Dateline Nashville - CMA Music Fest - Day Two

We got up bright and early ready to hit the autograph lines again and today would bring a dream come true... meeting the boys of Sawyer Brown!  I knew they would be signing around 11am so we needed to make sure we were there the minute the doors opened so we could get tickets.  Both of us had blistered feet and were exhausted but knew the adrenaline would kick in once we were downtown in the thick of all the action.   We checked into our hotel (best decision ever!) and bought passes for the shuttle (second best decision ever!).   The bus ride was relaxing and dropped us off directly in front of the Convention Center.  Turns out they weren't giving out tickets for the Sawyer Brown line... you just had to show up.  After synchronizing our watches, we set out to see who we could see.

First up - Steel Magnolia.  We didn't meet them... just took the photo op.  I love her sense of style though!!  

 It was much easier to meet the up and coming (and remember, EVERYONE who is now famous was once up and coming!)  This gal was so very sweet!  Loved her and love her music!  Meet Jourdan Pace!


 Clay Walker was there... remember him?  He's a bit older but still very popular... couldn't stand in his line since it was too long.  He still looks great in a cowboy hat! 

Aaron Kelly of American Idol fame was there.  My daughter LOVED him when he was on the show so we had to meet him and get an autograph.  A lot of people were charging for 8x10's and he was one of them but he was so very sweet and gracious and the smile on Kayla's face was worth the $10.  

As promised here is Photo Booth pic # 2.  This time we discovered the props.  Well, actually the crown and Happy Birthday glasses were mine to begin with.  

The Durango booth also offered free pics and we took ours "in front of the Ryman Auditorium."  Ya didn't know I played Gui-tar, did ya?

While we were at the Durango Booth we met these guys.  No idea what the band's name is but its a cute picture of me and Mandie.  :)  Once again, just killin time before meeting SAWYER BROWN!

We met all kinds wandering around the convention center.  Loved the cool guitar glasses and we tried to figure out where to get a pair but better luck next time.  Don't they just look like guys who would wear guitar glasses? 

 Mandie went to find herself something to eat and I slid over to the Farm Boy booth.  Its a good thing I did as the line was already forming.   I was number 35 so my odds were pretty good I'd get to meet the Boys!  They were selling pictures for $5 and of course I had to have one for them to sign.  The closer we got the more I started to shake.  I had a whole speech in my head about how people say they are the "biggest fan" and while I may not follow them from town to town on account of having a life, I had watched since Star Search and had seen them in person 5 times.  I wanted to tell Mark Miller that he inspires me with his passion and it was my birthday and this was the best present ever!   You know how you build something up in your head and then it happens and its not as fabulous as you think it will be?   So yeah, I got up to him and blurted it all out and I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a nutjob.  But here's our pic.  

The rest of the boys were as nice and gracious as could be.   Joe, the drummer, has been with the band since the beginning.   I met him once before in Tunica, MS along with a couple of the other guys. 

 Hobie is looking in this direction in every picture I have of him.  Not sure what was going on down there.  He plays keyboards and takes care of their Facebook page.  He made a big deal of it being my birthday and I can't thank him enough for that.  He will forever be my favorite.  

 Don't get me wrong.  Mark is a nice guy, I'm sure.  I was just really surprised by how quiet and reserved he was in person.  Nothing like his stage persona.    Oh well, I met him and I can mark it off my Bucket List.  Won't make such a big effort if I ever make it back to Music Fest though.   Once is enough. 

Dateline Nashville - CMA Music Fest 2011 - Day one continued

When we last left our fearless travelers, they had just emerged from the Convention Center after meeting a ridiculous number of people in a ridiculously short amount of time.  The sun was hot and bright as the rays bounced off of the birthday tiara... oh wait, sorry, got a little carried away there.

My friend was right, there is NO way to do everything!  The pure amount of humanity and music and things to do and see is overwhelming.  However we though maybe we would try some of the outside activities before the big concerts that evening.  As we walked down the street we realized we were walking right past one of the most famous buildings in Nashville.  Here is my attempt at a self portrait with that building in the background...

 Yeah, I know... too much me, not enough building.  Any wild guesses??  Ok, I won't leave you in suspense.  Let's try again...

Well at least we got the name of the building in the shot this time!  That's right, the Ryman Auditorium.  On my next (calmer) visit to Nashville, I'd love to see a show here and at the Grand Ole Opry as well.

So we're walking and everytime a path clears these two jump out and start drawing on the sidewalk.   They were from the Chris Young street team.   That guy knows how to market!  You may know Chris as the guy who sings the hit "Tomorrow" with that deep sexy gravely voice of his.  To me he's very Trace Adkins-ish.   I however had the pleasure of meeting him before he even won Nashville Star years ago.   He was in the competition and my hubby and I were having an anniversary dinner at the Alabama Cafe.  I looked over and there he was.  He was very friendly, humble, and um.... yeah... long tall drink of water hot.  See for yourself!

We made our way to the Gildan Fun Zone which was indeed... full of fun.  There were artist signings, concerts, free Ocean Spray, the Hard Rock stage, and restaurants galore.  I'll be darned if I can remember where we ate that day.  Someplace that had an upstairs and I had a really good burger but yeah, couldn't tell you the name of the establishment.  By this time both of us had blisters on our feet and we were hot and tired but pumped up on adrenaline.  I was smart enough to have band aids in my purse so after a quick stop to bandage our poor feet, we trucked on down the road.  In the Fun Zone we met in no particular order...

  The Street Preacher... being from Memphis we see these guys a lot downtown but its mostly one guy.  These guys were a whole tag team.  

 Elvis... didn't I say I was from Memphis?  Elvis is Everywhere! Go ahead, click the link... you know you want to! 

Luke Bryan (shake it for me!)

This band who had just finished a set on the Lay's Main Stage

and of course, my good friend Hootie.  Oh, I mean Darius. He still lets me call him Hootie.

With the night time LP Field concerts gearing up we thought we'd get in line for the convenient free shuttle over to the venue.  We walked and walked and walked and walked until we finally found the end of the line along with a security guard who said in the hour and a half she'd been sitting there, the very same people were standing in the very same spots.  We made an executive decision to walk across the footbridge... I mean, how bad could it be???

One and a half miles with blisters on our feet... but we made it!  At at least it was pretty architecturally.  And look who we found at the end of the path... almost like a leprechaun with a pot of gold!  

As we took this lovely shot, Elvis made sure to whisper in my ear "I do this for tips".  Classy, Elvis, real Classy.

After going through the security line (where they really did turn people away for bringing backpacks), we started the journey to our seats.  We walked and walked and walked and limped and limped and almost got to the point of a crawl when we finally reached the top of LP Field.  Yes, the very tippy top.  We fell into a couple of seats and sighed with relief.  I'm not fond of heights and Mandie is 5'10" so her knees were in her chest but at least we had seats, right??

This was our view.  Thank goodness for zoom lenses and big screens. 

 I love Zac Brown Band on the radio and I've heard good things about seeing them live but I had no idea what a show we were in for!  This guy rocks the house!!!  I will be a forever fan.  And even better... he brings friends!  

Why yes, that IS Randy Travis!

And no, your eyes don't deceive you, that IS Alan Jackson!

Do yourself a favor if you've never given the Zac Brown Band a listen.  You won't regret it.  These boys will be around for a long time to come.  

This kid is Easton Corbin.  You might have heard his hit "I'm a Little More Country Than That".  About the time he came on stage Mandie and I mutually decided we'd be much happier watching from the main level even if we couldn't see much.  We excused ourselves as we crawled over our seatmates and started the long journey down.   We missed seeing Sara Evans as we walked but we could hear her just fine.  Same goes for Jason Aldean whose special guest was Kelly Clarkson.   I did however catch a pic of this guy...

Yeah, that's Ricky Skaggs.  Not a fan of the hair Ricky, but you still sounded good. 

Once we reached the main floor we spent the remainder of the time circling and hoping no one would ask us where we were supposed to be sitting.  Eventually we figured out that hundreds of others seemed to be doing the same.  The tiara got me a lot of birthday wishes and I truly felt like the Belle of the Ball.  The energy was amazing and everyone was just plain nice.  We enjoyed talking to lots of different people and at times even forgot there was a concert going on.

Brad Paisley ended the evening and put on a great show but he was a lot less personable than I imagined him to be.  I chalk it up to him only having so much time allotted to perform.  However he did bring out his own surprise guests... after all, he does have a song about them. 

Won't you play me some Mountain Music, Alabama?

Think we got our $115 worth yet?  Uh, yeah, and so much more!!!  After the music ended we had to hike across the footbridge again but just took it step by step.  Oh yeah, then we had to find our car.  That proved to be quite the challenge but at some point things looked familiar and we found the parking lot we had left what seemed like days ago.  Our plan was to spend the night with a friend who lived about 20 minutes outside of the city.  We gave her a call and she got us on the right road... the very dark road... to her house.  I think I white knuckled it the entire way.   We arrived there around 2am and within minutes were on the phone looking for a hotel in town that had shuttle service.  We learned a lot that first day and the the main lesson was it could have been a lot easier than it was go get around.  Thanks to hotels.com we found the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Opryland.   We were assured there was a shuttle to and from all the activities and booked a room.  I was very thankful my friend understood our reasoning and she was probably relieved we wouldn't be showing up every night at 2am.

This was us... about halfway down from the tippy top of LP Field.  We're still smiling.  Before we went to sleep that night we looked at each other and simultaneously said "there's still three more days of this!"

Dateline - Nashville, TN - CMA Music Fest 2011

 Everyone has a bucket list.  I never really called mine a bucket list until the term became so popular but at the top of it has always been "Attend Fan Fair (aka CMA Music Fest)".   This year the festival turned 40 and so did I.  I was destined to make the trip.   I put out an all points open invitation and my friend Mandie was brave enough to accept.  Neither of us knew exactly what to expect or how to really plan in advance but we researched the CMA Website  and made lists of who we absolutely had to see.  I also checked with a seasoned Fan Fair veteran and she gave me the following advice...  

 "Very important to look through all the information and decide what you "have" to do.. It is impossible to do everything. If you just play it by ear, you will probably miss something that you just have to do. And it will upset you then. So get as much information as you can get and plan your days.  Unless it has changed the schedules for the stars will only be posted at the booths in the exhibit hall. Write as much as you can and see how they will be running the lines. Sometimes they were by number pick-up or just first come, first serve. If you are in someone's fan club they usually have parties during the week also and this is a good way to get pictures and autographs. All of this has to be done during the same times as Music Fest(FanFair).

The most important part is pace yourself, because fatigue sets in by the end of the 2nd day.

And don't forget to attend some of the label concerts. They are wonderful and you can sit then. It is very tiring for the entire festival and you will go home that way, but worth every minute if you enjoy concerts and meeting people, which I know you do.
 

We counted down the days and on Thursday, June 9th, we set off for Music City!  We had a minor transportation blip in the morning and although it threw us off schedule, we were determined not to let it slow us down too much.  Its about a 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive from here and the miles faded away quickly.  Finally we could see Downtown Nashville!   Our GPS was broken but we just kept following the signs and eventually found all the action.  After paying $20 for parking at some lot way further away from the fun than we realized, we picked up our tickets and headed over to the Convention Center to see who we could see. 

After such a rough start we were very surprised to see Daryle Singletary standing there waiting to meet people with absolutely no line.  We walked right up, had a nice long chat with him and then took the first pic of the day.  A tad blurry but we were just thrilled to be there.

We saw Mark Wills signing autographs but his line was longer than we cared to stand in and there were several other opportunities during the weekend to meet him.  Besides, we had to get to Billy Dean's booth before that line got crazy. 

I have loved Billy Dean for years but especially since I saw him perform about 15 years ago here in Memphis.  That growly voice of his just kills me!  It doesn't hurt that he's incredibly handsome and sweet!   Meeting him was fabulous... he gave me a great big birthday hug and posed for pics. 

Yes, Fellow Cowgirls, you can be jealous now.  Very Very jealous. 

Our next celebrity encounter was completely by accident.  We passed the Kentucky Headhunters booth and realized the band was there... just hanging out.  Funniest group of guys you'll ever meet!  Mandie and I spent about 20 minutes talking to them and getting autographs and pictures.  We promised not to tell anyone they aren't really mean and redneck.  (Shhhh, its all part of the act.)  

 
Next to the Headhunters booth was the Grand Ole Opry Photo Booth where we met Billy... photo booth extraordinaire.   He invited us in, asked about the tiara, wished me a Happy Birthday and before we knew it we were behind the curtain documenting the moment.   Best part of the experience was Billy.  Second best part was the pictures were free.   No catch.   We decided we must make it a part of every day's experience.  I give you Day One
with fair warning that the pictures get sillier as the days pass by. 

Remember Bucky from American Idol? 
He's doing ok for himself. 

We thought about trying to meet cute little Kristin Chenoweth but her line was way too long.  I did however get the warm fuzzies watching her sign autographs for this disabled bunch.   She knelt down at each person and spoke to them at eye level. 

 It was right around this point we decided we should take the first self portrait of the weekend.  Say CHEESE! 

Next we met Bobby Dean... no relation to Billy Dean.  He and the other musician signing with him sang Happy Birthday to me and he gave me a birthday kiss but that pic is in Mandie's possession, not mine so you'll just have to believe me.  Here is documented proof of the moment afterward however.  That's one big hat. 

 

I'm sorry I don't remember this guy's last name...his first is Matt.  When I go back and dig through my autographs,

I'll edit the post with his correct info.  

Are you tired yet???  Our next surprise celeb was Lulu Roman of Hee Haw fame!  

I had just tried to explain Hee Haw to my husband, a native of WI.  Apparently they didn't have Hee Haw up there.  

Meeting her made me think of my Gramps... he would have loved that moment.  

We ended our time at the Convention Center where we started...hanging out with Daryl Singletary.  We found him shopping for boots and asked if we could take another pic in hopes of getting one not so blurry.  Like a good cowboy, he was happy to oblige.  

This may have ended our afternoon at the Convention Center but our day was just getting started.  However, that's a story for another day ... most likely tomorrow.  

Of Birthday Cake and Party Hats

In 9 days I will turn 40.  Birthdays have always been "big deals" in my family.  Whether you are turning 7 or 70 there will most likely be cards, presents, a big dinner, and most of the time an actual party - complete with pointy hats.   Most years I plan my own party and this is ok with me.  My hubby gets stressed out enough just trying to figure out what to buy for a gift so the whole party planning thing is way more than he can take.  I started a routine a few years ago where I invite all my girlfriends out for lunch or dinner and a chick flick.  I get time away from being a mom and just get to be Betsey for a few hours and spend some quality time with the girls.  But this year, I'm turning 40.  I really wanted a bigger celebration.  So, I decided that this was the year I would finally make it to Nashville's Fan Fair aka CMA Music Fest.  I leave this coming Thursday and can't wait for four days of meeting my favorite country music artists and back to back concerts.  I told Don this was present enough for me and that he was off the hook when it came to planning anything else.  He let me know that he at least wanted us to have a "date night", especially since we had yet to celebrate Valentine's Day or our April wedding anniversary.

So tonight I got all gussied up and ready for my sweet night out with my husband at some mysterious location.   He dropped the kids off at my mom's and we stopped by our church to pick up a coupon from a friend for the restaurant we were headed to.  In the back of my head I thought maybe, just maybe, some friends might surprise me and show up at dinner.  Never did I expect what really happened next.

We headed to an upstairs room in the church because that's where Corey, the friend with the "coupon", was working on sets for Vacation Bible School.   Don was in front of me and the church was mostly dark with only 2 cars in the parking lot.   He opened the door to the classroom and from there it was like a dream.   There was a sea of faces from all walks of my life. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. I saw my mom in her sparkly sequin shirt.  My girls ran up and gave me hugs.  I looked to the right and tried my best to take in who was there.  The greatest surprise came when I looked to my left and sitting behind a friend from church was my sweet best friend from high school, Kelli.   It was then that I felt the tears well up in my eyes.  She lives in Jackson, MS which is 4 hours from here.   She just happened to be in town this weekend to bring her kids up to see her mom and for her to carve time out for me in all of that was overwhelming.   My other high school Kelly was there too... on HER 40th birthday... she chose to spend it with me!  Wow!

There were photographers and I will anxiously await the appearance of incriminating pictures.   Normally I'm the one behind the camera so to entrust others to capture the moments is a big feat for me.

There was food and cake - two cakes! -  and even a chocolate chip cookie decorated with pink and purple icing.  There were balloons and party hats and a DJ (thank you sweet friend Corey!).   Oh, and of course I had a tiara (thanks Mom!!)  Oh and a hot pink Boa!  (Mom again!)    There were Hallmark cards, and non Hallmark cards, and messages written on pretty handmade cards (Mom!!!) and a beautiful box to keep them all in.

We did the Electric Slide, the Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle and the Boot Scootin Boogie.  We danced until we couldn't dance anymore.  I showed off moves I didn't know I had.  I danced with friends and I danced alone.  I danced with wild abandon for two hours straight.  My feet hurt but it was so worth it!  We sang at the top of our lungs with  MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice and Grease's Summer Lovin.  

Yes, we did the Chicken Dance! 

The only downside to a party like that is not having enough individual time with each person who took time out of their day to make my day special.  I know I hugged everyone in the room but I wish I had had the chance to visit more with everyone.  I'm overwhelmed and touched and just feeling really blessed.    I went out after the party with two sweet friends and dined on white cheese dip and guacamole and we dug through my box and read all of my "memory" cards.   I keep trying to think of a better word than overwhelmed but truly, that fits the best.  My mom always talks about "making a memory" and tonight we did just that.  I'll never forget this night for as long as I live and I can't wait to see what 40 brings next!!!