Goodness.

Oh yeah, this whole blog thing I've been doing for 3 years. I haven't forgotten! 2010 has been interesting to say the least. Some life things just require that you take some time off from your own self-imposed pressures and that is what I am doing. But I am back, blogging, and things are reaching full steam ahead momentum again. And I learned "Happy Birthday" on the ukelele for Susan. Happy Birthday, Boss! The gigs are starting to pick up with me as merch girl/tour manager/merch manager/tour monkey/whatever...I need an encompassing title. Monkey fits, as long as people think kindly of monkeys. This weekend I opened for Susan in Austin (it's been a while since I played my own town, weird), and Susan played an awesome house concert in Kerrville last night. Here we are with our host, Paula, after the show when we had already put on our cold weather hoodies and I had donned my drive-home-hat, haha. As for the rest of 2010, which I deem really starts in February because January never counts, there promises to be tons of good stuff happening. If I can keep all my plates spinning at once, that is. - I'm going to be booking a couple more artists, starting soon, and I'll say more soon. That makes me a "booking agent." That means I am closer to actually "paying bills" reliably haha. - My long-time co-conspirator Josh and I are finishing up some projects under our newly founded 20Something Media company; our first physical release of a documentary made by Josh comes soon! - Susan's tour schedule is filling...first up out of state is Folk Alliance in Memphis and Nashville in February. I'm excited about New York in March and Virginia in April, too...still working on those dates. - MY OWN RECORD, yeah that one, is getting there! Dan and I will get some background vocals by the fabulous Katie this week and mix away. It's sounding good. It's sounding like growth, which is what I asked for. So there it is...much happening. I didn't chart this path for myself when I moved to Texas, but I love everything about it so far. Forward motion breeds opportunity. Perseverance breeds success. Happy to be blogging.

End O' The Year

I'm behind! I am in New Mexico for the holidays. I have been napping a lot. Thus is vacation. The gig year ended nicely in Ben Wheeler, Texas...which I had never heard of until they booked Susan. Cute little town near Tyler...go check it out. Moore's Store is the venue there, and the SG Trio took the stage in fine form. I set up THE LAST MERCH TABLE OF THE YEAR, too. Michael O'Connor, Susan Gibson, David Carroll Christmas in Ben Wheeler! Then we drove all night to get home, and I helped by waking up every so often and saying, "ARE YOU AWAKE?" and then Susan would say "Yes," and then I'd sleep again. I'm useful like that. She's prepping to record a new album, I'm prepping to finish mine, and I think she'll probably beat me at getting a product done. She's quick like that. We'll both have records out in the spring, which is fun. Maybe everyone who buys a Susan Gibson record will magically get a free Jana record because that's how I will market myself with stealth infiltration of folk fans' minds. Hehheh. Just kidding. BUY MY RECORD. Anyway...green chile in some format awaits me. More later.

Another EP 2 Video

EP 2...Progress and Fancy People

Yesterday was the day to bring in reinforcements. I've done all my work, and so I got to sit back and watch other people prettify and grittify my album. Very cool. David Carroll added his bass skills with some electric on "Drive Around" and some upright on "Ritalin." So cool to hear how he makes notes become other notes and it all works out so well. That is why he is the pro. Then Susan came in to sing on "Drive Around" and "Switzerland," which was fun to see and hear..."Drive Around" really got its wings yesterday between the bass part and the background vocals. You never know what it needs until you do it. We ran over schedule yesterday so Katie and Emily still get to come in and sing a little...luckily they are the patient sort. THEN...then! I think we might be good!

Recording Days 5 and 6

SO. MUCH. FUN. So fun!

Recording EP 2: Day 4

Recording Log Day 3

Three Days In...

Whew! Dan and I wrapped up three days of recording on Friday and it was a great experience all around. We got a LOT done. "Switzerland" is pretty much where it needs to be, so we're going to let that one stew and come back to it. We started "Ritalin" on Friday and got a good ways into it. I was so tired by the end on Friday (which I'm not sure why, it's not like I'm doing all the work), so I had to yawn my approval...but I assure you kids, it is CATCHY. Who knew my songs would benefit so much from Hammond organ? We walked in not really knowing what we were shooting for...other than a certain vibe that some of our records have, but no set plot for instrumentation or anything. It ends up being fun to just kind of go at each tune and try things out. So we have a break due to both of our travel schedules, and then we'll meet up one day in August, and then another flurry of travel activity. I'm chomping at the bit just to play around more with these tunes, but I think some sit back and listen time is good for them, too. Once again patience is the name of the game.

Recording: Day 2

Recording: Day One

The Night Before

What does one do the night before starting to record a sophomore EP? I can't speak for anyone else, but... - take the long way home from work and do vocal warm-ups - stop for an iced tea...the giant kind...crushed ice. - do a vanity search on Google just to see what's out there - eat a tortilla with peanut butter - sort through papers to be filed but not really actually file them - listen to the new Imogen Heap single 16 times - get 8 hours of sle....zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Stuff I Hope to Accomplish On Tour

So...yay it's all fun and joy when you're "on the road" and "going places" and stuff...except there's a weird psychological time warp when you're traveling daily. Let me explain it. Logic: You have so much time to sit and do nothing between cities that you have plenty of time for making phone calls, reading, and attending to other things of self improvement. Actuality: Who knows. Where it all goes. Part of it is that Susan and I set up our mobile office in the front and spend hours booking, talking about booking, routing, dealing, wheeling, whining, dining, whatever you call it. We get a LOT done, even though spurts of Waffle House jokes arise inevitably. After spending so much time on the laptop, reading and writing words, the last thing I want to do is spend some more time reading and writing words. My favorite form of "Jana Van Time" is making short films in iMovie. It's creative, but completely different from anything else, and usually hysterical. Plus I have something to show for it at the end. I also have a weird distaste for holding phone conversations longer than 3 minutes in a small moving vehicle with other people in it. So phone chats are usually out. I like to think it's being polite to my fellow passengers. That being said, I'm not into self-limiting behavior, and a month is a long time to be driving around, so I'm setting some goals for myself. There's talk of starting to record EP 2 in July (BE STILL MY HEART) with Dan, so I have some song clean-up to do on the new tunes...and some rehearsal to do on the done ones, too. Making different types of films while continuing my usual output is on the list. One of my year's goals is a 20 minute piece on being a Merch Girl, and another is to mimic the shorts that were included with the new Tori Amos album. Except not mimic TOO much...but go for the vibe. Work on my cuts and editing. I've been playing guitar on some of Susan's set while she plays banjo, so we have plans for rehearsal when we have off days with no gig. That makes me excited. I have a lot of fun being the rhythm guitar player. There's a lot of back end business stuff to attend to on my front...when I get back in July I want to gig with my new and beloved Trio...I need a business plan drawn up for the next album because I need to SELL THEM. (Imagine that. Do you have The Early Year yet? Do your 10 closest friends?) All the stuff I get paid to do for other people gets backburnered for myself. This is not a complaint because I'm learning tons...but after a while you feel really behind. Oh yeah, and I want to read at least one book and write songs. It's manageable, with focus and discipline. It's all fun so there's no worry that way. The best thing to do with the van bubble is to make it work in my favor instead of against me. I get to see some really pretty scenery along the way, too.

Lookin' for the Heart of a Saturday Night

Good grief, almost a whole week without a post. My new year is kicking off slowly on the outside, hm? Lots of pondering and planning on the inside, though. Starting to think about the next record...meaning...editing and re-writing. Always a slightly hard thing for me to do. It's nice to have a producer for some thought and direction. It's hard to hear some things go back to the drawing board, but necessary for a desired end-product. Or end-art-project! I spent yesterday starting some of my new tasks as Tour Monkey. I need a more official title than that but I like the image that one brings up in my head. Also I like bananas. The boss lady has been on a songwriters' cruise in the Caribbean (how's that for working?) and I have been accomplishing things back here so that's good. Katie made some really good spaghetti last night and I didn't take any photos, so this post is photo-less in homage to the spaghetti.

Settling In

The cheapest gas I have ever purchased. Yeah, I'm young. Las Cruces, NM... I made it back to Texas just in time to play a gig on Friday night. I started the drive from Albuquerque at 5 AM and didn't stop until I got to Tantra Coffee in San Marcos around 7 PM. The half hour drive up to Austin was probably the worst part just because I did not want to get back in the car, but luckily I played at a place of caffeination. I think I made up a new word. This new year brings about some immediate changes and the promise of more. The Big One is I have moved up from the title of Merch Girl to more of a tour and business assistant in Camp Susan. I'm excited to be able to work with such a great person whose music I believe in unequivocally. But I'm still probably going to keep the Merch Girl title because it's so darn cute (right, Phil?). I just finished the first song of 2009 (although it was started back in '08)...we'll see if it sticks and where. I'm making demos in preparation for the next EP...kind of just swapping song orders around and seeing what might work. Also starting a NEW BLOG project...domain name has been purchased. Now I'm just trying to set it all up. More on that sooner. Here's the progression of the sunrise from about 6 AM - 7 AM in Southern New Mexico on Friday....

Georgia O'Keeffe and Making Records

"I know I cannot paint a flower. I cannot paint the sun on the desert on a bright summer morning, but maybe in terms of paint color I can convey to you my experience of the flower or the experience that makes the flower of significance to me at that particular time." - Georgia O'Keeffe Perhaps my favorite thing to do in Santa Fe is visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. I'm no art critic, and I often don't know what I should be doing or looking at in an art museum...but O'Keeffe's work has always gotten under my skin. Maybe it's because she sought out New Mexico as her artistic home. Maybe it's her ability to paint something I recognize while making me see it for the first time and differently each time after that. Maybe it's just because she's brilliant. The Museum itself is not large at all; you can get through it in 15 minutes if you don't look too closely, or you can take all afternoon. A lot of times there's no glass separating the viewer from O'Keeffe's broad strokes on the canvas. The paint looks fresh. One of the security guards even showed us O'Keeffe's fingerprint hidden in a tiny watercolor of a windmill. He had to shine his flashlight on the glass so we could pick it out; we felt like we were being let in on a secret. While I was looking at the exhibition yesterday, I decided I want to be able to write songs and make records the way O'Keeffe painted. Bold strokes without hesitation. Making life's minutiae important and beautiful. Shedding light on the colors and scenes already surrounding us. Georgia didn't make the mountain she painted multiple times, but she definitely made it her own.

What we need is a MONTAGE.

Back in Austin after a fun weekend merching in Comfort, TX. It was an exciting time, but that's for the next blog post. In the meantime it's nice to sleep on my own pillows. Producer Dan and I had a check-in today and we're already talking EP 2...The Early Year is out now and it's time to think about the next step. I'm excited already! We'll start tracking in early 2009. Here's a music video I edited in the car...clips and things. Yay! So much tour video, so little time.