A Lot Happens in Little Time

I feel like everyday here has been an unraveling of a deeper understanding of this tough, yet tender profession I have decided to pursue. This is one of those towns where, if you are out and about you WILL meet people who are pursuing the same thing as you (if you are pursuing music) or are a couple steps ahead of you. Example: Kelly, my roommate, and I were sitting on our front steps eating dinner last night and met a neighbor who is a song translator for people who speak a foreign language but want to write in English. How cool/random is that!?

One thing I have learned since I have been here is that- even though connections are flocking the town...getting anywhere in this industry does take some time. I know God has me here for a reason, so I am learning to trust right now and the clarity of why I am here is probably going to come later. And, that is okay.

Since it has been a week since I last wrote, I am going to bullet point what has been going on:

*I have played a couple songwriter's circles here in Nashville, which has introduced me to some amazing people I now have the opportunity to co-write with.

*I have begun volunteering for "Musicians On Call" which is an organization that allows musicians to play for patients in hospitals (children's, long-term, short term, etc.) Man. Singing in the hospitals is one of the most beautiful things and all it makes me think is- This is why God gave me a voice, so I could sing to the sick. We aren't allowed to talk about God or sing spiritual songs unless they request it- but God's presence has been loudly evident in those rooms more than once. If you are a musician or you want to volunteer as a guide, I HIGHLY encourage you to check out: http://www.musiciansoncall.org/

*As most occupations in life seem to be, it is not what you know, but who you know. Before I moved out here I contacted every contact I had in LA and asked if they knew anyone they would feel comfortable connecting me with in Nashville and this wonderful songwriter in LA by the name Kelly Fitzgerald, who I had the opportunity to write with a couple times, e-mailed back a LIST! Numbers and names and descriptions. I went through the list and called them all, and I ended up getting an interview of sorts with a plugging company named Sharp Objects. They liked my sound and appreciated the fact that I am not super-mainstream-country (though they recommended I listen and learn from the Top 20 charts, not a bad idea) and offered to set me up with co-writing sessions and if any great songs come out of those sessions, then they will pitch the songs to record labels and big name artists. They have been filling my schedule with co-writing sessions and I am loving it! I had my first session through this company yesterday and I got the opportunity to write with an older gentleman who has been writing for 2 or 3 decades...and he was SO much better than me. Even if nothing gets pitched, I know these sessions are going to teach me so much about the art of songwriting and I am a thankful girl.

*I also had the chance to meet up with Gavin DeGraw last week. My amazing roomie Kelly works for Grammy U which is a part of the Recording Academy, which is conveniently located across the street. He was coming in just to meet everyone at the Academy and play a couple songs and I got to just pop on over and talk to him and sit in this room of about 10 people and get our own private show. His voice is amazing. As in, the world stopped turning, please keep singing- amazing. His personality is crazy and goofy and hilarious and odd and captivating. It is so neat to get to meet all of these people I have listened to forever and realize they are just like me. I just keep thinking when I meet these famous artists- I could do this.

*Also, the one other thing I find to be note-worthy is I got the opportunity to volunteer for the flood relief here through the church I have been attending. I forget how bad it was because 1) I missed it 2) By the time i got here it was perfectly clean as if nothing happened. But, these people were hit HARD. As in, there was 7-8-9 feet of water sitting in their living rooms. There is neighborhood after neighborhood where people are no longer able to live in their houses because of the mold AND they didn't have flood insurance (because, why would they?) and they are having to essentially tear down and start anew, with super limited budgets. On Saturday morning at 7:30, about 75 people showed up and my smaller group of about 20 tore down and de-nailed 4 houses. It is incredible to see how everyone is pulling together in such a tough time.

Footage from the Greatest Road Trip of All Time

My amazing man, Kyle D Martindale, has taken the time to make an incredible video of some of our footage on the road trip to Nashville :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZo4uLctqL0

Angel Snow

I moved to Nashville for many reasons: I have always wanted to, I love the people I have met from Nashville, I have a couple potentially promising connections in Nashville, but when it comes down to it, I moved here for music. I moved here for my love of playing music, learning it and listening to it.

Last Friday I feel like I experienced a little bit of Heaven in the serenest coffee shop I have ever encountered- The Good Cup in Franklin, Tennessee, just a couple miles out of Nashville. We walked in and were instantly comfortable. The young couple that owns the Good Cup have made this place feel like the kind of home you just want to curl up on one of their couches a stay a while. What could be a very sterile room they have somehow managed to create a land where friends gather and enjoy freshly made treats like strawberry pie and baked brie and listen to soothing acoustic live music and play with smiling children.

I am so happy we happened to go there on that lovely Friday because we met Angel Snow. This girl has a soulful, folksy voice that is pure and refreshing to hear. All of her lyrics were the kind of lyrics I hear and think- Man! I wish I would have thought of that. I enjoyed her so much, I interviewed her for you all to get to know her better.

God bless music and those who create it!! And those who listen to it!!

"Hole in This Floor"

In case you are wondering...the song came first, the blog came second. :)

A Busy Week of Wonders!

Since I last wrote I feel like I survived a tornado or something. I signed myself up to work at the CMA festival all week, during the radio remotes (which start at 5:00am), the CMT Awards show last Wednesday, and Celebrity Auction for YWCA on Sunday. I slept about 4-5 hours a night and worked my hiney off all day, but I saw things and met people I would have never guessed I would have met this early in the game. The radio remotes were very interesting. It is a room outlined with tables where radio channels have set up impromptu radio stations and the artists will go around to each table and interview with the station live. So, Toby Keith can be on live radio in Nashville and five minutes later is live in Portland. It was VERY fast paced and my job was to make sure the talent had the next radio interview set up, so that they could go from one interview to the next with no delay. I did this several days and I only truly enjoyed one group of talent I got to work with- Eli Young Band. They were the coolest, most down-to-earth guys I met in the whole industry this past week. I would love to have a family BBQ with them.

The CMT Awards show was NUTS. CRAZY! I was a talent escort, so I took around Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy from Dancing With the Stars, but we all had head-sets on and were frantically making sure everyone's talents is where they need to be. So, I am backstage working with John Mayer, Carrie Underwood, Lady A, Kara Dioguardi, Keith Urban, Reba, Faith Hill, Taylor Swift....man, everyone!!! Some of them were ridiculously nice (especially the last three ladies I mentioned), some of them I had on pedestals and they definitely became human that night. It was a unique experience, but by the end of the week, I was kind of depressed to be honest. There were some amazing people, but there are SO many people who are in this industry who are....selfish. Straight-up bratty. It just made me start thinking about fame and what an oddity it is. They are people JUST LIKE US (with wrinkles and bad breath and sweat stains on their shirts), but people go totally ga-ga over them; I admit to having been guilty of this as well, but somewhere in the accolades it is as if they begin to think they are worthy of so much more than the rest of us, which then makes me wonder if this world of music entertainment is for me- I would go bonkers if I had to listen to people complain about and demand such silly things all the time. I started going bonkers within only a week!

This brings me to Sunday. Kelly, my God-send of a roommate, found an opportunity for us to volunteer for this YWCA Celebrity Auction. At this point I was beginning to get sick with a cold and was utterly exhausted, but this organization supports battered children and women survivors and I felt like I needed to see some good be done, so I went! And, I am so thankful I did. Martina McBride helped host it. Kelly and I were the Vanna's for the items being auctioned off (Clothes Artists have worn in music videos, CDs and Instruments signed by artists, etc.) and it was incredible and SO inspiring to work with Martina. It was very encouraging to see someone use their fame for good. Within 4 hours-FOUR HOURS!- we raised $100,000 for YWCA!!!!! I had chills for about four hours straight, because people were so generous with their money and their time and they used these gifts God has given them- FOR GOOD. What a crazy concept right? Haha, it was fresh air to my soul.

Ignited

I love Nashville. You may be reading those words a lot, but seriously...this place rocks. The people are so stinkin' friendly and everyone talks about Jesus in natural conversations, UPON FIRST MEETING! That rarely, do I dare say Never, happened in Cali or in Vienna. My heart is dancing on the ceiling tonight. I just home from the Indie Connect Songwriter's Meeting and I met the coolest people. If you are a songwriter new to Nashville, Indie Connect is a fantastic way to begin building a songwriter's community.

I feel like everywhere I have lived I have found people who like music or enjoy playing it, but it was very rare that I stumbled upon people who truly felt that fire in their belly for music. As in- this is all I want to do...everyday...every moment. Well, those people own this place. The best part is, everyone I have met so far is open to co-write or play for each tother's gigs and just share music. In most places I have been, there seems to be a tendency for musicians to be in this unspoken competition with each other, which is so silly, because in reality- when we write together we push each other beyond where we are comfortable- and there lies growth. And, in growth lies better music!

I have been waiting for these connections and interactions and inspiration and nights like this for sooo long. I am so thankful!

Finally, Loving Nashville

These pictures are of us landing in Nashville. Oh, man. I love this place. Everyone is so, SO kind and willing to talk about music and their experiences with anything from good coffee shops to good venues to play. Kyle left on Thursday night, so before he left we got to go to the Grand Ole Opry and see: Jim Ed Brown, Holly Williams (Hank William's granddaughter), Jean Shepard, Billy Dean (keep an ear out for his song- Just a Seed- it is one of the best songs I have heard in a really long time), John Conlee, Jim Lauderdale, Little Jimmy Dickens (the 89 yr. old man is a pistol!!!), and the family bluegrass band Cherryholmes. We also got to go to Blue Bird and see: Gordon Kennedy (the man who wrote the song Change the World, made known by Eric Clapton), Danny Flowers, Ben Cooper, and Phil Madeira. This is one of the coolest things I have seen musically. There were just four guys sitting in a circle and they took turns playing their original songs, which were all so beautiful. One man played a song about Christ and the next man said, "Well, since we're on the topic of Jesus!" and he played a Christian song and all four of them continued to play Christian songs for the next couple rounds. :)

Since Kyle has left I have gotten a job working as an escort for the CMA's events that are happening next week- I am so excited! And, tomorrow night I got selected to get one of my original songs workshopped by songwriters from Indie Connect. Yahoo! Things are just happening and doors are opening. For example, the lady I was sitting next to today at church just happened to be the retired Executive Director of CMAs and knew a lot of my contacts here. It is so interesting to see God working and blessing. I am thankful on this fine Sunday evening.

Memphis Photos!

I REALLY enjoyed Memphis. A lot. There are places I did not love and probably would not go again, but for the most part this is a place where live music is as common as breath. Beale street is live jams- non-stop!!!! Mmmmm :) I like that. Kyle & I went to Graceland, which was a neat place to go, but a little on the commercial side. Still something to see. We also went to Sun Studios, recommended by my incredibly intelligent step-momma. This is by far my favorite place we went to in Memphis!!!! Sun Studios is THE first studio that ever recorded Elvis' voice. (You will see a picture of me singing into the same mic Elvis once did!) They have recorded Jerry Lee-Lewis, Johnny Cash, Bono, BB King, and they are still recording artists today. Even Sir Justin Timberlake came by the studio to check it out. (Not while we were there, though that would have been awesome.) Pretty dang cool place. Also, you will find a picture of some of our new Australian friends we made in Memphis. When our waiter went to seat us one night he said "you know what, there is a couple ya'll might like. Wanna sit with them?" Haha, it was so random, but such a great surprise!! It felt like we spent the night with old friends.

New Orleans

This was not my favorite place, but there were things I enjoyed...and I will share those. We went on Swamp Tour, which was so stinkin' cool! Gators are quite impressive animals. The other thing I really enjoyed was the Oak Alley Plantation. This place was breath taking. In the 1700's 28 oak trees were planted in two perfect rows all the way from the home to the Mississippi River, and they are all still alive and thriving.

Here are some pictures from our New Orleans travels:

Some pictures from Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

We were officially on the road for 20 days and we saw so much of our beautiful country! Our favorite place-by far- was the musically charged, eccentrically inclined...Austin, Texas. It may be because we immediately were plugged into a church family and were blessed with an incredible couch surfing host OR maybe it was because we could go to 4 live shows in one night OR maybe it was the peaceful town lake that ran right through this city OR maybe it was the incredibly delicious food. I don't know, I could go on. Austin- rocked my socks.

In case you end up going to Austin, I have taken note of my favorite places you should visit. Take note: Kyle and I are 22 &23, so we only like to go to places where you will get your biggest bang for the buck!

Magnolia Cafe- This is a small, local chain that is open 24 hours a day and has some of the best comfort food I have ever had. Go there.

Kerbey Lane- Go there for some yummy meals. This place has a low-key, deli feel.

County Line BBQ- This place has the BEST Southern ambiance!!! The food is solid- we definitely left satisfied. I will be posting pictures of our meal. :)

Mozart Cafe- If you need Wifi this is a great place on the water to enjoy some beautiful scenery, possibly enjoy some live music , and a cup of coffee.

Spider House- This coffee house seems to be the epitome of the phrase "Keep Austin Weird". It is one bizarre coffee shop that is still somehow cozy.

Mean Eyed Cat- This a super-southern bar that is decorated with Johnny Cash memorabilia and odd tools that had been used when the building was once a workshop. We went to see a Honky Tonk band called Pee Wee Moore and there is no place I would have rather heard Honky Tonk music.

Texas Rowing Center, Austin- We stumbled upon this place more on accident than anything. We were hiking the greenbelt and we came upon this Rowing Center. The owner is a man named Alvin who was one of the nicest people I have ever encountered. Because Kyle is a rowing coach at USD, he let Kyle row and me kayak for free! It was such a beautiful lake, I would go again...even if I had to pay!

Elephant Room- This place is located in the basement of a building and happened to have roughly a 30 piece jazz band that was incredible!!!! It was essentially free, the recommend you buy a drink, but the music was just...perfect jazz.

Continental Club- You will find this location above a bar on South Congress (a great street just to cruise). We saw live music there as well and the best part was, they had a ping-pong table upstairs!! For free!!

This ends my list of some of Austin's Awesomes.