Evolution of the Scorpion Pic...

So, randomly in Florida - Brady and I started a tradition of doing scorpion pictures and we've actually gotten pretty good at them! Here is the history!

The First Scorpion Picture - Spring 2013

KKPsi Formal - Spring 2013

KKPsi O Night - Summer 2013

New Orleans - Fall 2013

Joint Ceremony - Spring 2014

and the latest....

American Social - April 2014

Opelika High School Kickline Tryout 20

Here is the routine I made up for Opelika High School's Kickline! The girls were very sweet and fun to work with! They asked good questions and I am going to miss them! Good thing I'll be with them pretty much every day in the fall :)

Next week - Beulah High School Majorettes!

Meeting Chris Eldridge.

Well Critter was certainly a sweetheart. He and Thile came out to meet us at about the same time. Of course, people sort of flocked to Thile, but instead of trying to jump in and take over - he just looked at our little group and said "I'll talk to you guys!" What a gem. Eldridge was also so honest (telling us that certain songs were really challenging, etc.) He is certainly the "nice guy" out of the five - but even though he was a more subtle personality, he was still his own person. Really really awesome guy and a really great musician!

I loved that he told us about the band's sign language for one another! After someone asked if he was jealous of Noam's sideburns, he told us that that is how the guys signal each other. Sad and cute was that his sign was to signify his prominent front teeth. Gotta love a guy who can take a joke!

Meeting Gabe Witcher.

Known to his closest friends as "Gaber," Gabe was certainly a sweetie as well! He was the last of the brothers to come to our corner of the parking lot - and we stuck around to meet him! I remember the two guys telling us to stick around because they were trying to get Gabe out as well. I really liked wrapping up the night talking to Gabe. Gabe was so real. When we asked him questions about music and touring - he was open like we were friends, not fans. He empathized with us as musicians and as people. And he revealed to us that he wears his famous newsboy cap when he needs a haircut. precious. Also, at the end of this meeting we hugged him! I feel like I can play violin better just because I was around him.

Something else I remember him saying was that to record is to only mark how good you were that day. I thought it was so inspiring! I know I always feel like I need to be getting better at things everyday, but I like the idea that each day is individual and not necessarily a mark of your progress - just how good you were that day.

Meeting Noam Pickelny.

Noam was so funny! Known to his closest friends as 'Pickles' - this guy was a blast! I couldn't get over how outgoing he actually was in person. On stage he takes the quiet/witty role only using his amazing deep voice to say things like "All it takes is a song about physics to get the crowd going." But in person he was overflowing with friendliness!

We saw Noam basically right after Paul so the two of them were there together for a little while! Noam started to sing thinking Paul would join him, but Paul just left him hanging. The whole thing would've been awkward if it had been anyone else, but they were delightful and engaging like brothers!

Noam was awesome!!! And, of course, his deep voice is kind of amazing.

Meeting Paul Kowert.

Wowza. Kowert was a hunnie. The first of the guys that we spoke to, and he was soft-spoken and endearingly awkward. I loved how he would kind of half smile when we complimented him, but would also blush and and kind of scratch his head. I think he was totally flirting with us, and, had his cousins now asked to hang out with him, I think he would've hung out with us! We'll have to catch him at the next show! 

Meeting Chris Thile.

I've decided that each Punch Brother deserves their own blog post about us meeting them and I want to remember as much as I can about each meeting!

Chris Thile was the third Punch Brother we saw and he was easily the most crowded by fans. He was so nice, though, and so generous with his time. He signed things and took pictures and answered questions about his guests (he called his guest's daughter "so awesome" which I thought was so sweet!) We didn't get to talk much to him, but his presence was just very cool. He didn't act like he was annoyed and he didn't act like he was some superstar hot-shot (which he totally is) but I appreciated the humility!

One of my favorite moments was when someone complimented the debut of "Julep" and he said "You guys dug Julep?" like he was anxiously awaiting the approval of the few of us gathered outside the bus. It was awesome that he was secure enough to debut a song, but humble enough to seem interested in what we thought of it.

I love Chris Thile and his crazy hair and his generous attitude!