St. Georgie Porgie

Oh, St. George.

I have been thinking about you for days since we parted over the weekend. You really showed up for me at Jazzy Java last Saturday. It was my first show as a leading act in your area and I was thrilled with the way you packed the house. The only problem with being the performer is that I never get my own pictures of the show. So, all I have is a picture of me at sound check on my new Korg SV-1 (which I love, by the way). But who wants to see yet one more picture of me singing? Forget about me. Let's talk about YOU, St. George.

After the show, my cute drummer Nate Young and cute guitarist Chase Baker, and myself drove to the Holiday Inn Express in Washington near Coral Canyon. We couldn't help but notice how yummy it smelled when we walked in. It's a very clean and cozy place with a great breakfast if you're ever visiting Zion's. I highly recommend. But don't ask the clerk at the front desk if you can have your picture with him, because he will say no.

Nate Young (left), Yours Truly (middle), Chase Baker (right)

I woke up the next morning and I would have stayed in that warm bed for another ten hours. But it was an amazing morning in Coral Canyon and I didn't want to miss the sunrise. Southern Utah is the crown jewel of the whole state. A sunrise in Southern UT = a Hipstamatic moment.

Thanks to Trevor Jenson for the lovely stay at the Holiday Inn Express!

Go ahead, take a gander at my makeup-free, sleep-deprived morning face. I won't mention any names, but someone needs to get their roots done.

The red desert scape is therapeutic.

Ok, but my #1 favorite part about St. George is visiting my Grandma Rose.

And OH. MY. WORD. I discovered this store on St. George Blvd. called Urban Renewal, which is now my #2 most favorite thing about the city. (D.I. got bumped back to #3). If you love a mix of antiques, vintage wares and clothing along with new and modern, this store is Heaven.

I am a sucker for giant maps. I bought one of these.

Thanks for always proving to be an amazing city, St. Georgie Porgie. I'll be back again soon.

xoxo

Mindy

Mesa, Here I Come!

Dear Mesa, Arizona,

I have LONG been wanting to come back and share some music with you. This time, I have a brand new album. This concert will be in conjunction with the Shun the Sun Race in November. My concert is on November 11th (all proceeds will help the fight against skin cancer). Then, on the 13th, I will be running the 5k. All who want to run with me get a free ticket to my concert. Just go to www.shunthesun.org and sign up for the race, then send an email to Krista Maurer at kristaqm@gmail.com telling her that you signed up. ALSO (and this is the most awesome part), I will be filming part of the music video for "Whole Wide World" during the race. So, if you want to be a part of that, then mention it in your email to Krista. Men are welcome, but I want lots of women of all different cultural backgrounds, religions, shapes, sizes, and ages. More information to come soon. This is going to be an AMAZING trip.

Loves,

Mindy

P.S. If you don't want to run, but want to come to the concert, you can buy tickets at www.shunthesun.org. Just click on my poster on the home page.

The SoCal Chronicles: Day 3

I try not to play favorites amongst the people I associate with, but try as I might, I cannot help myself. First of all, the hostess of this backyard benefit concert in Carlsbad, April Meeker, is one of my new favorite people. You may know of her if you've seen the illustrations in the music video for "Anchor," because she drew them and they are SO PERFECT for the video it's not even funny. In fact, when one of my other favorite people, Joe Corcoran, saw the music video, the first thing he said was, "My favorite part is the illustrated world!"

Joe Corcoran played almost every instrument on my album except for keys and drums. So, there you go. If that fact alone wasn't already amazing enough, he has edited and engineered on projects for The Dave Matthews Band, Lenka, Emmy Rossum, Ashley Tisdale and many more. But, no. Joe is not my favorite because he has worked with celebrities, nor because he can play any instrument like there's no tomorrow, but because he is so genuinely kind, and more hilarious than most anyone I know. Plus, look. He can rock a straw hat, gingham shirt, jacket, tie and black rimmed glasses like nobody's business.

Before going on, Joe and I survey the crowd. We can tell that this is going to be an amazing crowd.

Enter, Joe.

Enter, Mindy.

Whoa. What's going on here? Bra strap malfunction? No matter. I know how to roll with onstage surprises.

If this evening wasn't lovely enough already, knowing that the proceeds all went to a family who lost their firefighter daddy this year made it one that I will never forget.

BONUS POINTS: The next morning when I woke up and got ready to drive home, April (whose main art form is in jewelry making) gave me these incredible earrings that she handcrafted. The coral Bakelite-style material has an adorable floral pattern carved in it. The picture just doesn't do it justice!

Lo, another photo that doesn't do justice to this darling necklace she also made. It's even a locket! I'm a really picky jewelry person, but April's vintage and bohemian designs for her company Second Sister Jewelry are right up my alley. See for yourself: http://www.secondsisterdesigns.com/

Thanks April, Joe, and all who came to the Carlsbad concert. I hope we do it again soon!

P.S. You must check out the photos of the event on April's blog because they are beautiful and they also show the Woodland themed decorations and centerpieces. SO AWESOME. We're talking gnomes, faux bois, and the whole sha-bang.

Saturdee in St. George!

Photo by the lovely Wendy Whitacre of Blue Lily Photography
Poster design by the adorable, Matt Mildenstein

Sometimes I want to pronounce Saturday, "Saturdee," in honor of a neighbor I had growing up who pronounced all the days of the week with a "dee" at the end instead of a "day." But this post isn't really about how to pronounce the days of the week. It IS however, about this, ahem, Saturdee. I'll be driving down to one of my FAVORITE cities in Utah - St. George. And on this particular Saturdee in St. George, I will be singing at a little place called Jazzy Java, and boy do I plan on packing the joint. Will you come and help me fill it to the point of bursting? You can find Jazzy Java at 285 N., Bluff St. Tickets are $7 at the door. But the experience will be priceless.

Can't wait!

P.S. Tune in next time for Day 3 of the SoCal Chronicles!

The SoCal Chronicles: Day 2

Friday morning found me at the continental breakfast station at Hotel Astro Turf. I stuffed an English muffin and a hard boiled egg in a napkin and rushed off to meet Joe Corcoran at the Backyard Studios for a little rehearsal for the Carlsbad show. Sorry, no rehearsal pictures. Just a random photo by my car with a random mannequin (Actually, the mannequin models my t-shirts.)

Stuart B. (the producer behind "Anchor") was also there. He also wanted a picture with the mannequin. I don't blame him. My mannequin is pretty awesome.

After the rehearsal, I zoomed over to a meeting with this really fun lady and then to a super great meeting with a few people from this company. And THEN, I got really hungry.

Check out these incredible eats from the RFD Bakery in Santa Monica:

An ORGANIC HOSTESS CUPCAKE! Can you even?

Positively Pistachio Salad

Thai Coconut Yam Soup. Dee-LISH.

Ok, but listen to this. Later that night, I met some friends at The W Hotel in Hollywood. Just to illustrate my peasant-ness, I first of all, didn't know what "The W" was and second of all, didn't bring any cash for parking and was thus, forced to park at "The W" itself because they were the only place that would take a card. After surveying the Bugattis, Porsches and Ferraris on my way into the valet area, I suddenly realized that my ratty Jeep with bird turds all over the window and mile high food wrappers in the front seat was SO not worthy. But all I could do was hold my breath and hand over the keys to the valet guy.

After using the restroom in the lobby, I stiffed the bathroom maid, because I did not know that there was such a thing as a bathroom maid who hands you a paper towel and takes tips. Thanks, but I can pull my own paper towel from the dispenser. Apparently, there are people who need help with that task.

(The lobby of The W)

My friends and I walked over to the Palladium where we were special guests of Kaskade. I have a few songs on Kaskade's new album Dynasty, so I wanted to see him in action. This DJ has some incredibly loyal fans if he's selling out the Palladium two nights in a row.

This is Finn Bjarnson and his cute wife, Tracy. Finn produces Kaskade's albums and I must say, it's a lot of fun to record with him.

And while, I was something of a fish out of water in this atmosphere, it was maybe a little bit exciting to see 4,000 people dancing to one of my songs. But I'm not much of a party girl, so I soon excused myself and went back to Hotel Astro Turf to sack out.


But wait. The valet can't find my car, so I wait there for 45 minutes. How can they miss it? Bird turds, remember? Meanwhile, I stare at the shiny cars in the VIP parking.

And the web of lights hanging up above me. And I think about who I am. About what my purpose is. Am I making a difference in this world? And then my car comes and I can't get back to Hotel Astro Turf quickly enough.

The SoCal Chronicles: Day 1

Last Thursday, I left my house at 9:00 a.m. to drive to Southern California for some meetings in L.A. and to do a private show in Carlsbad. Ten minutes later, I returned to my home (since I am prone to forget things at times) to retrieve my iPod and any audiobooks I could find. All I could rummage up was Day 1 of a Tony Robbins series. After a ten hour drive, I pretty much have Day 1 memorized. Tony would be proud.

Road Trip Rule #1: Bring something awesome to listen to. Preferably hours of material - not one 30 minute CD.

Road Trip Rule #2: Bring awesome food. In this I did succeed. Chocolate Covered Macaroons by Raw Melissa? YES, PLEASE.

Road Trip Rule #3: Stop at landmark locations to get out and walk around. My favorite? The St. George D.I.. I always find awesome stuff there. For example, feast your eyes upon these vintage silver formal shoes in MINT CONDISH!:

And check out these vintage golden Stilettos! Both purchased for less than $10.

Cha-ching.


Of course, it was a Hipstamatic moment.

After staying in St. George way too long, I forced myself back in the car. I actually had to get to West L.A. Music by 9:00 p.m. because I wanted to have a little looksey at a stage piano I've been lusting after. Oh, yes. The Korg SV-1 (which is nerd talk for "stellar keyboard"). To make a long story short, I did arrive in the nick of time and you will see my lovely keyboard if you come to my next show (which is this Saturday, 9:00 p.m. at Jazzy Java in St. George, UT).

But, really. The icing on the cake? Legendary bass player Carol Kaye happened to be giving a bass clinic at West L.A. Music when I arrived. Carol has played electric bass and guitar on hit records for the following artists (and many more): Beach Boys, Ray Charles, TheRighteous Bros., Johnny Mathis, Nancy Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Glen Campbell, Lou Rawls, Jan & Dean, Henry Mancini, The Lettermen, Paul Revere & Raiders, Monkees, Buckinghams, April & Nino,Sonny & Cher, Chris Montez, Andy Williams, Quincy Jones, Joe Cocker, Ike &Tina Turner, and Mel Torme. Not only is Carol a female pioneer in the music industry, but a white female who played in all the prestigious black jazz clubs of her time. This woman is inspiring.

Then, I crashed at Comfort Inn in Santa Monica which, by the way, is almost entirely carpeted in Astro Turf. So, if you like Astro Turf, you should stay there sometime.

Dadgummit.

Dadgummit. Or in the words of the great Napoleon (Dynamite), "bodaggit." I'm losing. I'm losing in the race to keep up with all the cool blogs out there. How do people do it? I'm going to have to raise the bar around here. You watch. You WATCH! Cool things are going to take place here very soon.

Stay tuned . . .