elvis show in hollywood soon... plus blablabla...

happy hoo yah to yall!!
we're playing the elvis birthday show next sunday night, 1/8/06, at the music box (henry fonda theatre) in hollywood. whoopee!! i'll have more details when art f gets home from vacation... we get to do two songs this year, & it's gonna be swell!!! :) if you plan on coming for the show, know there'll be scores of acts from little-known to roots-rockin' Known (james intveldt, the blasters, dave alvin, candye kane, dwight yoakam, groovy rednecks, etc. etc. have played in the past) & the music box is plush, plush, plush. brian p wants to stay the night so he can get hammered & hang out, so he'll be there throughout the evening, along with many many more... get your tickets soon to have a great evening while paying respects to memory of the king of rock & roll!!
here's a little couple pix from matt munoz of last friday's holiday deal (details below). thank you, mister mento! ... i spent the week in laverne with my friend & her kids, then hollywood with hubby & stepson. doggie roscoe went to stay in simi valley & got to go to the beach! cat stayed here & ate tinsel... the dog is sleeping right now, tired pooch, while fat kitty junior crashes around the house with a strip of green ribbon... while i was gone, i took my little friends to a movie, ate a bunch of great food (guelaguetza, clifton's cafeteria, the griddle, etc.), went thrift shopping & to aron's going out of business sale (record collectors mourn! but deals are to be had from now til end of feb!), stayed at the beverly laurel, saw the holiday lights at griffith park & autry museum, drove & drove & drove on the pretty windy streets & endless neighborhoods & freeways... driving driving & listening to music... is there anything greater? except being with someone cool & maybe having a pot of strong coffee, also?? i know there's lots more finery & joy & depth & meaning to life, but these things are pretty up there, in my book...
with the new year approaching, what is your resolution? mine is to not smash this blasted computer, which seems to run slower every day!! ...and of course, to lose 10 pounds. :) and to fly to mars, which is just as likely to happen. :) well, i'd better go unpack... feliz ano nuevo! :)

run run rudolph, santa's gotta make it to town

well, no pix, but last night was super fun. we practiced with boy wonder (our very mature new 21-year old drummer, whom i hope doesn't mind my admiring poke), then packed up & headed for sandrini's (subterranean downtown nightclub). paul perez carried my keyboard downstairs: funny how much shorter the staircase seems with someone else hauling my keyboard & amp! the cave-like place was packed with drinkers & diners a-plenty. alejandro nunez opened the show with earnestly heart-felt spanish guitar & singing; between songs, he'd break into a boyish, braces-clad grin (mento buru was backing him up)... cesareo had agreed to lend drumming expertise, which bolstered brian p's & my duo quite a bit! we were up next & i don't know much what happened except i left the stage feeling like i'd ridden a rocking fun rollercoaster! for the first tune, rockin' winter wonderland, matt & the fellows played sleigh bells & added howls and laughs. next was blue christmas, with brian p's (deliberately) cheesy elvis vocals met by happy laughter & cat-calling from the audience. i was high on the fun of it, babbling like a fool non-stop, but when people are smiling, laughing, & enjoying themselves that much, i can't help myself. it was thrilling & heart-warming to see people bopping their heads, yelling encouragement, etc... we did rockin' around the christmas tree, christmas blues, christmas in jail, white christmas, jingle bell rock (brian threw me the solo, which i forgot i had. i yelled "save me!!!" to the cacophony of wrong notes), & run run rudolph. folks were dancing & prancing by then: exciting. when we were finished, i had to just reply 'thank you' to all the nice stuff folks said. it's unbelievable how responsive & complimentary people can be... brian p admonished, "don't let it go to your head," but i know it's not about me, but about having fun & sharing what we've got to offer. how fortunate that people seem to enjoy it!... we packed up, then listened to mento buru for a while. at corner stage, i had a great view of roberto, matt, paul, joe, david, and the rest, the blasting horns, congas, timbales, the crowded, masterly mess of merriment. if you haven't seen mento, they are bakersfield's most accomplished & fun-loving party band. thank you to matt munoz for inviting us, dear brian b, heidi, jaime, & everyone else who showed up to see us, as well as cesareo & the fellows for lending their bells, maracas, whistles, & percussive good cheer. merry christmas, feliz navidad, gud jul, happy hannukah, happy festivus, happy kwanzaa, etc. to all, and to all a good time.

blasters on art fein: "is it time to v-v-v-vamp?"

it's way too early to be awake, but i gotta write about last night! here is the dumbed-up groggy-headed stupidified sleep-deprived oh mama can you believe it version.
brian p & i left bakersfield for smellay late but only hit a tad of traffic, arriving at adelphia studio off the 5 and 2 in early evening. the blasters were already playing!!! they were just noodling around while the studio techs got their levels, which meant they were doing whatever popped into phil alvin's head... phil was in manic comedian mode, joking and singing and riffing in a laugh-out-loud manner, joyfully mad and whatta kick. they warmed up playing "whole lotta love," for instance, with phil's face tomato-red as he sputtered and cracked up singing the falsetto parts (he did it well, of course!). then he sang "my way" in a ham-handed lampoon of sinatra. art wanted a vamp intro, so phil kept stuttering, "is it time to v-v-v-vamp?" brian p told them we'd opened one of art's shows vamping on batman, so then they went into an extended and skewered version of that, then phil led "lonely, lonely nights," which my friends the blazers used to do, with the other guys peering at each other with gentlemanly amusement, wondering what phil would pull outta his ear next. he grinned and leered like bugs bunny, talked a mile a minute, cranked out the tunes, and when it was over, put his gear away while happily belting out altar boy liturgy in latin for quite a long time. i was glad he kept his beat-up old guitar turned way up cause i like his scratchy, melodious 30s-style vernacular playing... the show started and between art's questions the band played "milk cow blues," "4-11-44," "rock boppin' baby," their fantastic version of johnny paycheck's "precious memories," "daddy rolling stone," and finally "american music." the sound was just perfect; i hope everything, the practice, every word, was recorded. the blasters are geniuses and i got that wonderful feeling i was gonna go nuts from the excitement of the music and the great fun of the fellows' patter! then we all went to dinner at a nearby mexican joint where everyone squeezed around a little table, phil's humor got a little blue, jerry ate my potato taco and commented that with all the wise cracks and irreverent liveliness, "this is like a marx brothers movie!," art put his finger in my carne asada, then we hit the road back to bakersfield. i would write more, but i can't even think after this whirlwind and my resulting lack of sleep! i'll just say look for the show to air in LA, NY, Chicago, and other places. you can get more great info, too, at www.sofein.com ... art took pix, which i hope he'll send! paxton's (one above) got a little fuzzed, but better than no shots a'tall. whatta night. whatta time. whatta whatta. wow. thanks, art!!! muchas gracias and molto grazie! whatta time!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!

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