National Anthem marathon and then some

Lots of crazy, but good stuff, going on!

The master for my album is DONE! The artwork will be finished this week, and then we'll be going to print! YEE HAW!! I have to say that I am extremely proud and thrilled with this album. I got the almost final mixes last weekend, so I put them in iTunes with the rest of my songs. I just love it! We have the right order of songs, the message of each song is just so powerful, and the music just rocks (in a good Southern Gospel way...ha!). I just keep listening to it and thinking that the time is finally upon us when this is going to happen. Absolutely crazy! I might try to plan a CD release concert in Nashville, but haven't really made any final plans. We shall see. I had thought about having it at the warehouse, but there isn't a ton of parking. However, there is a good amount of parking around and across the street. That could be kinda cool. *Makes mental note to ask Candy about it tomorrow.*

Over this past week, I have sung the National Anthem THREE times. That has to be some kind of record for me. LOL I sang it last Saturday for the AppState vs. WCU game (ASU WON!). Then Tuesday night, I got a call from my fabulous photographer, Kim Lancaster, asking if I would be interested in singing at Lipscomb on Wednesday morning. Well, why not? So I did, and then they asked me to come back and do it last night for the Belmont vs. ETSU game. I love singing the National Anthem even though it is one of THE hardest songs for any vocalist to do. I sing it pretty straight with a couple of short runs in it, but nothing fancy. It's a beautiful song with a powerful message, so it doesn't need a bunch of "stuff" to make it sound good. It was pretty cool to hear my name announced as "Christian Recording Artist, Tara Jackson". :) (Did I mention that Vince Gill was standing 10 ft. away from me as I was singing last night?) Below is a video of me singing on Wednesday at the opening game of the Atlantic Sun Conference:



I sang in Lexington, NC, last Sunday night. Lots of fun and even premiered a new song from the album! The crowd was small, but I think we still all had a good time. My whole family was there, including Grandma Scott. My good friend, Jeremy, came as well. Hopefully, we'll get to go back another time after the album is out!

My youngest sister (I have 2), Bethany, came to Nashvegas for a couple of days with 3 of her college buddies. They were on Spring Break and wanted to do something other than go to the beach. We had a blast with them! We drove them around downtown, and even spotted Bucky Covington in a pick-up truck! (The picture we have to prove it looks like a paparazzi shot and needs a circle and arrow drawn on it.) Kyle, my brave husband, took them over to Opry Mills and the Opryland Hotel while I was at the Bridge on Tuesday. On Wednesday night, I took them down to the Wildhorse so they could dance and stuff. Then we took them over to the ever popular Sunset Grill. No celebrity sightings that night though.

Though this week has been an absolute whirlwind, it has been a week full of blessings. God has done so much for us and continually shows how amazing He is, in the good times and the bad. He also continues to show us that no matter what, He will be there for us. God is so good!