The Man With The Mustache - Ghosts, Stunts & the French Quarter

Monday June 22nd - World Famous Irish Pub in Pascagoula, MS

This was by far the warmest welcome I've received so far!  There were new fans waiting to listen to me and it was a fun night.  I even had a couple drinks with them even though I've been mostly tame on this tour.

New friends and fans!






Saying goodbye to the lovely family at the Tux Creek Inn was bittersweet - such a beautiful place to leave, and yet, I was leaving it for NEW ORLEANS!


 The rain on the way to my friend's house in Slidell, LA was ridiculous!  Here's a video to show you:

Tuesday June 23rd - Neutral Ground Coffeehouse New Orleans, LA

This was another very intimate and yet rewarding show.  And afterwards, my friend Joette showed me some sights, including the French Quarter, the trolley, alligator meat, crab cakes, moonshine and drinks made of aliens ;-)

 The next morning we decided to go swimming in the canal.  Talk about a gorgeous place.  Oh yeah, and first we jumped off the boat house into the water:

Because I had a day off on June 24th we made big plans: ghost hunting, jello shots, beignets, and oysters!

 I took lots of pictures inside an old haunted brothel and here's just one of them where you can see faces.  I see only two faces: a man with a mustache and a very sad woman (who creeps me out a little bit..)

Thursday June 25th Drifters in Nashville, TN

The drive to Nashville took me all day Thursday - I got there just in time to get ready and go to my show.  (I would like to add here that Thursday June 25th is exactly one month from my upcoming wedding day:-)  

One of the songwriters who worked on my recent album came to my show so that was cool.

Later that night my friend Marisa worked on my hair.

I'm here in the Nashville area for a couple more days.  Catch you later!

xo,
Elle

In the "Birthplace of America's Music"

Friday June 19th - Bokeh Lounge Evansville, IN

 The rain was COMING DOWN.  I got a flash flood warning on my phone right before I started my show, and then I got another one an hour later.  My plan was to drive to Nashville and stay with my friend Marisa that night so I could have a shorter drive to Mississippi the next day - I became a bit worried that I would get rained in.. Luckily the manager of the venue was understanding and they sent me on my way a bit early with a sandwich to go, water bottles and very warm wishes.

(Above is my new friend Kelly that I met in Evansville.)  

Below is a video of the rain coming down.  And this video was not the heaviest of downpours!

The distance between Evansville, IN and Biloxi, MS was the longest distance between shows on this tour.  I broke up the 10 hours by staying in Nashville (2.5 hrs south of Evansville) and then only had 7.5 hours to drive on Saturday.  Besides being a little groggy while leaving Nashville, it all worked out.  Here's how I handled my grogginess with classical music:

Saturday June 20th - Voodoo Cantina Biloxi, MS

I arrived in Biloxi with just enough time to check into the bed and breakfast before heading to my show.  And my goodness was it beautiful!  

The show was fun.  I made some new fans and enjoyed my first night in the thick Mississippi heat.  It was some guy in the audience's birthday and they gave me two cupcakes before they left:

Sunday June 21st - Soul Wired Cafe Jackson, MS

What a cool venue this is!  The owner is an absolute sweetheart and she has created a gorgeous arts community with her space.  She hosts slam poetry and visual artists and musicians and is an appreciator of them all.  

I was excited to get my article in hard-copy format:

This very nice gentleman, Matthew bought dinner for me and Soul (the owner).  We had fish tacos and guacamole.  

I headed back down to the B&B in Biloxi with food and a considerably lighter merch case.  I've got some new fans in Jackson!  Can't wait to go back.

And when I woke up today, this was my morning blessing:

I've got one more Mississippi show tonight and then off to New Orleans tomorrow - I'll catch up with you all when I'm back in Nashville later this week.

xo,

Elle

Who Says Musicians Can't Love Kids: Babies, Song-writing & Strawberries

Monday June 15th Evangeline's Bistro & Music House in St. Louis, MO:

This was a venue I had played at before.  Saw some good friends and met some new ones!  Ate delicious New Orleans style food.  And it turns out that one of the artists I played with (see pic to left) is playing the same show with me in New Orleans.  Below is a video clip of the bluegrass band Forelorn Strangers who played after us:

The friends with whom I stayed in the St. Louis area are people I've written music with in the past (the song "Missing You (is Loving You)" was co-written by Jeremy Wright - the guy in picture below).  We thought that while I was in town we would knock out a quick song!  Julie had a great idea for a song concept and the first two verses.  I pulled from some random lyrics I'd written on the road and we used those for the chorus.  Jeremy came up with the guitar part.  We all helped with the melody.  It turned out awesome and so we decided to video the first version from that day!

Here is the link to our new song, "Brave Girl":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9eMmL70ZFc

After St. Louis I had a day off and so I decided to visit some friends in Illinois.  Pictures below involve late-night jamming with Caleb Martin and special cuddles with little Khloe - not in the picture are Mama Autumn Martin and Kaden, the very-energetic-six-year-old who looks exactly like his little sis.   

Also not in the picture is the gigantic flood in both their front and back yard which will hopefully hit the daily news in Illinois very soon - the contractor who built their house too low, the inspector who approved it, and the city whose road drains directly into their front lawn is now saying that they can do nothing about it.  I have faith that this issue can and will be resolved or the people responsible will suffer.  The lesson here?  Don't mess with a sports anchor who has connections with TV stations or your deepest secrets will be revealed someway, somehow!


Wednesday June 17th Haymarket Whiskey Bar in Louisville, KY


This was a venue that I had never played at and I ended up playing for a crowd of about 40 people.  Not bad at all for my first time in Louisville.

That night I drove all the way up to Walkerton, IN to visit some family who I rarely see.  We had a very nice day (Thursday was another day off for me) - hung out with Baby Mac, picked strawberries and ate treats.  

Mama Nichole and baby Mac.
Me and the strawberry bush.
Strawberries ready to be made into jam.
Mac helping me stretch!












I just arrived in Evansville, IN to a hopping bar and lounge called Bokeh Lounge.  There is currently a fundraiser going on for the prospective mayor of Evansville, so I am listening to a reggae cover act and eating yummy appetizers while I type this entry for you all.

One last thing for today:

Jackson, MS is apparently excited to have me play this Sunday.  They wrote a very nice article about me as an artist.

http://t.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/jun/17/self-made-songstress/

It's going to be very busy for the next week, with the show tonight, three shows in Mississippi and then one show in New Orleans before I head back up to Nashville next Thursday.  Catch you then!
xo,
Elle

It's Important To Say "Thank You": Missouri Rain, Rockstars & A Little Bit of Faith

Wednesday June 10th: Blackthorn Pizza & Pub Joplin, MO

On my way back down south I was contacted by an editor at The Joplin Globe - he wanted to do a last minute interview/live on-camera song to promote my show the next day!  (Thank you so much Joe for the warm welcome.)  Because of how last minute it was, I had to get ready in the press dressing room.  Ooh la la!


Here is the link to the article/video The Globe posted about me:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/news/lifestyles/newsroom-concerts-singing-folk-like-riding-a-bike-for-elle/article_e9e5f0f6-0f8e-11e5-b3f4-83fab8053c76.html

I made some new fans in Joplin, MO.

I arrived back at my OK home-stay to southern hospitality at it's finest!  Check out the meal my hosts made for me:

To say "thank you" to my fabulous hosts Chris and Jennifer, I decided to bake them an apple-blueberry pie and chocolate-chip-oatmeal cookies:

 

And then.. It was time to say bye-for-now to Oklahoma and my good friends.







Thursday June 11th: Bear's Place Fayetteville, AR

The irony of this was that I was actually born in AR - moved away when I was a wee baby of one-year-old.  Still, as a semi-native Arkansas-girl this was my first time performing in this state!

Friday June 12th: The Bay Warrensburg, MO

About a week ago my mother-in-law asked me to write a song for her about faith, for a video competition she was doing.  Now, I'm not a religious girl but I am very spiritual so between a few car-ride brainstorms and after-show jams, I came up with this:

https://soundcloud.com/ellecarpenter/i-believe-it





The sound engineer at The Bay kindly offered to help me record it.  And we did it live, right in the bar, the day of my show.  I recorded the lead vocals and guitar together, in one take.  Then, I laid a back up vocal over that.  I think it turned out pretty good for what it was!  And my Ma-Patty was very pleased so mission accomplished! Thank you Jay for your help.

And then it was time for the show!  I was the first opener, Nicholas St. James was second and Not A Planet was headlining the night.  Above is a picture of us all.  My new rockstar friends (Nathan, Will & Liam) were quite disappointed in the fact that I was skipping the after-party.  But hey, I have WAY more shows per week than them at the moment.  Getting my rest so I can sing well is just more important to me than after-parties.  Call me an old lady if you will.  

The highlight of my night was that I had an awesome backing band playing with me.  Here's a video of us playing one of my songs from my first album, "Days Go By":

Bottom line: it was a fun night.

Saturday June 13th: Bodee's Cole Camp, MO



Below you will see two pictures of an avid and awesome fan.  Ryan came to both my Warrensburg and Cole Camp shows and even showed up wearing my t-shirt he got the night before.  For the record, I love it when people wear my t-shirts :-)

I also got a backing band for this night.  We had fun!

I just happened to be in Cole Camp for the raising of the flag pole (at least I think that's what that thing is;-)  Good times.








Sunday June 14th: Cooper's Landing Columbia, MO

I was supposed to play for 3 hours and I had only played 60 minutes when a storm came along!  I GOT RAINED OUT.  If you watch (or rather, listen to) the video below you will hear the downpour.  Everyone ducked inside..

That's all I got for you today - I'm off to St. Louis tomorrow.  xo, Elle