FRANKLIN MOTEL by Jenny & the Phantoms

[FOREWARD TO THIS POST: these songs most all are about james page, my now-husband, which i could not say at the time...]have had too much energy lately, 90% good... yesterday i got fed up & decided to do something useful w/it, like record this little thing, which in the old days might've been dubbed an EP, but today is just a DIY, one-day, one-woman toss-away... hang in there, if you will, thru the 1st song, on which i really messed up the levels: yikes! it improves after that... made this song collection a video cause wanted to present lyrics, too. they were fun & satisfying to assemble! i never much heed lyrics while enjoying music, tho do love to write them... hope you like the songs, slapdash as they be. :)
thanks to all my friends, musicians & non, who've encouraged me to make a "real" solo record in a "real" studio... maybe it'll happen! we'll see if there's any reaction to this latest batch of tunes... meantime, it's so awesome that such well-known & respected american roots scholars, performers, & songwriters (listed below) would think i'm worthy!! all i know is, i love to write & perform music, tho to call my efforts rough would be generous (have got this impatience thing that prevents me from doing many retakes to get things more correct, like on solos, levels, etc, & i have no idea how to mix)... i'm so happy to have realized lately that no matter, who ever, wherever, whenever, nothing ever can or will separate me from my music... it's as much a part of me as breath. how about for you? can you or should you allow yourself to be separated from your bliss? i think we should not, long as that bliss doesn't hurt anyone! :)
dusk devils play tomorrow, march 17, at the ridgecrest fairgrounds sometime in the evening... we'll headline a super-rocking long set w/our sturdy awesome rhythm section... i should have a flyer; i should have this & that; really all i know is, i'll wear my new piano-keyboard punk-lolita tutu & some green for st patty's day, & we will kick butt!... tomorrow, too, is my friend jp's birthday. i'll miss his awesome bd bash down south, but we dusk devils are gonna have some mondo-top-fun, i just know it!! and afterwards we all got comped rooms, & since i don't have "real" TV here at my mtn home, HBO, here i come! :)
meanwhile, happy birthday, frankenstein! may you who read this be, if not in, then en route to your bliss, one way or nuther... :) xo
:D

rock-rock, rock-a-billy boogie...

(<- :="" a="" br="" good="" hey="" i="" it="" m="" on="" pic="" putting="" s="" top="">- life is good! how is you? had another fun wkend w/the revenge & cattie, this time in fresno, opening for deke dickerson... his poor bandmate, rockabilly gorilla "cialis" (a killer bassist of inventive, melodious lines & full, fat tone, who shall remain anonymous) got horribly sick during their 1st set & fabi jumped right up onstage @ banged out 2 super-rockin tunes on the doghouse bass w/deke & "sugarballs." back at chez brad, where the band stays, becky & john had whipped up quite a feast of sausages, tri-tip, & lasagna... yum yum.
- to back up a bit, in quite fortuitous timing, i got my super-cool frankenstein-sized snow boots from the post office on the very day we had our 1st snow up here! -- of course that meant i just had to don them & tromp down to the mtg, where en route i was interviewed by the channel 9 LA news van! then fabi & johnny arrived to pick me up for the gig, & when they saw the snow, laughed & jumped around like little tykes, even having a snowball fight! we made their requisite stops to aero dog (for 99 cent bomber dogs) & bravo farms (for gourmet cheeses); i enjoy riding w/these young musicians more than a person rightfully should when you've got 3 bodies squished in a truck cab.... :) yes, it was a fine time, tho i was so, so happy to get home & in my own cozy bed looking out on "my" mountain while sipping hot beverage & enjoying dexter on the laptop...
- today i volunteered at our lovely frazier park, working w/two gals on WRP raking leaves & clearing the pond & freezing my butt off!! must wear more layers en la futura... what a wonderful time it was to work hard in the beautiful outdoors, making new friends... the boss gave me a whole bag of balls for roscoe! icing on the cake! :) this eve brought conversation w/dear young woman i met in sta fe in january... so nice to catch up w/her... then my dear cousin decided she was no longer mad @ me & my heart is warmed & grateful for this...
- wed should be hopping: practice w/dds to prep for show w/james & blues express (yay! flyer below), then "jam" w/visiting OC rockabilly royalty at a local honky-tonk. we'll be practicing for a december show... maybe some christmas tunes? sure hope so! :)
- heard this quote twice recently, so here it is for you: "we cannot control the wind, but we can adjust the direction of our sails..." with that, here are some pix from the fresno show @ audie's; the 1st one i find particularly amusing since becky looks as sexy as i do dippy ... may you be warm, fed, & happy... :)

yaaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnn!!!!

that's not a reflection on this image! just lately's been fun, but not manic... which means i'm nearly asleep a lot of the time! anyways, after 9 days of crazy high energy & creativity, the rollercoaster peaked & gentled out... we had a lovely bd party for my ex-husband, then i went out w/bsp & met up w/eddie e & wes c for a bit, then played a fun quincenera down in santa ana for fabi dean's little sister, who had the coolest gown! she looked like a little punk rock princess! we got to eat chicken mole they'd brought from mexico city! it was, need i say, mouth-on-fire scrumptious! we (cattie ness & the revenge, in this case) came on after the mariachi & pounded the joint! it was a fun set... then i was gonna go see james @ his eldorado halloween show, but the revenge was tuckered out & i wasn't gonna go by myself dressed as a zombie french maid, for heaven's sake! that's just dumb!! not that i'm a supermodel or anything near it... just wanted some company, going in a fairly skimpy getup like that... anyhow, we caravanned home & becky talked my head off & we got lost & it was super tiring but also fun, then halloween came & i only had my costume on for about 10 mins, not long enough for a pic, so i'll just have to make sure it fits for next year! or i'm thinking i might modify it to be a pilgrim @ the above show... no! what am i saying?? i can't be a frigging plymouth-style PILGRIM!!
anyways, back to halloween: went to crazy duck chinese restaurant up here on the mountain w/my friend, then watched a scary demon movie & scared the crap out of ourselves, then later went to the beautiful new library & checked out books & hiked up to this dilapidated, cool old house i'd like to buy, a (an) historical monument w/rough-hewn, dramatic stonework & killer view, but the whole house is brittle! it's a tear-down & start-over, unfortunately, cause tho existing house is rustic-cute, it's dangerous to inhabit! it's also abandoned for now, as you might guess, so we grabbed a bunch of apples off the tree... apples grow well here, little sweet crunchy ones... i just realized i need an apple tree...
- the wind's blowing here to beat the band! stupid wind! no yardwork today - glad i did it yesterday... well, i have no creativity, so this humdrum writing will have to do for now... :) heading to smoggy bakersfield to be w/dusk devils & family... hope snow doesn't come, like's predicted. i'm bringing my hiking boots, just in case i have to somehow crosscountry-it back up to my house (i'm about 500 ft higher than town proper, & i'll get snow when "downtown" frazier has none!) to get my dress for saturday's show w/cattie ness & deke dickerson in fresno. that should be a blast! go to www.cattieness.com for details... ok, bye all! :)

burning the candle at both ends

no pix from meathead's party at the dome... it will air next wk on brighthouse on demand, tho. they had a great set-up w/live editing van. sound was difficult. meathead plans to make a drive-in movie set-up. wow! deke show went fun - hard to hear from the stage. was nervous about the band sleeping set-up, but he'd gotten a hotwire rm. crazy joe was that & more. they switched instruments thruout the show. deke hitched up his drawers at show's end & did this bizarre elmer fudd-lux interior rap, then moonwalked "in remembrance of the king of pop." r&r pizza 1st set was so great: we sounded like austin's ginny's longhorn saloon honky-tonk. 2nd set, rick played w/us; thank you, rick. pizza was great, all in all a busy & productive wkend. thank you, michelle, for the flowers for my hair. thank you, family & friends, for "being there." this a.m. brought a nightmare about my puppy & a mtg re divorce papers. my husband is a consummate gentleman, but still, it's so sad. pat & i visited a fellowship friend, a beautiful lady, in icu. headed for a mtg. life life life. don't wanna quote jim morrison, but he was true to say "no one here gets out alive." bleh. must keep moving forward, trudging... thank goodness for the good called music. b helped me bring my stereo to my houselet (like i said, what a gentleman), so i listened to louis jordan & johnny horton this a.m.
this is all over the place, so bye for now.

guitar geek a go-go; www.dekedickerson.com

we're playing friday night at fishlips in bakersfield (flyer below) w/this fellow:

deke is well-worth seeing: international rockabilly star, late of untamed youth, dave & deke combo, american musicologist, promoter/ supporter/ player at fantastic events like rockin 50s & ponderosa stomp (& his own annual guitar geek fest), highly admired sideman, writer for guitar world mag, vinyl collector/geek, etc etc etc. it's gonna be one high energy, fun & wild show!
cover's $7, not $5, i just found out from the cal. hope you'll be there, if you can. guitar players & music fans will plotz & girls will scream. i myself will have my fun, & believe if you go, that you will, too!

dusk devils aug 09 shows

bill gruggett guitar show, trout's, bakersfield; the wheel o life goes round & round

yesterday i had so much HW for this accelerated class am taking for library school (difficult to be accelerated w/cobwebbed brain), but got done enough in time to get to the above show for a while. have no mirror in this place, so just threw on a dress & these turquoise boots have had & got compliments! -so that was nice. one old-time country performer called, "well, there's that little girl w/the big voice!" :) a woman drummer recognized me from when i played bass in a hard rock band 10 yrs ago: that was both cool & embarrassing... saw all kinda people i sort of know from local music & ended up sitting w/my old bandmate brian paxton, who was very kind. jeremy, monica, & ryan from don't scratch the wax visalia were there, real friendly & rockabilly-styling to the nines. hope we can get some shows going... rugged brian lonbeck, child prodigy & joe maphis apprentice, got up backed by deke dickerson & chris sprague & things really moved! he kept prefacing songs w/"i don't know if my fingers can do this one," but then whoopee! he'd kick into one of this high-gear flat-picking country-rockabilly romps & boy! you'd need slow motion replay to see what he actually was playing... deke played a cool mostrite bass & brian a mosrite double neck, like larry collins & deke play. i wondered if brian lonbeck knew larry collins, joe maphis's other prodigy, way back when. after, brian l said he was playing that night out in pumpkin center w/bobby durham & i think that'd be a fun late-night drive sometime. deke, who seemed even taller than ever (tho i wasn't wearing my stilts, come to think of it) told me some places to go while in new orleans & some possible tips for seeing fats domino & was very nice. all in all, i was quite happy w/the whole experience, so will save that one in my happy bank, which i've been withdrawing on where i can lately.
- the 1st dusk devils practice friday night at this new place felt weird & free... more rm to move, not worrying about spending too much time w/the band instead of doing other stuff, all the windows opening out to neighbors sitting on their porches & not running inside or calling the cops & therefore i think ok w/the music... am so lucky to have my band fellows; music is saving my keister these days.
- when the guys went to leave, a neighbor had left a note on the porch: "my 7-yr old daughter loves your band! she wants to go to one of your concerts. she is dancing in the living room right now!" wow. in the midst of heartache, how can a person be so lucky?
- people've been so kind, & keep telling me to be gentle w/myself & give a certain person the dignity of his own experience: stop assuming, stop misery-making, leave him be. for me, & for you, if you are suffering, stay in the middle of the herd, as jani's husband says; take it easy; pause when agitated; count your blessings... a dove is cooing & the birds singing away outside, my basil & roses are still growing, i got this little rather lovely place, & i guess all things considered, life is pretty good. it's really rather ridiculous & infantile to think somehow right now i'm supposed to be happy... tho i always dread it, change is the only constant. am living in change, must face it, no getting away from it, & there must be a lesson here, so need to be cognizant, watchful, see if i can espy, maybe even fully view & realize it, & grow. my wish & prayer is that everyone who's hurting in this situation right now also will grow, maybe even blossom.
- to shift gears, my dear friend dan monji, the gardening guru, said this last wk: "plants grow best in sh*t." &, as dear texas stacy (RIP) used to say, "when you're in a bag of sh*t, remember: the zipper's on the INSIDE."

don't scratch the wax!!

that is quite a cool name for a rockabilly show promoter... :) sonny vincent sent me a nice email w/link to a bunch of pix people took at friday's show... i just knew that dress wasn't fancy enough!! oh well. :) in the 2nd pic, you can see phil dancing w/my sis in the background. what a swell time!!! :) :) :)

fleeblebleebleblubblebloobleblee

man, am i worn out!!! last night's show was amazing. only one other time have i played to a total "target" audience, & that time, the sound guy fubar'd things up. it's so different when folks know, understand, love the genre. they cheered so loud, i could hear them while we played, & we were LOUD!!! even on my piano solos, people cheered!!! thanks, sonny & don't scratch the wax, for having us. what a treat!
deke dickerson watched the whole set! then afterward he came up w/compliments. that was very cool! then deejays sonny & jose put on "that certain female" right after we were done & deke kicked it off w/a big big rocker: that made me think we'd raised the noiviss energy bar. yah!
deke played his set w/chris sprague & wally herstam. they're an all-star rockabilly line-up. they must have 10,000 gigs between them. top musicians!! i'd love to get that tight. maybe some day! dd did an instrumental where the guitar sounded like singing - wild!! they did "buck owens' 1st hit," "hot dog" & also "buzz buzz buzz," which we did in our set, so that was a little weird. after, we talked about al hendrix, who REALLY wrote "hot dog" (not buck owens).
rick, i have to confess: when you were horsing around w/chris ("drummers rule!! yaaah!!"), i WASN'T hitting record on your camera. i was too embarrassed to tell the truth. sorry!!
as he was leaving, i asked bass player mark, "what did you think of the crowd reaction?" & he just smiled, then peered at me & giggled a little, "yeah, that was really cool..." who knows? maybe he'll stick around... for now, he's gonna help us out on the hollywood show. whoopee! :)
i have to get a new piano stand, tho. at one point, i did a glissando & raked the keys too deep & the dang thing started to slide off the stand!! that would've been a disaster. i also learned not to eat ice cream before a show. i had to pound two energy drinks to get my eyes opened back up!!
my sister & her friend had such a great time. it was so wonderful to look out & see people having a great time. :)
what fun what fun what fun!! philbert is the best. what a bunch of guys. i love my dusk devils. :) next show: may 31 in hollywood (read below)... tonight: elvis interpreter don rose at trout's!

deke dickerson, exotiki, DUSK DEVILS

we have two great shows upcoming! here are flyers:
-> have seen deke many times, most impressively w/the collins kids (his stuff w/dave & deke combo & untamed youth also was very cool)!!! he knows every joe maphis lick, so they always pick him to play w/them... he writes a column for guitar player mag, too, & is a stone-cold guitar/amp expert/ scholar. a link to the venue is here, www.myspace.com/tularedust, & you can find deke's website easily via google. there's a lot to read, & guitar players will plotz!!
-> exotiki, playing hawaiian-swing, has an all-star lineup you won't want to miss... here's a link to the venue: www.myspace.com/klubbimbam ; i'm certain you can find exotiki on myspace, & if you know this music, you'll appreciate the band members' expertise & history!
->tho i love playing for any crowd, i'm thrilled that at both these shows, everyone there will know EVERY song in our sets (except the ones i wrote, that is)... yippee!! i do hope to meet other '47-'63 vinyl nerds, & see people singing along; that would be so cool!
-> visalia's only 1 hr north of bakersfield, hollywood 70 mins south. hope you who read & are nearby will consider going!!! thank you ahead of time for helping to spread the word, too! :) :)