Several years ago, I was performing at Sundance Resort in Park City, UT and had a day off. I decided to go on a scenic lift ride. I had never been on one before and it seemed like a nice idea to go be alone away from everyone. As the lift took me higher and higher, I was elated to be free and hanging in the air like that. Looking ahead, I had the most beautiful view. Looking down, I could see the ground falling away at my feet.

I was enjoying the beautiful scenery when about 12 minutes into it, I suddenly looked up and realized I was coming upon a huge mountain in front of me. As I got closer and closer, my heart started pounding and I started feeling very anxious. Why? Because I didn’t have a view anymore. Suddenly, I was about six feet from it and the lift started scaling vertically, so I couldn’t seem to escape this mountain. It was the only thing I saw for the next few minutes. I felt trapped.

Then I started thinking about where I was in my life, and I thought, what a perfect metaphor. I was in a relationship that wasn’t working anymore. My career seemed to be at a standstill. I hated that wall in front of me.

Then, because I couldn’t stomach looking ahead of me, I turned around. The ride had been so slow that I hadn’t even felt the lift because I was so focused on that mountain. But looking back, I couldn’t believe how high up I was or how far I’d come. The view was magnificent. I thought about my life and thought, Georgia you’ve come a long way. And you forget that sometimes because you only focus on where you’re going. But look at where you’ve been. What a ride.

At that moment, I turned around to make peace with that mountain…only to find that there was no mountain. Only sky. I was at the peak and didn’t even know it.

Hmmm…Blue Sky Riders. Maybe that’s the perfect name for this band. We’re venturing into the unknown territory of do it yourself records and it’s scary at times…but what a trip. Every day, we talk about a new idea or how to do this or that better…it’s fun taking your career by the hand and saying “Let’s see what we can do today with this!” We’ve just come off a summer tour where we’ve traveled the country as opening act for Kenny’s solo show. Next month, is the big one as Blue Sky Riders is doing our very first headlining tour ever.

I’m having a ball with Kenny and Gary and we shall see where it takes us.

But more importantly, I’m just enjoying the ride.