The Jaded Tour - East Coast, Atlanta, Nashville Sept 2003

Jaded Tour of the East Coast Aug-Sept 2003 East Coast U.S - Jaded Tour - August 2003 New York City - Friday August 8, 2003 Well we arrived in New York City. woo hoo! It's been 11 years since i lived here in 1992 and then i visited here only for a week in '96. So it's a lonnnnnnnng time. Chris Valenti was already here spending time with his family on Long Island. Toni Koch and I got up at 4am Friday morning, packed the car, and our roomie Kristi drove us, beary eyed to the airport in L.A. We were flying ATA. Don't ever fly ATA. Godddd. We were in about 5 security lines and we barely got on the plane. The place was packed. Take your shoes off, put your shoes on, take your computer out of the bag, stand in line, make 3 lines, take your bra off.. well no not that part#^#^$%&. By the time we made it through the last security check point we ran to the gate and got on in the nick of time. I know many people missed the flight. Airports need to get this better in order because they sucked at their organization and mgmgt of people. 3 1/2 hrs to chicago, quick transfer and on to La Guardia. We arrived to a muggy, sweltering hot afternoon and a nice gal called Nancy who was our chauffer. nice....... a few weeks back she picked up Barry White.. then he died. My fate was in her hands! We're staying with Erin Hill and her husband Mike in Queens, Long Island City. Circa 1870s 4 story terrace house that has a stair case that works your butt hard. i can see i'm going to lose 10 pounds in this city and i don't even need to leave the house! it's right near Ely Ave 23rd subway so it's a short hop to Manhattan. We can see the Empire State Building where we are. First night was Baggot Inn. Right in the heart of Greenwich Village, on 4th Street, near Blue Note, and all the cool venues. I was in heaven. This is Toni's first time in NYC so she was blown away by all the action. We entered the BAggot Inn and Chris Valenti was already performing. Some of my old friends were here, Marco Rosa, who I grew up with, plus a consortium of friends, and Deb Flanagan who runs Book Music Network. I used their keyboard which was hilarious because the middle A note was really really loud compared to every other note so every time i played it DONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. I cracked up during a sensitive moment, vocally, then hitting the DONGGGGG A. Killed the quiet vibe, but made the show fun. I hadn't slept in ages but we all went to get some Cajun food and laughed a lot, drank beer and added spices to everything. A great first night in NYC. More coming.... my butt is tighter than j lo's Monday August 11, 2003 - Queens It's been nostalgic, deja vu and new all at the same time! With much walking - my butt is better than J Lo's right now from all the walking and stairs! - and window shopping, we have been seeing Manhattan with new eyes. People seem to be a lot friendlier here these days although there are still a few who think they can just jump the queue when they want, as if it's their divine right! Saturday we were invited by Renee Grenier - rhymes with Grand Manier but without the smoothness, or rhymes with "almost there" - from Est Fest to go check out an industry showcase at FEZ, a very hip and happening bar down below sea level (they seem to all be!), on Bleeker Street/La Fayette. They have a grand piano so i'll have to come back to this one! Coincidently, after paying $10 for what we thought we were guests to, and 2 drinks, we happened to be watching our artist friends Emily Zuzik and her bass player, also very talented artist in her own right, Meredith DiMenna of the band the Saucers. It was a treat. Having been left to pay 4 drinks, yes... we were schhhtooooped, left paying the bill, we continued on to some bar hopping, some pizza and cheese eating, with some flirting with drunken irish boys, and then, a long way home having caught the wrong subway and ended up on the upper west side heading to harlem. woops! Yesterday afternoon we met up with my childhood friend Marco Rosa, for a cool - well hot and muggy - free concert in Central Park. Jimmy Cliff performed on the Summer Stage. We drank beer, got a wafting of the smoke nearby, and pretended we were Jamaicans. There were dreadlocks everywhere and yellow, red and black bandanas. Kind a like Aboriginal colors these Reggae mun! What a great afternoon, with slight spits of rain and then lovely sunshine. We dropped in to check out my book at Barnes and Noble near Lincoln Square, check out Madonna's cool pad around 63rd then down to Chelsea to see Dr Brooks at G. G is a cool, hip and happening bar on 19th and 7th Avenue. When I think of Chelsea, I think of the song from Cabaret, "I used to have a girlfriend known as Chelsea... da da.. who used to share 4 sordid rooms in Chelsea... da da.. she wasn't what you'd call a blushing flower... as a matter a fact she rented by the hour!" boo boom. Well, Chelsea is still dirty, with garbage everywhere (they've cut back to garbage collection once every two weeks,) but it's no grimey Garment district anymore. Its a budding upper middle class area now and the apartments are really sprucing up. G is a cool bar which hosted an array of gorgeous unavailable (in my league) men, who fancied going to the gym and biceps more than anything. A very cool place to drop in to though and one of the first people I ever met in Los Angeles, Sean "Dr." Brooks is the DJ here on Sunday and Tuesday nights. We walked into a Madonna remix and I knew i was home! He spins so well! He even got us free drinks. Toni was in her element. Having let her t-shirt hang out all day she decided it was time to "go get dressed" and put on her black studded belt for the occasion. I was having a ball listening to the grooves, hanging out with Sean and eating pretzels to help me down my vodka and cranberry. the tequila shot was a smooth transition to get my tummy juices going for dinner and we bid Sean adieu and hopped up the road for some Thai food at SPICE on 8th and 20th where the candles were low and the mood was vibey.. and my food was really spicy! Home to Queens by midnight and up at 11am. These were late mornings because we just couldn't get used to the clock! Monday 11th rolls around and we have breakfast at the local diner at 2.30pm. What a trip! We catch the 7 into town (subway) and sit at the Paris Theatre, right next to the amazingly gorgeous and regal PLAZA hotel on 5th and 59th near Central Park. We saw the average Le Divorce movie tonight with whatsherface I hate American 22 year old punk Kate Hudson... then we sauntered down the 6 line to the Bowery. CB Gallery was our target, to hang some gilli moon posters up on the window for the Thursday show. It was REALLY hard getting the door guy to put up 2 posters, not one, and even worse to bear the hard nose NY ass*le who tried to push us into buying a drink at the Blues bar on Bleeker street. We were invited by a street promoter to go listen to some AWESOME blues, R&B hip hop, I swear i was so in heaven. But after 20 minutes the mgr insisted we buy a drink if we wanted to stay. Now, I don't mind these kind of policies, but for him to almost shove his fist down my throat to make the point and ask us to leave because we didn't want to be the alcoholics he insisted us being, just make me puke. One thing i've noticed about this town. They are REALLY pushy. AND not necessarily friendly. Very arrogant in fact and rather insulting to women. But i did like the little bar in Soho and we met this cool restauranteur who invited us out to his private 50th b'day party on sunday, so .. you get some you lose some. home by midnight. gigs all week this coming week. woo hooo! Thursday August 14, 2003 - Long Island to Manhattan Everyday becomes one subway blur of holding on tight to the subway poles, sub-terrain heatwaves (it's like Singapore down below) and staring at the subway map long enough to know that you really are in Manhattan! Blue, red, yellow lines on the map going this way and that. No wonder i'm getting dizzy! We hit university town, around Hudson and Christopher (christofaw!) that night for a songwriters night at Caffe Sha Sha. A she she kind of caffe with a double ffs to make you know it's she she. Amy Leah Emerman runs these little coffee house to-dos and I found it comforting and cool except that the as much as everyone was quite talented (they really were) i just realized how different us L.A folk perform to the New Yorkers. I guess 9/11 hit their hearts pretty bad because nearly every song was sad and dark and slow and weepy whereas myself, Chris Valenti and another californian, Randi Driscoll, sang with vivacious life. But it was fun nevertheless. Amy is a delight and i wish i had more time to hang out with her. ...looking for elsie in chelsea.... Toni and i hit the streets after for some street promo and we dropped back in to the Bitter End where I'm performing on Sat night to drop off some posters. Bleeker street is really jumping at night, no matter what night of the week. After another awesome slice of pizza on the street (although some dude thought it was his right to just jump in the line in front of me - "stick with me kid, and you'll learn to push in (he ACTUALLY said that to me!) - we headed home on the 6 then the E and crashed. We were up at 9 so fast i felt my head never hit the pillow! We decided to head out to Long Island early to take a spin on Chris Valenti's brother's boat. We met him at the ol' T-Bone dinner in Forest Hills for a few eggs and a lot of coffee, and with music gear and promo in tow, off we went on the LIRR - Long Islan Railroad - to somewhere near Islip starting with a K, some Am. Indian long name that I'm sure, when they named it, they didn't have to spell it. Donny, Chris' brother, met up with us at the station an hour later but he was too busy for a boat ride so we dropped the gear off at Chris' family home which is so beautiful, very East Coast, long tall, 2 storeys with a nice yard and lovely green trees. We had a beer and food up the street in Bayport and took a look at the marina before washing up and heading to Levittown. Levittown is somewhere near Farmingdale and Munchaba, named after nobody in particular, and as the owner Bob said, just sounded good to say, is the coolest, hippest bar this side of.. well... Queens i guess. Cool well lit candles, an old piano that nobody plays, a bar with tenders all smiling and ready to pour a shot or too, and lovely management, this club was one of our faves so far. Chris' mother, Pat, was spending her birthday party here with a bunch of rowdy friends all smiling and ready to party. (Maybe it was the attraction of Karaoke after us that made her decide to sing....!) Chris got up for a few songs to warm the audience and then i followed on my new lightweighed 282 Yamaha keyboard that fits almost in my purse and still has a nice piano sound. I LOVE my loop station. Once again, I pulled out the Boss RC 20 for some fun, just like i did in the South West, and made 1000 voices sing and purr with my new 4 octave toy. What fun. We made some cool cash at the door and i gave brother Donny a Warrior tshirt (he wanted to rub off the 'girl' on it and i told him that 70% of my customers were boys.) He was like a cuddly teddy bear and I thought he was fabo, as did Toni. Maybe we WILL get on his boat! Chris' dear friend Cathie drove us home to Queens which was, in my estimation, such an angelic thing to do knowing she has to get up at 6.30! Toni and I, again, crashed like dead weight. This travelling really tires you! Wednesday 14th and we're in to Manhattan again. The 7 subway was out because some guy pushed some guy in front of a train and they had to stop the line. I heard that the guy saved himself by rolling into a ball under the train. wow! We had lunch with the Aliotti family's dearest and greatest NY surrogate mom of all mom's ms. Francie Alston. What a treat, at Bien Venue cafe somewhere around 37th and Madisson, eating salmon and creme brule and chardonnay (well not in that order!) We talked of old times when i was here in 92 rollerblading up and down the streets, about the family, travelling, turkish baths and.. music. What fun! ok... woops... lights just went out. that's weird. must have blown a fuse in the basement. I'm running on battery right now.... Carole just told me the whole of Manhattan has gone out. Wow! I hope this isn't disastrous. Should I stop typing? (pause, come back). I just went out on the street and everywhere is stopped. It's slowly getting dark. People are trapped in subways and all planes are stopped. There's a mass exodis over the 59th Street bridge. People on foot scrambling to excape the city. People streaming down from the subway after being led out by police officers. (later). These guys are hawking flash lights on the street corner and the liquor store is still open selling the rest of their slowly melting beer. I had a beer at the pub. It was refreshing. Some old lady got so disturbed. She has no idea how to get home. She lives in Flushing. I found 3 others going her direction so they could share a cab ride. Erin, Mike, Carole, Toni and I are going to eat kebabs on the BBQ out back under candle light. I canceled my gig at CBGBs. No way I'm getting in there now. I think they'll close. It's hot without a fan! Friday August 15, 2003 - Queens hi everyone, thought i'd send a post to those who got a little concerned last night over the black out on the East Coast. I don't normally send so many posts but i think this one is deserving as we got stuck in Manhattan. We are OK. Everyone is ok. we are in the dark It'll be one of those questions at a party: "where were you when the lights went out." I know a few who had to walk miles and miles, some got stuck in elevators, and I met someone who excaped a subway. We were all set to go to perform at CBGB's - CB Gallery on Bowery in Manhattan, when the lights went out in the terrace house in Queens, where we are staying with Erin Hill and Fam (great Indiegrrl). Chris Valenti was stuck out on Long Island and no trains were running. I called the venue and they were open to do doing something acoustic and in the dark, but the subways were at a halt, the trains were stopped, the bridges were blocked and the heat was a sweltering, muggy 90 odd degrees. Sorry to those even out of state who were going to log in to the live webcast at CB Gallery. In any case, we are all fine, and glad we were on the other side of Manhattan across the river. We just watched the mass exodis on foot across the bridges, excaping trains, and sat at the local Irish pub drinking a beer instead. The subways are still down on this eerily quiet Friday in Manhattan, but lights are on and we expect a good turn out tonight at Joyous Life and tomorrow at the rockin' Bitter End on Bleeker Street. take care all. Saturday August 16 - Manhattan NY Talk about Mars being way too close to the Earth. Seems like everyone is in a pissy mood. It all started with the blackout. Our Friday night gig at Joyous Life was canceled also and we ended up being in a rare state of quietness for several days in the middle of New York, which is a weird thing, but I guess we needed the rest too. By Saturday afternoon, though, it was time to venture out from our dark cacoon and head on down to the Bitter End on Bleeker street for a last minute awesome show. They have this honky tonk piano that you can tell has been played on by the best of them and alot of them over many years as it was almost crunchy to play. I had to stand most of the time to bare my weight down on it to make any cool sound, otherwise it just didn't move, and it was slightly off pitch which most old famous pianos are. But the room was, well, awesome. Playing the Bitter End is like playing the Whisky or the Troubadour in L.A. It's a famous haunt and a "must". As soon as they opened the doors the place packed like sardines and this was mainly due to the main act - the House Jacks www.housejacks.com - who I was opening for. What a group. I wouldn't say they're a band, per say, as they all use voice percussion and sing acapella.. well they are a microphone band! 4 guys (the 5th wasn't there) who play every instrument under the sun and can sing any note in perfect harmony with each other, totally blew everyone away. Well, back to me.... I very much enjoyed the set i played and once again my trusty p.p loop (RC 20 Boss loop station i was inspired to purchase in march after seeing penelope swales use one), was my fabulous vocal harmonizer for the night. Sold some cds and a t-shirt (the t-shirt to a lady who came up and said "I just want a t-shirt". and I said "oh great, wanna sign my email list too?" and she said "oh, I don't do internet." um ok... After the HJs played too, we all went off for a HJ/gm afterparty at LoZoo bar and got seriously wasted on some kind of shots and then Toni and I zig-zagged our way through the East Village to some subway at 2 in the morning and we actually found our way home! although don't remember hitting the pillow;) Sunday August 17 - Manhattan NY to Montclair NJ Sunday morning was a horrible hangover hell. But Toni and I managed to get ourselves to the 42nd street port authority (thanks to Mike and Erin who drove us) and then we caught the #66 bus to Montclair NJ with all our luggage, migraines and muggy weather. I can't believe how nice Patti and Susie were greeting us at their sunday Smartwomen broadcaster BBQ (www.smartwomen.org) but I think we looked like death warmed up. flowers in montclair ANYway, we got accustomed in this beautiful house with too many flowers and 2 dogs that look too cute to be real.. they look like toys! And two cats that have the biggest personalities. Patti runs www.smartwomen.org which is an awesome new internet radio station and so much more. A group of women round the country who chat and discuss issues and the music she plays live is great: all broadcast from Patti's attic in this gorgous house that looks like Tara out of 'Gone with the Wind'. W enjoyed the BBQ meeting all her broadcasters and one lass, Jasper James, who sings great songs, is one broadcaster who i ended up having a great interview with live on Tuesday. That Sunday night, still feeling seedy, we crawled down to Bloomfield Ave to the Luna Stage to play a couple of songs at Kirk's cool Open Mic. There were tons of people there and Susie, Kirk's wife, gave us the grand tour and the big auditorium like room Chris and I will perform in on Thursday. There are loads of songwriters in this town!! Quite the hub. After a few ditties and a few new friends, we crawled home via a mexican joint for a nachos, and this time.. no margaritas!.. and slept till noon on Monday to get over the travelling, blackout, turmoil and humidity body boiling. Monday afternoon and I discovered our Syracuse show at Bennigans was canceled and I still don't know why. Still dumbfounded, Toni and I decided to sit on the porch and meditate about the meaning of life and what are we going to do next. Mars is certainly in the house. I ate my left over nachos, Toni did street promo for our exciting gig Thursday and by Tuesday we were awake again. Tuesday August 19, 2003 After seemingly 2 hours in traffic to get through the Lincoln tunnel and our lovely hostess Susie standing up through the sunroof while driving to see what the hell was going on with the obstruction (yikes ;), we found our way across town to Ave C and 10th Street to a humble, rather bohemian dive called C-Note. Awesome artists inside, just funky part of town. Michael McHugh runs a songwriters series every Tuesday, with Dan Herman, and we met Chris Valenti (who arrived in the nick of time) and did our own sets on stage to the noisy bar crowd (ok there were 5 listening but, hey, they were my friends!) A slice of pizza and we were ready to rock and roll back over the Lincoln Tunnel which again was obstructed with construction and Susie, who needed to be up by 5.30am, was going mad again and i thought she was going to ram the car into the back of the truck or something. but anyway... we got home, and i waited up till 2.30am for Chris who never arrived as he ended up going too far south and i left him to his own devices. maybe i'll see him again... HA HA! Time to hit manhattan again, this time via train so we miss the freeway hell, to have lunch with Voodoogirl's friend Carman, and a bottle of Chardonnay. Lata! Wednesday August 20, 2003 Meeting Carmen Moore was like meeting a creative angel living and breathing on the planet. He is a spiritual activist, bringing harmony and union to the world through his music for children, religions and just plain old peace. Carman lives in a humble pied a terre on 66th near the Lincoln Center which is in fact his place of work as he conducts and composes some of the largest music events there. Right across the road is his second work home, Central Park, known for his open air concerts. He made the best tunafish salad and we brought some Aussie chardonnay so we spent a glorious afternoon talking about opera, classical music, R&B, pop and how to create world peace. Carman is a good friend of Voodoogirl (http://www.songsalive.org/m_voodoogirl). With time to spare before the evening's last minute gig at Meow Mix, Toni and I headed down on the subway to the last stop, to go check out the Statue of Liberty. Now I was about to goof and buy the expensive tickets for the tour until Toni had to pee so we stopped into a Starbucks and the girl behind the counter said - "no, you can just catch the free ferry to Staten Island and see it on the way!" Woo hoo.. so there IS something for free in New York. Scrambling with latte in hand, we dashed over to the ferry, which is more like a cruise ship it's so big - and found a nice seat outside along the side... ready for the view ahead. Toni STILL had to pee, so she found that on board plus about 200 other passengers who all were going home to Staten Island. What's truly remarkable and rejuvenating is to find out, for the first time in my 3 times to New York, that this city, in fact, is on a beautiful, magic harbour. I had never seen the water in NY, silly me, and by going on this ferry my faith and love for New York was revived. I "could" tangibly live here now seeing the cruise boats, yachts and blue crystal magic that this harbour provides, let alone the awesome view of the Manhattan skyline from the Atlantic Ocean. THIS is what the travellers to NY would have seen originally. A harbour, a port, a beauty. And then, the little green French thing. I thought it was really big, but in fact it looked like one of the trinkets you pick up on a tourist stand. The statue of liberty, luminous in shadow as the sun was setting, one arm up holding a fake flame, the green metal shining against the sun. What a weird statue, on it's own island, separating Manhattan, New Jersey and Staten Island like the peace holder (it's ok little states and islands, you can all get along!) I was filled with mixed emotions about the Statue. At first, it was rather majestic, and I said to myself "ok now I've seen it and yes it's cool." Then I felt a resentment that we had glorified a French statue for... what? What kind of liberty is this country really under right now??? Then I thought, "heck, I'm on the harbour, the sun is gorgeous as it's setting, the boats are out, and I'm relaxing looking at a female metal icon of strength and unity." Such mixed emotions. Or maybe I was just tired. Yeah, maybe that was it. So I laid down on the return trip and fell asleep. Back into Manhattan, sleepy eyed, Toni and I traversed the CBD and Wall Street district, past happy hour time at the Irish pubs and pizza slice hop-ins, to find the J line subway up to Alphabet city... Lower east side. Patti from Smartwomen Radio (http://www.smartwomen.org) put me on to Janine from Girls Salon to do a couple of numbers at Meow Mix. On Houston between Ave A and Ave B, in a very seedy part of town, but apparently hip now... was Meow Mix, the all female bar. Janine Avril runs a cool night called Girl Salon where she invites various women to perform. I met Rachel Sage, and reconnected with Carol Plunk. There were some very brave female artists in there including the VIM artists who, at such a young age, had the ability to be so expressive and detailed about sexuality. I hopped up for 2 songs, thanks Rachel for playing her keyboard, and was inspired by how strong the other artists were. On our way home we ate pizza and I browsed the Village Voice again. Thursday August 21, 2003 Big day big day. Whilst being out in Montclair Toni (and some help from me) had done an enormous amount of street promotion putting my flyers and posters up in all the local store windows to promote tonight's gig. Luna Stage. The Stage of gilli moon, was awaiting me. Donny, Chris Valenti's brother, dropped our golden boy off at the house after their couple of days in Atlantic City (hmmm I wonder what those two boys really got up to?!), and by 4pm we were down at the theatre. Yes I said theatre. This is not ordinary club. This is a beautiful, majestic theatre with tiered seating, several rooms, a makeup room, box office and more. The seminar was small attended but encouraging to those who came and straight after I hopped on the piano and performed what I felt was the best show for the tour. I had my keyboard and loop station set up also so I was going backwards and forwards from one set of keys to another. The sound was magic, thanks Dave, and the room was very special and conducive to a great show. Thanks Kirk and Susie for everything. After me, Chris Valenti, too, performed his best show I've seen, with multimedia use of the projector showing some short films. All in all it was a wonderful night and I slept like a baby. I just wish that more people knew about the show... One day, one day... Tuesday August 26, 2003 - Montclair NJ Our last weekend in Joisey was actually rather opportunistic. I ended up landing two last minute shows - one in Hoboken NJ - home of Frank Sinatra, Pizza, the Mafia, turnpikes & bridges and swamp land. Hoboken has a cool view of the Manhattan Skyline, now sorely missing the twin towers. I did this cool show at the Frozen Monkey Cafe (www.frozenmonkeycafe.com) booked by Deb Flanagan. The main street is like one in Melbourne, little italian and eclectic flavored restaurants and bars, with people sitting out on the pavement on the warm night. We set up the stage in the window and performed to kids ordering ice-creams and such. I shared the stage with 13Hands (aka Daniel) who has superbly mastered numerous loop stations and pedals. I was so inspired watching him perform, and we palmed off each other all night singing 4 to 5 songs a set each. Great fun! Sunday was brunch with the Marco and Christine at Thalia on 50th and 7th, where they serve omelets and Champaign specials. Marco says, "ok, now I want my first girlfriend so sit opposite my last girlfriend so they can share notes." I laughed so hard!!!! You see Marco and I grew up together and at the age of 4 or so we were stuck like glue coz all our parents were too. Christine is a cool chick. From brooklyn, lived in NY al her life and Boston for college only. Strong and warm, I think she makes a wonderful partner for Marco. we parted ways after lunch and Toni and i wandered the streets of madison ave where there was a street market of nik naks. we went for a drink down at G in Chelea hoping to find Sean, Dr Brooks, again, who spins there. but he wasn't. then we went over to my last gig for NY to C-Note and Marco and Christine met us up there again to watch the show. She bought a cd for Marco because he had downloaded all my songs and it was time to fork up the $ if ya know what i mean ;) The C-Note is really a hole in the wall dive in the dregs of the East Village.. but, hey, they seem to be having a regular line-up of singer/songwriters... and i actually enjoyed it even though my set was cut short from the late open mic ending and early arrivals of the blues band regulars. If there was ever a dream (apart from Wembley Stadium) it was to also tinkle the ivories in a piano bar in the NYC East Village. So there. Done! wonderful day in manhattan. Monday came along really quickly and I've been in my pyjamas since waking at noon since. And it's now Tuesday night! I guess I've had to catch up on work and sleep so resting in the SmartWomen household has been awesome. Patti and Susie are delightful new friends and i think it will be long lasting. And I'll miss the dogs and cats the most. toni do we have enough room in the bags????? Off to Philly and the IMC www.imc2003.com Thursday September 5 - Boston MA The independent Music Conference August 28 - Sept 1, was an absolute blast. www.IMC2003.com for all the details. We got to really discover the heart of Philadelphia, the town of independence, the constitution, the meeting of cultures. I found the Sheraton Hotel (along with awesome grand piano in the Sheraton room ;) was a pleasure to deal with and Noel's vision for a conference really came together. Next year we hope to have more attendance. Songsalive! will certainly be involved again. I discovered that Philly was predominately african american, at least in the center of town. The club that i was scheduled to play at, Tri-tone, is on 15th and South and I have to admit, it was a sad place... Maybe 10 people I saw sitting on the sidewalk in broad daylight, drugged out of their minds. Shady part of town. But by night... wow a completely different vibe. This club is one of the hottest acoustic jazz places and by the time Sunday night came around, the room was packed with all walks of life. I loved the show and everyone was stomping to "Woman" to another dimension ;) Thanks to Noel, Elaine, Carol, Ted and Jennifer for great team work. Plus Judy Sandra, Toni Koch and Libby Lavella for being an awesome Songsalive! team in PA. By Tuesday Sept 2nd Judy drove Toni and I back to the SmartWomen HQ in Montclair NJ as that night was going to be a wonderful surprise for the gilli moon empire! New York City, here was returned, on a cold rainy night. The summer had ended abruptly, but my rollercoaster ride was on it's way up. living the buckley legacy.... I had an AWESEOME gig for Sony /Columbia Records and Mary Guibert for the Jeff Buckley Cd and DVD launch. If you're not familiar with Jeff Buckley, please read about this talented soul who left this world too early, at www.jeffbuckley.com. Mary, his mother and taking care of his Estate, put on a most amazing event at Sin-e, a venue that Jeff used to perform at regularly. Now on Attorney Street in the East Village, Sin-e was always supportive of Jeff and other singer-songwriters. Tonight was a celebration of a DVD interview and new CD of recordings Jeff did at Sin-e when he was alive. With a bunch of Sony dudes sitting on seats in the corner, and the rest of the 300 crowd standing afixed to the stage, Mary hosted several artists who were inspired by jeff buckley (personally "grace" is on my stereo every morning almost!). i was the first artist and i had 300 eyes watching and standing and applauding. very honored to have been chosen to perform as an artist inspired by jeff, infront of all his diehard fans. people travelled all over the world to get to this concert ;) what a blast!!!! the hardest $50 I ever made.. Wednesday 3rd... so... catching a train to boston where rhonda stisi smith is picking us up. What a debarcle, this day was. Destination Maynard MA for a half hour set for Patty Keough at the Sit 'n Bull Pub. So the train from Montclair NJ was at 11.20am in order to get the 12.30pm train from Penn Station to Boston. Our lovely host and friend for life, Patti Wolf said she'd drive us direct to Penn. Cool! But coming out of the driveway at 11.15am we discover the car has a flat. We rush to the nearest Mobil. 11.17. "Patti, we have 3 minutes to get to the local train station to get to Penn to get the only train to boston." Yikes... so we rush and with 30 seconds remaining we say goodbye and onto the train. Penn Station: our 12.30pm Boston train (did you know it's $60!!!) was delayed. By 2 hours. 2 freakin hours!!!! We're on the train, eventually, and as we approach Boston there's an emergency on our carriage. Some young girl has passed out and we had to wait for the ambulance to arrive before leaving the platform. Yikes. We arrived in Boston after 6pm! Rhonda and Kyle greeted us and it was really great to see her. We got to her place at 7.15pm. The show started at 7.30pm. Rhonda said, "hey, take the car!" So Toni and I, without even unpacking or stepping into the house, got into the car, with a rough map to Maynard. This town was supposed to be the next town over. So why did it take us an hour to find it? We go SO lost, it was dark, and raining, and i thought i was driving the country roads of Australia. I was expecting a kangaroo to jump across the road any moment. No such luck. Finally we found the town, and the Pub, after asking every man and his dog. And fortunately i was going on at 9pm. Cool. We arrive at 10 to 9. What a DAY!!!! I earned $50!!!! I worked hard for this one! Monday September 8, 2003 - Atlanta GA I've written a brand new poem. It's called The Orange Sun. I was looking out at the awesome sunset above the clouds, flying Delta from Boston to Georgia, got a little homesick, and tour sick, and just overwhelmed by the aesthetic beauty of the sun setting. It's rather melancholy but know that it was only momentary. Sometimes we need to realize our own mortality. As much as I enjoyed Boston and the Nemo Conference, I was glad to leave, only to know that I was reaching towards the last legs of our tour and home bound. Both days at the Nemo conference at the Hyatt (formerly the Swiss Hotel in town, actually on the edge of China Town), was an absolute career blast. I've become to be known as the conference gal, and everyone knows the gilli moon name from one conference to another. While many of these music conferences are knocked, I think they all, in their own way, have value: mainly they become pseudo epicentres of culture, music and society, in one hotel floor. It's an easy way to get your name out there as each person takes your memory with them to their part of the world and spreads the word. Great marketing for any artist and a good way to spend advertising money: just attend. I on the other hand not only had the opportunity to perform for Nemo, but also speak on the marketing panel with the smartest guy in business (notice I say guy and left the female realm out) - Derek Sivers from cdbaby.com. I truly respect this man for his tenaciousness and rebellionness which I exude myself. We were like the pivot for the panel speaking on behalf of the young revolutionists in the so-called independent music business. As book ends we had Brian Cohen Sr VP of Marketing for Elektra and 2 other seemingly "label" oriented professionals. When I spoke of truths and real hard-core facts and definitions about music marketing, everyone in the room was taking notes. And then, as for every sentence, I was cut off by others who wanted to continue to keep the audience in the dark. It was this panel that made concrete all my beliefs that the business professionals simply want to keep artists in the dark for control sake. While I, fighting for the underdog, and a grasp on the reality, wanted to give the artists the weapons, the info, the facts on what they could do to market their CDs and compete. If it wasn't for my arian nature to speak up I would have never had an opportunity to get the facts out. Poor Derek hardly got a word in. Too much to go into detail here but just know, this panel scared me and enlightened me at the same time. The showcase on the outside stage was also a lot of fun and I met heaps of artists and indie people that will be lifelong. I love conference crawling and can't wait to do it again. But tired and weary, Toni and I got on the plane (thanks Rhonda for all your wonderful hospitality - check Rhonda Stisi out at www.warriorgirlmusic.com/rhondastisi) . where's Tara? Arriving in Atlanta GA was a breeze. We are staying with Toni's friend Joanne and her husband John. Toni and Joanne haven't seen each other in 19 years. Can you believe it? it's quite powerful watching the two of them together. We've spent the majority of our time sleeping, listening to the frogs out on the porch surrounded by the deep south's humidity, and watching movies. Tonight... Eddie's Attic. I might get the chance to win $1000. Woo hoo!!! the hardest $60 I never made...! Monday September 9, 2003 continued.. Atlanta GA Off we choofed to Eddie's Attic in Decatur Atlanta. Joanne at the wheel, lost in big houses, green gardens, swamp like green creatures (weed) over all the huge trees and "ya'll" as the word spoken every second. Eddie's Attic is the hot spot of Atlanta to perform in.. and it's the Monday night Open Mic that is the tester for all new artists coming in to town. People come from all over the world to sing here on a Monday night, and tonight gilli moon was steppin' up to the plate. Having disembarked my little PSR282 Yamaha again and spent the 15 minutes building the keyboard stand (ya need these screws and screwdriver to get it set up but travelling disassembled it almost fits in your purse) i got my traditional before-gig merlot with toni, and waited for my time on. We also spent time with Joanne's friends Lisa and Alyse. No.5 and I was up for two songs. Got them hooting and hollering with some clap along songs - Temperamental Angel and Tiny Diamonds.. and then back to my merlot to try and appreciate the rest of the artists.... I discovered that this was a professional open mic competition where there would be 3 chosen out of 20 to play again, and the winner gets .. a big fat wad of cash.. all of $60. Well we'd been on the road so what the heck, we needed the money, even just to pay for the food and drinks for the night! So i sweated and poured my soul and heart out. And besides, we all waited till midnight to see who won. What a long long day... again. Well long story short, I didn't get chosen (was it that jinx on me as I never win a competition and is that why I hate them so much?) - but Kim Shar-Meredith was chosen and won so at least someone I knew got the gold. Besides, she came in from Hawaii, sung like Melissa Etheridge, stomped her foot and winked at you a thousand times so I think the winking and stomping certainly deserves $60 don't you? Back to Joanne's ranch and we slept like a log and got ourselves ready for the road to Nashville. Tuesday September 9, 2003 - Atlanta GA to Nashville TN Alyse came by at noon with the tour mobile of the century ready to take Joanne, Toni and myself to Naaiiiaaashville, the heart of "y'all", guitars, country music and smoky filled rooms. For some odd reason it took forever but we certainly enjoyed lunch which was at the Chatanooga Choo Choo. It was cool. The old train was there, all painted up red, yellow and red (representing Aboriginal colors coincidently) and all the souvenirs were little trains! But we couldn't stay as it was already 3 and we had to get to Nashville by 5 so we could get ready for my gig at the Boardwalk Cafe. So at around 5 we were still somewhere in Franklin and I as getting worried when all of a sudden... lightbulb... I was talking to Judy Sandra in Nashville and she reminded me that it was only 4pm! We had gained an hour. We nearly broke out in a rash we were jumping up and down with joy so much. Just an observation of the freeway between Atlanta and Nashville. It's like driving through a jungle. It's so green. And huge trees. Talk about huge houses. They only have huge hosues so they can stand out from the giant trees! And not tall trees.. just big fat and green. Lots of leaves. The sad part is that most of them have this creepy crawly noxious weed suffocating them (the weed was brought in to combat something else) and now the trees can't breathe. It's scary. It's like "Day of the Triffods". So we finally got into Nashville. I've noticed that some of these so called big cities in America are absolutely tiny. They should come see Sydney... we spread out like wild fire down under! Anyway, Nashville was... well a cute city I guess. There's this one building, the bat building, owned by Bell South (phone company) which had two antenna towers just like batman's ears. Broadway, 2nd Avenue and around there had the famous BB Kings, Hard Rock, cool bars and hangs... but nothing, and I mean nothing, was open for food after 10.30. It was weird. There was not crazy energy like, say, the streets of New Orleans. This is a quiet city, or at least this is what I saw. I was kind of disappointed in the atmosphere. We checked in to the hotel quickly and changed rooms from a small to large so we had a convoy of suitcases for an hour.. (they totally duped us into putting 5 girls in a small room while our 2 male friends got a suite for the same price. Is this a sexist city????) - washed our faces and then.... rushed out again. Judy (our Songsalive! rep in Nth Carolina) had her car and Alyse had hers and the posse jumped into the vehicles to head to the Boardwalk Cafe, somewhere out in the suburbs. more coming... stay tuned for Nashville updates!!! Monday September 15, 2003 I'm home. And boy even this past week was a race to the finish line! Nashville was a blast. From Monday Sept 8, we had a convoy of Songsalive! artists perform at two showcases during the week. The first was Jack's Songwriter Night at the Boardwalk Cafe out in the burbs. It was a cool place and we were immediately introduced to the circle song presentation format. The next night was supposed to be at the Broken Spoke but they locked their doors all of a sudden (didn't pay their bills) so in 48 hours we had to move to the Hall of Fame Lounge.... nice cozy RSL type looking place on or near Music Row, next to BMI. There weren't many people there but Debi Champion was a champion and a gem! As Cindy Alter couldn't make the night we had Deborah Bishop step in her place. Other performers included Jon Batson and Judy Sandra. On Thursday night I performed with some cool triple threat chicas and i turned sound person, MC and checked my internet email at the same time! The 2NMC conference was interesting. It was our third one so i was a little conferenced out. But I caught up with people I knew and slept well. We tried, one night, to find food after 10.30pm. Practically impossible in Nashville. They go to bed early! We ended up at an all night slimey diner on 1st Ave, with the artists plus Steven Memel, Toni, Joanne and Alyce. We laughed so hard I can still feel my sides splitting! Another nice experience from Nashville was seeing a fabo songwriters 'do' in the hills that Pat and Pete Luboff put us on to. I was amazed at the talent, and in awe of their camaraderie and care for each other. I think there is a very supportive songwriters community in Nashville. On Friday 12th Toni and I rented a Budget car for an over-exagerated price and we sped back to Atlanta and got in early enough to catch the flight to L.A. We had a big dilemma: We only had 1 hour to get out of Delta, pick up our bags, catch a shuttle to South West terminal, check in our bags again, go through security and get on the plane. It was like a mind game... how worried was I going to let myself get, or was I just going to see what happens? All in 20 minutes we were in and out and in again, and once we got on the plane we had a beer to celebrate. What perfect timing. We saw L.A so fleetingly just to change planes ... I was SO missing home. The weekend of 13th and 14th in Palo Alto was quite frankly the best event to top off the tour. The West Coast Songwriters Association put on their 21st songwriters conference and it was fabulous. We were put up in a great, jungle style, hotel with free DSL (always love that!), wined and dined, and treated SO well. Ian and Joannie Crombie are the sweetest couple and I met such amazing music professionals and songwriters. We had a Songsalive! booth and we had dozens of artists buy the book, sign the list and want to get involved. The bay area is brimming with talent. In one morning we organized our own Workshops for the third thursdays of the month and Quentin now has a team to help him up there. www.songsalive.org/norcal for details. All very very nice. We came home Sunday 14th evening and I've been sleeping ever since. Oh I love my jacuzzi and bed with remote control! Signing off. Welcome to a brave new world. gilli

Idaho Performing Songwriters Bootcamp July 2003

Wednesday June 25 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 1: I've spent a couple of months (gosh how the time flies!) slowly settling back into L.A life since getting off the South West Tour. I hadn't realized it, but i had literally been living in a suitcase since October, so moving into the great Sherman Oaks home was such a blessing, yet it's taken time to settle in. Mind you, the L.A weather has been less than admirable so that always plays havoc with my emotions. And then.. off again, for 10 days... to Driggs, Idaho (near Victor). Well what a blast. To be invited to teach at Lauren Adams Performing Songwriters Bootcamp. With John Braheny on songwriting, Steven Memel on voice, I am completing the camp with marketing and promotion. I got up at the crack of dawn on Wednesday 25 June to get on the plane at LAX (7.30am flight... ugh!). The flight was only a couple of hours to Salt Lake City, and then a quick lay over. The next flight was on a tiny jet to Idaho Falls. Me, Steven Memel, about 15 others, one stewardess, 2 male crew, and ... clouds. I felt like we were walking on them! Actually the flight is only 30 minutes, but we actually taxiied for another 30 minutes (are we walking there???) We flew into snowy mountains and country fields and landed in crisp air. I've heard that it's kind of wintry here 365 days of the year. The night doesn't come until around 10pm. Consider that we are on the same latitude as, say, Finland. I think... I've been taking some photos. It's pretty magic here, save for the Nuclear Power plant i've heard about that sends it's radioactive waves to us from 60 miles away. But they say we can drink the spring water.... The camp is taking place at a Ranch, called Teton Wells. We are located in Teton Valley, and the Wells part is the namesake of the Ranch's owner - Dawn Wells - who played Maryanne in Gilligan's Island! See photos. We have twelve wonderful students here at the camp, from all walks of life, all here to be inspired and learn more about their artistry as performing songwriters. Wednesday night, after everyone sauntering in from traveling, we had an opening dinner and meet & greet. I was exhausted having not had much sleep so we had an early night. Thursday June 26 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 2: Thursday a.m and John and Joann Braheny are captivating the class with - SONGWRITING intensive. We are all taking personality tests (I'm a complete extravert), learning chord structure and listening and critiquing songs. I occasionally go visit the horses. The food is exceptional. Friday June 27 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 3: We've been here since Wednesday. It's been quite intense. Classes by day, a meal, then more discussions at night. Thursday, Friday were John and JoAnn Braheny, talking about songwriting and Friday was an intense co-writing day. Steven Memel, one of the teachers, and I, instead, went for a 2 hour drive up north to Yellowstone National Park to see the Old Faithful Geyser which was incredible. Volcanic, sulphuric hot water bubbling and spurting out of the ground. The Park was filled with dead pine trees, like matchsticks fallen everywhere. There had been a big fire through here a couple of years ago and it still hadn't all grown back. It was quite sad. We saw some animals: elk, a moose and buffalo. We hiked a bit up a mountain and basically took in some fresh air. It was lovely. Back Friday night for more songwriting discussions (as well as JoAnn taking us through the various modules of working styles as professional artists ... and excellent food, I slept like a log. The weekend is all about Voice and performance! Saturday June 28 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 4: Saturday and Steven Memel took the floor as the second teacher - performance and voice. This was where I began to see our students really come out of their shell. Here they were exploring their voices, their stage presence, understanding the inner critic, and learning to let go. It was invigorating. Saturday night and Steven and I spoke about production - choosing producers, the check list in producing your record, what to think about. Payment structures, types of deals, and questions and answers. I was also eating so many vegetables, I was turning green! The weather has been superb! Sunday June 29 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 5: Sunday, a day of rest for me at least. Steven was into his second day of teaching so it was like a weekday for the group. The students had a great opportunity to work with Steven one-on-one. As for me, the altitude had become to take effect on me and I got a little weary. I slept a little during the day and couldn't quite focus. I actually had to go to bed early. Like weeks and weeks of working and preparing for this trip had caught up on me! Monday June 30 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 6: Monday comes around and after 10 hours sleep, I was ready like a fireball. Next, gilli's turn to hit the floor. I started the group with some breathing and a name game to get our mind alert, and then it was all systems go into marketing and promotion. Actually we began with some professional development, understanding the philosophies of defining success on one-s own terms; having a go for it mentality - self empowerment; and I AM exercises (affirmations.) By lunch (again delicious - thanks Ted), our brains were ready for more. Full-on marketing tools from recording to touring to radio, distribution (internet and retail) and press kits were explored. By the end of the day we began working on 'image.' Our discussion at night was in the tee-pee, all about our venue performance horror stories - sharing and discussing performance in the round. I conked out again that night after some hilarious joke telling about the faculty in the Condo. So... a horse walks into a bar and the bar tender asks, "why the long face?". Silly stuff like that. Tuesday July 1 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 7: Up again to a breathing circle and the 13 game. It was time for show and tell. I had asked the artists to create a collage of ideas about their 'image' on an 8 x 11 piece of paper. What an amazing experience as they each discussed their concepts. ... really investigating who they were as artists, and especially where they wanted to go. I had chills all day. We finished the morning with marketing plan and press kit creations and then... drum roll.. the big goal making exercise. Where do you see yourself in 10, 5, 2 and 1 years time. Where do i see myself next week? Missing the nature of Idaho! I am so thrilled to see the student artists grow and become their selves. I've had chills all day. And then of course, the food, oh my! Wednesday July 2 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... Day 8: Studio and performance day. Time to put theory to practice. We took Amy, Anna and Lisa Florine into the studio at Greg's to record their new songs. I accompanied Amy and Anna on the piano and their sweet, young voices showed so much talent! As much as they were both new to the studio, they were brilliant. Lisa truly shined also. It was a great studio experience for them. While we were in the studio, the other artists were white water rafting up in Jackson Hole. By 4.30pm we were at the Driggs Airport... to get ready to perform at the Busche's Airplane Hanger (The family behind the Budweiser beer!). They arrived in their private jet, and we set up the stage and what seemed like 10 cameras from the Film Actors Bootcamp Crew, who are also in bootcamp this week among us. About 100 people turned up for this evening of food and music, celebrating the 1st of Summer in Teton Valley and the Balloon pilots who had arrived to fly for the 4th July. We had the students perform 2 sets in the round with 6 artists on stage at a time. Everyone performed extraordinarily. It was amazing. Some artists had never performed live solo! Then Lauren Adams performed a sweet and powerful set with John Braheny performing fiddle (a rare site!) and Greg Kramer, student and local, on guitar with her. Lauren has a voice like KD Lang, yet with a country twang, and she's very, very talented. www.laurenadams.com Thursday July 3 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... My turn for white water rafting. The last time I had gone down a river on these boats, I cracked my bottom tooth. But I knew I had to "get back on the horse" so to speak. While the rest of the troups were in the studio with John B., we went off to Mad River (The "Snake" as they call it) to white water raft. What an amazing trip! Snow capped mountains still on a hot summer's day, with every type of bird and wonderful water. We all bused it in our wet-suits and took a fun 1 and a half hours drive down the rapids, paddling fast, then slow, then just cruising. It was awesome. We lunched in Jackson, Wyoming, the nearest town. This place is truly the Wild West, with the old fashion Saloon (the bar stools are actually horse saddles!), moose and elk horns everywhere, and traditional 2 storey shop fronts with that old style verandah on the 2nd floor. You can just imagine the shoot outs and the cowboys! It was nice wandering around and going back in time. I can imagine it being a fabulous town in the winter, the heart of some of the best skiing in America. Back to the Ranch/Camp at 6pm I tootled over to the studio as John B was fried, and finished up recording Penelope, Hilde and Loreta. It's been an amazing camp. We are getting on so well, we can almost not talk , and just giggle together! Friday July 4 Performing Songwriters Bootcamp continued, Idaho... You know when the universe is saying : this is perfect! Independence Day - July 4th - and we arrive at the Knotty Pine - the local music venue owned by the wonderful Bryce. All the students performed as well as Lauren and I and even in the heat, sun beating down on us... we knew, we just knew... that all the hard work of the last 10 days had culminated into creative POWER! What talent and performances. They roasted a real pig backstage so I can say for the first time that I've shared the backstage now with a pig. Victor, Idaho, the next town on from Driggs is a cool little one street town... We watched the 4th July parade with everyone coming out in fancy clothes, all the cowboys (some quite yummy), dancing cheerleaders, Ma and Pa Potato and a few interesting types. And then we performed and some ate pork burgers (I chose bean burrito). It was a sudden change at 4 to get over to the Driggs Park for more fun fairs and lots of kids. Another performance by the group (with some sound issues that truly opened up our artists to be free and not care too much, but to have fun!!!) Life is being sumburned, having new friends, being on holiday, and drinking beer. We fly home tomorrow. TONIGHT, awards night around the camp fire! yay! See pics

South West Tour - AZ, NM, TX, LA - burning down house March 2003

South West Tour March 2003 March 9, 2003 - South West Tour - Los Angeles to Santa Fe gilli moon's NOTES FROM THE ROAD...... Well here we are, we've started the One Woman Show Tour into the South West. Toni Koch (this time tour manager, promoter extraordinaire) and I started the week moving into a house in Sherman Oaks with a bunch of girls (look out, parties in april..) and then as soon as we had settle the boxes, we were packing again for a month on the road. I thought, "hey, we are going to hit some nice dry heat...!" And then i heard on the news that all there was out East was ice, ice and more ice. First stop, Phoenix Arizona, 6 hours East of L.A dead straight on the 10 freeway through the desert: it's the first time I've been to Phoenix without it being a heat wave. I actually have had to wear a sweater and a neck scarf! We arrived at 2am 'cos we didn't finish moving into the house till 8pm the night before. Did we sleep? For two seconds! Tuesday we hit the day running with two radio interviews on the 4th and 5th March. The first one was for www.authorssecretsradio.com with Vijaya Schwartz. Totally geared to writers and authors this really took my out of my.. um.. element but it was cool. Knotradio.org the next day and then we had a wild show, about 200 people, at Ain't Nobody's Biz. We hosted a Females on Fire night with Jennifer Savage from Seattle and Mischa from Phoenix. So we kicked up a storm and a few tequila shots. We made the frontcover, the back cover and the inside feature story of Ionaz magazine with all our fire. Saturday 8th was a cool laid back seminar (MPWR professional artist seminar) and an open mic in the evening at the Muse. By Sunday morning, after 5 days in Phoenix, we had the car packed... again... to hit the road... for real. Quick thanks to Guitar Centre Tempe AZ for being my tour sponsor with the new Boss RC-20 loop station and some few extra special moon needs. Up the I-17 we head to Flagstaff, about 2 hours north of Phoenix, with the Saguaro cacti guiding our path (the Indians respected this cactus for their great spirits.) This road is rather hilly, but not extraneous. Seems like all this area was underwater at some time, as you can tell by the jagged cliffs and peaks. Very volcanic too with really sharp mountains (one is like a thick needle.) Kind of similar to the centre of Australia but not red. Although half way to Flagstaff is Sedona.... land of red rock. Very spiritual drive to kick start this tour. Breakfast at Flagstaff, surrounded by snow capped mountains and we hit the straight road I-40 to Albuquerque. Past Twin Arrows. It's about 10 square foot and they call it a town, with these giant arrows pointing into the ground, a closed truck stop and closed gas station. So I guess... it was a town! Through Winslow made famous by Jackson Browne and on through Navajo (yes there is such a place), Winona, Gallop on the border of New Mexico (basically, all you see is another truck stop....!) By Albuquerque we took the I-25 to Santa Fe, listened to all the SXSW promotion CDs of wonderful artists we are taking there, practiced our accents listening to a Texan radio station all about 40s music and have jumped into bed at our dear friends off a beaten track off Route 599 (hell where are we????) in the middle of the dark with lots of stars. Tomorrow we drop off 50 books to Bookworks in Albuquerque for the book signing later in the month, as well as convince some more Santa Fe venues that they must have me play! March 11, 2003 - Austin Texas Dropped off 30 books at Bookworks, a book shop in Albuquerque which i will be doing a seminar at on 27 March called "Survival and Success in the Art World." It was a lovely store filled with new agey icons and interesting books. can't wait to get back for that. They expect about 60 people to show. On the I-40 East road we went Monday to head to Amarillo, about a 5 hour drive. We drove mainly at night as we didn't leave till 6pm. Crossing the border from NM into Texas was an interesting site "don't mess with texas" on signs every 100 metres it seemed. First hotel on the journey was the 5 seasons hotel which was, really, less than it's 5 ... and more like a 2 but... they DID say they had a spa! Good machine coffee in the a.m and we hit the road in a rush as the chill air (kind of foggy) leads us towards our destination. We drove all day Tuesday worried we wouldn't make it to Austin by the 6 o-clock deadline... gig was that night. Texan dirt looks like the Aussie outback in a drought! Drove through a town called Claude (dad would be proud of the name seeing it's his name) but then they told me at one of the many gas stations (1.54c.gallon by the way :) that the town was famous for its whore houses. Changed to the !-287 South to Forth Worth/Dallas area and we got stuck in traffic. Already 4.30pm and we were getting edgy about the time. This 8 hour trip was seemingly longer and Toni's thumbs were getting numb on the wheel. I'm finding so many parallels to the Aus countryside, it's uncanny. More dry, but fairly similar albeit the huge fast food billboard signs we don't have. They speak just as slow too, like a farmer from Bourke, only these cowboys have a mighty twang. We passed towns like Jolly, Bowie (named after Jim Bowie who fought to free Texas alongside Daniel Boone), Wako (got the jitters so fell asleep. Later Toni said to me "didn't want to wake U in Wako". (I think she was cracking a joke. back to snoring.) We missed the deadline time for Austin and landed at 7.30pm on Lake Austin Boulevard after getting lost and asking directions 5 times. Mozarts Coffeehouse, the destination, is a gorgeous venue right on Lake Austin with a marina down below. Jennifer Savage was already playing so we quickly lugged my gear in and didn't even have time for a drink before i had to set up and play. I bought this cool new gizmo from Guitar Centre Tempe (thanks sponsor!) called a Phrase Recorder/Loop Station which with a touch of the foot on the pedal I can record phrases and then overdub.. I love it because as I am playing i can add harmonies to a loop and really experiment. This gig I used it for the second time. So as I played the keyboard and sang, I'd record a loop then add percussion, flute then harmonies until the whole room was humming with sounds. I love this new toy! Being a warrior girl night, we did a round robin show with Jennifer, Anne O'Brien from Colorado and myself doing 2 sets after each other, with the beautiful backdrop of the lake. Toni and i were exhausted from travelling but it was a fun night. We met a couple of SXSW delegates, Drew from Reverend Records, San Diego, stepped in having heard from Mary Guibert (Jeff Buckley's mom) about me. Mary herself came too, from Los Angeles, being a close friend and part of the Warrior Girl Music team. As she was arriving at Mozarts her rental car was hit by another car and was totalled (we all heard the crash)so she spent the evening in shock (i think it was from the accident not from my performance)... and we fed her coffee till her nerves calmed. poor thing. By midnight we were still awaiting our accommodation friend, Deanna, to get in touch so we sat by the lake wondering if we were going to set up tent right there and then. But she called and off we tootled to Steiner Ranch, somewhere in the Austin outskirts wilderness. Nearly getting lost again, we finally settled into this interestingly ginormous housing estate of "Tara" (Gone With The Wind) look alike condos that nestle under the main Leasing Office called "The Mansion" which truly does look like one, although quite bawdy in design compared to say the regalness of the European villas and mansions. What luck though - to now me staying in what is in fact a Spa Resort. We spent Wednesday hiking, having coffee on the terrace, sitting in the jacuzzi drinking wine and doing yoga. ommmm. SXSW registration can wait till tomorrow :) Ruta Maya gig tomorrow plus action for the rest of the week on music row. I've never really asked myself why I travel. I've been doing this since I was 17. Is it an escape? Or to self-actualize my dreams? Or is it just to "see" a new way? To wonder, dream, touch, feel, to meet kindred spirits. To send messages... but mostly to learn from others, from places. Destinations bring us back home always. I love seeing the world! Wide open spaces. The mother road. Drawing inner strength as I dive into darkness ~ the unknown ~ and discover the humility within as I respond to this earth as a mere observer. Monday March 17, 2003: Austin, Houston to New Orleans. "the music industry mafia is pimping girl power sniping off their sharpshooter singles from their styrofoam towers..." ~ Ani DiFranco Austin Texas is an interesting myriad of venues, restaurants and lake systems that feed its inhabitants with culture and wonder. I am enjoying this city and perhaps it's because we are in the middle of SXSW where musicians and industry professionals have come from all around the world. On the bad side, it makes it really difficult to decide where to go and what to do, as there is so much happening right now. So after the first gig at Mozarts by the lake we slept abit and then on Thursday I logged in at the Austin Convention Centre to see what SXSW was all about. (www.sxsw.com). I have to admit, I was somewhat disappointed with what i saw. This was nothing like the community, arts feel that our Songsalive! Expo gave and even though I had been warned about the enormity (and anonymity) of SXSW I was prepared to see it first hand. What I saw was something smaller than I expected. The conference itself had one hall of booths but i wouldn't say that it was packed. Maybe the impending war has scared them off this year.. we are in the state capital after all... heart of Bush country. The panel discussions were about as interesting as a toad fish (nothing new) and the administration staff had a bulldog attitude that was left to be desired. There was no warmth here. I spent 4 hours on Thurs and 4 hours on Fri mostly catching up with business associates and friends (some from Europe, Australia and here), rather than trying to meet new people. The fun part was presenting some Songsalive! artists' music to various people and that was a thrill to have represented them here. But for me, I felt the "been there done that" feeling. "when was the last time someone spun a song just because they believed in its ideas?" The next gig was at Ruta Maya's which is down Congress in the hub of bohemian lifestyle here in Austin. A gorgeous little coffee house with 3 acoustic stages, I played at 4pm and once again enjoyed playing with my new toy - the loop station, which brought gilli vocals seeping through every orifice of the venue! :) It was a cool 45 minutes set solo and thanks to the lovely Niki Duncan who put together the female artist showcase, I felt alive. Spent the rest of the evening hangin' in the jacuzzi back at the spa resort with toni and mary. Friday a.m off to give SXSW another chance. ok i've got to blow off steam: SXSW is full of arrogant self-serving, evasive male-dominant industry professionals and artists who think they belong to an elite, exclusive high-end group called the music industry.. but they really are so far removed from it! I saw more of the real, organic, dual-sex, equal, talented, hardworking touring artists and professionals at the Go Girls Showcase at Graffitis that Friday night. THAT was the music industry to me. 23 fabulous female artists were performing, including myself, at the GoGirls Invasion of SXSW. "music is about change. it should not be hijacked and distorted for personal gain." I was the only one on keyboard (i've noticed touring artists tend to play guitar... well it IS a lot lighter :) Madalyn of Go Girls Music is a real gem and, as a non-musician, she promotes artists nationwide because she loves music. Graffiti's was this swingin' women's bar off the beaten track on W Howard Lane.. no where near the hub of downtown SXSW activities and not withstanding we attracted numerous industry types out to the club because the energy of all these performing artists was impossible to ignore. I felt I was surrounded by kindred spirits who, like me, are self-empowered individuals booking their own tours, distributing their own cds and making it happen the indie way. 90% of the artists had travelled thousands of miles to perform at this show. It was awesome. On Saturday 15th toni and i re-packed the WGM touring mobile to head to Houston for a good paying gig at Chances Bar. The I-290E is lined with paddocks of green fields and cow paddocks, some interesting trees and little texan style pit stops along the way. Who said Texas was all desert? To me, again, it was like the plains of N.S.W Australia and I felt very much at home. I go into this little Food Mart for coffee and the windows are lined with "Don't Mess With Texas" t-shirts for sale and the Southpark cartoon is on the TV. Welcome to smallville. We reached Houston after 3 hours at about 8pm, enough time to do an accidental full circle on the Loop 610 (20 more miles for going South not north. oops!). We stayed with my friend Pip's sister Sarah "Sip" and her hubby Scott (plus lab pup Shelby). (Oh good... a real bed!). We found Chances Bar off Montrose Ave and Westheimer. From the outside it looked like a bikey hangout. Inside, it was a sea of rooms from piano bar, to full on dance/disco room, then the "barn" room for the Country and Western fans. This was like 4 clubs joined together. I nearly had a heart attack though! They had NO p.a. I was thinking, "oh no, we've driven all this way and can't play!" Mike the manager showed us this little DJ mix box and said "will this do?" I could have cried! But then as we started to scream inside, Cindy, the door girl, offered her p.a and off she tootled home to get it. She was so cool. In fact, they were all very nice and Shannon, who booked the gig, was the best of all. Thanks Shannon! She even bought us bean burritos. I set up my gear, got my loop station ready and even added a new touch to my one woman show... the red xmas lights a new fan, John, in austin gave me as a present. Well, this really was the perfect venue for it.... Let me introduce you to the audience: on the left there's a group of "lovely ladies" dressed to the nigh in gold lame and glitter dresses... stiletto heals and every wig you could possibly imagine. Oh, I forgot to mention the false eyelashes and the lips. Their deep sexy voices... um, yeah... Yes, you guessed it... BUT WONDERFUL PEOPLE, the most vocal and the most attentive. I was really happy!!! Then straight ahead, although by no least means straight, by the bar are some more casual onlookers who have cut their hair as close to their head as possible and some interesting tattoos. And let me add, that they were attentive all the way. I wish I had the nerve to be as strong and bold as them. I felt courage in this bar. Then you've got Sip and Scott wondering why they are sitting up front and when Sip gets up for a dance on her own.... well, let's just say she wasn't left alone. There you have it. Chances Bar, Houston. A very happy bar indeed. 3 hours later, after the 10.30 pm to 1am "show to match all cabaret shows"... look at Barbra) i think they want me back next week when we return to Houston. Um... coool. No, really, they were very supportive and really pay fairly for touring artists which is VERY important. Friendly as ever thanks to Nick the owner, Shannon, K K and Cindy. I really enjoyed the club and would be delighted to come back. Very warm and friendly people. So we finally crashed at about 3am only to have to get up at 7am (we woke to a fabo aussie style breakfast of eggs and pikelets), and then to head BACK to Austin. I had a gig at the Steiner Ranch Mansion breakfast at 11am. Well we hit the road on the quiet Sunday morning and got back a little late, midday, but I soon set up and played acoustic style in the echoing hallways of this huge Tara style house to the guests. (I went into the regal bathroom and admired the gorgeous huge vase of flowers.... wow... their fake...I should have guessed.) By 4pm we landed up the road to Barnes & Nobles, Arboretum for a Book signing. Ya know, I don't know anyone who is performing/touring and book signing across this country!?! Do you? They had my posters up everywhere and it was a really cool afternoon. This was my FIRST book signing (Toni looks at me shocked thinking i've done all this before:) um. no. We set up my keyboard again and had 30 books on display plus some cds. I started the crowd off with a couple of numbers, singing a few ditties, then went into talking about why i wrote my book, doing it the indie way, defining success on my own terms,, yadayadayada. Then a few more songs, then more book talk, motivational moments, and signed some books. Then all over again. I switched from right brain to left brain faster than a speeding bullet. It was all a first for me and interesting to do. Being in the system of Barnes & Nobles is a huge coup. They were very supportive and inspired and I am so glad i did this. Thanks Colleen at B&N. We had time for a quick Cadillac Margarita and Guacamole dip at Z Tejas before we headed to Graffiti's again for the 3rd gig of the day. A serious headache started to ensue and I just thought, "god I can't do another setup and load in even if I tried." I've never done this before, ever, but I canceled the show. It seemed ok because the band there was merely having a break so that I could play a few songs and there wasn't really a crowd. Sleep deprivation had caught up on me. I needed rest. Monday it was, to rest. St. Patricks Day. We began to daydream about how we had nothing to do for a whole day and evening. Yippee. Online checking email Toni went into panic attack. "Gilli, we need to be in New Orleans by 6am tomorrow so you can perform on CBS television!!! They are interviewing you." Oh-my-god. No more vacation. It takes 8 hours to get to New Orleans from Austin. We had to leave, within the hour. I guess we'll rest ... um... later. TV awaits us! And so does Cajun style catfish. Back on the I-290 East freeway, we head for the second time to Houston, which is on the way to Louisiana. I feel I'm getting Deja-vu. So here I am writing in the car as Toni drives. We are listening to MPR national radio about how Bush is about to go to war with Iraq tomorrow. The media are pulling out of Iraq and I'm driving along a road in the heart of Bush country. I pick up a local paper and there's this schmuck writing about how "war is the only way to solve the problem" and that "we as Americans must fight for our country because when it comes down to it, we care more about our grandchildren than children in other countries." I feel sick. Monday 17 - Saturday 22 March - New Orleans It write with joy and sadness from the road. It's unsettling to be travelling while we are at war. I will refrain from saying how i feel about it as I already received flack from people who've been reading my diary (some very close to me) about my opinions. It seems one can't have an opinion at this time that's anything but pro-war and so I will keep quiet. I just search for peace that's all and I think of my fellow Australian soldiers who are currently in Iraq for the American people.... So, here instead i will write about the music. I have to say that this diary entry is quite an episode. This last week in New Orleans has been SURREAL and quite macabre, and here i write about it: I left off last time with us driving speedily towards New Orleans from Austin, having found out we had to be there a day earlier for a TV appearance on CBS TV. Well, we drove the I-10 for 8 hours, with a quick stop in Lake Charles, Louisiana, for a beer for St. Paddy's day, then into the swamp lands and Mississippi delta region of Baton Rouge and beyond. It was dark most of the trip and we arrived in New Orleans at 1am Tuesday morning. We were to stay with Richard Carr (who booked the gigs) and Sandy Wilson who live on top of the Matador Club in the heart of the French Quarter on Decatur and Esplanade. What a spot! To be right in town, deep in the history of blues, jazz and cajun shrimp. The area was rather seedy but, hey, we're in "The Big Easy" so we felt we had to live it, right?! The Matador was thumping loud, still continuing St. Paddy's day festivities (although we later realized this is an every night, all night, music place.) Japanese geisha gals in tinsel tops awaited their time to perform sitting in their tour bus outside, and the people were on the street singing and dancing. Luckily we found a park right outside for the car and Sandy opened the door in the wee hours for us. Wrapped in a dressing gown and cigarette in her mouth, we followed her up a rickety staircase which leads above the club, with about 4 locked gates to pass. We had never met her before, only talked via email. We weren't sure what to expect. She and Richard live in this warehouse type pied-a-terre above the club and you could hear the thumping of the drums and bass underneath. I don't know how they sleep! Sandy is such a treat, a rather eccentric New York woman - seh's got Betty Davis' eyes vibe - who seemed to have lived many amazing and dazzling lives and her tales were fascinating. She used to manage David Johannson, the Roche Sisters and worked for Barry Manilow. Having booked show bands up and down the country, and started the careers of many artists, she admitted her love for my album "Woman" and was excited to get me on TV here. We chatted till 2am and then had to crash because we were due at CBS TV at 6am! 5am and the alarm went off loud and clear. I felt like I'd never slept, but was dreaming i was dancing down below with the people STILL partying on the street. Sandy, elegantly dressed now and makeuped (boy she shapes up well!) made the coffee... kind of a dark sludge but welcome at this moment. Fag in mouth she cooked us toast and we all got dressed as fast as we could. The 3 of us dragged ourselves into the waiting car and we slowly drove the dense fog streets of the early morning New Orleans French Quarter, watching it's visitors and residents making their way home after their big nights. This was the beginning of our Twin Peaks episode. The city was about to sleep till midday while we had things to do! CBS - or WWL Channel 4 - which is it's name but it's a CBS local station - lies in the centre of the French Quarter, rather incongruously as the rest of the "township" reminds me of Cannes on the French riviera with tiny streets of old-style terrace houses and cool little shops and venues. It's very European here, quite small, and reminds me of the Moulon Rouge in EVERY way - the art, the architecture, the burlesque people, the vibe. Only difference... i think there are vampires here. Segue.... I had so much fun on TV. I performed 3 segues of my songs and one full song (Woman) as well as got interviewed, on the Good Morning News Program, in between war news, cooking segments Emerile LeGasse) and a Prostate Prevention segment. 30,000 viewership was a cool start to my New Orleans Experience. After dropping the car into a day carpark (there really is no street parking in the Quarter unless you pay for parking), Sandy walked us to Cafe Du Monde, on Decatur, near the Levee. In New Orleans, this is a must. You sit in this outdoor cafe brimming with tourists and locals, searanaded by sax players and some dixie land jazz soloists, and served by dozens of asian waitresses, - one orders a Cafe Au Lait and Beignets. $1.75 gets you 3 beignets which is their famous breakfast - a spongy pastry that tastes like a donut and is covered, no smothered, with white powered sugar that ends up mostly on your clothing and all over your nose, than in your mouth. It's a real experience and we ate here every morning (and sometimes late evenings!). We walked back to the apartment via the shops on Decatur which are filled with "Mardi Gras" souvenirs, masks and voodoo dolls. If you're familiar with Venice, Italy, you'll understand that this is just like their stores: everything is selling items for CARNIVALE / masquerade - which includes an assortment of colorful and delightful masks with so many feathers (I was in heaven), plus hundreds of different types of harlequinn dolls, reminiscent of the northern italian towns. Then, in other stores, you can buy voodoo dolls (they are very superstitious here), pirate (Jean La fitte) paraphanalea and ghost town pieces. They say the French Quarter is completely haunted and that there is a ghost in every building. Later, you will find out that I now believe in ghosts. Keep reading.... We slept almost all day Tuesday....... That night, after some window shopping, and having said hello to Richard Carr who came back from a tour in St. Louis, I performed at his Original Music Series at O'Flaherty's Irish Pub on Toulouse, central French Quarter. Wonderful pub with 3 rooms for stages, we performed upstairs to a select songwriter crowd. I experimented some more with my loop station which is really giving me the opportunity to improvise there and then on stage. I'm loving it. The show was a lot of fun and I downed a cheesy nachos and 2 red wines - later, Port O'Call for a burger (I had a yummy baked potato and mushrooms.) By the way, it is quite well known that people eat A LOT here. You don't see the tummy tucked sizes of Hollywood in these parts. Food ... and Spirits.... are a central force of life. Back to the little pad above the noisy club,... toni and settled in the living room to sleep and dream of pirates and ghosts. Wednesday was going to be our tourist day. Up again to slimy (mmm yum more) coffee, and we hit the streets to see what the French Quarter was all about. We had more cafe au lait and beignets and then it was mask and harlequinn buying. We wandered down Bourbon street by day as they were cleaning up to go to sleep, and we sat by the Mississippi watching the paddle boat. Cajun shrimp for lunch, more walking down Royal Street (the upmarket art district), consignment of cds at the hip and cool Tower Records on Decatur and then back to O'Flaherty's for my One Woman Show. I performed 3 hours at the pub in the ballad room, with great sound, and a cool vibe. I was SO excited to have my own show right here in the heart of New Orleans, surrounded by clubs that hosts the finest music there is. Here I was, gilli moon, amongst the greatest jazz and blues. I was thrilled. I will remember this forever. I improvised alot with my new toy, and played my piano with the soul that was around me. I was in my element. I brought 3 people to tears and Sandy, the Manhattan girl at heart, was already insisting that David Letterman was my next port of call and that she was going to make the call the next day. After what I thought was an awesome show Toni and I headed off for a night of partying on Bourbon Street. "When in Rome do as the romans do...." The street, at midnight, was Packed with college kids, as well as retired tourists in their 60s and the locals who dressed in beads and crazy headware. The clubs and pubs, next door to each other on either side of the street, were pumping with music, from R&B, to Jazz, Dixieland, alternative rock and dance. It was all happening. Crowds were leaning against the railings of club balconies with girls taking their tops off while the cat calls issued below. It was like New Year's Eve and this is every night of the week. Girly bars, 'one drink per set' minimum bars, daiquiri stands, and hot dog stands line the streets. I knew this was going to last all night, but I had seen enough after 2 hours and so we scooted down the quiet Royal street admiring the beautiful terrace houses along the way. We passed many interestingly dark and bohemian bars that lent themselves to a total Twin Peaks, macabre atmosphere. Let's just say, this is a really dark town ,and secrets behind the doors one could only imagine. There is a lot of history here, alot of superstition, legends and myths and contemporary characters that make you wonder if we are living in a dream. Getting back to the pad, tired and weary we climbed the rickety stairs 3am. We found Sandy and Richard still awake, Sandy having had a quiet "too many" and listening to David Bowie reminiscing about life on Broadway. Toni and I settled in to the couch kingdom of pillows, and bedding we made for ourselves and slowly, we all fell asleep. Sandy couldn't find her vampire music to fall asleep to. I dozed off. 4.00am and my throat was dry. I reach for my bottle of water and wake (I never usually wake but I woke up) - to the smell of toast burning. Sandy is standing in the kitchen cooking. Cooking? It's 4am!!!?!!!! I sit up and notice smoke.... everywhere.... and then I jump up and stare bewildered at Sandy cook.... and the whole stove is alight with flames. "Sandy!, the toast is on fire!" I cry out. I run to the kitchen and Toni awakes behind me. The smoke is dense in the apartment. The stove, the toaster, the tea bag boxes, the BOXES heaped in a corner of the kitchen, are ALL ALIGHT. The place was on fire. I grab rags and towels but can't put out the flame. Sandy, I think, was still a little tipsy, poor lass, and she wasn't realizing what was happening. I cry out for Richard. "Ricccchhhharrrd!!! The HOUSE is on FIRE!!!" He jumps up in dreamland and runs into the kitchen. We are all trying to put out the flames. I grab the garbage bin, empty its contents on the floor and fill it with water from the bath. The cupboards are starting to alight. We realize the stove burners, all 4 of them, are on and as we splash the water, nothing is slowing down. The smoke is INTENSE. Sandy... cigarette still dangling out of her mouth... is still cooking...... It was so surreal and i felt i was dreaming. I started to think about evacuation, ...where my bags were, where to escape. Toni couldn't get the front door unlocked. We were 2 storeys up. Richard was so good he almost put his whole 6.6 foot frame body over the flames to extinguish them. With the water I delivered and the towels Toni gave, we ... finally... put out the fire..... sigh of relief.... The whole corner of the kitchen was black. 2 more minutes and the wooden ceiling would have caught. Even though we had brick walls, I knew that once the ceiling caught, we would have had no hope putting out the flames. We ran outside because we couldn't breathe in the smoke. Richard, Toni and I sat out there. .... Sandy.... went back to bed, straight to sleep. I do now believe in ghosts because I don't think she even realized what had happened. It was like someone else was doing this. Poor thing. We sat outside, with air conditioner and fans billowing, windows open, waiting for the smoke to escape. When we felt we could breathe again, just before dawn, we went back to bed. Waking up the next day was so surreal again. I thought I had dreamed it all, but the kitchen mess showed I hadn't. We were so lucky to have gotten through this. Thursday became... understandably, our complete day off. We remained in a daze while Richard took us to the swamps to visit the alligators ("Gators") which i took numerous photos of and recorded some of the bird and swamp sounds on my DAT recorder. This city is deep in weirdness and we experienced it first hand. By night fall we decided to listen to some improvisational jazz on Frenchman street, including the sighting of one of the country's top jazz improv pianists, Henry Butler. He switches from jazz to funk to swing to classical all in a minute. Amazing. But the night was young and this was our last night in town, so with DAT player and microphone in hand, we headed back to the debauchery of Bourbon Street to at least capture it on tape. We interviewed locals and tourists, grabbed samplings of the wonderful musical sounds of the bands , ate oysters on the shell and downed 4 tequilas. Sleep came again in the wee hours of the morning and I too felt the vampire in me. I slept happily this time and a beignet and a cafe au lait helped us on our way, Friday morning, on to the I-10 W freeway back to Houston. I sit here in the car, with a complete hangover, having just eaten fried catfish, fried oysters, fried shrimp and a beer (chaser!) on the road past Baton Rouge. I will remember New Orleans with fondness, fascination and wonder. It was an experience of a lifetime! I think we'll make it to the Go Girls Gig in Houston before dusk, but we are sitting in terrible traffic (road works) and I'm afraid that the alligators might bite me if I get out for a quick pit stop right now! in this flat swamp land called Louisiana.) March 21 - March 28: The desert-scape that is TExas and New Mexico i left off as we drove West away from New Orleans on the I-10 through swamp land and alligators. For lunch, on that Friday 21st March, we sat at a roadside diner eating fried catfish, fried oysters, fried shrimp and i think toni had fried alligator but i'm not sure, as i was already swimming in oil. Houston took 9 hours after all the traffic jams (should have been 6.5 hours). The I-10 was narrowing from a 2 lane to 1 lane many times, with no pit stop potential except swamp land on either side, ... and you know what lives there....! But eventually, as the night came, we landed in Houston and we drove directly to the Rhythm Room, the next gig destination. We were mentally exhausted after the N.O experience. However, this night was truly a great one. We unpacked the car (imagine how it is to unpack and repack a car every day... i think i've been getting my workout!) It's laden with bags, music gear plus keyboard, percussion, mattress, pillows and memorabilia from every truck stop along the way. Madalyn Sklarr, of Go Girls Music, was conducting her monthly Go Girls Showcase. It was a pleasure to perform amongst some truly talented artists including Melinda Mones (local country/rock artist and band), and Triprocket, an electronica meets rock (ala Garbage) band who were great. So i loaded in my gear, grabbed a drink, and chatted with the locals. The Rhythm Room is a great room to perform in, in Houston, and the sound is impeccable. The lighting was terrific too. This time, I decided to record my set on my DAT player. I hadn't done this yet. I had by now 2 weeks to master this phrase recorder/loop station so i was ready to hit the peddle to the metal. I once again experimented with some vocal harmonies and percussion with my toy.. I'm really enjoying the spontaneity and improvisation I'm doing lately, thanks to my toy. Plus, the jazz improvs of New Orleans has really started my juices flowing. I played a 45 min set and was very much at peace performing, enjoying the tape rolling and the cool vibe. My lighting was fantastic, with every lull and thunder on the keys illuminated by the change of lights by the engineer, Jerry. John the manager of the club/ cum bar tender, supplied some nice red wine as i sat signing CDs and chatting with new fans. We stayed at Madalyn and girlfriend Elizabeth's place that night out in Sugar Land, which is way out of town but a nice bourgeois neighborhood. I wonder if they grow sugar in sugar land? And this is the Go Girls Music HQ, filled with posters of touring artists (i was the next to get up on the wall), fabo DSL connection to check email and a hearty breakfast at Madeleine's for eggs and croissants. We had a slow day though. We had a lot to recover from our journey so far, but we did make it to dinner... our lives revolved around food it seemed and Joe's Crab Shack was an essential stop on our journey, having heard such good stories about it. Picture this, a themed restaurant with waiters dancing to Saturday Night Fever and Grease in t-shirts and shorts, lobsters, crab, shrimp and fish in many guises to eat, t-shirts that say "I got crabs at Joe's Crab Shack" and drinks about as big as you could possibly see in the big 'ol Texas. So Toni, Madalyn, Elizabeth, and my friend Marie-Jo, and I sat around this table eating seafood and laughing so hard we nearly peed our pants. It was good to let go, figuratively speaking... That night, of Sat 22nd, with no gig to do, no commitment to have, and plenty of time to finally waste, we stayed with Marie-jo Verbeke, who grew up with my Aliotti cousins every summer in Turkey. My Italian relatives (Dad's side) from Rome always go to Cesme Turkey every summer and Marie-jo, although not related, felt like a cousin to me. The last time I saw Marie-Jo (she goes by Joelle in the U.S as the Americans say her name as "Mary-Joe" with a twang, instead of the appropriate Murree-joh, the first annoys her (it would annoy me). Joelle seems easier to put your mouth around. The lat time i saw her was on a boat in t he Aegean sea enjoying the Turkish sun in '96. We spoke with sadness about Turkey right now,m being close to the war, and not being open to Americans so much at this point in time. We longed for Cesme summers. Toni and her hit it off straight away being the same age and both spiritually philosophical about everything. It was a home of peace. The birds were churping, the karma was good. Sunday 23rd and Toni and I went on a small pilgrimage to Lakewood Church on the other side of town. Both not church goers, we had been mesmerized by a certain pastor on TV called Joel Osteen whose charisma and sermons captivated you to finally know the Lowrd was Comin' to Saeave Usss. We HAD to see this guy in real person. And so we went. We ended up in a poor part of town, and the church was about the size of a small brick stadium. Ugly as hell on the outside, inside was literally the entertainment centre filled with God. Parking wrapped about 1 mile in circumference and we followed hundreds of church goers, black (mostly) and white into the building. Joel was already saving people down on the floor as we took our seats in the very back top stalls (a quick get away?) At least 3,000 people's hands were raised like Nazi germany as the church goers sang "God is our salvation" and the 40 piece gospel choir, orchestra and the blonde number sang from the stage. This was a high tech, money laiden production and tv cameras were sending a live feed to the country. We were witnessing..... something. Joel arrived, talking about motivation and making a positive step in your life.... (I must say, he really does have something to say) and then his pretty blonde wife addressed the audience for the obligatory "please sign your checks now and give us your tithe (10% of your earnings) as GOD needs youuuuu". Another lady came out and shared us a psalm about how the Israelites were saved by GOD in their war with the Palestinians and THEN she said, "just as our wonderful coalition, led by our wonderful president Bush is being guided and protected by the LORD, we think about our soldiers out there". History was in the re-making, and it's all on public broadcast television. We hurried our sinful selves out of there and back to Joelle's place where, on the completely different spiritual journey, she awaited us with a small group to practice some Qi-gong, an ancient Chinese mediation practice that claims to cure health problems, mental issues and even accidents waiting to happen. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed her session and I think I'll read more into this philosophy. We had a great afternoon with Joelle, listening to Eric Clapton, the new Supertramp Cd and cooking BBQ (Texas and Australia really do have things in common!) By Monday morning 24th, we had resurrected into a peaceful state ready for the next leg, going back West. The I-10 took us through San Antonio (Toni cried with joy as her name was on every road sign), into Kerrville and past some sleepy towns which had some buffalo. We drove 7.5 hours plus a mexican meal stop (boy I really do like those spinach enchiladas downed with a margarita) - (so on the road for 9 hours) and I was thinking, "gee I don't know what they mean by Texas being all desert, .. it's been quite countrified and rolling plains so far.." Well I spoke too soon. For we then entered what people know of driving through Texas, along the El Paso Route on the I-10. All we saw, as day turned to dusk into night, were desert stretches, brilliant star constellations above and the smell of oil. Oil fields (with the oil pumps painted in the appropriate red, white and blue) became our only light indicators of human civilization until we came to rest. Fort Stockton: one of the earliest Forts, and incidentally the only Fort manned by black soldiers back in the day. This was going to be our overnight spot. We found a cozy motel called Town and Country, run by Ghandi. That's right, that was their surname, a little indian family who ran this cut, clean and cozy motel. Heck, I had to stay with Ghandi, if you know what I mean. We were on a spiritual journey. The motel, of which the room we bartered down to $30 including tax because we knew they weren't getting many customers, was eloquently nestled in-between two funky car washes. We decided to hit the local night spot but all we saw was the Good Times Saloon, and... well, i wasn't ready for their kind of good times, if you know what i mean. I can imagine it now, ... two girls walk into a bar on a lonely desert highway, with no one but cowboy hats and bored male patrons... um.,.... no thanks. Reminded me of Brad Pitt in The Mexican. Fort Stockton is one road of car washes and banks. That's right - nothing else. We found out that everything closes at 9pm (early risers I guess....) except for the car washes which are on every block. Modern day cowboys hang out washing their cars and for fun, toot their horns. Nothing much else to do in Fort Stockton. You might ask why there are banks here. Yes, they even have their own bank, the Pacos County Bank (Pacos is up the road.) Well... think about it.... oil fields... that's right. (As the Beverly Hillbillies used to say, and I'm sure they're from this region, "Oil, that is, black gold Texas tea..." Also there's a Walmart. Seems like there's a Walmart in every town, no matter how small it is. A mini shopping centre but more like a supermarket, Walmart's are a great place to hook up your RV if you don't want to pay an RV park as they have lighting and usually security. That's what a touring songwriter told me once! These kind of towns live around the Walmarts being the epicenter of their culture... Anyway, we decided there was nothing to do at 10pm so we hit the only liquor store and bought some Tecate mexican beer and poured ourselves some greasy cheesy nachos out of the do-it-yourself plastic machine, and headed back to the motel room where, at least, cable was awaiting us. We sat and drank and ate on the rickety bed and watched CNN and the sand storm enveloping our soldiers out in Iraq. How ironic as we sat in a no-horse town where most of these soldiers probably trained for such storms, out here in South West Texas. By morning we were on the road and stopped at the Comanche Springs (no springs here) Truck Stop where Wendy, all the way from North Dakota, served us coffee and eggs and whispered in my ear that AJ the mexican cook was eyeing me and wanted my phone number. She bought my CD for him and told us the history of Fort Stockton and how we could do a tour of it... in less than 5 minutes. Later, AJ stopped by, prodded by Wendy, a kind, softly spoken mexican american with all his teeth but one, and with his blue eyes he said, "well, all I'm really looking to do is find a way to leave this town." I was thinking, hmm, maybe he thinks I'm his meal ticket. Time to leave town. The drive, north on the I-285, was nothing but oil fields, tumbleweed, some wind mills and desert sand on either side. We hit Pacos at the end of the straight road.. home of the world's first rodeo, some important supply places: Texas Oil Supplies, and a few low riders (low to the ground, picks up chicks, speedy) who've placed small mags on their wheels with enough space between the tires and the chassy to fit a body. We took a photo of Ignacio with his red bandana and long hair, inside his red low rider. Our fiery friend had enough tattoos to show his perhaps gang status and possibly has been arrested 20 times but he was really niiizzzze. "Pliz, yu cun send the pictuurrre to meee, no?" Si. We knew it was a 7 hour drive to Santa Fe, but being in spirit country, we decided to take our time. It's one long road up the I-285 which seems like it's flat but really it's a gradual climb in elevation into the high desert. We drove right through the Carlsbad area and missed the caverns (deep under ground caves.) I had no desire to stay and later i found there was a huge nuclear plant there. Goodbye! Then we decided to stop in Roswell. I mean, why not?! Roswell is famous for a 1947 UFO cover up that hit the papers worldwide. Apparently a farmer and his son found a UFO and then later denied it once the military took the object. But more of the story is that there was a family of aliens in the UFO with most dead on "landing" but one apparently survived a little while in hospital. We've all seen the pictures, the little 3 foot pics of bald aliens and big slit eyes. So... off we tootled to one of about 5 UFO museums on the main road and enjoyed the reading. We could have stayed over night here but we decided to keep driving and hit Santa Fe. A coyote wanders the desert to the right, the canyon hills in the distance while the sun gradually set with lovely oranges and the billowing clouds cast shadows on the desert floor. It was a pretty, easy, drive. We hit a burger place on the way in "some" town. The burger place was a big metal hut (Penny's Diner) with 50s memorabilia. Rather incongruous amongst the adobe style houses, but heck we were hungry. We landed at Bobbi and Doug's place up the 599N near Santa Fe at about 7pm, in time for a tecate beer and an early night. Their house is a gorgeous adobe style (brown, mudbrick-like) house in a quiet desert country area about 20 minutes out of Santa Fe. Their view are the gorgeous snow-capped mountains and spotted desert hills great for walking. On Wednesday 26th we were tired of driving and with no where to go, we pottered around the house, walking (scaring a few jack rabbits in our path), breathing, meditating, reading and I recorded some spontaneous improvisations on the piano with my DAT player. (I can see a new album of instrumental compositions coming on!!!) Doug cooked dinner (yep he's a good chef and his kitchen is immaculate), while we all drank wine and I pretended to be the crocodile hunter with the Akubra hat and a fake snake. One needs to be one's own entertainment in the desert (or maybe i was getting tour silly. i don't know!:) Thursday 27th and I finally did some work on my computer before we hit the road to Albuquerque. We had one book delivery to one book store, and then we hopped over to Bookworks where a booksigning/talk awaited. They had ordered 50 books for this book signing weeks ago and when i got there, there was a gorgeous throne like chair on a stage and a jug of water waiting for me to sit. Posters everywhere saying "recording artist gilli moon talks about success in the arts", this great store is filled with books on every subject, and many spiritual. The store is located on the outskirts of Albuquerque near horse farms and attracts the arty types. So I began my talk with the notion that "success must be defined on your own terms and not by how others see it." I talked about being passionate about what you do, making that first step (overcoming commence-aphobia), being a business person, the three Os, listening to your own advice and staying motivated. I felt humbled by the group because I was talking to artists who were older (and probably wiser than me), yet most had drifted away from their art and came to hear me so that they could be inspired and motivated again to focus on what they love the most. The cross section was cool: from photographers (alot of them), to water-colorists, to painters, to authors. No musicians represented in the group and no one under 40. I am quite excited by the diverse cross-section of people i attract to my seminars. What a fun night! One person suggested I start recording the seminars to have them available on tape. Good idea! We finished it off with a question/answer group discussion and I began to sign their bought books of mine, while we drank wine and ate cookies, complimentary of the staff. Next week, Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls get the Blues) will speak and last week it was Tony Hillerman (novels of New Mexico and "Skin Walkers" now a TV movie). I am in good company. Friday 28th and I awake to snow. It has been quite warm for the whole tour, but today it's snowing here in Santa Fe and is 45 degrees F. We have really hit every type of weather condition on this journey! It's time to see Taos, a beautiful, ancient Indian town north of Santa Fe where I am to perform in the evening at Cafe Tazza. Final thought of the day: I watch TV and a school teacher is docked 2 days pay and fined for insubordination because she refuses to remove a "no war" sign from her classroom wall. Where did the first amendment go where we have a right to freedom of speech? March 28 to April 2 New Mexico to Phoenix, Final leg i left off on Fri 28th March when it was snowing in Santa Fe and time to head up north on the I-285 to Taos. Taos is a sleepy old Indian town nestled up past Los Alamos in the mountains. It's a great skiing area and you can find Indian artifacts and souvenirs everywhere. We drove the hour or so up the windy road which follows the Rio Grande River. It gets quite icy so we had to take our time. What better way than to do some wine tasting in Dixon half way up. The small winery was run by a woman who immediately wanted to help us get on radio once in Taos, so she helped us call K-Taos Radio to see if I could get a last minute interview. We left a message. Meanwhile 2 guys from Houston's Guinness Beer company sauntered in and we started talking about sponsorship for my next tour. Oh it was too much as we got tipsy on wine! They threw some guinness and some other beer and some tequila into the back of our car and off we tootled up the windy road. It was a spectacular drive with high cliffs on either side and rocks almost green in nature. Once in Taos, we decided to head for a Mexican restaurant, but authentic new mexican. We found Antonio's and were served delicious black beans, enchiladas, the biggest margaritas I'd ever seen (we had to get it take away in plastic cups!), and yummy spicy salsa. Antonio and his brother stood around us like hawks making sure we enjoyed their food and we did. (although I was wondering if he was looking for a wife...!) We made another call to K-Taos radio and spoke to DJ Michael Dean who didn't have time for me but he started plugging my show all afternoon and that was really cool. So, with time to kill I took Toni to see the Gorge. I had been up here with my friend Pip several years ago and it was cool to see it all again. The gorge is like a mini Grand Canyon overlooking the Rio Grande. Cold as ice, with hawks nesting in the cliffs, the river below, Toni got dizzy with the height and the wind started picking up. A big cloud was coming towards us as it traveled on the ground (we were high up!) and it started to snow. We had seen every climate condition on this tour, from dry Arizona heat, mugginess of Austin, hot swamps of New Orleans and now... it was snowing! At 6pm we found Cafe Tazza, my gig for the evening. They had a piano which was cool, so I left the keyboard in the car. But it was snowing tonight and that means, ... not many people. I came back from the car with some of my cables and was followed in by a local Indian guy who was asking everyone off the street for money. I sat down to drink my tea and watched him sit next to a woman from the Oklahoma/Texan border with a huge turban around her head. He asked her for 45c so he could buy a cup of coffee, to which she replied "I only have tea bags." He took it, smelled it and asked if he could take it home to his family. They subsequently picked up a conversation, quite indepth and I thought "wow, a match made in heaven." I began my set to about 5 people in this adobe style coffee house wondering if I was going to make it through the 2 hours. But I did, and some people came and went and overall it was fun: I sold a few cds, a book and got some tips and .. a tea bag. After the gig, we packed up and headed back down the windy, icy road. We were warned of the ice to take it slow. We arrived back at Bobbi and Doug's place very late and crashed. Saturday morning the sun was shining and I knew it would for it was my birthday. What a beautiful way to spend another passing year, in the heart of the desert with mystical lands surrounding me. Toni hadn't seen the Santa Fe old town so I took her in to town for a look-see around the shops and beautiful Adobe style villas, St Francis Church built in the 1600s and the indian market stalls. After a tamale on the road, we walked past a long line of Indians selling hand-made jewellery, mainly silver and turquoise. Their prices weren't cheap: mostly around $150 for a bracelet. I thought to myself "I'm in the wrong industry." It was freezing in Santa Fe today and we mainly went from one inside fireplace to another. By 5.30pm we were eating at Tomasita's next to the Santa Fe railway (Pip, remember that wonderful restaurant and the Indian shop across the street??!?!?). Toni's friends, Rose (Tom) and Kelly from Los Alamos met up with us for my birthday dinner. He was telling me that he worked for the Government testing nuclear weapons for the war. Nice conversation.....:( Well I had an early night on my birthday and arose Sunday 30th to prepare for a cool gig at the Paramount Club in Santa Fe. This club is now owned by an old friend of Toni's, Donnalee, who is a warm entrepreneurial woman, ex DJ from Phoenix, who has made this club a fabulous 2 room music filled place that also sells pizza! I performed in the Bar-B room (the smaller, intimate bar) and Astra Kelly opened. She comes from the East Coast and is a tall gal with a great sense of style and a cowboy hat. Playing guitar, she opened the night and had invited many of her friends and family. I enjoyed this gig because the room was so cool, and I played a 2 hour set with my keyboard and fun loop station, now using some drums and a bass rift I've been working on in my travels on some of the songs. Bobbi filmed the show on her camera and Toni ordered pepperoni pizza as Donnalee insisted she test her pizzas (the pizza ended up in the fridge back at the "ranch" minus the pepperoni (toni had to eat those) and donated the pizza to Bobbi and Doug). Monday 31st and it was time to depart New Mexico. We stopped at EVERY indian shop along the way, in search of colored rocks, feathers and turquoise jewellery. It was hard finding something less than $5 but we discovered a few gems, so to speak. But since we didn't leave Santa Fe till 3pm we only got as far as Gallup, which is close to the Arizona border (4.5 hours from Santa Fe on the I-40). Gallup was.... how can I put this lightly..... a rough town. The El Rancho hotel is in Gallup and I think this is the only up market place in the whole town. Famous for being the hotel of the stars (Clint, John Wayne, the stars of the 20s to 60s have stayed here while on location filming those westerns).... we decided to have a drink and some salsa contemplating the next leg to drive. Instead, we decided to stay the night. The first 3 motels were under $20 a room and thinking we were in luck financially we took the cleanest one. Cop cars constantly flashing their lights and tooting their sirens was common, plus... a lot of indians. Indian shops, indian pawn shops, indian bars... indian souvenir shops. Unlike Fort Stockton, there wasn't any car washes or banks. Just hotels. Lots of hotels. We turned the TV on looking for the promised HBO and went to bed not finding it.... I slept on a rock of a pillow and tossed and turned all night. It was a $20 room because a) the train tracks felt like they were running through our bathroom and the trains came passed every 20 minutes blowing their horns. The bed shook and I tossed again. b) the gas heater would turn itself on every 10 minutes with a burst that shook me again/ I woke up on April 1 feeling like I had never slept. Was this my April Fools? "Let's get out of this no horse town" I said and Toni pumped the gas onwards west on the I-40. Ortega Indian shops littered the roads with over-rated indian souvenirs but we detoured into the Painted Desert to see the Petrified Forest.... What a sight! Firstly, the painted desert is a seascape (I say this as it was once underwater) of a beautiful desert land that was a glacier. It's colors were fabulous. Dry, reds, browns, even greys. I took many photos. 20 miles in and we arrived at the petrified forest. No huge live trees here, instead, almost cut logs on the ground scattered everywhere in the flat desert, ... these logs were petrified.... crystallized from 225 million years ago. Loggers had discovered them in the mid 1800s looking for wood, they found these petrified wood pieces with fossils in them. They are as hard as stone and have crystals coursing through them. I thought someone had cut the logs up in pieces, but apparently over the ages, the shifting of the earth has cause the crystal wood to split vertically in seemingly perfect log pieces. I was fascinated. When we went hiking through them I felt like I was walking on the moon. The desert was grey! Back on the I-40 and we hit one more indian shop before Flagstaff. There were alot of rocks, some "dinosaur bones" and this cowboy with cowboy hat and pistol on his belt selling crap for exorbitant prices. I thought i'd seen it all until i saw what he had for sale: DINOSAUR DUNG. Oh - my -god. As IF it lasts this long! But... people buy it. Jeesuz!!! Anyway, about an hour later we hit Flagstaff, AZ. What a quaint town, a college town, with little streets and an almost Boston like atmosphere. Toni did some business with the Orpheum Theatre which is looking for promoters and I studied the now 3 turquoise rings and 4 turquoise bracelets adorning my hand and wrist in my buying frenzies. This was to be our last day on tour and as the late afternoon began to hit we decided not to go to the Grand Canyon, and we took the I-17 towards destination Phoenix. But Toni had one more detour to make... SEDONA. Yippee I cried. Some nice magic, spirit and red rocks. "Lets!" It was only half an hour away from Flagstaff. We drove the windy cliff laden road down into Sedona, with the pines around us, the creek beside us, and the gorgeous red mountains above. I got the urge to look for a hotel but was sad when one cost $90 for the smallest room. Oh well, just a thought. But then, looking at some market stalls, we saw a sign for $59.95 for a hotel room plus a tour. WOW! I was about to take it when the lady said, actually it's only $39.95 AND you get $20 back in food "funny money". I thought it was a joke. BUT it was for real, and we stayed in the most awesome room, 2 queen beds, fireplace, tv, bathroom, kitchen and gorgeous view of the red rocks in front of us in Sedona. I was in heaven... my birthday present! The only catch was today... we had to go on the time share tour and listen to some upstart try and tell us how we should take a vacation and buy time share in this over rated holiday resort. What-ever! Late afternoon today I arrived back in Phoenix AZ, my 4th home. ANYway, it's time to say goodbye to this tour. Friday night I will be doing a show on grand piano and book signing at Borders Books in Phoenix and Saturday a cool gig at Bar Bun in Phx downtown. I arrive back in Los Angeles on Sunday to a peaceful new home in Sherman Oaks where the jacuzzi is awaiting me.