I'm so bad at this thing. My dad kept a blog all through his cancer journey and updated it almost daily (http://www.bvwilliams.com/). Kudos to him. It's not the easiest thing to keep up with. I guess if I updated regularly I wouldn't end up writing novels. Oh well, lesson learned. By the way, Julie Brewer finally made me do it, so you can thank her :).
Wow, it's been 2 months since my last update. Goodness, I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Well, I've done a lot of stuff since then. The VP at Capitol Records has become a friend of mine and he hooked me up with a girl to work Country Radio Seminar (CRS) the first week of March. I volunteered almost 60 hours in 4 days. I was pooped, but it made for such a cool experience. I even got a few new friends out of it and one special friend as well! My little sister from Alpha Chi flew here for the first weekend of her Spring Break and loved it here despite the flight issues. My best friend turned 26, geez she's old. :) My cousin had a baby! I found my new Monday night hangout. Met another great new friend. Tin Pan South was held here in Nashville last week. There's a summary for those of you who could care less about the details. For the rest of you...read on.
So CRS Week 2011. It's a convention for country radio more or less. It's a 4 day event held in Nashville every year. I got to volunteer in the headquarters and do all sorts of stuff that week. The coolest part was meeting awesome people and getting to go to all of the private events during the week (hence the long hours). I would work from about 9-6 and then have an event after from 6-2. I ended up sleeping for 2 days straight when it was over. Regardless I had an AMAZING time. The first event was a Sony party with performances by Casey James and Jake Owen. (Keep in mind, I met all of these people I am about to mention throughout the week.) Wednesday was a CRS party with a private concert by Blake Shelton and "Friends". Blake brought Luke Byan, Band Perry, and Eric Church. Funniest part of the week by far, Luke Bryan during soundcheck singing Nelly. Even country singers do rap songs from time to time. After that Captiol held a party at the Hard Rock with a private show by Little Big Town, Walker Hayes, Darius Rucker, and Keith Urban. Thursday night was a Toga Party. Random, yes. Friday night was the 'big' event. It's called New Faces and people vote on who gets to play for the radio stations. This year it was Lee Brice, The Band Perry, Steel Magnolia, Josh Thompson, and Jerrod Neimann. I worked backstage for this event and had a blast. All of them were so nice and really talented. And for those of you who know my ultimate, I met Carrie. Speechless. Probably the coolest part of CRS was making new friends. One of those is Kristen. She is the graphic designer for Country Radio Broadcasters here in Nashville and to say we 'hit it off' would be an understatement. We have since made a point to get together at least once a week and I love having a girlfriend to chit chat with.
Hannah came to town for her first weekend of Spring Break and fell in love with Nashville. It was so cool to see someone else see what I've been feeling and feel the same way. She kept saying, "You look so happy here." It's been a long time since I've been truly happy and I think I'm onto something being in Nashville. It feels like home. Sorry Texas, but I don't think I'm coming back!
Last week some friends invited me out to a bar near Vanderbilt called "Winners". I've been there once but since they have started Monday night "Whiskey Jam". (My grandparents will be so thrilled to read this. No, you don't have to participate in the whiskey part of the jam. I'm a good girl!) Anyway, it's a thing that two songwriters in town started who have different singers come in each week to sing a few songs. And the best part...it's free. Monday night I saw Charles Kelley, David Nail, and Chris Young. You can't get a much better concert for free. I'll update that tomorrow depending on who shows up!
Tin Pan South is a songwriter festival held here once a year where some of the top writers get together and play in groups of 4 or 5 at different venues around town. My friends who brought me to Nashville, Jon Randall Stewart and Jessi Alexander played in a show and I got some of it on video. I'll figure out how to upload them here so you can see how incredibly talented they are. I'd love an ounce of Jessi's voice.
Well that's a decent update for a Sunday morning. I'm off to clean house and go to the grocery store. I'm hosting my first 'get-together' tonight for the Academy of Country Music Awards. (Funny thing here. Those of us in the music business get together to watch music awards like men do for superbowls. It's crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.) FYI you should watch tonight. Dierks Bentley is performing his new single called "Am I The Only One" which he and my friend Jon Randall wrote together and Reba is performing her new single, "When Love Gets a Hold of You" which was written by Jessi Alexander. Needless to say it's a big night in their household. Watch it and let us know what you think!
I promise to be better about this. I'll try to be weekly rather than every other month. Miss you Texans and can't wait to see you!
My move from Dallas to Nashville to follow this crazy dream
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sorry I'm a horrible blogger! So much to say!
Wow, it's been a month since my last update. Where does the time go? You can all thank Erin Fulton for reminding me to update. Whoops! Now, I have the challenge of back tracking to January and updating you to the fullest. I'll be detailed, but in a Reader's Digest kind of way as to not bore you!
Well, at the last entry I talked about my first real celebrity sighting. My how time changes that in Nashville, Tennessee. They are everywhere and have only furthered my appreciation of country music after seeing how everyone is so down to earth. They really are just normal people. It's a breath of fresh air to be around such nice people. I have made several connections here in town and have met some great people, and even some that I only dreamt of meeting. (Funny thing is I'm referring to my calendar as I write this so I can get it right!) Thank goodness I wrote these things down.
My awesome landlord/landmother has been a blessing. She brings dinner over at least once a week and has her sons clean off my car in the many snow storms we've had here. It's nice to have brothers with the perks and not the downside! Although, we'll get into that later. They have had their times of treating me like a big sister and it's nice to have a Nashville family. The mom, Heidi, is in real estate here in Nashville and is partners with a lady that is married to a music producer. His name is Wally and he is co-owner of Skyline Music along with the legendary Paul Worley. They graciously invited me to the office for a little meeting to discuss my career goals here in Nashville. For those of you not intune with the music business side, Paul Worley is Lady Antebellum's producer among many other things, but as a HUGE Lady A fan I was thrilled to say the least. They gave me a small project of listening to a new group's advance album and helping discuss the songs on the album. I had fun and got to learn a little more about the business. They have since gotten me connected with other industry folks! (FYI: Lady A fans, they are in the studio recording their new album this week!) That weekend we had a huge snowstorm so that delayed some meetings and made for an interesting few days! Sadie LOVES the snow but I am not a big fan. The next week I met with the Vice President of ASCAP here in Nashville. This is a company that does all the licensing for music. There are three companies here that do this: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC. It's cool to see the behind the scenes stuff. I had a great meeting with him and got to sit in his office surrounded by platinum records including Carrie Underwood's. I'd like to use that as my wall decor, but I'll have to wait. He sent out my resume to some friends and has also gotten me in touch with great industry people. Then I got in touch with Jessi and J.R.'s business manager who I had met during my visit in November. She has been a huge part of my life these last 3 weeks! Julie is a business manager in the music industry. She ended up getting suckered into getting a puppy so I have become her the puppy's daytime mother! She is adorable..more to that later. The next day I met with the Vice President of Sony Music. Yes, the Sony music. He oversees 3 record labels which include Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, and many more. Needless to say this was a HUGE moment for me. I got to meet with him in the listening room at Sony and sat among countless records from decades of brilliant music. I hadn't really been overwhelmed by the sheer greatness of this place, but I found myself in awe. It was like great music flowed down the halls. I've never felt so close to the music business on a personal level. aka, I was in Heaven. To say that he and I hit it off would probably be an understatement. At this point Sony is at the forefront of my job search and if they called to offer me a position I would take it in a heartbeat with absolutely no reservation whatsoever. Cross your fingers, say some prayers, and think good thoughts on that subject. It would be a dream come true. I am currently in talks with several other people who I will be meeting in the next week or two who are big players in the music industry as well, so I hope those go as well as these have.
Back to my personal life...the landbrothers next door have been fun to get to know. They are funny, respectful, well behaved, and some of the best teenage boys I've ever been around. Reid is 14 and John is 12. They both play basketball at their private school down the street and are smart kids. We have a big backyard filled with trees and little spots where the moles dig down deep into the ground. The boys are into airsoft guns, bb guns, basically anything teenage boyish. They invite their friends over, dress in camo, and play war games in the backyard. When I first moved in it scared Mom half to death to see boys in camo with guns running alongside my back window. We now refer to them as the "Militia". This is where it gets interesting. There is a tarp covering a carport behind the house which happens to be about 10 feet from my dining room window. A few weeks ago I was at the table sorting out papers when the boys went behind the tarp and shot their airsoft machine gun. Needless to say it was loud, close, and unexpected. I didn't know my survival instincts could make my body get to the floor so fast. They just stood outside and laughed as I crawled back up into my chair. Haha, little brothers, huh? Well I guess that wasn't good enough for them since their friends weren't here to see it. So, that weekend we had a lot of snow pile up and Nashville schools closed for 4 days. The "militia" had a lot of battles during that period. As some of you know from pictures I have a huge picture window in my living room. It practically takes up the whole front wall. There is a couch across from it facing a tv to the right. I was relaxing on the couch one night, deeply intuned with one of my shows, when out of the black sky come snowballs to my large window. My body lifted off that couch like gravity was nonexistent. When I looked out the window I saw 6 teenage boys laughing hysterically in the bushes. I must say it was pretty funny. No more tricks in the last few weeks, but I'm sure they have more up their sleeve. I am in the market for some sort of NERF gun so as they unexepectedly walk to the house after school I can get them good. That's in the works. Any ideas for revenge on little brothers is welcome! :)
On January 17th my original Nashville friends got back in town after being on tour. Thank goodness! It felt so good to have people I really knew and that really knew me within a 5 mile radius! I since have seen them at least twice a week and keep their daughter as much as I can. They are a huge blessing and I'm so grateful for what they've done for me. They are nominated for 3 Grammys this weekend so make sure to watch! They will be out in Los Angeles and for a second they were going to take me to watch Shyla, but those plans haven't worked out so I will stay back home and see her! I'm excited to watch the Grammys and have a personal relationship with people there to root for!
Speaking of Grammy nominees, I have met more celebrities as I mentioned earlier. Let's see. Charles Kelley (from Lady Antebellum), Radney Foster, Dierks Bentley (although I've known him longer, but get to see him more regularly now), Dave Haywood (from Lady Antebellum), and other industry folks who you probably wouldn't recognize. I have also made a few good friends here! First I met a girl a few weeks back named Allie Farris who just moved here also. We met at a restaurant and found out we were both from Texas. She just moved here in the middle of January to begin recording her first album. She is a great musician, 20 years old, and from Flower Mound. Random! She lived just about 5 minutes from the school I worked at. Random that we meet here in Nashville and live less than 5 minutes from each other here. She is busy in the studio and is having her first album produced by a member of June Carter Cash's family. I think she's in good hands! Look her up on youtube, she's great. I have spent the last 2 weekends with a new friend who is already dear to me! Her name is Leigh Ann. She and I were introduced by Julie. Leigh Ann just moved to Nashville in October from Georgia and was looking for some good friends also. We hit it off and have spent the last two weekends out in downtown Nashville doing dinner and going to concerts. She also invited me to the church she's been attending here and I really liked it. That is where I met Dave Haywood from Lady Antebellum. (Again, nice to see 'rockstars' at church on Sunday morning!) He was very nice, very cute, and quite tall in person! Leigh Ann has introduced me to some 15 people in 2 weeks and I'm beginning to build a great friendship with her. I can't tell you how thankful I am to have found a new great friend here!
Now to what my daily life has consisted of! For the last 3 weeks I have been dogsitting, babysitting, running errands, cleaning house, taking care of Sadie, and organizing my house! I am dogsitting Julie's new puppy named Bennet. She is a Jack Russell mix they think and is 10 weeks old this week. She is teeny tiny and LOVES to play with big ol' Sadie. It's funny to watch. And now the dramatic part which some of you already know. Last Tuesday I was at Julie's taking care of Bennet during a rainstorm. I was leaving her house and on the top step of her basement. I didn't turn on the light, because I had yet to realize there was one, whoops. I ended up going down 11 wooden, unfinished stairs and was abruptly stopped by the cinderblock wall at the bottom. So to give you a visual, here I lay in a pitch black stairwell, thinking I broke something, without my phone, and shaken up by the whole ordeal. All I could think was, oh lord, what am I going to do now? I have to move or I'll be here when Julie gets home from the office in 7 hours! I am NOT laying here that long. I managed to get out to my car and call Mom. What is she going to do from 800 miles away? I know, but instinct says call Mom first! I was able to get home though I was almost positive I broke my tailbone or pelvis. I couldn't move for a good period of time, but I'm good now! I didn't break anything to my knowledge and refused to go to the doctor to pay 60 bucks for him to tell me the same. I have a baseball sized purple bruise on my butt so I guess I'll forego the thong bikini I have for February. :) My entire right side was bruised or swollen and I looked like a mess. I'm better now for the most part, but still a little achy. I guess I'll live! It can never be boring, can it?!
Mom has gotten to come once over Martin Luther King weekend and I am almost at a month without seeing anyone from home. I'm getting to miss all of them a lot. I'm hoping to make it home in the next few weeks before too much time goes by.
In the meantime, I will focus on updating more regularly so it doesn't have to be so lengthy! Miss you all and can't wait to see you on my trip back home.
Well, at the last entry I talked about my first real celebrity sighting. My how time changes that in Nashville, Tennessee. They are everywhere and have only furthered my appreciation of country music after seeing how everyone is so down to earth. They really are just normal people. It's a breath of fresh air to be around such nice people. I have made several connections here in town and have met some great people, and even some that I only dreamt of meeting. (Funny thing is I'm referring to my calendar as I write this so I can get it right!) Thank goodness I wrote these things down.
My awesome landlord/landmother has been a blessing. She brings dinner over at least once a week and has her sons clean off my car in the many snow storms we've had here. It's nice to have brothers with the perks and not the downside! Although, we'll get into that later. They have had their times of treating me like a big sister and it's nice to have a Nashville family. The mom, Heidi, is in real estate here in Nashville and is partners with a lady that is married to a music producer. His name is Wally and he is co-owner of Skyline Music along with the legendary Paul Worley. They graciously invited me to the office for a little meeting to discuss my career goals here in Nashville. For those of you not intune with the music business side, Paul Worley is Lady Antebellum's producer among many other things, but as a HUGE Lady A fan I was thrilled to say the least. They gave me a small project of listening to a new group's advance album and helping discuss the songs on the album. I had fun and got to learn a little more about the business. They have since gotten me connected with other industry folks! (FYI: Lady A fans, they are in the studio recording their new album this week!) That weekend we had a huge snowstorm so that delayed some meetings and made for an interesting few days! Sadie LOVES the snow but I am not a big fan. The next week I met with the Vice President of ASCAP here in Nashville. This is a company that does all the licensing for music. There are three companies here that do this: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC. It's cool to see the behind the scenes stuff. I had a great meeting with him and got to sit in his office surrounded by platinum records including Carrie Underwood's. I'd like to use that as my wall decor, but I'll have to wait. He sent out my resume to some friends and has also gotten me in touch with great industry people. Then I got in touch with Jessi and J.R.'s business manager who I had met during my visit in November. She has been a huge part of my life these last 3 weeks! Julie is a business manager in the music industry. She ended up getting suckered into getting a puppy so I have become her the puppy's daytime mother! She is adorable..more to that later. The next day I met with the Vice President of Sony Music. Yes, the Sony music. He oversees 3 record labels which include Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, and many more. Needless to say this was a HUGE moment for me. I got to meet with him in the listening room at Sony and sat among countless records from decades of brilliant music. I hadn't really been overwhelmed by the sheer greatness of this place, but I found myself in awe. It was like great music flowed down the halls. I've never felt so close to the music business on a personal level. aka, I was in Heaven. To say that he and I hit it off would probably be an understatement. At this point Sony is at the forefront of my job search and if they called to offer me a position I would take it in a heartbeat with absolutely no reservation whatsoever. Cross your fingers, say some prayers, and think good thoughts on that subject. It would be a dream come true. I am currently in talks with several other people who I will be meeting in the next week or two who are big players in the music industry as well, so I hope those go as well as these have.
Back to my personal life...the landbrothers next door have been fun to get to know. They are funny, respectful, well behaved, and some of the best teenage boys I've ever been around. Reid is 14 and John is 12. They both play basketball at their private school down the street and are smart kids. We have a big backyard filled with trees and little spots where the moles dig down deep into the ground. The boys are into airsoft guns, bb guns, basically anything teenage boyish. They invite their friends over, dress in camo, and play war games in the backyard. When I first moved in it scared Mom half to death to see boys in camo with guns running alongside my back window. We now refer to them as the "Militia". This is where it gets interesting. There is a tarp covering a carport behind the house which happens to be about 10 feet from my dining room window. A few weeks ago I was at the table sorting out papers when the boys went behind the tarp and shot their airsoft machine gun. Needless to say it was loud, close, and unexpected. I didn't know my survival instincts could make my body get to the floor so fast. They just stood outside and laughed as I crawled back up into my chair. Haha, little brothers, huh? Well I guess that wasn't good enough for them since their friends weren't here to see it. So, that weekend we had a lot of snow pile up and Nashville schools closed for 4 days. The "militia" had a lot of battles during that period. As some of you know from pictures I have a huge picture window in my living room. It practically takes up the whole front wall. There is a couch across from it facing a tv to the right. I was relaxing on the couch one night, deeply intuned with one of my shows, when out of the black sky come snowballs to my large window. My body lifted off that couch like gravity was nonexistent. When I looked out the window I saw 6 teenage boys laughing hysterically in the bushes. I must say it was pretty funny. No more tricks in the last few weeks, but I'm sure they have more up their sleeve. I am in the market for some sort of NERF gun so as they unexepectedly walk to the house after school I can get them good. That's in the works. Any ideas for revenge on little brothers is welcome! :)
On January 17th my original Nashville friends got back in town after being on tour. Thank goodness! It felt so good to have people I really knew and that really knew me within a 5 mile radius! I since have seen them at least twice a week and keep their daughter as much as I can. They are a huge blessing and I'm so grateful for what they've done for me. They are nominated for 3 Grammys this weekend so make sure to watch! They will be out in Los Angeles and for a second they were going to take me to watch Shyla, but those plans haven't worked out so I will stay back home and see her! I'm excited to watch the Grammys and have a personal relationship with people there to root for!
Speaking of Grammy nominees, I have met more celebrities as I mentioned earlier. Let's see. Charles Kelley (from Lady Antebellum), Radney Foster, Dierks Bentley (although I've known him longer, but get to see him more regularly now), Dave Haywood (from Lady Antebellum), and other industry folks who you probably wouldn't recognize. I have also made a few good friends here! First I met a girl a few weeks back named Allie Farris who just moved here also. We met at a restaurant and found out we were both from Texas. She just moved here in the middle of January to begin recording her first album. She is a great musician, 20 years old, and from Flower Mound. Random! She lived just about 5 minutes from the school I worked at. Random that we meet here in Nashville and live less than 5 minutes from each other here. She is busy in the studio and is having her first album produced by a member of June Carter Cash's family. I think she's in good hands! Look her up on youtube, she's great. I have spent the last 2 weekends with a new friend who is already dear to me! Her name is Leigh Ann. She and I were introduced by Julie. Leigh Ann just moved to Nashville in October from Georgia and was looking for some good friends also. We hit it off and have spent the last two weekends out in downtown Nashville doing dinner and going to concerts. She also invited me to the church she's been attending here and I really liked it. That is where I met Dave Haywood from Lady Antebellum. (Again, nice to see 'rockstars' at church on Sunday morning!) He was very nice, very cute, and quite tall in person! Leigh Ann has introduced me to some 15 people in 2 weeks and I'm beginning to build a great friendship with her. I can't tell you how thankful I am to have found a new great friend here!
Now to what my daily life has consisted of! For the last 3 weeks I have been dogsitting, babysitting, running errands, cleaning house, taking care of Sadie, and organizing my house! I am dogsitting Julie's new puppy named Bennet. She is a Jack Russell mix they think and is 10 weeks old this week. She is teeny tiny and LOVES to play with big ol' Sadie. It's funny to watch. And now the dramatic part which some of you already know. Last Tuesday I was at Julie's taking care of Bennet during a rainstorm. I was leaving her house and on the top step of her basement. I didn't turn on the light, because I had yet to realize there was one, whoops. I ended up going down 11 wooden, unfinished stairs and was abruptly stopped by the cinderblock wall at the bottom. So to give you a visual, here I lay in a pitch black stairwell, thinking I broke something, without my phone, and shaken up by the whole ordeal. All I could think was, oh lord, what am I going to do now? I have to move or I'll be here when Julie gets home from the office in 7 hours! I am NOT laying here that long. I managed to get out to my car and call Mom. What is she going to do from 800 miles away? I know, but instinct says call Mom first! I was able to get home though I was almost positive I broke my tailbone or pelvis. I couldn't move for a good period of time, but I'm good now! I didn't break anything to my knowledge and refused to go to the doctor to pay 60 bucks for him to tell me the same. I have a baseball sized purple bruise on my butt so I guess I'll forego the thong bikini I have for February. :) My entire right side was bruised or swollen and I looked like a mess. I'm better now for the most part, but still a little achy. I guess I'll live! It can never be boring, can it?!
Mom has gotten to come once over Martin Luther King weekend and I am almost at a month without seeing anyone from home. I'm getting to miss all of them a lot. I'm hoping to make it home in the next few weeks before too much time goes by.
In the meantime, I will focus on updating more regularly so it doesn't have to be so lengthy! Miss you all and can't wait to see you on my trip back home.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
I almost hit my first celebrity! Oops!
Wednesday afternoon I decided to get out in the cold, snowy weather and head to the local hot spot for some hot chocolate. When I was here for Thanksgiving Jessi took us to this coffee shop, Fido, and said if we ever wanted to see a celebrity this would be the place to do it. So where do I choose for my afternoon drink? Fido, of course! It's such a cool place, just laid back and there's people sitting alone everywhere so you're bound to strike up a conversation with someone. (Which people say I'm good at..haha.)
I was driving down the side street to the Fido parking lot and saw a couple walking. Of course I looked and realized it was Charles Kelley and his wife Cassie. For those of you who don't know, Charles Kelley is the lead singer of Lady Antebellum. I was so excited that they were in front of me that I turned in the parking lot a little quickly and got too close to them..with my car. Haha. I was mortified. I finally see a celebrity up close and almost hit them with my car! Ooops! He waved and I did also in an apologetic manner.
I parked and picked up my phone to call Mom or Erin and realized everyone was in school so I couldn't tell anyone! Sheesh people, this is IMPORTANT! :)
I ended up in line behind Charles and Cassie and we struck up a conversation only to find that Radney Foster was ahead of us in the line. (He's an older country musician, producer, writer, aka everything). I spent about an hour in that coffee shop among two amazing country musicians. I think that hot chocolate was the best one I've ever had.
I was driving down the side street to the Fido parking lot and saw a couple walking. Of course I looked and realized it was Charles Kelley and his wife Cassie. For those of you who don't know, Charles Kelley is the lead singer of Lady Antebellum. I was so excited that they were in front of me that I turned in the parking lot a little quickly and got too close to them..with my car. Haha. I was mortified. I finally see a celebrity up close and almost hit them with my car! Ooops! He waved and I did also in an apologetic manner.
I parked and picked up my phone to call Mom or Erin and realized everyone was in school so I couldn't tell anyone! Sheesh people, this is IMPORTANT! :)
I ended up in line behind Charles and Cassie and we struck up a conversation only to find that Radney Foster was ahead of us in the line. (He's an older country musician, producer, writer, aka everything). I spent about an hour in that coffee shop among two amazing country musicians. I think that hot chocolate was the best one I've ever had.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
I'm getting settled!
Hello from my cozy home in Nashville! Where do I begin? This may be a long post so feel free to scan or skip down to a part you are curious about. I've had people asking specific details so I will try to answer all of the questions. Last week I packed up everything in Grapevine, or should I say my amazing friends packed up my apartment. Big thank you to Erin, Maggie, Tyler, Tyson, and Katrina. I don't know how to say thank you enough to yall! Everything was loaded up in the UHaul (in the RAIN!) on Tuesday night and I said goodbye to some very special people. I stayed with Mom on Tuesday night and we woke up bright and early on Wednesday to leave Dallas. 13 hours, inches and inches of rain, a few stops for gas, and some snacks and we were finally in Nashville. Mom kept suggesting we stop in Little Rock or Memphis, but I was determined to get here and I drove the majority of the way to get here in one haul. We pulled in the driveway around 11:30 Wednesday and passed out on the floor that night.
For those of you who don't know I ended up finding a great place on Craigslist. It is perfect. It's a 2 bedroom/1 bath with hardwoods and gorgeous woodwork. If you have seen Mom's house it's quite similar and makes it feel really 'homey'. My duplex is connected to the main house where the landlords live, or how I now refer to them, my "landfamily". I could not have gotten more lucky with neighbors. It's a couple with three sons, but only the 12 and 14 year old live at home. They are the most polite teenage boys I've ever met and love to come over and help with stuff and take Sadie outside to play. Did I mention they also have a 6 year old golden retriever named Cooper who is the male version of Sadie? We have to check their collars to make sure we have the right one. :) Heidi, the mom, is amazing and has already made me "Texas Sheet Cake" which is amazing, and had me over for dinner my first night alone. It's really the perfect fit. I could see myself living here for a long time.
That being said, my place is less than a mile from Music Row and about 1.5 from Downtown Nashville. I can get to pretty much anything from this location and Martina McBride lives down the street. Speaking of celebrities, it's strange how 'normal' they are to the community here. I've been told that because of the small nature of the town the celebrities just walk about as a normal person. I love getting directions here. Rather than take a left at the bridge, then right, etc. When you ask for directions you get this, "Go to Martina's and turn left to get to Target." or "When you dead end into Taylor's (Swift) condo, you make a right to get to a great restaurant.". I'm getting used to the idea that they really are just normal people. Mom got to meet her first celebrity here on Saturday. We went to breakfast and stopped by to see Jessi and J.R. (my friends that are behind this whole move). Turns out they were in the middle of writing with Dierks Bentley at their kitchen counter. I've met Dierks before but mom hasn't. He jumped up from the counter and came to hug me, then reached out to shake Mom's hand and introduce himself. He carried on asking about my new place and how it was going, etc. We stayed for a little bit, then let them get back to writing. Mom was shocked how normal he was, she just couldn't believe that was the Dierks Bentley. We now have a mission, meet one celebrity everytime she is here. Check one! :)
I am having to look decent when I run errands around here since you don't know who you'll run into. That will take some getting used to. Gone are the days of grocery shopping in sweats. I went to Target my first day and the sweet old man who was our cashier asked what I moved here for. When I replied "music business" he went on to tell us that Taylor Swift had just left and that girl from "Lady Isabella" aka Lady Antebellum had been there earlier and shops there all the time. I'm waiting for the day I'm standing in the milk aisle next to Carrie Underwood and we strike up a conversation over milk percentages. Haha. FYI there is ONE Target near me and by near me, I mean about 10 min away. Walmart is over 20 miles away. I guess that's why you run into people there, since there is ONE location. Boo. I'll have to get used to that.
I have been exploring since Mom left on Sunday and am learning to find my way around. I have my first meeting with a music exec. tomorrow so say a little prayer for me. I've been in contact with three companies that want to meet with me and all are located on Music Row so I'm hopeful something will come of that. I have my eye on one job in particular and so far, so good. It's with a huge company and would be easy to move up. I'd also get to travel to all the award shows with the celebrities so that's an added perk.
My 'people' are on tour until the 14th so I will be without Jessi or J.R. til then. I am learning to figure it out alone, but wishing they were here to visit with and play with their sweet girl, Shyla Rose. I will probably be getting lonely by the time they get back in town so I'm ready for that. For now the only other people I know are Dierks and his family. They live about 3 blocks away so they are a close resource should I need anything.
That being said, I have my calendar up and ready to fill in with people who want to come visit! Southwest Airlines usually does cheap fares to Nashville so if you want to come visit and stay for free, please let me know! I'd love to have guests!
That's all for now. Pictures will come soon! :)
For those of you who don't know I ended up finding a great place on Craigslist. It is perfect. It's a 2 bedroom/1 bath with hardwoods and gorgeous woodwork. If you have seen Mom's house it's quite similar and makes it feel really 'homey'. My duplex is connected to the main house where the landlords live, or how I now refer to them, my "landfamily". I could not have gotten more lucky with neighbors. It's a couple with three sons, but only the 12 and 14 year old live at home. They are the most polite teenage boys I've ever met and love to come over and help with stuff and take Sadie outside to play. Did I mention they also have a 6 year old golden retriever named Cooper who is the male version of Sadie? We have to check their collars to make sure we have the right one. :) Heidi, the mom, is amazing and has already made me "Texas Sheet Cake" which is amazing, and had me over for dinner my first night alone. It's really the perfect fit. I could see myself living here for a long time.
That being said, my place is less than a mile from Music Row and about 1.5 from Downtown Nashville. I can get to pretty much anything from this location and Martina McBride lives down the street. Speaking of celebrities, it's strange how 'normal' they are to the community here. I've been told that because of the small nature of the town the celebrities just walk about as a normal person. I love getting directions here. Rather than take a left at the bridge, then right, etc. When you ask for directions you get this, "Go to Martina's and turn left to get to Target." or "When you dead end into Taylor's (Swift) condo, you make a right to get to a great restaurant.". I'm getting used to the idea that they really are just normal people. Mom got to meet her first celebrity here on Saturday. We went to breakfast and stopped by to see Jessi and J.R. (my friends that are behind this whole move). Turns out they were in the middle of writing with Dierks Bentley at their kitchen counter. I've met Dierks before but mom hasn't. He jumped up from the counter and came to hug me, then reached out to shake Mom's hand and introduce himself. He carried on asking about my new place and how it was going, etc. We stayed for a little bit, then let them get back to writing. Mom was shocked how normal he was, she just couldn't believe that was the Dierks Bentley. We now have a mission, meet one celebrity everytime she is here. Check one! :)
I am having to look decent when I run errands around here since you don't know who you'll run into. That will take some getting used to. Gone are the days of grocery shopping in sweats. I went to Target my first day and the sweet old man who was our cashier asked what I moved here for. When I replied "music business" he went on to tell us that Taylor Swift had just left and that girl from "Lady Isabella" aka Lady Antebellum had been there earlier and shops there all the time. I'm waiting for the day I'm standing in the milk aisle next to Carrie Underwood and we strike up a conversation over milk percentages. Haha. FYI there is ONE Target near me and by near me, I mean about 10 min away. Walmart is over 20 miles away. I guess that's why you run into people there, since there is ONE location. Boo. I'll have to get used to that.
I have been exploring since Mom left on Sunday and am learning to find my way around. I have my first meeting with a music exec. tomorrow so say a little prayer for me. I've been in contact with three companies that want to meet with me and all are located on Music Row so I'm hopeful something will come of that. I have my eye on one job in particular and so far, so good. It's with a huge company and would be easy to move up. I'd also get to travel to all the award shows with the celebrities so that's an added perk.
My 'people' are on tour until the 14th so I will be without Jessi or J.R. til then. I am learning to figure it out alone, but wishing they were here to visit with and play with their sweet girl, Shyla Rose. I will probably be getting lonely by the time they get back in town so I'm ready for that. For now the only other people I know are Dierks and his family. They live about 3 blocks away so they are a close resource should I need anything.
That being said, I have my calendar up and ready to fill in with people who want to come visit! Southwest Airlines usually does cheap fares to Nashville so if you want to come visit and stay for free, please let me know! I'd love to have guests!
That's all for now. Pictures will come soon! :)
Monday, December 20, 2010
How it all started...
As a child I used to dream about being a country singer and living in Nashville. Singing in church and for the company that produced Barney and Veggie Tales here in Dallas gave me more exposure to music at an early age and I was hooked. Growing up I was around music thanks mostly to my dad. He was a great singer and was asked to sing at any and every special event. He and my mom always sang in the church choir or praise team so my interest grew from there. Flash forward to my sophomore year at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado. I continued to dream of this life in country music so my dad got online to search for music business degrees and where they were offered. He came across two schools in particular. The first was Belmont University in Nashville where the most accredited music business degree was available, then he found Florida State University offered a similar degree. The summer after my sophomore year we traveled to Florida and visited the campus. Did anyone know they offer circus classes as a physical education course? They have a circus tent on campus and offer tightrope walking, trapeze, etc. Random.
I wasn't all that thrilled with FSU so that went to the side. We moved back to Texas after my junior year and I had suppressed those dreams without really realizing it. In 2005 I graduated from Trinity High School in Euless and went on to University of North Texas. Hated UNT. Went to University of Texas at Arlington in January 2007. Was doing well at UTA and then got the news. Dad was sick. After about 2 weeks of tests the results came in, Mantle Cell Lymphoma: Blastoid, Stage 4, 3-6 months prognosis. He was just 45 at the time. (He kept a blog throughout the whole journey at www.bvwilliams.com if you're looking for some interesting reading.) That journey was hard for our family and even harder on Dad. Within a 2 1/2 year period he was in complete remission a total of 5 times, relapsed 4 times, was part of some 6 clinical trials, and had a stem cell transplant. I ended up leaving UTA and switching to online courses at Colorado State University as I had to become the care taker and live in Houston with Dad while he went through the stem cell transplant. Even though I wasn't thrilled about it at the time I am thankful for that time I had to spend with him 24/7 for 100 days. In October 2009 he became 'toxic' on his anti-rejection drugs (he was overdosed on all sorts of mediction) and started to go downhill quickly. My mom took him to MD Anderson on October 27, 2009 and he started to get better by the beginning of November. I spoke to him on November 4, 2009 and he was anticipating being released in 2 days and was excited to come home. At 3:17 AM on Friday, November 6th he died from a pulmonary embolism. He had a staph infection brewing in his lungs and it ate through his pulmonary artery. He was there one minute and gone the next. Brad Williams was just 1 month shy of his 48th birthday.
Now I know why that dream was subconciously pushed down. God was preparing me to deal with the challenges that would come March 2007-November 2009. The dream lay dormant for the next 6 months until God was ready to put it back in my life. He did that through my dear friend, Camille Mercer.
At the end of May she called me to see if I would babysit her husband's cousin in Dallas. She mentioned his aunt and uncle were from Nashville and worked in the business. I agreed without really understanding the significance of that night. I loved them from the beginning. They began to tell me that they were in Dallas until Labor Day because their home in Nashville had flooded along with the rest of Nashville in May 2010. They would live in Dallas until their home was fixed. They left to go write music with a popular group here in Dallas called the Eli Young Band. That's when I realized these people were more than just your average people from Nashville. They returned home later that night and we sat up talking about my Nashville dreams that had been nonexistent in the past 3 years. It was almost 4 A.M. when I looked down at my clock. It all started right there in that living room. Her aunt and uncle, Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall Stewart relit that spark that had been shielded for so long. I left that night and told my mom I would move to Nashville one day.
I continued to babysit for Jessi and J.R. all summer and we formed a great relationship. They continued to encourage me to move to Nashville and live out this dream. I got more excited as our talks progressed over the summer. I planned a trip to Nashville with my best friend, Erin, during Thanksgiving Break. Jessi picked us up from the airport and before we even got to their house I had my mind made up. I was moving to Nashville one day, I had to do this. We spent 5 days there and had the best time. I loved being behind the scenes of the country music scene and meeting all sorts of people who had a huge influence on country music. In short, I was hooked. I flew home that Tuesday after clinging to their porch begging not to come home to Dallas! I went to dinner that night with mom and told her I was moving. Her response, "Yeah, I figured that was coming!". I guess I didn't hide it well. I stayed up late that night emailing music executives in Nashville and looking for a place to live online.
So here goes this dream. I am leaving Dallas on Tuesday, December 28th to follow this 'crazy dream'. I have a place in Nashville and will be about a mile from Jessi and J.R.'s home. Mom and I will drive up and get settled until I have to take her to the airport on Sunday, January 2nd when I will likely sit in my car and cry my eyes out. I'm nervous, but excited beyond belief. I guess I never thought this dream would come true. Thank you to Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall for proving that dreams can come true if you have the guidance of brilliant people. I look forward to being neighbors with you and am excited for the future for the first time in several years.
The moral of this post. I now am confident I have seen, firsthand, that God has it all figured out. He knew my dream needed to wait until the right time, He knew that Camille would lead me to this, He knew that Dad would be in Heaven to help coordinate it all. And I have no doubt that the last part is most definitely the case. This was Dad and I's dream and it's coming true.
Here goes nothin...say a prayer for me, would you?!
I wasn't all that thrilled with FSU so that went to the side. We moved back to Texas after my junior year and I had suppressed those dreams without really realizing it. In 2005 I graduated from Trinity High School in Euless and went on to University of North Texas. Hated UNT. Went to University of Texas at Arlington in January 2007. Was doing well at UTA and then got the news. Dad was sick. After about 2 weeks of tests the results came in, Mantle Cell Lymphoma: Blastoid, Stage 4, 3-6 months prognosis. He was just 45 at the time. (He kept a blog throughout the whole journey at www.bvwilliams.com if you're looking for some interesting reading.) That journey was hard for our family and even harder on Dad. Within a 2 1/2 year period he was in complete remission a total of 5 times, relapsed 4 times, was part of some 6 clinical trials, and had a stem cell transplant. I ended up leaving UTA and switching to online courses at Colorado State University as I had to become the care taker and live in Houston with Dad while he went through the stem cell transplant. Even though I wasn't thrilled about it at the time I am thankful for that time I had to spend with him 24/7 for 100 days. In October 2009 he became 'toxic' on his anti-rejection drugs (he was overdosed on all sorts of mediction) and started to go downhill quickly. My mom took him to MD Anderson on October 27, 2009 and he started to get better by the beginning of November. I spoke to him on November 4, 2009 and he was anticipating being released in 2 days and was excited to come home. At 3:17 AM on Friday, November 6th he died from a pulmonary embolism. He had a staph infection brewing in his lungs and it ate through his pulmonary artery. He was there one minute and gone the next. Brad Williams was just 1 month shy of his 48th birthday.
Now I know why that dream was subconciously pushed down. God was preparing me to deal with the challenges that would come March 2007-November 2009. The dream lay dormant for the next 6 months until God was ready to put it back in my life. He did that through my dear friend, Camille Mercer.
At the end of May she called me to see if I would babysit her husband's cousin in Dallas. She mentioned his aunt and uncle were from Nashville and worked in the business. I agreed without really understanding the significance of that night. I loved them from the beginning. They began to tell me that they were in Dallas until Labor Day because their home in Nashville had flooded along with the rest of Nashville in May 2010. They would live in Dallas until their home was fixed. They left to go write music with a popular group here in Dallas called the Eli Young Band. That's when I realized these people were more than just your average people from Nashville. They returned home later that night and we sat up talking about my Nashville dreams that had been nonexistent in the past 3 years. It was almost 4 A.M. when I looked down at my clock. It all started right there in that living room. Her aunt and uncle, Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall Stewart relit that spark that had been shielded for so long. I left that night and told my mom I would move to Nashville one day.
I continued to babysit for Jessi and J.R. all summer and we formed a great relationship. They continued to encourage me to move to Nashville and live out this dream. I got more excited as our talks progressed over the summer. I planned a trip to Nashville with my best friend, Erin, during Thanksgiving Break. Jessi picked us up from the airport and before we even got to their house I had my mind made up. I was moving to Nashville one day, I had to do this. We spent 5 days there and had the best time. I loved being behind the scenes of the country music scene and meeting all sorts of people who had a huge influence on country music. In short, I was hooked. I flew home that Tuesday after clinging to their porch begging not to come home to Dallas! I went to dinner that night with mom and told her I was moving. Her response, "Yeah, I figured that was coming!". I guess I didn't hide it well. I stayed up late that night emailing music executives in Nashville and looking for a place to live online.
So here goes this dream. I am leaving Dallas on Tuesday, December 28th to follow this 'crazy dream'. I have a place in Nashville and will be about a mile from Jessi and J.R.'s home. Mom and I will drive up and get settled until I have to take her to the airport on Sunday, January 2nd when I will likely sit in my car and cry my eyes out. I'm nervous, but excited beyond belief. I guess I never thought this dream would come true. Thank you to Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall for proving that dreams can come true if you have the guidance of brilliant people. I look forward to being neighbors with you and am excited for the future for the first time in several years.
The moral of this post. I now am confident I have seen, firsthand, that God has it all figured out. He knew my dream needed to wait until the right time, He knew that Camille would lead me to this, He knew that Dad would be in Heaven to help coordinate it all. And I have no doubt that the last part is most definitely the case. This was Dad and I's dream and it's coming true.
Here goes nothin...say a prayer for me, would you?!
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