"i need a man, i need a man, i need a man to love..."

both bands i play with tomorrow night @ narducci's in bakersfield feature in their sets the above barbara pittman rockabilly tune (actually called simply "i need a man," always evoking cracks from male band members when announced)... i hear this show, affiliated w/the big hot rod deal called the march meets, is going to be packed to the walls; i hope for a music-heavy eve & that my wardrobe change between bands (from punk-monsterbilly to my attempt at elegant) will be swift & successful.
- what fun it is to back karling & becky in their bands, karling & the atomics & cattie ness & the revenge, respectively... this wkend, too, will be dusk devils practice w/low-key but high-energy bassist & drummer who are locked in tight; the other night at practice when john leaned over & cued stevo, i about fell over cause i know that's what bassists & drummers are supposed to do (they are, as carl leyland reminded me, the rhythm SECTION), but i've never actually seen any bass-drum players in DDs work together like that... after the march 17 DD show, we'll practice w/another bassist, a rockabilly kinda cat w/great chops, w/hopes of always having a line-up ready to go, whatever show comes up... ok, that's all for now.

we gotta big blues train coming to your town

pix from rip cat records/whiteboy james and the 44s show at narducci's... a good time was had by all. :) :) :)

3 BAD JACKS, LOS CREEPERS, WHITEBOY JAMES, DUSK DEVILS, LITTLE MIKE TODAY , SAT. 6/26

the joint is jumpin, it's really jumpin, come in cats & check your hats, i mean this joint is jumpin!

See below for this Saturday's show... Friday's a semi-private deal, no booze, no dope, email me if you are interested... Look what else's up in June! Thanks for spreading the word. :) :)

narducci's: mama mia's pix & the rev rocks

read below about dusk devils at elvis birthday show this friday, jan. 8, 9 pm, at the echoplex in los angeles!
last friday i got off the plane from nyc @ john wayne airport in oc & ran to baggage claim, where my sister, mama, & maddy were waiting. we jumped in angie's car & sped home. angie andretti got us to bakersfield from santa ana in no time! i'd been traveling for 15 hrs by the time i jumped in the shower. i threw on the nearest stage-kinda outfit & drove to narducci's. the rev horton heat's gigantic tour bus was out front; the place was beyond packed. the guys looked dapper in black; philbert wore the shirt i got him for xmas! tim gardea's crew put up a security gate between audience & stage, then turned on the floodlights. we did "let's go let's go" for soundcheck, then they opened the doors & people RUSHED in! this was the 1st show i ever did where i felt light-headed, prob from the heat of the lights, all the bodies, & my extreme fatigue. the huge audience, there to save their spot for when the rev came on, packed the rm & screamed & roared between songs! fantastic! unreal! my head swam; i couldn't see the piano keys due to the lights; all i could do was smile & look over @ the guys, who all beamed, & focus on standing up, not fainting, steamroll ahead... when i started to sing, i realized i only had about 3/4 voice due to all the cigarette smoke & my tiredness... oh well! the show must go on, & it did! :)
because the rev's gear dominated the stage, we played w/all 4 of us in a row across the front of the stage, & i liked it! i could see everyone. we gelled better. i think this might be our new stage setup! after, we got tons of compliments, & some more gig-bites, i hear. lovely mia grabbed me as i jumped off the stage & said "time for family photos!" i went looking for her later, but she was lost in the crowd; some of her terrific photos are here. 800 lb gorilla played while we ate some tasty narducci's chow served by friendly waitress & hung out w/lovely sister angie, the tidwells, & randy's & phil's friends. the paxtons were there, & it was nice to see them, too!
i hear everyone had a good time late into the night; myself, after eating, i poured myself in my truck & drove home. sleep didn't come soon enough, but it did.
what whirlwhind fun... i'm still wiped out!!!!

dear friends and loved ones (and all yall),

here's a little card i made up for the holidays (boy, i miss photoshop!!)... this has been a year of big change for many of us. here's to the hope that in all change is growth as well as opportunities for reflection, greater knowledge and wisdom, and, ultimately, satisfaction and betterment.
i wish you happy, peaceful holidays and a bright new 2010.
if you're interested in our show w/rev horton heat and 800 lb gorilla at narducci's on fri jan 1, 2010, please contact any of the following guys for tickets:
phil hickerson at philman.dude@hotmail.com
mark powell, markdoodage@aol.com or firebrats@gmail.com
randy journey, randy@journeyac.com
with warmest wishes and love,
jenny

mwahahahahahaha!!! dusk devils this friday night halloween at narducci's & this wk on RFB!!!!

here are some flyers for friday night, which we just found is NOT for charity... but will be a rockin' good time on all hallow's eve! :) ... latest news: ddevils are on RFB again this wk: go to http://radiofreebakersfield.com/ & look for show #103; "big manny" is a real rocknroller, yet is teaching me musical variety & subtlety & has not one mean bone in his body (spent 5 hrs recording yesterday in e.la); got turned on to a swell just-off-the-101 h-wood breakfast joint by AF; driving home into bako is much nicer when slurping down a milkshake & listening to full-blast cumbia radio; we did a little interview this p.m. w/a nice young gal from the cal & debuted "rockin' bones" for the halloween show -- it's gonna be fun!!; on halloween, fox theatre is showing horror movies (not free) on the big-screen all day & night, culminating w/DOTD at 4:15 a.m. on 11/1!! must call greg goodsell asap!!!; the arizona cafe has the greatest atmosphere & chile verde in bakersfield; & tomorrow, happy happy bd to big b!!! :)

upcoming shows - tell your friends!

(i forgot to put info about the new cd, itunes, etc. oh well.)

dusk devils downloads available for a short spell

we had a really fun rehearsal tonight (learned THREE songs i've written recently!! & the guys make the songs sound great!!), after b & i spent day visiting cody in smellay (carney's, petersen museum RV exhibit). we dusk devils've got some fun shows coming up, listed above & at bottom of this post. woo-hoo! to all who read this. :) sorta strapped for time lately (to put it mildly), i'm pasting below my blurb from myspace. hope you'll copy/paste & listen to the songs, & that you'll like them!!
-> sharon marie at B2 studios here in bakersfield just put up a song from the EP we recently recorded. it will be available for one week (til next saturday), & here it is (look for "tearin' my hair out' the dusk devils " on the player):
www.myspace.com/b2studio
-> our bass player mark also has some songs on his player. go to www.myspace.com/markallenpowell & look for songs by the dusk devils (mark plays in about 28 bands)... :)
-> if you like the songs, please spread the word. we hope to get everything straightened out & have CDs available w/in the month. we thank you for your kind comments & support, & thank you a bunch. :)
jenny, phil, mark, rick, the dusk devils, www.myspace.com/theduskdevils
upcoming music shows:
sept 27 - b.rider's, 9pm-1am, bakersfield, come down & sit in, have a drink, etc
oct 7 - ronnie mack's barn dance, 8:30, el cid, hollywood, ca
oct 18 - opening for the one & only candye kane, tio leo's, 9 pm, san diego, ca
oct 31 - halloween extravaganza, narducci's, 9 pm, bakersfield, ca

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.

dusk devils at safari sam's this sunday & more live music, too!

also: fattkatt starts up again at the crystal palace on july 9; more info at www.fattkatt.com ... & there's live music 7 nights a wk at trout's/the blackboard stage: www.myspace.com/troutsblackboard

red bulls + monsters + vitamins = no sleep

of course, like some curse, i got sick three days ago, w/a showlet tonight. bolstered w/vitamins & red bull, i was dragging myself out the door when brian got popped right in the eye w/a flying bungee - blood everywhere, just horrible!!! i thought we were gonna have to take him to emergency, but once we got him patched up, he insisted he didn't need stitches & wanted to go to the show... later we were so grateful the bungee hadn't hit 1/4" lower because (mustn't go there -- shuddddddder)... as is, he told everyone all night, "you shoulda seen the OTHER guy!" he's gonna have quite a shiner. i was so thankful he wasn't hurt worse & was so willing still to go to the party. brian is quite dear... :)
tammy's party was such a success!! i knew that girl had tons of friends, but tons of family, too? she is widely & well-loved, it is obvious: there must've been 150 people there for her! :) i saw people from the distant past, & longtime pal, writer greg goodsell, showed up as "doctor death" (the party's theme was funerary)... after the basque feed & tammy tributes, byron played acoustic tunes, opening w/"6 days on the road" & "little red riding hood"! vince galindo & i approved; byron has great facial expressions & personality for the stage. next up was an old-timey country-bluegrass trio from kernville, very professional, would've sounded right at home on prairie home companion: david nigel lloyd & daughter ursula fully enjoyed their set, & their woman singer/guitarist had a lovely warmth. then i was up, & as i suspected, i couldn't hear (should've gone w/instinct & used keyboard amp, too: monitors never seem set up for high female voice/keyboard, or maybe it's sound guys who aren't used to dialing that in), & my dang high hat took a crap halfway thru the 2nd song!! shantell then let me use hers, which was a marked change (much nicer), but then i was thrown off by playing the stiffer drum & i know my timing stunk in too many spots. oh well; the audience cheered like i can hardly remember ever hearing, seriously: it was amazing -- & i know tammy was happy! (looking at the pix from brian, i see i never should wear this dress again when i have to sit... it was very flattering til i sat down & some circus tent effect took over!! i know i need longer hems now that i have to sit to play drums, but i guess not quite this long & puffy & bustled... this is something i guess i'll figure out as i go...)
"FINALLY we could hear your singing," said david kindly. (i guess, therefore, the singing sounded ok - i couldn't tell! good news from david!)
"that must be like going for a run," commented nathan (glen), a guy i knew 20 yrs ago. funny, i didn't sweat tonight like when i have practiced. maybe it was all the red bull i drank (no sweat left!) to get myself off the sick bed. no dinner, either! too nervous from brian's eyeball incident! anyways, yes, it is quite a workout to do all the music by myself.
"i've never seen anything like that," a guy remarked about my set-up. and yes, ladies & gents, i DO believe what i'm now doing is unique! the good part is, it's bound to get better, so heads up, bloodshot bill, i'll be hopping on your traincar pretty soon here... :)
next was 3 chord whore. those gals are really onto something!! their eff-it, liberated, woman-love punkrock presence really goes over big, w/gals dancing wildly every time they play. darcy has the most wonderful expressive pretty frontwomanly face, & heather does, too. i'd love to have big popping violety eyes like those two have, but i have to make do w/my squinty hispanic-mediterranean ones, instead. shantell is a heckuva hard-rock drummer, & i'm always impressed by how much sound those 3 women make, w/heather's punk power chords, shantell's thunder-drumming, & darcy's full throated singing. they speak to lots of gals in the audience - guys, too. i hope whatever they want to have happen for them career-wise, flat does.
... now it's 1:45 am & here i is. bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......... tired, but heart palpitating. good old energy drinks.
thank you, tammy & byron, for your extreme generosity & friendliness to many, including me. a good night to be alive it was, once again.
ps - thank you thank you thank you to all my friends who showed up... :)