July 2012 Tour: Days 1 & 2

July 1st and 2nd, 2012


Starting out on another tour, this time down to Florida! I'm excited about the shows I have lined up, especially the ones at Eddie's Attic (the Songwriter Showcase/competition) in Atlanta, Mockingbird Cafe with a local band called Drunken Cartographer in Tallahassee, and a house show put on by my friend, Brian Papaladro and Argenta Productions in Little Rock, AR. I'm playing many more great places, but those, I think, will be the highlight. I had originally planned to play a show in Memphis on the first night of my tour, but it didn't end up working out. I knew I had to be all the way to Atlanta by day 2, so we decided to camp the first night at Chewalla Lake National Park in Holly Springs, Mississipi, which is pretty much the half way point between Fayetteville and Atlanta. 

Mr. Buddy really wanted to come!

This was our first attempt at bringing Mr. Buddy on the road with us. He's traveled with us before, but not to this magnitude. But he's getting older now, having more health issues, and often experiences separation anxiety, so we decided to bring him along. Two weeks is a long time for a little beagle. David cleared a spot for him in the back seat of our car, and put his little doggy bed in it. He seems really happy just to come along. I hope it all goes well!

Asleep in my suitcase, getting my
clothes smelling like a Mr. Buddy.

Coming into the campsite, we didn't really know what to expect. I had checked out the campground online, and it looked pretty nice. It said the camping was first come, first serve, which I was a bit worried about- it being summer and the week of the 4th of July. Getting close to the campground destination, I tried calling to see if there were any campsites still available, but the organization who handles the reservations isn't even on site, and couldn't tell me. The kind receptionist gave me the phone number for the office at Chewalla Lake, which I called, but did not reach anyone. David and I decided that we'd go the the campground, and if the campground was full, we'd wing it, park on some back road and camp in the woods. 

I like how the only one in this pic who
looks happy is Mr. Buddy. It was a hot, sunny day.

CL t-shirts all made up and ready to
be sold on tour!

As we approached the general vicinity of the campground, evident by signs for Chewalla Lake, we got a little worried. We drove past trailers and ill-kept country houses, down a winding back road. I had thought this was supposed to be a National Park. Why were there houses all around? We continued on, and finally it began to look more and more forest-like. We reached the front gate, which had no attendant; just a sign that said something like, "Fill out form. Put payment in envelope. Drop envelope in mail slot." So we did. We must have been one of the only groups of campers at the whole site. The only other person I saw was a man playing disc golf as we entered. I also saw a motor home near the bathrooms, which I later found out belonged to the groundskeeper. 


Camping was pretty great. No one around- just me, David, and Mr. Buddy. We set up camp, made a fire, and cooked some dinner. The heat hindered our sleep a bit, and it was a hard ground to sleep on, but we made the best of it, got as much sleep as we could, and woke up extra early the next morning to make another fire, cook breakfast, and head out on another 6 hour drive.

David and Mr. Buddy getting some much needed rest at
Connie's after the sleepless night of camping.

In Atlanta, we stayed with our friend, Connie. When we arrived in Atlanta, we had just enough time to say a quick hello, take a shower, and head over to Eddie's Attic for the Songwriter Showcase competition. I love playing at Eddie's Attic (I've probably mentioned it in my blog before). What I love most about the venue is the encouragement by the host for the audience to stay quiet during the performances. "If you'd like to talk, there is a nice patio area outside. Otherwise please be respectful and quiet during the music," he'll say, if the crowd is getting too noisy in between acts.




I've played at Eddie's Attic before, twice. The first time, it was my first tour and I came down with the most awful sinus infection that not only made me feel like crap, but also severely brought down my confidence level, as I wasn't even sure all of the notes that I sang would come out right. The second time, I made it into the top 3, but two sisters from Athens (GA), the Skiperdees, came in and stole the gold. So, I was nervous this time, to see who my competition would be.




I arrived at Eddie's Attic just in time to see the 2 acts before me, and then it was my turn. I looked around at all of the people in the audience (which was as packed as I've ever seen it), and said to them in my head, "You are going to feel me. With my voice, guitar, and energy I'm going to create a sacred space for us to connect." For this performance, I chose to play "Music Flows" and "Worst Enemy." I poured my heart and soul out on that stage. I gave it everything I had, and in return, received a huge applause. Now I just had to wait. 




I watched so many talented musicians share their songs and musical abilities, and grew more and more nervous. After each musician had their turn, the host began to call up the top 3. A very talented young lady who had played guitar on her previous songs was called up, and this time played piano as she sang. She was very good, and I realized that I had seen her poster up in the Women's Room that night, and that she would be performing at Eddie's Attic later on in the week. "Oh great," I thought, "this girl's gonna win it for sure." Then they called up a young man who had a growly, southern type voice, which at times reminded me of the lead singer for the Black Crows. He was an amazing guitarist and performer. 




So at this time, my heart was pounding out of my chest. "Please call my name," I thought to myself, over and over. Then I heard the host say, "And the final musician in the top 3 is.........Candy Lee." 


Woo hoo!!!! I ran and got my guitar so fast, and nearly lept onto that stage. I played "Time," a definite crowd pleaser. Though I felt like I could have performed it better in places, I felt like the quietness of the room really allowed me to play with the dynamics, and playing "Time," there are some quieter parts that I was able to almost whisper. It felt amazing. "Even if I don't win," I thought, "I gave it my all and put on one of my best performances so far." As I was putting away my guitar, the host kindly thanked all of the musicians, and audience, and said, "...and the winner for tonight is..." then he pulled out the slip of paper from the chest pocket of his shirt, unfolded it and said...CANDY LEE"!!! 


It felt so great to win. Now that I have, I get to compete in the Songwriter Shootout, which is a bi-anual competition comprised of all of the winners from the Songwriter Showcase open-mics. This is more of a tournament, where each songwriter goes head to head with another. The winner will go on to compete again with another winner from the same round, and so on, until one final contestant wins. The prize is $1,000 plus more goodies such as opening slots at major festivals, and some free recording too. I'm thinking it's going to be a really tough competition, but I am very excited about it and looking forward to it!