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?”