Katie Mariah's Blog

Grand Ol Opry!

What a cool night! I splurged and bought a ticket to the Grand Ol Opry. Steve Martin (my favorite comedian) was there tonight as well as a whole host of other great acts. Steve Martin plays the banjo and has a great new CD out on Rounder Records. Besides Steve, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Joe Diffie, and a perfect stage full of some of the best musicians in the business were all there. It was so much fun to be in the audience. Little Jimmy Dickens was a flippin' hoot! What surprised me the most is how similar the show is to all the opry's I've played. The artists themselves are really funny too. They've got all these one liners. Here's some pics from the night.

 

What a fun night! Good night friends,

KM 

Busy Day

Hi guys!

Another great, but exhausting day in Nashville! We started out early with a meeting at the BMI office!

 

How cool is this table inside? This is one solid piece of wood... no cuts or anything except for the finishing pieces on the end! That was one very large and straight tree!

We visited several studios today and sat in on a few demo recording sessions with some great writers. There's a heck of a lot to learn here. I've been getting better at just soaking it all in. Listening. Just listening... what a concept. People here have so much to offer in terms of information and they know what it's like not to be from here so they are super willing and helpful... completely refreshing.

We had an "Okie dinner" tonight with a group of great Oklahoma friends that now reside in Nashville. Great times. I'll post photos of that on myspace in a few days.

Tomorrow is another big day and I'm renting a car and driving all over this city!

KM

Blue Birds!

Guess where I was tonight...? The Bluebird Cafe was awesome! Such great players and songwriters. People really know how to appreciate music here. One of the guys in the round there tonight (on the far left in the round) wrote the theme song for Walker Texas Ranger... I can't wait to tell Will! We almost talked his parents into naming their dog Chuck Norris. : )  But, they played his version of the theme song tonight and is was so good. He said it "changed his life" when that song got on the air. Yeah, he was now able to write songs and have fun for a living! I could handle a change like that!

 

I'm here with some great friends, Kate Leary and Charlie Rayl! We got off to a good start today. I'm trying to be better about documenting the trip. So, I'll have some great photos for you guys this week!

Here's Kate and I on the plane...

 

Charlie with us at our long- awaited lunch!

 

Big day ahead tomorrow! I'll keep you posted.

KM

Nashville Bound!

Hi guys!

"I'm heading out to Nashville in the morning." I just wrote the first half of a song and that was my first line... seriously.

But, I really am headed out tomorrow! I'm going with some good friends. I've got some great meetings set up with some awesome folks in the biz. I'll also be going to a bunch of local shows, because in Nashville the local guy in the corner bar could just very well be Dierks Bentley or something! But, I hear the unknowns are always the best. I was told very fittingly tonight that "the guy pumping your gas in Nashville will usually turn out to be the best guitar or fiddle player you've ever heard..."

I'm just there to keep "hitting the ground running," feeling out the scene, and hopefully make some good contacts... aka friends : )

I'll be posting photos and updating you on all my experiences while I'm checking out music town!

You are the best! Thanks as always!

KM

Memorial Day Blue

Hi guys!
Hope you had a great long weekend! We threw a wedding shower for my brother's soon-to-be wife this weekend and I just got finished painting the living room Gosimer Wings... AKA blue. : ) It's a lovely shade though, and I finished just in time for Will to be arriving home from out of town! I made him think I couldn't get it done. I wouldn't have if Mom hadn't come over and helped out! Thank God!! Thanks Mom!

Here's the color... now just the woodwork is left.

Huge week coming up. I head out to Nashville on Wednesday and there's a lot to do between now and then. For some reason, I always start projects like painting the living room in the most hectic times. I think it must be a stress-relieving mechanism.

Glad so many of you have seen the video. Pass the link to others and I'll love you forever... wait too late. But, I'll give you a huge hug next time I see you... and I promise I won't strangle you with a neck tie. : )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FTKaa9GBus

Later friends,
KM

Pandora

Hi guys,

Had a gig in Tulsa on Thursday at Dirty's Tavern and had some major technical difficulties. A friend came out and helped me get things running a bit more smoothly. Eesh! Cavett Binion-- thank you sir! He's a photographer as well as many other things and took some cool pictures. Here's one of them...

 

The coolest thing happened yesterday that I forgot to mention. My friend Bailey up in NYC, calls me out of nowhere telling me she is just sitting at work listening to Pandora as so many people do now days. Pandora got me through many days as an editor sitting in a dark room reading and reading... and reading. Anyway, as Bailey was listening to a random selection of good tunes guess who comes on?! You guessed it, she was pretty excited! It made me quite happy.

I told my parents about this today and they had no clue what Pandora was. If you haven't had the chance to discover this cool site, just click this link: Pandora 

If you put in a playlist like Country or Folk Country/ Americana/ female singer I'll come on randomly. It's a great way to discover new music!

If you just want to listen to me, just put in Katie Mariah.

Hope you guys are having a great Memorial Day weekend. Thanks for keeping up! Be safe.

KM

4th of July with Former President G.W. Bush!

Hi guys!

I'm so excited and honored! I've been asked to sing the National Anthem for the Fourth of July Celebration in Woodward, OK where former President G.W. will also be attending and speaking before the fireworks. I'll also be performing my music during the night's festivities! 

President Bush just recently confirmed his invitation, here is one of the news articles about it.

Crystal Beach Park

I hope some of you can make it out! It's going to be a blast and I just found the blue dress I'm going to wear for the occasion today...  I wasn't even looking and it was on sale even! It's been a good day! : )

KM

Dirty's Tavern

Hi guys!
I've been getting great feedback on the music video! Thank you all so much!

I'm sitting here staring at a wall I've attempted to paint three different colors. I've been to the little True Value store here in El Reno about this paint enough times over the course of three months to know everyone on a first name basis. They laugh when they see me come in. I think I've finally got the right shade, now I've just got to find the time to paint. I used to help my dad paint on various remodeling projects we lived through when I grew up. By 14 I started painting my room a new shade almost every year. Now it starts again with our crazy house.

Here are my shades... going with the one on the right. Everyone tells me it's too dark, but Will and I like it. I'm also painting the wood work white to match the crown molding at the ceiling. Don't hate me... there's a lot of other natural wood in the house!

 

Here's Gus wondering what the heck I'm doing... yes, my anthropomorphism is out of control. (love that word)

 

I play a solo acoustic set in Tulsa tomorrow night at the Dirty's Tavern. Hope to see some of you there!
KM

"Thinkin' Bout You" Music Video is Up!

Hi guys!

Well, it's been a long time coming... but the music video is finally finished! I must confess I had my worries about the whole thing. We kind of took a crazy approach... but we wanted to get some attention and ultimately hold viewers attention-- something very hard to do these days. I think we definitely accomplished this goal. When Cary Pierce and I wrote this song, it had nothing to do with the plot in this video. But, like I said, this is way outside the typical MV box.  The production was top notch thanks to Frozen Fire Films. We really made a mini movie here.

I guarantee you have never seen me this way before... but, is it all just in my imagination... or am I just waiting for my next victim?

Hope you guys enjoy. We thought credits would be a little over the top, but I just want to thank again all the extras that froze their butts off on those very chilly days. To the cast and crew-- you are unbelievably good. I'll leave names off for privacy's sake, but I had the best editors, directors, producers, cast and crew on the planet.

Drum roll please....   

Press the little red square next to "HQ" at the bottom right to watch in full screen!

Roses!

It's amazing... I left town for a couple weeks. There were two blooms when I drove out. Now look!

Yeah!

KM