Moonmama Rocks!

Wrapping Us In Sonic Velvet: Tracy Blackman's "Could I Be"

2012-01-25T20:57:00.000-08:00

Music is something that wraps us in a velvet cloak of melody and words, surrounding us in its warmth and comfort, the sense of familiarity apparent even on the first experience of something new.

Sometimes a songwriter has the ability to make us hear things that we already know deeply and understand profoundly, even if the music is not like anything else we have ever heard. It takes a songwriter of talent and grace that creates this for us, as she knows and understands our hearts and minds like no one else.

Hailing from Marin County, California, singer & songwriter Tracy Blackman has this ability. Through both her songwriting and her multi-instrumental musicianship, Tracy’s newest album Could I Be takes us on an aural journey of comfort and familiarity of what we know is inside us all. Could I Be, takes on themes of love, loss and the spirit of life like many songwriters do, but she does so in a way that rocks and rolls with jazzy/bluesy sass and a truth that is never trite or angled toward “angry girl music”. She shares many intimate aspects of herself through stories in the form of songs.

“For me, writing is not a deliberate process. It’s very organic,” says Tracy, of her musical process. “Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an entire song written in my head and I get up and put it down so I won’t forget it. Sometimes it starts with a word or phrase, other times it starts with a melody or a chord progression. And other times I’ll just sit down at the piano or pick up my guitar and start playing. Melodies and words follow and voila! I’ve written a song. There really is no process for me, it just happens. Playing music is like taking a breath. It’s not something that I do consciously. I just do it.”

With the beginning track of “Could I Be”, Tracy’s silken vocals start off her album with simplicity, depth and soul. Jimmy Dillon’s guitar playing instills the emotion of longing and hope while Tracy sings, “Could I be everything to you and your world? Could I love you tonight? Could I be your girl?”

“Found My Way” and “Volume & Speed” tease us with a country-western vibe, where road trips to broken hearts and adventure are the norm. “I Am Love” allows Tracy to show off her funky confidence vocally while sax master Mike Myers weaves through her words, “When darkness falls around you and my love you cannot see, I will take you to the promised land and you’ll never want to leave.”

“I’m In Heaven” reminds us of smoky jazz clubs, with Tracy’s sister Cindy Blackman, drummer for Lenny Kravitz, providing rhythm for a smooth ride, while “I Confess” tells the bluesy story of being human in the light of temptation of the heart. Both songs are swelteringly smooth and showcase the ever-changing vocal stylings Tracy is capable of.

With “Everybody’s Talkin”, the Fred Neil song, Tracy takes on a darker version musically, using minor chords and a slower tempo to give the song a different perception. “I Wish You Well” and “Cold,” both about loss, are beautifully packaged in Ted O'Connell’s heartbreaking guitar licks that deepen emotional images of the lyrics.
Could I Be is Tracy’s 3^rd album, and she has learned much about recording and producing her work. Of recording, she says,“I love recording. I love coming up with parts and challenging myself to do things I wouldn’t normally do,” she goes on, “There are huge differences between all three recordings.”

Tracy says of the cross-genre feeling and subject matter of the songs on her disk, “My music has always been all over the place – it’s usually the hardest part of putting an album together for me. I just record the songs I’m really feeling strongly about at the time and go from there. Plus, my influences are all over the map"

“I’m always amazed to hear other interpretations of my songs. It speaks to the power of music that an individual can take a song that was written for a certain purpose and find their own truth within it. It’s that truth that everyone is looking for – esp. when they are unable to express what they’re feeling. I often mask what my true intention is in a song – it’s personal because the songs are usually written for me. I try to make them as universal as possible without revealing what I’m really writing about. It’s wonderful to know that others are touched by something I’ve written, esp. when it’s something that is very personal to me.”

Come Take My Hand (1996) was Tracy’s

debut album “That one was about making money, the learning process of recording, and an urgent “now or never” need to put something out.”

Her second album, which has yet to be released, titled It Is What It Is (2005), “was about freedom for me. I was at a point in my life when I had all the time in the world. I lived for that recording,” she reminisces. “I learned a lot about recording with the first album and made some mistakes that I tried to learn from the second time around. I did most of the engineering on the recording and ended up doing all of the guitar work on It Is What It Is. As a result of some life circumstances I ended up not releasing it, although I hope to do so later this year. Performance-wise, that recording is much more representative of what I do in a live setting.”

“My first record is not as perfect as
I would have liked and to this day I find it hard to listen to it without being critical. On the second disc I had the luxury of time and discipline. I knew what I wanted to hear and worked at it until I got it right.”

Friend and producer Don Zimmer, who played on most of her new tracks, was instrumental in getting things rolling for Could I Be. “One day Don asked if I had written any new songs. When I said yes, he said we should record them. We had a lot of fun and decided to get together once a week and write or record or just play. Don’s feeling was that even if it was only once a week we were still doing something musical. After about 6 or 7 months we realized we had enough material for an album and then started thinking about how to put it all together and make it cohesive.”

Featuring several high-caliber players on her disc, such as Jimmy Dillon on guitar, Ted O’Connell on guitar & bass, Mike Myers on sax, sister Cindy Blackman on drums and Don Zimmer playing everything from keyboards to bass to guitars and drum loops as well as producing all the tracks, the album is musically off-the-charts-amazing and the layers of sonic genius will astound the listener. And lets not forget that Tracy herself is on bass, guitar, vocals and piano.

“I love guitars and I am really fortunate to have such wonderful friends that know their way around a fret board. But they don’t just pick up the guitar and start thrashing away. Each one of them listens to the song and gives it the emotion necessary to convey my ideas and feelings. They all gave me a piece of themselves for my songs and I’ll be forever grateful. In fact, I wrote them all a song. The song Found My Way was written for all my guitar boys: Don, Ted, Jimmy and Danny Click, (with whom she now sings in his band Danny Click and The Hell Yeahs). I love them all so much and am so touched by the way they play and the way in which they support me with their playing. They always steal my heart with every note.”

With Could I Be, Tracy just wanted to make music for herself, “Could I Be is about time for ME. I’m just doing what I love to do. If people in the music industry notice that, then that’s just fine. If not, I don’t really care at this point in my life. Music is an integral part of my life and it is something I will always do. I don’t have to be performing on a stage to be a musician. All I have to do is to be myself. It’s funny, when I try to get people’s attention no one notices me. But when I just sit back and just do what I’ve got to do people connect with that.”

“A long time ago I really wanted to “make it” in the music business. But I realized that the price that I would have to pay to “make it” wasn’t something I was willing to pay. Once, I decided to give up being a musician a couple of years after my first CD came out. My mother told me to be true to myself, to always keep my music for me. It belongs to me, something I choose to share with the world. This is what feeds my soul and that brings me joy”

Could I Be is available as a digital download at:

www.floatingrecords.com

All Photos Copyright 2012-Carolyn McCoy

Mega-Mega Thanks to Dan Rauck, my favorite editor, for making my words prettier than a sunset on Jupiter...

Moonmama says, "Support your local musicians!"

Diary Of A Groupie: Breaking Down The Head Bang!

2011-12-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

Head Banging: Verb. A type of dance that involves violently shaking the head or body in time with music, most commonly rock & roll and heavy metal.

Ok class, take your seats! Everyone, please settle down, we need to begin today’s lesson, one I know you will be excited about. Today we have a special topic, “The Ins and Outs of Head Banging”, which will include the history, physiology and safety of “Violently Moving Your Head to Heavy Metal”.

It seems that Led Zeppelin first coined the term “head banger” in 1968, when some of their fans got so gripped by the phenomenal shred of Mr. Jimmy Page that they began to actually bang their heads against the stage. I guess Mr. Page had that effect on people. The story continues with the popularization of the movement of head banging by a certain Mr. Angus Young, who would use his whole body to express the joy in what he was getting out of his guitar. To this day, head banging is synonymous to Heavy Metal, and if you play or listen to Heavy Metal of Hard Rock, you undoubtedly do a little head bang yourself. They go hand and hand like peanut butter & jelly.

One of my main reasons for focusing and researching this topic was because I was curious to find out why basic head movements (shaking up and down or side to side) are one of the main ways that we humans move our bodies to sound and how that leads to integrating full body and foot/leg movements in conjunction with the music. I actually found northing on that particular subject, but I did get all kinds of neato info on head banging. So I am just going with that instead.

I can tell you that my personal experiences with the expressive art form of head banging is that it feels really good to do, it helps me to integrate the music into my body and mind, plus moving my head around to music helps me get a full spectrum of the sound with my ears. I like to think of it as similar to moving your cell phone around to get the best reception or rearranging the antennae on your old-school TV to get a clear picture. My head is the antenna and I am trying to get a good connection to the Universe of Sound.

There are multiple styles of head banging with more and more styles and forms coming into being each day as rock and roll continues to explode on our airwaves, in our concert halls and on our IPods.

Some of the most common head bang styles are:

THE WINDMILL: This consists of swinging your head in a circular fashion so that your long Rock Star Hair flies around like crazy.

THE POGO: This is one of my favorites for myself because it is a full-body experience characterized by the bouncing straight up and down while bopping your head

FULL BODY BANG: This is FULL-ON, your body bent over, your air guitar flailing, you're so into the music your head is about to fall off.

THE DRUNKEN DUDE: I am not a fan of this one, as being short, I often get knocked around when I am near folks doing this. Usually you must be super drunk in order to accomplish this Head Bang maneuver, in which you must sway, fall over, trip and go “WOO HOO!” a lot as you move NOT in time with the music. You are in your own little world with this one, more power to you, Bro!

FREE STYLE: This can consist of any number of movements that can include Moshing; Air Guitar (with or without the leg stance); The Horns* or the “Rock On!” symbol of pinky and index finger up, thumb over bent over fingers; or clenched fists that are pounded into the air consistently. Choose any combination of the styles above for your own creative bent on the head bang.

*(A random side note of "The Horns" symbol: In the Pagan Traditions, that sign is a symbol of Male Divinity, the Sacred Stag or the god Pan. Early Christianity changed the symbol to be thought of as the sign of the Devil. And, well, we all know that Rock and Roll is the Devil’s Music, so I guess "The Horns" is fitting as a symbol for Rock music).

One thing one must be careful of when head banging regularly is strain to neck or injury to one’s head. If you head bang too hard near a wall, that may be bad news as you can imagine. Don’t say your mother never warned you. If you are so enthusiastic with your movements and you are not aware of what you are doing, you could get serious whiplash. There have been known cases of severe headaches, neck trauma and even one recorded case of someone having a stroke from head banging. It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

Movement is just a part of the musical experience. We waltz to Mozart, we booty shake to the Blues and Reggae. We snap our fingers to Jazz and we two-step and dosy-doe to Country & Western. Head banging is just another amazing way to manifest physically the internal ecstasy that the music creates for our mortal bodies.

Class dismissed.

Moonmama says...........

A Man and His Guitars: Danny Click

2011-11-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

Guitarist Danny Click stands amid the glory being aimed at him with a huge smile on his face. He is humble and shy under the accolades he is receiving left and right from press, radio and fans. His charm and charisma stem not from ego or attitude, but from the true fact that he is an amazingly talented musician and songwriter and he knows he deserves the ride on the rising star that seems to be taking him to some heavenly stratosphere of acknowledgement within the music industry.

Struggling hard to make a name for himself and his music, Danny Click has been on the roller coaster most musicians of talent go through. Working hard, writing good music, being signed then dropped by a record label and then starting again from the bottom with random gigs with a few locals listening amid the clatter of dinner plates.

But perseverance gets one far and we now find Danny Click working his ass off in order to rise yet again, with weekly shows at Fairfax’s Sleeping Lady Café where because of word of mouth of Danny’s live shows, folks are left standing outside the packed venue hoping to get a glimpse of this amazing man, his many guitars and his blues licks that are straight out of the state of Texas.

His long and winding road towards “making it” in

music started with a simple acoustic six-sting. “It was a cheap little Checkmate acoustic that my mom got me. I think she paid like $10 for it. It was so hard to play, but man I felt like I had found my home!” Recalls Danny. “It made me practice a lot because it was so hard to play. I worked that summer to buy my first electric. Which was an Electra Omega that I actually still have.” That six-string was a Gateway Guitar that led Danny into the world of making music.

At this point in time, Danny has about 40 guitars. For you guitar officianondos, Danny’s top three guitars used in his music making are as follows:

Gibson Original Jumbo Reissue acoustic, which is Danny’s main songwriting guitar. “It sounds HUGE and is very loud and lively. I wrote most of the songs from the new album on that guitar. When I pick it up, it always has something to say. Sometimes it’s a song that comes out or just a riff, but always something.”

LSL T-Bone ’52 Tele Replica. “This is hands-down the very best guitar that anyone has ever built for me and that I have put in my hands. It has it all. The vintage sound, feel, look and vibe. It just feels and sounds OLD. So it is my number one electric solid body guitar. The LSL makes me play the blues and changes how I think when I’m on stage. It challenges me. I love the feeling of it feeding back and resonating and coming alive on stage. Especially at our Lady shows where we’re all crammed in and close together. Very electric."

Heritage 535 Gold Top semi-hollow. “This guitar imparts the same feeling as the LSL in a very different way. It was made in the original Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan by the guys who worked for Gibson in the ‘50’s. Their guitars are way more Gibson than any new Gibson. They make them like they used to in the 1950’s and 60’s. Hand made everything. With this guitar it’s very fun to play British blues. Feedback and sustain and a very open tone. Just bitchin’!”

Growing up musical in Indiana, Danny also learned some mandolin and lap steel and he credits such bands as Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Duane Allman, David Lyndley, Ry Cooder, Santana, Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits for inspiring him musically. “I still remember the exact moment I heard ‘Sultans of Swing’ for the first time. Changed my musical life. And I remember listening to ‘Abraxas’ and putting up black light posters! So many great bands that helped me think differently.” Moving to Texas in the mid 90’s helped fine tune Danny’s love of blues, hitting bars and clubs and learning from seasoned folks along the way.

“I got to Texas in the late 90’s; got here to California about 2006. I’ll always feel the pull of the farmlands in the Midwest, and the wide-open skies of Texas. But I guess (for now at least) California is my home.”

Self-producing all four of his albums, 40 Miles, (1998), the live album Night Of The Living Guitars (2001) and the new Life Is a Good Place (2011) which is now charting on 15 different Country or Americana based radio stations in the US has allowed Danny to do his music his way. One album, Elvis The Dog (2003), was financed by an Italian record label and which sent Danny on his third tour of Italy, even playing one show in front of 10,000 people in Switzerland and blowing their minds with his riffs.

Danny Click’s magnetism and stellar talent has led him

to some of the best players for his band in the State of California. It seems that the name of his band has become The Hell Yeahs! as that is one of Danny’s positive catch phrases when performing. “I’m very lucky to have the band I have. Don Bassey on bass; Tracy Blackman on vocals and acoustic guitar; Bonnie Hayes on keys and vocals; Adrienne Biggs on violin and Dave Sampson still plays guitar with us sometimes.”

Says Danny of his band that includes a heavyweight rotation of drummers, “Mostly it has been scheduling issues that makes the drum seat change from gig to gig. Kevin Hayes is a very busy and in demand drummer, as is Paul Revelli, Ernest ‘Boom’ Carter, and Andy Doershuck. We’re extremely lucky to have the best drummers in the state to choose from. We are in a very good place right now with this group of amazing musicians.”

Um, not too mention Carlos Santana stopped in one night with bride Cindy Blackman (of Lenny Kravitz Band and also sister to Danny's bandmate Tracy Blackman) to kick up some shredding blues with Danny and his band. When you catch the eye of Santana, you know you have what it takes to go far.

Danny has found his calling up on the stage. He is prime for an explosion of notice and it is only a matter of time before that happens. But to Danny, it’s not about the fame or fortune, it’s about the music and what it does for his soul. “I feel right with the world when I play live. Like I’m in my kind of church. It’s a very spiritual feeling. Kind of like leaving the body sometimes. Except when I play a wrong note and I’m pulled back in!”

As for fame and fortune, Danny waxes philosophical, “Well, you always hope for that, making ends meet and having something to retire on someday would be nice. Not that I will ever stop playing. If that ever happens then I‘m dead. No thank you!“

With many amazing musicians and songwriters in the world, Danny Click shines like the gem that he is. He has worked so hard and deserves all the praise and adoration that he is receiving. And to that, I must say, "HELL YEAH! Mr Click! You rock!"

Moonmama says..."open you soul to live music"

Diary Of A Groupie: The Danny Diaries

2011-10-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary, I have found an amazing musician to adore, follow and support. His name is Danny Click and he plays a mean blues lick with his guitars and he is kinda cool beyond belief. He hails from Texas but now makes his home amid the rolling hills of Marin County, CA, my beloved home as well. Oh Diary, don't get your panties in a wad, as this is strictly a Platonic Musical Love Affair; but a love based on music is just as valid as a love based on physical lust. My journey began a few months ago....

May 12, 2011
Sleeping Lady Cafe:

Every now and then I stumble upon something or someone so spectacular that it makes my eyes water with joy. Sometimes I stumble upon things that give me perspective in my life and help me understand myself a bit better. Sometimes there are moments in my life when a healthy dose of hard blues riffs and the sweltering chords of the South come into my world and fill my whole being with a reason to go on living.

Sometimes magic happens.....

Danny Click: Texan songwriter and blues guitar master. His blues, his playing and his songs all played a role in helping my demons stay away a little bit longer, if only for one night.

His band rocked hard with a little help from his musical friends that included the amazing singer Tracy Blackman with Bonnie Hayes on additional vocals, drummer Kevin Hayes, bassist Don Bassey, guitarists Dave Sampson and Mark Goldenberg and amazing violin lady Adrienne Biggs.

With his original songs and a few awesome blues covers, Danny Click has been making headway in the Marin music scene as someone to be reckoned with. He takes magic and channels it into music that is so pure and so real it fills any room up with a sound that can carry one to another realm of reality. That is why music is so powerful. That's why music is so healing.

June 30, 2011
Sleeping Lady Cafe:

Danny Click has more guitars than I have ever seen a musician have at any one particular gig, trading and swapping out 6-string electrics like I change my boots. Each guitar has it's own personality and sound which creates the moods and feeling appropriate to each of his sweltering blues licks.

He and his band of solid professional musicians bring in their own sound and personality as well, creating a whole pile of magic the swells and blooms with each performance of Danny's that I see.

Danny Click's band has it's regular members that includes Don Bassey on bass, Tracy Blackman on acoustic guitar and vocals and and ever rotating posee of guests that can include Bonnie Hayes on vocals, Dave Burn or Kevin Hayes drums, Adrienne Biggs's violin and many other season music makers.

Texas/Southern-tinged blues is what comes out of such a group of fine folks that will always put a smile of your face and a song in your heart...

July 9, 2011
142 Throckmorton Theater:

Intimacy can be thought of as a connection between two or more people sharing an experience that brings them closer together.

Music can be thought of as a type of conduit to intimacy, as can sharing song, rhythm and the creative spirit, since they are all ways that bring us closer together and have the potential to form a bond that is as deep as the relationships between lovers and friends.

Danny Click and his band of merry music makers all have the qualities of those that can form intimate relationships to the sonic love that is created by a band. Each musician that is part of the band inspires us to think about the world and all the inhabits the heart; the good and the bad. With song, with lyric, with harmony and with cohesion of instrument and voice, Danny Click brings his music alive and makes us lovers to each and every single note that is sung or played.

In his recent intimate show at the beautiful 142 Throckmorton in Mill Valley, Ca, he and his band created deep love of song. Danny's blazing blues guitars, Tracy Blackman's soulful vocals, Don Bassey's blasting bass and Dave Sampson's sweet rhythm guitar all add up to Danny's main band of players. Add to that Adrienne Biggs of violin, Rebecca Roudman on cello, Billy Johnson on drums and the exceptional vibe of Bonnie Hayes on keys.

Love abounds from the stage at a Danny Click show. The truth of the music shines through for all of us to bask in all it's glory.

August 18, 2011
Sleeping Lady Cafe

Dear Mr. Danny Click,

I am writing to you today to let you know how much I love your music. I just might be one of your biggest fans, but I bet everyone tells you that, as your guitar playing is above astronomical and your songs bring joy to my ears.

It seems to me, Mr. Click, that every time I see you play with your searing and off-the-hook licks and shreds on those many guitars of yours, there is an uplifting of my soul that not a lot of other bands give me, and trust me, I see a lot of live music and know a lot of bands, oh but Mr. Click, you are something special.

I can’t quite put my finger on why you are so amazing, but maybe it is your skill, maybe it is your humor and warmth up on the stage, maybe it’s your general realness that you amplify while blowing out your amps. Or maybe it’s just the fact that it is all of those elements combined that make you so incredible as a human and a musician.

I also love your band. Not just the regulars like Tracy Blackman’s vocals and Don Bassey’s thumping bass, but the ongoing posse of stellar performers and music makers that shine a light on your music with their talents like Bonnie Hayes’ singing; Kevin Hayes’ awesome drumming; Tommy Odetto’s and Ian Lamson’s mind boggling guitar playing and Adrienne Biggs and her sweetly singing violin. With folks like that respecting and loving you and your music, no one can doubt your Star Quality.

So, Mr. Click, I want to thank you for all you do for my heart and soul. I want to thank you for the music you give me. I want to let you know that you make a difference in my life. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Moonmama

September 22, 2011

Sleeping Lady Cafe:

Danny, Danny, Danny....how fast your star is rising on the scene, guiding us all in the history of your ascent to the heavens of the cosmic stratosphere of killer rock and roll blues.

You work so hard, play so amazingly and climb & climb so steadily in order for more and more people know about you and your music.

You deserve to be known, you deserve to be honored, you deserve the accolades you are receiving for all your time and energy you put into making yourself into that star you are becoming.

I watch from below as you stream across the sky of sonic sound, your trail of shreds and wails on your guitars perpetuating your velocity to shine.

October 14, 2011

George's Nightclub

What can I say about Danny Click and his band that I have not already said?

Sometimes I am just speechless when it comes to bands I love and follow, and that is how it is often for me when watching Danny perform his music again and again...jaw dropping disbelief at the whole package he delivers from the stage. As his music, his musicianship and his amazing backing players give me such joy, I honor them in return with words of gratitude.

Danny Click: Guitars and Vocals

Danny, I said this to you the other night, and I will say it again...And so I quote myself, "I saw ignition engines fire up under your shoes the other night. Fasten your seatbelt, Mr Click, you are about to take off into the heavens above..." I thank you for the music.

Don Bassey: Bass & Vocals

Mr. Bassey, your smile so brightens any room and the joy that is emitted from your being as you blast out those killer bass lines makes me smile and emit joy as well. I thank you for the music.

Tracy Blackman: Guitar and Vocals

Tracy, Tracy, Tracy, you know how much I adore you. Aside from being such an amazing singer and songwriter in your own right, you add such soul and depth to all of Danny's music. I thank you for the music.

Adrienne Biggs: Violin

Your sweet, sweet violin adds so much emotion to the music: Sorrow, joy, longing, desire, all from wood and strings. I thanks you for the music.

Kevin Hayes: Drums

Ok, dude....you rock! There is such a solid presence with you behind the drums, almost like you are creating the cauldron for the music to be mixed and boiled in. I kinda request that you play with Danny forever....I thank you for the music.

Bonnie Hayes: Keyboards & Vocals

Bonnie, I give you honor for your spunk and your sass. You are a pint sized maven of energy and I think you are the coolest thing since prizes in cereals. I thank you for the music.

To the whole band, to all the folks who step in and play this music. I thank you.

Carolyn McCoy

Moonmama says, "Hell YEAH!"

Diary Of A Groupie: Music Is Cheaper Than Therapy

2011-09-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

My earliest memory. I am a small child, maybe one or two years old. I am in my playpen. My mother’s record player introduces me to Pachelbel Canon and Vivaldi as I stare though the bars of my secure castle and see the rain falling outside the window. I feel at peace.

I am 8 and newly transplanted to Washington State. I am devastated and angry of the forced loss of my old life. Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets To Paradise” plays on my brother’s car stereo. I dread going back to school. I hate school, I hate Washington and I am one pissed off kid. We go often for ice cream and I start get fat in order to block the pain I feel inside. I don’t want to be here. I want my tickets back to the paradise I knew.

I am 10. I have discovered free-form dance party alone in my living room where everything is my prop. Supertramp’s Breakfast In America plays on the High Fi, my father having rigged speakers all over the house for the music to play in. I bounce of the couch, jump on the chairs, stand in triumph on the coffee table, finding meaning of the music through my own body. I was perplexed by the idea of kippers for breakfast, I adored the harmonica on the album and in the lyrics found the words that explained that I was a long way from home, even if I was in my own living room.

I am 11. More and more, music becomes the way that I find my identity. Music has the answers to so many of the questions no one else will answer for me. “What are these feelings I have for those boys? Why do I feel so alone when I am in the midst of others? What the fuck am I doing?” Music helped me to define myself, to find myself. I carried around a little mono-speakered boom box with tapes I made from the radio. 38. Special’s “So Caught Up In You”, the Fame movie soundtrack, Cheap Trick, The Tubes, Foreigner. So much music was at my fingertips that had the ability to help me understand myself.

I am 16. Again I am an unwilling transplant to a new land, this time California. I have never been so lonely or isolated in my life. With my arrival in the Sunshine State, I left behind the recent deaths of 2 friends, a crew of pals so tried & true, the green beauty of Puget Sound and music that befitted my gloom with The Cure, Depeche Mode and The Cult. But California brought new roads to explore and I often set off in my dad’s new Thunderbird with the sunroof open, the stars shining in and the top-end stereo blasting away my loneliness with the mixed tapes I made to keep me company. I was not so alone when the Smiths, New Order, The Doors or Led Zeppelin spoke to me of their truths as I sped fast and furious along the freeways and canyon roads of my new home, trying to find a place in myself to be at peace with the loneliness.

I am 19 and just discovered The Grateful Dead. I am an immediate convert thanks to the hit of clean LSD and the cool new friends I was hanging out with; true Hippy-types who did not shave and lived communally. Using LSD in a concert setting blew me wide apart for music to solidify itself into every pore of my being. My DNA changed direction and my brain got rewired and I never experienced music the same again, because now I truly could EXPERIENCE the music, wholly, with my body and soul. I loved the Dead for a time and I thank them for their part in shifting my world and opening my ears.

I am 21 and can now go to bars. I start to hit up all the music venues I can in the SF Bay Area, seeing live music every weekend. I begin dating musicians and falling in love even more with music. The Fillmore, Slims, Owl and Money Café, Maritime Hall, Freight and Salvage, Starry Plough, the old Last Day Saloon and the old Sweetwater were all my playgrounds. I wanted to dance, I wanted to be free. I made friends easily at this point, but I thank the music for being a conduit to overcoming my social fears. When there was music, I smiled. When I smiled, people approached me. The music was my trusty sidekick and I felt no fear when it was by my side.

After that point, after the age of 21, there was never going back to any sort of normal relationship with music. I had found my lifelong lover in the form of notes, chords, instrument and gear. My love of the music was made manifest in physical form by the musicians I dated, as they were the ones who understood my love for the music more than anyone. Even if the romances did not last, the music they left behind was an imprint of my love for them and how they affected my life.

Along the bumpy and chaotically joyous road of my life, I have fallen in love many times, traveled the world, had a child, changed personas more time than I have changed boots and grown to become who I am now. The music is and has always been by my side. The music has always been my confidant. The music has always been my friend and will forever be so until I am sucked away into the heavens.

Moonmama says: "Music won't fuck you up like Prozac"

A Fire in Their Veins: Spark & Whisper

2011-08-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Out of any spark comes fire, followed by ashes and inevitably, re-growth. You can’t stop progress and you can’t stop things changing or morphing into something else.

Spark & Whisper

Enter Spark and Whisper, a band that has risen out of the ashes of the Marin/Sonoma based folk trio Three At Last. Three At Last veterans Velvy Appleton, reprising his role on vocals and guitar and Anita Sandwina, sharing vocals in soaring harmony while playing a gentle guitar and mandolin, head the new lineup for Spark and Whisper. With new ideas and new members, Spark and Whisper takes a new direction, adding a rock-tinged edge to their previous folk sound.

Though keeping with their folk origins, Spark & Whisper takes the band up a notch with a sophistication and depth of a full band, giving groove and a bit of electric-sass to the music that was once pure acoustic simplicity. Says Velvy of the disbanding of Three At Last, “It was about creative and style differences. I think Anita and I were feeling the pull to move away from traditional folk. We wanted to drive a little harder, groove a little deeper, and explore a wider range of music and experience. We wanted to be more modern and timely, and felt we could do this best in a different configuration.”

Anita Sandwina

Burning brightly with their debut self-titled CD, Spark & Whisper take many songs from the time of Three At Last and in a sense, create new songs morphed from the old. Spark & Whisper is revamped, ripened and bulked-up with added bassist Paul Eastburn and drummer/percussionist/vocalist Scott Johnson, both have been on a musical journey with Velvy with the Samba/Latin band Nobody From Ipamema. “There's so much trust and love in this band. I've played with these guys for 12 years and hundreds of shows.” Velvy states.

Velvy Appleton

“When Anita and I decided we wanted to add drums and bass and GROOVE, I called Paul and Scott and they were very exited to join up and do this music with us. I was worried that they would think we weren't cool enough for them, but they have really embraced our songs and our sound and they have propelled us into new and unexpected places. They have made a tremendous impact on our feel. They are both virtuosic players who bring dance, jazz and swing to our songs…its so great to play with people who love/trust each other. Really a dream come true.”

Anita Sandwina and Velvy write their songs separately but there is much collaboration in making the songs come to life within the band. “We take great joy in interpreting and arranging each other's songs. We write from very different points of view, and I think that gives our material a great breadth and scope.”

Paul Eastburn

With 6 previously unrecorded songs on the new disk plus 2 revamped songs that were recorded on albums of Three At Last, one would think there might be the tendency of making the arrangement of the songs similar to Three At Last, but Spark & Whisper has a different group dynamic musically. The individual musicians and the chemistry of each of the members interacting together lends a different flavor than what was created with Three At Last. “Spark & Whisper goes so many new places; the Arabic jam in "Once", the Samba feel of "Carries Me Away", the country waltz of "Had What We Had", the wah-wah solo in "Yesterday & Tomorrow", the dobro & bottleneck slide of “Grandma's Song”. It feels more real, more creative and more confident. I feel the material is more mature and far less "corny" than the Three At Last songs.”

Scott Johnson

Most of the tracks were recorded and mixed by Matt Wright at Prairie Sun Recording in Cotati, Ca. with additional mixing and recording at 7 Generations Recording in Forrest Knolls, Ca. “Spark & Whisper” is an amazingly gentle album with hints of the band’s newly formed “rock band bent”. With basic tracks for the album recorded in two vary long days, Velvy feels the recording process is just getting easier each time around. “This album was made with no conflict or turmoil. Three At Last split up in December. By January we had the new band in place. We rehearsed, recorded, mixed, mastered, did photography, graphic design, production and we had our finished CD by April, all without a single fight, disagreement, or moment of tension. A great example of “flow”. We take it as a sign that we're on the right track.”

Spark and Whisper

Velvy explains that he and Anita chose the name Spark & Whisper because they felt that the name of the band and music itself should “hint at excitement and creation and intimacy and connection; the things we love most in this life, and the moments of transcendence we try to achieve in our recorded music and at our shows.”

Spark and Whisper’s new CD as well as tour and gig information can be found at http://www.sparkandwhisper.com

Album Art by Michael Garlington

All bands photos copyright Carolyn McCoy.

Moonmama says, "Me press, me write pretty words. Me good"

Diary Of A Groupie: To All The Men I've Loved Before

2011-07-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Music has been a part of my reality since I was a wee tot. The first music I remember is Pachelbel Canon and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. My parents did a great job making me a music junkie, but I have to give huge credit to all the wonderful men of my romantic past who have greatly influenced the music that I love. Most of these men exposed me to artists and music that have helped me add to The Soundtrack of My Life, a musical work in progress until the day I die. Look for the Complete Boxed Set in my posthumous state.

These Lovely Men whom I have loved greatly & deeply are the ones who have perpetuated my love of music the most. They are the men with whom I have shared great quantities of time with; the one’s with whom I have shared my body and my bed; those men with whom I have allowed to use my toothbrush and spit in my sink. These romances of my past helped me to learn about myself as well as helped solidify my deep love of music, of which usually lasted longer than the romances themselves. We take what we can from all our human interactions and hopefully make ourselves new and more alive; the music makes me new and alive everyday.

First off, there was “K”, my first love, my first lover. He gave me reggae like Toots & The Maytalls and Yellowman. He gave me Kitaro with his spacey keyboards and Andreas Vollenweider with his electric harp and he opened the door to my understanding of “Mind Music” and the visions one can get from that.

Then came “C”, the first musician I ever dated. He never actually spit in my sink nor shared my toothbrush and it was a short lived romance, but to this day I am grateful for meeting him since a few make out sessions on his couch and many in-depth conversations about the technicality of music ended up giving me “the ear” to hear music like I have never heard it before.

“R” came along with his tattoos, his gorgeous long & curly brown hair and his brooding moods. He took me for a ride of Old Time Rock and Roll. Little Feat, Grateful Dead, The Who, Pete Townshend. He broke furniture and trashed my mother’s living room when I broke his heart, but it was all Rock and Roll.

I met “A” within the SF Café scene. He was the first musician I ever fell in love with. He turned me on in so many ways but the music is what stayed in my bones. His love of folk music in the form of Cat Stevens, The Waterboys, Michelle Shocked and Woody Guthrie guided my ears and my spirit into realms of the soft strums of capoed six-string guitars, traveling minstrels of days of yore, and lyrics with “Thee" and "Thou”. But it was his own songs and music that stayed with me because I was a part of the process of their creation in some way.

Then there was “B”, a super fun romance but sadly one of the most traumatic in it’s ending. He was a bass player, not super good but it was cool anyhow to be the Old Lady of another musician. His bass was a fricking gorgeous rosewood beauty and it was pretty sexy. He was a true Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll Man in every capacity and we turned each other on to so much music that my head spins just thinking of the disk space on The Sound Track Of My Life CD. Freddy Jones Band, Dave Mathews, Dead Can Dance, Zero, Big Head Todd, Box Set, Lisa Gerrard, Ottmar Leibert, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos…and on and on…To this day, I do not listen to any of the music I experienced with him since we split many years ago, as the trauma of our breakup was intense. But I do think of that music fondly and hope to one day have it in my life again.

My Musical Inspiration continues in the form of 7.5 years of Domestic Something Or Other. “T” came along and filled my world with Salsa dancing, African rhythms and Latin music from Spain to Argentina. He gave me his I-Tunes Library and many lullabies for our child. He took me to the next level of love for myself and he left me with some killer play lists on the computer.

Then there was ”M”. He was one of the greatest influences of my life in more ways than I can count on the extremities that are attached to my body. He brought Hard Metal and Dark Rock & Roll into my brain where there lived only rage and anger from my mother’s death. He gave me such joy even amid the tumultuous relationship we were riding on and because of the many heartbreaks I endured with him, he indirectly inspired me to start writing about music so that I could find an creative outlet for my feelings and my battered heart. He gave me the understanding of the mechanics of music and helped my demons find some solace within heavy bass lines, screeching guitars and screaming lyrics that matched my feelings and the darkness of my soul.

“N” came into my life with his paintbrushes and dancing pelvis. Our first date found us falling in love amid Tom Petty songs and we danced our way into each other's hearts. Anything and everything was on the plate musically with he and I; hard rock, heavy metal and Old School '80’s like the Cure and Berlin, though live music was our muse. Sadly all I have left now is paint splattered clothing and another broken heart, but again the music heals me even without the man attached to the songs.

And so, my list draws to an end for now as there is always more room for inspiration. I do also wish to thank all the lesser Players of My Heart, who may not have ever had the honor of spitting in my bathroom sink but who have given me the gift of song regardless.

I dedicate this prose to you, my beloved boys of my past and present...and I sing a song a la Julio Iglesias!

“To all the boys I've loved before / Who traveled in and out my door / I'm glad they came along / I dedicate this song / To all the boys I've loved before”. Thanks Albert Hammond, for letting me plagiarize your lyrics.

All photos by Carolyn McCoy

Moonmama says: "Thanks boys, for all the music!"

Diary Of A Groupie: My Les Paul Tribute

2011-06-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

I will be honest right off the bat, I have never been a Groupie to Les Paul, but I feel that I knew him intimately and deeply because of his invention of the Hard Bodied Electric Guitar. That man changed my world and I never even got the opportunity to meet him or see him play live, but I have been a lover a million-and-one times to the Ingenious Guitars that he made famous among the Shredding Elite of the music world for 70 years.

Ah, Les, I bow down to you and your Electric Guitar! Thank you so much for this great gift to Musicians everywhere! The squeals, the shrieks, the yelps and the howls that came out of your invention were like nothing the world had ever heard before. You made an innocent and simple wood and stringed instrument into something of a deeply sensual and excitable lady that loved to be rocked hard and played harder. Gone were the days of simple strumming of a quiet six-string and enter into the days of loud, amplified and exquisite SHRED!

Les Paul Guitar painted by Neal Barbosa

As a young girl, the power and energy of the Electric Guitar came into my realm via Peter Frampton, Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd while playing with my romper-stompers in the basement while my brother played his records. Later, as my Music Awareness broadened and I opened my ears more, the Electric Guitar played well into my emotive teen years with the sweeping and cascading moans and squeals of Prince and the straight-road hard-rock driving of Def Leppard.

Les Paul Guitar painted by Neal Barbosa

Now, as a woman of some years, I still hold the Electric Guitar as my primary Love Interest as it expresses emotion and feeling in the most precious and profound way to me. As George Harrison explains beautifully, "While my guitar gently weeps..."

Les Paul, your passing a few years back made my heart weep, but your Life Force will continue to live on the magic fingers of James Hetfield, Neil Young, Paul McCartney and my Favorite Shredder Of All Shredders, Buckethead. Your legacy will continue to Rock and Roll forever and always!

SIDE NOTE: I so love a man with MacGyver Qualities*, someone who can make something amazing out of nothing amazing, and Les Paul’s MacGyver Qualities were through the roof! I love a man who can make an amplifier (which had not been in existence as of yet in that early acoustic world) out of a radio speaker, a telephone, a cinder block and a broom. Yeah, he did that…fricking genius!

*MacGyver Qualities: From the 80’s TV show “MacGyver”, in which the main character was so innovative that he could make a parachute out of latex gloves, dental floss and a Bic Pen.

Thanks to Live Painter for the extra visual. You rock dude!

http://www.nealbarbosa.com

Rock & Rose VIII - For Those About To Rock

2011-06-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Rock and Rose in an annual house party that features talented bands from the nooks and crannies of the hillside of Marin County, California. Marin County has a seething history of rock legends living among the oak and bay studded landscape. The legacy that was left behind in our local communities by such music makers as The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana has beget yet another generation of rockers and rollers.

Rock and Rose was created by a group of dedicated music lovers led by San Rafael residents Luciana Laughter and Ethan Turner and co-produced with local rockers Mark Antonio and his wife Sierra Simonetta, of who contributed "The Metal Song" for this movie.

Rock and Rose is in it's eight year of rocking and rolling in a small backyard shrouded in oak and acacia trees in a quiet residential neighborhood in San Rafael, CA. It holds tribute to the gems of musical magicians we have in the area. It gives us a chance to socialize, party, play and enjoy live music all day long.

My 7 hour stay at Rock & Rose VII on May 28th, 20011 produced over 1,500 still photos, most of them in a continuous sequence. I took these photos and created a montage of the joy and music that is produced from home grown/grassroots events such as Rock & Rose.

Moonmama ROCKS!

The Walk Of Life With Peck, The Town Crier

2011-04-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

Photo by Moonmama

Life is but a journey… We all begin somewhere and end up some place else, the pit stops, segues and adventures along the way form who we are and how we choose to live. We learn something new with each step of this journey. This particular journey takes place on a gorgeously sunny Sunday afternoon in Marin County as music maker Chris Peck, AKA Peck The Town Crier, and yours truly wander the streets of our small hamlet chatting about everything under the sun. Chris Peck is a gifted song writer pumping out self-produced albums of intelligently quirky tunes and then there’s me, a struggling Rock n’ Roll Writer trying to make a name for herself through creative passions for all things music. It seems a fitting outing for two creative, kindred souls hanging out for a day of conversation.

We stroll languidly past high-end boutiques and Latin super markets, we saunter under maple and oak trees that hold leaves still hanging with the remnant touches of fall color and through small city parks and over dirty sidewalks, we walk. We talk about the weather, we touch upon conspiracy theories, we get, as one Chris Peck song suggest, “coffee, muthafuckin’ coffee” and we talk about my writing. But mainly, we talk about his music. As that is why we are chatting away on this blindingly bright California spring day. The purpose of this stroll is for me to get a better understanding and find out more about this gangly, white boy rapper-beat-poet dude named Chris Peck, who’s songs inspire goofiness, big ideas, awareness of the soul and a bit of bump-n-grind to boot.

Beginning at the tender age of 10, Chris Peck took to music like a fly to honey. Guitar was number one and was followed by drums at 11. As he grew older, his musical passions continued onto bass and a deeper connection to percussion. “I got way into Cuban music, Salsa and Rhumba, and learned some rudiments of Conga drums in Havana and Matanzas, Cuba when I was 17 and 18. I saw people go into trance at ceremonies, danced with ladies in the nightclubs, and drummed for 6 hours a day with an older gentleman named Roberto.”

Songwriting and musical arrangement began at 11 with a tune called “The Irishman”.

“I’ve written pretty steadily and it has always involved a toggling between lyrics and music. A good amount of my material is instrumental. I like to make little home versions on a multi-tracker, or hash things out on the musical staff or make a graphic representation of the music to help me figure out the form and arrangement.”

Fused within Chris is a lifelong love affair with creativity through songwriting and wordplay. Honing his poetic chops in a weekly gritty-streets-fueled Poetry Slam in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District, he is known for tossing words with other poets amid the insanity of a busy neighborhood known for it’s deep politics. “Thursday nights, I go out to 16th & Mission in SF, where about 100 people gather and perform for each other outside at the Bart Train Plaza. There’s no microphone, and it’s a noisy street corner, so it really focuses you on the power of your performance, and some way to grab people’s eyes and keep them. I feel like a different person when I’m there, its like bullfighting. You can get mad glory or embarrassment at 16th & Mission.”

Chris left The Bay Area in 1998 to study music at New York University only to return in 2003. His main influences have always been other musical artists including but not limited to Weather Report, Kraftwerk, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Laurie Anderson, Claude Debussy, Terry Riley, Deerhoof, the Wu Tang Clan, Arthur Russell, Yusef Lateef. When it comes to hip-hop for Peck, the crème de la crème is the great New Orleans mc Mystikal. “Some musical fascinations lose their luster for me, but not Mystikal. I keep feeling more impressed by him whenever I come back to his music. It’s all about his voice, the characters he inhabits, his story telling, and for God’s sake, his rhythm. There’s a song called “Shine”, dedicated to his sister’s memory, that is so dang soulful and rhythmically complex.”

With 1 EP’s and soon to be 5 Full-length albums under his belt, Home Phone- (2010), Le Chronique (2009) Groundhog's Day (2008) and The Garden Sings (2005), Chris is anything but shy about promoting his own music. Whether standing tall alone as Peck The Town Crier, the multi-instrumentalist genius, or with a band of rotating musical friends called The Crysmuscles, Chris does all he can to enhance his quirky sound and songs. Fusing White Boy Poetic Rap with anything form Rocking to Ethereal tunes, you may find a lot of similarities to the artist Beck. “My first album is called “Your Tape Machine’s Not Broken”. I made it on an old 4-track reel to reel, and it’s really funky-sounding and blown out. Most of it happened in the summer of ’97, when I had just got back from my first two weeks in Havana. I made an altar on my ceiling, dedicated to Elegua, the Santeria deity who gives and takes life. I remember the feeling of making that music, I was way overjoyed and had all these instruments and cables out in my room, eating lots of apples. I felt kind of possessed, like people talk about with automatic writing. Because of the purity of that experience, I still think that album is the most sacred to me. At some point this year, I’m going to re-release it.”

With his amazing back stock of songs as well as his constant writing and creating of new songs, Chris is never at a loss for fodder for all his albums. “About 80% of each record is made of songs written in the interim since the last release. But I DO reach back and re-work old songs. Sometimes, even a tune that’s been released on a previous record will get re-recorded with a new arrangement, or I’ll poach material from within the song and incorporate it into a new setting.”

“I really hope my music will be, fresh, surprising, healing & real. If I can get those elements together, I’ll be making music I’m really consistently stoked about. I would love for my music to be heard by little pods of people all around the world; Like some little rare breed of bird, that convenes on an island once a year and celebrates their quirkiness together. When I’m an old man, I would love to meet young musicians and work with them. I love that continuum of music, and of human knowledge in general. I love my heroes and teachers so much, and I want to do MY thing with just as much fire and dedication as they did THEIRS.”

With his big dreams and constant ideas, Chris Peck wants to do it all. “Really, in my path as an artist now, I’m hoping to grow outside pure music making, into some kind of medium that involves musical skills on display but also some type of public interaction, storytelling and myth-making. It feels like this new medium will be more attuned to what we’re feeling as a people now a day.”

“I spend hours at coffee shops every week, trying to figure out what the hell that’s going to look like. Someday soon, I’m going to take action on all this yearning.”

Chris and I end the day as the Spring sun begins to wane in the late afternoon sky. We have come full circle with our journey, him with his story told and me filled to the brim with the experience of the day, off to mold the experience into his story, both of us collaborating on our desire to be heard by many.

www.peckthetowncrier.bandcamp.com

All other photos of Chris Peck are by Cat Rivera:
www.innerjungle.blogspot.com

Moonmama LOVES you!
Thanks again Dan Rauck for editing my words. ox

Mirror In The Bathroom: Is It All Vanity?

2011-03-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed in the melodic musings of mine that I often post a picture of myself that I took in the bathroom at the back of some seedy bar, club or musical venue. Many people have asked me why I do that, so I feel a strong urge to explain myself to you, as posing in the bathroom mirror of bars and clubs all over the San Francisco Bay Area may seem a little strange to most normal folks. Not to mention posting them on the Internet for all to see, my mother would freak!

For some unknown reason, I am able to see the romanticism in the common bathroom. Yes, it’s a trait I carry with pride. Bathrooms are a place of deep intimacy, secrets and finality and they have been ingrained into the history of music as a room to be worshiped.

My bathroom Self Portraits all started at Peri’s Silver Dollar, the bar in Marin that has some of the most amazing décor in both the men’s and woman’s restrooms. As I was washing my hand like a good girl, I got a bud in my bean stock and felt the need to take a photo of myself in the mirror to send to a friend. It turned out pretty cool. As the door opened and the music came in, I got the idea of how bathrooms have a tendency of playing crucial roles in the history and legends of rock and roll music.

So, my excuse for my exhibitionistic photos? I write about music and I want you to know who I am, so I take photos in the bathroom. It’s all, like, interconnected, ya know?

While I am at it, why don’t I throw some interesting Bathroom and Rock History facts at you.

There are, of course, the folks who have died in the bathroom: Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley and Judy Garland. It seems like a hard-lived life destroyed all 3 of these talented performers while in the throes of being truly human.

Canadian rocker’s “Bare Naked Ladies” and blast-from-the-past Captain Beefheart are folks who have recorded songs or even whole albums in a bathroom, and my Web search tells me there is even a band called “The Bathroom Choir” that I feel I must now find out more info on. When I typed in “bathroom songs”, over 7 million entries came up. Also in my research I found all kinds of plans and tips for building your own personal recording studio in your bathroom, they do have amazing acoustics.

Dare I even go into the sordid, sinful and decadent treats that most musicians are offered in the bathrooms of clubs, bars and concert halls? I think Jimi Hendrix “met” one of his main groupies in the men’s bathroom stall after one of his early shows. Just what was she doing in the Men’s bathroom, I wonder…?

For me, bathrooms and Rock-n-Roll go hand and hand. They are dirty, grungy & sexy-in-bad-girl-way. The drama, the passion, the lies, the truth get expressed in song and tile.

Moonmama LOVES YOU!

A Note On Peace Through Music: Luvplanet

2011-03-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

Nestled into the golden hills of
Northern California, in the quaint Sonoma County town of Penngrove there dwells a band that is inspired by the truth of music and the heart-opening power of creation. Through a collaboration of spirit and sound comes the band Luvplanet.

Luvplanet takes the concept of positivity and whips it into music. That music, which consists of a dash of folk, a pinch of jam-band and a heaping serving of rock not only uplifts our souls but also allows us to thoroughly enjoy a veritable festival of hard rocking joy.

When one ponders bands that are all about peace, love and all-that-hippie-stuff, one may become judgmental and begin to think that band is just a bunch of wacked-out softies playing acoustic guitar in some field of daisies. That is certainly not the case with Luvplanet. Luvplanet proves that one can rock hard and be open hearted with the world all at the same time.

In 2003, songstress Nicole Sutton and Allman Brother’s guitarist Mark McGee formed Luvplanet with fellow Musical Travelers bassist Tommy Sisco and Drummer Scott McKenzie with the creation of their self titled debut CD, Luvplanet. With this wonderful first disk Nicole Sutton and Mark McGee’s songwriting magic and vocal harmonies are showcased as well as Marks’s free-for-all guitar style. “My favorite thing about playing in Luvplanet is that I have complete musical freedom.” States mark McGee, “Variety is the spice of life, especially with music.”

With 2 subsequent disks under their guitar straps, State of Mind (2005) and Lucky One (2008), the music never seemed to stop for Luvplanet and the band became more and more solid in its live performances, musical connections between each member of the band as well as their over all professionalism.

“Playing in Luvplanet consists of 4 individuals looking together in the same direction. Achieving that with one person is rare enough, but to have that happen with all of us - magical. Nicole, Mark and Scott are my musical everything!” States the Zen bassist Tommy Sisco.

The band takes it’s postivity seriously, often smiling and laughing while singing songs about relationships gone good, deep friendships and being at peace in this tumultuous world all without sounding soppy, contrived or wimpy. Powerhouse vocalist Nicole Sutton uses her songwriting skills to manufacture dreams of a reality based on one’s truth and an open heart while communicating a trust in herself that shows her confidence as a strong front woman.

“Music saves my soul.” Says the super cool beauty that is Nicole Sutton. “It reflects our society and our world and the collective conscience, just as all art does, and it helps us process what we are experiencing here and now so that we may continue to grow.” Nicole states that her true course with Luvplanet is “being able to bring life to songs and share them with others”

With the 2010 release of their 4^th CD, Luvolution Luvplanet will continue to support the Positive Bent In Life through hard driving, guitar-based music. Sharing the love via your sound is a good way to go with your band. “Music is that which gives my soul life. It moves it, grooves it, spins it all around and it's my goal in life to share that with as many people as possible,” is how Tommy Sisco lays it down. States Mark McGee of Music and Luvplanet, “It's medicine. It's like a drug and I am addicted.”

All Photos of Luvplanet by MOONMAMA!

and Moonmama kicks up her boots to y'all!

Portrait Of An Acrylic Rock Star: Neal Barbosa

2011-03-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

Neal painting with Big Sam's Funky Nation

Neal with Cast of Clowns

The crowd cheers as the musicians take their place on the stage. The lights dim…. BAM! There’s the beat of the drums followed by the THUMP! of a bass, and finally the moans and groans of the human voice as a cacophony of sound floods the room. On the sideline, a new breed of “Rock Star” takes his place and ignites his creative fire. His instruments are not the customary rock star tools, oh no. His instruments are not purchased at Bananas at Large or Guitar Center. To find this man’s creative instruments you’d be better off visiting an art supply store, for his tools include paint, brushes and canvas. This man’s name is Neal Barbosa and he paints like a madman amid the flood of sound coming from the stage as live music is his muse.

“There is an interchange of creativity onstage,” says Neal of his place with the bands. “Some musicians have told me that they have done the same song over and over but were inspired to put a creative twist on the song in the moment after they look over and see how every note flowed through my arms to my hands and is then transformed through the paintbrush onto the canvas.”

Neal painting at Hopmonk Tavern

Hailing from Southern California and now residing in Sonoma County, Neal is a man who takes his art seriously. Beginning at 9, he started to explore sketching and drawing as a method of express his creativity. By 16 he was painting. Over the years he has utilized music and the art of Stanley Mouse to inspire his style and love of the acrylics. Of his friendship with Stanley Mouse, “I have kinda gone off in my own direction and developed my own unique style, however Stanley has inspired me to do some nude figure drawing and painting from nude models posing. Our relationship mostly revolves around art and projects and painting live when there is music around. I recently invited Stanley to paint at the Fillmore in SF and he invited me to show some of my art at The Rockin’ Roses Gallery in Healdsburg.

Painted with Gabby LaLa

With many drastic changes in the music industry has changed over the years, there are no longer behemoth music companies churning out records and creating over-hyped stars of little talent. More and more bands are touring much of the year and gigging at large events or festivals to make a living and get their name and music out to the masses. Along these lines, musical events and gigs are becoming more vibrant and vaudeville-like than ever before. Bands or venues are taking things to a new level of spectacle where performance artists, fire dancers, jugglers and costumed characters often participate in the performance with the musicians.

Neal Barbosa has taken this multi-tiered approach to entertainment and used his talent as part of a whole new wave of true performance art. He is ready to take his inspirational talent to a new level in the face of the ever-changing music business. Through guerilla marketing, hard networking and shameless self-promotion (is any self-promotion really shameless anymore?) via social networking sites and D-I-Y online art galleries, he has sold his art and achieved notice for his name.

There are many events in Neal’s life that are destined to make him a star. Neal is the subject of a documentary film being made about his painting and his live performances onstage. He has traveled to LA & Finland to be a part of the filming of “Acrylic Groove” with is pal, filmmaker Steve Gatlin. Weaving interviews and film footage of his Live Painter performances over the last 5 years with bands such as LA’s Shiny Toy Guns as well as Les Claypool, Neal is thrilled about the spotlight on his work, “Its exiting for me because this is what I dreamed of in order to share the experience of Live Painting with the everyone, as well as to inspire young and old to create and maybe work up the boldness to express themselves for the whole world to enjoy”

Painted at The Artista Gang's JoyFest

His talent as a performance painter has grabbed the notice of many national musical acts and he has recently painted live with Richard Thompson at the famed Fillmore in San Francisco, Cast of Clowns as well as Big Sam's Funky nation. He has

ongoing weekly stints at Sebastopol’s The Hopmonk Tavern’s DJ Party “The Juke Joint” and summer weekends jamming outside at Lagunitas Brewery to some of NorCal’s favorite bands, Neal Barbosa is honing his Live Painter chops to better groove with the bands he loves.

He has and impressive resume of coveted gigs with high profile bands such as the punk/jazz trio The Dead Kenny G’s (“this is exactly the kind of music I love to paint to. Nothing boring about them and they are the most accomplished musicians I have ever heard or will ever hear in my whole life or will ever paint to again”), goofball rockers Forrest Day (“Unforgettable really! I was relating with their songs and never wanting to set my paint brushes down during any song.”) and The Red Paintings from Australia (“I went on a small tour with them and it was so great to paint to, man what talent! Full-on theatrical experience, octopus costumes, Japanese garb, cello player, violin, guitar, bass, piano, ray guns, live body painters, live performance painter, and some awe inspiring music!”).

Painted during The Red Paintings 2008 Tour

Finding something that works with one’s creativity is an amazing feat. Neal Barbosa takes his desire to paint and makes it more than the sum of it’s creative parts. “I'm still learning all the time how to work with musicians on stage and what not to do when in front of the audience and the camera. But I love it, its like being in an artistic bubble. Some times I am channeling what the musicians are doing or singing about and it just flows through my arms and out my paint brushes, kinda like when I’m making love. I’m totally in the moment enjoying every second, every drop of pleasure and forgetting about everything, just creating totally in the moment like a butterfly flying through the brisk smooth clean air during sunrise near the ocean on a late winter morning. With out a care in the world.”

Painted during Used Blues Band

From Dirty Dozen Brass Band gig

Painted during John Mooney

Painted during Floydian Slip

http://www.livepainter.com
http://www.nealraybarbosa.com

http://www.acrylicgroove.com

MOONMAMA loves you!

Ruminations on Creativity, Bar Dancing and Honeydust

2011-01-29T14:03:00.000-08:00

Photo by Moonmama

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to dance on top of a bar? Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have split beer, quarters and wet napkins under your precious and trusty boots, with hundreds of people below you, watching you, thinking your some hot shit because you’re, well, dancing on top a bar? It’s a pretty phenomenal feeling! In my opinion it’s up there with going to Disneyland or having your first kiss.

Imagine if you will, a hot, jiving bar; dark and smelling of booze, sweat and smoke. People are gyrating and grooving to some Hot Band cranking out sweltering tunes on stage and you have the BEST view in the whole damn place. You are up high, you see above all the heads and the drunken tall people. You feel as if everyone below you worships you because you are brave enough to show off your stuff on top of a bar. You sway, you shimmee, you try not to bash your head on the ceiling. You try to act so cool. The guys are drooling, the girls are too…and you know what? You ARE some hot shit, because not too many people are brave enough to dance on a Bar Top.

But I did it! Yep, ME! I danced on a bar, I did, I did, I really did and it was pretty fucking awesome! I am now a changed woman from my Bar Top Shenanigans and I will never be the same again, the afterglow is still on my sweet face. But there was deep inspiration behind this HUGELY dramatic feat in my life, the band Honeydust.

Photo by Moonmama

Let me just say, that Bar Top Dancing & Honeydust go hand-n-hand, like Whiskey & Honeydust, or Good Weed & Honeydust, or Shaking My Sweet Thang & Honeydust. OK, just about anything and Honeydust works for me!

Honeydust, the Rocking-est, Kick-Ass, Old-Time Rock & Roll Band to shake my inner yaya’s since I don’t know what! Sweet talking front man Darren Nelson’s project with his trusty sidekicks in shit-kicking, Danny Uzilevsky (Chrome Johnson) making magic with his eternally phenomenal guitar playing; Michael Weiss hitting me hard with his throbbing stand up and electric bass and Lee Bittner skinning his drums like a trapper.

There is a story to tell about these 4 men who make incredible Rootsy-Americana-Country-Twang-Rock-N-Roll kinda music. I kind of liken them to Tom Petty or the Eagles; great songwriting & great musicianship. Each member of Honeydust contributes much to the Honeydust Vibe to make a complete circle of sound. In their own words, I let them tell you the story of Honeydust, plus a few random facts about themselves that their Mother’s may not even know.

I now present you…with Honeydust!

Photo of Darren Nelson by Garth Parr

DARREN NELSON: Guitar and Vocals.

SIGN: Sagittarius.

FAVORITE COLOR: “I like every color for different things but manly Black is my favorite rock and roll color. Blue is my favorite color to drift off into. Red is cool on an old hot rod and on a Gibson Firebird. Yellow looks great in a kitchen, brown is my favorite color for a pretty girls eyes (unless they are crossed, then I like green).”

BAND MEMBER WORSHIP: I like being me. (No offense boys)

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “Honeydust came out of playing a regular gig at Peri's with Donny Gallardo, the singer from my last band "The Fitts." It was an acoustic thing that we were doing every Tuesday or Wednesday. It wasn't called Honeydust, in fact, it wasn't called anything, but that was when I met Mike Weiss. He rolled in with his gigantic upright bass and asked (politely) to sit in. Mike is so charming! Couldn't say no. Lee Ray Bittner was also a casualty of “The Fitts”. He and I have been playing music together for 6 or 7 years now. Anyway, Donny G. left for fame and fortune in La-La Land and I was over playing Quietly, so I recruited Joey Midnight. Had a brief stint with another bass player who was awesome but regretted asking Mike to step down (another story). He and Joey lasted about a year. Joey was a great guitarist but had many directions he needed to go before settling down as a guitarist for HoneyDust. When he left I thought I'd just hang around and wallow for a while. I was questioning everything that I had worked so hard for and believed in but within just a few days Danny Uzilevsky got in touch and said, "Don't give up lil brotha!" Coincidence or not, Jonathan Korty wound up at my house the very next day with the same suggestion. Mike Weiss had a birthday coming up and said, "For my birthday I wanna jam with HoneyDust!" So I asked Danny and Jonathan and the rest as they say is...”

HONEYDUST DEFINITION: “It's Sweet & Dirty Rock and Roll! (...and sex powder) but mostly the Sweet & Dirty bit.”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “I wanna house with some land and a barn to covert into a studio for art and music. I want to have everybody I love around me making art and music always and all of that because of the success of HoneyDust!”

Photo of Danny Uzi by Garth Parr

DANNY UZILEVSKY: Guitar and Vocals.

SIGN: Aquarius.

FAVORITE COLOR: Blue

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “Darren and I had been working on a rock opera, "The Riverside Kings" after both our bands kind of imploded, so we were used to working with each other & encouraging each other. I always thought HoneyDust had a lot of potential and wished I could get my Rock-On with them. I was happy when we finally got it together, because I love these guys...great band and great friends. As Darren said, once we had the right motivation, it all just kind of fell into place. The greatest Honeydust moment in time has yet to come... With our CD is finished I hope we can take Honeydust to a National touring level. I think the world desperately needs Honeydust!”

HONEYDUST DEFINITION: “I believe it is a reference to a "sexy body powder" that takes things to a new level of "sexy"... I believe it will come to mean a whole lot more in the near future.”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “That Honeydust will bring back that "classic" rock sound for a whole new generation to enjoy. I think the music scene is practically screaming for what we're doing!”

Photo of Lee Bittner by Garth Parr

LEE BITTNER: Drums.

SIGN: Virgo.

FAVORITE COLOR: “Burgundy. First it was blue, then it was green, went through a short purple faze and now burgundy... yes burgundy it is I think”

BAND MEMBER WORSHIP: “No silly! If I was someone else in the band, then that means I or someone else wouldn't be there and that wouldn't be Honeydust now would it? But seriously, to make that possible one would probably have to find a worm whole or be able to create an electromagnetic field so powerful it might tare the fabric of the space time continuum & it could send one of the swapping life forms to another dimension or cross-dimensions possibly, you know all that kinda stuff. So even if I did want to be someone else in the band, my personal opinion is it would be too dangerous to attempt. Furthermore, I think here in this Dimension, one of the lessons of our species is to embrace the self & shed our insecurities. Once you can be conscious of that, you can begin to love others and be a good partner for someone else truly. With all that said I wouldn't mind giving a go at shaking my bum on stage a bit…lalalala and all that. It can be a bit lonely behind the kit. I always miss the girls flashing me back there...”

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “When did I join the band? Well, I forget the date but it was just after the Revolutionary War. Washington just gotten his wood teeth and Ben Franklin and I were partying a lot back then. That guy is a Mad Man and super smooth with the ladies. Well, ol' Ben introduced me to Darren and we hit it off immediately We had hung out a couple times upon our first meeting, but after the Boston Tea Party we were like two peas in a pod. Shortly after that, we started playing music and it morphed into HoneyDust. It’s been all Liberty & Justice For All in the name of Rock-n-Roll since then.”

HONEYDUST DEFINITION: “Darren and Joey Midnight came up with the name at a lingerie party at the Pint Size Tavern while sitting on the hood of a Camaro or something if memory serves. I think the consensus was that it just sounded cool, contextually fit and in some way represented our sound & personalities; super sweet and lovey with a dirty underbelly Just like us. Perfect!”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “I envision our path running right through my yard. All I could ever hope is for success, love, fun and health all that good clichéd stuff. First band to play on the moon works, too.”

Photo of Mike Weiss by Garth Parr

MICHAEL WEISS: Stand up & Electric Bass.

SIGN: Libra. FAVORITE COLOR: Freckles

BAND MEMBER WORSHIP: “If I could be anyone in the band I would be me, only more talented & better looking.”

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “I was playing on the patio with “The Billy Boys” after the Fairfax Festival on a warm Sunday. It was a particularly fun gig with lots of people and I was in the early stages of a romance with my Upright Bass. I was also allowed to SING with “The Billy’s”, (my previous band, “Jesus Martini” actually took away my singing rights...Bastards!) and I was, by far, (at least I thought at the time), the coolest Upright Bass Player on the stage.... let’s just say I was feeling it. Anyway, Donnie Gallardo, Darren, Lee Ray and Joey Midnight had a regular Wednesday Night Gig at Peri’s. Donnie asked me if I would sit in with them that coming Wednesday. Well, I showed up with my upright and a cord & asked where the bass player's rig was so I could plug in and Darren looks at me and says "Your it! Where is your amp?" I went back home and got my amp and played all night with these guys, faking through the songs. It was a total blast and we started every Wednesday till Donnie left. But, we weren't very cool until Darren took over on lead vox. His songs were the best and we faked through a bunch of covers. We never rehearsed until we reincarnated with Danny Uzilevsky. We were a highly improvisational band; frequently we would try a song we never played at a live show! It was like a train wreck in paradise! When it was good, it was magic. But eventually someone would get hurt.”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “I want to go on tour opening up for Tom Petty or U2 then I want HD to be the musical guests on SNL and do all the talk shows. I would want to be the hottest band in the world after that. Then I would want to travel to other planets and be the hottest band in other galaxies as well. After that I would want the band to be cryogenically frozen and thawed out for 2 days a year, every Fairfax festival in the years 2100 through 2150, when they actually find a way to reverse the aging process take us back to our 20's and do it again.”

So there you go, inspiration begets inspiration. Creativity begets creativity. Be it making great music or dancing on a bar, I say take your inspiration whenever and wherever it comes from!

Moonmama says..."get your boots kickin'!"

Thanks to the Amazing GARTH PARR for his pictures of the band!

From The Darkness and Fear: Volary Moves "Out Of Shadows"

2010-12-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

Volary: Noun. 1) A flight or a flock of birds. 2) the cage you keep them in.

Seldom in life do we pause to think about tomorrow, to think about whether or not we will still be alive to love, eat, breathe and create. We often take for granted our day-to-day existence and seldom do we stop for a moment and think, ‘What if I die tomorrow? What sort of legacy do I want to leave behind?’

Enter Volary, an Australian born singer/songwriter now making her home in San Francisco. Volary has just recently begun to ask her self those questions. She has cancer. As most of us know, cancer sucks in a really big way and will inevitably change your life and perspective of it right before your eyes, regardless of whether or not you want it to. A deeper sense of your own mortality can make you want to live your life even more.

In Volary’s new album, Out Of Shadows, the lyrics and songs were already written before “cancer” became a common, daily word for Volary. The darkness of the mood of her music and the positive hope that she tries to convey within her songs are present and accountable in this breathtaking first effort from a woman who knows how to survive everything from self- doubt to lost love.

“I was actually diagnosed just before we were due to start in the studio. My producer and I had already been doing preproduction for months, I’d booked the studio dates, we’d lined up the musicians’ schedules, I was super excited to finally be making my debut CD...and then the bottom fell out of my world,” states Volary of her brand new reality. “The songs were all written before my diagnosis, but the title and dedication of the album were definitely reflective of my situation. At the time I didn’t realize how far the shadow of cancer can stretch, and I would say that I’m still struggling to get out of those shadows (for example, I’m still not strong enough to play a full length set), but the hope is that I will be out of those shadows sometime soon.”

The album covers a wide spectrum of emotional ideas within the music. Her power-pop vocals are set against a moody backdrop of layered arrangements, both thick and sparse with instrumentation that guides the listener deeper into the dark lyrics. Viola, horns, clarinet, organs, cello, oboe and sax all add their rich sounds to guitar, bass, drums and voice.

“I didn’t want to make the typical singer/songwriter or rock band album. I definitely wanted to try for a sound that was not your typical vocals-guitar-bass-drums,” says Volary of her decision of adding less typical instruments and arrangements to her album. “I’m a sucker for music that’s really layered and moody. I love listening to albums where you can discover more and more on each listen. Sometimes stuff will be buried so deep in the mix that it’s barely there, but the sum of it all adds up to some aural goodness.”

The opening track of “Die A Little” starts us out on the journey of looking deeper into our own darkness of the soul in words like “Too many years of sadness/ I’m stretched so thin/Standing with my back to the wall trying not to scream/ I wanna cut the demons out/from underneath my skin.”

Tapping into all things intense and tumultuous, Volary’s lyrics speak of a woman taken to extremes of her emotional life. She gives in to self-doubt and lack of confidence in the powerful “That Girl”. All of us have been there; all of us have at one time of another wanted to be someone aside from ourselves. “Yes, it’s true, I’m insecure/sometimes…. I wanna be That Girl.”

The gorgeous piano arrangement in “One Good Reason” sends the emotion of lost love into my heart within Volary’s soothing vocals as I ask myself ‘How many times have I been in relationship that was not good for me but I refused to let it go?’ “I’m standing up and I’m refusing to play/You are lost to me/Your love has not left me unscarred”

From pop to rock, from tribal drums to simple acoustic guitar and gypsy string, the songs on Out Of Shadows move from light to dark, uplifting to heartbreaking. The songs are never simpleminded and are always intense in fullness of sound, each layer comes forth with more meaning upon each listen.

“I don’t know if I would express songwriting as being my therapy. It’s more like a necessity. Sometimes it really feels like my soul needs to give birth to something and then it’s like an itch I can’t scratch until a song comes out. It’s also very often like banging my head into a brick wall.”

Although her diagnoses of cancer did not make it into her lyrics, it has made a major impact on her life. “As to how {the cancer} has changed my view point on life; well, it’s definitely changed that forever. The spectrum of a possible recurrence is always going to be there, especially since I was diagnosed at a young age and statistically the cancers that occur in younger people are more aggressive than those that occur in older people. I’ve had to face my mortality at an age where other people are in the full bloom of life, and that’s something that leaves its mark forever. One thing that I will be doing when I get to play shows again is to do some benefits. There are two organizations in particular that have been helpful to me along my cancer journey – the Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS) support group, and the Commonweal Cancer Help Program.”

Along with all despair and intensity in life, there is hope and dreams of something better. Volary takes the good, the bad and the ugly and makes music that can resonate with us all. Whether it is dark or light moods, fear or doubt, creativity can make a difference in setting our paths to the correct direction we are meant to be heading. Faith in that path, whether we understand or not where we are going, is not always open for us to question. But we can know there IS something better...we can start out with ideas in our minds as we think “I’m reaching out but I’m grabbing air/and I freefall through my life” (from “Touched”) and end with the mantra of “No, I don’t wanna believe/that there’s nothing more than this/Nothing more, nothing more, nothing more than this/So I just gotta believe/that there’s something more than this, something more, something more, something more than this.” (from “Blackbird”).

All Volary photos by Alexander Kieselstein

Moonmama says: HI!

Groupie's Gold: The Backstage Pass

2010-12-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

It’s rare that I listen to any music at home, weird huh? I mean, right now with I-Tunes a short click away I am hearing only the tip-tap of the keyboard and the hum of the refrigerator from the kitchen. I do get exposed to new music often with the bands I discover and the CD’s that I listen to through the car stereo. But where it’s at for me, the crème de la crème of my passion, is Live Music.

Seeing Live Music is one of my favorite highs and as I am one of those “touchy-feely” types of people that live life through their body, I love the thrill of sound as it slams my inner core with some amazing musician hitting all the right notes in all the right places. So what fan, what groupie, what music junky would EVER turn down a free backstage pass to meet an incredible band? Not me!

I was Miracled this Groupie’s Gold, “The Backstage Pass”, by a friend of mine who was hometown friends with the band, moe a phenomenal band whose musical language is JAMMIN’! They are really well known and they play all the big music festivals, fill good-sized venues such as The Fillmore and Warfield and they have many albums under their belts. My understanding is that my friend knew the band “Back in the Hood” when they were just a regular Bar-Band kind of-band. Then they hit the Big Time. So here I was, ready to party hard and the biggest thrill was that I had stuck to my upper torso my first-ever Back Stage Pass!

I have to admit and I am ashamed to say this, at that point in my life I had never really heard moe’s music before. I know I have heard in passing a song or two on the radio that I liked of theirs. So upon my arrival at SF’s amazingly beautiful concert hall, The Warfield, I didn’t really know much about the band. My accomplice Mizz K and I cruised through the line like VIP, slathered our bodies with our passes and high tailed it to find Love. I was so nervous but was dressed to the nines knowing I was going to meet some Famous Musicians, and well…who knows???

The moment of truth came upon me as we went through the curtain and I got my BACKSTAGE PASS checked by the security dude #1. I proceeded to skip down the stairs where I was honored to have my BACKSTAGE PASS checked by security dude #2. I then sat nervously with my friend in the lounge area for someone from the band to summon us.

Security dude #3 escorted us to the dressing rooms of all the musicians. On the walk down the hallway, my eyes were looking for all the indecent debauchery. My ears were waiting to hear the squeals of other groupies or the crash of a whiskey bottle against the wall. But it was relatively quiet and all I saw were a bunch of regular looking dudes hanging out in jeans and t-shirts, drinking Cokes and eating Skittles.

Hmmmm….where was all the craziness???

I hung out with the band for about 20 minutes. It was fun but I was still waiting for the “real fun” to begin. I was waiting for the piles of drugs. I was waiting for the cute musician boys to fondle me with there eyes. Instead, my friend and I chitchatted with the band about their kids and families, the new houses they just bought or the rigorous tour schedule. I bonded with one musician boy over the friskiness of our children and how we miss them when we are away from them. A bit different then I thought, yes. They all seemed like Normal Guys, the only difference was their day job; being in a Famous Band.

My friend and I sat down to watch the show from our seats as the Normal Guys I just met, the ones who chit chatted about kids and dog food, picked up their instruments and blew me away. My jaw dropped and I fell in love with them all as they hit me hard with their psychedelic jam music. All through the show, I keep thinking, “I am so glad I met them before I saw them play, or else I would have acted like a moron!” And indeed, I would have the opportunity to prove that when I saw them after the show.

Backstage lounge again, the show’s over, I am really freaked out now. Phil Lesh showed up to play with them for part of moe's sweltering second set and now he’s not 10 feet from me. I had to pee but that would mean passing Phil Lesh and I didn’t think I could handle that. The band comes out and I watch as they nonchalantly chat-it-up will Phil and I sit in awe, stunned at these Normal Dudes who channeled The Divine through their bodies and instruments. I could not talk to them as easily and I felt like a fool. I ended up leaving my friend to hang late into the evening with her musical friends. I was too snokkered on the evening to take it further than that, but that was enough.

I lost my backstage pass years ago, that Groupie’s Gold is somewhere underground at this point, but I still have all the memories of that amazing experience and that to me is the Real Gold.

MOONMAMA LOVES YOU!

Three At Last's "Live At The Freight & Salvage": Playing History's Glorious Notes

2010-12-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, back in the day, there were simply acoustic instruments. Although complicated in structure, there was a deep simplicity in which they could be played without the use of amps or microphones, plugs or electricity. Some of the genres that came from this simplicity were called Traditional Folk, Americana or Bluegrass.

In the 1960’s, various venues started to crop up around the nation that would hold strong these ideals of simplicity in music. The Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, California is one of those venues that have been around since the inception of the War Cries and Peace Protests of the tumultuous late 60’s. Such high-profile acts such as Asleep at The Wheel, David Grisman, Utah Phillips and Country Joe & The Fish have all graced the stage at the Freight & Salvage’s various locations over the last 40 some-odd years, so to be able to play on such a historical stage is nothing to scoff at.

In January of 2010, Marin/Sonoma County folk band Three At Last played a coveted gig at this newly modernized venue. Three At Last, Velvy Appleton, Ginger Parish and Anita Sandwina, all contribute to the beauty and creation of the Three At Last sound. Blending soaring harmonies and musicianship that bespeak of traveling minstrels of days of yore, Three At Last play mostly original folk compositions that they all write, as well as a few traditional American Folk songs that can only make us think of foggy Appalachian towns and musical jams on the back porch with fireflies giving us a light show.

With a combined resume of musical skill, Three At Last is not a “boring folk band”. Each member brings their own vocal and songwriting skills to the band and the instrumentation can include djembe, six-string, bass, mandolin, harmonica & recorder. All of this from only three people.

VELVY APPLETON

ANITA SANDWINA

The band decided to make a live recording of their Freight & Salvage gig in order to showcase the true sound and intimate vibe of their live shows. “Three At Last-Live At The Freight & Salvage” was the gift that they created in order for us listeners to understand the true essence of straightforward, traditional Americana Folk. “We were absolutely THRILLED and flattered to play The Freight in January. That, along with playing the Kate Wolf Festival last year gave us some real folk-cred, a true stamp of approval from the acoustic Mecca’s.” States Velvy Appleton, guitarist, vocalist and lone-male for Three At Last. “And, being there was awesome. I mean, I got goose bumps just doing the sound check! So many of our shows are in small, under-funded venues where we struggle with poor sound equipment, or inattentive sound engineers, or plain old bad acoustics in the room. Playing the Freight is like performing in a cathedral. Its like a religious experience of sound.”

GINGER PARISH

Pulling songs from their studio release like “We Autumn Leaves” & “Waiting” as well as many unrecorded songs, “Three At Last-Live At The Freight & Salvage” is a breath of fresh mountain air in it’s richness and depth of sound. Three At Last weaves together tight harmonies and lyrics about anything from deep nature, relationships and family to social commentary on The Now. “We made our studio album (self-titled “Three At Last”) having only been together for 3 months. With that album, we wanted to show that we were serious, and that we had songs and musicianship that were real. But, honestly, it was so early in our development that we really hadn't honed in on "what we sound like" yet.” Says Velvy Appleton of their readiness for something live. “The Freight CD is a fantastic representation of what we REALLY sound like, at our very best, in the best setting and really on top of the material. It’s honest, direct and real. We're very proud of it. We're going back into the studio in November to make another studio album. We have a ton of great new material, and we are going to do a real band-style album.”

“Three At Last-Live At The Freight & Salvage” is now part of the deep history that The Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse has created in the Berkeley California Music Scene. Velvy Appleton and Three AT Last felt that honor in a big way. “The Freight has an INCREDIBLE legacy of hosting the A-list of acoustic music. It’s kind of like The Fillmore of Folk and we are so psyched to now be part of that legacy.”

MOONMAMA Loves YOU!

A Dollop Of Sunshine with Brindl's SHINE!

2010-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Photo by Trevalyan Markle.

Music is the great song of existence and it conjures forth complex visuals. One could view listening to music as taking a little journey to a psychedelic plane, without the drugs and the subsequent nasty come down. Consider music a good clean high, activating parts of the brain where pretty pictures accommodate the sounds that enter the ears.

I slipped Brindl’s second fabulous CD, Shine, into my stereo, adjusted my earphones to achieve a maximum flow of sound and I pressed play. As the sound flooded my ears and fueled my imagination I found myself transported to a sunny hillside in the middle of the time of year where Spring is transforming into Summer. The sky is blue, the clouds are wispy and I could see rabbits and dragons curling their ears and tails against the meadowy backdrop as the spirit of song gently wafted towards my from the inner recesses of my blissed-out psyche.

Shine is a languid river of beauty trickling past as you sit on this hillside. Shine is a warm breeze flowing over your sun kissed face. Shine is the sun, warm and stunning, bright and vibrant, opening you up to the possibility that someone understands your heart as much as you do and can put into lyrics exactly how you feel when you open your heart to loving yourself, fully and deeply.

Trevalyan Markle, Tenetphoto.com

Brindl’s powerful and heartfelt lyrics are showcased in this disk; the lyrics bring forth her excellent musicianship on the piano and guitar throughout all of Shine. Adding Steve Gardner on Violin (Cullen’s Hounds), guitarist Adam Roach (Jon Keigwin band) and bassist David Solari gives Shine an added depth of jazz and blues undertones that allows Brindl’s smoky-smooth voice to seduce you with a sound that is nothing but pure joy to behold.

“Mercy” open the disk with piano and violin, two instruments that seem innocent enough but when fueled by Brindl’s passionate blues/jazz vocals brings into focus the darker aspects of a relationship. “I am here” and “Rose and a Smile” shed a little joy on the lighter side of relationship.

Simplicity is the key to Brindl’s Shine. But within that simplicity comes a profound understanding of the heart. The simplicity of stark and simple music leaves us open to understand the music how we need to understand it. Brindl leaves the music open for us to determine how it should affect our lives, as all good songwriters can do with their words. Brindl’s voice brings to life the words she wants to convey. Her lilting and uplifting vocals dance and sway and take you on a ride into the clouds, to be stirred and tossed with soft femininity.

Trevalyan Markle, Tenetphoto.com

Recorded locally at A Room With a Vu studio in San Anselmo, California throughout most of 2010, Brindl has taken the words and truths that live in her heart and manifested them into a beautiful album. She bares her soul and tells you her experiences in her life, telling stories of her heart so we can all learn from her mistakes and her personal lessons on love.

The ending track of Shine is “Resolution Year”. A track that I took to mean that with determination and focus on oneself, things can only be amazing. “Resolution year, dissolution of all fear….and I can hear you now…loud and clear….”

Moonmama Tells It Like It Is!

Thanks again to the Fabo-Rama Daniel Rauck for taking my words and making them clean and pretty. OXOXOX

Cover Letter For A Job From A Rock & Roll Writer Chick

2010-11-11T21:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Editor, Greetings to you.

I am writing to you today in order to let you know that I want to be a writer, that I am a writer. I guess that means I also wish to have a career in writing. What the heck, I may as well apply for a career in something I think I am very good at. Writing. So here I am.

I must let you know that I flunked out of college and therefore have found my own voice without the aid of institutionalized institutions. I write outside the box, as it were. I write with emotion and feeling, plus I can write about anything and make it sound professional and/or pretty. You name it, food, cars, clouds, garbage cans, and shoes, all of it I can make into words to inspire people to read about it.

My main focus and passion is writing about music and my local music scene in Marin County. In my two years as a Loud Voice for my music community, I have befriended over 200 bands and a couple of hundred musicians and industry people of all ranks. I have attended hundreds of local music gigs and taken probably well over 10,000 photos and posted them online on my 6 main blogs, on my Facebook Profile Page and Facebook “Moonmamasmusicalmusings” Fan Page. I have written dozens of reviews and stories on locals bands or their CD’s as well as their live gigs. Plus I am getting airplay for 12 Bay Area bands on a weekly radio show in Brisbane, Australia all because of two boxes of Organic Pop Tarts. I am kind of a mover and a shaker and I am working this business as a writer and photographer in order to fulfill a dream I have had to be a part of the music for well over 20 years.

Writing for me has been a way to find my voice, quell my inner demons and bring my sanity to the forefront of my being. I love writing more than any other talent I have (and that does include making jam and baking cookies). I wish to make a living on this talent of mine, and I wish to work for you. Hence this long and drawn out story on my self-made writing career.

I am sending you 3 links to recent stories I have written on various music oriented shindigs. The first is a profile story on Jeff Pehrson, a lovely friend and also a backup singer for the band Further. The second link is my personal story on how Organic Pop Tarts have made me somewhat of an International Music Promoter in Australia. The third is a profile story on the Sonoma based band Luvplanet (I also did a review of their new disk Luvolution). I will gladly send you the text in WORD format if you wish, but the links to the stories all have photos embedded into them that I myself have taken to give you an idea of my photography skills as well.

1) http://moonmamasrocks.blogspot.com/2010/10/jeff-pehrson-fall-risk.html

2) http://moonmamarocks.blogspot.com/2010/10/operation-pop-tart-cds-to-aussieland.html

3) http://moonmamarocks.blogspot.com/2011/03/note-on-peace-through-music-luvplanet.html

Thanks for reading me and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely, Carolyn McCoy AKA MOONMAMA!

Love Letters in a 4.5 Inch Circle of Plastic: Luvplant's Luvolution

2010-11-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Love. Love is what makes the world go ‘round. Love is the subject of many a song, and is quite feasibly the whole reason music even exists. Love is found in pretty much anything and everything; from romance to politics, beverage choices to musical choices. When I happen upon music that gives me love and opens my heart, I am a very happy woman.

Luvplanet, the Sonoma County, California band with a big heart and even bigger sound reaches out to me with messages of positivity, love and some serious shredding. Their 4th album, Luvolution, makes my heart thump with every song I listen to, making me smile and move my legs to the rhythm like I just can’t sit still.

Nicole Sutton-Left
Mark McGee-Right

When I mention a BIG sound, in regards to Luvplanet, I mean that there is a depth to the music, a thickness to the sound that seems to fill me. Each of the 12 songs on Luvplanet's new CD are so dense and juicy with layers of texture. Whether it’s Nicole Suttons soaring and powerful vocals, Mark McGee's vocals and sweltering guitar licks, the solid back beat laid down by Scott McKenzie or Tommy Sisco’s thumping, driving bass, the result is inevitably HUGE.

The stand-out songs on Luvolution tend to be the ones that beckon the listener inside the structures of the songs so that they are encircled in sound and words that give greater understanding of what life is about. Isn’t that how it should be with music? A song should take us places within our own psyche and help us express who we are and why we are alive. At least, that’s what I think. And Luvolution, in both music and lyrics, brings me to that place in my mind where positivity thrives and understanding of the human experience is given light through song.

Tommy Sisco-Left
Scott McKenzie-Right

The opening track, “Luvolution” sets the fast and furious pace for the entire album as Mark McGee’s slicing guitar clears the way for Nicole Sutton’s soaring vocals to start to tell the story of Luvpanet, “Without Warning, it comes in and I feel alive again…”

My Favorite songs on the Album include “Forever”, “Live”, and the track “Be Myself” for it’s inspiring lyrics about creating and vowing for self-love, “All I can I do is be myself, it’s gotta be good enough, no more or less than who I am”. Its words like that that we all need to hear a lot more often.

Luvplanet’s music thrives on the cohesion within the band. Even though most of the songs are written by McGee and Sutton, bassist Tommy Sisco and drummer Scott McKenzie each bring their own style and grace to the songs, so it never feels like Luvolution has the focus on just the primary songwriters, but each member carries their respective weight. On the track “All For You”, one can hear Sisco’s bass warming us up for the mounting pleasure to come within the song. With “Virtual Life” & “C’mon” the pace is set, giving Scott McKenzie’s technical and fluid drumming a chance to shine.

Luvplanet recorded Luvolution at Audio Voyage Studios in Livermore, California with Mark McGee as producer. “Mark is an amazing producer and we have worked with some great engineers at great studios.” Nicole Sutton, on the preparation and recording of Luvolution says, “We try to go in totally prepared but we usually end up having a few songs that we write or finish writing in the studio. That's always fun because it's fresh and exciting to capture the moment….
The (songs) are usually inspired by a feeling or a moment, it could be anything, and then we just try to listen and stay true to the song and what it wants to say.”

One thing that is truly to love about Luvplanet is that every song on Luvolution will inspire singing out with harmonies, even if you are not even a singer. I sometimes feel that I myself am part of the album as it taps into what I think about the world and how love and positivity can go hand and hand with rocking rock and roll.

Moonmama Says: YES!

Thanks forever to my dear editor Daniel Rauck, who is a hard rocker himself and makes my words so clear and pretty! THANKS DAN!

Jeff Pehrson & The Fall Risk

2010-10-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

“Out In The Back Of Some Cafe, we'll hold the night a million miles away and wrap our hearts around one point of view. I might not be an author, but I'll write the book of you.”
Jeff Pehrson

Timeline: 1991.

Almost 20 years ago I was a struggling groupie in the San Francisco music scene, trying to find my way into the forbidden folds of rock and roll. I was trying to find a reason to be a part of the music. That was, in addition to the musicians I dated or the music I was unable play. I started to hang out in the mildly popular San Francisco Folk scene, hitting weekly open mics, house concerts and acoustic jam sessions at the local cafes and bars around my neighborhood, the Inner Sunset. The famed Owl and Monkey Café churned out Folkies like it did lattes and bagels. Within that small, steamy venue I met many an aspiring folk singer/songwriter and I made headway into my now chosen path of music junkie.

Of all the lovely people I met, during that time I befriended one Jeff Pehrson, a golden throated songwriter. Jeff, who sang solo as well as with others, kicked my ears into gear with his amazing tunes. With his bud keyboardist Matt Twain he formed Twain & Pehrson. He also achieved low altitude stardom with the band Box Set, which he formed with his long term “musical wife” Jim Brunberg.

Nowadays, this old school Folkie lends his golden throated voice to some band called Furthur. Furthur is made up of bunch of old rocker dudes from some little band called The Grateful Dead, namely Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, maybe you have heard of them. In any case, Mr. Perhson has been keeping busy in many ways, all musical, since I met him. I am here to tell you his story.

Photo By Moonmama

Fast forward: 2010

I, Moonmama, am now an aspiring rock n’ roll writer, having given up Groupie-dom some time ago when I realized I wanted to get into the flowing vibes of the music and not necessarily the tight pants of musicians. Following one’s dreams with integrity and manifesting those dreams is really what this story is all about. As I sit in the beautiful garden of The Bazaar Café in San Francisco’s foggy Outer Richmond District, reminiscing about the past, present and future with an old friend, still very much the same golden-throated singer/songwriter he has always been, just a bit more famous.

Jeff Pehrson-Right
The Fall Risk-Left

Despite the notoriety that Jeff has found from his gig with Furthur, his main focus and inspiration is his new band The Fall Risk which he started in 2009 by gathering his musical friends of bands past. With Twain & Pehrson duo partner Matt Twain on keyboards and vocals, Mark Abbot (of Box Set fame) on Drums, monster bassist Dave Moffat (of the Megan Slenkard Band) and with Jeff Ballard on harmonica & percussion The Fall Risk is an almost finished product. The recent additions of Rich Goldstein on lead & slide guitar and multi-instrumentalist Sammy Johnston (also of Box Set), lending his golden touch on accordion, pedal steel and organ makes The Fall Risk a band with one hell of a HUGE sound. Jeff agrees, “If I could not play with such a great group of musicians, I wouldn't have my own band. The reason I enjoy The Fall Risk so much is because playing with this particular group of guys is incredibly fun. As a songwriter, when you find a group of players whose main interest is simply serving the song as opposed to any individual heroics, you're golden. Mark, Matt, Dave, Jeff, Sammy and Rich have done that for me.”

As for the name of the band, Jeff’s story is priceless, “Mark Abbott's (our drummer) mom had been in the hospital, and thankfully she is fine. Upon her release, she was tagged with a "Fall Risk" bracelet as she had been medicated and was at risk for a fall if she walked. Mark thought it a totally appropriate name for a bunch of 40-somethings trying to play rock-n-roll. I mean, no doubt one of us will eventually fall down due to a bad hamstring!”

Matt Twain-Left
Dave Moffat-Right

The Fall Risk wraps its acoustic-jam-rock sound around Perhson’s fine song crafting. When he was with Box Set, he shared songwriting credit with then musical partner Jim Brunberg. Both musical men shared a bond of creating a narrative within their songs and using strong melodies coupled with soaring harmonies to match the words that were the heart of some great stories. Pehrson, of his long, musical relationship with Brunberg and Box Set says, “Jim and I were huge folk music fans and part of the SF folk scene that re-emerged in the late 80's early 90's. Therefore, lyrics and storytelling were always in the forefront of our minds when writing songs. This has never left me, even as electric music became more of a calling. At the core, my songs are still folk songs with a backbeat. The lyrics carry more weight than the music...the story is the thing.”

In 1997, Capricorn Records signed Box Set to a sweet deal, allowing them much creative control over their music. Sadly, Capricorn went under after a massive buy-out, leaving Box Set other opportunities to go for bigger stakes. Sony Music tried to snatch the band, but loss of creative control over what Jeff wanted for his music made Box Set turn down the possibility of making that big hit.

Rich Goldstein-Left
Mark Abbot-Right

“Box Set held off signing other record deals so we could keep complete ownership of our songs, that was the only move for us. Again, we came from the folk music world where the thought of relinquishing control over our songs was blasphemous. There was no other way to approach it as far as we were concerned. It's a rare thing to have a number 1 hit and not have to compromise many things, so I have no regrets. Obviously, the record industry is reaping the karma they have sewn as the Internet slowly pushes them closer to irrelevancy,” says Jeff.

Box Set ended up creating their own record label, titled “TherOwn Records”, setting them up for full creative control of the band and selling a lot of their music via the Internet. It worked well in their favor and to this day they still make a good profit off of their music, and it gave them touring opportunities to open for big name acts such as Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz and Ratdog and creating connections with these big named bands that will later produce more amazing opportunities for Jeff Perhson to make a name for himself.

Just recently, after Jeff’s stint with a 3-night run of The Furthur Festival at Angel’s Camp, California, his voice and knowledge of how things can flow within the endless improvisational nature of Grateful Dead Songs Jeff had secured the job. By learning all the parts of 85 songs in about a 3-week period, Jeff proved he was ready for something really big.

Sammy Johnston-Left
Jeff Ballard-Right

“More than anything else, touring with Furthur has changed the way I look at live performance,” states Jeff on how the Further Festival has altered his ideas of his own music. He adds, “I'm a lot more interested in giving the guys (in The Fall Risk) a great deal of space to solo. Giving them enough room to build a solo as opposed to having a set space that in many ways dictates what has to happen thematically. Being able to share in The Grateful Dead's philosophy on jamming has really opened my eyes to those possibilities. As Bob might say ‘you have to leave some sport in it’."

However, the fame has not gone to his head. Jeff still has the same old heart of gold. His amiable personality comes out in all his performances, playing off the audience and bringing them all deeper into the embrace of his music. He has not forgotten how it was to be a struggling musician and keeps the music at the forefront of his mission on the planet. “The music community is literally my family. Many of my oldest friends are folk musicians I met at the old Owl & Monkey Cafe in San Francisco in the mid 80's. Those guys are my peers and the guys I still look to impress when I write a new song. Musicians group together for the same reasons as plumbers do, shared experience. It's easier to talk to another musician about having writers block, or how lonely it gets being away from friends and family for months at a time...they know what you go through because they've been there. It's a lifetime bond.”

MOONMAMA & Jeff Say, "Keep ROCKIN'!"

Big thanks to my beloved editor Daniel Rauck, with whom I worship for the fine tuning of my words and streamlining of my ideas. OXOXO

Operation Pop Tart: CD's To Aussieland

2010-10-08T19:46:00.001-07:00

Interesting opportunities come in all shapes and sizes. Mine came in the shape of a rectangular box of organic toaster pastries, AKA “hippie pop tarts.” The two 6-packs boxes of blueberry & chocolate frosted Organic Toaster Pastries are sitting on my desk as we speak, waiting to be shipped to Brisbane, Australia where it will be accompanied by 12 CD’s, plus some stickers, from 12 of my favorite SF Bay Area bands.

The opportunity in question is one that, quite possibly, will be talked about for years to come as “One of those EPIC stories that tell of A Great Journey”. For this is a story of a Great Journey for a small parcel, packed lovingly in bubble wrap with dreams and hopes for those who are sending it. It is to be received by a very Special Lady whose name is Astrid Navel Gazer and she is far, far away on the other end of the world in Brisbane, Australia. She loves music and works her little Rock & Roll heart out for her weekly radio show called Zed Poets Society.

Astrid Navel Gazer has been deeply ingrained as part of the Brisbane, Australia music scene for over 10 years, creating a hugely popular radio show in which she plays pretty much every genre of music but focuses on Hard Rock and Harder Metal with her partner in crime, Doomy Hippy. Zed Poets Society, is aired weekly on one of the oldest FM radio stations in the Southern Hemisphere, 4ZZZfm. Ms. Astrid Navel Gazer and I are long-time music junkies both, and within a few brief conversations, we came up with the idea of utilizing my promise of Hippie Pop Tarts to pimp out some Local Bands from the SF Bay Area that I think are amazing in both musicianship and songwriting. Ms. Navel Gazer and I agreed to a bargain that was hard to pass up, a trade of Air Time For My Favorite Bands in exchange for Hippie Pop Tarts and….voila! ”Operation Pop Tart: CD’s to Aussieland” was born.

I put out the call to my local bands and musical friends to send me their music and as I listen to each participating bands’ CD, I feel so lucky to hear my beloved friends’ creations embedded on a 4.5” circle of plastic. It’s a joy to know that their blood, sweat & tears were put into each and every one of these songs.

For starters, we have two representatives from Novato, California, a town that seems to spit out Hard Rock Bands like they do Ranch Homes. There is the incredible album Amnesia from notable rockers flanelhed. Soaring vocals, intelligent lyrics and hard driving guitars, bass & drums make these music men prime for more recognition. Then FRK brings forth lyrics that bespeak of The Dark Night Of The Soul, crunchy guitars and fast and furious rhythms on their debut disk Phat Lip.

Next, from Fairfax, California, One Man Emo Band Airport Sexy (Paul Hoss) does up the uber-quirkiness with his self-produced and self-recorded disc Death Rock For The Immortals, which gives us geeky organ and piano plus guitar & lyrics that would give the movie Napoleon Dynamite a new soundtrack should they ever need a sequel. San Francisco rockers Sweet Psychosis came up with Tranquilsizer when they were trying to pull a rabbit out of a tube amp. Instead, just in time for their SXSW gigs last March, they got an amazing debut disc filled with crazy ass sounds, dark lyrics, and hot n’ heavy riffs.

There are also 3 CD’s from my most beloved bands. Marin’s own Honeydust, who’s rocking Southern Americana-tinged album California Sunshine makes me smile and dance. Based out of Mill Valley, The Beautiful Losers, whose combination of sweetly sung vocals and searing guitar on their new CD Four Corners Of A Tiny Planet soothes my weary heart and eases all the bumps and bruises it encounters. Finally The Hold Outs, from San Rafael, give you the truth of all things love & rock n’ roll with their self-titled debut album, filled with catchy tunes, sweltering guitar and colorful vocal harmonies.

On the softer side of things, I sent along the fabulous, sexy and soulful San Francisco based singer/songwriter Rossana who’s songs give love a kick in the ass that it sorely needs with her album Truth Be Told. Marin/Sonoma band Three At Last’s self titled disc gives my little Nature Spirit that taste of strong folk harmonies and traditional wood & stringed instruments. Lansdale Station drops into the game with their rocking Country flavored disc Lansdale Station Featuring Judge & Lauren Murphy with acoustic six strings, sweet slide guitar work and both vocal and guitar harmonies that will help you get in touch with your inner trucker or put you right there around the campfire.

Lastly, I have been grooving to a couple of new found gems, Points North, a SF Bay Area band that focuses on guitar driven, melodic rock n’ roll. Their self titled, all instrumental disc is most likely going to make you head bang AND smile with its vibrant, soaring guitar licks and tight tunes. Life Love Misery's self titled CD sends me all over the map of music. I am reminded of New Order in its ethereal floating sound, the edgy vocals and instrumentation of Paul Westerberg, Midnight Oil and Alice in Chains. They skate across quite a spectrum of musical styles.

The CD’s, along with other schwag, such as stickers, band press kits and magnets lie on my living room floor in a messy pile, waiting patiently to join the Hippie Pop Tarts on a journey across the Pacific to be exposed to a whole new, unsuspecting audience of Aussies. Perhaps this journey will prove to be fruitful in many unforeseen ways. Who knows? Perhaps there may be a future tour for some of these bands when “Operation Hippie Pop Tart: CD’s to Aussieland” hits the distant shores of the land down under. Either way, those Aussie audiences are guaranteed to be exposed to some local music flavors that they otherwise would not have ever known, and may very well greatly enjoy. Rock On Australia! Rock on Operation Hippie Pop Tart!

OPERATION POP TART UPDATE!

As we stand amid the closing of the year, I proudly say that 9 of 12 bands' CD's I sent to Brisbane, Australia a few months back have had airplay on 4ZZZ.FM. Some of them have had multiple spins on Astrid Navel Gazer & Doomy Hippie's radio show. YES!

Congrats and a BIG THANKS! to all of us Operation Pop Tarters: the bands, Astrid and Doomy and myself, plus Australian customs for allowing 12 cd's and 2 boxes of Organic Toaster Pastries into that fine but faraway land....

MOONMAMA wants to Rock Your World!

Diary Of A Groupie: Local Music Goes Badass!

2010-07-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

On any given night, on any given day of the week, there is the potential for me to experience live music by incredible bands right in my own backyard, right in my own neighborhood. I do not need to watch American Idol or any of those Reality Talent shows on TV, as I get my talent fix by shoving my face into a speaker as a friend’s guitar shreds away with the raging licks of his six string electric hitting my soul; I get my thrills by going dancing to one of my favorite local bands, the live music entering my body and taking control of all my motor skills; and there’s nothing more incredible to me than the WHOLE band smiling at me, nodding their heads at my arrival as I enter a club or bar to see them play and shake my Sweet Thang to their sound, regardless of whether or not I know them. I am here to hear them play and they are grateful.

(Clockwise from left: Monroe Grisman-American Drag, Evan Frank-flanelhed,

Rusty Evans-Ring Of Fire, Joe Nemzer-Cup 'O Joe)

Music is my life, it gives me my sanity and the above prose is truly my reality, as these Music Makers are my friends and they are members of my town & my community. These are the people I support with my heart and soul. With my talents as a writer and photographer, plus my LOUD VOICE, both figurative and literal, I try to raise awareness to the treasures that lie in my community, that lie in each of our communities in the form of The Local Band or The Local Musician or the Local Live Music Venue.

(Clockwise from left: Jon Korty-Vinyl, Mark Antonio & bart hacker-The Hold Outs,
David Polo-SAGE, Danny U, Darren Nelson & Mike Wiess-Honeydust)

I think TV has tried to kill the Local Music Scene, taking the soul out of our communities by making us stay home in a fantasy realm instead of going out and experiencing life For Real, in it’s True and Unedited version that TV does not give us. We often forget about what is outside our doors, in our streets, clubs and parks; it’s the magic of true experience that makes us live & dream and it is only a few steps away from that Flat Screen that dreams for us. Those dreams are not ours and we need to make our own with what we find around us, not just what’s in front of us.

(Clockwise from left: Vinyl, Dgiin, The RevTones, Brindl)

But Live Music will never Die, Never! It is still there with us, in the small clubs or bars of your town; in the House Concerts your neighbors down the road put on; it’s in the drum jams in the local park; it’s in the music programs of our schools and youth centers; it’s in the dark and graffiti-ridden rehearsal spaces in your city’s warehouse districts, it’s there, the Live Music is everywhere! All you need to do is walk out your door, breathe a sigh of relief that you are free from the drone of commercial banality and sit your ass on a bar stool and hear something you haven’t heard before, talk to people you may have never met and have an experience that will make you feel so alive you will never want to return to that 2 dimensional Dreamscape of Fantasy Entertainment.

(Clockwise from left: Jon Keigwin Band, Tom Finch-Tom Finch Group,

Chris Perry-Miles Schon Band & Rahman D'Amato-5 Minute O)

Look inside your local bar when it has live music. See the faces of the people in your neighborhood smiling, dancing, living. See the lights on the band all blurry and soft, the sounds of their combined instruments blaring out of speakers arranged just for your whole being to hear the beauty of something REAL.

Check out your local music rehearsal space or recording studio and listen for the cacophony of sound as jazz mixes with metal, which blends with country-blues, which melds with Hard Rock Reggae. Look at the amps, cases and music magazines littering the hallways, smell the smoke of cigarettes and ganja. Know that Magic is being created behind these closed doors, magic just for your ears.

(Clockwise from left: Matt Benedict-Montgomery-Jon Keigwin Band, Tim Baker-Miles Schone Band, Nathan Hoehner-Jon Keigwin band & Equipment from Fairfax Festival)

Go into the School Auditoriums, visit the local Youth Centers. There is an uprising among the young and discontent. An uprising that includes guitars and bass; drums and keys; microphones for disillusioned voices of those who want to bring change to their world; reverb and feedback to show you they mean business. Our young folks are waiting in the wings wanting their voices heard. They are the harbingers of change, they are the future and the want their chance to Rock and Roll.

(Clockwise from left: Riley Champine & Cristine Mello-Mello, Spencer Peterson and Chase Baldocchi-Bob Hill Band, Andrew Erickson-Wayward Guns & Miles Schon-Miles Schon Band)

The Youth in our communities want to ROCK!

(Clockwise from left: Cristina Mello, One Eyed Rhino,

Peter Maffei-Wayward Guns, Eric Wolff-Roadhead)

Walk over to your neighbor’s House Concert and sit a spell in a cozy living room, fire blazing and lamp light soft, as a local or traveling minstrel coos and coddles your lonely heart into beating a bit more faster for the possibilities of what life can hold if one open’s their eyes to the experience. Or go to a House Party or a Grassroots Concert put on by a bunch of nutty, crazy music junkies who are so addicted to Live Music that they create venues in their own backyards.

(Clockwise from left: Matt The Electrician House Concert, Hula Hooping Rocker Boy at Rock and Rose Party, Sam Belletto-Semi-Feral at Rock and Rose, Bart Hacker-The Hold Outs at Samapalooza Fest)

(Clockwise from left: Rock & Rose House Party, Jon Keigwin-Rock & Rose Party, Samapalooza Stage & Grounds, Fire Dancers at Rock & Rose Party)

Grab your dusty guitar case, pull out your banged up bass, unzip your kit be ready to bare your soul & talents at a Local Open Mic or Community Music Jam. You need not be a rock star to apply, only a desire to make music with others who want to make music too. Booze helps.

Kortuzi Tuesdays-Open Jam

(Clockwise from left: Dave Burns, The Jammers,
Danny Uzi & Lily Burns)

Your heart will lighten with the sounds of your neighborhoods, the music of your neighbors, the jams of the locals at the bars, the killer band know one knows about yet but a handful of people out on a Tuesday night. Trust me, follow my sage advice, support your local community, support your local musicians, and support the Music Makers, for they are the Makers of The Dream……

(Clockwise from left: Kyle Alden Band, Buddy Owen's Songbirds,

Chamber Music in the Redwoods & Speaker Among The Trees)

Diary Of A Groupie: Love Bites and Other Ideas Of Love Songs

2010-02-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

“And love, love, love is a dangerous drug. You have to receive it and you still can't get enough of the stuff.” Annie Lennox

FLASHBACK! It’s 1984, I am 14 and in the 8th Grade. I am in the Evergreen Junior High School gymnasium. My adolescent hormones are running wild since I see the Cute Boy I have a crush on sitting with his friends on the bleachers.

The darkened room, the streamers and balloons all point to the epitome of a classic school dance. As Judas Priest’s “You Got Another Thing Coming” ends its ironic chant, the DJ drops onto his turntable the one and only Mick Jones of “Foreigner”, who will croon to me that he really “wants to know what love is" and he wants ME to show him…! WOW, thanks Mick! But I really just want the Cute Boy in the bleachers to let Me show Him what love is. But alas, I am in an awkward phase of my life. I feel ugly, I hate my body, I feel super insecure and I feel like no one will ever love me. But I do have Mick Jones' sweetly soaring voice, and he has no qualms about letting me know that someday, I, too will be able to show someone what love is. And what a lucky person that will be.

The Love Song. Yes, the Love Song. Powerful, emotionally profound and sometimes super cheesy. It is often hated and mocked by those who are lacking Love, often cherished and sung by those who have Love. How you look at it and respond to it all really depends on you & only you and whether or not your heart has been smashed to bloody pieces in any recent period of time.

As I have grown older and experienced Love in many of it’s infinite forms, I now think that the word LOVE has a far greater definition than just the romantic aspect of that emotion. When I think of Love Songs nowadays, I seem to encompass the idea that songs of Lost Love (Thomas Dolby’s “Europa”), Unrequited Love (Muddy Water’s “Got My Mojo Working”), Breakups (Duh! Every other love song), Dysfunctional Love (Dramarama’s “Anything Anything”) and Deep, Red, Passionate Love (Prince’s “When Doves Cry”), are all embracing the same theme as the ubiquitous songs about the I’ll-Love-You-Forever Love.

With that statistical idea in mind, that would mean that about 85% (give or take a few percentages) of all songs in recent musical history, quite possibly ancient history, are LOVE SONGS, (the rest probably being spiritual or political songs, and even then, within
those 2 seemingly unrelated themes, there will be songs about your Love Of Your Deity or your Love/Hate Of Your Country).

Dang! That’s a lot of songs about one theme! But, it just goes to show you how strong of an experience Love is, especially when you include all the varying forms of love into your reality. It’s all about the ups and down of the human heart and somehow that inspires us to create profoundly.

Since my ideas of love are quite expansive, I find that I get kind of bored with Love Songs strictly about that whole “True Love Forever & You’re My One & Only” concept. The love songs about lost love, songs about the hard and angry feelings after a breakup and the songs of deep passion & drama are the ones I seem to identify with the most, mainly because I think those style of love songs speak to me truthfully of what Love is all about.

Love is painful; it’s heart opening; it ends and it begins again. We Love many times, we sometimes never get over people we Love. Love & relationships, all relationships, take A LOT of work and Love sometimes ends badly, sometimes really badly. But it always seems to be worth it to endure over and over as there is always a lesson to be learned by the experience of the Love Song and it’s impact on our experience with Love itself.

The creative intent of any given Love Song is solely because the artist needed to express deep feelings about an experience of Love. We take the words and the sentiment of that song and transfer it to our own lives, our own issues and to our own relationship’s joys and dramas, and we begin to understand a little more, with each lyric and harmonic soar of sound, what Love is all about.

Diary Of A Groupie: The First Musician

2010-01-31T16:32:00.000-08:00

In my last day’s of college before flunking out, I took the liberty of practicing what is commonly called a “California Stop”, that's where you don't stop but only slow down at a stop sign. I got a traffic ticket, not surprising. I blame myself and only myself. My displeased parents gave me 2 options: I could either have higher insurance rates or they would send me to traffic school, my choice. So one fabulous, early-summer weekend, I spent 8 hours holed up in a local community center to pay my debt to society.

But with that seemingly sad fate of a restless young woman, I found my destiny. I guess I have to thank “The Lettuce Amuse You Laugh and Learn Traffic School” for setting me up with my very first-ever date with a musician, he was 38, I was 19, hence setting me up for a life-long love affair with dating, romancing and surrounding myself with musicians.

I first noticed this super-cute blue-eyed & blond Music Man smiling at me when I got the fabulous opportunity to play Vanna White in the "Wheel of Traffic" game we played in order to make us all the wiser of the California State driving laws. He invited me to lunch and I found out he played bass, guitar & drums and was a session player for the likes of Carlos Santana, Chris Isaak & Joe Satriani as well as performing in many bands he formed himself. I forgot what his traffic violation was but I guess that doesn’t matter.

I had a boyfriend at the time but I thought nothing about the implications of cheating, for I was thoroughly smitten once I found out he had recorded on some of the most amazing rock albums of the 70’s and 80’s. I didn’t really understand the Groupie Phenomenon back then, but something in my heart KNEW this was a big opportunity, he was an honest to goodness rocker and I wanted to play his game.

We talked on the phone for a few days, getting into some great conversations about his life as a musician. The thrill of the stage, the piles of cocaine, the addictions, the groupies, the hard life that the road truly represents. It was all so completely foreign to a little, naïve girl such as myself, but I was hooked on his stories and the idea of the Desperate & Tumultuous Music Romance I wanted with him that played in my head.

Alas, I didn’t get the desperate romance as I had hoped, for after a few dates and phone calls, a few make-out sessions on his couch (and a decline from me to go further) I knew this man was not for me. I didn’t know what I wanted, I still had a boyfriend and the age difference freaked me out a bit. I wasn’t ready for this yet, but it planted the seed for the latent Groupie-ness that would soon spring forth from this budding young lady.

But I do remember that after meeting him, even though it was a short-lived romance, I changed incredibly. After hearing his stories & sharing my passion for music with him, I opened. With talking deeply with him about how music can be so ingrained in us it becomes an obsession to contain it or let it explode in us, I began to hear things differently.

It started to listen to recordings he played on, old and new records where he may have been on only one or two tracks. I started to pick apart the music and challenge myself to hear beyond the notes and riffs. I started to listen to a song over and over trying to piece together all the different parts and how they all fit together to make THIS SONG that sounded like no other song ever played, heard or recorded.

My world blew apart after meeting this man. My understanding of music was hugely enlightened because of his influence, and all he really did was make me Rice-A-Roni and tell me I was good kisser.

Moonmama says, "ROCK ON!"

Diary Of A Groupie: Mistress To The Music

2010-01-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

There you are, up on the stage. You are a star and you shine upon me your amazing light. Your sweat pours from you body and creates a sheen that makes you shiny and sparkly, so alive and real to me. You move to the rhythm of what you are creating, your body one with the instrument in your hand or before you, spread out like an eager lover waiting for you to play her deeply and truly.

Your energy comes out of the speakers. Loud, punctuating, pulsing; entering into my ears, into my brain, transforming itself into pure & utter lust and love for you and how you make my body feel with the music that you make. I thank you for the sexual electricity, the vibe, and the pure energy of sound. It’s the most amazing love I have ever had and you give it to me freely: Music.

To All The Guitarists: Soaring, flying, so free with your spirit. The notes and riffs coming off your fret board sending pure joy into my heart. I feel you entering into my body with your twang and shred. My soul flies to the highest heavens with every note and every “wah” and every high and with every low you produce. You are like a knife with your sound, slicing me up and killing me softly with every lick and stroke of your strings. You are the Lover of Cosmic Sound.

To All The Bassists: You are so much more deep, nasty and guttural then the guitar, more melodic than the drums. You are the pulse of the music. You are edgier & darker, the sexual energy more apparent. You keep the rhythm flowing through my veins, it flows into my lower regions of depth and desire within my body. You are the Lover of Pulse.

To All The Drummers: Your ancient talent takes me to a primal place. Your rhythmic banging to keep the time so in tune with my own womanhood. You blast me, you shake me, your heartbeat keeping in time with mine. You are the Lover of The Beat.

To all the Horn Players: You are the sass on the brass. You are the whisper in my ear that speaks of dirty things that are always fun though not necessarily legal. Your screams and squeals are what we hear through locked doors in seedy hotels. You are the Lover of Secret Vices.

To All The Singers: You yourself are the instrument. You yourself are the one entering into me so deeply with your words and voice. The intimacy you create with your own body’s instrument is so profound and alive in the truest sense. Your words fill all my senses, they fill my brain with wisdom and my heart with consolation and understanding. You are the Lover of My Intellect.

To All Of The Musical Magicians, every single one of you with whom Music is your muse: You are all my lovers, you are all my loves. What you give to me is so precious, so profound and it creates such magic in my life. I thank you deeply and truly for your gifts.

Moonmama says: Weee haaaa!

Tributes to those I worship

2010-01-18T15:54:00.000-08:00

Music & 'Ohana: Sage Rocks My World

2010-01-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

My experiences with ALL THINGS HAWAIIAN have never been anything but amazing and lovely. From chocolate covered macadamia nuts, to Slack-Key guitar music to the joy of hearing applause after a particularly stunning sunset on the beach in Maui, Hawaii kind of rocks in a hugely wonderful way. The foliage, the smells, the landscape and the Pacific all lend a soft yet powerful quality to the Hawaiian Experience. The Hawaiian language is soft but staccato with many apostrophized vowels & repetition of words peppering one’s speech. Mahi-Mahi, Wahini, Ukulele, Aloha…all such fluid sounds when rolling off of the tongue, like gentle waves mesmerizing your ears as you fall asleep on the sandy shore.

One of my favorite Hawaiian words in both definition as well as verbal flow is the word ‘OHANA, meaning community or family. In my passionate experience with All Things Music, the community and family I am discovering never seems to stop growing. My ‘Ohaha in the Music World is now Vast, Huge and Welcoming.

As I spin images and tales of the bluest seas, the warmest waves, the brightest spirit of people, I also send you an Aloha from the dance floor and a Mahalo for taking the time to read this little ditty today on some ‘Ohana-influenced Hawaiian Rock and Roll from the Bay Area band, SAGE.

Joshua Schiaretti: Voice, Ukulele, Guitar

David Polo: Voice, Ukulele, Guitar

Every community begins with 2 individuals and a common goal or vision, two beings sharing a path. Joshua Schiaretti and David Polo met in High School in Hawaii, hated each other immensely and then decided to be lifelong friends & musical compadres for the rest of their lives. You can tell right away the ‘Ohana brotherhood between these two Ukulele wielding maestros whose Positive Island-Vibe inspired lyrics on love and life will open your mind even more to the possibility of Peace Through Music.

Sage is an unusual rock band that features Ukulele’s instead of guitars as the driving force of the main musical highway of Rock And Roll. Joshua Schiaretti and David Polo started out as an acoustic duo on the warm beaches of Oahu, but when they had an opportunity to jam with Bassist Ben Pfeiffer in 2005, the magic began to happen. 2008 brought drummer Dana Miller into the folds of the Musical Ohana of Sage. Pfeiffer and Miller both come from local ROCK bands (Chrome Johnson, Sabbath Lives!) and that changed the original sound of Sage immensely. Says Josh Schiaretti of adding the rock backgrounds of Miller and Pfeiffer to their largely acoustic groove, “Our sound went from a mellow, blending background to an "In Your Face", makes-you-wanna-move and smile your ass off vibe!” David Polo adds his ideas of the band’s morphing into more rock stylings, “I think it's really cool to see the different styles of music that are coming out of us, and it’s still developing. I feel it's something new and can go in any direction.”

We now have a new term to add to the world; Ukulele Headbang.

Ben Pfeiffer: Stand Up and Electric Bass

Dana Miller: Drums/Percussion

The Ukulele is not an instrument most people think of as having Rock and Roll Shred-ability, but instead our heads are filled of visions of Don Ho and 50’s Tiki-Schtick. Though if you put a Ukulele in the hands of Josh Schiaretti and David Polo, you’ll see that they have a tendency of being used in a much more dramatic ways than anything from Tiny Bubbles. Growing up in Hawaii, both men used the Ukulele quite a bit in most jams and musical ventures. Schiaretti clarifies the myth, “I think most people have a common misconception of the Ukulele. Mostly known for the "clanky" hollow sound from the past, the Ukulele in my opinion is capable of so much more tone and presence. We are just trying to take something traditional, something stuck or kinda stagnant and create a new sound, something new and for everyone. Our Ukulele's we're custom made by hand in Hawaii and fitted with electronic pickups as well as an internal mic so blending the sound to achieve the most natural tone possible is easy.” He continues, “The Ukulele seems so fragile, but it is pretty sturdy and is capable of creating a solid wall of sound. Plus my favorite thing is it makes people happy! Something about the sound and presence of the instrument makes people smile and dance!...I like to think of {our sound} as a merger of all the influences of our past. but focusing on a certain feeling of the present.”

The band is taking the Aloha approach to their music, infusing it with love & good vibes, gratitude & joy. They all sparkle and shine onstage like an early morning sunrise over the golden Pacific. Drummer Dana Miller really wants Sage “to keep playing and creating music with good vibes, and bring it to a global audience.” With the desire to create an album of Sage music, David Polo states, “We love the studio and we have the songs to do an album a year. I'm fired up! I love the fact that we're blessed with the ability to do what we do. if we stay focused no task is to difficult.”

With the ‘Ohana Vibe permeating their live shows as well as their recorded tunes on their website, Sage leaves you happy and loved with the music that is inspired by the deep culture and spirit of Hawaii.

And so I close my story by wishing you Aloha and by sending you postcards from my brain with images of whale song & body surfing, of bonfire jams with Ukuleles on a full moon night, the Big Dipper, 7 Sisters and Orion possibly overhead, guiding you in your journey for finding your own ‘Ohana.

Moonmama Loves You!

SAGE website

http://myspace.com/sageboyz