I think I'm getting pretty good at this

Last weekend was dope. I picked up a ticket to see John Doe and Lucinda Williams at the new Summer Nights venue, South Lake Union. I prefer this venue to the pier, personally. John Doe was awesome. He alternated between acoustic and electric guitar, doing songs off his solo albums and reaching back for an X tune or two. He did a Dave Alvin song called "Fourth of July," and it brought tears to my eyes as I sang along. Here are the lyrics:
"She gives me her cheek when I want her lips, but I don't have the strength to fight it. On the lost side of town, in a dark apartment, we gave up trying so long ago..."
Anyway, John Doe is the shit, and I can't wait to get his new album, which is getting rave reviews.

Lucinda looked and sounded great. She looked like she was having a genuinely good time. She made a comment at one point about how much she was touched by the crowd's reaction to her songs. Good for Seattle. She said she had written 23 new songs, and she tried a few of them out. My favorite two were in true Lucinda Williams form, one a lament about a lover who couldn't stay out of jail and the other a rail about a boastful man who can't get her motor running. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was sober, but it sure hasn't diminished her muse.

I recorded a Michael Clark song called "Los Alamos Blues" on Saturday. Dylan Fant, owner of 1Shot Studio recorded it for free as a promotion for the studio. We laid down a guitar track, then lead vocal, then a harmony track and finally a short harmonica solo. I was mixed, mastered and out the door in three hours, and I didn't feel rushed. The young man knows what he is doing, and I am thrilled with the finished product. Now I just need to put this little solo project together, while I am still "among the quick."

I have a little gig at the Celtic Bayou, a cajun/irish place, which is pretty funny, cause I'm half cajun and half irish. Nancy and I are going to go have dinner (anyone care for Shepard's Jambalaya?) and then I play a 30 minute set at 11:00.
I'm not sure if it's the confidence I gained while taking the EMP class, 25 years of experience catching up on me, the fact that I am playing pretty much constantly or just "clean living," but I am feeling like I can pretty much shred through anything I play right now. Whatever it is, it doesn't suck.

Meanwhile, across the world, our young men and women keep dying for a lie and a ruse. Is anybody else out there getting pissed?

Thank you Ms. Auer for being the first person to comment on this blog. I'm glad your benefit for the school went well.

If others are reading this, send me a comment, ok? I won't bite.

Jon Auer and Me

Jon Auer and Me
Posted by: podman.

This is a picture of the CD release party at the Science Fiction Museum at the
Experience Music Project, May 25, 2005. Yes, I was pretty excited to have a musical idol sing and play guitar with me on one of MY songs. He produced my song on the ESP album and laid down one of the sweetest vocal harmonies in history. If you are a song-writer and you want to boost your skills, take the EMP-UW songwriting certificate program. It made a believer out of me.

Spoon rocketh my world

Nancy and I caught the Spoon show at the Showbox on Saturday night. Britt Daniels and crew came to play. The sound was flawless, and the songs carried the night, no need for a lot of head bobbing or stage theatrics. The crowd was mesmorized by the powerful lyrics, great musician-ship, infectious grooves and Austin laid back charm. Buy any spoon album you can find, put your headphones on, turn it up and smile.

The horror

Well, the truth finally came out about Terry Schiavo. The autopsy revealed that she was in a persistent vegetative state, had been for some time, that her brain was basically liquid. All those right wing pundits, the Sean Hannity's, Pat Robertson's, that sicko Randall Terry, they should be taken out and beaten for the damage they have done to the Schiavo family, for giving them false hope, for getting involved with something that was clearly NONE OF THEIR FRICKING BUSINESS! As far as the political hacks that got involved, Carl Rove, W, Tom Delay, beating is too easy, they should be in jail, pure and simple. They represent everything that is wrong with this country today, the hipocrasy, shrouded in religion, based in pure greed and hate that is a blight upon this once great nation. Check out Randi Rhodes link on air america for a good rant about these phonies and just how much damage they have done. Why isn't the autopsy a front page story? Come on, you know the answer.