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.

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.

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!

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).

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.

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!!

At the Fairmount in Fort Worth

If you squint, you can see the band. Blogging from the merch table...our buddy Amy is here with HER video camera, and she just informed me that she has video of me singing along to "Happiest When I'm Moving" from about 12 minutes ago.  I thought the filmmaker was supposed to remain BEHIND the camera, Amy, hehheh.  The Merch Girl (TM) is a trademarked term to be used only with official permission and affiliation with Susan Gibson, Inc.  Or something.  Yay Fort Worth!  I like it here.

Tracking The Early Year: New Mexico Boy

This one makes me smile because it kind of brings a neat story full circle for me. Susan Gibson was nice enough to sing background vocals on this tune, and by now you all know she is one of my favorite singer-songwriters and has been since I was in college. We met in 2001 when she played in my Music Appreciation class. I was a freshman thinking about majoring in political science but secretly wanting to find a way to be a musician (and had been doing as such since about 5th grade). There wasn't a whole lot of example around Albuquerque of songwriters who toured and recorded on a sustainable level. Success to me meant a record deal and VH-1...which was totally out of reach. But THEN...I see this songwriter perform in my class who is making the music business work as a career without selling out to MTV, and who is writing honest and brilliant lyrics with a powerful guitar style. Um, hello? I was smitten. Suz came back to New Mexico a few times over my college career and we got to know each other a little more, and when I moved out here to Austin she offered her help countless times to this very green-behind-the-ears kid new to the scene. She didn't have to do that, but she did. Lately I've been her Merch Girl and have gotten to see parts of Texas and the USA that I probably would not have for a while otherwise...and I'm psyched to be able to do my part and work the merch table magic. When I opened for her during a couple of tours of New Mexico last year, I would always request a little harmony love on "New Mexico Boy" because she made it sound fantastic...so it was a no brainer to preserve it for posterity on The Early Year. Thanks, Suz, for everything. Shucks.

The Early Year and Eddie's Attic

We’re on our way to Winston-Salem, NC after a great time back in Atlanta. Susan played at Eddie’s Attic and my good friends Keith and Suzanne came to the show and then put us up in their home with fluffy beds and cute dogs and cats. Then Keith made CHEESE GRITS for breakfast and I think I might officially be a grits fan. So good! Keith and Suzanne also acted as couriers for me because I had 50 copies of The Early Year delivered to their house so I could see the thing as soon as possible. We popped open the box in the Eddie’s Attic parking lot...very cool. It turned out great. Video forthcoming, of course, haha. The other surprise of the night was a box of roses delivered to Eddie’s for ME...which confounded me as I was opening them. Shockingly, I am not known for having secret admirers, even with my charming camera presence. They were from my Merch Girl Groupies back in Texas, Teri and Sandy. They are great Susan supporters and always take good care of the Merch Girl...and when I told them we were going to Eddie’s Attic, they were very excited because Decatur is their old stomping ground and where they had their first date. (Front row table on the right of the stage!) So um...getting roses at Eddie’s Attic right after opening a box of my EP was pretty stellar. And the show was great and Martha Scanlan played too and she was great...and then the fluffy bed, and now we’re back in the car to North Carolina. Phew.

And then there was DONE.

By all accounts The Early Year is out of my hands for the next couple of weeks! The fabulous people at Oasis received the artwork from Emily, (who did just a fantastic job and you should hire her for all your graphic design needs and pay her a lot of money)...and the master is sitting somewhere in New Jersey because the post office overnighted it. Flying. Like an eagle. Into the future. Now what? Well...I suppose you could pre-order it (pre-oderitpre-orderit!!!) while I take a nap. There's a little something something in it for ya if you order early, so Czech it out. More merching this weekend...if you are in Wimberley or Marble Falls or Fredericksburg (or you want to be and really, who doesn't when there's Susan Music involved?)...come say hello! Oh, and I realized that I made an egregious error in my liner notes and neglected to thank a very important group of people that had a big role in the production of The Early Year. I'd like to write them a special note right here right now: Dear President George W. Bush and the Federal Government, Thank you very much for the tax refund check that I found in my mailbox this summer. Thanks to you and your generosity, you have allowed more singer-songwriter folk music to be released into the world, which as I recall was one of the lesser recognized tenants of your father's "Thousand Points of Light" speech in 1988. I promise to do my best to give back to the economy with The Early Year by using it to facilitate more gasoline consumption through touring, buying pretzels and Starbucks in a can from various convenience stores across the country, and by recycling all my guitar strings by making yard art and jewelry. Again, thank you very much and when you move back to Dallas/Fort Worth please come to a show. I will buy you a scone. Sincerely, Jana

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.

Threadgill's with Terri and Lloyd

What happened last night? THAT happened last night. I was surprised at the end of my set by Terri, Lloyd, and Glenn joining me on "Blonde on Blue" and "Paper Rock Scissors". Talk about fun! Such class acts. If you came to the show, thank you so much. Such a fun night, and thanks for braving the raindrops! More on the evening later, I am off to Gruene Hall with my college buds to show them some Texas culture... And thanks to Maestro for the photos!! His clicking finger was on fire.

Yay KUT!

All kinds of fun things happening today! We just had a great hang with some friends over Thai food at Madam Mam's -- red curry for me, always. They do tofu right there. Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines were on KUT's Folkways program this afternoon and were kind enough to give a jpo shoutout. Thanks, kids! That was neat. Check out the KUT site - Susan Gibson will be on this Thursday. I have a little bet with her involving her saying something on air. If she does it, I clean her van windows. The game is on. (And they used my photo from our Very Large Array trip!)

Before the Big Gig

Opening for Terri Hendrix tonight at Threadgill's!!! Come see us. People Being People from janapochop on Vimeo.

Good times and fire ants.

Terri Hendrix and her band played in San Marcos last night, so of course I made the drive down for a great show. I spent the first set sitting in the grass with some good friends, and even though I have been through this "concert on the lawn" thing countless times, I still forgot a blanket or a chair. My buddies kindly offered my some blanket space, but I thought...what the heck? It's just grass. Grass with a bunch of ants in it. Fire ants, too, apparently. I got a nice stingy bite in my hand and by the drive home my finger was swollen. I'd show you which finger it was but I don't feel like flipping off the internet, haha. The good news is my buddy Richard had a spare chair and I got to sit above the wildlife instead of in it for the 2nd set. Thanks, Richard! Terri and the band sounded great and based on the new songs we have been hearing lately, I am super psyched for the next record. I think she must be superhuman, based on all the traveling she's been doing, hanging out with the Bhutanese and such in Washington, D.C., and still putting on a great hometown show at the end of it all. Props! Also, a lesson: just because you're all comfy and ant-free in your lawn chair does not mean you will not called up to do a little singing sometimes. So much fun! Thanks, Terri.

Day 3: At the Crossroads!

Thank goodness. After surviving the night at the haunted hotel no worse for the wear and very well rested, I got up, explored the streets a little bit, and found breakfast at a Czech bakery. We picked up Susan's guitarist and made our way to Winnsboro. As of midnight I had shifted my official title to "Opening Act/Merch Girl," so it's good I didn't make a name tag or anything, cuz I just would have had to make another one. Right. Job One: MERCH TABLE! I am getting dangerously efficient, haha. Pleased. Crossroads Music Co. in Winnsboro hosts a plethora of shows in their awesome venue, and I felt really honored to be able to play there and be in such good company. My good buddy Kate met us there and I handed her the camera...she did an excellent documentation job! Kate also rocked my set by agreeing to sit in on "New Mexico Boy," so there were tasty leads and good times for sure. Kate rocks. Unfortunately, both of us were onstage during that song so neither of us took a photo, haha. Shifty. We stayed up late hanging out by a lake outside of Kate's house...I want a lake. I bet you have to get lake insurance or something. And a boat. Maybe I'll get a lake later, after I get a cat and a puppy. Order of operations.

Day 2: Long Roads and Haunted Rooms

Well, as you can tell by now...no internet access for the past couple of days. Luckily I kept taking photos over the weekend and I'll just post in some time warp continuum. So...welcome to Friday, July 4th. Happy Independence Day! The view when cruising. After a great time in Davis, (and a lovely sleep in the swanky hotel followed by breakfast with some great new friends from OKC), we trucked out of town to Freyburg Hall, located outside of Schulenburg (somewhere between Austin and Houston...see kickbutt map below for exact routage, haha). The Ginn Sisters opened for Susan, and it was my first time seeing them live. Very cool, amazing harmonies, great people. The SG band was rockin' and I did my thang with the merch table all evening... See the evolution? See it? Also, there was the biggest bowl of cole slaw I have ever seen present at this hall. I apologize for not taking a photo of it. Think of a big bowl of cole slaw, and then think of something BIGGER. That night due to some miracle of generosity on the part of Susan and perks of her being a rock star, I got my own hotel room in Schulenburg. Susan was going to camp with her family, so she just dropped us band peeps off at the Von Minden Hotel. Discussion prior: Someone at Freyburg Hall: "It's haunted, you know. The hotel." All of us staying there: "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Susan: "Have fun! See you in the morning! Hahahahaha! Boo!" Thanks, Suz. But it was pretty dang cool. The Von Minden Hotel was built in 1927, and is supposedly haunted by a woman who roams around asking guests for directions. She wears a polkadot dress. The lobby...you can check in and dear Lord please let us check out... Down the hall to our rooms. No ghosts yet. Awesome staircase. My room...number 7. I ain't afraid of no ghosts! Repeat. Sleep well. I'll admit I was too tired and passed out so completely that if a ghost poked me in my sleep to ask where the bathroom was, I never knew it. But we took some cool photos when we got there, and the next morning I got some more shots before we got picked up. Very neat place. Less creepy in the morning. Still creepy. So this crazy musical life has lead me down many interesting paths, but a haunted hotel was not even on my radar of possibilities. So much fun! And it was onward to Winnsboro...

I'm not gonna lie...

...I'm kind of an awesome Merch Girl. We drove ourselves up to Davis, Oklahoma (well, Susan drove and I made snarky comments about dumb signs the whole way...sorry, Susan) and made it with a few hours to spare. Susan went and did a set for a group of Veterans because she's cool like that, and I stayed behind at our gorgeous hotel and concert venue, the La Ville Inn in downtown Davis, and sorted the goods. And sorted. Because Suz just put out a record. she's got all kinds of good merch to go with it. It was in tubs, so I started out by scattering it everywhere. My mind works better that way somehow. T-shirt? Koozie? Sticker? Frisbee for your dog? I got ya. Then I got to work. Jana's Work Smirk (TM) By the time the show started, the Merch table looked like this: Sell! Sell! Sell! The show was amazing. Susan played banjo (the first time I had ever seen that live) and did "Wayside," an old Groobees tune. Loves it. Banjo! Then she lead us all in a sing-along of "America the Beautiful." Indeed. We get to see some more of our beautiful America today as it's down to Freyburg (between Austin and Houston) for a show tonight, where hopefully the merch juju will be just as good. Did I mention our hotel is awesome? We walked into the bathroom, which I swear has separate halls and wings unto itself, and looking in the ginormous shower stall Susan says, "Janapo, this shower is bigger than your last apartment!" This morning when I was taking advantage of the dual showerheads, I had to pretty much agree. See you all at Freyburg Hall!

Winnsboro Gig+Merch Girl Duty

Well...I am hopefully all situated and ready to hit the road with Susan Gibson for the next few days. Can I say, I LOVE traveling with Susan? Adventures abound, and good music is the soundtrack. And her sweet dogs are usually along for the ride. Woot! I'll be acting as Merch Girl (that's an official title, mind you) and then move into Opening Act designation when we reach our final gig in Winnsboro, home of Crossroads Music Company, who are some of my favorite people ever. Can't wait! We'll be heading up to Davis, OK for a show tomorrow, and then it's to the Houston area for a July 4th show at Freyburg Hall, and then back up to Winnsboro, outside of Dallas for our gig on the 5th...and home to Austin. It kind of looks like this: In fact, it looks exactly like that. This is the finest piece of graphic illustration I have ever done. Thank you. Of course, a proper Merch Girl needs to wear the merchandise. Spiffy, it is. dork. I'll do my best to update from the road, and if you're in Davis/Freyburg/Winnsboro...come say hi!

Mixology

Dan and I spent a good chunk of Tuesday mixing a tune with George, who is a most excellent dude and a really cool mixer. He took "Blonde on Blue" and brought out some neat aspects of our recording (what I like to call "hairy piano" now) while we watched and soaked in the mixing process. Mixers get the fun job of getting the picture of what the artist and producer want/aim for while giving their own touch to the project. I suspect we could give "Blonde on Blue" to 5 mixers and come up with some pretty different sounding tunes, even though it's all the exact same set of tracks I played on. Cool. "New Mexico Boy" is mixed to the point that I smile like a dork when I hear it, so I call that a good finished product. Yay for growly, sweaty guitars! That night we saw Girlyman play at the Cactus, who pretty much rocked the room and were a joy. Dan produced Girlyman Nate's solo record so it was neat to see Nate play. Go see them. Actually, they're in Albuquerque tonight, for you Albuquirks. P.S. Here's Mixer George playing bass on Letterman a couple weeks ago with Jakob Dylan. Cool.