: Chisme

http://classicalgeektheatre.blogspot.com/2008/08/love-grenades-w-with-casxio-and-lysa.html


Lysa Flores knocked me on my ass.

The self-identified chicana rocker exuded talent. Her sound seemed to rest somewhere between punk rock and 90's songwriter, slathered with her own cultural heritage. It helped that she had a wicked good backing band; the bassist in particular was skilled. But the show was about Flores and the second you saw her on stage you couldn't take your ears off her voice.

She sang with attitude, grit, longing, resilience, and pretty much any other emotional note you look for in a strong female charismatic figure. She was convincing and authentic, putting the sea of costumed wanna be rock chicks in LA to shame. If the Sunset Strip could have a singer like Flores every night, by gum you'd be finding me in The Whiskey on Mondays.

My gringo ass has nil background on Mexican, Latino, and Hispanic music. But I can tell you that those influences are the predominant characteristic of Flores' music and her cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl" (reappropriated as "Mexi-merican Girl") was an inspiration, with Flores expressing herself and who she is in the context of mainstream American rock tradition. That's how you do a cover, folks.

She gets my strongest recommendation. I'd plug a show if she had one listed.

The Tour is off to a great start!
Thanks Slims!
I was able to go to the Frida Kahlo museum at MOMA to see her amazing exhibit. Unos Cuantos Piquetitos was shocking to see up close as was the suicide painting. The expression on Dolores's face! eerie..... If you get a chance, visit the exhibit before it leaves in September.



DATE CITY VENUE
WED 7/30 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Slim's
THU 7/31
FRI 8/1 PORTLAND, OR Doug Fir
SAT 8/2 SEATTLE, WA Seafair
SUN 8/3
MON 8/4 DENVER, CO Bluebird
TUE 8/5
WED 8/6 MINNEAPOLIS, MN First Avenue
THU 8/7 CHICAGO, IL Abbey Pub
FRI 8/8 CLEVELAND, OH Beachland Ballroom
SAT 8/9 TORONTO, ON Horseshoe Tavern
SUN 8/10
MON 8/11 BOSTON, MA Middle East
TUE 8/12 HOBOKEN, NJ Maxwell's
WED 8/13 NEW YORK, NY LPR
THU 8/14 PHILADELPHIA, PA Johnny Brenda's
FRI 8/15 WASHINGTON, DC Black Cat
SAT 8/16 ATLANTA GA Variety Playhouse
SUN 8/17 ATLANTA, GA The Earl
MON 8/18 NEW ORLEANS, LA Parish
TUE 8/19 HOUSTON, TX Continental Club
WED 8/20 AUSTIN, TX Continental Club
THU 8/21
FRI 8/22 (Amnesty show in Sacramento)
SAT 8/23 LOS ANGELES, CA Key Club
SUN 8/24 SAN DIEGO, CA Casbah

What a weird scene at the kick off of the Los angeles Speaker Series.
There was so much racial tension in the room. Without going into my own take on the night, i wanted to commend the mayor who during his welcoming of the ex president encountered a heckler. Well not really. He was in the middle of his welcome speech. He would repeat some of his key words in spanish like friend - amigo, extraordinary -extraordinario and so on. An older anglo man yelled out "In English" to which the mayor replied "i did. Hey I'm bilingual. This is Los Angeles." He was received by all the latinos in the house applauding...my mother and myself included. What was so weird was that a lot of the white folks in the room acted offended and whispered a bunch of crap. Hello, he was introducing the ex-Mexican President. Instead of being viewed as cultured and respectful some lame-o had the nerve to criticize his billingual address. What a shame. There were also mexican protesters in the audience who voiced there dissatisfaction with the ex presidents work or lack of work. it was a heavy scene but I was glad to be there and hear about the progress of our neighbors to the south as well as the story of an immigrant who became president of Mexico.







Last year the two speakers i enjoyed the most were ex president Clinton who spoke of his recent work for AIDS foundations and the Queen of Jordan. I'm really looking forward to seeing Maya Angelou next month. I know why the caged bird sings had a profound effect on me as a teenager. She's bad ass.

Our family pet hung himself last night. He was a beautiful huge champion Pit Bull. Words can't describe this magnificant dog. The last few days he had been jumping a 7ft fence so my brother decided to tie him up while he went to work his graveyard shift. When he returned at 7am he found him hanging over the fence. I can't tell you how devasting it was for my little brother to find him. I'm sure you can imagine. I'm sharing this personal story because i've been hearing how common it is. I'm a dog mom myself. I've got two beautiful Jindos and recently Tibu had been going crazy over our new neighbors cats. One morning about a month ago...i let them out to pee as usual and went back to bed. I drempt that something had happened to one of my dogs and when i woke up i called for them. Only Oso showed up. I knew something was wrong so I flew out of bed and went outside. Tibu had tried to jump the fence and his collar got caught on the tip of the iron. I tried to scream but nothing came out. When i got to him he panicked and scratched the shit out of me. I was finally able to lift his body up to free his collar from the fence. I carried him back inside and placed him on the bed. I was crying and shaking and wasn't sure what to do next. After 30 seconds of him frozen, he shoke it off and jumped off the bed as if nothing had ever happened.
My brothers weren't so lucky. It's been nonstop crying. some blaming and a lot of disbelief at the flores house. We've lost pets before but never in such a fucked up way.
What is even stranger is that two days ago i wrote a song called California Orange Groves whose main character is a dog who is waiting for his chance to run free. I'm not shitting you. I wrote it and went into the studio the next day which i have never done before. D.J. came in and accompanied me on the jew harp. i don't really know what any of these coincidences mean. I only know it's fucked up to lose a pet especially when it is preventable. In the attempt to protect our dog, the only mistake that my little brother made was to not check the length of the chain. As the saying goes, he had enough rope to hang himself.

So, in honor of my dog, your dogs,and the recent dog slaughters in China, here's a great organization that helps save lives instead.
www.rescuetrain.org

Produced by Ian Brennan
Ramblin Jack Elliot's I stand alone has been nominated for a GRAMMY!
Long time drummer D.J. Bonebrake, along with Flea, David Hidalgo, Nels Cline, Lucinda Williams and Corin Tucker are featured on the record. If you haven't already please go out and support this record. It was made with a lot of love and vision.
My favorite track is BLUE.

Last night I performed one of the roughest sets of my career. A soloists nightmare....a bad mix / bad sound... I was performing in a bubble of muffled sound with a piercing humm coming out of the monitor... My throat was super dry i thought i was going to joke on every next word and there was a gap between the stage and the audience which was huddled closer to the free drinks rather than the stage. I only sang two songs but it felt like eternity. I recognized a few supportive faces in the audience...sr. Elvez and Gabriel (ex Quetzal singer) who were completely honest with me about the weird performance. As I was getting off stage two members from the Black Eyed Peas were coming up to introduce Ozo... (they were very nice). So...what prevented me from fleeing the stage like i really wanted to do. The Boyle Heights Tech Center. This event was a fundraiser for the new center that is going to provide facilities to kids that deserve a refuge from the streets. It's a place to study, create films and music and grow! I can't imagine what it would have been like to have a center like this when i was growing up in eastlos. There is even a recording studio! I haven't been to a red carpet event like this for a while since leaving the film world... some notibles to mention...Snoop Dogg and rockstar mayor ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA who along with a lot of dedicated people made this amazing new center happen. Thanks Sheila!

Unfortunately my schedule did not pemit me to join El Vez as a lovely Elvette this Mex-mas. Rumor has it he has two new amazing grrrls that will help bring the XXX-mas....

I will be opening a few dates on the east coast with an amazing band...so get ready to BRING YOUR LOVE!!!!!

dreams do come true...
i know this but I always doubt it when to much time passes in between the little miracles...
It was a beautiful sunny day in Oakland...I was playing my jarana out on the porch when he arrived.
"Why don't we do it out here" jonathan suggested. So Dayle and Ian were kind enough to bring the studio out to us! We sat on the deck and I did my best from freaking out. I expected him to play on one song and instead we spent the afternoon jamming on several of my new tunes including the classic...Moms Song.
I've heard pleny of jonathan stories so I was a bit nervous and intimidated in his presence. My hand kept freezing up when i was finger picking and it took forever for my voice to start warming up.... he was gracious and extremely kind.
By his own confession, Jonathan is latino at heart. He plays a mean flamenco guitar!