Day 4 of NACA was a marathon, and that’s putting it lightly. The day started and ended with block booking meetings and we were scheduled from 9 am until 2 am… yes, that’s 17 hours. In between those meetings, we had more showcases, educational sessions, and marketplaces than I could count. One performer to note was Leigh Nash, lead singer of Sixpence None the Richer. We also got to hear the Austin Renfroe Trio! At the Mid-America Conference last fall, I got to go on stage to accompany Austin on the piano for one of his songs, so it was cool to also hear how he sounded with the trio. I’m a big of his, so I’m going to shamelessly tell you to go get his new single on iTunes. It was just released while we were at the conference, so you’ll be among the first to enjoy it!

I’m writing from the airport in Atlanta, with one more flight between me and Bloomington. Looking back, this has been an incredible week. We’ve done a lot of booking for the near future on campus, and I’m really excited about the business we were able to get done. Once I get back to campus, I’ll work on getting as many videos posted as I can! Check back here for a new post later this week!

We started day 3 off with a showcase emceed by Overboard, an awesome 5-person a cappella group (videos to come). After a quick break for lunch, we were back at it with another showcase, fun in the marketplace, dinner, an awesome showcase including a Blue Man Group-type performance, and a magician we’ll be bringing to campus next fall.

Andy Grammer performs at the end of mainstage showcase 4.

Last but not least, Andy Grammer closed out the showcase! I have a couple of video clips on the way, including “Gotta Keep Your Head Up.” The night ended with one more marketplace and we headed back to the hotel to attempt to get a normal amount of sleep… Now it’s time for day 4!

Day 2 of NACA was amazing! I got to hear Matt Roloff (the dad from TLC’s “Little People, Big World”) give a short lecture, followed by Zach Wahls, who I had also heard at the Mid-America conference in November. Zach will be visiting our campus later in the spring. At the end of an evening showcase, Bowling for Soup played a set! I took several videos and I plan to post them in the next couple of days.

Bowling for Soup performs in Day 2's evening showcase.

Day 2 was great and we took care of booking a performance for next year’s Family Weekend. The showcases were really great, and we got to close off the evening with NBC’s Stand Up For Diversity event, which was filled hilarious comics. I’m keeping this post short because I have to head back to the convention center. Day 3 update coming soon!

Well, NACA is officially under way! It’s just past midnight in Charlotte and the first day of NACA 2012 was a blast! Even though I couldn’t fall asleep until 2 last night and woke up after a whopping 2 hours of sleep, our travels went smoothly, Bri realized that North Carolina counts more as “the south” than “east coast,” and we quickly began to experience southern hospitality. At some point during the day, someone asked me about Illinois, with the ‘s’ at the end very pronounced, leading me to realize we’re definitely not at home anymore.

There have been some familiar faces at the conference, but for the most part, we’ll be seeing a new crew of performers from the ones at the NACA Mid-America regional conference last fall.

With two showcases and two marketplace sessions under our belts, we’re off to bed for an even fuller day tomorrow in Charlotte! For now, I’ll leave you with a clip of one of the bands covering “Moves Like Jagger” earlier today:

It’s past midnight… I can’t sleep. Probably because I’m excited for NACA 2012! In less than 4 hours I’ll be waking up and getting ready to head to Charlotte, North Carolina. I’ll do my best to post photos and updates and you can rest assured I’ll be tweeting a lot over the next few days! For now, I have everything packed and laid out for when I wake up. Tomorrow will be the first of several long, fun-filled, unforgettable days!