One Woman Show Tour to the North West U.S Aug 2002

One Woman Show TOUR ... June 2002 on... First stop, Phoenix AZ 17th June gilli moon opened for Simple Minds in Phoenix: The Celebrity Theater was a buzz on Monday 17th June in Phoenix AZ. Simple Minds have just released their 16th record. They are know for their big hit "Don't you (forget about me)" from the movie "The Breakfast Club." gilli performed to a theater of 800 people, in the round, on a revolving stage. Thanks to Fred Florry on guitar for sitting in. Welcome to all who saw the show and who are now on the email list. Thanks to the Celebrity Theater, clear Channel, Toni Koch, and Guitar Center for providing gilli's favorite weighted keyboard, the Yamaha P80. Ok - gilli's words on this fab night: "It was sooo awesome! I met the band, and they all had Glasgow accents! The theatre is really beautiful. The stage revolves and as you spin around slowly the lighting is fabo and the sound, well I could HEAR myself. My god, it was wonderful. It's like a modern Roman colliseum. When I finished my set (after a few acoustic rap stuff and toe tapping tunes) i went up to the merch table and was amazed by these new stranger/friends who wanted me to sign their cds. I found new friends, a bunch I'm sure who are reading this email now on the Warrior Girl eNews list. I really have to admit that you build your fan base one fan at a time and I'm truly thankful for that. I'm looking forward to touring more." 12 july 02 - ok... so that was in my July enews... boy oh boy... the beginning of a new feeling, a new look, a new sensibility, a new woman. getting off the celebrity theatre stage was really hard. it's hard to "go back" to the old tried and true. i want more, more lights, more great sound, more people. alas, i will be schlepping my way up to vancouver and back solo, in coffee houses, small clubs and even a park concert. it will be, however, a magic trip. i hope to write about the drive and experiences in my online diary. we leave on thursday 18th from los angeles, and our (toni koch and I) first stop will be san luis obispo for a small coffee house gig. hopefully we will have the "woman" cd in tow. as you can see by the site, the "woman" cd is everywhere here now. i just need them in my hand. 101 distribution are manufacturing the cds in florida and it might be, due to timing issues, that they will have to courier the cds to me along the way. ugghghg. San Francisco July 19-22, 2002 Here we are in San Francisco. On Wednesday 17 Toni was able to pick up the Woman cds at the 11th hour from 101 Distribution (Damon you came through! YIPPEE! We love 101 Distribution!) and she drove the cds out with her to L.A On Friday July 19 Toni Koch (tour mgr) and I hopped into the 2002 isuzu rodeo LS (toni insists I write the full name of the car because she's very proud of her vehicle.) "It's the lucky star," she says. She's quite anal sometimes. Being as it may be sold on our return for fear we don't cover our costs, the isuzu's name is Amanda Ruth. So we drove up the 101, which turns into the 1, from L.A to follow the coast line so we could swim all the way up the coast. The problem was, we hit the marine layer all the way, that's this fog that everyone in california calls the 'marine layer' because they don't want to admit it's just fog. So it was sunny one minute, foggy the rest of the day! anyway, we drove through santa barbara, had a dip in the ocean at a state park on the beach just north, then drove through san luis obispo and morro bay. We stayed overnight at the San Simeon National Camp Ground for $5. It's normally $12 for a campsite but we arrived too late (it took us 2 hours just to get from Sherman Oaks to Westlake Village due to the horrible L.A traffic!) At the campground entrance we talked the park ranger into letting us stay the night as it was already 6pm and we were going to sleep in the car. By the way its 226 miles from L.A to San Simeon. And so we did. The camp ground was full of campers settling in by their camp fires as the fog turned into slow drizzle. But that didn't stop Toni and I wandering out onto the gray/black beach (sand color is really weird) to sip some of our own Merlot in plastic cups and give thanks to the winds and the hawks who were circling in praise of our tour (Toni would not hear of it that they were really just watching for things that moved to prey on!) We slept in the back of Amanda Ruth, with the keyboard under our heads. It was a little tight in the back but we survived. By morning we were up, showered and on the road again north. I really liked Ragged Point which has nice hot chocolate and awesome views. There's a place called Ragged Point Inn. From this point on, it's all great cliffs all the way to monterey. These cliffs are really steep, and reminded me of the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, south of Rome Italy. Very windy road, and one lane, so we had to go slow. Amanda Ruth drove great along this coast line. By noon we arrived in Monterey and drove straight to Pacific Grove to the Victorian Cafe on Lighthouse. I had a mission. I had found on the internet this cafe which was run by Paul Aliotti, I guess a distant relative of mine. There have been many Aliottis who migrated to the Monterey Bay area in the 1930s from a little island called Marettimo off the south coast of Sicily. We rocked up at the cafe and I immediately recognized Paul Aliotti due to his diminutive stature and aliotti eyebrows. It was great. He was amazed I'd traveled so far to meet him, but I had to say I was on tour too! I told him I'm researching the Aliotti family tree and have posted everything at www.aliotti.com He was very impressed. He said that the Aliottis came to Monterey to fish, as they were fisherman, all from this little island. He also said that an Aliotto changed his name to Aliotti. So maybe, we weren't so closely related after all. Anyway, we had a superb club sandwich and then hopped back in the car to San Fran. We arrived in the Mission area of San Fran at around 5pm and parked the car next to the El Capitan hotel/hostel which cost us $28 for the room for the night (parking $9). It's the Latin quarter and El Ritmo Records is up the street. I'm writing this in the hostel now. At 6pm we walked up to Club Galia to meet Barb. She had organized fabulous smoked/grilled fish done Latin style and then I set up the keyboard. Barb runs Club Galia and is searching for bands, good ones. email her at paradisebarb@aol.com. Club Galia phone is 415-970-9777. www.galiaclub.com The show was great. I was first on. The crowd was very attentive. Then other bands came on after, including Amee Porter who was promoting her new cd, www.smartasschick.com, and Kristen Slater, www.kristenslater.com Having driven all day, we made an early exit and crashed. Sunday 21st and we found a great internet cafe on 20th and Valencia, and "went to the office" for 2 hours. Hopped into Amanda Ruth and off we trucked backwards towards San Jose, to Mountain View, where I talked about the book and performed. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to Active Artists Alliance and Groovy Judy www.groovyjudy.com. What a great sunny afternoon. The evening, our second san francisco gig, was back at Club Galia. Barb calls it "Spaghetti Sundays." Wonderful vegie pasta for $5. the show was great. acoustic again, with a kind of cabaret light and sliver curtain backdrop going on there. we slept again at the hotel capitan down the road Mt. Shasta July 22nd, 23rd I am seeing I see I see how I can dispossess the stuff And repossess myself Escaping hell My own silent jail Embrace me, light so clear and pure Ever get the amazing sense that you must go somewhere because it's drawing you? We were driving up the 5 north and we hit Mt. Shasta, one of the 12 sacred sites of the earth. We spent the night sleeping in our car on the mountain. will update tomorrow. wow, what an awesome experience. We really wanted to stay up near Portland because it would be a long drive up to Seattle for the Tuesday night show. But when we saw the sign to Mt. Shasta and we stopped for a late lunch, we ended up staying the whole night. We couldn't leave. The one road street is filled with spiritual book, stones and paraphernalia stores, nicely done, which drew us in the read, notice and become aware. Having found a KOA camp ground just outside the town for $14.50 a campsite, we then drove up the hill wanted to touch the snow-capped mountain of Mt. Shasta. We reached 6,000 feet and suddenly came across Panther Meadows, one of the 12 vortexes in the area. It was quiet, serene and meditative. We could see, although hot summer, the snow capped peaks ahead. People were camping.... for free. We had to do it too. Even though we had paid for the campground down below, we decided to stay up here, go for a beautiful walk through the springs infested meadows, and then camp in the back of the car here like others. It was nearly a full moon, and perfect for our souls. 6am and we packed up the car again and headed north up the 5. We knew we were to return to Mt. Shasta again, very soon. We drove 256 miles to Eugene Oregon and dropped off my CD to KVRM 91.9 Public Broadcast radio station where I will be interviewed on Friday. We had breakfast, before Eugene, in a small town called Glendale, a lumber town. Seattle Washington, July 23rd, 24th, 25th Having crossed three states, California, Oregon and into Washington, by 5pm we arrived in Seattle at Jean Mann's house www.jeanmann.com. A fellow Indiegrrl, she has a gorgeous cottage right on the Lake at Mt. Baker. We hurriedly got ourselves together, our first shower in two days, and then hopped up the 5th a bit to 50th street and University Way - the university district, to the Irish Emigrant, a songwriters night hosted by Jennifer Savage www.jennifersavage.com. Email her for a Tuesday night gig at jsavage2@hotmail.com or call the pub at 206-525-2955. Like most irish pubs, the venue was rowdy and lively and not really koshur for quiet, acoustic music, BUT the vibe was warm and very supportive and Jennifer rocked the house with her own band. I went on second, with keyboard, and sweated like a pig but enjoyed it. The girls from a local Camp America were the best call and answer voices I have heard yet for the song "Woman" and everyone clapped along to the songs. The Irish Emigrant make a delicious artichoke dip too, served with tortilla chips. Toni and I gleefully drove back to the cottage on the lake and spread our mattress and bedding out on the front porch. it was so warm and beautiful and a full moon night. we slept under the moon and stars on the front porch overlooking the lake. Wow. What a night. By morning, Wed 24th, the sun was beating down on us by 7am so we had an early wake up call. Up to the local cafe for brekky, chatting with the Seattle folk... SO friendly. I played Jean's piano all morning and then we hopped into the lake in the afternoon for a great swim (after I went to the office for a couple of hours working on the production of the Songsalive! Expo 2002) Today is our day off. We ate Thai at the marina in Madison and cruised the city. We even..... went to...... Hooters. Shame on us! Thursday day and we spent time with friends, touring the city, and by Thursday night the 25th I performed back at The Irish Emigrant. This night was less noisy and more intimate. I had more of a singer/songwriter crowd and less of a "pub and beer" crowd. Jennifer Savage's band members, Flick (guitar), Joey (Sax) and Gary (bass) sat in with me on Tiny Diamonds, Woman and Need You Tonight. Joey played also on Walk Away from the Girl in the Moon album. Eugene Oregon, Friday July 26th Toni and I hopped into the Isuzu to back track to Eugene, 5 hours south of Seattle. If we had known how far it was, we wouldn't have made it so "zig zag" although doing zig zag tours are quite popular.... not! So we arrived in Eugune, a cool college town, at 6.30pm for the 6pm radio interview.... yeah, good start! The radio interview was with Mike Meyer of KRVM 91.9 FM (ph: 1800-295-2895), a great public broadcast radio station. Mike knows every indie artist in the country! The interview was wonderful and he played "Woman" and "To Be With You." After the show we hopped over the 10 minutes journey to Cafe Paradiso on Broadway. (ph 541-485-3088). Randy Hamme is a fantastic venue manager who totally supports indie artists, and acoustic artists. Not really a cafe anymore, they also serve alcohol and the room is totally geared for music. It's like playing in a concert hall. With the help of my publicity in the papers (through Erica Diamond, my publicist) and the radio interview an hour earlier, we had a great crowd. Randy was really surprised and felt I had "broken Eugene." I played 2 hours, 3 sets. A long show of originals but it was fabulous. Truly a great show and many people bought cds and books. At midnight, having re-organized the back of the car again for sleeping with the bedding and off we trundled back north about an hour. Just outside of Salem, which is still south of Portland, we pulled over to the Rest Area and slept under the nearly full moon by the Santiago River, free. Wow, what a wonderful night. By a.m, the Masons gave us free coffee (we tipped them) and once again we drove north, another 4 hours, back to Seattle. Bellingham Washington, July 27th We arrived back in our wonderful city of the sea, seattle, but only after..... ARGHGHGHG..... me getting a speeding ticket!!!!! OUCH! All the income from Eugune gone to the WA police dept!.... and picked up Jean Mann, www.jeanmann.com, to head even more north to her home town of Bellingham. Bellingham is about an hour and a half north of seattle and is another cool college town. Both Jean and I performed at Stuart's Coffee House on Bay Street (ph: 360-752-2024 stuartjava@aol.com or booker Katey at 360-676-1995.) This coffee house is the local hang for all the youngsters and is very quaint. I performed and when finished I noticed a guy, (later found out it was Michael) painting my portrait as I performed. What a trip! I'll insert a jpeg of the pic here soon. He's going to exhibit the painting in Sept then mail me the original. WOW! We slept at Jean's sisters house, Helen, right on the Sound (the water) which is awesome. Like a beach bungalow, with a boat ramp and wonderful views. It was really cold up here unlike the humidity of Seattle. Richmond, Vancouver, Canada, July 28th We woke up at the crack of dawn to avoid delays at the Canadian border. The border is only 30 minutes from Bellingham, actually only 20 miles. We got through easy ("yeah girls go have fun" said the customs officer) and we breakfasted at a local Richmond diner (no great story there!) Garry Point, right on the beach, is where Cherelle Jardine (www.cherellejardine.com e: houseofrock@shaw.ca) hosts a wonderful singers and songwriters in the park series last saturday of the month. today it was moved to sunday for some reason. lots of people arrived and it's all outdoors, right next to an outdoor fish and chip shop which only sells root beer, not beer... being in the sun, I yearned for a beer! I was on second and for some reason my keyboard wasn't turning on. I freaked out. So I picked up Cherelle's guitar in such embarrassment. I can't play guitar.... but I didn't want to waste this trip! So i played 2 songs really badly (but everyone else says it's fine (and then they got the keyboard to work.) actually I think the sun was shining so I couldn't see the red lights on the keyboard before... daaaaaa! ANYway, I did the set and it was loads of fun. The boys from www.songcatalog.com and Modern Records were there plus some interesting characters. Great day. We finished the arvo at the Stevenston fish coop for late lunch, while we watched the whale watching and fishing boats come into the dock and one guy decided to jump off the restaurant balcony for a swim. He was drunk! We felt we needed to avoid the customs delays again so we reluctantly left Vancouver without being able to go to the city to see the harbour... Toni and I bet on how long it would take to drive through the border. I said 20-25 minutes, Toni said 45 mins. It took 1 hour and 2 minutes.....! We drove back to Seattle slowly taking in the beautiful old windy Pacific Hwy to savour the harbour views (3 hours total.. but lovely.) Sunday night and I'm exhausted. Another night sleeping on Jean's porch under the stars by her lake. Tomorrow we head to Mt. Shasta again towards San Fran. We turn sails for home. Mt. Shasta Monday July 29th The drive back to Mt. Shasta, on the border of Oregon and California (from Seattle WA) took all day. We drove about 10 hours with a couple of stops. Once again, 3 states in a day. We wanted to get to Mt. Shasta and re-live the feelings of the mountain. Toni and I took turns in driving as we were exhausted. The night before in Seattle we spent our last night with Jean Mann having celebratory wines with also one of Toni's long time friend Joyce. We got to sleep at 1am and then had to wake up for the drive at 8am. We drove all day and back at the Santiago River, south or Salem, Oregon, we stopped by our favorite free place for a gorgeous swim in the river. Toni and I took turns in driving because we were both exhausted, so the passenger slept, while the driver drove. Still, we didn't make it to the Mountain this time. We got as far as a rest area - Randall Collier Rest Area, just north of Mt. Shasta. It was also by a raging river. We slept wonderfully, and free again, and by morning we drove into Mt. Shasta City for a great breakfast of bagels and checking out emails at the internet cafe. San Francisco Tuesday July 30th It is approximately 807 miles from Seattle to San Francisco. By late morning, just before Red Bluff, we had a fabulous, fabulous swim in Mt. Shasta Lake which was like the mediterranean sea, crystal blue to the bottom. It's a man made dam and is absolutely gorgeous. We made many pit stops so we landed in San Fran after yet another long day of driving, at around 7pm to Club Galia (www.galiaclub.com) Barbara and Josette (owner) greeted us again and I quickly set up my keyboard for another show, with Giovanni on sound. Giovanni comes from a small town in Northern Italy near where my grandmother lives so we felt we were related! The show was really nice, everyone listened and I had some return visitors from the week before. Barbara let us sleep upstairs at the club this time, so we pitched our mattress and bedding, after a few green vodka shots (that I watched Toni and Barb take) and then we snoozed.... it was fun camping at the club! Pacifica, Ca, Wednesday and Thursday July 31 and August 1 We got up mid morning and waited for Josette to come to go to breakfast. We dined at Jim's Greasy Spoon (uh, yeah...) on Mission and 19th. Josette and Barb are brainstorming on all the ways they can promote Club Galia to bring in more business. If you are an artist, you'll love the club. Please contact them to play there and bring your fans! Toni and I said our goodbyes and off we choofed to check out San Fran a bit. We wanted to cross the Golden Gate bridge. As we were heading that way, we saw Castro street, which jogged Toni's memory about her friend Melissa who lived on this street but they hadn't seen each other in years and years. We FOUND her house and low and behold, she was home, with little baby Davis and partner Regina. Wow, what an artist studio she had. Wow, what a reunion they had. This was very serendipitous!!!! Saying goodbye, but hopefully not for the same amount of time as last time, we headed towards the Golden gate and crossed it. It's really a beautiful bay and we could see the old jail island of Alcatraz. By mid afternoon we had slid down the 1 freeway towards Pacifica, a beach town about half hour south of San Fran. We had an extra day to wait for the Thursday 1st Aug gig. I was exhausted. This was to be my last gig on the 2 week tour. So we stopped into the club to check the vibe of the club and all we felt was heavy metal, heavy metal and more heavy metal. Oh boy! What if we had made a mistake in our booking (the Octopus Lounge.) What were we to do for 48 hours waiting? What if we waited and got no money and no tips because everybody hated my acoustic music? What if, what if, what if??? With Toni's finesse we were able to score an upfront fee so that would pay for any hostel and we swallowed our fears and decided to stay. Then we went further south to Montara and checked in to the most beautiful hostel, the Lighthouse Hostel. It is right on the cliffs overlooking the crashing shoreline below, and the fog was rolling in that night. Just out of Wuthering Heights! We paid $15 a head and got a room of three but we ended up having the room to ourselves. I was so at peace. By morning we realized our faux pas... we had to leave the hostel by 10am and could not return till 4.30pm. What were we to do all day? We checked out and ended up at the beach, I ran and swam, and Toni collected more stones (we've been collecting different colored rocks on the whole trip.....the car is heavier with the rocks than the bags!) We wandered the Pacifica Pier and ate Mexican food and swallowed our fears again and headed to the Octopus Lounge for the evening's gig. WELL.... sometimes the best things are what you least expected. I played a rock n roll heavy club and had everyone in the palm of my hand. A little girl from Australia on piano and i reckon i rocked the house. I say that boldly because I was shitting my pants that I couldn't pull it off, but the room was silent, the heavy guys and girls listened, bought cds and threw money in the tip jar. They all came up after to chat and have me sign cds. I was really happy! What a night. The last show, the best show. Thank you Pacifica...! August 2 - Back to L.A We drove back with our heads in our chest, heaving a sigh of sadness for leaving the north west, but joy that we had had so much fun and that we could sleep in real beds from now on. Saturday Aug 3 Jeff Dean, Gordie Germaine and I performed at Long Beach at CURVE Women in Music show, at Que Sera. Melissa Ethridge used to play at this club all the time. This was an interesting night and since it was just the three of us, we went more jazz with some jamming and interesting experimenting. Jeff played the upright bass, Gordie on acoustic guitar, and me on my solid keyboard. I like Long Beach and I'm thinking of moving there for cheaper rent and beach, but where we played was not the greatest part of town so it kind of put me off. Notwithstanding, the club is great and it was full of people. Chase Frank (chasefrankquiver@hotmail.com), who runs the shows for female songwriters, is an awesome performer herself.

The embryo that is "Woman" June 2002

January 2002 The embryo that is Woman 6th feb 02 - australia is creeping up soooooo close. i'll be touching down there on my birthday, 29th march. the tour kicks off around the 3rd april. not much breathing space in between but it's going ot be wonderful. the album "woman" is coming along really nicely. we tracked the drums (brian burwell) and bass (jeffrey dean) over last weekend. i didn't get much sleep, mainly because of all the excitement. gordie germaine came in monday night to start tracking the guitars. we've added these high death metal meets prodigy guitars on the songs "Organic" and "Woman", even though the latter has dance beats. It's going to be totally crazy and nothing like you'd expect. It's like Prodigy and Live meets Tori Amos, Kate Bush and Sade. It's the next step on from "Temperamental Angel", and she's very temperamental, but also a little more grown up and convinced in herself! There's a lot of sexuality and sensuality oozing out of this new album. Songs like "the seducer" which I produced over at Ken Moore's studio in Sherman Oaks, is like Sade, with a lot of space, yet she's really gone over the deep end. Cindy Alter guests on backing vocals. She shines like a star! The main songs with full band have been tracked over at MT STudios, owned by Matt Thorne, who is a cool dude - the Sonic Doctor - and he does good shit. That's our new studio term, when we like something: "yeah, that's good shit." Well, it's kind of Aussie anyway. Matt engineered the recent, to be released, Kate Ceberano album. I went to the Australia Day ball on the 26th Jan. Man that was fun. I was helping Shelli-anne Couch on the production side, and I got to meet and hang out with a whole bunch of people: Sam Neill, Rob Lowe, Cameron Daddo, Billy Zane, Rachel Griffiths, Genevieve Davis (remember her? She sang the National Anthem in Oz and well, seh's over in L.A trying to climb that wonderful ladder I've been on... ha ha), Julian McMahon, Max Sharam, Nikka Costa... gosh it was a ful celeb night. I got up and sang a song - LAnd from Down-Under' with Jim Manzie and his band (ex Old 55.) It was alot of fun and I drank alot of champagne! Check out Shelli-anne's efforts at http://www.aanza.org and the press release for the night is at http://www.aanza.org/events_archives_AusDayBall2002.html On a different note, I've been ultra busy as a professional music big wig. Well my wig is getting big that's for sure, not so about the status! All work no gratification at this stage, but who knows... I'm the guest speaker at the Songwriters Network in Altadena Ca. tonight talking about "doing it the indie way." the Songsalive! Expo 2002, as Executive Producer, is taking way so much of my time but our team is strong and will be an awesome event. I'm also starting production of our Finnish artist, for Warrior Girl Music Aeneis is his name and his album should be getting pressed March/April. Further, I've opened a new web site called www.ArtistToolbox.net and it's a great resource for music artists who want to market their music. It gives a step by step approach on how to do it. Finally, my book, I Am A Professional Artist is finished and going through typesetting and layout, while we also hunt for the right publisher. It's all systems go! yay. check out the press release on the album "Woman." 12th Feb 02 - What an awesome weekend I had. My fifth trip to Phoenix in not even 12 months. Toni Koch, promoter extraordinaire, organized an acoustic show for me at The Vine, in Tempe. Thank you Todd from the Vine for the gig, the keyboard and the care, a big thank you to Roland for the flyers he designed. Awesome. Thank you Toni for always taking great care with me. A true friend. I particularly enjoyed the trip to Sedona and if the royalty checks ever start coming in, I'll be making a gilli moon mark there, that's for sure. Those red rocks remind me of Uluru, Australia. So majestic, so emotional, the vortex of life. Coming up this weekend is our big party bash at Rusty's at the Santa Monica Pier. I'll be doing that in between recording in the studio which has become my life daily. I don't know how Matt Thorne, my engineer, puts up with me but he's wonderful and if anyone is looking for a studio in Burbank, he's your man. All on pro-tools. Fabulous. Onwards and upwards,... I feel like my days are a countdown to March 27 when I hop on that big plane again to Australia. I'm hoping, as much as I am the warrior girl of indie routes, to secure some kind of backing for the next record to get it out. I've given my package to Nettwerk in Bev Hills, and will do the same to similar indie labels. I know, it's so against my nature. But I need the promotional pull and the dollars for retail and radio if I'm going to get "Woman" out. A joint venture with Warrior Girl Music would be great. So... here goes... 15th Feb 02 - Studio, studio, studio. It's fun working with Matt Thorne. Even though he's a Taurus (well no one can be perfect like an Arian!), he's so FASt and meticulous and he has high energy. Loving it! We finished all the guitar parts last night. Exhausted Gordie! 4th May 2002 - I can't believe it's been nearly too months since I wrote. I was so busy late February and all of March finishing the album recording at Matt's. It ended up that I had finished the recording 10 days before having to get on the plane to Australia. We then mixed 10 songs in 10 days. The last song was mixed the day of departure. Talk about busy! Plus I was working by day so I didn't sleep. I got to Australia and just slept and slept. Then did some gigs and have also been writing my book and sleeping some more up in the Bush. I get back to the U.S on May 15 so it will be about 6 weeks away from everything. While here, my computer crashed and i was told i wouldn't be able to recover my data. I thought I had lost 4 weeks of book writing. I was so sad. But then I found this other company and woo hoo, they recovered my data before overhauling the hard disk. Wow! Now I need to soak up a few more sleep moments before the hectic days begin again! 10th June 2002 - I just got back from NXNE toronto canada. what a blast. What a city! it's like sydney but it has an even more of a european flavor. the night life is great. you can bar hop (without paying any door fees) and listen to different kinds of music, from jazz to rock to country to acoustic. it's all great. the food is wonderful. very italian flavour with some french tongue here and there. they have a tower just like centrepoint, only taller! the convention itself was really good and although it was small it was perfect for my liking as I was able to get upfront with everyone and meet people. i performed at lounge 88, in the heart of Little Italy and Terri DiMarco, although we couldn't hear each other on stage, did a great guitar performance. we then hit the tequila which, for a low alcoholic gal like me, was really fitting whilst on this working holiday! i read a book here and there, met some wonderful people and wrote an article on 'Taming of the Music Mafia.' I also wrote a few things to add to the nearly finished BOOK. Here is what I wrote. It kind of was some notes based on a recent Howard Fine acting class that inspired me: Live your life now the way you see it tomorrow. Live as if you’re already successful. Now is truly your moment. The entertainment industry is seductive and the competition can be so overwhelming that we tend to look at the future as when all our dreams will come true. But to be convincing to yourself and others that your dreams will come true, you really have to live your dream now. That doesn’t mean pretending. No, grab hold of what you have going on, even if only a small part of the greater vision. Endow it with success and accomplishment and worthiness. You must feel worthy now in order to receive tomorrow. BE THAT. Endow that. Then people will see that too. RIGHT NOW, I feel like everything is right. I have an amazing sense of happiness about me. Opportunity is coming to me without me trying. Without me wanting. People are offering me jobs left right and centre. My music is being taken to the next level. I love my life. I love who I am. Two years ago, coming out of the darkness, I thought THAT was light. But right now I feel so in tune with my life and who I am and who I want to be. I feel energized, more so than ever before. I feel like anything is possible. And why? Because the first time in my life, I DON'T CARE. That's right, you heard me. I'm not FRUSTRATED. I'm not DESPERATE for the fame or the wealth or the love or the attention. I'm just being ME and being creative and finishing my projects diligently and timely. I'm not asking anybody for anything and ironically it is coming to me. I sleep and I have time for work and also time for play. I'm writing, I'm loving I'm eating well and exercising. I love my body, I love that I am a 33 year old woman who looks 20 and yet has the wisdom and fortitude of a 60 year old. I feel at one with myself.' I AM FINDING PEACE. This is a perfect time in my life to release my new album "Woman" which I am SO, SO happy about. As it is filled with JOY. Thank you, mother earth, for allowing me the opportunity to be so full of creativity, energy and passion to share. Thank you.

dealing with 911, and my first Australian Tour. Sept - Nov 2001

Australia Tour Sept - Nov 2001 Australia 2001 8th October 01 - Just goes to show how damn busy I've been. Ever since the 11th Sept events in New York and Washington, which rocked the world, I have been caught in a flurry of id reflections: where do i want to be? what country? where is it safe? will people still want to see my show compared to CNN...? I concluded that the show must go on. So I set sail for Australia and did a 3 week promo tour which I think went very well. Gordie Germaine came out from Los Angeles to play first guitar and he really enjoyed the trip. It was his first time in Australia. I found the music industry alot more receptive than in the past. Stephen Green, my publicist, was amazing and flogging the media over the head with gilli moon stuff, to the point of saturation. Hey that's great! Rob and Michelle Cole at Ralph Music coordinated the shows and I'm really looking forward to working with them again on the March tour 2002 which should get us touring right around Australia this time. I had a few interviews with the media and out of it a great interview with Michael Smith in Drum Media, the Newcastle Herald, Noozeandreviews.com and the blurb.com.au. All are at Press. The highlight was the Wollombi Festival which was a totally humbling, feral, relaxing experience and my home town had never seen the show in its full glory so that was really special. The Empire Hotel gig with Amanda Easton was equally fun. The ride out to Nepean University was long, and when we got there the crowd wasn't too big. It's hard to perform to 19 year old music students who looked a lottle skeptical, but overall an important gig to do and we hope to go back again, maybe for Friday afternoon show, rather than a midday, 'in between seminars' show. Gordie got to see the lights and harbour of Sydney as well as the bush. He led the life of a rockstar, touring, fans and, yes, a girl or two... I spent quality time with the folks and decided with them to build my own studio/home on the property some time next year, which will combine an art gallery, studio, shop, and outdoor open plan kitchen, with a spectacular view. I really enjoyed being in the Bush! I think my company Warrior Girl Music spent a shit load of money doing the Australia tour, which included pole poster printing and distribution, some newspaper Ads, 2 airline flights, day to day costs... but all worth it in the end. I can't wait to go back again. For the first time ever in Australia I think the media, industry and audience actually appreciated what I was about and I felt that they 'got it' for the first time. I didn't have to prompt interviewers and they knew exactly what to write, getting the concept by listening to the Cd. I am very happy about this. All I need to do more now is tour, tour, tour! 10-15-01 I've been pretty stroppy these last few days, getting off a plane from Australia is a big deal... leaving my lovely home... coming back to war, bombings and anthrax. Well I cheered up today cos in the mail I received a letter from the Benelux International Song Expo (Holland), which I have won songwriting awards through before, but this time I got: Song 2001 - "Temperamental Angel" and "Why Do You Love Me Still" (That's the best song overall, not by categories or anything. I WON the whole damn thing.) And I also received Best Entry from each participating country (Australia) "Temperamental Angel" Wow! I feel honoured. The winner... me... gets the invite to go to Holland next year (don't know when) to perform at the Song Expo Award Ceremony, and I get a few Dutch Guilders and some medals. Yippeeeeee!!! Thought I'd share! 10-30-01 Wow. I sold my desktop and bought the new Compaq Presario 1720US Notebook which is really fast and has the new Windows XP on it. I used to always have a notebook and for some weird reason I got it in my head that i needed a desktop for graphics. Anyway, ..... I don't. And I'm thankful I was able to revert back to a notebook without losing too much money. Although desktops DO depreciate and notebooks don't as much, so I lost a bit of money. The cool thing though, is now I can sit in my bed and write my diary for the web. I have not found much time to write for the diary but just before I go to bed is a perfect time. It's funny how we find the best times to do things. I find I can write my diary at night, almost like a purge from the day. Yet I prefer to write, write, like as in book writing, first thing in the morning. If I don't get up straight away and start writing, I can't write. If I even for a second contemplate about writing, say wait an hour, I can't write, and the day is lost. That's how my first and new book "I Am A Professional Artist" came about. I got up in the mornings and wrote. If I start early enough I can keep going all day. But as I say, I have to start straight away. As for songwriting, that's coming more seldom these days and I don't know why. I sometimes get 20 minutes in, maybe in the afternoon, and then I get bored and don't want to sit at the keyboard. I think it's because I'm still in the Temperamental Angel promotional phase so if I start writing new stuff it's like, and end of an era. Mind you, I wrote this fab song last Sunday in Phoenix called "Woman." I felt the need to write a song of that title, as it will be the title track of the next record, "Woman," but a couple of versions of the song were not coming together. Then BANG, this song poured out of me from the divine, like an amazing crystal geyser. The song has already received great feedback, so I feel encouraged to record it. I've been wondering, on a different note, what my next steps are.... I have done everything one should do (and I mean an indie record company) to push the record. I've done all the steps. But of course in my meager budget. There are some things I have not been able to compete in... radio, retail space, advertising... all of which come down to one simple thing: money. But not just any money, for I could borrow from a bank. No, the right money, from the right sources, to the right people. The Majors have monopolized the industry and almost cripple it with their poor taste in music (and victimizing our poor teenagers with horrid fashion and music taste.) I mean I haven't been able to get a look in to retail for shelf space. Let alone visibility. I don't have the money to compete to put ads in the Tower Records magazines and the like. The Majors also simply rent the retail space. There's no room for anyone else. And what about radio, huh? Yeah like the DJ is going to get to hear my song after the programme director has been properly serviced, I mean bribed to add certain Major Label songs to the play list after they get their advertising sold to the Majors, and after they get their free trips to the Bahamas and so forth. Ok so they may not all be on Coke anymore, but it's all the same thing. Nothing's changed: PAYOLA is still here. And if anyone out there disagrees with me then I challenge you to tell me just who, WHO, has been able to get heard on radio out of just the sheer beauty of the song, without any convincing with money, advertising spend or freebies. Tell me, WHO???? Nobody, that's who. While the rest of us are relegated to community stations who are the only TRUE indicators of good music AND they are usually all volunteers anyway so they can't be doing their job for the money - they must be doing it for the music! But then who's going to get CHARTED on community radio. Beats me... And how about touring. Any person who knows anything in this industry will tell you that to break your music you have to tour. Great! For free???? Cause all these clubs love the 'pay to play' deal where the artists have to bring in a certain number of people in to get paid. I mean, don't these clubs realize WE are providing ENTERTAINMENT that has VALUE. That means, buckaroo... PAY US. But NO, they all say, you must tour the country to get noticed. Pay your dues. So while the MAJOR artists, no matter how good or BAD they are, are positioned in the cream gigs, sidling with Sheryl, Alanis, Stevie, etc, etc, the little indies are left to the coffee houses asking, "please sir, I want some more... (one more dollar for the tip jar and I can actually buy a coffee.) I feel like I'm a beggar sometimes. I shouldn't have to beg for a dollar. Wow, sitting in bed writing really gets the creative juices going. I'm going to sign off before my friends in high places all think I'm a crack up! 13th nov 01 - Hi everyone! It's been a while but I've been in the laboratory concocting the next creative project, plus also taking a bit of a breather. I'm still in "breathing mode" but that hasn't stopped my nature, which is to "create." October and November are months of inner creating as an artist, and on the outside I've been busy working with Songsalive! (www.songsalive.org) and developing some new fires for Warrior Girl Music, all of which you can read about below in the Buzz section. But first, a few performances that you can catch me in soon... I hope to see those who are near, at these events. And for those who are far, soon, soon, I will be at your shores again! Some people want more scoop on Australia. Ok, here it is. I posted this in the Nov eNews: Having had to postpone the Melbourne leg of the tour, due to the unfortunate terrorist incidents in New York which delayed flights for me and guitarist Gordie Germaine, I DID make it to Australia mid September and enjoyed every moment. This was the first time I had "toured" my home country. As a promo tour, preparing for a longer, national tour next year, Gordie and I performed around NSW, including Sydney, The Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley. The highlight was the Wollombi Festival which brought together a talented and colourful community of musicians, artisans and healers. The band that performed all the shows were intense and exciting, comprising of Lloyd G on drums who has been working with me on and off for 7 years, as well as newcomers Nathan Valero, Luke Dixon and Luke Herbert. While in Oz, I greeted the press on all fronts.. with fire, I tell you. I certainly wanted people to know I had finally come home! We had interviews with Drum Media, The Newcastle Herald. the Queensland Times, Noozandreviews.com and the album "temperamental angel" received strong reviews in various newspapers across the country which was so empowering and reminded me that it truly is a great thing to record music that you love! Because then others will love it too! We also performed on www.TheBasement.com.au, a fab internet show hosted by Cleo the fab body painted (by yours truly with every color in the paint palette) glam gorgeous gal. Gordie and I also had time to relax in the Bush and write music with the crickets, possums and frogs to keep them company! This truly was a sneak peak at what gilli moon "could be" down-under, and we will definitely give it a go in 2002 too! For those who want more info on that, or who want to get involved in stringing together a tour, please contact Ralph Music at ralphmusic@optusnet.com.au 02.4758.7750 1 dec 01 - I don't usually complain about my lot in life. I usually embrace life with all it's glory. I know I can change anything in this life, anything. It's just a matter of will, and of trust. I have been president of Songsalive! for 5 years as a volunteer, not earning a salary, giving my time and energy for the altruistic vision that I founded the organization on, I have attracted people who are like-minded. Recently I copped a lot of flack from an artist who could not see the vision. Who felt it in her right to condemn, defame and insinuate things about the organization and my involvement. I'm not going to put up with it. I'm not going to put up with anyone who goes behind Songsalive!'s back to meddle and create problems, based on false accusations and erroneous comments. I implore our members to see the big picture of what we are doing and trying to do. It is a choice. You either join us and our vision, or you go do your own thing. Just take your bullshit with you. Thank you. 30th jan 02 - well that last entry was a trifle angry. so where am i today... a new year a new me a new album coming along. I had a wonderful trip to Oz for only two weeks but soaked up the glorious sunshine and water. i miss australia more and more these days and it's been 4 and a half years in l.a. that's a long time in one place, at least for me. so april i will set sails back to Oz for about 6 months to enjoy home-life and touring down-under. it will be loads of fun. meanwhile I'm trying to record as much as possible for the new album and start putting stuff in storage as i'm letting the apartment go in sherman oaks. i have a great Songsalive! team here to keep things rolling as we coast towards the Expo in September. i've had a bit of a blast from the past with my old record label saying i can't reference any art work i did for them in my resume. what's "that" all about. who knows. they should at least learn to give credit where credit is due. anyway moving on, a gig is coming up at The Vine in Phoenix on the 9th Feb, and also 16th Feb at Rusty's Surf Ranch at the Santa Monica Pier with the blue warriors. yipppee. back soon.