonight. Hearing the stories of an entire wall falling on someone's chest. Standing there looking at his scares while he's alive and telling me about it - yeah. No words.

And can I just say that when soldiers are helping us load and unload our trailer... it goes faster than it EVER does?! And we have to lift less than we ever do. They take it OUT of my hands and carry it onstage FOR me. :)

Here's the whole crew that was helping us load and unload tonight:


It was my first "Chucks" signing :)


This soldier asked me to sign his phase pass AND his Bible. Never signed a Bible before. I was a bit taken aback by that request. Pretty amazing.


Ok. So I saw this lady during sound check because I noticed she was crocheting something. She had just begun a beautiful pink blanket... and by the time she got to the merch table, she had enough done for me to sign it!!! It turns out she's making it for a friend (who was at the show) and so she wanted me to sign it. Once it's done, it will be a king size blanket!!! :) THAT was a new one! Signing a blanket that was made DURING the show!


Not only was the stage LINED with soldiers right up front singing and dancing along with us, but it was also lined with kids!!! So many adorable faces in the crowd tonight. And they literally started a "train" during Orange Blossom. SO CUTE!






And then of course, the soldiers!!











What a rewarding night. There were burgers, hot dogs, drinks, and even a dippin dots truck. It was like a festival... only... we were the main event. Just unbelievable.

Peace. Love. Fiddle. and Fort Gordon.
~natalie