And that’s a wrap!

Well my friends, today was the final day in the studio. It was incredibly emotional and bittersweet. Lots of tears shed, hugs given, and smiling faces all around. I have not laughed that much in a long time. It has been such a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere to work in… I’m really going to miss everything about it!

We started the day by waiting in line at the Pancake Pantry. It was on my “Nashville Bucket List”, so we crossed that off. There was a line wrapping around the building when we got there, so we ended up talking to the group of people in front of us, who ended up googling my name to find my blog… they were SO sweet to us!!  If you ladies are out there reading this, thank you so much for your encouragement! It made my day!! Mom and I got right in and ordered… and we were NOT disappointed. That was some of the best breakfast I’ve had in my 24 years of life. Woahhhh man. I’ll be back.

After that, we headed down to an awesome boutique called “Posh” (by recommendation of our dear friend Julie), and got some great stuff  From there, we had to hit up the coffee shop right across the street, “Fido”, by recommendation of almost everyone I know in Nashville. It was great coffee and a cool hipster vibe!!

After our awesome girly morning, it was time to hit the studio. We met the boys at 11:00 today, so it was nice to get a free morning! When we got there, Gordon started doing some background vocals. It was really fun to see him in action… he has such an incredible voice, but won’t admit it! I’m so pleased that he’ll be on this album too; such a privilege to have these incredible people step up to help out!

We got some awesome Chinese food for lunch and brought it back to the studio to continue work. I didn’t have to sing at all today… I just watched and chimed in whenever I had some thoughts  It was a pretty easy day for me! The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to rough mixes and talking about the future. There are some great things happening with a few of these songs already. Will you pray for these things on Monday? Monday will be a big day for one song in particular. I always appreciate everyone’s prayers and support… it means the world to me! I feel like a broken record saying this all the time, but I am truly grateful for the way God is molding this project into something that will glorify His name among many different genres and will reach many different types of people.

Here’s a little bit of the studio. I took a panoramic of the outside of the studio, but for some reason it won’t upload. Awesome. They also have a fully stocked mini bar and just TONS of food for the artists. Crazy studio. Not to mention a million stuffed deer in the garage. Cool.

 

 

After we left the studio, mom and I spent the drive back to our area of town listening to the rough mixes. As we pulled into the parking lot, I became SO overwhelmed that I just started crying. It has been a fantastic experience and I am beyond thankful. Sigh. I am still speechless about it all. I can’t believe it really happened… and is happening!! To celebrate this milestone, we had yet another steak dinner at “Stoney River Steakhouse”. I can confidently say that this was the BEST meal I have ever eaten. Quite literally. THE. BEST. I had a coffee cured filet, au gratin potatoes, and green beans. I don’t think I’ll eat anything ever again. We told our waiter how life-changing this meal was and why we were celebrating, so he brought us out a HUGE piece of chocolate cake! What a guy. And what a cake. Good gracious. I didn’t know it was legal to put fudge as the frosting on a cake. Our lives have been changed.

By the way, we stopped at LifeWay Books to get a few things, and I happened to look in the music section. Ohhh Gordon. you would have your own spot.

 

So, tomorrow we will have a DAY OF FUN in Nashville. No work, nowhere to be. Just plain fun. Then we return to Minneapolis bright and early Sunday morning! I love you ALLLLLL and I cannot WAIT to put this CD into your hands!!!

Annnnnnnnd, we’re back!

WHAT a day!!!!! (I’m realizing that I probably have been starting all of my posts in a similar fashion, but I just can’t think of anything more fitting to say!!)

This was a day that my dreams sincerely came true. Up until this point, I had been so happy with the progress and the outcome, but things were taken to a whole new level today, and I was almost in tears over the whole thing. It dawned on me right before I walked into the studio to sing with Wes… I am SO undeserving of all of this. God has truly been showering blessings on me, and it’s clear that He has great plans for this project! I could not (and still can’t) believe that I am being trained and supported by such incredible talent. Gordon Mote, Wes Hampton, and Doug Anderson have been so encouraging during this visit… they sincerely believe in my writing and this project as a whole! I was overwhelmed with the work they put into it today, not to mention kindness shown and the true friendships that are being made.

So, here’s how the whole week has gone down so far. On Tuesday night, Gordon called me and said, “Is there any chance you could get here a little earlier on Wednesday? Doug will be in the studio on Wednesday afternoon and I’d LOVE for you to be there.” Sooo, knowing that we had a half day of school on Wednesday, AND that I was proctoring a test until only 9:30 and would be done after that, I looked into getting our plane tickets changed. Turns out that there was a 1:05 flight that afternoon with only THREE seats left, so I was able to snag 2 of those at the very last minute! Not only that, but we got placed in the “economy comfort” section.. whatever that means. SCORE! Haha  Our flight was delayed until 2:00, so we arrived around 4:15ish, got our rental car, and hurried out to Brentwood. We didn’t even have time to stop at the hotel because Doug was scheduled to be in the studio around 5:00. As luck would have it, we got there around 5:30, and as we were pulling into the driveway, Doug was walking out to his car! He got there a little early and cranked out his vocal track before I even got a chance to step foot into the studio! Thankfully we were able to chat and hang out for a little bit. When I heard the work he did on this duet, I had tears in my eyes! For those of you who know me well, you know I’m NOT a crier. That was pretty crazy. This track is one of my favorites on the project. As I was writing this song, I had his voice in mind… it was SO cool to hear it finally recorded with HIM singing it! I am beyond thankful for his willingness to drive to Nashville for me YAYYYYY!

After that, we hung out with Gordon and Nathan in the studio for a bit, came up with a game plan for today, and then went to Chuey’s Mexican Restaurant. OH YUM. I had a food baby after that one… it might have even been twins. I ate the biggest burrito ever. Worth it.

This morning, we were scheduled to meet Wes at the studio at 10:30, so mom and I decided to grab a delicious breakfast first… this place just doesn’t get old. I don’t care who you are.

After that, we drove back to the studio. As we walked in, we heard Wes singing already… he was working on another project for Charlotte Richie, who was also with us this morning! I was pretty surprised to walk into the control room to see her sitting there. Quite the star-studded day! Wes’ tracking for her session took a little longer than expected because they ended up comping the whole thing in the studio. That was fine because we were able to hang out with Wes for quite a while and get to know him!  Such a solid and down to earth guy… it’s a privilege to have spent the day with him. After they were done comping, Wes started on my project. Let me just tell you right now, the last track of this record will blow your mind. In my opinion, Wes has the most delicious tenor voice of our time. HOLY. COW. He can do ANYTHING. He is what I like to call “a robot”. Yes. A robot. Also had tears during this session. Sheesh. I’m turning into a softy. Ohhhh Wes. Good times today. Can’t wait until June when I get to sing some dates with BOTH Doug and Wes!! Woo!

The rest of the afternoon was consumed with eating more Mexican food and singing lots! I was able to crank through all of my BGVs this afternoon in one session, so I shouldn’t have to do much tomorrow. The best part of the afternoon was the insane ideas that Gordon proposed for a few of my songs. I can’t really spill the details yet, but MAN. I don’t deserve the blessings that are pouring into my life! I was honestly speechless in the studio for a quite a while today (which is quite out-of-character for me…!) Can’t wait to start sharing some of this excitement with you all! What I can say is that the Lord is moving in my life and I couldn’t be more grateful and thankful that the talents and gifts He has given me are being used for His glory.  What a great feeling!

To celebrate all of this great news today, mom and I went to Outback Steakhouse for a yummy dinner 

Tomorrow will be more work in the studio, but mostly a lot of listening and tweaking! It will be my last day in the studio on this project… definitely bittersweet. However, we’re talking about a 2nd record already  Love you ALL, and thank you so much for your prayers. They are definitely felt and appreciated. Stay tuned tomorrow for more updates!