Carly’s Story
Release: November 29th, 2011
Jared Blake was given a gift. The gift of recording his new single, “Don’t Mind”. That gift was largely due to help from a family from Marin Co., Calif. To show his thanks, and in celebration of a young singer/songwriter’s birthday and Thanksgiving, Blake gave something to the family they will remember forever.
Carly’s mom and dad, in hopes of giving their young Carly a very special birthday memory, wrote to Jared. They asked if he would be willing to spend some time with Carly and their family. Right away Jared started making the arrangements for the family to celebrate Carly’s 11th birthday in Nashville. Jared Blake and her parents arranged a 3-day trip to Music City that would give this young artist a glimpse into the industry, and give Jared a chance to share a piece of his own experiences that would now be memories for both of them.
Carly meets Jared Blake...and his whole family!
Sunday, Jared brought his large family to meet the family at their downtown home away from home, The Hermitage Hotel. Blake introduced Carly to his six children. In one large group, the two families walked the downtown streets to have a casual dinner to celebrate Carly’s birthday. On Monday, the family was picked up and taken out for breakfast at the famous Hermitage Cafe. Then, it was off to tour Gaylord’s Opryland Resort Christmas decor, shops, and even take in a preview of the hotels’ upcoming Shrek show. That evening Jared played a songwriters round with friend and writer, Krysta Youngs, to show Carly how to network with other writers and get your songs out to the public.
Carly and Jared at Sony in Nashville, TN
The following day, Carly was eager to add in her vacation notebook all of the wonderful feelings she had about Nashville. Some of those feelings came out as a brand new song! Carly toured Broadway and recorded her new song at The Ryman. Jared whisked her and the family off to record a song with him inside a private music row studio. Carly got a chance to experience a professional studio recording. She watched Jared record his vocals one of his original unreleased songs. Jared asked Carly if she would sing the harmonies for the track. He worked with her on the parts and recorded her to the song.
Jared and Carly also had a chance to tour the Sony Publishing building where Blake was signed in 2006. After a quick bite of some good southern cookin’, Jared played an acoustic set for a ‘Musicians on Call’ benefit event. He called Carly up to sing backup for the song they had just recorded and concluded his set with her first stage performance of her own original song “Dirt Road” which was given well deserved applause.
On her final day, Carly spent the morning wondering what the day had in store. What could be better that what she had already experienced? Well, Jared figured that she had seen the tourist side of Nashville. She had experienced songwriting, publishing, recording, and now it was time to show her what it’s like to be an artist. He picked her up for dinner and told her that she was going on location with him to film the first part of his music video. She was also going to star in it. Based on the reaction, it was sure that Carly had the trip of her life! Jared proudly responded, “In the end, it was both of us that got the experience of our lives. Carly brought me back to the beginning, when I was a kid, when it was all a dream and she reminded me just how lucky I am to be living every day creating music. I am thankful for the little things. Like Carly.”
Carly at The Grand Ole Opry @ The Ryman
