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.

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?

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....

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).

Out of Context

I'm really beginning to get into this editing thing...so much control, haha. Some randomness from the gigs this past weekend in Fort Worth and Stephenville...

Starting At As Low As $44.99 a Night Records

In Nashville...no, I'm not out of tour videos yet. Mwahaha.

That Talented Suz

Susan Gibson is just brimming with talent. Of course you are all familiar with her killer songwriting and guitar skills...but maybe you weren't aware of her multi-instrumental gifts and her calligraphy experience.

J-Poville

Yep, we made it home. We had one other minor adventure on the way back involving the dogs getting sprayed by a skunk outside of Dallas, so we had 3 hours at a car wash at 10 PM with tomato paste and vinegar (thanks, Beth!)...but we made it back only a little smellier. Ok, much smellier. But it was an adventure as always! Here's a tune from Susan in Charleston, SC...the real version is "Gatesville" from her latest record, but perks of being a Merch Girl include improvised songs for you. Sweet! It's kinda my new fave...

The Last Merch Meal: Fish Tacos

Waffle House. WAFFLE HOUSE! Jackson, Mississippi.

Lessons of Merching

Now...just to be clear...working for and with Susan Gibson means 8 million belly laughs a minute, and she's such a good sport with her video camera obsessed merch girl on the road. Everything you see here is entirely fabricated, based on one small joke we've had for a couple of months back when she yelled backstage so I could hear it, "J-PO! I NEED A PEN!" We've had fun with that ever since. Evidenced below...

12:30 AM: Outside the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville

The Mother Church of Country Music...

Keeping the Merch Girl Alive

Viva Nashvegas!

We left the gig last night and got a little ways down the road to Morristown, TN. It was kind of late. We started late because somehow we had it in our heads that Johnson City was on Central time again, so we thought we had time to kill at the venue. In fact, it was Eastern time, so we started a little late. Oops. But it was all good. We DO know that Nashville is on Central time. We're on the road to Nashville now. We stopped for lunch in Knoxville and wandered around their Market Square district. Very cool old buildings. We grabbed a brochure at the hotel last night. Conversation in the car: Jana: Hey Suz look at this! Dolly Parton! RIVER BATTLE! Susan: No. Jana: But, it's Dolly. Susan: No. Jana: And then there's...a river battle. It's new. Susan: No. Jana: I'll work up a version of "9 to 5" for the next gig? Susan: ...No. Oh well. River Battle with Dolly Parton another day.

WAFFLE HOUSE!!!

The Saga of Waiting

At an unidentified chain store somewhere in Fort Worth last Wednesday...

T-Minus One Day

I'm sort of packing, a little. I historically wait until the night before to pack whether I am going to be gone for a month or a day, and then I sleep very little because I am frantically packing, and then I am usually so jazzed to be traveling that the lack of sleep doesn't matter the next day. I predict this will happen tomorrow. I am also trying to make sure I have every cord possible that I will need to document this tour, from AC adapters to USB cables to Firewire cables to battery chargers for the video cameras, hard drive, still camera, iPod, computer, and whatever else needs charging or plugging in. Technology makes things easier, right? Maybe not. Maybe it just makes things cooler. We'll be in Nashville in about a week, and appropriately my Onion horoscope is: "You'll soon have a hit country music song on your hands, no matter how many times you try to scrub it off." SWEET.

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

If You Miss the Bus

If You Miss the Bus from janapochop on Vimeo.

Welcome to Texas, Jana Water!

So the other day (and by that I mean maybe last month when Beth visited), I was perusing the aisles of water at HEB looking for...water. Beth and I were about to go on our river trek, so we needed hydration. All of the sudden what do I see next to all the so-so bottled water products? JANA WATER. For sale! In Texas! Welcome to the state, kids. It's friendly to Janas and you will like it here. Now I won't have to go out of state to get my fix. Of course we had a camera. Sweet nectar of life!

Merch Girl Shoe Saga

Back from Denton and Ft. Worth...great trip again, even with a wardrobe malfunction on the part of my flip flops. Ahem. When we pulled up to the gig in Denton, the plastic part that enables the "flip" in the flip flop broke. I started loading in the merch barefoot because...well, what else could I do? Sad shoe times. Load in attire. It was then that a good friend of Suz's and now a friend of mine I am ever indebted to randomly found a pair of foam flip flops in her car from a pedicure she had recently gotten. They were even a nice green accent to my old pair! I rocked one of each for the night. Stylin'. Thanks, Nichole! Except the pedicure flop was not meant for rocking the merch counter all night, so by the end I had destroyed that one, too. Bare foot again, I was. Note the flip flops at the top that are NOT on my feet, at the bottom. The next day Susan was kind enough to swing by a Wal-Mart and I picked up an appropriately green pair with an "egg crate" sole that felt fancy on my feet. She's a nice boss. Ah, sweet comfort. At the White Elephant Saloon in Ft. Worth, there were some awesome shoe shine dudes working in the back of the bar. Susan had her boots shined, and asked what they did for flip flops. They gave me a foot rub and polished my flip and my flop! Amazing. Perks of the job, I tell ya.

Random Check In and EP 1

I started this post in the van between Davis, OK and Freyburg, TX. Then I got distracted by the shiny lights of a convenience store stop. Here is it, plus some EP 1 news tacked on. July 4th notes: Oklahoma beer is different than other beer. By law, beer sold in Oklahoma must have a 3.2% alcohol content, which is different than the usual percentage of, well...everywhere else. You CAN buy full strength beer, but it has to be at a store that sells beer and liquor only, and they can't refrigerate it. It intrigues me that someone thought about this so thoroughly. So apparently it's a big deal to have "Texas beer" in Oklahoma...stronger stuff. It doesn't seem to taste any different, but it might explain why my usual post-concert threshold was higher in Davis than usual. Ahem. They keep talking about the "mountains" around the state and I saw no mountains. I remarked that perhaps a song hook could be, "I'm as high as an Oklahoma mountain and drunk on Oklahoma beer...and I'm still completely sober." (I kid...I had a great time there). There is at least one Indian fusion music station out of the Dallas area, and today they were randomly interrupting the music to state facts about America, like how many people visit national parks in Washington state per year, and how many people immigrated through Ellis Island. I forgot both numbers. That was some wailing sitar, though. Sometimes being a traveling musician means changing your clothes at stoplights, or perhaps changing your shirt while driving. There are signs pointing the way to Hidden Lake along I-35 in OK. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of hiding the lake? July 8th Notes: The artwork for EP 1 is just about there. I'm so happy about it. Emily nailed the vibe...she sent a few options so now I have to do what I fear doing and...make a decision. Gasp. The mixing for EP 1 is also almost there! The four tracks we sent to Dallas came back AWESOME. Some little back and forth to be done but man. Phil Hill is mixing them and he is the man. Sounds like a record.

Biology Lesson with my cousin

Cleaning out some files (of the digital kind), I found this tiny little clip I had ignored from my tourage of New Mexico last year. We were at the Very Large Array looking at Very Large Rabbits. This made me laugh out loud...but maybe you have to know my cousin! Transcription: Susan: There's another very large rabbit. Rochelle: That is a big rabbit! Jana: Shoot, it's the jackalope. Rochelle: Oh it is. Jana: Just kidding. Rochelle: Is it? Jana: Jackalopes don't exist. They have elk horns.

Ban the Bunny Hop

Scandal. When I was home this weekend my mom recalled a little about growing up in a rural area in South Dakota. I think we got on the topic because I was talking about Gruene Hall and the awesome Texas dancehall tradition, and of course it makes sense that these dancehalls exist wherever a large number of Germans or Czechs or other Europeans settled in the Mighty Midwest. See, I know a few things about Germans and Czechs, because I descend from both. While this probably leads me to some inner confliction because one half of my ancestry invaded the other half during World War II, overall it's a jovial combo. Things I know: - we like beer. - we like to party. So there were a few of these dancehalls around the towns where my parents grew up, and apparently there was a room dug out of the dirt under one of these dancehalls where meals could be prepped and served. Mom said that when people were really rockin' upstairs, the floorboards would be creaking and dirt would be falling everywhere. So much, in fact...that they actually outlawed the Bunny Hop at one of these halls. Criminal! But it cracks me up. How does one enforce no Bunny Hopping? Dang.

Settling and Nicknames

All moved, love the new place. I hung stuff on the walls, which makes me feel at home. I'm not one to leave a box unpacked for weeks or months. If it doesn't need unpacking, I might not need to own it. I got one of those email survery forwards yesterday, where you state your preference for things like sun vs. rain, chocolate vs. vanilla, and beach vs. mountains...essential things like that. One of the questions was "Do you have any nicknames?" I've never had them, really. Jana Banana was about it. Since working at Red Leaf, though, I have acquired a few more. I started to list: janabanana j-po janapo po popo juxtapo pocephus dilated poples po chi minh (new as of yesterday...thanks, Geno!) I'm starting to think about album artwork and such. Weird process. I am saving photos and color schemes and other artwork I like. Something will come from somewhere and make itself obvious, no doubt. Now for some coffee to make itself obvious in my cup!

Hanging out with a Simpsons Character

Lloyd Maines, as I hope you all know by now, is a Texas music legend. Lloyd's produced and/or played on so many records that he doesn't even count them anymore. I asked. He doesn't. His steady gig for the past ten years or so has been touring with Terri Hendrix, and it's a lovely combination. He's also a swell guy to talk to, especially if you are into playing guitar and making records, which is pretty much all I'm interested in, haha. So last weekend at their show, Lloyd announced he had just appeared on The Simpsons...which really, means you are "It" in regards to American culture. There is no better finger on the pulse of the mish-mash of America than The Simpsons, and I will stand by that argument any day. The episode "Papa Don't Leech" features a song sung by the Dixie Chicks (in which Lloyd's daughter, Natalie, is the lead singer, of course)...and who do we see doing the best version of a cartoon jam ever but Lloyd himself. Actually, I just noticed he's playing keyboard and not pedal steel. Is it too hard to animate pedal steel, people?! (Look hard, it goes fast...telltale mustache). Check out the full episode here on Hulu.com. That photo up there is copyright 2008 Machelle Dunlop all rights. Word.

Trials of the CAPTCHA

(This is a pretty tongue-in-cheek essay about what a musician has to go through to be all networky on Myspace these days, all for the sake of anti-spam safeguards. Please don't take it too seriously...because I certainly don't). Ok, so I'll own up. I spend a lot of time on Myspace. I prefer to think of it as "networking" and "discovering new artists" rather than wasting time...and it can suck you in. You find a great deal of neat people and music, and as is now the vernacular, you want to "friend them." And then maybe you want to leave a comment. Innocent enough. Except I guess evil comment-making robots have taken over the internet, so Myspace (and a great number of other sites that allow commenting and the like) now require you to sometimes type in a CAPTCHA to prove you are a real person. In fact (nerd alert), CAPTCHA stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" (thanks, Wikipedia). Wow. Of course. So when you're up late at night, maybe like I was, deciding to friend some people because you like their tunes, and did I mention it's late and you had a long day with a 3 hour gig and then maybe you saw your friend's band play and it's...late? So here's how it goes for me, and why the CAPTCHA probably needs to die. (Note: I don't know how real CAPTCHAs are made so just bear with my lame examples). First time...an annoying string of letters, usually readable: I will occasionally screw this up. Maybe a "J" looks like an "I", or something. So it spits out another CAPTCHA at me to try again: For whatever reason, I swear it's always longer and slightly more askew. This skyrockets the chance that I will type this one in wrong, too. Sure enough I screw up, and now my humanness is in question. Try again: WHAT. Instead of the CAPTCHA machine thinking, "Wow, this might indeed be a human but a slow one...maybe we should lighten up," we inevitably get an even longer one with twisted letters and symbols that don't exist on a keyboard. At this point I get annoyed and bang out something approximate. I just want to comment on Katie's wall that her new cat photo is cute. That's all I want to do! Next: Oh that's nice. In a fit, I probably type something like, "HJA592QJAJDJ34SDJ4224FJ#)$*@)#*$@." Because that will fix it. Now the CAPTCHA wants to play games. Right. So I guess Katie will never know her cat is cute. Not due to me, anyway. And that Indistrial-Folk-Punk band from Glasgow I wanted to friend? Didn't happen. I hope you're happy, CAPTCHA. You have denied my humanity.

Dan's Secret Life

Dan has been photo blogging his Southeast tour, and apparently he has been mistaken for Elliott Yamin, the American Idol contestant, no less than 5 times on this tour. Each time it's been at a Cracker Barrel (those porterdavis kids love them some CB). I'll admit it, I'm a little not up to speed on American Idol, so I had to see for myself. It's kind of creepy: Dan with Cracker Barrel employee/Idol Fan: Elliott Yamin: Has anyone seen these 2 in the same room at the same time? Hmmm?

"Be Wise Not Weird."

It's time for another round of Humorous Search Terms...weird keywords that were Googled and somehow sent these poor, confused (and sometimes suspect) people to my site. I don't think any of these are Jamie trying to mess with the system...she's admitted to doing that. (Now she's too busy being ENGAGED! Congrats, Jamie and Mike!!) Anyway... 1. "funny drug posters" -- oh like maybe...this one? 2. "hilarious pie charts" -- anything involving pie is usually funny. Unless it's mom's rhubarb pie for breakfast. That's all business. 3. "bunny girl" -- I have no idea. 4. "email contact of farmer @ yahoo.com" -- I mean really. How many farmers have a Yahoo email address? Maybe 10 at the most. I hear Gmail is more of a farmer thing. Eesh...needle in a haystack. Pun intended. There we go. A little Friday fun. I'm off to organize my receipts and log my miles. Apparently this new way of life requires new ways of accounting. Office supplies rock! Note: many of you are looking the song "Mercy" by Duffy, because a good 20 hits are from the search term "beggin' you for mercy." Well...Youtube it. It's catchy.

Katie and Jana take on Gruene Hall

Oh Katie. One might call her a partner in crime, or maybe an enabler. However you word it, Katie agreed to roadtrip down to Gruene Hall with me to see one suSANG! play. I love seeing shows at Gruene because the town itself is all cute and German, and the Hall has a great historic, gritty vibe. Plus Katie made sandwiches. Wot? It starts as all good blog posts do, with an inside joke. These curry chips were on stage all night. That is all. The crowd was kickin'. I saw Suz make a Sharpie tattoo on someone's hand. Rockstar! Jana: Too bad her last name isn't "Miller." Katie: Yeah...then it would always be HER TIME! I brought in a contraband Diet Coke. Because it was in my bag, dangit. So Katie took a dark photo of my drinking the contraband. Recycled the evidence. I took this photo of the artist and the tip jar to reiterate to all you kind folks: LOVE THE TIP JAR. That is all. There's "Johnny (Hearts) Jessica" and such written/scratched all over the ancient Gruene Hall tables. I suppose we are not to take photos of evidence yet again, but...well, we had to. I hope to go back to Gruene Hall in 2028 and see this note. Did we mention there's a new CD coming? Head to the Myspace to hear a track or dos. How does live music make me feel? Like THIS.

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.

County Mementos

During my time at Travis County, I received a few "thanks for being an employee" tokens. While I didn't work there long enough to get a gold watch, I did receive a sweet coffee mug (which, if you know me, you know it gets used a lot). Two mugs, hehhehheh. I also received a couple of these metal...things. They're round. They commemorate agricultural extension in Texas. They're shiny. I'm not sure what their purpose is, and they came in a plain white box. They're heavy. If I threw one at you it would probably kill you.