You Just Gotta Believe

Shine Bright!

“How are you going to make enough money to survive? How are you going to make this happen? Where are you going to work? Do you even have a plan?”

In the words of Big Kenny (of Big & Rich):

“You just gotta believe. You come to this town and you start meeting all these people and you become inspired. Everywhere you go there’s someone who can play, someone who can write a song. You finally meet enough of them that you start to think to yourself, ‘Wow, maybe I am kind of normal after all.'”

Nashville. “It’s a crazy town full of neon dreams, everybody plays, everybody sings.”

Although I don’t have the typical musician dream, I do have a dream of working in the country music industry. I fully believe that once I am there, surrounded by the people that make this crazy passion of mine feel “normal,” that this dream is going to really take flight. Thriving most on inspiration, I am positive that, although I might feel slightly threatened by the competition at first, it’s what I truly need.

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Empowering Women

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When it comes to empowering females in the country music world, Miranda Lambert is one name that comes to mind. As a part of this blog, my goal is to inspire not only women, but anyone who wants to rise higher in their personal lives and/or careers. This might be “old news” to some of you, but right now I’m on an “empowerment kick” and learning about what Miranda is doing for one lucky girl attending Belmont is definitely empowering and inspiring!

Established in 2015, the Miranda Lambert Women Creators Fund will provide over $40,000 to a female attending Belmont University in Nashville who is majoring in songwriting, entertainment industry studies or music business. The first scholarship will affect the 2016-17 school year. (Which, in that case, should I consider going back to school?!?) Several years ago I looked into Belmont, before realizing I didn’t want to have to go through all of those prerequisite and core classes again. Just take me straight to the music business courses, please! Nor do I have that kind of money to invest into a second college education. Thankfully, I’ve learned along this journey that you don’t need a Belmont degree to land a career in Nashville’s music industry. I would rather devote my hard work towards networking and gaining real-life experience instead of spending time in a classroom.

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Reflections & What I Want In 2016

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Lately I’ve been finding myself comparing my twitter/instagram/facebook page to others in this world of country fan sites/blogs. I’m noticing how many followers they have in comparison with me, and I know this is partially due to the fact that they are on top of the latest news stories that fans want to hear. I swore in the beginning that I would not be one of those sites/blogs, whose purpose is to relay the latest gossip in the country music industry or keep fans with the most up to date information. Nothing against them, because clearly they have hundreds of thousands more followers than I do… but I want my blog, my brand, Country Heartbeat to be a bit more personal. To tell a story. MY story. I want to introduce you to this life that I lead, that yeah, happens to be immersed in country music. It’s the thing I’m most passionate about, and much to my boyfriend’s dismay, comes first above everything. I want to inspire people to chase their dreams, to step out of their comfort zone, to grab hold of something that they love and take a leap of faith, to do things they never thought they could do.

I had a talk with a close friend recently that helped me realize that out of our group of friends, or even out of the people in this local area… heck, even in all of Maine… don’t love the industry in the same way that I do. One of my best friends since early childhood, God love her, once commented on my new profile picture with Lee Brice on his tour bus and asked, “Is that your new man?”. Oh, sweet Jesus. These people around here just don’t get it.

That’s why I’ve got to get to Nashville, and soon. That’s why I love every minute of “The Week Vegas Goes Country” aka ACM week, where I can surround myself with those friends who are as passionate about country music as I am. I’ve got friends from California, South Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Ohio… all these people come together in Vegas and are as crazy about it as I am.

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