Sang at the IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit this morning. It was the first time I have ever introduced myself Well… kinda…
I had done a voice over (that went with quite an impressive visual display) which actually was the first thing that the audience saw to start the whole conference. And then I immediately went out on stage to perform for the whole crowd. Nothing like 8:30am Rocking!

The sheer size of the screens (and amount of AV equipment) was gargantuan. There were at least 40 people backstage running this show… It was quite the operation.
This picture was posted from the back of the crowd (4,000 peeps) which shows the screens: you can see tiny little me as the white dot on the left of the giant center screen.

I met the General Manager of the IBM Watson Project, Manoj Saxena, among tons of other high profile execs. Not quite a typical morning for Stovall!!! It was really fun. Then I wrote a song in the afternoon… James and I made decisions concerning producers for our next record… and then I wrote and hung out with Dennis Matkosky – the guy who wrote “Maniac”!!! Isn’t that awesome?! He’s written tons of country hits, too. But I freakin love Flashdance.

Sorry I still can’t make any announcements yet. Biting my tongue.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The week of craziness hath begun!

I did a voice over for a corporate event I am also singing for tomorrow morning. When I got to the studio today, the mic stand looked like it was set up for a giant – the stand was on a platform and higher than I could begin to reach… When the engineer came in he started laughing and said… “Oh! Yeah… Trace Adkins was in here last… not quite your size” Nope. That dude is huge.

I wrote with such an incredible writer today – Mr. Marcus Hummon. Some of the songs you probably (and SHOULD!) know would be “God Bless the Broken Road”, “Cowboy Take Me Away”, and “Born To Fly” among so many other great great songs. So yeah. That was pretty much awesome.

Happy 13th birthday to my sweet niece McKinley!!!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

YAAAAAAAAY!!!!! Can’t wait to play this show with Ruthie. Come hear her do the songs off of her new record that is ALMOST done and sounds ah-mazing. Seriously. I am obsessed with this girl.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Today has been dedicated to working on learning Ruth’s songs. It has been so much fun and I still have a lot of work to do (Although I’m not sure when exactly that will happen). Ruth has a show at 3rd and Lindlsey on Wednesday evening at 6 which I was already PUMPED about. But then to make it even more exciting, she asked me to sing and play mando and fiddle with her

I. Am. So. Excited.

Ruth’s whole presentation is sweet, pretty, country, shabby chic… so I get to do something completely different from what I do in my own shows. No jeans. No crazy hair. I’m wearing a white dress that goes with Ruthie’s outfit. And my hair will be reminiscent of old school Nat stage hair I get to show off my girly side!!

Ruth let me try on a bunch of stuff from her closet today. This whole process is so much fun!

I miss singing backgrounds, and I am pumped to get to do something a little different from the norm. Mamma taught me to sing harmonies by singing to oldies – mostly Beach Boys records. So singing harmonies is like soul food for me.

K. I’ve already taken too long of a break. Gotta get back to it, so that I don’t embarrass myself and Ruthie on Wednesday!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Wrote a song today with people whose work I have admired for years. Then Tracy, James, and I went through 75 songs. SEVENTY-FIVE! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, yall. This whole process is crazy.

I love that this is on Tracy’s Wall in her kitchen:

I can’t even begin to describe how delighted I am to sleep in tomorrow. Gotta have a fresh mind for more listening and writing!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

We have had SOOO many pitch meetings the last few days and listened to so many great songs!!! Ok… so for those of you that may not know, I will review what the heck I mean by that.

As well as feverishly writing new music for my the record, I am listening to songs written by the incredible wealth of songwriters here in town. There are SO. MANY. unbelievable songs in this town that have never been heard. The amount of talent and songwriters here is… well… STUPID. (As in… stupid good)

Songwriters typically write for a publishing company and then it’s the publishers jobs to know the catalog… thousands and thousands of songs… and then someone like me comes in… I try as best I can to describe what it is I’m looking for to them… and they “pitch” me songs they think I might like. I say “yes” or “pass” and thus begins my giant pile of material.

The crazy part is the tangible difference. I have had tons of pitch meetings over the last few years. But I wasn’t at a level where I was getting to hear the cream of the crop. But things are a changing, folks. I am hearing such great music right now! I mean, in some ways… there’s an upper echelon I am sure will take a while to attain. If a songwriter writes a song they think would be perfect for Carrie Underwood… they aren’t gonna play it for Stovall first. But if Carrie passes… then they might play it for me. BUT with that said… I don’t really feel like anyone is holding back much anymore. It’s been years of hearing good, but not great songs. So now my head is spinning since I keep hearing so many great songs. Not to mention that fact that my manager’s job has been to listen to songs for Faith Hill throughout her career, so I’ve gotten to hear tons of songs that were originally “Faith” holds.

CRAZY, RIGHT?!?!

Another crazy part is getting pitched songs written by my friends. I was pitched a Ruth Collins song today Hehehe. I was so excited!

I have no idea how much of this next record will be mine and will be outside songs. But honestly, I just want the best material possible. I know I will write a ton of it, but there are some songs that I just HAVE to sing… some make me cry… some give me chills… some make me want to stand up dance… and some say things in a way I have never been able to say myself. The same things music does for all of us! Speaking of… since it’s 2am and I just got home from a co-write… I better start listening before my write in the morning!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Today began the week of amazing co-writes. I am stoked about everyone I am writing with this week. And this morning set the bar pretty high. I wrote with Travis Meadows, whom I admire like crazy. His records are so honest and brutal in ways that I have yet to achieve in my own writing. And I think if James were given the opportunity, he might leave me for Travis

Travis’ sweet sweet doggie, Larry, is probably one of the best co-writers I’ve ever had.

Larry. The best co-writer. Next to @travis_meadows, that is vine.co/v/bEuLMEHBPPB

— Natalie Stovall (@NatalieStovall) May 14, 2013

Tonight was the annual Grammy Block party in Nashville. This was mine and James’ first year to attend as a VOTING MEMBERS!!! So fun. I FINALLY got to see Will Hoge play (be still my heart), Kip Moore – rawkin, and a band I had never heard of The Lone Bellow – and they were INCREDIBLE! I can’t wait to listen to their record now. They were just on a whole other level.
I’ll keep ya posted with that.

So tired. Lots of meetings and a very exciting night write tomorrow. YAY!

It’s monkey snuggle time!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Well…
Not sure business day 1 of being back in town could have gone much better.

AHHHHH! wish I could share.

Dream producers saying all the things we want to hear… listening to songs from incredible writers… going to a best friends’ show… and hanging with good friends from PCB while in Nashville.

Yup. Don’t get much better than this.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I hope everyone had an amazing Mother’s Day celebrating the women in their lives that have given them strength and encouragement.

Though I didn’t get to celebrate with Mamma, I spoke to her on the phone. And she was delighted when she stopped at a TCBY in Birmingham on their drive home, and received a free cone for just being a mom!

We celebrated Sol’s 3rd birthday!

And went to an awesome Songwriter’s Round at Belcourt Taps with Hailey Steele, Dan Isbell (with whom I wrote “Round Here No More” & “Without You”), and Justin Halpin. So. Good.

James just made me a grilled cheese sandwich.

Life is good.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

It is so wonderful to be home.

Got up and did some voice over work while James engineered… we were both in our sweat pants. And I have not put on a stitch of make-up today.

Always so funny when we first get home and are this exhausted cause there’s never any food int he house, and neither of us are motivated enough to go to the grocery… so we just ordered lunch but scrounged up enough between the freezer and pantry for dinner.

The best though… of course… is hanging with our sweet monkey!!!

Life is good.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie