Kelly Tillotson

Behind-the-scenes video of recording "That I Can Do"

2010-07-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

Just posted a new video of behind-the-scenes footage of recording a song called "That I Can Do" at Oceanway Studios in Nashville, TN!

Complete song will be posted on my myspace page! :)

http://www.myspace.com/kellytillotson

The Good Cup and Indie Connect Cover!

2010-07-07T08:45:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys! Here is a picture from a gig last week at this AWESOME coffee shop called, "The Good Cup." Wow, this place is so great! Not only is it such a cute little coffee shop, but they also have an amazing sound system, hand-made jewelry for sale, great people, and delicious food and drinks! Jessica and I had such a great time playing there and are excited to play there again soon! I've also included a link in this post to see a video clip of me performing an original song "Your Love Feels Like Home."

I'm also so excited about being on the cover of the Indie Connect magazine this month! What an honor this is! I love this organization, and I am SO excited to have the opportunity to be on the cover! If you would like to check out the article, follow this link: http://indieconnectmagazine.com/kelly-tillotson/

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! More updates soon! :)

"Reign Over Me" and life in Music City!

2010-06-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hello!!

Hope everyone who is reading this is having a fantastic summer!

Wow...where to start?! This summer has been INCREDIBLE so far! I cannot express how blessed I feel to be able to spend the summer in Nashville living with two wonderful friends (Lindsay and Jessica) and being able to pursue my dreams. Though I'm still working at The Recording Academy as the Nashville GRAMMY University Student Representative (click HERE to learn more about GRAMMY U!), I am only working at the office two days a week so I get to spend the other five days of the week completely consuming myself with the wonderful world of music! Man! What a blessing!

In the past couple of weeks I have been able to attend the CMA Fest and watch some AWESOME performances by incredible artists such as Martina McBride, Darius Rucker, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Zac Brown Band, Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts and MORE! I mean, woah!! How cool is that! The performances were so great and we got a special treat of fireworks at the end of every show! It was so awesome. Martina's performance was especially stellar...that woman has pipes that are OUT of this WORLD!

Not only that, but the next day we were fortunate enough to work at an auction hosted by Martina McBride, so we actually got to hang with her for a little! The auction benefitted YWCA and raised over 100,000 for the organization! Wohooo! So happy to be a part of that.

Other than that, my roomate/soul friend/fellow singer/songwriter, Jessica Solomon, and I have been working out rear ends off attending as many music business meetings as possible, songwriting as much as possible, performing as much as possible and grabbing every opportunity we can to SING our hearts out! It has been so wonderful having her here. In a business like this, it is great to have someone you can trust who will cheer you on, push you to do your best, and to just be there for you. You can check out her blog HERE.

I've also been so happy to be able to participate in Musicians On Call on a weekly basis. (Click HERE to learn about Musicians on Call) Musicians on Call is an AWESOME organization that facilitates musicians visiting hospitals in the Nashville area to play room-to-room for patients at the hospitals. This has been SUCH an amazing experience because I truly feel that the whole purpose of music is touching people's lives . Living in the crazy world of the Nashville music industry (as amazing as it is), sometimes you lose perspective on why we all love music so much and the important role it plays in people's lives. Playing for the patients at hospitals, I am reminded of why I love music, and why I feel called to pursue this.

So excited to go to the Bluebird tonight for a show with Lisa Carver, Dean Alexander, Johnny Bulford, and Phil Barton! After that....heading to the Commodore to play a little music!! Yayy!! Will post a blog very soon about how that goes!

Also, if you're looking for some awesome new music...check out my friend Nick Gill, who I saw play last night at Douglas Corner Cafe. This guy is ONLY 18 and he can rock out. He has a great voice and awesome songs. Definitely worth checking out....http://www.nickgillmusic.com/

I have attached a link to my Facebook page so you can watch a video clip of me performing my original song, "Reign Over Me," at Calhoun's Restaurant in Nashville, TN! Would love to hear any feedback you may have! :)

Have a great day! :)

Summertime in Nashville!

2010-06-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

So I know it's been FOREVER since I last made a post, but I am back in action and excited to get back into blogging! For your viewing pleasure...I will be sharing my experience as I live in Nashville this summer and continue to work at The Recording Academy as the GRAMMY U Student Representative and pursue my career as a singer and songwriter!

Yesterday, my friend Jessica Solomon (and one of my summer roomies) arrived in Nashville after a TWENTY DAY (omgosh!!) drive from California! She is also a singer/songwriter (you can read her blog at http://www.holeinthisfloor.blogspot.com/) She is incredibly talented and we are so pumped to spend our summer together writing and performing!

Keep tuned for more videos and blogs about our summer adventures in Nashville :)

Have a great day!

KT

2009-08-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

This is a video clip of me singing "The Climb" at the Country at the Merc in Temecula two weeks ago!! Everyone there is awesome and I had so much fun! I will be singing again there tonight and I can't wait! I'm going to be singing "Trying to Find Atlantis" by Jamie O'Neil and "Want To" by Sugarland....Hopefully I'll have some more clips to post soon!

You can learn more about The Merc on their website!

http://www.temeculalive.org/countryatthemercsite/merc_home.htm

Have a great weekend everyone :))

KellyTillotson "I Hope You Dance Cover"

2009-07-26T01:25:00.000-07:00

Kelly Tillotson performing at Union Jacks in Bethesda, MD

2008

Accompanists: Colin Gray (Guitar), Brenton Duvall (Bass)

2009-07-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Helloooooo Everyone!

I hope everyone is having a WONDERFUL day! For all your twitter-lovers...you guys can follow me on twitter here: http://twitter.com/KellyTillotson

some fun facts about me :)

2009-07-03T14:21:00.001-07:00

Some fun facts to know about me:

A year ago I got attacked in Spain by a 13 year old girl...yes, shocking I know.

I can burp shockingly loud.

I love the smell of a bonfire.

In highschool I was a party motivator for bar/bat mitzvahs, which means I led everyone in dances like Cupids Shuffle, Cha Cha Slide, Love Shack, etc...

I bite my nails. I am trying to quit.

I have a HUGE weakness for chocolate and ice cream, which I eat EVERY day. no exceptions.

I have dual citizenship to Australia because my dad is from there. I have been there 13 times and it is AWESOME!

I have a scar on my right cheek, that I got when I was born. The doctor cut me on the cheek during the C-section.

One of my favorite scenes in any movie is when Cameron Diaz breaks it down to "Baby Got Back" in Charlie's Angels.

I rarely cry when I'm sad yet for some reason always cry watching movies or reading books.

I love to smile and to make other people smile.

I think the world can be a better place.

I know that myself, and everyone else, have the power and the responsibility to help make that happen.

2009-06-28T18:53:00.001-07:00

Internships & Songwriting

2009-06-11T13:11:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! :) I have been incredibly busy with my internships as well as my music lately! I am loving all my internships and really getting the chance to learn a lot about the music industry, which will definitely help me as I pursue my music career. I am especially loving my internship at Interscope where I'm interning with four other interns in the visual content department (where they make music videos). It's awesome to absorb what is happening around us, and everyone in our department is amazing at what they do and incredibly smart and hard-working. This past week I co-wrote with two songwriters in California, Kelly Fitzgerald and Matt Sumner, and they are both amazing people and great songwriters. Since I'm fairly new to songwriting, it was great to work with these two and they really taught me a lot! I ended up finishing a song with both of them, so I now have two new songs which is really exciting!! I'll see if I can get up some sort of rough recording so you guys can check them out! :) Have a great day!

Summer Internships!

2009-05-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long. I'm finally situated here in California, and I'm so excited about this summer. I have three internships. One is with Interscope-Geffen, which I start tomorrow, and I do that one twice a week. The second one is an internship with Rocket Science/Adrenaline Music which I do two days a week as well. This one I started last week, and so far I absolutely LOVE it! Aside from having amazing people to work with, I get free CD's and get to see the inner workings of an independent record label. I'm so excited for this internship because Rocket Science is such a cool company. While larger record labels are suffering from the changes in the industry, smaller independent labels like these are profiting as artists are choosing to come to them rather than larger record labels. The third one is with Everyday Music. They are a brand new management company/record label, started by two guys, Jeremy Harrison and Adam Ferrick, who are also part of a band All Destroyed Momentarily. All of these internships are incredible opportunities and I'm going to be learning a LOT about the music industry, which will only furthur benefit me as an artist!

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend, and took at least a few minutes to remember what the holiday is all about.

Have a great day!

2009-04-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

Had a great weekend! On Friday I watched the baseball game and had a cookout with some girlfriends which was really delicious :) Then yesterday me and two of my friends went to work at the Country Music Marathon, which was at LP Field in Downtown Nashville which was awesome because we got to work at the finish line handing out medals to everyone who ran in the half marathon, and even though everyone was exhausted so many of them kept saying "Wow, that felt great," or "I'm so glad I did that!" So it was great to experience that and see basically the whole city of Nashville out for the event! On another note, a man tragically died after the race, which is so so terrible and sad. I am so sorry for his family and their loss. You can go to: http://www.wztv.com/newsroom/top_stories/wztv_vid_5635.shtml to read more details.

After the event ended we walked across the Pedestrian bridge which is a BEAUTIFUL walk whether its day or night and got some ice cream downtown and walked around some of the shops. Even though we were exhausted after this, we still had a very full day ahead of us when we got back to campus. That night we had the best of the best showcase at Belmont, which is a concert that highlights some of the BEST Belmont talent. Although of course there is an incredible amount of talent at Belmont, and there is no way everyone could be showcased in one event, this contained a few of some of the greats. Some of the performers include: Future, Hollywood Ten, Stephen Whitfield, Jenna Basso, Chase Foster, Cheryl Luquire, John Flannagan, Brooke Annibale, LeeAnn Womack, Tom Douglas, Leslie Satcher...to name a few! Everyone was amazing and I was again reminded how incredibly lucky I am to have such amazing opportunities and be a part of such a wonderful school!! After the showcase, me and my friend Emily participated in The Rescue, which was an event that supported Invisible Children, an organization that protests the use of child soldiers in Northern Uganda. This event happened last night in multiple cities, and in each of them, the group of kids marched through the city with t-shirts and signs that said things like "Rescue Me" to raise awareness about what is going on in Northern Uganda. To read more about this go to: http://nightof.therescue.invisiblechildren.com/

In the next part of the event, we all camped out in a parking lot behind a church on Broadway and most kids stayed there all night. Me and emily could not stay all night, but it was so amazing while we were there and we met and hung out with some really cool kids and spent our time making crafts, playing guitar, and playing Apples to Apples! (a really fun game for all of you who have never played it :)

ALL IN ALL AN AWESOME WEEKEND! I hope you all had a really great weekend!

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."
--James Dean

2009-04-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

HI EVERYONE!

I hope everyone is having a beautiful day! The weather here in Nashville is FINALLY starting to get nice...although knowing Nashville weather, there's definitely a chance of a snowstorm tomorrow J But I'm enjoying it while I can! Last night I went to my first IndieConnect meeting which was awesome because not only did I get to bring along some fellow Belmont friends/and musicians, we were able to connect with some other professionals in the industry! In addition to that, Lori Bumgarner, owner of PaNASH and Image Consultant, gave us some good advice about ways to develop and maintain a great image that corresponds with your goals as an artist. I also met some other great people, and I really hope to expose more Belmont students to these types of events, so they can work on integrating themselves into the heart of the music industry during their time at Belmont, as well as build up some strong connections. Today I’m in for some quality time with the library since I have a lot of homework to do and papers to write before the school is over in two weeks!! Time flies! Have a wonderful day…smile at a stranger today J

2009-04-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

Just got back from The Listening Room, yet another awesome music venue in Nashville. This one is probably one of my favorites because it has a homey and cozy vibe and the food is amazing. As much as I love the music there, I'm not going to lie, the brownie snickers sundae is a huge incentive for going. It is possibly one of the most DELICIOUS deserts ever! Saw Jacklyn North play she was so great, and she's only 18! Also saw another writers round earlier this evening at Belmont in Massey Performing Arts Center...with James House, Gretchen Peters, Bob DiPiero, and the Warren Brothers! Who were all amazing, though I especially loved the Warren Brothers who cracked me up with their jokes with were not exactly 'Belmont Appropriate' which was hilarious..added a little spice to the night :) A great day, but hopefully the weather gets nice soon...its officially gone back to winter weather, so I'm crossing my fingers spring will finallllyyy come some time very soon!

Have a great night!

Peace&Love

Katy Perry Soundcheck!!

2009-04-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the Katy Perry soundcheck...yet another amazing event organized by GrammyU! She was playing at the Cannery Ballroom, a popular music venue in Nashville which is actually really awesome on the inside. We got to hear a few of her songs as she sound checked including Hot N' Cold, and she played a couple songs on the guitar which was cool because I didn't know that she played an instrument, and she was really good! After that she sat down and talked with us for about 2o minutes which was great because we learned a little about her life/career and she gave us some inspiring advice for working towards our goals (most kids in GrammyU want to have some type of career in the music biz). She was seriously one of the nicest, coolest, genuine people I have ever met and she completely inspired me to continue pursuing my dreams. Tonight I'm going to watch one of my friends from Belmont play at the Curb Cafe, which is an on campus eating/performing place, and then we are going to try and see if we can get into the Katy Perry concert after that! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day :)

"Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right."

Henry Ford

2009-04-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

It's a beautiful day in Cali and I can't wait to go outside and enjoy Easter with my family before I leave in a couple of hours to go back to Nashville!! It's been fun visiting, last night I went to sing at a restaurant with Terry Lupton, a singer/songwriter, and I got to sign an autograph for one of my first real fans!! It was so exciting :) I hope everyone has a blessed and wonderful day!

2009-04-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

GOOOD MORNING!!

I just got back to California last night and I'm so excited to be home even though I'm only here for three days! Had a pretty exciting time these past few weeks...last week I worked at Tin Pan South on Wednesday and Friday at 12th and Porter and saw some amazing performers like Mallory Hope, Natalie Hemby, Pat McLaughlin, Harley Allen, Trent Tomlinson, Josh Kear, Karyn Rochelle, Sarah Siskind, Mindy Smith, Marcus Hummon, Jane Deere and others! It was such a great experience to get to work at the shows and then watch the performances for free! Then on Thursday night I went to the Mercy Lounge with a friend to check out Jeffery Steele who was beyond INCREDIBLE...i was blown away by everything about him. The show started at 9 and when we left at 12, he was still going strong. He has written an unbelievable amount of country hits, most of which he played, and I can't give him enough praise on his show. This week I found out that I have a stress fracture in my foot which means I have to wear a boot on my left foot for the next three weeks...now doing that on a college campus...talk about some good fun right there! haha but its actually not too bad because at least I don't have crutches! Also this week (with my new foot accessory), I went to the Ben Fold's soundcheck with GrammyU which was AMAZING!!! He is such a cool guy and so orignial...though we didn't get to hear him sing, he talked to us for about 30 min about his career and music. I filmed it on my flip video camera because I'm trying to start a video portion for my school's blog website (Belmont Blog). Anyways...I'm in Cali now for Easter Break with the fam...I hope you all have a great Easter!

Tin Pan South

2009-04-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hey There!

Last night I worked at 12th & Porter, a popular local music venue in Nashville, with a music business group at my school called Service Corps. I was working with three other girls and our main task was checking people in at the door and collecting money (always a fun job :)), but we were inside the venue the whole time so we got to see both the shows that night which was so awesome! There were some really great musicians, in the first show we saw Mallary Hope, Natalie Hemby, Pat McLaughlin, and Angeleena Presley. There were all really great songwriters and performers. The next show, at 9:00 had more amazing songwriters like Harley Allen, Dave Pahanish, Anothony L. Smith, and Trent Tomlinson! I have to say that for the second show, although I loved them all and Harley Allen played some of his great hits (Awful Beautiful World, The Little Girl), my favorite of the bunch was Trent Tomlinson. I hadn't heard too much about him before but he played some great songs of his including "That's How It Still Ought to Be," and one he had written THAT DAY about a girlfriend who was crazy, but who he couldn't get enough of. It was a really fun time and I'm working there again on Friday so I'll keep y'all updated! Today, I'm meeting with Vinny Ribas who I met on LinkedIn, who is the Founder and President of IndieConnect, which is a company that gives artists advice on ways to improve their careers and profit financially as well as provides them with opportunities for great networking experiences! So, we are going to discuss how I can help get more Belmont Students involved with his company! It should be great :)

HAVE AN AWESOME DAY!!

2009-03-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

HEYY THERE!

I just wanted to give a quick update on what I've been doing. This past week I've tried to learn more about Linkedin, Twitter, Meetup and all the new websites that are such great tools for networking and meeting with other people! I also went to a meet-up for a group for "Entrepreneurs Under 30" in California. I got to meet the woman who started the group, Michaella Pahl and her boyfriend, who were both really nice and gave me some good tips on how to get connected with other people online. Also, I'm so excited because today I made my first business card so you guys can check it out and tell me what you think! :) I would love any feedback!

Tomorrow I head back to Nashville, so I'll write again when I'm back down South!!

P.S. Since I'm really into inspiring quotes I'm going to start leaving quotes I really like each time I blog, this first one is one of my favorites :)

"Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth." - Mark Twain

LINE DANCING/"I HOPE YOU DANCE" VIDEO

2009-03-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys!! I just wanted to update you a little on what I've been up to. Also, I'm going to attach a video clip of me singing so you can get a little taste of what I sound like! It's a clip of me singing at a local restaurant about a year ago. Right now, I'm on Spring Break at my parents house in Huntington Beach. On my flight over here from Nashville I was pretty excited because Billy Ray Cyrus was on my flight! I didn't say Hi because I was trying to keep my cool and not act like a star-struck fan (which is exactly what I was), but I have to admit that his hair looked even better than mine does on a good hair day.

Today I had a pretty fun experience joining my parents Country line-dancing! You might think that this was in Nashville, but NOPE! Country line-dancing is actually a pretty big thing in California, and my parents have decided that they are going to learn to line dance, which has provided my sister and I with some pretty hilarious moments as we watch them learn. The event we went to today was basically me and 60 other people above the age of 50, but it was surprisingly fun. Everyone was so nice and all the old people were kicking my butt at line-dancing! It's harder than it looks, but once you learn its really fun :)

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well!

It's been real....talk to ya'll soon!

About Me :)

2009-03-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my blog :) I'm so excited because this is my first blog EVER! I really want to get to know all of you guys, and here's a few things you should know about me:

I'm a singer/songwriter living in Nashville! Right now, I'm attending Belmont University where I'm trying to learn as much as I can about who I am as an artist, improve my singing and songwriting, and learning about the many changes that are happening in the music industry.

Country music is my favorite genre of music, but since being at Belmont I've discovered a lot of other artists and genres that I really love and would like to incorporate into my own style. Some of my favorite artists who songs I like to sing are: Carrie Underwood, Eva Cassidy, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Bonnie Rait, Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, Miranda
Lambert, LeeAnn Womack, Norah Jones and many more!!

Artists that I like to listen to are (all the above) as well as Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Josh Turner, Brad Paisley, Dave Barnes, Patty Griffin, Matt Wertz, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum...honestly, I really could go on forever because I am constantly discovering new artists that I love.

I'm going to keep you guys updated on all the exciting things that go on in Nashville and at Belmont, so I'll try and add a new blog about once a week...so come back and check it out!!

Have a great day! Talk to YA'LL SOOOON!! :)