Me and Jason making our online video debut with "I Won't Let You Go." We made this video in my living room with a mac book, a guitar, and a microphone..oh and couple of stools and a "few" candles...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

~Marianne Williamson~

This is one of my favorite quotes.  Hopefully it encouraged you as well. Don't be afraid to turn your light on today... -misty-

Women Of Substance Radio has put together a new show called "Modern Country" that features Indie artists from their playlist alongside label artists in the Modern Country genre. Misty Rae's song, "I Love You Anyway" continues to be played in their regular rotation, but now is also part of a special "spotlight" just for new country music. The Modern Country  show airs every Saturday from 11 AM-1 PM PST on Women Of Substance Radio!!  Please spread the word and tell your friends to listen in!!

So this past weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and hanging out with one legendary country music guitar player, Leon Rhodes.  If you don't know who Leon is, you are probably 1) Under the age of 40 or 2) Not a classic country music listener.   Don't worry, when my friends at Redentore Guitars asked me if I wanted to come spend the weekend with Leon at the Grand Ole Opry, I said "sure" but really had no clue the history in the fingers of this guitar picker.  But luckily everyone had grace to overlook my ignorance, and through pictures and lots of stories I learned just how influential this 70-something spry "kid" has been to country music.

Leon was born a guitar player.  He got his first guitar at 14 and never had a lesson in his life…it's all just from the heart. As his wife Judy says, "It really is a gift." Over the course of his career, Leon played on the Big D Jamboree in Dallas, was on the road 7 years with Ernest Tubb as one of the Texas Troubadours, had a 20 year stint on the classic TV series Hee Haw, and is a regular guitarist for many artists on The Grand Ole Opry (He even has his own parking space).  He has also played on almost every traditional country record.  If you've ever listened to an old record and heard "Ahh…Leon" just before a great guitar solo, I can bet you it's Leon Rhodes playing those beautiful licks.  I could go on and on about Leon's accomplishments, but I bet you anything if I did, he'd just grin and say something ornery to deflect any recognition. 

So how did the Redentore team and I end up hanging out with Leon Rhodes? Well, that's the really cool part.  On Saturday's show at the Grand Ole Opry, Leon decided to play the Redentore's Santissimo.  Talk about a great debut!!!  Not only was it fun to see everyone ooing and ahhing over Mark Piper's creation, it was also fun to see the inner workings of country music's most legendary stage.  The first thing Leon told me as we pulled up to the opry was, "Now, get yourself some coffee and find your seat on the stage."  I asked him, "They let you drink coffee on the stage?"  He grinned and said, "I know it's great."  I was in Heaven, not only was I getting to enjoy great country music but I got to drink coffee too!! (For those of you that know me, you know how exciting this was)  So that's exactly what we did…I'm sure Mark, Dian and I all looked like kids in a candy store.

Backstage was amazing.  I got to meet Little Jimmy Dickens, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, The Whites, Jack Greene, and so many of the fabulous house musicians.  What was cool was seeing how everyone respected Leon.  It was also amusing to me that Leon had no idea who Keith Urban was. (He was on the show too..wow)  I also met the official pickle man..yes, that's right…the official pickle man of the Grand Ole Opry.  He comes twice a year from North Carolina and brings Mt. Olivet pickles to all the artists and folks backstage.  I never heard the reasoning behind it, but he was very sweet…and so were his pickles.  Speaking of sweet things, it was also Marty Stuart's birthday, so there was cake!! What more could you want…cake, pickles, coffee and country music.

After the Opry on Saturday night, Leon took us over to a great café across the street called Rudi's Country Music Café.  If you like traditional country music, you have GOT to go over there.  You'll find Diane Berry singing all the old standards all day long.  You may even find Leon over there playing too.  They are open till 3am on Saturday and serve a mean breakfast starting at 12:30am.  And I tell you that kid Leon, played right up until 3am.  I was exhausted and he was just getting started.  Another highlight of being at Rudi's was the opportunity I had to get up and sing some old country standards with Leon playing guitar.  I sang songs that were originally performed by Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, etc.  One of my favorites was singing the legendary "You Don't Know Me" …so much fun.

All good things come to an end I suppose or at least hit the pause button, but talk about a weekend I will NEVER forget.  We made it back to Leon's house about 4am Saturday (really Sunday morning) and stood out in the drive talking a little more.  He kept saying, "I didn't know you could play guitar Misty" (He was lying, but it made me laugh)  Then just as I was heading towards my car, Leon stops me and says, "You know, you're a pretty good guitar player.  Almost excellent…nah, I'm just teasing it was excellent."  I just smiled and said "Ahh…Leon."

Check out my pictures to see it in color! ;)

~misty~

No you don't know the one

Who dreams of you each night

And longs to kiss your lips

Longs to hold you tight

And anyone can tell

You think you know me well

But you don't know me