Fake It Till You Make It.

Hey again, friends!

I thought I'd write a little bit about what I'm going through at the moment.  This week, I've had quite a few singing events I need to be prepared for, and guess what happens?

...

I get sick (every singer's worst nightmare).

  

I don't know what I've got, but if I had to pinpoint it, I'd say it's some sort of cold.  I have sneezing and coughing fits, an angrily red sore throat, lovely mucous coming from my facial orifices (ha), and headaches to top it all off.  Beautiful, huh?

Oh, and being a college student, I still have homework, projects, and tests to deal with.

All this being said, I've learned an important lesson: sometimes, you've just gotta push through and fake it till you make it...in other words, "the show must go on".  No matter what curveballs life throws at you, it is so vital to just keep on going until you see a light at the end of that long, abysmal tunnel.  The end of my tunnel in the short run is the end of this week, the long run being the end of the semester.  After that, things should calm down quite a bit for me.  Until then...I'm off to study.  Goodnight, y'all!

--Holly

P.S. - What are some of the challenges you face daily that you must push through?  What motivates you to be able to keep going?  Leave me comments and feedback. :)

The Best Friday the 13th in History...YES.

It all started on the remarkably beautiful afternoon of Friday, August the 13^th, 2012.  Not usually a very promising day, but it actually turned out to be one of the best days of my life.

I wasoriginally told that the family and I were all going to take a Friday night trip to Dallas for a grand opening of a brand new IMAX theater.  When I asked what kind of event it was and what I should wear, I was told I needed to dress nicely but not formal, and a little bit country because it was going to be “Texas themed”.  I asked off work for the afternoon so we’d have plenty of travel time and time to eat before the event started.  We got to Dallas and found a little Chinese buffet to stop in and relax.  After the meal when we were sitting and talking, Dad told Travis to start videoing our discussion on his iPhone.  I thought it was a little strange at the time, but I thought we were just gonna make a cool little memory to take with us.  Little did I know, it would be the beginning of one of the best memories of my life.

Dad began by saying that tonight was a really special night because we’re all together to have a great time, but that we weren’t doing what I originally thought we were doing, which was going to the IMAX.   He then proceeds to pull out 6 tickets to the Eden’s Edge, Thompson Square, Little Big Town, and Rascal Flatts concert that was in Dallas on this night.  I am a HUGE Rascal Flatts fan; they have been some of my biggest influences growing up.  As if it couldn’t get any better or more stunning than that, he pulls out yet ANOTHER surprise piece of paper confirming 2 special tickets for me and my dad to a pre-show meet and greet with the guys of THE FLATTS.  If you can imagine my jaw completely dropping—not once, but now twice—then you can get a pretty good picture of what happened in that moment.  I literally could not believe what was happening.  It was a very surreal experience.  I asked him if he was joking, but I knew he was telling the truth.

As soon as I picked myself up off the floor (figuratively, of course), the logical thoughts began to hit me.  How long has this been planned?  How did y’all keep it a secret for so long considering how question-y I can be about surprises like this?  Am I really about to meet the people who I have so highly regarded for almost my entire life?  I soon got my answers.  They had been planning this ever since the news about the concert came out, which was about 4 months previous.  FOUR MONTHS!  I could never keep that big of a secret for so long.  Secondly, they had to be together on the story they were going to tell me.  They picked the IMAX thing because they know how much I love it and wouldn’t ask too many questions.  And finally, YES.  It was for real.  I was seriously about to shake hands with some of my greatest heroes.

After leaving the restaurant, it was time to head straight to the venue, which was the Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas, seating about 9,000 people.  In order for us to take advantage of our meet and greet passes, Dad and I went to the side of the arena and waited in the line.  We ended up missing the first two bands, Eden’s Edge and Thompson Square, because we had to wait so long, but it was totally worth it.  When it was finally our turn, we shook hands with each of the guys and I got to tell them about recording my Nashville album, “For You” in Jay Demarcus’s home studio in 2008.  They were really cool about it and we joked and talked for a few minutes before taking our picture.  It was the coolest experience, and I’m so happy we got to do that.  Thanks Dad! J

After that, we got a couple waters and went on into the pavilion just in time for Little Big Town.  We’d seen them when they were just getting their start and they were touring with Martina McBride, but they’ve come so far since then!  Amazing vocals and great songs, both new and old.  Y’all should get pumped about their new music coming out, because it will be fantastic. 

Then, it was time for the main event, The Flatts!  They came out with awesome stage lighting and effects and of course, incredible vocals.  They did all the goodies: “Bless The Broken Road”, “My Wish”, “What Hurts The Most”, “Mayberry”, “These Days”, “Why Wait”, “Banjo”, and many more.  I was singing every single word to every song.  It was so awesome of an experience.

After the concert, we headed on out to the car, each of us talking about our favorite parts of the show.  When we were in the car, Dad faced me and said there might be another date I’d want to save and put on my calendar.  He then proceeded to hand me 6 more tickets to the Hunter Hayes/Carrie Underwood tour on October 24^th!  I about passed out right then and there.  It was unbelievable.  I didn’t understand how he could’ve swung all this.  It was SWEET.

So there you go; that’s the big story.  I still can’t believe it all happened that way, but I’m so glad it did.  Who knows?  Maybe one of these days, I’ll get to sing on stage WITH them…a girl can dream, can’t she? J

Ok, here's the truth.

Hey again.

You know those life-changing moments?  Well I just had one of those.  Literally, just 10 minutes ago.

I was just doing the most normal of things, hanging my clothes up and cleaning my dorm room at college.  I had my music on and was listening to this brand new CD I just bought through iTunes, of Javier Colon, the very first winner of The Voice.  He had some great songs on there, exactly my kind of stuff that I like to listen to.  Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has happened all day...until this song came on.

Please take the time to read through this carefully.

Ok, Here's the Truth
Javier Colon

There's a look on her face that she's starting to master as she carefully closes the door.
She's been coming home late with pre-packaged answers to questions she tries to avoid.
Now she's talking too fast, and I just have to ask, "Baby, what's all the cloak and dagger for?"

"Ok, here's the truth: I ran out of gas, and I didn't call 'cause I thought you'd be mad.
So I started to walk, took an hour an and half to get off the highway and fill up that can.
I was hoping that you'd understand."

She's getting good with the lies, so good that you wonder if the "rabbit in the hat trick" is for real.
She turns water into wine, and I'd almost believe her if her eyes, just for once, could keep still.
Now my patience wears thin, 'cause she's late once again.
"Baby, tell me what's delayed you this time?"

"Ok, here's the truth: it's gonna sound kinda strange, but I took a new way home from work for a change.
It started out fine, 'til I got to road 9, went an hour the wrong way before I realized.
I'm sorry I've ruined all your plans.  I was hoping that you'd understand."

Standing there watching her secretly talking, it's just about all I can bear.
Now I know why she's been wearing more makeup and caring so much about changing her hair.

The telephone vibrates on the table again, another dang private call coming through.
Now she's visibly shaking, and I just feel like taking that phone, and throwing it clear across the room.
She answers "Hello?", a man's voice I don't know, says "It's time that you tell him the truth."
"I can't take this no more, honey, I'm out the door.  No, I won't relax, I've got my suitcase all packed."
But what she said next stopped me dead in my tracks...

"Ok, here's the truth: it's not what you think.  The man that you heard is head of Oncology.
I'm sorry I lied to you all of those times. I didn't know how to tell you I might not survive.
Ok, there's the truth.  I've got six months to live.  I only wanted what's best for you and the kids.
I promise I'll fight with all of my might, but if I lose this battle, I lived a good life.
So baby, just please hold my hand and tell me that you understand."


Incredible.  All I can say about this song is that the very first time I heard it, it hit me right in the heart.  I haven't ever really been able to say that about a song.  I don't know how, if he performs this live in concert, he'll ever be able to do it without crying.  It's too beautiful, even more so when you hear the melody behind these words.

Please, go buy this song or his whole album on iTunes and help support this amazing new artist.  You won't regret it, I promise.

A Good Start: My Story and My Purpose

Has anyone ever run a marathon you haven't trained for, taken a test you haven't studied for, or had to perform songs in front of a huge crowd that you haven't completely memorized?

Yeah, that's life.  It's not perfect by any means, we all know.

That's kinda how I feel about this whole blogging thing.  I feel like I'm a pretty good writer; English and Spanish have always been my strongest subjects in school, but it's a whole new world I'm jumping into.  It's a lot simpler and low-key, and that's what I love most about it.

My goal is to be as honest as possible with you guys.  I might not tell every single gory detail of my life, but there is a purpose in all of this, which I'll get to a little later.

So let's start at the beginning, shall we?  First of all, I'd better tell y'all a little bit about myself, for those of you that don't already know me from somewhere.  My name is Holly Tucker, I'm 18 years old (about to turn 19!), I've lived in Texas all my life, I love God first and family second, with everything else following after that, I have a deep compassion for animals (although I'm not vegetarian), I graduated from Lorena High School, I'm currently a freshman at Baylor University studying Music and Entertainment Marketing with a minor in Spanish, and...country music is kiiinda my passion. :)

Music has always been a part of my life, even before I was born.  My parents used to have their own Christian band, called Revised Edition.  My dad was the group leader, and my mom played keyboards and sang parts, along with the other members of the band.  For about 6 or 7 years, they travelled all over the nation doing gig after gig, in churches, rallies, Christian camps, special events, etc.  I could go on and on.  My dad still can't go out anywhere without running into someone that knows him.  They were pretty hot stuff back in their day. :)  As working musicians, they were smart and saved up every last penny from all the years of hard work put into this group.  Eventually, their hard work paid off, and they had the opportunity for a record deal in California.  Exciting, right?  At first, yes.  Everything was going good until they were taken advantage of, and all their money was seriously misused by their producer.  A Christian producer.  Shocking, huh?  I know.  But anyway, they didn't have the funds left over to sue in California, where the rates were outrageous.  They tried to continue the group, but after a hit like that, it was difficult to keep the momentum going.  And after some time, it ended.

Even through all the good times and the bad, there were still good things that came out of their experiences.  For one, my dad married my mom (aww...) and had 3 wonderful children, me being the last.  Secondly, they had so much musical experience: creatively, technically, and business-wise.  When you grow up with parents who are so musically-minded, it's hard to not have some sort of longing towards that mindset as well.  We were a trio by the time I was 2 years old; I would get around the piano with my mom and dad, and we'd sing the good songs like "Amazing Grace" and "Away in a Manger".  It was a blast, and I loved it, but like any little girl, I had dreams in my head of being a princess, a teacher, or a pet doctor. ;)

For the first time at 7 years old, I got up on the stage at church, and with the Senior Adult choir in the background and my daddy at my side, we sang a duet called "I Am A Promise".  It's a fun, little kid song, and by the time the song was over, I can't explain it, whether it was the audience or the feelings I felt, but somehow I knew that I wanted to do music for the rest of my life.  I didn't know every detail of every dream I would have yet, but I certainly knew how I felt when I was singing on stage: like I was home.

Quickly I became involved in choirs and musical things at my school, and of course, continued singing and found a love for country music.  You have to know that I grew up in the 90's, so my favorite kind of country dates back to the 70's through the 90's, and still is my favorite to this day.  I've just always felt like this type of music, although it has its flaws, has the most heart and soul out of any other type of music there is.  I started performing for as many things as I could, such as National Anthems for political and sporting events, fairs, Texas Opries, churches, etc.

When I was about 12 years old, my church music minister, Chris Wommack, began writing country music and was looking for someone to demo his songs so he could send them to his contacts in Nashville.  He knew I sang country music, and had been singing in church for several years, so one day he played one of his songs for me, and I fell in love with his writing.  They hit a personal note for me, almost as if he had gotten inside my head and re-worded my thoughts to fit a song.  It was beautiful, and perfect.  The thing I loved most about his songs was that they all had positive messages and were classy.  Not to say he didn't write sad or attitude songs, but they were never trashy.  Once I realized my dream to sing, I made a pledge to myself to always sing those kinds of songs and be a good role model.  A wonderful partnership was born, and from there I recorded a lot of his songs in his office as very simple, low-key, piano/vocal versions.

At age 13, we began talking about a really exciting idea of recording my very own CD.  We got together with Dick Gimble, son of famous fiddler, Johnny Gimble, and he produced the album.  It turned out very well.  The summer when I was 15, my parents and I and Chris took a trip to Nashville to record a professional, 4-song songwriter's demo for Chris.  Chris was blessed to have met Sean Neff, the sound engineer/assistant producer for Rascal Flatts, on one of his previous trips.  It was a week-long trip, but we recorded the instruments in The Grip, the home studio of Jay Demarcus of Rascal Flatts, in 3 hours of one day, and vocals in 2 of the other days.  The musicians were A-listers, and they had no trouble with the songs.  It was stressful at times, but otherwise a beautiful experience, and it came out to be an amazing project.

My most recent recording experience started when I was 17 in the little town of Holland, Texas.  Produced by the genius steel, electric, and bass guitarist/producer Steve Palousek, it was to be a full-length project, with 4 of my own original songs, 4 of Chris's, 3 of songwriter Steve Maynard, and 1 cover song by Jamie O'Neal (one of my favorite artists).  It was a year in the making, and it came out equally as good as the products in Nashville, if not better.  The musicians were fantastic (couldn't have asked for better) and it was magical.

(I know this is pretty lengthy, guys, but to understand a little bit about me and my life, there's some background information that goes into it, so bear with me.)

The information I've just given is not super detailed, but I can get to that at some other time.  I really wanted to explain my purpose in creating this new blog.

Being a student at Baylor University and being named one of this year's five Uproar Records artists has really made me focus in on my own songwriting.  My main goal is to eventually let out my thoughts into words in a semi-organized manner so that I can become a better songwriter.  To be a good writer, you must know what you want to say.  To me, this is a great place to start.  So do y'all mind if I give you a piece of my mind every now and then?  It would really help me out, and who knows?  Maybe I'll end up saying something that'll catch your attention and be pleasing to your ears. :)

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

--Holly Tucker