Tennessee Was Good To Me

I have the sweetest people from all over the country that I have connected with playing my shows in Santa Rosa Beach. Several I may only see a couple times a year, but you can bet they will come see me while they are on their vacation. Some of them have multiple houses and travel back and forth regularly. I love the support and encouragement all of them show me.

A couple of months ago one of these friends mentioned her mom's 60th birthday. She decided to have a surprise party in Columbia, TN. The husband happens to be a pilot. They arranged to pick me and my husband up at the tiny airport in my town to fly in the private jet to Tennessee for the party. Yes it was as cool as it sounds!!

While we were going to be up there I decided to try and schedule a couple of extra things. I had no idea the fun surprises we would encounter and how productive we would be.

Saturday: The party was hosted at an incredible home- like really awesome. We had the best time surprising our friend. She was so excited to see everyone and the party was just perfect. Beautiful night. Delicious food. Just wonderful.

Sunday: We got to chill and hang out with our friends. We enjoyed a fire on the deck and watched the sunset. We were going to head to Nashville that evening, but my husband was given the surprise opportunity to go deer hunt so we stayed over an extra night.

Monday: I was meeting up with my old friend and producer of my first EP to chat. Before I knew it we were tracking songs. We got 5 done the very first day!

Before I left home I had researched how to play at the legendary Bluebird Cafe. It’s a life goal I have had no matter how I could get in. The only way they allow out of towners to play is an open mic that you have to call to get on a list in a certain time frame. Everyone said it’s next to impossible to get on the list, but I was determined to try. 149 calls later I got through! I finished recording songs of the day, Scott left the woods and we went straight there. I'm never usually nervous, but I was shaking for this one lol! It was awesome.

Tuesday: We wanted to get a few more songs in for the album, so we headed back over to the studio. We finished just in time to go to the Opry at the Ryman, strolled Broadway then went to the Gaylord to walk around. I said I’d take pics of the amazing Christmas lights once we got finished inside. The lights were off by the time we got out. Oops!

Wednesday: I enjoyed a nice lunch with my husband before we stopped by and tracked a couple more songs for a total of 11! We were really proud with how much we accomplished and I can't wait for you to hear how they turned out...more on that later!

Scott got to ride in the cockpit on the flight home, it was really exciting for him. Someday he'd like his pilots license, I am not opposed to it!

My flight was peaceful and beautiful alone enjoying the night sky. I reflected on the years I spent thinking I could never do anything. I began to tear up because I am so thankful for the journey, the people I have met, the opportunities that I have worked so hard for.

A trip like this one may or may not ever happen again, but the fact is it actually happened and made up for a really rough year. That night the super nice plane waited until I finished in the studio to take me home- yeah that was as cool as it sounds too...

Truly a weekend I’ll never forget.

Here is the link to the video from my performance at the Bluebird. Check it out!