dusk devils at fattkatt's 100th crystal palace show thurs 1/31 7 pm

today was a lovely albeit hazy ca winter day, so i jogged about 7 miles on our local bike path & am too tired to crawl to the big computer & make a nicer flyer. made this w/paint: challenging in its limits! i kinda like how the "spray-painted" logo & rick's "rockabilly shirt" came out.
this will be a fun show. i always say that these days, but i always mean it, too. :) it was nice of larry to invite us, i think. my family will be quite happy, & i hope the audience will be, too. :) if you're in bako & are so inclined, please come.

louis prima zooma-zooma lord it's good to be alive

we dusk devils are building a repertoire for the new yr, & tho some folks name it rockabilly, it's NOT just that, it's all the wonderful stuff we can gather under the umbrella of "american music" or primitive or uptempo vernacular or whatever it's all called. so much of what i truly love would be wrong for me to play, or i'd be unable, or it'd dishonor the original to even TRY... but some beauties, well, i CAN do 'em, & so i DO!
"angelina zooma zooma..." good lord!!! louis prima sings w/the wonderful infectious warmth of that favorite funny loving uncle, the one you want to sit w/all night, & eat & drink & laugh, & his expert orchestra-famiglia bumps, swings, sings, & swells w/loose & lively thrills, humor, happiness... truly, what ecstacy it is, just to flip your ears to & dig the cozy rollicking funride of a louis prima recording!! (ok, i'm tired & blubbery, so excuse my hyperbole, or don't...) i listen & long to have known him. i think at this second that must make him the best performer ever, if, like drummer rick says, performers & entertainers' duty is to make the listener escape, transcend the mundane, have hope, be happy!! (and phil alvin would more soberly add, to carry forth the collective experience & history of those who've gone before us...)
i've also been listening to big joe turner, buster brown, irma thomas, brenda lee, etta james, little junior parker, no bands, just swell swell swell blues & country vocalists par excellence, & olen taylor's exciting local project, now on myspace at www.myspace.com/mroscat ...
my friend didn't call, so here i am at home tonight instead of seeing 800 lb gorilla/shack shakers at fishlips, as well as trout's, so i sit here & it's a more relaxed but as i've gushed about so happy time, awash in "american" song - you know, "american" as in louis prima rasping in italian, or the conjunto/ ranchera/ norteno & french/african/scots-irish influence of 'billy & bop & dixieland & new orleans sound, a creative fountain of integrated joy & energy, made by warm & crazy & wily & heartfelt & blessedly talented humans... to be a tiny part of it, a listener, an interpreter, an enthusiast, a doer, well again, whatta kick, whatta surprise, whatta whatta. :) :) :) ... here's a link where you can buy louis prima songs online: http://www.amazon.com/Capitol-Collectors-Louis-Prima/dp/B000002UWF

22nd annual elvis birthday bash hosted by art fein, fonda theatre/music box, hollywood, jan. 2008

here's a little slide show...if you were there but don't see your pic, pls don't feel left out! 60% of our pix came out too blurry to even print bc of the artificial smoke & lighting... mom made my shirt & people came up offering her dough to make THEM shirts. she could be "ramona of bakersfield," like manuel or nudie, but so far, mom says "no." but i hope she felt flattered!! :)
it was tremendous to be part of this show. pamela de barres said i was "such a joy." i left stage to kudos from skip edwards AND gene taylor... that alone, well, my lord: what could be better? i gave away & sold all my cds (the one i sold, the kind man INSISTED on buying) & got cds from rip masters & danny dean. phil alvin gave me an R-rated compliment & quizzed me on musical instruments; johnny legend & count smokula were funny & kind; carlos guitarlos, so talented, was really cool to talk to! lisa haley was so full of life & joy!! lynda kay, the curtises, mike stinson, groovy rednecks were rockabilly-alt-country cool. dave raven & the house band smoked!!! ray campi, billy sheets & i talked about teaching. handsome jerry angel recommended drum tips; bill bateman & i grinned goofily. paul body was the best dressed man in the house!; fur & steve killed w/gorgeous lonely cowboy song; harry orlove's 13-yr old daughter sang like a nightingale; james intveldt had his 77-yr old dad come out & sing, & i think that was the best moment of all, mebbe! --well, except for the BLASTERS, that is, w/whom gene played!!
art walked around w/that dazed, glazed smile on his face, having more fun than everyone combined cause it was HIS party! the only bummer was that ruben & manuel didn't show... but gene did, then play w/many acts, including a duo w/bateman ("blue moon of kentucky")!!
there's just too much to recall in total except i felt no sour notes all night, nada, left stage w/o that weird let-down feeling, elvis was remembered warmly, & the audience got a heckuva show!! we contributed our little bit of joy to the festivities, & again, i thank art so much, & the dusk devils w/whom i now play & have so much fun. i truly do wish those i've played w/before, but no longer do, have this kinda fun, too. this is the reason to play music, i think: shared happiness & thrills!... what a cool, cool deal. :)

r.i.p, bitchin' jim

i just found out our friend jim died yesterday. he'd been gravely ill for some time, tho he still turned up at mtgs, wearing a surgical mask to protect him from all our germs, just as outspoken as ever.
i will sure miss that sweet, crabby old man & the twinkle in his baby blues. he helped desperate & despondent men & women find a different & better life. he was doing the vital work we learn we must do... we learn we must, then we find we love it! for what could make a soul feel more useful than bringing hope to someone who's given up?
jim did it all the time, in the mtgs, at the prisons, everyday & every night. he didn't think about being inconvenienced. he just did it.
one time brian confronted jim about all the political stickers he had plastered on his truck, right alongside his fellowship sticker. "that's violating the traditions," b said. "'we have no opinion on outside issues.'" tempers flared big time, but right away, jim took the felloship sticker off his truck. nothing's more important, he knew, than being an example of our "program of attraction." to mix it w/politics possibly could upset & therefore prevent a dying person from finding rescue.
jim was someone i never would've met if it weren't for the fellowship. i was grateful to be able to love that old man, & he loved me, too. those who understand "how it works" know everything besides finding daily relief from our potentially fatal malady is an "outside issue." old, young, rich, poor, atheist, hindu, conservative, communist, black, brown, white, gay, straight: if you be similarly afflicted, you're welcome to attend.
we are a "strangely assorted crowd," "wrecked in a common vessel" & saved from hell on earth. jim knew that, & shared his experience, strength, & hope til the end. i sure will miss him, but i'm sure glad to have known him at all.

elvis show whoopee!!! wow!!

we didn't really get good pix (except, of course, of the ever-photogenic blasters), but what a night, oh what fun! the most exciting moment for me was when gene taylor unexpectedly walked in... he was supposed to be in austin before heading home to belgium next wk!!! he did a duo w/bill bateman & played w/the blasters, just one wonderful moment in a/n (for me) unprecedented night of music! i got to rub elbows, give & receive many compliments, play to the largest crowd yet, enjoy excitement & thrill that kept me up all night long, have my folks there as well as my hubby. overall, what a wonderful opportunity it was to celebrate & share in an amazing night!! this yr, i was overwhelmed by the sense of being part of a greater good, w/everyone communing to provide the audience w/the greatest show on earth (well, in LA, for that night, anyway). :)
severely sleep-deprived, i will have to write more later. thank you, art, for having us for the 5th yr, & les, for filling in on bass!! & of course, thank you to phil & rick, whose enthusiasm, talents, & dedication make this thing so darn fun.
today, i am exhausted & very grateful. :)

"wail, baby, wail!!!" FPKK sat., honey piazza fri., the shack's shakin'!

absolutely no socially redeeming value dept: come see the only flick my spouse has watched more than 5 times (hmmmm... could the 3 main actrixes' large, large lungs be the draw??)! enrique acosta (action folk singer) is reviving my old film society, BAMS, converting it to monthly midnight movies, still free!, tho now in the confines of a REAL theatre (instead of the backyard, where we used to have shows). here's a link to the event:
http://events.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuse
action=events.detail&eventID=394121.2968
... greg goodsell & i are on the BAMS board, but really it's enrique's baby, now. :)
& tonight! not just FLICS at the FOX (7 pm, www.flics.org), not just terry hansen & the westerners at trout's oildale, but honey piazza, beautiful, accomplished boogie-woogie pianist, & her hubby rod's jump-blues band, the mighty flyers, at the doubletree, 7 pm, $20, hosted, as always, by pat from world records' no stinkin' service charge blues series... if this dang horrid dust storm will blow off, i'm going!!
tues is elvis's birthday! & the elvis birthday bash! (see posts above, below)...
& on 1/18, bloodshot records' legendary shack shakers will appear at fishlips w/local metal-punks 800 lb gorilla...