Michael and I have decided to try to be ahead of the game today, and we spent all day and evening packing up the car in preparation for our trip across country to the northwest, even though we don't leave for another 24 hours. We plan on playing our D'Agostino's gig from 7-10pm, then breaking down and getting a couple of hours of driving in before we snuggle up in our comfy little car seats (yeah right) for a nap.

Our itinerary is to get to KC by 1 or 2 am Sunday, sleep for a few hours, then get up and drive all the way to Denver Colorado by Sunday evening. We then plan to head up north, passing through much of the southwest corner of Wyoming and to Idaho Falls on the next day. Our last day will be a long haul through southern Isaho, over into Oregon, then straight northwest to Seattle.

Great things are going to happen while we are in Seattle, including a gig at a new venue called See Sound Lounge. The gig might be filmed by an indy filmmaker there, who would then cut and splice pieces of an interview with me to be used as DVD footage on the Nashville CD.

Belltown was also recently contacted by a publicist who's going to come out to the show and meet with me. Some of the band members and I were talking the other day about the fact that I have a booking agent and everything else, but I really need a publicist! So perhaps this will work out. Apparently this woman has lived in LA and Nashville, and deals heavily with radio promotion, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

I will also be thrilled to see family and friends, some whom I haven't seen in years. We will also be attending my high school reunion, and it will be interesting to see what has happened with everyone in the intervening years. We also intend to enjoy the drive as much as possible, seeing some landmarks, some quirky roadside attractions like the biggest ball of twine, and whatever else floats our boat.

Then we will race home for what may prove to be one of our most exciting gigs: playing on Faurot Field for the pre-fireworks show on the Fourth of July. We can't wait to play where the Rolling Stones did... :)

So much has been going on lately that I haven't been good about writing blogger updates. But now that I have a minute, I'm going to write about all the great, exciting news that has come up of late. First of all, I am looking forward to a great string of gigs we have in the Columbia area through the summer. My incredible booking agent, Jane Accurso, has managed to book us in all the great festivals. The first is Art in the Park, June 5th, and we play at 1pm. The second, and one of the most exciting, is that we were invited to play for the 4th of July fireworks festival on Faurot Field in the Hearnes Stadium. The other band playing will be Del Alma, and our show will be followed by the symphony playing along with the fireworks show. Should be an awesome event! Also, on September 9th, during the second Twilight Festival month, we will be playing the mainstage on the courthouse aquare, another thing we've been really looking forward to.

The Nashville project continues to plod along. After a whirlwind rush of activity, I'm a little dismayed by how long these final steps are taking, quite honestly, simply because while I know everyone involved is doing their best job, and has my best interests in mind, I'm a 'let's get it done NOW!' kind of person, and I have no control over other people's timelines. So, I wait. But it's going to be something I am SO very proud of when it's finished, hopefully ready for radio play on commercial, college, and community radio, and ready to try to attract labels and investors. The band has heard the demo and we've decided to work up live versions of the Nashville sessions. Lately we are playing more festival and showcase type gigs, which don't last for 4 hours like the bar gigs we 'grew up' on, so we don't need to stretch everything out to 10 minutes. This way we will give the audience a little more 'bang for the buck' at a shorter show.

We've been discussing what steps to take once the Nashville demo is completed and besides the huge radio campaign, we will be creating a multi-pronged approach to inform press, having several CD release parties in different cities, researching distribution and on and on and on and on and on.

Michael and I are most looking forward to our trip out to Seattle this summer! We are going to have time for one performance amongst all the other things we have scheduled to do, at Seattle's See Sound lounge. It will be great to meet with all the Belltown execs, and see family and homestead all at the same time.

Have a great summer, and I will check in from time to time...

Well, this is the second time I've attempted to publish today's blog, so if it shows up twice, I do apologize. My first attempt doesn't seem to have made it to the website. This past weekend we had a great whirlwind trip to Chicago to play for my brother-in-law's surprise 30th birthday party. It was at a small southside bar called Paddy B's. We wish we could have taken the entire band, but since the bar was so small it was just Michael, myself, our other acoustic guitarist BA, and harmonica player Matt. We woke up early Saturday morning to drive to Chicago, and we got to the bar at 6pm, set up, and played until nearly 1am. We can't quite decide if it was more fun to play the music, or to ride up and back together, teasing each other the entire time, stuffing our faces with Krispy Kreme donuts and hoping to stay awake on only a few hours of sleep. We had a great brainstorming session on the way back...ideas for where we'd like to play next, what I should call the Nashville project, etc. These are the times I will remember.

Because I was asked several times, I thought I'd explain why the Hilary Scott Band didn't play the Columbia Earth Day festival this year. Our band was invited to participate by the Earth Day committee, and we had planned on performing, until several weeks before the event I was reminded of a prior commitment of mine, the date of which had been unknown to me when I accepted the Earth Day gig. So, I had to cancel Earth Day, unfortunately, and then what I WAS going to do was altered because of another occurence within my family, and I went out of town for a different reason. So, I didn't even get to attend Earth Day, but caught part of it on KOPN towards the evening. It sounds like it was a great event with good tunes, which is nothing less than what we always get from Earth Day. Wish we could have been part of it, but I just wanted to explain why we weren't.

Back in Nashville...but I'm now almost done with what will be my last trip for several weeks. I thought I was done back in late March, but it turned out I was needed to be part of the final editing and mixing process, and now that we've done it, I'm certainly glad I was here.

It's been amazing to see the development of these songs and I am thrilled with the *nearly* finished product. We're done with mixing, and I'm spending these last few minutes before Steve and I get in the car for the eight-hour drive home writing a blog about this great weekend.

The last time I left Nashville, I was homesick and just wanted to get back to Michael, home, friends, the band, etc. This time I am appreciating and savoring the experience, knowing I will miss it. I feel at home in this house (that's what spending nearly two months somewhere will do to you) I love Matt's family, and musically there has been SO much I've experienced and learned, so many incredible people I've met.

I spent all last evening (and into the wee hours of the morning) mixing 'People on a Train' with Matt and Steve, but the entertainment lawyer, also named Steve, was there with us, and it was incredibly fun. He had some fantastic ideas about promotion and several different career path ideas I've never even considered. I will expand on those when I've got more time. Suffice it to say I'm excited, and a little overwhelmed by what awaits me.

After being in the studio ALL DAY until 11pm, we decided to cut loose and go to several venues in town at which I might want to play in the near future. We went to 12th and Porter, The Mercy Room, and Exit/In. The problem was, we weren't floored by what was being offered music-wise (an oddity in Nashville) and the Exit/In wanted $15 per person for a DJ. I respect what DJs do, so don't get me wrong, but a live band of 5 or 6 people only draws $10 per person, and I don't think that's quite fair. We did, however, linger for several minutes in the other 2 rooms, and it was definitely an experience of 'counter-culture' in Nashville. Wonderfully, I left the Mercy Room to discover that my eardrums WEREN'T bleeding, they only felt like they were! :)

I'm about to go pick up my audio CD of the final mixes of the 5 songs. Some of my earliest predictions about the songs we chose have proven to be true; some have been turned on their head. For instance, I've always felt 'Calls From Springfield' was one of my most mainstream, catchy songs, and this version is no different. I am thrilled with it, it's perfect for radio, it's strong and punchy and doesn't lose any of its integrity. I hoped for and expected that outcome. 'People on a Train', however, I was cautious about re-doing, because my Columbia band and I really give it a great go when we perform it live. I was scared cutting several minutes off of it would do irreparable harm. It has turned out to be, arguably, the strongest song of the 5. However, when we play the tracks for people, most find 'Brave New World' to scream out to them, grab them, and not let go. It will probably be top pick for shopping to labels, searching for investors, etc. 'My Friend' was one I was hoping would be transformed, and it was, but I had no idea how much I would love the finished product. Finally, 'Sometimes Sun, Sometimes Rain' turned out not to have the straight-forward commercial sound we thought it would, although it is still strong, and fun.

I'm pleased with all the tracks, and ready to let people hear them!