Official Talk Like June Blog

alright. so. i read somewhere one time that some famous band got famous by entering a ton of online contests and winning a bunch of them. that tiny, obscure article is what got me hooked on entering these things. i enter a lot of them, and sometimes do pretty well. most notably, i was a national finalist to open for rascal flatts (though i ultimately didn't win) and most recently, i won a contest to sing onstage with sugarland.

so this is my promised blog about that experience. from recording the entry video, to walking back to my car after the show in disbelief.

my drummer and brother-in-law john often keeps me in the loop on these contest things. apparently he has his ear to the ground more than i do. anyway. once again, he informed me about a contest, this time through local country radio station KSON. the contest requirements were: record your own version of sugarland's song "baby girl." that was it. KSON and sugarland peeps would select the winner based on talent and popularity. the winner "will get to perform 'baby girl' on stage with sugarland."

soooooooo...

TLJ bassist, youtube artist, and lumberjack extraordinaire jason roberts brought his video rig and ran a feed through the sound board, bada bing, bada boom we're in business. we do three takes, the second of which was the best. watching ross (banjo/mandolin/everything) and jason try and figure out how to render, upload and post this particular video was nothing short of an epic battle between man and machine. man ultimately conquered and the video went live, a solid day and a half before the contest deadline was over. here is the contest entry video if you want to watch it...

then i made my typical plea for online votes. this contest had a couple things going for it: at least this one was a one-time vote thing, and it was short. we were the top vote getter by a landslide, but the ultimate decision was by the KSON and sugarland staff.

i hate waiting. really. i do. i especially hate waiting for the results of contests. it is the ONLY time i EVER get nervous anymore. singing in front of thousands of people? no big. ok, well big. and it got to me a little...but getting judged in a contest? terrifying!

i was sitting and working on some stuff for church that week and staying occupied so i wouldn't obsess...of course i was obsessing anyway. every five minutes i'd rationalize again why it would be okay if i didn't win, and then why i had to win. okay this is turning into an insight into how crazy i am, but whatever. so suddenly i look up and my yahoo mail (don't laugh...i know yahoo is super old but who cares) account has a new e-mail...it's nick from KSON telling me congratulations, YOU WILL SING WITH SUGARLAND!

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! craziness ensued! i did a happy dance around the house, much to the amusement of my daughters, and broadcasted the news via facebook. the support and excitement that all of my family, friends, and fans was ridiculous. i felt so blessed to have such a broad community of supporters.

oh my gosh. what am i going to wear?

i can laugh about it now, but seriously?! celebrities have stylists for this kind of thing. how are you supposed to pick an outfit that says, i care, but i'm not trying too hard, and i'm fun, but please take me seriously, and i want you to like me for my talent, not because i'm dressed better than you. oy. to sum it up, shout out to my girls ashley axford for helping me find amazing shoes to build the outfit around (the shoes got a shout-out on the sugarland blog, btw) and brenda espinoza for doing my hair and make-up.

so. the morning of the show rolls around. come to find out, there is no rehearsal for the band. whaaaaaaaa?! you want me to sing in front of 15K people without running it with the band? ok. i can handle this. i've been gigging for like 8 years. (haha! that's an inside joke. sorry if you don't get it.) so the deal is, show up early at the KSON booth, get your tickets, and they'll have all the information you need.

so we show up. find the booth. oh you know, only a couple record execs and handshakes later and i've got my sugarland tickets, pics with all the KSON and sugarland staff, and the 4-1-1 on how the day is going down. apparently, says the sugarland handler, i'm going to be retrieved from my seat 4 songs early and the rest of the prep will happen backstage. gasp. nerves for once finally do kick in outside of a contest just a little.

it's at this point i want to mention that lots of friends and family bought tickets to the show to come and support me. i can't even describe how grateful i am to you guys. here's a sign my friends stacy and rachel made for me...not gonna lie, i cried when i saw it!

anyway, we sit down in our seats and watch the opening bands. lauren alaina, by the way, is fantastic. finally, sugarland takes the stage and wins the crowd over immediately. (though it's always easy to win over a crowd that's there to see you!) but seriously...they were so good. way better than i even though they'd be.

the concert goes along, and finally, the sugarland staffer comes and gets me from my seat. as we are walking, she happily chats away about sugarland and how nice jennifer and kristian are, and how i'll be great, and how my shoes were so fun, and la la la la. we go behind the stage, past the tour buses, and into all the surprisingly drab-looking ready rooms. a sound assistant comes and helps me put in my in-ear monitor, telling me i'll have jennifer's mix, meaning i'll hear jennifer, kristian, guitar, a little bit of drums, and a little bit of myself. i nod, trying desperately to pretend i knew what i was doing.

so they usher me out to the side of the stage. i can pick out where ross, my mom, and ashley and her family are sitting. i'm not sure if they could see me. but i was glad i could see them. it helped me remember that i had allies out there. every time you take the stage it's a battle to win people over. at least i knew i already had some people on my side.

suddenly, jennifer starts talking about having one last surprise of the night, and "give it up for one of your own, suzanne harper!" so i walk [carefully] out on stage. the only thing in my brain is "don't trip, don't trip, don't trip." we have some random banter and before i knew it she was saying, "hit it!" and the band started playing.

now, all day, and all night before, i had coached myself to remember the starting words, since usually that's all you need to trigger the rest of the lyrics in your brain. so i had been telling myself "they say, they say". the band starts, and guess what's in my head? "they say"...and NOTHING ELSE. no words are coming after it. i start to panic. i'm thinking...i'm going to choke in front of fifteen thousand people! i put my mic down to ask jennifer, she says "they say," but i already knew that part! so i say, "then what?" but time ran out, and i had to start singing. she sings the first line with me..."they say...this town, the stars stay up all night..." thank you, Lord! it had to be a God-thing, because there was abso-bloomin-lutely nothing up in my head besides the sound of my pounding heart! worst 30 seconds of my life! HA!

but fortunately it all came back. and then after a few bars i settle into the rhythm. and what does it feel like to be up on a stage like that in front of that many people? well. it was one of the most fun things i've ever done in my life. i can't pinpoint anything funner. being able to interact with two superstars onstage was amazing. i couldn't see much past the pit up into the stands, and i could only hear the crowd twice...

now, since i didn't get to rehears with them before, and i didn't get to meet them after, i had to make as much of an impression onstage as i could. ross had the idea to say "i'm singing with sugarland tonight" instead of "staying here at the ritz tonight." that got a huge cheer from the crowd, and laughs and smiles from kristian and jennifer.

i also was feeling a little chippy and wanted to prove myself a bit, so i improvised a high note at the end. i felt a little bit like a jerk for doing it, but it was my only chance to show them what i had, so i took it. kristian seemed to like it. got another huge cheer from the crowd.

as we finish (awkwardly swaying with the crowd) jennifer gives me a little bow of recognition and kristian gives me a kiss on the cheek, and hugs me saying, "you killed it, girl! amazing!" surreal? i think so.

the very nice sugarland handler tells me as she's walking me out that i did great. the best of the tour thus far. lauren alaina says something similar.

cloud nine.

i get back out to my seat and all the people sitting around me want pictures with me, which i found hilarious. sugarland ends the show. it was great. couldn't ask for more.

we walk out to our car and get in. i'm me again. just regular me. though, i guess that's kind of what my main takeaway was in all this: it won't matter if i make it big time like sugarland, or stay in escondido the rest of my life. i'm me. i like being me. i'm who God made me, and i have a pretty darn good life. but it would be pretty fun to sing through a sound system like that every time i played!

until next time!
suzanne

here are all the "Suzanne and Sugarland" videos and links...

the KSON official video...

Sugarland's top 3 moments, of which i was one, from the "In Your Hands Tour" volume 2...

Sugarland's blog about the evening...
http://www.sugarlandmusic.com/news/81581

KSON's interview (click on the "Sing for Your Sugarland Winner" tab)
http://www.kson.com/morning/interview.aspx

some pictures from the night (thanks to my sis-in-law joanna for the pics!)

kson staff pre-show...