tossin' & turnin' & burnin' all up inside (outside, too)!

here's a slideshow of lst night's sauna gig at trout's! to see the pix in more detail, click where it says "view all images."
we were all so extremely happy w/how the evening went, from friendly greetings from the paxtons to friends who came out in support to the crowd's enthusiastic response to all the dancers! who surely must've really wanted to do so, since the ac was broken!! to the blackboard playboys', rockwell's, lynda's & the trout's staff's kindnesses to swell dinner & laughs afterwards at la tapatia. i haven't had so much all-around music fun since crashing a taping of the blasters on AFPP!
well, at this pt, i'm uncertain where my sun. eve's going, so will write more later... happy bd to philbert, the band's baby!! hope you enjoy the pix, & if you were there, that we gave you a good show. :)

TROUT'S sat june 28; SAFARI SAM'S sun july 6

we'll be on at 7 pm!!!
we'll be on from 12:30 pm-2 pm!!!
on other notes: r.i.p., george carlin, whose cynicism never fully hid a hopeful & idealistic heart; ... in austin, i had the most wonderfully quenching & delicious drink, tho i don't know the proportions: combine crushed ice, coca-cola, cream, & vanilla syrup. the result: a cocablanca. heaven!!!!... finally, phil & mark are contributing song ideas!! (artistic mark also made the top flyer... cool!) what a happy thing this band is lately!! :) now we just need time to actually learn our new songs we're writing, & to play more shows, too! :) these are what i would call "golden problems," most definitely...

my sleep-deprived texas train trip: snippets

not pictured: burnin' mike vernon, luann williams, kinky friedman :)

bass ackwards in the lone star state: the queen of know-nuthin speaks

if you are ever in my presence & i suggest we take a short cut or say anything that suggests a "clever" or easier, softer (& especially cheaper) way, please slap me!!!! i have had many adventures on this trip & now am (literally) cooling my heels in the hi-austin after a day out in 100 degree texas heat wearing the wrongest & stupidest shoes any female could've conceived to wear for such a trek!!! of course the shoe broke, so i being so goddang resourceful found a pin in the road & a hair tie & "fixed" the shoe & proceeded to walk another 10 miles w/my blistering dogs taped w/stickers i peeled off the wall out front of the record store & basically all it accomplished is i was slowed like a turtle & nearly crippled myself!! i love this place a lot (tho not as much as i love my loved ones), but that combined w/my FIVE HOUR wait yesterday at the amtrak station in rural cleburne (the station was closed, of course, & it was 100 degrees, & i was all alone, but then i found a penny, & found one today, so i stick w/foolishness, thinking it's all part of the great plan, most certainly) mean i am more than ready go home... i have had a swell time, but more than anything, more than music, more than mama, i await my sleeping car on tomorrow's train (which of course cost a zillion dollars to grab because i only realized i had to get one or croak after the "going to war together"-like grubby camaraderie of riding over w/NO SHOWER). i'll get on this time, shower up, & get rocked to sleep by the train's gentle gait.
...dang, i hope that didn't constitute an expectation on my part. my serenity is directly related to my expectation level... so that wasn't an expectation at all, i say: just a hope. :) i know it's ok & in fact is good to hope. :)
will report more later on the great music i've heard & will hear, my beautiful family, their beautiful little italian donkey, the beautiful rural texas dusks alive w/night-singing bugs & peaceful, endlessly flat & lovely canopies of lime-green fields & dark, stately post oaks... below i'll list some music, so "all yall" can know what's been up here... & more details later. :) peace happiness & good times to all who read this...

safari sam's 7/6 plus dusk devils demo cd available

i have a feeling i'll be writing while i'm gone on my train trip to the lone star state, but meantime, i'll post the following exciting (por moi) things!!!
the cd has six tracks: the texas song; mercy; rock boppin' baby; not goin' after him; green door; the mess around. please get hold of me if you're interested in one!!!

"you can't judge an apple by lookin' at the tree, you can't judge honey by lookin' at the bee, you can't judge a sister by lookin' at the brother...

you can't judge a book by lookin' at the cover." -ellas mcdaniel, aka bo diddley. he passed away today, age 79. what a loss for everyone! i only got to see him once, long ago down in smellay, w/little richard & jerry lee lewis. tho i was bombed out of my gourd, i remember his set smoked!!! we tried to see him at rockin' 50s last yr in green bay, but he got sick & didn't make it to the event. everyone thought he was a goner then, & the mood was heavy as the 100s of primitive/american music vinyl freaks in attendance held their breath somberly, hoping against hope for the improved health of the "original architect of rock&roll". we heard he was playing music at the hospital w/in days...
you gotta love anyone who takes his stage name from a phrase that basically is a classier version of "jack s**t." i like the humility. people who are great don't need to hoot about it. his rockin' clave-rumba songs were so fun, so cool, so smoking & sexy & rhythm-bound, & then when you listened to the lyrics, wow: poetry, too. he introduced the world to the duchess, jerome green, the hambone beat, "love is strange". he was one of the BIG FIVE, art fein says, along w/chuck, fats, elvis, little richard, jerry lee. (wait - that makes six. i must be wrong...)
some of my favorite bo diddley songs: roadrunner; you can't judge a book; mona; cadillac; bring it to jerome; pills; ride on josephine; say man; hey! bo diddley; dearest darling; we're gonna get married; who do you love?; pretty thing; crackin' up; hush your mouth; don't let it go; what's buggin' you?; gunslinger... i've been sick today, & it seems fitting now. goodbye to a great man.

at club bim bam, come on in, chief big jam session about to begin

(to paraphrase the late great ronnie dawson...) here's a pic of our sound check from last night. the stone bar was beautiful, & reminded me of the original king-king! it was a good night, tho i feel like a sack of jello right now; we got home at 3 am, & i ain't used to it!!!
it was a fun evening, tho my try-out of a different piano stand (borrowed from bassist mark-thx!) didn't really work! i wonder if i'll ever figure out ALL the logistics that go w/this? i also couldn't hear myself sing, which means i screamed my voice out early in the set. oh well! people seemed to enjoy us. "something different" is what we always hear. "YOU are just incredible," one woman told me, beaming. :)
lil mo is one super-energetic performer; he reminded me of one of the bowery boys. his band did straight-up rockabilly, along w/an R&B tune & some "born bad" tunes like "save it" & "tongue-tied jill"; i really liked those!! i loved the songs deejay lucky la rocka spun between bands, an eclectic combo of primitive R&B, rocknroll, rockabilly, & more. he really mixed it up, & i always appreciate that!!
we had a good set & the folks at the stone bar were ultra-nice to a one: lucky, who invited us; carl, the owner; the door man; the bartender. we even got some dough! who says there aren't good people in hollywood? :)
it was fun to hear art fein cheering because he literally yells "yaaaaaay!!" & claps loudly, & to see his friend randi's (heaters & blasters fan #1) huge enthusiam. art's friend luann speculated about places in austin we might play. yay! who knows? i guess it could happen! that would be so swell... :)
john bazz & i crossed paths last night; ironically, he played bakersfield (not with the blasters) at fishlips. "meet you at the starbucks on laval road," he joked. hope he had as good a show as we did! i thank blb for driving us to hollywood in the super van; that sure made the traveling easier. :)
a show i won't be going to today is local son john owens' public debut w/his stroke-of-genius-named band buckshot - they're on at 2 pm at trout's for lloyd reading's 89th bd party & BBQ, open to the public. it looks like they'll do contemporary country, but if i hear otherwise, i'll get to another of his shows. john had & probably still has an unbelievable singing voice, a cross between his dad & roy orbison. if his songs are as amazing as his pipes, i'll become a fan, no matter what. :)