So, I’ve been talking and talking about the song I wrote a few years ago, inspired by my friend Brian’s battle with cancer, and it’s FINALLY available, TODAY, for you to purchase! It’s warm and fuzzy, it’s about hoping to become a better person with each passing year, and all proceeds will be donated to fund cancer research – so you can feel confident that your 99 cents is going to a good place. I really hope you enjoy it! Click here to check it out.
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Usually the frantic pace of the holidays freaks me out – I swear, one year the downtown Rite Aid started putting out Christmas decorations BEFORE Halloween – but I’ve got a lot going on around this holiday season, and I’m pretty excited to jump in. I’m most excited about my new Christmas song – some of you have heard it live here in Los Angeles over the last couple years, but it’s been recorded, mixed, mastered, and it’s ready for the airwaves! To that end, we’ll be sending it to some of our favorite radio stations soon. I’ll be sure to let you know what stations are playing it and when you’ll be able to pick it up on iTunes, and while we’re working out the details, I can tell you that every cent we make from song sales will be donated to charity.
In other Christmas news, I’ll be taking part in JC Hyke’s Songwriter Serenade – the Christmas Carol edition! I played the regular show last week and had a blast, so I was happy to oblige when JC asked me to play. There are two shows on December 14 and 21, and I’ll be singing a few carols that everyone will be welcome to sing along to. I think my parents will even be in town for the latter, and it’s been a long time since we’ve gotten the chance to sing some carols together, so I’m really looking forward to it. There will be song books given out and everything – JC is not messing around with the singalong thing. Come ready to belt it out!
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I just love the name of this online radio station, “Women of Substance.” Don’t we all want to be considered women “of substance”? It’s certainly what I’m going for!
I was added to their rotation last month, and I’ve been officially added to their pop show, airing every Thursday at 10 am PT – so you can hear “Second Fiddle” to start off your Thursday mornings at WOSradio.com. This particular morning I was very flattered and pleased to find a little write-up of my album on the site as well, as I am “Today’s Indie Artist Suggestion.” You can check that out right here.
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The fun and bizarre thing about playing-and even just living-in Los Angeles is that you cross paths with celebrities, inevitably. As well you should, given the fact that they are just normal people going about their lives like the rest of us. But it’s still somewhat shocking and amusing to me every time it happens.
Here’s an example – the other night, while I was playing at Genghis Cohen, I noticed a tall man in the back who seemed especially attentive (or maybe he just caught my eye because, he’s super tall and was standing up), but didn’t think anything of it. The duo “Town and Country” played next to me on stage (it was an in-the-round set-up), and after the show, as we were stowing our guitars, the tall man came backstage as well, and I heard the words, “Thanks so much for coming, Jamie…” When I looked up (and up and up) at the man, he said, “Well done!” to me.
It was only as I walked away that I realized it was James Cromwell, and all I could think of was the movie “Babe” as I made my way to join my friends. Meanwhile, Mike was thrilled to have spotted an actor from “LA Confidential,” one of his all-time favorite movies. I suppose I’m glad I didn’t realize it was him, so I didn’t have a chance to act foolish in any way – like, asking him to re-phrase his compliment as, “That’ll do, Kristy.” Here in LA, you just gotta play it cool…
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I’ve been quite the busy, social songwriter recently! Just as I’d decided to make a conscious effort to get out and meet more songwriters, I had the opportunity to attend three events in two days, all targeted towards – you guessed it – songwriters! Hopefully I’ll be writing with some of them soon, and I’ve already found it so beneficial to compare notes, share advice, and just participate in a feeling of ‘we’re all in this together.’ I imagine that people outside of LA think of it as a cut-throat sort of place, but every time I get out and actually meet other artists, I find that it feels completely the opposite of that.
I’m still playing live lots, especially locally – tomorrow (9/13), at Genghis Cohen for BMI’s Acoustic Lounge, and then Wednesday, September 22nd at Hollowbody LA Presents: Acoustic Cordiale at Cafe Cordiale. BOTH shows are free, and both take place in restaurants with super yummy food, so you can do what I like to do best – make a night of it! Make sure to say hey or even stay after and have a drink with me if you come out!
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With Labor Day approaching (and my sister’s birthday, today!), I’ve got that back-to-school feeling, and I like it. I always look forward to summer, but for some reason I just have a good feeling about this fall and the new things it will bring. Time to get back to work, everyone – after, of course, you relax this weekend!
I’m currently pretty focused on my work here in Los Angeles – writing more songs and planning collaborations as well as playing local shows. I’ve got a couple coming up in September, including Hollowbody LA Presents: Acoustic Cordiale at Cafe Cordiale on September 22nd. Dinner and a show (and no cover)! I hope you’ll join me. For those of you elsewhere in the country, I’m sorry to say that I’m having to keep my focus local at the moment, and touring plans are currently shelved – but not put away forever! I love being on the road, and I will make it happen one of these days…stay tuned.
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My friend Brian – who later decided to go by his father’s name, “Oscar,” would have – should have – turned 36 today. He lost a battle with cancer just under two years ago, and I’m still trying to find the words to talk about him. Nothing I can think to write seems to do any justice to his incredible creativity, warm sense of humor, razor sharp intelligence, and unflagging openness and friendliness. He could talk to anyone about anything, and he always seemed so humble for someone with such stunning talent.
I love the words of U of M’s Thomas Zurbuchen regarding Brian. I don’t believe I’ve ever met Thomas, and we certainly work in different fields, but when he says “it is Oscar who taught me what art is really about,” it rings so true for me. I hope you’ll read his full blog – just click here – because it will give you a fantastic sense of the kind of person Brian was. I’ll never understand why he was taken so soon, but knowing him was really one of the best gifts I’ve been given. I hope that in the coming months I’ll be able to find better words of my own that will help me share that gift with you.
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To wrap up my musings on Lilith Fair and women in music, I decided to record a cover of a Sarah McLachlan song that I always adored. I taught this song to myself on piano many years ago, and would play it over and over. This song served as my first transposition project, since it was a couple steps too low for me, and one can’t really use on a capo on the piano. Not effectively, anyway…
Here’s a link to my own little guitar version of “Ice Cream.” I hope you’ll enjoy, and that it might inspire your own trips down memory lane as well.
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A friend of mine in comedy and music dislikes when promoters put together all-female shows and try to sell them that way. To her, it’s a marginalizing gesture, implying that there’s something aberrational about female comics, for example – like, why not just ‘comics’? Why the qualifier? I’d never thought about it that way, but I totally agree.
Strangely, though, I still feel that Lilith Fair’s all-female lineup is essential. It’s more inspiring to me personally, even though I totally idolize male artists as well (hello, Grant-Lee Phillips and Michael Penn!). Also, I’m generalizing, but I think women can be really competitive – especially because often, we’re forced by others to compete (I refer back to the Tori vs. Sarah story I shared the other day). I try to remind myself all the time that another woman’s success is not my failure. Seeing women at the top of their game like the Indigo Girls, Sarah McLachlan, Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, etc. all on the same stage back in ‘97 and ‘98 really convinced me that women can achieve more working with instead of against each other.
There’s also a message of empowerment inherent to Lilith that draws from its female source. Back to an article I quoted in my first blog, “Despite the fact that Beyoncé and Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift and Rihanna are all making waves in pop, they’re mostly still singing about men, singing to men, or titillating men. A place where women sing for themselves and to other women is a feminist act…” And the incredible Ann Powers will always say it better than I do, so I leave you with a link to a recent NPR interview with her that I think you’ll enjoy. Says Ann, warming my lil’ heart, “We have to remember and always reiterate our values, to say it right out: ‘I am a feminist.’”
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In his comment on yesterday’s blog, David makes some excellent points, including:
#1 Why do we talk about Lilith in terms of “need” at all, when we never ask that question of Ozzfest or Lollapalooza? and #2 Most of the negative press surrounding Lilith has been around its canceled dates; meanwhile, numerous other artists have also canceled dates this summer.While I think I beat the whole “need” issue to death yesterday, it’s worth asking – if it’s more “want” than “need” now, why has Lilith Fair lost artists and canceled a third of its stops? But that question becomes less important in light of David’s point #2: “John Mayer, the Eagles, Limp Bizkit, Rihanna, and Christina Aguilera, among others, are canceling shows and tours.” Indeed, while concert promotion is no science, according to an NPR report I heard on the subject last week, I’m solving no great mystery by asserting that in troubled economic times, people will attend fewer concerts. And, as another NPR report attests, some concert promoters have gotten just downright greedy, and will probably (God, hopefully!!!) adjust their prices in answer to lagging sales next summer. Or, at least Lilith Fair’s McBride seems to think Lilith will.
An article on Autostraddle called “Panic! On the Lawn: What Happened to Lilith Fair” poses just that question to its readers. Author Jess writes, “Maybe it’s the high ticket prices, maybe it’s the lineup of artists, or maybe it’s hard to re-create the pure artistry that happened from 1997-1999 when we’re now living in a Ke$ha world.” While there’s a little genre bias there (one I admittedly share), I think Jess is probably right, and it’s some combination of all of these elements. Commenters on the blog cite a combination of disappointment in a “ho-hum lineup,” prohibitive cost, and geographic hindrance (it’s true. Irvine is not Los Angeles, in fact it’s really far from Los Angeles in heinous SoCal traffic, so LF should probably have just said “Irvine”).
I admit – I didn’t even go to Lilith Fair! I was out of town that weekend and couldn’t really afford it (which is true, but doesn’t it sound excuse-y? Also, my dog ate my homework…). But in retrospect, I am disappointed in myself for not saving up my pennies in advance and making the trek, if only to support the idea of Lilith and women in music. I know an idea is not really enough, and it has to be a great show, but I certainly believe in its possibilities. The first time around, I didn’t love every single artist I heard, but I still remember loving every single moment of just BEING there. I hope that circumstances get better for all of us next summer, and that if there are lessons for the organizers and promoters to learn, they’ll learn them, and 2011 will be even better. Who’s coming with me to Lilith Fair next summer?!