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Grand Rapids Press, April 2006
Country Roads for Rampage's Martin
Lineman married to aspiring singer Tidwell
By Gary Bond
He's a hard-hitting man, she's a sweet-singing woman.
If that sounds like a relationship made for a country music song, well, exactly.
Grand Rapids Rampage lineman Tim Martin was married in September to Natalie Tidwell, an aspiring country singer. The pair met through a mutual friend at the University of Tulsa when he was a junior and she was a freshman.
Tidwell has dreamed of a singing career since she was 5 years old and had the chance to sing with one of her idols, country music legend Barbara Mandrell. When she was 13, she appeared on the TV show "Star Search".
"It has made for a very interesting relationship he past nine years," Martin said. "It's been tough, but it's something we made work together. We've both made sacrifices along the way in our relationship and to our careers."
Martin is in the crowd every chance he gets to listen to his wife sing. The two have a home in Tulsa, but they plan to sell it and buy a house in Nashville, Tenn., to help Natalie's career.
Tidwell, who sings under her birth name, has produced two demo CD's and working on a third in hopes of signing with a record label.
Martin is a well-traveled Arena League veteran. He played for two seasons in Oklahoma City, two seasons in Dallas, and two seasons in New Orleans before joining the Rampage this year. The 6-foot-6, 265-pound Martin was a All-Arena second team selection in 2004.
"It's wonderful being married to a professional football player," said Tidwell, who was in Grand Rapids last week to watch the Rampage face the Arizona Rattlers. "It's tough (being apart so much), but I'm confident in our relationship and we don't worry about each other."
The Rampage face the Nashville Kats on Saturday, but even though Grand Rapids plays the team that calls the Country Music Capital of the World home, don't think Tidwell's loyalties are divided.
"Of course I'm going to be rooting for Grand Rapids this week," she said. "I root for whoever Tim is playing for."
Article published in Oklahoma Music Magazine, Summer 2003
Just like countless thousands in Biloxi, Miss., Natalie Tidwell briskly strode into Casino Magic hoping to hit the big jackpot. Surely, she would think as her slender 5-foot-5 frame anxiously knifed its way through the smoke, ear-piercing bell rings proclaiming the fortunes of others and overweight rent-a-cops-tonight would be her night.
But it wasn't at the roulette, craps or blackjack tables that the University of Tulsa grad would pray that all those nights of coming up empty would be erased with that one magical moment.
It was on the stage.
Reprising her featured role in "Honky Tonk Cowgirls" (a show and part that originated at the Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Ore.), Tidwell believed that, sooner or later, at least one of those taking part in the nightly standing ovations would approach her backstage with a record deal or, at the very least, an invitation to perform in a Nashville showcase.
Unfortunately, more often than not, she found herself leaving the casino with others whose pace had also slowed, as each anguished over what could have been.
"I never got the break I was looking for (on the casino circuit) but it was totally worth it," says Tidwell, 25, who has since relocated to Tulsa.
"I sold probably $12,000 in 3 months just in CD's, and not a lot of people can say that. I didn't truly ever think anyone would come through Oregon or Mississippi and say, 'There's a star,' but you have to try things to succeed."
While her casino career didn't provide the springboard she was looking for, it did educate her on a piece of music business that she doesn't want to incorporate into her promising career.
"I've always been one of those people who feel like they get ripped off when they see a performer lip-sync," she says. "There were a couple of days in Oregon when I was completely sick so we were forced to make tracks before the show so that I could lip-sync. I felt completely ridiculous. I think too many people use it as a crutch way too much."
Tidwell has had her eyes fixated on a recording deal since being invited onstage to sing "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" with Barbara Mandrell at the age of 6.
Since then, she's made appearances on Star Search, done the obligatory stints performing the national anthem at numerous venues, opened for The Tractors, Bryan White, and served as the captain of the TU dance team.
Since leaving the "Honky Tonk Cowgirl" show last summer, Tidwell has kept herself busy picking up performances here and there, including a stint opening for Blake Shelton and performing in "Country Tonite" in Branson, MO.
She's also waiting on a call back from Sony Nashville president Allen Butler, whom she's met with twice.
"The last time we met, the label was going through that big lawsuit with the Dixie Chicks, and the morning of my meeting, Allen had just finished a conversation with their manager," she says. "Needless to say, he wasn't in the best of moods."
"I always believe that the third time is the charm. I don't know when that third time will come, but I believe in my talent so you never know. This business is so fickle, political and all about who you know. And I hate to say it, but there's also a lot of luck involved."
Spoken like a true casino veteran.
--Chris Greer
Article in the Tulsa Word, February 2004
....Another Oklahoman, vocalist Natalie Tidwell, opened for Shelton. A solid singer with impressive range and power, as well as plenty of charisma, she began her set with four straight original songs, including a good ballad called "Love Don't Even Know My Name." Then it was cover song time as she ranged from the Dixie Chicks' "Some Days You Gotta Dance" and Faith Hill's "It Matters to Me" to a spirited rendition of the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House."
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