May the Fourth Be with You

Hey, guys! We have been busy, busy, busy lately, and we're excited for the chance to catch up and share with you all! It looks like spring has officially sprung, which is great for anyone who likes warm weather; as for us, we're already missing the cold! 

We have spent the past month preparing and rehearsing for the Lewis & Rauleron's 75th Anniversary Celebration. In spite of the scattered rainstorms (read: torrential downpour), we had an absolute blast, and if the show was any indication of how the rest of the month is going to go (we seriously hope it is!), then it looks like May will be great. As always, we'd like to give a massive thank you to our friend, co-conspirator, jack-of-all-trades, and guitarist, Frank Sikes, for practicing and putting up with us once again, and for letting us use his (extremely flammable) practice space, complete with goats, chickens, and cardboard cut out of Han Solo. We've never cuddled a chicken before (or sang with a goat judging us), but thanks to his miniature farm, we truly understand that the love of a bird is like no love we've ever had before, and that goats are truly judgmental creatures.

But before we start chasing a rabbit - well, a chicken - let's get back to the Anniversary Celebration. We really had a blast performing with Frank, and we are extremely grateful to Randall Broadhead and his crew from Sound Experiencing for running sound for us through a few thunderstorms. Not very many people can say that they spent their first few shows singing along with trains, but that's the fun part of living in a railroad town! Although it rained all afternoon, it certainly didn't dampen the appetites, as everyone enjoyed Coca-Cola's very own Mr. Terry Murray's famous chicken and sausage dogs, and lucky for us, he managed to save us a few drumsticks before everyone cleaned him out. We also were able to get up close and personal with the Shell-Pennzoil NASCAR race car and a Ferrari Indy car, which we were very tempted to "borrow" for a quick spin around the block. But alas, our efforts were in vain, and we were forced to admire it from as close as we could get for the rest of the day. There were two monster trucks as well, and we've yet to figure out how anyone gets inside them. We're determined to find out, and maybe try it for ourselves one day. 

Despite a few minor mishaps (including a very angry god of thunder who held up our sound check!), it was a day that we enjoyed immensely, and we always seem to learn a little bit more about patience, the importance of practice, and how necessary it is to be able to laugh at ourselves every time we perform. The rain could have sent us into a tailspin, but we've always had a particular taste for dancing in the rain, and the delays gave us the chance to meet everybody who came out to celebrate such an awesome time for a company we think of so highly because of the importance they place on family, community, and integrity in business.

Events like Lewis & Raulerson's 75th Anniversary Celebration give us the chance to talk about our OneHeart Project, through which we continually strive to increase awareness of poverty and need in our area. We will be placing another order for OneHeart t-shirts, which you can purchase by contacting us via Facebook or Twitter, calling or texting Allison Turner at 912 - 288 - 4048, or tracking one of us down in person. In the weeks ahead, we will be throwing a Beau + Luci Day at Waycross's very own Salon Cheveux, to rally together our friends and family in order to makes steps toward eradicating the poverty experienced by children and families in our area. We're extremely excited about Beau + Luci Day, and details will be posted as the time draws nearer, so make sure to check back and join us! For more information, or just to stop by and say hello, make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, check out our website and share us with your friends so we can get the word out! Also, we would love if you would join us every Monday from 7 - 10 PM on the Pat Stone Radio Show chat room for good music and conversation, and to hear any exciting announcements firsthand. We hope to see you there, and thank you all so much for the love you send our way! We appreciate every single one of you more than you will ever know, because you are helping us change lives while making our dreams come true. 

Lots of love, 

Beau + Luci

Beau + Luci: Family, Friends, and Music

Waycross sisters/singer-songwriters, locally known as Anna Caitlin and Sara Brittin Turner, play by their own ‘Rules.’

Who are Beau + Luci? “Quiet, shy, family-oriented,” says Anna Caitlin (Luci), smiling at Sara Brittin (Beau), who shoots back, “homebodies.” Two sisters, finishing the others’ sentences, say traversing the country and music business together over the past few years has only brought them closer. They’ve written and recorded over 25 songs in studios on both coasts, released their debut EP “Rules of Society,” and amassed a small army of fans on Facebook and Twitter - all while working charity events and impromptu performances. Quiet, shy, homebodies… really?

Beau + Luci, daughters of David L. (President of Lewis & Raulerson, Inc.) and Allison Taylor Turner, granddaughters of James L. “Jimbo” and Marcia Taylor, and the late James H. “Jim” and Betty Turner, were born and raised in Waycross and began singing at their home church, Jamestown Baptist and were co-founding members of Crossroads Youth Worship Band. “We’re a very close family - best friends,” explains Beau. “Our younger brother, Braeden (affectionately named ‘The Manager’), has always been our greatest fan and most supportive friend,” continued Luci. All three siblings started first grade at Williams Heights Elementary, and Anna Caitlin and Sara Brittin went on to attend Ware County Magnet School until 2009, when all three students enrolled in K12 International Academy (iCademy).

Anna Caitlin and Sara Brittin began writing and recording in 2012 and made the first of many creative decisions - opting for their family nicknames, Beau and Luci, as professional pseudonyms - to simplify communication and to begin branding their music career. Additionally, the girls chose to use the “+” (plus sign) as a stylized “and”. Also in 2012, they began working with Australian singer-songwriter, Dana Stewart, through early morning and late night SKYPE sessions, “It’s not the easiest way to learn music,” explains Beau, “but it is always interesting learning from the Australian bush.” Beau + Luci have worked locally with Ware County High’s music teacher and choral director, Greta Lowery Thomas, and Frank Sikes, a local musician from Hortense. Laughing together, “We just never know what to expect with Frank,” says Luci. “He’s a great musician, always eager to help, and he always has lots of great stories to share!” continued Beau. “And Greta’s background in classical training has helped develop and encourage Beau + Luci’s natural abilities,” says “Momager” Allison of Mischief Managed, LLC.

In summer 2012, Beau + Luci travelled to Hollywood, California, to the rooftop studio of twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden of platinum album-selling band, Good Charlotte. “It was like another world,” remembers Luci. “Like…did we really do that? Or was it all a dream? But at the same time it was an awesome experience that we will never forget.” added Beau. The sisters worked with some of Good Charlotte’s producers to record their first originals, “Rules of Society,” “First Kiss,” and “Trouble with Cupid”, which are included in their debut EP. “There’s just no way to explain, walking into a studio with awards and music milestones on the walls, and then working with people who were part of it,” continues Luci.

Beau + Luci’s much anticipated EP “Rules of Society” was released in 2013 on iTunes and other download and streaming services. “Having our music released was an exciting accomplishment,” says Beau. “But we quickly realized it was only the beginning,” added Luci. After the west coast adventure and EP release, Beau + Luci began working with musician, writer, and producer, Mark Dowdy, who grew up in the industry touring and playing with Conway Twitty, George Jones, Barbara Mandrell, and many others. Mark has helped refine Beau + Luci’s sound to a more organic - rock, folk and country – indie pop mix at his Rivercrest Music studio in Gainesville. Dowdy explains, “Beau + Luci don’t do things by the book – all rules are just thrown out the window - but it works for them!”

Recently, Beau + Luci entertained the Big Brothers Sunday School Class’s Christmas party at Jamestown Baptist Church, and first ever “Sunday Night Show” at Blackshear Church of God. Accompanied by Frank Sikes (guitarist), Beau + Luci performed a set of acoustic Christmas songs and chatted with hostess Amy Evors, about their music, family life, inspiration, and future plans. “There’re many exciting things coming in 2014,” says Luci. “But right now, we’d like to announce our OneHeart Project.” Beau continued, “No matter how busy we are, there’re always opportunities to help in the community.”

To learn more about Beau + Luci, say ‘Hello,’ and get information about upcoming events, activities and announcements, find us at www.BeauAndLuci.com.

Originally published in the Waycross Journal-Herald (www.wjhnews.com) on Feb. 22, 2014.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

We've kept busy and had an absolute blast this winter, and we're so grateful to be able to share these adventures with you guys, from the Biltmore Estate to the studio to an encounter with a pirate! Sending lots of love to you and yours. Enjoy the pictures!

Love,

B + L

Let's Catch Up

December is almost over, and we will be the first to say that it's been a crazy month. It doesn't even feel like it should be Thanksgiving yet, much less New Year's Eve, but time has a way of getting away from us when we're busy doing what we love. We have been doing just that, and we'd like to take a moment and fill everyone in on what's been going on with Beau + Luci.

We kicked the month off with our first contest, and we were thrilled to see the great response! Each person that entered the "Favorite Christmas Song Contest" was entered into a drawing for a $25 prepaid Visa card. We had a lot of great submissions (a few new songs we'd never even heard before!), and from these submissions came our Christmas set for a couple of special performances, which ended up consisting of the six most popular songs: Happy Christmas/Christmas Canon Rock, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, O Holy Night, White Christmas, Little Drummer Boy, and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who participated, and another huge congratulations to the winner of our draw, Chelsea Young! All of us at Camp Beau + Luci hope Chelsea was able to do something really special with her prize and is looking forward to her Beau + Luci OneHeart Organization shirt. Thanks to all of you who made this contest such a wonderful success!

Also, we would love to thank the Big Brothers Sunday School Class of Jamestown Baptist Church once again for giving us the honor and privilege of performing at your annual Christmas party and for allowing us to be part of such a wonderful night. We had another very exciting time at the BCOG Music Department "Sunday Night Show" fundraiser. Thank you to Amy Evors, who headed up the fundraiser, for inviting us to take part in such an exciting event, and to our friend Randal Broadhead for being such a genius with the sound and stage set up. The BCOG Music Department truly outdid themselves with food and decorations, and we were thrilled to be included. And finally, an extra-special thank you to our "little drummer boy," Frank Sikes, for putting up with us and playing guitar for us. We had an absolute blast singing for and performing with you guys, and we hope to do it again next year (we're even working on an Australian Christmas song for it!). You made our Christmases a little happier, and we hope we made your days a bit merrier and brighter.

While at BCOG's "Sunday Night Show," we gave a quick interview before our performance with some of our background and a brief overview of the long, winding road that led us to where we are. More importantly, though, we had our first public release of the OneHeart Organization. We were able to explain how passionate we are for helping others and seeing the impact that tiny acts can have on people, a true testament to our belief that genuine love does not have to consist of a series of extraordinary acts, and to urge others to get involved with the OneHeart Organization as we strive to do your part in making the world just a little bit better. We continue to ask for your support, encouragement, and involvement as we live out our mission statement to "Create Hope, Inspire Joy, Encourage Faith, and Share Love." Remember, the true poverty of the human race is not living with no money. True poverty is the poverty of the heart, when one lives with no love, no friendship, and no hope. Love is the easiest and freest gift to give, and the best to receive. Let us all keep that in mind as we enter the new year.

Phew! Now that you've been caught up with everything we've been doing, remember to check back for updates on the exciting/cool/interesting/mind blowing/fantastic things that are coming up. We'll also be printing more OneHeart Organization t-shirts in January, so be sure to place yours orders before supplies run out! You'll be helping support a truly great cause and get a pretty darn cool shirt out of it (see pictures below). Also, we'll be returning to Gainesville, Georgia for a marathon week of writing and recording six new songs, which we can't wait to share with you all, so keep an eye out for new exclusive giveaways, free downloads, and the launch of our first full-length album! By signing up for our e-mail list at wwww.BeauAndLuci.com, you'll be the first to hear about what trouble we're causing, when new music will be released, and have access to prizes and giveaways before anyone else. Thank you so much for your patience, support, encouragement, and love, and please know how grateful we are for every one of you guys. We couldn't have done anything without you, and we don't want to do anything in the future without you, either!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year,

Beau + Luci

P.S. Have you got some Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, or are you looking for some fun music to dance to while working off all those massive meals? Download our EP, Rules of Society, at any of these sites:
http://beauandluci.com/itunes
http://beauandluci.com/amazon
http://beauandluci.com/googleplay
http://beauandluci.com/cdbaby

Or you can stream us for free on Spotify (http://beauandluci.com/spotify) or Rdio (http://beauandluci.com/rdio). Make sure to follow our profile on Spotify, "like" and share us with your friends on Facebook (www.facebook.com/OfficiallyBeauAndLuci) and follow us on Twitter (@BeauAndLuci), Pinterest (/beauandluci), Tumblr (www.lbeausandfroyo.tumblr.com), and Instagram (Beau + Luci). We look forward to connecting with you!

'Tis The Season

We are ten days out from Christmas, and I couldn't be more excited! The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year, and why shouldn't it be? It's stuffed to the brim with family time, the best movies, and, most importantly, lots of food! (Aren't you glad we only have turkey and dressing twice a year? I think I would seriously hate it otherwise.) Plus, it's socially acceptable to listen to Christmas songs nonstop, even if you've secretly been singing your way through Michael Buble's Christmas album since July.

We really get into the Christmas spirit the day after Thanksgiving, when Mom orders us all off of the couch and into the attic, despite our turkey hangover, to begin shuttling the crates of Christmas decorations down the stairs and outside. There are ten billion lights to repair, light-up deer that somehow end up a tangled mess of moving legs, power cords, and antlers and never come downstairs in the same condition they went up, and snowflake lights to unravel. Let me be the first to say it: if you don't have high blood pressure, by the time you're done with those darn snowflakes, you will. I have never been angrier than when I'm sitting cross-legged in the middle of a sparkly, plastic, winter nightmare. And the worst part is the knowledge that once I get them untangled, they have to go up in the trees, where they will proceed to strip the limbs of any leaves, create a mudslide, and capture a few unlucky birds while catching on everything. EVERY. THING. I will be forever grateful to Daddy, who took it upon himself to cut most of the lower branches off of our trees, thereby freeing me from climbing duty. What he didn't realize when he cut them off, though, was that Mom is ingeniously inventive and infuriatingly stubborn, which is not a good combination, especially when she decides that we're going to tie weights to the end of fishing line and throw them into the trees to hang ornaments/lights/the odd mailman.

But that's just the beginning. My mother has always been a "go big or go home" kind of person, so we don't stop at lights. Oh, no. There are larger-than-life wooden cutouts of Santa Claus, toy soldiers, angels, gingerbread men, snowmen, candy canes, and Christmas trees to drag out of the shed and put up. It is a process that requires finesse, a large hammer, and lots of, "Shift it to the right just a tiny bit. No, the right! The right! Wait. My right, your left. Go left!" There are cellophane lollipops so bright they might have come out of the old Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie. There are multicolored strands of lights that look like strawberries strung between said lollipops. And there are bows. Big, red or silver, sparkly, perfect bows everywhere. You would be amazed at how well a nice red bow sets off chili pepper lights.

When we finally get everything up outside-generally a week long process punctuated with arguing, screaming in terror, whacking trees/bushes with sticks, running from errant weights, batting over-sized ornaments across the yard in an attempt to loose a snowflake light, and fits of hopeless despair when it becomes apparent that the string of lights is in fact not working-it's time for the trees. Yep, trees. As in plural. They must be the perfect shape, size, and shade of green, grown in the wild and nurtured by the angels. They must smell like sunshine and happiness and Christmas, and when it's time to shed their bristles, they must do so with unmatched enthusiasm. If the floor around them isn't solidly green by the time they're gone, then the trees are doing something wrong. It takes at least an hour to pick the perfect trees, and Beau, Braeden, and I usually follow Mom around and pretend to really study every tree she thinks she might like. Finally, once she picks out the two she wants, it's time for the bartering. Like I said before, she's very hardheaded, and those poor salespeople don't stand a chance once she makes up her mind that she's going to get two trees without paying full price for either. Luckily, this year went smoothly, and we had the trees trimmed and loaded before anyone dissolved into tears. The Christmas tree sellers watched us leave in relief. Their job is done. Ours is just beginning.

Once we get the trees home, they've got to soak in a bucket of water for a minimum of 24 hours, which is Dad's tactful way of saying, "I don't want to deal with them right now." After we get them in the stands, we go back up to the attic to find the boxes of ornaments. By then, we're usually tired of the whole decorating mess and want to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the sixth time that day. But life isn't easy, and so we put up the lights and the ornaments. All the ornaments, even the paper angels we made 15 years ago that are falling apart and just begging for rest. It doesn't matter if one flimsy branch of that tree has five ornaments on it. They're all going up. Maybe some families manage to do this and look like the families on TV, but we don't. If someone isn't severely agitated by the end of the experience, we just take it all down and start again, with Elvis singing in the background and Beau telling us for the millionth time how much she hates Christmas music. At this point in time, even my adoration of it is wearing thin. There are only so many ways Last Christmas can be sung, you'd think, but the radio seems to have an unlimited supply that they play every ten minutes. This year, to save me from tears, just stop playing it for a day. One day. Is that too much to ask?

Taking a break from the decorating, we go to my grandparents' house to pick oranges. They've got a small orchard in their yard, with orange, lemon, and kumquat trees, all of which need to be picked in time to bag them up in pretty little bags and give them away as Christmas presents. We have a good time together, laughing when someone's hair gets caught in a limb or Braeden gets pelted by an out of control citrus fruit, avoiding the thorns, trying to eat oranges without making too much of a mess, and insisting that taking pictures is not helping (cough, cough Mom). Once we've collected our treasure and bandaged our wounds, we load up on chicken and dumplings. It's a simple, meaningful experience that slows the holiday season down. It's also one of my favorite parts of this time of the year.

It's always fun to look back on Christmases past and see how much has changed. I used to make my Christmas lists in July, and they would be ten pages long and filled with requests of clothes for my baby dolls, a few hundred books, and the odd harmonica or telescope. I would prepare them carefully and put them in a letter addressed to Santa Claus, which Daddy would take to work and send off to the North Pole in time for Santa to handle before Christmas. I would be on my best behavior, because every time I got in trouble, something got crossed off. I must have gotten in trouble quite a bit, because I never did get those three dozen or so American Girl outfits. I would tear into the living room on Christmas morning and make a grand mess of the presents which were wrapped so neatly beneath the tree. Wrapping paper was everywhere. It was mayhem. Nowadays, I like it quieter and simpler. Don't get me wrong, I like presents. Who doesn't? No matter how old you are, it's impossible not to feel a thrill of excitement when you're handed a box that could contain anything. But in the middle of all that wrapping paper flying everywhere and the shouts of excitement as someone opens the present they've been dying to get, it's nice to sit back and see the unabashed excitement on Braeden's face, or the way Mom smiles when she realizes that we were in fact listening the times she mentioned wanting something. A lot of people have said a lot about the Christmas season, about the feeling that you get when you look around and see your loved ones in their pajamas, remembering how it felt to be 6 or 7 on Christmas morning, about the excitement and anticipation that builds and builds the closer December 25th gets, and they've said it more eloquently that I could ever hope to. But in my 18 years, I've found that the Christmas season is about more than buying those boots I wanted, or getting a new series of books on sale. It's not about red velvet cake or a perfect turkey or how many times we can watch Christmas Vacation in a single day (the answer is quite a lot, if you're determined and really believe in yourself.) It's not about the decorations or the Christmas music that nobody can agree on. It's not about snow-or a lack thereof-or reminding ourselves of all the things we wish we had. The Christmas season is about realizing that we've already got everything we could ever wish for. And I think that's beautiful. That's why Christmas is my favorite holiday.

It is the most wonderful time of the year, after all.

So from our family to yours, have a very merry Christmas season. Remember that family is the greatest gift we could ever receive, and love is the freest gift we could ever give. Treasure the things you can't get on Black Friday more than the things you did get. And never, ever forget that it is perfectly acceptable to line your windows with red, orange, and yellow chili pepper lights that you bought when your mother said, "I don't care, just get more lights!" Feliz Navidad, right?

This Is Who You Are

You have never been nothing.

You are a body made up of unique DNA and cells that have multiplied into organs and tissues and skin and bones and a system that tries its best to protect you from influences that harm. You are the product of a long line of evolution, the present artifact of your ancestors successfully procreating until their genes were passed onto you. You are a product of chance and deliberate reason.

You occupy a definite space on this planet. You are mass and in your space, you exist.

You are a contributor to collective thought and discourse. You have opinions and decisions that ripple and reverberate in their results. Your words and silence and heavy pauses are all important, no matter the size of their relevance.

You are hope and sadness and betrayal. You are coldness and emotion. You are forgiveness and absolution. You are the difference between acceptance and tolerance. You are brave even as you are a coward. You are giving up and going on. And every single day, you are moving forward whether you want it or not.

You are judgment and objectification, stereotypes and mistaken assumption. You are pollution, you are unstained, an oxymoron. You are rules and the capacity to break them. You are a disorder and you are everything right. You are complicated and complex, and you will always remain a puzzle even to yourself.

You are sexuality and intellect, passion and logic coexisting in one being.

You are death itself because you have been holding its hand on the very day you were conceived. You will come to embrace the moment your breath expires and you will be nothing but a memory as your facts become part of the world’s continuous fiction.

But right now you are here and you are alive. You are possibility and change in one. You are soul and you are heart, no less and no more than anyone else around you. You were born as energy and power. You have a story and it is being written at this very second. When the end comes, what will your tale be about? What will they say about you who once existed and lived and decided?

You are creation and destruction. You have a right to your own definition.

Over all of these, you are master. There is the challenge of circumstance and forces that try to outline you into a template of how life should be lived, of what and how you should be. Remember that you can listen or ignore them.

This is your life and you should live it and believe as you please. Waste your hours, harness your power. Be offensive or try to reconcile. Stay ignorant or seek enlightenment and education. Place blame or take responsibility. See an unsolvable problem or a see a challenge. Be pointless. Be purposeful. In the end, know that everything you do is on you.

Yesterday, you were important. Today you are vital. Tomorrow you will still count.

(All credit goes to Thought Catalog and Jamie Delos Reyes.)

Always remember that you are loved, you are appreciated, you are necessary, you are helpful, and you are not forgotten. You are not some sad story with an unhappy ending. You are here, you are alive, and "a still more glorious dawn awaits."

Much love xxx.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. It's a perfect complication of the Three F's: family, food, and football. My grandmother makes more food than any one family should ever eat and we don't do the whole "eat in moderation thing." We don't even eat until we're full. We eat until we hate ourselves, then we take a nap, and then we do it again. It's a family tradition.

In honor of the second best day of the year (Christmas being the first), I'm going to share The First Thanksgiving Proclamation, published on November 26, 1789 . May we, all these many years later, remember how blessed we are, not just today, but everyday. No matter how little we may have, as long as we have each other, we have more than we will ever need. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!


"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and

Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the third of October,
in the year of our Lord 1789.

(signed) G. Washington"