Private ZBB party in Nashville at Limelight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyLalU2JI8k


James David Carter!!! Smiths Old Bar July 7, 2010.

My friend is dating this gentleman so that is how I got turned on to him. He is fantastic and a gifted musician. I saw him at Smiths Old Bar a couple months ago I think it was and couldn't wait to see him again. This time I took bestie and another friend met up with us. Also I met Nicki and her friends there. Love her. JDC's parents were there which was cool. He sang a song he wrote for his mom and she was in tears so that was sweet. The room had a decent crowd and everyone seemed really interested in him. Brandon Perry Band opened up. I only heard a couple of his. He is good too. I know of him due to us having mutual friends. He knows most of Zac's camp. So that was cool to see him. Had I known he was going to be there I would have gone earlier!So anyway the crowd was fine, not too many talkers or obnoxious folks. Just a group of people who wanted to hear good music. It was soooo hot in there. Every time I go there I think I need to wear less clothes next time!! It is just so flippin hot upstairs. We did eat dinner there before the show. Smith's needs a few more selections I think but oh well. It was fine. The girl can make a firefly tea awesome. Thanks for that!!

Ok I know this a little disjointed.....I am going crazy with kids this summer. All they do is fight and they are doing it just now. I can only tune out so much.
Also all they do is scream. Not cool.

Charleston and Nashville Zamily Reunion

So after my birthday (memorial day) we have a family beach trip planned. It is in Myrtle Beach. A while back we noticed a ZBB Charleston date for the day we were travelling. We looked at each other and said "Charleston is on the way to Myrtle Beach" and then we knew we were going!!! So we bought tickets and then asked if it would be ok! I wasn't sure if the in laws and BKO would dig us stopping in Charleston and leaving them with my kids and Ian for the rest of the drive up and first afternoon at the beachhouse. It is kind of a lot. But Sherrill said it would be no problem. YES!!! I was a little worried but she re assured me it would be fine. So the day comes and we are only in the car like 2 hours from the lake when we veer off our own way. Wouldn't you know Julianna chooses to pull her clinginess card. It was awful and almost made me cry. But she was fine. So we get to Charleston almost in time to report for street team duty. We meet more friends! YAY. Also this time CJ from Jeckyll Island is there. Such a sweet man. Will have to use that connection some time. He and his wife have a restaurant and he does vacation rentals!! oh yea. So we hand out dog tags again. Fun! Eat and Greet was a tad crazy and so unbelievably hot. aliesha couldn't even eat she was so hot she was sick. Also it was weird but they had 2 places to eat in so we didn't even see the band. I was very sad about that. I did hug Sonia. Also we chatted with Rusty for a few. It was his birthday and we took him a gift. he loved it! It was a LSU tervis tumbler. Rusty is the chef by the way. He knows Aliesha and I. I still can't believe how hot it was.
This time our seats were on teh 6th row. boo. Spoiled I tell ya. This show was on the clay tennis courts. So our purses and shoes were a mess. It was a fun show. Loved the atmosphere except for the drunks that just decided to make the aisle by me their new "seats". I was like get out of my space. The ushers were useless there.
A storm was brewing that night but it never poured on us, thankfully. Clay rocked out his solo. It is my favorite song they play live, "Who Knows". I love love love it live. After the show we did the signing, so I got my DVD signed. Last big thing I wanted signed. Rusty wanted us to come celebrate but security wouldn't let us back. I sent him a message after the show but he didn't get it until morning. he wrote back looked like when he woke up saying he wondered about us. Oh well. We just need a different pass!!

People ask me all the time, does it get old? NEVER. It is magic. I get excited every time I am about to see them. Then I am singing, dancing, cheering the whole time. It is so fun and I love it.

More on Nashville Zamily Reunion later. That was crazy.

More catching up to do

I swear I gotta get with the program.Since April we have seen more concerts. Are you suprised??

Let me think.....

James David Carter. OMG. He is dating a friend of mine and that is how I came to know him. He is a great songwriter and well known. He made a name for himself in the christian circuit singing at churches and such. I have seen a view you tube videos o of that and he is good at that. His soul shines through. He is even better as his own though singing about what he feels. It really comes right through his music. Take a listen!! I saw him at Smith's Old Bar. I left 30 min before the show and arrived right at 9:30. Good thing musicians are NEVER on time. He wasn't too late though. So I found my girl and we sat and listened. We were in the back sitting on some steps. Toward the end we moved right up front to an available table. He was able to sing a song he wrote for her and it was special. Holly Williams was next. She is the daughter of Hank Williams Jr!! She has some talent and was interesting to hear her stories. I only stayed for 2 songs because it was late. I did go by myself and that was a little unnerving to do but I am woman hear me roar! lol....

ZBB!!! They had a special homecoming concert the weekend of Mothers Day. That was my gift. tickets to both shows. This is the only time BKO has been ticky about me going to a show. I really wanted to be there so I chose to go anyway. He just thought Mothers Day would be different in his mind. I will tell you it has been my favorite one so far!!! We had front tow tickets to both shows. OMG. I am so spoiled. My favorite band ever,front row. Our friend Jo was taking pics of the band and even snapped some of Aliesha and I. She had a media pass to get where she wanted. We did eat and greet before the shows. It was ok. This was the biggest eat and greet ever. I guess because they were "home". It was just too big and was lacking that personal touch. Our friend T Bird says she hates shows at home because everyone wants a piece of them. And this dentist who treated zac when he was a kid wants a backstage pass and this sisters friend just has to be there, etc etc!! I never thought about that before!! I can see where it would be a headache. So you could see the stress on the crew a little bit.
Some of our out of town Zamily were there. The Zamily is the fan club. I love these people!! We chat on the forums and FB. I have really gotten to know some of them well. I was so excited to see Gov.Ken from KY and Belynda his lady. Also Tim and Dodie from TN. Such fun!!! Then Sunday night we met Kim from I think Missouri. We actually took her crew back to their hotel. Good times!!! I love meeting people. Just making new friends and experiencing life together. This band has brought me new friends. Love it!
So we worked these shows. That means we handed out stuff that ZBB wanted to make sure every concert goer received. This time it was dog tags and a passport. The dog tags go along with the new Letters for Lyrics campaign. That is so awesome in itself! If you write a letter for a soldier then you get a free cd! easy peasy! The songs on it are wonderful. Zac's goal is one million letters. I really hope he makes it! The passport was a genius of an idea from someone in marketing. If you spend enough in merchandise purchases you get it stamped and can then go in the autograph line at the end of the show. Because it was home they raised the price to $100 you had to spend! The line was enormous!!! That really didn't go as planned. They hoped the line would have been a little shorter. I can imagine it is hard to do a 3 1/2 hour show and then do autogrpahs for 3 more hours after the show. Well now they are no longer doing it. The Charleston show in June was supposed to be last one. I am not 100% on the accuracy of it. But it had to come to an end at some point. I can't even imagine how tired they are.
ok back to Atlanta. The shows were in Roswell at verizon. I love that place for a show. It is very close to home too. But the sound is nice and it is easy to find your way around in. Also the seats are covered in the event of a sprinkle.
They were rocking. I liked the energy at the shows. Sunday was more calm than Saturday. I just didn't want to sit down. I was rockin it out. I am going to have to make another post about the music after I take time to sit and think about it all again.
After the show was crazy. We had our after show passes but security was nuts. Also they took FOREVER. I think again because they were home a lot of vips were in there. I know we knew one guy with a vip but he took 6 people back with him. Kind of abusing it I think. So imagine if they all did that? So finally we go back. Clay is like "so how long did it take you this time to get to the show" we are like 15 min! Chris asks me about the cruise. I tell him no and he is about to get on my phone to call BKO!!! OMG I wished he would have. But security was pressing them for time. So yes they do know Aliesha and I. Sonia knows us as well. I love her. So talented and so sweet. I am so glad I have most all my things signed I want.
It was such a good time, these shows. We sat with LEvi's wife both nights. She is a hoot.

Ok then my birthday! Gary and The Heartwells play Wild Bills and we get in for free. Brandon went with us. I was glad he actually came. he likes their songs (he used to zbb too ) So we were right up front for that. It was good. We did leave after them. We didn't stay for Chris Young. Gary is a sweetie. I enjoy talking to him. I think BKO believes me know when I say we know them! He came up to me first and talked!

Smoke on the Water

In April Aliesha and I attended the Smoke on the Water BBQ festival. It was a haul. Thomaston, GA is not around the corner from us. Originally we were going to bring the kiddos with us and be there all day. I am glad we changed our minds. It was hot!!! And they would have gotten tired. The shows were running sooooo late. It was very annoying. The lack of respect for people's time is aggravating. So before we go we have to stop by the Mazda dealership. Aliesha had just got her new suv. Well the passenger door (mine) wouldn't open from the inside! So Aliesha was having to open my door like she was my driver or something. or worse people would think she was like my "lover" or something opening the door for me and all. LOL So we had to stop there in Marietta for them to work on it. We waited probably an hour and then they couldn't fix it. Turns out the window tinters screwed it up and they would have to fix it. So off we go. Ok once we get to Thomaston GPS takes us down a road that is closed to through traffic. So then we make another turn and end up going down dirt and gravel roads and what looks like personal driveways. FREAKING OUT!!! I thought we would get shot in spot in particular. Crazy. FINALLY We arrive at the festival just in time for the awards to be announced!There went our dinner plans. I didn't know what bbq to eat and alot of them were packing up stuff. So Aliesha grabs us a hot dog. Then we couldn't find friends there we wanted to see. Finally I see them. Right up FRONT. She tells us to come on. So we take all of our junk down there ticking people off. Some people behind us actually moved since we had chairs and they had a blanket. I did feel bad about that. Music was supposed to start at 6 or 7. It didn't. We just hang out. Finally Sonia Leigh arrives!!! WOO. I finally get to go say hi. ahhh. Love that woman. She is so talented. Levi Lowrey is there and Barry Waldrep who we wanted to see as well. Barry performed with his own bluegrass group. They were real foot stompers. I didn't know he could sing. It was nice to hear him. Levi rocked. I am learning to like him more as I see him. He is hard to get to know. I never know what to say to him and he doesn't keep a conversation going easily. I am working on it though. I met his wife. She is cool. Also met a new friend Shana there. She is sweet and like best friends with Levi and Stephanie. Aliesha couldn't wait to see Coy Bowles! He is a local to that area and all his hometown folks were there and proud! I would call him the star but he didn't headline the show, Sonia did. He played for a while with this band, The Fellowship. They are sooo good. Sax players really make the sound. Then as he was playing he had Barry, Levi, and Sonia up with him as well. It was so fun to watch him be in charge and in the spotlight. When is with ZBB he isn't front and center. (duh) but he has great skills as a musician.
It was a LATE night. I think I got back to my parents at 3 in the morning. We were so tired getting home. I start talking nonsense when I am up too late and trying not to fall asleep. who knows what I babbled about and if Aliesha says I will kill her. ;)
CAn't wait to see the line up for next year. And next year we will get a hotel room OR camp. I am so prissy I don't know if that will happen or not but it sure would be convienient. They offer it and it is like $10.

ok gonna try this again

I can't seem to get into blogging. I really like to twitter too much. It is quick and simple. Then I stay in touch with my peeps on FB.

THinking I am changing my blog around. Think I will chronicle the shows I go to. Should be fun to write about since music is my passion......

Will start soon!! Gonna have to go back and do thoughts about past shows.

Last night was da bomb in Thomaston, GA. Coy, Levi, and Sonia. A perfect night.