Tickets for Toys Benefit Concert

On December 4th at 6:00 pm at Road Atlanta race track in Braselton, GA NASA-Southeast is hosting an event called Santa's Toy Run. This is a toy drive and fundraiser to benefit grant recipients from the Speedway Children's Charities, a non-profit organization devoted to the direct needs for children.

The Tickets for Toys Benefit Concert will feature local Artists. Ashley Harris, Ryan Casper, and Craig Gleason will be performing in support of this great cause. It will be a concert to remember as they play their way into your heart for the kids.

RADIO, RADIO, RADIO!

It’s true....radio is where it’s at!!! I have been song writing and performing professionally for more than ten years now, but nothing quite compares to hearing your hard work ring out over the air waves! When DJ Scott Lindy with 94.9 the Bull, Atlanta emailed me to let me know that ALRIGHT had been added to his local BACKYARD COUNTRY radio show, I was ecstatic to say the least! Then came the first night of air play. You’d think I would’ve thrown myself a huge listening party....but instead I simply wanted to have my husband and kids share in that moment. They’ve sacrificed a whole lot along the way supporting me so I can chase this crazy dream of mine....they more than anyone were deserving of accolades and praise!

So indulge me for a moment as I depict the first night of air play for you. It felt a little like Christmas morning....ya know, like when you’re sitting at the top of the stairs while your parents are racing around trying to set up the moment just right...while your palms are getting a little sweaty, your heart is racing and your stomach is full of butterfly’s? That’s how it felt to me waiting through the first 30 minutes of Scott Lindy’s one hour local artist radio show until my song finally played. We all gathered around in the family room as we listened....hanging on every word wondering, “Is my song up next?” I haven’t been that excited about anything since I was a little kid! Speaking of kids....our daughter Nicole was bouncing in her seat and ringing her hands until she finally called me over to her saying “Mom, come sit with me!” I moved over to sit with her on the coach....we both were holding on to each other so tight, bouncing in our seats. Our teenaged son Jacob, a little less affected by it all, agreed to stay present in the room, which I was grateful for, while our youngest son Christian now only 10, carefully worked on building his next Legos masterpiece. My husband sat in the “Captain’s” chair, remote in hand. We all stayed relatively calm until Scott Lindy broke the silence with “Our next artist comes to you from Roswell GA” and we were so psyched! We were on our feet, squeezing each other like were about to find out if we were the lucky winners of the million-dollar lottery or something! Total Oprah moment! Then Scott Lindy started talking about how great the song is and how “Everyone who walks past his office asks ‘WHO IS THAT?’ By that point we completely lost ALL control! I was jumping and screaming, my husband, launched into a deep single leg forward lunge yelling “YES!” sending us all dancing around the room before the music even began to roll....it was BETTER than Christmas! That moment will forever be frozen in my mind as one of the best moments of my life! Dancing with my husband and kids, while hearing my voice over the air waves...it just doesn’t get any better than that.

9/4/09 THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME

I was able to debut my new CD last last week at The Country Music Hall of Fame!!! I have to say it was pretty surreal to pull into VIP parking, and be escorted into the venue. I felt like such a rock star! When it was time for my sound check, the sound engineer accidentally played the real track to "Miracle In Me" and caught the audience a little off guard....including me. I was thinking, "Oh great!" now I've got to one up' my own recording!!!! YIKES! So, I started lipsyncing to the track to play down the moment and everyone laughed.....if nothing else, it helped me to relax! Overall, the performance went well...I hit all the notes, and didn't fall while stepping off the temporary stage..... which was divine intervention considering the crazy high healed shoes I was wearing! As I was told, CMT filmed the event. I wasn't scared though....and actually found it to be pretty darn fun! Just to explain a little about the event....I was invited by a wonderful woman, author and three time cancer survivor, Edie Hand www.ediehand.com to sing "Miracle In Me" at her book signing for her latest release, "The Soldier's Ride". My co-writers and I had pitched the song to Edie last fall for her upcoming Christmas special, which she ended up using, but in addition to that, she liked the song so much that she worked a line from the lyric into her story and then printed the entire lyric at the end. We were all so excited and flattered that she did that! In addition to promoting my new CD, and Edie's new book, we had several other performers there who payed tribute to Elvis since Edie was also cross promoting a book she co-wrote called "The Genuine Elvis". Really, really cool book! I had the time of my life and can't thank Edie Hand enough for affording me such a wonderful opportunity. If any of you would like to join me for the next run....mark your calendars for Nov 5th where I'll be singing at the Country Music Hall of Fame one more time to help promote Edie's book "The Soldier's Ride".