Behind the Scenes: Nashville

For those of you still along for this crazy ride , I am now parked at a motel 10 minutes from the studio for the rest of my trip. Chrisanda: “Welcome to the Hilton.” Me: “I have three separate reservations. Sorry about that. I hope I don’t have to switch rooms three times.” Chrisanda: “No, […]

A piano in my guest room? Why yes, please. Best (working) vacation ever. Find something you love to do, people, and do it. Life is just too short not to.

That moment when your husband sends you a picture of one your favorite flowers in the yard to rub it in that you’re missing out on its spectacular beauty because you’re on the other side of the country doing a little recording. How spoiled am I that he took the time out of his crazy […]

Katrien: singing beautifully in the recording booth Dallas Jack: turns to me to say something about how amazing she sounds Me: holds up hand and says, “Don’t talk to me right now…I’m crying.”

Spent all day in the studio with this girl. Several years ago, I came to Nashville with a particular song that three other vocalists had backed out on for various reasons: death in the family, move out of state, and a scheduling conflict. I was ready to dump it, when the producer lined up Katrien […]

In my last post, I quoted Dolly Parton saying, “Find out who you are, and do it on purpose.” I have struggled for years trying to figure out who I am. Oh, sure, I know the obvious: I’m a wife and a mother. Those are easy and I embrace them fully. I also used to […]

After landing in Nashville yesterday, I had a 20-minute hiccup with my phone as I sat in my rental car. It simply would not go online to give me directions. The Alamo guy blames T-Mobile. Once I finally got it to work, I took a very circuitous route to my destination. Where did I end […]

I’m sitting here at Gate N5—proud of myself for getting here actually without getting lost —waiting for my flight to Nashville. I’ve got two hours to kill…that’s how smoothly everything went. I bought a water. (At least I stood on the right side of the counter this time.) That killed five minutes. Now I’m looking […]

Headed to the airport. Yes, again. (I was only home from Hawaii for one day.) Now, I’m off to Nashville to record a li’l music. This will be the first time I am going without my husband or my friend, Jacqueline Rae. I’m not gonna lie: I’m a bit freaked out to travel alone. Heck, […]

Before I flew out here to Nashville, I took 12 measures I wrote back in 2015, added words and some more measures, had Jennie help me rework the chorus lyrics, and followed her suggestion to change verse 4 into a bridge. Oh yeah, and together we came up with a better title than the one […]