HEALING HANDS

I recently purchased a day at the spa for my little sister’s graduation present. I assumed this would be a great opportunity to relieve some of that stress she’s going to face now that she’s on her own, provide good quality time together, and of course give myself an excuse to pay a visit to the massage therapist.

That morning on my way to meet her, I fell down my two large concrete steps that lead to my driveway. I had my hands full when I took the plunge into the gravel drive. I had a large glass coffee mug filled with limeade, a glass bottled root beer, and a yogurt.

I’m still not quite sure what I fell on, but my best description is a large, white, soft shell… with slime under it similar to that of a slug. My flip-flop slid over it and I tried to brace myself by putting my other flip-flop on the second step…that’s when my left foot slipped on a pile of mud and I landed doggy style on the gravel driveway.

I tried to save myself with my full hands, which broke both glass containers in to my skin.
Somehow amongst the tumble, the root beer squirted out of the bottle and doused my hair. My hair was drenched, my hand was bleeding profusely, gravel was stuck in my kneecap, and the side of my shin was skinned like that of a carpet burn.

It was awful and humiliating, but fortunately no one was around to see. Deep inside I still wanted someone there to baby me. My hand wouldn’t stop bleeding and I thought I might need to pay a visit to the hospital.

I picked up the mess and bandaged myself up, then headed to meet my sis. The massage lady had to work around my fresh wounds, but informed me she may be able to help the healing process. About a half hour into the massage she stopped. I had my face down in the massage chair and couldn’t tell what had happened to her. I wondered if she fell asleep…I coughed a few times and made some quick body jerks to wake her. She then asked, “Can you feel that?” I couldn’t really feel anything except that her hand was near the backside of my cut knee… and that’s what I told her.

She then explained that she is blessed with a gift that not many people have, the gift of healing by touch. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this and honestly wanted her to get back to rubbing my lower back. It was an awkward moment that went into my hour massage time much longer than I would have liked.

After the time at the spa was over, I noticed the swelling was down on my knee and the rest of my body had recovered to an extensive degree.

Did God bless her with healing hands liked she believed or did that Neosporin work in super mode? What do you think? Have you ever had an experience with healing hands? If so what do think is so special about that person’s hand versus your own… or mine?

Invasion of the Mice!

When I moved from Mississippi back home, I packed my items in my fathers moving truck and left them there until I found a new house. I moved on such a short notice there was no time to house hunt.

I honestly didn’t think twice about my free storage unit, until the door was opened last week. My dad lives out in the boonies and apparently the mice decided to make the moving truck their home through those cold winter months.

Yes, I was disgusted and heart broken to see the mice had a hay day staking out their beds… in my couch, my old cabbage patch blanket, my drawers of clothes… and well you get the idea. Have you ever seen a mouse nest? They made quite a community for themselves amongst my stuff. There were nest of cotton for their sleeping quarters and hundreds of acorns scattered about from their dining experiences.

I am a thrifty girl and have a bad habbit of holding on to everything, but this time I had to break down and throw out half my items. In the end I guess it will only make life easier for moving, after all I have moved four times in the past two years.

Why is it so hard to let go of that concert ticket stub or that letter an exboyfriend wrote you ten years ago? I always think I am going to need that junk for something, but I seriously doubt I will actually be looking for that cabbage patch blanket anytime soon. It’s also time I realize that concert ticket is beyond invalid!

Promised Pictures…

My camera card if officially done, but I was able to salvage a few pics!

UNCLE DAVE MACON DAYS

CHRIS JANSEN at MERCY LOUNGE

Q-T at UNCLE DAVE MACON DAYS

FIREWORKS from WATERMARK

Guess I’ll Keep Waiting on Waits…

I have been a huge fan of Tom Waits for years and I have always wanted to see him perform live. He rarely tours this way, so I couldn’t believe it when I saw he was coming to the Ryman in August.

Unfortunately, he’s coming on a day that I planned to be in LA (on vacation). So… I quickly switched my flight home, cutting myself short two beach days! I knew Mr. Waits would be worth it! I paid the small flight switch fee and got online Friday morning to buy my concert tickets.

I figured the show would eventually sell out, but I had no idea it would sell out in 4 minutes! I don’t buy many concert tickets online, so I thought I was doing something wrong. I put in a call to the Ryman and the lady said to try buying just one ticket instead of two. I did and what do you know… there was one $80 ticket available, but for some reason I passed it up. I went back 30 seconds later to purchase it and it was gone! Yup gone and never to return!

I heard tickets were on sale for over a thousand dollars on ebay! That’s way out of my budget, but if you know where I can a more reasonably priced ticket let me know!

Uhhh…Now I want my beach days back!

Uncle Dave Macon Days

I recently made the trip to Murfreesboro for the 29th annual Uncle Dave Macon Days festival. I was a bit surprised at the fact that I went to school at MTSU and had never been to the festival. It was a hot day, but that didn’t stop the pickers from playing under the shade tree on the Cannonsburgh Village grounds.

I love any sort of music that supports grass roots music and obviously, bluegrass does. There were upright bases, fiddles, banjos, harmonicas and even a homemade washtub bass!

The music was everywhere, along with a fare amount of cloggers. Each clogger had their pice of wood laid on the ground beside the pickers and they were going at it! I wish I could shuffle my feet like that! There was a group of folks on Saturday that tried to convince me to give it a go, but my flip-flops weren’t going to have it.

It’s always great to sit back and watch a good down-home festival…there’s so much purity, fried foods, sweet drinks, and the friendliest people! More people came up to me at that festival to offer me praise and encouragement in my career. I heard some great stories and everyone was sure to mention where they reside (maybe they thought I’d say hi on the news). It’s good to know there are some kind hearted supporters out there.

The publicist was nothing but fantastic in helping me accomplish all aspects of my story. Unfortunately, I had some video problems and my “Motorless Parade” story didn’t make air. I owe an apology to all those kind folks that put on a fantastic performance for my camera. The viewers may not have seen it, but I sure fancied the show!

I promise pictures are still coming!

Dooh-dah-doo!

I love the harmonica! I grew a special appreciation for it while I was on the road with Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers (LSS).

I have always wanted to learn how to play an instrument. I have tried guitar, saxophone, and piano, but no luck. I can read music, which is a plus, but I have never taken enough time to sit down and really hone my skills. Four years ago I found myself spending an average of five hours a day in a van with JD, an extremely talented harmonica player.

He helped me pick out the right harp and turned me on to harmonica great, Slim Harpo. I tried and tried to play, but I don’t think I have the right lips for it!

I picked up the nickname harmonica girl and carried my shiny instrument in my back pocket all across the country. I even picked up a pee wee harmonica in Chicago and attached it to my key chain. Eventually we started selling harmonica’s of all colors at the LSS shows. It was great and I even perfected my “Dooh-Dah-Doo.”

I never thought of how much that sound probably drove the guys in the van crazy! Not once did they make me stop!

I got behind on my harmonica skills when I first started working at News 2 as an AP, but then I got a job in MS. I bought one of those Harmonica holders that look like a neck brace and practiced my harmonica every time I drove back and forth from MS to TN. Everyone looked at me on the Highway like I had lost my mind.

I eventually started pulling it out and playing it on my show, Good Morning Mississippi. I would play Happy Birthday to folks a lot. It was really more of a joke though. I lived in the heart of the Delta, where people were practically born with harmonicas in their mouths!

I saw so many talented blues players out there and fell in love with Deford Bailey. I haven’t heard many good harmonica players since I have been back in Nashville, but that recently changed!

I happened to be at the 12th and Porter show where Scott Weiland of STP jumped up and took over the Muzic Mafia night! Scott had me mesmerized, but then this kid Chris Janson got on stage and wailed on the harmonica!

Ever since that night, I have wanted to see his full performance. I didn’t know if he was just showing off to Scott or if he was really that good!

Come to find out he is dating my friend, Holly Williams and use to play down on broadway quite often!
Last week he played a gig at the Mercy Lounge that was phenomenal! He even pulled Holly up on stage and sang a song to her. How sweet!

Chris is in his young 20’s, but is able to pull out the deepest sounds in traditional country! I try not to compare bands to others, but he reminds me of the Mick Jagger meets Hank Williams Senior. He has rocker style, skinny legs, tight jeans and shakes the heck out of his hips!

Not only is Chris talented but you can tell he has a true passion for his music. I heard he jumped in his car about a year ago, and drove from some small farming community to music city to live out his dreams. It looks like the drive paid off!

Now if only I can convince him to teach me a few harmonica tricks!
“Doo-dah-doo!”

(Again I’ll have to post pics later)

The Big Bang

I wanted to go downtown and watch the fireworks this year. I even had plans with my pal Heather Byrd to hit Buffalo Billiards and watch the show from out back!

I did a few live shots and had some time to kill, so I went back home. It was so hot and humid that night! I contemplated my holiday options for a while, and decided I didn’t want to fight the downtown traffic and roadblocks.

Instead, I headed to Watermark for a private party on the roof. We weren’t really sure if we would be able to see the fireworks or not, but everyone took the risk. It’s hard to pass up a buffet of free food, desserts, and Sangria.

The show started right on the dot…9:09. Why I ask? Why not 9 or 9:30 or even 9:15? …9:09? Either way the show was right on with what the press release told us. Apparently another TV station decided to round off the time, leaving some viewers to miss the show.

Red, white, green, blue…and just about every other color lit up the sky! Our seats were great! It was a very romantic view.
I would imagine now that it’s confirmed the fireworks can be viewed from the gulch, that next year those seats may ne hard to come by. Does it really get any better than dinner under the fireworks with your sweetheart?

There was a downfall– we couldn’t hear the music! The symphony is one of the coolest parts of Music City’s Firework Spectacular! I remember when I was younger we could tune into a radio station and listen while watching. Does anyone know what station that was or if you can still do that?

After the show I went to Cabana. Surprisingly there weren’t many people there at all. The set up looked great though! All the lights inside the walls had been changed to red, white and blue and there was a band rocking the stage outside. The extra space out back in the alley was refreshing!

I ran into some of my girlfriends there and we went to a party down the road. The party had obviously started way earlier and everyone was beyond intoxicated at that point, so I decided to go ahead and call it an early night.

Hope your 4th was fabulous! I know Heather said I missed Keith and Nicole down outback of Buffalo Billiards. Random, huh?

I’m having trouble uploading pics! I’ll post them later.

Moving…

I am in the process of moving and haven’t had much time to blog. I have started several entries, but want to get pictures posted before I publish them.

I plan on wrapping the entries up this week! Stay tuned for post on Chris Jansen’s harp blowing show from the Mercy Lounge and a special Fathers day story I did at Bonnaroo.

I will be working over the Holiday, so I don’t have many plans. How about you..cooking out, going to the lake, setting off fireworks?
I am going to try and make it downtown for the firework extravaganza, but I need to find a good rooftop to view the show from. Any ideas?