Why I Left Minnesota For Nashville

Connect to my 20 Years in Nashville home page right here!

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Nashville is such a city of promise, filled with the allure of fame and fortune. Like Hollywood, without the tan. My understanding was that if you wanted to be a movie star, you move to California. If you want to do music, especially country or Christian, you move to Nashville.

Like the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s, I heard that there was gold in them there hills of Nashville. Gold records, that is. The adventurer in me knew I needed to pack up my wagon and trek across the country from Minnesota to see what I might uncover, even if it meant that I would simply become an additional anonymous person making the trek, crowding the streets of Music City with another wide-eyed dream.

Heck, I had as good of a chance as anybody, right? I remember thinking a well-intentioned, charismatic, halfway-decent singer like me stood a pretty good shot at a record deal. I had bought records and seen concerts by artists who appeared to be a lot more mediocre than I was. People say the record industry just puts out crap. I say, why can’t they just put out my crap?

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How Donny Osmond is Somewhat to Blame For My Actions

As part of my celebration of 20 years in Nashville, I'm sharing some stories from my past—some parts of my journey that have influenced me the most. Here's a look back to when I was just a wee kid, wondering who I'm supposed to be.

Watch my intro video here!
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It’s Donny’s fault. At least, partly. And if I’m being completely honest, Marie’s too. What they did to me was nothing short of life-changing. They combined singing, dancing, acting, effusive charm, a dazzling array of costumes, in-studio ice-skating, and a healthy dose of self-deprecation in their televised variety shows, just enough for me to permanently place performing in the back of my head as what I really wanted to do when I grew up. I even had a talented sibling! I was halfway there! If someone asked what I wanted to do for a career, I’d say “A mailman or a fireman,” but I knew the truth. And I knew I couldn’t speak it out loud.

“Dad?” I asked, after walking up the stairs from watching “Donny & Marie” in the basement of our house in Richfield. “When can I take voice lessons?” For some reason, I knew in order to be a professional, I had to have voice lessons.

“When you get older you can take voice lessons.” He didn’t say no, exactly. He just didn’t say if he meant older, like next year, or older like when you pay your own mortgage. Voice lessons were to be saved for the extremely talented, and the rich. Normal, middle-class people don’t just throw around money to work on something so intangible as your future career in show business. Little did they know. Armed with this confusion, I’d retreat to my bedroom and put on my headphones and try singing harmony with Hall & Oates, ELO or the Bill Gaither Trio. So much for eradicating my confusion.

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Nashville 20 Years

Yes! I'm celebrating 20 years of living in Nashville!! And I'd love to have you join me!

NEW WORSHIP PROJECT!!: I can't wait for you to hear it. Click here to listen & download it for FREE!

I'm so excited to announce that the book I've been writing (and that you've been reading excerpts from!) WANNABE: How to Make It Big In Nashville (From Someone Who Hasn't Yet) has been signed by literary agent Bucky Rosenbaum of Rosenbaum & Associates Literary Agency. This is hugely encouraging for me - you can read more about what it all means here!

Here are the pieces that I'm adding to throughout the month...

• Watch: Behind the Scenes Recording A New Song


• Read: "What Is Pilgrim Man? Sharing Hope" 


• Read: "A Song You Almost Never Heard" (about "Precious Memories")


• Read: "How Donny Osmond is Somewhat to Blame for My Actions"


• Read: "Why I Left Minnesota For Nashville"


• Read: "I'm Throwing A Party"


• Read: "I'm Not Crazy. Right?"

MN PEEPS: *Christian Book & Gift in Rochester, MN is offering each of my CD & my book for $5 each during the month of June!! Please stop by and support them!

I'd love to hear from you about your own journey! How do you find hope when times get tough? I look forward to hearing from you. Please shoot me an email here on the site, or right here! Or why not pick up the phone and call my special hotline: (615) 669-7632 - that's 615-NOW-SMEE

A friend in New Hampshire said to help celebrate she will be doing "20 Random Acts of Kindness" during the month!! How awesome is that? Can't wait to hear about it!

 

How Should I Celebrate 20 Years?

Hello! I hope you're doing great. I need your help with someone kinda big. Next month will mark my 20th Anniversary of moving to Nashville and I want to do something to celebrate! Or several things. I'm just not sure what to do. But I do know that I want to involve you! So I'm wondering if you might have some creative ideas for me.

I want to come up with something that says THANK YOU to everybody who's been so supportive and encouraging to me...but also to say a giant GOD IS AWESOME for writing such an interesting story with my life over the past 20 years (in particular)!!

The top entries that I receive, I'll give a trio of my albums as a way of saying THANKS for being so creative.

I'm thinking along the lines of:

• Special anniversary compilation project - various songs - or perhaps new packaging for all three of my CDs together?


• Online concert


• CD & book giveaways or other kinds of contests


• Have fans record short videos saying why a song is one of their favorites


• Have people record themselves singing one of my songs (I like this one!!)


• What do you think?

See what I mean? I look forward to hearing from you. EMAIL ME HERE

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