The Blur…..

Hey y’all!!! I have been totally slack again in keeping you updated but I said I was going to stop apologizing for that….Let’s jump right in. So, I went up to the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area to do a show. But before the show, I had to go to WPFW 89.3 FM to do an interview with the one and only Dr. Nick! The traffic is TERRIBLE when you get close to Alexandria VA. Being new to the area I didn’t prepare for that slow down. AND I put the wrong address for the radio station in my GPS and ended up on the other side of DC before I realized I was in the wrong place. Needless to say, I was running late. I was supposed to get to the station around 2:00 pm but I ended up getting there at about 2:45.  So, I was completely flustered when I first got there but I quickly calmed down once I saw the smile on Dr. Nick’s face. It was so nice to see him again. He is always a lot of fun! I also met Lady C who is quite nice as well.

The interview went well, we talked about my music, particularly my song “That Actright”. The song was written by Mike Darden, a producer out of Mississippi and got me nominated in 3 categories for the 10th Annual Southern Soul Music Awards…Best Club Song, Best Debut and Best Female Vocalist! I didn’t win but WHO CARES??? To be nominated alongside the greats in the industry was reward enough!  We also talked about my new manager, DJ Heavy, and how I got started, where I’m from, etc…. and just like THAT my live radio interview cherry was popped and I’m glad Dr. Nick was the one to do it! LOL Here are some pics from my visit!

So, after the interview, it was back to the traffic to get to the hotel. I swear, I must just be country as hell! I just cannot seem to get used to a lot of traffic! It stresses me the hell out. I’ll have to work on that since I KNOW I’m about to start traveling a lot more. Anyway, I get to the room and as I start to get ready for the show that evening, I hear a knock on the door…I say “Who is it?” and all I hear is children laughing. So, I said to myself that maybe they had the wrong room.  Then about 10 minutes later, it happened again….They were PRANKING ME… Now, I’m already stressed so I was plotting to strangle the little rascals BUT since I didn’t want to catch a case in Maryland, I thought it would be better to just change rooms.

Fast forward to the show….

I get to Lamont’s and it was pretty much like I thought it would be. I had heard a lot about it from other people so I had a good picture of it in my mind. It really is a down home country kind of place. It’s a big juke joint. That is NOT a complaint but a compliment! I felt right at home.  So, when Dr. Nick introduced me, the audience received me very warmly because it seemed that they all heard the interview from earlier that day! I was up first and I did a pretty good show. I say pretty good because I was not very happy with it but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. I’m still not very good at doing shows with a music track. This is yet another thing that I have to work on. But I did well enough that I was told I will be invited back. Next time, hopefully I can bring the band.

I also made another great contact. I was introduced to Pamela Boone who writes the Southern Soul Paradise Blog. She interviewed me after my set and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. I can’t wait to see what she writes about me on her blog! So, that was two interviews in one day! I’m still just overwhelmed that I’m doing interviews…LIKE A REAL CELEBRITY!!!

Shay Denise was up next and she killed it! I had seen her perform before but this time was different! This time she was out there on her own and she did a great show. J. Red was great and so was the Rise Band!

Anyway, I ended up staying pretty late. After I ate a few chicken wings (Yes, they fry chicken there like any respectable juke joint!) I went back to the room to sleep.

The next morning I checked out a little late. The front desk called me and asked when I was checking out! That’s how much fun I had…So, I hit the road around 12:00 headed back to NC to my manager’s birthday party!

No rest for the weary…After being on the road for a little over 4 hours, I was tired when I got there. After about 30 minutes, tired was GONE! I was in party mode again. AJ the DJ was playing really great music, I was taking shots of Fireball and before I knew it, I was on the dance floor! There was live entertainment by Tony Chambers, a really good saxophone player and singer. He did a couple of instrumentals on the sax and sang a couple songs. That was fun to watch. And I DID NOT come there to perform, I promise! But as the Fireball started talking to me, it said “You know you have your tracks with you. Sing something for Heavy! So, this happened.

Totally impromptu!!! But the folks enjoyed it. And I actually think I did better there than at Lamont’s! At least it felt like it. It was probably the Fireball in my blood….Yeah it was! EVERYTHING about this party was great, the food, the music, the people, the atmosphere…I always have a great time when I go to the Hawg Pen anyway. AND I will be performing there on April 16th with the band!

So after ALL of this, yesterday, I had to get up and do a photo shoot with the band. I did NOT want to get out of the bed but it was already planned. Something went wrong with the photographer that we were supposed to use so I had to find someone to do the pictures THAT day since we were all together. So, I went to my computer and googled local photographers. I found this guy Photography by Allen. He agreed to bring us in at @ 2:00 and I had just called him @12:30! I had no ideal what I was walking into. I had never worked with him, never met him, NOTHING. But for some reason, when I do things on a whim they usually work out. This was no different. He has the photography studio in his home so the boys and I went there and he was so very friendly. His wife was very friendly as well. We were in and out within an hour with some really great pics. The price was reasonable too. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the results. Check us out.

After that was over, I went home and crashed! I stayed in bed for the rest of the day. That was some well deserved rest. I was so tired, I actually couldn’t see well. Hence the title of this post…THE BLUR! This is why I’m JUST getting to this today. I just didn’t have the energy to write it yesterday! I hope you enjoyed reading this and again THANKS for your support. Keep listening.