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.
My move from Dallas to Nashville to follow this crazy dream
Thursday, January 6, 2011
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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