Mornin’ y’all!
Yup, you heard right: y’all.
It’s true: I’m a Broadway baby, a Community geek chick, and a Hank Williams loving honey. I’m a huge country music fan. I know; the mind boggles. Layers, you guys, I’ve got layers. Luckily for me, this means there are several wells of inspiration I can dip into while on the hunt for funny names … and today’s hunt takes us to Nashville, Tennessee. On TV, anyway.
Lennon and Maisy Stella: they may be tiny, but their talent is GINORMOUS!
“Nashville” is a new television drama about folks making a living (or waiting tables and trying to make a living) in the country music industry. The cast includes a whole whack of popular actors, including Connie Britton from “Friday Night Lights” and Hayden Panettiere from “Heroes”. But the show’s two break-out stars are a pair of young Canadian songwriters – sisters Lennon and Maisy Stella.
Lennon and Maisy grew up in funny-named Oshawa, Ontario, and moved to Nashville in 2009 when their parents, country duo Brad and Marylynne Stella, got a record deal. But it turns out Mom and Dad aren’t the only talent in the family. When Maisy auditioned for “Nashville” and mentioned that she often sang with her older sister, the producers asked if they could both come in and audition together. They did – and not only did they get the job, but the roles were rewritten just for them. Here’s what one of the producers says about that decision:
We decided on the spot to change the roles to fit Maisy and Lennon’s ages. Listening to them sing literally brought tears to our eyes. I’m not just saying that. Their voices moved us to tears.
Shortly after “Nashville” started filming, a video of the girls’ covering Robyn’s hit “Call Your Girlfriend” went viral. As of last count, it’s recieved over 13 million hits on Youtube.
Oh, and have I mentioned that Lennon and Maisy are just 13 and 9 years old?!?
Which means that in addition to being all sorts of talented, these two are really, ridiculously, all sorts of adorable. My showbiz sources tell me that Maisy’s favourite show is “Full House”, and that her TV intake is pretty strictly monitored:
Are you allowed to watch Nashville?
Lennon: We are.
Maisy: No, I’m not allowed to watch the bad parts.
The Blog of Funny Names 
Amb! You’re a country music fan?!?! I’ve been known to dabble in the genre as well. I’m much more of a classic country fan than a modern country fan (save for alt country like Kathleen Edwards, Lucinda Williams and some of Jenny Lewis’ stuff), but still… stick my leg in a bucket and call me stumpy if Loretta, Kathleen and Merle ain’t among my top 20 most-listened over the past 6 years. http://www.last.fm/user/davemcarlson/library
And darn tootin’! if those two gals ain’t cute as lace, I don’t know what is! They’re cute as a box full of puppies!
(Obviously I’ve been practicing my southern figures of speech)
I am, as a matter of fact! Blue Rodeo is one of my favourite bands to see live. Of course I like today’s crop of boys with guitars (Jason Aldean, Luke Bryant, Blake Shelton etc) and you know I love Kathleen Edwards, but I have a soft spot for Dolly and Loretta, too. Van Lear Rose = about seven kinds of awesome.
Here’s a new addition for your lastfm library: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdFCxsToVpo&feature=share&list=RD02Pw2jFYwHmmk
After watching those two cutie-pies, I have to borrow one of my favorite person’s pet expression… ” For crying out loud !!”
ADORABLE
Right?!? That’s the perfect expression to describe these two!
Good stuff, amb. Yes indeedy you have layers 🙂 Cute kids and why is it that cute showbiz kids often have funny names? Am sure there’s a theory in there somewhere.
Interestingly, though, this is where we part ways. Outside of J Cash (whom I adore), I do not enjoy country music. (Do I get stones thrown at me for admitting to that?) Though love bluegrass, which is country-ish. Just the same, it gave you fodder for this post which is really all that matters 🙂
Thanks Liz! Good question about the funny name/cuteness factor – will leave it to our resident funny named theorist to tackle that one.
Throw stones?!? I would never! You know I love way too much cheesy Canadian tv to ever judge people for their own entertainment choices 😉
That is just what I needed this morning. Thanks Amb. And Dave thank you for letting her take over some Thursdays.
Have you ever heard Dolly’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS-F4rfU4ns
I’m glad! You’re so welcome. And yes, isn’t Dave good to me? Considering how much of my chatter is actually about the poor guy, he’s very patient.
I love Dolly’s version of this song. Most people don’t know that she’s the one who wrote it! I have so much respect for her as an artist – the story goes that Elvis was a huge fan and wanted to sing some of her songs, but since he wouldn’t let her keep the publishing rights, she turned him down. Takes quite a woman to say no to The King, don’t you think? 🙂
I admire that kind of chutzpah. I didn’t realize she wrote it. Very cool.
Girl Friday strikes again! 😀
Reblogged this on tirochelle.
Thanks for the reblog, tirochelle!
By the way, that wedding photo on your blog is just gorgeous!
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