Once we made it to Raleigh, we bought some random tickets (that were never even used during the course of the day) and started walking around, explaining to Mandie what everything was. As we were walking around, we happened to see Walker handing out free ringtone cards. We went over to say hi & he goes, "wait, who are you? how do i know you?" It was hilarious. We refreshed his memory about Charlotte the previous day and he remembered us & thanked us for coming back.
We met Tyler Reeve again -- he remembered us from the day before and thanked us for coming to see him again. Poor guy was losing his voice! Then it was time to head over to the Outlaw Stage to see Emily! Once again, we were right up at the barricade. Perfect position to enjoy the show. Once she spotted us, she waved and said hi. When her set had wrapped up, we headed over to the Bluebird Tent to catch Troy Olsen & Walker Hayes. We were able to watch their first songs and then went back to the Capitol tent to say hi to Emily. Big hugs were shared and her sign was handed over to her. She freaked out -- saying that it was her first sign ever! She introduced us to her boyfriend & best friend in the tent and told her we'd probably see her later. We then headed back over to the Bluebird Tent to catch the end of the songwriter's group and meet the artists. Troy was first up to meet. We reintroduced ourselves to him and handed over his sign. He was pumped and said he was going straight back to the bus to hang it up. He also let us that Sarah and Jedd had hung up their purple wall in the bus. Pictures were taken with him, as well as Walker.
Since the tent was in the shade, we decided just to hang out there until it was time for Sarah & Jedd to hit the stage. While we were waiting, Brad Tursi (another songwriter) happened to be walking around and we said hi to him. He goes, "Hey, you're the girls that made the purple wall, right?" Apparently, thats what we're known as now. haha.
Not too long after that, Jedd came in to set up his guitar and other stuff. When he looked over inour direction, we called out his name & waved. His eyes lit up and he a big smile came across hifs face. A little bit later, Sarah rolled up on the back of Tyler Reeve's motorized scooter with her backpack in hand. While she was setting up her stuff, she saw us and waved. :) At the beginning of their set, Sarah mentioned that she & Jedd were now a duo --- cue us busting out the sign. Sarah saw it immediately and started reading it out loud.
Sarah & Jedd were cracking up reading our sign, so Michelle handed it to them. Sarah held it up for the tent to see and rattled off the facebook url so everyone could become their friends.
The flip side of the poster said: "We love you. Your purple wall girls." She flipped it over and held it up so everyone could see. Sarah then proceeded to tell us she loved us as well and decided to tell the entire tent about the purple wall. "These 2 girls right here, Holly & Michelle, they're so awesome. They made Jedd and I a purple wall banner for our online chats that we do!"
When their set was over, they headed over to a table right outside the tent to meet people. The 2 of us decided to stand off to the side of the line and just talk to Sarah and Jedd when the line started to die down. While we were hanging around, we noticed that the line was getting super long and Sarah & Jedd were trying to sell their merch and meet people. We decided to ask them if they wanted us to sell the merch or do something for them. Sarah was shocked that we offererd and was like "Oh my gosh, would you?" Of course, we had no problems with it. So, behind the table we went to sell merch, take pictures, and do whatever. For the next hour and a half or 2 hours, we had the best time ever just hanging out selling merch to people. Mandie was responsible for taking pictures if people didn't have someone else with them. I was sent on the hunt for change -- as we were in desperate need of something smaller than $20 bills. Michelle handed people whatever they bought and took money. At one point, when we were severely lacking change, Mandie tried to use some of her own money to switch out. Sarah happened to catch her and told her, "Oh, no you don't. Put your money away.!" It was a great moment. Another great moment -- Michelle asked Jedd if she could wear his sunglasses since he wasn't wearing them. He was like, "Oh yeah, keep wearing them. They look good!"
As Sarah & Jedd were still signing, the last singer-songwriter group was performing. Dave Pahanish was in that group & he sang "Do You Believe Me Now." The 3 of us were singing along and Sarah & Jedd turned around to look at us. They were like, "Yeah!" Sarah bobbed her head to the music and Jedd started singing along with us.
It was really cool to be on the other side of the table and see Sarah & Jedd interact with everyone. I'm pretty sure they had a smile on their faces the entire time and were genuinely happy/excited to meet each and every person. Sarah and Jedd kept thanking us over & over when they were done meeting the fans. They were just like you have no idea how much that helped us and you totally did not have to do that. They even tried to pay us, which we had to refuse multiple times. They invited us back to the bus with them and we told them that Troy had told us about the purple wall hanging on the bus. Sarah goes, "Yeah, Troy showed us his sign and said do you want the good news or the bad news? Good news is I got my own sign! Bad news is I think I stole your biggest fans." We had a good laugh about that and then helped them pack up everything and headed back to the bus with them."
We had to speed walk to the gate with them because they had to get ready to go on stage to sing "Barbie Doll" with Jack Ingram. Compared to Sarah and Jedd, all 3 of us have short legs. I'm sure it was hilarious to anyone who saw us trying to keep up. We were ready to walk through the gate with Sarah when the security lady stopped us and asked for our wristbands. Since Sarah didn't know we were coming, we obviously didn't have wristbands. Sarah told the lady we were with her and it was fine. However, the lady was not having it. Sarah was frustrated and in a hurry, so she asked the lady if she found us wristbands if we could then come back. The security woman said that was fine. We could tell Sarah had a plan working in her head. She told us, "Okay, you girls go watch Jack Ingram. I'll find wristbands and then meet me back here afterwards." Game plan set!
With that, we walked down to the main amphitheater to watch Jack Ingram. Emily, Sarah, and Jedd doing "Barbie Doll" with Jack was awesome! You could tell they were all having a boat load of fun. We were standing pretty much right up against the stage, all the way to the left. It was a really cool view, as we could see everything going on sidestage/backstage. As soon as the song was over, we headed back near the gate to see what would happen. Hoping Sarah could find wristbands and come meet us.
About 10 mintues passed, when we saw someone walking towards the gate with flashes of lime green. We realized it was Sarah with the wristbands in hand! We walked towards the gate to meet her. The same security lady was still sitting there. Sarah look at her, flashed the bracelets, and said, "Can they come back now?"
With our wristbands on, to the bus we headed! The bus was jampacked. Troy was there and we made sure to tell him how awesome his sign looked....on the bathroom door. The purple wall was also hanging from the window in the front of the bus. We sat & talked to Troy for awhile, since Sarah and Jedd had gone to the back of the bus. He goes, "I'm trying to start a party. Who wants to start a party with me?" He grabbed his guitar and started playing "La Bamba." Emily came on the bus next and Troy had her sing some French song. It didn't really get the party started but she sounded good. Eventually, Sarah & Jedd reappeared and we found out they had been trying to memorize the lyrics to a song they were gonna sing with Jamey Johnson tha tnight. At the same time, the tour manager came on the bus and asked us to clear out because someone had to do interviews. Lucky for us, Sarah didn't have to do interviews so she came off the bus with us.
The four of us ended up just walking around the open lot backstage. Sarah recited the words to "Copperhead Road," the song they were going to sing with Jamey Johnson. It was like we were at a poetry reading, having the song laid out verse by verse. Since none of us really knew the song, Sarah told us how it was a Steve Earle song and gave us a pretty good explanation about it. She asked if we knew any Steve Earle music and our response was, "Well, we know the Sugarland song titled 'Steve Earle." I happened to have my ipod touch so I whipped it out and played the song for Sarah since she wasn't sure if she knew it. Once the song had played for awhile, Sarah goes "Oh, yeah, I have heard this from the record!" When it had finished, we all had a good laugh about standing in the middle of the open lot, listening to Sugarland and Sarah said she enjoys Sugarland alot. We got to talking about how we loved Sugarland & LBT. I think this was when we brought up seeing Sarah rocking out to LBT the night before from the side of the stage. We asked her if she decided to go watch them tonight if we could join her. She told us, "Yeah, definitely." She said that her & Jedd had to rehearse the song for Jamey that night but as long as they were done, we would definitely jam out with her sidestage.
We ended up jumping from conversation to conversation, talking like we were all old friends just catching up. It was such a chill, laidback setting. We talked about being on tour, about music, about friendship, about life. I would say we just stood in a circle talking for a good thirty minutes or more. At one point, Sarah said to us, “I know how awkward being in your 20’s can be. There’s school and work and real life and you kind of feel like you’re torn between all these different things. And you wonder what you’re going to do with your life and what’s going to happen.” That’s when she told us again, “Open your heart to life’s possibilities, they’re out there. You’ll find them.” She looked us in the eye as she said all that, as if she was urging us to believe her and just keep holding on. I'm pretty sure she almost had me in tears at that point.
Another memorable moment happened when we were talking about music. Sarah was talking about how when she's sad or angry, she has a whole playlist of angry music on her ipod. She said she listens to it so she doesn't have to write it, or something along those lines. Michelle told her that her bad day playlist consists of "Remedy" & "Mississippi's Crying" on repeat. Sarah had Michelle remind her how "Remedy" went because it had been so long since she had heard/sang it. Of course, being put on the spot, memory failed Michelle too. So, once again, I whipped out the trusty iPod and put it on for us to listen to. Sarah held my ipod up to her ear, making sure to hear it. She was just swaying to the music until it got to "Everything you've locked away is beautiful and it's okay" came on. She would bust out singing the next time, "Let it out, let me in." And then, we'd go back to just listening/mumbling some words her and there. As we got to the end of the song, Sarah said that her and Jedd should cut that song. To which, we all definitely agreed. Then she told us that she felt bad because Fleetwood Mac is a big influence of LBT..but Fleetwood Mac was her only influence. She said she felt like "Remedy" sounded very LBTish so she wouldn't want to step on their toes.
As we were standing there chatting, Jedd showed up and asked Sarah if she was ready to rehearse awhile. So, we told them to have at it and we were going to get food. We just said we'd meet them back at the bus when LBT's set was about to start and see if she wanted to go. From there, we headed back out into the concourse. Not gonna lie, it felt pretty cool knowing we had VIP access and could go backstage, do whatever. We tried getting food at a sub place, but they didn't have any meat or bread? So, we decided to go backstage again and just sit outside the bus and decide what we wanted to do. Troy happened to walk by us with his plate of food and goes, "Hey, Little Big Town is right around the bus. Go say hi!" The three of us just kinda looked at him and I think he thought we didn't believe him/he was teasing us. He said, "No, for real, they're right there! You should go say hi."
Seeing Troy's food, we decided to get up and see if we could find catering since we were starving! We literally took 2 steps and here comes Kimberly from LBT right around the bus next to us. She remembered Michelle & I from the day before and stopped to say hi. We just told her that we had so much fun in Charlotte that we decided to come back. As we continued on our search for catering, we saw Jimi & Karen headed in our direction. We said hey to them as we walked by and they said it was good to see us again.
Needless to say, our first search for catering was a massive fail. We had no clue where we were going or what we were doing. We headed back to the buses, hoping we could find someone we knew and ask them where to go. Lucky for us, we saw Emily carrying her plate of food headed to the bus. We called out her name and ran to catch up with her. Emily to the rescue! She told us exactly where to go and what to do. :) On our way this time, we completed our LBT encounters and walked by Phillip. He stopped to give us all hugs and said it was great to see us again. I told him I really enjoyed the new music the night before and couldn't wait to hear the CD. He was such a sweetheart -- and although it's almost impossible to choose a favorite in the group, he's probably right at the top. We finally found catering, got our food, and sat down at a table. We looked up and at the table next to us was Heidi Newfield. Walker Hayes was also at a table eating with his family. Chelsea Lena (a great singer songwriter) who was working the BlueBird Cafe tent came and ate with us, since she remembered us.
By the time we had finished eating, it was almost time for LBT's set to start. We headed back to the buses to try to find Sarah & Jedd. We ran into Emily and she asked us if we had found catering and if we got something to eat. We told her we had, thanks to her help. We asked her if she had seen Sarah and about that time the door of the bus swung open and out walked Sarah. She asked us if we were ready to go! We followed her over to the area leading to the side of the stage, walked inside, and found our spot right near a road case. There were a few other people standing side stage, as well as some artists and crew. Sarah chatted with people, while we were enamored with LBT. Sarah turned back towards us and the four of us rocked out to "Fine Line." Emily popped in right next to Sarah so we all shared hugs and proceeded to have all 5 of us rock out to "Bones."
I'm pretty sure Sarah & Emily were having just as much fun as the 3 of us were. Watching LBT from side stage was definitely one of the coolest, most fun experiences I've had. It was neat to be able to see the crowd and their reactions. During LBT's new song "The Reason Why," Emily & Sarah were totally jamming and singing all the words to the song. It was such a catchy song and we were all singing it to one another.
All 5 of us sang along and rocked back & forth to "A Little More You." We would all just look at each other, smile, and sing it to each other. During one point, Sarah & Emily threw their arms around each other and said "I love you, friend!" It was completely adorable, so Michelle took a picture of them. Emily then whipped out her iPhone and took pictures with everyone and of everyone.
When Phillip started singing the opening line of "Bring It On Home," we all looked at each other and started cheering super loud. Once again, we all just stood there, enjoying the moment, and singing that song. At some point, Jedd showed up so he joined in all of our fun. :) During "Boondocks," Jedd and Sarah had to start getting ready for their mini set after LBT, so we headed over to the other side of the stage with them. I don't think we ever stopped singing as we were walking, so when we made it to the other side it was the repeat part of "You get a line, I'll get a pole.." and Jedd & Sarah were singing the parts too. When LBT's set was over, they exited the stage on our side, walked right by where we were standing, and gave us all high fives & smiles. Awesome! :)
We watched Sarah and Jedd do their mini set. We couldn't see their faces since we were standing behind them, but it was still awesome. Sarah even took out their "We need friends" sign and held it up for the whole amphitheater and told them how we made it for them and everything. We got to see their reactions as they walked back to us and told them how great it was. Back to the buses it was, so Sarah & Jedd could rehearse a few more minutes before performing "Copperhead Road" with Jamey Johnson. When the time came, we followed them back to the side stage to wait their turn to sing. They were super excited, but also nervous. It was great just being able to stand there and cheer them on. Heidi Newfield was also hanging out sidestage and stood in front/beside us for awhile.
Jedd & Sarah took the stage with Jamey -- and surprisingly, it was really just another Buxton Hughes performance with Jamey playing guitar. Once again, we couldn't see their faces but we knew they were having an amazing time and giving it their all. At the end of the song, Sarah threw her arms around Jedd and they shared a big hug. As soon as they made their way back to us, we gave them each huge hugs as well.
By this point, our day was coming to an end, unfortunately. We followed Jedd & Sarah out the door, back to the buses. We stopped near the gate to take a few more pictures together, have some final conversations, and more hugs. Mandie & I said our goodbyes to Sarah first. I don't remember exactly what she said to me but I know there were lots of "Thank yous" and talk of the amazing time I had. I'm pretty sure she asked if I had fun..dumb question. haha. Fun would be a total understatement. I also know we shared a big hug or two. Next up, was goodbyes with Jedd while Michelle had her moment with Sarah. :) Jedd pulled me in for a hug, or multiple hugs, and also asked me if I had fun and thanked me over & over for all my help that day. I told him it seriously was not a big deal for me and that I was happy to do anything I could. I'm pretty sure I said 'thank you' a thousand times for the experience he & Sarah gave me. While talking to Jedd, Mandie & I could overhear some of what Sarah was saying to Michelle...and it was literally all I could do to hold back tears. To quote Sarah, “If you think people are your best friends and they treat you like crap and it turns out they’re not? F*** ‘em. I’m sorry for being blunt, but I mean it. You don’t need them. Just let go of your ego and let them go.” I seriously felt like it was "life lesson" time. It was definitely like Sarah was a big sister at the moment, sharing what she had experienced.
Final hugs were shared, goodbyes spoken, and we walked out the gate waving goodbye to two of the most amazing artists and friends that I'm pretty sure we'll ever meet.....
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