Cowgirl with big dreams on her 4th birthday, Edmonton AB
More Nashville time 2005.
In February I signed up for Song Camp 101 sponsored by Nashville Songwriters Association International. Three days holed up at the Holiday Inn Vanderbilt with some of the finest writers in the country left me totally wrung out, but I went home with all kinds of inspiration and new techniques for tapping into my creativity.
Stayed at my friend LuAnn’s cabin near Belle Meade and felt totally safe with this guy keeping a constant eye on me.
Jaxon hanging out, June 2005
I managed to squeeze in a visit to the Frist Center for the Arts to see the famous show costumes made by rhinestone genius Manuel for the likes of Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash, Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton.
October was very inspiring. Wrote two new songs, worked on a couple of new demos with Fats Kaplin*and Bill Renfrew, and played the open mics at the Bluebird and the Hall of Fame Lounge. I only got out to one show, but it was a monster of a round: a not-to-be-missed NSAI fundraiser at the Bluebird with:
Bob Welch (“Hypnotized”)
Roger Cook (“I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”)
Jim Peterik (“Eye of the Tiger”)
Chas Sandford (“Missing You”)
The lovely Bekka Bramlett got up and blew the roof off the place before they were done. Wow! Mind. Blown.
Being the nerd that I am, I kept notes from that evening…
* Our paths would cross again years later when Fats joined the studio band at the Banff Centre Singer/Songwriter Residency in 2019. Good times!
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