Thursday, September 30, 2010

Internet down at my place!!

Hey y'all! I just wanted to do a quick post on my phone while I was in town! My Internet is out until further notice, and my phone works off of my home service so, and I cant stay in town long enough to do a full post, so I'll be back when my service is back up and running!! Y'all bare with me and I'll be back soon! I go to work tomorrow night, so I will be able to get on then, but I still will not be able to do s full post, this phone is just too small to do all that much with. But I will probably get on Facebook and twitter and visit some! I'm so happy to hear a bunch of you will be visiting the Opry on the future! I left a comment for y'all in the comments section! I'll talk to y'all soon, I'll be back soon as possible!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Grand Ole Opry~Grand re-opening today~Casey will make his debut appearance....

Hey yall....it was another beautiful day in Texas!  It got a little warm....into the mid-80's but that was fine with me.  The guys are almost finished with my roof and my dogs can return to 'their' backyard!  All the banging and compressor sounds had all of them on edge all the time.  They are not used to having lots of noise around here like that!
Well....I have Jury Duty on Thursday morning.....at 8:30......geeeezzzzz.....I'm just in the middle of good sleeping at the time I have to get up.....at about 6-ish.  I'm sure not liking that.  Hopefully it won't last long and I can come home.  I have no idea what I'm doing, but the card I got says I have to serve on the Grand Jury........well........we'll see just how good I am at it.  I'm sure I'll be sent home the first day......(I hope, fingers crossed)


Ok....I hope I didn't get your hearts to racing at the title of todays blog......I just wanted to get your attention.......and now that I have it......let's talk about the Grand Ole Opry, and Casey.  From here on out, I will refer to it as Opry, it's alot easier.  It's not a matter of "if" he will play the Opry.....it's "when".  And you can bet your bottom dollar he will be booked soon.  I would venture to say it will be in the next 6 to 8 months, maybe sooner.  Probably not before this year is out, but who knows.....I do know this......he definitely will make his debut on the Opry Stage.   New artists are invited to sing and play at the Opry, and it is a huge Honor to be asked to play there.  Artists actually make their 'debut' there.....that's how important the Opry is to Country music, as well as other genres.
I, for one am going to try to be on that front row, or close to it when Casey makes his debut, because I know he's going to be shining from within with pride!!  I encourage all of you who can, try to be there for the debut, as this will be a very important milestone in his career.  And he would love it if the Opry house were full of his fans, all there to support him!   I don't know how much tickets will be for his show, and I'm not sure if the price changes for each artist or not.  But I'll find all that out when he's invited and get the information posted here as soon as I know how much it is.  And I will also post a link, so you can go directly there and purchase your tickets! 
The Opry, as most everyone knows, sits in downtown Nashville.  It has went through many changes getting to where it is today.  It was nearly wiped out by the horrible flood in May of 2010 that put 15ft. and more, of water in the downtown area of Nashville.
 Everybody who's anybody has sang there!  Even Elvis.....if you can picture that!!   His gyrating hips didn't go over well with the country folk back in the 50's...and they considered him to be vulgar....lol.  But those days are long gone and the Opry invites  new acts to their stage, but.....it is a known fact that they always tone down their show if it is at all wild.  I think that's just out of respect for 'The Opry'....to be honest with you.  It is known for having family oriented shows.  The famous, late, great, Hank Williams was actually banned in 1952, and although I don't know the real reason he was banned, I would guess it had something to do with his heavy drinking.....just my opinion.  He was known to put a few away.

Now, I'm just going to post the History of the Grand Ole Opry and let you take in all it's beauty!

Beginnings


Decorative brickwork at the Opry depicting Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff
The Grand Ole Opry started as the WSM Barn Dance in the new fifth-floor radio station studio of the National Life & Accident Insurance Company in downtown Nashville on November 28, 1925. On October 18, 1925, management began a program featuring "Dr. Humphrey Bate and his string quartet of old-time musicians." On November 2, WSM hired long-time announcer and program director George D. "Judge" Hay, an enterprising pioneer from the National Barn Dance program at WLS-AM in Chicago, who was also named the most popular radio announcer in America as a result of his radio work with both WLS and WMC-AM in Memphis, Tennessee. Hay launched the WSM Barn Dance with 77-year-old fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson on November 28, 1925, which is celebrated as the birth date of the Grand Ole Opry.
Some of the bands regularly on the show during its early days included the Possum Hunters (with Dr. Humphrey Bate), the Fruit Jar Drinkers, the Crook Brothers, the Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers, Uncle Dave Macon, Sid Harkreader, Deford Bailey, Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, and the Gully Jumpers.
Judge Hay, however, liked the Fruit Jar Drinkers and asked them to appear last on each show because he wanted to always close each segment with "red hot fiddle playing." They were the second band accepted on Barn Dance, with the Crook Brothers being the first. When the Opry began having square dancers on the show, the Fruit Jar Drinkers always played for them. In 1926, Uncle Dave Macon, a Tennessee banjo player who had recorded several songs and toured the vaudeville circuit, became its first real star.

Name

The name Grand Ole Opry came about on December 10, 1927. The Barn Dance followed the NBC Red Network's Music Appreciation Hour, which consisted of classical music and selections from the Grand Opera genre. The final selection that night featured a musical interpretation of an onrushing railroad locomotive. In response to this Judge Hay quipped, "Friends, the program which just came to a close was devoted to the classics. Doctor Damrosch told us that there is no place in the classics for realism. However, from here on out for the next three hours, we will present nothing but realism. It will be down to earth for the 'earthy'." He then introduced the man he dubbed the "Harmonica Wizard"—DeFord Bailey—who played his classic train song "The Pan American Blues". After Bailey's performance Hay commented, "For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on we will present the 'Grand Ole Opry'". The name stuck and has been used for the program since.


Larger Venues
 

As audiences for the live show increased, National Life & Accident Insurance's radio venue became too small to accommodate the hordes of fans. They built a larger studio, but it was still not large enough. After several months with no audiences, National Life decided to allow the show to move outside its home offices. In October, 1934, the Opry moved into then-suburban Hillsboro Theatre (now the Belcourt); and then on June 13, 1936, to the Dixie Tabernacle in East Nashville. The Opry then moved to the War Memorial Auditorium, a downtown venue adjacent to the State Capitol. A 25-cent admission was charged in an effort to curb the large crowds, but to no avail. On June 5, 1943, the Opry moved to the Ryman Auditorium.

Roy Acuff

Ryman Auditorium, the "Mother Church of Country Music"
Top-charting country music acts performed there during the Ryman years, including Roy Acuff, called the King of Country Music, Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Faron Young, Martha Carson, Lefty Frizzell, and many others.
One hour of the Opry was nationally-broadcast by the NBC Red Network from 1939 to 1956; for much of its run, it aired one hour after the program that had inspired it, National Barn Dance. The NBC segment, originally known by the name of its sponsor, The Prince Albert Show, was first hosted by Acuff, who was succeeded by Red Foley in 1946. From October 15, 1955 to September 1956, ABC-TV aired a live, hour-long television version once a month on Saturday nights (sponsored by Ralston-Purina), pre-empting one hour of the then-90-minute Ozark Jubilee. From 1955–57, The Country Show: with Stars of the Grand Ole Opry, a filmed program, was syndicated by Flamingo Films.[8]
On October 2, 1954, a teenage Elvis Presley made his only Opry performance. Although the audience reacted politely to his revolutionary brand of rockabilly music, after the show he was told by Opry manager Jim Denny that he ought to return to Memphis to resume his truck-driving career, prompting him to swear never to return. In an era when the Grand Ole Opry represented solely country music, audiences did not accept Elvis on the Opry because of his infusion of rhythm and blues as well as his infamous body gyrations, which many viewed as vulgar. In the 1990s, Garth Brooks was made a member of the Opry and was credited with selling more records than any other singer since Presley. Brooks commented that one of the best parts of playing on the Opry was that he appeared on the same stage as Presley.


The 1960's
 
In the 1960s, as the hippie counterculture movement spread, the Opry maintained a straight-laced, conservative image with "longhairs" not being featured on the show. The Byrds were a notable exception. Country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, who at that time was a member of The Byrds, was in Nashville to work on the band's country-rock album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo.[9] The band's record label, Columbia Records, had arranged for The Byrds to be allowed to perform at the Ryman on March 15, 1968, a prospect that thrilled Parsons.[9] However, when the band took the stage the audience's response was immediately hostile, resulting in derisive heckling, booing and mocking calls of "tweet, tweet."[10] The Byrds further outraged the Opry establishment by breaking with accepted protocol when they performed Parsons' song "Hickory Wind" instead of the Merle Haggard song "Life in Prison", as had been announced by compare Tompall Glaser.[9]

Grand Ole Opry House

Opry House

The Ryman was home to the Opry until 1974, when the show moved to the 4,400-seat Grand Ole Opry House, located nine miles east of downtown Nashville on a new site that was part of the Opryland USA theme park. Opening night, March 16, was attended by President Nixon, who played a few songs on the piano.[11] The Opry House stage includes a large circle of wood cut from the original stage at the Ryman.
While the theme park was closed in 1997 and replaced by the Opry Mills mall, Opry House itself was left intact and incorporated into the new facility. Currently the Opry plays several times a week at the Grand Ole Opry House, except for an annual winter run at the Ryman Auditorium.

2010 flooding

In May 2010, the Opry House was flooded, along with much of Nashville, due to the Cumberland River overflowing its banks. While repairs were made, the Opry was temporarily housed at alternate venues in Nashville, with the Ryman Auditorium hosting the majority of the shows. Other venues included the TPAC War Memorial Auditorium; another former Opry home, TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall, Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Allen Arena at Lipscomb University and the Two Rivers Baptist Church.[12] In August 2010, the Opry announced the reopening of the Grand Ole Opry House on September 28, 2010.[13]

Well, I hope yall found this history lesson interesting!  I know Casey has a lot of fans who have never had anything to do with Country Music, so it's only fair that they know what he is going to be surrounded by and what is good for him.  And this......is great for him!!  He is going to be so excited to play the Opry and I just can't wait to see him there with tears in my eyes!!


Hmmmm......guess I better find yall a picture or two......let me see........hmmmm......ok.....I got it!!!!!!!!




Many thanks to Donna Carmarata for her awesome shots from Des Moines, Iowa last month!

I think I will say goodnight to all.....I'm tired and I need some rest!  Take care until we meet again......

Sunday, September 26, 2010

CMA fest.....Some useful Information for future reference

Hello everybody!  Well, it's certainly getting cooler in Texas now....hey....I just realized we are in the 60's for the first time in a long time, that I know of anyway!  It's 65 right now and going to be in the mid 50's tonight!  Yes!!!!  My kind of weather!!!  It renews my strength when the weather is cool, makes me want to get up and do something, that why I haven't posted earlier today!  I been busy doing some much needed housework.  It's hard to keep up with it, and my dogs are so messy, with their slobbery jaws and all!  (3 Boxers)  Rocky especially wants to drink a ton of water then come and climb in my lap, all 100 lbs of him and proceed to try and lick my face off, with slobber flying!!  Believe me, he doesn't get away with it.....I somehow get the strength to push him back to the floor before I get too drenched!!  Ha ha!  I have to clean up after them all the time, but I wouldn't trade those wet kisses for anything!   But I would like them not to drag their wet jaws all over my furniture....but....what do ya do??  They're my babies!! :)  Brandy (L) Rocky (C) Brody (R)



I'm actually doing this and trying to keep up with whats going on with Ice Road Truckers.....love that show!  I'm an ex-trucker so shows like that always catch my attention!  But I wouldn't do what they do for a million dollars and whatever they're paid, it ain't enough!!  I wouldn't be able to take the stress of driving an 80,000 lb. rig on a frozen lake!!

I wanted to touch on a subject that has come up a few times, and I let people know what's going on with it!   Every year, the 2nd week of June, Nashville turns into a non-stop music filled, fun filled city for 4 days and nights!  It's called "CMA Fest" and if you've never been, please do yourself a favor and buy your tickets and make plans to go in June, 2011.  It's worth every penny you spend for it!!   When you buy your ticket, whatever seat you have bought, that is your seat at LP Field for all 4 nights of shows.  You only pay once!  You can have your tickets mailed to you, so that when you get the package, you have this little protective sleeve and you slide your Ticket down in it and it's on a string..... not a string, but a necklace thing, made of material, (duh....I can't think of what it's called! :D) and you have to wear it around your neck so all security can see you have it, since it's an open type event.  But you can also pick them up at will call if you so please.  And they look so official and cool!!    There is so many things to do, see, and hear!!  Everybody whose anybody is there and most of them are performing at the festival, and some of them twice during the 4 days!   Casey will definitely be there performing next year, and hopefully twice!!  I would love to see him on the Big Stage at LP Field.  That is where the Big Shows happen at night, and they are good about scheduling the up and coming new stars!!  Danny Gokey (American Idol also) was there this year.  So I'm almost certain Casey will be there on the Big Stage!!  Don't worry, we will know far in advance where and what time he will be performing!  Make sure you check Caseymania often for the latest updates on it!
There is a stage called the Riverfront Stage too, that Casey will more than likely be playing at as well.  And at the Riverfront, if we can get there early enough.....maybe 2 hours in advance, we can be right up in front of the stage and see Casey close up!!!  Then they have the Chevy Stage, and I noticed there were a variety of acts doing their thing there.  I got to see Doug Stone there, and he's always been one of my favorite singers from back in the 90's!  After his show, he came right over to the fence and started talking and taking pictures with the fans.....and of course yours truly was in line for that one!!  Got me a big ole' sweaty hug too!! :)  Great guy and a great singer, still sounds good too!!   Alot of cool things go on there!  There's at least one more stage, I think it's at Sports Zone.  They have different zones, which I didn't get to visit all of them, but there's family zone and fun zone, I know for sure.   Fan Fair Hall is  where you can see just about any star, but be prepared to wait in line some for the HUGE stars!  But it's air conditioned inside and lots of stars have booths set up and you just walk around in there and go see your favorites at specific times when they are at their booths.  At the start of the whole thing, you'll get a welcome packet and a CMA fest tote bag with all kinds of goodies....for free, just show your badge, or Ticket that will be around your neck, and get it at the Bridgestone Arena.  There's usually good directions anywhere you're trying to get to.  There is also a map with the events and where they are located so you can find your way around.  In the bag also is a schedule of every single thing thats going on, so just make your plans according to who and what you want to see.  And there's fresh lemonade on every corner and plenty of eating places!  I could go on and on, but just go to the CMAfest website and check it out, they have pictures of this years events and everything!  If you want to check out the tickets or go ahead and purchase yours, look on the left side of the page and under the scrolling marquee you'll see  Get 2011 Tickets   just click on that and your on your way!!  I hope to see many of you from across the country and out of the states too at that event next year!!!

"CMA Fest Website & Tickets"

 Another thing I'm so hoping for is a Casey James Band Fan Club Party!   During the CMA fest is when a lot of the artists have their fan club parties,  somewhere in Nashville.  I went to Bucky Covington's last year and it was only $35 and was held at Rocketown.  They have them at all different venues all over town.  For that $35 you get a full meal, a meet and greet with the artist, a goodie bag, and a show from the artist....and the sheer joy of meeting all those people you've been talking to online at different social networks!  To me, that was the most rewarding part of the whole party, finally getting to meet those other people who shared the same intrests as you!!  It's a blast, let me tell you!!!     Alot of the artists only put on an acoustic show, but Bucky put on a full band show, which is a rarity in itself!  This could be the meeting that alot of us from around the world could finally get to as a group.  I've also got the perfect hotel, with large rooms, very clean and the people are very nice!  And the price is unbelievable at only like around 59 or 69 a night.  Free breakfast and it's just outside of the city limit.  But only like 7 minutes, (cause I timed it) to all the festivities!  I would rather be a little out like that.  And the main reason is because all the hotels in or around closer to town jack those prices up and it is un-be-liev-able!!!  Like 150 or 200, and up, much higher per night in town during those 4 days!!  That's highway robbery!!!  I would never jack my prices up just because I know I'm gonna sell all my rooms.....so sad!  But I found the perfect place, just outside the madness and the rooms are awesome!!!  So if any of you are interested just email me and I'll get you the information so you can get your room booked.  It needs to be done very early on so you'll know you have it, cause they sell out quick.  I reserved mine in January last year!  And if your coming alone, get with some of the other fans and find ya a room mate to share the expenses with!  It would be cool if All Casey's fans were at one hotel.....wow.....what a fun time we could have together!!

It seems Momma James was on twitter earlier and she was so excited about the new Fans of Casey James Book she got!!  She was at Grapevine lake today and it certainly made a beautiful backdrop for these nice shots of her!  She is just so beautiful.....






And I love her clothes!  I've never seen a shirt made like that, so cute!!  Thank you Debra for posting these on twitter for all of us to see!  You look absolutely marvelous......and happy and proud as any mom can be!!! :)

She also let us know that Casey had been in touch with her and he's making progress in finding the right people, it just takes time.  I'm assuming that means songwriters?  I also heard through the Grapevine that he may be back in Texas soon!  That's good to hear!  I know his momma and brother miss him!

I'm going to say goodnight all, and leave you with this really nice shot of our Casey..... and doesn't he pull off that purple flowerdy shirt well......




Is that a cute look or what???  Wonder what he was thinking???  Probably thinking......."why is this person taking a picture of my backside?"..... LOL!!
Talk to all of you later....post any questions and I'll try and address them as soon as I can!!  And.......as always.......thanks for being a Casey Fan!!!!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Casey's Homecoming Part 2

Hey Yall!  Hope everybody is having a great day!  I'm ok, except I got up too early and now I'm tired!  Oh well.....that's life!  I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I'm going to try and finish this today!!  By the way.....the weather is beautiful again today.....we got a few showers.....similar to what Florida gets on a daily basis.....and it feels good today at only 90!

I have been searching and searching for that video of Casey at the Hospital.....and I can't, or haven't found it yet, so.....all I have right now is 2 pictures to share with you!  I guess that's better than nothing!  Here are the 2 that I found of Casey visiting the Dr. and stafff at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Ft. Worth.  I'm sorry but I don't have the Dr.'s name right now but I'm working on getting it now!






The emotional visit to the hospital and getting to thank the man who saved his life over 6 years ago was something Casey had been wanting to do for some time.  I don't know if he was going to give him the guitar early on, but signing and handing the guitar to him that day to him meant.....'Thank You for what you did for me over 6 years ago.'  There was definitely a few tears shed and lumps in some throats as Casey gave him the guitar!  I know, after hearing all about his accident, it meant alot to me, and alot of other folks as well, because if the Dr. hadn't saved his hand, none of us who came to know Casey on the popular prime time show, would most likely not have ever gotten to know this fantastic musician!!  So THANK YOU Dr. Collinge (got it!) and staff  for doing a great job of saving Casey's hand, and his life.....and in doing so, you gave so many thousands of people the gift of his beautiful music!!!
UPDATE: Thanks to Patty for finding the video!  And the Dr.'s name is Cory Collinge!  Thank you Debra for confirming that for me!


"The Hospital Visit Video"


Next stop....The Key's Lounge!  I was there, so there are ample videos and pictures to look at and listen to!  So many people got pictures and video at the Keys!  I will post a few of the BEST of the BEST for you!!  When Casey walked into that door, you could see the big smile on his face.....he was home!!  He was so excited to be back at the Key's and playing with his buddies!! 














The sheer joy in his face is so evident by these 2 photos!!  He was absolutely thrilled to be home....back in Ft. Worth and getting to play 'his music'......'his way'.......which incidentally was nothing at all like what we had seen on American Idol!!  He greeted everyone..... including 'man hugs' with all his musical friends already onstage awaiting his arrival!!  He took the microphone and said a great big Hello to all of us and thanked us for coming out to see him!!  




In the picture on the left, you can see that Billy is indeed on the stage with Casey at the Key's after his brother asked him to set in on one song, "Satisfied", and play Bass guitar!  Billy was beaming with pride at being able to play with his brother again!  And Casey kept looking over at Billy with a smile on his face that told exactly how he felt!!  The James Brothers were once again making music together after a long absence with Casey being on the TV Show.  And the crowd was eating it up!!!!  As you can see from the picture on the right......Casey was well received that day as the crowd cheered and shouted and snapped one picture after another!!  The roar from the crowd was music to my ears as I kept my video running for a bigger part of the time!  With it held high over my head, I was trying to get the best video I could under the circumstances of being squeezed into this tiny space!  Were we all cramped and sweating, with no good breathable air??  Yes we were!!  But did we give a hoot about how uncomfortable we were??? No....absolutely Not!!!  I would do it again without even thinking twice about it!!!  I knew I was documenting something that America had not seen from Casey on the show!  And I would not stop because I was a bit uncomfortable!!!  I'm sure everyone there that day shared my same feelings about the whole thing!!  But 'this Casey' that I was seeing in front of me, had me in total disbelief and mesmerized by the quality of his renditions of the soulful Blues that he was playing!!  At one point, because the music and his sweet voice were so powerful, I was moved to tears!  The music and his vocals combined with the awe of it all, literally had me in a place I'd never been before!!  I was experiencing the 'feeling' that the blues gives you like I had never felt before!  I had chills through me and was totally amazed at what I was feeling and witnessing!!       I knew it was great......and I was witnessing history in the making.

Here's what I'm talking about:

"Drowning on Dry Land"

"Satisfied" with Billy on Bass

"Gravity"

I remember how my jaw dropped the first time I saw him do this at the Key's that day!!!  I thought....what???  who is THIS guy and what have you done with Casey??!!   LoL!!  He never did THIS on Idol!!  It was definitely one of those OMG moments!!









Well....if anyone ever doubted he had blue eyes.....I do believe this picture would be the one to verify that he does indeed have sky blue eyes!!  Very pretty.....



Thanks to Kathy Terry for these last two awesome shots!  And thanks to AI and whoever owns the others!

Moving on now......next stop......The Stockyards.....downtown Ft. Worth

As the American Idol production started getting their equipment together to leave, one of the producers, the one in charge, I guess.....got on stage and announced that the Parade that had been planned for Casey, had to be cancelled due to a horrible thunderstorm rolling through the city!  They then told us that they would be headed to the Stockyards and to the pavilion where it would be covered and Casey was going to put on another mini-show down there!   He then proceeded to invite all of us down there as well!!  I couldn't get in my truck fast enough.....of course we would all be there!  I'm sure the Key's Lounge cleared out pretty quick and everyone was on their way to the Stockyards!

 

 Wow!!  I just love these Limo shots!!  All day,Casey was so amazed that people were chasing after the Limo and the police officers were stopping traffic for 'him'!  He just couldn't believe it was all happening to him!  What a humble soul he has.....and what he doesn't realize, is he could stop traffic without the help of a Limo....lol....!!  ;-)
I've often wondered if he had cramps in his jaws from smiling so much those 2 days!!  Hmmm thats a good question to ask him.....maybe I'll write that down.... :-)
When he came onstage down at the Stockyards, the crowd went wild again, screaming, chanting his name, and he saunters out on stage with one of those grins on his face.....like......wow....all these people are here for me, and I get to play again!   He sang beautifully, but completely different songs than he had just played at the Keys!  He did "Heaven".....then....."Blue Sky".....which has become one of my favorites by him.  Then, he called his gorgeous momma up to the mic with him, and together they sang "Wayfaring Stranger"!  It was just beautiful!! I still get all teary eyed every time I watch them sing it!   Here are all of them, just in case you might have missed one!

"Heaven"

"Ian Moore's Blue Sky"

"Wayfaring Stranger w/special guest Momma James"

I sure feel like I'm missing something here......I think he only sang 3 at the Stockyards!  If I missed one, yall let me know about it ok?

If I have my story right, I believe from there the family went to Casey's house for a Bar-B-Q, or maybe one of the other family's house, not sure about that, but there was family time and I think Casey got to spend a little time at his house and loving on his babies.....those adorable basset hounds.....Buster and Daisy!!



I don't remember ever seeing any pictures of the BBQ so maybe none were taken.  After that, the entourage headed to Richardson for the Wildflower Festival!!  This was Casey's biggest crowd yet!  I don't know how true it is, I heard through the grapevine that there were about 30,000 people in attendance!! I do know that they kept cheering after he sang Heaven and he knelt down on his knees and was saying 'Thank You' to them over and over.......it is a sight to see.....once again.....brought tears to my eyes!!  I bet yall are beginning to think I'm quite the cry baby!!  Usually I don't tear up unless it's something that tugs at my heartstrings.....then I do.....every time!!!  You can count on it!!  :)

 "Heaven, at the Wildflower Festival in Richardson, Tx."



It was time for Casey to get some much needed R&R!!  He had been on the go since Waaaaayyyyy before daylight and now it was like 12 am!  So he had been up and on the go....going on a whole day, it was time for him to rest......I mean sleep!  I think he rests alot of times, but doesn't 'sleep' all the time.  I just hope he got some sleep that night, because he had one more thing to do, and it was a biggie!!


It's the next morning and we all got up running!  We had to meet some of the Key's regulars over in the parking lot and convoy all together to Millsap, Texas, where Casey was to come and do one more performance at the High School Football Field where he went to school!  We got there about 9:15 or so and walked a ways and found us a place to sit and waited for Casey to arrive.  We were on the far Left side of the bleachers and they were FULL!!!  Probably about 2 or 3 thousand or more people were there!  Then we saw it......the Limo......and it was being ushered in by none other than 6 or 8 Texas Rangers on Horseback!!  Wow!!!  What an awesome entrance!!!  It seemed like forever before Casey finally got to the Stage that had been set up for him.  There were chairs too around the stage for his family and friends!  He sang the same songs he sang the day before at the Stockyards, but we didn't care......it was Casey!!!  Here are the videos and pictures captured that day!!
 But first, I wanted to post this one, that captures the whole trip back home to Texas in one video!!  I dare ya not to cry......I lose this bet....every time!!

"Casey's Homecoming Visit by American Idol"


"Casey at Millsap HS singing different songs & talking"






All of these photos were taken by various people which I do not have all the credits for, but I am thanking each and every person for each and every picture and video that I have borrowed of yours!  Thank You!!
The credits I do have are:
Kathyl, twistdfrk, (probably) Shawna and Jake and american idol.  Thank you so much!


And then it was over........"The Last Goodbye....it's back to Hollywood"


I thought about not posting the last one,because there's a few of us acting silly after the Limo goes by, but just know......we were still on our "Casey High" and not responsible for what we said!!!  LOL!!!  This is my personal video of us!
 

I really hope everyone enjoyed my step by step journey through Casey's Homecoming Visit from AI on May 13th - May 15th 2010.  It has been such a pleasure to go back and relive the whole thing again, and cry all those times trying to get through it!  I would appreciate any and all comments to let me know how you liked it, or if you didn't!  I'll probably be off for a couple days, I've got to work, and it's hard to do anything time consuming when I work, so I'll see yall in a couple days! 

Many thanks to each one of you who support me for doing this for Casey and you!


xoxoxo

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

New Video from Tour & a look back on Casey's Homecoming

Hello Everybody!   It's another nice day in Texas, with temperatures only in the mid to high 80's..... with humidity at only 53% and winds at 15mph moving S to SE with possible isolated thunder storms later today!!  Perfect weather!!  Now I'm sounding like a meteorologist!  Maybe I missed my calling...and should have been a weather-gal....lol!!  Naaaa....I definitely would not be amused by tornados and hurricanes like weather people seem to be!!  And I don't mean that in a bad way, because it's their life, they love weather, so when a disturbance is on the horizon....they get excited!!  Have any of you ever watched the Weather Channel and those Storm Chasers??  They absolutely have to be half crazy to do some of the things they do!!  And although he is not a "Storm Chaser" per se,  Jim Cantore is at the top of that list!!!  He's been known to stand in the middle of a hurricane with his camera man, still talking and nearly being blown away!!!  And those camera people.....what's up with them??  They must have a death wish too!!  All I know is...I really appreciate those people going above and beyond the call of weather duty to make sure we get the latest on each situation....even if it means putting their own life at risk!!  So lets all do a High 5 for the weather man right now!!!     **High5**!!!

I was trawling around and found a couple of interesting things for yall!  First, I found a video that I had never came across from the Tour stop in Chicago!!  This video is so crystal clear....and the audio is perfect....except for a few people sometimes talking in the background!!  I was so excited to find this, because it is Casey's first 3 songs of his set of 4 at Chicago, Illinois on 8/28/10!!  It's nearly 15 minutes of Total Caseyness!!! :) Check it out below!!



"Casey's first 3 songs of his set in Chicago Ill."

Huge Thanks going out to alibutterfly82 for a fantastic video!!  Great Job!!!

Ok, while I was out looking around, I came across this 'Cool' shot of Casey, which I believe is a screencap because  think I remember seeing this on the show and I see the American Idol logo on the bottom left of the photo!!  Anyhoo....it don't matter to me how the picture was captured.....it is one of those shots that is just so remarkable you just can't find the words to describe it!!!!  Here.....what do yall think:



Ha!!!  I told ya!!!!  Is that a "Cool Cat" or what??!!   I just love this look on him!!!  Reminds me of the James Dean look way back in the day, except Casey's hair is longer and blond and not slicked back with brillcream or DapperDan or whatever they used to slick their hair back......ummmm I'm telling my age now, I need to hush!!  :)   But isn't that just a beautiful look on him?!  I still say he could always have a side job as a model if he ever chose to!  But if we know Casey.....he doesn't think of himself as we do.  So I doubt if that will ever happen, but we can totally look forward to music videos from him and thats just as good in my opinion!!


I'm going to go ahead and post this while I decide what Homecoming Shots I want to use.  And, just so you know......this Homecoming segment is by request from a fan, so I will be back later to bring you more......so check back in a bit!!



I'm going to go ahead and do a big write up about Casey's Homecoming on May 14th and 15th and take you through it one step at a time!  I, for one want to relive the experience over again!  I've been digging up information for a couple hours now and thats when I decided to make this more than just a few pictures!  I'm going to start the Homecoming Visit today and finish it off tomorrow or maybe the next day, it all depends how much I find!  I have so much really good stuff to share, and maybe some of you haven't seen all of it!  I'm hoping some of the newer fans, who may have missed alot of this awesome journey, will totally love this Homecoming from start to finish!!  
We're going to start by showing you the video of Casey arriving back in Texas on Thursday May 13th by private jet at Love Field!!  I didn't know if he came in early Friday morning or actually came in the day before, and this video told me the answer to that question!  He was able to spend some quality time with family before the hectic day ahead of him on Friday!  I love this!!  He is so cute when he squats down and pats the ground.....so glad to be back HOME!!!  You'll also notice that Crystal and Lee were there on the tarmac....I didn't realize this, but there they are!!  I guess they were delivered to Dallas and had to connect to their Hometown from Dallas.  Sounds good to me!  Enjoy!!


"Casey's arrival back Home in Texas"
 

The next step was to get back to his family and get some much needed love and hugs from them!!
And then.....he just needed to relax a little bit........


.......and get his bearings about him....... The Idol journey had been a whirlwind 5 months, something Casey was not used to, since he just played his music for small venues mostly and spent time with his family, friends and his dogs!  That was his life before Idol.....
But not anymore!!!
Starting the next morning.......very early the next morning, Casey would spend many hours making his way from one appearance to the next, with some of the family in tow!!  First stop was the Fox 4 News Station for an early morning talk about how his life has changed since Idol started and what it means to him to have people voting to keep him in the competition and how he feels about his fans!

"Casey & family's interview at Fox 4 News in Dallas"


Next stop was the KISS radio station in Dallas to be live on the air with Kidd Kraddock in the morning!  They asked some really good questions and got Casey to really talking!  Loved this on air interview!
"Casey James Live in Studio at KISS fm in Dallas"


Next stop..... the AT&T store in Grapevine, Texas to visit with fans and most importantly....to await the all important text that the Judges from AI were going to deliver to him while there at the location!  They were telling him what song they had chosen for him to sing when he went back to Hollywood!
And the text said........."Daughters" by John Mayer!  Casey seemed excited about the song and asked if anyone had a guitar he needed to start practicing!  LOL!!! 



He makes his way to the front of the store, takes a microphone and begins talking with people and noticing those he knows and going to them and hugging and visiting with the fans......awaiting the all important Judges choice song by Text!

"Casey and Fans at the AT&T Store awaiting Judges Choice"


Ok, I'm going to stop for the day, and I'll get the rest of it up for you tomorrow.....so come back and lets see Casey all the way through his Homecoming!! 

Special Thanks going out to warner4az, Fox4news, dondraken, rcheek1717, and kiddlivewebmaster for all their awesome videos!  And thanks to AI and SaraP for the great pictures!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Songwriters, Nashville, and Casey.....

Hello everyone!  How's your day going?  I'm doing so much better since the weather is cooler here in Texas!  It's only in the 90's this week! Ha ha!  I've gone back to work on the weekends....not too crazy about that, but at least it's a little something to get me out of the house a couple days a week!

I came across a little bit of news, and it's quite exciting!  It appears that Casey was at something called a "Guitar Pull" on Saturday the 18th!  And he was accompanied by none other than Aimee Mayo and Luke Laird!!  That is awesome news, since those two songwriters are over the top awesome writers!!  It was tweeted by Brian Mansfield  of USA Today's Idol Chatter.  See his offical tweet below!

"Aimee Mayo told me Casey was at a guitar pull with her and Luke Laird here in town Saturday night. 'Course, they didn't invite me."


Now for those of you who don't know what a "Guitar Pull" is.....it is a bunch of Songwriters setting around taking turns singing, and is really laid back, and comfortable, for both the singer/songwriters and their audience!!  Here's an example of one, with my other Idol boy, Bucky Covington, singing "A Different World" at  "Guitar Pull '07"  .  I don't know where that one was recorded, the video did not say. Here is another one of my personal favorite musicians"JamesOtto" at the "10th Million Pennies for Kids Guitar Pull"
Otto  is a known member of the "Muzik Mafia" in Nashville.  Other members include Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy, and Duo, Big & Rich.  I believe John Rich (of Big & Rich) is probably the unofficial or official leader of the group.  They can be known to be the 'hell raisers' of country music in Nashville, and have quite a following.  
A lot of the musicians in Country, will, when the urge strikes, just walk in the door of any one of the bars in downtown Nashville, and crash the whole scene by jumping on stage and singing a few songs!  This is a practice that is done quite frequently, and anybody (yes even Casey) can just walk in any bar (in downtown area) and start singing!  That's how a lot of the bigger stars got their start!  I'm going to post a video of John Rich crashing a JD Myers show.  I need to let you know that this is EXPLICIT, and John says what he feels, and he is also a bit inebriated as you'll see.  Some people don't like him, because he says what he feels, and is a bit of a jerk.  This is just a video example to show you how stars can just walk in and do their thing, and listen to John as he talks about that.  At the beginning of this video, it's real choppy and not very good, but it goes to pictures after a couple minutes. Read what the videographer has to say under the video.   If you will be offended by this, please don't watch it!  I just wanted to relay to you what Casey will probably be doing to help his career, and these are mostly jam sessions, I believe, so Casey will fit right in.  This is Nashville!!  Also known as "Crazy Town" :)

John Rich with JD Myers 

I wanted to 'pretty' up the page a bit.....here's a really nice  picture of our Casey at his Homecoming back in May!!




Ok, now.....I just realized that we've probably been posting comments to the wrong website asking for Casey to be a part of the 44th Annual CMA Awards Show, to be aired on November 10th on ABC live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena!  The correct website is:



"44th Annual CMA Awards Show"

Click on the link and it will take you to their page.....then.....up in the right corner you will see where you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and Youtube.  On those sites is where you want to post requests for Casey to be in their lineup!  They may already have chosen whose doing what this year, but it never hurts, because.....someone may have to drop out, or can't make it for whatever reason.....then is when Casey could be put in that slot!  And if he doesn't get to play or be a presenter, we've still created ALOT of Buzz about him by posting the requests!  So let's all request Casey on the CMA Awards this year!!!  :)


It seems the other day there was some discussion on the comments section about Casey and why he is sporting the beard.  We had some good conversation about it, and had come to the conclusion that if he's keeping the beard, that is could possibly be that he's growing the beard to set himself up as an artist for Sony Nashville and do away with the contestant for American Idol! It could be that Sony suggested that he change his image of what he had become known for....the pretty face, along with all the cougar hype! And also being called the "Casey James Band" instead of Casey James....yea....it kinda is starting to look that way! They may be trying to shed the Am. Idol image of Casey James!

UPDATE:  I'm proud to say that I just found out that according to Gino Melendez, Casey's hairdresser in Ft. Worth, he WILL be shaving the beard, it was just grown for a short spell.  I'm so glad to hear that!!  I know there are others who liked the beard, and I still think it was a good idea to distance himself from the American Idol hoop-la with the beard, but I am also glad it's going.....he don't look the same with it, and it hides his beautiful face!  hhhmmmmm.......



Ok, I'm going to get out of here, please feel free as always to leave me comment, whether bad or good, I want your feedback!  Thanks everybody!! 

Here's a really nice one of Casey......a SCD shot....if ya will....ha ha ha!!   Nite All!!!!
 

Big Thanks going out to Texaseagle for this fabulous shot of Casey!!