honoring the king as well as the king & queen of rocknroll music

every yr i'm so amazed art keeps asking us back to this fantastic show... this yr, i asked him if he had any requests. "well," he replied, "no one's ever done ready teddy. or long tall sally. or tutti frutti." his next email read, "and certainly not ever has anyone done them as a medley." my heart flipped & i took the hint. what a task!!: to not just honor the king of rocknroll, but to put on the mantle of the one & only mister penniman, self-proclaimed king AND queen of rocknroll!... i don't know how well we'll ape, but good heavens, we'll sure have our fun singing & playing those tunes!! in fact, everyone that night will have fun -- even if we fall off the stage, totally crash & burn, we'll be but a tiny grinning, swinging part & the show will go on & all will have fun! happy upcoming birthday to elvis, on the heels of baby new year...

gud jul & L7 over x in the snow: true love is the devil's crowbar; he hung me with the endless rope; you will always subtract your arms from my arms

-> (sometimes on here stuff seems sort of in code, to protect people's privacies, not to deliberately obfuscate, but i recently heard the latter's how it can come off, so if you don't know it, the above translates as "happy new year from frazier park," followed by lyrics from the terrific LA '80s punk-roots-art band X, who wrote a lot about the world's social injustice, but also about love-torture. the heart IS a lonely hunter. and often wounded & hungry, too.)
-> my former future-ex-husband (i've given up) phil alvin will serve as master of ceremonies for the gene taylor blues band's new yr's eve show this friday nite at LA's redwood room. gene'll be backed by the original blasters, for pete's sake. here's an article about this going-to-be-incredibly-awesome show, at which i will not be. yeah, should just kill myself & get it over with, but've been doing this spiritual practice lately, yknow, so just won't... plus (it IS some consolation, tho gene'll be back in belgium by then) will get to see most of these fellas @ the elvis birthday bash, art fein's annual super shindig, art fein of hollywood, that is, our manager in name, man about tinseltown, gadfly, scribe, hopeful malcontent w/love of music so fervent, bet it overrides his hatred of sloppy language (don't read this, @), art whose green corduroy jacket i finally shall return in hope-not-too-dog-haired & wrinkled condition...
-> lately my thing is to miss it all, like a bizarro world art. for instance, a blasphemy: x played the other night @ the crystal palace, but in my bones i knew i just had to get home to the mtns, so no estaba.
-> my sister reported they played the entire los angeles album, then at least 3-4 songs from every other. after i finished throwing up, i got back on the phone. "billy zoom looked perfect," she cooed, "& afterward john doe & exene were out in the lobby signing autographs but i couldn't go up to him!! i was too scared!!" i recalled to her 1st time mtg phil alvin being that way, shaking like the leaves on the trees... brian p, good guy, grabbed me & pushed me up to phil, who kissed my hand & recited a poem. bp took pix; in them, i look like maybe i just had a fit, sort of spacy & goony. wish i'd been @ x cause would've done the same for my sis, shoved her up there so she'd have a photo memento.
-> what else? candye kane's & tom yearsley's party. that'll be a super gas. a SUPER GAS!! and I WAS INVITED!! (me & 1,000 others, that is.) then there's another party in simi valley where was told i even could sit in, but they'll be playing '80s & the friend who invited me & even is playing it is not excited about it... 3 musical event possiblities... i mean, jeez.
-> what's wrong w/me?!? such a stick in the mud. we only live once, right? but lately am in a space where 1) my spirit's doing well; 2) therefore don't have thoughts of head in oven; & 3) wanna keep it that way. really, something about the music just makes me come unhinged. can't do halfway: it's love or barf! that's fine when close to home so a person can slip out, or is surrounded by brothers & sisters so can come down safely. but all the aforementioned events'll be in the southland. that leaves me alone after the ball drops & therefore maybe headed for lonesome town & maybe even dangerland. so trying to be wise, this hermit's gonna miss it all this auld lang syne. but will hope to see the ball drop, anyhow, at some cozy place, & usher in 2011 soberly... be you sober or not, @ 12 am on jan 1, may you be safe & happy.
-> prudence, wisdom, chickenness? feh. no se importa. why'd i even write all this? maybe you face similar indecision, worry about being uncool, missing out, life leaving you behind. but how can we be cool if we're dead? the health of one's soul must come first. then fun, then coolness, then kicks. as a person i know says, "i have spoken."
-> drew a full house @ the goodwill recently, picking up john doe's roadside prophets, juke logan, & exene's old wives tales on cassette - 25 cents each! so happy for my antiquated av gear, which allows such deals. yes, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! feliz ano nuevo!! so for 2011, here's some x lyrics:
-> absence makes the heart grow fonder / so i never want to see you again / i'm wrecking the kitchen carefully / but i'm keeping your dinner warm...
... as well as their sort of new year's song:
-> year one little babies, year one on their tvs, no a.d. b.c. a.d. patriotic people sleep in washington d.c., waiting waiting waiting, they don't feel a thing, no dolls no debutantes, no desperate living class, no roman catholic mass, no magazines no tv, no r.c.a. no g.e., year one in our history, year one in society, they're waiting for the son, for any son to come, year one you're on, i'm one
(in fine: brilliant niece on the world ending in 2012; read this imagining a teenage voice dripping w/sarcasm: "the mayan calendar is a circle. assuming a circle has a beginning OR end, which it does NOT, people, what would you do when it ends? YOU START OVER. i imagine if the ancient mayans hadn't been wiped out, they'd've made a new calendar starting at 2012... but there ARE NO ANCIENT MAYANS ANYMORE. and IT'S A CIRCLE, PEOPLE!")

post 500: mister awesome tickles the ivories, rides & swings the B&W rails this new yrs eve!!!!

oh, what can i say about mister awesome, who gave me a piano lesson at a friend's hollywood apt several yrs back, except WOW? was supposed to go down to harvelle's last night to see gene, backed by original blasters minus professor phil... a storm hit!!! the weather was a-blowing and colld, colld, colld - "not fit for maaan or beast!" i made it in the house, freezing like a drowned rat, made it in thru the door & slammed it shut and... the place was so cozy, so christmasy, while outside blustered, sleeted, winds on the way up the grapevine @ 40mph...
i stayed in. the storm never ended. then blasters fan #1 lisa carin emailed today & said the band played 2 sets last night & it was beyond awesome... telling of my mind-state today, i feel not like i wanna put my head in an oven @ that happy news, but happy for all who got to witness it & excited about new yr's eve!, when gene & co play the final american show for this yr, @ the BELLY UP of all places! close to candye, freddie & bill, beach, temperate climate, & blazers memories (see link below for gene's schedule)... speaking of blazers, manuel/big manny's on tour in tx right now w/life-long buddy ruben (tho they no longer play together, for the most pt) doing the big manny christmas album! i hope they're having a swell time together... they've known each other over 40 yrs! they speak music & marx bros & more! so delighted manuel & ruben are together for this yuletide...
the gray matter is radiating calm happiness right now. hope you who read be experiencing this, too. :) to be not just still alive, but in a cozy mountain shelter w/music, visitors, food, things to read, some dough, able body & mostly cooperating coconut, friendships, love, & 2nd chances... well, what's there to be sad about? your particulars might be a bit different, but if you're with me, well, let's give thanks. happy christmas week to all. :)

happy birthday, elvis; dusk devils in LA times

he'd be 75 this year...

we'll be on around 9 pm...
thanks again to art for having us @ his annual elvis birthday bash! we'll do 3 tunes then be off...

hope this verse'll do; if not, voodoodoo doodoo you (ipod ramblings)

(note: first word is the unstressed syllable. now you may proceed.)

when did careful mix tapes turn to shuffled ipods?
why am i writing in verse, you might mention?
moreover, when most of my mind's on the nod
why do i perversely attempt to do scehnsion???

well, i feel a slight pressure lately to write
so scribble i shall, while music a-listenin'
tho life's quite mundane, really, to be polite
...downright boring's the actual description

yeah, i got hives the other day bad
and wanted to jump off a cliff and to drink
but dad sez it's stress and that caused me glad
cause stressors will terminate with time's what i think

now phil alvin's on, my future ex-husband
tho i know he's even more batty than i be
i first saw his face when four plus a dozen
and broadsided by hormones went blasters-band crazy

so now i'm just sittin and drinking detox tea
helped angie move to new house this p.m.
hoping this stupid itch will soon leave me be
so tomorrow with dusk devils i'll flat-git-out rock 'em

so now you can see why i ain't a verse writer
it's so hard to focus when allergy's're itchin
please comment and tell me how you be a fighter
cause when i pay heed to you i stop a-bitchin

ps - re below comments: no, that's not my sister, but my friend tammy in the pic, tho surely we are genetic relatives along some branch of the human tree, further evidenced by our nasal resemblance... & no, heheheheh, that's not me on the rev horton heat poster, but thanks for making my evening picturing that while i sit here itching & scratching & feeling like some bloated leviathan, wondering what the heck i'm allergic to this time aside from the whole frigging planet earth.
aaah.... the isleys... aaah... the red devils... aaah slim harpo... life is good in spite of me. :)
btw, you can still buy big manny's christmas LP, on which i participated, at this website: The Big Manny Christmas Album

let's get out of here, now, with a little bit of this stuff here

(mark made this flyer)... re title: name that EP; it's the best EP ever pressed, ever... show starts 530, we're on at 830. been so sick, can't waste one iota of mojo... let's rock; everybody, let's rock...

weird weird weird weird weird

-> the elvis show at the avalon last night for me was a weird experience, tho not a bad one, i must say. but phil had a family emergency & couldn't be there!!! so manuel filled in (thank you, manuel!!!!). meantime i was nervous the whole show, since we hadn't rehearsed together at all & the songs weren't just straight 1-4-5's... manny did his set (super rockin'; killing that amp!), then i went & spoke to him at side stage (loud, where he parked) about the keys, the changes, but MAN! we'd practiced w/phil! & i was sad for phil, too... then this bako guy i hardly know shook my hand in a way that hurt it! that was effed up! the band & b wanted to go punch him in the gut, but we let it go & left it at "some people have problems..." the blasters sat around & waited & waited for phil (alvin, that is), & when he finally showed up, he was babbling & swearing a mile a minute - one of THOSE moods. he was nice to me & to everyone, but UP & disconnected (he walked right by manuel w/o even seeing him, for instance), & when he took the stage & did the calls from the beginning of rufus thomas's (elvis's) "tiger man" (which the blasters always do), the audience started calling back, which did NOT fit the timing; it is NOT a call-response song!... then art announced candye kane was gonna be there, but had gotten in a car accident! (she is ok, i found out this a.m.)...
-> the best parts were seeing art, the terrific house band, count smokula, skip edwards & lisa haley, barry holdship, the blasters, justin & sally jo curtis, ray campi (we always talk about school), jimmy angel, dave raven, paul body, just all the great & many talented folks who are always there, & friendly lisa & brian paxton, & hearing the great music (like rip masters' ripping piano! & strawberry alarm clock, whom i've never even heard, did a killer instro! & skip edward's piano & marty rifkin's steel playing!) amidst my nervous moments & the funny stuff people said. steve joseph gave me a mix cd & i bought the new one off carlos guitarlos, who always does this steam-rolling-cool version of "promised land" (tho i was surprised he had a word sheet!). when carlos got on stage, he strummed a chord & barked, "this amp's on the manny setting. what is that, manny, 20?" & when he was done, he strode offstage & told manuel, "man, there's a lotta white people out there!"
-> groovy rednecks, lightning willie (who looks like kinky friedman, w/a HUGE band!), then we were up. mark's friend brett walked up w/guitar in hand! - he & mark had practiced the songs that day! so i figured, heck, let him get up, too... we all got up there & did a good job, i could feel the audience's energy match ours, it felt really up & positive, & it was great to look back & see manuel & hear his rockin improv leads, & brett just did solid rhythm like i'd asked him to, & so helped it all really be grounded... but it wasn't my band, really; i just felt weird & sad for phil & oh well. we didn't mess up & the show went on & i was grateful for everyone's help... art said some real nice things when we were getting off stage; i wish i could've listened closer! but we needed to keep the show moving, so i shouted of my keyboard, "let's clear this elephant!" & manuel shouted, "i'm coming, i'm coming!" :) no one was there to help, so as we strong-armed it off the stage i said, "i had 2 guys at the beginning, but now they're gone," & the stagehand woman said, "that's men for you" :) when finally i was done & met back up w/b, he looked so obviously sick (we've been, of course), i felt really bad & realized we had to go right then, tho the show was not yet even over, so we missed a bunch of great acts, but really, we gotta have our health... thinking of phil & family, & thanks to art for having us, & to manuel, brett, rick & mark, & of course to b, & to you who read...

merry christmas! & whoohoo!!!! let's celebrate the king (of rocknroll, that is) (some would disagree, but falalalalalalalala)... :) :)

the avalon is at 1735 vine st (at hollywood), LA CA, 90028. show starts 5:30 pm. proceeds benefit the firemen's fund. for more info, keep checking www.sofein.com ... i know we & manuel will be there, & many of art's friends, wonderful performers from famous to little-known... it will be great to hang out w/manuel & listen & watch as everyone remembers elvis!!!
packing for colorado... brrr.... merry christmas, happy hannukah, happy festivus, happy new year!!!! :) :) :)

the greatest band, right from the u.s.a.: blasters pic-o-rama

-> buon giorno! johnb is always collecting blasters pix for their hugely popular myspace (www.myspace.com/theblasters - i got to start it way back when!), so here are a bunch. send him yours, if you have any! some of these are from our collezione, some from the net, some sent by past-blasters drummer, movie star-handsome surfer jerome. to view pix full size, click on "view all slides," then the one you like, then "view full size." if you next right-click, you can save pic.
-> we dusk devils have a show coming up here in backwardsfield next sat., sept. 27. & two after that in smellay & san diego!! & halloween at narducci's! see the flyers below!! :) :) :) (hope you enjoy the pictures...)

i'm depraved on account of i'm deprived

just sleep-deprived, that is (name the song & win a prize)... to balance my hypoxic "depravity," here's a nice graphic mark made. i kind of get a kick out of it! mark made this unsolicitedly, which is esp nice bc in the old band, i used to have an ongoing fight w/one fellow about this "jenny angel and the..." thing. not that i so much want to be in charge, but it does make it easier. and in 08, w/the rest of the band wanting me to be in charge, we've accomplished a lot i'm happy about!! i know they all are happy, too: there is enough spotlight to go around. it feels right for now, so i'm grateful for each day of it, & for them. :)
i'm just a-riffin' here, since ah'm so tahrd, as a countryboy beau used to say it... made a graphic last wk for manuel's xmas LP, too, but am not posting that here til he gives it or some spin on it the green light... we're gonna practice again next wkend. this wkend, i'm sleeping for THREE DAYS (excepting dd practice & family fiesta, that is)!! :) the HUGE dog & pony show's going on all wkend at safari sam's, set up by dave alvin to benefit musicians' medical coverage, specifically here for candye, drac, & chris gaffney's family. everyone from the knitters to the blasters will play. yes, it'll be rockabilly- roots royalty sat-mon, & for quite a good cause! (tho one that wouldn't be necessary, were the u.s. health system humane.) i've emailed/ talked w/about 10 folks who are going or've mentioned it; it's gonna be so great, what fun, wow! ...but i just can't go. but here's a link to all, so please go for me & tell me about it: www.myspace.com/safarisams ...
the lost rocker al hendrix won't be here after all next wkend, since his wife laraine's recovering from recent surgery. but you can listen to him here: www.myspace.com/alhendrix1 - he's the dusk devils' musical grandpa, the 1st full-on rocknroller from bakersfield!!!! al will have a new cd out soon - he's sending bb & i a copy this wk. :)
a bunch of the dd's ep songs are live on myspace at /b2studio & /markallenpowell as well as /theduskdevils - & the funniest compliment i got was from st rebekka, the beautiful brainy gal i remember from jr high nerd classes (she wasn't a nerd, tho): "i love your growly munchkin voice." :) soon enough the cd will go live on itunes & a bunch of other places, thx to llewop kram. he da best!!! ... every day i drag home from work feeling like my feet are gonna explode: exhausted. i imagine it's just getting- back- to- work fatigue, plus bakingfield 103+ heat. yesterday i musta had 6 cups of joe, trying to get to respiratin'. rick & i caught skip heller's set at narducci's in the eve. it was fun to hang w/rick, tho i couldn't get my peepers opened all the way. skip injected this show w/moments of dry humor. he'd looked over at us, then play something like googoo muck, or mix recognizable melodies into other songs (tho not smarmily, which is something that bothers me at some rockabilly shows. even when being funny, sincerity is key, in my libro). there were some lovely moments, too, in the way skip, drummer dale, & elegant upright bassist paul would lock in. wish phil had been there to watch the lightning fingers, but he's been working long long hrs, too - outside!!! in broiling kern co, that's a brutal mission... after the show, i had to beat it quickly bc of being so tired, but of course, once home, the caffeine hit & i was vibrating off the bed all night long. so i say buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, rock tonight, & i say buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, rock it right... well, gotta go to the salt mines now. happy weekend to all who read this. :) :) :)

music all weekend in smellay: 10 riffs, zero sleep

1. too tired to sleep. so here are some pix.
2. i didn't get my song to phil alvin because our dang computer cd burner BROKE!!!! ARRGHHHH!!! oh well... i tossed a band packet in his car. phil h says he now will think i'm a stalker. :) he'll get it, maybe he'll throw it out the window, either way, i can't much care: i did my piece. :) and candye kane & others liked my song, so really, i can die happy now, if i think about it much. :)
3. i get spooked when people comment on my makeup. and then i put on 2x as much. sometimes 10x as much. i'm sure it's deeply psychological. but will SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHEN IT'S ALL OVER MY FACE?!?! i would do that for you!!!! i guess i need a wardrobe AND makeup consultant. would someone please volunteer?????
4. i just love ruben & manuel. i've known them for 17 YEARS!!! manuel asked me to play on his christmas record. what a wonder that will be: xmas songs AND manuel. :) i could nearly cry, just thinking about it. i loved watching manuel watch others this wkend, his love of music & people, his child-like face: he's full of love & music, which are one when the world's right, i think.
5. skip heller & art fein look like they're related. luann & i commented on this & skip deadpanned, "we ARE related. we are both sons of zion."
6. it was great fun to hang out all wkend w/different people, but i find that when i speak & people laugh at just the sound of my pipsqueaky voice, i get all wound up & start acting like a clown. i know there's balance in all this... & i'll find it!!!! meanwhile, it IS fun to make people laugh. :) i like that far more than being told i look like cleopatra or am i "hooked up" or scary stuff like that...
7. donna once again put me up at her nice place in laverne (site of The Last Drink 13 yrs ago) & we thrift-shopped & watched "shaun of the dead" & ate at casa jimenez & then i saw them off when they all went to see "the dark knight"... & realized again how fortunate i am to not just still be alive, but to have adventures & friends & so many people whom i love & who even love me. :) it's all icing, when a soul really should be pushing up daisies, so i gotta remember that.
8. manuel doesn't merely sing, but soars, his voice as much an instrument as his earthy & skilled guitar-playing (& bass: fri night, his plus-sized fingers brought in the walk on "tequila" like laughing thunder from the heavens!!!). so it was shocking to go from the beauty of his pipes to the blasters show, at which phil alvin performed for 90 mins w/laryngitis!! people plied him w/whisky, & the poor guy lost any self-protective inhibition & started singing anything, no matter how larynx-ravaging, which was painful to watch & hear. the good part was, he pattered a lot more between songs, infamously weird & smart, such a character, w/a generous spirit toward the audience i've never really noticed much, but really appreciated this time, & he played more, in his intense & authentic vernacular folk-blues style. his force of personality & uniqueness make the blasters inimitable, i think, & i'm far from alone on that. :)
9. THANK YOU, jeff, for putting me on the blasters show list. jeff puts on super live music shows & is a really nice fellow... a texan, you know. :) i think that's what does it. unlike my bro-in-law, i've rarely met a texan i didn't just like, but love...
10. the midnight drive home wasn't bad. my night vision cooperated for the most pt & when i dropped into the valley, it spread out wide-black & velvety-clear, & w/the chuck berry b-side cassette music sailing, i was filled w/that wondrous feeling of aliveness...
then i rolled down the window & the magic was choked by the stench of dairies. welcome home. :)

music music music music music music music

here's a cell ph pic of skip heller from when he played at narducci's recently. at the end of the night, he said, "jenny, why don't you come up here & sing 'fujiyama mama'?" my brain tried to leap out of my head, but i did it, getting the funny looks & smiles that tell me things are going ok. :) i'm a very fortunate person to get to do stuff like that & flattered skip asked me to sing. movie-star-looking skip plays another free narducci's show on july 31, but i'll be gone, so please go in my place. he speaks guitar more fluently than just about anybody! very impressive. :) (philly, you need to go in my place!!)
this wkend i hope will bring travel to smellay to hang out w/friends & MUSIC!! fri night my dear old pals ruben & manuel of blazers, as well as many others, will play a jam session at the elks lodge montebello. sat is the upland blues fest w/phil alvin's doppelganger white boy james & many more. sunday's the safari sam's brunch americana, w/the blasters coming on at 9 pm!!!! i'll get to spend time (what a weird expression) w/one of my dearest friends in this world, & i hope her genius children, too. :)
hope i have the nerve to give phil alvin the song i wrote... maybe i should not... but writing this, i sense that i will... know that i will... (does that process ever happen to you??) why not? "better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done." ciao ciao ciao for now, for now, see you down the road, & how... :)

skip heller honky-tonk trio thurs 7/10; dusk devils in studio; this'n'that

1. go see skip's free show, 7:30-10:30 at narducci's (flyer below)
2. we're gonna finally record a live session w/sharon marie end o'this month. whoopee!! then we'll have professional-quality recordings for people who've been asking. :) and thank you for asking, people. :)
3. had such great sound & met wonderful folks at safari sam's sunday, from friendly DJ "texas" jeff to smokey miles, art fein, russell scott, randee & george, & of course birthday boy cody & friends; got to eat brunch (french toast - yumyum); got some dough; i got swung around the dance floor by a big feller named walter who's light on his toes as gene kelly; met & got critiqued by skip heller, who said i need a clavinet, & "you stick to that shuffle & gene taylor thing," & i thought, "well, that's all i got!" - his thoughts on music were prickly but interesting & i appreciated his perspective. & he's gonna get me some recordings of 5 royales (mine were stolen) & the diablos!!!
4. art fein's comment when i told him of skip's critique: "pope catholic?" :)
5. by now, all blasters fans know that bill bateman's back in that band's drummer saddle & jerry angel's joined touring band shurman. best wishes to gentleman jerry!!!!
5. "i'll never swim kern river again"... on a recent 100-degree-plus afternoon, orangy smog & smoke-choked sky like the apocalypse, b wanted to take his motorbike out into the kern river canyon & as we whizzed along that scorching ribbon of tar, brown walls above & angry water below, i started thinking about the men who've recently gone missing in the river. then the signs popped up: "help find beto." "help find gonzalo." :( too often, the people who go under in the "killer kern" are mexican & from southern california. i think when the weather's this miserable, the lure of a cool river dip overrides the fear of drowning. this is the kind of heat that raymond chandler wrote about: "meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks." it's desperation-heat, crazy-making, brutal, brutal, brutal. to want respite from it, no matter what, isn't much different (tho more innocent) than the depressed soul turning to a hit of dope.
6. so many people drown in the kern while trying to save someone else's life. doubly sad. i saw a car pull to the roadside & a brown-skinned man & boy got out. when we circled back to return to bakersfield, i noticed they had edged near the river, carrying long sticks & sad faces. they were searching the reeds for a dead man.
7. can you believe that people here criticize the river's missing & dead? people who blame the river victims remind me of those who blame new orleanians for wanting to stay in their hometown after katrina, or return to it. when you have the money to have a leisurely life, to travel, to conspicuously consume, to move w/out much life-disruption, or to just swim in a swimming pool when you feel like it,... well, it's easy to criticize the people who have to seek out a river or watering hole, who barely scrape by, who live desperately, who don't have the resources to move & start over, & beyond that, to whom many times home is where the heart is, even if that heart resides in a storm-prone delta bowl.
8. am reading harry crews' "car" right now, & if you want something good, go get it.

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. :)

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. :)

you don' t know me, but you don't like me / say you care less how i feel/ how many of you that sit & judge me...

have walked a mile in my shoes? (well, that's not what it says, but that's how i read it...) boy, homer joy wrote some good lyrics, there, well-expressing a local mentality, a sort of moral code that's not unique, but better than some i've heard in song...
but have you heard of al hendrix??? good gravy - this man was playing in bakersfield for yrs & yrs! is he still alive? is he still playing? i'm trying to find out... just listen to "train of love" (not the strong jc tune), then "monkey bite," then pick some others: http://cdbaby.com/cd/alhendrix ... his voice reminds me of charlies feathers & rich in its resonant expressiveness: brave, humble (both), humorous (some of rich's early cuts), homely (feathers). and many of these tunes blast because the old bakersfield sound was a hash of C&W, rockabilly, mexican, R&B, like eggs w/bacon, grits, biscuits & gravy, & hot sauce! (i like to add jelly, too.)
"sounds like a hillbilly," grinned hubby, not derisively a bit. when you're talking vernacular music, that's always a term of endearment - either that or the person speaking doesn't know what's what.
geez, i'm sick of being sick. if it's not cold & flu season here, it's allergy season. then there's summer asthma season. oh well; better than being mentally ill, i guess. olen sed his "mr oscat" honky-tonkin' kids' show at border's the other night had 100 people singing along! (see his link at right), & tonight the blasters are playing the 1st ever "grand ol' echo" in hollywood.
geez, i'm sick of being sick... but grateful for another day not pushing up daisies! :) hope you love al hendrix & order his cd, like i just did. :)

"pore little critter own the road," where's my dunce cap?, & the baby whale on the stage

yow, i am that critter, & am i SORE!!! yesterday i ran (jogged) about 7 miles around ventura beachtown in prep for next wk's 1/2 marathon here in bako (www.bakersfieldtrackclub.com/btchalfmarathon.html) ...man, after last wk's traveling & all the sick i've been getting (people say frm my "germ factory" students, but "they say" this yr's flu is esp bad, so i don't wanna blame the kids too much)... i did NOT wanna go to ventura, which shows my 1st instinct is always wrong. i had a nice time! we went RV "camping" w/fellowship friends, many of whom have these RVs the size of & w/more amenities than my old studio apt. we camped in B's "love wagon," his souped-up van w/4WD, "penthouse" (pop-top slab-bed), reading lights, TV, potty, heaters, swivel chair, cooking gear. last night the group had a potluck, so about 20 of us hung out & ate & had smores at the bonfire & as usual, being around all those witty folks made me wonder where i put my dunce cap... the dogs had nice lawn to lounge on & even an off-leash area along the ventura river near some farmer's land. :)
came home & art had sent a video of the elvis show!!! i was reminded that carlos guitarlos's songs that night rocked!, esp his version of "promised land," swellingly, thunderingly sloppy-tight wild & grooving!! art put on the vid all kindsa neat stuff, headed off w/US! i watched gene taylor 2x, then went down to the piano & played what i heard & to my amazement, saw my hands doing things they never have... i think w/gene's vid piano-side, i'll be able to learn some frm the master, who's now in belgium. what fortuity to have caught him while he was here!! the blasters are on the video, & rip, & a bunch of others, too... lastly, i got a little reality check watching the vid. looks like i got a bit too much into the holiday sweets this year (cue whale calls)! however, life's too short to worry much about such stuff, & i'd rather be a baby whale than a user of people or mean or greedy, so i think i'll go set up for band practice now. :) and then go for another run. :)

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. :)

merry christmas, happy hannukah, happy kwanzaa, happy festivus, solstice, nothingness, & everythingness to you!!!!!