This morning I had an opportunity to meet with a great songwriter to chat and drink coffee, one of my all time favorite pastimes. I got ready and headed out the door toward music row. In my effort to not be late, I ended up pulling up to Edgehill Cafe 11 minutes early. So…instead of going inside and waiting like a normal person, I decided to drive around the block a couple times so I could walk into the coffee shop right at 9am on the dot. I drove around and parked 2 streets up, Weird I know, but I was a little nervous and the fresh air clears my head.

When I finally made it inside and we did our introductions, we ordered our coffee and settled in for a chat. She was so warm and immediately put me at ease. We talked about where we were from, what my goals were, and our similar taste in music (Patty Griffin and Brandi Carlile of course!).

I’ve had many great conversations with other songwriters and publishers before, but while the advice I get is always useful, it often starts sounding the same. Today was a little different. I felt a clear message from her about being myself and finding my way with the opportunities coming around in the new age of our industry. It takes hard work she said, but it’s not about ‘If’ it’s about ‘when’, If I’m always ready then my time will come.

The piece of advice that stood out the most in our conversation, also happens to be something she said was the best advise ever told to her. You have to keep planting seeds and moving on. Plant a seed then move a couple feet and plant another one, don’t stand around watching and waiting for that first seed to grow. If you keep planting seeds, than by the time the first row of corn has grown, you’ll be on the forth row down!…or something like that, she definitely said it better than I just did, but you get the picture.

That little piece of advice hit home with me. Lately I’ve been feeling a little too stable. I’ve been working at both my part time jobs, writing and playing a few writers rounds. Nothing wrong with that, but I haven’t been feeling productive, like I’m watching other people around me move ahead and I’m standing still. But after coffee today, I felt rejuvenated. I think that I knew in my mind that I’ve made some great connections and I’ve made progress, and I was waiting around to see where that would get me. I’ve been watching my Corn! Luckily my rut didn’t last too long, my restless spirit swept though, picked me up, and plopped me in a chair across from a great advice giver at a coffee shop on music row today.  Thank goodness.

Gotta go, I’ve got some seeds to plant…

Date: November 14th, 2008

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: The Hotel Indigo (map)

Yesterday was election day in America. The election has been the topic of conversation, the test of some friendships, the revealer of character, the irritation of some and the inspiration to most for many months now. I spent election day at work, played a gig in the evening and made it home in time to see them announce the 44th president of the United States.

Since I’ve known who I was voting for for a while now, I decided to vote early to avoid the big crowds on election day. However, when I showed up last Thursday, I ended up in a line that wrapped around itself through the library with the rest of Green Hills. Most people in line were texting, talking on their phones, drinking Starbucks or chatting about the key issues with their line buddy. It felt like we moved about six inches every half hour and I was tired and stressed about being late for work, so I tried to avoid eye contact as to not get pulled into a conversation. When I finally made it to the front of the line to check in, I knew I would be hassled about my Oregon drivers license so I was prepared with electric bills and bank statements to prove my residency. This of course took a while, so by the time I got to my electronic voting machine I was kind of pissed that there were only four questions after all that! I made my selections, got my ‘I voted’ sticker and headed out the door.  

A tired looking woman in mismatched cloths and a scrunchy around her wrist, walked out at the same time as I did.  ”How about that huh?” she said, I smiled and nodded and kept walking. She didn’t seem to pick up on the fact that I was in a hurry, and continued on to tell me about how she’s been working double shifts this week but couldn’t wait to vote so she took a shower and came here straight away to put her two cents in. She carried on and on about her life until we parted ways at her car. 

Her enthusiasm despite her circumstances, had rubbed off on me during our conversation. For a moment back there, I had let the minor frustration of the crowd and the line get in the way of the amazing thing I was taking a part of. I had just stood in line for an hour with a wildly diverse group of people, all showing up early to participate in our country. That’s what is beautiful about America. We have a choice and we have each other. Our diversity make us such a unique country, and I started feeling blessed.

As if to drive her point home, she drove by as I was getting into my car and yelled, “Have a good day you!”

That same spirit is being renewed in the hearts of millions of citizens with the start of this new Presidency.

God bless America.

Date: November 4th, 2008

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: The Hotel Indigo (map)

I started a Blog on the Images of Nashville website in the end of the summer, and am now excited to have a new home for it here on my very own “.com”   It’s been kind of whirlwind learning how to navigate my way through this new world of blogging, but it has been so fun being able to express myself in a new way and tell my story a little bit.

I continue to have experiences that make me stop and say, “did that really just happen?” and this fall has been no exception. I have had a few events in particular that have made their way into that category.

Habitat for Humanity

I was blessed to be able to be involved with the music row house for Habitat for Humanity for the second time this year. On October 12th, Cal IV, the publishing company I work part time for, teamed up along side volunteers from Chicks with Hits and CAA, to do a day of building for Habitat for Humanity. It was so fun to see the music business folks and songwriters show up in their grubby cloths and guzzle down coffee as they started the day at an hour most of them hadn’t seen in a decade. But the positive energy that flows when a group of people come together for a cause is inspiring, and the results were beautiful.

And the ASCAP Songwriter of the year is…

On October 13th, the CAL IV crew put aside their grubbies from the previous day and donned their Sunday (or Monday in this case) best! The Ryman Auditorium was full of suits, sequins, songwriters and stars all coming to pay respects and/or receive recognition in Songwriting for the year from ASCAP. I sat with a couple of my best friends in the balcony and could feel the energy of the room buzz with the chatter and sound equipment. My favorite part of this event is that the songwriters of the top five songs of the year get to preform. The performances are usually a slightly different and more colorful version than you hear on country radio. One of the Highlights of this particular awards show was that they did a tribute to Reba, and I don’t care what kind of music you listen to you, that woman is impressive and an inspiration to woman all over the world. After a string of songwriters that came up and preformed their Reba hits, she came out and sang one of her old tunes with refreshing grace. While the whole night was fun, the best part was when the final award of the night was presented, the Songwriter of the year award. Hailing from a town 10 minutes from where I grew up, Cal IV songwriter Dave Berg got the honor that night and the excitement spread around the crowd as he made his way up to the stage to give his thank you’s and play his hit, ‘these are my people’ one more time with co-writer Rivers Rutherford.

Eric at the Opry

On the evening of October 17th, Eric Paslay had a black guitar strapped around him as he paced the halls backstage at the Grand ‘ol Opry. He wasn’t talking much, I could tell he was nervous. The weight of the the fact that he was playing on the Opry stage for the very first time, showed in his eyes. He was there playing guitar and singing back up for Sarah Buxton. They performed two songs, including one they wrote together. As I watched from the side of the stage it felt so surreal. He looked like he belonged up there, but at the same time, it seemed like just yesterday we were playing at the Red Rose Cafe my freshman year of college.  After they were done, we were back stage while people chatted and greeted and walked around us. He stood there, staring out past the heads of the musicians, to the lights beneath the balcony, and I think we were both thinking…”did that really just happen?”