Austin City Flippin' Limits!!!!

Ok. So I grew up on PBS and after I got into playing guitar at age 11 I grew up on Austin City Limits. One of the draws of working at PBS/KNME-TV in college was that they aired ACL, even though our station had nothing to do at all with the filming of it. Something about the mystique of that show stuck with me. Mary Chapin Carpenter has been on it quite a bit, which was my big harbinger of coolness back in the day...and of course everyone from Johnny Cash to The Dixie Chicks to Bonnie Raitt to John Prine to Alison Krauss etc. etc. has graced that stage. I own a coffee table book about ACL for crying out loud. Some people came prepped with chairs and reading material. So I was pretty stoked when we got the chance to see a taping yesterday for Band of Heathens. There's a process you go through to get in, and since I work 8 jobs but none of them have a precise schedule I was free to stand in the 106 degree heat outside KLRU at 4 PM to snag a couple of numbers for Katie and I. The numbers allowed us to come back that night and they let us in the studio until they ran out of room. We made it in no problem and I spent the night gaping at that famous stage. In line! Happy! It is pretty much exactly like it looks on TV. There's the skyline backdrop, the trees (are those fake? I always assumed), the piano on right side of the stage. During the taping they named just a few of the people who have played that piano...Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino...crazy the amount of history. The ACL studio will be moving to a new location downtown soon, so I'm thrilled I got in to see this stage before it shifts locations. I'm sure the new one will be awesome, but I'm a little stuck on nostalgia with things like this. The most amusing part of the evening was that we were to turn off our phones for the taping, and in fact have them off in the building completely. But of course I can't stop Twittering things, especially things as cool as this, so I tweeted a photo of the stage before anything started and then turned my phone off. Afterward I checked my replies and the producer of Austin City Limits had tweeted, "You are so busted." Hehheh! Of course they have a search set up for ACL stuff. Too funny. I told her when I play their show I will tweet from the stage. She said no one had done that yet, so I hope no one does until...you know...2020, when I might get my shot. Anyway, the power of social media at work: proven. Famous skyline! MCC with the same famous skyline! Wee!

Friday SXSW

Blisters on feet. I think I walked 78 miles up and down 6th Street. But it was all good. I awoke in a Tori daze and wondered whether I should even try topping that...but I got my butt downtown just in time to see Lisa Hannigan take the stage at BD Reilly's Full Irish Breakfast party. I think some of the real magic of SXSW happens at these day parties that kind of lump people together in tight venues based on things like...being from Ireland. Anyway, I was familiar with Lisa from her days touring with Damien Rice and I had just purchased her album, Sea Sew, last week. The album is amazing and the live show was amazinger. She had her full band with her and the whole package was inspiring. She sings with joy. Period. That's all I want. Then I found myself uncharacteristically without a plan...so I wandered in and out of several parties and scored some free stuff. I found myself back at La Zona Rosa and caught part of Gomez's set. And then I took a photo of the fence. There's crap strewn all over Austin right now, from show flyers to CDs to wristbands. In 3 years there will be no CD demos at SXSW and people will just hand out download cards. It'll save plastic and trees and space in my bag. At that point my eyes started glazing over from live music overload so I decided to head up north to my own gig with my good friend Emily Shirley. It was her gig and she let me crash it. So much fun to play with her, and she adds some sweet bass and harmonies to my tunes, too. Then it was back downtown to see Elizabeth Wills play her official showcase at Mother Egan's. It was kickbutt as always. I had fun taking photos. And then...I hoofed it over to the Victorian Room at the Driskill Hotel. Samantha Crane and the Midnight Shivers were playing and I enjoyed them quite a bit. Lucy Wainright Roche took the stage at 12:15 AM...and she was wonderful. I play her song Chicago (on Myspace for your listening pleasure) quite a bit because it's just so singable. And then I went home and slept like a rock again.

South By WOOHOO!

Day two is done, and I should be getting ready to go plod around again for day three...but blogging comes first. Rule number one for being Jana: blogging ALWAYS comes first. I guess it all started Wednesday night when I ended up at the Gibson Showroom for the Austin Music Awards after party. Porterdavis is Best Roots-Rock Band...because they are...so there was celebration. Deadman, Slaid Cleaves, and Hayes Carll played among others and them were good times. Yesterday got off to a good start when I turned in my notice of not renewing my lease on my apartment. Now I actually have to start packing and throwing stuff out for reals because it's...REAL. Eek! I made my way to 6th street, found an excellent parking spot, and wandered in to Waterloo Records. I was there early to see Justin Townes Earle. Luckily there's lots to look at. I did not buy anything, though, as tempting as it was. The weird part was the I, the CD junkie, had the thought many a time of, "I'll just download it." Poor brick and mortar. Part of it is probably the thought that anything I buy will have to be moved down 3 flights of stairs in a month. I digress... The only thing I knew about Justin is that he's Steve Earle's kid and he's a legend in the singer-songwriter parts so I thought why not? I was so impressed. Justin's a great musician and his songs are great and his presence is charming. Charmed! Then I had a couple of options and they were on 6th Street so I trekked quite a few blocks East from Waterloo. The weather was perfect and there was already so much going on for 1:30 in the afternoon. I knew Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines were doing a Gibson showcase, but I had no idea what time they were playing...so I decided to try that party first and just see. Lo and behold I walk up the stairs at Maggie Mae's and Terri and Lloyd are sound checking. SCORE. They did 4 songs and I was thrilled because it's been months since I've had a Terri show fix. Afterwards Brandon, the manager for porterdavis who also works for Gibson, hooked me up with this sweet wristband. Dear Brandon, you are my favorite. That got me into the VIP lounge where Terri and Lloyd were being interviewed. After that Randy Rogers and Mark Jungers played followed by Bruce Robison with my buddy and Red Leaf teacher Kevin Carroll on guitar. Bruce is a great songwriter and the likes of the Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, and George Strait have covered his stuff. Then it was over to Artz Rib House for Elizabeth Wills and a Diet Coke. And some photo fun. And THEN...then...Elizabeth and I headed over to La Zona Rosa to see about some Tori Amos. We cruised in with good parking karma and there wasn't a line to get in. We found a spot on the left side of the stage and planted. Perez Hilton introduced her which is maybe my first encounter with a blogger celebrity in real life. And there was TORI. I got to see Tori in college and she converted me into the type of fan that will forever buy her albums on the first day of release. My shortlist of artists like that is well...short. The thing that I love about Tori is her stage presence and musicianship. She's a classically trained pianist and an impeccable singer and when she's in the room, you're watching her. Her command of the audience is one of the best I've ever seen from anyone. Always observing. We got to hear 3 new tunes from her new record and also some classics like "Crucify" and "Cloud On My Tongue" and "Silent All These Years." Yeah. And I went home and went to bed and now I need to do it all over again.

T-Minus One Day

...until I score my SXSW wristband. All right, so I've been reading and it seems like the panels are not be accessible with a crew wristband for SXSW. Which is what I am getting, I think. I'm new to this whole "paying attention" thing, haha. There is quite the slew of different badges and wristbands and platinum things and such. Which is totally fine because: a) I plan to spend all of my Thursday waiting in line to see Tori Amos if I have to dangit. I assume there will be a line. Tori. Amos. b) Susan said, "Um...shouldn't you be teaching the panel on Merch?" Haha one day. One day. That does not make the music-seeing planning any easier...I hope to maybe try to fit in Joe Pug and Lucy Wainright Roche and Nellie McKay and Lisa Hannigan and John Gorka and oh yeah Tori Amos. Part of me just wants to wander around and see what I see, though. Scheduling makes me itchy because I do it for a living.

It's Done. And other random updates.

Well...we have a mastered version of The Early Year that is going to be the one that everyone gets in their mailboxes, email boxes, on their computer speakers, and on their turntables. Ok, no turntables. We're not doing a vinyl release...yet, hehheh. I am proud of it. With a capital P! And there's the cover...woot! What is holding me up right now is that I am a little slow to comprehend the embedding of ISRC codes on the tracks, still...so I did not realize I needed to register with the RIAA before this could occur. So I am registering, and then we'll get the codes, which get embedded in the master, which gets shipped to Oasis for duplication. I hope this goes fast. Today is busywork day so I can get my PO box set up (as much as taking orders from my home address via the internet is appealing, haha) and file our paperwork for Bourn Records. And send a fax to the RIAA. Who has a fax machine these days? Oh, that's right...business people. (And Kinko's! Woot!) I am still all happy from last weekend at Threadgill's. Jamming on stage with Terri and Lloyd and Glenn was pretty much a highlight of my...forever. It's neat to think about the things I've been fortunate enough to do in my two years of living here. A lot of the above paperwork and business stuff is thanks to Terri and Lloyd and their never-ending sharing of smarts and experience. From the Life's A Song workshop last October to Terri letting me harass her and pick her brain all the time throughout this past year...it's good to have people who have your back. Dan and Suz and Terri and Lloyd are all really insanely integral parts of me as an artist and of this record...I hope it does them all proud. Thanks for the chance, kids.

Thursday Hijinx

Today I saw The Dark Knight and hung out at KUT while Susan played on the radio. That was pretty fun, I had never been in there before. We were live in Studio 1A...the very same one Terri and Lloyd were in last Saturday (see the audio below). Well, Susan was live and I was doing my best to very quietly sit at her feet. She did great and the KUT folks were class acts. Literally: feet. We decided such seriousness and quietude in studio required Thai food and a loud explosive movie. I'll admit it right now on the intertubes...this was the first Batman flick I have ever seen. It wins. I guess I'll have to work backwards.

Run-ins with the law and other sight-seeing in Texas

Hey kids! I've been MIA because my good friend and college roommate, Beth, braved the Austin heat to come visit and hang out. We packed a lot into a few days before she jetted back west to be a med student. Here's Beth carrying around her loot...er...bag of ice. Hey, I said it's been warm here. I think I fulfilled my mission of showing Beth the Live Music Capital of the World in style. When she flew in Friday night, we headed over to the legendary Continental Club and caught part of Guitar Shorty's set. He's one of those blues legend types, and he puts on an entertaining show to say the least. He plays guitar with his teeth, feet, and even his butt. (I know. I'll find a video soon.) On Saturday Beth was kind and carried my gear for me when I played at the Art Walk in downtown Elgin, about 25 miles outside of Austin. Cute town and very nice people! I played in the Bremond House Gallery, a fabulous old building with wood floors and a pressed tin ceiling. That evening we saw my good friends Blue J play some jazz and then headed over to the Green Mesquite to see my buddy Geno play. That's a lot of music in one day, but all of it was delish. On Sunday we headed down to Gruene Hall to see Nathan Hamilton play, where we met a cool couple from New Jersey and chatted for a while. The randomness of these things is the fun part! After that we headed up to San Marcos and rented some tubes to float down the river. Now, I've floated before and Beth hasn't at all, but I had never floated with beer along for the ride. It seemed like the Texan thing to do and since it was so blazing hot, we bought some (hence the bag of ice above). And we were floating along lazily when a cop on an ATV on the bank beeps his ATV horn and Beth says, "Haha, what's he going to do? Pull someone over in a tube?" And then we realized he was pointing at us. Oops. So we paddled over to shore and apparently, glass bottles are a no-no. Only cans on the river. Since we were obviously clueless to this fact and all-around harmless looking kids (I'd like to think so, anyway), he just took our beer and let us float away. In our defense, Beth's from Colorado where the rivers are such that you're probably wearing helmets and praying for your life when you're rafting down them so there's no time for beer rules, and I am from New Mexico where you don't float down the river because you'd just be scooting through mud. We are new at this. I'm pretty proud that my first run-in with the law involved me in a bright yellow plastic tube. So we floated to the end and happened to land outside the San Marcos River Pub, where Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines were playing that night. More live music from my favorite people! That show managed to make Beth have a giggle fit and tear up all in one evening. I call that a good show (though, as those who know her well can attest, giggle fits are frequent. We like that about her). So that's what's up...I made it through without a criminal record and a tan. I call that a successful weekend.

What Quackery Is This?

Another fun Artist Market set or two today...it's right along 6th Street here in downtown Austin, and when the weather gets nice the tourists come out. There's a company that drives tourists (or locals with nothing better to do I suppose) around in a giant tank-like land/water...thing. I'm sorry, let me google the correct terminology... Ok they're called Austin Duck Adventures and they drive people around in British Alvis Stalwarts...or land/water vehicles that can carry five tons of supplies and were used in Eastern Europe in the 1960's in case the Warsaw Pact was violated. Ok that's actually kind of interesting. "Don't break my Pact, bro!" But I digress...so these Stalwarts are now painted all shiny and people pay to tour the city in them...and since it's all about ducks, they give the tourists noise-makers that quack. And they drive by the Artist Market on 6th Street and the loudspeaker goes, "THERE'S THE LOCAL ARTIST MARKET!" and then everyone QUACKS. It's fun. So today I was done with my gig shift and about to cross 6th to load my gear, and as I stood on the sidewalk a duck tour comes by, and all of the sudden over the loudspeaker you hear... "THERE'S A MUSICIAN! THIS IS THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!" And I got quacked at rather ferociously. I waved like a cool musician standing on the corner after a gig would do. I felt like a hip museum piece or something. So, duck tour people, if you ever want me to stand idly on 6th Street with my guitar case and gear bag to give an example of what a musician looks like, I'm up for the gig. Call my people. (No camera today so these pics are lifted from the duck tour people's very nice site). ADDENDUM: This is probably what I'd look like, if you needed an idea. I stand on dirt, concrete, and the occasional gravel pile. I can wear open-toed or close-toed shoes. Two 15-minuite breaks per shift, please.

Keep Austin Kind

This is neat. I got it from Metroblogging Austin, a really great local blog about all things...local: A police sting operation to catch purse snatchers was foiled when helpful Austinites kept warning the undercover policewoman that her purse was left unguarded. This from the meeting notes of the South West Area Command, Commander's Forum on January 28, 2008. "A purse snatching initiative was tried by the command, but happily, concerned folks kept warning the undercover officer that her purse was open, unattended and watched out for her when she walked away and warned her of the error. No arrests were made." It's a nice town! But don't move here, my rent will go up more, haha. Unless I like you. Then you can move here.

Dominant 7ths

Yesterday at my guitar lesson Kevin handed me a notebook and told me to write my guitar-playing goals in it for 2008. That was cool, and while I have many scattered goals that pop up in my head at random times ("I should really learn another Zeppelin song"), listing them was challenging but fun. It didn't take long to get the juices flowing. One of them is to understand where major, minor, and dominant 7th chords are coming from. Kevin mapped it out and small bits of light were seen, but I am still trudging through fog on that. I think in another few weeks I might begin to get it. Another goal is to learn an instrumental piece -- to work on fingerstyle, and also just to have a song that I can play that I don't have to sing on, haha. We'll see how that evolves. So -- interestingly enough, Kevin's got new videos up on Youtube and one of them is a way cool instrumental. There you go. Trends happen. Instrumental is the new black. Put that on a t-shirt and sell it.

The Kindness of Strangers

Some of you might recall my whining about dropping my license downtown somewheres one weekend. I had never lost anything like that before, and it kind of weirded me out that my name and vitals were floating around Austin. It's been a few weeks and I had accepted that perhaps it had fallen into a crevice somewhere, or gotten run over 8000 times, or that maybe a bat had eaten it. Yesterday I had an envelope in my mailbox from someone I did not know. Handwritten letters are rare these days. I thought it was one of those old skool chain letters that you have to copy the letter, buy 8 cases of pickles, and send it to 40 friends or die the next day. Fortunately, I found the above note with my license attached. It was from Norma. I don't know who you are, Norma, but thanks for picking it up and mailing it back. My peace of mind has returned. People are good. Powered by ScribeFire.

Just Another Monday Night...Sorta

Monday night took me to Artz Ribhouse on South Lamar, a bastion of BBQ and good music on the Austin scene. I got to play the break set for Sarah Elizabeth Campbell and The Banned, which was an honor. SEC is one of those singer/songwriter legends that Austin is lucky enough to have living right here. I knew I was in good company when I read this quote: "There is a place for music like this, in our tape deck, in our hectic lives, in our living room, in our CD player, in our car, in our jogging pack, on our radio....It is about, among other things, listening and learning, giving in to love and falling back out. Sarah Elizabeth writes these kinds of songs, as only a gifted artist can." (Mary Chapin Carpenter said that. Heck yeah.) Thanks to my buddy and fellow songwriter Amanda Pearcy for the gig lead and the pics!

A Little Zia in My Life

Some of you may have figured out that I am a little attached to my New Mexican roots. I suppose that's normal for anyone in regards to where they grew up. Growing up, I did my fair share of whining about the general lack of things to do on Friday nights, lack of coffeehouses to hop around to (there are some fine choices around the state, I know...teenagers will whine about anything), or lack of concerts landing in the general area (I have seen Mary Chapin Carpenter play 5 times...once in Santa Fe, twice in California, once in Denver, and once in Atlanta...I have been forced to travel for my Chapin fix). But really...if that's all the bad I have to share, life in the Land of Mañana is pretty sweet, right? Before my friend Steph left for the Peace Corps in 2003, we made a pact that when she returned, we'd get tattoos together. I kind of picked out something in my head but wasn't exactly sure it would ever happen, because I am kind of a chicken and two years is a long time. Sure enough, when Steph got back from Malawi (SE Africa...she's hardcore), and after we took a month-long road trip to Seattle and back...we made an appointment to get tattoos and I got a little nervous. I knew I would be moving to Austin shortly, and I wanted a piece of New Mexico to go along with me. I have always loved the Zia sun design, an ancient Native American symbol that lives on the state flag. While the normal symbol has 4 rays on each side of the sun, I opted for three. I like threes, and each group of 3 rays means something to me. Ask me sometime and I'll mess up my explanation. Fast forward to this past weekend, and when acquired my newest piece of Zia art. Kyle Gross is an awesome artist and jewelry designer who shows his work at the Downtown Artist's Market every Saturday...where I play for a couple of hours each week. I have gotten to know many of the artists there and respect their work even more after getting to know them and a little about their craft. A couple of weeks ago I asked Kyle if he could replicate my tattoo design in one of his copper pendants. Of course he could. I now proudly sport a little bit of home around my neck, and I think it's very cool that no one else has one like it and a friend of mine made it. I highly suggest checking out the Downtown Artist's Market at Mother Egan's on 6th Street, or any market around your area (this blog is global, yo)...and take a moment to chat with the artists! (Mean people don't make pretty things, so it's not a scary proposition, I promise.) Also, check out the Stone's Throw Studio website for a sampling of Kyle's work. But you can't have a Zia. Ok maybe you can. Technorati Tags: newmexico, zia, sun, jewelry, austin

Photo Essay No. 1: Low Key Weekend

Friday afternoon clearing... But not for long! Rainy days make for good times at the Irie Bean and Laurel makes good lattes. Sunday morning blog time.

The Show...doesn't always go on

So a gig that was supposed to happen tonight did not happen...for whatever reason. It was going to be a fun one with my collective of songwriter buddies, but there will be others and this kind of thing has happened before. When you are dealing with a venue and often a booking person completely separate of the venue, wires are bound to get crossed every once in a while. I've seen it happen at every level of performance, from coffee houses to 5000 seat venues. So while my friend Miguel and I hung out, waiting to see if the gig was going to occur...something cool happened. Miguel pulled out his guitar on the sidewalk along 6th Street and set up his case and started playing. I took my guitar out and jammed along with some lead. In about a half an hour we had $5 in the case which...as Miguel pointed out...if you find the right bar, is 2 beers each. Nice. I had never busked on 6th Street until tonight. There's a weird mixture of people down there...the typical college crowd, some clearly underagers who are either just there for the atmosphere or sporting some seriously fake IDs, lots of panhandlers and homeless, and the tourist families who are clearly wandering around after dinner wanting to see this "Weird Thing" Austin has going on. A couple of people took pictures of us from their cars while stopped at the light. Hopefully we'll end up in a few "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" slide shows. We were part of that "Authentic Austin" for a while tonight...so even though the gig never moved into the bar, we made our mark on 6th Street anyway.