Kari Smith Music - on the road again...

2011-12-08T14:01:00.001-06:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and that you’re enjoying the holiday season! Here in Virginia it has been a little bit strange – as I was Christmas shopping last week in flip-flips and short sleeves… I’m glad it’s beginning to cool down a little, because while I love the warmer weather, it just doesn’t seem like Christmas until you at least need to wear a jacket outside!

I’m not playing too many shows right now, so I really enjoy the ones I do have! Tomorrow – Friday, December 9 – I will be at JJ’s Grille in the West End starting at 8pm and playing until 11pm. JJ’s is near the intersection of Staples Mill and Hungary Road in the CrossRidge Shopping Center with Martin’s and is very close to the Staples Mill / Rt 33 exit off I-295. I may even throw in a Christmas song or two… : )

*Christmas special* - CDs (usually $10 or $12) will be 2 for $10, and t-shirts (usually $15) will be 2 for $20, so be sure to stock up for Christmas gifts!

Motherhood has definitely changed my focus around music so while I’m not performing, I’m starting to concentrate a little more on writing new songs and finishing the probably 25 – 30 songs I have started but not finished! I always said that when I became a mother that the focus would shift from traveling and performing to writing. While I didn’t exactly anticipate this timing, I am definitely enjoying motherhood! My sweet Jaxen began last week (at 14 weeks) sleeping at least 8 hours at night, so I’m enjoying it even more! J He has been a joy and for the few shows I have done, I love looking out and seeing him in the audience. With the help of friend, super-fan, and pseudo-aunt Angela, Jaxen put his first tip in mommy’s jar at my last show. In addition to a $5 bill, he also put a piece of bread in the tip jar during Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” – right at the line that says “and they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar”… which has been on ongoing joke with some of my Virginia fans, which results in me counting tips and cleaning out bread crumbs at the end of the night… ; )

Well I hope to see you all tomorrow night at JJ’s – and next Friday night (December 16) at Brunetti’s in Mechanicsville.

Happy Holidays, and all my best!!

Kari

original music by Kari Smith "The Bottle Must Be Bigger"

2011-03-23T13:42:00.001-05:00

This is one of the most difficult songs I have ever written or recorded. One of the reasons that music means to much to me is that it is such an effective outlet for my emotions, and one of my biggest goals is that my music reaches people wherever they are, happy or sad, thriving or struggling. This is not a happy song. It's not about hope and smiles and happy endings. It's about hopelessness and despair and frustration. It's about facing a loved one's addiction and feeling completely powerless. And if there is ONE person who can listen to it and say "wow... I guess I'm not alone..." it would mean the world to me.
Words and music by Kari Smith.
© 2011 Vanillity Music LLC

original music by Kari Smith - "Come to Me"

2011-02-16T13:54:00.000-06:00

Back in Nashville - over 8 weeks and over 5,000 miles later!

2011-01-20T04:12:00.002-06:00

It is an amazing feeling to finally be back home! After over 8 weeks and over 5,000 miles, I have stayed in and played in 8 states and had an amazing time along the way! I was blessed to be able to spend Thanksgiving in Texas with my sister Sharen and her family, Christmas in Virginia with the rest of my family, and New Year’s with many amazing fans–turned–friends!

One of the events I am most proud of from this tour is the success of the Rebecca Sauvager Fundraiser Benefit. Rebecca has been a fan following my music for the past 2 years, and when I found out at my December 18 show that she was in Stage 4 of cancer, I wanted to do something to help out. I reached out to you, and you quickly proved that you are the most amazing fans, friends, family, and venues that I could ever ask for! Between personal contributions and the help of the sponsors listed below, we raised $1,100 for Rebecca to help with her extensive medical bills! With very little time to plan and pull this event together, I felt very successful in our efforts, and Rebecca and her family were so very blessed by all of you reached out. Thank you SO VERY MUCH – I am literally getting choked up again thinking about how proud I am to be affiliated with such wonderful people. Please keep Rebecca in your prayers, and you can still donate through PayPal. Donations may be made to email address helprebeccasauvager@gmail.com or by pasting this secure link in your browser: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=X327TVEPB3AUA. Pictures from the event can be viewed at (Pictures from the benefit can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=16994489&l=b1e63a846c&id=668610353).

The trip was the longest I’ve taken so far in my music career, and would not have been feasible - or bearable! :) - without my new trusty travel trailer… and man, did it get a workout! Thanks to friends Doug and Jenn, who allowed me to be their neighbor for the 3-week Virginia leg of my trip! It was another learning experience as the exciting “first icicle!!” turned into the paranoia of freezing tanks, frozen water lines, salt encrusted metal parts, copious amount of propane for heating, etc. My first order of business back in Tennessee was to stop at the dealership and have new tank heaters put onto my tanks to avoid this fear in the future! I’m also looking forward to (NOT!) the next big expense of adding a generator to my rig to avoid problems when I’m not plugged in to electricity. I guess I decided that 40 foot of rig wasn’t enough, so I’d add a few feet of generator mount on the back… ;) Shout-out to Family Campers in Lebanon, TN though – they have been SOOOO wonderful in helping me through this process and step in my career of being on the road extensively!

After a week and half of "rest" (catching up on 8 weeks of life - and mail - here in Nashville! ;) I will be back on the road heading to Georgia, where I’ll be playing in Milledgeville, Gray, and Eatonton for a week and a half of shows. In the beginning of March, I’ll be back in Tunica, MS, for more gigs with Nervous Presley, and will head back to Virginia after that.

Thank you so much for following me on this adventure I'm on! Sometimes it feels like I'm on a roller coaster, and sometimes it feels like I’ve hit every roller coaster in the theme park! But despite the challenges, I am still so, so very blessed to be able to do what I love and am passionate about – and feel doubly blessed when I can use these talents God gave me to help someone else out. Thank you so much for being a part of that!

My best to you all…
Kari

3,000 miles in... Georgia is behind me, Virginia is in front of me!

2010-12-18T15:28:00.008-06:00

Over 3,000 miles into this tour! I’m in week 5 now, and loving every minute of it. I really should take out stock in a gasoline company for real though… ; )

Besides almost zero access to internet and cell phone, my week in Georgia was wonderful! We had so much fun at the Bone Island Grill at Crooked Creek Marina, and at the Milledgeville Mellow Mushroom! Their pizza is soooooo good and they have Woodchuck on tap, which really makes me smile…. ; ) It was so good to see all the Georgia folks again, and I can’t wait until I’m back in February! I’ll be playing at the Marina and the Mellow again, but also adding Jackson’s on Sinclair (formerly Choby’s), and Shooters in Gray, so it’ll be a good long week and a half trip! Can’t wait…

I’ve been in VA for less than 48 hours and it has already been wonderful!!! I was sooo scared of the trip up here, but had no problems on I-77, I-85, or I-95. The only time I hit any trouble at all was on I-295 and the secondary roads, and even they were passable. I feel very grateful because I was pretty nervous about my first trek through ice and snow with this truck and trailer. The snow, ice, and freezing temperatures definitely make for constant monitoring of lines and tanks for freezing, but so far so good… The trailer stays plenty warm, but I am going through some propane for sure! I saw my first icicle on my “house” yesterday and had to take a picture (bottom pic - it doesn't show up well, but it's there! :) Sierra loved playing in the snow too – despite her almost 8 years, her Greyhound / Husky traits show themselves when she tears around the yard in circles! She makes me smile…

I spent the first night in Virginia parked in front of my parents’ house – which is always nice, because they come in and I give them all my little “fix-it” projects. Mama always ends up sewing things, helping me with my laundry, etc. and Daddy always ends up with a screw driver, a little 3-in-1 oil, or something similar! Their neighbors came over for dinner, and we played cards and I played some tunes for them all. Now I’m set up in my “yard” for the rest of my trip with my dear friends Doug and Jenn. It was hilarious when I woke up today and let my Sierra out – Jenn opened her window and I opened my door and we had a chat without stepping foot outside! :) It’s nice to be neighbors with such great people!

Last night was my first Virginia gig at Lakeside Sports Grill, and it was wonderful!! Thank you SO much to Wynn, Kenny, Linda Grace, Barbara, Kathy, Margaret, Ray, Linda, Phil, Angela and Brian, Leisa, Andrew, Brian and Loretta, and all the other folks who came out whose names I can’t remember right now! We had so much fun and for some strange reason, I decided to play for 4 hours and 15 minutes without ever stopping or taking a break! Now I could use a 4+ hour back and hand massage… : ) And uh… I guess that means I must have been a little dehydrated! ; ) If you haven’t been out there yet, you definitely should. They are re-opened under new ownership (Chris and Rebekah), and the food, service, and staff are wonderful!

Tonight’s gig is at Marty’s Grill in Mechanicsville, and this is another first-time venue for me. I’m hoping there’s a great turnout, despite the lingering snow!

My first gig with Nervous Presley and Walking in Memphis!

2010-12-07T02:09:00.003-06:00

I've been doing the solo thing for quite a long time, so my keys gig with Nervous Presley this past week was a pretty new experience for me.

Nervous Presley is a band out of Nashville that plays mostly 80s rock. Think lots of Toto, some AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, even throw in some Michael Jackson. If you know me well, you'll know that that's almost all pretty new music for me! It was absolutely wonderful though. I've known all the guys from Nashville for several years (Danny Archer on guitar and vocals, Link Detten on guitar and vocals, RK Brown on bass and vocals, and Bobo on drums and vocals. We met Manda - another vocalist - there in Tunica which is where she lives, and she was awesome to hang out with and be on stage with!

We played for 5 nights (Tuesday - Saturday) at the Gold Strike in Tunica, MS, and it was a great time. I played almost all keys, and guitar on maybe 6 or 7 tunes. We all traded vocals and everybody in the whole bands takes turns singing leads. They're an amazing band and an amazing group of people! We had SO much fun, and I don't think I've laughed that much this year!! Starting up again in March, this will become a regular gig (we're already booked for March, April, and May) so I'm pretty excited!! It was pretty interesting, but since I am on the road for 7 weeks, I had my travel trailer with me - but nowhere to really park it since casinos down there don't have RV facilities. It was a daily race from my trailer to my room on the casino and back again. Of course I had to sleep in my trailer every night even though I had a king-sized bed in my room - I couldn't leave my little Sierra to sleep alone!! ;)

Tunica is very close to Memphis, and while I was in Tunica, I went to the Hollywood Cafe. If you've every heard the song "Walking in Memphis" by March Cohn ("put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane..."), then you've probably heard the line in the last verse that says "Muriel plays piano every Friday at the Hollywood". That's the Hollywood I went to, and after some cajoling, I got up and played Muriel's actual piano! I thought they'd be sick of hearing "Walking in Memphis", but I played it anyway, and they loved it! All the staff came out of the kitchen and watched, and long story short... they are booking me for every Friday that I'm back in Tunica! It was a great compliment and just a wonderful experience...

This coming week I will be in Georgia for 3 nights (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) at Crooked Creek Marina's Bone Island Grill on Lake Sinclair and for 1 night (Thursday) at Mellow Mushroom in Milledgeville, GA. I hope to see all of the wonderful Georgia folks out!

After this week of shows, I'll be headed to Virginia, where I have shows lined up all the way through the New Year! I'm very excited to see all the Virginia folks again, and look forward to the holidays!

KOA Kamping... ;)

2010-11-28T22:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I’ve passed the 1200 mile mark on this trip, and it’s been great so far! Last night I played a show in Zachary, Louisiana, which is right outside Baton Rouge. I had a great time after the show hanging with the folks that got me booked, and it was a great time! They gave me a history lesson in the world of all things Cajun – including food! I ate my weight’s worth of Couvillion (pronounced “coo-vee-yah”) and they sent more with me! It’s like a red sauce with garlic, onion, green peppers, and shrimp – all served over rice. They also introduced me to Boudin (pronounced “boo-dah”) and I now have some of that in my freezer too! : ) Yummy… I’m in love with Cajun food…

Tonight I’m at the KOA – my first time staying in one! Although it costs a lot more (about $36 a night), it is nice to have unlimited access to water, sewer, and even cable! It’s also nice to have a pull-through spot – I don’t have to back up! Even though I’ve gotten used to it, that’s quite a bonus! Up until now, I’ve stayed at people’s houses, a Wal-Mart parking lot, a Cracker Barrel parking lot, and a state park. It’s been quite a variety of experiences!

From here, I’ll head to Tunica, Mississippi, where I’ll be playing 5 nights at the Gold Strike Casino with a band called Nervous Presley. I’ll be playing keys and acoustic guitar and singing. Most of their music is 80s rock, and they are AMAZING! This is my first time playing with this band, and I’m so looking forward to the experience! It’s definitely different than anything I’ve done before, but I’m really looking forward to it!

So far so good!!

2010-11-22T12:00:00.001-06:00

The trip has been great so far! I got to stay with dear friends in Little Rock. It was great to visit, and also had help mounting a TV in my camper! It’s nice to have some noise to keep my company late at night… Since Friday, I’ve been with my cousin Aaron and his wife Dawn in Atlanta, TX. We have had an amazing visit, just talking, visiting, and getting to see some other family members. Aaron and Dawn have a beautiful park-like farm complete with horses, dogs, chickens, and amazingly beautiful gardens. This picture was taking while giving a little "private concert" ;) to Aaron, Dawn, and some of Dawn's family. It’s been a very relaxing, enjoyable time.

Tomorrow I will hit the road for 6 – 7 hours on the way to Spring, TX, where I’ll spend the week – and Thanksgiving – with my sister and her family. After that, I’ll head to Tunica, and the “work” part of the journey will begin in full-force! I’m definitely enjoying the time off – especially since I’ve been fighting a nasty cough for a little over a week now! Can’t wait for that to be gone!

The beginning of a 7-week tour...

2010-11-19T12:00:00.000-06:00

November 20, 2010

Being on the road makes me want to blog more – it makes me want to share everything that I see and every new experience with all of you… it makes me want to write more songs… I drove 270 miles yesterday and about 150 today – and I never turned on the radio or any other music. The silence and the wheels rolling under me get the wheels rolling in my head… Last night was spent in Little Rock, AR, and tonight I am in Atlanta, TX. On Monday, I’ll head to Spring, TX for a week for Thanksgiving. The following Monday I’ll head to Tunica, MS for a week of band gigs with Nervous Presley – an AMAZING band from Nashville. After that, I’ll head to South Georgia for a week of gigs, then head to Virginia for Christmas, New Years, and shows in Richmond and the surrounding area. By the time I head back to Nashville, I will have been on the road for 7 weeks – my longest trip so far!!

I am LOVING life on the road in my travel trailer, and I feel more convinced every day that everyone should have to live in a trailer for a month or two. Like maybe after high school or something… sounds ridiculous, but here goes my soapbox moment. We are SUCH a wasteful people, and the convenience of everything we have access to leads many of us to take for granted the availability of what we have. Living in a 25 x 8 space (well, more with my slide-out… ;) has been such an amazing lesson of all the many things that I can comfortably live without. And the recognition that there are soooo many people all over the world who live in a smaller space than this, without the microwave, stove, oven, heater, air conditioner, refrigerator, freezer, shower, TV – and on and on and on – is a little humbling. In the 1800 square foot home that I owned, I frequently felt like I didn’t have enough space. After you live in this small of a space for a month and realize that there was so much that you can really live without, you realize the excess of what you have.

I didn’t realize the lesson I was going to learn about wastefulness – and it didn’t start out that way. When you don’t know when and where you’ll be able to connect to water or fill your water tank again, you use much less water. You turn the water off while brushing your teeth. You turn the water off while your scrubbing the dishes and turn it back on just long enough to quickly rinse them. You take quick showers because besides using up all your water, you don’t know when you’ll have a spot to dump you gray (sink and shower) water again. You use half the toilet paper because you can’t clog the RV septic system. You don’t turn all the lights on because you don’t want to run the battery down. You don’t buy more food than you can eat, because it wouldn’t fit in the refrigerator anyway. You drive slower and more conservatively because you don’t want to use any more fuel than necessary. You don’t wash clothes that aren’t dirty because you don’t know when you’ll get to do laundry again. You multi-task. In so many ways, you are mindful of your consumption of every resource. I’ve always been big on recycling, reusing things, “freecycling” and not throwing away anything that still has use, etc. but this just takes that “green” way of thinking to another level.

Every lesson has its place – and no doubt there will be times when I want to be on a solid foundation with a bigger bathtub ;) but the ongoing reminder of the REAL “necessities” is so good for me.

I have so much to be thankful for!!

I'm a turtle!

2010-10-21T01:18:00.003-05:00

Carrying my home on my back (the truck and travel trailer) has been easier for me to adapt to than I would have expected! I just finished my first long trip in it (3 weeks on the road in Virginia) and I loved every minute of it... Having the comforts of home are amazing - especially since I'm used to lugging suitcases and various can't-live-without things from place to place, intruding on friends and family for a bed, and sleeping in different beds (including cheap, nasty hotel beds) every night! Oooh... that didn't sound right... but you know what I mean!! :)

The best benefit of this thus far though has maybe been having my angel baby Sierra with me. She is the cuddliest, most lovable, most loyal 4-legged travel companion I could ever, ever ask for! It took a little bit to get used to the trailer - getting up in it, how it wobbles when the stabilizer jacks aren't down, the heat vents in the floor, the narrow aisle when the slide-out is in, etc. But I can honestly say she has really adjusted to all of that very well! She still follows me from room to room though - even though it's only a 25-ft long camper!! I love her... She is 7 years old now, and now that she is getting older, I am SO glad that I'm able to have her with me wherever I go.

I had my first "trailer party" in the camper on this trip - it was SO much fun! A bunch of my fans turned friends came over and we hung out, had drinks and snacks, and I even played a few songs on the guitar and sang... (never a night off!) but I loved it... And now I know that 4 people - and a dog - can sit on my couch at once! I think there were 6 people in here that night - and that was pretty tight - but we were comfortable and had a blast!

Tonight I'm "boondocking" in a WalMart parking lot - this means that you just pull in somewhere and park, without plugging into electricity or water. I still have water in my fresh water tanks, so I'm able to wash dishes, my hands, cook - or even take a shower if I wanted! My water is heated by propane - and my trailer as well for that matter. Tonight it is in the 40s, but it is TOASTY in here! I just finished cooking and eating lobster and shrimp ravioli with white sauce - it was excellent! So nice to go in and buy groceries and then come out and cook dinner - in the parking lot! There are 6 other various RVs and trailers out here with me - we're like our own little camping ground!

I've done a horrible job lately of posting blogs, but I'm going to really try hard to start doing this more often, especially now that I'm actually living on the road! My address - and my belongings - are still in Nashville, but this is definitely a new experience for me, and I'm really enjoying it!

Georgia on my mind! and my new home...

2010-09-16T03:13:00.000-05:00

Georgia is on my mind! I pulled in very early yesterday morning and played the Wednesday night show last night. I still have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to go, so if you’re around south Georgia, you should come out! Thursday’s show will be on the patio from 6 – 10pm, and Friday and Saturday shows will be inside from 8:30pm – 12:30am.

If you are my friend on Facebook, chances are that you already know that I have once again moved – this time into a 2007 Toyota Tundra, pulling a 25 foot travel trailer! Amazingly enough, monthly payments on a truck, travel trailer, and insurance are less than HALF of what I was paying for rent before! Gas – that’s a different story… ; ) But this move is one that I’ve been contemplating for a very long time, and I’m so glad that I finally had the motivation necessary to move forward with buying it! The story behind my motivation is a long one, but I’d like to share at least part of it with you.

I played a gig on Saturday, September 4 at the cigar bar (Music City Cigars & Lounge) in Nashville on Broadway. This has become sort of my “home” gig. Around midnight, a man came in and sat down to listen. Through the next couple of hours, my interaction with him revealed that he was from UK. I told him about my friend Gary (who was English), and how Gary had passed away 3 years ago on September 10. After I shared that story with him, he shared that he was a funeral director in England. A year ago, he did a funeral for a man who was not only his age, but literally born on the same day as he was. The man had been killed instantly in a car crash. Burying a man his exact age shook him up to the point that it really hit him that his time could be over at any point – we never know. Right then, he decided to take a year off his job to do what he’d always wanted to do. He has been traveling the world and has been in 11 different countries in the last 10 months. This year has been a very difficult year for me personally, and as I shared some of my story, he encouraged me to “live like I were dying”. Although I have always been extremely conservative financially, I decided that although after 6 years of no car payments had been wonderful, it was time. I bought the truck Friday, and the trailer Monday. It is quite a financial undertaking, but not nearly as much so as the house I had been renting for the last 2 ½ years, and I will still be able to try to work through the medical debt that I accrued earlier this year.

Making a decision this big is TERRIFYING for me! But I know that it was the right one. The venue I’m playing now is a marina with campground hookups, so it couldn’t be more convenient. I was able to come let my Sierra (my dog) out on my break! Having her as a constant traveling companion is a HUGE benefit for me and her, and I love having her with me all the time. It was so nice to be able to set up my gear before the show tonight, then run over to the trailer to take a quick shower before performing! In addition to that, I have my own space, my own freedom, something that belongs to me – and NOT a SUITCASE on board!! The plan now is to live in this at least all the time I am on the road and to maintain a rented room in Nashville for the interim until I figure out a different long-term plan.

I will be back in Nashville next week. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I have a CT scan scheduled next week to explore some cysts on my kidneys. I’d really rather NOT accrue any more significant medical debt, so your prayers are appreciated!

The end of this month, I will be back in Virginia. I am VERY excited to be playing the Newport News Fall Folklife Festival on October 3, just 2 days after my birthday, so hopefully I’ll be older and wiser for the performance… ; ) I also have shows scheduled at several other venues – see the calendar below for details.

I had the extreme pleasure to see 2 concerts at the Bridgestone arena in Nashville in the last month – the first was Ray Lamontagne and David Gray (any of my show-going fans probably know I’m a HUUUGE fan of Ray!) and the second was last weekend to see George Strait and Reba McEntire. Both concerts were amazing, and really inspired me! I have begun to write again, and am hoping to have some new material ready by the end of the month when I come to Virginia.

I plan to begin blogging a lot more often, so be sure to check that out – it’s at www.karismithmusic.blogspot.com if you’d like to read or follow it. I also have a borrowed video camera, so I’m hoping to get some new songs recorded to check out on YouTube! To see what videos I have posted already, check out www.youtube.com/musickari and add my channel. If you’re not following me on Twitter, the link is www.twitter.com/karismithmusic.

Thanks AS ALWAYS for your continued support!

My best –

Kari

update on Kari / hero citation

2010-06-25T03:59:00.001-05:00

Life has been a little crazy lately and I know that some of you have heard a few rumors and are wondering what’s going on!

2010 has been a very tough year for Kari. But Kari is strong, and Kari will keep moving forward. And Kari is now finished speaking in the third person. : ) I had some unexpected medical situations earlier this year that resulted in many thousands of dollars of debt, and I need another surgery as soon as possible to remove my diseased gall bladder and gall stones (sexy, huh? ;). Being without insurance, any medical visit can be expensive and a major procedure can be financially crippling. Therefore, I’m having to move out of the house I’ve lived in here in Nashville for the last 3 years. Although I love it and really don’t want to leave, I just cannot afford the rent with the current and potential medical debt that’s piled up. I spoke to my landlord regarding the situation, and although he agreed to let me out of my lease, he also gave me a 3-week deadline to vacate the property so that he can market it for a new tenant. That was a week ago - the last week has been a blur of packing, organizing, throwing out, selling on ebay and Craigslist, and trying to figure out where I’m going to go. I’m fortunate to have a friend that will put me up until I can find another place that I can afford.

This, along with many other difficult challenges, fortunately, has not caused me to waver from my path and following my dreams. For as long as I can reasonably manage, I will continue to do what I love and what I feel I am called to do – to create and play music. The amount of work, challenges, and difficulties that come along with doing what I love are sometimes enough to make me question my own sanity. But just when I start to get to that point, something happens to give me that little “tap on the shoulder” that says that I’m doing the right thing and should press on.

The “tap on the shoulder” this last trip was one that I won’t forget for a really, really long time. The first few days of my trip to VA included a trip to Deltaville, where the lodging for my 4-day run of gigs didn’t turn out quite as expected. That bad luck was quickly turned around by an amazing group of people that I already love dearly! Between Wynn, Kenny, Tom, Blair, Doreen, and Bill – they gave me a place to stay with some of the most amazing hospitality I have ever experienced, helped carry, break down, and load my equipment, fed me meals like I was family, gave me a ride when my car battery died and moved the heaven and freakin earth to make sure my car was fixed and where I needed it to be when I needed it, came to every show and cheered me on, and did this all and more for a total stranger – even though some of them had heard me sing before, none had ever met me before this visit. The second weekend I was there, I had one of the most intense days I have ever experienced as a performing musician with three back to back performances. The hero citation that weekend goes to Jenn & Doug Andrews, and Brian and Angela Smith. The first show of the day was the Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial, which I was so incredibly honored to be included in – and a show which was booked for me by Jenn. After the show, which Jenn came to and supported me during, Jenn realized how little time I had between shows and how difficult it would be to make everything happen in time. She offered me her car and drove mine – with all my equipment and PA – and took it to the venue where I was performing that night while I went to my second gig of the day. She, Doug, Brian, and Angela set up all the equipment for me while I was performing at the Relay for Life event in New Kent. When I drove back, streaked in sweat and dirt from the outdoor show, Jenn and Angela met me at Angela’s house near the venue so that I could shower and clean up. (You’ve never seen a female shower that fast, trust me… ; ) Jenn even drove me back to the venue so I could finish getting ready while she drove! When I arrived at the venue, they were like my support team – fetching things from my car, making me eat (I run out of time or forget to, a lot!), making last minute adjustments, taking pictures during the gig – it was absolutely amazing. Angela and Jenn manned the merchandise and sold CDs for me at the gig. After the gig, Doug noticed my tail light was out and replaced it for me. I drove back to Nashville with an absolute glow – I was literally basking in the love that was just lavished on me the whole trip.

I know that’s a lot of story, and not ONE of those people did any of that for any kind of recognition – in fact I hope they don’t mind me sharing! But I share it partially as an acknowledgement to myself and all of you that in spite of the difficulty we sometimes go through, there is so much good in people, and so much love to be given and received. I also share it because I don’t think that you have any idea how much of a positive impact it has on me when you support the journey I’m on – whether it’s a little email response to my updates, coming to a show, helping carry equipment, buying a CD or t-shirt, putting a tip in the jar, giving me an idea for a gig venue, turning someone else on to my music, putting me up while I’m in town, I could go on and on about the way people have helped me and how VERY, VERY BLESSED I AM by those of you who choose to take part in this journey I’m on.

I have been keeping busy – and trying to supplement my income by doing some work with other artists as well as my own shows. The week I returned to Nashville after the VA trip was CMA Fan Fest week (formerly Fan Fair) and I performed 8 days in a row – performing 2 shows in one day 3 of those days, and long rehearsals 2 of those days in addition to shows. I was privileged to play keys for MJ2 – the double twin group out of Vegas that cut my song “My Sisters” on their upcoming record. They were SO much fun and I really enjoyed getting to work with them. Check out their YouTube video of one of our studio rehearsals at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZUiD-4wGlQ". Next week, I will be in Destin, FL again playing keys with amazing singer / guitar slinger Eric Heatherly, whom you may remember from the early 2000s when he released a few singles, including his hit remake of “Flowers on the Wall”. After that trip, I’ll have a week back in Nashville before my trip to Eatonton, GA to see another group of amazing folks down at the Crooked Creek’s Bone Island Grill.

Life during the next month or so promises to be a little chaotic, but I’ll be glad to see the VA crew once more when I come back the last weekend in July for another week and a half.

Can’t wait to see you then!

All my best –

Kari

Set list - 3/26/10 - Starlite Lounge in Tullahoma, TN

2010-03-27T15:42:00.002-05:00

In the past, I have had some people request that I post set lists from gigs, so I thought that I would do just that!

Here's the set list from last night's gig - a Friday night at the Starlite Lounge in Tullahoma, TN:

Set 1
Up On Cripple Creek - The Band
Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
All I Wanna Do - Sugarland
Break Down Here - Julie Roberts
Picture to Burn - Taylor Swift
Bubbly - Colbie Caillat
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
Luckenbach Texas - Waylon Jennings
Let 'Er Rip - Dixie Chicks
Silver Wings - Merle Haggard
Pour Me - Trick Pony
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
Black Horse & A Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Gypsy of Love - Kari Smith
Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers

Set 2
I Don't Want to Be - Gavin DeGraw
The Joker - Steve Miller Band
Drift Away - Dobie Gray
Old Time Rock & Roll - Bob Seger
She Talks to Angels - The Black Crowes
Son of a Preacher Man - Aretha Franklin
Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine
Proud Mary - CCR
Realize - Colbie Caillat
Gunpowder and Lead - Miranda Lambert
You Never Even Called Me - David Allen Coe
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin

Set 3
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
Killing Me Softly - The Fugees
Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Kerosene - Miranda Lambert
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Umbrella - Rihanna
Nothin' Better to Do - LeAnn Rimes
Whisper - Kari Smith
Poker Face - Lady Gaga

2009-11-13T21:35:00.001-06:00

Layers

2009-09-16T02:18:00.003-05:00

A few nights ago, I was reading through one of my journals and found the entry I have typed out below. When this was written, I had been living in Nashville for 5 months.

January 15, 2007
3:34am
I realized tonight that I am finally in a place in my life where I can realize things about myself. It’s this process of peeling layers back until I can figure out what’s really going on. Peel back the layers of stability, comfort, and complacency. That’s where it gets tough – pulling back the layers of expectations, approval, criticism. Even then, more layers come up, many that I didn’t even know were there.

I frequently have people ask me how I've "made it" in Nashville, "made it" as a musician, or they've just made general comments or compliments about my persistence in this career, and I thought I'd share this with all of you.

After working at Capital One for 5 years, I was obviously devastated when I was laid off in 2005. I was offered the option to stay with the company in a different job and still have pay, benefits, and overall stability, but it was too late for that. The immediate blow of sitting in that room and being told that I no longer had a job overwhelmed my need for stability and sent my mind into territory it had never seen before. In trying to figure out what I would need to survive, I unexpectedly began to discover what I didn’t need. These were the layers I began to peel back.

Although stability is something I thrive on, I had to have it taken away to truly find myself. Being unemployed and suddenly having the career world “as my oyster” made me realize I could do whatever I wanted – not just what paid the most and had the best benefits. It’s healthy to have a routine, but I realized then that changing it makes you grow – especially when you the changes were out of your control! Losing the financial stability was also hard, but it was amazing to learn how much I could live without! I learned to be more resourceful when I lost that bi-weekly direct deposit - working for myself meant I was directly and solely responsible for any level of success or failure. There was no hourly rate, no salary, no limits to what I could do other than my own energy, ability, drive, and determination.

The layers of comfort and complacency were hard to pull back! I sold my beloved big diesel truck and bought a smaller car. I went from owning a nice house in the suburbs to renting a room in an apartment in downtown Nashville in close proximity to constant sirens. I went from having a steady paycheck and benefits to making 4 figures and living without health insurance. I moved 600 miles away from where almost all my family and friends were to a city where I knew absolutely no one. I left a boyfriend, my dog, and everything else that didn’t fit in a 5x8 trailer (the other two 15-foot UHaul trucks didn't come until much later!) and had no idea what my new circumstances would be. It was terrifying. I was tripped up by the unexpected – extensive injuries and losses from a car accident 2 months later, a housing market that kept me from selling my house, learning that seeing only the good in people can be dangerous. I never lived out of my car or went hungry, but it was SO important to stretch myself mentally and emotionally – not because I had no other options, but because it let me discover myself in a different way. I had to get rid of the tangible “stuff” that I was accustomed to having and learn who I was and how to be happy based solely on those intangible things we all can have regardless of how much we make – self-worth, personal relationships, beliefs, goals, hopes, and dreams.

I have always had high expectations of myself and that can definitely be a good thing, but I had to take a closer look at my expectations of myself to see if they were realistic, attainable, and healthy. Even more, it was important to figure out which expectations were my own, and which had been imposed on me by others, whether deliberately or subconsciously. At the end of the day, I am personally responsible for my happiness and success, so I had to discern and eliminate any expectations that weren’t my own.

The approval and criticism layers were elusive, because it’s easy to ignore your need for approval or fear of criticism until you make the move that draws them out. Peeling back those layers was so hard for me because I am a people-pleaser, often to a fault. There are plenty of critics of my chosen career, especially since I have the education and experience to do what they see as “so much more”. Some skeptics have changed their criticism to approval, and although proving my ability to succeed is satisfying, I had to learn that I don’t need the approval any more than I needed the criticism. Criticism hurts and approval is rewarding when they come from someone whose opinion matters, but it’s your response – even if it means not responding - that matters.

I’ve found other “layers” along the way, and I’m sure there are many more, but underneath them all is KARI – who I am, and what makes me happy, healthy, and fulfilled. Learning to understand, appreciate, and nurture who I am at that profound level drives my success in this business – or in any other.

KariSmithMusic update

2009-08-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

The last 6 months have brought so many opportunities - I hardly know where to begin… Unbelievably, next month marks the 3rd anniversary of my moving to Nashville! Although I tend to be hard on myself, it’s actually rewarding to look back at some of the things I’ve accomplished over the last year. In 2009, I have already played twice as many dates as I played in all of 2008! August will only add to that number – my busiest month yet!

When I moved to Nashville, I was encouraged by some – and discouraged by others – that it takes a LONG time to get a start in this town! I’ve heard Nashville called “the 10-year town” because of how long it can take to make significant progress here. Without patience and tenacity, it’s so easy to become discouraged or quit! It’s hard to understand why it takes so long, given the opportunities here in Nashville, but you are surrounded by other musicians who are trying to make it, and it’s a hard town to make money in, partially because of the competition! A lot of musicians end up traveling and playing shows in other towns, especially their home town, as I’ve done. Despite the difficulty, I – like most other musicians – stay because of the amazing opportunities for musicians here. I am surrounded by other musicians and writers that understand and share my way of life and my passion. There are so many opportunities to meet and interact with musicians and writers on various levels of success – from the beginner to those who have achieved international success. There are a number of resources to support and further my career. And there is ALWAYS somewhere to go to hear good live music!

"GYPSY OF LOVE" AVAILABLE ON ITUNES!
I have been anxiously awaiting the digital distribution of my latest album – “Gypsy of Love” – and it is here! It is now also available at CD Baby! Both of my previous albums, “Kari” and “go with you” are also available on iTunes and CD Baby.
On iTunes, search “Kari Smith Gypsy of Love” or paste the following link into your browser:
http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=Kari+Smith+Gypsy+of+Love
“Gypsy of Love” and my previous 2 albums are also available at all live shows and at:
Plan 9: http://www.plan9music.com (and in Williamsburg, VA and Richmond, VA stores)
CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/artist/karismith
Rhapsody: http://mp3.rhapsody.com/kari-smith/gypsy-of-love
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-of-Love/dp/B002H130RK/ref=sr_f3_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1248319753&sr=103-1
Lala: http://www.lala.com/#album/2810527642644390478

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY - 8/20 at GAP!
When I saw the “free submission” email from SonicBids, host of my EPK (electronic press kit), about performing at a live acoustic event hosted by GAP, I submitted my press kit – not because I thought I’d be selected, but because it seemed like an interesting idea and the submission was free! Receiving the “SELECTED” message today was really exciting for me – not just because I get free jeans (although I like that part too… ;) but because it’s such a unique opportunity – being part of the largest simultaneous live acoustic music event ever! On August 20, 2009, every GAP store in the U.S. and Canada will host an exclusive, live acoustic music night to celebrate Gap’s 40 years of heritage in jeans and music. This event is open to the public, so come on out! Event will be held at the GAP store in Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, VA.

NEW SUMMER MERCHANDISE!
If you haven’t seen the summer merchandise, it's here and available for sale at all live shows! The first round of merch was so successful that it’s back – with more colors and styles for ladies and men! We are working to get merch available online, and hope to see that soon!

I NEED YOUR HELP!
http://testdrive.taylorguitars.com/BandProfile.aspx?c=8656&p=325#Vote
A relationship with Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings would be an amazing opportunity for me, so please take a moment and vote for me at the above link - I would so greatly appreciate it! You can vote once a day through August 31. THANK YOU!

LOVE MY SPONSORS!
I truly appreciate the contributions of my sponsors, especially Mary Kay Director Marti Hall, who so generously provides all of my makeup and cosmetics! The products she provides make traveling SO much easier, and they give me options for my “stage look”, which is slightly different from the everyday look. :) Check out her website and please consider using her for your Mary Kay needs – and tell her I sent you! Distance is not an issue – I live FAARR away from her, but still have products in my mailbox just days after I drop her an email… THANK YOU Marti!
http://www.marykay.com/martihall/default.aspx

details for the show tonight

2009-06-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let you all know a few things about the show tonight... if you're planning on coming to the Bull & Bear, I'll be playing from 7 - 10pm. The dress code is business casual, so no jeans, t-shirts, hats, etc. but you do NOT need to wear a suit or tie. Polo and button-up shirts for guys are fine. PARKING - there is free parking after 5:45pm in the parking deck under the James Center Building on Canal Street. FOOD - the food is WONDERFUL and the kitchen is open until 10pm.

Thank you SO MUCH to the MANY people who came out to Market Cafe last night for the show. It was great to see familiar faces, and some I hadn't seen in quite a while!! It was a bit eventful, being in 100 degree heat and in the direct sunlight... I made it through 3 and a half (yes - a half) songs before having to exit the stage to avoid an on-stage fainting spell... After drinking several bottles of water, having my sister fan me and put ice cubes all over my (somehow blistered) arms, and my 2-year old niece feeding my ice cubes (pretty hilarious itself! : ), I finally was able to go back on stage. I got through another half of a song before looking up to see that same sister down on the ground... Not a good feeling when you're on stage! Thanks to everyone who has shown concern - she did go in to be checked out and was diagnosed with the same low blood pressure problem that I have, and she is fine. You all were so supportive, and I appreciate it so much!!

Hope to see you tonight!

update and new schedule

2009-05-31T00:00:00.001-05:00

What a week! Monday through Wednesday nights were spent in Lula, Mississippi playing shows at a casino, Thursday I was heading back to Nashville to spend one night in my own bed, Friday night was spent packing for my trip to Virginia and driving through the night to get here, and I just got off a stage in New Kent, VA after playing a very successful Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society… So in answer to the many questions I’ve heard lately like “where are you?”, “what have you been doing?”, and “why haven’t we heard anything from you?” – that may be your answer! The last few months have been very, very busy – I have been playing more regularly in Nashville now, and I have also been on the road quite a bit. But I am so glad to be back in my home state of Virginia!

MERCHANDISE / T-SHIRTS

The first run of t-shirts are almost all gone! There are a few Ladies’ long-sleeved tees and Men’s white short-sleeved tees left, but I have a whole new inventory! There are new Ladies’ tank tops and tees, and I got feedback from the guys that you preferred darker shirts – so I have new Men’s tees in Black, Navy, and Gray. If you’re interested in purchasing a t-shirt, they are available for sale at all shows, or email me if you’d like to order one to be shipped to you. I also am now able to accept Visa / Mastercard.

SCHEDULE

I apologize for the delay in sharing my schedule for my trip, but here it is! Besides the show tonight, I will also be playing every night Tuesday through Sunday of next week! I have some new venues this time – including the Bull & Bear Club downtown, and Bar Louie in the Short Pump area, so I hope you’ll come out and help me make a good showing!

The show will go on!

2009-03-16T16:52:00.002-05:00

CD RELEASE Party for "Gypsy of Love"!

Date: Friday, March 20, 2009
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: The Camel
Street: 1621 W Broad Street
City/Town: Richmond, VA
Phone: 804-353-4901
Email: info@thecamel.org
Website: www.thecamel.org

Thank you so much for your patience with this! Because of my original venue closing, the show has been moved to The Camel, a great Richmond music venue. The show will be a bit earlier than I intended, but the show will go on - which is the important part! : )

The Camel is on West Broad near the intersection of Broad and Boulevard. There is street parking or you may park in the Lowe's parking lot across the street. They have GREAT food, a full bar and is a non-smoking venue. Doors open at 7pm and the music will start around 7:30. The show will be over by 9pm. There will be a $5 cover at the door.

Thanks so much, as always, for your support!

Velvet and Sita

2009-01-01T14:35:00.001-06:00

I was pulling out of a rest area near Knoxville on a Monday, the second day of my drive back to Nashville from Richmond, VA for the Christmas holidays. It had been a good break - about 20 minutes sitting under the trees, writing down the song that had been forming in my head during the drive. It was a cold but beautiful day – and that brisk air has a way of opening your eyes! As I walked Sierra back to the car, we were inspired by a father and son playing Frisbee, so I retrieved Sierra’s from the car, and we showed them how a Frisbee team really works – much to their amusement!

As I began to pull away, I was struck by how many people were traveling with their dogs. The first was a little Jack Russell that gleefully chased his owner on a skateboard down a conveniently downhill sidewalk. The second was a huge Saint Bernard being walked by little girl tinier than it was, along with Mom. The third dog I noticed was still in a car, waiting patiently for her escape. THAT, I knew, was Sita.

How I knew that dog was “Sita” is beyond peculiar - so peculiar that I pulled over to the side of the rest area exit. I recognized the station wagon, and the Vermont license plates. Then I saw the lady standing at the back of the car – in her 60s with kind eyes, hair in a ball cap, and dressed for days of driving. I recognized her, but I did not know her, or even her name. But I knew Sita’s name, and she knew Sierra’s.

On Sunday, the day before, I stopped in a rest area near Roanoke, VA. That rest area was not quite as accommodating as today’s, and I had to keep Sierra on a short leash while maneuvering through people and other dogs. While walking her, I noticed a beautiful retriever with a striking copper color. I called up to her owner to tell her how beautiful her dog was, and she invited me to bring Sierra up to play. We stood there talking while Sierra and Sita played for a few minutes, and she told me that she was on her way to Arizona to a large gem / jewelry convention, where she would buy stock that she resells to retailers during the year. I told her that I was a musician, and that I was returning to Nashville that night after spending the holidays and playing some shows in Virginia. We talked for a few moments about the weather – and how she was ready to escape the cold in Vermont, and I wished her luck with that! We then parted ways, and I saw her pass me on the interstate a few moments after we both pulled out of the rest area.

I really thought nothing of it, as I continued my drive. But the further down the road I got, the more I realized I would probably not make it back to Nashville that night. The sinus pressure was one thing – but what was really getting me was missing the last 3 days’ doses of my low blood pressure medicine. I somehow only took 1 week’s supply on my 10-day trip to Virginia, and when I don’t take it, I fall asleep – or pass out – very easily. Fortunately, I had a friend near Knoxville that put me up for the night.

I woke up Monday, refreshed and ready for the second part of my trip. I decided that since I only had about 3 ½ more hours to go, I would really take my time and enjoy the day. So I drove leisurely, taking in the beautiful mountains in East Tennessee. A song had been buzzing around in my head, and when the batteries in my hand-held recorder had died, I had to stop. Since I was stopping, I decided to go ahead and write down the words that I had already, then play Frisbee with Sierra for a while. It was then that I got back in the car, pulled away, and saw Sita.

When I first saw Sita, the Vermont license plate, and the lady from yesterday - I have to be honest – the first thought that flashed through my mind was, “is this lady following me?” I pulled my car over to the side of the rest area exit. I walked up to her, and the look on her face indicated that she was probably wondering the same thing that I instinctively had! I greeted her, and she must have moved quickly past any apprehension she may have had, because she reached out to hug me. We talked for a moment about how uncanny it was to run into each other – on two different days! I mean, it’s possible that 2 travelers run into each other on the same day in 2 rest areas, but for both travelers to stop in completely different places – I had gone 20 miles off the interstate to where I stayed – was just plain odd. She invited Sierra to come play with Sita, but I told her that we had been there for a while, and were just leaving. I gave her one of my new CDs, and told her that now she would have something to listen to on her long trip to Arizona! She looked at the album “Gypsy of Love” and chuckled, saying that she had been called a gypsy a time or two!

I pulled away from this second rest area, shaking my head in disbelief. I didn’t know why or how this connection had happened, but I felt that it must have happened for a reason! As I drove down I-40, I realized that I didn’t even know her name. It really didn’t matter, I just couldn’t stop thinking about how random the situation had been. I sent a text to a friend, saying “you are NOT going to believe what just happened!” Then, of course, I spent the next 20 minutes on the phone telling the story.

Since I was taking my time, I made a stop at Starbucks for some coffee, and one at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. I had finally gotten back up to speed when I realized that my gas light was on, and I wondered why I hadn’t seen that when I was off the highway getting food and coffee? Regardless, I began looking for the next exit with a gas station. I bypassed one exit, because it didn’t have the type of station I was looking for. I noticed a Shell at the next exit, so I pulled off the highway, and into the gas station. I filled up, then as I was hanging the nozzle back on the pump, time stood still for a moment as I watched that station wagon with Vermont plates pull into the Shell station.

She didn’t even see me – just pulled up to a pump, got out, and headed for the door. I started walking towards her, and as I did, I called to her, “this is just getting a little uncanny!” She stopped still, turned, and looked at me with disbelief in her eyes. And it WAS uncanny… to run into a total stranger 3 times in a row, over 2 different days, when we both obviously had our own agenda was beyond uncanny… We let Sierra and Sita play in the huge field beside the gas station, and we talked for about 20 minutes. I finally learned her name – her mother named her Velvet, after the girl in the horse movie National Velvet. We talked about what seemed most important at the time – our beliefs in things spiritual and things “meant to be”. We both tried to look for the purpose, although the “purpose” in things like this is not always evident. Her initial observation was that the connection could be music, since she knows many songwriters and musicians. OR, she said that more likely, Someone was looking out for her on this long road trip. At 63, she shared, the yearly buying trips were seeming longer and harder to drive.

Whatever the purpose – we know there was one, and that’s all that really matters. Velvet and Sita followed me back to Nashville, treated me to a wonderful dinner, and we shared stories and sang songs like we were old friends. She and Sita stayed in my guest bedroom that night, and sneaked out in the morning without even waking me (bless her heart… ; )

Today is Thursday – January 1, 2009 – a new day in a new year, and so I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on this situation. Was there any great lesson to be learned in any of this? Any earth-shattering revelation? That’s for each one of us to decide, but for me, the lesson was a refresher course in having faith – not fear - in people. In opening your eyes and seeing what is right in front of you. In being available to be used by God to help someone in need – or even just offering a hand in hospitality or friendship.

On this day, I resolve to keep my eyes open – not because it’s a New Year – but because it is a wonderful, exciting life with SO very much to offer!

My best to you, and all the love, happiness and blessings to you and yours in 2009.

New album "Gypsy of Love" now shipping!!

2008-12-07T19:21:00.002-06:00

I hope the holidays are treating you well! I finally got my Christmas tree up yesterday, and have worn through my collection of Christmas music! The Christmas parade was Friday here in Nashville, and man was it cold... But it was great to see everyone in the holiday spirit and enjoying themselves.

After several delays in production, I decided that I would not send another message until my new CD "Gypsy of Love" was ready to ship! But there is good news – they will be delivered tomorrow, and shipping Tuesday!! I am SO very excited – this record is the product of the last 2 years of my time here in Nashville, and I am so very proud of it! For the REALLY detailed details of the process, check out http://karismithmusic.blogspot.com/2008/11/album-whats-goin-on.html.

If you have ordered your copy already – thank you so very much for your support!! It will be in the mail on Tuesday – and just in time for Christmas! If not, go to www.tinyurl.com/gypsyoflove to purchase through PayPal. If you'd like to purchase with check or money order, please reply to this email for the payment address and instructions. The CD, 8x10 picture, and shipping / handling is $15. If you're interested in purchasing more than one copy, please contact me for the discounted price.

For those of you who are interested in this crazy ride I've been on : ) and like to keep up with what's going on, thank you so much! I have moved from sending out frequent emails to recording much of my journey in a blog – it's at http://www.karismithmusic.blogspot.com/ and I try to update it relatively often!

I may possibly be back in Virginia for Christmas, now that the gas prices are steadily dropping! It's hard to believe that when I last drove to Virginia in October, gas cost more than twice what it does now! But I will definitely be back in January, and am working on a definite date for a CD release party at that time. Now that the CD has been completed, I plan to be back on the road, playing more shows, so let me know where you would like to hear me play!

Keep in touch, and thank you again, so much, for your support of me and my dream!

All my best -
. Kari .

Blog – http://www.karismithmusic.blogspot.com/
Website - http://www.karismithmusic.com/
Press Kit - www.sonicbids.com/karismith
Add me on MySpace! www.myspace.com/karismith
Add me on Facebook! www.facebook.com/pages/Kari-Smith/14521598293

the album - what's goin' on!

2008-11-20T07:21:00.004-06:00

Many of you have asked "how's the CD coming along?" I usually say "fine"... because the reality of it takes more breath to tell than I have! But if you truly want the nuts and bolts of what's going on - here it is! The relieving part (I'll start with this! : ) is that the CDs should be IN MY HANDS within 10 - 12 days. I do NOT have an official release date, or a CD release party scheduled. I gave up trying to predict when this thing would be done! My poor graphic artist has had to update my press kit 3 or 4 times now regarding the release - September, October, November, and now we're pushing December! Once it has been released, I will schedule CD release parties for both Nashville and Virginia.

So what's happening? Some things are really just out of our hands - but I'll try to give you the short story! Hold on to your hats for more information about the music business than you EVER wanted to know... and remember - ALL of the below work comes after or outside of preparation and recording the actual music!

I'll start with "publishing" - which refers to rights and royalties of a songwriter. I had it "easy" - I wrote or co-wrote every song on this album, as opposed to many singers who can easily have 12 songs by 12 different writers! I had one co-write, and one 3-way co-write. So the publishing rights for all of "my" songs belong fully to me, the co-write is owned 50/50% by me and 1 other person, and 3-way co-write is owned 33% each by me and 2 other people. Publishing rights are owned by a registered publishing company - not an individual, so I could either have registered by songs under my producer's publishing company "Gold Star", or I could form my own. If I established with Gold Star, the royalties (from CD sales, radio play, downloads, etc.) would be SPLIT between me (the writer) and Gold Star (the publishing company). But if I formed a publishing company, the profits would belong 100% to my company on the songs I wrote, and 50% or 33% on the co-writes. They are still "split" between me and the publishing company - but since I own the publishing company, they're still "technically" mine. Make sense? In the end, I formed my own publishing company. This is VERY common amongst writers in Nashville today. My long-term goal in this industry is to not depend on performance income (which is largely what I do now), but rather to make my "living" on songwriting. Easier said than done, but this is Step 1! And by the way - I NEVER thought I would have my first song cut by another artist (and eventually being paid for it!) at this point - I haven't even started pitching my music, and having that already is a blessing for which I am very grateful! Point being, I need to be prepared, and live as if my future goals and dreams are a present reality.

So I chose to create Vanillity Music LLC, with a publishing "arm". The LLC also serves to protect me, as an individual, as I go about the daily business of the company. The first challenge was actually coming up with a company name that is not yet used, trademarked, etc. There are a LOT of businesses out there! My first couple choices weren't available, but if any of you have ever been in "smelling distance" of me, you'll probably at least understand the "Vanilla" reference, since that scent is all I wear! :)

So now we have the LLC, and the publishing company within. And by the way - this doesn't necessarily mean that I "saved money" by keeping 100% of my royalties - definitely not up front! There are legal fees for setting up an LLC, registers, trademarks, etc., and fees to register the publishing company. The publishing company itself also has to be registered with whichever performing rights organization I belong to.

The 3 major performing rights organizations are BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. I belong to ASCAP, so Vanillity Music LLC must be registered with ASCAP - a different process than Kari Smith being registered with ASCAP, which is what I had before. So WHAT is a performing rights organization? Well, you may have walked into a business before and heard music playing through the speakers. Unless there is some sort of arrangement in place, the manager can't just decide to play his Kari Smith CD today (aw man... ;) When you walked into that bar, you may have seen a label or sign posted on the storefront that said "BMI" or "ASCAP" - SESAC is by far the smallest and not as common.

Additionally, when a program manager at a radio station decides that he wants to play a Kari Smith song 3 times today, he has to report those 3 plays to ASCAP, who collects the data and pays its songwriters quarterly. This same process goes for clubs, restaurants, and other venues that play music through loudspeakers, a jukebox, etc. - they are legally obligated to report it. If they don't, they are breaking the law, and there are "undercover" agents for these companies that literally go looking for non-compliance with these laws.

In addition to radio plays, downloads, etc., songwriters are paid for CD sales. This can be done when the CDs are pressed (manufactured) at all at once, "as you go" - as you sell the CDs. For example - I have an artist / group who is cutting one of my songs "My Sisters". They have a mechanical license (just roll with this!) and although I can put the song on my CD (and I did!), they have licensed the right to record it and put it on their CD. The fee is currently 9.3 cents a song. If they have 10,000 copies of the CD, as the songwriter of that song, I will make $930.

When a radio station reports that they played Kari Smith's song "Mostly Me" (this is the 3-way co-write on my album) for x amount of plays, how does ASCAP know who gets paid royalties for those plays? Well, when Dennis Money, Bobby Fischer and I wrote that song, we EACH had to register our 33% of the publishing rights to that song with our respective companies' performing rights organization. (See how freakin complicated this gets?)

Each song (or an "work") has to be turned in and filed with the national Copyrights Office, which of course carries its own set of paperwork, hassles, submissions, and fees.

Each song on the album has to have an ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) digitally embedded in it. This code refers to the recording itself - not the song - and is comprised of 12 numbers that refer to the country code, the registrant code, the year of registration, then the number of the recording itself. The purpose of the code is to facilitate royalty collecting, administration, and especially important today - anti-piracy safeguards. When I decided to form the LLC, I had to apply for ISRC codes. The digital embedding happens at the mastering stage (for the sake of my poor typing fingers, I will abbreviate my explanation of "mastering" by saying that it is "finishing" the CD in terms of audio levels, space between songs, etc.)

The graphics and layout for the CD are a whole process within themselves - "getting it right" for something this important takes a LOT of time, effort, inspection, revisions, and approval from me and my producer. It's amazing that Stacy - my graphic artist at http://www.psomadesign.com/ - didn't go nuts on this one! She is SO patient and amazingly talented! Unfortunately, there's now way to shorten that process unless you absolutely have no opinion on what your project will look like. I did. ;) Once we sent the artwork to the company that actually manufactures the discs, they needed revisions - despite the fact that she had built the artwork on their templates! It's not just a CD "cover" - it's a 6 panel (3 front, 3 back) insert, a interior tray card, an exterior tray card, and the actual CD itself that have to be designed and perfected. (Thanks to Brett Zwerdling for the album photography - I think that was the easiest part!! :) There are credits that have to be listed within the album artwork that are necessary for radio play and royalties. Publishing affiliations have to be listed in order for a radio station to play a song... Remember that scenario earlier about a radio program director reporting what songs they've played? If you submit an album that doesn't list publishing allocations and splits, there's a good possibility they're not going to play it!

Aren't you glad this is the short version? ;) I'll try to wrap this up!

If you're still reading - and you're wondering why I typed all this out - YOU are why I took the time! I know that this chosen career is sustained by the unwavering support of fans, listeners, people who care - however you want to classify yourself. If you know me at all, you know that if I'm up at 9:30am (the current time CST), it's not because I got up early - it's because I haven't gone to bed yet. But it is so very important to me to keep this experience as personal and as real to YOU, the fan, as I possibly can - because I feel that that's how I'm able to give back to you. Your support and your interest in what I do makes me want to share as much of it with you as possible! If that means losing sleep every once in a while, so be it - otherwise this would NEVER get written!

Thank you for caring about the process and what I've been facing to get this album released! There may be a mistake or two in here - (I'm uh about to fall over... ; ) but hopefully you get the gist! And a SPECIAL thank you to those of you who have pre-ordered the album - or plan to buy it once it's released. You don't know the sheer JOY I get when I see each one of those pre-sales! I've put my heart and soul into this album - it's the main reason I moved to this town - and I am SO proud of the result!!!

Pre-orders through PayPal can be made at www.tinyurl.com/gypsyoflove or email me for a payment address if you'd rather send a check or money order. The CD, including shipping / handling, and an autographed 8x10 picture is $15, and will be shipping within 2 weeks! Many thanks!!!

a lot to be thankful for

2008-11-18T23:00:00.002-06:00

Tuesday, November 12, I had the honor and privilege of singing the National Anthem at the start of a college basketball game. That in itself was somewhat unremarkable - it was between Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb, not really "major" universities. There weren't thousands of people in the stands, and there weren't lights flashing and cameras going off!

But when that microphone was handed to me and I looked up at the flag, I got more than a little choked up... Right before, it was announced that there would be an opening prayer, then the National Anthem would be sung by "Nashville recording artist Kari Smith". The prayer that followed that announcement was so poignant that I literally for a moment was scared I would be too choked up to sing! The prayer brought attention to all that we have to be thankful for, and especially a gratefulness to the men and women who are serving our country here and abroad.

In the moment where I looked up and saw the flag, I realized how much I truly do have to be thankful for! It would have NEVER occurred to me 5 years ago when I was sitting in a cubicle at Capital One that pm this day, I would be introduced as "Nashville recording artist Kari Smith" - and yet here I am.... REALLY surreal to me, but true! :) Beyond that, the freedoms and opportunities that are afforded to me in this country, and that are represented by that flag I was singing about are made possible in part by people who have dedicated - or given up - their lives to make that possible.

These past few months have been a tough time - trying to get the record finished and released have been WAY more trying than I could have known, not ever having done things this "officially" before. It's easy to get caught up in ALL the details that have NOTHING to do with music - and more to do with legalities, the business, formalities, deadlines, finances - I could go on and on (which is why you haven't heard much from me lately!) But when it comes right down to it, the fact that I am living in this moment right now is truly overwhelming!

I'm just about done with this soapbox - I promise! : ) But I hope that as Thanksgiving comes around this week, you'll join me in shifting your thoughts away from politics, the economy, the media, etc. - and ponder those things that we are so accustomed to having that we tend to take for granted. I have a LOT to be thankful for...

(speaking of which - shirt and belt in the picture by Cutting-Up Apparel www.cutting-up.com)

what do Kari and the CMA Awards have in common?

2008-11-12T00:00:00.004-06:00

We're both sponsored by Mary Kay! Hope this explains the pictures of me laughing while holding my Mary Kay Compact Pro (provided by my wonderful sponsor, Marti Hall - www.marykay.com/martihall - who wasn't able to be there) with a big ol' group of Cadillac-driving Mary Kay Directors! These ladies just happened to be sitting next to me at the 42nd Annual Country Music Association Awards, and they were great!

This is the second year I've been able to attend, and it's always fun to see all the stars out doing their thing... Some highlights for me were:

1. George Strait. period. I love George Strait! Whether he was performing, accepting an award, or just walking up to the stage - I love him! I was thrilled that he won single AND album of the year - faith in the Association has been restored!! ;)

2. Kenny Chesney's performance with The Wailers (as in Bob Marley and... ;), who did a performance of "Three Little Birds" that was a cool compliment to Kenny's "Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven"!

3. Taylor Swift's performance of "Love Story" - I think this is a sweet song anyway, but the set for this was amazing! Last year, I went behind the scenes and saw how they set up for the CMAs - there were literally just ROWS of complete sets - one after another, all completely set up and ready to wheel in at the right time. But to see how much work went into this was amazing!

4. Brad Paisley kissing Kim's (his wife) pregnant belly before going up on stage to collect his award - SOO sweet!!

5. Lady Antebellum winning best new artist... I first saw this trio perform live at CRS (Country Radio Seminar) last year, and they were fabulous! Hillary Scott is the female voice of the trio, and her mother is Linda Davis, 1990s country music artist who sang the duet "Does He Love You" with Reba McEntire. Charles Kelley is the lead singer, and his brother Josh Kelley is a pop singer who I have always been a fan of! This group has a great sound, so I'm proud of them!

After the show, I was downtown and met Grammy-winning singer / songwriter Jim Lauderdale... THAT was an honor! I was probably more thrilled to meet him than I would have been to meet most any of the celebs at the CMAs! Besides singing backing vocals for Carlene Carter and Dwight Yoakam, Jim wrote songs for 8 George Strait, including 2 songs on his "Pure Country" soundtrack, and one of my favorites - "What Do You Say to That". He also wrote Perfect Stranger's "You Have the Right to Remain Silent", and songs for Patty Loveless, The Dixie Chicks, Vince Gill, Mark Chestnutt, and many more!

There are also a couple of pictures of me afterwards - this is about as dressy as I get, ladies and gents... ;) Enjoy!

back home!

2008-10-24T00:57:00.004-05:00

After a busy, crazy trip to VA, I am back home in Nashville! I played 6 shows while I was home - in 10 days! Add seeing family and friends to that line-up, and it makes for a crazy time! I'm always glad to visit, and love being able to perform - especially for fans that have been so faithful... But I must say I'm also glad to be sleeping in my own bed again!

Thank you SO MUCH to those of you who came out to see me at one of my shows - and especially to those of you who came out to several shows! It makes me feel SO good to see all of you, and your belief in me and support just warms my heart!

I have to give an absolutely shameless shout-out to my sponsor Marti Hall, who is an amazing representative of Mary Kay cosmetics. She truly set me up for this trip and made sure I had everything I needed to travel as easily as possible, especially the Mary Kay Facial Cleansing Cloths, the Compact Pro, and a personal favorite - the Lotus and Bamboo body care set! If you use Mary Kay but don't have a consultant, check out her website - www.marykay.com/martihall - no matter where you live!

(Mary Kay cosmetics in my "Gypsy of Love" photo shoot (including the attached picture) provided by Marti Hall.)

"Gypsy of Love" available for pre-sale!

2008-10-09T03:47:00.008-05:00

The recording of my Nashville debut album "Gypsy of Love" is complete! The artwork and printing are still pending, but they are NOW available for pre-order! If you are interested in ordering a copy of the CD, there are a few options.

1. If you are a PayPal user, go here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=287349 to pre-order. If you are not yet a PayPal user, it is easy to sign up for an account, and your payment via check or credit card is simple and secure!

2. If you prefer to pay by check or money order, send an email to karismithmusic @ gmail.com for the payment address. The cost is $15, and includes the album, a signed photo, and shipping / handling charges.

The album will be shipping in late October / early November. If you plan to purchase more than 1 copy, please let me know so that I can give you a discounted rate!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support!! I am so proud of this album and everything that has gone into it, and I so appreciate you sharing in this experience with me!

Cutting-Up photo shoot

2008-09-30T12:56:00.008-05:00

Cutting-Up is one of my amazing sponsors, and these pictures are from a photo shoot I had for their clothing. My amazingly wonderful photographer is Brett Zwerdling, who flew from Richmond to Nashville to do this and one other shoot. He ROCKS!

Check 'em out at www.cutting-up.com!

madness craziness and chaos

2008-09-24T19:32:00.003-05:00

We all have it... right? I realized the other day that I frequently write about my successes and accomplishments, but not about some of the more frustrating aspects of being a musician. In order for this blog to be an accurate representation of this crazy life that I'm leading, it needs to include those things, right? So here goes...

Yes, the gas shortage in TN is a very real thing. It seems okay to write about now, because I have seen 2 gas stations with gas today! Before that, I think I probably went 4 days without seeing a gas station that actually had gas - and I probably passed 30 or 40 of them! It's a scary feeling - something that has never happened in my lifetime. You don't want to be "paranoid" about, but when you realize that at any time you could be without the means to get around and live your life - it is scary! The economy in general is worse than it has been in my memory and it's a constant challenge for all of us...

Most of you know already about my recent trip to the hospital for what ended up being gall bladder disease and stones. I am supposed to be having surgery to remove it as soon as possible, but haven't yet scheduled it. As a musician, I do not have insurance. It's doable, although difficult - especially as I have had to have thousands of dollars of dental work done this year, and the other assorted health problems that I constantly deal with - mostly my ongoing problem with low blood pressure and allergies. But this is obviously more than a routine doctor visit – it’s surgery and a hospital visit. My forays into trying to get financial aid to deal with this surgery have been long and completely fruitless. I’ve about given up on those processes – it’s very frustrating to be put off and put off until you’re finally told “oh it’s been too long – you’ll have to start the whole process over again…” when they’re the ones that caused the delay in the first place. I could rant about this endlessly but it wouldn’t help anything, so suffice it to say that I’m hoping my health will hold out until I can figure out how to afford this surgery.

My “weekly” gig has so far been no more than that one show. The next Saturday, one of the regular bar patrons had a party that included most of the patronage, and therefore the show was canceled the day of. The next week, there was a major football game that caused the show to be canceled the day of. This and next week I will be out of town. Although the owner is still very interested in me playing there, it just hasn’t happened again yet. It’s discouraging – especially when you plan on the income, but one of the hard knocks that comes along with this craziness…

Most of you know about the car accident that I had when I first moved to Nashville – TWO years ago… can you believe it? I can’t myself! Some days are better than others. I have recently been struggling more than I had with pain in my shoulders, back, and hips, and it’s just a constant reminder that your body will only take so much beating before it talks back! Next week I turn THIRTY (30)… can you believe it? Some days I feel like I’m about 60! I continue to go to the chiropractor as necessary when it gets unbearable, which it has some recently. Grin and bear it, right?

The good seems to come proportionately with the bad, and I hold tight to God’s promise that He won’t give me more than I can handle. Although sometimes I wonder if he is over-estimating my capabilities… ;) Seriously – I have been blessed, and I try to never let go of that.

Well, if nothing else, look at this as a big ol’ prayer list for Kari… I could use ‘em all!!

The next blog will be MUCH more positive – I promise… ;)

"Remembering You"

2008-09-24T19:18:00.005-05:00

September 10, 2008 was the 1-year anniversary of my dear friend Gary Wade. It was strange - it seemed as if it were just as hard as when he actually passed away.

Some of Gary's family from the UK came back to the States for the anniversary. Two of Gary's loves were theater and soccer. Together with the CAT Theater Group, they set up an annual "Gary Wade Volunteer Award", and they also brought over a football (English version - our soccer!) trophy to be played for as well as arranging for a garden of remembrance to be set up in the fields where Gary played soccer.

By "popular demand" (Gary had a LOT of friends!) I made a recording of the song that I wrote for Gary, called "Remembering You". I had CDs duplicated and printed, and if you're interested in a copy, please let me know. Many of the Richmond and UK branches of Gary's "family" may have already gotten one from Donna and Tony.

Although Gary's passing was so sad and hard, he is still with us in so many different wonderful ways, and we cherish the memories and friendships that came about because of him!

finally a weekly gig!

2008-09-08T16:24:00.007-05:00

Yay! I had a gig on Saturday night from 8 - 11pm at Marathon Sports Bar in Nashville... I was a BIT concerned about it for a few reasons. It was difficult to get the gig in the first place (the owner is this crochety 85-year old man that will kick you out for looking at him wrong) (hope he's not a blog reader), and when I came in and realized that the Miami / Florida game was on, I was a little worried! There were a few hard-core fans in there and they usually don't take kindly to having music played over their game! I waited til half-time to start, hoping that by the time the game was back on, they would be into the music!

I knew it would be a hard sell - the regulars and very regular, and I knew their opinions would definitely make a difference! They were all watching very closely, but were still pretty hard to read... When I took my first break an hour in, I was SO relieved to know that they were really enjoying it - both originals and covers!

When I was done, the owner called me over and I prepared for the worst... Usually when he speaks to me, it's to make some sort of semi-harassing comment or to make a snarky remark. Instead, he looked me straight in the eye, and said, "I loved it. And Kari - I have a lot of respect for you and your talent." I was BLOWN away. THEN he said, "would you be willing to do this every week?" I was THRILLED - it's my first weekly paid gig in Nashville, and that is a VERY good thing!!

Shirt by who else? ;) www.cutting-up.com

songwriting rounds

2008-09-08T13:04:00.006-05:00

I've learned my lesson... let me first explain what a writer's round is! The way that most rounds work in Nashville - there is a host, that sets up the round. He will choose usually 3 or 4 people, and each of those people will choose usually 2 other people that they want to play "in the round" with them.

Here's an example. Lee (the host) calls 4 people, and each of those people call 2 of their friends. So there will be a total of 12 people playing - 4 rounds of 3 people each. At 7:30, the first 3 people will be on. They will each play one song, then each play another, and so forth. Usually each person plays about 4 songs. So if each of 3 people plays 4 songs, that is 12 songs, which usually amounts to about an hour or so. Then they move off the stage, and the second group of 3 goes up and does the same thing.

The first time I played "in the round" at Hotel Indigo, I got a call from a guy who I had never heard of. A person in his round had cancelled, and he knew someone who gave him my name. He called me up the night before the show, and voila - I was in! This Friday night was much the same - I got a call from the host of the whole show to fill in for someone who had cancelled. I had all of about an hour lead time for that one...

Playing in the round is a great experience, is a great way to meet other writers, and can be good exposure. I haven't done many of these up until now, because believe it or not, it is work! When you don't really feel like going out, but you know that you need to for networking reasons, and to get your music heard - then you know it is work! Not that I don't enjoy playing, but it's actually a necessary part of the job.

Attached are some pictures of Friday's round at Hotel Indigo on upper Broadway in Nashville.

The beautiful necklace I am wearing is from http://www.cutting-up.com/!

confusion about "a cut"

2008-09-05T03:10:00.003-05:00

I don't know why you people don't know a darn thing about songwriting, so I guess I need to explain this. (kidding :) I reported that I had my first songwriting cut, and I failed to explain what that even means!

The Singer Sisters are comprised of 2 groups of twins - 19 yr. old Mollie and Jackie, and their mom and HER twin sister, Mollie and Jackie - two generations of twin sisters! When they decided to cut an album, many different publishers "pitched" songs to them. The "pitch" involves finding out exactly what a singer is looking for, then submitting songs for them to pick from that fit their requirements. For the Sisters, the requirements were positive, upbeat, uplifting songs with no negative topics. "My Sisters" definitely fit AND was especially appropriate, since they are sisters! Once they and their management agreed upon recording the song, I found out that they definitely would "cut" - record - that song.

What does this mean for me? Am I still able to include this song on my CD? YES. I still wrote the song - lyrics and music, and I own the rights to the song. They are paying for the right to perform it and to include it on their CD and other media.

What does this mean for me? Do I get paid? YES. Paperwork is signed and submitted for a "mechanical license" allowing them to record my song. Pay is a standard flat rate - $.093 per song sold (a little over 9 cents). If the song was pitched by a publishing company that represents a writer, the writer splits that 9 cents with the publisher. If you are on a publishing (songwriting) deal and have been paid a "draw" (a regular salary no matter what), the publisher gets 100% until you have RE-PAID everything that has been paid to you in your draw. I won't go into details on how that works, as it doesn't pertain to this deal - I'm not signed to a publishing deal.

So how do I know when they sell an album? When their CDs are initially pressed, they pay that amount up front. If they were to have 10,000 CDs manufactured, $930 is paid up front. If the song were to be played on the radio, internet, digital media, etc., the rate is still 9 cents per song, but that is monitored and paid in the future. Radio stations record and report every song that is played, and that's how the artists / labels / writers are paid. The two larger performing rights organizations are ASCAP and BMI, and they track your radio play and send you a check - I believe quarterly. Again - remember the 50/50 split? That applies here. If I don't have my own publishing company (which I don't), I HAVE to work through a publishing company, which gets half of the pay, up front and in the future.

If I can get my world to slow down just a little (my car refuses to start and is sitting in the shop as we speak with a $700 tab racked up already ON TOP OF my medical / surgery issues...) then I will probably set up a publishing company of my own - this is how many people do it to retain their own rights to their music, and of course 100% of their pay. It of course costs money to set up your own publishing company, so there's no "easy" way around it!

What happens when you co-write a song? I wrote all the songs on my upcoming album, but 2 of them were co-writes. On "I Have Fun", Dennis is co-writer. All the rules above apply - except that it's $.0465 for each of the 2 co-writers. On "Mostly Me", Dennis is a co-writer, as is Bobby Fischer. All the rules above apply, except that it's $.031 per person.

Make sense? I hope so... you asked... ;) Being a singer/songwriter and both performing and recording artist is much more complicated than it sounds. I usually just laugh and let people believe that I watch soap operas and eat bon-bons all day, because it's just easier than explaining it all (if you're still reading, you probably agree! :)

Hope that this helps, for those of you who wanted more information - and thanks for caring enough to ask! If you want to know anything else, ask! Obviously it's my life, my career, my passion, so I'll tell just as much as you want to know, and on the rare occasion, a bit more. :)

hanging on for dear life...

2008-09-05T02:40:00.016-05:00

I love this grasshopper picture... Ha! And you thought your life was tough! ;) This poor little guy was hanging on to the car window for all he was worth - on the interstate even! I love how his antennae are flying in the breeze...

My friend Bob and I spent my Labor Day exploring some caves in Kentucky. (I believe there is one customary self-taken picture of us up there! :) We went to Horse Cave, and Kentucky Caverns. It was really cool! Literally! Remind me if I ever go cave exploring again to wear long sleeves... and something OTHER than slippery flip flops... To my credit, we had no idea where we were going when we left the house!

Check out that cool Cutting-Up (http://www.cutting-up.com/) t-shirt! :)

back on the stage!

2008-09-03T16:41:00.011-05:00

Last Friday, I had my first 3-hr. solo show in a LOONG time! It was at the Nolensville Feed Mill, and it was a blast!

The Mill is an actual feed mill from the 1890s! It has been converted to an antique store, and has such a cool vibe! It was awesome weather to be playing outdoors, and it was so nice to be back up there, singing my own songs - and lots of old country. The crowd seemed to be really into that, so I kept it coming!

It was so enjoyable watching the kids dance around to the music - they looked like they were having so much fun! I was especially amused when a 7 year-old came up to the stage and asked if I knew "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me..." I tried SO hard not to laugh (if you know the song, you'll understand why) as I explained to her that although I was familiar with the song, it wasn't easily duplicated on acoustic guitar.

I have my next show coming up this Saturday at Marathon Sports Bar & Grill this Saturday - yay!

Goodbye, Jerry Reed

2008-09-03T15:54:00.009-05:00

Even if you don't know country music, you probably have heard of Jerry Reed. He was a country music singer, guitarist, writer, and actor. He sang "Amos Moses", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" - a song which won him the Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1972, and "East Bound and Down" - the theme song for the first "Smokey and the Bandit" movie, in which he played Burt Reynold's sidekick "Snowman" Cledus Snow.

Jerry passed away August 31 of complications with emphysema.

I found out something pretty incredible last night - the last studio he recorded in six months ago is the same studio where I have recorded my album. My producer, Dennis Money, has a guitar in the studio that bears the signatures of many country music legends, and Jerry Reed signed it on his last visit. Dennis shared an amazing story with me last night... When Jerry was in the studio, he saw the guitar and some of the names that had been signed on it. (His signature is on the pick guard with Chet Atkins, Marty Stewart, Porter Wagoner, Johnny and Bobby Wright, and more.). He wanted to sign the guitar, but told Dennis that he hadn't signed anything in 2 years because his hands shook so badly. When he returned, he brought his wife, who helped hold his arm so that he could sign it.

I thought this was an amazing story - especially because I took the picture of this guitar 10 days before he died. So the quality of the pic isn't that great - I just took the picture because I thought it was so amazing to be standing in the same place where some of these country music legends stood. I love this town!

Nashville misses Jerry Reed - and all the late country music greats who paved the way!

new photos

2008-08-30T00:00:00.004-05:00

If you haven't already seen them, I have new pics! They were taken by Andi Nave (http://www.andiincphotography.com/) and she did a great job! They are posted on MySpace and Facebook, and I'm working on getting them on my regular website as well, as we speak! Let me know what you think!

my first song cut!!!!

2008-08-28T04:24:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm just a bit excited... I got a definite thumbs-up yesterday - I'm getting my first song cut!!

My song "My Sisters" is being cut by Mollie and Jackie Singer, 19-year old twin girls from Las Vegas. Besides being gorgeous guitar-playin' singers, they are also 4.0-carrying college students studying Music at UNLA, and busy advocates for diabetes research, having already raised over half a million dollars! Their TV credits include MSNBC, CNN, CBS Early Show, ABC News, Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, and Good Morning America. Print interviews and features include USA Today, the New York Times, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Boston Globe, New York Times Up Front Magazine, Girls' Life, The Las Vegas Review Journal, Time Kids, and most recently in Teen Vogue and Justine magazines in a MUDD Jeans national advertising campaign. They have performed at the National Finals Rodeo, Thomas and Mack Stadium, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the White House.

I never imagined that I'd even record this song - much less that it would be my first cut! I literally wrote this song while behind the wheel of a UHaul driving to Nashville, with tears streaming down my face as I realized I was leaving my family behind. When I played it for my producer following a long-winded disclaimer about its silliness, he immediately replied that we were cutting the song. I was truly shocked - but what a good call!

So thanks to MY sisters Karen, Shari, Sharen, and Kasi for the inspiration... and thanks MAMA for providing the subject matter! haha...

Here are the lyrics if you'd like to read them!

You might’ve seen them - they look just like me
They’ve got the same eyes and dimples in their cheeks
So much in common - but we still disagree
Talkin’ ‘bout my sisters

Distance is nothing when you’re joined at the heart
Although it’s hard sometimes for us to be apart
Pick up the telephone - it doesn’t seem so far
Talkin’ to my sisters

CHORUS
And I say hey, hey - I do miss them
I sure love them more than life itself
I say hey, hey - I didn’t pick them
But I’d sure take them over anyone else
Talkin’ ‘bout my sisters

So many memories, so many good times
Singing Shania with a spoon for a mic
I laid the rules out for “Any Man of Mine”
With the help of my sisters

CHORUS

finished in the studio!

2008-08-25T15:44:00.008-05:00

I have been SO incredibly busy! These are the times that I have so much to share, but so little time to share it!

So a few updates...

My health - I had an appointment with my primary care physician last Thursday. She said I'll almost definitely need to have my gall bladder removed, and has set up an appointment with a surgeon for tomorrow. Most diseased gall bladders must be removed, and once you have stones (which I do), infection usually follows. If they remove it now, it will be much easier than if it becomes infected. Right now, the plan is still to be on the road starting in October, but that obviously may change, depending on the circumstances surrounding surgery. So I'll let you know tomorrow what they say! I just gotta keep on rollin'...

I have completed my part of the tracking of my CD! I am SOOO very happy with how everything is coming together! After being in the hospital over the weekend, I was able to "keep on rollin" enough to spend most of this past week in the studio! I was in the studio almost every day, and knocked out the instrumental tracking and all the vocals!! We really rocked this one out... All that is left now is for the background vocals and the fiddle / mandolin parts.

By the way - both shirts in these pictures are from one of my wonderful sponsors, Cutting-up! ( http://www.cutting-up.com/)

It always amazes me how talented these studio guys are - they just REALLY bring so much life to each one of these songs! I'm SO looking forward to sharing them with you... Right now it's looking like the CD will be finished in September and ready to release - YAY!

sponsors!

2008-08-20T00:35:00.006-05:00

Thanks to the hard work of new Promotions Manager Kelly Bellas, I have 2 new sponsors, and I am pretty excited about it!

Cutting-up (http://www.cutting-up.com/) is - in their words - "A good vibe line with a relaxed, hip feel!". And that it is - I am IN LOVE with this brand already! They have AWESOME t-shirts and thermals, and way cool belts, buckles, necklaces, rings, as well as other gifts. I'm very proud to wear their clothing and accessories and hopes you'll check them out as well!

And thanks to my new makeup sponsor, Mary Kay Independent Sales Director Marti Hall for the color cosmetics! Talk about adapting to being on the road - I just went to her Mary Kay website (http://www.marykay.com/martihall) and did a virtual makeover - and the products were literally in the mail next day!

THANKS SO MUCH to both of you!

If you are interested in sponsoring Kari Smith, please contact Kelly Bellas via email at kelbll3@msn.com.

big sky country

2008-08-18T00:00:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to share an update with you, AND share some pictures with you. These were taken in Montana - and don't they look absolutely unreal? THIS is why I want to go back there...

And the update - I am definitely feeling better from the ordeal with my recently discovered gall bladder disease... The medicine they prescribed has been keeping the problems at bay so that I'm dealing with minimal pain. And finally, the morphine has worn off! It definitely took me a few days to recover from that! I didn't feel the effects of it any more - except that I couldn't sleep enough! I have made an appointment with my Primary Care physician for Thursday, and I'll find out how to proceed from there. One step at a time! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and well wishes!

not so funny after all...

2008-08-16T15:01:00.004-05:00

Last night I saw the new Will Ferrell / John C. Reilly movie "Stepbrothers". THAT was funny, hilarious, hysterical... I was laughing so hard at one point the tears were falling into my open, laughing mouth... Will Ferrell is my hero...

At the end of the movie, I got up to leave, but some outtakes started so I sat back down. And what happened then was NOT so funny. I felt this extremely sharp pain in my back. I thought it may be my back acting up - I usually end up shifting around during movies a lot to accommodate my bad back, so I just ignored it. But as I started to walk out to the car (I fortunately was not alone), I realized it was more than just a back spasm. I could barely walk, and on the ride home, tears were streaming and it was all I could do to keep from crying out. Once I got home, I tried lying down, but the pain just wouldn't subside...

To make a long story short, after a trip to the ER and a night in the hospital, the result is that I apparently have gall bladder disease, and a gall stone that had lodged in the duct leading to my pancreas. The stone has returned to my gall bladder now, and i will most likely have to have surgery to have the gall bladder removed - I'll have to meet with a doctor to figure all that out this week. In the meantime, I have to switch my diet to one that is low in fat and completely bland, as well as take medicine 4x a day to keep the spasming from happening again. Let me tell you - I have fallen from motorcycles, horses, had knee surgeries, pneumonia, and broken bones, but NOTHING compares to that kind of pain... It was horrendous...

The realization I had was - if I had still been on the road, this would have been SO complicated. I would have been in the middle of nowhere at a hospital for hours, holding up the trip, and in that much pain alone. I think that God definitely sees the big picture where we don't sometimes - and makes provision, and I'm so grateful for that...

Thank you so much for your prayers... This is a scary and stressful time, largely due to the fact that I don't have medical insurance. The visit last night was over $2000, and they told me that other lab and ER doctor bills will come separately. Not to mention surgery - this is just scary. I have known over the last 2 1/2 years that an emergency could happen at any time, but minus the car accident, I have been very blessed to be healthy. But I guess it's relatively frequent that we don't know how to handle a situation until we are actually in it, and as always, I'll figure it out. But seriously, I do appreciate your prayers - and I know they are heard.

My love and best to all of you.

Welcome Kelly Bellas!

2008-08-13T01:33:00.004-05:00

Welcoming Promotions Manager Kelly Bellas…

This thing they call being a Professional Musician is growing beyond the scope of my availability! In response, I am so very happy to welcome Kelly Bellas to the team! She will be working with me to handle promotions, sponsorships, media, booking, and more!

Kelly is based in Northern Virginia, but the distance is spanned by the modern marvels of technology :) and Kelly’s previous experience in Nashville working in various facets of the music industry including solo artists, bands, studios, and record labels. Her personal dedication to artists and the music industry as a whole is a valuable asset that became evident when I first worked with her before moving to Nashville two years ago. She is already hard at work, and her results-driven work ethic are already yielding results!

If you're interested in a sponsorship opportunity, or would like information about promotions or booking, email her at kelbll3@msn.com.

Welcome, Kelly!

I survived Sturgis!

2008-08-12T23:52:00.003-05:00

Yes, I did... and loved every minute of it! And guess what? I'm back in Nashville!! While we were at Sturgis, some folks from Dan's label came out and checked out the operations and had hours of meetings with Jackie and Dan (literally!). The result of those was that they want to change the direction of a couple of things, including Dan's venues and performances. Because Dan is really promoting himself as a solo artist and not a band, it causes some confusion to have me up there (or "half" a band sometimes when Rich is there playing bass.) People were constantly asking "is she your sister / girlfriend / wife?", etc. And unfortunately, it's hard at fairs, etc. to have the sound person understand that we are not a duo - he is singing lead, and my harmonies / backing vocals need to be under his, not the same as or louder than his. The result of all of that - Rich (bass player) and I headed home this weekend while they headed on to LA. Since LA was going to be just studio time, and Las Vegas was just a trade show, I wasn't necessary to those performances (though I wouldn't have minded going! :) and I had planned to come back to Nashville anyway to finish up my album. So where we stand now is that the rest of the gang is going to come back through Nashville in mid-August, and set up operations here and decide to where to go next. Dan only finished the show (Biggest Loser) in April, and things started down an absolute race track after that, so it only makes sense that they check out the results of what has happened so far and evaluate for further direction...

I'm quite pleased with that for several reasons... The first of which is that while I enjoy being on the road immensely and have no problems playing a support role, it definitely lit a fire under me to get crackin' on my own project! I will be back in the studio later this week, and that will begin the final step of finishing up my album! And for that, I am WAY excited!

Secondly, it showed me how much I absolutely LOVED being on the road. That part actually shocked me! I know I was only gone for 3 weeks - but I just so enjoyed seeing different parts of the country, meeting different people, getting to perform in so many new places - I loved it! And what that showed me was that I CAN do that for myself and enjoy it. I've always assumed that it would get old really quickly and that I would get frustrated with it. I'm sure those elements would eventually come into play, but it really surprised me how much I enjoyed myself!

Speaking of which, due to the direction of Dan's tour changing, several fairs and stops on the "places to play" list have been eliminated, including the VA State Fair. BUT I am already beginning plans for a trip home in October, and already have 3 gigs booked, 2 more unconfirmed, and hopefully a bunch more than that! So have no fear... you will see me soon... ;)

So where do we go from here? I'm not sure! Jackie and Dan are planning to set up an office in Nashville - and have even talked to me about joining their team - but that's something I would have to really think about, as right now my first priority is playing, singing, writing, performing! And with a CD getting close to being finished up, that's going to take more and more time!

Long story short, I am thrilled to be back home, sleeping in my own bed, and playing with my poor abandoned puppy (she wasn't abandoned, I just feel guilty for leaving her... :( - But also, I am more FIRED UP than ever about getting my music in front of as many people as I possibly can! There will be a LOT going on in these next few months, and I will still continue to blog to keep you in the loop as to what's going on!

And by the way - I know a BUNCH of you have called me, and I am SO sorry I have not returned calls. I have been SO busy - I'm not even unpacked yet! But I will definitely return those calls soon, and I appreciate every one of you that tries to keep tabs on me!!

Pictures - while we were driving on Friday (?) there was just about a tsunami - but this is what we saw afterward - it was beautiful!! If you look closely, there is another smaller rainbow on top of the more brilliant one. And I know the other picture is fuzzy, but it is of me on the golf cart with Sucker Punch Toby and the Secret Service guys... it's all I have until they send me copies from their cameras! Enjoy... ;)

through the storm...

2008-08-06T00:00:00.002-05:00

We had the craziest storm yesterday. The really bad part is that there were like 11 million bikes on the road... We had gone into town (about a 35 minute drive!) and coming back, it was like the skies just opened up and started dumping... Every underpass was just cram packed with bikers trying to get out of the rain - I felt so sorry for them! There were a very few that were just toughing it out (which = being completely stupid) and they were just being blown all over the place. It got so bad that even we had to pull over - and we were in an SUV!

That didn't stop Lynyrd Skynyrd from playing - amazingly, since it was absolutely crazy weather! I really wish tourists in Nashville knew that they have SO many good songs, and not just Sweet Home Alabama... it would so improve the life of every Broadway musician!! ;) It was also really cool to see the motocross guys flying through the air - those guys are insane!

It was so nice to see my friends Frank and Andrea from TX while I was out there - I'm definitely missing my family! Being on the road is a really good distraction, but I couldn't believe how absolutely thrilled I was to see someone I knew... that was pretty cool!

'Cause I wanna be a cowboy baby...

2008-08-05T00:00:00.003-05:00

Did I mention how absolutely beautiful this place is? The Black Hills, the open sky, the beautiful scenery - it really is just gorgeous...

"They" were right... the madness came into town on Monday with Kid Rock. Not only that, John McCain came out to the rally to speak. For such a short speech, it was incredible the amount of security that was out here! There were 4 snipers walking on the catwalk above the main stage, there were secret service guys everywhere, and getting in and out was a pain...

Kellie Pickler opened up for Kid Rock, which was quite an interesting mix... her pop country opening up for the craziness of Kid Rock was interesting. The boys prepared by BLARING Kid Rock ALL DAY on the bus -and we have quite the system on board! It was fun. :)

While the boys went down front for Kid Rock, I stayed back a bit and hung out with our friend "Sucker Punch" Toby and the Secret Service guys that were there on McCain duty. I've been promised pictures from that particular round of good times, but haven't received them quite yet - I think everyone's still recovering!! Toby worked for Sucker Punch, which is this new energy drink that was introduced (and given away by the case-loads) at Sturgis, and will be intro'd nationwide afterward. We have drank our WEIGHT in Sucker Punch... Toby had met some of the Secret Service guys, and so we hung out pretty much all night! I got the ol' guitar out and sang some, and then we went on a mission to procure a Buffalo Chip "Staff" t-shirt. (Mission: Accomplished... ha!)

(Pics are of Dan with Kellie Pickler and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the Secret Service guys on the catwalk, and the Kid Rock concert.)

Made it through the weekend...

2008-08-03T00:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I have to be honest - sometimes I actually get these things written, but not posted until a few days later... that may POSSIBLY be the case with these next couple... ha!

Everyone said that Sturgis doesn't even really get interesting until Monday, so we'll see how much more interesting it can possibly get! Foghat played Friday, Blind Melon played Saturday, and Puddle of Mudd played tonight. Tomorrow night is Kid Rock, and from what we've heard, we'll understand the true craziness of this place then...

We've played for the last 2 days, and the shows have been pretty successful. There were some last minute snafus with sound equipment and such, but we're becoming quite used to that routine! Jackie and Dan are also doing autograph signings once a day, and Dan has been doing just tons of radio spots, which is great for him! They also have a booth set up to sell CDs - or actually pre-sell, because Dan's album is coming out September 30.

The days for me are mostly a matter of recovering from the night before (ha!), catching up on emails, text messages, phone calls, etc., practicing and playing shows, exercising (we are quite possibly the only people who came to Sturgis with workout clothes...) and laying out (on top of the bus!) to get some sun! Because of where we are situated, it would be absolutely impossible to go to sleep until the concerts are over... it is LOUD!

Buffalo Chip

2008-08-02T15:19:00.001-05:00

Did I mention this place is pretty freakin' cool? We got in here on Thursday night pretty late, so not much was going on. We mostly just parked and slept! I was SO exhausted... the boys were horrified that I had never seen "The Office" so they put in the DVD and left me to absort as much "Office" humor as possible. I'm not sure I made it through the first episode. Yeah - my abilities to sleep whenever and however are vastly improving. Now, I'm not to the level one of my beloved sisters - who falls asleep whilst in conversation with you - but I'm definitely getting better!

I actually spent most of Friday in the bus, practicing, and actually learning the music well. We have been so busy since we got out here that it's been hard to get a lot of practice in. Those of you who know my freakish organization obsession will be not at all surprised to know that I retyped all of the lyrics in Word (in the same font, layout, etc. ha!) and highlighted (in Word) all the harmony parts. We have a printer on the bus, so I printed them out, and that made my job a whole lot easier!

I also got a walk / run in - I am determined to not gain like 20 pounds on this trip. I have learned that "man cannot live on beef jerky and roasted peanuts alone"... It helps that we're basically living in a small house, and have a refrigerator, freezer, oven, stove, etc. - but it's still easy to get caught in the fast food / convenience food trap... It is SO beautiful here that it makes running easy - the Black Hills are beautiful, and honestly, I have never seen country like this in the SouthEast, which is pretty much where I have spent my entire life!

The pics are mostly taken from on top of the tour bus - we have a pretty sweet spot - pretty much directly in front of the stage, and back a bit. This place is pretty darn cool! Things won't get extremely crazy / busy until Monday, but it's still fun already... Our first show is today!! Should be fun...

Big Sky Country

2008-07-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today was our last show in Great Falls, Montana. On the way here, it was dark and we were going about 90 miles an hour (literally) so I had NO idea how beautiful this part of the country is. I can’t even explain it, it just has to be experienced. The sky is so blue, there is such a perfect breeze, and everything just seems to simple. Bales of hay, grazing horses and cattle, rustic barns and silos, trains passing slowly, beautiful mountains and hills, and just miles and miles of sky. I LOVE it. Pictures really don’t even do it justice, although I’ll attach one anyway!

There was a group at the show today that heard about Dan playing on the morning news and came out. They were so into the music, and they were just so sweet. They took lots of pictures, and wanted lots of hugs – it made me proud to do what I do. To bring joy into ONE person’s life by doing something that I love and am passionate about is a BLESSING that I too often forget to thank God for.

Right now we are completing the drive back to North Dakota – and OUR BUS!! I can’t wait… It’s hard enough to live a bus, but then when you’re trying to pack from the bus and trying to stuff luggage, 3 people, 2 guitars, CDs, tents, signs, t-shirts, etc. into a car and drive like 432 hours, it’s even harder. I’m glad the countryside is so beautiful – it breaks things up! Also, having this wireless internet card is SAVING my sanity right now… And it enables me to keep up with you this way! Tonight we will spend the night in North Dakota (they say our bus is actually fixed and ready to go!) and tomorrow we’ll head out for Sturgis, South Dakota. Should be fun!!

Impromptu jams ROCK...

2008-07-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

Got LOTS of pictures today! I met Misha and Ronnie, whose dad is running our sound. They spent the day hanging out with me, and I thoroughly enjoyed their company… And Misha got to practice her photography skills! Reminds me of my mom, who can also be quite the shutter bug… (love you mama! ;)

We went to the petting zoo, where I fell in love with the kangaroo and the baby camel… gets lonely on the road… ha! We had 3 shows, rotated in with this Lumberjack show and twin magician / comedy act. The funny thing is that I’m starting to learn this dynamic of fair performers – and how they all know each other and live this way on the road. I was in Wal-Mart at like midnight (felt normal to me! :) and ran into the twins from the magic / comedy act. I thought it was hilarious that there I was in Podunk, Montana, and ran into someone I knew in Wal-Mart! And then while we were talking for like half an hour, our sound man walked by! It’s just amazing how many friends I’ve met already!

We were invited by the guy who runs the lumberjack show (Jesse) to come out to the “Sip –n- Dip”, which is a bar in one of the hotels where most of the fair performers stay. It features a glass window that looks into the hotel pool – where a lady dressed up as a mermaid swims around while you drink. Hmm… But anyway, I had the brilliant idea for 3 of us to go get our acoustic guitars, and the Jesse brought his collection of harmonicas. We asked the bar manager, and he said he’d let us as long as it didn’t get too loud. I LOVED every minute of that jam session! I of course made my start playing covers, so it was easy to figure out songs that everyone knew, and before you know it, the whole bar was singing along – and even making requests! The manager didn’t kick us out…. He actually bought us a round! What a good time…

What day is it?

2008-07-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

If you have been reading these posts absolutely religiously and really absorbing the time line, you will probably notice that some things got moved around. And you probably have too much spare time… Just kidding! But no really – I got confused on some of my days, and me being me – I just couldn’t leave it that way. Fact is, it’s very easy to get your days confused when you’re on the road, and especially when you’re at fairs and every day seems like a weekend day!

Today was pretty straight-forward, which was fine because we are ALL still so exhausted and trying to catch up on sleep… We played 3 shows, and hung out in between shows to watch the other acts and chill. We had dinner at Golden Corral – real meals rock!

True exhaustion...

2008-07-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

Can I just tell you how NOT fun that was? After driving all the way through the night, we get into town, and there is NO room in the inn, if you will... We didn't plan on needing a hotel room - we thought we'd have the bus - so we had no reservation. And with the fair in town, every hotel was booked up. We finally found somewhere to take us for the night - but couldn't get into the room until maid service came like 2 hours later. So we had to sleep sitting in the car until they got there... Once they cleaned the room and let us in, we PASSED out for about 2 hours until we had to go and set up for our first show.

Considering how sleep- and food-deprived we were, I think we did pretty well! The sound was SUCH an improvement, and that just made our lives so much better! The stage isn't as close to the midway as the one in North Dakota, so the traffic wasn't as heavy, but having better sound made it seem SOO much better...

There was NO way that anything crazy was to be done that night - we were SO exhausted... We had dinner at Chili's - nice to have a break from beef jerky and assorted nuts! And we found out that Montana doesn't have any sales tax! I like this place already... ;)

I'm movin' on...

2008-07-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday seemed like a quick day... it was our last day of ND State Fair, and we knew we'd have to get in the car after the show and leave. :(

We knew it was going to be tough when we got there and the girl that claims to look "just like Shania" and sings Shania Twain karaoke in teal stretch pants was going over her time slot by like 15 minutes. So we rushed to get set up, but the sound guy could NOT get Rich's bass amp set up. It kept squealing - I think I'm still a little deaf from that... Finally Dan told them to just GIVE IT UP and the show must go on! That was frustrating, but oh well! These things happen...
Afterwards, we hung out for a little while in the toy hauler while Dan went to the Sugarland concert with a ticket someone had given him. We were all so exhausted that I think we were pretty much comatose! After a while, I took a nap and all the guys went to say bye to all of our new friends.

Then we hit the road (way late again) - but this time under very different circumstances... Rather than the bus, we had to rent an "SUV" - a Subaru Forester which had to hold 3 people, 2 guitars, suitcases / luggage for 3 people, CDs, merch / T-shirts, tents and poles and signs, 3 laptops - you name it - and you get the point... We were smashed like sardines in there... And driving through North Dakota in the middle of the night is kinda weird - it's like a ghost town... Speaking of ghost - we had to drive through this one neighborhood, and there was this little girl - like 7 years old - just playing on the sidewalk at like 1am - like there was absolutely not a care in the world. My suggestion was to drive quickly until we were on to the next town. And drive we did... ALL the freakin way to Montana...

and the show begins...

2008-07-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Most of the day was spent recovering… From the golf cart fall, I mean… ha! I'm WAY too old for this... They all got a huge kick out of the fact that I wanted them to ask the ambulance volunteers next to our bus for a fluid IV - but I was so serious... Besides my massive headache, my ankle was sprained, my leg and foot were bruised up, and I was just pretty darn miserable. Lesson learned... But after I while, I actually got to lay outside for a little bit and get a little bit of sun… it felt awesome! Then I felt well enough to walk around the fair for a little while (I'm going to be SO sick of pig races and kettle corn in a minute...), then show time!

Considering that they hired me a week ago, we didn't have a whole lotta time to learn a bunch of new songs... Thankfully all of these gigs at first are like 30-minute slots. For this first gig, we had me, Dan, and his bro Rich playing bass. Of course things weren't absolutely perfect, but for the first time I think we did pretty well!

After we finished playing, we hung out with the girls we had met the night before. I played mom (ha! told ya I learned my lesson!) and hung out with everyone in the toy hauler til the wee hours (again...). Me and the girls had a late night trek into the grandstand to see just how well that jacked-up golf cart could take on a huge pile of dirt (I think they were the sides of a race track or something?)... Not that I doubted that it could handle that, since it had handled taking ELEVEN of us over to the toy-hauler! It’s also very good at crushing mounds of trash left behind from the Jason Aldean concert… Who knew that thing would be THAT useful?? ;)

Just like Fred and Ethel...

2008-07-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

So here I am, at 6:41am – can you believe it? Kari’s up at 6am – of course it’s only because I’ve been up all night… Actually we turned on “Dan in Real Life” and I fell asleep for about an hour – and that’s all the sleep I’ve had. I can’t believe I’m even functioning at this point! So much for 8 hours a night! I’ve been playing co-pilot to Rich, so who is driving right now.

So here is the setup of the bus – of course there is the driver seat and a passenger "co-pilot" seat. Then there are 2 couches, along with the kitchen and a desk area where Dan usually sits with his laptop. Then there is a bathroom and a bedroom in the back. Bernie – Dad – is taking a sleeping shift in the back, and Dan and Matt (Dan’s assistant) are sleeping on the couches, so I pretty much can either sleep on the floor, or play co-pilot. So I’m playing co-pilot. When we are stopped, it’s different – the slideouts come out and one of the couches folds out a queen-sized bed, and we have another queen-sized air bed. The slide-outs make it about twice as wide in here. The tour bus they have right now is set up a little more like a family-style than a band bus that has bunks along the aisle. We just crossed from Wisconsin into Minnesota – I’ve never been in either of those states before, so that’s kinda cool! We have our first show today at the North Dakota State Fair. We’re not going to make it there by noon – again because of the bus repairs, so I’m not sure how the schedule is being moved around, but it hopefully won’t be a problem. Sometimes things are out of our control!!

North Dakota is interesting... It's been so interesting for me to see different types of people and hear different accents... I have never had quite this much exposure to different parts of the country! We stopped at a gas station and after I got done paying for my snacks, I said "thank you, y'all have a nice day..." and they all looked at me like they needed a translator... I don't sound THAT southern... They are so close to Canadia (as I call it - pronounced Kuh-nay-dee-uh) and everyone says their oh's really funny and are just difficult to understand in general. (But that's probably what they said about me too...)

So here are a few questions that I’ve been asked several times:

1. Yes, you can poo on the bus. It’s not fun, and usually everyone’s mad at you for a minute or two after you come out, but it happens. It’s either that, or we’d have to pull over this freight train every time someone had to go. And if you saw this double-long thing going down the road, you’d understand…

2. No, I didn’t need to pack an entire 3 weeks worth of clothes – there is a washer / dryer on the bus. It’s actually 1 unit – it washes clothes, then the same thing dries them.

3. No, I am not bored on the bus. There are a million things to do right now! Between learning songs / practicing, writing, watching a whole entire book full of movies, and having rolling access to the internet – I haven’t gotten close to being bored yet!

4. Yes, I can shower on the bus. That happened today for the first time, and let me tell you... taking a shower while driving down the road at 70 MPH in a tour bus is hard enough without adding bumpy dirty gravel roads to the mix... and we did have to - I swear to you - drive down a gravel / dirt road as part of our journey to the fair. I mean - a LONG one... The bus got SOO dirty...

BOYS’ FEET STINK. Why did I never notice this before? Probably because I’ve never lived on a bus with 4 guys before…

You're not gonna believe this... we dropped off the toy-hauler in an overflow lot, then went through the tedious process of getting the tour bus parked in exactly the right spot. LITERALLY as soon as we got into our space, the U-joint that had just been replaced just KLUNK fell right out from underneath the bus... So again, we were stuck. Couldn't get more water in the bus, couldn't dump our um "black water", couldn't use the levelers to level the bus out (we were parked on an incline), but thankfully, our generator and AC and everything still worked, so we could still stay in it, sleep in it, and shower in it until we ran out of water.

It turned out that by the time we got there and settled, we were just too late to be able to play.

By the way - the pic is of an ADORABLE puppy that they had found left on the fairgrounds - I wanted to keep it!!

So by the time we got everything done and settled, we decided to check out the fair. We found some decent live music and had lots of fun listening to music, and enjoying some tasty cold beverages. I'll spare you the ugly details that followed, but along with a team of female college hocky players, there may possibly have been a short trek on a lifted golf cart (we may have woken up a goat or sheep or two), and an end to said golf cart ride that resulted in the 2 of us on the back being flung to the ground... No major injuries, but just a really bruised knee, a sprained ankle, and some minor road rash. But it's okay, because I had fun, right? ha!

Sleep? Huh?

2008-07-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

I LOVE starting out my mornings playing songs on that grand piano… it just soothes me for some reason… And they liked hearing me play, so it worked out well for everyone! One thing I noticed already – my very light sleeping problem is quickly going out the window… At home, I have a huge, comfy king-sized bed with 1000-thread sheets and a down comforter. At nights (or early in the morning, as it usually is…) I close my black-out curtains, close my bathroom door so the sun doesn’t wake me when it comes up fully, and turn on my noise-reducing humidifier. Then with my 3 pillows perfectly placed, I lay down – and usually lay there for a while before I actually fall asleep – and usually sleep for 8 hours, or somewhere close to it. Yeah… not so much any more… That doesn’t work so well on a bus!! Or even in a house where there are people already awake and making noise, no curtains on the windows – and apparently the 1000-thread count sheets weren’t a necessity either… imagine that!

Not much happened today – just praying all day that the repairs to be bus would be done sooner than later, although it didn’t really happen that way… I did some errands, including going to the Sprint store, and signing up for mobile broadband card, so I can be on the internet pretty much everywhere. These guys all have these cards, and they are absolutely great… which is way I can sit here and get all these emails done on a moving bus – I love it! I may be able to keep up with people better than I did while I was at home this way! Though don’t cross your fingers… ;) Things are pretty busy, and of course will get more so now that we’re actually underway. We didn’t get on the road until about 11pm, after the bus got back to the house, we unloaded it from the last trip and reloaded it for this one, and got the toy hauler hooked up.

We started the trip with another practice – thank God the first couple of fair shows Dan will only be playing 4 – 5 shows, so I didn’t have to learn the whole CD right off hand…

Learning a new song... or two...

2008-07-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well, honestly I don’t remember much We found out that the part would have to be ordered for the bus (a U joint… whatever that is… and the part that the U-joint goes into) and that it would be another day before we left. I didn’t do much – except ride around and get some errands done. That night, though, we had a practice – which was more like LEARNING the songs than practicing them for me! It was priceless to be able to do that – it helped me SO much, especially not ever having heard the music. I play guitar for some songs, piano for some songs, and sing harmonies. Dan sings and plays guitar, and his brother Rich plays bass. Right now, while we’re promotions, it’s mostly acoustic gigs. His CD will be released September 30, so that’s what we’re promoting. Again, we didn’t get home until midnight, and again - we took the golf cart for a ride. ;) Not quite as long of a ride this time – it was FREEZING cold! Instead, we just hung out in the toy hauler and chilled.

Early morning golf-carting...

2008-07-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

So I guess now it was technically Monday… The plan was to drive through to the Evans’ amazingly beautiful house, and spend a day there. It gave them a chance to do laundry, spend a night at home, etc. – they had already been on the road for a while. I didn’t need a break – yet – but I enjoyed playing their grand piano as much as I got a chance!

After the toy hauler was disconnected, we took the bus into town, because it was having some problems. Well, that took a little longer than we expected – long story short – we had to be picked up close to midnight – without the bus, which had to be left there, until a part could be ordered. While we (me and Rich) were out with the bus, Dan and his parents were in town – buying a golf cart! We got that so we could get around at Sturgis – and at other venues that were really large and involved moving equipment around. It’s really more like a 4-wheeler than a golf cart – the tires are lifted and really big, and it doesn’t have an awning or anything over it. I’ll have to get a picture! Even though we got back really late, we had to take the golf cart out for a ride – all SIX of us – and that turned into an all-night venture… I think we all stumbled to bed around 6am the next morning… YAWN!! But it was worth it…

The funniest thing that happened – we were driving this golf cart around with no lights – we were in the country on pretty quiet roads – and we saw something ahead of us that we weren’t sure what it was. We waited until we got up close on it, then hit the headlights. And what happened next was nothing but HYSTERICAL… there RIGHT in front of us was a car pulled off on the side of the road. You know where this is going, right? A girl JUMPED SO FAST off the guy in the driver’s seat and they peeled off SO quick – and of course we were all laughing hysterically and hollering at them… guess you had to be there!

I met Rupert from Survivor!

2008-07-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

So it was supposed to be 1pm and I was there and ready, but this industry is one of hurry-up-and-wait!! But anyway, by 1pm the next day, I was there with suitcases in hand, ready to do something pretty crazy! When Dan and mom Jackie got there, the first thing that Jackie said to me was, “you’ve got to be crazy to be actually doing this – and that’s half the reason we think this is going to work out!” To be honest, I had so little sleep and so little time to process everything that was going on that it really hadn’t hit me yet! I mean – it had… a little bit, and I had definitely had some emotions about what was going on, but I was just so sleep-deprived it hadn’t really sunk in yet! I did a quick audition with them, then we went to lunch to get to know each other. And to eat lunch. ;)

On the bus is Dan, his mom Jackie, his assistant Matt, his brother Rich, and his Dad Bernie. Rich is a pilot for Delta, but helps out with some of the driving – and plays bass when he’s on the road with us. Anyway, they had several meetings in Nashville, so they got those done, and we got on the road around 10pm. We were all so tired, but for the most part, we were all up until around 5 in the morning, when we got into Indiana. (Keep in mind – I had about 3 hours of sleep the night before…)

In Indiana, we stopped to pick up a toy hauler – basically a big camper that has a bed, kitchen, etc., but also holds “toys” – in this case a Harley belonging to Rupert – remember him from Survivor? He’s a jolly man at 5am – ha! We were all pretty exhausted at that point… but our intentions of picking up the toy hauler and moving on were quickly squelched when we couldn’t get some weird lock out of the hitch of the toy hauler… We ended up not being able to do anything about it until the morning when we had 3 locksmiths came out – and still couldn’t do anything about it. They finally ended up using a drill or something – I don’t even know honestly what the deal was at that point. We parked it for the night and slept. Or not.

Wanna go?

2008-07-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

I got a call from a good friend who owns an artist development company. He presented this opportunity, and asked if I was interested. Pretty much the only details I got were – that I’d leave the next day, I’d be gone for 3 weeks (that turned into 3 months), how much I’d make, and a few of the states I’d be playing. My mind was a bit blown at the concept of just getting up and leaving my house for 3 weeks – much less 3 months! I had met Dan Evans briefly about a week before, at a listening party with the management company I told him that I was interested, but at that time, it was still completely up in the air. And I had a night planned already – I took my friend Casey to the Alison Krauss / Robert Plant concert for her birthday, and then downtown for some music. Even though I have never been a huge fan of Led Zepplin / Robert Plant, I still LOVE Allison Krauss and that it would be an interesting mix - and it was... those 2 were incredible! It was a really neat pairing, and the music was just beautiful...On my way home around 2am, I realized I’d gotten a text around midnight, saying that - pending a quick audition the next day – it was 99% sure that I’d be going. Oh – and be ready by 1pm the following day. That gave me around 10 hours to get home, get my house cleaned, laundry done, dishes done, make arrangements for my dog, rent checks, etc., pack for 3 weeks, and a bunch of other stuff that honestly I don’t remember right now. OH – and sleep…