Anyone who knows me well over the last couple years knows about Polly. She was my goldfish and we went through a lot together. Being homeless together, moving across the country in a ice tea container, and she was even stranded by my roommates in a hurricane for two days while I was in Greece!......she was a tough little thing. She died on Friday the 13th this past July of 2012. It was a hard time for me. I wrote her a song. Someone told me that when a fish dies it's because it is taking a hit for somebody else to prevent something bad happening to them. So I believe she saved my life. I buried her in the garden at the bar and light a candle for her sometimes.
I discovered Bill Callahan rather reluctantly and late in life. Things come to you when they need to I suppose. Many friends recommended him to me over time, but it wasn't until I saw him live that I think it really sunk in. I have only three of his albums, the most recent ones I believe. I re-signed up for Pandora the other day and made a station for him. This song came on and it stopped me. It is exactly what he does so well. Such minimal delivery with such high emotion, he almost makes you hold your breath. Anyway, the video is kind of funny, but ultimately, I approve! Happy Wednesday!
It's been a while guys. A long time friends. I feel the need to start sharing again. Now that I am living in Texas there are all sorts of things I can fill you in on. Like the fact that they do all drive trucks and wear cowboy boots and have guns here. It's kind of true.
There's more on my mind then I can handle alone so I apologize, but you are gonna help me deal.
I am back in good ol' Seattle visiting with the family. It's nice to be here. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I like little friends and find them all over the place. I brought my good friend Stanley Otto Jefferson the Dinosaur with me from New York and man are we having fun together. So much fun in fact, that we were inspired to write a song for him! It's also just a song about enjoying life and appreciating the little things that help to make it fun and special. Here is our song and video, we hope you like it!
I went for a run this morning. It's not too cold today. The sky turned completely black with clouds and I thought about turning around. Then it broke and the sun poured through onto my face. I stopped for a moment and soaked it up. Then this song came on my I-pod:
It was quite the moment. But I still turned around because I decided to come home and listen to music instead.
Ummmm......did you guys know bout her? Cause I didn't. And she is awesome. And she is playing in a train station. And it's like the 50's. And her shoes, her guitar, her hair, her everything. Her song to sing. And she loves god. She had a musical calling to preach. Seriously? Have we lost our souls? Can we ever get back to there? I don't think so.
Today is my Goldfish Polly's birthday. I have had her for a year now! I remember picking her out from the tank with hundreds of other fish. She was hanging out alone in the back and seemed to be scared and not comfortable with the other fish so I chose her. And Gus, but he died and it was better for Polly that way. Sorry Gus. Polly and I have been through a lot together. We were homeless for a while when she lived at her Auntie Bug's house, and she lived through being in the Hurricane Irene while I was gone and nobody was home in the house to feed her for 2 days! She is a survivor and we help each other make things ok. Today Ted (my awesome roommate) and I shared a breakfast in her honor and I wanted to share my beautiful and amazing fish with you. Happy Birthday Polly!
We went straight to the heart of the action today to see what's going on down on Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street is happening. There are people there. They are doing a lot of things. It was cool..........
I don't know. ?
Green Poncho lady in the community kitchen wins. Meditation corner for quiet time. Tarps. Saxophone. Signs. Drums. Red bandana guy......nails it.
Don't know what I'm talking about? Oh, watch this video I made:
I think there is a lot of action and support happening behind the scenes and via internet that I don't understand and wasn't visible at the actual HQ. I am in no way judging the movement or have an educated opinion on the matter. I think anytime there is a person dressed as a nuclear war mime waving a rainbow peace flag with a heart, then something is happening right in the world. You can go to their website for more information. The site is pretty inspiring, people around the world are reacting to this. But there just ain't nothin' like a good ol' fashion drum circle yo..reminds me of home.
So...like a week ago my friend Robby of band Lazer Cake contacted me and was like "I'm doing a photo shoot for my upcoming EP and I want you to be in it and be an evil alien in striped spandex who chases me through Coney Island on roller skates and shoots lasers at me through your eyes.." I was like, "you had me after the first five words. yes." So we did all of that. And I met the lovely Lisa (my co-striped alien) and Chris (who took this rad photo at Robertas after shoot feast and all the others too) and we all made something together. Of course I will share when it's done and I am allowed to see it, but in the meantime be teased by this little video I made:
I was at work last night. Been grinding it out behind the bar pretty much nonstop since I got back from holiday. Anyway, Tribeca is weird. It wasn't a very busy night, but was super sexy, the lights were perfect, the music, service, etc... This group of banky suity dudes came in and were pretty loud and drunk. At first I was like, "oh, hell no, this blows" but then I just started rolling with it. One of them was having lady troubles and his friends were telling him that he is too nice and letting this girl walk all over him. Then they wanted to ask my opinion. They asked me what my name was and I just said to call me bartender. So then I was Miss Bartender. Apparently, this chick calls him and goes out with him and he likes her a lot, but she says she just wants to be friends. "Miss Bartender, don't you think he's being stupid? (they all had Indian accents by the way)" I went to a few places with these guys. I almost said "dude, this chick will act this way as long as you let her, if she really liked you you would know it and it's stupid to even have this conversation, ditch her." I almost said "I don't care about any of this, you guys are drunk and bothering me and I want you to leave." But in the end I said, "man, you know what feels right in your heart. If you like her and want to spend time with her, it doesn't matter, even if you do get hurt, just be true to your self. And nice guys do not finish last, they just need more patience." His friends didn't get it, but he did. We had a moment. Then we all took a shot of Chardonnay and I told them they were cut off and it was time to go. Then they left.
This is me being contemplative. No, it's me at Athens airport in the midst of a 6 hour layover, not really sure what to do with myself and then letting my mom take a picture of me. But for the sake of this post, it's me being contemplative.
It's been a while. I have a lot on my mind and feel like sharing. Have just returned home from some time in Europe. People are having a hard time out there, it felt good to make some connections and hear some other languages and learn some new words and see some beautiful things. Travel is good, it is a necessary way to make the world better. I believe. My cab dropped me off back here in Brooklyn the other day and my building was blocked off by Police tape. The officer at my front door informed me there was a shooting in my building about an hour before I arrived. There was also multiple shootings and people getting murdered all through labor day weekend in my neighborhood. I'm not sure how this news should affect my behavior or how much worst talking about it makes everything. I have always felt safe here and want to continue to do so. You just never know. Shit goes down. People are hurting, people are bored, people are stupid. I don't want to add to the hype or stress of whatever happened, but man, that sucks. It's so sad. I gonna maintain. Love you all, take care of yo selves.
If any of you have been reading this blog here for a while, you know I am a fan and friend of what was a Brooklyn band, but is now an other places band Guitars. They recently came to visit in New York and played a show, which was great, but what's even better is I got to hang with them for a little bit in the East Village apartment they were staying at and record an exclusive performance just to share with all y'all. We sat around for a bit and talked about being homeless, which set a really uplifting tone to rock out on. Wah Wah. But in all seriousness, it was a welcome opportunity to let a little music make us all feel better about some of the things we've been dealing with, hopefully that same healing will pass on to you. It makes the choice of song all the more fitting as well.
Here's Guitars with a very special stripped down performance of their song Guru Bob's Unvarnished Truth:
Guitars are out and about and you just might have a chance to see them play wherever you may be! For more of their music, free downloads (ummm, do that), and music videos (I'm in one!), go to their blog and be glad you did: Guitars.....
I was recently in the small town of Bellevue, Iowa to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday. Her family has been in this town for many generations and it was really humbling and eye opening to meet extended members of my family as well as the friends she has in her life and the strength you create and nourish in a true community. The birthday party was a blast, ham sandwiches, potato chips, and lots of cake. My father and sister sang to her and it is quite the tear jerker, I am honored and touched to share it with you:
You are your family, no escaping that. Keep in touch with them and hold them close.
Last night a great show went down at Lit Lounge. It was a fairly small crew that rolled out, but a lot of love in the room. And the music was great, we were all there to support each other and have a good time. Doom Trumpet, Mythical Legends, Thurlow. Here's a little taste of what you might have missed, or what you saw, or what you played. It depends on who you are I guess.
Doom Trumpet: Valya
I strongly suggest you watch this video all the way through, David is really doing some rad things with layering and he was singing last night in such an unrestrained operatic way. We were all stoked and I was like "whoa." Keep it up man, whatever the note is that's calling you, you are hitting it. Whoa!
Mythical Legends: Mermaid
This is the first recording we have of our new song Mermaid. It's about a Mermaid who falls in love with a sailor then accidentally drowns him. Because it's me I'm like "oh man, I don't like the way it sounds there." But ultimately, this song is one we are very very proud to call our own.
Thurlow: Invisible Eyes
Our new BFF's from Los Angeles by way of Virginia closed the set down beautifully. I was geeking out about a lot of their stuff, especially that old Casio that makes me drool. But they are lovely, this song really spoke to me as well. A true friendship was planted last night. Can't wait to see you guys again!
When I first met Joel I had only recently moved to Brooklyn. I was at a local bar visiting a friend of mine who was working. The DJ was having technical challenges with his equipment and was like "don't worry, my friend is coming to fix it." That friend was Joel. He walked in and pulled out a little flame torch, proceeded to break apart the equipment and use fire to do something magical then put it all back together again and there you have it. Wizard. He was. Then. We've been good friends since and I consider myself very lucky to consider us as such. He is truly an artist and the band he plays with, The Collected Works of Lenin have an intensity and approach to sound I choose to admire and have been honored enough to have a small taste of when playing with Wizard myself. We have jammed a couple of times and I intend to continue to do so. Without a further mention, this is Wizard. and me. hanging out.
A song we began to work on the first time we jammed, here's us playing it:
Lyrics: Wizard Cat Man. Wizard Cat Man. Do what you can. You're the Wizard Cat Man. I saw you. I saw you. You were over there. You were over there. I saw you. I saw you. You were over there. Over there cause you're the......... Then we just jammed. With Wizard, the typical interview format is unnecessary. We communicated through sound mostly. If you don't understand, that's ok. It's not what we're saying, it's how we say it.
She was born Talitha Pol until she married John Paul Getty and then they did a ton of drugs and hung out with rock stars in the 60's. They lived in Morocco and Italy and other places all over the place and basically non stop partied and had a kid and looked amazing all the time. She died of a heroin overdose when she was 30. The same 12 month time that Jimi, Jim, Janice and co all died. So she matters. But she looked like this:
Damn. The 60's. I must have been there in some way.
A while back I shared a piece with you from a collection of stories I have been writing. It was about visiting a local restaurant to write a letter to my Grandmother and people responded really positively to it, which meant a lot to me. Since all this craziness has gone down in my world and seems to be taking me for quite the ride, I find much comfort in writing these little scenes based on my life. It's like collecting small fragments and memories, past and present and trying to recreate them in a way that makes sense, though they are very dreamy, and I have the worst grammar ever. Many of the stories reference the weather and the weather has been pretty shit lately, which isn't all that difficult for me (twenty years in Seattle will do that), but it has sneaked into my writing in some cool and interesting ways. The discussion of umbrella usage has surfaced and unintentionally possibly become a metaphor for something. I honestly have no idea how it all comes out....it just does. I thought I would share. Cause I like to do that. And we all been feeling the rain, umbrella or no.
Here's two grey weather pieces with mentions of umbrella's from "This Thing I'm Working On":
14.
These grey mornings, a little misty. Damp, perpetually damp, but never pouring. They remind her of home, which is at times comforting and at times just annoying. She left that blanket of dark clouds and constant drip behind her.....though it is warm and smells of her family. Sweaters and fireplaces, Evergreens and Mountains. Longing for things and people is not the same as missing them. She has never missed anything she’s left or that’s left her, but she pulls at the memories of places and people past, they surface often, requesting recognition, and she nods, after which she pushes them back down. takes only what she needs to keep her going, to make something of use to her, but always for them. little tributes, then tucks the rest away, where she cant see them. for now. Carrying so much around, all these people, thoughts, memories, ideals, places, wonders. Sometimes, she has to keep it all inside and sometimes it has to be down deep. Her parents phone her and she just doesn’t answer. They know they’re there, she brings them wherever she goes. She just needs to sit some out. She still has yet to find an umbrella that actually works, she never even had one back home come to think of it. 22.
This weather is so depressing. Everybody seemed to be saying that. She didn’t notice that though. It seemed like a good time to be outside. Just at this moment. She was walking to the bar. She wasn’t working, she just thought she would go stop by and say hi. To be outside in the grey air that was misting and cooling, dampening the world all over. She took an umbrella this time, but kept moving it away from above her head. it felt like it was blocking out the world and she wanted to see it all. feel it all on her. The mist and the mugginess made her hair curl and rise. she kept it down too, she didn’t care how crazy it looked. Moved the umbrella away. Closes it this time though, wrapping the velcro latch tightly around it. There was no sun to be seen, but the light of the sky was almost too bright for her eyes. The birds sounded out through the rain, echoed calls from some distant jungle it seemed. through the rain it sounds that way. She felt open, she felt so open to all these elements, she let them penetrate and dance around her. Walking on the concrete blocks, she took it all in. there was no protection from this air, this mist, this damp, the dark, the bright. she didn’t want any. Protection that is. Takes it all in. These moments are so freeing.
This interview was such a long time coming. It survived multiple disasters. Diseases, almost deaths, evacuations, things like that.
But Artist Profiles is back y'all. And I couldn't be more proud to introduce you to Crawl Babies!
A few moons ago Mythical Legends was doing an open mic and these three guys walked in afterward to play a set. Bug and I thought we would check out a song or two and ended up enjoying it so much we stayed for the whole show. I have kind of been fanning out on them ever since. Phil (guitars, vocals), Clayton (drums) and Jake (guitar) have all known each other and been playing music for a long time, their bond is a true delight to behold indeed.
I kept hoping they would invite me on a summer trip where we would load up our backpacks with canned goods and sodas and hike on rail road tracks and look for dead bodies.
but they didn't.
Hanging out with them in Sunset Park and having a couple beers was pretty cool though. I also would highly recommend you check out their current album Tangles, which I have really been getting into. It's like dreamy summer surf pop, but it cuts deep. Should I dance or kill myself? I don't know..? And the guitars. They do rad things. My favorite song keeps changing (a sign of a good album), right now it's Two Nights in Philadelphia, but it has been Ginger's Gone (I will play lasers on this song. I will.) so I was stoked when they played it for me right there in Clayton's bedroom! Enjoy the show:
Then we sat down and did this. RIP Triceratops'. Seriously? I don't know what that means, but it worries me:
See my new blog template? I don't know how I feel about it, but I had to do something to stop the widescreen videos from being cut off now that I'm using so much more exciting media, so let's see how this all works out. I hope you don't hate it. I think it'll be ok.
I just got back home from being home. It was good. I took my new flipcamera and had a lot of spare time so I made a little movie and I thought I would share it with you! This is a taste of my family life:
Mikal Evans is rad. She is my friend. Sometimes she puts pieces of paper next to me that tells me things to do and I have no choice and I get grumpy, but that's not her fault. Originally coming to Brooklyn by way of South Carolina, her southern drawl is subtle but certainly present....what a charmer indeed. Mikal studied acting and is in commercials and other things sometimes, but I like it best when she sings sweet songs and plays her guitar. Her style is versatile, at times more rock and roll and at times simple, soft, and pretty. Sometimes I even hear a little Lucinda in there and that's pretty cool. I recently went over to her place and we hung out; drank a little wine, ate a little Jarlsberg and discussed the fate of the world! She performed one of her newer songs "The Pirate Song" in her kitchen and then the interview of epic proportions came to fruition. Enjoy the show!
And if you're lucky enough to be in New York Monday, April 11th Mythical Legends has the honor of opening for Mikal Evans at Trash bar in Williamsburg.....whoa!
