the whiteboy & jenny combo at the oasis

our combo now has a link on james's all-new, james-created website: www.whiteboyjames.com . you'll see it when you go to that site, & then you can mark your calendar to come see one of our shows! :D

here are some pix from last week's show in memoriam of ross mccray. the swelling of love & community was nearly overwhelming! next day we hoofed it back out to taft for his burial -- the biggest funeral i've seen of a "non-famous" person! the man was extremely well-loved; in his memory, the oasis is going to start up "pinky productions" with beautiful bartender brandi at the helm for now, to turn the oasis into a destination blues club-nightspot! can't wait for that -- those are some good, friendly, loving people there -- an anomaly in the music biz!! a nice little article was published last wk in the bakersfield californian about ross/the show; go down to the part that says "in memory of big ross" & you can read it: in memory of big ross by cesareo garasa

a cinematic shot i took of the ever-photogenic james

the whiteboy and jenny combo -- a duo again, for this show

whiteboy james

jenny page

road, rough road, then tunes, wild tunes, then road, rough road, then home, sweet home, then road, then home, then road, then home, then aarrggghh!!!

ohhh.... it's so very nice to be in my home again... i do love road trips, but that I-5 gets old!!! just saw this online:
'Matt’s [Munoz's, of bakersfield californian] Picks: April 16!
Al Hendrix and The Dusk Devils at Ethel's Old Corral, 4310 Alfred Harrell Highway, Saturday, April 16th, 6 p.m., free, 661-873-7613. If you're looking for some real rock and roll, you should plan on taking a little drive out to Ethel's this weekend. Appearing live will be the great "lost rocker" himself, Al Hendrix. He's performed with many of the legends of the Bakersfield Sound, and is slowly getting his due respect as a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He'll be playing all his hits, including "Monkey Bite" a song that caused quite a stir in '62 because of it's suggestive lyrics. That's rock and roll. Backing Hendrix will be Bakersfield band, The Dusk Devils.'
- i just found out, tho, we're not backing... it'll be like a full-blown dd show, w/al "helping out." i'm sure glad to've got that clarified w/the lost rocker before this wkend!! anyways, i'm looking fwd to a fun, fun time w/my pals. :) the weather should be perfect! ethel's serves a mean hot dog, too, so will have to break the seemingly-interminable lenten meat-fast, or rather, switch my sunday for a saturday, i think. the latter is, after all, the sabbath in many cultures, so the lord shouldn't care too much... i'm sposed to make a flyer, so i hope i do... al'll be doing the above show on his way to viva las vegas. he called w/good news, which was that deke dickerson'll be backing him on bass sax at viva... sounds like he'll have an all-star backing band! the other good news is, mr tidwell's recuperating nicely, which is a relief to hear. :)

21 days in jail, 24 hours in bakersfield

1. a few weeks ago, the local paper ran a piece about my favorite day in bakersfield. i thank jennifer self for featuring it so nicely. you can read it by clicking on the pic. not the most flattering pic, but a fun one, my friend bridgette's gotten some biz from the article, so it's been successful. :)
2. many people saw the article. i've been surprised by how many, & every person's been nice. :) we were going to circle-K the other night when a black-&-white slowed to a near-stop right in front of us. being real spiritual at the moment, i immediately began to gripe about how "they" can drive however they want, we didn't do nothin' wrong, etc. we got out of the van & the officers did, too, & one waited for me. uh-oh, i thought, but he smiled, so i did, too, & he said, real friendly, "aren't you that woman in the paper? i told my partner while he was driving just now, hey, there's that girl from the paper!"
3. being in bakersfield is kind of like being in a bad relationship: it'll often let you down, but you stay w/it because it's cheap, familiar, & at times surprises you by being a real good time.
4. bakersfield's variously called bako, buckersfield, bakerssippi, bakersfailed, & two i lay claim to from my underground rag days, bakingfield & backwardsfield.
5. buck owens' crystal palace has the best sound in the area, but is a little like disneyland, so if you like disneyland, you'll like the palace. i wish to heck they'd feature more americana & country-western music. lately they've been featuring singers from "american idol." then today a KUZZ DJ (station owned by the owens family) said "american idol" singers don't understand country music because (i paraphrase) they don't understand the "real, everyday life" that country music is about. she then played, w/no irony apparent, willie singing cole porter.
6. if you drive out 58 toward the canyon, before you get there you'll see merle haggard's old house to the north, & then the killer kern, about which haggard wrote a song.
7. google "gerald haslam"'s favorite day. haslam is an oildale native & writer who in his article described where be the trout's family's house, the haggard house, & many other historical places, many related to music. interesting stuff!
8. if you have kids, you should take them to CALM, which is a nice place past hart pk where they'll see native animals & plants.
9. i wanted to help promote friends in the article (as well as good eats, free & healthy things to do, &, well, yeah, the band), so took pix w/bridgette @ victorian chiropractic. as i reclined on the table & the young photographer started snapping, i realized, this must be the dumbest photo op choice for a nerdy female musician to put herself in. how unflattering.
10. when the article came out, i called auntie rita & lamented, "they ran a picture of me on my back!" not missing a beat, my aunt replied, "that's good - i bet a bunch of guys'll recognize you that away."
it was just the wrong, yet right thing for her to say.