Musician, Freak, Dayjobber, Etc.

Hi there -- you little Susan, you -- thanks for dialing in my weekly blog. Let's get started, shall we?

Early last week found Nipper and I relaxing, poolside, in beautiful Palm Springs -- awesome times! We stayed at the cool, homey Alpine Gardens motel, which the owners, Bill and Tommy, pretty much left to us and us alone. We were the only people staying there and we had the run of the place. Much swimming, reading, sleeping and loving transpired, and plans were made to return, hpefully sooner than later. We spent one beautiful morning exploring the Living Desert Museum, and, one fine evening, Nipper treated me to an incredible meal at Haleiwa Joe's restaurant (check out that incredible building!). Good times were had, and we were sad to leave. I could live like that, honestly. Sigh; maybe someday I will realize my goal of owning and operating a cool little roadside retreat of my own, playing music, poolside, with my lite-jazz combo, folding sheets and towels by day, and meeting travelers from all over the world.

Upon our return to Los Angeles (a day later than expected, causing me to miss a much-anticipated Mike Keneally solo gig, bah!), I was saddened to find out that the Abe Lincoln Story's Viper Room gig had been unceremoniously cancelled. Headliners Trainwreck backed out at the last minute, leaving us with the option of playing to what would most likely be an empty house -- fuck that shit. That leaves us with a gig on September 4th at The Casbah in beautiful San Diego; check the website for an update soon. My first roadtrip gig! Sigh, giggle!

This past Friday found us hanging out at Taix, catching awesome sets by three of our favorite local bands: Aguafantastica, Sparklejets*UK and Adam Marsland's Chaos Band. Lots of our friends were there, and we had a great time hanging out and socializing. The bands all kicked ass as well; I'm finding myself increasingly fondled by those Aguafantastica kids! Check 'em all out when you get uno momento.

Saturday found us *finally* getting around to seeing Fareinheit 9/11; we weren't really in a big rush to see the movie, seeing as we've both read "Dude, Where's My Country" and "Stupid White Men", which both go into incredible detail over situations which the movie somewhat glosses over. Regardless, it was a great flick (awesome soundtrack!), and the crowd was a total Los Angeles cross-section: we sat next to a couple of Hari Krishnas, an old Jewish couple, a few older African-American folks, and assorted hipsters, straights, and younger kids. Typical mixed-up culture-crowd -- I love LA!

Sunday found us visiting an INCREDIBLE open house in Brentwood, a 1930's traditional masterpiece designed by the great Paul Williams. Let me tell you, this house was unbelievable! Details, details, and more details. Our favorite feature was a teeny-tiny secret spiral staircase that led from the upstairs master suite down to a speakeasy/bar hidden behind a bookshelf in the library. The bar was accessed via the library by pulling on a certain book, which then opened the bookshelf outward, revealing the bar and secret staircase. Just too fucking cool. So, who's got twelve million dollars we can borrow?

Sunday afternoon/evening found us hanging out -- and seeing TONS of friends -- at the Sunset Junction Street Fair. We were treated to a great performance by our friends in Love with Arthur Lee. Guitar god Mike Randle was especially awesome, but the whole band were really spot-on. Everything sounded a lot tighter and more together than when I guitar tech'd for them last May at their UCLA gig. Rock on guys! Later on, I treated myself to a hot-dog wrapped in bacon -- John Borack, you don't know what you're missing (except maybe open heart surgery)! Too filthy good.

And that wraps up my almost-week off.

Tonight, I'm heading over to bassist extraordinare Scott Halper's studio to record an acoustic guitar track, so that should be fun. Scott and I have been talking about doing this for months now; as a matter of fact, Scott recently recorded Mike Randle's new album "Barstool Blues" at his studio, so I'm looking forward to seeing (and hearing) what happens. You'll be the first to know.

Also, I've suddenly got a re-mix project on my hands for the upcoming Tribeca album; I've also been rehearsing with Dave English with me playing bass and I'm loving it! I haven't really played much bass since the Receiver project, and these tunes are so much more of a challenge, here's hoping it all works out. We're planning on starting to audition drummers within the next month or so, but, knowing how slowly things move with this particular project, I'm not holding my breath! I've also been given the green light to submit a couple more tracks for the album, so I'm talking with some of my buddies about getting some recordings together soon.

Meanwhile, you can hear -- for yourself -- one of my rejected Tribeca submissions, a little XTC "Pink Thing" homage called "Mourning Would?", which I co-wrote with Mike Simmons, and which he also produced and played drums, vocals, and various other things (he is one talented mofo, let me tell you). I'd love it if you emailed me with your comments -- good, bad, or indifferent. Thanks in advance to anyone who has a listen, I do so deeply appreciate it.

In other music news, I dropped a demo of a song of mine called "Neglected" on my buddy Don Mogill, which he/we may record for an upcoming Popdudes album. None other than Amplifier (and many other publications) contributor John Borack has penned lyrics for this tune, and I'm hoping to help out with the recording should the project get off the ground.

Lastly, our good friend Sabrina is hosting another party this Saturday, August 28th, at her lovely Pasadena home; I plan on bringing my acoustic guitar along and jamming with my bro Pooch of the excellent band The Condors. Sabrina always has an amazing spread and great company, so email me if you'd like directions, etc. We'd love to party with you!

That's about it. Until next week, remember: architecture is frozen music, so build yourself a Paul Williams-styled colonial mansion in Mandeville Canyon today. xoxox kErrY xoxox

Hello happy campers! Uncle Susan here with another weekly entry. Sigh, giggle, tell me more about my eyes.

First, regarding gig news, the Abe Lincoln Story will be playing the infamous Viper Room in support of the one, the only, the rotund Trainwreck, featuring Kyle Gass of the awesome Tenacious D. Said gig takes place on August 18th, 2004; see you there, nakedly.

Also next week I will endeavor to attend a performance featuring Mike Keneally (performing solo), Chris Opperman, and Andre LaFosse; it's Tuesday, August 17th at Level One. This should be an interesting evening of experimental music, hope to see you there.

This week finds me in both Abe Lincoln Story and Tribeca rehearsals. Yawn. I'm sure you're overjoyed to know this. Me? I'm just happy to be in a couple of bands whose music I adore (not to mention the people themselves). I'm also working up another "Ducks, Fucking"-type acoustic fingerpicked instrumental (as of now, anyway) experimental fake-jazz piece for the guitar, so that's been fun. I'm still stitching it all together, having fun mixing and matching sections, hoping to find something that kicks my ass.

Also this week is the video premier party for local rockstars The 88; it's Thursday August 12th (see The 88's website for details); Nipper and I will most definitely be there, see you then.

And then I am OFF for a few well-deserved days (the day job has been brutal this month, just brutal). Nipper and I are heading out to Palm Springs (yeah, we like hot weather and swimming pools, whiskey sours and steaks), where we're planning on staying at the charming little faggy resort known by the unlikely name of the Alpine Gardens. Here, we'll spend three days and two nights splashing in the pool, stargazing, thrift shopping, dining, and architecture-hunting (Palm Springs is home to a nice collection of amazing mid-century structures). I'm looking forward to doing absolutely nothing at all except hanging out with my sweetheart and relaxing.

Okay, thank you for reading this. I'll probably post another entry either late next week or early the week after. Until then, remember: architecture is frozen music, so build yourself an awesome valley-view mid-century modern in Palm Desert today. xoxox kErrY xoxox

Wow! What a week. Sorry I'm late with the entries (again), but DAMN if this day job hasn't been keeping me busy (the nerve!).

So, where were we? Last Saturday afternoon, the Abe Lincoln Story played the Highland Park "Music in the Park" festival. We played in a bandshell designed by none other than John Phillip Sousa, and I must modestly say, we rocked righteously. Facing a relentless afternoon sun, my Danelectro practially melted in my hands, causing a few tuning issues, but not enough to dampen the proceedings. In fact, I think I played my best Abe Lincoln show yet. I felt cocky, confident and loose, and I felt like my guitar solos were spontaneous, fresh and well-executed. What a blast. The band sounded awesome -- everyone kicked ass. We ended up playing for around 100 or so spectators, mostly families and aging hipsters. Good times!

Later that night, Nipper and I headed to Malibu for a party hosted by Peachfuzz mastermind Andrew Chojnacki and his lovely partner Lucia. We showed up 'rockstar' late, just as the party was winding down (I missed a Mike Keneally gig for this party!!!). Regardless of the modest turnout, we had ourselves a blast, skinny-dipping in the moonlight and enjoying the warm hospitality of Andrew and Lucia. Good times!

The next day Nipper and I headed off to Palm Springs for a couple of days, and the temps were unusually mild for the middle of summer. One of the great things about Palm Springs in the off-season is that the town is DEAD. We had the hotel completely to ourselves, and made the most of our temporary home, idling away the hours poolside, bar-b-que-ing, relaxing, and thrift shopping (yes, thrift shopping). We had a total blast and we're going back in a week or so for even more relaxing. Good times!

So, last night Nipper and I drove down to Temecula to check out our good friend Deb Shair, who is playing keyboards and singing with -- get this -- Heart. Deb was awesome, scoring us incredible seats for the show -- gratis -- and getting us backstage to meet most of the band (the Wilson sisters, alas, hung out in their own dressing room and we left before getting to meet them, sniff, sniff). The show, however, was awesome! All the classic and not-so-classic Heart hits were performed (Ann Wilson is GOD! Nancy, too!) and even the new material sounded incredible. At one point, all of the 'guy' band members (haha, I said "member") left the stage, leaving Ann, Nancy and Deb to perform some heartbreaking three-part harmonies. Ultra-mega wow! They sounded absolutely sublime -- Deb, you rock!!! After the show, we sipped Crown Royal with Mike Inez, who was just the coolest dude you'd ever want to meet (his bass playing ain't all that bad, either!); we also hung out with Marizane mastermind Todd Jaeger, Heart guitarist (and producer/songwriter of their latest album Jupiter's Darling) Craig Bartok, and assorted fans and folks. A truly fine evening, courtesy of Deb -- THANK YOU, Deb!!!!!!!! If you get a chance to catch Deb and Heart on this tour -- DO IT. :)

Also this week I had a chance to seriously hone my Tribeca bass chops, learning four really weird songs pretty damn well if I do say so myself. I'll be hooking up with head Tribec-ster Dave English next week to jam and see where we're going with this thing. Updates as they happen!

So, this weekend brings all kinds of stuff. Well, not really. Supposedly, Nipper and I are hosting a 50th birthday party for a dear sweet friend of ours, but this friend hasn't really spread the word about the party all that much, so I'm not 100% sure it'll happen. If it happens, check Friendster for info. If it doesn't happen, well, we've got a couple of other parties to hit, one on Saturday hosted by our friend Dawn Laureen of The Eyeshadows and another one on Sunday hosted by our friend Janet Housden of The Shakes. Busy, busy! I love summer parties.

Next week finds me rehearsing with the Abe Lincoln Story in preparation for our upcoming Viper Room gig with the one, the only, the extremely rotund Trainwreck (this gig is happening on Wednesday, August 18th; be there or pay the consequences). Also next week is the aforementioned Tribeca get together, as well as just hanging out and practcing guitar (I'm currently working on yet another Keneally-influenced faux-jazz instrumental, which I am pretty stoked about -- it's got some real purty chords, lots of 'em, and the whole thing is fingerpicked), as well as the day job (which, have I mentioned, has been BRUTAL lately?).

Next weekend finds Nipper and I back in Palm Springs, this time for three (or possibly four) days of rest and relaxation (I'm cancelling plans for a Sierra trout fishing excursion in lieu of just kicking it by a Palm Springs pool for a few days -- what a pussy I've become). I think this time we'll be staying at the Alpine Gardens, an extremely home-y (and totally gay) little resort run by a couple of sweet old queens. This place just reeks of low-key charm; it's so cute it's sick. It's basically ten tiny ranch-style units clustered around a small porcelain-tiled pool and spa, with all kinds of silly lawn gnomes, green grass, waterfalls and even a small citrus grove -- the perfect child-free retreat that Nipper and I adore. I can't wait.

And that, my little fur seals, brings this blog up to date. Have yourselves a merry little weekend, and, until next week, remember: architecture is frozen music, so build yourself a small hideaway retreat in the desert today. Love one another! xoxox kErrY xoxox