Saturday, August 21, 2010

Who did we meet?

While in Nashville we had many opportunities to meet different artists. We only met a handful but will meet a lot more when Jen and I go again next June.

We had already met Chuck at the softball game but wanted to say hi again at the fan club party. As we were headed to get in line we were stopped by Chuck's manager and were told to follow him. We went to a back room where the meet and greets were being held and we were going to meet Chuck before anyone else. We had about 10 minutes alone with Chuck! My favorite picture is the top picture. I wanted to hug him and he saw what Jen was doing and he helped hold my arm around his neck.



Watty and I met Lucas Hoge from the show Last Chance Highway on Animal Planet. Lucas is also a singer. As you can see Watty loved meeting him!

Chris Young and I

The day Rascal Flatts was to perform they had sound check earlier that morning. We found out when it was and went to listen and possibly catch the guys heading to their bus afterword. We were waiting and the first Flatt we spotted was Chank, the fiddle player, coming out of the tunnel. He stopped and waited for us to get to him after he rounded the fence. What was funny was we told Watty lets go say hi to Chank and he took off at a run to Chank. Watty has NEVER met Chank before and we were stunned! Chank said he would take a picture with just Watty. Watty is the unofficial mascot of the Flatts :P. As Chank was standing up Watty went to move and I have no clue what Chank did because I didn't see or hear him do/say anything to Watty but he went straight into a sit and waited to be handed back to me. Jen said she heard him use like a clicking sound. After that encounter Watty and Chank are buddies.

Joe Don, Jay and I

Gary, Watty and I
Rascal Flatts had a signing that we headed to but when we got to the venue where they were my chair blew a fuse while we were unloading me and we weren't able to get in line. We had to find a wheelchair shop on a Saturday in a town we weren't familiar with. God had us in his hands and we found a shop. While we were waiting for the on call tech to come one of the techs that work on the chairs showed up. We got me out of the chair and were blessed again by the guys having the correct part in the shop and not charging us a fee at all. By the time we got to the venue the line was out the door and they weren't letting anyone else in line. We got close enough to the line to be able to sit there and watch the guys sign autographs and get pictures taken. We asked a lady in line if she wouldn't mind asking Jay to wave to me after her meet & greet. She agreed and I wasn't expecting anything really. After her meet and greet she asked Jay to wave to me and he found me, waved and said hey baby and waved again. A few minutes later a lady walked up and told me to come with her, so Jen and I followed her to a staging area and sat there. All of a sudden Jay, Joe Don, and Gary come walking through the door. First words out of Jay's mouth was "I heard you had some problems with your chair. I'm glad you were able to get it fixed."

Zach & Josh Carter

James & Jody of Fast Ryde

Micheal, Leslie & Scott of The Hearters

Jen & I with Bryan, Ryan, Jim, & Adam of Adam Craig Band

We met Josh Turner at his fan club party. He was happy to take a picture with Watty but Watty didn't want to cooperate. By this time of the week he was tired and ready to head home even though we had a few more days left before we were to head home.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Fan Club Parties

We went to 2 fan club parties and a benefit concert with up and coming artists. I am adding the benefit in here because it was sort of a fan club party. We went to Chuck Wicks and Josh Turner's fan club parties.

Chuck Wicks party also had Kate and Kacey, Jordyn Shellhart, and 1 other artist. It was at 2nd Street Live and there were about 300 people there. It was a tiny venue for that many people and it was HOT!!! We got there kinda late so we were in the back of the crowd. I could barely see but that was okay because I had a surprise later! We put glow bracelets on Watty's harness so people would see him and not step on him. Glow bracelets work GREAT at concerts and dark places where there is going to be a lot of people. Jordyn was good and so was the other artist(I don't remember her name). Chuck was awesome. He puts on a great show even tho it felt like we were an oven and he had to take one of his shirts off. HE HE HE! After the artists were through with their set they went to the back of the venue to sign autographs, meet, and take pictures with the fans. I kinda felt sorry for Kate and Kacey because after Chuck's set everyone went to get in line for Chuck. Some people did stay for Kate and Kacey but most people seemed to be there for Chuck.
Jordyn Shellhart

Chuck Wicks

We also went to Josh Turner's fan club party. His party was at the Cannery. It was a nice venue for the size of his fan club. They gave us breakfast before he came out. We decided not to eat breakfast because the line was so long and we were sitting in chairs so it would be hard for Jen to feed me. When it was close to time for Josh to come out they said we could move closer to the stage. We jumped at the chance and when we got up there I was surprised at how close I got because I thought I'd be a few people back but we were almost at the stage. One person was in front of me!!! I could see!!!!! Josh played some of his songs and took questions from the fans which was pretty cool. He also introduced us to an acappella group from MSU that sang a few songs. They were awesome. They make their own music too. AWESOME group. Josh even joined in on his song Would You Go With Me. After Josh performed we got to meet him and have some ice cream. It was yummy.
We had tickets for a benefit concert to help the Nashville food bank that we went to. The benefit was at The Rutledge. I loved that venue! There were maybe 75 people at the venue so it was a small and intimate setting. The bands that played were ones that are either just starting out or aren't well known. The Bands that were there were Adam Craig Band(formerly known as Telluride), Fast Ryde, Carter Twins, The Harters, Mallory Hope, Thomson Square and two others I don't remember. The way the venue is sat up we sat about 2 feet away from the stage. Adam Craig Band was warming up when we got there and started to play. After they played for a little bit Adam saw Watty and asked what his name was. I obliged and said his name is Watkins. I was shocked when Adam said "Like Watkins Glen?" He is the ONLY person I have met so far that knew Watkins Glen. When Adam said Watkins name Watty looked at him and Adam stated that that was awkward lol. One time between sets Watty stood up and headed to the stage. He had been asleep so we didn't have a hold of his leash. It was kind of funny like he wanted to participate and sing too. During the benefit they had door prizes and we walked out with a boat load of stuff.
Adam Craig Band

Adam Craig

Jim Hendrix
(Yes that IS his name)

Brian Smith

Thompson Square

The Harters guitar. Jen and I loved the guitar's pick guard.

The Harters
Brother/Sister group
Awesome harmonies

Scott

Leslie

Micheal

Fast Ryde
Jody(standing) & James(sitting)
During their set James was flirting with me the whole time. Afterwords he came down and handed me the guitar pick he used during the set. I was floored and smitten. :)