swinging like a pendulum, walking down the aisle...

A big weekend ahead for us! Hope you'll come to one or more of our shows. Thursday: The Whiteboy and Jenny Combo at Oasis, Taft, CA, 6 pm; Saturday, Jenny gets to play with J&J's great friend Big Manny and his Big Manny Band at Redwood Room, LA; Saturday night is Whiteboy James and the Blues Express at Forbidden City, Long Beach, CA. Go to www.whiteboyjames.com for times and details for all shows that feature Whiteboy James smile emotico

cha-ching!

oh gee, feeling pleasantly eyeballs-rounding-the-corner-before-i-do right now on a whole pot of coffee... zing! it's a happy morning/afternoon here... what nice weather outside! might go for a hike... we had the mountain holiday faire the other day & dear dear dad came out with me to sell my fleas (james had two gigs, so couldn't join us!), & what a nice day! cold, fun, met so many nice ppl, sold a BUTTLOAD of LPs! my big payday? a huge amount of dough for my life now, but i realize, as much as i would've made in one day when i was teaching! hahahaha! despite that, i'd much rather be in this life now than the one i had back then. at the library, working only pt-time, i still get to help ppl & interact w/youngsters, but it's all positive & i don't have to herd cats or undertake any behavioral modification strategies or deal w/stupid standardized testing or fights on the yard or yard duty, for that matter!! i hear from my dear seester that the climate of public teaching now's much less the way it was when i bailed, & i'm just so happy for her, that she has less crap to deal w/than we did 5-10 years ago! so to heck w/the big paycheck for me: i like it like this!
sun in LBC we attended a tribute for departed ornery, irascible, eccentric, resourceful, uber-talented & creative max bangwell, james's dear friend & long-time blues express drummer... my hubby was so, so, so, so sad, but we got up at pink arguello's request & sang together on the big stage. i told jr watson, on guitar, "little richard!" and he told the band, "rock n roll!" & we did my song "he's my baby" & right away, i saw teeth flashing & heads bobbing throughout the place & spirits were high, & that's why i wanted to do THAT song, cause i knew it'd make ppl happy & max would've wanted that. throughout the day, i kept pondering him, keeping him at the forefront of my mind, knowing he'd want everyone to be joyous & mischievous & having a good time... james was so beat afterward, we got a rm next door at the golden sails, where he used to play but we've never stayed, & what a nice place!! huge room, big soft bed, pretty manicured grounds, quiet & serene, & in the morn, beautiful breakfast rm w/softly-glowing view of boats bobbing on the marina & tons of yummy food, which really made big-eating james smile & delight! i was so grateful to be able to stay rather than try to get us caravanned home cause my sweet husband woke from sound slumber in a happy mood, & that made it all worthwhile! anyways, that's that for now; i need to be productive here at home for a bit...
here's where we'll be thursday... please come join us! it will be fun fun fun!

"[he's] old enough to know the score, but [he's] young enough to want more more more"

my friend the big lug just sent me an email quoting the above; i think he feels he resembles that remark, to paraphrase groucho... i think the line i most relate to in that song is "try to make a living during the day, deep in the night i throw it all away," even tho i'm now, as my folks say, alternately "retired," "independently wealthy," or "a working musician"... none of those are true, but it's kinda cool my folks are depicting me that way to others. it's better than them saying, "our elder daughter's a bum right now." :)
saturday's show's gonna be a scream... unfortunately, i still don't know the cover, & neither does james... wa-la!

labor day weekend...

check out these flyers for two great shows! james also will play a 3rd, sat night @ taft's oasis (i'm crossing fingers roscoe'll offer again to give me dough to stay & play piano after hrs!!). then there's a special barndance-tribute to hank williams. can my constitution handle seeing both james & phil alvin in one weekend? this calls for an "OMG," i believe!! click here to read electric earl's ad for this 4th, sure-to-be-fun show: tribute to hank williams

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh...

food in belly, (some) dough (still) in wallet (spent most of it already), big & small fun had by all, big & small. dusk devils rocked!! poker-faced scott, manic rick, & a soulful phil stormed & pounded the house. rick played max bangwell's slingerland set & on the encore, we sounded like the cramps!! i almost went out of my skin, hearing that coming from us!! as sure as i'll always get lost trying to get home from taft @ nite, its audiences will always be tops: people howled & danced in seats & whooped & clapped & screamed & smiled all night long. as appreciative males got drunker & drunker & dancers lost their equilibrium, my corseted undergarments fortuitously came in handy as effective body armor. fearless, fierce, x-rated gentleman james & i talked about 5 royales, musician dumbasses, how much we love being in the car, lucid dreams. wide-smiling scott abeyta pitched us a record dealy & max bangwell described his cool living set-up & working w/weird al for 6 yrs. blues express is super, super tight! oh, to be that tight: what would it be like?? as i said, tho, i was so happy w/dusk devils that nite. wow!
james mugged & joked, wily, wild, weird & sexual ("i thought i was just being weird," he sez) & w/the most keeningly powerful voice i know. i got a dedication again, as well as lots of "looks"!!!! i know, tho, that @ every show, some gal's got to be the focus; it's pt of the shtick, & i was flattered to get my turn.
near show's end, the stage a graveyard of beer bottles, jp did a trick emulating end of nekromantik (minus auto-erotic stabbing) w/strategically-placed exploding beer bottle that was so embarrassing & thrilling, it was just that much more plain-wrong yet perfect. i've been called a "fearless performer," but i am a little chicken compared to james, who'll do anything onstage to get folks to laugh & gape & adore. once it all was over, they locked the doors & i made extra cash playing the bar piano as indefatigable james sang (to me directly, @ times!). we even sang together on some ray price, tho by then i was running out of gas seriously-bad & starting to slip in my playing & also worrying about getting home to the yd sale i was suppoed to help w/that next day... but i'll always remember -- & this might sound like bragging, but it's what HAPPENED -- jp leaning over & leaning in & watching me like i was something special, watching me play & grinning, then cooing, "you're so talented," & then to the room, "isn't she talented? isn't she the greatest?" then telling me to play something "kinda pete johnson" & blasting out the strongest-piped version of "roll 'em pete" i've ever been in such proximity to, w/all the correct lyrics. whatta thrill! whatta kick! me & whiteboy james playing music like that! he said we should do a duo, play gigs in LA, we'd make all kind of money. true, he was pretty dang lit by then, but still, i was very flattered. life just sang @ that moment, & later, when i took ar un, the gorgeous, cool-breezed, wonderful wkend climate seeming to match this exhilaration. life does sing @ times, doesn't it? happy, happy to all, friends. happy happy!

this friday! woohoo!

we will be redeemed!

whon thot Aprille swithin potrzebie, the burgid prillie gives one heebie-jeebie. SPA FON! SQUA TRONT!! GASP!!!! CHOKE!!!!

james sez the place is an old speakeasy! they got food! they got booze! we got music! they got the unbeatable, unbearably smokin james & the blues express! we got fabulous phil hickerson & the dynamic dusk devils!
here's to a rockin good time for all, whether you're there or not. :)