Let Your Country Out

As many of you know, I recently started listening to the music of a brand new country star named Jessie Lee Cates.  Now, my dad, my sister, and I are all huge country music fans (my mom’s a Yankee, so she tolerates it).  We listen to it all the time, especially when it’s cold out and we’re dreaming of summer days full of blue skies, road trips, and wildflowers.  We love Sugarland, Roger Creager, Lady Antebellum, Clay Walker, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Eli Young Band, Josh Abbott Band, Toby Keith, and let me tell you, Jessie Lee Cates is right up there with the best of the best.  

Her voice is pure and clear, her music classic and catchy with a delightful country beat.  Of course, I’m still quite partial to Scotland, as it is one of my absolute favorite places in the world and my own ancestors’ homeland, but the rest of Jessie Lee’s debut album is just as fun, delightful, and frankly, good, old fashioned, high quality country music.       

 

I’ve had the distinct privilege of connecting with Miss Cates over Twitter and Facebook, and she is just about as sweet and classy as it gets.  She read the first blog post I wrote about her music, https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/best-song-ever/, and contacted me to say that she wanted to make me her fan of the month!  

 

I also received a copy of her CD, a super cute T-Shirt that will look GREAT with jeans and my cowboy boots, and an autographed photo which I can’t wait to hang in my office alongside my autographed Switchfoot poster.  

 

 

 

I’ve been following the news on her website, JessieLeeCates.com, Jessie Lee is a current bestseller in contemporary country on Amazon, her single Scotland (my favorite) is #4 on the charts in Europe, and there is a Scotland music video in the works!  I can’t wait to see it!  Scotland is just such a special place to me (as I think I’ve mentioned several times) and I think the video will be awesome.  

I’m always so thrilled to find new music to listen to, and I especially love being able to connect with a new artist whose work I genuinely respect and enjoy and whom I can hopefully help out (not that she really needs my help… she’s definitely doing just fine on her own!) by spreading the word about their craft, be it music, books, art, or script.  If you like country music and/or strong female vocalists, I hope you stop by Jessie Lee’s website.  Her music is definitely worth a listen!  

Next up on A Platform of Sorts: A Review of Seance by Tinsley Collins and How Target Ruined my Life by Not Having the Third Percy Jackson book in stock.   

 

Snooow

As promised…

This temperature is unacceptable.

 

Apparently, we have critters living in our tree.

 

Yes, I said critters. I’m from Texas.

 

Falling snow is actually really difficult to photograph.

 

Today wasn’t a total drag, however.  I don’t know if I told y’all this, but I was selected as rising country music star Jessie Lee Cates’ fan of the month!  I’ll post more about it tomorrow!  So excited!  She’s awesome.  If you’re a country music fan, go check her out right now! http://www.jessieleecates.com/

Of Zombies, Reviews, and Country Music

Okay, there is something I have been meaning to ask… well… anyone who will listen, actually.  It’s about zombies.

Whenever I write, I like to put on a television show or movie that I’ve seen a thousand times, you know, sort of just to keep me company while I type.  Last night, I decided to watch the pilot episode of The Walking Dead.  

Now, I’m absolutely terrified of zombies, but for some reason, I just love movies and books about them.  Maybe a sick, twisted part of my brain just really likes being scared.  Anyway, in most movies and books I’ve seen and read, I can’t help but notice the characters never use the word “zombie.”  For instance, in The Walking Dead, the zombies are called “walkers.”  That makes me wonder if, in these universes where these stories are taking place, do zombie books and movies not exist?

You see what I’m saying?  Because I’ve read and seen all these zombie stories before, I know that a walking corpse is called a zombie.  Since these people have no idea what these things are, I can’t help but assume that zombie movies and books simply do not exist in these worlds.

Okay, this seemed like a lot more pressing issue as I was falling asleep last night than it does now, but I’m still curious to see what people think.

In other news, Cemetery Tours got another AMAZING review, this time, from a fellow blogger here on WordPress!  I “pressed” the review earlier, but here’s the link again because it is just such a great review!

http://aprillwood.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/book-review-cemetery-tours-by-jacqueline-smith/

Finally, I received a message from Jessie Lee Cates (the awesome country artist who sings my new favorite song, “Scotland”).  She read the blog post that I wrote about it and has selected me to be her February fan of the month!  I’m so excited!  I’ll write more about it in the days to come, but in the mean time, you should definitely go check out her website!  She’s awesome!

http://www.jessieleecates.com

Well, I’m going to go write some more on the sequel.  I’m having a girls night with a friend I haven’t seen in a few months tonight, so I want to be sure to get some work done!

Talk to y’all later!  🙂

Best Song Ever

Note: The Title of this Post has Nothing to Do With the One Direction Song… Though I do Enjoy that Song.

Those of you who’ve followed my blog for a while (or maybe not… I’m pretty sure I mention it every day) know that I am a true blue native Texan.

I am very proud of my Texas heritage and I love pretty much everything about the Lone Star State.  Unique, beautiful, and Southern, with a rich and diverse history, what’s not to love?

   

Every one of these images depicts a land that is very near and dear to my heart and that will always be home to me.  As much as I love Texas, however, a very significant part of my heart also beats across the Atlantic Ocean.

In Scotland.

Recently, my sister and I have been talking about returning to our ancestors’ homeland (well, one of them – we’re also Welsh and French and German and Irish, but we have quite a bit of Scottish blood on both sides, and I inherited my curly hair from my Scottish great-grandfather, so we just go with it), so Scotland has been on both of our minds for a while now.  That being said, last night, I was browsing iTunes and I searched for songs with the keyword, “Scotland.”

That’s how I discovered the song “Scotland” by Jessie Lee Cates.  It’s a country song… as in Texas country music… about SCOTLAND.

As a Texan, I should probably also mention that I have a distinct fondness for country music.

Well, it turns out that Miss Cates is from Tennessee, but you know, we Texans like Tennessee country just fine.

Anyway, “Scotland” is a fun, catchy tune about a Southern girl with Scottish heritage who longs to visit her homeland that she’s never seen “to learn about life when her granddaddy’s granddaddy played the bagpipes.”  I.  Love.  This.  Song.  I love everything about it.  I’m Texan by birth, but Scottish (somewhat) by blood.  I love both lands with all my heart, and I feel like when I return to Scotland (hopefully this summer), a part of me will feel like I’m going home.

Long story short, if you love country music and/or Scotland, go check out the song “Scotland” by Jessie Lee Cates.  I can not stop listening to it.