Ok, so I got behind and missed five days. It's hard to find time to write, because I hardly spend any time in my room doing anything other than getting ready to leave or getting ready to sleep, and I haven't really tried write entries using my phone.
The last five days have been good. Maybe not every moment, but there have definitely been some good points. I've gotten to meet several artists and get some autographs and pictures. The Billboard Country Music Summit, which took place Monday and Tuesday, was a big part of that. It was a cool event overall, but as far as cool people that I got to meet and see there, I got to meet Luke Bryan, Thompson Square, Dwight Yoakam, Andy Gibson, Katie Armiger, and Rachele Lynae. I also got to meet some hit songwriters such as Bob DiPiero, Jim Beavers, and Victoria Shaw. I also go to see, but did not meet, Willie Nelson. Outside of the Summit, I got to meet Craig Morgan, Glen Templeton, Sarah Darling (second time I've met her), and Due West; I met all of them on Thursday at an event at a restaurant/bar called Tin Roof.
On Thursday I had a meeting with a friend of mine named Steve who works in the music business here. I met him initially through NSAI when he came to L.A. and did a workshop with NSAI's L.A. regional chapter. I then did a couple one-on-one sessions with him the next week while he was still in L.A., at which time he told me that when I came to Nashville he would try to take me to observe a demo session so I could see what it's like. Well, I followed him up on that offer and contacted him last Friday, and we later set a meeting time for Thursday. We went to a couple studios where I observed some work being done, one with recording a vocal and one with recording an instrument. He also pointed out several different places of interest around town as we were driving. But the highlight was the first place he took me, which was to the studio where Garth Brooks and several other artists have recorded. I saw Garth's CDs on the walls and got a tour of the studio, and even got to take pictures with the equipment, some of which was used to make Garth's albums. That was really cool. It was so nice of Steve to take two hours out of his day to take me and show me all these places and introduce me to the people there. He's a very nice man.
I've spent a lot of time over the past several days with my friends who I met here a couple nights into my trip. These are the same friends I mentioned in a previous post who I met at Tootsie's the second night I sang with Scott Collier, right after I got done singing. They are very nice people. They've continued to invite me to hang out with them all the time and they care about me and enjoy my company. I'm blessed to have met them, and they might be the best thing that's happened to me on this trip, because they've provided me with companionship and a group of people to hang out with, so I don't have to go around alone every day trying to meet new people. They are a little bit different than me perhaps. A little older, and more on the liberal side maybe, whereas I'm more conservative. But I'm willing to overlook those differences, and I do enjoy hanging out with them, and they are certainly very nice people. One cool thing I got to do with them was go to a private birthday party, last Sunday I think it was. The party was for a singer/songwriter named John Stone. This isn't the same Jon Stone I mentioned in a previous entry. That's the songwriter Jon Stone. Though as it turns out, the two of them, as well as Scott Collier, are friends. I've gotten to meet several people through these friends of mine, including some pretty important people. My friends seem to know a lot of people in this town, including a lot of very attractive female bartenders (and there are several other female bartenders that maybe they don't know who are also very attractive; there are a lot of attractive girls working in this town). But I've also met some new people on my own, such as Scott Collier, and a girl named Hannah who I met at Loser's (a bar I've mentioned previously) after she saw me dancing at Swingin' Doors (another previously mentioned bar). I've also ran into some people who remember me from being here last year. A few nights ago I ran into a group of guys who remembered me, but whom I unfortunately had no recollection of. And the night before that, I ran into a couple girls who I met last year while participating in a line dance competition for Gloriana's music video. These girls are really pretty, and they're from Macon, Georgia, which I love, because that's a southern state and it's Jason Aldean's hometown and I love referring to them (though not that they know of) as Georgia peaches (I like doing that mostly because of the Lauren Alaina song). I found out that one of them is married, as I met her husband when I ran into them. The other I do not know her relationship status, but I hope she's single. I exchanged numbers with her as a way to stay in touch with them during the week. I haven't met up with them again yet but I have texted with her a little bit. Hopefully I'll get to see them again before the end of the trip.
I've also gotten to see some good music these last several days. There have been some good bands at some of the bars I've been to, and now that the festival is in full gear, there are stages set up and live music going all day into the night, with acts on the daytime stages ranging from up and coming acts to well known level two touring acts (i.e., not headline acts but acts that open for or have the middle spot on three-band tours, e.g., David Nail), and headline acts at night in LP Field, the football stadium and home to the Tennessee Titans. I also went to a concert on Tuesday at the Grand Ole Opry, where I got to see Carrie Underwood and several other artists perform. Later in the week I found out that Luke Bryan is going to be playing there next Tuesday with Craig Morgan and others, so I went and bought a ticket for it, as well as a ticket for a backstage tour right before the show starts. That should all be a fun time.
Another cool thing I did just this morning, and which I did not do last year when I came, was go to the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge. It was cool. I got to see country stars like Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, and Scotty McCreery play softball alongside other celerities, mostly consisting of country artists and some professional football players from the Tennessee Titans.
So now I'm about caught up. Hopefully I can somewhat stay on track with these for the rest of the trip.
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