Life's A Song 2008

Well this took me a while. I seem to be wandering between solid internet connections all the time, and it took me 3 days to get 13 photos uploaded to Flickr properly. There's no excuse. Needless to say, the Life's A Song workshop with Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines was a great experience and I met and re-met a lot of great folks this year. Not a bad way to spend a birthday, either. I got play some of my new tunes for Terri that are possibilities for EP 2, and the feedback was definitely useful. The jams were awesome, even if it got cold enough to make us move inside and away from the campfire. I didn't think it got cold in Port Aransas. (In my mind if you drive that far to a coast, you're pretty close to Jamaica. My mind isn't very geographically accurate, however). Here's some photos...and while you look, go to Terri's Myspace page and listen to her new tunes! Some from her new retrospective album and some from her Christmas EP. "Bring 'Em All In" has been a favorite of mine at live shows for quite some time... Cruising around Port A... Lloyd and the dobro go together like PB&J. Campfire Jam! Inside jam! Terri harmonicas it up. I recorded "Switzerland" with Lloyd being his kickbutt producer self. So there you go. If you have any interest at all in the craft of songwriting, I encourage you to attend a workshop like this...get yourself on the list for Life's A Song or check some of the other ones across the country. They're good for you.

Monkey. File.

My job of Merch Girl has kind of branched out into what I'll just call "Monkey" although Susan usually attached an adjective to the front of that which rhymes with "fit" and I take as a term of endearment. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, and this week we spent a lot of time filing things. It made me want to go home and file a bunch of my own stuff...but I'd probably need to hire a Fit Monkey of my own. Yesterday morning before a filing frenzy, Susan had a radio inteview on KGSR to play a song and talk about her performance this weekend at the Empty Bowl Benefit. More on that in a future post (but go to the benefit!). We had to be at KGSR kinda early...which means we had to be up even earlier. Coffee was in order.

A recap from a while ago.

It's been a busy one, as usual...and I've been remiss on making videos or even filming much. Here's some random bits from October and early November...more coming soon! Promise.

Another year older...

And wearing a wiser t-shirt. More workshop today! Much fun and much learned so far!

And so it begins...

Yeah, I get to spend my birthday with Terri and Lloyd and a bunch of fun people. Score!

To Port A!

Time for the Life's A Song workshop, folks. My good buddy Kate Hearne and I are going to drive down to Port Aransas in oh, about 20 minutes and get our songwriting on. Very excited! Reports from the scene, of course. I have all my cables wrapped and chargeable items charged.

Yak Yak Yak

Katie took this shot of Dan and I both holding our elbows at 93 degree angles chatting in the car. No, we weren't talking to each other.

JP Project No. 3

Whew. Dan, Katie, and I are back in our respective places tonight in Austin after a fun and whirlwind trip back to the homeland. Albuquerque, while gorgeous year-round, is especially gorgeous in the fall. Leaves actually change color there, and I got to wear a hoodie a lot. Woot! Our annual house concert that my business partner Josh and I organize was a great time...we can't believe it's the 3rd year we've pulled this off. We're getting streamlined with it and Josh is pretty awesome about organizing a party for 60 people. I was so glad to see everyone and catch up with everyone's lives. It's also neat to catch everyone up on my life in Austin and to introduce them to some of my favorite Texans, too. Dan packs me in. Three people. Six guitars. We all fit! Breathe in and buckle down. Making good time. A little pre-show gathering. Dan and Katie discuss...coffee? Katie was the awesomest Merch Girl ever. Look at that display. So I'm full on mom's rhubarb pie and some green chile as well (not at the same time). Good stuff. If you were there, thanks for coming! If you're in Albuquerque and want to come next year, let me know. Who knows who will show up as the special guest. This is another busy week...Friday brings the Life's A Song Workshop weekend with Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines. SO. EXCITED. I happen to have a birthday over the weekend, as well, and I can't think of a better way to spend it than in Port Aransas with a bunch of songwriters. Bring it! After I sleep for 8 hours...

Packingpackingpacking

Mr. Daniel Barrett and Miss Katie Lessley and I are heading to New Mexico tomorrow so we can do a house concert on Friday night and I am so excited but in the meantime I have 8 things to finish and I have not started packing and when I pack I pack a lot of cables and wires and I need to make sure I can charge anything that needs charging when I am in ABQ and so I decided to blog this sentence instead.

VOTE! Caffeine! Viva Democracy!

I just had a Diet Coke chased by a fabulous cup of free Starbucks brew. Just go in and tell them you voted. No, really. This is a free country and you can celebrate it by drinking free caffeine. The Poli Sci nerd in me is coming out today. Looking forward to exit poll analysis and electoral vote estimations. Hope your lines weren't too long and your chads are not hanging. Oh yeah, insert something about folk music here.

Merch Girl Contest Winners!

Phil and his awesomeness have announced the winners of the Merch Girl T-shirt Slogan Contest...go to his blog to see the results. I'm pasting a few of my favorites below...with 100+ entries there were a lot of funny ones. Some of you know me too well. Some of you are very literary...or just nerdy. My commentary in italics. Add your own in the comments if you think you can match these fine people. The ides of Merch. (Makes a history major happy). Merch: you didn’t bring any of your own…buy some of mine. Merching: great for padding a resume. I’d even sell you the shirt off my back (for $20 extra). (I always layer so it's not a big deal). Merch Girls Make Change “Where’s My Masking TAPE!!!” - merch girl (A real quote...said with much panic). Merch Girl of Venice. JPo and SuSang: A perfect Merch. Merch Girl: the cheapest thing in the van. Merch Girl: starved for attention and saltines since 1982. Merch Girl takes backseat to the PUPPPIES!!! Merch “No, I don’t have change for a 100" Gurl (I have been asked this! And I did it) Merch Girl- Will work for Diet Coke (Amen. And I do). Merch Gurls-The Coolest Person in the Bar (Thank you). Masking Tape - $2.00 Drink From the bar- $ 3.00 Truck stop dinner- $6.99 Being A Merch Girl- Priceless Merchin’ Magic Isn’t as easy as this Merch gurl Makes it appear! This Merch Gurl Makes Music AND Money! Merch Girls > Groupies Merch girls wheel and deal, then wine and dine. Merch girls wake up the band. The merch girl is a very sophisticated navigation system. (But Susan has discovered I'm not as accurate as her GPS). Merch girls fund the tour. Merch girls smell better than the band. (Hey I didn't say it). Merch girls are the opening act. Merch girls are also the closing act. Merch girls rarely offer discounts. (NEVER. EVER.) The Merch Girl: don’t leave home without her. In soviet Russia, the merch sells the merch girl. (This made me laaaugh). Saving the world from bad music one CD at a time. You want to swipe it where?

Danapo and GO VOTE!

Do it. Last night Dan and I played our first gig together...it was a bit of a warm up for our show in New Mexico. It was great in all aspects...we had fun playing music together, some of our favorite people came out to support us, and the weather was perfect. Who can beat that? Oh, and Dan found good parking. He wins. Dan+Janapo = Danapo When I play bass, Dan calls me "Sassafrass." Hehheh. Photos courtesy of Ron Baker - thanks, Ron!

Tracking the Early Year: 12 Hours By Car

It is 750ish miles from Austin to Albuquerque, and that takes 12 hours to drive if you're doing right by the speed limit. I'm not one for stopping anywhere to stay the night, so I just do the whole thing in a day. That thought informed the chorus for this one -- some days Albuquerque feels so far it might as well be across the Atlantic. Then again it's nice to know a 2 hour plane ride will get me there, too. The rest of the song is a true instance of coming out in about 2.5 hours on a Saturday morning with much coffee and Garageband to keep track of things. I'm pretty sure none of it existed before then. I remember feeling exceptionally accomplished for it being 11 AM on a Saturday when I finished it. It was the first song we tracked for the record, and when it came time for some percussion, Dan thought quarters would have a ring to them...so somehow he compiled a handful of quarters and I stood there for the entirety of the song dropping quarters back and forth from hand to hand. A few made it to the floor, but mostly I was an adept quarter slinger. It makes me think of a ghost walking down a hallway. The banjo added a nice vibe to the whole thing. Lyrics: i am numb, i am numb two shots per feeling is my rule of thumb and i am tired, i'm so tired of being the one who sets wind to the fire it is thin, wearing thin life is a butterfly stuck on a pin i am still, i lie still behind enemy lines and i have taken my pill 'cause i don't know where you are two hours by plane means twelve by car that is the way we are twelve hours apart by car here i am, here i am spilling my soul on a string and a can can't you see, can't you see? i always thought maybe you'd be good for me but i don't know where you are two hours by plane means twelve by car that is the way we are twelve hours apart by car every day looks the same if the sun makes it up then i'll be ok 'cause every day looks the same if the sun makes it up then i'll be ok 'cause i don't know where you are two hours by plane means twelve by car that is the way we are twelve hours apart by car Words and Music by Jana Pochop © 2008 Patient Grasshopper Music (ASCAP)

Sunday in Luckenbach

Sunday brought about a benefit concert in Luckenbach, Texas to help the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe in Galveston rebuild after Hurricane Ike. A bunch of people and artists turned out, and it was a glorious autumnal-like Sunday afternoon. And I had never been to Luckenbach (with Waylon and Willie and the Boys)...so Katie and I took it as a good excuse to jet on down the road. Plus, SusanG! was playing. I mean, come on. We also got to see Band of Heathens and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Awesome stuff. My hand at 60 mph. Excellent crowd, lovely day. Susan Gibson and John Greenberg. And I got to see my PUPPIES that I had missed since I have not been Merch Girl for a couple of weeks. Aww. Look at that face. (I stole these last two from Katie).

Tracking The Early Year: New Mexico Boy Part II

(Part one of this non-saga lives here). "New Mexico Boy" was pretty fully formed by the time I was playing it out a lot, but it's actually gone through a few major "renovations," if you will, to get it to the version you hear on The Early Year. It's a long song. It has five verses. That's indulgent, but I like them all, so I wasn't going to chuck anything out. It got its first facelift when I was at the Life's A Song workshop with Terri Hendrix. We got some one-on-one time with Terri to go over whatever we wanted, and I played her this song. She had the same assessment about the length. At that time the chorus was: Drunk on Friday, home by 2 AM Mass on Sunday, bread and wine again You wonder who's your saint Cuz sure as hell you ain't Does confession to the Mother bring you joy New Mexico Boy? When you sing that 3 times, it makes your long song even LONGER. Terri drew some lines through the "saint/ain't" lines and said that's what needed to go. She was right. But I still LOVED that line. I went over that with Dan and he suggested those lines could be moved to the bridge, which at the time was kind of taking up redundant space: Airport's running out of planes Scared you won't wake up the same Airport's running out of planes So not only do I have this really long song but I'm REPEATING myself. Right. A little cut and paste and we ended up with what you hear now: Airport's running out of planes Scared you son't wake up the same You wonder who's your saint Cuz sure as hell you ain't And it worked, and it was all there, and the choruses were shorter, and the heavens parted and birds sang. Well, in my mind, anyway. This songwriting stuff is hard work. New Mexico Boy Lyrics superheroes, superstars live so far from where you are where crazy things fall from the sky but nothing's shown you how to fly cruise all night and sleep 'til noon tortillas, juice, and old man gloom spread butter on your daddy's bread turn off the news, go back to bed drunk on friday, home by 2 am mass on sunday, bread and wine again does confession to the mother bring you joy? new mexico boy no history you care to claim no county kickbacks in your name just a pack of dreams rolled up your sleeve to make it big you'll have to leave drunk on friday, home by 2 am mass on sunday, bread and wine again does confession to the mother bring you joy? new mexico boy airport's running out of planes you're scared you won't wake up the same you wonder who's your saint 'cause sure as hell you ain't cinderblocks like hollow hearts stacked up in piles along boulevards a fortress in your own hometown but this ain't china, walk around no this ain't china, walk around drunk on friday, home by 2 am mass on sunday, bread and wine again does confession to the mother bring you joy? new mexico boy Words and Music by Jana Pochop © 2008 Patient Grasshopper Music (ASCAP)

Numbers and Koozies

Well it's been a while, not for lack of activity. I have been spending a lot of time in preparation for the annual JP Project No. 3 in Albuquerque -- where I take a special guest back to the Burque, we have a house concert in a cool house, and I get to see everyone I miss and meet some new ones I'll miss by next year. Last year Susan was our special guest, and this year I'm happy to say Dan is making the drive. We've got some surprises for everyone, which means...REHEARSAL. And Jana tries to remember all her parts because her brain is small, and she starts talking about herself in 3rd person. Sigh. It's all fun, though. I have been working on a little film aspect for the night and it involved me crunching some numbers, and this one stuck out...the number of miles I have driven as a Merch Girl (well, I didn't drive most of them, I sat most of them) This number is since July, when I started merching, so it's really only 3 months worth: 6622 No wonder I feel like I need a massage! On a slightly unrelated note, this is what my favorite Fort Worthian, Amy, made me with masking tape and sheer genius one night. I realized I hadn't properly given it blog time. Yep.

Merchtober Video

Thus explains the banana comment from the previous "out of context video" (Phil asked!). I especially like the "whoosh" sound the banana makes flying out the window....

Makers Who Make Stuff

Kids. I have ended my round of 4 gigs in 4 days this weekend and now I seek the services of a massage therapist for my shoulder. But all is great and every show was fun. I songswapped at the Irie Bean with my good friends Emily Shirley (who also did the stellar graphic design on my EP) and Kimbo. Much fun and stage banter! This weekend Austin hosted the Maker Faire, and the Art of Texas market that is so kind to allow me to minstrel around with them set up at the Expo Center with the Faire. Such a cool thing -- it was a whole fairground full of robot builers and crafty people and cool t-shirts and recycled crafts and speeches and presentations and fire and loud noises and gluten free scones. That is just a list of things I observed...I'm sure there was a lot more. Now, I've noticed that it's a lot harder to document one's life when you're the one living it...hence I did not take a single photo or video the whole time. Merch Girl needs a Merch Girl! I DID see Mr. Bill Murray himself at the Maker Faire. I didn't want to interrupt his wandering around, but I did glance in his direction meaningfully several times, even though he never came directly by me, haha. I try.

Wanna Be a Merch Gurl?

Ok kids, my buddy Phil over at AllThingsPhil.net is cool enough to sponsor a contest whereupon you can win your very own copy of The Early Year! And since the contest, which he so cleverly designed, involves coming up with a witty Merch Girl t-shirt slogan of your very own...the grand prize winner gets their rock star slogan on a t-shirt made by ME. Because I like to Sharpie things. You even get to pick your t-shirt size. It's like the Gap but custom. So go be witty, and if you're witty enough...you too could be a Merch Girl.* (*Except not Susan's. She already has one. You'll have to find your own folk-rock star to tour and make funny videos with).

More Radio Waves!

My blog buddy Heather hosts a weekly radio show called Lyrical Venus featuring female singer-songwriters on KRUU in Fairfield, Iowa...and she was stellar enough to ask me to be on her show this week since The Early Year is out and about and looking to dress up and hit the town. See her nice post about the whole shebang here. She even got ALL her facts right. That's impressive. Here's a link to her radio station blog... And here's a link to LIVE STREAM the interview tomorrow (Tuesday, October 14th)...Lyrical Venus starts at 9 AM Central time...I'll be on sometime during that hour. Tune in, kids. Support the awesome radio people who get the word out about the discs that we singer-songwriters make. Thanks, Heather!!